It was going to be a long-ass mission.

Ko enjoyed salvage. Really, she did. Figuring out which parts were useful enough to strip was actually pretty engaging, and concocting new uses for the ones that weren't presented an interesting puzzle.

But trust Janice to figure out a way to make it drudgery.

First there was the problem of the locale. A lead on old tech from a dead civilization? Prime, I'll get my prybar. But oooh no... Ota. Ota, of all places! Not that she'd heard of it before, but a little research had revealed it was a karking snowball. Frankly Ko found Ord Mantell a little on the cool side, but fine, not everywhere was a blessedly arid hell-hole like Ryloth. She'd accepted that and could live with it. But this would be even colder than Yei-Ydheem.

Ko had always hated those headbands and lekku-wraps favoured by so many Twi'leks. Restrictive, her welding goggles were more practical (and frankly just looked more awesome), and she'd use just about any excuse to buck a Twi'lek cultural trend since in her mind it was a lousy culture anyways. But she'd decided to invest in some more traditional headgear because she wasn't particularly keen on the notion of losing her lekku to frostbite. She was convinced that it looked ridiculous.

Then there was the mission roster. She was pretty sure Janice knew and was getting back at her somehow.

Vao seemed affable enough. Kahn was some newbie that she didn't know, but was apparently a competent pilot; they'd be taking his ship.

Okay. So far, so good.

But there, at the bottom of the list - one Tyron Stryder, acting as co-pilot.

Or should she say Ravein? Whatever. It didn't matter. Well, in a way it did, in that the events surrounding the reveal of that particular moniker had been... uncomfortable, to say the least.

She'd been carefully avoiding the man since - about a week or so. Occasionally she'd sneak in to do some work on the Eclipse, but never for more than an hour or two before sneaking off again.

Space, right? Right. He probably needed space. This wasn't because she felt unreasonably guilty about having spared the Imperial Agent that had personally shot his dad. At all.

The one holomessage he'd sent had just slipped her mind. Honest.

In entirely unrelated news, Ko had been on edge most of the week. She also hadn't gotten laid, either. And, of course, each of these problems made the other worse.

But there was nothing to be done for it at this point. This was her job, which meant it was her responsibility to do it, period. She was in charge of this mission. Surely she could keep herself together long enough to do the work. Of course she could, because she was Ko frotzing Yidura.

Ko frotzing Yidura got shit done while tossing wisecracks with aplomb, then immediately hit the cantina and started shotgunning cheap lager. After an hour or two she might punch a handsy drunk in the face, or just leave with him if he caught her fancy.

She did not sit there wringing her hands with a bad case of nerves.

No, she apparently brooded in the conference room and chain-smoked, instead.

Just needed to wait (an activity which Ko had discovered an entirely new level of loathing for) now. She was in the room over a half an hour before the briefing was scheduled to begin. Ko was a habitually - and to some, surprisingly, but the Twi'lek didn't do anything halfway, least of all work - punctual woman, and it's not as if she'd been able to sleep that well, anyways.

((Previously, Wulfric's Miscellany))

“Did you manage to lock down that aft stabilizer Eedy?”  Wulfric was busy performing a final inspection on the landing gear, while his Silver protocol droid was on top of the ship making sure that nothing was amiss.

“I believe so Sir, but then again, I’m not very knowledgeable about such things.”  The droid sounded hesitant, and he couldn’t blame her.  No amount of software hacks could alter her fundamental protocol programming.   She might be able to give you the dictionary definition of a hypercoil phase-inverter, but she was about bloody useless if you needed her to repair it.   This usually meant that she was great at spotting problems, but rather ineffective when it came to offering up effectual solutions.

“Alright, come on down then, we don’t want to be late.”   After all, he’d only just landed the gig, and he sure as hell didn’t want to make a poor impression.

As he waited for Eddy to descend, he couldn’t help but admire his ship.   It was a heavily customized XS light freighter, with sleeker angles to give it a less boxy appearance.  She was built for speed, and the ship had saved his cargo and his life on more than one occasion.   For now she was called Utopia’s Legacy, but he had the feeling that he’d be switching the transponder codes more than a few times before mission’s end.  Not that he knew a mynock’s fart regarding what the mission was about.  He could only hope the briefing would offer more excitement than these things usually did.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Katz wrote:

"So, who else is coming?"

