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Cold Storage By: Shalmendo © 2017 For: Doran Eirok

Iri popped the hatch of his custom Y-wing open and vaulted over the side and onto the hangar floor. He ran his fingers through his short-cropped grey hair and shook it out a bit before going to release Katie from the droid socket behind the cockpit. Katie twittered as the lift lowered her and wheeled herself out to do her customary little circular wheel-around like she was stretching her treads. Iri patted the Astromech on the head and stretched himself, doing a few limbering exercises he liked to do after a long flight. The exercises helped clear his head and stretch his muscles, along with getting his blood flow going and easing any soreness from being stuck in the seat for the duration of the flight. He sighed as he rolled his shoulders.

Katie twittered a question.

Iri smiled, "Yeah we'll find out what the Lieutenant wants."

A flight officer approached with a datapad in hand, "Iri Keltesh?"

Iri nodded.

The office smiled, "Good, good...just sign here please. Did you need any maintenance or fuel?"

Iri nodded as he took the datapad and applied his digital signature to it, "Yes, please. A quick once over and a refuel would be great. I could use a refuel too!" Iri laughed softly.

The officer chuckled, "You'll be wanting to try the canteen then, Mr. Keltesh." He took the datapad back as Iri handed it to him. "You're all set, then."

Iri nodded and motioned to Katie. They both made their way through one of the doorways as a pair of flight techs got to work checking out the Y-wing and refueling it.

Katie blipped a question.

Iri shook his head, "Nah, I know your diagnostics came out fine, but I just want to take the precaution of having a couple of techs look at it too. No harm in letting an extra couple pairs of eyes give it a once over just in case."

Katie blatted.

Iri snickered, "Of course I trust you, silly girl. There's nothing they can do that you can't. In fact, it's probably the other way around! You can do a few things -they- can't." He patted Katie's dome.

The pair worked their way through hallways and took a lift to one of the higher levels, finally coming to the office of Lt. Bendis Rayne, who had sent Iri a message that he had a contract opportunity. Iri poked the door panel to buzz the Lt. and a few moments later the door opened into the tidy office of the New Republic officer.

Lt. Rayne looked up as he put a datapad aside, "Ah, Mr. Keltesh. Thank you for coming. I hope I didn't interrupt anything lucrative."

Iri shook his head as he and Katie entered and Iri sat down in a seat across the desk from the human officer, "Nah. If anything it was a good excuse to get away! There were a couple of scavengers that had been looking at Katie a little too closely. But anyway, what is it you wanted to see me about? You didn't give me any clues in your message."

Lt. Rayne nodded, "I thought you might want to hear about this yourself in person. You recall that memory core you retrieved from a derelict on Hoth?"

Iri shuddered a bit, but nodded, "Yeaahh...that was...kind of a rough job."

Lt. Rayne nodded understandingly, "Yes. I'm still sorry about what happened, but it is a part of the risk of being a freelancer. At any rate, I've got a contract opportunity for you." He slid a datapad over to Iri to look at.

Iri took it and glanced it over.

Lt. Rayne continued, "The data on that memory core was quite significant and our computer technicians were able to recover some very interesting tidbits from it. It seems some of the officers on board the destroyer were involved in some kind of project. We're not sure of the details as there were only a few tantalizing clues in the core you retrieved, but it stands to reason that other cores on the destroyer would contain further pieces of data we could use to reconstruct it. "

Iri looked up at Lt. Rayne, "Uh...so you want me to go back, huh?"

Lt Rayne nodded, "Yes. Since you delivered the initial core, I thought it was only fair that I offered you this contract first. You went through a lot to get it, and considering how interesting the contents are, the New Republic would like to attain more. If you're not interested, I understand. We can always source out another freelancer if you'd prefer not to return there. I wouldn't blame you considering the events that transpired there last time for you."

Iri chewed his lower lip a bit, "Well....I guess I am somewhat familiar with the destroyer, and I think Katie still has the map she pieced together..."

Katie twittered a little bit at Iri's side.

Iri glanced down at her and patted her dome again, "You really think so? Hmm.." He returned his attention to Lt. Rayne, "What uh...what kind of terms are you offering here?" Iri shrugged, "I should at least find that out, right?"

Lt. Rayne smiled a bit, "Of course. We're offering an open 'bounty', if you will, of 2,000 credits per core recovered from the destroyer with no upper limit. The integrity of the data isn't important, and the cores don't have to be in working order, just salvageable. Our technicians have good equipment so they should be able to retrieve bits of data from individual memory addresses even if the rest of the core is burnt out. We do have a deadline of six weeks, so if you do accept it you might want to get out to it right away." Lt. Rayne shook his head, "I wish it was a bit longer, but with all the red tape involved, my superiors aren't willing to let this run longer than that." He motioned up to the ceiling in a general gesture.

Iri leaned back thoughtfully in the chair, "2k per core...That could add up to a hefty payment if I got even just 5..."

Katie blipped a comment.

Iri glanced down to the droid, "Really? hmm...I don't know." he looked back to the officer. "Even if I wasn't just a little nervous about going back to Hoth -yet again-, I don't exactly have a lot of storage space in my Y-wing for those cores. I'd have to make a few trips."

Lt. Rayne paused thoughtfully, "Hmm, that is a point. You did add extra storage to your Y-wing didn't you? I recall reading that in your profile."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, I sure did. But again, even with that extra storage...Oh and the deadline!" Iri scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.

Internally, Iri wasn't too excited about the idea of going back to Hoth, and back to that destroyer. He wasn't too keen on the possibility of getting captured by trandos again. He'd had enough problems with the flashbacks of Echo Base and now he had the added emotional burden of his capture and subsequent abuse by the scavengers. However, the pay was good, especially if he could make out well by getting a lot of memory cores to bring back. 2,000 credits a core would turn out a nice 10k if he just found FIVE. He figured he had enough storage for three, maybe four if he emptied out some extra items he always took with him.

Lt. Rayne could see that Iri was thinking, but cleared his throat, "I did have a thought about your storage, If I may?"

Iri snapped out of his thinking and looked up at the Lt. "Oh! Yeah?"

Lt. Rayne steepled his fingers thoughtfully, "What about that big guy you brought with you when you delivered the core? He had an MC-18 Light Freighter. Those typically come with a complete cargo bay in the rear. So he would have plenty of storage for quite a few memory cores. It would just be a matter of extracting them from the destroyer and hauling them to his cargo lift."

Iri's eyes lit up, "Hey yeah, he does have a big cargo bay in the back!" A second thought hit him, "And his own armory...if we did run into trouble. The way he handled those scavengers..."

Lt. Rayne nodded, "It did seem like he was quite familiar with combat. You could take him along as insurance?"

Katie gave an excited twitter, reflecting Iri's internal excitement at the prospect of having the big guy along for protection.

Iri smiled at the congenial droid, "You're right Katie." He looked up at Lt. Rayne, "I think I'd be glad to do this job if I could tap Shalmendo for some insurance. If that's okay?"

Lt. Rayne smiled and nodded, "Of course. But I can't offer extra pay for an extra mercenary in this. I ah... got a bit of a talking to about that bonus I paid him before, but I still think it was worth it."

Iri winced a bit, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry about that. I think he really appreciated those credits, at least.. I agree, it was worth it, though. Uhhh...Well if you're offering 2k per core...could I offer to split that with him, maybe?"

Lt. Rayne nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, if you two brought back enough cores that could equal a decent bit of pay for each of you. The no limit stands, regardless of how many people you bring in. I was only authorized to specifically to offer you the contract before we looked at our other freelancers, but If you want to bring in your own help and split your pay with them on your own, then that has little to do with the actual contract, doesn't it?"

Iri nodded, grinning a bit, "Yeah that should work! I mean, if I can get him to go." Iri paused, a sudden realization dampening his excitement about it. What if Shal didn't want to do the contract?

Katie twittered and blipped extensively for a moment.

Iri glanced down at the droid, "Hey yeah! I could present it in such a way that he would be more willing to take it up with me...like...insurance!"

Lt. Rayne tilted his head a bit, "Mercenary insurance?"

Iri nodded, "yeahyeah! I mean, I'll tell him that I'd like to hire him for insurance and offer him half the pay for each core while stressing that it's probably going to be an easy job and he'll be getting paid to hang around with me. Unlike last time where he was having to go out of his way to finish a contract of his own."

Katie bleeped in agreement.

Iri chuckled and looked at Lt. Rayne, "Where could I send him a message?"

Lt. Rayne smiled softly, "We have a comms room near the hangar bay for pilots to pick up and send messages and other transmissions. There's a T junction with a sign as you exit the hangar and approach the lifts."

Iri nodded, "Okay can you do me a favor and hold the contract for a bit while I check if I can get him on board?"

Lt. Rayne looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, "hmm, I suppose I can do that. Don't forget the deadline however. I can't change that."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, six weeks. I'll go send that off right away, then. Come on Katie!"

Katie twittered in an excited manner and followed the suddenly bouncy Iri out of the office.

Lt. Rayne chuckled a bit as they left.

Iri and Katie made their way back down near the hangar where they found the sign pointing the way to the comms room. Once there Iri was greeted by one of the comms officers.

"Heya Mister, sorry but the refreshers are the other way." The officer gently offered.

Iri laughed, "no no, I don't need the refresher. I want to send a message to a friend of mine."

The officer grinned, "aha! You saw through my clever ruse." he laughed in a good natured fashion, "Lucky for you I happen to be an expert at sending messages! Come on over this way, boss." he motioned for Iri to follow as he moved over to a console off to the side.

Iri followed curiously, grinning at the man's sense of humor. Katie twittered a small comment which made Iri grin a little harder.

The comms officer fiddled with some of the controls, "Okay here are. So who's life do you want to brighten up?"

Iri laughed, "His name is Shalmendo. He owns an MC-18 light freighter called the Black Claw." The officer started entering some details, "Black claw huh...sounds like he needs a manicure." He laughed, "Just kiddin, just kiddin!"

Iri couldn't help but laugh too, even Katie joined in with a little amused twittering.

The Officer continued, "Okay, ehhh...we're gonna need a holocomm code or somethin'"

Iri blinked, "Oh yeah...he gave me his holocomm code on a datacard but..."

Katie blipped urgently and as Iri looked down she extruded a datacard from her card slot.

Iri grinned, "Hey you kept it for me! I wondered where it went. Thanks Kates"

Iri took the card and handed it to the comm's officer, who plugged it into a slot on his control board.

The officer loaded up the details, "ooh, encrypted. This guy must be special or somethin', he's got an encrypted signature here and one of them high level holocomm code blocks. No problem, though, all the details are on that datacard. One sec."

One of the displays flashed through a few screens before the officer nodded, "Okay mister, what did you wanna tell him?"

Iri wondered about the encryption, but it made sense with Shal being a mercenary that dealt with combat and stuff. It was a pretty smart safeguard. He cleared his throat, "Okay, tell him I've got a line on a lucrative job back at the derelict we met at and the New Republic is paying 2k per unit we bring back. I'll split it with him if he will come along for insurance. It should be a simple job, and I need to use the cargo hold on his ship for multiple units since my Y-wing doesn't have hardly enough space. Katie already has some idea where we can find them, so it shouldn't take too terribly long. Oh! And tell him there's a six week deadline on the contract, so reply soon!"

The officer tapped at the controls as he entered in Iri's message. A few moments later he was done, "Allrighty there ya go, boss. Wanna look it over real quick before I send her off?"

Iri took a moment to look over the man's shoulder then nodded, "Yep looks good! Thanks a lot!"

The officer grinned, "It's my only pleasure in life. That and politely directing people to the refreshers when they get lost and are hoppin' around lookin' desperate." he laughed heartily.

Iri laughed too and grinned, "sounds fun. Anyway, while I'm not looking for the refresher...how about the canteen?"

The officer chuckled, "That's the second most common reason people come in here. They think this is a restaurant or something. Anyways, yeah, go back out to that T and past the lifts, they got a little canteen over there for the comin' and goin' pilots and stuff."

Iri nodded, "Thanks! Nice meetin' ya!" and made his way out with Katie. His stomach grumbled a bit in anticipation of a decent meal in the canteen.

Shalmendo grabbed her, pulling her out of the way of incoming blaster fire. She gasped in surprise but he covered her mouth for a moment, firmly but gently. He whispered, "Stay in cover." The nervous woman nodded and stayed behind the cargo crate, cowering a little bit, and shaking. She wasn't used to this kind of combat, or any combat at all, for that matter. Even with the reassurances of the big black beast it was difficult to have any hope of a successful outcome.

The Garrighol peeked up from behind the crate they were hiding behind, ears twitching as he observed the various guards making their way to their location. They already knew they were there, but had orders to kill the intruder, and recapture the woman. The woman was clinging to his leg armor and he didn't want to do excessive killing if he could avoid it. He fingered one of the thermal detonators attached to his bandolier, pondering the possibilities of using one, but they were a bit close for comfort. He would have to go hand to hand. He lowered his gun to the woman, "hold this," making sure she wouldn't just drop it onto the floor and took a breath, closing his eyes and concentrating for a moment. Through some innate gift of his species, he was able to feel roughly about where each of the 4 approaching guards were, with more granularity the closer they got. It was something natural to him and he waited as they took a couple steps closer, guns ready for someone to come out from behind the crate. He whispered to her "don't move." before bracing himself and leaping right over the crate.

The four guards were too focused on the sides of the crate, looking for signs of a leg or gun poking out from behind it that they were not only surprised, but shocked when the huge black predatory monster suddenly flew up and over the crate, wings spread, and landed right next to one of them in a swift motion. Instinctively they aimed at it as it landed, being unable to get any kind of shot lined up as it flew through the air. One guard shouted in surprise as a punch landed on his chest, knocking the air thoroughly out of him and rendering him incapacitated on the floor. The other three started firing rapidly as the beast ducked down, the blaster fire flying over his head in rapid succession. Two of the guards were surprised as the Garrighol's wings snapped open sharply, the outermost arm of each striking harshly into their chests and knocking them both onto their backs. The Garrighol quickly pounced on one of them to deliver a blow to his jaw, knocking him out cold. The other guard suddenly lost his nerve and put up his hands, "I'm unarmed! I'm unarmed!" shaking as the Garrighol rose to his full height and approached. The man was absolutely terrified as the beast approached and glared down at him.

Shalmendo growled, "I can't let you report this."

The man swallowed, "look I'll just..forget the whole thing!"

Shalmendo shook his head, "Sorry." and slammed his fist down on top of the guard's helmet making him crumple into a state of unconsciousness.

He returned to the woman who was staring wide-eyed at him while awkwardly holding his rifle, with the muzzle touching the ground. His ear twitched as he heard the continuing alarms going on from the building. He took the rifle, "we need to go" and lead her to a door in the wall. It was locked, of course, and of a solid and sturdy construction. He could technically have punched through it but it would have taken some time, and they were in a bit of a hurry. He leveled his blaster and fired at the control panel, releasing a spray of sparks, but the door remained closed. He grunted.

The woman panted, "We're locked in!"

Shalmendo shook his head, "I am prepared." and dug into one of the pouches on his armor, withdrawing a roll of a ribbon of a sticky material. He applied it to the rim of the door all the way around the four sides then motioned for her, "Cover back there." as he set a timer and moved with her back to the crate they had covered behind earlier. The four guards were still unconscious, and not a threat. A few moment later the ribbon he had applied to the door exploded, blowing the door out of the frame and into the alleyway on the other side. He motioned, "hurry." and the two ran through the door and into the city streets.

"Where is he?" she asked him nervously as they departed the place of her imprisonment.

Shalmendo grunted as he checked for pursuers and any other potential problems as they made their way onto the main road. "He's waiting."

She panted, slowing, "Where?" she insisted, then stopped, "I have to rest...I'm, I'm not used to this."

Shalmendo stopped and turned to stare at her, she was slowing him down, but he was hired to retrieve her so it was a necessary burden. "I can carry you."

She glared up at him, "No! I will not be hauled around like a sack of produce. Just give me a minute to catch my breath."

Shalmendo pressed his lips together quietly as he kept his rifle ready for any surprises. "He's waiting at my ship" pointing further down the road where the spaceport was.

She nodded and ran her fingers through her hair, drawing it back from her face, "Okay..." she dusted off her dress and the two proceeded at a slightly leisurely pace towards the spaceport. Shalmendo was finding himself slightly annoyed at her leisurely pace but the job paid well, and she was the subject of the contract, so he had little choice. Chaos was erupting back at the building, and it was hopefully enough that they wouldn't be too quick to pursue.

Within a short time they arrived at the spaceport, and at the individual landing bay the Black Claw was parked at. The man was waiting for her just as Shalmendo had said. It was a bit of a romantic scene as she rushed into his arms and they hugged firmly. She sniffled and cried a little, "I never thought i'd escape from that horrible place." The man comforted her with a tight squeeze, clearing his throat to try and maintain his composure, "That's why I hired this Mercenary, dearest...but no time for that, we have to get out of here."

Shalmendo nodded and lowered the cargo lift. They stepped on, as did he, rising up into the belly of the MC-18 freighter. Shalmendo grunted as he quickly stepped through into the hall, pointing out a door, "you can rest there." The two peeked into the room curiously, seeing the double-bunk room that Shalmendo had left untouched during the remodeling of the ship's interior.

The man grinned, "Wow, a nice accomodation! Thank you Shalmendo."

The woman just kept hugging quietly into her beloved, starting to cry openly.

Shalmendo grunted, "I'll give you two privacy." as he quickly made his way to the cockpit and started warming up the engines and locking the cargo lift. He grunted as he pushed the engines to warm up quicker, but remembered how Katie was able to start them up so efficiently. This time he skipped the usual formalities of requesting permission to depart, since they were in such a hurry, and, as soon as the engines had warmed up enough, he gunned them to rise into the atmosphere as quickly as possible.

The Black Claw screeched away from the docking bay and shot almost vertically straight up out of the atmosphere, probably giving the two passengers a bit of a start as they felt the motion of the hurried getaway. Back in the cockpit the spaceport control tower was complaining "Black Claw, you do not have permission to take off. Repeat, you do not have permission to take off." Shalmendo ignored it, knowing full well he didn't necessarily always operate within the law. He gunned the engines further as they warmed up rapidly under the stress, and pushed the ship out of the atmosphere and into the vacuum of space. One there, he started the calculations for the jump to light speed while keeping an eye on the sensors for any ships in pursuit. Now he not only had to worry about anyone following him but also local law enforcement. The control tower kept complaining, but he ignored it as they rapidly left the gravity well and the calculations were made. Soon enough, although they could have been sooner, the calculations completed and he pushed the appropriate control, watching the stars turn into streaks as the ship entered the tunnel of hyperspace. He sighed as he sat there quietly for a moment, then strode into the armory. Once there he carefully put away the thermal detonators, and various other contents of the pouches his rough armor bore. Then he took the armor pieces off and set them into their respective places on his stand. He made a mental note they would need some cleaning at some point soon. He then pulled his helmet off, and squinched his eyes shut as he felt for, and found, the goggles he used when he didn't have the helmet optics to guard his eyes. He slipped the goggles on and made sure they connected properly with the sockets of his eyes before opening them again and adjusting the strap a bit. He looked down at himself, and tugged his boots off one at a time, grunting as he set them on the stand and wiggled his toes in the freedom of the air. He looked over his nude body then grunted as he remembered how most people had an issue with nudity, reaching over to grab a pair of basic shorts he wore for that purpose and slipped them on, adjusting himself before he left the room and went to check on his passengers.

