The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: vanTheMad on 14-02-2016, 22:11:10</h2>
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				Title: <strong>The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>14-02-2016, 22:11:10</strong>
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				<hr><hr><div align="center">(http://orig14.deviantart.net/4905/f/2015/247/0/4/star_wars_logo_by_jmk_prime-d98b8ef.png)<br><hr><span style="font-size: 36pt;" class="bbc_size"><span style="font-family: andale mono;" class="bbc_font">THE PERLEMIAN ROUTE</span></span> (https://brorlandi.github.io/StarWarsIntroCreator/#!/KAYe4_4obGRTY-IVrH3)</div><hr><hr><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/w91b8hb.png)</div><strong><span class="bbc_u"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="bbc_size">At the Drinking Horn, a spaceport cantina in Point Wilek, on Trogan...</span></span></strong><br><br>Even here, in the dim corner of a smoky cantina huddled away in a two-bit space port on Trogan, tucked in the back, where it couldn't possibly offend what few patrons the establishment managed to host, gleamed the soft holographic glow of the <em>Dianoga's</em> plea for help. Over at the bar, lumped in with the few other guests at the cantina, stood a lean human, sipping a short glass of Corellian brandy. His green poncho was damp, and his hair still bore the shine of water. He quickly finished his drink and motioned towards the bartender, a squat but attentive Devaronian, and handed him a palm-full of credits with a smile.<br><br>Outside, through the thick permacrete walls of the cantina, Dunn could almost hear the howling of the storm. When he'd heard there was money to be made on Trogan, he had thought that the planet's weather had been exaggerated to explain why it never caught on as a tourist locale, but now, on day three of torrential downpours and strong winds, Dunn had decided that maybe the stories about the weather were true. The bartender returned with a tray of glasses and a bottle of the same Corellian brandy, and Dunn motioned towards a table , then followed the bartender to it and sat himself down.<br><br>"Just a bit under an hour 'til liftoff," he mutters to no one at the table in particular, pouring the brandy into the seperate glasses, and then pouring just a small amount into his own. "And I'm still soaked from picking up our ration restock. Once we're up in the stars, remind me to wipe this humid ball of misery off of our navigational maps. I feel like a drowned Wookiee."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>15-02-2016, 14:35:08</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>On the far sie of the bar, an old, old chant was rising:<br><br><em>Forty-three bottles of booze on a shelf, forty-three bottles of booze!</em><br><br>Every verse was punctuated by the <em>thrumm</em> of a stunner, and the crash of glass. The forty-three bottles (there had been the traditional one hundred, at the start of the bet), had been stacked in a sizable pyramid, after being properly and efficiently emptied by the backers of the contest.&nbsp; Between each shot, the petite green-skinned girl who was the center of attention took a sip from the hundred-and-first, sitting on the table at her side.&nbsp; The rules were simple enough: one sip, one shot, one bottle. In order. The stakes: five kilocreds.<br><br>Not that Shae had that kind of money right to hand, to pay off so she lost. But then, she didn't intend to lose.<br><br>The bartender, waitresses, and owners weren't entirely happy with the impromptu contest; for one thing, it made serving the other patrons a risky deal. But since the Mirialan and the others huddled around her were all armed with things much less pleasant than stunners, the service crew didn't interfere. Besides, they all had money on the game, too.<br><br><em>Twenty-five bottles of booze on the shelf...</em><br><br>It'd be easier if the bottles would stop moving, Shae thought. Not that she couldn't hit a moving target, but she usually wasn't half-drunk while doing it, and usually the things she shot at were moving in much straighter lines...<br><br><br><br><em><strong>Twelve</strong> bottles of...</em><br><br>Another swig, a squint, a shot. Drink and repeat....and then there were...<br><br><em>Three bottles of booze...</em><br><br>Three more easy shots, and she'd have enough valuta to get her off this worthless rock. If she messed up, she'd likely be waiting tables in this very bar for the forseeable future. Or worse, warming the mattresses in the back rooms. SO not happening. The tips for that kinda work sucked...<br><br><em>ONE bottle of...</em><br><br><em>Thrummm.</em> <br><br>Silence. Then a few quiet groans. Impossibly, thanks to some trick of the Void, after ninety-nine perfect shots...she had missed the last and easiest one.<br><br>Until, with a faint groan, a puff of plaster dust, and a quickly-following crash, an old-school, rather erotic framed holoportrait detached itself from the wall, fell forward, and flattened the last remaining bottle. With a grin and a giggle, the gunslinger ticked her nonlethal weapon back in its loop at the back off her belt.&nbsp; Grumbles, laughs, and arguments were already rising when she strutted with exaggerated care over to the burly, glowering Houk who had started the whole mess, and held out her hand, palm up. "Never said every shot had ta hit a <em>bottle,</em> big guy. Just one shot to knock each one down. Pay up."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Landshark</strong> on <strong>15-02-2016, 19:53:15</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://img1.starwars-holonet.com/holonet/dictionnaire/photos/org_esp_squib.jpg)</div>So far everything was great! Sure they were on a storm ridden world and sure they had little in the way of coin. There was also the loud group of drunks in the corner and the fact that buying a drink wasnt an option or that the thunder had been so loud that Farradin hadnt slept in two days...but hey, they had a job on the line at least. Knowing that they would be on their way soon was all it took to make the Squib see the bright side of things. The few days they had spent on Trogan was enough for Farradin. It had little in the way of junk shops or merchants of anything other than knick-knacks. Still he swung his feet happily as he sat at the table cleaning a droid power cell he had found. <br><br>His drink sat mostly untouched as Farradin did his best not to drink. The few times he had done so were not pleasant experiences. Squib metabolisim made the effects hit him hard and fast and by the time he steadied himself enough to enjoy it the effects had passed, leaving behind a headache and an unpleasant taste in his fur. He took small sips of his Lum, a basic low alcahol drink found most anywhere, so as to keep the barkeep happy that he wasnt just taking up a chair. When the Captain came back to the table and set up drinks for them all. Farradin smiled, Corellian wasnt cheep and the Captain seemed to enjoy taking care of his crew when he could. Taking a sniff of the smooth but stiff drink Farradins nose wrinkled and twitch envoluntarially then sneezed.<br><br>"Much thankings Bossman but Ill leave the drinking to the tall folks. Cant be disagreeings on the world though. Nots a good heap anywheres to be picked so's I can find." He blew a few flecks of rust off the power cell. "Might beings a hoopy place to come back toos with weather gear thoughs." He sniffed from the humidity and mildew "Or the nose medicines. I hears Sulust has really good-good mud boots and ponchoes....then again they would." Farradin had spent a month on Sulust once and given the choice of weather he would take Trogan anyday. Sulust though had great junk and he hated that the resort word couldnt measure up on that point. 
