3:10 to Port Pixelito

[Varn Badaash]

Port Pixellito

A large dark grey alien wearing the armor and uniform of an Antarian Ranger marched onto the loading platform of the station. This fine specimen was flanked by about half a dozen other members of the Rangers. He approached the lead Ranger who had been part of the train crew and was still standing watch at the cargo door. “Ranger Dalleth,” the alien spoke, his voice deep and gravelly.

The Ranger looked up and quickly straightened up. “Ranger Captain! Is there something you require?” His voice was full of exhaustion from the past few hours.

“Simply tell me where the device is,” the alien replied. “We were supposed to meet with Mrs. Patercleign to receive it and give it one last diagnostics.”

The individual eyes widened a bit. “Mrs. Patercleign just signed it out and started that way.” The man pointed towards the open blast doors, the large package could still be see hovering down the hall.

“Thank you Ranger,” the Captain spoke again before briskly turning and following after the ‘Mrs. Patercleign’. “Strange, she seemed like a woman of protocol when we talked to her last night.” A Bothan said stepping up next to the larger alien.

“Indeed,” he retorted. It didn’t take long for the squad to catch up with the slower moving package and its escorting uniformed woman.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Patercleign,” the Ranger Captain spoke as a heavy clawed hand set down on her shoulder. “I’m Ranger Captain Badaash, we spoke last night.” He gave her the closest thing his lamprey-like mouth could muster to a human smile. “I know the Alliance wishes to get this off world quickly but there was an incident involving Sith aboard the train. Our techs need to give the device a thorough diagnostics, would hate for it to explode as you broke atmosphere.”

One of the other Rangers was already taking hold of the repulser sleds controls and directing the cargo to the side of the hall. “It will only take a moment then we can escort you to the Alliance vessel.” The mountain of a Dashade stood looking down at the human female with his cold coal-like eyes doing his best to be warm and welcoming, something his appearance and demeanor rarely aided in.

[Kressara Thryn]

"Oh! Sweet stars!" Mrs. Patercleign yipped as a clawed appendage cupped the entirety of her dainty little shoulder, and spun around so quickly that it displaced her glasses. The specs unhooked from one of her pearl dotted ears and hung awkwardly off the other, to which she squinted and hurriedly corrected the disheveled optics. Once back on the bridge of her finely pointed nose, the startled courier glanced up...and up...and up.

"I’m Ranger Captain Badaash, we spoke last night.” The mountainlike ranger couldn't help but to literally speak down to the girl, who was after all, only 5 foot and some inches. At the mention of his title and position, she visibly calmed and placed a hand over her chest with an embarrassed smile.

"Please forgive me, Captain Badaash! I've been so on edge after hearing that awful business on the train! I was afraid you were one of those…" She gulped hard, as if the words were clinging to the back of her throat before whispering, "...Sith." Afterwards she looked behind the ranger captain and his party towards the train, something of a fearful look in her eyes. "The director asked us not to speak too much on the matter, or to keep the package in sight of the general public for long. He's very worried what rumors might do for business, or worse, that they'll come here! Could you imagine?"

She collected herself and gave a signal for the crew of the 5C lane ship to wait, then listened to everything the Dashade had to say all the while smiling up at him with the sweetest, gentlest, most genuine warmth radiating from her expression.

"Oh! Yes! Yes of course! Please do inspect it. I must apologize again, captain. In his haste to move the parcel and avoid any ill happenings at this station, Mr. Bernalus opted to load the...you know...onto the ship if the delay in it's arrival threw off the timing of your inspection. Also, there's been a change in plans given the latest happenings. This request came directly from overhead and the legal work was drawn up just now. I have copies on my data pad here for you to look over if you need to. The station's head of operations is also on call to answer any of your questions regarding the changes, as is the supervisor for the commercial hangar who spoke directly to an Alliance official at the time of the request." Oh how she rambled! She was rather sweet at least.

Mrs. Patercleign, the soft spoken courier with the mild manners of a bed and breakfast desk clerk scooted to the captain's side and stood arm by arm with him to show the screen of her datapad, which she tapped at to open up a new trade agreement between the station and her representative trade ship.

