Infected

[The Conman]

Donnie shouldered her duffel with a groan.She was bound for Alderaan. She'd parted ways from Var, her cream-colored adopted sister, on Tatooine. Donnie left her The Bucket, the ship she'd been on for the past few weeks, hunting Sith Artifacts. However, as with all good things, the party had ended. Doneeda had decided to take her leave, and part ways with her friends.

The Twi'lek had drifted for a month or so, from Tatooine, back to Corellia. There she toyed with the idea of seeing her “Parents”, the Human couple who'd adopted her, but Donnie wasn't ready for that quite yet. So she left, headed for Courscant. Her stay there was less than fruitful, and Donnie left, headed for Alderan. She'd heard about an opportunity there for some work. Some of her kind of work.

Doneeda, wasn't a bad person, perse. It was more that she wasn't exactly a good person either. She'd never held down a job, and had more luck as a smuggler or , more precisely, a mechanic. She'd worked with the Sith previously, but that turned out to be a bust. The job on Alderan seemed legit, a shop that specialized in swoop repair was looking for somebody. She intended to be that somebody.

The tall twi'lek looked at the schedule, there was a freighter, a small one, on it's way to Alderan. Getting passage on freighters was cheaper, and usually far faster, than taking a liner. No stops, one straight shot. Donnie liked that.

After about 10 minutes of walking around the spaceport, she stumbled upon the bay. 23A. In it, sat a smallish freighter that looked like it's seen better days. The Twi'lek walked into the bay, and caught the attention of a pair of people, one of which pointed at her. A tallish, bearded man, with salt and pepper hair and an unkempt appearance, not to mention a blaster on his hip, walked over.

I'd assume your lookin' for passage?

The man asked gruffly, grease on his hands and arms.

Das'arigh, disa' booreaaalleeezzzz?

She said, fumbling with the ships strange name, the Borealis.

The man chuckled.

That she is, bound for Alderaan in about an hour, and for 100 creds, I can take you along sweet-cheeks[/color]

Donnie internally groaned. She wasn't looking for attention, but had a hard time avoiding it. Being a 6 foot tall Twi'lek female who looked like a porn star had that effect. She instinctively pulled her leather bomber-jacket a little more closed.

H'okay

She said, fishing out a hundred cred bill and giving it to the man.

He nodded.

Pick any of the berths off the cargo bay. Keep in mind, we may be takin' on more passengers than yourself, so it might get cozy.

He said, gesturing to the loading ramp.

Donnie nodded, and headed for the ship.

To the trained eyes of Doneeda, the ship wasn't in bad shape. But it was obviously old. There were multiple layers of paint, showing by the chips apparent here and there on the superstructure. Surface rust in some places, and a few dings and scratches, as well as what looked to be old blaster impacts. It'd been around the block a few times, that was for sure.

The ship's interior was fairly standard fare for a private freighter. Mostly a dull gray colour with flecks of rust here and there. Cargo and parts stashed to the sides. Some of the lights weren't working, and the floor creaked a couple of times while she was walking towards the end of the cargo bay, but aside from that, the ship wasn't in bad shape.

The Twi'lek easily found the berths he was talking about. They were across from the loading ramp, at the end of the cargo bay. There were two doors, she chose the right one at random and clicked the open button, the door opening with a slight whine and the interior lights flickering to life.

It wasn't much, a couple of bunks, a table, and a pillow and set of blankets at the top of the bunks.

First class...

Donnie muttered in Huttese to herself, as she put her dufle on the table and clambered up the bunks to the top one, laying back and turning on her tablet computer, accessing a book she'd been reading.

[Kuran]

Sinya Kairn laid staring up at the ceiling of the cramped room, with his hands behind his head and his Lekku over his chest, and thought about exactly how long it would take them to reach Alderran.

He had been travelling for over a week now, and it was starting to get boring. Originally he had boarded a commercial flight from Nar Shadda, made his way to Courscant, and now was finally getting ready to depart for his ultimate destination, Alderran.

Keshua the Hutt, his aggravating employer, had decided to send Sinya to collect on a debt owed by some merchant on the peaceful planet. And of course it was Sinya's luck that all of Keshua's ships were busy, or too large to waste transporting a single enforcer like himself. So, after much huffing and moaning, Sinya had decided to make his own way there, and had spent the time on the commercial flight out dreaming about how he would someday kill the annoying slug. That, and racking up a large bill on the cred-chip he had been given for "travel Expenses."

Such luxuries were obviously not going to be forthcoming on this leg of the journey.

As he was just considering rolling over in his bunk-a manoeuvre that inevitably involved whacking one's elbows on the ceiling- he heard the compartment door swoosh open, revealing the presence of a fellow twi'lek, who promptly climbed up into the bunk opposite his and started reading something.

Absentminded? Oh well, might as well be sociable if we're going to be stuck together for a while on this....ship.

Looking over at the Twi'lek girl, he cleared his throat. "Hey there, good day for travel huh?"

