Shipjacking for Dummies

[Lt Kvettch]

http://www.geocities.com/soulstice3k/datapad.jpg

The Holo-ad had been in circulation for a while already, and Kvettch, ship thief extraordinaire, was getting impatient.
He needed money, and he needed it quickly. Murgos would not wait forever in his stinky hole on Nar Shaddaa, and the last goon he had sent after Kvettch had been most insistent he pay up. Most insistent. In fact, he still carried a few bald patches on his fur from where the towering giant had grabbed him and tossed him through the air.

That's what one got from letting a second-rate ship mechanic build a few modifications on your own ship - trouble. Nothing but trouble. Back with his own people, there would not have been this kind of trouble; money meant very little, was virtually non-existent. But for humans, money was important. One of the reasons Kvettch mistrusted Humans.

Well, the other reasons weren't much nicer either, but he didn't want to think about them these days. Life was hard anyway - no reason to hanker after past days filled of revenge and hatred.

He turned his head to the sky and watched the clouds flock by. Looked like rain. He sniffed the air. Smelled like rain, too.

The diminutive pilot grabbed his oily cloth and stuck it into one of the sacks hanging from his tool-belt. Then he wiped his furry hands on his legs and went inside, uttering a big and long sigh.

A customer would come soon - or maybe even something better. The future was always holding surprises.

[Ugmush]

The seats were too small. No matter how Ugmush sprawled, an armrest dug into her rib, or her legs were smashed into a seatback or tangled with the male next to her. She grunted irritably at him, but the poor bodyguard was just as miserable as she, and could do nothing about it.

The run-down old liner had no better accommodations, and if it did, they probably would never allow a Gamorrean to buy a berth there anyway, fearing to lose all the other passengers. A string of drool hung down from the snout of another of her entourage asleep in a seat ahead, pooling on the cracked faux leather of the seat. A human across the aisle stared in disgust at the beast, and held a scented handkerchief to his nose.

[You sure you have information?] She barked at the fourth and last of her group. A seedy looking human in rumpled clothing popped a head up over the seatback ahead of her and assured her that all was in hand, and not to worry. She eyed the slicer suspiciously, but had no choice but to accept his assertion that he could lead her to the author of the holo-ad.

She narrowed her bloodshot eyes and frowned even further, if that was possible for a Gamorrean. She had left Gamorr with her creaky old vessel, Warhog, in a repair shop and with mounting bills. She needed a lot of cash, and she needed it quickly.

“Please prepare for landing,” came the barely understandable message over cheap comm speakers.

[Ugmush]

The sight of three Gamorreans and their skinny, black-clad human companion drew some stares as they disembarked from the liner and trudged through the entry port. Customs officials passed a cursory glance at their meager baggage and waved them through, gasping for breath after they passed. Milling travelers spread away and recoiled in disgust as Ugmush absent-mindedly switched a morrt to a more soothing spot.

After exiting the spaceport, Ugmush waved in vain for a hovercab until finally a half-broken-down rig pulled up, and a cabby, desperate to buy a meal for his family that evening, deigned to take their hail.

The shifty human leaped into the front, and whispered a name to the hack, who gave a long sideways glance at Ugmush and the other Gamorreans. Ugmush handed up a wad of credits, from which the slicer took his pay and paid off the cabby in advance. Satisfied, he lifted the hovercab and drifted off into a darkish and shabby quarter of the city.

Fifteen minutes later, Ugmush and her guards stood in front of a small repair hangar and the slicer slipped into the shadows, nodding and smiling. They entered the hangar slowly, and Ugmush tripped over a little furry creature near the office door.

[Gorger the Hutt]

:: The overlarge blob that was Gorger the Hutt painfully pulled itself into a more comfortable position to grab those lucious nala-tree frogs. She popped one in his mouth, grinning as the squigling amphibion slid down her throat. But the grin was turned upside-down, and here she was, trapped on some backwater planet without anybody foolish enough to provide transport for her. They always ended up dying before she paid the bill...

Forget them all! thought Gorger as she had her aide surfing through the holonet for a transport to get her off this desolate rock. I'm too beautiful to waste away on this poor excuse of a planet! thought the vain slime-covered slug.

"We've got something, Gorger!" said the Gotal. "A diplomatic ship for only 10,000 credits! A one month wait, though."
"I can deal with that!" said Gorger, popping another frog in her mouth. "Brinje dehm uff un commf!" She swallowed the well-chewed frog.
"Comm-link established."
"I know the commlink is in working order! Just get the seller on the comm!!"
"Er, madame, I meant that we have linked-up the conversa--"
"Don't mock me. Give me the comm."