Approaching the briefing room he could hear the voice of a female Twi-lek.   Perhaps this mission wouldn’t turn out to be quite so boring after all . . .

With a grin he adjusted his cloak, admiring it’s smooth black reflection on Eedy’s shining form.  The rest of his outfit was impeccable, though as he passed his hand over the scruff of his chin he couldn’t help wonder if he should have given himself a shave before heading out.

Beckoning for Eedy to follow, he entered to conference room, and noticed that the chamber contained a second pair of Lekku.   He took a second to appraise the two Twi-leks, and he could feel a roguish smile beginning to spread across his face.  If these two were any indication of the rest, he was going to very much enjoy working for the Syndicate indeed.

Eedy was moving forward in an attempt to make introductions, but Wulfric cut her off before she could begin.   As he addressed the pair, he leaned forward to make a slight bow, attempting to make eye contact with each of the women in turn “I believe I can answer at least part of your question, Captain Wulfric Kahn, at your service.”   Though it went against his instincts, he tried to dial down his swindler’s charm.   Nonetheless, he couldn't help but continue “Though I may be new to your operation, I have to say, I’m really enjoying what I’ve seen so far.”   

The inherent double meaning of his statement had arisen more out of habit than purpose, and as he and Eedy took their seats, he reached across the table to extend his hand to each woman in turn.  “I don’t believe I’ve yet had the pleasure of making either of your acquaintances . . . "

Ztaka wrote:

"'morning, Olani! You in charge? 'course you are. I understand we're off on a scavenging mission. I'd put you in charge too."

Despite her mood, Ko could help but grin a bit. After the past week Ztaka's good cheer was a breath of fresh air. "Yep! Tha locale ain't my first choice, but I can't complain 'bout their pick fer leader." Her smile turned wryly cocky - more so than she actually felt at the moment, but moping wouldn't help anything - and extinguished the butt of her cig in the ashtray before she leaned back in her chair, fingers laced behind her head.

Ztaka wrote:

"So, who else is coming?"

"R- uh, Stryder, and that new guy..." And there 'new guy' was, a faintly roguish smile on his lips.

Wulfric wrote:

“I believe I can answer at least part of your question, Captain Wulfric Kahn, at your service.”

Ko cast an appraising look over him. Besides being a snappy dresser, this human certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, and there was something compelling (and oddly familiar) about him that she couldn't quite place...

...maybe later. There was work to be done.

Wulfric wrote:

“Though I may be new to your operation, I have to say, I’m really enjoying what I’ve seen so far.”

The green Twi'lek regarded Wulfric from her relaxed vantage point, a playful smirk touching her lips. Pretty sure that was flirting. Well... a little wouldn't hurt, would it? "Aw, don't make a snap judgment jes' yet," she drawled all-too-innocently. "There's so much more ta see, y'know?"

Wulfric wrote:

“I don’t believe I’ve yet had the pleasure of making either of your acquaintances . . . "

Ko nodded, leaning forward in her seat to rest one elbow on the tabletop, and extended the other arm over it to grasp Wulfric's hand. A firm and professional handshake, though it bore a few calluses; the friendly smile that accompanied it wasn't as mischief-laced as a moment ago, but there was still a certain gleam in her eye. "Ko Yidura, mechanic... but fer this outin', I'm HNIC - that's 'Head Numa In Charge'."

She withdrew her hand and leaned back in her chair again, looking thoughtful. "Kahn, Kahn... that's bay 48c, right? Tha XS?" As a mechanic and ship enthusiast, Ko made it her business to know what belonged to who in hangar E-27. "Ya got excellent taste, if I say so m'self - a man after my own heart." Easy there, girl. Work, remember?

She offered Kahn's silvery protocol droid a friendly nod and a "ma'am", and was about to continue, but...