[Miri Mojito]

23A, it was the last docking bay on the aisle, and it was Nikki's last chance to get off this planet. She was bound for Alderaan, her reasons were simple, she wanted to get away for a bit, relax, enjoy herself. She hadn't done this in so long, and it seemed that fate was working to stop her again. However she had it on good information that there was a freighter docked here, for today only, with a pilot that did not care who you were so long as you had money. If the cash is there, he does not care she was told. This suited her just well as most pilots or passanger lines refused to carry Mandalorians. Of course the Mandalorians had worked up a terrible reputation recently, and so it was understandable.

Nikki had little on her, aside from a nearly empty ruck sack that contained only a spare set of clothing. She approached the loading bay and peered into the docking area. Inside was a freighter, that while looked like it could certainly fly, also gave the appearance of seeing better days. There was also a man there, he had been working on something near the open loading ramp, perhaps doing a pre flight check or repair. This was obviously the person she had to speak to about gaining access to the ship. Nikki hesitated a few moments watching the man work, looking for signs of other crew or even passangers, but she saw none. If any where present they were probably already inside.

She let out a little sigh and began walking slowly towards the ship. As she approached the man caught sight of her and turned to face her, placing his hand on a pistol attached to his belt. "Thas close enough.." He said rather loudly causing Nikki to stop. He took a moment eyeing her up and down, trying to figure her out before speaking again. Nikki continued to hold her ground, making an effort not to speak him. She raised her hand slowky and removed her helmet, giving him the chance to see her face, and to show she meant no harm. he smiled now lookin her over again. "Yer a pretty thing arent ya? I spose yiou wanting a trip then?"

Nikki nodded choosing not to speak to the man. Instead she held up a small roll containing 300 credits. The man eyed her up again, still too far too properly see. One thing for sure though he knew money. "Listen you Mandos are trouble.. I'll need all 300 credits from you to make this happen" His face had sported a wide grin now as Nikki tossed him the roll and proceeded towards the ship. She tucked her helmet into her bag as she walked, mainly as a sign of good faith so as to not be removed from the ship. "Jus don mess with the other passangers or wreck anything alright sugart*ts." the man spoke loudly as she passed, but Nikki simply ignored him

The inside of the ship looked like the outside, stable but not at its best. But considering who she was this would no doubt be the best she could get. As she entered into one of the cabin areas she found it to be occupied by a pair of Twileks. She was not in the mood for company however and opted to go look for other seating arrangements. The young samuac made her way through the ship, stopping at several other passanger holds, and found them all to be more crowded than the first, so with some reluctance she turned around and headed back to the cabin with the Twileks.

The door opened with a swoosh, and Nikki promptly entered without a saying a word. She kept her gaze low and proceeded to the bunk at the far end of the room, placing her bag on the foot of the bed and sittind down on the rather firm mattress putting her back into the corner of the cabin.She had no intention of making conversation, but throw a quick glance towards the female twilek, taking a moment to appreciate her as best as she could. Once satisfied she put her head down again and smiled to herself. Perhaps this flight would not be so bad after all.

[The Conman]

Donnie jumped as the overly eager passenger she'd missed on the bunk beside her made his presence known. She put down the tablet she'd been reading on and looked over, eyes leveling on a skinny lethan man. Where Doneeda's right eyebrow should have been raised slightly.

In all her 20odd years, the woman hadn't ever actually seen a Lethan. They were beyond rare. Rutians were rare, lethans, as far as Doneeda was concerned, were a myth. The man's tatoos on his Leeku stood out also. She internally cringed. Donnie'd considered getting ink before, but chickened out when one of her friends pinched her leeku.

Na'so Ba, 'I ennit see yah when I 'ame een. Who'ees choo?

Donnie asked, figuring she should get to know the man she'd be sharing a room with for the next day or so. She could see he was about to respond when, what Donnie guessed to be, a woman walked in. The Young Twi'lek's eyes went wide. She'd never even heard of whatever had just walked into the room.

Moreover, she...it, seemed to be somewhat surly, meerly shooting glances their way as she stowed her things and sat down on her cot.

Donnie motioned with her chin subtly.

Geda'loda da...

She whispered to her new, Lethan friend.

...I thin' chee's a lil' orny, eh?

She said with small smirk.

[Miri Mojito]

Nikki looked over again hearing the twilek female whisper something. The actual words were lost on her given the womans unique accent, however she assumed by the tone that a joke was made at her expense. Nikki only sighed to herself as she looked back to the twilek male to see what he would say. She did notice something odd about him, something she could not quite put a finger on. Perhaps that would prove to be her inflight entertainment, figuring out what made this male twilek so different. And if that failed she could always take a run at the female.

Nikki smiled to herself at that thought. It had been a long time for her, and the idea be it unlikely was certainly nice. Still smiling she shook her head and stood up, turning her back to the pair. Nikki then pulled her bag towards her and pulled out the spare set of clothing. It was nothing like the armor she wore now. the fabric was soft and grey, and made up a simple shirt that fell apart into two sections so she could put it on without shredding it. the other piece was made of the same fabric but ended up making a pair of pants that came down to her knee.