A very confused gotal walked over to the hutt and handed her the comm. "Hello?" Hmmm, a squeeky voice. assesed Gorger. It's possible that thi-- "Um, hello?"
"Hello. I am the fearsome Gorger the Hutt, of clan Witjaic. I wish to employ your services."
"Great! You got the creds?"
"Oh, I've got the creds alright! If I had ears, creds would be flying out of them! Ah, yes, I am swimming in creds."
"A cred is a credit," spoke the voice, quickly deciphering that the Hutt didn't understand.
"Gah! I know what a cred is! And what's that odd grunting noise I hear? Are you mocking me?!"
"No ma'am! That's the.. Er.. Ummm... Holonet?" Her response sounded more like a question than an answer. "Oh. Well, get me the ship!"
"Where do I deliver it?"
"To where I am, of course!"
"And that is..?"
"Desilat, Desilat! My exile, my prison from the rest of the galaxy! Hear ye, when I escape from here, th egalaxy will feel the claws of my bio-nucleonic warheads! Whe--... Er, just deliver the ship."
"Will do, ma'am," said a very, very confused shipjacker. ::

[Lt Kvettch]

Bewildered he felt. He hadn't been so completely and utterly feeling bewildered since the moment three years back when he had regained consciousness on an operating table and had actually realised that the human heads gathering around him spoke in something he could suddenly and miraculously understand.

Not just that he had just been comm'd by what appeared to be a completely insane Hutt who had without making a fuss agreed to pay him what he had asked, but also he was bewildered about lying sprawled on the floor in the center of a ring of Gamorreans and what looked to be one incredibly smutty male human.

Endor's skies! could the world change so much in just a few moments? It seemed a little too much. His fate had changed from bad to good, so much was clear.

Now if he could only find out what all those disgusting swarty and ill-smelling Gamorreans were doing in his little hangar, maybe then the fates would look even better for him.

Scrambling up as fast and gracefully as an ewok of his stature could (and he was by fate no excessively small specimen of his race), he stood and sniffed out the leader. Pretty sure that leaders had to look different and bigger than others, his senses set themselves upon the one with the enormous breasts - the only one with breasts, actually, and that had to be a sign of some sort.

Plodding forward in his stiff-legged gait, he approached her and stood there looking up, and still all he saw was a belly full of swarty skin that made his sensitive nose quiver.

This was no good position to ask his strange guests what they were doing here, and he knew it. For the millionth time since he had woken up into this strange nightmarish life, he asked himself why he had be made to feel that bad about being not what he seemed to be.

He stepped back one small step, and now he could see the snouty face of his visitors' leader.

"What you want?"

He finally managed to ask, managing to bend his tongue around the hard and gruff tones of the Galaxy's main language.

[Ugmush]

Ugmush stared at the fuzzy little Ewok in front of her for almost a full minute, started to speak, and then stood silent for a half minute more. Gamorreans are not the sharpest species to begin with, and being confronted by the diminutive Kvettch when she was expecting a swashbuckling pirate type left Ugmush a bit tongue-tied.

[Uh, looking for…] she tried.

[Holo-ad…] she tried again.

Finally she collected her sparse thoughts and tried another tack. [Nice ship. I have ship, more weapons, but now being repaired.] She absent-mindedly snatched a morrt trying to crawl onto her face and placed it carefully near a bulbous teat. [No ship now, but much experience taking ships. I help you.]

She eyed the strange Ewok with an obvious, crafty glint in her small dark eyes. [Much practice. More than you! You follow my advice, heist simple! You let me run heist, ask no more than forty percent. I think good deal for you.]

Her limited thoughts now come to an end, Ugmush crossed her meaty forelegs across her chest and awaited Kvettch’s reply.

[Lt Kvettch]

For a few seconds more, he remained dumbstruck. Had his tenuous grasp on Basic left him suddenly, to make everyone talk nonsense? For sure he had understand the massive ill-smelling Gamorrean wrong - she wanted to join him????

That thought alone seemed so mad to him, that the mental picture he got in his mind of him sharing his small freighter for several days with the porcine Pirate and her crew seemed like a picture straight out of Hell.

But thinking of the ship and the voyage he had ahead of him, reminded him of his sad lack of additional crew. With only him to operate the systems, he could get by on an ordinary trip, but to take the Hapan Cruiser, he would need more support. Lots more support. Support with lots of muscle and taller than himself, and a few skills with weapons on top of that.

He sighed heavily. The stench on the ship would be unbearable, but he could always install another air filter, or wear a scented scarf or something...

"Have you skills at shooting? You any good with weapons systems?"

And after all, having a gamorrean crew was only one step worse from having a human crew... with the added advantage that he could always trick the Gamorreans and dump them on some backwater planet once the ship was his.

[Ugmush]

Ugmush hopped from one hoof to another with glee. She couldn’t believe it was going to be this easy! She and her two male warriors would get on the ship and maybe, just maybe, they’d even be able to ditch the runty furball on some backwards planet after the prize was in hand, and keep all for herself.

She tried to put on her smoothest and most persuasive manner. [Of course, Runt. Expert at weapons. Much experience. Crew members with me very good. Master level!] Ugmush just hoped that she would not have to prove that. Her crew did know how to use weaponry, but, as captain of the Warhog, she had never fired so much as a laser cannon.

