Fiberglass Cuirass and Other Paraphernalia

[Moonfire]

The door gave a soft wooshing noise quickly drowned out by the teeming city sounds of the Smuggler's Moon. Alive in the perpetual night the streets were filled to the brim with all sorts of unsavory and adventurous characters. Monstrous looking aliens and intimidating men and women swelled in the jewel of Hutt Space, rushing back and forth for the next gig, the next hit, the next beer. But Diva Liliwen Veline had no such interest in these things.

The tall, svelte form shifted in, very nearly surprised as the door wooshed closed behind her. Did everything here have to move automatically? What happened to door that you just pushed open or close? Though she'd lived a galactic life she'd lived a quieter, softer version. Closed doors in the outskirts of the worlds, or shut up in plain motels until the hit was taken and they moved on to some other rural, comfortable world. Gordon never did care for cities, but now he was gone. And Diva, a curious peculiar girl had to fend for herself now. She wasn't exactly educated, or especially talented nor skilled. But she had a pair of blasters and a good deal of credits left from Gordon's last bounty.

Now to just become a bounty hunter in her own right, that'd be easy right? Diva was a crackshot, she'd done rather well in the basic training the gruff old man had given her. Couldn't be that difficult could it?

Sure the simple voyage from Nal Hutta to Nar Shaddaa had been rather... bumpy. It'd taken three tries to get on the ship with her speederbike and bag of meager possessions and three hasty explanations as the ships captain tossed her off before someone explained the whole ticket purchasing procedure to her. But she'd made it! The green locked girl had even managed to make the journey from the space port to the first recommended armour supply and repair shop without any sort of trouble from the locals or the rusty bucket of bolts she called a speederbike.

The Duro at the counter hardly looked up as the dark clothed and barefooted young woman slipped in, wrist deep in the gutted out power armour before him. He rumbled in a dottering, husky language, familiar yet incomprehensible.

"Pardon?" She asked, voice monotone yet pleasant, slipping the dark hood from her face as the girl stepped into the dim yellow shop light, casting a vaguely greenish glow all her own faint in the light.

Slowly the shopkeeper rumbled again, enunciating slowly for the newbie spacer. A courtesy the young woman couldn't appreciate.

"I'm sorry, sir. I only speak Basic. I was hoping to purchase some armour." Her hands fished through the simple bag over her shoulder, producing a rather reasonable amount of cash. "This is all my money. I'd like whatever you think would be fitting for a bounty hunter for this amount." A sweet, trusting smile punctuating this statement.

See? Easy.

[Stephen]

“So this is it” sighed Janus, thinking to himself, “Another gun run to Nar Shaddaa.” Janus was dragging his heels, happily drifting lazily into dock. His hand flicked the back lighting on the panels off and on absently with rhythmic clicks. TI – 88 round head spun lazily, Janus's datapad slid from the center slowly to the outer rim. Janus caught it as it fell, leaping to his feet. He strapped his belt holster on and shrugged his vest straight. The wayward light shuddered as it landed. Janus strode down the boarding ramp as it slid down, touching ground as it did.

Loading droids busily moved plasteel cargo containers from his ship to lift pallets, Janus weaved through the bustle, head slightly ducked and arms huddled to his core. He darted across a pedestrian thoroughfare and stood marveling at the ruined corpse of speeder bike. He stared at the thick covering of dirt on every surface save the seat and handlebars. “God, some brave soul drives this thing” he said out loud. He shook his head and walked through the automatic doors.

The store had the dusty blue glow of inadequate lighting smelled liked dried oils and infrequent cleaning. Jerub sat behind the counter, staring at a modest horde of credits piled before him. A confident looking slyph stood at the counter back to Janus. Janus strode up to the counter

“Damn Jerub, you find someone to sell your shop to?” He said handing his datapad across the counter to Jerub.

“Don't you dare ruin this for me” He growled back in his native tongue.

“Ruin what?” Janus said, ignoring his scowl

“Just shut up and leave.” He pressed his palm into the datapad, and the screen blinked green a half second. “You've been paid, now leave.”

“What if I want to shop? Surely I can buy whatever she doesn't.” He glanced again at the pile of currency. There had to be near a thousand if there was a single credit

“You aren't welcome here anymore Janus.” He snapped finally in basic.

“Oh shut up Jerub and deal with your customer.” Janus leaned against an aged armor display, “I'm not rude enough to cut in line. He turned his head to the lady “My apologies ma'am.”

