Delivery

[MikDaTv]

"There does not appear to be any good places to land." PP said, looking through the front viewport. "At least not for a ship this size."

Gene looked at the terrain mapping sensor. The droid was right. There was a lot of mountainous and hilly topography but no flat region large enough or stable enough to support the ship. "We're getting close to the coordinates blacksun gave us. Keep an eye out for a structure."

Gene dropped their altittude another hundred meters and double checked the coordinates given to him. Blacksun had provided very specific numbers and they were indeed getting closer.

"Captain, structure ahead. Two stories. There appears to be a landing pad upon the roof."

Gene looked back at the ground sensors and saw the structure resolve on the scope. "Good eye PP. Setting course. Go standby on the cargo ramp. open it when i give you the signal.

"Of course Captain. I will await your signal." PP said and left the cockpit.

Gene plotted his approach to the structure and guided the ship down. The landing pad was big enough but only just. He took his time and eased the ship down to a nice soft landing. The landing gear settled as the shocks took the weight of the ship and the engines began to spin down. Gene breathed a sigh of relief and switched the repulsorlifts off along with the other flight systems.

Before shutting it down, he opened the com to the frequency provided and sent out the friendly code on it three times. He buckled on his gun belt, holstered his blaster pistol and left the cockpit. He didn't like this job. He didn't like this planet, or any planet that had regular acid rain fall, and he didn't like his employer so he was going to go into this under the assumption that blacksun was going to try and stiff him somehow. He marched down the length of the ship to his cabin whereupon he opened the footlocker next to his rack and retrieved his disruptor cannon and strapped its holster to his back where he liked it.

A hand went up to the crystal he wore around his neck for just a moment and then he went to the boarding ramp to disembark. He walked down the ramp into the open air and looked up at the sky. clouds were coming there way. He needed to get with whomever was supposed to take these crates, make the delivery and get out of here as quickly as possible if he was going to beat the acid rain.

[MikDaTv]

A male Twi'lek, flanked by two B2 Battle Droids came out of the rooftop access door of the building. "Greetings Mr. Lorran." The Twi'lek said. "Welcome to Vjun. My name is T'sil. Our mutual employer sent me to make sure you landed ok and be your guide of this facility."

"Guide? Facility? This place is two stories tall. How much of it can there be?" Gene asked. He couldn't help but notice that his employer had sent a guide with combat droids to greet him.

The Twi'lek smiled and gestured towards the door. "I assure you, this place is much more than meets the eye. This was a Tac-Spec Corporation droid production facility before the Clone Wars. During the Clone Wars Vjun had fallen under Confederacy control and this facility was converted into a Battle Droid factory, helping the separatists maintain their sizable droid army. It has a sizable substructure built underground to protect it from the planets... interesting weather."

Gene thought about those words carefully. The guy on Cardia had told him this was a Blacksun crime boss. Now he learned it was a Blacksun crime boss with access to a combat droid production facility who was now being armed with crates full of military grade imperial weaponry. Whoever this crime boss was, he did not want to make any enemies here. "Who's going to do the unloading?" Gene asked, getting back to business.

T'sil snapped his fingers twice and pointed to the ship. The B2's advanced towards the ship, their arms turned upwards and bent at the elbows as if they were to carry something. "One of the advantages of working within a droid factory is an endless supply of simple laborers. These two should be more than adequate to handle the job of unloading the cargo."

Gene nodded and grabbed his comlink. "PP, go ahead and lower the cargo ramp."

The sound of hydraulic motors began and the wide cargo ramp at the rear of the ship began lowering. PP walked down as soon as it was lowered. Thankfully, this time he was without serving tray or Champaign glasses. "I took the liberty of unstrapping the cargo Captain."

"Interior door locked?" Gene asked.

PP nodded. "Of course Captain. The interior cargo door is sealed. Any unauthorized breach would trigger the alarm and send a signal to the crew, namely me."

Gene watched as the B2's walked up the cargo ramp of his ship and then turned back to the Twi'lek. "Very well T'sil. Give us the tour. Perhaps we could be afforded the opportunity to meet our employer as well."

T'sil gave a practiced smile. "Of course. He likes to meet everyone who comes to his facility."

"I quite like him." PP said in a hushed voice as T'sil turned to guide them into the building. "He's quite polite."

"Come with me PP, and keep your eyes open. Nothing here is to be trusted. This is a nest of vipers." Gene replied in the same hushed whisper before following after T'sil.

[Sir Lord Ash]

Gene was not the only person on this planet making pick ups and drop offs and whatnot. And though there seemed to be only one landing spot for Gene's ship, one of somewhat smaller size was parked outside, the cargo ramp down. Droids were bringing in cargo at a relative slow pace, maybe they were waiting for more to show up before they could finish.