[We agree then. We go have drink. Seal deal.] She grabbed the little Ewok and dragged him out the hangar door. [Damn planet too dry! Make thirsty.]

A light mist was falling and Kvettch was damp and irritated that Ugmush had dragged him out without some protection from the weather.

‘Too dry,’ he thought to himself, 'anything but a slimy mudhole would be too dry for these stinking beasts!’

Out loud he said, “I know a place we can have a drink and go over my plan.”

[Lt Kvettch]

Runt?!? She's called me runt? Oh, just you wait... Kvettch thought to himself, angered beyond reason as he was being dragged through the streets after her.

He had better make sure to be the one with the upper hand, otherwise he'd be in for this sort of treatment during the entire trip. So he suddenly squirmed out of her grip on his neck, and stamped on the ground, shaking off her swarty fingers, and turning his big huge button-shaped eyes onto her with indignation.

Her face took on a slightly hideous grin, and she put her hands on her ample porcine hips.

[You not come? I pay.]

He snorted with indignation at this obstruse being, and just shuffled past her, grumbling loudly about the cards fate had dealt him.

Not much later, they arrived at a very run down tapcaf, with a couple of chairs and tables rotting away outside the front door. Kvettch eyed the Gamorrean, and pointed at the door.

"After you."

He was hoping that he could slip off into a dark corner where none of the bar's usual patrons could see him consorting with a Gamorrean.

[Ugmush]

Ugmush pushed through the shaky door roughly, and there was a protesting squeal from the hinges. The door hung a little more crookedly than before as she let go the handle and stared about the tapcafe from the entrance.

At a worn bar were a group of local humans eyeing her with distaste. There were audible sounds of disgust as they frowned and covered their noses. A table near the front was occupied by a Rodian and another strange humanoid smoking a waterpipe, but they spared her nary a glance. Ugmush nodded towards some booths opposite the bar, and slid into one in the shadows, but where she could keep an eye on the door.

The barkeep, an obvious look of displeasure on his face, came to take their order, and scurried off quickly to escape her malodorous aura. The drinks were placed soon after, and Ugmush turned to Kvettch.

[Now, how you think we take ship?]

[Lt Kvettch]

Kvettch looked around, looking for anyone who might have a vested interest in hearing what he was about to say, but his low position at the table did not allow him a great view of the bar and its patrons.

Leaning further over the table, he motioned for the Gamorrean to move closer before he finally spoke. Her movement caused another wave of nauseous stench to waft towards him, but he took a eep breath through his mouth, and it was not so bad.

"I placed a tracer on board a Hapan Diplomat's private yacht. That's the one we're after. All we need to do is follow the trail and wait until they land on some backwater planet where there's no likely help if we attack. You agree?"

Of course this was not all of it, and he had no intention of telling her about the one Escort carrier the Hapan had trailing after him. Nor was he planning to tell her of his only advantage: that he had, a few weeks before, managed to place a few less harmless objects on that escort carrier, than just simply the tracer.

But what the sow wouldn't know now, could hurt her later. And that was a good thing.

[Tirsa Krylana]

Tirsa sat in a booth, all alone in this small tapcaf on Ord Mantell. It was dank, dark and populated by scum. Of course, this whole planet is pratically populated by scum, smugglers and swindlers. Her kind of place especially since she was out feeling for some information. She was hoping to learn of some flight plans of any important cruisers and the like so she can grab herself a vessel. Not to keep of course. Well, if there was anything valuable aboard she would keep that. Anything nice and she would sell or use for trade. What Tirsa really wanted was a nice freighter, or if she was lucky, a yacht to hijack so she can make some fast creds. She needed it in order to get the information that she was really after. Endo left her booth about ten minutes ago to go and feel out the patrons of this place. It was agreed that if Tirsa was alone at her booth, someone might be more willing to approach her for anything. So far, no luck.

A nauseating smell entered her nostrils as Tirsa brought her Corellian Ale to her lips. Quickly she set her glass down and put a hand to her face to try and keep her lunch from coming up. She hadn't smelled something that pungent since her wonderful mud wrestling match with an Imperial on Gamorr. Much to her dismay, the smell got closer and then got right behind her.

Damn Gamorreans. I must be cursed to have them follow me!

She tried her hardest to ignore the smell but Tirsa couldn't take it. Brought the horrid memories of that stupid fight ...

... hey wait. Maybe I can mess with them. Stick it to them for frelling with me.

A grin formed on her face and she started to breathe out her mouth to tone down the wretched smell. It helped a little. Very little. Listening in on their conversation, it didn't take long at all for them to get to the point. These bulbous creatures wanted to hijack a ship. Not just a ship, a Hapan yacht! This was too good to be true because Hapes was a rich system and only Vishan knows what other valuables would be on a diplomatic vessel like that. The armed escort would be no trouble with The Chimera either.

Slowly a plan started to evolve in her mind and she sat back, waiting to hear if anything else of value would be said between the two parties.

