Tannis walked over to the bar where Jyot was sitting looking at the alien stage dancer holding a drink. The captain placed the case on the top of the bar and ordered a drink from the barman, he looked around at the dancers as well and then back at Jyot. “All the mechanics in all the worlds and I get the one that don’t think with his brain.” He said quietly into his glass before taking a swig.

“You guy a mail drop?” Alec asked the bartender as he passed once again.

“Sorry mate, Carmen doesn’t trust the Impeial mail service.” He replied cheerfully.

“She’s paranoid ain’t she?” He stated getting a nod of reply from the bartender. “Know anywhere close that does?”

“Erm, Yeah, the Happy Gizka, down the walkway.”

“Hey Jyot, you commin’?” Tannis asked not getting a reply from his mechanic, he clicked his fingers in front of the mechanics face. “Yo! Wake up, You commin’?”

Jyot blinked. "Huh? Oh...erm, yeah. I'm comin'." With his eyes still lingering on the dancer, he took a few steps backwards. Then he flashed an appreciative smile at the girl, before turning and catching up with Alec.

"She's got some great moves...." he mused out loud.

Alec cleared his throat. "What did I tell you?"

Jyot glanced over his shoulder, giving a fleeting look at the dancer as they walked out of Carmen's and into the main street. "Oh. Yeah. No fishing in the...." His words were cut short as two Twi'lek dancers passed by them on the street. Jyot felt himself grin, but then felt a sharp elbow in his ribs.

"Jyot!"

"I'm sorry, Cap'n. Just 'sightseeing'. Now, where are we going?"

"Happy Gizka," Alec replied. "To get mail."

Jyot smiled. "Excellent. Maybe I can download the latest issue of 'Mechano Uploader'. Supposed to have some great articles."

Alec's eyes narrowed. "And pictures, too, as I recall."

"Nah, you're thinking of 'Uploader Weekly'," Jyot said, grinning. "I've outgrown that. The only pictures M.U. has is of hyperdrives, speeders, and swoops." As Alec gave him a dubious look, Jyot added, "Honest!"

As they walked around the corner, the Happy Gizka came into view. There was a man stumbling out of the doorway, helping to steady a friend that looked wobbly either from drink or from the recent fight it was evident he had been involved in.

"Well, this looks like a lively place," Jyot said casually over his shoulder to Alec, as he pushed open the door to the cantina.

“We’ve been to worse.” Alec reminded as he walked through the door and looked around the inside and stared at a man unconscious on the floor. “See there’s only one guy knocked laid out on the floor.”

Alec laughed as walked towards the bar tender, stepping over the unconscious man, and stood by the bar. He raised his hand to call one of the staff over…

“I’ve been told you guys are connected to the Imperial mail.” Tannis stated as he took out an ID card and held it out in front of his face.

“Sure.” A waitress said as she took the card and turned to console behind her at the back of the bar area.

Tannis looked over at Jyot who was currently leering at the waitresses backside, Simply shaking his head he jabbed His mechanic in the ribs. The Waitress turned back around holding both a datapad and a small retinal scanner.

“You’ve got a High security level Message.” She said handing him the retinal scanner.

“Great, I hate these things.” Tannis stated as he held the device to his right eye and pushed a button causing it to flash a blue light. Taking it away from his eye he winked a few times and handed it back to the Waitress, She attached it to a port on the datapad and waited until two sharp beeps sounded. She handed the pad to Alec and he took still blinking and trying to look at the message on the pad, finally he just closed his right eye and read the message.
__________________________________________________ ___

Imperial Mail Service
To User: Tannis0145
Security Level: High, Retinal Scan Required
From User: Polcyc0001
Senders Location: Bryndar

Hello Tannis I have some information that may be of interest to you and your crew concerning a bounty in my little corner of space. I know most bounties would not bring you to this frozen rock I’ve called home the past two years but this one is worth the highest credits available, A Jedi.

Three weeks ago a group of archaeologists went exploring the frozen wastes in search of the rumours about an ancient culture that called this place home. When they didn’t return after a week some of the scum here were hired to find them and bring them home. The returned and brought the Archaeologists back dead, each had been killed with the Lightsaber weapon they are so fond of.

This enticed the desperate inhabitants of the world and they formed a posse to hunt the Jedi for what it is worth. One returned and told the story of a figure in shadows that wielded the force and his weapon to kill his companions.

I’m telling you this to make us even after how you, Latch and Jyot helped me out back when I was forced to come to this backend of the galaxy. I told no one else of this and the inhabitants of this world have no chance to bring the Jedi in, See you soon.

Polcyc
__________________________________________________ ________

“Interesting.” Alec exclaimed as he attached a data chip to the pad and downloaded the message to it, he then handed the datapad back.

“Anything else?” She asked taking the Pad.

“Actually, yeah, don’t suppose you know any pilots looking for a gig?” Tannis asked with a smile.

The waitress smiled. “Yeah, actually, see that girl in the corner, she needs a job… oh and the mess and the unconscious guy are her doing.”

Tannis turned and looked at very young looking women and then at the man on the floor. “She knocked that guy out?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, She can handle herself.” Tannis said. “and I need that in a pilot. What do you think Jyot?”

Jyot turned to look in the same direction that Alec was looking in--and then his mouth dropped. Quickly turning away, with his hand semi-covering his face as if he didn't want to be recognized, he faced the bar again. "Oh no...." he uttered under his breath. "No, Cap, we don't want her."

He knew exactly who the woman was--Alindra D'Ayarra. He had met her when he had been working as a deck hand at one of the CEC orbital platforms. Being a pilot, which naturally required a certain amount of haughtiness, Ali hadn't seen fit to give Jyot the time of day. Nevertheless, Jyot had pursued her, eventually his charms working their magic. They had dated for a few months, but then Jyot, seeking to expand his horizons, got an offer for a job in Cloud City in Bespin. He left Corellian space, promising Ali that he would keep in touch with her--something that he had neglected to do. They hadn't parted on bad terms, but Jyot knew how hot her Corellian blood could be and was wary of how she'd react seeing him again.

"Alindra D'Ayarra," Jyot continued in a very low tone. "Worked with her at the CEC a while back. Fair enough pilot, but a bit rough on her ships at times. And besides, she's Corellian," he added, as if that would be enough reason for Alec not to consider hiring her. "You've already got me and Latch, and find us hard to manage sometimes. You don't want another Corellian on board, especially a pilot, Alec."