Regardless, inside the main building was a man in rather nice looking mostly white armor, who seemed to just be chilling out letting his work be done for him. He was waiting to be called on for something or other, at least the last time he checked, but that was a hot minute ago. Still, it may happen. They were probably busy with something. Not his problem right now, so long as he could get stuff done and get paid.

The man watched as a ship did a fly by, then it landed. He had to fully go outside to see it, and he was kinda surprised that the landing pad was large enough, as the second ship was larger than it looked initially. Maybe this was the guy he was waiting on. Well, only the future could tell.

[MikDaTv]

“And that Mr. Lorran concludes our tour. I hope it wasn’t too dry for you.” T’sil said as he lead Gene and PP into a large hall on the first floor. “Now, may I present to you our employer, Lord Fabbo the Hutt.”

T’sil pressed a button on his forearm and the far wall of the hall opened up like a large garage door. Beyond the door was a dais upon which sat a Hutt. Not just any Hutt, but a Hutt larger than any hutt Gene had ever even heard of. It’s size though was not what first struck Gene. It was the fact that the Hutt was encased within a suit of Durasteel shell like armor. It’s huge size and the polished armor was incredibly striking, to say nothing of the two jet black FIII Footman Droids flanking him.

T’sil bowed to the Hutt. “My Lord, may I present Captain Gene Lorran. He comes to us from our contacts on Cardia and made the delivery of weapons to us.”

Gene didn’t know what else to do so he nodded his head deeply. “My Lord.”

The Hutt issued a deep belly laugh and began speaking. It was Huttese and Gene didn’t understand a word of it. Luckily PP-R31 was right there with him. “He expresses thanks and appreciation.”

Gene didn’t talk to PP, he addressed the Hutt directly. “It was no trouble. I’m glad that i could be of service to Blacksun. I would like to get on my way now though my Lord so if you don’t mind, may I collect my payment.”

PP translated his polite request flawlessly. Fabbo, appeared more and more irritated as it went on though. He boomed a reply back and Gene could tell it wasn’t a happy reply. “Lord Fabbo says that you may not leave this place just yet. He does not have the shipment he would like to send out ready to go yet.”

“I was not contracted for another shipment. Just my delivery here for which I was promised payment.”

Another string of upset sounding words. “He does not seem to care.” PP explained. “He says you will work for him. He needs pilots with ships. If you will not work for him as a pilot, he will at least get a ship out of it.”

Gene took a step back and the FIII Footman Droids came to life, snapping their attention to Gene. “This is not how this should go down.” Gene said. “Black Sun has a bad reputation across the galaxy but i’ve never known them to welch on a deal. You owe me money Fabbo.”

PP translated and before he even finished Fabbo roared and slammed his fist down on the snack table next to him. The Footman droids began marching forward, drawing vibroblades from seemingly out of nowhere. Gene was about to continue to try and talk his way out of it but decided that was never going to get him anywhere.

Instead he grabbed T’sil, pulled the twi’lek in front of him and, drawing it from his holster, pointed his blaster at the twi’leks head. “Keep your money slug. I’m out of here. PP get to the ship and get it started.”

PP didn’t hesitate, he immediately turned and ran. One of the footman droids took off after him. Gene grabbed T’sil’s wrist and pressed the button which caused the door to begin closing. The second footman droid moved quickly but not fast enough as the door came down and caught it in the back, smashing it’s legs.

Gene switched his blaster to stun and blasted T’sil right in the temple. The stun shot at that range, almost directly to his brain would still probably kill him but at least Gene wouldn’t be covered in brain bits. The Twi’lek fell to the ground and Gene turned and ran.

[Sir Lord Ash]

Man, this was boring. And he wasn't even getting paid for sitting around waiting for his ship to finish being loaded. What could they be loading in it that could be taking so long. Starting to get overly bored and somewhat angry, Liam decided to go for a little walk.

Quickly into this walk of his, he saw who could only be the pilot of the ship that just flew in, along with the Twi'lek man who met him here. Keeping a good distance away, he fallowed them out of curiosity, and watched as he was led into the big Hutt't room.

The door was left open as they chatted up, and he could only guess what was being said. Though from simply looking, he could guess that whatever was going down wasn't good. Finally, it seemed like talks have failed, as action started to happen, and the man ran out, after his droid, and shot the T'sil.

Yup. Things definitely went south for this pilot, and he could bet that the Hutt was furious. Well, this was entertaining to say the least. The man turned to run, looking like he was heading right towards Liam. A droid, one of the Hutt's obviously, came up from a side hallway and began to take aim at the running man. Liam drew his pistol, took a quick site, and shot the droid, disabling it and causing it to shake and fall to the ground, smoking.