[Endo Freedoo]

:: Surprised by those he was surrounded by, as they were being quite friendly sharing their Spice with him, Endo wondered if it was the effects of the drug making them be so hospitable or if it was just this nature of these beings. He had no clue what they were saying to him as he only spoke and understood his native tongue of Rodain. He just played it up as if he enjoyed his occasional puffs from the pipe, trying to act as if he knew what they were saying by grinning and acting amused in response to their laughter.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw what his nose had first warned him of, the arrival of a Gamorrean to the establishment. His memories of their kind were not pleasant as he felt a twinge of pain in his shoulder from a recently healed blaster wound, delivered by one of their kind. He was sure not to let the Gamorrean know that he had noticed its arrival, not wanting to draw any suspicion from anyone and tying to just fit in with the creatures he sat at the table with, lifting their spirits with the taste of the sweet smoke.

Endo tried to be careful and make it appear as if he was partaking fully in the drug, but knew that he and Tirsa were here for a purpose and made sure not to overindulge on the smoking, as he knew his skills would be needed if she was able to find anything for them to do. Acting as if he had nothing to do with her, he continued to nod and laugh occasionally, not speaking because he didn’t want to give away the fact he didn’t understand or speak Basic. ::

[Ugmush]

Ugmush nodded at the undersized alien across the scarred table.

[Good idea. No help near. We take fast. Get away.]

‘And,’ Ugmush added silently to herself, ‘nice backwater planet, leave runt there!’

[Attack in space be better,] she suggested. [On ground need many troops.]

Ugmush could see the little furball thinking furiously. She slurped her drink noisily, swiped a foreleg across her snout, and moved a transient morrt to a good spot as she awaited his reply.

[Lt Kvettch]

Kvettch eyed his drink with something like revulsion. There were oily fingerprints on the glass. Huge oily fingerprints. And the bluish substance that sloshed against his lips when he finally decided to take a sip tasted sweet and of an alcoholic substance he would not have believed anything other than a Hutt to survive. But seeing that the Gamorrean had no trouble, he made a brave face and knocked it all down at once.

When the coughing and hacking had subsided - part of which made worse by Ugmush's insistence to thump roughly on his back with a meaty hand - he tried to gather his wits again, but found that the drink had some other effects besides putting his insides aflame. Still, the semi-lethal mix seemed to have cleared his mind of all the other clutter, and he now had a very clear idea of what he would do to the smelly pig.

He chuckled hysterically, and had to grab the table to keep himself from falling backwards off the chair.

Shaking his head and trying to focus his eyes so that the nightmarish vision of two Gamorreans sitting on the other side of the table would return to the less frightening sight of only one, he swayed a few times on his seat before finally croaking out his reply.

"Sure, sure. Attack in space might be good."

It all seemed so frightfully easy all of a sudden. The sow wouldn't be happy, but the odds of her actually realising what he was up to were very very small.

[Ugmush]

The sight of Kvettch gagging on the liquor frightened Ugmush for a second, but she pounded on his back enough to get some air back in him. He almost seemed to be fully recovered, but then he started to convulse in his seat across the table. She was about to check his air passage for obstructions when he shook his head and appeared to return to his usual self.

“Sure. Sure.” Kvettch was saying. They were in complete agreement then!

Ugmush waved over the bartender again, and ordered another round. She held up her glass in a toast.

[Deal. Soon have much money.]

They clinked glasses and drank to the partnership, Ugmush with a bit more enthusiasm than the stubby Ewok. As they made their small talk at the table, Kvettch’s mind raced, and Ugmush’s mind limped, with unspoken plans of their own.

[Tirsa Krylana]

The conversation degraded into how much money they were going to make. All that mattered to Tirsa was how they planned on capturing the ship. Instead of ambush planetside, space was the choice. That brought a smile to her face as she tapped away at her data-pad. She could only imagine the looks on their faces when The Chimera would appear and Tirsa would come in and take what they rightfully stolen.

She pulled the black hood above her head and grabbed the data-pad while she quietly exited the booth. As Tirsa walked by her plotting neighbors, she stole a glance from the corner of her eye. Three Gamorreans, a human, and ... an Ewok? When the hell did she get to Endor, Tirsa thought as she headed for the bar. Leaning over the counter, Tirsa eyed Endo and a look of understanding passed between them and quickly vanished as the barkeep stepped up. The human and a grim look and waited impatiently for what Tirsa wanted.

Reaching underneath her cloak and opening her belt pouch, she pulled out twenty credits and threw them on the table, "For my drinks."

The human wiped them off the counter and Tirsa walked past Endo as she headed towards the door. She brushed up against the Rodian ever so slightly that he wasn't even aware that Tirsa passed him. It was the extra weight that wasn't in his pocket before that clued him that she left Endo some sort of a gift.

Leaving the run down tapcap, Tirsa weaved in and out of the populace as she headed for the docking bays. Being on this planet for three days was quite enough for her since it took her this long to get any type of a lead. Perhaps she should try another type of bait next time when she fishes for information. Like only herself as the bait and be a little more obvious about it.

