Right Back Where You Came From

Posted on Fri Mar 12th, 2021 @ 8:32am by Spacer Talon Kolani & Mando'ade Zaf A'Toruk

Mission: Episode 2 - The Empire Rises!
Location: Docking Bay 94 - Polis Massa Starport
Timeline: On Arrival

There was no mistaking the heavy sound of a metal fist on the other side of the cockpit door. It had a rhythm to it that said, without words or any doubt whatsoever, that the owner was extremely unhappy and wanted to voice said dissension in an immediate and likely unpleasant way. It didn't stop until admission to that inner sanctum was granted, and when said event occurred, a moody Zabrak flushed with temper took up almost of that access space.

"Turn back around," Zaf demanded. "Right now." Clearly, in no mood for discussion, his fist still clenched tight, the bounty hunter scowled at the Rancor's crew. Almost everything he owned was back at Port Nowhere and the Zabrak was clearly in denial as to the state of those possessions.

Having secured the engines and the various primary systems once they landed, Talon was not surprised to begin hearing the heavy sound of a metal fist on the other side of the cockpit door and the rhythm that was coming with it. Looking at Alema, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh dear, we seem to have unhappy passengers," Alema said in mock shock as she too heard the pounding on the secured cockpit door.

"Yeah, this should be fun," Talon said as he finished off the shutdown checks for the modified freighter. Once complete, he sat back down in the pilot's seat and swung it around to face the doorway. Sitting comfortably, he nodded to Alema who flicked the switch.

"Come in," Talon said.

"Turn. Back. Around." Zaf repeated in case either of them was deaf. His off-hand held his T6-Thunderer, a heavy duty blaster that normally did the job of both intimidating results and then achieving them. "Now."

"No can do," Talon said calmly. "Unless you'd like to return to a burning pile of what was left of the Port...?" he then offered.

Talon remained calm and could see that the demeanour of the Mando was threatening at best, but Talon also knew the situation regarding Port Nowhere after checking the holonet news and picking up on comm traffic from the local area.

"I wanna return, yes," clarified the Zabrak testily. "Everything I own is back on that burning pile." He wasn't exactly lowering the blaster though, despite Kolani's level and reasonable tone. "If there's something of the Port left, you can drop me off on it." He could care less about the rest of the passengers. "I'll pay you, obviously," Zaf stated.

Talon remained in his posture as he heard what his unhappy passenger had to say and could easily sympathise with him as well.

"An offer I would consider if this were a different time, however with what we just pulled off back at the Techno Union base, The Separatists will be doubling up on security and sending out search parties to locate the Rancor, the Jedi we have with us and anyone else they have on security footage leaving after the firefight," Talon explained.

"I get that its your home, but its also a place that will be red hot with unhappy forces and that makes it almost impossible to return right now...we need to lay low, take stock of the situation and then figure out our next step, whether its separate or together...and you need to pay me for the work I just did for you..." he added.

Zaf spun the blaster just a little and considered his options. It would be messy, but he could kill the Rancor's crew. However.... Even if he pulled that off, he'd never fly their ship back without the Jedi getting involved and Jiana was unlikely to back him on this play. He rolled his eyes and glared at the pilot. "Why would I want to lay low? I'm a registered bounty hunter," he pointed out. "No one's gonna be unhappy to see me back there."

"Hell," the Zabrak smirked. "You drop them off here, head back with me. I'll make plenty of credits. More than enough to share with you." Zaf cursed loudly and regarded Talon. "You got me mistaken for someone else," he added. "The Kel-Dor's the client. I'm getting paid same as you are."

Talon considered his position for a moment and decided he was going to stick to his guns and stand by his decision. Beside him, he could feel Alema tensing up and the last thing that he wanted was to have her hurt, but he had other passengers who needed his attention and also possible medical attention.

"Ok, so I'll take up the payment issue with Hud, however, I'm still not leaving the rest of my passengers, expected or not, to make sure you get taken back to the burning wreck that was once Port Nowhere," Talon explained. "If you want a ride back there, it's going to be on another ship, not mine."

Once he'd made his point clear, Talon braced internally for what Zaf would do next, whether that was taking over the ship, ending Talon or just walking off in a sulk, with the last choice being the once he hoped Zaf would pick.

"In the meantime, I need to check out our passengers and figure out what's going on out there, the comm chatter is full of reports of Jedi being hunted or being involved in some sort of uprising against the Chancellor... so until I know whats going on, we're staying here where it's safe for all of us, including registered bounty hunters"

It took a moment for all of that to sink into Zaf's head, but he held his cool. Killing the Rancor's pilot didn't serve any real purpose beyond a momentary release of tension on the Zabrak's part, and that wasn't worth a man's life. Not when Kolani had done nothing wrong as such. Zaf holstered the blaster and allowed himself the fleeting satisfaction of slamming his armoured fist into the bulkhead. "Great, just great," he said through gritted teeth, muttered a wide variety of curses in several different languages and then asked outright. "Any other ships in range?"

Talon checked the Port records and could see that the starport was still operating as normal. "Well, seeing as we're now secure in my private landing bay, luckily for you I can patch into the Starports Manifest and schedule," he explained. "There are several ships that are due to leave within the next couple of hours if you want to take any of those, however, that's all I know, I can't tell you where they are headed."

Whilst he was glad that it looked liked he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of a blaster shot, Talon was still curious as to where the Mando would be able to go, all the way out in the Outer Rim as they were.

Tapping his left boot on the floor impatiently, Zaf waited while Kolani researched his response and then grumbled something incoherent under his breath. Way out here, but with options. Expensive options though, unless someone wanted to contract him for protection or some such, and the chances of those out here? Slim, yet not impossible. It was, he supposed far more likely that people would be headed out to the Rim rather than into the conflict. "Thanks," he threw back at Talon, not ungratefully, but with the colour of his bad mood wrapped about the words.

"I guess I'll find out." Zaf sighed. Then, with determination in his expression, he chose a new path, one which Talon might be more invested in. "First, maybe we should go find out when that Kel-Dor intends to pay us for services rendered so far."

Talon nodded his agreement. "Yes, let's see about getting paid for our recent adventure and then I can figure what Alema and I are doing now that the galaxy seems embroiled in this new chaos," he said, getting up and following Zaf out of the cockpit and towards the passenger lounge.

Now that they safely arrived at Polis Massa, Talon finally managed to get a good look at the passengers he was expecting to carry and also the new passengers gained before the explosion at Port Nowhere had caused them to have to jump to hyperspace and fly to a safe harbour.