But as Jyot spoke, he detected the glint in Alec's eyes. It looked as if Alec Tannis was going to talk to her anyway.

“If we didn’t work with women you had a one night stands with, we wouldn’t Work.” Tannis stated in a semi-joking tone with a grin. He then saw the look of horror in his Mechanics eyes as he walked towards the women’s table.

“I hear you’re a pilot without a ship, I have a ship and I need pilot.” Alec stated smiling sitting don opposite Alindra D'Ayarra.

Arelyn stood a little closer to Latch, not because she wanted to give him any ideas, but because if they were separated, it would be impossible to find each other in the massive crowd of people milling about. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him along with her as she navigated the congregation. It was no easy feat, but she finally pushed her way to the center of the concourse, next to a grotesque looking sculpture that clearly was meant to pass for 'modern art'. She wrinkled her nose at it, then turned to look for signs of a medical facility.

"There," she said, pointing to a building off to the side with a bright green neon cross jutting out from the second floor. "Though I doubt they'll have bacta baths, it'll probably be better stocked than Stitcher's medbay."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no...." Jyot visibly cringed as Alex casually walked over to Ali's table, sat down, and started a conversation with her.

Hoping, no praying, that Ali wouldn't notice him, Jyot started to shift himself to the far side of the bar. He quietly motioned the bartender over and ordered a Corellian Spiced Ale. If he had to confront Ali, it was best that he was sufficiently anesthetized. As he recalled, and as was evident by the unconscious bodies that littered the bar floor, she could pack a hell of a punch. Even more so if she was angry.

He downed the ale quickly, and ordered another. The bartender gave him a look. Jyot returned the favor with a look of his own. "What? Never seen a guy try to avoid being noticed by an ex-girlfriend he hasn't seen in years, and promised he would stay in touch but never, while his best mate and captain is intent on chatting her up and looking to hire her on as crew?"

The bartender glanced over at Ali's table. "Her?"

Jyot nodded.

"Well," the bartender said sympathetically, "in that case, you might be wanting something a bit... stronger." He reached under the table and retrieved an unmarked black bottle.

Jyot raised a tentative eyebrow. "Is that...?"

The bartender nodded slowly. "Corellian Black Label Special Reserve Brandy." He glanced quickly at Ali again, before he poured Jyot a shot. "'Cause, if that's your ex-girlfriend, and she's ticked off at you, you're gonna need it to dull the pain."

Jyot raised his eyes to the ceiling in thanks to whatever gods had been listening to his prayers, then downed the shot. If the alcohol didn't give him more confidence, it certainly would give him more pain relief if things went wrong.

"Probably," Latch agreed as they approached the building. Arelyn had impressed him with how fluidly she'd made her way through the crowd, especially since she had been essentially dragging him along. Must be from all that Mistryl training or something, Latch reasoned with himself.

He stopped as they were about to enter the facility. "You go on inside, Arelyn," he said, holding the door open for her. "I'll ring up Stitcher to see if he needs anything from here." The young medic had elected to stay back with the ship. Latch had chided him on it, telling him the Scimitar was more than capable of protecting itself. In the end though, he had been glad Stitcher had stayed, since it had given him an opportunity with Arelyn.

Clicking his comlink, he said, "Latch to Stitcher, come in."

After a few moments silence, the young doctor's voice came through, slightly distorted. "Stitcher here."

"You need anything from the medical facility here?"

Stitcher chuckled. "I knew you'd ask that. I'm going to send a listing to your comlink frequency, just plug it into your datapad. Follow it to the letter, Latch."

"Yeah, yeah. We're probably on a budget here, knowing Alec."

"You don't want to be treated with the lowest quality medical supplies, do you?"

Latch grimaced. "No, I don't."

"Well then."

Snorting, Latch clicked his comlink off and pulled out his datapad.

As Alec Tannis approached, the captain stirred beneath Ali's feet. Noticing, she rapped her heel solidly against his head and he was still once more. Then, Alec sat down and commented on his need for a pilot. Ali remained blissfully oblivious to Jyot's presence.

"Sounds like a potentially beneficial conversation's afoot," Ali said with a smirk, extending her hand to him. "Alindra D'Ayarra, and yes, I'm a pilot. Good one, too. But this..." she tapped her former captain's back with one heel, "is a warning to you. He used to be my captain. But he lied about his ship, his crew, and just about every other thing it pays to tell the truth about. I ended up with a two month contract on a bulk freighter with a bunch of pervs for crew mates."

She leaned forward. "You do the same and I won't hesitate to drop you like I did him. So long as you understand that, I'm willing to hear your deal."

“Ok, if it’s honesty you want.” Alec stated as he leant back in his chair. “The ship is a modified Kuat Medium freighter, H Series, it had two turrets and a quick drop hanger loaded with a Z-95. The crew are two gunners one male one female, as well as a Mechanic, the headhunter pilot, a Medic and myself who are all male.”

Tannis paused to take a sip of his drink. “We’re bounty hunters, your pay is related on that, you’ll get ten percent of any bounties we bring down, providing you pull weight.” Alec looked down at her former Captain. “Which I can see won’t be a problem. No contracts you stay as long as you want, and leave at whichever port we stop at.”

“I know it sounds good.” Tannis Stated with a smile. “But there’s a possible deal breaker, My mechanic and first mate is someone I’m sure you’re familiar with.” Alec pointed back towards Jyot.

Ali didn't even attempt to mask her distaste at seeing and recognizing Jyot. Her eyes narrowed into a glare, but it was brief. She smiled sweetly at Alec. "Jyot Tyrell? Hormone on legs... dated him once, thought it meant something. No, I won't say I'm over what happened, but so long as you don't mind him acquiring a few bruises, he's no deal breaker."

She leaned back. "Ship sounds great, job sounds far better than any I've had lately." She nodded. "So if you want me, I'm coming along... just have to wake this lump before we head out," she tapped her old captain with one heel and grinned. "He won't remember a damn thing... watch."

She pushed her chair back and knelt next to the unconscious captain, shaking him roughly. "Cap? Best be gettin' back to the ship."

The man stirred and unsteadily shifted upward onto his hands and feet. "D'Ayarra?" he slurred. "Wha..shnep... whoa..."

"Easy there," Ali offered cheerfully. "That's one hell of a hangover... possibly a bit of concussion. Have a medic look at it before you head back to the ship, okay?"

