D&R thread http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?p=2220571#post2220571)

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The Eclipse Jumped out of hyperspace outside of the smuggling moon of Nar Shaddar. The ship flew towards the world and through the debris field of wrecked spaceships that had been destroyed when trying to get through the energy field without permission. The Eclipse burnt through the atmosphere and into the clouds of pollution that engulphed the planet.

The Ships pilot Toolan Zamose, or Zam to his friends and collegues, sat in his pilots seat flying throughthe cloud constantly checking his sensors as the clouds made even his cybernetic eye as good as useless. He reached up above his head where the pilots intercomm was located and pulled down a mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." He announced through the shipwide loud speakers. "...And Droid, We have just entered the atmosphere of our next Port, the aply named smugglers moon of nar shaddar. Although you can't tell by looking out the window it is the middle of the day and hot, hot, hot. Nar Shaddar is famous for being a place where if you don't ask where it came from you can get anything you want for a cheap price, Although that doesn't help us as we havn't had a job in weeks and none of us have any money. So please fasten your seatbelts and put your trays in their upright possition as Cap'n is going to get us a job when we land."

He turned off the comm unit and spoke under his breath. "With any luck."

Rita entered the cockpit laughing. "What was that?" she snorted derisively. "If your purpose was to entertain, I think you've managed... but what the skrang is a... what was that... 'seatbelt'?"

Shaking her head, she dropped into the co-pilot's seat and fastened her crash-webbing. "Ach! Well, you always did have an attraction to words I've never heard of..."

"Well what can i say... I own a dictionary." He said as he pressed a button transmitting the ships traffic codes to the control center. "Now we get to fly around in fog until we get somewhere to land... Nothing but on this ship, eh."

Ulim walked into the cockpit and snorted in disgust at the fog.

"Slow down, or you'll most likely hit another poor ship lost in the blasted fog." Ulim's deep voice rumbled.

Ulim took a position behind Zam, having to slouch foreward to make sure his head didn't hit the ceiling, and kept his eyes on the controls to make sure Zam was not going to do anything cocky as he sometimes did.

"Chill Ulim, The sensor ain't picking up any ships with in 500 meter of us." Zam reassured as he hit sensors readout screen to get rid of the static. "Not even a building at our height."

"Of course," came Travis's voice, the man stepping into the cockpit a few moments later. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his face. "Leave it to Zam to read the instruments wrong."

"Well at least i can read." Zam said still looking at the scanners. "And here come the landing co'ords... Well Rita looks like we get to go to the sector of your mother land."

Zam reaches up for the comm-unit. "Hey Raze we've got clearance to land in the Corellian district... Give me the word and i'll take us down."

Raze was in her quarters, paging through a list of names on her computer screen when she heard Zam's landing call through the ship wide com system.

"Ladies and gentlemen..."

"And droid," Raze said quietly to herself.

"...And droid,...

Raze grinned as he continued on with his message to the crew. Zam was always comfortingly predictable, she thought. That's why she was in her cabin and not at the helm. He was a good pilot, better than she was, and there was never any need to watch over him.

The screen in front of her displayed a list of contact names, and she began to drum her fingers on the desktop as she scrutinized them. The Eclipse hadn't had a job in several weeks, mostly due to the increased activity by the Imperials in the Rim sectors. And that made 'legitimate' cargo, albeit still illegal, hard to come by. No ordinary merchant wanted to risk the Empire's wrath. And that meant that they had to start trolling for 'illegitimate' work.

So, here she was, reviewing a list of contacts that she would rather not have ever known in the first place. Spice barons, slavers, weapons dealers...all with very lucrative, but very risky, potential jobs.

"... please fasten your seatbelts and put your trays in their upright possition as Cap'n is going to get us a job when we land."

"With any luck...," Raze muttered.