[Moonfire]

Yes. Things were going well. The shopkeeper after being presented with what she hoped was an adequate amount of money changed completely in demeanor. His face seemed to glow and his lips turned up in a smile as he looked over the comical pile of currency.

"This is adequate, yes? If not what else are my options? I have several blasters of varying age and if need be I could trade them for credit towards the armour. I only need one gun to be a bounty hunter, right?" Her voice still carried the same queer, monotone, but came in a quick clip. Jerub's red, google like eyes sparkled as he started to yank him arm out of the power armour carcass just as the door behind the girl wooshed back open.

Diva looked up and away from the extremely happy shopkeeper, whose expression turned dark and angry as the new-comer, a human man made commentary about her intentions.

"I have no intention of buying the shop, I am not sure how to run a shop. Is it anything like being a bounty hunter?" She asked, face twisting visibly in confusion as the two men seemed to argue, only able to understand half the conversation.

"I do not wish to buy the whole store. I just would like some sort of armour that would be fitting of a bounty hunter." The girl's eyes flicked up to Janus, green-hued eyebrows knit together as she tried to puzzle out what was going on. His face was easier to understand that the Duros, familiar in humanoid way, the eyes clear and the stubbled face conveyed expressions that were understandable. Was he amused? What could possibly be amusing about this conversation?

"I am sorry, perhaps I am misunderstanding. I would just like to buy armour that would be appropriate for a bounty hunter. This is all of my money, will it be sufficient?"

[Stephen]

“Running a shop on Nar Shadda is a bit like being a bounty hunter, except you can't chase your target further than the end of the street.” Janus said with chuckle.

He walked a small circle around the shop. It was lined with stock armor, mostly. Useful for a defense force, but unsuited to the every day tests of bounty hunting. Bounty hunting required full kits, armor, armament, a good h.u.d. readout with a decent helmet VI, all of which Jerub didn't have on the sales floor. Janus was certainly delivering it, but it hardly helped her now.

Janus waved his hand indecisively at the final question, “Well it could be, but not in-shop per say. If you want proper bounty hunter armor, you need to get a hold of a distributor.” He smiled twisting his wrist so that his hand accented his face. “You see, manufacturers from the core worlds always tack on 10% more to shipments out of republic space.” He continued, his eyes growing bright. “You can't trust the longer trips and the unknown dock workers to be easy on the equipment, so you have to send more to meet demands. Usually you can sell leftovers back to the manufacturer at a cut rate if you keep careful care of merchandise, but sometimes you end up in scenarios where your contract ends at the end of a shipment, and you have some show pieces lying around.” His eyes darted around the room in mock conspiratorial motions. “That's when you strike, and get your gear for lower than the store even pays sometimes.”

Jerub, red faced and angry, stood frozen in the middle of counting credits. He stared at Janus an angry moment before launching into a tirade of angry curses in his native tongue.

Janus turned toward the shopkeep, fake shock on his face, “Why Jerub, I don't even know what those words mean!” He lied, with his open hand pressed against his collarbone.

“You don't listen to that man,” Jerub yelled finally, in basic “He's a murder and he eats people's pets. You come over here and Jerub will show you the good stuff.” He shuffled nervously to the back of his shop. “You cannot trust him, he is from Nar Shaddaa. He will eat your soul.”

“Jerub, you take that back right now.” Janus continued, mock offended. “We both know that no one is really from Nar Shaddaa.”

“You no trust him.” He continued to chant, looking more and more confused. “He is a bad man.”

“Speaking of bad men,” Janus interjected, “You might want to glance at that money on the counter, the pile looks smaller than it did a few moments ago.”

[Moonfire]

"My target?" Diva echoed looking around the shop. What a perplexing thing to say. Why would a shop owner chase someone out into the street? Further more what sort of 'targets' would a shop owner have? Were shop owners charged with capturing criminals as well? Was there some sort of public bounty system here on the Smuggler's Moon that employed a variety of shopkeepers to keep the peace. Maybe they even had a list of bounties in the shop somewhere? She'd have to inquire on that later.

The human male though continued to speak, his eyes had a strange glint in them, his hands moved with his words, emphasizing his points as he rattled off how one went about getting the best deal. If Diva had been a more savvy young lady perhaps she would have caught onto his suggestion, but unfortunately for the both of them this simply confused her more.

"So in order to get what I am looking for I need to find a distributor with excess product? Woul-" As the question was half formed the Duro had turned a rather peculiar shade of red considering his naturally green coloring, shouting loudly.