Then Tyron came in, late. Goddess, but he looked like hell. Ko felt a pang of guilt. Maybe she should've replied to that holomessage or --

Tyron wrote:

"... not enough girls," were the first words out of his mouth. "Damn. Only one. This will be terrible."

One girl? Ah, yes, that old chestnut. Knowing Tyron, he was dismissing her and not Ztaka; never mind that of the two Twi'leks, Ko was pretty sure she was the only one who had slept with him.

Ko then noted the slight slur in his voice and the bottle in his hand and immediately scowled. He seemed bent on making it hard to remain sympathetic. Admittedly, she drank like a fish, but she drew the line at doing so on the job. Irresponsible, and in her line of work the potential for a crushed limb or severed digit was all-too-real with booze added to the mix.

Brix. This is the last thing I need right now. Ugh. Just get this briefing over with. Of course, there was the whole rest of the mission after that, but one step at a time. Remember. When this is over I'll have enough for a down payment on that ship I've been eying. Think of the ship!

She got a sudden craving for another another cigarra, and offered a trenchant reply as she got it and her lighter out to light up. "Don't worry, flyboy. Have another bottle after that one, an' ya won't be able ta tell the difference anyways. Problem solved!" Ko paused to take a drag off her cig, and gave Tyron a look that said 'don't frotzing push me any more on this, or so-help-me-goddess I will end you'. "Now - siddown an' shuddup."

Ko wrote:

"Don't worry, flyboy. Have another bottle after that one, an' ya won't be able ta tell the difference anyways. Problem solved!" Ko paused to take a drag off her cig, and gave Tyron a look that said 'don't frotzing push me any more on this, or so-help-me-goddess I will end you'. "Now - siddown an' shuddup."

"Drink more? Good idea," Tyron slurred, before dropping into the nearest chair. He almost didn't make it, but managed to recover.

"Okay. So I know you two. But who's that new guy?" He pointed in the vague direction of Wulfric. "I can't really tell what he looks like. But I guess he's the pilot since nobody told me about bringing my ship? Or maybe Janice is just leaving stuff out again. Either way, my ship is totally not ready. Because there are still a few girls in my bed from last night. Hah... hahaha."

Wulfric wrote:

“I see you have an excellent eye for fine workmanship.   I’ll be happy to give you a personal tour as soon as we’re ready to get underway.”

"Well, I got a tight schedule," Ko said dubiously, but with a playful glint in her dark eyes, "but I think I might be able ta set aside some time..."

Tyron wrote:

"Drink more? Good idea," Tyron slurred, before dropping into the nearest chair. He almost didn't make it, but managed to recover.

Ko face-palmed with a muttered "oh fer frotz's sake". The ship, Ko. Think of the ship. She got the sneaking suspicion that she would be repeating this mantra to herself a great deal over the next few days.

Ztaka wrote:

"Ztaka Vao. Pleased to meet you too. Nice droid you've got there. Pretty shiny. Maybe I should bring my T1... They could have a party."

Wulfric wrote:

“I’m sure that Eedy would be more than happy to have a fellow droid tag along, though I’m afraid she’s not very fun at parties.  Doesn’t know how to relax.”

Eedy wrote:

“It is a truly a delight to make you acquaintance Mistress Ztaka.  And I’ll have you know Master Wulfric that in regards to relaxation techniques, I am programmed in over five hundred-“

Wulfric wrote:

“Can it Eedy, you can discuss it to your metal heart’s content with that T1 droid when we get back to the ship.”

Relaxation techniques. Yeah, that... might be something to look into. So that I don't pop a vein on the flight over.

Tyron wrote:

"Okay. So I know you two. But who's that new guy?" He pointed in the vague direction of Wulfric. "I can't really tell what he looks like. But I guess he's the pilot since nobody told me about bringing my ship? Or maybe Janice is just leaving stuff out again. Either way, my ship is totally not ready. Because there are still a few girls in my bed from last night. Hah... hahaha."

Wulfric wrote:

“The name’s Wulfric, though from the looks of things, it’s probably for the best that I’ll be the one doing the piloting.”