"You be along soon?" the captain asked uncertainly. Ali smiled innocently and nodded.

"Of course, Cap," she agreed. He stumbled to his feet and staggered away. Then, Ali grinned at Alec. "He'll be back to his ship no concussion and sleep off that hangover before he remembers I'm not coming back."

Arelyn's boot beat a steady rhythm against the floor as she crossed her arms and waited not-so-patiently in line. She had expected a quick in-and-out affair, but those hopes were dashed the moment she set foot into the clinic. Beings of all shapes, species and sizes were lounging about, waiting their turns. She kicked herself mentally for not realizing sooner that a place like Nar Shaddaa would have an overcrowded and understaffed clinic.

"Ugh," she groaned as she watched a female Rodian chitter loudly and rudely at the clearly overworked administration droid. "Never going to get seen at this rate," she muttered, crossing her arms diagonally over her chest to rub at her shoulders, which were both sore. She was just about to turn around to see what was taking Latch so long when a large human man brushed by her, nearly sending her sprawling. "What's the karkin' idea---" was all she got out before she caught herself from falling and noticed the rather large blaster rifle in the man's hands.

"Don't be givin' me no frellin' trouble, y'hear?!" he shouted, brandishing the blaster rifle and pointing it at the administration droid. By this point, most of the occupants of the clinic were panicked, yelling and screaming in many different languages. Arelyn didn't need to be an alien linguist to guess what they were all saying. The man raised the rifle and fired a few shots into the air, silencing the crowd and creating space around him as everyone backed away. Everyone but Arelyn, who stood where she was, two arm's lengths away from the gunman. He spun and noticed the Mistryl, who was about a foot and a half shorter than he was. "I'd back up if I were you, missy," he grunted, leveling the weapon at her. "There ain't gonna be any meds for you if you make me bust you up, 'cuz I'm taking them all."

Something inside Arelyn's mind snapped. "If you'd wait your turn," she said evenly, "I'm sure your needs will be accommodated, just like everyone else's."

The man roared with laughter as he stalked towards her. "Oh that's rich, missy!" he exclaimed as he poked the muzzle of the blaster rifle into her chest. "But y'see, I'm not like everyone else here."

Arelyn's smile held no mirth. "No," she agreed, "you're not." Before he could respond, she spun, spinning her body around the gun and slamming her back into the man's chest. He yelped and squeezed the trigger seconds too late, spraying a few stray shots harmlessly into the wall. He made a grab for Arelyn with his free hand, but she ducked under it and slammed her right foot into his instep. His knee buckled and she threw her right elbow backward, shoving it into his kidney while simultaneously grabbing the gun out of his hands with hers. She swung it upward and grinned savagely as she felt it connect with his chin, shattering no less than five teeth. Using the momentum of her swing to toss the gun away, she set her feet and locked her knees into place, then took hold of the man's right forearm and shoulder and pistoned her arms forward with all her strength, flipping him over her back and onto his face on the floor. She stepped onto his back and used it as leverage, twisting his arm until she heard the satisfying crack of bones breaking. Dropping the limp limb, she reached over and repeated the process with his other arm as he howled in pain. She stomped onto his back and lifted his left leg up, held it steady, then stepped a kick right into his knee. Another crack reverberated through the clinic as she dropped the leg back to the floor. The man was screaming in agony, unintelligible sounds coming from his mouth. Arelyn hopped off his body next to his head, then snapped out a kick to his temple. The screams subsided.

The Mistryl exhaled for the first time in exactly ten seconds. "Unlike everyone here, your injuries can't be fixed with a simple bacta bath," she told the unconscious, bleeding heap at her feet. Brushing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes, she looked around at everyone. "I do so hate it when people cut in line."

"Jyot Tyrell? Hormone on legs... dated him once, thought it meant something. No, I won't say I'm over what happened, but so long as you don't mind him acquiring a few bruises, he's no deal breaker."

"I don't mind." Tannis replied. "and I think he could use a few."

He watched the exchange between his new pilot and her former captain take place and then stood up holding his hand out so they could shake and close the deal. “You fly Keep the ship flying towards the money and we’ll be friends for as long as you decide to fly with me.”

As Latch stepped through the doors into the clinic, he thought he heard the unmistakable sound of blaster fire. However, he couldn't see very far into the facility as there was a rather large crowd of people blocking his way at the door. Arelyn was also nowhere to be seen, though he was sure she had something to do with the blaster fire. Reaching into his coat, he settled his hand on the grip of his Bryar pistol as he slunk his way through the mess of people.

"I do so hate it when people cut in line." That was Arelyn's voice.

Finally pushing through to the forefront, Latch came upon a most unusual scene. Arelyn stood there, arms folded over her chest, looking discreetly nonchalant. At her feet lay a bruised and bloodied heap of a man, his limbs akimbo at very odd angles. Raising an eyebrow, Latch walked over to Arelyn. "I take it he tried to cut in line?" he asked his fellow gunner.

She nodded, a slightly smug smile on her face.

Latch prodded the man with a booted foot. He didn't stir. "Well, since you made this mess, I guess I'll have to clean it up," Latch said, extracting a datapad from his pocket and handing it to Arelyn. "Stitcher made up a list of what he needs and sent it, so look into getting these while you're being tended to." He chuckled as he bent down and threw the roughed up man over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "I've got to go throw out the trash."

Jyot visibly cringed as he saw Alec and Ali shake hands. "Oh, no...," he groaned, then slammed down his shot in one go.

"Another one?" the bartender asked, looking askance in the direction of Ali's table.

Jyot eyed over Ali's stance. It was confident, not tense but not relaxed either. And then she glanced over Alec's shoulder in the direction of the bar and her eyes narrowed. Jyot closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Yeah," he said to the bartender, shoving his shot glass towards him. "See that look? I know it well. And if my captain's just hired her, I just know there are a few bruises on the horizon."

The bartender filled the shot glass again. "Could be," he agreed. "But...."

"But what?"

The bartender looked over at Ali. "She's still a fine looking woman," he said, pushing the shot glass towards Jyot, who downed it immediately. "Somehow I think I could live with bruises from her."

Jyot frowned quizzically as he swallowed down the brandy. He looked across the room and locked eyes with Ali for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "You know, you've got a point," he said to the bartender. He grinned. "Wish me luck."