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>15-02-2016, 20:45:57</strong>
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				<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>Nyx was on the Dianoga at the moment, going over pre-flight checks, making sure the security systems were up and running, and making absolutely sure to set the auto-cannons to fire if anything untoward were directed toward their ship. Now...now he had personal business to attend. Standing up from his chair in the cockpit, he headed toward the boarding ramp while tapping buttons on the datapad interface built into his armor. Inside his helmet he saw a list of bounties currently thought to be on the planet. <br><br>He saw some blips on the radar, some small fish, some big fish, and someone worth his attention. A bail jumper who'd apparently escaped three different super max facilities. It didn't even matter what he did before that. Just escaping prison three times was impressive, and certain to pad his bounty. He whistled when he saw the price on his head, and since alive was much higher than dead... He was goin' hunting. Whistling as he stepped out of the ship and locked it behind him, he looked around the dreary, cold, wet landscape that was Torgan. "Makes sense he's here. Perfect place to hide out."<br><br><br><div align="center">Thirty Minutes Later<hr></div><br>"And you're <em>absolutely</em> sure Dagda is in there?" The shady looking guy with pockmarks on his skin and the jittery disposition couldn't be anything other than a dust addict, but that meant as long as he had incentive to help, he'd help. "Y-y-y-yeah, yeah he's in there. I swear, man. Now can I get the stuff? <em>Please?</em>" Nyx nodded his head, his helmet slowly going up and down before reaching under his now drenched cloak and pulling out a small pouch from his utility belt. He tossed it to the man who made a shaky catch and opened the pouch. Inside were creds. Enough to get him high for a few days, and not a real hit to Nyx's pockets. <br><br>"Keep in mind though...he's not in there. Or he knows I'm coming. You and <em>I</em> have a problem. And I'm not a person you want a problem with...understood?" The man nodded, then scrambled away. Nyx knew the intel was good, because when your life depended on it, it usually was. A few blocks away, just like the tweaker said, there was an old apartment block. And again just like he said, there was a rusty door with a big yellow 3 on it. <em>That</em> was where Dagda was hiding. It wasn't huge, but people tended to avoid it so he didn't think he needed more than a few goons. <br><br>When he reached for the door(one of those old school ones with an actual handle), he saw a flashback. Over the course of weeks, Dagda came in and out of this door a lot. Every time he could see and hear and smell just how repulsive this Gamorrean was. But he was a pay day. Nothing more. He took a few deep breaths when the visions died away. Even when he controlled them, seeing those glimpses always got to him. Steeling himself, he opened the door and stepped inside, his fist already swinging into the face of the closest guard. T<br><br>he man dropped like a sack of rocks, and Nyx was already after his partner, snatching his hand out to wrap around his throat and lift him clean off the floor. He slammed his skull against the wall and let him drop. "Amateurs. Never stand that close to a door." Casually, he dropped his hands to the blaster pistols on his hip. Quickdraw variants, with scopes and long barrels to increase accuracy and speed even further. He whipped them both out before he turned the corner. He started firing immediately, sending blue bolts of stun energy out one after the other.<br><br>&nbsp;Man after man dropped, right up until he got to Dagda, who for a Gamorrean was surprisingly small, and cowering in a corner. "Bit of advice. You want to hide out on a world like this? You don't pick the dankest, smallest apartment you can find. Live it up! Most of us wouldn't think to look for scum like you in a four star hotel. Eh...maybe you'll get it right next time." Before the pig man could answer, Nyx shot him four times, twice from each barrel. He'd be out for a while. So Nyx took his time binding his hands and feet, then he found a hover cart and plopped him on it.<br><br><br><div align="center">A short while later</div><hr><br>The door to the cantina opened, and there stood Nyx, holding Dagda by the collar with the small, but still big and fugly Gamorrean groaning softly in his stun induced stupor. He looked around, then looked right at the Captain and Farradin, nodding to them both before easily dragging the pig man over to the bounty board. "How a worthless sack like him keeps escaping, I got no clue. But I brought in Dagda...<em>alive</em>." He didn't say much more than that. <br><br>Instead he just waited for his credits to be counted out, and once he was handed his pay, he left the unconscious man for the proper authorities to pick up. He was whistling when he walked over to the two of them. He sat down like he hadn't just dragged a 600lb criminal in through the front door and traded him like an old hydrospanner for a quick payout. Then he removed his helmet and sat it on the table. "Good day so far, boys?" Grinning, he took the glass Farradin had refused and downed it. "It is for me."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 02:21:30</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>The noise of the storm briefly increased slightly as the cantina's outer door cycled. The inner door cycled, revealing a girl jumping in place, evidently hoping the motion would help dry herself. Water droplets beaded and scattered off the water-repellent material coating her clothes and what appeared to be a messenger bag turned medkit, judging by the white square with a thick red plus emblazoned on it.<br><br>Realizing the door had opened, she stepped in and glanced around, quickly identifying and moving towards Dunn's table. She pulled back her hood and removed her balaclava as she approached, revealing the perpetually smiling face of the <em>Laughing Diaonaga</em>'s medic. Shard sat at the table and beamed, still drenched in water. "I dunno why the resort plans fell though for this planet; I'm loving the weather here." There was a complete lack of sarcasm in her voice.<br><br>Shard gestured over her shoulder with a gloved hand at the door. "I've loaded up the medical supplies Farradin acquired. Took a while to make sure everything was clean and dry, but they're stowed away properly in the medbay now. We should be good to go." She glanced at the Squib sitting opposite her. "Err, assuming assuming whoever we bought them from isn't going to come chasing after us."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 06:40:50</strong>
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				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/w91b8hb.png)</div>Dunn proffered an odd little wave at Nyxus as he entered the cantina, dragging his unlucky bounty behind him; he was half certain he should not be waving in this particular situation, but the brandy had loosened him up just enough to be half certain that he didn't entirely care. He watched as the bartender grinned wolfishly, matching the ugly pig's face to the bounty in front of him and paying out the hunter. A lone hauler droid teetered out of a room somewhere behind the bar and seized Dagda by the arm and pulled him back into the darkness, likely to await pickup by the sector's COMPNOR agents. As Nyxus took the glass and drained it, Dunn motioned towards the bottle, took a sip from his glass, and then pushed the mostly-full cup away from himself.<br><br>"It's not a good day for me yet Nyx," he grumbled playfully, still smiling. "As soon as the <em>Dianoga</em> is above the cloud cover and I can take off these damp clothes, <strong>that's</strong> when it'll be a good day for me." He shrugged, more a sign of his discomfort than a reaction to anything, and shot an eye over to the rowdy bunch in the corner. Ever since he'd entered the cantina, they'd been over there, shouting drunkenly and shooting at a stack of bottles on the shelves. The periodic thrumming sound of stun bolts had put Dunn on edge almost immediately; inside his poncho, his hand rested idly on the junky little ion pistol holstered on his belt. Dunn had never really felt comfortable carrying a real blaster openly, and ever since the Republic had become the Empire, he found it was a lot harder to justify a blaster rifle. Sure, the ion blast might not be as strong or reliable as a blaster, but damn if they don't sting if you take one to the face, and that was enough for Dunn. Besides, the rest was why he kept people like Nyx around in the first place. He tore his glance away from the group, deciding that the growing signs of agitation he saw from their corner were not his best interest, and turned back to Farradin and Shard.<br><br>"Great to hear that we're not going to bleed to death any time soon," he joked in Shard's direction, then followed up more sincerely. "Thank you for taking care of that, I swear, this rain will be the death of me. If I had to take even one more trip back to that supplier, I would have just walked out into that wild blue ocean. Either of you two catch any other takers for employment while you were out? I'm thinking if we ace this job, we spring for a hauler droid. Maybe if we've got some play money, we drop some creds on a new navicomputer?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 07:56:49</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div><em>"Great to hear that we're not going to bleed to death any time soon. Thank you for taking care of that, I swear, this rain will be the death of me. If I had to take even one more trip back to that supplier, I would have just walked out into that wild blue ocean."</em><br><br>Shard smiled back at Dunn. "No worries, boss."<br><br><em>"Either of you two catch any other takers for employment while you were out? I'm thinking if we ace this job, we spring for a hauler droid. Maybe if we've got some play money, we drop some creds on a new navicomputer?"</em><br><br>Shard shook her head. "Nope. People don't seem too keen on flying with me." She turned around on her chair and rested her elbows on the table behind her. As the game of... using-blasters-while-inebriated concluded, she tilted her head back towards Dunn and gestured towards the crowd of violent drunks with an open hand. "What about the Houk? He'll probably need credits after the Mirialan is done cleaning him out. And couldn't hurt for Nyx to have someone to vent excess aggression hormones with." She paused as she looked over the bulky alien again. "Although the contents of the cargo bay might not survive the two of them sparring."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 14:44:18</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/jpTeYz1.jpg?1)</div><hr><strong>Location:</strong><br>An escape pod, beacon tracking code: ISC-833A-43629<br>Tingel Arm, Outer Rim Territories<br>Galactic North Sector 23894, 837, -02675<br>Somewhere near the Perlemian Trade Route<br><hr><br><br><br>Krytanne shook her head and shut down her datapad, rubbing her dry and tired eyes. Frak if she had to admit it even her toes were tired. Escape pods were not luxury liners that was for sure, and this one was designed for four people? No way four beings would survive the rated max life support capacity of three weeks like it said in the manual she'd read 37 times. Not without killing each other. Everywhere the young woman looked gear was stacked and strapped down in the small cabin, tools, samplers, testing equipment, power cells for recharging other cells. She'd just about stripped everything but the bio-waste recycler out of the 'fresher.<br><br>"Way to go Tannie. Not one of your brightest ideas or best laid plans. Yeah, fly into the middle of nowhere, steal everything that's not welded or bolted down, jettison the escape pod and get picked up by a passing ship. Yup, brilliant. Guess you didn't take into account that you were 'in the middle of nowhere' did ya? Dummy." she muttered to herself in disgust as she looked over at her companion droid 'Diogi'. "It's okay buddy, we'll get out of this. I was born lucky you know, on the thirteenth day of a galactic standard month, second last day of a standard week. Supposed to be the luckiest day ever!"<br><br>Her plan had initially been to jettison and land on a habitable planet. The only problem with that was that she was not anywhere near systems with planets that were human habitable according to the pods sensors, so she just kept drifting through space. She checked the barebones navicomp's starmap and grunted, scratching Diogi's head unconsciously. They'd been coasting along for five weeks, and while not as long as some of her Scout missions out in the direction of Wild Space or the Unknown Sectors, it seemed so because of the even more cramped quarters and limited things to do. Being the only passenger aboard she'd been able to extend life support and the food this long, but she maybe had a week left before she would only be good for Rybettian Shaak.<br><br>"Perlemian Route... Just might make it." She murmured softly.<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 15:24:05</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>The burly cantina crawler put up one hand (that more or less covered the Mirilian's entire face), and gave her a shove. "Get away, girlie," he rumbled. "You lose. You pay now. Or else."<br><br>Fortunately, Shae was loose enough from all her little sips that she just sort of fluttered back from the push, catching herself on the edge of a table, and managing to stay on her feet.&nbsp; Eyes narrowing a bit, she glanced around at the crowd. "Come on guys," she almost whined. "'Strue. Never said the<strong> shot </strong>had to take out the bottle. Just one bottle had to be down after every shot. Am I right?"&nbsp; Some growls and murmurs rose from the onlookers, some in support of her claim, others- the losers, surely- denying it.&nbsp; Making a face, the Mirialan stood up straight and tall (relatively), and, insanely, got back in the Houk's face.&nbsp; Or...chest, given their relative size.<br><br>"You no-good pieca space trash," she shouted, poking the broad chest with a narrow finger with every word. "Tryin' to cheat an honest gambler?"<br><br>"Honest?" Another shove sent her sprawling, this time, as the Houk barked in an angry laugh. "If you honest, you pay debt! If not..." One meaty hand moved, ever so slightly, towards his belt...<br><br>...which was exactly enough. The next two shots, made from the floor, were decidedly <strong>not</strong> non-lethal. And, coming almost simultaneously, neither missed, either.<br><br>Standing over the corpse (which now had two new holes in its face), Shae cautiously fished around in the guy's pouch. "Awwww, kriff me. He was short, too. Never had any inentiona payin'."&nbsp; A few trade coins went in her own pouch, then she faced the suddenly-silent onlookers with forced dignity. "You all saw it. He was goin' for his gun. He was gonna shoot first!"&nbsp; Whether anyone agreed or not, none of them were prepared, right then, to argue the point with the gunslinger who suddenly appeared much less comical than she had a few minutes ago.<br><br>Shae picked her way through the group, guns politely holstered, but dangerously close to hand. No one tried to stop her. Thanks to her state of inebriation, however, she found herself in the back of the dive, rather than outside in the street. An easy mistake to make- both were dark, and stank.&nbsp; Peering at the holosign that she'd come almost face to face with, she grunted under her breath, squinted at the three around the table, grunted again, and leaned at an alarming angle against the wall. "So. You're hirin'?&nbsp; Good. Hate this place."