"Ya read my mind, Kahn," Ko snickered, before turning a more jaundiced eye to Tyron. Sitting down, he'd done; the rest... "Well, yer halfway there, flyboy. Nice work. Think ya can manage shuttin' up, too?"

Wulfric wrote:

“If this is everybody, perhaps we’d best get the briefing started?”

"Nice, two fer two," commented Ko, actually looking a bit impressed, even relieved. From the look of things they were going to need every ounce of professionalism to make up for... whatever the kark it was that Tyron was doing. Still, she couldn't resist adding an airy postscript. "Remind me not ta play pazaak with ya... fer stuff I'd mind givin' up, anyways." She managed to keep the smirk off her face and out of her voice - for the most part, anyways - lest she completely dismantle whatever semblance of assiduousness she was trying to maintain.

Ko paused briefly to scroll down a bit on her datapad's screen with one hand, and flick some ash from her cig into the ashtray with the other. After a moment she got out a small holoprojector pod and slid it over the surface of the table. It stopped roughly in the middle.

Vao has her shit together, and it looks like Kahn does too. This is doable. Entirely doable.

"Anyways. Deal is, a few lucky winners are headed on an all-expenses-paid vacation ta tha fabulous Mytaranor sector." She punctuated this with the tap of one finger on her datapad. The holoprojector obligingly produced an image of said sector.

"Now, I know what yer thinkin' - 'Wookiees and Trandoshans are all well an' good, Ms. Yidura, but what's in it fer" - here she did air quotes - "Corellian Transports 'n' Exports?'" She punched something on her datapad again. The view of the sector zoomed to a single star system.

Tap. One planet in particular was highlighted. "This... is Ota, conveniently located in the Ota system." Tap tap. The view zoomed again, revealing the planet as an icy white orb. "Lovely weather," she remarked dryly, "but, surprise surprise, we ain't goin' fer tha sunshine. It's got its own species of sentients - but barely, they're primitives - called tha Snogar. Big hairy brutes, maybe two-'n'-a-half metres tall. As it turns out, they had themselves a nice lil' civilization at some point, an' they still use some o' tha more... point-'n'-shoot jobbies. Stun nets, envirosuits, that sorta thing."

"Meanwhile, there's all kinds o' urban ruins jes' sittin' around, gatherin' dust. Well, ice." Ko made a face at the word.  Lousy cold planets. "...whatever." She tapped her datapad once more, and the view zoomed to a topographical view of an area in the planet's northern hemisphere. "Assumin' tha info's legit - an' it damn well better be - this is one o' them ruins. It's a massive cave complex with a small settlement inside. As tha entrance's been sittin' under a glacier fer a millennium or three, it's been untouched longer'n a jedi archivist's naughty bits. Luckily, that glacier's shifted enough fer us ta get in on foot."

"Idea is we get inside an' start strippin' any gizmos that look promisin', an' any valuable metals from tha ones that don't. Easy enough, right?" She glanced around the table, from person to person.

"One problem, though. We're prolly not tha only ones gunnin' fer this - could be other scavengers, pirates lookin' fer scavengers ta rob, an' so on. Only way this trip is gonna be worthwhile is if we haul ass like a mynock outta hell 'fore this salvage gets mynocked."

Ko nodded at Wulfric and Tyron in turn. "That's where you gentlemen come in. Two ways ta Ota from here - the long, safe way, and the short, fun way - an' never let it be said that Janice don't want us ta have fun." She snorted and rolled her eyes. A couple taps pulled the view back to the Mytaranor sector, with a series of navpoints drawn over it. "Tha route'll take us through a nebula, an' prolly an ion storm or three, but I imagine you two can handle it..." She frowned faintly, throwing an admonitory look at Tyron. "...'s long as ya stay sober."

"So!" Ko leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest and eyebrows raised as she looked at the rest of the team. "Any questions, or should I jes' let ya run off ta pack yer mittens?"

Ko wrote:

"...'s long as ya stay sober."

Tyron responded to this with a dignified eye-roll. "He just said he'd do all the piloting. If he thinks he don't need me, maybe I shouldn't even bother... well... not really, you're scary." That last part probably shouldn't have been said aloud. It totally killed the disdain.