Her finger touched the screen by a name. "Barrus Phee...," she said thoughtfully. She hadn't seen him in a couple of years. Fat, bald, and one-eyed, she wasn't in a hurry to see him again. But, he wasn't a spice dealer, or a weapons merchant, or a slaver. He dealt in, as he put it, 'unique acquistions'. Mostly, he dealt in antiquities, art, and other stolen merchandise, all for his 'special' clients. And, he ran a cantina on the side. A great place to meet with clients without undue suspicion. She'd start with him first.

"Hey Raze we've got clearance to land in the Corellian district... Give me the word and i'll take us down."

"Word's given," Raze replied to him. "Oh, and see if Bif can access the holonet when we land and locate a cantina run by Barrus Phee. His old cantina burnt down about a year ago, but he would've set up another by now." She paused a beat. "I'll need two people to come with me. You want to go?"

Corellian district...? I wonder...

Travis left the cockpit without another word, headed back towards his dorm. He kicked open his footlocker and went digging through a pile of parts, searching through them. The peices of a couple spent blaster batteries, dissassembled mines, half-assembled spikes, a few empty bottles and spice cartriges...

His parts stock was rather low, which wasn't a surprise. Raze hadn't exactly kept them busy lately...but in particular he was looking for a focusing lense for one of his many work-in-progress upgrades. Of course, no work equals no creds, which in turn equals no parts. He muttered oaths under his breath as he picked up one of the mines, a few parts, and a hydrospanner. He began to re-assemble the explosive, hoping that he might be able to gleam a few credits from pawning it off somewhere.

As he worked he walked. Crossing to the other side of the ship, he found himself standing in the doorway of Raze's dorm.

"Oh Captain Raze, you know you're looking exceptionally beautiful today..." he said, grinning winningly as he looked up at her. If she was in a good mood, he might just be able to get some surface-time in a cantina...

"My job!" Rita exclaimed, wrestling the com from Zam and telling Raze, "Cap'n, you know if anything Corellian's involved, there's not a lot that'll keep me from going."

"Give me that." Zam said to Rita taking the Com back off of Rita. "We ask, not take."

He pushed the Button to Ritas dorm. "Do you really have to ask if i'd come to an establishment that sells beverages of an Alcoholic variety?" Zam replied. "And i think we all need some Time out in the fresh air... Or smoggy, poluted weird smelling air... We need time off the ship is the point i'm unsuccessfully trying to make."

"Captain, I need to get a few parts for the Eclispe. So while your off doing force knows what, I'll be off dipping into my own pocket to buy the parts I need." Said John Matthews, the Eclispe's engineer "That's unless you had over plans."

"My job!" Raze heard Rita's voice answer instead of Zam's, followed by scuffling sounds. "Cap'n, you know if anything Corellian's involved, there's not a lot that'll keep me from going."

Raze snorted with amusement. "Fine," she said into the com. "You can come, shutta, but 'only' if you do what I tell you to. I need to project the appearance that I have dependable, loyal, and trustworthy crew... not loudmouth, short-tempered, thugs. Otherwise, we'll be resigned to smuggling spice or running guns for our next job. Or worse." Raze didn't even want to think about transporting slaves. Especially with how Ulim's felt about the issue. "So, get your gear ready. I need you to look tough, but not 'trigger-happy.' Got it?"

"Oh Captain Raze, you know you're looking exceptionally beautiful today..." Ace's voice drifted through her open door.

"No," she replied without even looking up at him. "Whatever it is, just, 'no.'"

Zam proceded to ask about shore leave, and then John about his parts.

"Okay, okay! I give!," she said into the com. "Anyone who is not going with me, Zam, and Rita, you've got permission for shore leave. And, John, no one is putting any of their own money into this ship but me. Ever. Understood? You need parts, you go to Vito's Parts and Repairs. I've got an account there, and Vito knows I'm good for it. But only get what's necessary. We can 'spruce' up later when we get paid."

She turned to Ace in the doorway. "And if your droid is planning on going anywhere, you go with him. Understood? I don't want anything to happen to him. If there's any time we're going to need a medical droid, it'll be on this next job."