Shalmendo tapped the door's control panel to buzz the occupants. A moment later the doors slid open, revealing his client, grinning widely. "Have a minute?" Shalmendo tersely asked.

The man nodded, "Of course! Did we make it?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. Safely in hyperspace."

The two went into another hug fest, celebrating their successful escape.

The woman sighed, "Thank you so much...I would never have escaped without your help."

The man nodded, "We owe you a great deal. Our lives, our futures..."

Shalmendo shook his head, "Just the second half of the payment."

The man laughed, "Of course!" and dug into his clothes, to pull out a stack of credits which he handed to the Garrighol, "there you are, sir! Payment in full."

Shalmendo took a moment to count them then nodded, "We arrive in six hours. Feel free to rest."

The woman cleared her throat, "Ah...where could I find a place to freshen up?"

Shalmendo motioned, "Refresher. This way."

She followed him to the cockpit where he showed her the door to the refresher and slipped inside to enjoy a shower and the other amenities.

Shalmendo returned his attention to the cockpit for a few moments as he checked things. The man entered, clearing his throat,

"I really am quite grateful. You did an excellent job, Shalmendo."

Shalmendo shrugged, "You paid well."

The man nodded, "You'll always have a place of honour in our home."

Shalmendo shrugged again, "Just did my job"

The man nodded again, "still, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. We appreciate that very much."

Shalmendo grunted, "You're welcome. I need to check my terminal."

He turned to go into his office, leaving his client in the cockpit. He sat down at his desk, sighing softly as he rubbed his ears a little bit, reaching down to rub his groin a bit as well with a soft grunt. It would be time to deal with his libido at some point in the near future, but for now he focused on his terminal. He logged in and browsed through the various features it offered mostly checking incoming messages for potential jobs from different clients so he wouldn't have too much of a lull time when he dropped his passengers off at their destination. His client could hardly pay for the rescue, let alone basic passage, so the trip would be a short one and he wanted to have a few optioned lined up. This train of thought reminded him of the credits he had been given, and so he pulled open a hidden panel in the wall near the floor, and carefully opened the safe, depositing the credits in with the collection he had amassed from his work, closing the safe back up, and securing it's hiding panel. He then returned his attention to the terminal and scrolled through the job offerings. It took him a moment before he noticed the message icon. Somone had sent him a direct message through the holonet using encryption provided on the datacards he would give to his more important clients. This was probably a personal job request directly from one of those clients. He clicked over, and opened the message.

Encrypted Transmission - Origin: Chandrila - New republic hangar complex A6 Destination: Shalmendo - Black Claw Sender: Iri Keltesh

Got a line on a lucrative job back at the derelict we met at and the New Republic is paying 2k per unit we bring back. I'll split it with you if you can come along for insurance. It should be a simple job, and I need to use the cargo hold on your ship for multiple units since my Y-wing doesn't have hardly enough space. Katie already has some idea where we can find them, so it shouldn't take too terribly long. P.S. The contract has a six week deadline, try to reply soon.

Shalmendo quirked a brow ridge as he looked over the message. It was definitely genuine, using the proper encryption key contained in the datacard he gave Iri. Looking over the message it made sense that the 'place they met' was Hoth, and it logically followed this was about more memory cores. He grunted thoughtfully as he leaned back in his chair. 2k per core...if they managed to extract a bunch of cores from the Destroyer, then they could probably make some good bank, and it would be worth it. Besides, he's worked as 'insurance' before, just being on hand in case something unexpectedly went south. He rubbed his nostrils slightly as he considered this. Besides, he rather liked that silly little Argothae. He stretched in his chair for a moment before tapping over to sending a reply.

Iri laughed as he chatted with the flight techs that were finishing up checking over his Y-wing. Katie seemed to be enjoying the discussion as well, twittering comfortably with the three organics. Iri grinned as he finished up a bit of story about Commander Skywalker's R2 droid,

"Yeah he was kind of a little rude when annoyed but he had developed such a tight connection to the X wing his owner used that we NEEDED him to get the diagnostics data out for review."

One of the techs shook his head as he closed up a panel, "Well, that sounds pretty frustrating. I mean, I just want to get the job done and all."

The other shrugged as he put some tools into a toolbox, "Eh, droids aren't that bad." He motioned to Katie, "I mean, look at her, she's real friendly 'n helpful. And that expanded memory storage means she can hold tons of blueprints. You'd be hard pressed to find a person that knowledgeable."

Iri chuckled and patted Iri's dome affectionately, "Yeah and we've been through a lot. We're pretty much a team."

Katie twittered her agreement happily.

The first tech shrugged, "Eh, those R2's were good but if you didn't wipe them constantly they got ornery. Anyway, Iri, your ship checks out and I think those little adjustments will fix that little clinch in the flight controls."

Iri smiled, "Thanks for checking that out. Neither me nor Katie had the right tools for that fine adjustment."

The other tech picked up the toolbox, "Well it's almost impossible to do that kinda thing out in the field, even with an Astromech like Katie."

Katie blatted.

Iri chuckled, "Yep, that's not the kind of adjustment you can just do anyplace. Thanks for getting the sorted, guys."

The first tech laughed, "you might not be so happy when you see the bill!"

The other chuckled, "ah, it won't be that much. Besides, the conversation was great. I enjoyed it."

Iri nodded, "Yeah I had fun guys. Now and then I kind of miss working on a hangar crew. It's fun to chat a bit with you fellas when I come through."

The second tech grinned, "Yeah how else would we pick up such great stories. I can't wait to tell my supervisor about that one."

The first tech laughed, "Okay Kyle, we gotta check a fuel leak on that fighter that came in."

The two techs chatted about the story as they made their way over to the fighter.

Iri sighed softly, feeling warm inside. He missed the kind of chats he could have with his fellow hangar crew during downtimes, or just when working together with another tech on a fighter. Those were pretty good days. While chatting with guys in this hangar was a close second, it wasn't quite the same. He still loved it though. It was one of his favorite things to do when he wasn't busy working, just hanging around in a hangar shooting the breeze with the techs and engineers. Good times.

"Hey, Mister Keltesh!"

The shout got his attention and he looked over to see the comms officer he had spoken to a few hours ago, "Oh heya! I know where the refresher is, and I did find the canteen okay."

The officer laughed, "Good! Hey listen, I got a message for ya from the Black Claw."

Iri perked. A message from Shal! "Yeah?" He was handed a datapad, and he looked it over;

Encrypted transmission - Origin: Black Claw Destination: Iri Keltesh, Chandrila - New Republic Hangar complex A6 Sender: Shalmendo

On my way to pick you up.

Iri grinned. While the message was terse, it was descriptive enough for the big guy. He was clearly interested in the job and was going to pick him up for the job. Iri smiled down to Katie, "he's on his way!"

Katie twittered in an excited manner that Iri internally echoed. It would be nice to see the big beast again, and moreso to work with him, especially with the combat capable Garrighol watching his back through it all. Yeah this was going to be some easy credits, even if something went wrong.

Iri smiled to the officer and handed back the datapad, "Thanks for running out here with that reply."

The officer grinned and waved a hand, "Nah it's nothin'. You seemed eager to get a reply so I came right out when it came in. Sounds like he's gonna take the job with ya, so I hope that goes well!"

Iri grinned, "Yeah thanks! Me too!"

The Officer grinned and made his way back out of the hangar to return to his post. Katie twittered a question.

Iri nodded, "Yeah you better double check that map and everything. I need to head to the Commissary real quick."

Katie twittered as she followed Iri to the commissary. Once there, Iri perused through some of the offerings, but was more interested in a few extra blaster cells for his rifle. He went over to the counter, where an officer was checking some inventory on a datapad.

The officer looked up, "Afternoon, sir. Something I can help you with?"

Iri smiled pleasantly, "Yeah I'd like to get a few blaster power cells for my rifle."

The Officer nodded and put the pad down, "You're looking for 'behind the counter' stuff, then. How many, sir?"

Iri thought about this, "Well...I guess maybe a dozen."

The officer nodded and dug into a bin behind the counter to put 12 blaster power cells on the counter, "Gonna need your authorization, and that will be 30 credits each. So, 360 total."

Iri winced a bit at the cost, but didn't' want to be caught with his pants down. Besides, he didn't have to use them all on this one mission. He'd be stocked for a while after this. And besides, having a few extra for Shal might be a good idea, too. He slid over his credentials, and the credits and waited while the officer double-checked the credentials for authenticity on his terminal.

The officer nodded as the credits proved valid and slid them back, "Hope they do ya good."

Iri nodded and took the cells, stuffing them into a pouch he had with him. "Thanks."

Katie twittered a note.

Iri nodded, "Yeah I know, but this is probably worth it, and with the pay we'll be getting, this will be a kind of drop in the bucket."

Katie blip-bleeped her agreement, then made another comment.

Iri blinked, "Oh yeah, I better get my rifle and pistol serviced, just to be fully ready. They might need some more gas or something."

Iri went back to his Y-wing and pulled out both his rifle and pistol, taking the power cells out of each and making sure the safeties were on. He didn't want any accidents nor did he want anyone thinking he was going to around shooting the place up. With both he made his way to the armory.

Once Iri got to the armory, he waited a minute for someone to show up at the barred counter, but nobody was forthcoming.

Katie blip-bleeped a suggestion.

Iri laughed, "Oh yeah, silly me." and pushed the button over the counter, making a tone sound.

A weapons officer poked his head out from the back, then moved up to the counter, "Heya, what can I do ya for mister?"

Iri set his rifle and pistol down on the counter, "Hey could I get these serviced?"

The officer picked up the pistol and gave it a look, "Sure, how much servicing?"

Iri thought a moment, "Could you give each a full job?"

The officer set the pistol down and checked out the rifle, probably making sure they weren't loaded and were in safety, "Yeah, the works for both of 'em? New gas, test the optics, and all that?"

Iri nodded, "Yeah I want to be ready for surprises."

The officer nodded and stroked his amusingly thick moustache, "Yeah no problem, a full service on both will run around 300 creds for both of 'em. Need your authorization too, of course."

Iri nodded and slid both 300 credits over and his authorization credentials. Both were checked, and the officer put the credits into a till, once the authorization came back.

The officer nodded, "I can have these ready in about 2 hours. Slower day today, so we don't have a whole pile of stuff. Just a couple ahead of ya."

Iri nodded, "That sounds fine. I'm not a big hurry."

The officer nodded, "Check back in a couple of hours."

Iri smiled, "Thanks!" and made his way out into the hall. He stretched a little as he made his way back to the Y-wing with Katie and started checking through his gear to get ready for Shal to pick him up and take him and Katie to Hoth. He made sure to pack his thicker jacket, and snow goggles, as well as his comfy Sorcen-lined boots and a few other extras for the cold of hoth. Along with making sure he was prepared for surprises this time. He made a mental note to ask Shal about a holdout blaster, since he seemed to have had several stashed away in that little compartment he got a glimpse of last time.

A couple of hour passed, mostly consisting of Iri planning things with Katie, checking his equipment, getting his blasters back, and making sure he brought along some light armor he sometimes used. He had seen a few ships come and go, and shot the breeze further with some more of the hangar crew, exchanging some stories, and even Katie showed off a little. The conversation and good times were interrupted as Iri spotted a large matte black ship landing further down the hangar. He knew who it was, of course, and quickly excused himself and katie to go meet up with Shal.

The Black Claw settled onto his landing legs and steam hissed from various release valves as Iri approached it. He was tingling with some excitement at seeing the Garrighol again and waited a short distance away for the cargo lift to lower down. It did, and Shalmendo stood tall, wearing just his shorts and goggles as he usually did when he wasn't actively on a job. Iri squirmed slightly as he got a first glimpse of the Garrighol's bare feet, but became distracted as he noticed two others with him. Iri tilted his head as he watched, not wanting to interfere in Shal's business.

The two stepped off the platform while the man grabbed the woman gently and spun her in the air with an excited laugh, "We're free, darling! Pratically on the other side of the galaxy and practically with our whole lives ahead of us!"

The woman laughed joyously, hugging her partner, kicking her legs in the air and cuddling into him as he put her down, sighing, "Everything we ever wanted...We just have to find a place to start our lives."

The two turned to the Garrighol, seemingly a little oblivious of their surroundings, the man smiling warmly at him, "We owe you so much. And taking us this far! You really are a saviour."

The woman gently approached the Garrighol and set a hand on his arm, "Thank you. We owe you our futures. Know that you'll always have a place of honor in our home."

The Garrighol nodded, "The New republic should be able to help you." and motioned to the approaching flight officer, "These two are refugees and need help to start their lives."

The officer nodded, "Of course, I'll get them to someone that can sort things out with them, but first I need your signature on these forms." he held up a datapad, which the Garrighol took and inspected.

Shalmendo applied his signature to the forms and handed it back, "Go with him, he will help you." he said to the couple.

The woman hugged Shalmendo's side softly and the two followed the flight officer to another officer where an exchange was made and they were led out of the hangar. Before they stepped through the door they both waved with beaming smiles at the stoic beast.

Iri smiled, the big guy must have rescued them from something and gone out of his way to help them. Iri had a sneaking suspicion that the beastly black creature was really a big softie inside despite his hardened exterior. He walked up quietly, with Katie following. "Hey, Shal!"

The Garrighol turned to look at Iri, "Iri."

Katie twittered her greeting.

Iri smiled, "Katie says hello. Hey, so what's the story with those two that just left?"

Shalmendo quirked a brow ridge, "I was paid to retrieve the woman and get them safely off their planet. Originally paid for a very short passage but I decided to answer your message and offered to take them here on the way."

Iri smiled, "Wow so you took them even further than they paid for, that was really nice of you."

The Garrighol shrugged, "Katie?"

Katie twipped her attention.

The Garrighol continued, "Are you willing to pilot again?"

Katie blip-bleep-twittered in a kind of excitement.

Iri laughed, "She says she'd love to. I was going to ask if you wanted her to do that. I've got most of my stuff ready, I just need to pick up my weapons and gear from my Y-wing. Mind if I kind of move into your guest room again?"

Shalmendo nodded, "planned on it."

Iri smiled, "Thanks. I really enjoyed travelling that way last time. It was hard to get used to my Y-wing again, actually!"

Katie blatted.

Iri laughed, "Yeah I know, but I still love her too!" Iri smiled up at Shal, "I'll go get my stuff from the armory. Would you follow Katie and pick up my gear from my ship?"

Shalmendo nodded and followed Katie to the Y-wing where he gathered up the equipment Katie pointed out with an articulated grabber. Iri went down to the armory to check on his weaponry.

In the armory Iri pushed the little call button and smiled as the mustachioed officer came out from the back area.

The officer twirled his moustache a little, "Oh heya Mr. Keltesh. I got your guns all fixed up and ready. New gas, refocused the optics. Your blaster pistol had a little problem with the gas chamber but I patched it up for ya. Did need a part, but that's included in the price I gave ya for the full works package."

Iri smiled, "Wow thanks. I did notice the pistol was acting a little funny and I meant to do something about it but kept getting sidetracked. Thanks for solving that for me."

The officer gave his mustache another tug and smiled, "No problem, lemme go get em for ya."

A few moments later the officer returned and slid both weapons under the bars of the counter, there ya go, just put your signature on this datapad for me and you'll be good to go."

Iri took the datapad and signed it, sliding it back under the bars, then picking up his weapons, "Thanks very much." and made his way back out to the hangar where Shalmendo had gathered up Iri's items on the cargo lift. Katie was twittering at him but he had his arms folded and was looking down at the droid in a confused manner.

Iri walked up to the two, listening to what Katie was trying to say, "Oh, Shal, Katie is telling you that you forgot a couple things."

Shalmendo grunted, "Don't speak droid."

Iri laughed, "Yeah I know. What did he miss, Katie?"

Katie twittered and blipped a bit.

Iri nodded, "Okay, I'll go get those and I'll be right back."

Iri grabbed a couple of items Shal had missed and Katie couldn't let him know about since he didn't speak Binary, and flagged down a flight Officer, who walked over curiously.

The officer checked something on his datapad as he walked over, "Can I help you, ah...Mr. Keltesh?"

Iri nodded, "Yes please. I'd like to leave my Y-wing in the care of your hangar while I go out on a contract"

The Officer nodded, "Okay, I need the authorization number of your contract so I can verify it and give my own authorization. Then we'll just keep your Y-wing stashed safely in storage so we can free up the pad, if that's okay?"

Iri nodded, then realized he didn't have the authorization number yet since he hadn't accepted the contract. Lt. Rayne was still holding it for him. "I'll go get the contracted signed and be right back, okay?"

The officer nodded, "just flag me down. I'll be about."

Iri headed back over to Lt. Rayne's office, buzzing for entry. The doors opened and he entered with a smile.

Lt. Rayne nodded, "Ready for that contract?"

Iri nodded, "Shal showed up to pick me up and we'll be headed there directly. Just need to sign off on it and get an authorization to store my Y-wing here while we're gone."

Lt. Rayne nodded, "Excellent, one moment." he called up the contract on his terminal, transferred it to his datapad and slid that across the desk, "here we are. We'll keep your Y-wing in storage, safe and secure, while you're gone."

Iri smiled and signed off on the contract, sliding the datapad back across the desk, "Thanks. I'm looking forward to bringing back a big stack of those memory cores."

Lt. Rayne smiled back, "I'm looking forward to that too! Just don't forget the deadline."

Iri nodded, "I won't, thanks!" and made his way back to the hangar where Shalmendo was waiting with Katie.

Iri chuckled a bit as he saw how tiny Katie was in comparison to the 2.2 meter tall Garrighol. Especially with the differences with the Garrighol's deep black skin, and Katie's colorful blue and green paintjob. He flagged down the officer and gave him the appropriate information.

The officer nodded, "Allrighty, we'll get your Y-wing to storage. Let me transfer your retrieval credentials to your datapad."

Iri nodded and the officer sent the data to his datapad for later use, "Thanks."

The Officer then spoke into a comm to get the arrangements for the storage of the ship made.

Iri moved over to Shalmendo and Katie, setting the extra items down on the lift, "Okay! All set Shal!" Iri grinned as he got another look at the tall Garrighol with his stoic/grumpy demeanor. To Iri, there was something warm about him, despite his terseness.

Shalmendo nodded, and touched the controls for the lift, bringing them up into the cargo bay.

Iri looked around at the mostly empty space, "Yeah we'll be able to fit a lot of memory cores in here. And Katie has a good idea where to find a bunch. I'll tell you about that on the way. For now I'm gonna go kind of move in to your guest room, if you don't mind?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Feel free. Katie?"

Katie paused and turned her head to Shal, twipping curiously.

Shalmendo continued, "Start preparing for departure, please."

Katie twittered happily and moved to go to the cockpit.