The lithesome girl flinched as the man raised his voice, visibly shrinking away from the yelling shopkeeper. The human though looked positively scandalized by whatever the screeching alien had said before admitting he wasn't sure what manner of foul things Jerub could be saying to him.

“You don't listen to that man. He's a murder and he eats people's pets. You come over here and Jerub will show you the good stuff.” The shopkeeper said, his voice dropping as though worried he'd frightened the faintly glowing young lady.

"He eats pets?" Diva repeated, looking back over the Janus. "Why would you eat someones pet?"

But Jerub was demanding her attention again, trying to show her whatever poorly held together scrap her had there in the back of the shop as he accused Janus of not only being capable of eating souls, being untrustworthy, but also not being native to Nar Shaddaa.

"Are you not from Nar Shaddaa?" Diva asked the shopkeeper before turning back, brow wrinkled in confusion as Janus reminded her that perhaps she'd best check over her credits again.

"I'm sorry, this is just, ummm.. I am terribly confused and where is money?" Her voice kicked up an octave, head spinning with all the information going back and forth between the two accusatory men. "Maybe I have come to the wrong place, is this a bad place to get armour, where should I go instead? I just need to be a bounty hunter and I don't understand why you eat pets that seems very strange, and how does someone eat a soul? I thought they were intangible. Can I have my money back, please? I don't give you the money until after I have received my goods, yes?"

[Stephen]

It was like watching a holo vid documentary on paralopes when you were a kid, only in real life. As a fawn would get separated from the herd and lost, you would scream at the veiwscreen “No, go that way!”. You watch on in growing horror as it walks further and further until it finds a small pond to drink at. Suddenly the camera cuts away to a pair of sand panthers creeping up through the brush toward it and the narrator and camera man are stoic as the they talk about the cycle of life and how you should never interfere with nature. But you as child are screaming and sobbing, hoping the man in the landspeeder honks or yells or something. And of course, the panthers kill the paralope and drags her into a tree and you are changed forever, probably for the worse. Well here was a new paralope all velvet horns and knobby knees, on a planet filled to the brim with panthers.

“I, ughh” Janus stammered. “Let's worry about the pets question later.” He tipped his datapad toward the counter and said. “Datapad, be a dear and tell me how much money is on that desk.” A pair of blue lines extended from the lens on the back of the datapad and moved slowly over the pile of money on the desk. “Of course Janus, one second. Okay, that looks like 972 credits.” The datapad quickly replied, turning off it's holo lens. “Thank you.” He said quietly, slipping into his vest. He turned back toward the confused lady, “Does that seem correct to you?”

Jarut starting swearing again, this time more forcefully at Janus. He walked back up to the counter and started throwing paper weights at him, small stacks of receipts swirling in the eddies of swift movement. The first one caught Janus square in shoulder, winning a quick wince. The second weight he ducked, and it crashed into a display, tipping a bone white plastic torso face first on to the ground, clunky armor and all.

“What the hell is wrong with you Jarut?” He said, right hand cocked to guard his face. A full glass of coffee zipped past, wide right, and smashed into fragments and brown liquid against the door.

“Leave my store evil man!” He yelled, searching for more ammunition. “You are no longer welcome here.”

Janus put both hands in front of him, palms forward and took another step back. “Look” He said to the woman, “I'm not sure you understood, but I am the distributor in my story earlier, and I don't have any pets to eat.” He took more steps backward toward the door as he spoke. “I am not sure you should shop here.” This shop or this moon He added silently.

[Moonfire]

“Of course Janus, one second. Okay, that looks like 972 credits.” The datapad sang out musically as the Duros shifted from red to an even nastier shade of magenta. Diva's green eyes flicked back towards the exit as the situation escalated, her hand hovering over the blaster in her hand as she watched Jerub-- or was it Jarut(?) began to scream, tossing pottery, papers fluttering like accountant confetti in the air about them as the two.

“Does that seem correct to you?” He'd asked before ducking to avoid the pot full of strong smelling dark liquid. Back nearly pressed against the door Diva weighed her options. She could leave now and avoid whatever bodily harm these two intended for one another, and probably lose every credit she had in the process.

No. No, she needed that money. Bessie wasn't going to last much longer out here and she needed that armour. She had contracts already lined up under Gordon's old alias, there was no avoiding this.

In a smooth single motion Diva withdrew her pistol, firing a single round up and into the ceiling of the shop, burning a small coin sized hole into it before brandishing the weapon too the shopkeeper.

