EliteCommander

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Paradise

The remainder of the hyperspace journey back to Paradise did not take terribly long. Sirka ate as quickly as she could after giving her hand some treatment with some medical supplies that Elias had on hand. She had taken several blaster bolts across her body, but her scales would heal without much worry. It was just her hand that required some attention.

Returning to the system, it seemed that Paradise was just as busy as before, now with at least one Venator-class star destroyer in proximity to the converted Separatist capital ship. They were rather old vessels, and Sirka wondered if they were even Imperial. Though, with how desperate the Empire was becoming in recent days, she supposed it would not be surprising if they had to resort to using some older relics to bolster their ever-lessening forces. Fortunately, since Elias had his own hanger, there was no delay for them to get back aboard Paradise.

Once landed, the group still, of course, had to go through security and give up their weapons. Although it was broken, Sirka made sure to drag out the E-Web she had recovered to give it to the droids. Otherwise, she risked losing it if Elias ended up leaving the station with his ship before her. A few of the B1s were confused about what exactly to do with it, given that heavy blaster cannons were generally not the type of weapon that one carried on their person, but they eventually took it.

Their first priority upon returning was, of course, to speak to Koren about their respective jobs and get their pay. Unfortunately, according to the droid they spoke to, Koren would be unavailable for an indeterminate amount of time. So, it seemed that they would have some time to kill.

Her recent promise still fresh in her mind, Sirka turned to Elias, staring at him with her arms crossed in silence for a few seconds before finally speaking up. "So...want a drink?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With as low as the dragon was now flying, Sabine's spell could easily find its mark. The scales on its joints were still strong, but not invincible. Although it was not a deep wound, it did draw some blood, but more importantly, the ice magic could pierce into his body. It chilled the muscles and bones in his wing at the shoulder, which made it more difficult to flap that wing. Since he was already low to the ground, it was finally enough to bring him down entirely.

The dragon slid across the ground, his massive body essentially digging up a trench through the soft dirt. He landed in the clearing, although his momentum brought him a fair distance away from the group, so they could not easily capitalize on his vulnerability before he was able to rise back to his feet. It was possible that he could still take off again, but for now, he was on the ground with them.

Turning his body around, the dragon let out a furious roar, then another shout towards the group: "Gaan-Lah-Haas"

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

En route to Paradise

Sirka shrugged lightly. "Yeah, well I'm not looking to change the galaxy. I just want to be able to make some credits that won't keep me up at night. I'm not going to be shedding any tears over pirates, Hutt mercenaries, or whatever other things like that. I'm sure he's working in his own self-interest to build up his own information trading empire. Selfish, yeah, but better than the Hutts. It's hard to get worse than the Hutts, really. Except maybe the Empire. Hopefully they at least die out soon. Them and every single speciesist bastard they put into power. I'd probably have a nice cushy place on Coruscant right about now if it wasn't for the Empire."

After Elias opened up the cockpit door, Sirka stood up and took a moment to stretch out her legs. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she fell into some other stranger's bed." Sirka joked. "Eh, I'll go find her. She probably just got distracted by something or another."

Sirka started to walk past Elias, but ended up stopping beside him. She placed her hand on his shoulder, but unlike last time, it was not accompanied by a strong grip and a threatening gaze. She looked almost nervous before she started to speak. "So, um, I admit I might have been a bit unfair to you before. I mean, I don't know if you have family, but I'm sure you can understand wanting to look out for them. Maybe, uh, if we ever catch up again on Paradise or something, I'll...buy you a drink, yeah?" She offered, patting his shoulder lightly.

With a few, brief moments of silence, Sirka quickly cleared her throat. "So...you got any bacta anywhere? My hand hurts like hell."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Particularly since it had not had a chance to pick up much speed, the dragon could not avoid the bulk of Sabine's ice shards. His dragon scales were tough enough to avoid being punctured by the small shards of ice, even if the cold still did bite against them. However, it was again his wings that were the most vulnerable. Yet more holes were pierced through them as he ascended, but it was still not enough. The dragon ended up flying somewhat far from the group, though that was only so he could have time to get more speed on his approach. He expected some kind of attack from the mage, so his reaction was ever so slightly delayed when Yerig took the opportunity to attack.