"Here you'll see the old orders in which the parcel was destined for an alliance ship in slot 7G, which are obsolete now after new orders came in requesting that the parcel be discreetly placed upon the unmarked ship in 5C. Reason being that it is highly unlikely those wiley miscreants will give up on their rotten plans so easily. If there are informants then it's likely that the original ship's identity is compromised, and a second attack could result in catastrophic failure. So now once it clears your inspection, and I really must implore that you hurry, the parcel is to be loaded onto that ship right there. It's captain and crew are one of our most trusted. They have sworn to deliver it post haste, with caution, and great defense at their disposal." She flicked open a second, then a third, then a fourth document all official in appearance. "Here are the legal statements, signatures, and permissions. Would you like me to put you in touch with our supervisor, or the head of operations? If I do though, I must ask that you try and act casual if anyone passes. I'm instructed to maintain a facade of calm and normalcy over the hangar floor if possible, sir."

Now, you do remember when Mrs. Patercleign...or rather, Kressara, motioned for the crew of her ship to wait patiently while inspections went underway? Well, you shouldn't. It was merely a hand gesture, nothing more. The crew groaned and some tapped their feet impatiently while others climbed aboard and prepared to take off as soon as possible. Typical of a freighter with places to be and money on the line for their tardiness. Nothing unusual at all. Lorcan Alascer stepped into the loading bay of the ship and tapped his earpiece, connecting it to a private channel before speaking in code.

"The fuel tanks are clean."

To which only a momentary buzz of feedback prickled his pointed ears. Good. The message was received. In the central control room of the station, a couple floors above the hangar in which Kressara was working under the guise of Mrs. Patercleign, two thuggish types were sitting by the panels with their eyes trained on the monitors and the doors locked behind them. One of them looked to the other and stated, "We got the code to call in. Make it look official." and the other nodded. Behind them a host of staff were piled against one another, knocked out cold with needle pricks on their necks and arms. Empty cartridges of heavy sedatives lay scattered about the control room floor. The two individuals not currently drooling all over their own chests were waiting, placed there by Kressara in the event that a wrench got thrown into her plans. On Lorcan's signal, they were to call in directly to Kressara's datapad and impersonate the officials who they incapacitated.

Back down in the commercial hangar...the device in Mrs. Patercleign's hands beeped urgently.


"Oh! Well, never mind. They must be seeing the security footage. That's the station head of operations now!" Her finger mashed the button that put their voices through over the digipad. "Yes, hello Mr. Bernalus! This is courier Patercleign here with Captain Badaash. They're inspecting the package now sir, and operations are to proceed as approved by the board and the Alliance officials this morning, on the captain's command."

Mr. Bernalus from the head office, addressed the captain directly.

"Forgive mrs. Patercleign. She's no doubt chattered your ear off. I'm sure she showed you the new documents regarding the switch. I'm not permitted all the information the alliance has on the matter, but it was made very clear that my job is on the line if that "package" gets on it's originally intended ship. The armored transport in 5C is the best our port has to offer. With both ships leaving, the chances of a second attack on the correct ship are reduced drastically. Do you have any questions or concerns, captain? I apologize for the unexpected turn of events. This delivery has brought nothing but trouble with it wherever it goes, sir."

"Those beasts." Mrs. Patercleign shook her head in disapproval.

[Varn Badaash]

Three of the Rangers following the large Dashade stepped over to the package and opened it up. Quickly they unholstered their scanners and datapads and began doing their tests. One was removing a panel on the side of the device and examining the interior while the others walked around the circumference with their devices.

The young woman talked and talked while Varn patiently waited, he cared little for the Alliance’s bureaucratic nonsense. However there was a ripple in the Bothans fur as he stood next to the two and glanced at the datapad the woman was showing the Captain. As the call came in the Bothan turned and stepped over to the asset and began talking with the techs.