Jyot straightened himself up and headed to meet his captain and the Scimitar's new pilot.

"Hey Ali," he said to her, grinning wryly. He knew he was probably going to get a good right hook from her instead of a 'hello', but perhaps she would let bygones be bygones....

"Hey scumbag," Ali returned, almost cheerfully. Then, she backhanded his cheek. Hard. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bartender wince. "First of many bruises to come, Tyrell," she added sweetly, "but I promise not to damage anything you actually need for fixing the ship..."

She turned to Alec. "I think we're caught up well enough. Shall we be going?"

"Nice to see you, too, Ali." Jyot's hand massaged his jaw as his tongue ran on the inside of his cheek and gums tasting the saltiness of blood.

"...but I promise not to damage anything you actually need for fixing the ship..."

"Oh. Great," Jyot said to Ali. "Looking forward to it." He raised an eyebrow at Alec, shaking his head slightly in disagreement with the Captain's decision to hire Ali, and then turned to walk towards the door.

He removed 'the list' from his pocket--the beat-up old datapad that had the running list of the parts the Scimitar needed. "Well, since you'll be needing to show Ali the ship, I'll just go an get those parts now. Captain," he added in a slightly biting tone. It was as far as he would go in public to berating Alec. Jyot didn't always agree with his captain, but he knew never to argue with him in public, and definitely not in front of their newest crewmember.

"OK, Just check the parts before you buy them instead of the seller's breasts this time." Alec called before Jyot walked out of ear-shot, he then turned and smiled at his new pilot. “So I’ll show you, your new home.”

With that Alec and Aly walked out of the Happy Gizka and back down the promenade towards the landing pad where The Scimitar was parked. On arrival the main loading ramp was wide open and Alec turned to Aly with a disappointed look. “As you can see we have top of the range security measures.”

Leading the way through the Air-lock he stopped inside the cargo hold. “This is level one, to your right is our cell area, those stairs on your left lead on to the catwalk that go to the hanger at the back and the main ladder goes up to the second level and the top turret, as well as down to the ventral turret. Any questions?”

Boredom, the worst torture that Headshot could possibly imagine. If accustomed to silence and lack of activity, then it wasn't that bad. But you don't exactly calm down and right after a firefight in a debris field, and finding something equally exhilarating to maintain that excitement was impossible in the ship. But, since he would never leave the ship and his fighter alone, he was stuck there.

"Bored, oh bored, I'm bored," Headshot muttered to himself as he leaned against the catwalk railing in the Cargo Bay. Then he heard some footsteps, and then the captain talking. Headshot looked down and saw the captain talking to a woman, who was undoubtedly the new pilot judging by what he was telling her.

"Hey, you're back already cap'n? I thought you were going to get some parts too. Anyways, she must be the new pilot. I'm Headshot, the Headhunter pilot." Headshot said.

"No questions right off," Ali answered Alec, smiling faintly. "Thanks for the tour... vague as it was. Not bad, as far as ships go. Sure as hell beats a bulk freighter by a hundred times."

At that moment, a man calling himself 'Headshot' introduced himself to her as the Headhunter pilot. She grinned. "A Headhunter, eh? Flew one of those once... not bad as far as small fighters go." She shook his hand. "However, Headshot's a nickname. I could respond in kind... I'm Blink. On the other hand, I could just tell you my name..."

At that moment, Zip the droid chose to make an entrance, whooshing toward Ali's head. Ali's eyes widened and she ducked, driving her hand upward to collide with Zip's path, which sent the little droid spinning out of control, thumping solidly against the ceiling before careening to a halt.

"Captain, I've got a question now," Ali snapped, her eyes narrowing. "What in all nine Corellian hells is that karking thing?"

With a noise of disgust, Zip moved forward to face her. "I am IM4-389, otherwise known as Zip. Scanning unidentified undesignated bounty." There was a moment of silence from Zip in which Ali came up with several colorful curses in four different languages. Then Zip turned to the Captain.

"Undesignated Bounty Alec Tannis," the droid said, "I regret to inform you that the unidentified annoyance you have introduced to the ship is not in the bounty databases. However, by her use of the term 'nine Corellian hells', it can be determined that she is a Human Corellian. Searching galactic databases." After another moment. "Confirmed. Identified. Undesignated Bounty Alindra D'Ayarra, former test pilot for the Corellian Engineering Corporation. Served one year in prison for destruction of a costly fighter prototype..."

"Quite the droid," Ali remarked dryly. "In case you were wondering, Captain, yes I spent a year in prison."

"See?" Zip interrupted. "Undesignated Bounty Alindra D'Ayarra is a threat to this crew and ought to be denied entrance to the ship henceforth."

"I was framed, you piece of scrap!" Ali snapped. "Get your bug-eyed photoreceptors out of my face." She shoved the droid again, prompting him to launch a dart of hypnocane at her. The dart made contact with her neck and she gave a faint yelp of surprise.

"Hypnocane?" she inquired, pulling the dart from her neck and tossing it to the ground. "I've been injected one too many times in the past, scrap heap. You start to build up an immunity after that."

She glared at the droid for a moment before turning to Tannis. "I trust the droid won't bother me in the cockpit. If it does, I'll lock it out. Now where's my room? I have things to deposit." She tapped the strap of her bag, which was slung over her right shoulder.

“That’ll be on level two.” Alec said stepping forward. “Follow me. Oh and don’t mind Zip he’s annoying but he has his uses so we keep him around… Just like Jyot.”

Alec led the way up the catwalk steps and up the ladder laughing at his own joke, he stepped off the ladder and walked over to the nearest door. He opened it and they walked into the Med bay, Inside Stitcher was at his workstation mixing together chemicals. He was in the middle of making the knock out Toxin to be put inside Zip’s darts.

“This is the med bay and here is our medic Ray Brink, We call him Stitcher.” Tannis introduced.

“Pleased to meet ya.” Stitcher announced standing up and shaking hands with Aly.

After the greeting Tannis and Aly walked out of the room into the corridor, they stepped towards the pilot’s quarters and Tannis tabbed in the entrance code.

“This is your room, Not much but it’s got space to store stuff and a bunk to lay your head.” Tannis then stepped back. “Oh and Jyot is at the other end of the corridor, best to keep distance between ya I suppose.”

“This is the med bay and here is our medic Ray Brink, We call him Stitcher.” Tannis introduced.

“Pleased to meet ya.” Stitcher announced standing up and shaking hands with Aly.


