Special Delivery

[Barton Henning]

Whilst the Knightfall was docked with its larger counterparts within the Wheel, the ships captain – Barton Henning – was taking the opportunity to explore his new surroundings. There wasn't much to see, in truth; the walls were durasteel grey and rusty in places, evidence that the Jedi fleet had been compiled mostly from freighters ready to be scrapped. In that respect, the Knightfall was amongst equals.

There was a purpose to his typically aimless wanderings on this day, however, as his presence had been requested – by name, no less – in the cargo hold of the bulk freighter known as the Whaladon. A shipment had just arrived, apparently, and there was something within the manifesto that had been flagged as Henning's personal property. The crewman responsible for handing the crate over merely nodded towards the box, ticking it off a long list as he made his way on to inspect the rest of the goods.

Arching an eyebrow, Barton cautiously touched the surface of the crate and within instants recoiled: there was something alive inside of it! After a moment of confusion, he pressed his palm against the crates lid once again and tentatively allowed his senses to quest outwards, to whoever or whatever was inside the box. Soundlessly, his lips formed a single word and suddenly he was in motion, bodily hauling the heavy lid from the container to free the person within.

[Molly Black]

This was without a doubt the stupidest thing Molly Black had ever done, and that was truly saying something. Sat uncomfortably huddled into the corner of the crate, her knees tucked to her chest, head leaned back against the wall, in a pile of ration bar wrappers and empty water bottles, she looked like a miserable little waif - still in a rather naughty maid's uniform from at least a week ago. Really, she'd lost count..

When the crate's lid was hauled off, she shielded her eyes from the intrusion of light with her hand and peeked up, praying it was not another storm trooper. They were the reason she was traveling in a crate and not in her luxury yacht to begin with.. "If you give me a minute.. I'm sure I can explain everything...", she rasped between parched lips.

When her eyes adjusted to the light and she spotted the very man she'd...shipped herself to, a look of sheer relief softened her features. "Oh...thank you for the small things.", she spoke, presumably to the Almighty as she reached a hand up to the man peering in at her. "Hey, Doc... A little help?"

[Barton Henning]

“Molly!?”

Weeks and weeks ago, Barton had entrusted the safe keeping of his lightsaber – which had been left behind on Cloud City during his unexpected flight from Bespin – to the waitress of the Cloud 9 Bar and Grill. He had chosen Molly Black because he knew she was dependable, but hadn't counted on her being so committed to the task that she was willing to ship herself across the galaxy to complete it. As he helped her climb out of the crate, Henning couldn't hide his look of amazement, at least in part on account of her outfit.

“I... what happened?”

[Molly Black]

Sitting on the edge of the crate in front of the doctor, Molly held onto his arm while she tried to remember how to make her muscles work. Everything still felt cramped into her uncomfortably, squashed position, that and some serious dehydration had probably set in.

"Well.. You know me, never the easy way, right?", she shook her head at him, even her normally perky black curls seemed to have gone limp on the journey.

"I found Mu's key, but your place was being watched so...", she seemed to blush a little at the next part. "I told them I was your maid and let them in. The outfit was just to distract them. Worked like a charm, I can tell you... right up until I left and they followed me. That's how I wound up in the box.", she shivered like she was cold, but it was just from extreme muscle fatigue.

Crossing her legs, she smiled a little weakly at him. "It was a successful mission over all." Letting go of his arm, she sat back coyly and lifted up the edge of the frilly black skirt revealing a fair bit of her famous legs, and one naughty looking set of garters, neither of which were what was holding the doctor's gaze, but what was strapped to them. The lightsaber that she had pilfered out from under Imperial noses, still tucked into her undergarments, like some obscene contraband.

"And I just might give you the little whatsit... if you get me some water.", she grumbled.

[Barton Henning]

“This.. isn't what I'd imagined,” Barton murmured, mostly out of shock, to himself. The story of how Molly had retrieved his lightsaber was nothing short of bizarre. When she drew back her skirt to reveal the reason she had travelled halfway across the galaxy in a shipping crate, Barton felt his heart skip a beat. Not at the sight of bare flesh, but at the metallic cylinder strapped to her thigh. He had locked that weapon away, out of sight and mind, for years – yet time had not dulled his memory of it. Just a glance and he recalled how it had gained the nicks and scuffs which marked the once polished surface.

“Water, of course,” he said, pulling his thoughts away from what the weapon meant. “There's food on board too. Nothing quite like you'd get at Mu's place, but better by a parsec than those ration bars,” he added with a weak smile, once again offering his arm for support.

[Molly Black]

Leaning against the doctor's arm, Molly let him lead on leaving the business of the..whatever it was.. strapped to her thigh unfinished for now. At her core she was wise enough to keep whatever leverage it gave her close at hand. Once the doctor knew what kind of trouble followed in her wake, he may not be so happy to see her.

"I could go for a snack..sure.", she smiled slightly. "Anything that is not a ration bar would be fine.", she added.

At first Molly was curious about her new surroundings, but almost immediately after looking around her blue eyes snapped to the floor. It was probably best for all concerned that she knew as little as possible about where they were..