She removed from her hip A blaster that she always carried and the collapsed version of her spear, placing them with care on the bed. Next she removed the sword that had been sheathed neatlt, placing it next to the other weapons.

With her back still turned to the pair she began removing her armor, first the top half, revealing the soft green skin of her back. She wasted no time in putting on her new shirt, clipping it together over the shoulders and down her sides. Next she removed her current pair of pants, exposing more green skin and simple white underwear. again she wasted no time in putting on her pants clipping them up the side of the leg until they were secured.

Once changed into more comfortable travel clothing she placed her armor neatly on the foot of her bunk, placing the helmet neatly on top of the pile. She then turned around facing the two twileks and sat down on her bed again. to her the concept of changing around other had never been a taboo thing, it was just part of life, and so it had been literally no big deal for her to do it here. For a moment she sat in silence that was broken by the starting up of the ships engines, finally they were off and on their way.

[Kuran]

Sinya smiled at the other Twi'lek's comment, though he wasn't totally sure that he understood through the thick accent. He wasn't particularly fluent in Huttese at the best of times.

Making a point of looking the other way as the newcomer changed, which in this case was straight up at the ceiling, he waited until he was sure that the woman was fully clothed again before looking back down over the edge of his bunk, just as the jolt of the ship lifting off was felt.

It had been a while since he had had much to do with females, and had found over time that he didn't care particularly for...that sort of feeling...but he still had at least a sense of modesty and civility, and this trip would pass much more pleasantly, he thought, if his companions didn't think he was a pervert.

"I'm Sinya, nice to meet you both." He said in his neutral basic. This was sure to be an interesting ride....

A moment later, he felt another familiar jolt, and assumed that they had jumped to hyperspace.

[The Conman]

Donnie wasn't as modest as her counterpart. When "the being" started disrobing, it became obvious that "it" was actually a "she". Quite a she, in fact. Donnie noted the Lethan looking at the ceiling and smirked, continuing to watch the spiny woman disrobe.

Donnie was especially fascinated by how she'd modified her clothing so as to not have it be destroyed by the act of putting it on. Apparently she'd modified it with clasps so she could avoid her horns.

it's like a trainwreck...I can't look away...

Donnie thought to herself, watching the woman take off her pants. She smirked when she saw how she didn't wear anything fancy underneath her clothing, flashing back to Var doing much the same thing, months before. Doneeda had to admit, however, that despite the prickly appearance, the woman did have some very pleasing curves. Though actually doing anything with her...

The sheer mechanics of it were mind boggling. As the woman finished up, the Twi'lek noted that she placed a helmet on top of her armor. She was a Mandalorian. Today, apparently was a day of firsts. First time meeting a Lethan, first time seeing a horned...whatever she was, first time seeing a Mandalorian.

The ship jolted, they were airborne.

She looked down at herself momentarily. She was wearing a gray, tight fitting T-Shirt with a faded white Sorosub Logo on it, and a pair of black cargo pants that were tight around her bottom, as most were. There was a small amount of her skin showing between the top of her pants and the bottom of her shirt.

She had sweat pants and a loose t-shirt, among a lot of other things, in her duffle. But wasn't about to change just yet, she was comfy, though Donnie figured she may loose her black running shoes, for comfort.

The ship bumped, a familiar lurch, the jump to hyperspace.

Doneeda smirked at the Lethan's comment.

Sinya?

Donnie said, sitting up on the bunk, using her arm to prop herself up.

SINYA?

She said, supressing a snicker.

Dasa' gurlz name!

She said, chuckling.

[Miri Mojito]

Nikki sat now looking out over her companions when the Male spoke. He was introducing himself to them. He had also said it was nice to meet them. This seemed off to her, considering he hadn't actually met them yet so much as they were all together in the same room. Perhaps he was trying to be charming, say a few nice things and then sneek his way into their pants. That wasnt going to work on her. Or maybe he was just simply trying to be nice. As odd as it was this was the most probable reason for his introduction. For a moment Nikki even considered introducing herself to them, but was cut short by the comments of the female.

Even with her heavy accent Nikki could understand her comment. Sinya as the man was called, was actually a girls name. The shapely female twilek had even thought this to be humerous. While Nikki knew very little about Twilek culture she did know that in any society, a man with a womans name was often something to laugh at. So she too gave a small chuckle, though it could have been more at the womans amusement more than the actual name. While she would never admit it to them she thought Sinya was a nice name.

She wondered now if she should atleast give her name in return. It would be polite, and given that she was on vacationperhaps she could be a little less rigid for a little while. She hesitated a moment thinking as to how to interact. In truth she was not good at just normal interactions with civillians, she just had problems finding reasons to talk to them. finally after a moment or two she spoke. "Im Nikki..." It was the only thing she could think of saying.