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>16-02-2016, 17:54:53</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard turned her head back at Dunn and gestured towards the Mirialan. "What about her?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>17-02-2016, 07:11:19</strong>
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				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/w91b8hb.png)</div>Dunn couldn't help but smile as his hand moved away from the ion pistol. Luck certainly seemed to be on the <em>Dianoga's</em> side recently, and stumbling into more crew members, instead of tracking them down, was a nice change of pace. He gave Shard a playful shrug, and turned to the Mirialan and waved her over to the last open seat at the table.<br><br>"She seems like she's got guts," he said to Shard, mocking a whispered tone. "Dunno if she's <em>Dianoga</em> material. What do you think, brandy?" He pushed his own glass towards the empty seat. Surveying the corpse of the Houk, and the frown of the Devaronian barkeep, Dunn scratched the stubble on his chin. Finally directing his attention towards the gun-toting gambler, he spoke. "You're handy with a gun, kiddo, but do you have any experience as a spacer? I'm talking fringer life type stuff, long hauls in an old freighter. It's not that we wouldn't love to have you, I just want to know if I'm settling in for a long term investment or a passenger fare. Nothing personal, y'know?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>18-02-2016, 15:21:57</strong>
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				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div> For a long, somewhat drunken moment, the Mirilian looked at each of the seated group in turn, then broke into raucous laughter. "How the fark you think I got here in the <strong>first</strong> place, flyboy?&nbsp; Spores?" That tickled her enough it took her a moment to calm down.<br><br>"All right, all right. You got to ask, I hear you." Resting a knee on top of the table she&nbsp; leaned in towards the guy who seemed to be in charge. "OK. Last hop was Druckenwell to...wherever the frell this dump is. Hard to tell the difference, you ask me. My choice in employers was almost as bad as their business sense, so we all got stuck here.&nbsp; Last I heard, the owners'd shipped out as hold crew on some Nerf hauler or somethin'. Before that, two long-hauls as security for a private trader on the Rimma run. Did one gig for the Hutts out around Kessel- never again. They don't pay on time, they got no sense of humor, an' they smell bad. Spent a little time in the Homeworld Scout Corps, but they decided I got trouble with authority. Again, no sense of humor."<br><br>Calmly plopping herself in the lap of the burly guy who looked like more muscle, she grinned. "So. Satisfied?&nbsp; Or you want me to shoot another stack of bottles for you, or somethin'? Looks like we're outa Houks."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>18-02-2016, 17:49:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>Nyx was pouring himself another glass of liquor while Dunn was wasting perfectly good booze by pushing his own glass away. If he didn't drink it, Nyx would down that one too. His Captain of course wasn't a fan of the weather, and Nyx shrugged his shoulders before tossing him some credits from the job. "You should invest in some Mando armor. I'm dry as a Dewback on Tattooine under here." When <br><br>Shard came in, he waved at her with a big smile on his face. Their medic always made him smile with her seemingly endless optimism and inability to get mad. When she came over, she even said she liked it here. She actually said she loved the weather. And it seemed like she meant it. Dunn, being Dunn complained more about the shitty conditions this planet had, but then moved on to business and asked if they found anyone who wanted to fly with them.<br><br>&nbsp;Shard hadn't had much luck, and neither had he. "Aside from forceful conscription at the business end of a blaster, nobody is really too willing to follow a bounty hunter on the job," he joked. Looking over at that Houk though, he wondered if having a sparring partner would indeed be fun. Now his eyes were focused on the Miralian and the Houk who was refusing to pay. And then he heard the shots, saw the flashes of light. He was already moving and standing to draw his blasters.<br><br>&nbsp;But the Miralian had shot the Houk. And none of his friends had been dumb enough to jump in. So he just sat back down. Lucky them. He watched her stumble over, and was actually impressed at how effective she was while pissy drunk. That was a quick couple brownie points in his eyes. Dunn asked the necessary questions, and she answered before plopping down in his lap. He wrapped his arm around her waist and poured her a glass of brandy. "I like her. She's got my vote, Cap."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>19-02-2016, 05:53:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/w91b8hb.png)</div>Dunn threw his hands up in mock defeat and smiled.<br><br>"Willing to work, experience on freighters, good with a gun, <em><strong>and</strong></em> Nyx likes you?" he teased. "I think you've got a job Miss..." He trailed off momentarily, obviously not sure of her name. "We'll be getting under way in about an hour or so, can you be ready inside that? We've got an empty bunk, and space for any belongings you need to take with you. Any carry-on you have you can bring right aboard, anything that needs to get placed in the cargo hold, you can work out with Farradin over here." He jabs a thumb in the Squib's direction, and stands up.<br><br>"And Nyx, you know guns and armor aren't my style- I hire people like you to use them for me," he comments playfully. "But I tell you, just this once, I think I'm jealous of yours."<br><br>"I'm going to scoot back to the ship, do some pre-flight checks on the cargo, ring up our buyer and check on patrol routes around Taanab- don't want any surprises. That, and the storm ought to sober my ass up before take-off."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Landshark</strong> on <strong>19-02-2016, 19:00:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://img1.starwars-holonet.com/holonet/dictionnaire/photos/org_esp_squib.jpg)</div><br>Farradin busied himself with his work on the power core. Sure it probably didn’t work but one day he would have everything he needed to build a droid of his own….or at least sell what resembled a droid to someone anyway. As Nyx came in the small Squid looked up and twitched at the scene. He wasn’t one for violence much less the level of violence Nyx seemed far too comfortable with. That said he completely understood the need for it. He wasn’t a pacifist or anything. Farradin just left such things to the people that seemed suited for it…namely Nyx in this case. As the big man flopped down into a chair and picked up Farradins unclaimed drink he looked him over. “No scratchy scratchies on the paint job. That good, paint don’t set well in weather like this.” He smiled at the big man. Farradin had no fear of the Mandalorian as he knew he would never be a target….well…it was highly unlikely anyway. “One day I’ll get you that House Salaktori interview. Make you toppy top notch bounty man.”&nbsp; Farradin prided himself on being able to get anything…sure he hadn’t been overly put to the test yet and that was probably a good thing, but he considered it a personal point of distinction that he could. <br><br>When Shard came in Farradin smiled again. He liked her for a number of reasons. She was small, which made her the closest person to his size on the ship and her name was interesting. Shard, like she was a piece of something that just needed to be put where it would fit. “Don’t you worries. Those supplies are legit legit.” His face droop a bit knowing he should have gotten a better deal on them but being a resort minded world they wanted more meds than they were willing to give. “Still couldn’t find any Bacta Gel Caps. To far from Tapani Sector still I guess. Besides Nyx here is only one who might need combat level meds….” Looking back at the big man, he grinned with obvious mirth.<br><br>The captain began talking about getting out of there and what he hoped to do with the money they would make. “No takers on the job Bossman. People here seem to like where they are….no ideas why though.” When he mentioned a hauler droid Farradins ears perked up. “Oooh yes yes! ASP droid be super koovy! Astromech be bunches good too for navi and help in engine room. You bet! Good ideas for sure.”<br><br>Shard pointed out the activities going on across the room and Farradin looked over. He had put the game on ignore as the blasters were not directed at him. “Houk? Nah human cant mate with Houk…..Oh...you meant…Oh well yeah sparing…sparing they could do. They strong too…might not need loader droid if….” His thought was cut short as the big alien crumpled to the ground under the sound of muffled blaster fire. “So yup ASP droids are good. Take orders well and don’t do stupid things like that guy there Bossman.”<br><br>Farradin listened as the Captain spoke with the newcomer. Her credentials seemed legit enough even if she was drunk. Then again being able to do what she had in such a condition spoke well for her. Leaning over to whisper poorly to Shard<em> “Miralian now…they are compatible with humans.”</em> And just like that the new hire was on. Pocketing his power core Farradin killed what was left of his lum and moved with the Captain. “Me too. Needs to double check everything I bargained for made it on ship. The Bothan I dealt with for fuel said he’d give us coupons for Biscuit Baron. Mmmm could go for a Bantha breakfast biscuit right now actually.” And he hoped off his chair pocketing the assortment of tools and things he had out.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>20-02-2016, 05:48:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard stood up to follow Dunn as he left, but blushed as Farradin 'whispered' to her. She turned to the Miralian and nodded, rapidly donning her balaclava and hood as she did so. "I'll, uh, leave you in Nyx's capable hands then." With that, she turned back around and headed for the airlock and the <em>Laughing Dianoga</em>.