"Good to meet you as well," Ali answered. After the greeting Tannis and Aly walked out of the room into the corridor, they stepped towards the pilot’s quarters and Tannis tabbed in the entrance code.

“This is your room, Not much but it’s got space to store stuff and a bunk to lay your head.” Tannis then stepped back. “Oh and Jyot is at the other end of the corridor, best to keep distance between ya I suppose.”


Ali's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the captain's mention of the mechanic. "Yes, I suppose it would be best." She glanced toward Jyot's room, hesitating for a moment. Then, she entered the room she'd been assigned. "Thanks, Captain. So I've met 'Headshot'... never caught his name. Already knew your grease monkey. Now, I've met your medic and the droid you forgot to mention you had. You said you've got two gunners as well. When do I get to meet them?"

"You'd think the authorities would give us a reward or something for catching such a dangerous criminal," Arelyn remarked to Latch as they walked. "At least the clinic was nice enough to waive the treatment cost." She grinned as she recalled the administrative droid thanking her profusely and even offering to hire her as a bodyguard. She wasn't quite tempted by it, but it was a nice gesture all the same.

"Wonder if Alec ever found us a new pilot?" she asked idly as they approached the ship. "Nar Shaddaa ain't exactly the Imperial Flight Academy."

“They’re at the med center, Arelyn was on the wrong end of a Togarian Claw and got injured.” Alec explained as he began to walk out the corridor and through the common room. “This is where we eat, meet and play.”

Tannis continued waking through the room and towards the door on the other side. “Our other gunners gone with her, but I think that’s so he can get a shot at her before Jyot tries it.”

Alec opened the bridge door and stepped inside. “ and this is what I hope you do well, That’s your seat there and I’m here.” Tannis said pointing at the seats then sitting in his own one. “So what do you think?”

Ali was silent for a moment. Then, she shrugged. "Sounds like a very male-heavy environment, but I've been in worse. Ship's decent." She smirked a little. "And as to my skill in a cockpit, just ask Tyrell about the couple of times I lured him into a ship..." She chuckled. "Quite the story, but..." Scowling, she shook her head. "Sorry, I'll try to keep my irritations with your grease monkey to myself."

Latch shifted the large pack slung over his back into a more comfortable position. It was heavy with medical supplies which had been purchased from the clinic at a generously reduced price, thanks to Arelyn's timely but impromptu bodyguard service. Truth be told, he'd been completely taken by surprise by her quick and efficient dispatching of the ruffian. As far as he could tell, she'd broken both of his arms, his knee, his foot and probably several choice internal organs, all within a span of not more than 4 minutes, most likely less. While Latch didn't think she'd do that to him, it made him take a step back and reconsider his strategies. He'd have to be very careful with this one.

"Wonder if Alec ever found us a new pilot? Nar Shaddaa ain't exactly the Imperial Flight Academy."

Latch chuckled. "You'd be surprised," he replied. "Probably got some of the best pilots in the galaxy on this dump. You've just got to be willing to either settle their debts or pull them out of their bottles." He shifted his pack again as he deliberated over his next few words. "Hey Arelyn, d'you think you could...show me a few moves? Y'know, when you're all healed up, I mean."

“No problem.” Tannis smiled. “Were it not for Zip he’d be the most annoying thing about this ship, but he is my friend and the ships first mate so he’s going to be around for a while. And while he's here the women aren't queing up to come on board so no offence I take what I can get for the crew.”

Tannis turned around and activated the small holo-display unit connected to the navigation map. “Anyway we better get down to business, I have a possible target and a location for them.” Alec brought up a galactic map and zoomed into an area on the edge between the outer and mid rim, then to a solar system and then to one of its outer planets. “This is Bryndar, Yeah I know, you never heard of it but don’t worry only about 100 people in the Galaxy have. It’s off the usual shipping lanes and wholly unremarkable, except for an old, abandoned and very, very small mining outpost. But that is where we have to go.”

He played with the display again zooming out to show the distance between Nar Shaddaa and Bryndar and then a few lines came up. “These are Imperial patrol routes, I’d appreciate it if you could get us from here…” Tannis pointed at a dot on the display that was Nar Shaddaa. “…to here…” Tannis pointed at the dot that represented Bryndar. “…avoiding the Imperials.”

Ali grinned. "I'm liking this job already," she said. "That's gonna be tricky, but you bet it's possible..." Her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly and she asked, "Any requests as to how long you want it to take to get from here to there?"

"Hey Arelyn, d'you think you could...show me a few moves? Y'know, when you're all healed up, I mean."

Arelyn cast a scrutinizing glance at her fellow gunner. She'd been anticipating a come-on from him; she was surprised he'd taken so long to get around to making it, however. They were practically on board already. Then again, perhaps Latch was counting on Jyot finding a woman to entertain himself with, which left his fellow Corellian to make a pass at her unhindered. Arelyn shook her head. Men, she thought with a tiny bit of exasperation.

Stalking up the entry ramp, she grabbed hold of one of the pylons and turned to look at Latch. "Sure, I'll show you a few," she agreed. "But I'm not going to go easy on you, so be prepared." She smiled ferally, then turned and entered the ship.

“The most important part of our job is speed.” Alec explained as he turned off the holo-projector and activated the power to the pilots console by typing in the security code. “So the answer to that question will always be A-S-A-P.”

Alec stood up and stretched out his arms, before he started to walk out of the cockpit. “The rest of the crew are due back in twenty minuets so I’ll be briefing everyone on our job then in the common room, I’d like to leave as soon as that’s over.”

Jyot guided a levi-trolley through the crowded streets in the Corellian sector. He was coming back from his shopping spree purchasing parts for the Scimitar--some spares but mostly the replacement parts he needed to fix Arelyn’s turret controls. He had probably spent more than Alec had intended him to, as he had been preoccupied with thoughts about Ali’s arrival, but at least he hadn’t got any of the dodgy/second hand parts this time.

“Why?” he grumbled aloud to himself as he walked. “Of all the pilots in the Galaxy Alec could have hired, he hires her. He could have hired anyone—a Wookiee, a Trandoshan… but no-ooo. He goes for a Corellian. And not just any Corellian, oh no. He’s got to hire a female. And not just any female, no. He’s got to hire one that I’ve had a past relationship with, one that I haven’t seen in years and throws a right hook like a professional…. ” A passer-by gave Jyot a strange look as he sidled past him. “What?!” Jyot snapped at the man. “When your captain hires your ex-girlfriend to be the new pilot of your ship, see if you don’t complain a little!”