Iri smiled, happy to see them getting along and picked up his pack and a few other items, following Katie to the door.

Both Katie and Iri were surprised when the doors opened to the hallways with a new floating droid he hadn't seen before. It was cylindrical, kind of squat, and starting to blip-blip-blip in a menacing warning tone. Iri gasped and backpedaled as it seemed to be armed, and Katie jumped back a little bit too.

Iri almost dropped his backpack "Shal!"

Shalmendo looked up, "Oh. Sorry." and pulled a remote from the pocket of his shorts, pushing a couple of buttons on it.

The droid stopped blipping and went quiet, zipping past them to float at Shalmendo's shoulder.

Katie oooohed in concern.

Iri blinked, "What is that? Is it safe?"

Shalmendo nodded, "RLG Guardian droid. Was warning me about your weapons, but I already know about those."

Iri tilted his head, that name was familiar. "Is that some kind of security droid?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Detects weapons, suspect behaviour, fitted with a blaster..."

Iri nodded, "Wow, scared the crap out of me.." he laughed nervously, "But hey nice to see you got something to watch your back." he paused, "How much did that cost? I could potentially use something like that to keep me and Katie company."

Katie blatted, making Iri snicker.

Shalmendo thought for a moment, "3,000 credits, I think...got it from a black market dealer I know."

Iri winced. That was a pretty high price...but if they could get even a handful of cores he could afford it, "Wow bit expensive, but probably worth it. I'll look those up on the way."

Iri moved to take his things into the double bunk room, while Katie went to the cockpit to plug in.

Iri smiled as he set some things down on the dresser and started putting some clothing and other things away in the drawers and such. It felt nice to be back here again. And this time he was in good health. Iri took a moment to lie down in the bunk, stretching out a little and flicking his tail, "mmh, travelling the whole way lying down would be nice." before he got back up, shook himself out, fluffed his hair and made his way back out, and to the cockpit. Shalmendo was seated like usual, in the pilot chair, with the RLG droid floating at his side. It turned quickly to scan him before turning back to it's previous position. While it made Iri a little nervous, he was glad it wasn't buzzing at him. Katie twittered a greeting from the computer terminal she was plugged into.

Iri smiled, "going good, Katie?"

Katie twittered.

Iri nodded, "She says we're all ready to go, as soon as you takeoff authorization, Shal."

Shalmendo nodded and pressed a control, "Black Claw requesting permission to takeoff."

A moment later the control tower responded, "Black Claw, you are authorized to depart. Fly safe!"

Katie blipped and started the takeoff process, guiding the ship out of the hangar, then up into the atmosphere.

Iri settled into the copilot's seat, pulling his knees up comfortably as he turned it to face shalmendo. "So Shal, how you been?"

Shalmendo turned his head slightly in Iri's direction, "Fine."

Iri smiled a bit as he found he kind of enjoyed the Garrighol's stoicness. In a way it was reassuring to have a 'strong quiet type' with him on this journey. "So Katie still had the blueprints of the Destroyer she had managed to extract last time. It was pretty corrupted but she thinks there's an archive section where we could probably find a bunch of cores all together storing lots of important data. How intact that is, we're not sure, but Katie thinks that with how the ship crashed and the location of the archive, there's probably a good chance that most, if not all, the cores are salvageable to some degree or other. We might get lucky."

Shalmendo nodded, "good. Where is it?"

Iri smiled, "Well why don't you turn down the lights so you can take off your goggles, and Katie can project a hologram for us."

Shalmendo nodded and reached over to dim the light, taking off the goggles with a sigh, and rubbing one of his eyes before he turned his chair. Katie obliged by projecting a hologram of the ship, while Iri provided some narration.

The hologram of the destroyer didn't take into account the damage, but that was a negligible issue. Part of the Destroyer flashed and started to zoom in, in a section near the rear.

Iri explained, "okay so, here we have the archive. It's located near the back kind of in the centerline of the ship. It supposedly was a large data storage center, and Katie thinks we could easily find, like...30 memory cores, or possibly more, all stored in there. Oddly, archives weren't a normal part of most Destroyers, so this is kind of a unique find, and we're pretty lucky about that. Hopefully scavengers haven't stripped it already."

Shalmendo watched quietly as the graphics zoomed in further to show a rough outline of the room, several stories tall with cores situated in banks.

Iri continued, "Now the room is pretty well protected according to the blueprints but I think together we could get the main access door open and start extracting cores without too much difficulty. Kate show us where we entered last time."

The hologram zoomed back out again and a highlight pointed out the maintenance hallway that Iri had used to get in the first time.

Iri nodded, "Yeah from there Katie has worked out a route for us to get straight to the archives."

A series of flashes showed a route through the interior.

Shalmendo grunted, "I have a repulsorlift in the cargo bay we can use."

Iri smiled, "good, that'll make carrying the cores a lot easier as long as it doesn't freeze up on the way. We can probably work during the day when it's warmer and hole up in the Black Claw at night when it goes super cold."

Shalmendo nodded, "Should be fine."

Iri added, "we just have to be super careful about the weather. There are blizzards and the temperatures drop horrifically low in the evenings. When I was stationed in Echo Base there, we had to close up the whole base in the evenings to prevent problems. Getting caught outside was pretty much a death sentence. So we can't drop the ball about the time and how long it'll take to get back to the ship and everything. Katie can land us really close though so that shouldn't be a problem."

Shalmendo nods, "I have camping equipment. Could bring it in and have it ready incase we get stranded inside."

Iri nodded, "Yeah! That's a great idea. We could find a small room and lock ourselves in, and use heat generators and everything to manage the atmosphere in that one little space. That would work pretty good if we couldn't make it back."

Katie twittered a comment.

Iri smiled, "Katie wants to know what kind of equipment you have."

Shalmendo grunted, "heavy duty survival. Couple of generators, couple of portable moisture vaporators, water filters, food supplies, hiking equipment, tools..."

Iri nodded, kind of impressed, "wow, sounds like you have a whole long-term survival kit. Should work great."

Shalmendo nodded, "In case we get stranded for an extended duration."

Iri smiled, glad for the Garrighol's foresight, "Yeah good idea. Sounds like you could make shelter, provide power, water, light, heat, everything... and cook too."

Shalmendo nodded, "We can purpose it for shelter in the Destroyer from the cold."

Katie twitted a bit and resumed her focus on kicking the ship into hyperdrive.

Iri smiled, "It's nice to see you again, Shal."

Shalmendo looked at Iri quietly for a moment, "I'm glad."

Iri smiled, knowing that Shalmendo was probably saying 'me too' in his terse way, "Hey Shal I wanted to ask you...do you know much about holdout blasters?"

Shalmendo tilted his head, "I have several."

Iri nodded, "Yeah I just wondered if we could talk about them?"

Shalmendo nodded, "They're small, portable, easy to conceal. A good surprise when someone else thinks they have the upper hand."

Iri listened, "I noticed you carry some...can I see one?"

Shalmendo stood up and nodded, making his way into the armory. Iri followed, chewing his lip as he saw the Garrighol's familiar armor, and the big leather boots he wore when rescuing the Argothae. Shalmendo moved over to where he had some concealed and opened the space, pulling one out and holding it out for Iri to examine.

Iri took the device and looked it over. It was indeed rather small. Almost miniscule, in fact.

Shalmendo explained, "A lot are disposable. Five shots, then done. But mine have these." he pulled out a small capsule-like item and handed it to Iri.

Iri examined the capsule, it had two tiny terminals on one end probably where they linked with the blaster to provide it with power.

Shalmendo explained, "These are military grade. Harder to get, but worth it. Roughly as powerful as a regular blaster, each ampule has energy for 15 shots, and can be swapped out." he showed iri how the base had a hole for the ampule to be pushed into.

Iri nodded, "This seems really useful! A neat trick incase you end up with nothing else."

Shalmendo nodded, "Last resort back-up weapon. A lot of security scanners miss them too."

Iri fidgeted, "Um..can I hold onto this one for a bit? Just in case...you know?"

Shalmendo paused for a moment, then grabbed a few more ampules out of his storage, "Here. Find places to store them discreetly."

Iri smiled, "Thanks! I'll feel a lot safer with one of these."

Shalmendo gave the excited Argothae a little pat on the head, "When we finish, I'll take you to buy one of your own."

Iri grinned even more, bouncing a little on his feet, "That would be great! After those trandos surprised me...I really learned a big lesson about being prepared."

Shalmendo nodded, "It's important you stay safe."

Iri smiled, "hey you know that RLG droid you got there?" Iri motioned to the floating unit.

Shalmendo glanced at it, "Yes?"

Iri smiled, "Well...maybe I could take a look at it? I mean, I've done a lot of work on Katie and I'm really curious about how they work. I promise I won't break it or anything. I'm actually kind of curious about getting my own maybe."

Shalmendo glanced at it, then grabbed it and turned it off with a hidden switch, handing it to Iri, then motioning to the workbench against the wall, "Tools are there if you want to open it."

Iri grinned, "I'll get Katie to help me inspect it so she can remember exactly how everything goes and that way it'll be put back together properly."

Shalmendo nodded and pulled a second one from a pouch he had on his belt, activating it and walking out. Iri blinked as the new unit followed him. He had two? "Huh...." then made his way into the Cockpit to talk to Katie.

Iri held the droid out for Katie to see, "Katie would you help me inspect this little guy?"

Katie twittered and disconnected from the terminal. Both of them went into the Armory where the tools are and Katie observed as Iri inspected it.

Iri hmmed, "Wow it's got a pretty sophisticated sensor package...let's see, UV, infrared...motion...visual...Ha, no wonder it detected my guns. And this blaster looks like it has a pretty good kick too."

Katie twittered a little, making a comment.

Iri flipped it over to see what Katie had mentioned, "Oh yeah and a mini repulsor lift...a nice little package! Make sure I don't make any mistakes when I put this back together. I just want to get the cover off to check out the internals."

Iri used the tools on the workbench to carefully take the casing off, finding a good quality but not too sophisticated system inside. He tensed a bit as he inspected it, "Oh wow, it's got a self destruct package...I'm glad that didn't go off. And some kind of transmitter. Looks like it's not as complicated as you are, Katie, but the processing equipment in here can do the job it's designed for." Iri pulled out his Datapad and connected it up to the hardware, "also looks like it has a 12 hour battery. Nice." and then proceeded to inspect it's programming.

Lines of code and subroutines flew over the Datapad's display. Iri examined this, "looks like it's designed as a kind of bodyguard droid. It's got programming here to detect ambushes, identify suspicious behavior....scans for weapons...really nice programming package. Hmm...Hey Katie, do you think he'd like some upgrades to these? I mean...I want him to be safe, you know?"

Katie blip-bleeped a caution.

Iri hrmed, "Yeah I guess I better ask him first. I wouldn't want someone to just rip you open and fiddle with your systems...i'm just looking, but...modifying is another deal."

Iri left the droid as it was and moved back out to the cockpit which was empty. "Hm, might be in his office." he moved over to the Garrighol's office and peeked in, where the Garrighol was seated at his terminal, "hey, Shal?"

Shal looked up, "Yes, Iri?"

Iri smiled, "hey that little RLG droid is a pretty nice piece of work. But hey, I was wondering...would you mind if Katie and I upgraded it a bit? I mean, it's really nice but what if I could say, give it a more powerful blaster, and upgrade its programming, and repulsor a bit? Make it smarter, and faster, with a bit more firepower?"

Shalmendo looked up at Iri thoughtfully, then at the droid hovering over his shoulder, "can you do both?"

Iri smiled, "Yeah but I'm gonna need to cannibalize a couple of your blaster pistols to use their optics and stuff...if you don't mind. Katie and I can work together on the programming."

Shalmendo pondered a brief moment, then grabbed the second RLG unit and deactivated it, "How long?" as he handed the unit to Iri.

Iri pondered, "Oh...well considering we got a long trip, even on your primary hyperdrive, I'd say we'll have them done by the time we get there!"

Shalmendo nodded and also handed over the remote, and the charging pouch the had been keeping the first in, "Make sure it all works."

Iri smiled as he took the items, "Sure thing, Shal."

Iri went back into the armory with the droid, remote, and charging pouch, and set them down on the workbench. "Okay Katie, he asked us to upgrade both of them. Ready to show him how smart you are?"

Katie twittered in some mild excitement.

Iri laughed, "Yeah, and how grateful I am he saved my butt. Besides, these are cool and I feel like tinkering. It'll take us some hours to get to Hoth anyway, right?"

Katie twittered her agreement and the two got to work.They had to cannibalize a blaster pistol for each, but shal had several on a rack, so that probably wouldn't be an issue. Iri also borrowed some parts from a spare parts bin and with Katie's help he upgraded both units. By the time he was done, they had more powerful blasters with refined optics, and he worked with Katie to optimize their repulsorlifts, as well as overhaul their programming with extra detection subroutines. The units lacked vocabulators and only had simplistic, but very loud, alarm units, so they couldn't really do any upgrading there. But by the time he was done, Iri felt very satisfied Shal would be happy with the results. A little bit of tinkering ensured that everything fit in the casing, although it was a little tight. Iri tested the units to make sure they'd be properly operational.

Once he was finished with everything, Iri and Katie went to present them to Shal. Iri stepped into the office where Shal was and smiled as he set the units, the remote, and the charging pouch, on the desk. Katie made a little blippy fanfare.

Iri giggled a bit at that, "I got them all upgraded. More powerful blasters, faster repulsorlifts, and optimized programming with upgraded detection subroutines to keep you safer. They'll also be faster, and dodgier, along with more alert and sensitive to weapons and such. Katie and I used your holdout blasters as a bit of a model to help detect the possibility of them, although outright confirmed detection isn't possible with their hardware. If I had more time, and some part sources, I bet I could customize 'em even better, but this is really good for what we had! We did use a couple of blasters, and some parts from your parts bin. Hope you don't mind."

Shalmendo picked up one of the units and turned it on, watching it quickly right itself and zip to it's spot over his shoulder. He nodded, "Good. Thank you, I really appreciate it."

Iri grinned, tail wagging, "Hey, it's the least I can do after you pretty much saved my life. That's also why I thought of you right away when Lt. Rayne offered me the contract."

Shalmendo tilted his head, "I am grateful."

Katie twittered thoughtfully.

Iri nodded, "Yeah good idea Katie. I'm gonna go get some rest in my bunk. Katie says we'll be there in a couple of hours anyway, so I want to get a little rest, then eat after."

Shalmendo nodded, "Rest well."

Katie twittered something and went back into the cockpit to plug back in.

Iri smiled at both of them and went into his bunk where he stripped down, stretched comfortably, and sighed as he hopped up into the bunk with a pleasant little murr, and pulled the privacy curtain closed, "mmh, ultra bunk naps" he murmured to himself as he settled into the pillow and yawned as he closed his eyes. The pleasant humming of the ship in hyperspace lulled him to sleep gently.

A couple of hours later, Iri woke up to the sound of Katie twittering gently at him. He grunted and sat up, bonking his head on the upper surface of the bunk, "Ack! Oof!" He laid back down and got his bearings before he pulled the curtain aside and looked at Katie.

Katie blipped curiously.

Iri yawned deeply, stretching in the bunk, "oh no I'm okay. I just bumped my head up there." he poked at the low ceiling of the bunk as he started slipping out. He rolled his eyes as Katie blatted in amusement at him. He stretched gently, "mmh. Always nice to have a good rest without the kinks of sleeping in that flight seat. How's our status?"

Katie blip-bleeped a reply.

Iri nodded, "Okay good. Enough time for me to use the refresher and get a nice meal." Iri slipped some light clothes on before he went out to the cockpit. Shalmendo was seated there as usual.

Iri smiled, "Hey shal, we'll be there in about 20 minutes."

Shalmendo nodded, "thank you."

Iri smiled, "No problem!" and made his way into the refresher as Katie plugged herself back into the terminal.

Iri did his business, and took a quick sonic shower, murring a bit as he remembered how amazing it felt after his capture and release. He shook himself out before putting his clothes back on and made his way into the galley. He decided he wanted something quick this time so he pulled out some of those gourmet rations and heated them. He tapped his foot as he watched the heating unit, and decided he wanted to have some coffee as well. He poked at the coffee dispenser which provided him some in a heat-safe cup and sipped at it as he got the hot rations and put them on a plate. Taking those over to the galley he sighed as he settled in, wiggling a little a he ripped a ration packet open and poured it onto the plate. A plastic fork allowed him to consume the meal leisurely, watching the hyperspace tunnel outside wheeling by the window hypnotically. He ate the contents of both packets, and felt warm and cozy. He realized he really liked it aboard The Black Claw, and felt quite safe and at home here. He smiled a bit as he finished his coffee off and dumped the plate and empty packages into the recycler. He took a moment to stretch as he looked out the window, "Mmm, nice and cozy." he patted his full belly and blinked in surprise as the ship dropped out of hyperspace right as he was looking out the window. He laughed, "Good timing." and made his way to the cockpit.

Once there Katy blip-bleeped a greeting at him while she organized the ship to land, working out a good landing point.

Iri smiled at Katy, "Yep, as close to that hatch as you can get, safely of course!"

Katie twitted her acknowledgement and maneuvered the ship down through the atmosphere.

Shalmendo came in from the hallway, "I will get my gear." and disappeared into the armory.

Iri smiled as he went through, "and I'll get my gear too! Good work Katie."

Iri went to his bunk and got himself outfitted in his scouting gear, making sure to slip on his Sorcen-lined boots and his warm jacket. This time he made sure to bring the borrowed holdout blaster, his blaster pistol AND his blaster rifle. He wasn't going to let some trandos surprise him this time. He double checked everything and grabbed his empty backpack to start filling it with some items he might also need, including a few bits of survival gear, and extra power packs for his blasters. He also made sure to hide away the holdout blaster's ampules, and put his advanced electrobinoculars into his jacket pocket. He took a moment to make sure everything was ready, checking everything twice over. "Okay, should be as ready as I can get!"

He left his room to meet with everyone in the cockpit.

Shalmendo and Katie were already there. Katie was just landing the ship carefully in a chosen spot, and Shalmendo was standing with his arms folded, and his RLG droid floating over his shoulder. Iri wiggled a bit as he looked at shalmendo's armor. It was matte black, but now that he was looking at it closer it looked like it was made from armor plating that had been hammered into shapes that would fit over him, and held in place with leather straps with simple buckles. It wasn't a bad job, but it did look a little home made. The rest of the armor was made up of that familiar helmet, and various pouches and the bandolier.

Iri peeked around shal out the viewport, "Oh good, we're landing. Are you ready, Shal?"

Shalmendo nodded, "I have my most common equipment." Shalmendo turned and Iri saw that he did have the pistol-grip blaster rifle, thermal detonators, and some other things.

Iri nodded, "Great. I'm bringing my rifle this time. Last time I only brought my pistol and...Well, you know what happened. Oh, that reminds me, Katie try not to just zap someone before I have a chance to try and talk our way out first, okay?"

Katie gave a hesitant little chirp.

