The Smuggler Contingency

If there was one thing Shine loved more than flying, it had to be the quiet of hyperspace. Okay, that was the second favorite thing he had next to flying; the first was spending a good time with a nice woman. But it wasn't far off. During those long or short flights that sent stars passing by as fast as a good time, one could feel a sense of absolute peace. In the white light that surrounded the Cat, Shine was removed from the dangers of the galaxy, a protective dimension safe from the perils that troubled every day life. True, there was always the chance he had input the coordinates for the jump wrong and as such could end up jumping into a star or a planet or a moon. But he'd never done that before, not once. And now, with Vis alongside him, the chances of that were down even more. No, the only thing he had to really worry about was what to do in the long flight to keep himself from dying of boredom. And to ready himself for what was ahead.

Since he had an abundance of time for this trip, he figured he might as well run down the events of the last few days for good measure. A lot had been said and done in the past few days, more than your average man had to deal with in a lifetime. He had to thank the fact that he had been military before all this; it gave him a higher than normal ability to take those large amounts of information and turn them into something he could use. Fast. And there was nothing wrong with making sure all the finer details were covered, any loose ends found and secured. Heck, if this was a story that was being told, the author would want to make sure the reader knew what was going on right?

It had been about four days ago that all this had gone down. After the events of Rodia, Shine had headed back into the Core Worlds for what he felt was some much needed rest and relaxation. After the events on Tatooine, then Kuat and now Rodia, Shine figured he needed to take a break before he chose his next destination. After all, all three of those trips hadn't gone exactly as he had planned and for the most part, put him in situations that were very bad for his well being. Okay, so the situation on Tatooine he had pretty much willingly put himself into, but the events of Kuat and Rodia, who could have seen that coming? And despite all the negatives of those matters, there was always positives to balance them out. He'd gotten to spend more time with Sam on Tatooine, his trip to Kuat had given him Vistal and the matter on Rodia had at least given him a chance to get to know a few of his fellow Familiar owners. Always try to find the light in the dark, his father had always told him. Well, those were certainly the perks of those runs.

In any case, Coruscant offered him a chance to pull up his trousers and plan for the future. There were no jobs out on the market anyway, so it was the best time to do such a thing. The Cat for the most part was running as smoothly as he could hope for, Vis had an assortment of new little gadgets he could tinker and play with and Shine had a decent amount of bank to allow him some breathing room in the need for more. But there was something money never really could buy, even if you had so much of it that you would never need to work for it again. And that was the feeling of adrenaline you got when you were at the stick of a fighter or of any craft for that matter. The world was not limited to where you could go on your feet anymore and for many of the world's, the sky was not the limit. All of space was his playground and the worldly matters that plagued so many were not his concern. Still, even he couldn't ignore the news reports whenever he was sitting in a bar all the time. And good news didn't attract attention, so most of the time, the worst the galaxy had to offer was displayed for all to see. Sure, there were people who whispered how terrible that was, others who ignored it entirely, some braved their reputation to call for justice. But at the end of the day, who really did anything? He was once part of a group of people who might have done something about it....but he'd screwed that up long ago. Now he was just one of these people, worried more with tending to his own wants and needs than the suffering of others. He shook off the feeling of guilt inside him, as he always did. Nothing to be done about it now. It wasn't like the Republic or anyone was offering jobs that helped your everyday man anyway; galaxy was full of greedy folks that it was.

He was pondering whether or not to make a house call to someone when a man had sat down beside him. The man was cloaked pretty much from head to toe and kept looking around at present company, as if he was unsure he was in the right place. Whoever the man was, someone should have told him when trying to hide your identity that you shouldn't wear high quality cloth under that cloak, which Shine noticed as the man's sleeve was exposed. It could get you killed. After the man assured himself in a method unknown to Shine that he was where he wanted to be, he turned to look at Shine from beneath his hood. Shine caught his eye, but didn't turn his head when he did. He spoke in a quiet voice, to no one in particular, which gave the man the opening he had obviously been looking for. In short, he asked if Shine was preoccupied with a certain kind of job at the moment. Shine shook his head to that, sipping carefully from his drink as the man offered him a chance to earn a king's wage. That had caught Shine by surprise, but years of experience had taught him that nothing ever came easy, especially the bigger the reward. "That depends. A king's wage is only as high as his standing and not all kings live in great palaces. It could be a number to let me live in peaceful retirement for the rest of my life or just barely enough to get me by." had been his silent pondering at the time. Still, it answered his need to get off his behind and fly, so he decided why the heck not? The Cat could always use more upgrades and he could always use the extra coin to buy, dunno, a place he could stay at whenever he stopped by.