Tirsa grinned at her little joke as the main docks came into view. She spotted an open terminal and made her way over there. The computer lit up to her commands as the docking manifest scrolled up the screen. She narrowed the search to any Gamorrean ships that have docked within the last week. Nothing.

Pursing her lips, she could only think of one other thing. Not believing that she was doing this, Tirsa did a search on any Ewok owned ships. Her eyes opened in total surpise when the Yuzzum showed up, owned by an Ewok named Kvettch.

"I'll be totally frelled. The little furball owns a piece of dren."

Tapping her index finger on the monitor, Tirsa mulled over the name Kvettch. The name sounded so familiar. She decided to run his name through the computer and low and behold, a holo-ad came up. The saw this ad once before during her stay here and ignored it. She couldn't help but laugh so loudly that the group of Duros next to her on another terminal stared at her like she was insane.

"'You want it, I can get it for you!!!' Oh that's too much!" Wiping away her tears, she headed off to docking bay 39 to meet up with Endo.

[Ugmush]

Finally, Ugmush had had enough of the liquor and the dry atmosphere in the tapcaf, and her sluggish synapses came to the conclusion that it was time to return to the hangar to ready the Yuzzum for departure. She shoved her corpulent companion seated on the aisle out of the way as she moved to get up from the table. The bodyguard’s squealing and rolling around on the floor while he regained his footing drew a mixture of amusement and loathing from the remaining patrons at the bar.

[We ge…go ship. Make shur shi…ship ish…shipshape. Heh!] She stammered as she swayed in the aisle.

Kvettch’s head swiveled to and fro as he tried to focus on her teetering figure. “Hokay!” he managed before a hiccup shook his furry frame.

Ugmush tossed a wad of credits towards the bar as the group staggered out the door. They stood confused for a minute until finally Kvettch pointed in a northerly direction and they pitched down the street towards the hangar, a sigh of relief from the tapcaf sounding from behind.

Rolls of skin shook up and down on Ugmush from time to time as she thought of Kvettch stranded on a faraway planet, jumping up and down in frustration from being stranded. An occasional chuckle burst from her like the gurgle from a Rancor victim’s chest wound. Even her Gamorrean companions looked askance at their clan matron as she drooled and giggled her way down the street.

Eventually, they stumbled to a halt outside Kvettch’s hangar, and waited while the Ewok searched about his person for the keys to the doors.

[Tirsa Krylana]

Tirsa finally got the panel opened on the rickety old ship. This ship was so old that the panels and anything on it refused to work. The only good that came out of it was breaking the code to get on the ship was a breeze. The little furball knew next to nothing on how to encrypt a code and it was easy to slice.

She pulled out homing beacon from her pack and attached it inside, the magnet locking it firmly in place. She already put a homing device in a inner hull panel just to be safe. If they find one device, most likely that will satisfy their curiosity and think the ship is secure. Tirsa thought it fortunate that she was close to the Yuzzem that she called Endo on the comm to get his scrawny green rear to the docking bay with the beacons instead of meeting her at The Chimera.

Sliding the panel back into place, Tirsa looked over her handiwork and critically examined it. She wanted to make sure that it was excatly in the same place as before. No marks or dents, no nothing. Luckily one of her little known talents was having a photographic memory and she could leave everything in its perfect little place.

She ran a gloved hand across the metal and decided to contact Endo to see if anything was up. "Okay skinny green. How we doing out there?"

[Endo Freedoo]

:: After spending several more minutes with the Spice smoking partiers Endo , decided it was time for him to leave. He was curious what the item, which he had barely noticed being slipped into his pocket, was, but he knew from his past dealings with his partner Tirsa, that he should wait until he was clear of the tapcaf before he had a look..

Once a reasonable distance from the tapcaf he reached into his pocket and drew out the item that had been left there. He touched the activation pad of the device and read its contents. It was a message from Tirsa directing him to meet her at the Chimera.

Slipping the pad back into his pocket he looked from side to side to make sure no one was following him and turned towards the spaceport they had left Sith Kat’s ship, which he and Tirsa often used as if it were their own.

He arrived at the ship and boarded confused why there was no sign of her on board. Her message said she would be waiting. Walking back towards the boarding ramp, a beeping from his belt halted him in his steps. He retrieved the comm. device from its place and was relieved when he heard Tirsa’s voice.

After responding in the affirmative he went back to the cargo hold and retrieved the beacons, slipping the small device into his pocket before he left the ship and made his way to the docking bay she had directed him to.

Arriving at the ship she had directed him to he planted one of the beacons on the outer hull, slipping it in the seam of a couple of the hull plates, then looked around a bit leery. He noticed that the Gamorreans and the Ewok were on their way, but still a good distance away, and so busy gloating about what they were planning that they hadn’t noticed him. His comm. unit beeped quietly as he began to move away from the ship. ::

Better get off that ship quick Miss Blue, looks like the Gamorreans and Ewok boy are on their way.