Iri's heart melted and he patted the droid on the head, "no no, it's okay. I forgave you already, remember? A few times. It's really okay, don't worry about it. You were just trying to protect me, and I appreciate it. I really do. Honestly I don't know if it could have gone any better if you hadn't, but let's not dwell on the past." he patted the dome some more, "Besides, we got Shal with us this time. We'll be fine."

Shalmendo tilted his head as he looked down at the two.

Katie twittered a little.

Iri nodded and patted Katie's dome some more, "yep that's fine." then looked up at Shal, "Oh, Katie feels bad about getting me in trouble, but I really don't think it was her fault, anyway. So are we ready?"

Shalmendo grunted, "A quick review please."

Iri nodded, "Okay well we first have to make our way through the Destroyer, and find that Archive. From there we figure out way in, and start hauling out memory cores from it, and hopefully we can fill your cargo hold with them before we leave, for a nice payout. Keep in mind the weather, and the temperatures. We probably want to bring some of that survival gear incase we have to take shelter in the destroyer. I'll keep an eye out for a room we could use. Likely an office or something fairly small, but not too small. Something easy to heat."

Shalmendo nodded, "I am ready."

Katie chirped her readiness.

Iri smiled, "Okay well, I realize I brought you in, Shal, but don't uh...don't worry about treating me like the boss or anything. We're more like partners, okay?"

Shalmendo tilted his head, "Technically you're my client."

Iri shook his head, "noo, I'm not. The New Republic is your client. You and I are equal partners in this contract, okay?"

Shalmendo shrugged, "As you wish."

Iri nodded and patted Shalmendo on his armored arm, "I just want to make that clear before we go getting into any trouble or anything."

Shalmendo nodded, "I understand."

The three moved to the cargo bay where Shalmendo prepared a backpack with some of the survival items they would need in case they got stuck in the Destroyer. They took a last minute to check their gear before Shalmendo lowered the cargo lift and they entered the cold slightly snowy atmosphere of Hoth.

Iri looked around cautiously, seeing that Katie had managed to land them about where he had landed in his Y-wing before, "Why'd you pick this spot, Katie?"

Katie twittered a reply with a couple of extra blip-bleeps.

Iri nodded, "okay makes sense."

Shalmendo stared at Iri.

Iri blinked then realized Shalmendo didn't speak droid, "Oh, she says because this was an already known area, and it would be dangerous to land any closer with your ship. It's pretty much the most optimal place for distance and safety."

Shalmendo nodded and looked around alertly.

Iri went to the overlook, and took a moment to stare at the destroyer. "Well, here we go again...at least I have even better company this time." he dug into his jacket pocket and retrieved his electrobinoculars to lift them up to his face and scan around the area of the Destroyer.. He flipped through a couple of different imaging modes, and checked around for signs of activity. It seemed like it was still untouched. He zoomed back out and surveyed around the rest of the area, and past the Black Claw using the thermal imaging sensors and other options he had on it. He was glad he had paid for the extra fancy model, as it had a lot of useful features he used often in scouting, and it was proving its worth here as well. Iri took his time to survey the entire surroundings to the maximum extent of his equipment. He jumped a bit as a thermal signature heated up and got quite larger, but he relaxed as he saw it was just a wandering pack of Tauntauns, probably looking for food. He chuckled a bit as he remembered the Tauntauns in Echo Base, then shook his head as he also remembered their pungence. Iri put the electrobinoculars back into his jacket, "looks like it's clear. Just wanted to be sure. Alright, let's head in and try not to get captured, this time."

Iri, flanked by Shalmendo and Katie, made his way down the slanted ground to the side of the outcropping, and into the basin type area where the Destroyer was still languishing. The cold was preserving it well, and keeping it the metal from expanding and contracting much, so it looked in pretty good condition despite having been here for several years or so. The three made their way down to the hatchway that Iri had opened a few months earlier, to find that it was still open, and looked untouched.

Katie twittered a little.

Iri paused and looked at her carefully, "Hmm...keep monitoring it, just in case."

Shalmendo tapped Iri's shoulder lightly.

Iri stiffened, then relaxed as he remembered that Shalmendo was along a sort of bodyguard, "What?"

Shalmendo motioned to Katie.

Iri took a moment to realize what Shalmendo wanted, "oh! Sorry, I keep forgetting you don't speak Binary. She said she keeps detecting a strange and seemingly random burst of energy from nearby, but it's nothing that seems dangerous. It could just be a ship that crashed recently and is having some kind of random power emissions. It's nothing stable for life support or anything, so it can't be anything except a random emission."

Shalmendo nodded and glanced around, his ears twitching a bit.

Iri lifted up Katie who gave a polite little 'thank you' blip, and the three started to make their way into the Destroyer. It was just like before, and Iri activated his light bar, while Katie used her spotlight. The hallway was just the same as they arrived through the maintenance hatch. Iri paused and listened intently, chewing on his lower lip. He was feeling some anxiety now, due to his last experience here, but he took comfort in Shalmendo's presence, and his weaponry.

Iri swallowed, "Okay, You know the way Katie?"

Katie twittered and started moving up the hallway, blip bleeping a little.

Iri nodded, "Okay so far so good." then hesitated, "Oh, right. She says she's not detecting any life forms, although she's still monitoring that EM-bursting. Nothing to report so far. Let's just follow her and we'll get to the archives."

Shalmendo nodded, checking on his RLG droid briefly before following the two, with his weapon drawn as a precaution.

It was a fairly uneventful traverse through the quiet star destroyer. It had settled, and there wasn't even hardly any creaking, or movement of air. In fact, the air was slightly stale, and Iri coughed a little bit. They proceeded up the hallway and through some alternative routes as they found debris in the way in a few places. Shalmendo seemed to want to just get rid of it with a thermal detonator, but Iri insisted on keeping a low profile, and Katie reminded both of them, with Iri translating, that they might want to avoid putting any extra stress on the structure just in case it had weakened unexpectedly and might collapse on them due to the explosion.

They were making excellent progress, getting quite close to the archives that was their goal, Katie twittered once in awhile, with Iri gently shushing her so they could stay alert to any potential surprises, when there was a sudden loud CLANG that reverberated through the ship. Iri squealed and, acting on pure instinct, he jumped up in surprise and clambered onto something in a force of pure startelement. He listened intently for what seemed like forever, with his heart in his mouth, holding his breath to catch every single possible sound his ears could latch onto. After a few impossibly long moments he exhaled slowly and looked down to see a pair of black ears under his hand. A grunt sounded beneath him and he realized, much to his embarrassment, that he had climbed up Shalmendo and was perched on his shoulders. Iri cleared his throat and carefully lowered himself down, as Katie started blatting in intense amusement.

Iri touched down onto the ground and sheepishly shuffled back from the Garrighol, "uh...sorry, I had no idea what I was doing..."

Katie kept blatting mirthfully, squealing a little, and increasing Iri's embarrassment.

A firm, strong, hand gently touched down on Iri's shoulder as the Garrighol snorted softly, "It's okay. You're safe."

Iri blushed, swallowing a bit as he nodded up at the towering beast. That touch was surprisingly gentle, especially for such a big guy. Iri blushed harder as he realized he had enjoyed the touch, and found it intensely comforting, he cleared his throat, "I uh...startle reflex and all." he cleared his throat again, "But thanks." Then looked at Katie, "Hush Katie! I got scared, that's all!"

Katie quieted down a bit, but blatted a little more at Iri.

Iri snerked and playfully whapped Katie's dome with his palm gently, "Yeah, yeah, you got pretty scared when that RLG droid came through the door."

Kattie blatted a comeback.

Iri chuckled, then started laughing. He couldn't help himself. What Katie had just said was pretty funny, but he also needed to release the tension. He found himself laughing and leaning against the Garrighol a bit, who seemed a little bemused at Iri's behavior. Iri laughed for a bit more, then sighed as he lifted his goggles to wipe an eye, "Sorry, I needed that. All the tension. And all."

Shalmendo nodded and gave Iri a little lift back up onto his feet, "Ready to continue?"

Iri nodded, "Yeah I think I'm okay now...thank god this place is abandoned."

Shalmendo nodded and Iri lead the way forward once more.

Iri was feeling better, and more relaxed now, as they continued, although he was still on guard just in case. It didn't seem like anything was going to happen. It was going to be a cinch of a mission with some mildly boring hauling of memory cores to Shalmendo's cargo hold, and then a short uneventful trip back to Chandrila to cash them in. Iri sighed a little and smiled as they continued. The archives were just ahead.

Suddenly, Shalmendo's RLG droid started buzzing in warning as it jumped forward ahead of them and stopped right in front of them with an alerting sound. Iri tensed. Katie stopped in her tracks. Shalmendo paused and lifted the remote from a pouch.

The Garrighol inspected the information feed from the droid, "Don't move."

Iri blinked and tensed even more. When Shalmendo said something like 'don't move' it was probably very important. Katie also realized this, and stayed right where she was.

Using the remote, Shalmendo directed the droid a bit further down the hallway and examined the video feed on the screen. He grunted, "Traps."

Iri's blood ran cold. There were TRAPS in here? He looked up at the Garrighol, "What...what kind of traps? What's going on?"

Shalmendo directed the droid a bit more, "Sensors. Explosives. Powered and active." The droid returned under his direction, back to floating over his shoulder.

Iri started shaking a little, he didn't want to go through another big ordeal, and the archives were just up the hallway, past a crossway. Iri swallowed, "What do we do?"

Shalmendo looked thoughtful, "Traps are usually best left alone. Katie?"

Katie twipped curiously, ready to answer the Garrighol.

Shalmendo continued, "Can you find another route?"

Katie blip-bleeped as she crunched some data internally about the map and projected a display of the surrounding area, showing the primary pathway they had intended to take, then the nearest calculated route around.

Iri winced, "That would be a bit of a backtrack...can we find a way to go forward?"

Katie blipped a little.

Iri nodded, "Katie says if you can give her more information she may be able to diffuse them or something."

Shalmendo nodded, "The RLG droid can spot them easily."

Katie blipped a little.

Iri's mind lit up with some thoughts, "Hey, if Katie could tap into the feed of information from your remote, she could use that data to help her disable the sensors."

Shalmendo tilted his head then handed the remote to Iri. "Proceed."

Iri nodded and examined the remote. It didn't have any interfaces for Katie to plug into, "I'll have to juryrig a connection. One sec, Katie c'mere."

Katie wheeled over to Iri where he pulled out his datapad and cracked open the remote's casing, "I'll buy you a new remote if this one ends up breaking. Now plug in here Katie." he presented the datapad to her, which she linked into, then proceeded to use the datapad's slicing cables to create a bridge connection to the electronics of the remote. It took a couple of minutes, but after a short time, Katie started bleeping in an ascending way as she absorbed information and the RLG droid suddenly zipped back up the hallway to examine the traps.

Katie studied the traps through the interface and blipped a few comments.

Iri relaxed a bit, "okay they're infrared sensors. A good idea to use in this environment. Anything living would set them off. Except...oh wow, Shal you don't have an IR signature?"

Shalmendo shrugged, "yeah."

Katie prattled briefly.

Iri nodded, "Wow, she says you could probably walk right up to them and disable them yourself by unplugging them or something. They won't go off for you. And that's why they didn't go off for the RLG unit either."

Shalmendo nodded, "I can do that."

Iri scratched the back of his head, "I didn't know you didn't have an IR signature...that's kind of crazy. Okay gimme a sec to fix this setup to Katie's case."

Iri took out some adhesive strip and applied it to the remote, and his datapad, fixing them to the side of Katie's case so she wouldn't lose connection while she moved around.

Iri nodded, "okay there, don't move too fast, though, Katie."

Katie twittered and proceed forward, with Shal accompanying her. Katie shined her spotlight to point out the sensors, which, when highlighted by the light, were rather obvious now that they knew what to look for. Shalmendo examined one, then pulled the wired connected to it to disable the trap it was connected to.

Katie sent the RLG droid around to scan for any other sensors and connectors, then returned the droid to Shalmendo's shoulder. She twittered and blipped.

Iri nodded and sighed, "That was the only one around. The archives are right up there to the right and through a big door. "

Shalmendo nodded, "Katie should scan for more traps on the way, just to be safe."

Iri nodded vigorously, "Yeah, I agree. Keep an eye out Katie."

Katie blip-bleeped her agreement as well, and moved the RLG droid ahead a bit to help her scan for the sensors as they proceeded to the crossway and turned to move towards the centerline of the leaning ship. She didn't seem to find any more traps, however, and they soon found themselves in-front of a very secure looking door.

Iri held his light bar up, looking at the huge thick door. "Holy Sith...This..wow. This is incredible."

Katie made a wooo noise that echoed that sentiment.

Shalmendo looked up at the door, "Seems secure, solid, and sturdy." He proceeded to pound a bit at the door with his fist and tried to wiggle his claws into gaps in the middle of the door, but shook his head, "can't get a grip."

Iri smirked, "Well there's a payload of memory cores in there, so we need to get through. Any ideas, Shal?"

Shalmendo grunted as he inspected around the door further, "Maybe if we could unlock it."

Iri thought about that, "Yeah like that other door..except we have Katie this time." he knelt down and pulled the datapad, and remote, off Katie, so she could work with her tools. "Katie, think you can prod the door's control system?"

Katie blipped in the positive and plugged into the terminal port next to it.

The console lit up and some parts of the door did as well as Katie started to work on slicing into the control system. While she did that, Iri took the time to put the datapad and it's cables away, and restore the remote to working condition, handing it to Shal once he got it put back together.

Shalmendo took the remote and put it back in the pouch he withdrew it from, "Thank you."

Iri smiled and watched Katie work, leaning against the Garrighol a little, enjoying the comfort he provided as subtly as he could. The Garrighol didn't seem to mind as he just stood there like the strong and quiet monolith he was. Iri hoped he didn't mind, at least. It was hard to tell with him, he was always quiet and stoic, so it was difficult to get any kind of read on his feelings about anything. Even when asking him directly. Iri quietly glanced up at the 2.2 meter tall form, admiring his size, and his strength..and yet, he seemed kind of like a gentle giant. It was a rather nice, and comforting, combination. He felt safe with the Garrighol, and found himself relaxing a bit as Katie twittered softly to herself while examining the door's control systems.

Katie paused, then blip-bleeped a series of details.

Iri sighed, "Well the system is really well protected. We're going to need to find some credentials to get in, something we could use to forge access. I guess that means we have to go check for code cylinders or other credentials." Iri paused as he remembered something, "Hey wait a minute, when I was here the first time, I found one in an office that Katie and I stopped in to locate an easy to get memory core. I kept it. And heck, I kept meaning to look at it but I kept forgetting I had it. It's probably still in my backpack, even. Which is back at the ship, of course...." Iri groaned, "Well, it may or may not have the right kind of credentials for us to use with this door, but it's worth a shot, eh? Now that we know the way it should be pretty eas-"

He was interrupted by a voice shouting, "Put up your hands!"

Iri whirled, seeing someone was down the hall, in the direction of the crossway they had come from. Iri's blood ran cold as he could vaguely see they had a rifle pointed at them. True to it's programming, before anyone had time to react, the RLG droid detected a drawn weapon threat, and produced a loud alarm noise as it started firing at the mysterious individual. A blaster bolt grazed the individual's shoulder, then another hit his hand, causing him to shout out and retreat down the hallway. The droid wasn't programmed for pursuing it's targets, only ensuring the safety of it's owner so it returned to Shalmendo's shoulder.

Iri shook a little against the Garrighol, "Damnit, why can't I have a nice peaceful mission!"

Shalmendo readied his weapon, "There may be others." He gave Iri's shoulder a soft squeeze, "Gather yourself."

Iri took a deep inhale, bolstered by the Garrighol's calm support and readied his rifle, "Katie, stay here. I don't want a repeat of last time. See what you can do about the door."

Katie bleeped nervously.

Shalmendo and Iri proceeded down the hallway quickly, chasing after the mysterious being. Along the way, Iri noted that he had dropped his rifle, but didn't have time to stop and examine it, being the middle of the chase. The two turned the corner and saw a light in the distance coming from a doorway, along with hearing shouting.

"Some freaking droid shot me, Godammit!" Said one voice, probably the same one that yelled at them a few moments ago.

Another voice sounded, "Stop whining. I'll let the others know. Fuck's sake, close the goddam door, and get yourself some bacta."

The door slid closed.

Iri and Shalmendo looked at eachother for a moment. Iri asked, "Others?"

Shalmendo grunted, "We need to deal with them first."

Iri nodded and made his way to the door. It was closed, and seemingly locked. "Got something to get this open?" Iri whispered.

Shalmendo nodded, "be ready." and proceeded to grab the two halves. The Garrighol strained and Iri positioned himself with his gun raised, ready to shoot anyone who tried to fire first.

A few moment later the two halves of the door slammed open and revealed a well lit room with two occupants. Iri squinted against the light, but could vaguely see the two occupants. One was trying to tend to his hand and shoulder with a canister of Bacta, while the other was busy working away on an active console that looked like it had been moved into the room and wired up to a bunch of cabling and systems.

Iri jumped through the open door with his gun ready, "Both of you, freeze! Don't even twitch!"

The two stared as Iri hopped through, then gasped as the Garrighol entered with his own gun leveled. He didn't have to say a thing, the two dropped what they were doing and put their hands up.

Iri noted that the man at the console was a Rodian, while the other was human. They wore slightly ragged clothes punctuated by leather gloves and footwear.

The human grunted as he tried to stop his bleeding, "You're gonna pay, assholes."

The rodian grunted, "Shut up." and looked at the two, seemingly a bit intimidated by the Garrighol, "Uh, maybe we can work something out. I mean...this was probably a misunderstanding right?"

Shalmendo growled as he stood in the doorway.

Iri felt bolstered by the Garrighol's support and walked a bit closer, "What are you doing in here?!" He demanded.

The human just spat at him, but the Rodian gave an answer, "Just, uh, scavenging!"

Shalmendo grunted, "They're pirates. But I'm not sure what they're doing in here."

Iri smirked as he looked at the equipment, "looks like they're tied into something. Part of the destroyer." he motioned with his rifle, "over there with the other guy."

The rodian stepped over to the angry human's side, his hands still up.

Iri inspected the console, "Oh wow. Shal, it looks like they're monitoring the space around the planet with one of the Destroyer's sensor arrays."

Shalmendo tilted his head, "Hm...What for?" and kept his gun levelled at the two. "Do you have an answer?"

The Rodian nodded, "We're scanning for ships we can hijack...."

The human kicked the Rodian's leg, "Don't tell them anything, idiot! He'll have our heads."

The Rodian grunted, "You're the injured one. I don't intend to get shot up for an interrogation!" Iri interrupted, "Shush, both of you!"

They quieted and looked at Iri.

Iri huffed a bit, "Okay look, I get that you guys are here scanning for ships to hijack and stuff, but we're not interested in that. We just want to scavenge a little and be on our way. That's all. We don't have a quarrel with you, okay?"

The human spat at him again, "Shut up, reptile! Our boss already knows you're here and he's gonna come kick your ass!"