As the ship pulled into hyperdrive Nikki managed to relax a bit, leaning back against the wall again, closing her eyes. The hum of the Hyperdrive was somewhat soothing to her and she soon found herself asleep.

Hours later a sudden lurch sent her nearly flying off her bunk. Her armor and weapons certainly did, all hitting the floor with a loud set of clanks and thuds. Her spear had even activated upon hitting the floor extending to its full size. She cursed loudly as she jumped out of the bunk to retrieve her items. The weapons were first for safety reason, her sword and blaster were placed on the bunk again before she picked up the spear collapsing it with a flick of her wrist. She cursed again, this time louder hoping the captain would hear her displeasure.

Moments later she had collected all of her things and was about to make her way to the door to yell at their pilot when a voice came over the intercom.

"Well Boys and Girls it seems like we have run into a bit of a problem. While en route as it were we picked up a distress beacon and decided to check it out. needless to say there is a large vessel here with no sign of activity, so... anyone that can handle a wrench or a blaster should report to the main loading bay. there may be something valuable here, and if there is I might share it with ya."

Just as suddenly as it had begun the intercom shut off. Nikki looked around at her companions before going back to her bunk. Something about this smelt like trouble. Not bothering to turn away this time the mandalorian quickly changed back into her armor. She tucked away her normal clothes back into the ruc sack and tossed it onto the bunk. She was going to the loading bay to see whats going on.

[Kuran]

Sinya sighed. He should have known better than to use his actual name around another Twi'lek. "Yes," he said with an air of exasperation. "I was owned once by a Hutt who thought giving me that name would be funny."

Rolling over to face the wall, he wormed his way around in the cramped space between bed and ceiling, in an effort to get comfortable as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

THUD

Sinya, jolted from sleep, had half a second to ponder why he felt like he was flying through the air before hitting the ground.

Quite hard too. One of his Lekku was caught underneath him as he hit the metal plating of the deck back-first, and for a long moment his vision swam as he neared unconsciousness, the pain on his Lekku was so intense. This was not helped when, almost immediately after his head hit the floor, his lightsaber, which he kept under his pillow, came tumbling after, whacking him squarely on his forehead before bouncing off under one of the bunks.

After a long moment however, he recovered in sensed enough to realise where he was and the position he was in. And that he was laying spread-eagle on the floor between the two bunks, stark naked.

It's...ow...not as if I intended to get out of bed like this..... He thought to himself as he stood gingerly. Turning his back to the women, he reached up into his bunk and pulled down a set of his clothes, hurriedly dressing himself before turning around to face the two of them.

"Sorry about that...." he muttered as he opened his hand, bringing his lightsaber rolling out from under the bunk, where he stooped to grab it, clipping it onto his belt.

"So, loading bay huh?" He asked, as he shouldered his bag and headed for the door.

[Miri Mojito]

Before Nikki could leave the room she turned in time to catch sight of something she had not expected. A lightsaber. She had seen it as Sinya snatched it up to put it away. Thats what was odd about him, thats what she had felt. He was a jedi, or something worse. without taking her gaze off of him she slid her hand alongside the back of her belt, checking to make sure that her own lightsaber was still firmly secure in its pouch. For a moment she had simply hoped that the male had stolen hers, it would have made the situation so much easier to deal with, but alas hers was safe and sound.

She shook her head now breaking her gaze from the Twileks. As she did she slid her helmet over her own head, and activated the internal heads up display. Immediatly it came to life, giving a few odd readings on room temperature and body temperature. Without a word she pressed a button on the wall that caused the nearby door to open with a swoosh. She exited swiftly, walking alongside a few other people she had not met, obviously they were interested in checking things out too. She wondered now about her companions. The force user had expressed interest in going, no doubt he would be coming soon. But what of the woman with the accent. Could she handle a blaster? was she mechanically competent? or was she just as she looked, a dancer with a pretty face.

By the time she got to the loading bay several other had already gathered. Many looked as though they simply owned a blaster, and had no real training. her assumption was that many of these people were refugees, seeking a new start on Alderaan. If not for the prospect of loot they might not even have shown interest in checking out this new ship. If there was something wrong on the ship then these people would atleast make good shields.

Moments later a man that Nikki recognised as the pilot approached the loading bay doors. He had with him a larghe rifle, and a pair of blasters on his hips. To those with less experience he would certainly look like a cowboy ready to saddle up and shoot em out, but to her he looked a fool.

"Alrigh we have docked with the cargo ship via the loading bay here. We have still yet to get a proper response from anyone on board just the same repeating sos. There is no telling what is on that ship or what happened, so there will be one rule. I am in charge,"

His statement of being in charge left a bitter taste in Nikkis mouth. She would sooner follow the orders of a Jawa than this man. But for the moment she would have little choice. Moments later the door opened and the loading bay was immediatly filled with the smell of death. Even underneath her Helmet Nikki could smell it. The thing was, it didn't smell old, it still smelled coppery, like fresh blood. Whatever happened had been recent.