“I understand the haste and caution you are putting into this delivery Mr. Bernalus,” Varn replied, a hint of frustration in his gravelly voice. “We are also trying to limit the trouble this package could cause, would be problematic if you lost this trusted crew due to moving to hastily and it going off while in hyperspace.” He didn’t see why they were trying to sell him on the urgency of the matter, as a Ranger he knew better the dangers of a situation involving the Sith. “We will just be a moment and then we will make sure it’s safely secured aboard the vessel.” There was an undertone that at the very least Mrs. Patercleign would pick up on that the Ranger would not take no for an answer.

“Captain Badaash, package checks out, one of the main cores is slightly cracked though according to our reports it was already in that condition,” the Bothan spoke as he stepped back over, his fingers dancing across his datapad. “There is also a small radiation leak, acceptable levels, as long as the transport crew doesn’t sit next to it the whole flight they should be fine.”

“Thank you Lunter,” Varn replied. “Hear that Mr. Bernalus, it’s cleared for transport, we will secure it into the ships hold now.” His dark eyes looked back to a Wookiee and Weequay duo who currently stood watch. “Ranger Wrutukk and Glosa, head up to the hanger control room and keep an eye on thing from there.” The large alien turned to Mrs. Patercleign and motioned her forward. “Please lead the way ma’am.”

The Rangers finished closing up the package as the woman took the lead again. Lunter stepped up to Captain Badaash and flashed him his datapad.

Their trying to sell this to hard. May not be looking to dismantle bomb.

The message quickly vanished. “I’ll send the report on the devices status to the General as we load up the package,” Lunter spoke, his thick Bothese accent sometimes difficult to understand.

“Just glad things seem to be in order,” Varn replied, his dark eyes glancing up at the back of Mrs. Patercleign. He then stepped up as they approached the freighter crew. “Looks like you get the special delivery job, tell us where you want it loaded and we’ll make sure it’s all secured and won’t cause you any trouble.”

The Weequay and her Wookiee partner stepped over to the turbo-lift that shot straight up the the command center. A quick command on the terminal and the door slid open and the two stepped inside. A moment later and it was hurtling itself upwards.

[Zechs Merquise]

Zechs always found it funny how no one in the Alliance ever questioned why his YT was dubbed The Deceiver. Then the Empire had looked the other way at a shuttle dubbed Rogue One. Idiots. They were a plenty and everywhere. At least he had a good seat.

The cargo hold was as empty as normal. It wasn’t like hauling things was his normal gig. The old YT was just his “low key” way of getting around when the raw sex appeal and majesty of a Lambda Shuttle would hear things up too much. It was only natural. There was no grander way to travel in privacy and comfort. Homey and yet it could dance. The YT… It could move to a beat.

The area was secure or as secure as any could be. His private detail of droids had all come along save a pilot droid and medical droid who were attached in more ways than one to his shuttle. The security droids were doing what they did best: securing. Not that Zechs didn’t trust the locals or whatever uniform was securing the locale. He just could use a little bit more of the impartial and focused kind. The droid kind. Steady and reliable with only a memory wipe away to restore that balance.

He had always expected his cargo to come in hot or in a rush. It meant it was best to keep the engines on standby, the hold bay doors open, and ample firearms not too far from the cockpit. Though he was never a fan of dull designations as pad 7G. It did roll off the tongue better than “Land Pad Green Fern.”

Still, Zechs waited. And waited. The droids secured. And secured. The only thing missing was whatever fun item he was here for, and to a lesser man, it would have well gone past annoying. It didn’t too much him. He might have purposely skipped over what the what he'd be hauling part of the briefing (and focused more on the time). It made it more of a mystery. Gave a little excitement to what could be a dull bus run. Not that driving younglings around the stars was easy. It was hell. They really didn’t pay those people enough.

Zechs wondered if he had time for a snack. After it, he was going to start making some calls. The wait was starting to get to him.

[Kressara Thryn]

Mrs. Patercleign didn't let her smile falter for so much as a warp speed second. It was all nods and amiable responses. Not one time did her eyes drift away from the captain. Her focus on him was nothing short of a professional, no tells to speak of for her growing anxiety. It was all just part of the game, after all. Kressara was an actress if ever there was one and she played her part well, trusting her associates to read signals so subtle, it's as if they needed nothing but shared breathing space to communicate. They were more than just a band of mercenaries. They were Kressara's people, and the sixth sense like bonds they shared through their collective use of glitterstim and performance enhancing drugs gave them an edge few others could boast without extensive training. Unfortunately, extensive training would have helped.