The rodian sighed at his companion, "Now who's the one that needs to shut up?" he looked at Iri, "Yeah look, we're pirates like the big guy said. I'm kind of new to this and I don't want to die. Anyway, so yeah I don't care what you guys do...but our boss already knows you're here and he's not going to be happy you discovered our operation, so... As much as I'd like to just walk away from this, um...he's gonna show up with lots of guns and angry pirates."

Iri looked at Shal in concern, "What do we do?"

Shalmendo grunted, "We have forewarning. We prepare." and looked to the Rodian, "How many pirates?"

The Rodian thought about that, "uhh...like 8 or so? We're not a big time operation and we only got two ships...Uh hey, if I cooperate can like...you guys let me go?"

Shalmendo looked at Iri.

Iri thought about that, "Can we trust you? I mean.... Pirates aren't exactly known to be trustworthy...."

The rodian swallowed, "Yeah, yeah I get that! Uh...I'd really like to make it out of this alive. You guys got the guns, and..why don't you just like, tie us up so you don't have to worry about us?"

Iri blinked...this guy must really be new at this if he's being so helpful, "Yeah I guess that's an idea..." He looked at Shal for advice.

Shalmendo grunted. "I have something we can use. We can tie them up for now and let them stay in here while we prepare."

Iri asked, "how should we prepare exactly?"

Shalmendo noted, "This destroyer gives us a lot of cover. The hallways can be prepared with traps, or used to funnel their numbers. I also have a repeating blaster we could use."

Iri nodded, "Okay so we hold out in here...going up against 8 guys in the open would be a bad idea. We have cover here."

Shalmendo nodded and moved closer to the two, "I will tie you. When we have gained control of the situation, we will discuss what will be done with you."

The human started swearing at both of them, and Shalmendo grunted before reaching over to punch him across the jaw, rendering him unconscious. Iri winced as that looked rather painful.

The Rodian sighed in relief, "Oh thank the sith...I could NEVER get him to shut up. He was such an intolerable asshole. Look guys, I didn't really want to be in this pirate thing to begin with so, I'd rather just get out of this intact and maybe turn a new leaf over."

Iri smirked as Shalmendo tied up the unconscious human, "Then why'd you become a pirate?"

The Rodian sighed, "I was in debt. I gambled too much, and the boss made me work for him to pay it back."

Iri frowned, "Wow, that's pretty bad. You really don't seem cut out for this, anyway. Hey Shal, maybe we could take this guy and drop him off with the New Republic?"

Shalmendo shrugged as he tied the Rodian carefully, "Perhaps. Or he could be lying."

The Rodian stared at the huge beast, "I swear, I'm not! I just want to get out of this in one piece. Hell, I'll turn myself in! I swear!"

Iri hmmed, "Well, we'll be back when we get this all taken care of and we can discuss it more. Oh Shal, that guy was hurt, can you do something for him?"

Shalmendo grunted and pulled out a can of bacta spray, identical to the one he had used on Iri before. He sprayed the injured human's two major wounds carefully, then put it away, "that should suffice for the time being."

The Rodian nodded, "Yeah I get it, it's okay....I'm just glad I'm just tied up instead of full of blaster holes. Look, our boss is this Chiss guy with an attitude. I know that they got some big equipment, but your big friend there looks like he can handle it. But watch out for concussion launchers, and repeaters. They're out in the asteroid field and um...I sent a message before you guys got in here. I'm sorry about that, but...you know, I was obligated."

Iri listened to the information, "Well...it sounds like you're trying to make up for it, so maybe we'll go easy on you. How did you guys get in? I mean, into this ship."

The Rodian answered gladly, "we got dropped off on the top of the ship. There's a sizable access hatch, and from there we make our way down to a hallway section that's further up past the door over there, next to some elevators."

Shalmendo made sure they were both tied securely, looking over to Iri, "they shouldn't be able to escape anytime soon."

Iri nodded, "I'm gonna have to check you for weapons, knives, things like that..."

The rodian nodded, "I've got a blaster pistol over there behind the console, and I think this asshole here has a vibroshiv hidden somewhere, alongside a blaster pistol."

Iri was glad the Rodian was being so helpful and moved over to feel at both of them carefully. He found a vibroshiv on the human, and the blaster pistol. "Found 'em. Anything else we should know about?"

The Rodian shook his head, "That's all I know of. We weren't given much of anything since we didn't expect company. We thought the traps would be enough."

Iri nodded, "that explains the trap we found down the hall."

Shalmendo grunted, "We should prepare."

Iri thought about this, "Shouldn't we just leave?"

Shalmendo tilted his head, "Why?"

Iri fidgeted, "well, this is kind of turning into a lot of trouble. Wouldn't it be safer just to get out of here before the other pirates show up?"

Shalmendo grunted, "We already took the time to come out here. If we leave now, we will have to contend with their ships. Most pirates like to use ion cannons. We'll be boarded. If we wait for them to come to us, they'll leave our ship alone while they deal with us. We have the advantage here. I don't leave my jobs unfinished because of one little surprise."

Iri thought about that. Shalmendo was pretty well prepared, and so was he. His own weapons had recently been serviced and he had extra power cells in his backpack. He also had that borrowed holdout just in case. And it was obvious Shalmendo could utilize the element of surprise. He identified them as pirates, showing his experience, as well. And then there were the memory cores in the archives, and the 2k per each the New Republic was willing to pay. Iri didn't want to fight, but if he wanted those cores he would need to fight for them. Iri tightened his grip on his rifle, he wasn't going to be a marshmallow like last time.

Iri looked up at Shal, "Let's do it, then. I want those cores."

Shalmendo nodded, "We need to make haste."

The rodian sighed quietly, grateful they didn't just shoot him.

Shalmendo and Iri quickly left the room and hastened over to where Katie was working on the door.

Iri quickly explained to Katie, "Katie, disconnect from the terminal. We got pirates coming. Shal and I are going to prepare to defend ourselves and I want to get you someplace safe. Would she be safe in your ship, Shal?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Safer then with us. She has no lifesigns so they'll assume the ship is empty, and none of them, even the two back there, have seen her. None of them know about her."

Katie bleeped in concern.

Iri patted her, "It's okay, Shalmendo has some heavy equipment, and I'm prepared this time. But Katie I want you to stay in Shal's ship. You're not armored, and you have no weapons. So, You'd just be a sitting target and I don't want to do that to you."

Katie bleeped and blipped stubbornly.

Iri sighed, "Katie, no. This time I have to insist. You'll be safer in Shal's ship and If you don't come willingly Shal will just have to carry you. You're going in there either way."

Katie blatted, then blipped a question.

Iri patted the transparent dome, "I'll be fine, I promise. Shal will take care of me. He always has."

Katie gave a resigned whistle and prepared to follow them.

They made haste down the hallway back to the maintenance hatch closest to the Black Claw, while Iri asked Shal some questions.

"Do you have any idea where to start, Shal?"

Shalmendo ducked through a low part of hallway, "Yes. We need to booby trap that upper hatch."

Iri blinked, "Oh yeah, the one they're gonna come down there. It's their short route. But how?"

Shalmendo helped Katie over a bit of debris, "Thermal detonator. We rig it with a wire to the hatchway. When they open it, boom." he went quiet for a moment as they turned a curve in the hallway, "Make it jump up somehow."

Iri blinked, "Isn't that kind of deadly? Can we just like..stun them all? I have a stun setting on my blaster..."

Shalmendo gruffed, "We are outnumbered. Stun settings are ineffective against armor." Shalmendo looked at Iri seriously, "They are pirates. They won't hesitate to kill. The only way we can walk out of this intact is if they don't."

Iri felt an uneasiness in his stomach, he didn't really like getting into firefights in the first place, but then again, he'd had to kill to survive. He never liked it. That's one of the reasons he elected to be on the hangar crews, he wouldn't have to shoot anyone himself. "Shal...can we just not kill anyone somehow?"

Shalmendo shook his head as they ducked into the small maintenance way to the hatch, "No. They will take advantage of any leeway we give them in an attempt to spare their lives, to end ours."

Shalmendo reached forward and grabbed Iri's boot gently, causing him to stop and look back at the armored face.

Shalmendo said again, seriously, "They are pirates. If we do not kill them, we will not survive. I have experience in this."

Iri looked at him, shivering nervously. The Garrighol's tone was dead serious, and insistent. Something he had seen in Shal a couple of rare times when his life was being saved. Shal meant what he was saying, without question. Iri swallowed, "I'm not really cut out for this Shal...I don't like to kill anyone if I can help it."

The Garrighol nodded and patted his boot a little, "This time, you can't."

Iri sighed and continued crawling after Katie, there was no other way out of this situation, and he really didn't like it. Technically they could just try to run away but, even with the rear turret, the pirates would probably slam them with ion fire and shut the ship down. Shal was right. At least if they holed up in the destroyer they would have a chance to survive. And Katie would be safe in the ship. He had some questions, though.

The three of them made it to the hatchway quickly, and Iri lowered Katie into the snow. Katie blipped a little and the three made a beeline to the ship, getting onto the cargo lift and raising it up.

Iri felt apprehensive as Katie went into the hall, "Shal? Can't we just hole up in the Black Claw?"

Shalmendo shook his head, "They'd just bomb us."

Iri followed Shalmendo into the Armory, watching him put his backpack of survival stuff down, and swap it for something that looked like a big generator with straps on it. He shrugged it up onto his shoulders, careful of his wings, and settled it into place. Then he turned and grabbed a rather heavy looking repeater emplacement, except instead of the standard emplacement mount it had a bipod. The pirates wouldn't be expecting a mobile blaster repeater.

Iri stared at the equipment, "Wow, are you seriously gonna carry that around on your back?"

Shalmendo nodded, "I've done it before."

Shalmendo proceeded to hook up a heavy cable from the repeater to the power pack.

Iri watched curiously, "How do you know so much about pirates?" A thought came to Iri, "you...you weren't one were you?"

Shalmendo shook his head, "No. I am a mercenary, not a pirate. I have worked with pirates on a couple of rare occasions." He flipped the generator on through a wired remote, it made a humming noise as it started warming up, "But I was very picky about what I did for them."

Iri shuddered a bit, "So how did you recognize these guys as pirates?"

Shalmendo worked on making some adjustments to the repeater, "clothes. They had identical patches on their jackets. Didn't recognize the symbol but they were obviously part of some kind of 'clan' or group. Rodian and Human wouldn't be part of the same clan, so a 'rag tag' group of some sort. Had to be pirates."

Iri nodded, that made perfect sense, "And they were monitoring that sensor array and probably telling the ships which ones to hijack. I wonder what they were looking for..."

Shalmendo grunted as he put extra detonators and some other supportive items into his pouches, "cargo to steal. Smugglers like to hide spice here sometimes. Lots of caves and most law enforcement doesn't care about this area. It's safer than hiding something in the asteroid field. The prohibitive weather makes it harder to find anything. So lots of contraband ends up stashed around here. Possibly even in that Destroyer."

Iri wowed, "Yeah I guess that makes sense...You've had a lot of experience, obviously."

Shalmend nodded as he hauled the repeater out to the cockpit, where Katie was waiting.

Katie twittered and blipped nervously.

Iri sighed and kneeled down to hug the droid, "I know, Katie, I know...I'm scared too. But Shal is on our side, and I can't think of anyone better to have. Look at the gun he's carrying. "

Katie made an appreciative noise.

Iri dusted some collected snow off the droid's dome, "I'll keep in touch with the comlink, okay?"

Katie blipped.

Iri nodded, "good point. Hey Shal?"

Shalmendo grunted.

Iri looked up at him, "Katie wants to link into your ship while we're gone so she can use your ship's comms array to broadcast through the destroyer hull and keep tabs on us. The hull is kind of thick so our comms might not go through reliably."

Shalmendo nodded, "That's fine." then stepped a bit closer to Katie to give her dome a pat, "Katie, be safe. If something happens to both of us, take the Black Claw, go to Chandrila, and get some help."

Katie woooed in concern.

Shalmendo didn't understand what Katie meant, but made a guess, "I will keep him safe, I promise. But keep yourself safe in here, too."

Iri sniffled a bit, feeling a little emotional as he let Katie go, "We'll be okay Katie. Shal will take good care of me. And like he said, you can go get help if we get captured or something."

Katie blipped in acknowledgement.

Iri cleared his throat as he stood up, "We...better hurry, I guess."

Shalmendo nodded, "Katie, the full access code for the ship, is Alpha-Pi-Beta-16." And turned to make his way down the hallway.

Iri swallowed, Shalmendo was really trusting Katie with full access to his ship like that. He watched the Garrighol haul the pack and the turret to the cargo bay It looked like it did slow him down and made him quite heavier, with Shalmendo having to adjust his stance and walking pattern to compensate for it. It kind of made him a little...sexy. Iri's gaze drifted down to those custom leather boots, watching them stomp heavily for a few steps before getting his wits back together and patting Katie on the dome again as he got up and went back into the Armory to grab some of the survival equipment just in case, and stuffed it into his backpack, filling it up completely, this time. He made haste to follow Shalmendo to the cargo lift.

Shalmendo grunted, "Iri!" he called.

Iri came right through the door as he said that, "Sorry! I was just making sure Katie would be okay, and got a few items from the survival equipment just in case we get locked in the Destroyer with the weather."

Shalmendo nodded and lowered the lift, "We must make haste to prepare before they arrive."

The two hurried to the maintenance hatch and it turned out that Shalmendo couldn't wear the generator back pack while crawling through it.

Iri chewed his lip thoughtfully, "You'll have to drag those items through. Here, I'll drag the gun and you can drag the generator."

Shalmendo nodded and pushed the generator into the hatch, disconnecting the power cable to the repeater, and started shoving it along the crawlway. Iri grabbed the emplacement and was shocked to find out how heavy it was. He strained, heaved, and grunted, pausing after a moment as he looked at how it had barely budged, "well sithspit...this is pretty heavy." He braced himself and got the edge of the gun up onto the hatchway.

Shalmendo called out, "Too heavy?"

Iri grunted, "No! I got it! UnnnGGGH!"

Iri strained and pulled the gun up into the crawlway, nearly landing on his rear as he did so. He panted a bit and started dragging it along the crawlway little by little behind Shalmendo. He could see Shalmendo's custom boots shifting ahead, and shook his head to retain his focus. They were going to fight for their lives and he couldn't let himself get distracted.

It felt like it took forever but Iri was able to drag the repeater all the way to the main hallway where he paused for breath, "Okay, that thing is HEAVY."

Shalmendo nodded, "Usually takes two to set it up and operate it. And that's for stationary use." he hooked the repeater back up to the power generator pack and pulled it back up onto his back. Iri reached up to help him get it on a little faster.

Iri helped settle the backpack into place, "You really are as strong as Wookie, aren't you?"

Shalmendo gave a light, encumbered, shrug, "I guess. Let's continue."

They made their way quickly back to the lit room where the two pirates were still securely tied. The human was still unconscious, but the Rodian almost smiled a bit as they entered.

Iri went and checked on both of them to make sure the human was alive and they were both tied properly still and weren't planning any tricks.

Shalmendo put the power pack and emplacement down next to the door.

The rodian gasped, "Wow, you can wear that on your back?"

Iri would have laughed if he was in a lighter mood, "Yeah, he's as strong as Wookie."

The Rodian swallowed visibly, "Jeez I'm glad I gave myself up! Hey, listen guys, can I go with you when you get out of this? I'm not gonna ask you to trust me to fight with you, I would though, but I'll be happy enough just getting a ride off this ice ball."

Shalmendo grunted.

Iri looked at the Rodian, "well you've been helping us....We'll see how things go. Hopefully we don't die."

The Rodian nodded, "I hope so. I want out of this, I really do."

Shalmendo grunted, "I will go prepare a few things. I've done this before."

Shalmendo left the room with his RLG droid, but left the repeater turret behind.

Iri sighed as he fidgeted, not sure what to do. He figured he should let Shal prepare and trust that he knows what he's doing.

The Rodian cleared his throat, "Uh hey mister?"

Iri looked over, "Yeah?"

The Rodian shifted a bit, "could you maybe knock me out if things don't go well? I mean, I want to be able to claim that you guys knocked us both out and I didn't like...tell you guys a bunch of secrets, ya know? It'll at least give me a chance to get out alive."

Iri smirked, "yeah I guess so. You really aren't cut out for this, huh? What's your name?"

The Rodian replied, "Wizz."

Iri smiled a bit, "Well, Wizz, if you're trying to go legit I'd be happy to help you but if you're just trying to fool us my big buddy could tear you apart, so..."

Wizz nodded, "I totally get you. Hell, I wouldn't believe myself either. I hardly do as it is. Honestly? I think my boss was cheating in that game, anyway. But even if he was, that doesn't matter now. I'm already in over my head."

Iri nodded, thinking about that. This guy could be totally legitimately trying to get out from the piracy business, and it sounded like he'd been forced into it in the first place. It sounded plausible, at least. "Well, like I said, I'll see what I can do to help you out if you're being honest. But right now we got some bigger problems, like surviving this."

Wizz sighed, "Yeah...I'd help, but, I know you don't trust me. Don't blame you either."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, you could just be trying to pull a long con and stab us in the back to get favor with your boss or something. But hey, thanks for giving us all that info...if it proves true we'll have reason to trust you more."

Wizz nodded, but went silent as Shalmendo entered.

Iri looked up at the Garrighol, "Hey, what's the news?"

Shalmendo grunted, "got a trap set up on the hatchway. If they open it, a thermal detonator will pop up and explode. Hopefully it'll get more than one."

Wizz spoke up, "uh, they should be arriving within the next few minutes. Based on how long it's taken them to get here before..."

Iri nodded, "Anything else we can do? Oh, hey what about some of those remote explosives like you used on that Trando ship?"

Shalmendo nodded, "I brought a couple, but I need a place to hide them."

Iri moved over, to the doorway, "We can put those behind some of the service panels in the hallway?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Good idea."

The two made their way out to the hallway the hatch eventually lead to, and Iri opened a small panel near the floor.

Iri motioned to the panel, "Right here should be good."

Shalmendo nodded and knelt down to pull out a thermal detonator and pulled the arming switch off of it, replacing it with a tiny module, then shoved it into the small space, among the wiring.

Iri closed it, "perfect. They won't even notice it."

Shalmendo nodded, "I have one more."

Iri moved along the hallway, "What's the yield size?"

Shalmendo followed, "About six meters."

Iri pondered, "Why don't we blow the whole hallway at once to try and catch as many of them in it as possible?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Two charges separated by six meters, triggered simultaneously. Should provide a good cover through the hall."

Iri moved further to find the next panel at the right distance, this one was not on the ground level but a bit higher.

Iri reached up and jimmied it open, "Here should do."

Shalmendo nodded and pulled out another detonator, again swapping the switch for a remote module, and shoving it into place, then closing the panel."

Iri fidgeted a bit, feeling a growing anxiety, "and if that doesn't work?"

Shalmendo gave a slight smirk, "Repeater."

Iri fidgeted a bit more, "...if that fails?"

Shalmendo grunted, "Throw another detonator, personal combat.."

Iri nodded, "Well, I'll keep my blaster ready...."

