Shipyard Visit (NR)

[Vekaar Vekin]

(Vekaar Vekin walked into the shipyards, letting the familiar sound of machinery and shouted orders fill his head. The last shipyard he had been to was the one on Delteon where he had purchased his Dreadnaught. It had proved a great way to get around the Galaxy, fast and quietly. The weapons were good, but unfortunately it was undermanned. Vekaar would need to start hiring a crew soon.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glitterstick. Vekaar took out a lighter and carefully lit it. He began to puff like an addict would. He casually placed it between his index and middle finger. Once every few seconds he would tap it, and watch the ashes fall to the floor. Vekaar put his boot over them and pressed down.)

"Wonder who I can talk to in this joint..."

(The Broker spotted a mechanic, cursing at a droid. He walked over, keeping both hands by his side, in case the worker thought he posed a threat. Vekaar looked harmless most of the time. Unfortunately there was something about a man in a trenchcoat that terrified people.)

"Do you work here?"

(The mechanic turned away from the droid.)

"Who wants to know?"

(Vekaar dropped his glitterstick and crushed it with his boot.)

"I'm Vekaar Vekin, an info broker. Any authoritative figures I can speak to around here?"

[AdmiralAckbar247]

The mechanic was having a very bad day. He had spent two hours trying to get the ASP-7 labor droid to explain where it had left the hydrospanner. The problem with the ASP-7 series was, although they had strong hydraulics which made them excellent for carrying small cargo loads, providing an excellent supplement for the more heavy CLL-8 Binary Load Lifters that were standard droid supplement at NR cargo depots, they were hardly what one would call bright or intelligent. It had a very basic cognitive module and the vocabulators were only capable of two words; "affirmative" and "negative". This made trying to get descriptive and detailed information of such unit a slow, tedious and frustrating process.. especially when the their memory banks had the occasional "flash outs", which could cause the droid to forget the most elementary things, which this mechanic was about to find out..


"Is it among the air condensers?", the mechanic asked

"Negative", the droid replied

"Dont tell me you gave it to a C2-R4 unit.."

"Negative"

"Dont you dare say, negative to me again!"

"Affirmative"

"Is that all you can say?!?"

"....."

"You useless piece of junk! Find me that hydrospanner on the double or I will have you deactivated!"

"Negative"

The mechanic's face become red, you could almost see him fuming. Unfortunately, just at that moment, Vekar Vekin had spoken to him.

"Who in the blazing suns of Tatooine do you think you are that can walk in through a restricted area requesting council with authorative figures?!!!"

The mechanic's face expression stiffened. His narrow slits of eyes became wide as Huttan dinner dishes. Swiftly, he slammed his heels together, straightened up his shoulders, pushed his chest area forward, striking a very strict military pose, as he saluted with his right hand to somone walking toward them..

"Officer on deck!!!"

It was Admiral Ackbar on his daily inspection run among the soldiers. It was both highly motivating and good for the morale when such a high official was present. Furthermore, at moments at this, Ackbar would be inspired for encouraging his staff... or reprimanding them.

"I could not help overhear your conversation.. I am most displeased with how you greet our honorable guest. Report at my office in 30 minutes!", Ackbar said in a rather harsh tone to the mechanic.

"Yes sir!"

Ackbar turned to face Vekaar Vekin

"Please forgive the rather blunt welcome which you received. Allow me to remedy this by standing by for you assistance in any way you require. How can I help you?"

OOC: Sorry for the late reply, I have been busy :)

[Vekaar Vekin]

(OOC: Not a problem :D)

(Vekaar stared at the Mon Calamarian in front of him. It took him a while to adjust his eyes and recognize just who he was staring at. It was Admiral Ackbar, an Alliance Hero! Vekin noticed his eyes were wide, and fixed them with a couple of blinks.)

"Admiral Ackbar! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

(Vekaar excitedly shook his finned hand. He had never been to Mon Calamari before, but he knew they were quite a friendly race, like the Sullustans. Vekaar had always wanted to meet one up close. Instead he met a famous one.)

"I am Vekaar Vekin, an Information Broker and Captain of the Nebula Chaser."

(He jerked a thumb to the sky, eventhough his ship wasn't visible. He had taken a shuttle down to the planet.)

"It's a Dreadnaught with a loyal and trustworthy crew. I was wondering if there was anything at all the New Republic needs done that I could help with."

(Vekaar paused for a moment, re-saying the question in his head. It didn't sound right.)

"Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not a criminal or a smuggler. I'm just an Independant Information Broker with a lot of time on my hands. I've been quite an admirer of the New Republic as of late. It would be an honor to work with or for you, even if you don't pay me."

(Vekaar smiled.)

[AdmiralAckbar247]

Ackbar smiled with his salmon colored mouth as Veksar Vekin told his story. He focused his huge fish like bulbed eyes on the captain, his chin tentacles vibrated with enthusiasm as he started talking..

The NR is in constant need for new crew. Especially men of your calibre, Captain. We are in the process of assembling a 4th fleet. General Crix Madine is in charge of organising and structuring the buildup. I think he might have a job for you. Pilots or captains interesting to sign up for their fleet roster are to rendezvous at our training facilities at Yavin. The Yavin system is located in the North Quadrant of the Galaxy in a star cluster known as Gordin Reach. You will be leading a group of 7 Dreadnaughts, including your own. The Cruisers need an experienced captain and navigator who is not afraid of a potential firefight.

I must warn you though. Last I heard, there was an increased amount of activity in that area in regards to scum and pirates.. or worse. It is not for those easily frightened. Things might heat up over there sooner than you like to think. Who knows what one might encounter.

Would you be interested in such endavour? If you accept, we will outfit your Dreadnaught the Nebula Chaser with a cloaking device as a token of our gratitude.. and you will be paid of course, if you think it is too risky, we might have another task for you. There is plenty of work to be done.

[Vekaar Vekin]

"Well Admiral..."

(Vekaar seemed to have a semi frown on his face. He quickly replaced it with an emotionless, but undecided stare.)

"...I'd love to work for the New Republic that directly, but I'm kind of solo you know? Don't think I can handle commanding a fleet of that size. I was wondering if you needed me to deliver any supplies for you? Or hunt someone down?"

(The Broker rubbed the thin beard that had formed on his face. He'd had it for as long as he could remember, and couldn't imagine himself without it. Perhaps one day he would cut off all of his facial hair, like most folks did. He liked the thought of looking...scruffy. It was him.)

"I would be more then happy to lead an Espionage mission or even work with the fleet non-directly. I know a lot about the various pirate groups that roam around the Galaxy, looting and commiting crimes."

(Vekaar cleared his throat.)

"I worked for the Empire for a short while, shipping supplies to Coruscant. It helped me pay off the Nebula Chaser. It was quite worth it. She's my pride and joy."

(He leveled his eyes with Ackbar.)

"So...is there anything else that you need done? I will keep my other option in mind. Joining the New Republic sounds real nifty, but I don't think I can handle it right now."

[AdmiralAckbar247]

The Mon Calamari pondered for a while.

Hmm.. espionage.. or surveillance as we prefer to call it here, is a primary task for us. Information is the key to plan and organise our operations. Generally, we are interested in any kind of unusual activity generated by pirates and other criminals as well as possible hostile/unlawful forces.

We are also particulary interested in any information about a battle station/super class capital ship project codenamed "The Titan". Perhaps, with your contact network, you might be able to scoop up some information on that..