The man told him if he wanted more info, he was to go to a certain place at a certain time, where he would be given the next step of the deal. The only thing he could tell him at this point was that it was for the right people, for the right cause and he wouldn't run into any heat from the proper authorities on the matter. The lack of information Shine wasn't happy about, so he told the man he wanted, at the very least, to know who was offering this job. The man hesitated for a moment, taking another glance around the room, before whispering to Shine. "Its for the Republic citizens." This caught Shine completely by surprise and he almost grabbed the man right then and there to demand what he meant by that.He didn't though and with a nod to the man, turned to leave. Before he could, the man had caught his sleeve and told him that this had to remain the utmost secret. He also asked him if he knew any others that might take this job, ones that could be trusted and had the skills to match. Shine stopped at the door as he pondered that....then told the man he would see him at the meeting.

A day and a half later, Shine headed to the meeting point, where he was surprised to only find a man standing there. The man asked for Shine's name and when Shine gave it to him, he checked his datapad once before nodding and handing him a number to call. The man then shooed him off, saying his job was done. Again, something Shine didn't like, but he left the man be. Whoever was setting this up was going to the extremes to avoid getting found out. And Shine was unsure if he wanted to find out why. He sat there in the Cat for about an hour pondering that, watching the datapad in front of him with the number and code set, just waiting for the confirmation. Finally, after weighing the pros and cons(and Vis checking to make sure his call was secure), he hit the send key and waited. Almost instantly, the face of a well groomed woman, along with a equally groomed man, filled the screen. The message was automated, designed to respond to the call and give the callers the exact same information as everyone else. Vis also detected that the video only played when the user spoke their name and sent that audio file to the same number. Keyed so that only those they requested can hear it. Not bad."

The woman spoke first, thanking whoever was on the other end for taking the time to make the call. But the time of pleasantries could wait. They had a deadline for this job and it was fast approaching. In short, it was a mission of relief and of mercy. But first, the woman decided to give him a little background information. The recording told Shine that a few days prior, a man had come before the senate requesting aid for his home world, the Sith occupied world of Jaemus. Information on the world would be given to them at a later time. The woman would not go into great detail about how the meeting had went and who was for what, but the final decision had been that no aid would be sent. It was too risky and in the long run, would end up a waste of the Republic's resources and time. It would be doomed to fail from the start. Heavy hearts had left that meeting, but not all of them deemed to simply accept that decision. Names would not be spoken, but a small group of senators had opted to find a solution to the problem and as such, why he was being contacted. The solution was to contact those that made a living getting in and out of places with, how should she put it, things that they didn't want found. Just because the planet was Sith owned didn't mean ships didn't come and go, with the exception of Republic craft. As such, the job was to meet at a location of their choosing, collect the supplies they would be delivering to those in need of them and then take those supplies to the planet in question and make sure they got to those who needed them, the people.

With that, the man took over. He couldn't have screamed military man any louder with his stance or in the way he spoke. He said that if the viewer of this agreed to the deal, they would be sent the data on where the meet was taking place, along with a series of files they believed would be useful for them to read. The deadline for arrival was three standard days from now, at least from when Shine viewed the message anyway. The price they would be paid was also included, something that prompted Shine to let out a long whistle. They weren't kidding around about how much they wanted this job done, not with the amount they were paying. That money was probably coming out of the good hearted senators pocket too, which made Shine chuckle. So there were still decent people in this galaxy after all. All that was left was to confirm whether he was in or out. It didn't take long for Shine to hit the confirm button once again, which brought the information they had promised to his data pad. Once again, the two on the call thanked him and the message abruptly ended.