Shalmendo pondered, then dug a small device with a couple of controls out of his pouches, "Here. This is the trigger for the detonators. Hold and slide, then release to trigger. Slide back to cancel. You're faster and lighter than I am. You should be able to hide in the hallway, then dash away to trigger the explosive when you see them in the right position."

Iri nodded as he took the trigger gingerly, "Okay..And you'll be hiding around the corner with that repeater?"

Shalmendo nodded, "I can deploy it with the bipod, or carry it mobile."

Iri nodded as he put the trigger into his jacket pocket, "okay...." he sighed, "Wizz said they were coming in the next couple of minutes so I'll wait here."

Shalmendo nodded, and went down the hall to get his repeater ready.

Iri was left alone, with the trigger in his hand inside his jacket pocket, staring at the hallway nervously. He didn't like killing, but Shalmendo was correct that someone had to die here, and Iri sure didn't want it to be him. He nearly jumped as he heard a droid blipping and bleeping, then realized it was Katie making contact through the comm. He sighed as he recognize the familiar sound of his favorite droid's twipping and pulled out the communicator, "Wow Katie you startled me a little. You doing okay in the Black Claw?"

Katie twittered extensively over the comm for a few moments.

Iri licked his lips, "Okay, great. Thanks for the info, I'll let Shal know. You try and do some pre-flight stuff without giving yourself away, just in case we have to make a break for it or something."

Katie blip-bleeped.

Iri nodded to himself, "Yeah we're okay. We should be ready for them. I hope."

Katie bipped a little and the comm went silent again.

Iri sighed and made his way over to where Shal had set up the repeater on its bipod, "Hey Shal, Katie just commed. They're coming in two ships, they're being let off on the top of the Destroyer right now."

Shalmendo nodded, "We'll be ready. You might want to go back to your lookout spot."

Iri nodded, "Here's hoping it turns out okay..."

Shalmendo gruffed, "It will."

As Iri headed back to his little hiding spot in a niche of the hallway, he heard a distant and muffled 'boom'. A moment later the structure around him shook a bit. That would have been the booby trap that Shal had set up. He gave a shudder as he sat in the darkness, breathing in shaky anticipating breaths. Adrenaline was rushing now, and he kept running over his plan in his head. Spot the bad guys, Run like hell, trigger the detonators...go hide behind shal. He repeated this in his head as he listened intently for anyone who made it past that first trap.

It felt like an eternity, and he kept his grip firmly on the remote trigger, wanting to be able to trigger it at a moment's notice without fumbling or screwing up. He knew that if he didn't trigger it properly while he was running, he would probably get gunned down fairly quickly. He swallowed listening, he could hear something in the distance in the direction of where the pirates should be coming from. He crouched in the darkness, holding his breath for a moment, but could only hear his heart beating rapidly in his ears. He shook his head to clear it, and listened more.

Straining through the deafening silence in the darkness he heard it. A footstep. He inhaled sharply as he heard another, and another, and finally saw lights being flashed around. He saw at least three, so was sure there were at least three people, but Wizz had said there were at least 6 or so, so he waited as he watched them turn to start coming down the hallway. He nervously fingered the remote trigger unit as he tensed, getting ready to make his dash down the hallway so he could trigger the detonators at the right moment to make them as effective as possible. As they moved closer he made a quick mental review of the two 6 meter areas where the detonators had been hidden. Katie would have been really useful to overlay a holoprojection so he could have better judged when the pirates would have been in the right area, but she was safe on the Black Claw and he'd rather she be there instead.

"Watch it, idiot, there's bound to be another trap. These guys are sneaky." Said one voice.

"Ah piss off you nerfherder, I know what I'm doing." Said a second.

"If you two don't shut up I'll flay you both alive." said a harsh third.

A fourth voice whispered, "Hey, Boss, who's gonna get that fancy ship out there?"

The third voice hissed, "Shut up. We kill them first, and then I decide."

He saw a pair of glowing eyes among the group, and blinked in confusion. For a moment he mistook them as belonging to Shal, but remembered that Wizz had said the pirate leader was a Chiss, and their eyes glowed like Shal's do. Iri shook his head and got ready to enact the plan. There was a sudden clatter as one of them kicked a piece of loose metal debris that had been lying on the floor, and the leader was heard hissing "Careful you idiot! We don't want them to hear us coming!"

Iri was tempted to shout something like "too late" as he took off, but he was too busy surviving. He darted from the niche he had been crouching in, his boots tapping against the metal flooring. He gritted his teeth as lights swung out to highlight him and he heard the leader shouting, "Gun him down!"

Iri resisted the urge to drop onto the floor as blaster fire shot past him, making him flinch several times before he did as Shal had instructed. He pushed the trigger down and forward, then released it and heard the double explosion of the thermal detonators in the hallway behind him. He stumbled onto his face as he slid forward and into the wall at the end of the T termination, where Shal was waiting further down with the repeater.

Iri laid there for a brief moment, surprised he was still alive before instinct took over and he scrambled to his feet and rushed down the hall towards the Garrighol, who was lying on his stomach with the repeater ready in it's bipod. Iri tripped a little and did a baseball slide, coming to a stop next to the Garrighol who reached out to safely catch Iri before he slid too far. Iri held onto the big thick arm, shaking with adrenaline.

Shalmendo grunted, "Get into cover in the room. You're the last stand. And here." He handed Iri another regular thermal detonator, "Same system, use your thumb. Push down, slide forward, release to detonate in 3 seconds. Slide back to cancel. Deadman switch. Go."

The Garrighol gave Iri a surprisingly strong shove up onto his feet in the direction of the room, causing Iri to practically stumble in. Iri prepared his blaster rifle, shaking in the intensity of the situation as he panted a little.

Wizz saw Iri enter, "Hey you okay, man?"

Iri shushed him, "Your boss is coming...I think."

Wizz quieted down and listened with Iri. For a few moments nothing happened, then blaster fire started to ring out. Iri tensed as he heard the deeper more powerful sound of the repeater rifle firing, followed by shouting. Iri suddenly heard a clinking sound and looked at the doorway to find a thermal detonator had just rolled into view. He gasped and jumped back from the doorway. A moment later a dark figure landed on it and disappeared a moment later, followed by the distinctive sound of a thermal detonator exploding, shaking the structure around him.

Iri gasped, that must have been Shal! Shal must have dived onto the detonator to get rid of it...but the explosion came almost immediately after, and...Iri swallowed and readied his rifle as he heard footsteps approaching. Into the light stepped a ragged looking blue-skinned figure with glowing red eyes, holding a thermal detonator in his hand. He was stumbling in, probably injured, but he had that detonator in his hand. Iri watched him arm it before he could fire.

The chiss hissed painfully, "Fire and you're dead." as he held up the now actively blinking detonator.

Iri's blood froze...he was staring at an angry pirate with an armed thermal detonator. It might have a dead man switch like Shal's did, and that meant if he dropped it, everyone was toast.

The Chiss hissed at him, "Drop it!" as he waved the thermal detonator menacingly.

Iri dropped the rifle as ordered, shaking a little as he put his hands up slowly. Where was Shal? Iri suspended that thought as he tried to keep his composure.

The Chiss pirate stumbled closer, and felt at him, finding his blaster pistol, which he tossed aside, sneering, "You have a lot of nerve coming in here and disrupting our nice setup."

Iri swallowed, "It was actually an accident...um...I just wanted to leave but you're pirates and..."

The Chiss snerked as he went over to untie Wizz, "Got yourself tied up, idiot?"

Iri watched as the Chiss had his back to him, then realized...he still had shal's holdout blaster concealed on him. Remembering this, he quickly grabbed the holdout blaster and pointed it at the Chiss. He swallowed and aimed at the Chiss's back while he was futzing with Wizz's bonds, just as Wizz's hands were released Iri pushed the tiny trigger on it and the blaster fired with a sharp higher pitched sound than a normal blaster. The bolt jumped across the room, hit the Chiss square in the back, and he slumped over on top of Wizz.

Wizz shrieked and grabbed at the detonator, which was producing a gradually ascending charging tone. Iri dove over to grab at it before it went off, but Wizz had it in his hand already and tossed it out through the doorway. They both stared at the doorway as they heard it bounce a couple of times, then explode.

Iri shuddered as he slowly got up, pointing the holdout blaster at the Chiss, who didn't move.

Wizz hesitantly shoved the dead pirate off him, "Oh shit, I think he's dead."

Iri sighed deeply, suddenly losing his balance and leaning against the wall, "Oh hrei-a...oh hrei-a..." it was his first real combat in a while and he seriously thought he was done for.

Wizz shook a little too, "hey you allright?"

Iri swallowed, "I don't know..."

Wizz slowly got up with his hands exposed, "hey you better sit down before you fall over, man."

Iri slid down the wall into a seated position, sighing, "I'm alive..."

Wiz moved to step closer to Iri but Iri raised up the holdout blaster, causing Wizz to raise his hands and step back, "hey hey, i'm on your side man. You killed my boss, I'm free now, thanks to you!"

Iri stared at him, "well don't go for a gun or i'll shoot you, understood?"

Wiz nodded, "completely! Can I put my hands down?"

Iri nodded and put his hand back down, sighing, "I thought I was done for."

Wizz nodded as he sat down across the room on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall, "Me too...I mean....god...I never wanted to be a pirate."

Iri nodded and looked at the doorway, all was quiet out there. Too quiet. And there wasn't any sign of Shal. "Wizz?"

Wizz looked up, "Yeah, man?"

Iri swallowed, "Could you see if you can see Shal out there?"

Wizz nodded, "That big black guy? Yeah..." He got up and looked out through the doorway, "Wow, must have been a big ass fight...uhh...Hey Shal guy, you out here?"

Iri listened intently for a response.

Wizz turned and shrugged, "nothin'"

Iri clenched his eyes shut, and gritted his teeth, "Godammit Shal..."

Wiz turned, "Jeez man, I'm sorry..." then yelped as a hand grabbed him from behind firmly and lifted him up by his shirt.

Iri gasped as Wizz looked like he had suddenly levitated up into the air, then moved forward, revealing the Garrighol moving into the room and setting Wizz down aside. Iri gasped and got up to meet Shal, but he collapsed down onto his knees and stayed there, panting.

Iri rushed over, "Shal! What happened?!"

The Garrighol grunted as he rested there, "That guy liked thermal detonators as much as I do." and leaned forward, putting a hand down to support himself.

Iri swallowed and started trying to examine shal, some of his armor was missing and there were strange crystalline formations protruding from his black flesh, "Oh my god are you injured?"

The Garrighol grunted, "A little. I had to go into the sleep, and I'm fighting it right now...don't want to go back in yet."

Iri frowned, "Sleep?"

The Garrighol grunted, "Tell you later. I need to rest in here a little."

Iri helped the Garrighol, although he was so huge he was more just futzing around uselessly, to a more open part of the room where he lay down on his side with a pained grunt.

Shalmendo sighed, "let me just...rest a little...."

Iri's eyes widened as a strange effect suddenly swept over the Garrighol, a wave of changing color and texture washed over him and he seemed to solidify into a strange metallic grey rock like formation. "Shal?!" Iri knelt down to feel at him, but all he felt was hard, cold rock in the general shape of the Garrighol that had been laying there a moment before. Iri poked and prodded but he might as well have been poking a rock.

Wizz stared, "The hell just happened?"

Iri sat back, staring, "I don't...I don't know..."

Wizz stepped a little closer, "looks like he turned into rock or something...what is he?"

Iri shook his head, "He calls himself a Garrighol...I don't know anything about his kind except their eyes can't handle anything brighter than twilight. But this? I have no fucking idea what just happened...I hope this isn't how they...die..."

Wizz knelt down to look at the rocky form, "he didn't look that bad...wait, he said something about sleep, right?"

Iri sniffled, looking up at Wizz, genuinely concerned for Shalmendo's well being, "Yeah? What about it?" Iri rubbed an eye, trying to keep his eyes clear.

Wizz prodded a little, "what if he's sleeping right now? I mean, he said he was trying not to go back into some kind of sleep and..he wanted to rest, right?"

Iri tried to hold back some tears, "Maybe? Godammit, he can't die now..."

Wizz moved closer and put his hand on Iri's shoulder, "Hey, it'll be okay. He's just sleepin like he said."

Iri turn and hugged Wizz, needing some kind of comfort in the aftermath of everything, sniffling.

Wizz just hugged him, "It's okay, man."

Both of them were interrupted when the rocky formation in front of them cracked abruptly.

Iri and Wizz stared as the cracks spread and parts of it fell away to reveal the Garrighol pushing himself up from the ground, pieces of some kind of thin rocky covering falling away and crumbling into dust as they hit the ground.

Iri gasped, falling over in surprise and taking Wizz with him, who yelped in surprise in turn.

Shalmendo stood up to his full height and stared down at the two, "Am I missing something?"

Iri blinked, stared, and jumped up to hug the Garrighol's waist firmly, "Oh my god, I thought you were DEAD!"

The Garrighol grunted, "We need to check for survivors."

Wizz had gotten up and grabbed Iri's guns, Iri noticed this and froze, but Wizz turned the rifle around and held the handle out to him, "This is yours, right?"

Iri took it cautiously, "Yeah...gosh I thought you were gonna shoot me for a minute."

Wizz shook his head, "Nah, man, I told you. I'm not into this pirate stuff. Here's your pistol."

Iri took the pistol Wizz handed him, "Thanks...wow I guess you really weren't lying."

Shalmendo grunted and made his way out of the room with his blaster rifle ready.

Wizz nodded, "Can I join you guys? I mean, I'll do anything to get off this ball of ice. Maybe I can earn passage somehow. I...I don't know how to pilot."

Iri nodded and grabbed Wizz's pistol, handing it to him, "Sure, why not. You've been helpful and fair, and all."

Wizz smiled and motioned, "Lead the way, boss."

Iri chuckled, "Nah, I'm not much of a boss...don't worry about that, just stick close and make sure not to shoot me."

Wizz nodded, "Got it."

The two made their way out into the hallway which showed some severe signs of battle, including lots of blaster marks and scorch marks on the walls and flooring. They passed a smoking item that looked like Shal's repeater turret had taken an explosion a bit too close for comfort.

Iri paused to examine the repeater, it looked salvageable but wasn't functional at the moment, "Wow look at this...it's really beat up."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah that asshole liked to use thermal detonators for everything. I'm surprised your friend survived."

Iri nodded thoughtfully as he looked down the hallway, "He's full of surprises, honestly..Next it'll probably turn out he's a Jedi." Iri laughed a little.

Wizz chuckled, "Hey maybe, although I've never seen anything like him before...except maybe Wookies."

Iri smirked as they continued down the hall, "Yeah I've seen him lift heavy stuff like that repeater like it was nothing..." He shouted out, "Shal! Where'd you go?!"

Shalmendo grunted from down the hall, "Over here, Iri. It seems clear."

Iri felt a wave of relief, they had made it! "Oh man...Shal, Wizz wants to join us, is that okay?"

Shal folded his arms and looked at Wizz, who fidgeted timidly, "Why?"

Wizz spoke up for himself, "I never wanted to be a pirate, big guy...and I'll do anything to get a ride off this ice ball and out of here to some way better place in the galaxy."

Iri nodded, "He seems legit, Shal...I mean, I know it's your ship, but...could you see your way to taking him?"

Shalmendo tilted his head as he considered, then grunted, "If he works."

Wizz nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah guys, anything. Whatever. I just want a new start."

Shalmendo nodded slowly, "Then you will aid us in our contract. In return we will take you to Chandrila."

Wizz seemed excited, "Yeah! That'd be great! Fresh start on one of the core worlds!"

Iri smiled, "Yeah that'd be great. Okay well we still have to get into the archives. Oh that reminds me."

He pulled the comm unit out of his jacket, "Hey Katie you still with us?"

Katie twittered and blipped a response.

Iri felt an immense sense of relief, "Oh good! Well we made it through alive! Did you see anything else going on out there?"

Katie gave an extensive twittering reply.

Iri smiled, "Okay great. Well we've picked up a Rodian named Wizz, who wants to go legit, so he'll be helping us with the cores. I'm going to go get you."

Katie blipped excitedly, making Iri laugh.

Iri smiled, "Shal can you tell Wizz what's up while I go get Katie?"

Shalmendo nodded and looked at Wizz, getting ready to explain the situation to him.

Iri made his way down the hall to get started on the short journey to the maintenance hatch. As he left he heard shall tersely explaining everything to the eager-to-please Rodian. Iri couldn't help but smile a little, knowing Shal would be able to handle himself easily if things went bad. Once at the hatchway he hopped down and put his snow goggles back on, eagerly making his way to the Black Claw to meet Katie.

Iri let himself up the lift and stepped into the cockpit where Katie was disconnecting from the terminal, he smiled and hugged the twittering droid, who was just as excited to see him as he was to see her.

Iri laughed a little, "Yeah, we're good. Chalk up another win, huh?"

Katie blatted a tease.

Iri snickered, "Silly droid. Let's get going, we need you to get that door open."

Katie followed Iri to the cargo lift, and out through the snow. It was snowing again like usual and she twittered some questions at him as they made their way to the hatch.

Iri shook himself out a bit, "Yeah it was hectic. We laid a couple of traps which thinned them out but there was some blaster fire, and Shal had to use his repeater. Their leader, this chiss guy, threatened me with a thermal detonator and I managed to shoot him in the back with a holdout blaster that shal loaned me. He'd taken my other guns, so I was glad to have that. Had a nice kick for such a tiny little thing!" He helped Katie up into the hatchway, "And this Rodian guy joined us. Turns out he didn't want to be a pirate in the first place. Heck it was Wizz, the Rodian, that grabbed the thermal detonator and threw it out of the room before it killed us. Whew. You know, I'm really tired of this planet."

Katie blipped her agreement as they made their way into the Destroyer's interior. Iri shook his head, "Man, I hope the next job is quieter."

They arrived back at the door where Shalmendo and Wizz were waiting. Katie blipped a bit as she looked Wizz over curiously.

Wizz blinked, "Oh hey an Astromech! My dad had one of those R4 models to help him fix our speeder."

Katie blipped and moved over to plug into the terminal again.

Iri smiled, "Yeah she's an R3, and really sturdy. Helped me with lots of stuff, we're quite a team."

Wizz grinned in a Rodian manner, "Yeah, gotta love an Astromech. So..once we get in here, we just have to haul cores out?"

Iri nodded, "Yep. Shal has enough cargo storage for practically all of them and then we'll take them and turn them in to Lt. Rayne."

Shalmendo grunted, "You help us load my cargo bay with the cores, We'll take you to Chandrila."

Wizz nodded, "Sounds fair to me. I used to help my dad with his speeder so I'm kind of familiar with tools and stuff. I can haul, too, sure."

Iri smiled, "Well first we have to get this door open...it's being a bit of a challenge."

Shalmendo grunted, "I'm going to clean up a little bit." and walked away to grab his damaged repeater and some other things, "I will return shortly." Shalmendo dragged the damaged repeater and generator off to take them back to his ship.

Wizz watched Katie working on the door, "Man that guy is...somethin' else."

Iri snickered, "You have no idea. He's like this big mysterious almost-Jedi or something. He doesn't talk much either."