"Zam," she said into the com once more, "let me know when you guys are geared up and ready to go. I've got a few more bits of 'research' to do before we go."

"Check that cap'n." He replied over the Comm as he put comm mic back into it's port above his head. He had already began to pilot the ship to the selected landing coordinates and flew down under the fog clouds. The view from the screen changed from the Dark and mirky clouds to the the sight of large skyscrapers.

It came to a landing pad on the edge of the corellian district and the Ships gears lowered out of the hull as it touched the metallic surface.

Zam shut down the engines and put the ship in to 'park' mode. "Time to get ready."

Ulim walked out of the cockpit and went to Raze's dorm. He ignored Ace, went to her door and asked "Would you like to have me do anything, Ship Master?" he asked. His voice wasn't as eagar or trying to catch in a good mood as the others, though you could tell he wanted to get off the ship.

"Hey!" Rita protested, now to herself since the intercom had been shut off. "I may be a loudmouth and short-tempered, but... thug?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I can keep my mouth shut if I have to, right Zam?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on, "I mean, sure, maybe I've got a lot on my mind sometimes... and I sure as hell speak my mind a lot..." She shook her head and left the cockpit, headed for her dorm, muttering in Old Corellian about something to do with thugs.

Zam wathed as Rita left the room and smiled to himself as he was the only one left in the cockpit. "Sure you don't speak all the time... On occasion you pause for breath."

He stood up and walked out of the cockpit and down towards the Med-bay. "Yo BIF, Cap'n wants you to connect to the Holo-Net and find a bar owned by Barrus Phee."

He continued down to His quarters and Grabbed some of his gear. He took out his E1-11 blaster rifle, that he stole from a stormtrooper in a bar a few years back when him and Raze got paid to break into an Imperial Research Facility and steal some Data. He remembers to get in he had to disguise himself as a scientist as his horns wouldn't fit into the stormtrooper helmet which was the original plan. Reisa dressed as an Officer but most of her infiltration technique involved her pheremones and persuasion skills. The Rifle always reminded him of that day and the time when it was only him and Raze on the ship for about a month. It was fortunate that between the two of them they knew enougth Mechanics to keep the ship running.

Zam grabbed his wallet off of the table and looked inside it. "I hope Raze buying." He then walked out of the room and over to Razes door where Ulim and were standing. "What's with the croud? Is Raze naked again?"

Heard what Zam said from his room which was a room down from Razes. He laughed and said "That was a fun day." He coughed loudly and replied "Zam, don't be stupid, everyone was asking the good captain if they could go their own way."

"What's with the croud?" Zam asked, appearing next to Ulim and Ace in the doorway. "Is Raze naked again?"

Raze gave Zam a deadpan look. "Yup. Sorry. Looks like you missed out on it again." She gave him a quick grin. "Like John said," she continued on a more serious note, "everyone else besides you and Rita can do whatever they want to until it's time for us to load up."

She gave Ace a nod to tell him she wasn't interested in hearing any complaints about having to babysit Bif if he was going to leave the ship, then turned her attention to Ulim.

"Do anything? Well, Ulim ...let's see...." She thought for a moment. "I suppose you could check around at some of the more 'exclusive' cantinas...you know, the ones that don't particulary like human patrons? They're usually pretty knowledgeable about what sectors the Empire's been most active. And if we're transporting something we shouldn't be, that could be handy information to know in order to avoid any patrols. But other than that, no. I'll contact you on your comlink when we need you back here.

"Oh, and Ace? You can keep your ears open to for any gossip on where the Imps might be hanging out. And I know it'll be 'against his programming', but maybe you can convince Bif to slice a link with one of the trade guild systems. They'll probably have the most up-to-date info on what the Empire's been up to lately."

She shouted though the door. "That goes for you, too, John. Ears open for any info on Imp activity. Got it?"

She looked at Zam. "You and the Corellian firecracker ready to go? I'm finished here."