Two days later, Shine found himself standing one of the great floating cities of Ithor. There were a few planets the Republic could have used as the supply station, but the Ithorians were peace lovers. Any deed that served to aid those in trouble sat well with them and thus, made it easier to use their planet as a kind of home base. They were supplying a large amount of the supplies as well, with the rest being given by a Republic supply ship the people in charge had borrowed. The trip had been easy enough and upon his arrival, he found he was not the first to arrive. In fact, he looked to be the last. He only briefly met with the other smugglers who had the balls to run this mission, for most of them were quickly getting final details settled and prepping their ships for the task at hand. He didn't know much about the one's called Melody Prance, Arc Laud or Cas Tarshann, maybe their names in passing when in a den of smuggler's and the like. Still, if they had come here to take this job, they probably had skills to match his own. Maybe better. Or they could be as foolish as he was, taking a job that could easily be his death warrant. But there were two people(three actually) there that he did know; one from some time ago and one.....one he had met on more than one occasion. He knew he had suggested Pak and the Bha'lir's as folks that would likely take the job, but he didn't think they would actually come. Nor did he think the one's who came from the Bha'lirs would be one's he knew.

Seeing Pak here surprised him a little, the man didn't strike him as one who would want to be on this sort of run. He was glad he was though; the man had skill in excess and if anyone could make this run, the Balosar could. He greeted the fellow captain with the respect he had for him, welcoming him as best he could. He only spoke with him a little before the newest arrival caught Shine completely by surprise....but one he welcomed. She may have been disguised a little, but Shine knew that ship. And the Nautolan that accompanied her. He was careful to approach them though, as he knew Athar wasn't exactly...fond of him. Still, he finally made contact, respectfully welcoming them to the planet and showcasing his surprise that they were there. Thinking back on it, he really shouldn't have been; Athar was part of the Bha'lir's, the group of smugglers that did acts for the common man. Why didn't he ever think to join that group he wondered. They seemed to be more in line with what he was feeling as of late.....but he would worry about that some other time. Like the others, he only spent a little time speaking to them, carefully dropping a hint to the woman(who he was sure was Sam), to contact him later if possible. And with that, he had time to think.

He still didn't know why he had taken this job truly. There were safer jobs out there that he could take to collect that amount of money, given a certain amount of time. It was actually Vis who came the closest to the mark about why; you can take the soldier away from the Republic, but you can't take the Republic away from the soldier. Or something like that anyway. Basically, Shine was a good hearted fellow; he didn't leave others to suffer if he could help it, he wasn't just out for his own skin all the time. And the words that Sam had given him before, about finding better jobs for better people...it had been nagging him. This was one of those jobs. For once, his smuggling skills would help people instead of making them suffer; an act that he found did his heart and mind good. Jeez, I must still be running off the feel good feeling I got from helping those people on Rodia. It might get me killed faster than by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A part of his mind, the part that held his Corellian blood and cockiness, realized this could be a good chance to put in brownie points with Sam and Athar, not only with his skills but with his devotion to the task at hand. The rest of his mind(and Vis for that matter) smacked the sense back into him though; this was a serious job and he wasn't going to botch it by showing off. Okay, maybe he could still do it and show off at the same time. It wasn't as if the two had never been related when it came to his people.

