Sugar and Spice [Rugs]

[Meira]

Brelor was already high in the sky, with Folor just peeking over the horizon. Any other hint of light in the night sky was blocked out by the haze of light pollution and the constant stream of vessels to and from the shipping yards. You had to go out to one of the smaller cities if you wanted to see the stars on Commenor. Lina, practical as she was, didn't really have an interest in star gazing.

She took a long drag off her cig, holding the smoke in her lungs until she could feel the tingle turn into a burn and then let it out in a long, slow stream. She held the thing between index and middle finger, thumb tapping lightly against the end with growing impatience. She bit down slightly on her lower lip, her sharp canine teeth flashing into view. There was little to feel. She looked down at the cig. Five tiny blue stars encircled the piece that connected the filter to the end of the cig, marking the brand which was known for lacing their tabac with the slightest touch of spice. It was just enough to get your attention, but not enough to make you useless. Lina favored it.

What she'd really favor at that moment though, was for this new blood son of a bantha to show up so they could get on their way. She'd been itching for something to do for weeks now. So when the news came around that their last spice shipment had gone missing, Lina was almost giddy. It didn't take long to convince her father to let her be the one to go out on this one, he'd been wanting her to take opportunities to show her versatility for some time.

She wanted to use her own guys, but daddy dearest thought it'd be a good idea to help a prospective new guy cut his teeth. She needed to widen her command anyway, so she didn't fight the subject too much. She did, however, insist on having Bones with her. At the end of the day, he was basically her personal body guard, so it only made sense that he come along. He was already on board the Manticore, lounging on one of the crew bunks.

She checked her chrono. He was late. What was his name again? something that sounded like razor, or laser or something like that? Whatever it was, he wasn't going to be winning any points for punctuality.

[Rugs]

“Asyr, you’re going to make a poor impression showing up late like this.”

“Oh shut up, Flitch,” Asyr said. He hurried out of the corner and into the street, zipping his street closed as he did. His annoyed droid companion flew along in the air beside him. “It’s a contract. Long as we don’t screw it up, we’ll be fine. A few minutes never hurt no one anyway.”

The streets bustled, even at this late hour. Fortunately for Asyr, the spaceport was a quick walk away from where he’d been staying overnight. Extra fortunately, he’d been staying in a private room.

At least, until he’d found a some company.

“Your dalliances are going to end up costing you one day,” Flitch said, being oddly persistent. Asyr didn’t know the Project Familiar protocol on memeory wiping droids, but sometime he wondered if it might be worth the potential chewing out. Damn thing was probably protected from it without a some top-secret password anyway.

“Hey, how about this Flitch,” the Echani said, swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder as he walked, “next time I want moral advice from a robot, I’ll let you know. Sound good. And you’re getting an earful if I so much as catch you hooked up to a computer for five seconds long, since you feel the need to give me grief about my dalliances.”

He huffed along in silence for a few moments.

“Asyr, I’m just expressing my concern that yo-“

“Shut up, Flitch.”

The droid made an exasperated noise—since when had he started doing that—and the two went on.

The rest of the trip was simple. Quick. Asyr was taking on a job to recover some missing spice. Exchange or something. He figured it shouldn’t be too hard.

After a few minutes he strolled up to his contact, Eliana Kerrik, and dropped his bag. “Asyr Yevor,” he said, running a hand through his still-messy hair as Flitch lighted on his shoulder. “Lina, right?”

[CaptainBonkers]

There was lot to like about Commenor: the place was always lively, the drinks were good especially if you had few credits to drop and best of all there was nigh always money to be made here. One just had to know where to look. Luckily Garrick didn't have to look for one today, he already had a job. The pay was nice but more importantly if well handled it promised to provide him with a new contact inside the Exchange. Sure, he didn't have a shortage of those but a new friend in the syndicate's ranks never hurt. Exchange contacts had a habit of dropping suddenly and without warning so having a healthy reserve of them was a necessity for any intel broker worth their salt.

He'd left his crew with Songbird: the Exchange boss hadn't paid for their involvement but Garrick felt it'd be nice to keep them in reserve nearby just in case things went pear shaped. Lately that had been happening too often. Vinya hadn't been too happy about it and even Braza had voiced his complaints and the big guy never complained about anything except maybe the rations not being big enough. Come to think of it, the only one who hadn't seemed unhappy about the arrangement had been Red but then again she was never one to gun for a fight.

Despite his crew's objections, Garrick knew it would be best for them to stay close enough to help if the bantha hit the fan. Besides even if they'd been paid for by the Exchange to all undertake this job, it would still be best for the majority of his crew to stay out of sight. It was hard to be subtle with a posse in tow, especially when one of the members of said posse was a ton-in-armor herglic about the shape and size of an industrial fridge.

Garrick checked his chronometer and picked up his pace a little. He was running a little late but he wasn't about to hurry either, especially when the rendezvous spot was around the corner. Arriving in a rush and breathing heavy wouldn't make for the best possible first impression. Sure enough around the corner he saw the folks he was supposed to meet. He settled to a casual stroll and approached the group.

"Sorry I'm late, there was a line at the cantina." he said with his most charming smile fixed on his face.