[Tirsa Krylana]

"Aw frell! Alright, I'm done here anyway, be right down."

Tirsa stands up, satisfied that her handiwork is not noticeable and starts booking it out the ship. She quickly makes her way down the ramp and keys in the code to seal the ship up tight. Well, as tight as the Ewok had it. She takes a quick peek towards the docking bay entrance.

"Damn."

Running around the back of the ship, and doesn't spy Endo at anywhere. Cursing under her breath, she moves stealthly to the other side of the ship and sees that Endo has already made it to the hanger exit. Not only that, but the Gamorreans and the Ewok where almost here. No way Tirsa could run across this big of an open area without being spotted.

Ducking back behind the hull of the ship, Tirsa moved into the shadows and grabbed her commlink. Not pleased at all with the prospect of being caught, she hissed into it, "I can't make it Endo. Not without a distraction."

[Lt Kvettch]

Kvettch started grumbling after a few moments. His head wasn't very clear anyway, and his fingertips were feeling strangely numb, but he just coulnd't find the key swipecard to open the lock of the gate to his ship's hangar.

Standing against the cool wall to take a dept breath and possibly slow down the spinning inside his head and the strange roaring noise in his ears, he sighed in frustration.

Endor's fates, whada hell did I do with that key??? he thought, and tried to focus his eyes on his somewhat blurred surroundings.

The Rodian twins standing over on the other side of the corridor looked familiar.

Bah! Rodians! Now there's another one of those useless races! an this planet seems to have loadsa them...

His eyes then locked on to one of the grey-clad Spaceport officials who at that moment had chosen to come down the corridor. Kvettch's face took on a grim expression as he staggered over to the official, and planted himself in his way firmly.

"YOU!"

Kvettch stabbed a furry arm up at the officials face, snarling.

The official followed the direction of the pointing hand somewhere over his own left shoulder and looked over to see who this strange furry alien could be adressing. The poor thing seemed to be a little deluded, for thre was no one over there. Unless...

"Are you addressing me?

After another growl from Kvettch, the official backed away one step.

"What can I ...ah... do for you?"

Kvettch snarled a few more times before he was able to formulate a coherent reply. A dreadful suspicion had suddenly entered his foggy mind.

"My Ship! I want my ship! My ship's in there and you locked me out, didn't you?"

The Official looked startled, trying in vain to understand what the squeaky voice had said to him. He wasn't entirely sure if that had been Basic at all, but it seemed agitated. Maybe the little thing had lost its way to a ship he had booked a trip on? He decided to try a friendly smile and maybe lead it back to the public access hangars of the big spaceliners.

Kvettch was getting increasingly angry at this human. They were all out to get him. But if they thought he would just let him take his ship like that, then they were much mistaken. He would not... what was the human doing???? Kvettch looked aghast at the toothy smile that suddenly graced the human's face, and then felt a hand grabbing for his own.

They want to take me back again and make more experiments!!! This is a trap!

He uttered a blood-curdling shrill cry and kicked out viciously with his leg to bash against the human's shin.

The gamorreans standing behind Kvettch suddenly looked up and came running, the prospect of a fight momentarily taking over whatever else they had been thinking.

[Ugmush]

Ugmush was roused from a fantasy of herself wallowing in a pile of credits by a cry from Kvettch. She turned in time to see a strange human gripping the Ewok’s arm, and Kvettch viciously kicking out at his shin. The human started a comical dance while desperately trying to avoid painful blows to his lower leg. Ugmush whooped with glee and grabbed her two porcine companions.

[Partner in battle already. We fight!]

The agitated official’s eyes widened in horror as the three hideous hogs bore down on him. He and Kvetch disappeared under several hundred pounds of reeking Gamorrean, and a grand tangle of arms, legs, fists and feet appeared and disappeared in a huge pile of mud the combatants stirred up in the drizzle-soaked street.

“Help! Ow! Security!” the hapless human yelped as the Gamorreans pummeled him, rolling about in the muck with delight.

Eventually, a Security Force patrol arrived, called frantically for backup, and separated the creatures from each other.

[Endo Freedoo]

:: Now standing near a public announcement holo-vid display, as it spews advertisements for the Empire and their recruiting efforts, Endo looks to the side and sees the scuffle breaking out between the ones he thought were returning to the ship Tirsa was busy inside of. Turning to his left, facing away from the skirmish he thumbed his communication device and informed Tirsa ::

You got what you asked for, get out of there now.

:: Endo continued to walk along beside the public address display center, stopping at a second monitor providing news from around the quadrant. The most prominent headline being an announcement from the New Republic that Dagobah had come under hostile attack, many structures destroyed and the populace evacuated. The bulletin warned all travelers to avoid the system completely so their safety could be ensured. ::

[Tirsa Krylana]

Tirsa turned off her commlink and took a deep breath. Looking around, there were no techs around the ship so it really was now or never and Tirsa really didn't want to hide on this piece of dren ship. With a little hop, she broke into a full run and made it to the door. She could hear yelling and the sound of a fist being smashed into some body part or another. She poked her head out and had to hold a laugh in. A Gamorrean and an Ewok fighting against a human is quite the silly sight.