"Wonderful! I will make sure no one naps on the package, sir." Her chipper little voice piped up with a chuckle at her horribly executed joke. "Right this way!"

Lorcan stepped into view of the boarding party, taking note that a couple of rangers were splitting from the group. Cyberoptic blues darted from the control room bound pair to an underling passing by. His accented voice took an accusatory tone and a gloved hand caught the lower ranked "crewman" by the shoulder.

"Crewman Daniels!" He glowered and the young man froze. Lorcan continued, "You made a mess of the intake valves on your rounds. We were supposed to take off negative TWO HOURS AGO! Get out there, crewman, and fix it! Now!...And get that stain off of your coat!"

You might be thinking, "Jee, Lorcan seems like a nasty tempered individual." but that was just his role for the mission. In actuality the man, tall enough to look their alien visitor square in the eye and just inhuman enough to make for an interesting face, was a father of two, ex-junky with a colorful history and not a drop of guile in him. Still, at his fierce scolding the underling rushed off to correct his mistake, but first to tidy the stain on his flight jacket in the bathrooms just down the hall outside the hangar...well, that's what he was pretending to do. The underling was actually following a cue and retreating from his false embarrassment so as to offer backup to his comrades in the control room. After escaping into the hall, he changed his story. Now, he was to "retrieve a flight manifesto on a secure data chip from the control room for the rerouting of the ship in 5C to their Alliance ordered destination." if any questions were asked.

He followed casually behind the rangers until they keyed in commands to the lift, which he hurriedly flagged them down before boarding as well.

"Thank you!" He nodded to each and let the elevator doors shut.

Meanwhile, their eyes in the control room were beginning to panic. The larger of the two sputtered curses to the smaller, who hastily cut power to the turbolift. Inside the cramped location, the lights flickered and the progression of the lift halted.

"Ugh, not again. This lift has been shorting out all morning. They'll have it fixed in a few seconds. They better be careful, or they'll get cited for a mismanaged commercial station at this rate." The Crewman between both momentarily halted rangers sighed heavily and checked the time.

Two floors above the unmoving lift, a couple of freshly disguised men were piling unconscious bodies into a crawl space beneath the floor panels primarily used for air quality maintenance. Within moments they were all tucked away and the flooring was laid back down pretty as you please. Now in uniform, the taller of the two adjusted his new name plate and returned power to the lift. The whirring mechanism came to life again and delivered the ranger's plus one crewman into the control room after a momentary inconvenience.

"Ah! Sorry about the lift. We have mechanics scheduled to repair it after the commotion dies down. I am Bernalus, head of operations!"


In the cargo bay of 5C's unmarked ship…


"Right over there. It shouldn't irradiate any of the perishable products if you place it in the back of the hold." Mrs. Patercleign directed the rangers and stood proudly before the Dashade captain.

"Our crew will safely and discreetly handle the package, and protect it with our lives if need be. I will be shadowing in my personal ship for added measure. It was a pleasure meeting you, Captain Badaash. Could I be so bold as to ask for an escort to my ship?" Lovely eyes and silvery lashes batted up at him. The sooner she got those rangers away from the transport, the better. An impatient man was waiting on the correct ship, and it wouldn't do her any good to deal with him as well. With all hope, he would wait patiently until her heist was at least airborne.

[Varn Badaash]

Ranger Wrutukk and Glosa stepped into the elevator and were quickly followed by one of the ships crew. The Wookiee grumbled lightly but they allowed him entrance and began their ascent. When the lift halted the lights flickered Ranger Wrutukk let out several more growls.

“I know Wrut,” the Weequay Ranger replied. “This fine gentleman said it’ll be up and running in no time.” She glanced back towards the crewman. “Sorry, she doesn’t like being in tight spaces for to long, liable to rip someone’s arms off, I’m just glad they probably won’t be mine.” She gave the crewman a mischievous smile.

Luckily for said crewman he was right and after several minutes the lift was rising again. The door slid open and the two Rangers stepped inside. Wrut’s nose twitched and she left out a few barks and growls.