"Nine hundred and seventy-two credits is not the amount I had when I walked in. If you have misplaced my credits please return them now and I will be taking my business elsewhere, thank you very much." Her voice maintained its very reasonable, monotone politeness as she spoke, head tilted to the side as she stepped forward, the bare tips of her toes brushing the smooth metal as she approached the counter, opening her pack to scoop the money back in.

"Also, you should treat your customers and distributors better because its not very polite to take money before goods have been exchanged. Unless that's the custom here." Diva turned back to Janus, green braid flopping with the movement. "That's not the custom here, right?"

[Stephen]

There is something strangely compelling about someone talking in a pleasant, but full voiced timbre politely demanding etiquette at gunpoint. Janus' hands, already outstretched raised to shoulder height. He smiled, “Jarub surely you are aware that when people buying armor, they are clearly willing to go the extra mile to get things right.” Janus stretched his neck, tapping his ears to their respective shoulders and letting go of his tight hold on the force. As amusing as he found this scenario right now, it could get much worse in a hurry. Especially if she wavered. Or thought Janus in on whatever this was.

Jerub's hands were also high in the air, like he knew the answer to two separate questions in class and was too excited to not share. He blurted out “I think it fell on the ground behind the counter! I can see a bit of money underneath a book on the ground.” Words tumbled out, tripping over each other and landing in one long pile. “I can get it.” he stammered “I can get it if you want. Just don't.” He took a few quick breaths and calmed himself, his eyes turning to slits.

“Alright kid, you're up.” Janus interjected. “You've deduced that you've been cheated and gained the upper hand.” he paused a moment, “Well done by the way, but now what is your next play? Is this a robbery now, or just you reclaiming what is yours?” Janus eyed Jerub shifting slightly to the left centimeter by centimeter. “I'd say you've got probably” His eyes squinted a moment, the taste of coming violence rising in the back of his throat. “Uhh, 20 some odd seconds to choose.”

[Moonfire]

Diva watched Janus for a long moment as he spoke, green eyes glassy as she appraised the man. The human was by all accounts accommodating, helpful even thus far. He had a penchant for saying things in a not particularly clear way, but that might be a cultural thing. Everyone on Nar Shaddaa was less than concise and seemed to go out of their way to be confusing. Terribly inconvenient. But at least he seemed somewhat capable, checking how much of her money had gone missing and even suggesting she might do something about it, hands held up despite her not quite considering him a threat nor having the weapon brandished in her direction.

As the Duros she was calmly threatening gathered himself Diva gave a nod to Janus, smiling pleasantly "If this merchant is not one I should use and you are the distributor from the story would you be willing to help me acquire the armour I require? I am told Nar Shaddaa is a dangerous place and it would be unwise for me to wander around unprotected."

"I think it fell on the ground behind the counter! I can see a bit of money underneath a book on the ground. I can get it. I can get it if you want."

The long shoulder length braid flopped dramatically as the young woman whipped back to face the stuttering Duros. The pistol remained still, following him slowly as she beamed with delight. "Oh, that is good. This seems to have all been a misunderstanding then. If you could just get the 50 credits you dropped for me I would greatly appreciate it."

Her gun lowered slightly, shoulder relaxed as she turned back to Janus, the pistol only vaguely in Jerub's direction as she took him the human's warning.

"A robbery? Oh, no. Thats horrid." Diva all but sputtered, taken aback. "I am not a thief, what an awful thing to say, I have no intention of stealing anything from this merchant I would just like to--"

PEW PEW PEW The first shot missed her completely, the second missing her face and singeing the hood of her coat as she turned just in time to see a last round just barely graze her face, leaving a stinging blaster burn across her high, rounded cheekbone.

Diving down behind one of the shop's displays Diva narrowly missed two more shots. Another hand smacked against the pistol as she raised it quickly, taking aim of the unintelligibly screaming Duros firing rounds indiscriminately before giving a couple twitchy squeezes of the trigger.

Jerub stumbled backwards behind the display, his own gun clattering to the ground as Diva let out the breath she'd been holding, gasping loudly as she shook. No one had ever shot her before. Well... Gordon had, but that was different, his was set to stun. The blaster burn on her face stung as she wrapped her arms about her shoulders, willing the damnable shakes away as she took in a few gasping breaths.

Huddled up in the fetal position Diva tried to calm herself before looking over at Janus with a serious expression. "I-I do not li-like this place. I w-will not be procuring anything from this establishment again."