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>20-02-2016, 16:23:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Tannie looked out the small porthole in her escape pod, not that she could see anything other than stars, but she looked anyway. She ran her hand through her short dark hair and scratched her itchy scalp. That was the problem with E-pods, no room for anything really important, like a sonic refresher. Her hair was greasy and disheveled and her whole body itched from the accumulated sweat on her skin. Yeah there was a hand-held 'fresher that was supposed to take the place of a full sized one but whoever thought that had never actually tried to clean themselves with one. Either that or it was a Gamorrean that they tested it on. You could never tell whether they were clean or dirty unless you got within nose range of them. if they stunk like a week old carcass they were clean, if you gagged they were dirty.<br><br>She looked at the life support read out and grunted, punching in a few commands and sighing as she felt the air pressure drop once more. In a few minutes she knew she'd get a little heady as the O<sub>2</sub> levels would drop as well, but she had to keep things running and try to hang on for as long as possible. She felt stupid for not grabbing any portable tanks from her ship, but she figured she'd have been on a planet by now and food and survival gear had been a higher priority than air tanks she probably wouldn't need. 'Wrong again Tan, wrong again. Where in Xim the Despot's butt hole is all that luck you always brag about, huh?' She griped to herself mentally. Tannie was really beginning to wonder about that stupid story her parentals had told her about being lucky when she was a kid.<br><br>Diogi cocked its head and looked at her with its glowing eyes, "Oxygen levels nearing critical..." it said in a simple mechanical voice. The DI-0G1 Scout droid was clever enough for its intended purpose, and could have informed her of more about her current conditions through her ScoutPad, but she was glad she'd made a deal with those Outlaw Techs to upgrade his core processor and add a voder/vocoder. Even though he didn't have much to say he was someone to talk to.<br><br><strong>"I know buddy, just a few more days and I'm <em>positive</em> someone will pick us up. I just know it!"</strong> She said as she reached for another ration pack. She looked at the lable... Zaget with Meat Bulbs... with a shudder she pulled the tab on the outer seal and felt the pack heat rapidly, pulling the eating utensil out of the open end before tearing the inside seal away. The sight that greeted her almost made her retch. There were long noodles that looked like entrails in a congealed red 'sauce' and what appeared to be Eopie dung pellets added for flavor. Fortunately it smelled better than it looked and she ate in silence while sipping on a bulb of her diminishing supply of Fizzy Glug soda.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>20-02-2016, 16:53:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>"Call me Shae," she half-mumbled. "No one can pronounce the whole thing right, anyway-" She trailed off as she realized she was talking to a bunch of retreating backs.&nbsp; "Something I said?"<br><br>Craning her neck to look at the big Hunter she was half-cuddled against, she gave him a lopsided grin. "Don't get ideas, spacer. You just had the largest empty lap. You'd seen enough of this place, you wouldn't put your butt on these chairs, either." Not that she made any immediate move to get off him- in fact, she picked up the glass he had poured for her, sniffed it, tossed it back. "Ahhhh. OK, then. I've got&nbsp; one little gig bag, in a locker downstairs here. Assumin' the bartender ain't stolen it. Let me go grab it before it grows legs, then you can show me where we're parked."<br><br>It took her two tries to stand up- and she couldn't even blame Nyx for being ungentlemanly enough to try to hold on to her. The floor seemed to be made out of bed gel or something, kept shifting under her feet. "Oh, Void, am I gonna have a head tomorrow."&nbsp; That prospect didn't seem to bother her, either. Three steps along, she looked back at the Mando. "Comin'? Or you gonna wait and see if you get glued to that bench?"<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>25-02-2016, 05:42:25</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Back at Docking Bay RR-1121, Dunn stood at the top of the boarding ramp, his arms crossed beneath the heavy green fabric of his poncho, just far enough back into the ship that almost none of the rain could reach him, save for the occasional splash of a particularly wind-blown bit. He looked out into the storm, and through the open blast door that lead form RR-1121 into the streets of Point Wilek for a moment, before retreating back into the cargo hold of the <em>Dianoga</em>, away from the driving wind and rain. Even if Trogan was warm enough, the storms made him uncomfortable. Growing up in the Undercity on Coruscant, you came to learn quickly that if liquid was coming down from above you, there was a 99% chance that you didn't want to be underneath it. He'd left the Undercity years ago, but he still couldn't understand people who enjoyed the rain.<br><br>As he walked back through the cargo hold, his eyes darted to the secret lift platform in the middle of the hold. It was nearly invisible, and the previous owner had spared no expense to shield it even from the high-end scanners used by Imperial customs agents. When lowered, it exposed a three-foot tall crawlspace that ran nearly the full length of the cargo hold; more than large enough to house their current cargo, and big enough to hide the entire crew in as well, if the need arose. He continued past the lift, fighting his urge to lower it and check on the cargo. Better to keep it closed until they got to Tanaab; they were taking on new crew, and especially with the blast doors open, you could never be certain who was watching. He approached the computer in the hold, typically intended for the quartermaster to use to keep inventories and control environmental conditions in the cargo area, and ran a quick check of the ship's systems. Content with what he saw, he continued back into the <em>Dianoga</em> and entered the crew's portion of the ship and darted into his quarters, where he shed his damp poncho directly onto the floor, and unfastened the top of flight suit. He grabbed the first clean garment he could spot in his cabin, an undershirt from when he was still employed by Hoersch-Kessel, and walked back out to the public area of the ship, still struggling to first get the damp clothing off, and then get the dry undershirt on.<br><br>"You're sure that all this water isn't going to kill me, right Shard?" he jokingly called out, finally managing to pull the tight undergarment over his head, already feeling better to have the wet fabric off of his skin. "Because I swear, if I die from his, I'll haunt this ship until the day I die again."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>27-02-2016, 05:19:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>"Eh, six sigma confidence that it won't kill you." Shard shrugged and continued scanning her datapad. "There are neurophagic parasites that can use rain as an infection vector, but none are known to be present on Trogan." Since boarding the ship she'd removed her outerwear and was now just wearing her workgear. The arms of her flightsuit were tied around her waist, revealing a black athletic top. There was a hint of an almost iridescent hexagonal pattern on the material, likely either the result of some process designed to enhance the 'athletic' attributes of the garment, or some form of corporate branding. "If you are infected though, you shouldn't show any symptoms for a few days at least."<br><br>"Standard antiparasitics should kill'em off though, so don't worry about it." Shard winked at him playfully. "Just don't think about it too much; it'll alter your neurochemistry and they'll target that parts of your brain responsible for higher level functions. Could result in permanent memory loss or personality changes." She paused and looked Dunn over before returning her attention to her datapad. "If you do die, can you take your shirt off before you do? For the right buyer, a ghost with your definition might boost the <em>Dianoga</em>'s resale value."<br><br>"Hmm..."<br><br>"If you do start picking us off one-by-one as a ghost, take Nyx and the new girl first; may as well try and cover all our sexy-ghost bases. Try to leave Farradin alive though; I'll need him to help sell the ship."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>27-02-2016, 17:43:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<br><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>He nodded to the others as they started heading out. The only reason Nyx himself hadn't moved was because of the 100+lbs he now had in his lap. Not that he couldn't have moved with her still there, but that would've been rude. Shae asked if it was something she'd said to make them leave. "Nothin' you said. Cap just hates it here, the little furball wants to get back to check on the ship...and as much as I love havin' her around, I <em>still</em> don't understand our medic."<br><br>&nbsp;He simply shrugged when she told him not to get any ideas, but it was pretty obvious to both of them that she had no plans to move anytime soon. At least until after she chugged down the drink he offered. "No ideas here; just bein' polite." She tried a few times to get up, and when she finally succeeded, he waited a bit to see if he'd need to catch her. <br><br>Well good for her she was coherent <em>enough</em> to not need immediate help. So when she asked what he was waiting for, he grabbed his helmet, lowered it onto his head and stood up. Then he grabbed his credit pouch and slipped it into his utility belt. "I think we're gonna get along fine, Shea," he said rather calmly before following along after her to get her bag.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>29-02-2016, 02:31:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div> Ten minutes or so after the majority of the crew had departed, the petite Mirialan pottered up the the boarding ramp of the <em>Dianoga</em>, still having some trouble keeping her path to a straight line. All her wordly goods were either strapped to her belt, or stuffed in the duffel slung over her shoulder, which was nearly half her size. <br><br>Stopping in the shadow of the freighter, she looked over her lines, noticed the dings and dents and scoring- and sighed.&nbsp; Well, she'd known it wasn't gonna be a luxury yacht. She just hoped the thing didn't blow a driver as soon as they took off...<br><br>Two steps up the ramp, she called out, "Ahoy! Comin' aboard.&nbsp; Don;' shoot."