Wizz nodded, "I noticed...he didn't say much in his explanation, just bare minimum. But I got it down, I'll haul as many cores as you guys want. I think I'm gonna get hungry soon though."

Iri felt a bit empty, too, "Yeah me too. I got some rations if you wanna share those?"

Wizz nodded, "I'd love to."

Iri retrieved his pack from the scan room the pirates had set up, and brought it over to the big secure door, fishing out some rations, handing a couple to Wizz, "here ya go, nothing super fancy."

Wizz ripped open a packet eagerly, "Hey, better then what that Chiss asshole gave me." and started munching.

Iri opened a ration of his own and munched on it, "You been a pirate for long?"

Wizz shook his head, "Nah, only about a month...We've been tracking and scanning ships that come into the area, then hijacking them for their cargo. Most of them are smugglers who can't run to the law and complain about us, so it was kind of easy. We'd either hijack them and steal their cargo, or follow them to whatever cave they had hidden their stash in. Then our boss would take it and go sell it and bring back food and stuff. If you could call it food. Ugh, he had horrible taste in food. He'd eat it and tell us if if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for us. But I couldn't stand what he would bring. It was like chewing on a carbonized engine filter."

Iri icked as he swallowed a bit, "Yeah that sounds pretty nasty. Kind of a smart plan, though. Smugglers couldn't complain to any authorities without revealing their stashes or something, good thinking kinda. So you been here a month?"

Wizz nodded as he leaned against the door, "uuugh, yeah. A whole month on this ice ball living in that tiny room, no refresher, no good food. Can't go outside because of the weather. I think the boss put me down here with that asshole human just to torture me for fun."

Iri wrinkled his snout, "Yeah that doesn't sound fun at all. Not for you, anyway. Well, don't worry, once you prove yourself to Shal by working hard to help us with those memory cores, I'm sure he'll let you use his refresher and galley on board the Black Claw."

Wizz's eyes lit up, "Galley? Refresher? Oh my god it sounds like a space yacht."

Iri laughed as he finished off the ration, "Yeah it kind of is, actually. It's this MC-18 Mon Calamari light freighter that he had a bunch of stuff done to the six passenger bunks. He's got like an extended Galley, an office, a nice refresher, all sorts of stuff in there. I've traveled with him before, it's pretty nice."

Wizz nodded, "man, I'd love to spend an hour in a refresher taking a nice shower...We've had to melt ice with blasters to get some water for that....and no soap or anything."

Iri smiled, "Well he has a sonic shower i'm sure you'll love. Just have to prove yourself to him so he won't mind if you use it. He's a little picky, but he's not that bad, really. He saved my life here when some Trandoshan took me prisoner and beat me up. His refresher was heaven after that."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah those Trandoshan are hot headed. Had one in the crew...He was always picking fights and hissing at people. I stayed out of his way. Well I hope we can get this door open soon..."

Iri looked up at the barrier, "yeah, Katie is working on that. How's it coming, Katie?"

Katie blipped and bleeped in an annoyed tone.

Iri frowned, "Uff, well that's not good. All the old tricks not working huh? Damn. ...Oh right, we need something to forge access with."

Iri dug into his backpack, and pulled out the code cylinder he found the first time he was here, "Katie, think this might help?"

Katie twittered as a panel opened.

Iri smiled, "Good idea." and plugged the code cylinder into one of Katie's data ports.

Katie blipped, bleeped, and twittered at length for a moment.

Iri nodded, "Great, see what you can do with that."

Wizz asked, "So...what's going on?"

Iri smiled, "Katie says she can use the contents of the code cylinder to try and forge an access registration to get the door unlocked. It might take a couple of minutes though, due to the heavy system security on the door. Haven't seen something this secure in awhile, and it's not gonna be just a pushover to slice."

Wizz nodded, "yeah I don't know nothin' about slicing...or much. Heh, I think I know more about pirating than anything else." Wizz looked up at the ceiling, "I've always wanted to be a chef, though.."

Iri laughed, "A chef! Hey maybe you can whip us up something in Shal's galley. He's got a stash of fresh ingredients in there."

Wizz smiled, "I'd sure love to try. I'm not too good but I did learn a couple of recipes."

Iri grinned, "I think the last time I had any real good food was when Shal and I went to Cloud City, You know, On Bespin, and went to this little place with a spider waiter guy, it was great. I had Tauntaun chowder." Iri chortled, "I guess that was a premonition of where i'd end up spending my time."

Wizz laughed, "Yeah i'd call that an omen allright."

Shal returned with some survival items, "I think there's a storm coming."

Iri felt some mild concern, "Oh, well we better hole up in that scanner room with some heaters, then unless you think we can make it to the ship?"

Shalmendo shook his head, "No. It was already picking up heavily when I left my ship. We should probably stay in here overnight."

Iri didn't exactly like that idea but nodded, "Well I guess the Galley will have to wait, then. Katie is working on getting it unlocked. That code cylinder I found my first time in here has some critical encryption key data Katie can use to forge access and get it unlocked, but it seems to be taking a bit."

Shalmendo nodded, "Katie might need a recharge soon."

Katie blipped in agreement.

Iri nodded, "Yeah she says her power cells are running low pretty quick having to power the door. You have a generator, right?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Two small units. One should be enough to recharge her."

Katie blipped and withdrew from the terminal.

Iri patted the droid, "okay, let's get you recharged and we can set up camp in that room."

The four made their way into the scanner room and Shal set the bits of equipment out. Namely, a couple of heating units, two small portable generators, and some food and water supplies, along with a small scanner unit.

Iri looked at the scanner, "What's that for?"

Shalmendo turned it on, "Scans weather. We can see when it's safe."

Iri nodded, "ooh okay, good idea."

Wizz checked on the chiss, "yeah..he's uh...he's dead." then checked the human, "He's dead, too...deserved it"

Iri went over to check as well, "Yeah, they're both...gone...here, help me get them outside, no point in them taking up the heat and stuff."

Wizz nodded and they carried each body out and set them up the hallway in the darkness.

Iri sighed, "I don't like killing people" as he settled into a spot near one of the heaters.

Wizz nodded, "Me neither...but they deserved it. I won't be losing any sleep over it."

Shalmendo grunted as he turned the second heater on and then proceeded to start looking Katie over.

Katie blipped curiously.

Iri looked over, "Uh....Katie wants to know what you're doing."

Shalmendo grunted, "looking for her power port."

Iri laughed and got up to go over, picking up the generator's power cable, "Right here on the front, on the bottom. This round port here." he plugged it in and Katie twittered.

Shalmendo nodded, "Okay, well we should be set until the storm passes."

Iri nodded and looked at one of the bedrolls Shal had set out. Iri yawned involuntarily, "oof, I'm tired out...Shal, you gonna keep watch, I guess? You don't sleep much right?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Go ahead and rest. Both of you. I will keep watch."

Iri looked over at Wizz, "When's the last time you slept?"

Wizz yawned, "eh, it was hard to get any sleep with that asshole snoring like a couple of freighters crashing over and over again...."

Iri snickered, "Well I don't snore, and Shal is really quiet. Katie won't make a peep unless there's something urgent."

Katie gave a little bleep.

Iri gave Katie a small smile as he sat down on the roll and stretched out, "mmh." He turned over and closed his eyes as Shal shut off the lighting, eager for a chance to take his helmet off.

Wizz also moved over to the second bedroll and settled down on it, "aw, it's nice to have something soft to lie on. Asshole Chiss didn't even give us bedrolls. Said we wouldn't need 'em since we wouldn't be sleepin, keepin an eye on that damn scanner all the time." he yawned and settled in.

Shalmendo slipped his helmet off, and rubbed his eyes a bit. He reached over and grabbed some rations, shoving them in his mouth and chewing them quietly as he sat and listened, keeping an eye on the scanner.

Several hours later, Iri yawned as he roused, stretching a little bit, and accidentally kicking something with his boot. He blinked and sat up, looking around in the darkness as he rubbed his eyes. He heard a familiar grunt and looked up to see Shalmendo's glowing red eyes peering down at him. Iri blinked up, "Oh hey...oops did I kick you?"

Shalmendo may have shrugged but Iri couldn't see it, "Yes, but don't worry about it."

Iri blushed a little, "How's the weather outside?" Iri could see Shalmendo's eyes shift in the darkness as he turned his head briefly, then back.

Shalmendo grunted, "Clearing. It should be safe to work on the door further."

Another yawn sounded nearby.

Wizz eyed the Garrighol with his own sensitive vision, "Oh hey your eyes glow, too."

Shalmendo nodded.

Wizz chuckled, "I think you're the only other species that can do that. But hey, we good to work on that door some more?"

Iri smiled softly in the dark, "Yeah. How's Katie?"

Katie twipped a bit in the dark.

Iri stretched, "Ah good. Anyone hungry?"

Wizz stretched too, "Naw, those rations will hold me for a bit."

Katie twittered a bit.

Iri perked up, "Oh good! Katie says she should have the access forged now. She had plenty of time to crunch the numbers involved."

Shalmendo grunted and put his goggles back on before switching on a light, "Very good."

Iri squinted in the sudden lighting and rubbed his eyes, giving another yawn, "oof, okay let's get started...the sooner we get in, the sooner we can get back to Chandrila with the cores, and Wizz."

Wizz sounded excited, "that will be great. Just watch, I'll haul my fair share!"

Iri grunted as he got up and stretched, "Take it easy and don't hurt yourself. Shal will be bringing over a cargo carrier so that will make it easier for us to mass-haul it to his ship."

Wizz nodded, "Hey anything to drink?"

Shalmendo picked up and offered a container of water.

Wizz took it and smiled, "Thank you, sir." opening the cap and taking a long swig.

Iri checked his gear real quick, "the Black Claw has a galley with a coffee machine...maybe once we get our first haul over there we could all have some."

Wizz smiled as he handed the container back, "Coffee would be nice. I haven't had any in a month."

Shalmendo gruffled, "We ready?"

Katie twittered and poked at the door.

Shal went over and shoved it open, and the four made their way over to the door. Katie plugged in and blipped and bleeped as she attempted her slice. Then paused and blatted.

Iri ran his hand through his hair, "Well...She can't supply enough power to the door. Oh, Yeah, Hey Wizz, go grab those two generators shal brought."

Wizz nodded, "On it!" and dashed over to get them. A few moments later he returned with them, "Gonna try and power the door with these?"

Iri nodded and took them, moving over to the door paneling and pulled out some of his tools, "If I can pump more power into the system in the right way it should allow those big heavy motors to pull the locking mechanisms." Iri got to work and cut into the doors wiring, locating the power supply lines and started rigging up an adapter for the generators.

Shalmendo and Wizz watched curiously as Iri sliced, spliced, and diced, various wires into each other and finally plugged in the generators, activating both and adjusting them gradually.

Iri carefully turned the power output of the generators up gradually to avoid overloading anything, "Now if we do this right..."

Some sparks flew from the door panel, but some mechanisms could be heard turning deep inside the door.

Katie blipped and bleeped a bit.

Iri adjusted the generators up a bit more, "Keep it going Katie, we've almost got it."

A few more sparks flew and some lights came on on one of the generators, Iri winced a bit, "Not too much longer but this generator is overheating."

Further sparks flew, including one or two from the overheating generator. Iri leaned back then fiddled with the generator's control panel, trying to keep it going. Another burst issued from the generator's power connection port and then it suddenly started shooting a gout of flames. Iri jumped back, "ooops! Too hot!"

Katie quickly disconnected from the terminal and turned to spray the generator with a fire extinguisher, putting the flame out on the generator. Iri then hopped back over and shut the generator off.

Katie twittered at him.

Iri sighed, "Sorry about that, but Katie says the door is unlocked now."

Iri went about shutting the generators down and disconnecting them.

Shalmendo studied the door for a moment, then dug his claws into some of the new opening the retracting components had left and strained, growling a little. After a few moments the door shifted slightly, then a 'thunk' was heard and one side started to slide open. Shalmendo braced against the stationary door and pushed the moving side further until it was large enough for them to slip through, but not entirely open. He sighed as he stopped pushing.

Shalmendo grunted, rubbing an arm, "Should be open enough."

Iri peeked in, putting his lightbar through the gap to provide some visibility. It did look like some kind of archive, the room was hexagonal, and had several columns of circular plates going up each wall. The ceiling was quite tall, being several stories, and had service ladders going all the way up.

Iri slipped through and looked around, holding his light bar high, "wow this place is..kind of awesome." Wizz squeezed in behind him, "Oh wow yeah...what is this place?"

Iri moved to look at the set of hexagonally arranged consoles in the center which looked quite complicated with screens and switches. "The archive for the Destroyer...although I don't think this was a regular feature on most of them...this seems kind of unique."

Katie came in third, looking around and giving appreciating 'oohs' as she wheeled around the hexagonal consoles in the center. Katie twittered a little bit.

Iri hmmed, "Yeah it does seem like this room is several stories tall."

Shalmendo entered last and looked around, moving to one of the circular plates and inspecting it, "Is this where the memory cores are?"

Iri moved over and examined it, "Maybe. Let me undo these bolts."

Iri handed the light to shal, who held it for him, and he got to work undoing the several bolts that held it in place.

Wizz was moving around the room slowly, looking at all the circular plates, "gosh there must be like..50 of those circular things."

Iri worked away pulling off one bolt at a time until finally he was able to lift the plate off with a little effort. Inside was a single memory core, in some kind of specialized housing. Iri grabbed the light bar back and leaned in to peer at it, "Yeah these are memory cores...and 50? wow...We'll have a good haul, then!"

Shalmendo nodded, "I'm not very good with those kinds of tools."

Wizz volunteered, "Hey I'll undo 'em! That looks like a cinch. Let me have some tools and I'll get these all open for ya."

Iri nodded and handed over the tools Wizz would need, "Sure, just be real careful with the cores. Let me work out how to remove them, just take the covers off."

Wizz nodded and got to work on the next cover.

Iri leaned in and inspected the memory core. It was well mounted, probably with some kind of built-in protection. In fact, it looked like they were even shock mounted in case the Destroyer happened to crash. A sound investment considering where the destroyer was. He started by undoing the cable connections to the core, which were right up front, probably for easy maintenance, then tugged on the core a bit and as it slid out a bit, he realized it was mounted on rails. "Oh these are rail mounted...fancy..." he pulled it all the way out and futzed with it some more. He found out that by lifting it upwards he could pop it off the rail as the guides were mounted directly to the memory core, making it easy to remove and install them, while keeping them shock mounted for safety.

Iri turned to the other two, "okay it's easy, you just unplug the cables, pull them out, they're rail mounted, then give it an upward tug and pull it out some more and it pops right out."

Wizz grinned, "easy peasy, then. We'll have this done fairly quick, eh?"

Iri nodded, "looks like it!"

Shalmendo nodded as he looked upwards, "what about those up there?"

Iri looked up, "oh...uh...well Shal, I guess you'll have to climb up and help with those. Undoing the bolts is easy, and so is the cable connection and tugging them right out."

Shalmendo nodded, then looked down as Iri handed him the tool he needed. He took it and clambered up, surprisingly well adapted to climbing, and started working on the units far up out of the edge of the light bar's reach.

Iri chuckled, "wow Shal, you can really disappear."

Shalmendo grunted from above as he undid the bolts, "It's not my fault I'm night colored."

Iri laughed, starting to feel better thanks to Shal's company.

Wizz laughed too, "Hey you're pretty funny, big guy! Thanks for giving me a chance, too."

It took a couple of hours but they soon had all the covers off and found that every single core was intact. They eventually lined them up in the hallway outside, counting a total of 50. They settled for a rest while Shal kept a watch.

Wizz grinned as he consumed another ration, continuing a story he had been telling Iri while they rested up, "So my brother thought it would be a good idea to grab a part from a repulsorlift in a garbage unit and put it in the land speeder."

Iri laughed, "oh noooo!"

Wizz chuckled, "It was the funniest thing, the speeder couldn't decide if it was a garbage scow or a speeder, and it kept bumping into all the trashcans!"

Iri and Wizz laughed heartily, passing a canteen between them. Katie blatted in amusement.

Iri grinned, "Wow, that's hilarious. Your family...think you'll ever go back and visit them?"

Wizz got a little serious as he leaned back against the wall with a sigh, "I want to. I mean, I kind of...told them I wasn't coming back but..."

Iri patted his shoulder, "But they're your family, Wizz. Nothing can replace family."

Shalmendo grunted, "I better start moving these to the hatchway." and started picking up some of the memory cores with his hands and putting them under his arms. He then started making his way down the hall quietly, although his heavy booted steps could still be heard.

Iri watched Shalmendo leave, "Sometimes....I wonder if he's got some kind of super dark secret."

Wizz looked over, "Yeah he does seem a little...tense or something."

Iri leaned back and sipped some water, "Well...he told me a little bit about his past. Something about the Empire enslaving his people, and blowing up his planet...I guess that would make anyone dark and gloomy. If I know the empire they ripped him from his family and he never was able to find them again..."

Wizz shook his head, "damn, that's heavy...I can see why he's so...grumpy like all the time."

Iri sighed, "Yeah. The empire came and occupied my home world too. It wasn't as bad as that but...I grew up with them on the planet and those stormtroopers bullying people like it was nothing."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah I got some of that too...I don't think anyone who wasn't imperial liked the Empire."

Iri nodded quietly, taking another swing, "It just sucks so much that they tricked everyone into letting them have so much power. I mean, look what they did with it. My family wasn't that well off...it was hard to get medicine, even alcohol."

Wizz sighed, "Yeah my dad repaired imperial speeders most of the time...and they never paid him what he thought the job was worth either. It was kind of a 'we'll give you what we want' type deal."

Iri nodded, "That's why I joined the rebellion back when it was still a thing. Hell, I even served right here on Hoth in Echo Base."

Wizz stared, "Wow really? Damn, you went and did something about those Imperials...what was it like?"

Iri smirked, "well, I served on hangar crew. Fixed up speeders and x-wings and stuff. Did my part to make the vehicles of war work good so the pilots could use 'em to blow up stormtroopers. This Destroyer was part of the blockade that nearly ended me when we evacuated."

Wizz winced, "damn....what was that like?"

Iri looked over at Wizz, "It wasn't heroic...it was scary as hell. I remember the snow speeders going out there and....the hangar bay was open and I saw those massive AT-AT's spearheading their attack on the shield generator." Iri shuddered and took a deep breath, "practically scared my scales off...It was really frightening. And when the evacuation order was given, it was total chaos I had to grab the nearest Y-wing and get out. That's where I met Katie actually."

Katie whistled at Iri's side.

Iri smiled at her, "It was thanks to her that we got away safely. I was a bit too shaken to be much good with the stick so she helped pilot and got us through that blockade." Iri sighed, "this destroyer was shooting at the escaping ships...I saw a couple explode. Katie and I barely got away...probably because the blockade was so distracted at shooting the bigger more important ships. Later I found out that some of the civilian transports had been destroyed."