[The Conman]

Donnie, unlike her compatriots, wasn't knocked out of her bunk by the ships sudden deceleration. Though it did wake her up, in fact, it woke the woman up just in time to hear the announcement and see Sinya fly out of his bunk, buck naked. She smirked.

While he was falling, he looked like a retarded bird, she thought. Rolling over and propping her head up with her hand as Nikki left the room, and Sinya pulled himself together. The Twi'lek pushed the covers off and gingerly slid down from the bunk. She was wearing only a loose T-Shirt and a rather tiny pair of underwear. But it wasn't like Doneeda to care.

Sinya, 'ow ma' ties cha ben bunkin' wida freigh'?

Doneeda asked, as she took off the shirt she'd been sleeping in, tossing it into her dufel, and grabbing her bra. Her back was to the Lethan, as she put it around her middle, clipped it, and spun it around. She worked her arms through the shoulder straps and started adjusting the "twins".

Dersa'reasn da-da bankes ge chov'd unner da pa'...

Donnie said, as she slid her pants on and buckled the belt that was still on them. She grabbed her shirt and started putting it on.

...so cha'don ennup onda flo' wenda cheep stap...

The Twi'lek finished to her compatriot as she pulled her leeku out of her t-shirt and let them fall over her back, turning around to see Sinya picking up a lightsaber.

Gods damnit, they're everywhere.

She thought to herself. There wasn't any logical reason to take a 'saber on what could either amount to a rescue or salvage mission. Donnie didn't say anything about the saber, she wasn't sure who this guy was, or more importantly what he was.

Either way, she didn't have any experience with a blaster, but, was probably the only one there with as much experience behind a computer and a wrench.

I's Kachcup, meetcha' dere.

Donnie said, opening up her dufel and rooting through it, pulling out a case containing her computer and a shoulder satchel containing an assortment of smaller tools. They were for working on swoops, but they'd work for fixing anything pretty well, so long as it wasn't huge.

The Twi'lek swung the satchel over her shoulder and headed for the loading bay.

Upon Arrival, Donnie saw Sinya and Nikki amongst a motley collection of other beings. Most of them seemed to be armed, which wasn't something Donnie considered to be good. A good number of them looked like they simply owned the blaster, they were more than likely to shoot off their foot in a firefight than do any good.

There was, however, an upside. She caught sight of the ship out one of the bay's windows. It was large. Looked to be an older freighter. Donnie also noticed her new Mandalorian friend was nearby. The Twi'lek had a plan. She motored over, as their "Dear leader" was making his monologue about being in charge.

She meandered up behind the woman, and poked her in the shoulder.

Ay...

She whispered to the side of her helmet.

Ay, I din' dis doo's a 'erf herrer, I's sayin' we dake' off. I's puld'a manifes, an we geda goo stuff. Whatcha sayin'?

Doneeda propositioned to the Mandalorian.

[Kuran]

Sinya followed the others into the loading bay, ignoring the looks he got as he retrieved his lightsaber. He had long since gotten used to odd looks, and mostly ignored them these days.

He also mused for a moment over what they must have thought of him. He knew that his breed were uncommon, but by Dinnie's reaction, one would think that she'd never seen another Lethan before. Were they really that rare? And this mandalorian was interesting too. He'd only met a handful of them before, and never a female.

Whatever happened, this was sure to be interesting...

Sinya arrived in the loading bay just as the captain was finishing what sounded like a speech.

"-no telling what is on that ship or what happened, so there will be one rule. I am in charge."

Sinya chuckled, sounding intentionally cool and cold. "Are you now? Why is that? If our takeoff was any judge of your skills as a captain, we'd be safer with a cooking droid."

Pushing past the "captain", wondering idly whether the man would try to grab him, Sinya walked off in the direction that the others had gone, and stopped on the other side of the Mandalorian.

It hit him almost like walking into a bulkhead. The sheer terror, the panic that was in the air here, was almost as bad as the physical smell.

Unsure what to tell his unlikely companions, he opted for neutrality. "There has been a lot of death on this ship..." he murmured before looking back at the "captain."

"Still want to be in charge huh?"

[Miri Mojito]

With the door open seevral of the rag tag members making up the boarding party nervously drew their blasters. Each one looking around nervously while pointint it at the open door. Nikki could only shake her head at this. for starters there was a smell of death, meaning that there was not much present here at thjis point. Secondly and most importantly nothing had attacked them when the door opened, It would be safe to say that there would be no maniac waiting around the corner with a blade biding his time. She did however find the general lack of activity to be a smidge unnerving. Almsot like there was a stillness that threatened to consume them all.

Her thoughts drifted now at the feeling of a poke on her shoulder. The mandalorian did not move her body, only turning her head while a sweet and heavily accented voice whispered a different plan to her. Though no one could see under her helmet it did bring a rather bold smile to her face. She turned a little more now, looking at the Twilek. For a moment she was shocked to see her there, but then she realised that this woman was an engineer of sorts. that certainly made her worth more than most of the people here. Nikki looked back to the boarding party again with their leader. Odds are going with them was more likely to get her shot than allow her to find anything of value. She kept her gaze on the captain now, he had stopped to look at her, almost as if he expected trouble.