Ulim nodded and said "I will see to it Ship Master." Then he left the door and went to his own room, where he loaded up on his arsenal. His rifles did need some new packs, but he would be fine. He paused to get his energy sword as well. It was more of a ceremonial weapon than anything else, but in his journeys it had proven indispensible.

"I'm ready to roll and i think our resident Corellian is in her room getting ready." He replied "I've set the ship to Lock down if no one is on board... and don't worry i remember the access code so we don't have to get a Slicer to break through all the locks for us again."

"One Corellian firecracker, armed and ready," Rita announced grandly, stepping out of her room. "Shall we go?"

"...don't worry i remember the access code so we don't have to get a Slicer to break through all the locks for us again," said Zam.

"Well that's reassuring," Raze replied to her pilot.

"One Corellian firecracker, armed and ready," Rita announced grandly, stepping out of her room. "Shall we go?"

Raze cocked an eyebrow. "'Armed' is an understatement." She eyed Rita over, her gaze lingering on the large grenade belt tossed casually over her shoulder. "You don't think you're a bit... I don't know... 'overdressed' for the occasion? Barus Phee runs a cantina, not a dueling ring."

Raze holstered her duel blasters in her belt, then put on her leather jacket which covered them discretely but, at the same time, allowing her quick access to them if needed.

"You don't think you're a bit... I don't know... 'overdressed' for the occasion? Barus Phee runs a cantina, not a dueling ring."

"You obviouly haven't been to many Corellian cantina before... They always end up in a fight, or exploding... hey didn't you say his last cantina burnt down... Corellians are very..." He looks back at Rita before finishing. "...Hot Blooded."

"Well compared to an old tragional Mandalorian Cantina, a Corellian cantina is a popular relaxing spare... glad they don't do those Mandalorian Cantina's anymore. They give us all bad names."

Raze sighed with resignation. "I know I'm going to regret this, but, fine. Bring the grenades."

She nodded to Zam and Rita to follow, and after stopping off to get the directions from Bif ((ooc: because I'm assuming that he got them being the efficient android that he is. -.- C'mon, Doc! Where are you!)), she headed off ship.

It didn't take long for them to find Barus Phee's place. The fluorescent flashing sign across the top of the building screamed at passers-by in tones of bright yellow, green and red.

"Phee Bee's," Raze read, then blinked to rid herself of the spots in front of her eyes from the glare of the lights. "Catchy."

There were two large bouncers at the door, but they let Raze, Zam, and Rita enter without any bother. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of sweat and drink, with just a hint of spice lingering in the air. An average band was playing average music, and a couple of dancers, one Twi'lek, one human, danced on either side of the stage in the back.

"Well, Rita, if you ever decide to give up being a gunner, you could always be a dancer. No tables to wait, at least." Without waiting for Rita to respond, Raze continued. "Bar's at the side," she said nodding to it. "Let's grab a table and get some drinks." She looked at Zam. "Don't worry. I'm buying. Just don't go wild on me. No Ithorian brandy and the like."

"Ithorian Brandy is low proof expensive blue junk." Zam replied "I'll take some Irodian Zodka... You know the stuff strong enough to make you forget your troubles but not enougth to blind you... I already lost one eye."

"Whatever you choose drink, Zam, keep your wits sharp," said Raze. She looked around, scanning the crowd. "Barus Phee is sneaky, conivving, and very peticular about his clients. Don't go making a scene." She looked at Rita. "That means you, too. Otherwise, we'll get no job from him and be relegated to hauling spice."

"Betcha I can talk him into giving us something more interesting than whatever he's got planned... and way better than spice," Rita boasted to Raze. "Betcha 100 credits I can get us a better paying job, just by bickering with you about the job he proposes."

Raze gave Rita a long look. "Phee isn't the sort of man that would fall for something like that. He's sophisicated. Cultured. Suave." She stared at Rita, then shook her head. "Nevermind. He won't go for that trick. Not in a million years."

Rita's eyes sparkled with mystery, hiding her thoughts as she cryptically said, "We'll see." Shifting her weight slightly, she shrugged. "So are we going or not?"

