New Doors

[Denoel Quane]

Going through the shutdown procedures, Denoel took a moment to glance out into the large hangar that they had been given, the Action VI freighter being too big for most. Brown eyes took in the maintenance crew tending to the fuel lines not that far from the cockpit. "Those guys look like pros to you, or dregs from the local cantina?"

Glancing up, her co-pilot smirked, "Cantina, definitely." Colin turned his attention to her from the high backed chair to her right. "Why, give you warm fuzzies about home?"

"Uh huh," the pirate smiled knowing how he loved to goad her about being from a human enclave on a mostly Nemoidian world. "They scratch my ship and I'm going to have fun skinning two human males."

"As long as it ain't me." Rising, the slender, twenty-four year old moved to the large bank of buttons, switches and lights beyond the engineer's chair. "How long you wanna stay here?"

"Just long enough to see if I can finally invest some of our hard earned money into something that's going to last longer than all of you."

"Love you too, Deni."

"Yeah, I know," she spun her chair around to the right and pushed herself up. "Never would've lasted this long with me if you guys didn't."

Colin chuckled, then filed in behind her as the captain walked through the narrow doorway and to the wide landing, a railing separating them from the cockpit to the open space that looked out over another floor below. Walking to the left, she descended the stair that angled down to the right and took her to the entrance of the galley. "We're heading to the local shops and going to see how many of our fellow Black Sun people are in attendance," she announced to the trio of gunners rising from one of the tables, their weapons shouldered or holstered.

"Just be nice to finally have something to eat that isn't processed or tastes like that crap that Amund scrapes off of the intake filters," Baldor stated, his gravely voice denoting a heavy smoker.

"But you love that on your eggs in the morning," the team's medic and third gunner joked, smacking Baldor on the shoulder. "Great for the complexion."

"And the plumbing," Dirk added flatly, the mercenary a great addition to the team as his military experience had been invaluable during raids and taking down ships.

"So, you got any contacts here, Deni," Egil inquired as they headed toward the stair that would take them to the lowest level and ramp access.

"Not yet. Going to try and make at least one that can help us when things get hairy, or at least a warm place to sleep beyond my stateroom." Leading them toward the next door on the far left, she heard Amund join them in the back, his tall, lean frame towering over most. "Also be nice to have someone to help us gain more information on fat targets."

Soon, the group of pirates descended the ramp, allowing the cleaner air of Cloud City replace the recirculated from the Acula, though no one would say that to Amund's face.

"Alright ladies," Colin announced. "Remember where we parked."

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin's office space could charitably be described as a broom closet. Somehow, she'd crammed in a functional logistics staff, a high-end protocol droid, and a Herglic named Bub (the ostensible muscle). Oh, and a very good HoloNet rig. When her trade facilitation business facilitated actual trade, she generally rented a hotel suite for the meetings, or just held them aboard ship. Still, in good time, Cloud City might really become what it aimed to become: the heart of a new Corporate Sector. The Sanctuary Pipeline might get back into shape, along with the sideline routes that Ashin used for her Unknown Regions contacts. And when those days came, she would invest in better office space. In the meantime, when Bub came over with a message from his guy in Fuel Services, the whole staff heard. Didn't help that Bub was eight hundred pounds of blubber and blowhole.

"My buddy Denk down on the bay floor, chief, he says this Action Six just touched down. Real tramp freighter kind of vibe, beat to Hell he says."

Ashin blinked. "Someone landed an Action Six in the station? I didn't think any of those big bays were available."

Bub shrugged. "Things got greased, maybe. Connections. Anyway, you asked to know if any interestin', rough-looking ships got into port. There's one. Denk says a chunk of the crew headed off, probably for a drink." The Herglic turned and sauntered away, blubber undulating.

"Where's the nearest watering hole to that bay? Anyone? All right, I'll find it myself."

[Denoel Quane]

Entering the nearest cantina they could find, Denoel wasn't surprised by the interior nor the patrons now seated at a host of booths and tables, or standing at the long, rounded bar that commanded the back wall. "Homey," she stated dryly.

"Making me want to buy an apartment here already," Colin added, now on her right as he usually was. Turning to her, "Hey, mom, can I have my allowance now?"

"For what? Haven't done anything this week and you already got paid." Playing along with the sarcasm had definitely helped deal with the hours of boredom and seconds of chaos that their life offered. Almost like being in the military, from what she had been told.

Sighing, displeasure reminding her when she was about six and couldn't have a particular toy she found in a store, mom passing it by and offering some excuse about why she couldn't have it. "You'll survive."