As Nikki continued to watch him her voice broke the silence, low and sweet to Donnie. "Stay close to me until we lose the group..." She had tried to do so in a way that would not alert anyother but the twilek. Unfortunatly someone else had been in earshot, or had to have been as she could clearly here his voice.

Sinya had been near her, and she had not noticed until he spoke. Alot of death was an understatement, but if anyone would know it would be a force user. She took a moment now to gather her thoughts. If danger was still there it might be beneficial having someone like him around, if not just as a watch dog. Certainly he could handle himself if a fight broke out. Now an internal struggle was breaking out in her mind. The soldier in her recognised the benefit of having him, but her personal side wanted nothing to do with him. Eventually though the soldier won out, like it always did.

"Sinya, what do you feel here?" Her voice again was low as she tried to avoid attention. There would be little time for a response however as people soon began filling through the doors onto the ship. The captain had left in the middle of the group and only a few remianed now. Nikki followed still not drawing her weapon just yet, there was no immediate need for it. "We move.. stay tight, no weapons"

She made to move in now following the boarding party. Upon passing ithrough the doors they were immediatly in a large storage facility. Large containers had been tipped over spillign their contents everywhere, though nothing of real value, mostly food and water rashions. Inside the ship smelled worse than ever, as if the stench had built up and gathered in this one spot. Up ahead someone was throwing up.

Nikki took her time stepping slowly looking around, getting a feel for the ship. The main power was off, but the emergency systems were up and running, this meant that life support and other essential systems would be held up by the back up energy grid, and any non essentials such as lights would be no longer running. Of course one could see that all the lights, aside from a few flashing emergency lights, were out.

Strange though was the pressence of scorch marks from blasters, and in some places large amounts of blood, yet no bodies. Something terrible had to had happened here, and if whatever it was that had done this was around they could reasonably expect no better end. She raised her hand clicking the side of her helmet and activating a small light along the top of the visor.

The group had started to get ahead of them now, they were walking much swifter than Nikki was, but that was fine, she had wanted to break off from them, and her training had always taught her to be thorough when doing a sweep. Her objective now was to find a terminal, one that Donnie could tap into. Of course it suddenly dawned on her. She had never caught the womans name. "If we find a terminal can you get the manifest off of that, miss...."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

As the band of adventurers moved slowly forward, the brash and reckless freighter crew charged onward into the dark, punctuated only by flickering lights, leaving Donnie, Sinya, and Nikki far behind. Their noises receded until...

Far ahead came an unnatural sound, a cross between a moan and a scream. It was promptly met by the sound of blaster fire, a rapid flurry from the sounds. The passage was lit by red and blue flashes of light tearing through the darkness. Visible were shadowy figures silhouetted for brief moments, then shrouded until the next blast. It was extraordinarily fast, and soon the sounds of terrified screaming came through, mingling with the loud report of blasters.

Heavy footfalls came progressively closer, and they were revealed to be the Captain of the ship, a Rodian, and an Aqualish. The Aqualish was inscrutable, his alien face revealing no relatable emotions, and the Rodian was little better. The human Captain though was obviously terrified. His eyes were wide as he ran past the group of adventurers without a word. The Rodian cowered behind the trio and started to babble in Huttese, in a terrified voice.

Before the Aqualish could reach them a forcefield shimmered into existence across the passageway, blocking his path. He let out a yelp as he ran into it, before clawing madly with his hands at the glowing forcefield.

Down the corridor the blasterfire had died down, and the only sound was a horrifying moaning scream, echoed by a full chorus. Out of the darkness two figures appeared at a sprint, but they were hardly human. Not anymore. Both were horribly pale, and covered in blood and gore. The first was missing its eyes, and the second the lower half of its jaw. Both reached out with grabbing arms to the Aqualish, who frantically tried to shake them off, reaching for a blaster. He managed to shoot one in the head and it toppled lifelessly to the floor, but the other? He shot it in the chest again and again, but it refused to let go of him.

Out of the darkness came a dozen shuffling figures to join the sprinters, and it was too many for the Aqualish. Right before the group, with a sickly sound of screaming and moaning, they ripped apart the Aqualish with their bare hands, putting what remained of him into their slavering jaws.

As it happened a crackling noise came from a speaker on the wall near them came to life, followed by a voice. The voice was deep and metallic, enunciating each word clearly and seemingly devoid of emotion.

"We lack the power to hold this structural integrity field for more than a few minutes. Turn around, and when you reach the end of the corridor turn right, there's an access ladder that will take you to the second level, the recreation hall. There's a computer console there. Go to it. Your way back is shut now. Do as I tell you if you want to live."