In the half an hour he was spent on Nar Shaddaa, he had done quite well for himself. He had bought all the nessiary parts for the ship and a certain object that Raze had been after for nearly a year now. Yup, so far so good... why do I have that feeling something bad is going to happen... He thought to himself as looked at a small wooden box which contained the object. He smiled and slid it into his large coat pocket.

While walking down the surprising empty streets, he watched the lights which came from the traffic far above him, he was so diracted that he bumped straight into someone. "Woaw, sorry mate," John said and looked at the person he bumped into "Well I be damed, Yola, is that you?"

If luck would have it, he bumped into an childhood friend of his he knew while he travelled with his father, not only was John happy that he knew the person he bumped into, he was happy he hadn't walked straight into a wookiee which would tear him all apart. "John Matthews!? Well fancy meeting you here of all places... however have you been after all these years?"

"Well, fine I suprose. Ted's retired, and I'm working for a freighter captain. I'm an engineer." John replied.

"Really? That's much better what I'm doing," She chuckled slightly "So who's the captain? Is he rich?"

"The captain's a she and sort of and why?" Replied John, giving her an weird look.

"No reason," She replied smiling shily "I wouldn't mind a job like yours, but I have no skills. The best I can do is strip off infront of a bunch of perverts for the lowest wage possible." She said sounding rather depressed "But I have a chance. There's a guy in the bar, a rich guy, I think he's falling inlove with me. And if he's willing to help me out of this life, I'll love him back, even if he was a damn Hutt."

John scratched his head, he could understand why she was acting like this. She came from a middle-class family and now she was in the ranks of low of the lowest. "Where you off to?"

"Work..." She replid glumly.

"Let me walk with you, I fancy a nice drink anyway." John suggested, she smiled and nodded.

"What is it with you Corellians and gambling?" Raze whispered to Rita, so as not to be overheard. "You just don't give up, do you?" She rolled her eyes. "It's not going to work, so why would I want to bet on it?"

"Because either way, betting or not, you'll owe me 100 credits," Rita whispered back, grinning mischievously.

"Oh? And just how do you figure that?" Raze asked supiciously. "Extra wages?"

She shook her head. "I'm telling you, if you do this stunt of yours, it'll backfire with Phee."

"Fine," Rita said, still grinning. "I won't. But don't blame me if we get a total idiot job."

Shrugging her shoulders as if to release herself from responsibility for the so called 'idiot job' she seemed so sure Phee would give them, Rita headed off the ship, turning slightly as she did so and demanding impatiently, "Well, are you two coming or not?"

((OOC: WJ, we're already in the cantina. :s ))

"Oh, quit being such a brat!" Raze snapped in a hushed tone. "You wanna bet? Fine. 100 credits--that you'll screw this up and get us a borked cargo!" She pointed her finger at the space in front of her. "Now, will you get over here and start acting like a thug, instead of a spoiled little shutta? We've got work to do."

Raze made her way over to an empty table and sat down. Zam and, eventually and reluctanly, Rita sat down with her. Raze flagged a waitress. As she approached, Raze looked at her chrono, then scanned the crowd again. "Phee should send someone to meet us in about five minutes or so," she said to Zam and Rita. "So keep a look out for a guy wearing a red leather jac..." She squinted. She had spotted John, standing by the stage, a drink in hand and watching the dancers. One in particular, too. "...ket." John, John... He's got a girl in every port, Raze thought. Then she snorted with amusement. Well, at least we have backup if we need it.

"Can I take your orders?" the waitress asked them.

"Corellian Ale for me," said Raze, handing her a credit chip.

The waitress looked at Zam and Rita. "And, for you?"

Bif entered the dorm slowly, as he was normally not allowed access to the crew's quarters - he was normally restricted to the medical lab, the cockpit, and any common area of the ship - as long as he didn't touch anything, unless it was a medical emergency. He looked around the room, his occular systems adjusting to the somewhat dim lighting. He quickly discovered his quarry sitting on the floor at the foot of one of the beds, a box of spare parts open in front of him. He stepped forward.