"Right. Mittens. ... I don't have any mittens... or anything else you wear when it's cold... hmm. How did I get clothes the last time there were some I needed and didn't have? ... oh yeah, that tuxedo. ... maybe she's lonely, I could get a scarf and goat or something out of that deal... yeah, that'll work."

He got up and stumbled towards the door. Were they done? Didn't matter, he was done. Probably.

Ztaka wrote:

"Should I bring my astromech, then? I'm sure he could be of use in such a mission."

"That'd be helpful, yeah - not much I could requisition on short notice." Ko glanced at Eedy, then at Wulfric. "I assume yer bringin' her as well, which might be useful if we run in ta any of the natives."

Wulfric wrote:

“Looks pretty straightforward, get in, get the loot, and get out as quickly as possible.”   He couldn’t help but let loose a cocky grin “Luckily you’ve got yourselves a fast ship.”

"I hope fer all our sakes that ya ain't exaggeratin', hotshot," she replied sardonically. If he was, well, he would just be the last in a long, long line of overconfident pilots that she'd had the (sometimes dubious) distinction of encountering over the years.

Said encounters all sort of blurred together after a while, but Ko's recollection of each ship, at least, was impeccable.

Priorities, you know.

Tyron wrote:

"He just said he'd do all the piloting. If he thinks he don't need me, maybe I shouldn't even bother... well... not really, you're scary."

"Damn straight I am," she said darkly, and her smile here was more than a little menacing. "But we're gonna need ya both in workin' order if we run into an ion storm."

Wulfric wrote:

“From the sounds of things I’ll need to pick up some extra anti-freeze and anti-coagulant for the hydraulics, but my ship's good to go as soon the rest of you'all are.”

"Yeah, if ya could take care o' that yerself, it'd be great. I'm sure you'll have time. Not like ya got far ta walk, heh."

Tyron wrote:

"Right. Mittens. ... I don't have any mittens... or anything else you wear when it's cold... hmm. How did I get clothes the last time there were some I needed and didn't have? ... oh yeah, that tuxedo. ... maybe she's lonely, I could get a scarf and goat or something out of that deal... yeah, that'll work."

Ko stared after Tyron's stumbling exit with a mixture of incredulity and disgust. "Ryma'at's tits," she muttered, shaking her head and leaning to extinguish her cig in the ashtray. "I'd facepalm harder but I ain't in tha mood fer a concussion."

"Anyways. Meet at bay 48c in..." Ko fiddled with her chronometer for a moment. "...two hours." She sighed and rose from her seat. "Guess I better go make sure Flyboy don't karkin' flambee himself in tha mean time," she grumbled as she went to leave. "I'd jes' get a replacement, but no-oo, this is urgent and no-one else can do it on short notice..."

****

Ko's things were already packed, so she made a quick detour to her apartment to grab her bags before returning to the hangar to hit the Eclipse. Soon enough she she was waiting at the top of its loading ramp. She hit the button on the comm with a frown. Maybe he's smartened up and trying to get sober. Yeah. That'd be nice.

Tyron wrote:

"I'm kind of busy right now."

But he opened the door. Saved her the trouble of breaking in again, at least. Ko walked in, set her bags down for the moment, and headed further into the ship.

Wait. What the hell would he be busy w--

Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted by a feminine gasp. "...ya gotta be kiddin' me," she muttered irritably, and made her way to the hold.

The tableau that greeted her elicited a weary shake of her head. "Oh, fer tha love o' Ryma'at," she said with a groan of her own, though it was wasn't so much impassioned as really annoyed. The fact that this didn't faze her was probably a bad sign. "Seriously?"

Tyron wrote:

"I did tell you I was busy," Tyron managed, despite his rather compromising position. "Other two are kind of bored if you want something to do."

"Yeah, an' silly me, thinkin' ya'd actually be packin' or doin'... I dunno, somethin' ta get ready."

Ko met the blank looks of the two women with a singularly unimpressed stare of her own. "Show's over, ladies. Flyboy here's gotta get ta work fer once," she said irritably, waving a dismissive hand. "Shoo!"

