Thunderclaps from outside rumbled through the walls and foundation of the dilapidated facility. Inside was relatively silent, aside from the voices of it's newest inhabitants, which only served to amplify the sounds of thunder, lightning and the rattle of heavy rain drops striking the roof. In one of the larger docking and loading bays sat the Harpoon. She was surrounded by emergency lanterns, which provided some kind of light in the dark building, and was tilting to one side along with the entire foundation of the facility as it slowly sunk into the swamps of Nal Hutta. Quin was struggling to get any preparations done. While checking her equipment along with the stores on the ship and formulating plans for scouting and infiltrating the HK factory she set the shot glass she had just drained down on a table. It stayed at first. Then slid an inch or two. Then another. Until it finally tipped off the lip of the table and clattered to the floor only to roll underneath a locker where it would surely be lost forever. Quin watched the slow, pathetic display of failure and did not bother to intervene. She wore a look somewhere between disinterest and disgust.

"Great parking job. It's not as if anybody wanted to sleep, or sit down, or walk straight or get anything done at all for that matter," she mumbled.

She had suggested they idle the engines or fire up the auxiliary power just to use the artificial gravity, but it was concluded that doing so might trigger nearby scanners or other unwanted attention. It would seem nothing could ever go right. Not the ship, not their jobs, not the crew, and not her friends. An Imperial Agent on this ship. Scheming snake. She readjusted her footing as best she could on the tipped floor and finished loading her new grenade launcher before propping it up in the gun locker next to a handsome blaster rifle she would be using as well. They should kill her while they had the chance. Quin thought about pulling the trigger, but realized she wouldn't be able to do it. She wouldn't shoot the one person in this crew that didn't make her feel alienated.

Speaking of crew member, said woman stepped into the room then to gather her gear and prepare for the mission. Seeing Pik're made her face flush a bit as she remembered her emotional state when Nyrette had left and the aura that she had about her that stayed even until now. In Nyrette's unique Miralukan vision, she saw Quin's emotional state coated in a deep red color, darkness and anger swirled about her core in a torrent of grief and self loathing. She took a deep breath and put on her best smile before approaching her locker, which was next to Quin's, and began to disrobe to equip her armor and gear. "Hey." She said, emotionless steel diguising her nervous nature. "Is that an RD-4 Grenade launcher? That's the one with the EMP on detonation, right? That'll help quite a bit in the facility." She tried to make small talk but she wasn't sure if she would have an effect or not. She grabbed her rifle, a Senate royal guard's DC-15A Blaster rifle with a wooden stock and overcharged blaster packs, and shouldered it while grabbing her electro-knife.

"Trying to put on the happy face and play nice already?" Quin asked, "Now is probably a bad time for small talk."  

She simply looked at her and smiled. "Tis better to look to the new day with renewed vigor than to mire one's self in the past day's grief."

"Bad timing for poetry too," Quin sighed. After a short pause she risked a look at Nyrette, "I'm not with the Republic anymore. For obvious reasons. However, I still have to ask; what did you mean by 'the Empire's coming?'"

"The Empire wants another war. I was one of their forward scouts that was sent ahead of the forces to gauge enemy forces. Obviously, I'm not reporting back in."

"Do you really think I believe that? Why should I trust you? What reasons would you have to simply up and leave The Empire if you say they're so dangerous and horrible?"

"I went ten years of being in fear. The slightest mistake and I would be thrown into a world of unimaginable pain and torment the likes of which you will most likely never see." She looked at her, her smile fading now. "You don't deserve to see that. Being back in the republic, where people are free and not forced to follow those that you know in your heard are truly dark and evil...." She trailed off, looking through Quin like she wasn't even there. "I will not go back to that."

Quin sized up the other woman for several long moments after listening to her story and explanation. She still wore a frown but was beginning to soften. Then she shook her head, "I see. If you think Republic citizens are truly 'free' and not 'forced to follow' dark and evil people then the Empire must have been something else. Regardless, they picked the right time to strike. The Republic wont survive another war. Not on top of the one we already have. I don't mean the government either. The damn Senate and their murderous monks can go play in a black hole for all the fucks I give about them. These people wont survive though. Most of us don't have a home anymore," she gestured to the ship around them, "Or even something like this... Nothing we can do to retaliate I suppose. On another note what's to stop S... Whatever you called this bitch, from coming after you. If you were so exclusive I doubt you'd be let go so easily."

"Those questions are why I scream from nightmares at night." She said darkly.

