Corusant – Phase 1 of recruiting has begun

“At this rate, I’m going to have to compile a new list.” Karr muttered to himself as he walked away from the burning wreckage.

It had only been a week and already Karr had crossed six names off the list of potential candidates, and unfortunately all of them had been pilots. Karr had hoped to secure a low-profile ship and pilot before trying to recruit the rest of his squad, but chances were now looking very slim. The first person he had talked to, an older Twi’lek woman named Lyssa, had been very open to the idea of a job, until Karr told her that it would be payment on delivery after the mission was over. At that point, she told him that he could go do things with a wampa that were probably illegal in most civilized sectors, and maybe even some of the uncivilized ones as well.

The second meeting didn’t even go as well as the first. The pilot was human, and specialized in ferrying people of interest to undisclosed locations. As soon as Karr introduced himself, the man told him to get lost without even looking up from his drink.

The third actually took a few days to track down. He was a Sullustan pilot of a ship called the Galactic Finch, and Karr had managed to find him as he was leaving a brothel. Karr had actually managed to offer the pilot a proposition, and the pilot agreed to listen, and that was when Republic Security swooped in and arrested them both. Karr had spent a few hours in a cell before the Senator’s Aide showed up with a signed release. Karr was, of course, obligated to inform his employer of the complete lack of progress in his mission.

They were not pleased.

The fourth pilot, another Twi’lek, was amiable enough, and even agreed to being paid after the mission was over. However, as soon as Karr told him where they were going, he ran away like he was being chased by assassin droids.

The fifth pilot was a Zabrak, and he was… less than receptive. And more than a little rude. Karr spent some time in a bacta tank for laser burns after that.

As Karr crossed another name from his list, his personal com link began to chirp. As Karr answered it, he speculated what it could be about, but he was reasonably certain that he already knew.

“This is Karr.”

The background noise of a loud, and not particularly good, band poured through the small comlink speaker. This call came from a lower level tavern. As he expected, this was a call that Karr had been waiting for.

“Dargo, It’s Paf. I don’t have much time. I need to warn you that there is someone looking for you. He might be a bounty hunter, I’m not sure. All I know is that he’s brutal.”
It would seem that the Sith had finally arrived, and Karr had yet to recruit a single member for his team. Karr started to curse but paused as an idea came to him. He would have some arrangements to make.

“Thanks for the warning Paf. Tell you what, get yourself to a safehouse as soon as you can, and hire some guards in the meantime. I’ll foot the bill. Take care.”
Karr switched off the comm, knowing full well that if the Sith caught up to Paf, then he was as good as dead. Karr hoped that the guards would be enough to protect him, or that the arrangements he was going to make would catch up to the Sith first, but he doubted it. Paf wasn’t really a friend, but he was a good informant, unfortunately there was nothing more that Karr could do for him at the moment.

With the Sith’s arrival, Karr’s timetable had been moved up. With a grim determination, he checked the next name on his list.

The sixth pilot was more than Karr had dared to hope for. He was a human, named Tellor Hunt, and he piloted a Star Screamer class ship, the Wandering Dragonfly. Karr introduced himself to Hunt and found him to be a surprisingly cheerful fellow, for a smuggler. When Karr suggested an offer, Hunt was willing to listen. When Karr told him it would be payment on delivery, Hunt accepted it. When Karr told him where they were going, Hunt didn’t flinch. When he explained the details of the mission, Hunt actually surprised him by offering to take part in the job for no more than the cost of fuel and expenses.

“I couldn’t accept payment for this. Not when it could help so many people. Tell you what, I was just about to drop the Dragonfly off for a few repairs. If you can spring for the maintenance and fuel, we can leave whenever you’re ready.” Hunt told him.

After a hearty handshake, they agreed to meet at the spaceport in two weeks. Hunt fired up the engines and turned towards the repair yard, while Karr turned away to continue his mission. Dargo couldn’t believe his luck. Perhaps this mission wouldn’t be so hopeless after all…

And that was when the ship exploded.

It would later be identified as Spontaneous Catastrophic Engine Overload, but for now, Karr turned and walked away, muttering to himself.