Something Epic (Dire Wolf)

[Faeruy]

This was ridiculous. Shanti hated working with other bounty hunters. It rarely turned out well for her. Why did this Hutt hire her specifically if he didn't trust her to do the job on her own? Not that she exactly had a stirling reputation, but that was besides the point. And to add insult to injury, she knew the man she was partnered with.

Nihlus.

Drunken, blitzed out of his mind, biggest frelling insane piece of poodoo she'd ever had the misfortune of meeting. The last time they worked together... well, Shanti tried to forget what happened then. Only that it was an experience she did not care to repeat so soon. She must have been really unlucky. But money was money and Shanti never turned down a chance to get credits, not even if it meant she'd have to be attached at the hip to a bloodthirsty Jawa. Although a bloodthirsty Jawa might be a better partner than Nihlus. Still, there was nothing for it. She would have a partner, at least for this job.

She didn't exactly trust him, however. Bounty hunters weren't known for their ability to share, and she wouldn't put it past the man to just take off without her. If it was one thing she disliked more than a partner, it was a partner who would eventually try and screw her out of her share, so rather than get things off to a bad start, Shanti decided she'd surprise her partner. They were supposed to meet in the spacedock in the morning, but with a minimal amount of research, Shanti discovered not only the name of Nihlus's ship, but the exact location of it's dock. With just a little bit more digging around, she discovered at least of few of the codes needed to get anywhere near The Royal Bastard. Of course that was the name of his ship.

Getting down to the ship was easy. Security was not as tight as it should have been, and Shanti had no problem waltzing past it. Once in view of the ship, she took a moment to look it over. She had to admit, it was probably one of the nicer looking ones she'd seen. Sleek and shiny, it looked like it was meant to move. She couldn't tell, but it looked like it had the space for a very big engine. She wouldn't put it past him. He seemed to be the type who thought bigger was better when it came to such things. Usually they thought like that because they were compensating for something. Shanti allowed a small smirk on her impertinent mouth. Time to get in the ship.

It wouldn't be easy. It looked like there was a lot of money in this ship, and that usually meant a really good security system. Shanti figured the cargo bay would be the easiest; this wasn't a cargo ship; goods weren't it's top priority. Taking care that nobody noticed her, she slunk to the underbelly of the ship and found the panel that would open the cargo bay. Shanti bit her lip, and went to work.

A few seconds, a few minutes, time always seemed to stop when she was slicing. Eventually she heard a click and a whirr as the cargo bay door opened. Shanti grinned and climbed up. Still a very nice ship. She didn't know what she expected; probably a garbage pit masquerading as the interior of a ship, but that just wasn't the case. She made her way to the pilot's den, and took a seat in front of the controls. Now to take a nap, and wait for her new partner. Shanti closed her eyes.

[Dire Wolf]

“Ka’jinn’s spit, this forsaken energy converter is at it again,” a soft voice spat from beneath a labyrinth of machinery in the cramped engine room. A series of loud clacks and bangs sounded from the belly of the metal beast for a few minutes before they ceased with a little squee of success. Grunts and groans were heard as the lithe little woman shimmied her way out of the narrow confines of the ship’s engine room until she emerged from an impossibly small gap victorious.

One thing that Jae, Nihlus’ live in engineer, loathed about the Centurion patrol boat was it’s supreme, metaphysical need for daily maintenance. If the short engineer did so much as glance away from the engine room it practically exploded. Nihlus was lucky that she had thrown herself in with his lot (and constant, huge paycheck) otherwise he’d not have a ship to fly around like an idiot. A small, graceful smile spread the little aphithiri’s lips thin as those pale blue eyes danced across her kingdom without noticing a single wire out of order. Perfect.

That smile remained as she turned out of the engine room and into the hallway at large, but vanished when she noticed that the loading ramp of the ship had been left ajar. Jae’s brow furrowed at the change; not two hours before the door had been closed after she had returned with supplies. Nihlus certainly wasn’t up at this hour, not with some floozy in his bed. Rather than move to close the ramp she produced an over-sized adjustable wrench from her belt.

The fact that anyone ballsy enough to intrude into the Nihlus Cairn’s ship was probably a very skilled bounty hunter or vengeful Jedi, but that didn’t stop the fierce urge to not back down from setting a light in her heart. The dull steel wrench trembled as she held it even with her head, ready to throw all of her eighty five pounds into a defensive swing. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed when she discovered the intruder; a red haired woman that had decided to take a nap at the controls.

Confusing, to say the least.

All the same, Jae appeared to the side of the woman with her wrench held high and gathered the most ferocious voice she could muster. It was still softly spoken, “who in Alriah’s name are you and what are you doing on the Royal Bastard.” She looked oddly ferocious as she stood over the napping woman, her face containing a soft beauty, black hair tied behind her head in a knot, and oil smudged across the bridge of her nose.

No sooner had she spoken those words did a girlish scream come from Nihlus’ quarters. Jae’s first thought was, what in His name did this woman do?, only to turn her head and see the spectacle of a lifetime. Nihlus’ large, muscular frame tore out of the room dressed in little more than leopard printed boxers. His scream could best be described as a squeal even as he slipped and tumbled to the ground on the steel deck. Behind him a grotesquely obese Aqualish female slunk from the room with a blanket wrapped around her slimy form and clothes underneath her arm.

The nearly four and a half foot woman couldn’t help but blink at the spectacle, and for a moment she forgot about the intruder.