[Stephen]

“Oh for fu” Gunfire cut off Janus and he dove to the ground. The two traded bolts, no more than five feet between them. Janus spun back to his feet, his blaster in his hands, held low. Both combatants lay on the ground writhing. He walked up to the woman on the ground. A nasty burn ran down the side of her head, hair trigger reflex seemingly saved her from the worst. She spoke shakily, but seemed mostly aware. Best leave her for now, work to do. Jerub looked much worse for wear. His shaky hands trembled over ragged black holes in his chest. Janus was no doctor, but he assumed the worst.

Janus gently lifted Jerub in the air, and he drifted slowly through the air to lay in the center of the room. Armor stands and shelves righted themselves silently as Janus walked slowly behind the counter. Errant money and scattered receipts rose from the floor and stacked themselves neatly on the counter top. A datapad flew to Janus left hand, resting a few inches above. A few flicks of his wrist navigated him through his finances. No. No No. No. Wait there it is A monthly payment to an exchange security group. Janus frowned and ducked his head below the counter. A tiny panic button sat upside down on the first shelf. Janus frowned further.

He jerked his hands forwards and twin security cameras pulled free of the wall. Small clouds of plaster coughed out as the wire tore out, leading twin lines leading to a thermostat on the wall. Four screws whined as they twisted themselves free. The face plate clattered to the floor, revealing as small security console. Janus twitched his fingers as the memory card slid out with a muffled click and obediently slid into his vest pocket. Both camera's clattered to the ground as Janus shot the console twice. He turned sideways and fired a few more shots into the back room furniture. The dry sofa burst into burst into flame.

Janus quickly grabbed the money off of the counter and strode to the woman on the ground, putting on the ground next to her. “We have about a minute and a half before a Exchange security lands and we need to be long gone for that” He glanced at the paper weight that hit him next to her on the ground and scooped it into his vest. “Decide what you are doing with him and let's go” He nodded his head toward Jerub as he extended his hand to her.

[Moonfire]

Diva was vaguely aware of the human male moving about in her periphery, hands still clung to her knees as her breathing slowed with every nervous, though unintelligible word. Rustling sounds filtered through her mumbling as Janus investigated the severity of their, well... in reality her, situation. The soft groans of the Duros just barely registered. She hadn't killed him, though if her aim hit true he didn't have much time left. The gurgle of blood filling his lungs seemed to agree with that assessment.

Floating through the air the credits in question appeared and stacked themselves nice and orderly beside her before Jerub himself, cradled by the Force, gently settled in the center of the room, moaning weakly upon impact.

Eyes flicked up to Janus as he went about, ripping at wires in the walls as Diva took another deep breath, scooting across the floor towards the dying Duros.

"I wish you had not shot at me," the girl murmured, leaning over him, goggle-like eyes bulging as they peered up at her. "I only wanted my money back, if you had not shot at me I would not have had to shoot you. May I examine your wounds?"

Jerub was like an reasonable sentient not thrilled by the idea of letting the queer young woman who had inflicted the wounds to look them over, but was unable to protest outside of sputtering more greenish blood onto his chest.

Expression neutral the girls hands went to work, fingers working their way over the scorched holes in his chest. The raggedy sound of his breathing and the way the green oozed freely, burning sickly from his chest confirmed her earlier conclusion.

"You are going to die." Her voice was soft as the slim hands withdrew, twitchy and awkward as her own eyes fell to look at his chest. She hadn't come here with the intention of hurting anyone, such a regrettable turn of events. "Gordon told me if you're going to pull the trigger you must be prepared for whatever is on the other end to die. I am sorry. Would you have been sorry if I was the one dying?"

The bulging red eyes, the sputtering breathing all told her, no. Right about now he would not have regretted blasting a hole in her pretty little skull. Scooting away Diva looked up to find Janus looming over her, the crackle of a blaze starting and the flashing of its light flickered behind him, casting shadows across her faintly glowing face.

“We have about a minute and a half before a Exchange security lands and we need to be long gone for that. Decide what you are doing with him and let's go” Janus said, hand outstretched.

Rather than take his hand she turned back to Jerub. He was right, there was no time for this. Hopping up unassisted the girl scrambled for her pistol, whispering a last apology before the final bolt blasted between the Duros' eyes.

"Let's go."

[Stephen]

Janus watch her grim work silently his eyes soft, unquestioning. He slid his blaster back into his holster and clicked the button on the top closes. He spared a glance to the back of the room. The fire was spreading quickly in the old shop, leaping from dry wooden displays to musty fabric displays. He turned on his heel and walked calmly out, silent as a mausoleum.