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>01-03-2016, 06:08:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Dunn poked his head back out through the bulkhead door into the cargo area, having finally wrestled the soaked flight-suit jacket completely off, and offered a friendly wave as he saw Shae and Nyx striding up the ramp. He tossed the wet jacket on top of a nearby crate, and rushed to the cockpit. As the cockpit door hissed open, he launched himself into his gravity-cushioned seat with such gusto that the chair nearly spun around completely before he caught himself on the edge of the console panel and stopped his momentum. He flipped a quick set of switches, which slowly began to raise the loading ramp, and the warning lights for the cargo bay's main airlock came on as the blast doors began to slowly close as well. He punched some coordinates into the navicomputer, knowing how long the system would take to calculate a jump, and decided to check the long-range scanners while he was at it- Trogan wasn't known for much of an Imperial presence, but he didn't want to risk bumping into a patrol with the <em>Dianoga's</em> first major payload aboard. The screen in front of him lit up, dull reds across the board, a good sign for a smuggler. Just as he began to turn away to go back out to the crew area and welcome the new arrival aboard, a yellow blip flashed faintly on the far spectrum of his display. He froze in place, waiting for the blip to show up again so that he could try to check if it was a patrol craft or if it was just another incoming freighter, and was almost ready to dismiss it as a malfunction with the blip came up again- no mistaking it this time. He toggled the settings on the scanners until they were focused on the source of the blip, and after a few tense seconds of uncertainty, the jumbled, chirping sound of a distress beacon came warbling across the cockpit speakers. He ran the Binary message through the ship's computer, and his concern changed into a sly, foxlike smile.<br><br>The signal was an Imperial distress beacon, matching your average escape pod, and what was more, based on the age of the signal and the strength, it was at the end of its run. Dunn had to admit to himself, that did mean that whoever was inside was probably dead by this point, and while he took no satisfaction in that thought, Imperial or not, it did mean that there was a free craft, floating in orbit, potentially filled with usable goods or parts, just ripe for the taking.<br><br>He depressed a button on the panel in front of him and leaned in towards the console, his voice calling out, somewhat tinny, across the intercom system of the <em>Dianoga</em>, the excitement audible in his voice.<br><br><strong>"Attention crew, this is your captain speaking,"</strong> he said in a joking, sing-song voice, then continued more seriously. <strong>"Long range scanners just picked up an escape pod in orbit, Imperial scout ship, it looks like. Seems like it's been up there a while- life support is failing, or has failed. Probably some credits to be had in the salvage, and on the slim chance any inhabitants are still alive, I'm sure we can make a couple quick credits with a rescue instead. We'll swing in, pick the pod up, start the jump to Tanaab, and deal with the contents en-route."<br><br>"Nyx, show the new girl to the gunner's station and then report to the cockpit, I want all the help I can get up here. Farradin, make sure the cargo is all mag-locked down and then report to engineering, make sure we're ready to make the jump to hyperspace as soon as the pod's onboard. Shard, grab your medical supplies and wait in the cargo bay. I'll give Nyx the wheel and guide the pod in with the tractor beams, as soon as the airlocks have cycled, we'll meet you there and crack the thing open- if anyone's alive inside, we'll want you to help us keep them that way."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>01-03-2016, 19:46:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/jpTeYz1.jpg?1)</div><br>Tannie shivered... she'd been shivering forever it seemed. Somehow jacking with the oxygenation system she had managed to mess up the temperature controls too, so not only was the O<sub>2</sub> stuck at somewhere near the concentration of being at 8500m above sea level, but the temperature wasn't that far off either. She had her thinsuit on, thermal gloves, the helmet, the whole nine yards and four hyperthermic rescue blankets wrapped around her. She'd been cursing the Department of Procurement for the past three days and there was a special power pack for her DL-18 that she wanted to empty into the department Director's posterior. The crate of 'mixed' ration packs that she had grabbed was in fact nothing but the accursed 'zaget with meat bulbs'. Eating the frakking things morning noon and night for the last week had made her despise that particular dish.<br><br>If she got out of this stinking mess she was going to kiss the first person she saw and swear undying love for them forever just to get warm and something to eat other than zaget. Just then the life support monitors started warbling and chirping madly, lights and gauges flashing and blinking. Tannie didn't even have the energy to move the meter to see what was going on, she knew that LS had failed and she was going to die. 'Stang, I'm going to die, I know it. I know there's no saving me, not anymore, it's too late. Fine, come and get me death. I'm not afraid, not anymore. Just be quick about it, I don't have all the time in the galaxy.' she thought to herself as Diogi gave her a verbal alert about the emergency, "Life support system failed...terminal condition imminent..."<br><br>Tannie closed her eyes in preparation of her demise, chattering out a <strong>"Th-Th-Thanks..."</strong> to her droid while she waited for death.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>02-03-2016, 06:22:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong><span class="bbc_u"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="bbc_size">In Trogan Orbit...</span></span></strong><br><hr><br>The <em>Laughing Dianoga</em> hung suspended in a sea of black, the stormy tropical world of Trogan below, its backdrop studded with countless pinpricks of distant light. Ahead of the aging freighter floated an escape pod, dwarfed by even the relatively average size of the Wayfarer transport that now approached it. The main cargo hold opened, and the vacuum of space pulled the remaining moisture taken aboard during landing out into the void, where it froze almost instantly. As the crystals of ice reached the pod, the slight metallic groan of hull plating being stressed by tractor beams could be heard, and the pod began to slowly drift inwards, towards the cargo hold, until it rested within the larger ship, like an exogorth gobbling up its latest meal. The cargo bay airlocks slid shut and locked with a heavy metallic clicking, and the warning lights began to flash as atmosphere cycled into the airlock, and as soon as the locks released on the inner door, the ship lurched abruptly, the individual pinpricks of light stretching into rays, before giving way to the strange hypnotic patterns of hyperspace.<br><br><hr><hr><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Dunn let out a small sigh of relief, his face a wide grin of excitement, as he let go of the tractor beam controls. Standing from the auxiliary helmsman's seat, he half-walked, half-leaped, back to the Captain's chair, and depressed the intercom command once more, and looked directly at Nyx, still smiling.<br><br><strong>"Cargo is aboard,"</strong> he called cheerily into the microphone. <strong>"We're in hyperspace on our way to Tanaab, shouldn't have to deal with anything in the way of excitement for a while. I'm headed to cargo to take a peek at our pick-up." </strong> Motioning towards the door, he speaks again, this time just to Nyx.<br><br>"Nice piloting, made things nice and easy for me. Autopilot should have it from here, you wanna go check out our latest acquisition with me?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>02-03-2016, 14:48:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div> Gunner. Nice. There was just something so <em>yummm</em> about ship-gauge weaponry. Standard quad-mount, like ones she'd seen a dozen times before. The gunner's seat was exactly the same level of discomfort as all the others she'd been in, which, for her small frame, actually wasn't as bad as it might have been for someone taller or broader in the hips.&nbsp; Shae took a few minutes to power the gun on and off, check the telltales, waggle the whole mount a bit- it was the tiniest bit stiff going to the left, probably a bubble in one of the drivers. Or maybe a dinged cowling. Next time they set down she'd have a look and talk to the engineer.<br><br>Headset on, she listened to the chatter of the crew without adding to the noise, and tested out the targetting system by making mock attacks on the escape pod they seemed to be picking up once they were in effective range. It didn't shoot back, didn't try to evade- did nothing at all, in fact, which made it kind of boring as a playmate, so after making sure the 'tronics were more or less up to spec, she safed her cannon and powered down the mount. Once their salvage was aboard, she tweaked the volume on her comm set, so she'd hear it if anyone yelled for her...and went to sleep, sprawled in a very un-ladylike manner, one leg up on the arm of the seat.<br><br>Beat the hard, narrow bed in the cantina all hollow, for sure.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>03-03-2016, 02:50:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div><em><strong>"-if anyone's alive inside, we'll want you to help us keep them that way."</strong></em><br><br>Shard skidded inside the medbay and began specializing her medkit. Picking up escape pods was rare, but most of the injuries sustained by their passengers were similar to what you'd expect to see on a typical spaceship. Mostly because they tended to be survivors of some form of catastrophic failure aboard a ship. Burns, radiation poisoning and general 'physical trauma' were the most common. When a ship's systems failed badly enough that escape pods were preferable, fire and radiation tended to be present in large quantities. If that was the case here though, there probably weren't any survivors; you were either picked up by a ship quickly, or succumbed before life support failed. Still, better to have some degree of preparation. Bacta was the standard treatment for all of them and more, so into the medkit it went.