[MikDaTv]

Gene skidded to a halt when he saw the guy in the white armor draw his weapon and point it towards him. He was about to return fire when the shot flew past him and struck a droid behind him, disabling it. He looked over his shoulder at the sparking droid and then back at the guy in armor. “uh, thanks.”

He looked back at the droid. “Smoking some of Fabbo’s hardware won’t win you any friends in Black Sun. You may have made some enemies today on my behalf. I appreciate it.” As he spoke he knelt next to the dead B2 and opened it up. In a few moments he had retrieved the battle droids primary hard rive and pocketed it.

* * * * * * * *

PP-R31 reached the rooftop access door and opened it. Outside on the landing platform the two B2’s had finished unloading the crates they had transported and had started loading containers back onto the ship. This frustrated PP as he was not made aware of any new cargo to be loaded in the storage bay. How could he ensure proper weight distribution if he wasn’t made aware of the cargo.

When the B2’s spotted him, they dropped the container they were loading and armed their primary weapons. When they aimed at PP the droid did the only thing he could think to do. He sent a signal to the ship, telling it to close the cargo ramp. The ramp raising threw off the B2’s footing causing them to stumble back. The ramp closed before they could get a shot off and locked them inside the storage bay.

Satisfied with his personal safety, PP went to the boarding ramp, lowered it and made his way up into the ship and into the cockpit. Within moments he began the preflight procedures, something he had only just recently become experienced with.

[Sir Lord Ash]

"Didn't care much for them anyway. Never paid enough, and bad room service"

Liam did a little twirl with his pistol and tucked it back away in its holster. There was a chance that no knew of his engagement with the Hutt's forces, so he could have been safe. Still, It was a better chance to get out of here while he could. From his left side, he brought out a commlink.

"Sera, its time to head out. Prep the ship for take off. Oh aaaand... if there is anything good you can get for us to sell later, do it."

Liam went to go leave, but stopped for a moment and looked back at the man who he helped.

"Hey, you gonna be fine getting back to your ship, or would you like a hand in here? I dont think anyone would be safe here at all now."

[MikDaTv]

Gene could hear his ship beginning to power up through the ceiling. He got up and turned towards his new friend. “My partner is getting the ship ready but i don’t know how many droids are between here and there. This place is a droid factory, lord knows how many of them are wandering around.”

He switched his blaster from stun back over to kill. “Are you sure you don’t need help getting to your ship?”

“Captain, this is PP-R31.” The voice came over his comlink.

He plucked it from his pouch and brought it to his mouth. “Go.”

“Ship is prepared Captain. Preflight checks complete, standing by for your arrival.”

“Ok, PP. I’m on my ….” A series of B1 Battle droids rounded the corner with blaster rifles leveled.

“You there, halt!” one of the B1s shouted. Gene fired his pistol into the formation and took cover into a doorway alcove. He pulled his disruptor canon out of it’s back holster and readied it. It’d take out plenty of B1’s if he could get them to line up.

[Sir Lord Ash]

Liam listened to this man say that his partner was getting a ship ready, and that this place was an old droid factory. That last part he didn't know. He swallowed lightly at that news, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

"Hopefully less by the time were done. And im pretty sure I'll be fine. Armor's more than just for show, and once im outside, I can have some covering fire. I'm more worried about anything outside."

The stranger's commlink went off and Liam let him try to talk, but was cut off as droids cut him off. How old were these things. With one hand, he pulled his blaster out and fired. The other one outstretched and sent one of the droids into another, causing both to become tangled up and start spewing smoke as they were destroyed.

"Like I said: I'll be fine."

[MikDaTv]

Gene fired his disruptor cannon. A blinding green light flashed and pure heat recoiled back towards him. When his vision cleared from the flash 2 more B1’s were gone, leaving piles of melted metal and droid feet where they once stood.

“PP, i’m on my way.” Gene said into his comlink.

The droid came back in a rushed tone. “Best hurry caption, that storm front is closing quickly. Records indicate the rain on this planet is dangerously acidic.”

Gene reloaded and then holstered his disruptor again. “Thanks again friend. You better get to your ship before the rain shows up. I’ll be alright.”

[Sir Lord Ash]

Well, that was one hell of a blaster bolt that fired off against the droids. It blinded him, and he barely managed to close his eyes in time to avoid the worst of it, thanks to the force. Still, these droids were finished up, allowing them to get by and on their way.

That Wasn't the worst thing, however, as he overheard the conversation between the stranger and his partner, and the storm...

"Alright then. See you in the skies"

Liam gave a quick not and a flashy half grin, and started off down the hallway towards his starship, who's powerful engines already were rumbling.