When the fourth day came, they were gathered briefly for a final quick reminder of what was to be done, what they might be facing and what was at stake. It made Shine feel like he was back home on Corellia, still flying in his little fighter for the military. It was a good feeling to have. The final plan for the mission was this. The craft would arrive shortly after one another, but approach as separately as they could make themselves. Ships flying in formation would attract attention and since they wanted it to look like a normal visit, they would have to fly on their own for the most part. The drop point was to be the main city of Jaetofella, to locations. Preferably, they were to land in the city, where a man would meet them to collect and move the supplies. The senators had managed to get people they could trust on planet, however they did that was not told to them. If they could get people on planet, how come they couldn't get the supplies....sigh. Then again, people were easier than a large amount of goods, so he just chalked it up to that. Those contacts had special code words that would indicate them as friends, as each of the smugglers had words to respond to those codes. Each smuggler had a different code and kept that code to themselves. Less chance of it getting leaked. Only after the codes were spoken were they to hand over the goods. Of course, the chance that they might not be able to land within the city was accounted for as well. If they were unable to do that, they were to fly to a location outside the city and drop the good there. The contacts knew the locations and would go to them when the heat was down. After the good were dropped, the smugglers were free to escape however they wished, but only after sending a confirmed code the contact would send them to the Republic, which would confirm they had done their job. Only then would they get paid.

With that, the smugglers were thanked again, wished good luck and "dismissed", more or less. The supplies were already on board when Shine got there and he had spent the better part of the day he was there planning just how they were going to get past the fleet that probably awaited them. It would be a trick, that was for sure. Shine was no leader, never had been, probably never would be. But he would be damned if he let those people suffer because he failed and he would be damned if he let his fellows die if he could help it. Especially regarding the one's he knew. Realizing he would have more time to figure this out during hyperspace, Shine had powered up the Cat, made sure everything was ready to go, then followed/flew alongside the other ships as they left and shot into the void.

And thus, where he currently found himself. Beeping from his console told him that the ship was coming up on its destination, prompting Shine to sit up and prepare to take manual control as soon as the white space around him became black again. The transition was smooth and his exit point put him a decent enough distance from the planet to allow the others time to arrive, as well as assess the situation before heading in. Nodding to Vis, who had clambered up to the cockpit chair beside him, he whistled at the task that awaited him.

"This is highly risky. The odds of us managing to get past that fleet with all these supplies is....."

"Vis, you know better. Never tell me the odds. It wouldn't matter if you did anyway; we're still gonna do this. Besides, we're carrying food, water and various other basic goods. Nothing illegal at all. Should at least get us onto the planet. You still have that code they gave you?"

"Yes, safely tucked away in my mind. So, we are to proceed in at intervals as to avoid raising suspicion?

"Yea, that's the plan. Let's just hope we don't have to fall back on Plan B. It's gonna make doing what needs to be done harder if we're dodging a Sith fleet trying to fry our butts. So just remember; play it cool Vis. Really...really....cool."

"That is not an issue for me. You, on the other hand, I fear may have to keep your cool in the long run."

"I always do. Sheesh, you make it sound like I panic at the first sign of trouble." Okay, so he was lying a little. He was a little nervous about all this. One slip, one mistake, one wrong turn and he was probably dead. Or someone else was dead. Maybe those people down there. This had to be done right. Beeping from his console indicated the arrival of the other ships, spread out a fair enough distance from one another as they exited hyperspace. Now the only thing left to do was head on in.....and pray for a little luck.

"This is Shine, Cat reads good arrival. I'm coming in at 175, bringing my speed up to normal approach speeds. Should make it seem like everything's chipper to them. I'll approach on the vector I'm sending now, so give me some breathing room guys. And I know this may sound corny but....may the Force and the lady luck go with us." Quietly, he sent a message to Sam all on its own as well. =Nice to see you again. We really need to stop meeting under stressful situations. Leaves no time for talking and relaxing and getting to know one another, you know? Anyway, good luck and be safe. I've got your back.=

Vis sent a follow up response to Shine's message, albeit discretely as well.=Don't mind his words. His flirting words are masking his own nervousness. He is truly focused on the task at hand, of that I am sure. Be well Ms Sam.= The message was sent and marked with his name at the bottom. Shine had introduced them on Ithor so hopefully she would remember who he was.

Unaware of that, Shine had shaken off his worry for the most part abd focused on the task at hand. He would have been the first one in, but someone took the lead instead of him, so he focused on instead coming in at his own unique time. No pressure; it was like flying to Coruscant. Just with less ships and nothing but enemies waiting to blast you out of the air. No pressure at all.