Standing straighter, she walked casually away and to the middle of the street. She scanned the area non-chalantly as she pulled up her hood and found her partner at another terminal. Tirsa made her way over there with a grin as she approached. Patting Endo on the back she smiled, "That could have been a little easier. What's this?"

Looking over his shoulder, Tirsa watched as news filtered in about the Jedi being attacked. "Well this sucks for only one reason."

She grinned at Endo who was looking at her like she lost her mind, "No more bar to pester those Jedi in. Oh well." :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gaining her composure, she took Endo's arm in hers and lead him to their docking bay as the fight continued behind them.

[Ugmush]

Ugmush, her two males, and Kvettch were seated on a very hard and uncomfortable bench in the Spaceport Authority building. Ugmush’s head felt like an anvil currently in use. From the moans emanating from Kvettch, he was not feeling any better than she was. Drying mud occasionally flaked off of them and fell to a growing pile of filth beneath. Across the room, two Security officers conferred with a customs official at a desk, throwing revolted glares towards the fetid foursome.

“No way we want them in our lockup!” one of the officers growled to a query from the official. “Just get them the hell off the planet, and tell them never to come back.”

Ugmush raised her bleary eyes as the Customs man approached and cleared his throat.

“We have very strict rules about visitors attacking employees on official business and rioting in the streets. However, we are graciously declining to press charges, provided you leave the planet immediately and do not return. If you attempt to land here again, you will be arrested. You may go.”

The motley group dragged themselves up and headed back to the ship.

[Not want to come back here anyway,] Ugmush muttered, followed by a string of colorful and highly offensive Gamorrean oaths concerning Ord Mantell, Customs officials, and Security officers.

[Endo Freedoo]

:: Back on board the Chimera, Endo and Tirsa were preparing the scanners to track the beacons they had planted. Once satisfied with the signal the scanner was receiving, Endo turned to Tirsa. ::

So whats the plan, from here on out?

:: Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, Endo turned to look out the cockpit window. He saw the group of aliens passing by, on their way to their ship, which he pointed out to Tirsa. ::

Looks like they are done with their bickering and dealing with the authorities. After seeing them getting carted off, I was thinking we might have had a long wait on our hands before they returned.

[Lt Kvettch]

He groaned loudly. Several of his ribs seemed to be broken, and there were definately a few bald patches on his skin, where the fur had been ripped off.

He was sulking. Ord Mantell was a perfectly nice spot, and he had had plans to make it his base in the future. But now he couldn't even come anywhere near the planet without having his ship shot at by the local security.

And all because of that fat hog! Oh, he was dying to just blast her and her stinking companions straight to hell, but the plan... well, the plan said he'd have to wait for a while longer.

So now all he could do was go demurely back to his ship, open the ramp and let the smelly pigs enter his nice ship. The only good thing was that they groaned a lot more than himself. He chuckled softly. His time would come.

When he went after them, a sudden idea struck him. He had always heard that a smuggler's fame was established not by notoriety only, but also by how much he was hunted down by others. So he was the great Kvettch - the only Ewok smuggler. He had to be famous. Someone was bound to hunt him down - apart from the OMSF, of course.

When he reached the others in the cargo-hold, he eyed up the human slave Ugmush dragged around with her. He seemed not too bright, but he'd find it if he knew what to look for.

Kvettch went over to one of the crates standing around, opened it and took out a small, rectangular metallic box. Walking back to the human, he stood before him and asked.

"You know what this is?"

The human nodded slightly.

"Good. You go out there and find a similar one fastened to this ship. You understand?"

Ugmush didn't want to let him go at first, but Kvettch whirled around at her and barked at her that this was necessary, so she grudgingly let her slave go.

Not more than 5 minutes later, the slave boy was back on board. The colour of his facial skin had taken on a very unhealthy greenish cast, and he was shaking all over and gasping for breath, but in his hand, he held a similar small box as the one Kvettch was holding - with one difference: there were broken wires hanging out of the slave's box.

The slave broke down at Ugmush's feet, and she grinned a disturbing grin showing more teeth than Kvettch had cared for. Then she tugged at a small cylinder, and the slave started breathing more normally again.

'Interesting device,' Kvettch thought. 'Must remember it.'

Then he hobbled into the cockpit, smalled the door shut behind him, and started the engine.

[Tirsa Krylana]

Tirsa places a bent arm on Endo's shoudler and grins, "We follow them all cloaked and have them lead us to the goods. A nice Hapan yacht has our name on it Endo. Let them do all the work in fighting off that escort ship. When the time is right, we uncloak and take that yacht for ourselves!"

Looks out of the veiwport and is surprised, "No dren! The officials probably wanted their carcasses off this planet. I wouldn't want those smelly pieces of flesh cluttering up my fine legal establishment."