As Jyot rolled his eyes, the man gave Jyot a look and continued on his way. He soon reached the ship, loaded the trolley up into the cargo bay, took the parts he needed to fix the turret and headed up the ladder to the upper decks.

"Twenty minutes," Ali murmured as Alec departed. "I'll have a course ready by then..."

She devoted her full attention to the map, murmuring suggested routes and then shaking her head. Avoiding Imperial patrols was the trick. Were it not for that little comment, this would be all too easy. But it was a challenge and she loved a challenge. Then it came to her.

"Genius!" she exclaimed, grinning. "Even saves on fuel..." Leaning forward eagerly, she tapped seven waypoints and memorized the coordinates for later entry into the navicomputer. Then, she leaned back and gingerly propped her feet up on the control panel, careful not to touch any of the controls. Now, she'd relax here until the meeting.

"But I'm not going to go easy on you, so be prepared."

Latch shook his head. "It's times like this I wish I was a masochist," he muttered to himself as he trudged up the ramp. Entering the cargo bay, he heard clanging noises coming from above, meaning Jyot was probably back and fixing the ship. That also meant Alec was probably back as well with a new pilot. He made up his mind to head to the cockpit once he was done delivering the supplies to the medbay. Trotting deeper into the cargo hold, he made for the ladder in front of the quick-drop bay, tossing a wave at Kuun as he ascended.

Hoisting himself up through the hole in the deck, he hefted the bag and strode into the medbay. Stitcher was poring over some weird-looking instruments and bubbling chemicals, his goggles over his eyes. As Latch entered, he craned his head up, the opaque lenses making him look like some sort of strange alien bug. "Do you have my supplies?" he asked the raven-haired gunner.

Latch swung the bag down from his back and placed it none to gently in front of Stitcher. "Should be enough drugs in there to knock a bantha out, cut it open, play sabacc with its intestines, then sew it back up again."

"Lovely," Stitcher said, already rifling through the bag. "I take it you acquired them without any problems?"

Latch snorted. "You can't go anywhere on Nar Shaddaa and not run into problems," he told the medic matter-of-factly. "But Arelyn took care of it."

Stitcher raised an eyebrow. "She's all better then?"

"Oh yeah, she's fit."

"Good, one less thing to worry about then," Stitcher nodded, extracting a few pouches from the bag.

"Alec find us a new pilot?" Latch asked, leaning inside the doorway.

"Yah," the younger man replied. "Seems nice enough. Pretty too."

Latch hesitated. "He found us a female pilot?"

Stitcher shot Latch a glance. "Duh. And I'm pretty sure Jyot's already made a pass at her, so get to the cockpit and let her shoot you down too so we can all get that awkward part over with."

Latch stalked forward and tousled Stitcher's hair with his hand. "Y'know kid, for a young'un, you sure are a wiseass."

"Can't really help it, Latch," Stitcher replied. "Not with you and Jyot on board. And especially since I think we're now heavy three Corellians on this rig."

It took a few moments for Latch to make the connection. "Our pilot's Corellian?"

"You're quick," Stitcher said dryly.

Latch hefted a roll of bandages and chucked it at the medic as he exited the medbay.

Alec walked out into the common area and smiled to himself as he approached the small bar area. He poured himself a drink of some Zeltron cabble Juice, it was a blue liquid, highly alcoholic and very expensive. The mercenary would often pour himself a glass and anyone who cared to join him after they got paid for job well done.

The money they got wasn't reasonable for the trouble they went through to get it. Never the less the drink had become somewhat a tradition over the years he worked hunting, so he enjoyed his drink.

A few good things did happen this day and maybe that was worth celebrating, he did actually get paid which was a plus, they found a new female pilot who was unlikely to be pushed away by the horny mechanic and they may have a job with the biggest payday ever.

Still smiling he took his drink and sat down at the main table and decided to contemplate his next steps.

After stowing her gear in her room, Arelyn headed for the refresher, intent on getting a good shower in before the day was out. Bacta worked wonders, but it wasn't exactly her favorite smell. She'd have showered at the clinic, but she didn't like feeling vulnerable out in public.

Finishing up, she dressed quickly into a tank top and black slacks and headed for her turret. Now that she wasn't a walking bruise, she wanted to see exactly how bad her gun emplacement had been hit. Entering the override code for the door, she stood back as it slid open, revealing the inside of her turret. Nothing looked too out of place at first, so Arelyn took a few cautious steps inside. As she neared her seat, the damage to her guns became apparent. The side panels and parts of the ceiling were scored blackish with plasma backwash and a sweetly acrid smell emanated from the machinery below her control yoke. Crouching down, she ran a finger over the fried power couplings and frowned at the black residue that accumulated.

"Bloody pirates," she muttered, placing a foot on the side of her turret's base, then swinging her leg up and over the barrel, straddling it. Reaching up into a recess in the ceiling, she brought down the back-up diagnostic panel and brought it online. This was one of the Scimitar's many little quirks, as the screen for the panel faced away from the gunner's seat, forcing anyone who wished to use it to sit on the gun barrel itself and lean forward to see it. Jyot had promised to rectify that for her at some point, but had never gotten around to it, since it was just the backup panel. She wrinkled her nose at the main panel off to the side; the screen was cracked and half the keys were missing from the instruments.

She clucked her tongue, pulled a hydrospanner out of her pocket and began to tinker.

"Bucking for my job, are you?" Jyot stuck his head up inside Arelyn's turret, and then revealed his recently-purchased replacement console assembly and waggled it in front of her. "If you're going to tinker around with stuff, you might as well make yourself useful and...."

He gave the gunner a quick once-over, his eyes not really lingering on any particular body part, and then frowned slightly. There was something different about her.

"...install... this, say, you change your hair or something?" he asked, looking slightly confused. Then a spark of realization flickered in his eyes and he uttered a slow, "Oh, I know what it is." He nodded in casual approval. "No bruises. It's a good look for you."

Placing the new console on the deck, he gave the damaged one a surveying look next, tutted, then reached up, grabbed it and unceremoniously ripped it out in its entirety. "Not even anything there for spares," he grumbled. His eyes narrowed. "You know, Arelyn, it's a very good thing, a very, very good thing, that you weren't in the turret when this happened. You'd've had a lot more damage than just bruises."