The speaker crackled again and shut off, leaving the only sound a dull moan as the creatures that were once beings pressed up against the force field.

[The Conman]

Donnie had kept up with Nikki and kept quiet as they dropped back from the group. The smell was pretty foul, that was for sure, but she didn't really have anything to line it up with, so to her it was simply a gross smell. She figured the ship had been drifting for awhile, and some of it's cargo had started to turn.

Then the moans started.

The Twi'lek wasn't entirely sure what was going on, not until the blaster fire started. As if on que, she scooted to the side of the corridor and knelt down, making her unarmed self as small a target as possible.

Oddly enough, the baster fire stopped, and Donnie peaked her head out from behind Nikki, and spotted a pair running towards them. The Rodian ran behind her, huddled in the fetal position and was muttering incoherently in huttese.

Then his compatriot bought it. At the hands of crazed people.

Doneeda was standing by this point, her mouth agape, a confused expression on her face as she saw the group who took him down start eating his brain. She was about to spout up, when the speaker crackled to life.

The Twi'lek listened intently, while the Rodian continued to blather.

They live, butbutbutbut... they shouldn't...nononono, they can't live...those without life, horrible twisted...how do they move without it...they're not supposed to be alive...

The Rodian blathered in Huttese. Sofar as Donnie knew, she was the only one who could understand the man.

Nikki..I's agreein' wida mistar speakar man...da shiel' ain' onna stay dere.

She said, thinking for a moment, realizing the Rodian was the only survivor, and that she was the only one who wasn't armed. The Twi'lek knelt down beside him, picking up the blaster he'd dropped on his way to hide behind her. Donnie put it inside her Satchel of Useful Goods and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.

I's 'elp da Rodie, we'shoul' be movin' soonar'ath'an'adder, eh.

[Kuran]

((Yes, I know it's short.))

Sinya hadn't actually jumped in quite a while. For someone who spent most of their nights stalking the alleys of Nar Sahddaa, hunting down debtors, most things weren't particularly scary.

Such thoughts went out the window as Sinya watched the Aqualish's brain being eaten by the...thing. It looked like it had perhaps once been a living creature, but now it was just....

An animal.

More distressing, though he wouldn't tell the others unless he had to, was that the animal was not alive. At least, not that Sinya could tell. Everything, even plants and the smallest bugs, could be felt in the force. But this thing had no signature at all. Not anger, nor passion, not even the hunger that it seemed to be a slave to as it ate from the brains of what had recently been the Aqualish.

"The...well. That's....not something you see everyday.

Clearing his throat loudly, he looked around to the others.

"We might as well do what the speaker box says," He said, indicating the box on the wall from which they had received their orders.

"I'm an equal opprunity Twi'lek, if one of you ladies wishes to go first down the corriddor of death, don't let me stop you." He said, with a not-quite-sarcastic tone.

[Miri Mojito]

As the sounds of blaster fire and creams broke the eerie silence Nikki pulled her pistol free of her hip, holding it rather rigidly pointing at the ground. Now that this fight had erupted the plan would change, things were different. there were live hostile still aboard the ship and it seemed they were not in the mood to reason. She kept her gaze on the entrance to the hallway now, listening to the screams, seeing the flashes of light and shadow from the blasters, followed by silence. At this point she had just barely noticed Donnie peaking out from behind her.

Suddenly a trio of people came into view. No suprise their brave captain was there, running full tilt for the door. Nikki had the suspision that he might have had something to do with starting the gunfight ahead, and may have even pushed other out of his way to flee. He was immediatly followed by a rodian, who seemed to breakdown behind them. The third, and Aquilish male had not made it into their hallway before a field had burst to life, preventing him from getting any further. Nikki could see on his face the terror that had gripped him. It was in the eyes of their captain as he ran past, and certainly in the heart of the rodian now cowering behind them, but what had caused it?

Not moments later Nikki's question seemed to anwser itself as a pair of people charged the Aquilish male. Despite his valiant attempts of survival and even killing one of his assailants he was quickly overpowered by many others. For a moment the Samuac stood watching, both in horror and curiosity, this was like nothing she had seen before. The attackers seemed to be actually eating the aquilish brain. She took a moment trying to figure out the best course of action, when suddenly a voise seemed to appear out of normal.

To some, in this dark moment it would have been the voice of god, as it offered a way to salvation. Nikki on the otherhand was not partial to such thoughts, instead she assumed that this was a flight officer, probably the captain on the flight deck. The voice itself gave clear instructions, directing them to a recreation area with a console. For the time it would seem they had no other choice. She looked over at the whimpering Rodian, and at Donnie who had volunteered to help him, and then back to Sinya who had volunteered to take up the rear.

Nikki's smile widened as she spoke. "Sinya, I see what yer doin, you want the safest route thas fine. Thas why yer goin first. See we know that those people are here, and when that forcefield fails they'll come after us... ill make sure they dont get to us. So far as we know there is notyhing in front of us." She turned to look at Donnie now. Wondering if it was even worth carrying the mind blown rodian. Her best judgement said it wasn't, but they might need him later, as bait or something. "If yer gonna help him, then we have to move quickly... If he slows us down we have to leave him... Follow Sinya, and I'll be right behind you."