"Famous last words," he straightened up, his eyes now fixed on a duo of Gamorreans approaching, then passing the group.

"Hey Dirk," Egil's voice cutting in over the low music in the background as they moved to an empty table large enough for all six of them and sat down. "Bet you can't beat one of them in an arm wrestling contest."

Glancing back, the ex-mercenary huffed. "Yeah, right."

Sitting down to her left, Amund leaned in, hands knitted together. "We're going to need a replacement shield generator for number two. Friendly reminder."

Nodding, she touched the button to the menu which flickered to life over the table. "I know." They had the money, but also had enough shield generators for one shot and she hoped that this visit would open another door to make an investment that would secure their future.

[Ashin Varanin]

For all that business in the Rim often went down in cantinas, Ashin had never been much of a fan of 'we meet in a bar.' A visit to a watering hole always felt like time wasted, even when it manifestly wasn't. Here, for example, the goal was to scope out the new arrivals as potential clients or subcontractors.

A portly Ugnaught met her at the door. "Miz Varanin? I'm Chet, Bub's friend."

"He called ahead? Excellent." Ashin scanned the cantina, then returned her attention to the waist-high local. "I'm looking for a handful of crewers from a freighter that just docked."

"There's a few that could fit the bill. Most of the people here are regulars." The Ugnaught ushered her aside from the door as a Krevaaki burbled in. "The most likely suspects would be the woman and two men over there, or the group of Ithorians in the corner."

Bub's other friend, the one on the fuel crew, had said the new arrivals were humanoid. "Thanks," said Ashin, palming him a cred chit as she shook his hand.

"The least I can do, Miz Varanin." The portly Ugnaught toddled off, leaving Ashin to figure out how she wanted to approach the three spacers. By now, perhaps, they'd noticed her noticing them, so that might take care of that. If not, maybe she'd just have a round sent over.

[Denoel Quane]

Their orders now input to the cantina's central computer, Denoel reclined a bit more in the well worn chair, hands on her thighs as elbows perched on the armrests. Scanning around to the others in the establishment, she noticed nearly every unsavory race represented until her eyes fell on the tall blonde at the door. Following her eyes Colin didn't hesitate, "Damn," he began and looked back to the crew around him. "Was hoping my mother-in-law would never find me."

Egil chuckled, "Good thing I have a medpac on me, she looks like she could beat your ass pretty handily."

Denoel soon noticed that the woman and a resident Ugnaught glanced their way and she knew then that there was more to this woman, her hard demeanor appearing like someone that had been through a lot in her years. Not someone that she assumed put up with a lot. "Not to fear," their captain began as she glanced to Dirk. "Mercenary's got your back," she grinned.

Without missing a beat, the short haired, tattooed warrior shook his head. "Bull****."

Laughing, Amund's gaze drifted to the co-pilot, "Colin, looks like you're on your own."

"Thanks guys."

Though Denoel knew Colin was kidding, but his assessment of the newly arrived blonde wasn't far off.

[Ashin Varanin]

As the mother of a teenage girl, Ashin would have been a little pleased if she'd overheard the mother-in-law comparison. She enjoyed projecting that level of judgment under that degree of friendly veneer. The mother-in-law vibe set people just a tad off balance, winnowed out the reactionary, and made people nervous and eager to please about half the time. That said, she didn't overhear, and she couldn't read lips or minds with any degree of genuine skill.

They'd noticed her noticing them. So far she didn't note any gesture or expression of invitation. With a mental shrug and some degree of physical poise, Ashin crossed the cantina. If there was an arch or couth way to approach this, she'd never learned it. To her mild surprise, she found herself embarrassed about that.

Her gaze flicked between the men and settled on the woman by instinct. "Did you three land with the Action Six?" she said, apropos of nothing.

[Denoel Quane]

Brown eyes noticed the smirk on the woman's face as she approached as if she could read lips, though they weren't as inconspicuous as she knew they tried to be. Subtlety wasn't this group's strong suit by a long shot. Judging the woman by her demeanor and poise, she could definitely tell that she had a confidence that couldn't be denied and given the surroundings in the lower sector of Cloud City, she wasn't surprised in the least. Calling this dirty pit home would require being strong in the first place.

The query gained everyone's attention as the crew gazed to the blonde, then to Denoel. "We did," she nodded. "Why?" Unsure if she actually was someone that Colin had crossed at some point, the pirate watched for any sign the woman was about to go for a weapon.