"Liz-Slen-Nus" Yerig's shout rang out, forming into a sizable wave of ice in front of him that he projected into the sky, straight at his target. The dragon did bank to the side to avoid it, but he was not quite quick enough to completely dodge it. The shout hit the end of his left wing, encasing it in ice. It was not too directly harmful to the dragon, but naturally, the increased weight of one wing made flight much more difficult. The dragon ended up losing about half of his altitude before he finally stabalized, now flying more slowly, and with less agility. Even between the ice and the holes pierced through the membrane, it was not quite enough to take him out of the sky. But, he was now a much easier target above them.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

En route to Paradise

Delni Rhiko

Delni looked somewhat confused watching Sol'id. He looked like he was pantomiming hand-to-hand fighting, which was likely the case. She was pretty sure that she was familiar with the Echani: a warrior culture, if she remembered correctly. She was guessing that Sol'id fought with that style, or maybe just felt that it was worthwhile to learn. In any case, Delni sort of doubted that it would be as helpful to her as Sol'id was expecting. Regardless, she did take his hand and stand up to her feet. She still had a mostly full tray of meat to take to her sister, but she also was still in no hurry. It would stay warm for a while yet, so she could continue to stick around and talk.

"I...don't know about that. Training or no, I'd probably be a lot better off just trying to use a blaster if I'm ever in danger. I mean..." Delni began, lifting up and flexing her arm. The vest Elias had given her, in addition to being revealing in other places, was sleeveless, so Sol'id could easily see her muscles, or lack thereof. She had no real strength training at all, on top of a naturally small frame. The amount of effort it would take to make her a threat in a fist fight would be considerable. "...I'm not really built for that sort of thing. Learning to, like, quick-draw a blaster or something might be more, uh, time efficient. Ideally, though, I'd like to just stay away from the fighting. My sister is much, much better at that. Best to play to one's strengths, right?"

---

Sirka Rhiko

Sirka looked at the maps that Elias was scrolling through with a frown, not that Elias would likely be able to discern the meaning of her more subtle reptilian expressions. "I...well, I know Hutt Space isn't exactly a bastion of safety and morality, but I do need the credits. Like you said, the Outer Rim doesn't pay as well unless you have much more of a reputation than I do. I need the credits; I have...obligations." She said, vaguely. The fact that she regularly sent a significant chunk of her pay to her parents to help support them was personal information, and not something she was quick to share with someone that she still did not know particularly well. She did not like it to be known that she had someone else she cared deeply about who she was not around constantly to protect.

"Personally, I'm hoping to get more work from Koren. I did do two jobs for him today, after all." Sirka remarked. "Also helps that I haven't heard many bad things about him, so he might be an employer I don't have too much issue working with. Dangerous, sure, but at least with him I won't risk accidentally helping out some kind of slaver or other scum."

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

En route to Paradise

Seeing as she was in no hurry, Delni decided to take a seat across from Sol'id while he cleaned his blaster so that she could have some lunch for herself. The ribs might not have been the best she ever had, but she was far from picky after being hungry for most of the day. When Sol'id posed his question, Delni shook her head. "Me? Oh, no. That's, uh, Sirka's job. She did try to teach me how to shoot a while back, and she said I was good at it for a beginner, but I've never really been in a fight. Nothing serious, anyway. I used to work with computers, technology, and such back when I was younger, but now my job is to manage the business part of our business. I'm the one that usually finds work for my sister, and manages our finances. It's something that has let me meet a lot of people, make a lot of connections. Since we helped you without necessarily being obligated to, I'm hoping I'll be able to make another connection in the form of Koren. He is the kind of employer that can bring a mercenary quite a lot of credits."

Delni gave a brief chuckle. "Wouldn't that be such a strangely lucky outcome of me drunkenly wandering into this ship? It wouldn't be the first time that we've gotten a lucky break. I feel like there's someone out there looking out for me, sometimes. For both of us, really. My sister was the adopted one of our family. Back when she was still an infant, just before the end of the Clone Wars, she was rescued from a life of slavery by a Jedi. The Order helped her find a family to take care of her."

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Now that they were finally back in hyperspace, on their way back to Paradise, Delni felt that she could finally relax. The whole thing had been a stressful affair, but at least it had worked out in the end. She was looking forward to getting back to her own clothes in her own hotel room, but she did not feel like she was in a particular hurry. She strolled casually through the ship's kitchen, humming to herself while she looked for whatever food caught her eye, as she was wont to do whenever she was alone. As a Togruta, she had another sense in the form of echolocation through her montrals, allowing her to perceive her surroundings outside her own vision in much greater detail than most other species. Having some ambient sound could sharpen that sense, making her feel more aware.

Given that she had promised to feed most of the people on board, Delni ended up leaving the kitchen with a large tray of food in her hands. For herself, she had grabbed a few roasted shatual ribs, and several, much larger cuts of meat for Sirka. Sol'id could take what he wanted from that, along with a fruit Delni did not recognize that she assumed was edible. Both herself and her sister were from carnivorous species, so she was not terribly familiar with most fruits and vegetables. She did pour herself a glass of wine as well, though she was sure to double check its exact contents first, not wanting to repeat her past mistakes.