The Weequay nodded and then spoke, “Ranger Wrutukk and I bid you greetings Chief Bernalus. Sorry about my partner, she’d rather be where the action is.” He brown eyes glanced around the room, there were stations for four yet only two currently were working and no droids. “Hopefully everything will go smoothly and then we’ll be out fo your hair.” She gave the operations chief a warm smile. “Best get what you need, wouldn’t want to delay your departure longer,” she said turning towards the crewman as Wrut stepped over towards the viewport, her eyes darting around as she walked.

Meanwhile on the hanger floor Varn stepped out of the hold with Mrs. Patercleign as the techs secured the package. Lunter did a walk around the hold to make sure there were no issues or by chance trackers that a Sith may have placed before he stepped over to the techs. They stabilized the repulser sled and anchored it in place to make sure there would be no dangers while in transit. Lunter took a datachip from the techs and approached Captain Lorcan.

“Captain, here are the codes to the packages repulser sled,” the Bothan spoke, a hint of concern in his voice. “That’ll make sure no one is able to move it without going through you first.” With that the Bothan turned and headed down the ramp to join Captain Badaash and the rest of the Rangers who had exited.

“Of course Mrs. Patercleign,” Varn responded to her. “We’ll gladly escort you back to your ship.” He glanced over as Lunter approached, the Bothans fur rippling several times. “Everything secure Lunter?”

“Everything is in place, Captain, the ship is free to depart.”

“Good,” the large Dashade nodded. “The Mrs Patercleign, join us up in the command center as we had discussed last night, once the ship breaks atmosphere we’ll escort you to your vessel and you can give chase.” With that, Ranger Badaash motioned for the woman to walk with him as the rest of the Rangers moved into flanking positions behind the two.

[Zechs Merquise]

Zechs sat down on the bare floor in the empty cargo hold of his YT and took a bite out of a slightly bitter ration with a nutty aftertaste. He rested his free hand on his knee, while looking out onto one of the most boring things he could imagine: commerce not involving him, he began to wonder if he was in the wrong place, wrong time, or wrong mind. There was a chance they said something that sounded like 7G but not 7G. As he took another bite, he came to the simple conclusion that, well, that might be a problem.

[Kressara Thryn]

"Oh…" The crewman sandwiched between both rangers in the cramped elevator wasn't nervous before, but he sure was now. He offered the wookie a please don't rip my arms off and use them to bludgeon me to death smile, then kept his eyes forward with a prayer that his buddies up top would hurry like his life depended on it. The lights blinked on and the elevator pulled upwards again. Their fellow passenger let out a weighted sigh and chuckled in relief. "Oh blessed stars! See now, that wasn't so bad? Lovely riding with you folks." When the doors opened, he excused himself by stepping to the far end of the room and waiting patiently for his "superiors" to address the rangers first.

"Welcome! Please, feel free to make yourself comfortable. Would you care for coffee?" Bernalus nodded to his partner who in turn, moved over to a caf machine and started brewing a dark roast in case the rangers cared to have any. Of course, neither imposters really gave a swamp rat's tail if they wanted coffee or not. What they DID care about though was the fact that one of those officers was keen of smell. The strength of the wafting coffee steam began to flood the compartment, masking, covering, melding, and sweetening the air. Bernalus motioned towards the dashboard and out the massive glass panes to the transit below. "While our elevator may be on the fritz, everything else in our port is ship shape! We're just finishing up preparations now."

Until then, the crewman was silently waiting in the corner when once more he was addressed.
"Oh! Yes...of course. Sorry." He blurted, still obviously unnerved by the wookie in their midst and attempting to be on his best behavior. "Requesting the updated manifesto and coordinates for the ship in slot 5C, sir."

Bernalus waved his hand and corked a brow at the crewman before fetching the data chip. "Here you are. Deliver this to your captain directly and don't doddle. It's high time we got that accident waiting to happen out of my port!" With that, the shaken sailor retreated down the lift, then could be seen scurrying off to the safety of his ship with the documents.

"Jittery little man, wasn't he?" The chief remarked.