"Master Harbrig?" he asked, face innocently blank, almost like a child speaking to his parent. "May I speak to you for a moment?"

Rita's nose wrinkled slightly. "Do you import your Corellian Ale?"

"We pride ourselves on..." the waitress began, but Rita cut her off.

"If it ain't from Corellia, it ain't Corellian Ale," she said shortly. "But I'm intrigued. I'll try whatever it is you call Corellian Ale... just to see how far off you are."

The waitress flushed bright pink, but chose to say nothing further to Rita. "And you, sir?" she asked Zam.

Ulim hated Nar Shadda. There was no honor to be earned here, as everyone here was either struggling to survive or a rich, arrogant coward. The cantina was a little less crowded than usual, but he didn't care.

"Ah, a mighty Sangheili graces us with his presance. I haven't seen one in here for, say, around 20 years." the old rodian bar tender said to him as he walked over.

"23, Hergat. I'll have a Tarisian Ale." Ulim said sitting down and casting an eye over all the partons.

Hergat's bug eyes blinked for for a few moments before a smile, well, what counts as a smile for a rodian, spread across his face. "Ulim! My good friend! How're you doing? Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

Zam looked the waitress up and down, she was quite attractive and Zam smiled. "Well i'm not too sure what would you suggest?"

"Our Trandoshan Whisky is a good year." She replied.

"Well then i think i'll trust your judgement and have one of those." He replied.

The waitress smiled and walked away to get their drinks.

Travis had been busy fighting with a last few parts when Bif walked in, sporting a stangely innocent expression. The gunner wasn't in a good mood -- he almost always got frustrated when the parts he had didn't work and the parts that would work he didn't have. He had been hoping to get one last spike into working order to gleam a few extra credits, but he threw the divice against the wall in temper. The man glowered up at Bif.

"Yeah?"

"I wish to enquire as to your plans for your time on Nar Shaddaa," he said politely, unphased by his master's outburst. "Do you plan on remaining on board the ship?"

As the waitress sashayed away, Raze glanced askance at Zam. "Think you made an impression on her," she said to him. "But stay sharp."

She nodded over his shoulder. A man in a red jacket had just entered the main cantina from a side door near the stage. "There's our contact."

The man walked the long way around, his stride non-chalant but vigilant. As he moved, Raze could tell he wore a shoulder holster, but couldn't tell if he was heavily armed or not.

"He's scoping the place. Checking to see if I've brought any more than two," Raze said to Zam and Rita. "Phee is always very careful." Then she frowned. Patrons standing near one of the gambling tables were obscuring her view of the man. "Can either of you see what he's packing? Be subtle, though. I don't want him to think that we're that curious."

"Give me a sec," Zam replied as he reached up to his eye and switched it to Megnetic resonance mode. His eye had several special modifications and Magnetic resonacee basically made it so he could see all metal objects, it often came in handy in these situations. "Pistol, Old clone issue, in a shoulder holster... Hah, and a small hold out on his wrist. Some kind of quick deployment contraption."

"I also spy an interesting flap on his right pant leg," Rita observed, running her eyes up and down the stranger casually before looking away. "By shape and size, I speculate he's hiding some kind of knife or something of the sort in a thin sheath there on his thigh."

Raze held back a grin. "I believe, Rita, that particular 'blade' is organic, not metallic. You know, Bif probably has some excellent educational materials on that subject. Maybe even holopics, too, in case the technical jargon is too much for you."

Rita grimaced. "Raze, it's just creepy you'd think of... that. Besides, the flap's too low down for that... unless his 'blade' is fifteen inches long. The point goes down at least that far from the flap."

"Fifteen inches?" Raze paused for a moment, then slowly looked over her shoulder so that she could see Phee's man. "Hmmm..." she said pensively.

"It is definetly made of metal." Zam said before the conversation went down a road that would have made him unconfitable. "but it's quite small... the Knife i mean."