The cool air of the street helped wake Janus from his reverence, and he glanced around. A sparse few on the street and no one seemed to spare them a glance. Good so far he thought to himself. “If you are taking that with us” he said, pointing at the speeder. “Best fire it up. I'm parked at the pad just out back.” He jogged around the corner of the building and edged past a man coming up the alley.

“Oi! You nearly ran into me there.” He said making exaggerated hand motions.

“Sorry man, I...” Janus trailed off, his head down. He kept walking

“Where you going in such a hurry!” He yelled down the alley turning to follow.

Janus spun and bore down on his pursuer. The force poured out of his mouth, like an angry cloud, “ Turn around, go home and shut the hell up. ” He stared at Janus a moment, unable to open his mouth, before turning and hurrying off. Janus took his hand off his holster and sprinted toward his ship.

“Tee Eye, Get the engine running, we have to get star side right now.” He shouted into his com as he closed on his ship. The brown and grey loading ramp fell slowly ahead of him, and his feet touched it before it hit the ground. He weaved down the rounded halls of his ship to the captains chair. It spun as he landed in it, and he stopped it facing forward. “There's a woman behind me with a speeder.” He paused a moment, thinking “Possibly with a speeder, when she's on board close the ramp.” Janus waited, hand on the throttle like a trigger.

[Moonfire]

The woosh of the door still caused the young woman to jump in surprise as it slipped closed behind her, the crackling blaze of the shop quickly silenced by the sliding of the metal. Damn this place. Damn these people with their confusing customs and surprising doors. She should have gone back to Dantooine.

"What do we do?" Diva asked turning back to Janus as he surveyed the scene, awaiting instruction. He knew what was going on, he knew the response timing of Exchange security and was willing to point out that she was being played by the shopkeeper. So far, out of all the people she'd encountered in the week since her mentor's death, this human had been the most trustworthy. That fact was only slightly terrifying.

Grass colored eyes watched his face for the long moment as a knot settled in her stomach, gripped by the sudden realization that perhaps, just perhaps he wasn't going to continue helping her. She'd just murdered someone through what was really just a series of horrible misunderstandings and for the most part he was a bystander whose help could have simply been in an effort to cover his own tracks and not be connected to the idiot who killed a shopkeeper over 50 credits.

“If you are taking that with us, best fire it up. I'm parked at the pad just out back.” Janus' words instantly soothed her fears. Giving a decisive nod the girl moved with startling quickness onto the bike, kicking the pedal as it rumbled discontentedly beneath her.

Ker-ker-ker-kluuuunnkkk! It sputtered causing Diva to groan in frustration. "Come on, Bessie. Come on, girl." Bare foot kicked down hard at the clutch, causing her to wince as she twisted the handles again, feeling the ancient speeder rumble beneath her. Only forty-five seconds left.

KE-CHHH-KER-KER-KERKEEEERRRRRRRRRR "Please. This would be a very inconvenient time for you to die right now, Bessie. Please." Forty-four, forty-three, forty-two. KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

With a final shuddering jerk Bessie roared to life, hovering forward as the girl zipped down into the alley way in pursuit of the human.

The pad held only one ship, the hatch down and the engines running. Taking it as her opening Diva drove, slowing as they made it just up the ramp as the hatch closed behind her automatically. The cargo bay was mostly empty save various debris and scattered refuse in the corners, Janus' latest shipment no doubt burning inside the shop. With a last sputtering gasp the speeder died off as the ship roared up, blasting as its Captain so charmingly put it, starside.

Hopping up from her seat the girl winced as the bare toes of her foot touched the cool metal flooring. A quick glance down showed that she hadn't injured it much, no real bruise forming yet, but it'd probably be a bit tender for the rest of the day. The debris scattered some with the movement of the ship and Diva worked her way slowly towards the cockpit, following the winding corridors past the small quarters and too the pilot's chair.

"Janus?" She asked, turning the corner, bag still slung over her shoulder. "That is your name right? The datapad called you that and so did the shopkeeper I think but that could simply be a nickname and I would hate to presume since we did not make introductions but at this point proper introductions seem silly. Though this may be a silly question, but may I ask why you know the response time of the security officers on Nar Shaddaa? Unless that is common knowledge, at which point you may disregard that. Do you actually eat pets? Why were you pulling wires out of the walls back and there and I guess most importantly, why exactly are you helping me?"