"Oh," was all Quin could say. She absentmindedly brushed a little dust off a set of crudely thrown together combat armor that hung in her locker before closing it and trying to remember what else needed tending to. Her mind was too clouded though.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted," she finally choked out, "All the chaos and unpredictability and brutishness of the past months had me feeling out of sorts. Then you came along. Sophisticated, disciplined, well-groomed... pretty. Guess I felt betrayed by you being... abnormal."

After a moment she chuckled at what she had just said, "It sounds absolutely ludicrous now that I say it out loud. I can't believe I expected anything to be neat, orderly and by the books among outlaws."

"Hey, sometimes there are outlaws that have extreme cases of Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Like us." Her smile returned to her face then and she stood up straight. "Have you worked on the camp outside of the ship yet?"

"Aside from setting up some lights so the lemmings don't trip over themselves while walking around the ship, no. I've been feeling somewhat... aggressive..."

"Boy I wonder why." She stuck out her tongue as she set her gun on it's stock and caught it as it fell over. "Lets go set up a barricade at least. We might get tracked back here by HK droids of doom or something. Need to protect ourselves somehow."


[hr]

MEANWHILE

"Kobel! Iisska...get akk dog AWAY from wall, please. Holes in wall not needed...no matter how delicious wharf rat looks."

"He's not making holes. He's making [i]dents[/i]. [i]D-eh-n-ts[/i]," Iisska sounded out slower, "Don't worry, I had problems with that word too."

Kobel was going absolutely nuts as the conversation progressed and began to slam into the edge of the wall and the floor with more ferocity and began to claw at the metal and throw debris every which way while pursuing his prey. The obstacles in his way were not holding up well under the battering from his teeth and claws.

"Iisska." He said and pointed at Kobel. "That is hole. Dent is what happens when I hit skull with hammer."

He frowned at Cheshik for a few seconds, "You win," then went to go calm down his lovable monstrosity. Several bruises, scrapes and curses against ancient gods and spirits later, Kobel was back to prodding around the facility happily and in a less destructive manner. The other pair of explorers carried flashlights and weapons but little else as they ventured further and further away from the Harpoon into the maze of corridors, offices, observation decks and assembly lines. Much of which had fallen into severe disrepair and had begun to be covered by swamp vegetation and unspeakable slimes and molds. Fetid water submerged floors in the lowest sections. As they walked Iisska took a moment to bend a pick up a broken piece of pipe with which to poke at a very large set of vines that seemed to be pulsing and moving a little. They recoiled from the first jab but stilled quickly.

"Gross," he tilted his head a bit, "I like this place. With no assassin droids and slimy Hutts running around it would be... nice."

"It reminds me of home. If more plants and creepy crawlies tried to munch us, I could not tell difference." He whistled as they got farther in and Cheshik's Varactyl came out of the darkness to his master. "You should attempting to training to your Kobel like Snickers here."

"I already did attempting to training him. And I succeeding to training him. Watch. Kobel!"

The akk dog snapped his head up mid sniff and froze, with all his attention on his master.

"Jiri!" Iisska commanded.

Kobel snorted and wiggled his butt but didn't move.

"Kobel, jiri!" he yelled again.

Nothing more happened aside from the akk dog shifting his weight again.

"He never does this!" Iisska shrugged, "Uh, just... Kobel! Anlaa te gin azdii me raatem! JIRI!!" he jabbed his finger at the ground beside himself.

The huge creature wiggled his butt once more but it lead into a powerful pounce as he bounded back toward them at a full sprint, tongue lolling from his mouth.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO--!!"

It was too late. Kobel tackled Iisska to the ground and after licking and drenching his face in sticky drool, sat on him proudly.

Cheshik looked down at his friend and shook his head. He looked at Snickers then back at Iisska, he simply clapped slowly. "Behold, Snickers. Iisska. Master trainer. He has indeed caught them all."

"Shut that face, Cheshik," he hissed while squirming out from under his companion, "He's my first pet--"

Kobel growled at the word.

"Friend... My first petfriend. We're figuring this out as it goes. Cut us some slack."

"Snickers, please, if you will. " In an instant, Snickers leaped at Kobel and rolled him off of Iisska, playing with him on the ground and rolling around like goofballs. Cheshik knelt down and helped the Togruta up. "Do not feel bad, all firsts are zens at first."

"All first are-- Oh ho ho ho. I get the cut of your jive," he chuckled, "That's--"

A deep metallic groan rose up from the depths of the facility followed by a snap that echoed through every space.

"What was that?"