<br><br>Shard turned to the empty bed in the medbay. Better prep the 'tank' as well. An actual bacta tank would be ludicrously expensive. The bacta that went inside of it possibly even more so, depending on market fluctuations. A portable emergency one was all they (and most ships) could get. Calling it a tank was generous, at best. Derived from emergency battlefield gear, it was basically a watertight bag with a bacta supply. She quickly unfurled it on the bed and prepped the hardware. The bag itself looked like a transparent bodybag. At the ends of the bag a bacta pump/recycler supplied the restorative agent to the patient, and kept it flowing so that a constant stream of fresh bacta was present. A breathing mask sat inside the bag. And finally a gravity manipulator served to keep the patient centered in the device, allowing for full coverage. The bag itself also had some sort of clever shape-adjusting tech that optimized flow. In the end, you got <em>most</em> of the benefit of a tank for a lot less space, weight, and credits. Despite the massive increase in efficiency, there was still only enough bacta for one person; you can only stretch bacta so far, and this was basically the limit.<br><br>With the tank setup, Shard moved down the list. Hypothermia, hypercapnia, and hypoxia were next. Pretty much what happened when life support failed. Power supplies die and the pods passive heatsinks suck out all the remaining heat, making it really cold inside. And/or the air filtration/reclamation system fails, and you get too little oxygen or too much carbon dioxide. Any one of those is bad, and they tend to all show up together. The treatment for the first one is to (slowly) make them warm; in went the thermal blanket. As for the other two, without serious facilities, you were left with pumping them full of oxygen; in went the O2 concentrator. It didn't increase oxygen levels by much, but it was substantially better than nothing.<br><br>After that, well, there wasn't much specific you could prepare for. It was either too much of a crapshoot or not immediately threatening. Hyperthermia wasn't unheard of, but it was unusual for a pod to fail in the manner required for that to happen. Malnutrition was common, but rarely something that needed to be treated in seconds. Infection was an inevitable problem, but without any prior knowledge all you could do was slap bacta on it.<br><br>With her kit packed, Shard hurried for the front of the cargo bay and waited for the airlock to cycle.<br><br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">I am in no way a medical person, so this post may be full of wrong.<br>But hopefully it's plausible sounding enough to be interesting/entertaining.</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>04-03-2016, 17:52:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>"Don't worry. I'm usually the one who does the shooting. So you're good," he told their newest crew member as she stepped onto the ship and announced her presence. After takeoff, Dunn's voice crackled over the intercom that scanners had found an escape pod. Well if an escape pod had been launched, 9 times out of 10 someone was in it. Whether they were still alive though was always the big wonder. Several factors came into it, but the biggest one was luck. <br><br>And Dunn knew that, which was why he said either they'd get some creds from salvaging it, or maybe even more if whoever was inside wasn't a corpse already. Nyx was fine either way. "Got it," he replied when he was given his orders. "Follow me," he told Shea and then turned on his heel to lead her to the gunner seat for this little operation. When they got there, he grinned. "I'm sure you already know how everything works. I'll leave you to it." <br><br>Turning again, he headed back to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's chair. He checked over his instruments like always, and nodded to Dunn, taking control of the ship and guiding it over to the pod, then holding it in perfect position while the boss man towed the pod inside. And once it was, and the doors were secured, he pushed the Dianoga into Hyperspace. <br><br>When Dunn sat back down, Nyx leaned back in his seat, smiling and nodding at the compliment. "You pay for quality, qualities what you get." Then he stood up and rested his hands on the grips of his guns. Dunn wanted him to go with him to check out the pod. "Do Sand People travel in single file to hide their numbers? Let's go see how lucky we are...or whoever's inside that thing is."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>09-03-2016, 23:56:12</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Dunn nodded to Nyx, punched the interior airlock release from the captain's chair, and then stood. Even from the cockpit, he could hear the hydraulics of the airlock door hissing and clunking as they shifted the huge metal bulkhead doors away, and he picked up his pace to the airlock, anxious to examine their loot. As he entered the cargo bay and his eyes landed on the escape pod, a smile spread across his entire face. Shard was already at the pod and ready to go, in case they had survivors on hand, but given the Imperial markings all over the outside of the pod, Dunn had to admit he was more thankful for Nyx's presence as a guard.<br><br>"Nice response time, Shard, but let's hope we don't need you, for better or worse," he half-joked, as he rounded past her to the pod's access panel. The tiny computer screen showed that the pod was not locked, but as he tried to engage the hydraulic assist, there was an awful grinding noise, and the screen flickered, then began flashing red.<br><br>"Ah, sod it," he muttered. "Power systems must be failing too. Hydraulics won't activate, and the ship should have tried to cycle its own oxygen when its sensors detected our supply. I'm gonna have to pry it open, this thing better be worth it." Grabbing a prybar from atop a nearby pile of crates in the main cargo hold, Dunn forced the point of the tool into the space around the edge of the pod's door, and pushed down with his full weight. A few seconds of strenuous grunting later, the hydraulics let out a groaning noise, and then hissed smoothly as the door opened and a cool draught spread out from inside the pod, a telltale sign of a dead life support system.<br><br>Ever so cautiously, Dunn poked his head over the edge of the pod to peer inside.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>13-03-2016, 22:16:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/jpTeYz1.jpg?1)</div><br>She was crumpled in a heap in the pod's command chair, silly word for it since there wasn't a whole lot in the way of command controls for an e-pod. The temperature in the pod had hovered somewhere in the area of -30C for the past few days and her body felt like it was as cold to match. Fortunately Tannie had remembered that she still had the breather masks that she'd filched from her ship too, but it had taken her close to three hours in a hypoxic delirium before she found the case they were in. <br><br>After listening to the stupid warning beeps from the console regarding the dangerously high carbon dioxide levels and terminally low oxygen levels she'd fired a blaster bolt into the life support panel which shorted out the whole control board. So then Diogi started in with his warnings, and it had taken her waving her pistol and mumbling to him about sharing the fate of the LS panel to shut him up.<br><br>Tannie had been in a near comatose state, only waking long enough to eat more Zaget and drink, then replace the small air canister connected to her breath mask. The light thump she felt barely registered in her frostbitten and oxygen starved brain, neither did the clank and groan of the hatch being forced open. Her first real physical sensation in days was that of warm air caressing her cheek and ear. It almost felt like a burning flame after the sub-zero environment she'd had to endure for she didn't know how long. She was so far gone the tiny mewling whimper that came from her was almost imperceptible to anyone but a person with sharply trained hearing.<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">At this point Tannie is unaware that she's been in the pod for almost ten weeks, three times the rated specifications for this model</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>14-03-2016, 08:48:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard peered into the pod as Dunn cracked it open. There was someone slumped over in one of the chairs.<br><br>"Oh, shit."<br><br>She dashed in, pushing her way past Dunn and squeezing through the partially opened portal. Cold, stale air. Expected. Scent of ionized particles. Blaster fire? Oh no. No no no. She sprinted to the back of the pod, nearly tripping over a droid. Power cable connected to pod. Last ditch battery? Plugged in by whom? Irrelevant. When she reached the unmoving occupant, she checked for signs of life and scanned them and the area. Head intact. Cold. Pulse. Breathing. No visible blaster wounds. No apparent injuries. Console is damaged. Inadequate environment, must relocate. Shard slid her arms under the occupant and lifted them up, carrying them awkwardly but quickly out of the pod and dumping them unceremoniously on the floor.<br><br>Air. Heat. She pulled out the oxygen concentrator and affixed it to the Lorrdian, female, underweight's face. With that secured, Shard retrieved the thermal blanket and began wrapping her in it. Positive reaction. No other immediate problems. Should be moved, carefully. Wait, fuck. She held her fingers on the Lorrdian's neck and gestured towards Nyx and Dunn with the other, snapping her fingers when she said their names before pointing towards the rear of the ship.<br><br>"Nyx, Dunn; Medbay, stretcher, now."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>29-03-2016, 06:13:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Dunn froze for a moment at Shard's quick demand, unused to the level of command her voice held at that moment, before his body sprung to action.<br><br>"Out the way," he called as his feet rushed him down the length of the Dianoga and into the medbay. His eyes searched wildly across the shelves until they spotted the folding stretcher tucked away next to the spare cot, and he grabbed it and spun on his heel. Rushing back to the front of the cargo area, he pulled open the stretcher and locked it in the open position, and then looked to Shard.<br><br>"What now? Is she alive?