[Stephen]

“Those aren't security officers, ah Ma'am.” He paused a moment, unsure of her name, “Those were exchange.” He felt the momentary drag of inertial dampeners kick in. The sky out still showed the artificial lights of Nar Shaddaa “The Exchange handles just under 40% of organized crime in the known galaxy, so if you are dead set on bounty hunting, you best brush up on your basics with them.” He gestured to the empty copilot's chair with an inviting hand.

“Now you might be wondering why the Hutt Cartels have allowed the exchange to set up on their very door step.” He paused, looking at her a long moment, quixotically. “Or you might not. You might be wondering if Nar Shaddaa has a bug problem, Which it does. Roaches chew through the insulation of cables, please report any sightings to a local security officer if you ever go back.” He glanced over to see if his joke had landed.

“But that sector of Nar Shadaa that we were in is the Correlian sector and a lot of us live there. We just happened to bring the exchange with us, like Nerf-pox. And to answer your question, the reason I know exchange response times is the same reason I knew how to dismantle a visual security system. I was trained to do so.” It was a simple answer, complete and concise. Not terribly helpful, but had the added benefit of being true. He couldn't look at her while saying it however, so he pivoted his chair forward and fiddled with the controls.

Janus rolled his eyes up a moment, trying to remember the questions she asked. “Oh right,” he continued, “I don't eat pets, unless a rancher's child named a few nerf here and there.” He squinted a moment and pressed a red button near his knee. “Tee Eye, could you bring me something to eat, and perhaps if you aren't too bothered a drink?” He glanced back to her, “My name is in fact Janus. Janus Yarloc to be proper. Pleased to meet you.”

He bowed his head and leaned back heavily into his chair. The light of Nar Shaddaa had given out to blackness of space, leaving a glowing ambiance to the room“Forgive me if this sounds rude, but I'm unsure of your race. A bit forward I know but do you do food?” He winced at the wording, “Which is to say, have you eaten and can you eat human food?” He pressed the button again, “Tee Eye, a menu as well, if you would be so kind.” He leaned forward in a quick jerk, glancing at the panels in front of him. Something in this room was glowing, which meant an emergency light was on. Janus started his mental system check. Power: Check, Life Support: Check, Fuel : 96% and holding, Gravity : Check. He flicked his shields on and was awarded with a light blue haze outside the forward viewing screen for a half second : Check. He twitched turrets and they responded, first port, then starboard: Check.


He stared at the console confused “As to why I helped you, would you believe that it seemed the right thing to do? Ah! The navicomputer needs... wait no, it's fine.” He glanced around flicking switches back and forth, “Do me a favor” he said, still facing forward “Tell me if you can find the light that's on in here? It should be darker than this.”

[Moonfire]

Exchange. Hutt Cartels. Roaches.

Diva nodded her head in a few quick, jerky motions. Crime syndicates and the major political forces in this side of space. Her old mentor had spoken of them occasionally. Gordon had taken a few jobs from the Exchange if she recalled correctly though he primarily dealt in bounties for the Cartel. For all the combat knowledge the old man had tried to pass down to his adoptive daughter, he’d shielded her from much of the practical applications, like where one got bounties and how to turn them in.

As for roaches. Well, Diva hadn't seen anything quite like that yet, but Stars-and-Void, she hoped none had gotten on the ship. Nodding along she tried very hard to simply listen as the strange man spoke in quick, hearty snaps answering her rapidfire questions one at a time.

His name was Janus Yarloc. He did not eat pets. He was, from casual observance, human and probably Corellian. His demeanor easy-going despite watching her end a man’s life and having to clean up the ensuing mess. Standing still in the back of the cockpit her hands wrung together end over end as she considered his own questions.

“It is very nice to make your acquaintance, Janus Yarloc. My name is Diva Liliwen Veline.” She shifted some, boldly exploring the various paneling and instruments of the cockpits, all lights and foreign symbols as she spoke. Perking up she looked at him, freckled cheeks bursting into a smile. “I am very fond of food, I have had no issues with human cuisines in the past save a sensitivity to fungus and select citrus fruits. My favorite is Tyonese spiced nerfpatties.”

His rapidfire requests to what she assumed to be an extension of whatever program he had on his datapad gave her more time to absorb the facets of his ship-- It was far newer than anything Gordon had rented over the years, more compact that the occasional transporter they’d used to move from one planet to another. It felt… almost homey in it's way. She wondered briefly if he had a crew.

Perking up at his request, Diva tucked a lock of hair behind her horns, fingers moving to scan the edges of the doorway for some obvious lightswitch. Squinting in the darkness she puzzled this before calling back. “I’m sorry, I can't seem to locate any switches over here... Or any light sour-- Oh, wait.” Her head whipped around to face him. “Is it me?”