Delni returned to the room Sol'id was using and stopped her humming just before stepping inside. She found a clear spot to set down the tray, packed to the brim with shatual meat. "Here you are, take whatever you like. Just make sure to leave enough for my sister." She said, pausing as she looked around at the blasters and other weapons that Sol'id had gathered round him. She had not payed much specific attention to his equipment before the job, granted, but she had the feeling he did not have this many with him beforehand. "So, uh...what exactly happened out there? I was worried that you had run into trouble when I suddenly lost comms with you, which is why I convinced my sister to try and help you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was something that might have been surprise in the dragon's reaction upon seeing Sabine survive his fire unscathed, or perhaps it was anger, given the growl that followed. The massive beast had little time to react before Sabine's powerful spears of ice tore through his wings with ease. Although the wings were not the strongest part of a dragon's body, they were still not trivial to cut through, so for the dragon, her power was a cause for concern.

Unfortunately, it would take more than one or two holes in his wings to keep the dragon out of the sky. Do'rhajul and Yerig had their weapons drawn and were advancing on him, but had to stop as they heard his voice form a familiar shout: "Fus-Ro-Dah"

The dragon's booming voice was as loud as a crack of lightning, and the force his shout created was even greater than what Yerig had used on Janius. The blast of energy flattened the grass instantly to the ground and kicked up enough dirt and dust to nearly blind them all momentarily. The shout was meant to stop Do'rhajul and Yerig, though his unrelenting force was wide enough to threaten all three. Yerig ducked behind Do'rhajul, while the Khajiit raised up his shield to protect them from the magic.

Amid the cloud of dust, the group would be able to hear, and feel, the loud flapping of the dragon's wings as he attempted to get into the air.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

En route to Paradise

While Elias was giving his explanation, Sirka sat herself down in the co-pilot's chair, at least as well as she could. She had more weight to her than even a Wookiee, but she could make it work. Dealing with undersized furniture was a rather common occurrence for her, after all. Still, she ended up halfway leaning off of it by the time she settled in.

"Hmm, so still stupid, but...I suppose not unforgivable." Sirka remarked. She flicked out her nose tongues at Elias to see if she could get any hints on if he was perhaps lying to her. For the moment, though, she was operating on a tentative assumption that he was being truthful. "That was pretty much the story she told me. Delni doesn't usually get that drunk, don't think she meant to. That's probably why she ended up in your ship, though knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to sleep with you just to spite me. Growing up, she always thought I was too controlling, too protective of her. Delni's rebellious phase ended up with her rebelling against me just as much as our parents. She was too naive, too trusting, and it didn't always end as well as it did this time. There were some times that I did have to bash some skulls on people who deserved it. Not a lot of honor to go around on Nar Shaddaa, after all."

Sirka leaned back onto her chair and sighed. "She's not that innocent little girl anymore, though. If you as interested in her as you were acting back in the bar, I guess it's not my right to get in the way. I know I should trust her; she does more for me than even she knows. Don't tell her I said that, though, or I'll break your nose. Last thing I need is her getting a big head."

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Elias' prediction of Sirka's reaction was fairly accurate, as her immediate instinct was to snarl at him. It looked like she was about to start yelling yet again when Delni reached up and placed a gentle hand on Sirka's shoulder, lightly shaking her head. She spoke softly, with an equally soft expression. "Sis, it was just as much my fault as anyone's, and he did the right thing once we got over the surprise. He could have done anything to me, but he agreed to let me stay, gave me some clothes, and even offered to compensate me for the trouble. He's not a bad guy, honestly."

After a moment, Sirka's intimidating stance deflated. It seemed that Delni, at least, had the ability to calm the beast, as it were. She stared at Elias through the extended pause before finally closing her eyes and giving a light nod. "Okay, you know I trust you. Just...give me a minute with him, alright? I'd still like to talk about some things. I promise I won't eat him or anything."

Delni smiled. "Fine, fine. And speaking of eating, I think I could use some lunch. I haven't even ate yet today, with everything that's been going on. I'll get something for you too. Hope you don't mind me taking all your meat, Elias. My big sis here can eat a lot of it."

With Delni walking out of the cockpit, Sirka took another step closer to Elias. Again, there was a brief pause between them before Sirka finally spoke up. "Look, Mandalorian...Elias. While I might have every right to smash your face in for kidnapping my sister, I'm not going to. Delni vouches for you, and as stupid as she can act sometimes, she's not a bad judge of character. She's a really good one, actually; got a talent for it that I really don't even understand. So, maybe I can give you a chance. See for myself why she trusts you."

Sirka extended her hand towards Elias, offering to shake his. "Why don't we sit down, and you tell me your side of the story?"