[MikDaTv]

Gene sprinted up the stairs towards the roof and burst out of the door into the open air. The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance as the dark clouds rolled towards them. Gene saw the ship reving up and ran towards the boarding ramp. Over the top of his ship he saw dark shapes. Not like the clouds behind him, these shapes were individual points in the sky flying in formation. Twelve of them in all, flying in two groups of six.

Gene changed his run to a sprint and hauled up the boarding ramp double time. By the time he got to the cockpit he was completely out of breath. "Close the ramp!"

PP flipped the switch to raise the boarding ramp just as the first green tinted droplets of rain began to fall. Gene buckled himself into the flight harness and put power to the repulsors. As they lifted off the ground the first streaks of laser cannon fire hit the landing pad in front of them. "Shields up, deploy weapons." Gene said and PP immediately complied. He boosted power to the repulsorlifts and got them into the air. As he arced the ship around he saw what was shooting at them. Those twelve dots had been twelve droid starfighters closing fast.

Another shower of laser fire struck the ship just as the shields came online. "PP, man the weps."

"I'm not programmed for this!" PP said destraughtly.

"Get programmed. We gotta fight our way out of this!"

[Sir Lord Ash]

Liam made it to his ship with little effort, and he could tell that it was all set to launch, with two droids getting the last of the cargo around and loading it up. The man sprinted into the cargo ramp, and used the force to pull the droids in and close the ramp. The droids were expensive enough that he didn't want to buy more.

Right after that, he ran to the cockpit, taking the forwardmost seat, with Sera in a seat just above and behind him.

"Sera, get us a weapons check. We may need to blast ou.... and beat that stormfront."

Liam pressed a few buttons and flipped some switches, and pulled back on his flight yolk, lifting the heavy ship off the platform. Closing in on them were some fighters, obviously the Hutts.

"Charge weapons and get shields up. After that, plot in a hyperspace jump out of here."

The weapons opened up on his ship as he was swinging in to face the enemy fighters, and he could see the black ship his new pilot friend flew on on. Around both of them, green light began to lance out. He flipped over to missiles, and began floating around for a target lock while Sera began plotting a hyperspace jump.

[MikDaTv]

Gene put the throttles almost all the way forward and jetted off the landing pad. Landing gear still down he hauled hard right on the yolk and put his ship on a starboard bank. Behind him he heard the sound of blaster fire against metal. “What is that?”

“Sir, i must inform you that i locked two B2 Battle Droids in our cargo hold.” PP said

“YOU WHAT?”

PP tightened his grip on the weapons controls. “I had little other choice Captain. they were hostile and i had no other method of preserving my functionality.”

“I guess i’m lucky you didn’t try to offer them cookies.” Gene said. He broke their bank and brought the ship around again to port in a wide arc. He saw out of his left window that another ship was taking off. He hoped it was the guy he’d met inside. The sound of blaster fire behind them got louder as the bolts banged against the cargo bay hatch in the floor. He glanced at his scopes and saw the fighter formation swinging around for another pass.

An idea formed in his mind and he figured it would kill two birds with one stone. He dialed down the inertial compensator to 95% before he cut throttle to one third suddenly, applying repulser brakes with the pedals, cut quickly to starboard then back to port and climbed, lining himself up with the fighters and then punched the throttle forward.

The targeting reticle settled over the lead fighter and turned red. “Fire.”

PP pulled the triggers on his weapons control and the ships two laser cannons fired. “Hold it down!” Gene shouted. He slung the ship port and starboard, spewing laser bolts like a hose out in front of them. With the inertial compensator dialed down, everyone in the ship felt the effect of G force. The B2 Droids had been lurched forward, thrown side to side and then flung all the way to the back of the cargo cabin during their climb and were down tossed about back there.

“Sir, you are flying directly towards the people trying to kill us.” PP mentioned

“Yeah, thanks PP. You can hold your fire.” Gene said in frustration. He did some evasive maneuvers and then dialed the inertial compensator back up to 100%. “Just be ready on the cargo ramp release.”

[Sir Lord Ash]

Liam fully got a track on a fighter, and pulled the trigger of his yolk, sending out a missile. The streak reached out and touched the enemy fighter, taking out a wing before exploding and taking out most of he same ship.

From there, he switched over to lasers, and started sending out bolts of blue light to the enemy fighters. With two ships in the mix of things, it would be easier to take them down.

"Liam, we are good on jump."

"Cool. Take over gunning down some of these ties with the upper guns."

"Got it!"

There was a metallic click as the upper guns locking mechanisms unlocked, allowing them full traversing. Quickly, lances of blue light resumed firing as Sera began targeting fighters and working to gun them down. Switching to an open comm freq, he tried to rise his new buddy.

"Hey guy, got your ears on?"