Tyron wrote:

"And if you're here for me, I'll be done in a... second... minute..."

"Nope, yer done now," Ko replied firmly, giving the woman that Tyron was currently entangled with a baleful stare. "Get out."

The blue Twi'lek probably didn't deserve her ire, but Ko was running dangerously short of patience.

Tyron wrote:

"You're a terrible boss. You said we had two hours, and now you're going back on it."

"All right, all right - so what yer tellin' me is that ya'd be there, on time, with yer kit, an' sober enough ta co-pilot." Ko snickered bitterly. "Yeah, okay. Fergive me if I have trouble takin' ya seriously, Flyboy."

Tyron wrote:

"I know you have that mental block 'bout getting laid anywhere close to a mission, but honestly. The guy's ship is right over there. My stuff's on its way. Just leave me alone for the next hour I do have to myself."

Ko's eye twitched involuntarily when Tyron brought up getting laid. So she'd had a dry spell. No big deal, right? She'd be f--ugh damn it Ko stop checking him out it is not the time. "Nuh-uh." She shook her head, as much to clear any errant thoughts as it was to indicate refusal . "I ain't leavin' until I'm sure yer sober enough ta fly straight. So put tha caf on. Ateema."

The three Twi'leks hesitated, glancing between the sniping pair.

Ko shot a glower at the lingering triad of Twi'leks as if realizing they were still there. "What part o' get out didja not get?" She started counting off various farewells on her left hand, alternating Ryl and Huttese with increasing formality (and increasingly apparent belligerence). "Ka'ta, mee jewz ku, sahak chir, goopta mo bossa, ryma gesu'tak allesh!" She motioned towards the exit. "Do I gotta say it in Bocce, too? 'Cuz I can!"

Tyron wrote:

"Y'know..." he drawled, as he turned the machine on. "You can do more than look, if you want. I won't tell nobody."

Ko swallowed heavily, hastily averting her gaze - which, admittedly, had been lingering overlong on him. "I, uh." There was an awkward pause as a few emotions battled each other: the guilt over the whole Nighthunter debacle; the general seething tension looking to quench itself in some uncomplicated lust; the reflexive, blustering defiance and pride that replied 'no' on instinct; the work ethic that sensibly pointed out that she had a job to do, so she'd best do it.

But most uncomfortable of all was the understanding of just why he was throwing himself so recklessly into drinking and sex, and the strange sensation of sympathy that sprang from it - she'd done much the same thing in the past over one tragedy or another.

Goddess, but she hated feeling so damnably open.

Ko finally managed a sullen shake of her head, but little more. She suspected that her voice would only make her indecision and anxiety obvious, and that'd just make things worse.

The Twi'lek went to hastily light a cigarra. This seemed to be a pattern around Tyron today.

Tyron wrote:

"What, just because you're uglier than the three I just had in? Don't worry, you make up for it. I ain't thinking about your scars when you do that one thing with the left lekku..."

Ko ashed her cig with a look of irritation on her face. And she was irritated, because Tyron was bloody irritating, but she actually felt sort of relieved at the same time. Sarcasm was familiar. Comfortable. She knew how to deal with it.

"I'm so glad that I gotta special place in yer heart, Flyboy," she said with a withering roll of her eyes. "I mean, I jes' got no idea what I'd do with myself without yer approval, y'know? Prolly jes' wither an' die a spinster, never again knowin' a man's touch." She heaved an overly affected sigh. "Still dunno how I managed 'fore I drug myself ta Ord Mantell!"

A look of melodramatic horror dawn on her face, as if she'd just drawn some truly terrifying conclusion. "Or maybe Ahnarra's right 'bout tha vast Dim-U conspiracy ta alter people's memories with cosmic rays." She gasped quietly, one hand rising to cover her mouth. "Great galactic core! Maybe... maybe I never had a sex life before ya at all!"

Ko shook her head despondently. "But then... where did tha hickeys come from? Unless... tha mynocks're in on it too." She clapped one fist against her open palm. "I knew those little bastards were up to somethin'!"