He wiped a finger across the soot on the side of the wall, tutted again, and then swore. "Kriffin' pirates. Just what I wanted to do today--refit power conduit and control panels." He let out a small sigh, then grinned at Arelyn. "Though if you want to assist me I'm sure the job would go twice as... oh." He shut his mouth, then nodded with acknowledgment. "I know that 'look,'" he said pointing a finger at her, his eyes locked on hers. "Seen it twice today already, and... well, not that you don't look stunning when you're getting irritated, but...." He rubbed his chin. "I really don't want to get slapped again today."

He ducked out of the turret. "I'll replace the panel once the crew meeting is over," he called up to her. Then he stuck his head back in. "Oh, you did know there's a crew meeting in the common room, right?"

Yikes! The 'look' again. "Right. 'Course you did." He ducked out again. "I'll save you a seat," he called over his shoulder. "I might need protection from Ali," he murmured quietly to himself.

((occ- Well two impatient people have Pmed me to get this thing going so I’ll do a twenty minuets later and presume everyone is in the common room.))

With everyone Gathered around the large table in the middle of the Common room Alec stood up and picked up his datapad and handed it to Jyot to look at then pass it around.

“Ok I’ll start this off by introducing you guys to our new pilot, She’s Alindra D'Ayarra and from what I hear she’s good. You guys can get to know her later but right now we need to get to business.” Alec begun with a grin. “As you can see I got a message form an acquaintance of mine, An Abyssin that myself, Jyot and Latch had helped out a couple years ago. The message is about a possible bounty. It’s a Jedi Ladies and Gentlemen.”

Alec paused for a second knowing it will cause a stir among the group. “Now I normally wouldn’t trust the Cyclops as far as I could throw him but the chance to get the biggest payday of our lives is an opportunity I’m not willing to let pass me by. But this much money is high risk and as I said I don’t trust our contact, so if anyone wants out, go now.”

Once again Alec paused and waited to see if anyone would leave, he sighed in relief when he noticed no one was going to leave. “Good, We’re going to Bryndar, A backwater rock of ice that is of no importance. It has a small imperial garrison but they are paid off by Hutts who use that world as a safe zone for their employees with bounties on their heads. We’ll land on a small Settlement that use to be used for miners before they abandoned it. There we’ll try to find out a more exact location for the Jedi…. Any Questions?”

"Sure, I got a question," Ali said. "Have you ever seen a Jedi in action? Because I have... and when they're expecting something, which you gotta assume most Jedi these days are, it's damn near impossible to get near them... let alone capture one. So do you have a plan for this? Way I see it, you're gonna need one hell of a plan to pull this off..."

From where he was flitting around the chairs, Zip spoke up, "Undesignated Bounty Alindra D'Ayarra, we are professional bounty hunters. And while you may be immune to my hypnocane darts, surely the percentage of beings in the galaxy who can withstand a dosage of the tranquilizer such as you did is very small."

"Hypnocane would only slow a Jedi down a little," Ali countered, glaring icily at the droid. She looked around at the rest of the crew. "How much do any of you know about Jedi?"

"I can't believe ol' Squinty Eyes wouldn't try and go after this bounty himself if the payoff is as big as you say it is," Latch spoke up from inside the doorway to the main corridor. "Though I suppose if it's a Jedi we're talking about, even he probably couldn't grow back what would get cut off."

"How much do any of you know about Jedi?"

"Admittedly, not very much, Miss D'Ayarra," he responded easily. "But they don't know very much about any of us." He smiled and cracked a few knuckles.

Ali rolled her eyes. "Smartass," she muttered. "Real big advantage that gives us. We got what, two gunners, a medic, a mechanic, captain, fighter pilot, and me? Oh, right and some hypnocane-happy droid. Against one Jedi." She shook her head. "I'm not satisfied. Planning's important. Jedi'll get away... or worse if we don't have a good plan."

Latch laughed and shook his head, sending long black hair waving around. Stalking up next to Alec, he threw a hand over his captain's shoulders and turned to look at Ali. "I can see Alec has been neglectful in his duties," Latch said, smiling. "He didn't tell you anything specific about any of us, did he?" He pointed to the datapad that was being passed around. "Nothing beyond what's on that.

"Let me give you the 'real' rundown of who we are." Latch reached over with his free hand to cup Alec's chin. "Our intrepid captain may not look like much, but behind this stubbly exterior lies on of the keenest tracking minds in the Galaxy. Don't believe me? We were in the in Wild Space once and he found me a restaurant that cooked braised nerf filets when I had an absolute hankering for some." He grinned at the betrayed look on Alec's face and laughed again. "If that isn't genius, I don't know what is."

Latch pointed at the Headhunter pilot lounging in one of the chairs around the projector. "Kuun over there is a crack shot, almost as good as I am."

The silver-haired pilot snorted. "You mean 'better than you are', Latch," he said.

"Mmmhm, sure," Latch replied demurely. Turning back to Ali, he said, "I don't think Jedi are trained to dodge sniper shots and Kuun is one of the best I've seen." He held up three fingers. "Not to mention that Kuun isn't going to be the only one shooting. I'm pretty decent myself and our other resident female," he gestured over to Arelyn, "could shoot a tick off a Dug's nose. When she's not blowing up her turret, that is." Latch glanced over at the Mistryl as he said this and sure enough, she was staring at him hard enough for him to feel holes being burned into his skull. He shrugged off that uncomfortable feeling and continued on. "She also wrestled a Togorian down to the ground with her bare hands and held him there long enough for me to incapacitate him." He nodded at Arelyn, who seemed just a bit more appeased at his compliment. "Not an easy thing to do."

Latch strolled over to Jyot and threw his arm around the mechanic's shoulders. "Jyot here you already know, so we'll just skip him," he said, throwing an apologetic look to his friend and ignoring the elbow thrown into his ribs. "As for myself, I'm ex-CorSec, so I know a thing or two about apprehending tough collars. Haven't notched a Jedi in my belt just yet, but there's a first time for everything."

He looked over at the young medic. "And if all that's not enough to convince you, Ali, then just know that whenever we capture a successful bounty, Stitcher here cooks us up some mighty fine Karkan ribenes, complete with Corellian seed poppers." He shot Stitcher a grin. "Oh and he's a pretty good medic too."