She pat herself down gently, the small bits of exposed skin-- her hands, her face, her bare feet giving off a now strongly noticeable luminescence in the blackness of space amongst the flickering warning lights and instrument panels. “I’m sorry, if it is distracting to you I can leave while you are trying to fly?”

[Stephen]

Huh, the name Diva didn't make any sense. “Diva is a Correllian title of sorts. Like an extremely prideful Holostar or some such” He said it, halfway between an accusation and an explanation. She seemed the exact opposite of a diva. She might be able to sing, that still had yet to be tested, but other than that it seemed odd. Still she was hardly a sith with their on the damn nose naming conventions. Janus was still waiting for the inevitable coronation of Darth Meanus The Vile. But outside of those wack jobs names really didn't matter.

“Yeah, just shout at Tee Eye when you want to eat and he'll hook you up with whatever we have available. We got some type of spiced nerf patties. If the synth can't mess with them I'll give it a go.” Janus could cook as well as someone who was often bored with a ship pantry built for 6 people. I was easy to experiment with cooking when you could fall back on the synthesizer when you screw the pooch and leave Tee Eye to clean the dishes.

He didn't understand her next comment at all. How it could she be the warning light in the ship. Was this some embarrassing metaphor for her being dangerous? He just saw her ventilate a guy for a theft petty enough not land you jail time in Correllia. He met drug barons that didn't bother with murder for anything less than a ship. Still, the greasy bastard had it coming. It was one thing to steal a five piece from some stray cupcake that wandered into your shop looking for a Ice cream and a soda. It was another thing to steal from a woman who was both so far out of her element as to be actively standing out in a moon packed chest high in outcasts and weirdos carrying two quick draw blasters an actively looking for murder paraphernalia. He finally settled on a confused “What” as a response as he spun his chair toward her

“Oh shit.” he said looking at her literal golden radiance. “Yeah, that'd be it.” He smirked. A glowing soon to be bounty hunter was miles ahead of a soon to explode ship. It was easily the strangest thing he'd seen all day. I mean people ate shit for foolish behavior every minute on Nar Shadda. It was practically the national sport, but rarely did one hand out indiscriminate justice after eating a bank of florescent lights.

“Nah, you fine.” now that he could tell where the light was coming from he had no trouble with The Wayward Light. “Although if you want food you'll have to follow the astromech, or ask MoBIVA to light the floor panels on the way. She's the ship's A.I” He had no idea where he was going to take her, but another landing pad on Nar Shaddaa would have to do for now. “We can sort out your discount armor later on. We got a spare room to bunk in if you need a place to rest. Just shout if you need anything” Janus had room and food to spare, so at this moment charity came easy to him. Things with the Exchange tending to escalate quickly however, so for now he'd keep his head down just in case their investigation was anything more than a casual toe poke through the burnt out husk of Jarub's shop. He still had the data from the security system and the girl as chips to play if he needed to. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

[Moonfire]

Diva, for that most certainly was her name and not a self-imposed starlet title, pouted some as she stood self-conscious and fidgety in the doorway of his ship. Her hands groped for her pockets, tucking the glowing flesh once more into hiding, though doing little to diminish the way she illuminated the small darkened room. Gnawing at her lower lip for a moment the woman tucked a lock of green hair behind her horns before saying. “You don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to. Gordon called me Lili…” She paused for a moment, releasing her lip from the chew of her teeth. “I don’t think he liked the name Diva much either.”

Shrugging off the weirdness of trying to apologize for her name the young woman shifted more, watching Janus closely. He had, for all intents and purposes, saved her from what could have been a very messy end. Either being swindled by that merchant, or worse yet, captured by exchange security forces. No matter how things had played out, the queer man offering to cook her dinner if his synth couldn’t had shown her a great kindness. She simply didn’t know how to act.

“I’m not terribly hungry. I think I’m going to rest for a little bit.” She said quietly, hands slipping back up out of her jacket pockets to pull the strap of her shoulder bag up higher. “Thank you very much for your hospitality, Janus.” She tipped her head in a half bow that came cross more like a bob. A with a few quick steps, following the little astromech droid a couple paces before it veered off for the galley and her towards the spare room. Easing herself onto the bed in a curl of long legs and a wince of pain from the blaster burn at her cheek Diva stared at riveted metal of the wall paneling.

This was all so much more complicated than she’d expected.