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>30-03-2016, 23:42:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard slid her hands under the Lorrdian's midsection and gestured for the other two to pick her up from the other side. "First, we get her onto the stretcher. On three; one, two, <em>three</em>." The trio lifted the girl onto the stretcher, and Shard began securing her. "Now, we carry her to the medbay. Nyx, take the front, Dunn take the rear." As the pair carried the unconscious woman, Shard retrieved her medical scanner and began examining the patient in more detail. "She's alive; suffering from hypothermia, oxygen deprivation, CO2 poisoning, and malnutrition. Possibly other complications. No obvious injuries. Won't know more until I can do a proper scan/examination or she wakes up. Put her here." Shard gestured to the bed in the medbay. The stretcher slowly sank onto the bacta bag and bedding as she pulled down the larger medical scanner.<br><br>Shard examined the readout with rapt attention, before sighing in relief. "No unpleasant surprises. Lift her up again, please." With the stretcher raised again, she cleared out the bacta bag and fluffed the pillow before gesturing for them to lower her again. "Now we do this-" She reached for both sides of of the stretcher and pressed something, detaching the two sides and allowing her to slide them out from under the patient and deposit her comfortably on the bed. Shard pulled up the bed's blanket and returned the stretcher to storage. "All we can do now is wait; she'll want to eat when she wakes up, but simply being somewhere not-freezing and with a breathable atmosphere is all she really needs."<br><br>Now that the medical crisis was over, there was no longer a need for her to take command of the situation. Her body language and tone gradually returned to normal as she deferred control to whoever would take it. "The atmosphere of the pod should have normalized enough to be a non-issue for us now; Shall we examine it?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>31-03-2016, 21:25:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>&nbsp; One skill you learn quick is to tune out what doesn't concern you, while keeping an eye and ear out for the important stuff.&nbsp; For example: not being a doctor, there wasn't a lot Shae could do for whoever it was they had jsut pulled out of the leaky tin can. They'd meet, in time, if the unllucky passenger survived; if she didn't it didn't matter.<br><br>OK, so she <strong>was </strong>lending half an ear to the comm chatter, enough to know they had a live femme pulled out of the pod.&nbsp; It wasn't until her tracking gear went<em> 'kwert', </em>though that she fully woke&nbsp; up and opened her eyes.<br><br><em>'Kwert' </em>can mean lots of things, from a momentary blip caused by a magnetic flux to a passing hunk of rock.&nbsp; In this case, though, it seemed to mean a steady bearing, arcing up from the planet they'd so unlamentedly just left. "Uh...guys?"&nbsp; The Mirilian fumbled her headset straight and went on General Announce, her other hand slapping the switches to bring her gun mount back to life. "Not to rush your party down there, but we've got some company inbound.&nbsp; Someone order a Nerf pie or something?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>02-04-2016, 16:55:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>He was by Dunn's side when he tried to open the pod, and when it didn't open, it made this awful noise that caused the Mandalorian to grimace as his enhanced senses were attacked by the noise. Still he kept his composure and his hand nearby his blaster just in case. He waited quietly while Dunn went about prying the pod open, and once the doors slid aside, Nyx was right there with his blaster drawn and aimed down into the pod despite them both knowing life support had given out. <br><br>You could never be too careful. His blaster was still aimed at her when he heard a tiny sound. Like a breath coming from someone who hadn't been breathing for a while. The girl. "She's alive," he said simply before stepping back and letting Shard inspect her. After her initial analysis, she told them to get the stretcher and Dunn set it up so Shard could slide the girls limp body onto it. They moved her to the medbay and though he didn't show it, he was happy to know they hadn't found a corpse and the girl would be okay. <br><br>He nodded that they should inspect the pod, but Shae's slightly panicked voice telling them that they had company caused his eyes to widen. Why did they have company? Who was that company? So many questions that needed answering immediately. "Shard, keep an eye on her. Dunn, get to the cockpit and see if we can talk our way out of this. Shae, be ready to blast them to space dust if that doesn't work. I'm gonna disable that beacon on the pod just in case, then I'll be up there with you, boss just in case we need to make a quick getaway." Nodding to their medic and slapping his friend on the shoulder, he sprinted off to the escape pod and hopped inside so he could disable the very signal that had allowed them to find it in the first place. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>06-04-2016, 04:16:12</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Panic gripped Dunn at the idea of anyone following them- they'd made the jump to hyperspace as soon as they got the pod on board. If someone still managed to pursue them, they were in for some trouble.<br><br>"You certainly don't have to tell me twice," he said under his breath, already starting to run for the cockpit. Barely slowing enough to make it into his chair, he immediately swung around to the console in front of him and began checking the navicomputer. In a couple seconds, they'd be right in range of the Centares (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Centares/Legends) system- there was a fair sized population on the planet and a lot of mining operations, which would mean a fair amount of traffic to try to get lost in. Unfortunately, it'd also mean a higher chance of Imperial entanglement, since most of those mining operations were owned by Taggeco (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TaggeCo), and in turn, the Empire. He leaned forward and tapped the control for the intercom again.<br><br><em>"I've got bad news, then less bad news, then some more bad news,"</em> he joked dryly into the microphone. <em>"Bad news is that someone is following us, and they're pretty determined on it- they're on us like Jawas on scrap. The less bad news is if we drop out of hyperspace now, we might be able to lose them on Centares. More bad news is that there's a chance that the Imps will be there when we drop, or that we'll get in the way of a mining route and they'll blast us to pieces."<br><br>"Either way, hold on, because the </em>Dianoga<em> does <strong>not</strong> like dropping out of hyperspace this fast."</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>08-04-2016, 13:56:44</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/BleBP8x.png)</div>Tannie groaned and her breathing seemed to get a little better every moment. The CO<sub>2</sub> poisoning she'd been suffering from was slowly abating as her lungs pulled in the oxygen rich air of wherever she was. Warm moist air, and the general warmth was making her fingers, toes and the tips of her ears and nose burn and tingle as they thawed out slowly. She dimly registered people talking about someone needing to rest, 'Who needs to rest? There's things to do, the pod's failing, I can't rest. But I need a nap, sooo tired, and Diogi will wake me up if I need to do something.' her addled mind rambled to itself. She drifted back off, her hollow cheeks getting rosy as her stagnant blood began to flow through her body as it began to warm again. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>08-04-2016, 19:22:15</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>The tiny Mirialan didn't even look up when Nyx moved past her station, headed towards the cockpit. She was full-face-down in her targetting visor, trying to make sense out of what her scanners, not totally reliable at hypervelocity, were giving her.<br><br>"Real small, real fast," she muttered into her headset, almost as if she were talking to herself. "One-seater, at most. My money's on a drone- can't see how else anybody'd get on our rump so fast."&nbsp; Slender fingers tweaking the controls, she tried desperately to sort out what they were up against. "Maybe somethin' programmed to go after beacons?" Pulling her head out of her gear, she shouted at the upper bulkhead. "You all DID make sure that pieca junk isn't radiatin', right?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>08-04-2016, 23:00:47</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard braced herself on a handhold as the <em>Dianoga</em> shuddered. It was odd for someone to chase after an escape pod like this; if they really wanted it, they would've just picked it up, no? She glanced down at her slowly rousing patient. You're an interesting one. Her eyes narrowed. No, not her. Their pursuers chasing after the pod or its contents didn't make sense. It had been drifting for ages. If they could track the pod now, they could've tracked it earlier. And if they needed the passenger dead before pickup, there were easier ways to kill people. So that meant they were here for-<br><br>Hmm...<br><br>No, it couldn't be that; she'd been very thorough. Most likely target was another member of the crew. Wouldn't be surprising if the Captain or First Mate had made enemies, what with the smuggling. The mirialan could easily have enemies as well. Very recent enemies, given what happened in the cantina. Farradin hadn't cheated anyone. Not recently, anyway.<br><br>Hmm...<br><br>Shard made her way back to the pod, occasionally stumbling as the ship shook. She started poking around once inside, looking for anything unusual. Nothing. The systems were all dead, long drained of power. No hidden panels, no secret compartments, nothing apart from piles of discarded survival ration packets. Nothing except the droid.<br><br>She turned around and unplugged it from the power conduit. Some sort of... scout? She picked up the droid and slowly made her way back to the medbay. There were power conduits there. True, there might be some in the cargo bay proper, but there were <em>definitely</em> some in the medbay. After dumping the awkwardly large droid on the ground, she grabbed a recharging cable.<br><br>"Let's see what you know, little guy..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>09-04-2016, 00:57:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/N8pPq7x.png)</div>The droid's&nbsp; amber eyes flickered a few times, then went dim and then went very bright as the boot sequence began, a few chirrs, clicks and clacks could be heard as the OS checked hardware interfaces and functionality. Its jaws opened and closed a few times and the eyes remained lit, though dim as it went through a full diagnostic. Dzero-G1 turned its head side to side as it ran a sonic and visual scan of its surroundings, sampling air quality and performing a thermal check before it turned its head to the unknown human before it.