Turning back to Ali, he flattened out his grin and addressed her in a serious tone. "We know what we're doing, Ali. Believe me, we don't go into things half-arsed. You signed up to fly with us, so give us at least some credit and time to prove to you what we can do. How about it?"

((Well the forum deleted my last post so I hope I remember what I typed.))

“What my Cocky Gunner is trying to say in his own special way is.” Alec tried to translate the point from Latch’s defensive rant. “We’re Professionals and we’ve been doing this a while and we are pretty good at it.”

Alec took back the Datapad and placed it on the table. “Chances are this will turn out to be a wild Mynock Chase, but I think it’s worth the Punt to go to Bryndar and check out the Information on this Jedi.”

Arelyn had to grin just a little bit at Latch's antics. Her fellow gunner did have a certain bit of rogueish charm about him, she admitted to herself. Too bad he spent most of his time around her being obnoxious. Same went for Jyot... She straightened up as a thought struck her.

Picking her way over to where Ali sat, she took the seat next to the pilot. "Arelyn K'zanthis," she said by way of greeting, extending her hand. Ali shook it and Arelyn took a seat next to her. "Nice to finally have another female on the ship."

Jyot's eyes widened with horror as Arelyn sat down and introduced herself to Ali. "Oh, no," he remarked under his breath. He leaned in closer to Latch. "They're making an alliance," he quietly commented about the two women. "I've got a feeling we'll need the cold weather gear long before we get to Bryndar...."

Clearing his throat, he turned to Alec and said, "Right. Bryndar. Ice planet." He cracked his knuckles. "So...," He wiggled his eyebrows. "That means we get to test out the skids I made for the speeder, right? I mean, if we don't find our Jedi, we can at least get some winter recreation in, yeah?"

"Why is it wherever we go you always find a way to turn it in to a holiday?" Alec asked annoyed. "I mean there's a time 'n place Jyot and that planet is neither, Hell without the right equipment your Lungs could freeze from just breathing in."

He looked over at Aly and smiled. "Let's get the hell off this rock and go to a whole new frosty one."

"Hey!" Jyot held out his arms in surrender as he backed off down the corridor to engineering. "What can I say? Just trying to have a good time at work, Alec. You know, job satisfaction and all that. And I do have a couple of thermal re-breathers, in case you've forgotten. Traded those..." He paused, not sure if Alec remembered that he had traded a pair of thermo-couplings for the re-breathers a year or so back. "Those, erm... those useless spares that were cluttering up the back storage area for.... Erm, nevermind."

He noticed the smile that Alec gave Ali, and his eyes narrowed a bit. "Frosty indeed," he murmured, and then turned and walked into engineering. He still had to fix the rest of Arelyn's turret, but more urgently the engines needed to be prepped for take-off.

"Arelyn K'zanthis," she said by way of greeting, extending her hand. Ali shook it and Arelyn took a seat next to her. "Nice to finally have another female on the ship."


"I completely understand the sentiment," Ali replied. Leaning forward conspiratorially, she went on, "I just got off a two month job with nothing but drunks and losers, all men, for crew." She rolled her eyes and gestured toward Jyot. "Even that, while not wholly desirable was much more appealing than another..." She shook her head, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Ali listened to the brief bits of chit chat that began popping up and then her attention was directed to the captain, who seemed to be interested in leaving as soon as possible. That suited Ali just fine. She stood and headed for the cockpit just as Jyot was trying to sidestep the fact that he'd traded something they may have needed for equipment to be used for a fun time in the cold.

"He sold something important, didn't he?" she inquired, leaning in the doorway of the common room. She shook her head in partial amusement. "Idiot."

She danced away into the cockpit, but in only a few seconds, she poked her head back into the common room.

"Oh, and Arelyn?" she said. A grin. "Call me Ali."

Then, she bounded into the cockpit, ready for the signal that all was powered on and ready.

In engineering, Jyot was going through his datapad checklist in preparation for take-off.

"Hyperdrive manifold?" One of the maintenance panels removed, he peered inside it. "Why did he have to hire Ali of all people...?" He made a small adjustment, then closed the panel door and made a tick on his datapad.

"Aluvial dampers?" He opened up another panel and began to poke around. "As soon as we get into hyperspace," he continued to mutter to himself, "she'll find me and then probably ream my Corellian butt for not...." Something caught his attention to cause him to pause. He checked something else, did a small adjustment with his hydrospanner, and then made another tick on his datapad. "I mean, it's not my fault that I lost contact with her. After all, I've been busy." He closed the panel and moved on to the next one.

"Horizontal boosters?" He lifted a panel on the deck, then dipped his head down inside it. "Why is it always the guy's responsibility to call the girl, huh? She could have called me, right? It's not like Cloud City is out of reach of communications." He made another tick on his datapad, then closed the panel on the floor and moved to another one.

"Inertial compensator." Jyot let out a sigh. The inertial compensator was something that required adjustment--and the adjustment had to be to the pilot's liking. Right now it was sitting at 97%, which had given Nasai just enough feeling of acceleration for him to feel how the ship was performing, but without letting the crew feel the G-forces. But knowing that Ali had been a more risky type pilot when he had known her, Jyot figured that she would prefer a slightly lower setting so she could more easily sense the ship's movements and feel 'closer' to the ship. "Probably want 95 or something," he complained. "Kriffin' pilots and their quirks...."

Jyot pressed his comlink, linking him to the ship's bridge. "Jyot here. Hey, can someone up there tell me what our 'new pilot' wants as her IC setting? After that's done, we'll be ready to bug out of here."

"She can tell you herself," Ali's voice answered on the intercom, with a hint of annoyance. On the bridge, she rolled her eyes. Was he that uneasy about her that he asked others to communicate her answer? She thought about that for a moment before saying, "Set it to 95, Tyrell. That'll do fine."

Latch stepped into engineering just in time to hear the last few snippets of the conversation between Jyot and Ali. As the mechanic shut off his comlink with an angry twist, Latch crossed his arms and leaned up against the doorpost. "I can see you and our newest pilot are getting on rather well," he remarked facetiously to his friend.

Jyot shot Latch an irritable look before turning back to his controls. "Oh yes, absolutely splendid. Couldn't be better."

The raven-haired gunner chuckled. "So this is why you've been in such a rosy mood." He cocked his head to the side. "I know your ex-relationships tend to go nova, but she seems to really despise you. What'd you do?"