In the hull of Lorcan's unmarked transport…

The captain received the codes with a curt nod and eyed the bomb before making eye contact with the Bothan.

"And I'd like to see someone try. Your cargo will arrive safely to its destination. You have my word on that." And he meant it. He just knew the destination wasn't the same location the rangers had in mind.

Mrs. Patercleign graciously agreed to follow them into the control room, her shoulders visibly softening once the dashade assured her that she wouldn't be walking to her ship alone afterwards. "Of course! I'll feel much better with you about. I'm not exactly a mountain of muscle." She snickered, implying that Ranger Baadash was rather strapping himself. With her escort to lead her, the rangers and the dainty young woman traveled the hangar and made their way up the lift towards the control room. When the doors opened to reveal her companions in disguise, Mrs. Patercleign stepped into the room and stood between her associates and the rangers with her eyes on the window...reflections of the rangers behind her could be faintly seen against the panes as she fiddled with the stainless metal bands on her clasped together fingers.

"Mr. Bernalus! Ready to depart sir." She said with some excitement in her tone and the flight commenced. With a few calls and a couple mashed buttons, the ship in 5C ignited it's thrusters and lifted from pad. Kressara watched and thought hard on her right hand at the helm. Lorcan was competent, perhaps even more so than herself. Actually...definitely more so than herself. He'd be absolutely fine. Now it was her job to get out unscathed and undetected. The ship broke out of the port's vicinity and into open space where a couple of unmentioned ghost ships were sailing parallel routes to offer backup outside of range even from their own scanners, following predestined and inconspicuous paths through the stars.

Bernalus clapped his hands together and his partner took a sip of his piping hot coffee.

"There she goes! Well ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for trusting our station with your transportation needs. Godspeed and good luck."

The flaxen dame with the shy smile beamed up at Ranger Badaash, then to the rangers behind her and exclaimed, "Upward and onward! This is so exciting. I've never been part of something so important before. It's truly thrilling...are the rangers taking applications?"

[Varn Badaash]

As the lift doors slid open and the Rangers with Mrs. Patercleign stepped, several took guard positions at the doors while Varn stepped up towards the view port with the woman and the control officers. The Bothan made his way over to the Weequay and Wookiee and spoke in hushed tones for a few moments while waiting for the ship to begin its take off procedure. Varn let a bit of a snort escape his nostrils at the strong smell of coffee filling the air, he’d never been a big fan of the dark liquid. His coal like eyes watched through the view port as the ship made its exit and waited till the engines glow was out sight.

Lunter stepped away from the two he was conversing with and returned to the Dashades side. He whispered quietly in the larger aliens ear. “We have signs of drug use in here.”

Varn nodded in reply before turning his attention to Mrs. Patercleign as she expressed her excitement. “The Rangers are always looking for new talent, if one can pass the grueling training. However before we depart I believe there is one final thing to oversee.” He paused as he turned towards the two officers. “Mr. Bernalus, you and your subordinate are under arrest. Drug use on duty is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated on such high priority operations.” The Rangers guarding the entrances lifted their weapons while two tapped forward with restraints. “As for you Mrs. Patercleign, you will be subject to a drug test as well, it should be noted that there have been far to many inconstancies from our previous interactions, please do not resist, if you pass then we shall take you to your vessel and all will proceed according to what ever your plan is with Alliance command.”

Lunter stepped over to the two who had originally been in the room. “Sweep the place, check every corner.”

[Zechs Merquise]

Waiting. It got old quick. Zechs grabbed a sword from his armory, snapped on the wrist toys, and threw on a heavier coat. Down the ramp of the YT he went to find someone who might know exactly what was taking so long. He had been told 7G. He had been waiting in 7G. 7G was boring.

Zechs nudged a man in the dock. "Get on comms with whatever you have to. Find out where the cargo destined for 7G is and do please inform whoever has it that the Alliance pilot is growing impatient."

Under the massive hull of his not that really massive YT, Zechs began to pace as he awaited answers. He was going to find out where this cargo was. He was going to track it down himself if he had to. Then he was going to give someone his two credits worth of thoughts. One way or another, a simple fact reigned over them all.

The waiting game was over.