<br><br>IDENTIFY PLEASE... it said in a slightly mechanical tone.<br><br>Looking up at Shard it tilted its head and waited patiently for the human to identify itself and tell it where it's current owner was. The silly thing was it looked very much like a scythe hound pup when it did that, jaws partly open and its multi-function biological probe sticking out of its mouth slightly. The droid's preliminary scans and audits had allowed it to determine that it was no longer in the escape pod and that all environmental indicators were well within nominal range for humans. It had also confirmed that it was on some sort of ship considering the power fluctuations within the chamber's walls, and the slight oily and metallic tang in the air, as well as the steady thrum of a Hoersch-Kessel type hyperdrive currently in operation.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>12-04-2016, 07:50:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>The ship groaned as Dunn forced the ship out of light speed, and the lights of hyperspace gave way to a soaring view of Centares. As he scanned his equipment, Dunn cursed under his breath- his scanners picked up an Imperial cruiser, which would only spell out more trouble for them. Knowing their pursuer was only moments behind, he hit the ship's intercom again.<br><br><em>"We've got an Imp cruiser to port ahead of us, and an unknown tail behind us,</em> he began. <em>"While I'm dying for a payout, I certainly do not mean to do that literally. We're gonna have to space the pod, and hope that whoever's behind us is more interested in it than us. From there, we're going to have to make this look normal- don't want the Imps wondering what we're up to, so we're going to make a detour down to Muracie for a day or so, maybe make sure our latest 'acquisition' can recover, and then we'll be back on our way to Anaxes before you can say 'please don't shoot I'm a tax-paying citizen,' which I am very nearly certain no one on this ship is."</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>12-04-2016, 10:42:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard looked down at the droid, tilting her head inquisitively as she knelt beside it. She raised her hand up to her shoulder. "I'm Shard. A medic." She twirled her finger around, evidently gesturing to the corners of the ceiling. "This is the <em>Laughing Dionoga</em>. And <em>that</em>-" She pointed towards the prone girl on the bed. "-is presumably a friend of yours."<br><br>Shard looked up as Dunn addressed the crew over the interview.<br><br>"Aaand those ships are presumably not friends of yours or ours."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Chi</strong> on <strong>13-04-2016, 00:20:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/N8pPq7x.png)</div>Dzero turned its head and looked to the bed where Tannie was lying and put its forefeet on the edge of the bed, looking down at her then 'licking' her hand briefly as it ran a full biometric scan on her. It found that despite some mild frostbite, low iron and potassium and being dehydrated she was well, and recovering slowly. The scout droid turned its head to Shard and the amber eyes flickered in a reasonable approximation of a blink.<br><br>TANNIE IS...WELL...NEEDS REST...SHARD. The droid said in its halting syntax as it dropped back down to all fours. CHARGE AT 20%...ENTERING STANDBY MODE
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Juggtacular</strong> on <strong>13-04-2016, 01:54:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/NEkAnom.jpg?1)(http://img05.deviantart.net/a720/i/2012/213/3/6/mando__ade_helga_by_foxbatmit-d59emk0.jpg)</div><hr><br>In cases like this, Nyx wasn't sentimental when it came to his work. He did what was needed of him, made sure he'd done it correctly, and moved onto the next thing. So after ripping out the tracking beacon, and any other secondary or tertiary systems that could still send a weaker, but noticeable radar ping, he put them in a pile and set his blaster to ion. He fired once, a white staticy blaster bolt fried everything in the pile, and Nyx was satisfied.<br><br>&nbsp;"They can't track us with the pod anymore. One worry down," he worrily stated before it turned into a grunt as Dunn dropped a few bullet points. He was running back to the cockpit to help out and get on the main gun when it came through. "Well slap me on a basilisk and drop me in a supernova. Things'r gettin' worse and worse." When they dropped out of hyperspace, he braced his feet and gripped a wall handle. The shaking was violent, but his body was built to withstand a lot more, so he was fine. <br><br>Finally he hopped back into the co-pilot's seat and immediately began typing in commands and checking the readouts. Their newest crewman told them what they were getting chased by and wondered if they'd followed protocol. "Anything that could help them find us is in a melted pile of slag on the cargo bay floor right now. We're good." Dunn said they'd have to jettison the pod considering they had a tag along following them, and they had imps in front of them. Not good odds with their property in the back. "Everything in the bay is already bolted and strapped down except the pod. Gonna open the hatch and blow it out." <br><br>Locking down the cargo bay so no one could get in, he pressed a button and the door opened. There was no sound, but if there had been it would have been an awful shrieking as metal ground against metal. In about twenty seconds, the pod had been yanked out into the vacuum, and the bay door was closed. "Pod is jettisoned; now we just gotta survive till we get planet side," he said with a glance over to Dunn. "Oh, and the tax collectors got wise about comin' after me years ago." He grinned. Taxes were usually unavoidable, but he was a Mandalorian. A very big, very intimidating Mandalorian. He had his ways. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>vanTheMad</strong> on <strong>17-04-2016, 05:38:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nd9bXT7.png)</div>Dunn did his best to grin at Nyx's comments about the tax collectors, but in his state of panic, the expression came out more as a half-hearted grimace than anything. He pushed forward on the throttle, and the <em>Dianoga</em> zoomed in towards Centares. He did a quick read of the scanners, and while he couldn't immediately spot their tail, the amount of space debris left by the Empire's mining operations on Centares would make it harder for their systems to notice anyone following. That same debris, with any luck, would also stop them from getting blown out of the sky by any overzealous Imperial officers.<br><br>"I think we should be able to take a breath for a second on the landing run," he said, obviously not taking his own advice regarding breath. "We'll just wanna stay clear of the cruiser's tractor beam range."<br><br>Hitting the intercom again, he addressed the crew, and pushed forward again on the throttle as he felt the upper atmosphere of the planet beginning to rock against the hull.<br><br><em>"We'll be touching down in Muracie shortly- we might have lost our tail, but it's damn hard to tell right now. We're gonna need to try and lay low on the planet, maybe just a few hours, maybe a full day. It'll give us a chance to acquaint ourselves with our new passenger, and to find out if there's any rewards in it for our saving her from that can up there. If you leave the ship, make sure to play it safe- whoever was following us might be on the surface, and even if they aren't, there's guaranteed to be Imperials everywhere, so keep your blasters close, but hidden, and your eyes open."</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ThisOneGal</strong> on <strong>17-04-2016, 10:07:38</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatright">(http://orig05.deviantart.net/fb07/f/2013/081/3/8/girl_by_bcnyart-d5yxxss.jpg)</div>Shard watched as the droid went into standby mode. She half-expected it to curl up at the foot of the bed.<br><br>"Well okay then. You do that."<br><br>She sat in silence for a bit, watching the droid nap and listening to Dunn over the intercom.<br><br>Oh, right.<br><br>She stood up and began patting down the Lorrdian, checking her for weapons. It was unlikely there were any to be found, but better to err on the side of caution. Hmm. Should also probably get her in clean clothes and do a proper medical examination. High end, well maintained medical scanners were far better than the eye, but like most things on the <em>Dionoga</em> this scanner had been salvaged from the scrap heap and was not exactly up to code.<br><br>Should probably wait until they <em>weren't</em> engaging in thrilling and experimental flight patterns to do that though.<br><br>Shard sighed and began going through her supplies, looking for sterile clothes that might fit.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Perlemian Route: A Smugglers Story [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Nowherewoman</strong> on <strong>17-04-2016, 13:28:51</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/55/83/d8/5583d8287dc20d30cf2e8c3b4d048177.jpg)</div>As soon as the Dianoga dropped out of hyperspace, her targeting system automatically swept the area around her and locked onto the biggest target it could find.&nbsp; Which happened to be the Imp patrol cruiser. With an audible 'yeep', Shane swatted the controls into neutral; pointing a piddling little quad-mount spitgun at a ship thirty times your own size was a quick route to a level of oneness with the Force she wasn't in a hurry to achieve.<br><br>Apparently, the probe that had been shadowing them felt the same. Dropping unseen out of hyperspace just a few seconds behind the smuggler, it sniffed its surroundings, hesitated, and let out a figurative 'yeep' of its own, rocketing away at a tangent under appalling acceleration.&nbsp; Either its course had been a bizarre coincidence, or it, too, didn't feel like doing anything untoward under the eyes- and guns- of the Empire.<br><br>As they started their approach spiral, Shane cued her mike. "Hey, if the Greys <em>insist</em> on coming aboard, offer their brass a drink. If he says yes you'll know you can deal. If not...well, then we go to plan B."<br><br>She hoped there <strong>was</strong> a plan B.&nbsp; And when was she ever without her guns?&nbsp; Hell, she slept with them under her pillow. IT was why she was still in one piece.
			</dd>
		</dl>
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