Endo curls his ears and rolls his eyes as he sets The Chimera for pre-flight.

"What? What did I say?"

[Lt Kvettch]

In the cockpit, Kvettch secured all the locking mechanisms both inside and outside the ship, then told the computer to keep an eye on the Gamorreans and let him know if any of them would approach the cockpit. He'd have to take measures against any of them entering before he was ready for them.

Moments later, the engines flaring, the Yuzzum lifted off and soared out of the port. Kvettch briefly considered turning his guns on the OMSF building and giving them a nice little farewell present, but then again, he really didn't want to be shot out of the sky by any of the freaks they hired to man the defense systems. This day was going badly enough - he didn't need to develop a bad case of death on top of it.

Still - leaving without saying goodbye in some way just woulnd't be very polite. He chuckled and set the comm-array for the frequency used by the CMSF.

A moment later, every comm-system of every fighter, defense base and OSMF base gave of a shrill buzz of static, that slowly transformed into a blood-curdling yell in a language only one single pilot recognised as Ewokese - and only because he had been at Endor years earlier, during the battle there.

"DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR !"

Then the Yuzzum was out of range, and Kvettch grinned broadly as he yanked back the hyperspace switch.

[Endo Freedoo]

:: His head still shaking somewhat from Tirsa’s totally uncharacteristic comment about a fine ‘legal’ establishment, he engages the repulsorlifts and the Chimera leaves the planet’s surface.

The blip on the scanner indicates the exact path of the ship they intended to follow, amongst all the clutter of the other ships moving to and away from the planet. The blip suddenly streaks off the scanner, but not before providing enough data about which hyperlane was taken, making its destination obvious. ::

You do intend for us to continue following them?

:: Said Endo in Rodain rhetorically, as he set the coordinates into the Nav computer and pulled back the lever, launching them into the hyperlane the other ship had taken. ::

[Ugmush]

Ugmush sighed, then started explaining patiently to her rather dense males for the fourth time what they were to do.

[First we capture vessel. Then, you take Ewok prisoner. You two take control of ship. Head to Gamorr fast as possible.]

The first male once again began inquiring how he was to pilot the ship when he was guarding the prisoner. Ugmush lost her temper. Smacking the first on the snout very hard, she yelled [You take prisoner! Watch! That’s all!] Wincing, she glanced quickly around to make sure the door to her quarters was closed. [Hush, idiots.]

A dim light of understanding dawned in the eyes of the first male as he rubbed his snout. [Oh! I guard Ewok.] He nodded his head vigorously, sending drool flying in every direction. [OK!] he replied in the ancient, galaxy-wide shorthand for understanding.

The other males raised their eye ridges in confusion. [Then who pilot ship?]

Ugmush smacked her head on the bulkhead, and started a fifth time explaining their parts, cursing the big, dumb brutes liberally between breaths.

[Tirsa Krylana]

The entrance into hyperspace was smooth and by the book. As usual, Endo kept The Chimera in perfect working order and Tirsa knew that this little side venture was going to be a cake walk.

Tirsa put both of her feet on the console and leaned herself back in the chair, relaxing. "Now, remember the plan Endo my dear. When we come out from hyperspace, stay cloaked. Let them do all the work."

She raised her hand like it was an actual ship flying in the air, "Then we fly in and BAM!" her hand balls into a fist and slams the side of the chair with a giggle, "Everything's ours!"

[Endo Freedoo]

:: He sat forward in his chair and pushed her feet to the side, getting them off the console. She looked at him shocked and he pointed down at the switch she had almost hit. ::

You want to keep our presence a secret to them, I recommend that you do not hit the emergency distress beacon.

:: With as much of a smirk as his Rodain mouth could display, he shook his head at Tirsa then turned his attention away beginning to ready the cloaking system. He knew that activating it just as the exited hyperspace would be tricky timing, so as not to draw any attention to their presence. His green fingers danced across the surface of the input panel as he programmed the onboard computer to do the deed automatically. ::

[Gorger the Hutt]

Gorger was angry. In fact, furious. She'd been waiting long enough!

She smacked the table to her side once again, more furious than ever. How her weak arms could evenuphold the layers of fat on it was a mystery, but the sheer weight crushed the table. It simply couldn't take it.


Where was that weak voiced little fool!? Her ship was due!

[Ugmush]

Ugmush stalked impatiently across the cabin for the thousandth time, and impulsively slapped a surprised male on the snout.

[Stupid, mangy furball can’t find ship? Why not, eh? Eh?]

She resumed pacing the cramped cabin, an even deeper frown than usual furrowing her brow. The males tried subtly to keep out of reach of her heavy foreleg.

Finally, unable to keep her temper, Ugmush began smacking her hapless companions about the room.

[What take so long?] BOFF [Where is ship?] POW [What is hairy sneak up to?] BIFF

The harried males desperately tried to protect themselves from the rain of blows descending on them, and prayed that Kvettch would soon find their quarry.