She knew how terrible it sounded to leave him, she had after all had to leave people before. It was just a sad part of life sometimes. She turned to face the shield again. The Mob had dispersed and moved on, the body of the Aquilish had disappeared as well. Nikki simply assumed that given what they had witnessed he had probably been dragged off for further consumption. "Ok lets move on..."

[The Conman]

Donnie nodded to Nikki and turned to follow Sinya towards the ladder down the hallway. In the Twi'lek's estimation, the Rodian would be useful for one of two things. A: He actually had some kind of ability to do something useful. Or B: would be some form of bait.

She didn't like it, but it wasn't the first time Donnie had used somebody as a diversion, and it wouldn't be the last. That and she needed to search him, he looked well dressed, so money was implied, as were other goodies. His gold watch caught her eye in the dim light.

She dipped her hand into her Satchel of Helpful Goods and pulled out a small flashlight, and clicked it on, illuminating the Rodian. Since she had a second to spare, Donnie checked his pockets, removing a wallet and pulling out a few bills. She pocketed them with a smirk. She then expertly unclipped the watch and pulled it off, the Rodian giving no protest. She dropped it into her Satchel.

She flipped the light down Sinya's "Corridor of Death", and noted the distinct lack of people after her brain. Looked safe enough.

No worie' Spikes*, ee won' slo us dow'.

She said, jerking the Rodian's arm, eliciting a groan, before he returned to muttering.

Donnie turned around to Nikki.

Ain'no tin' playa'...

She said, with a smirk.

Lea'on Red.

[Kuran]

Sinya debated for a moment whether or not to argue with the Horned One*as to his place in the que, but reluctantly, he had to admit that she was right.

If they were ambushed in the corridor, he would have the best chance of destroying the attackers before they could take a bite out of the group. And so...

Sinya unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and held it ready, not activating it, not yet anyway. And, with a small, not quite sarcastic nod, he strode off down the hall and, when he reached the fork junction, turned right as the voice on the speaker had instructed.

"So, I bet you all are wondering who I am.....?" he asked casually. Not out of self-importance, but to be fair, they had both looked at him oddly since meeting each other...

[Miri Mojito]

As quickly as all the commotion had started, it had now ended. Suddenly like before the ship was cast into eerie silence. It had actually began to feel like one of those creepy horror movies Nikki had seen years ago. Lost in space with monsters loose. Only that kind of thing never happened in real life, right? At this point it didn't matter though, the sad fact was something was happening and it wasnt good. Nikki made good on her own commands following in tight behind Donnie. She had been impressed with how well the Twilek was handling the Rodian who was certainly not carrying his own weight so to speak.

As the group made there way down the hallways Nikki was made even more painfully aware of how quiet things had gotten. Every step now seemed to echo back to them, threatening to reveal their location to whatever had attacked the Aquilish. At the very least they woyuld be able to hear if anything was coming.

By this point the smell had started to ease off, either that or Nikki had simply gotten used to it. Either way it was another bonus.A few more moments and the group found their way to a junction. Following the orders of their guide the group took the right path leading down anothe rhallway. It was at this point that the rodian stumbled. In a flash Nikki reached out an arm to catch him, placing her other hand on the small of Donnies back as she did. With a quick huff she lifted the rodian back up, allowing the twilek to carry on with him.

"So, I bet you all are wondering who I am.....?"

Sinya's voice broke the silence. He had been right, she had wondered, though perhaps now was not the best time to discusee such things. Then again, it might do well to distract them from the present situation and help calm the nerves so she would humour him.

"Yer a Jedi no?..." Her voice had a tone of arrogance that reflected her dislike of the Jedi. teh question though had been empty, while she wanted to know for sure she had asked only to keep him talking, keep them focused on something else. "I saw yer lightsaber, I know yer not just a civillian."

Moments later the group had reached a small door, behind it was a maintanance ladder that went up. This had been like the voice had said. So all they needed to do was go up, and lifted the dead weight rodian up too. Nikki shook her head now as she wondered if she would get stuck carrying him. She knew that there would be little time to think this over so once everyone was in the ladder room she closed the door behind them.

"Alright Sinya I want you to go up first, make sure its clear then come back down. Donnie, yer gonna head up and hold the hatch open. Then we will assist our less than responsive friend up the ladder. Take that blaster out of yer bag and be ready fer anything." Nikki had gestured towards Donnies bag while she spoke.

The entire event of simply going up one level had taken some time, moreso than should have been spent on such a task. Nikki made a note that should they be in a hurry and needed to repeat this they would not be briniging the rodian at all. Once up however it took the Mandolorian no time to locate the console. She gestured to Donnie to get over to it, before she went about closing all the doors to the room they were in, pushing things in front of them, and doing her best to make it secure.