Wizz shook his head, "Damn, that's...really heavy....Those Imperials were really vicious."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, that's why I joined the rebellion. To help see their tyranny come to an end. I always kept a picture of my family with me during that time to remind me what I was fighting for. REALLY remind me...not just 'oh it's for people everywhere' but...looking at my parents every day really motivated me to do my best, and I think that's a bit part of how I helped win against the Empire."

Wizz smiled, "That's really sweet man...you know what, First thing I do when we get off this ball of ice...I'm gonna go visit my dad in his speeder shop and...well...I'm gonna tell him I was wrong."

Iri smiled, "Good for you! Thank god we don't have the Empire to lord over us anymore like they used to...the New Republic has them on the run. I retired from the Rebellion, but...I still work for the New Republic as a freelancer. I'm mostly a scout and slicer, which is how I got the job to come here the first time and retrieve some data if I could find any. Then Trando's got me, Shal came to my rescue...heh funny though, he didn't come for me. He came because I didn't show up for a datacard handover. I was taking a datacard to this assigned meeting place and I never showed since I was too busy being beat up by the trandos, so Shal took it on himself to come and find me so he could get the card. I had hidden it on Cloud City so he had to take me there so I could open the booby trapped case I'd tucked it in. It could have ended there but he let me talk him into taking Katie for repairs, and even helped me drop the core off for my payment. From there he brought me back here so I could pick up my Y-wing. He's actually kind of nice once you get to know him."

Wizz listened, "wow...pretty lucky for you. And nice of him to take you around. I'm not expecting much, I just want to get to my dad's place. Hopefully I can scrape some credits together soon enough to buy a ticket."

Iri smiled, "Well hey, with all these cores, we're going to get a decent payout, I'll give you a few hundred credits so you can get yourself home. Maybe you can work in your dad's speeder shop from there."

Wizz gasped, "Really? Gosh you're so nice. Jeez am I one lucky rodian to have bumped into your guys."

Iri laughed, "you're even luckier Shal didn't pump you full of blaster holes."

Wizz nodded, "You're tellin' me! I'll work real hard and pay you back every credit, I promise."

Iri smiled, "Hey, just don't become a pirate again and we'll be even."

Wizz laughed, "all right, It's a deal. But don't be afraid to come by some time, huh?"

Iri nodded, "I'll come for a visit. It's always nice to make good friends I can visit later. I used to make friends of the pilots and droids in the hangar but...well, it was war, and people don't live too long. It's nice to have a friend I can keep for longer than a few months."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah that must have been rough."

Shalmendo returned, "rested?"

Iri looked up and pushed himself up, "Oh, yeah. Let's get those cores moved to the hatchway so you can get your cargo lift and we can get out of here. How many of these will fit do you think?"

Shalmendo pondered, "at least six per trip. Maybe 12 if we double stack."

Iri nodded, "then..Around five trips. Not bad if the weather holds."

Wizz stretched a bit and grabbed a couple of cores, "Well let's get started, then! I'm looking forward to buying a ticket home."

Shalmendo nodded and picked up several more cores, while Iri and Wizz grabbed four each, one in each hand and one under each arm.

Katie twittered as she followed.

Iri replied, "Yeah, good idea Katie. Shal, Katie wants to know if you'd like her to stay in the ship and basically 'man' it for us while we haul the cores."

Shalmendo nodded, "Good idea, Katie. Yes."

It took them a number of trips to get the cores all stacked in the hallway where the maintenance hatch was.

Iri sighed, "Man, if it weren't for that hatch we could probably have just brought the carrier all the way to the archives."

Wizz grunted, "Yeah this is kind of tedious, but hey, we finished."

Iri nodded, "Yeah but now we have to get them through this crawlspace."

Wizz looked at the crawl space, "Huh, yeah. We can roll 'em but how far is it?"'

Iri looked into the hatchway, "not too far. I'd say we could form like a chain but there isn't enough room to...wait yeah there is if we tilt them up onto their bottom so we can slide them past us, then lie them down to roll them again."

Wizz nodded, "Let's do that, then."

Shalmendo interrupted, "let me get the cargo carrier first. Then we only roll out as many as it will carry."

Iri realized this was sound advice, "Oh yeah so they aren't just sitting in the snow."

Shalmendo nodded, "Katie, follow." and crawled into the hatchway.

Katie twipped and rolled in after Shalmendo.

Iri smiled, happy to see them working together so well, and took the time to sip from a canteen.

Wizz paced a little, "man i'm eager to get off of this freezer."

Iri nodded, "After a month here, I can see why. Don't worry, You take the first sonic shower, and if you feel up to it you can see about cooking something up in the galley. I know I'd like something cooked up. Although the rations he has aren't bad...they're kind of gourmet, but they're still rations."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah I can see how just rations for a while gets kind of old." Iri smiled, "Yeah I try to eat out once in awhile. There's no room for anything other then rations in my Y-wing so it's real nice to go to a restaurant, or even a diner, and just pig out."

Wizz laughed, "Oh man, first place I see that serves food...I'm gonna move in."

Iri chuckled, "Yeah I know what you mean. After I retired and lived out of my Y-wing for awhile I went and ate at this really sleaze greaseball place at a pit stop along a hyperlane...It was kind of gross food but it was SO GOOD after rations for months."

Wizz grimaced and laughed, "eeeew, man...those pit stop places, yuck."

They laughed together for a couple of moments, then Iri's comm started twittering.

Iri jumped a little, "Oh dang, I keep forgetting I have that" he pulled it out, "That you Katie?"

Katie blipbleeped.

Iri grinned, "Great, all set up then?"

Katie twittered and blipped.

Iri nodded, "Great, thanks Katie." He looked over to Wizz, "Shal is on his way with the cargo carrier, won't be more than a couple of minutes."

Wizz nodded and rubbed his hand a bit, "Great. Hey are we out of rations?"

Iri chuckled and dug into his jacket pocket, "Let me check the greaseball diner in my pocket!" before drawing out a ration and handing it over with a laugh.

Wizz snickered and opened it, munching on the contents as they waited, "Sorry for eating so many but, gosh, I think I've been malnourished for a month."

Iri nodded, "No problem. Shal has a couple of months of rations back on the Black Claw, so you'll be fine. And don't worry about paying him back, I'll do that"

Wizz smiled, "Thanks Iri, you're amazing."

Shal called down the hatchway, "Ready for 12 cores."

Iri called back, "On it!" and crawled into the hatch, "Wizz, you send me in 12 cores and I'll cart them out to Shal."

Wizz nodded and grabbed on, setting it down and waiting for Iri.

Once Iri was in position he called out to Wizz, who rolled the core carefully into the hatchway, where Iri grabbed it and pushed it along to where shal was waiting near the entrance. Iri passed the core to Shal, who took it and pushed it the rest of the way to the cargo carrier where he loaded it on and positioned it, then returned for the next core.

The group passed the cores this way until all 12 were loaded and Shal carted them off to the ship.

Meanwhile Iri and Wizz had some time to chat further.

Iri dusted his hands off as he stood up from the vent, "So How did you end up in debt with that Chiss?"

Wizz rolled his eyes, "hoo boy, well, I was trying to get some credits for a ticket to the next planet over, and so I was doing what anyone desperate would do, I bet my last couple of credits on a game of Pazaak and won some back. I kept that up until I started building up a little pile. I figured I might as well get some extra for a good meal, some clothes, ya know. Then this Chiss is like, "you're playin too small hands, why don't you come join my boys for a real game.""

Iri nodded, "Oh boy...a 'real game'...heh"

Wizz shook his head, "Yeah, seriously. I think he cheated because at first I started winning like...100 credits a game. I was really getting into it and I was thinking I could walk away with enough to maybe get my own little scout ship or something so I could go where I pleased. Total freedom, ya know. Then I got all excited and bet everything and...that's the only time I lost."

Iri snerked, "yeah sounds suspicious alright."

Wizz nodded, "I begged him to let me have some credits so i could at least try to win it back but he said he didn't give credits away. Then he said he'd let me play another round if I bet myself. I knew it was a bad idea but i was like 'i'm the only thing I have left and It was only one loss'. Boy was I an idiot. So he convinces me and I lose again. So guess what, I'm his new crewman."

Iri bleched, "Ugh that sucks...and we know where that ended up."

Wizz sighed, "Yeah, With me stuck in a destroyer with an asshole who wouldn't shut up, eating the worst food imaginable and barely enough heat to avoid dying of cold."

Iri shook his head, "well he got what he deserved. And you're almost to freedom."

Iri heard Shal calling for another set of 12 cores.

The group did this 4 more times, although the last run wasn't full.

Iri and Wizz crawled out to follow Shal back to the ship.

Wizz looked around at the snow, and the side of the destroyer, "so good to be going...so damn good..."

Iri nodded and patted Wizz on the shoulder, "Yeah I know that feeling. Really well."

Shalmendo just quietly pushed the floating unit along the trail towards the ship.

Wizz continued, "Hey uh...Shamendo, sir? Would you mind if I used your refresher and cooked up something for you guys in the galley? I'm a little bit of a cook and..I thought maybe you'd like something nice."

Shalmendo turned his head briefly, "Feel free."

Wizz smiled, "Man I am looking forward to that sonic shower...."

Iri laughed, "you'll love it. Make sure to turn the pulse strength up, it's like getting a rubdown."

Wizz almost melted at the thought. "Mmmmh, a rub down...man."

The Dark Claw loomed up in it's matte black styling as they ascended past the overlook it was perched back from.

Wizz stared, "Wow look at that! Matches Shal perfect!"

Iri laughed, "Yeah it's dominating like he is...a nice fit."

Wizz shuddered a bit, "Man if you were sent to come after me and I saw that thing land, I'd piss myself."

Iri broke into laughter, "That's about the same feeling I had when Shal showed up to rescue me. I didn't know who he was or what...just this huge guy in that armor."

They gathered on the cargo lift and it pulled them up into the confines of the ship.

Iri looked around, seeing that there were carefully arranged stacks of the cores neatly filling in the cargo space around the lift, "Hey good job with the space Shal, everything fits, all fifty units."

Shalmendo nodded, "you can show him where everything is. I'm going to my quarters."

Iri nodded, "Sure thing, Shal. First let's check the cockpit, I wanna say hi to Katie."

Wizz followed, "Looks like a passenger freighter kinda."

Iri nodded, "Yeah it was, but he gutted the interior and had it built up differently. Like here is the guest bunk where we'll be sharing a room. It's a double stack bunk, and the Galley is here. That door over there is for Shal's quarters. I've never been in there, actually, but I won't intrude on his privacy."

Wizz looked around, "where's the refresher?"

Iri chuckled, "Through the cockpit, surprisingly. This way."

They stepped into the cocpkit and Katie twittered her usual greeting.

Iri smiled and patted Katie's dome, "good to see you too Katie. Oh, Wizz, the refresher is through there. That door is Shal's office, and that one his armory. I'd stay out of both until he says it's okay."

Wizz nodded, "Thanks Iri."

Iri smiled as he watched Wizz go into the refresher, "mmh, I'm looking forward to a sonic shower, too. All ready for takeoff Katie?"

Katie twittered and blipped positively.

Iri nodded, "Great, Well now that we've got all the cores, let's go ahead and get going."

Katie twipped in agreement and started the process of preparing for takeoff. Iri smiled as he stretched and walked into the bunk he was going to share with Wizz. He took the time to move some of this things out of the way so Wizz wouldn't end up walking all over clutter. He then sat down and took his boots off, sighing as he freed his toes and set the boots aside stretching a bit before he stripped off further and dug in to the bureau for some shorts and a light, loose, shirt. He slipped those and and smiled a bit as he went up to the cockpit where Katie was just taking the ship off.

Katie greeted Iri as usual.

Iri slipped up into the copilot chair and relaxed as he pulled his knees up comfortably, "mmh, Katie, at the 2,000 credits per core..how much will those cores be worth?"

Katie did a quick calculation and blipped her reply.

Iri grinned, "wow...that's 50,000 credits each. Jeez, that's a nice windfall. I'll definitely have enough for a holdout blaster of my own...Oh make sure to remind me to give Shal his back before we arrive, including the ampules."

Katie twitted.

Iri nodded, "Great. Hmm, what should I buy with all that..."

Katie blipped a comment.

Iri laughed, "You don't need diamonds! You're a droid!"

Iri watched out the viewport as the ship rose, "man I hope I don't have to come back here again...and if I do...I hope it's much quieter next time."

Katie twittered her agreement, then focused on piloting.

Iri nodded thoughtfully, "well I want coffee.." he got up and made his way to the Galley where he found Wizz preparing something, "oh heya Wizz!"

Wizz grinned, "I think these are just the right ingredients for something you'll like. But I won't tell you what! It's a surprise."

Iri grinned, "Okay! I look forward to it." and went to poke the coffee dispenser, which gave him a cup. He sipped it as he watched Wizz cooking.

Wizz glanced over his shoulder, "come on, now. No peeking!"

Iri laughed, "okay, okay!" and made his way back out of the galley, sipping his coffee, and enjoying the uplifting flavor it had. As he entered the hallway, the door to Shalmendo's quarters opened and the Garrighol stepped through, nude. Iri blinked and almost choked on his coffee as he saw the totally nude body of the Garrighol, "Uh, Shal..you're naked!"

Shalmendo stood there in a confused manner, wearing nothing but his goggles, "Yes?"

Iri laughed as he covered his eyes, embarrassed, "Uh...there's a thing about nudity..."

Shalmendo folded his arms as he stood there, "A taboo?"

Iri nodded, "Yeah, uh...running around naked in the company of people who aren't...say..your wife or lover...it's really embarrassing."

Shalmendo snorted, "I'm not embarrassed." Iri chuckled, "uh...yeah but I am, could you..put some shorts on?"

Shalmendo shrugged and turned around to go back into his quarters. Iri fanned himself a little, "Wow! And I thought the coffee was hot..." he grunted and waited for Shal to come back out.

Shalmendo returned in a pair of simple loose shorts, "Better?"

Iri nodded, "Yeah...." he laughed, "I guess you sit around naked in here a lot huh?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Constantly. I don't like clothes."

Iri nodded, "Eh yeah I didn't when I was young but...Society dictates clothes."

Shalmendo grunted and went into the cockpit to check on things.

Iri shook his head and sipped his coffee again as he went into the bunk room to relax and enjoy his beverage.

It wasn't long before Wizz entered and found Iri lying down on the lower bunk, "Hey Iri, I got something all fixed up for everyone."

Iri lifted his head up and stretched, "oh great, I'm pretty hungry!" and got up, "you told Shal?"

Wizz shook his head, "No, I came straight here, but I will now."

Iri smiled and nodded, Wizz left to go tell Shal about the meal, while Iri went to the galley and sat down at the ample table, smelling something rather tasty in the room. Off to the side it looked like Wizz had covered the large meal with a towel.

Shortly, Shalmendo and Wizz came in.

Wizz motioned, "have a seat, Shal, you guys are gonna love this."

Shalmendo moved over and sat opposite Iri curiously. Iiri gave him a smile, and watched as Wizz brought over some plates and forks, then went and got the main dish setting it on the table, still covered by a towel.

Wizz grinned as he lifted the towel up, revealing a pile of some kind of fried dumplings, "Tadaa! These are a little something I picked up. They're called Blasteroids! Serve it up for yourselves and enjoy."

Iri tilted his head and used his fork to put some on his plate curiously, "What are they?"

Wizz grinned as he sat next to Iri, "they're these double-fried dumplings. Filled with chili. It took me a awhile before I figured out what kind of chili goes best in these. They're great."

Iri forked one and took a bite out of it. His mouth burst into a bouquet of delicious flavor, with the crunchy fried outside and a meaty and hearty chili hidden inside. It was spicy, but not unpleasantly so, was just warm enough with a leftover tingle as he swallowed, "mmm! Hey these ARE really good. You should really look into being a chef."

Shalmendo had been watching Iri, and as Iri expressed his enjoyment of the flavor, he put a few on his own plate and popped one into his mouth. He chewed it thoughtfully then swallowed, "hmm...very good. I like this."

Wizz smiled proudly as he also joined in on the meal.

It wasn't long before the serving plate was empty and everyone had eaten their fill.

Iri grinned as he leaned back, "dang those were good...You really could be a cook."

Wizz shrugged, "Eh that's like...the only thing I really know how to make this good. Everything is kind of...blah."

Iri snickered, "Well this is a good start, Wizz. I bet you could eventually open up your own restaurant or something. You should look into some chef training and start getting experience."

Wizz shrugged again, "Eh, I dunno...a lot of people are happy to just buy a chef droid and leave it at that."

Iri nodded, "Well yeah that's an easy way, but a chef droid won't be able to innovate on the themes it knows and come up with new creations. That's where you can get 'em."

Wizz thought about that, "You think so? I guess I could try coming up with a bunch of my own recipes..."

Iri nodded, "And those recipes will be unique to you. The only way a droid could replicate them is if it was programmed with them, and you don't have to give those away. I heard of this one guy who gets hired by social elite to come up with a unique menu and recipes just for a specific social occasion. They're never used again, or sometimes they become a trademark of the family that commissioned them. That makes really good money. You could serve banquets at Coruscant or for elite gatherings."

Wizz laughed, "Wow I don't know if I'm quitethat good, Iri. But I do think I'd enjoy a culinary career..."

Shalmendo leaned forward to rest his arms on the table, "I agree with Iri."

Wizz looked up at the Garrighol's goggles, "Wow, really? gee...I guess that's what I should look at doing after I mend things with my dad."

Iri smiled, "That sounds like a good plan."

Wizz got up and started clearing the table, "I was a little worried about leftovers but, hey there aren't any!"

Iri laughed softly, then looked over to the Garrighol and gave him a little nudge under the table.

Shalmendo tilted his head, then looked over to Wizz, "Thank you for the meal, Wizz."

Wizz smiled as he dumped the plates and utensils into the recycler, "Hey it's the least I can do. You pretty much freed me from a life of slavery, there."

Shalmendo grunted and got up, stepping out and heading up towards the cockpit.

Wizz cringed a bit, "I...probably shouldn't have put it that way..."

Iri shrugged, "He probably didn't mind it. He's just terse and doesn't really seem aware of social niceties like small talk and politeness."

Wizz nodded, "Yeah I guess so...but how will I know when I do say something wrong?"

Iri got up and walked over to pat Wizz on the shoulder, "I wouldn't worry about it. He's just terse and...grumpy, I guess. Not your fault."

Wizz nodded, "Well, I'm ready to get some sleep for a bit. Oh, hey, how long is our trip?"

Iri thought for a moment, "uh, I'd say about maybe 5 hours?"

Wizz nodded and patted his belly, "Great, A five hour nap will do me good. I didn't get much sleep with that asshole snoring like he did."

Iri chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Mind if I keep the bottom bunk?"

Wizz nodded, "Yeah of course, no problem. See ya soon!" he left to go catch up on his sleep in the bunk.

Iri smiled a bit and glanced out the window at the hyperspace tunnel before making his way up to the cockpit where he found Shal had lowered the lights and had his goggles off. He walked up behind the Garrighol, gently patting his shoulders, "A nice big haul, huh shal?"

Shalmendo grunted, "Yes."

Iri smiled, "You know, with the 2k per core the New Republic promised us...that's 50k credits each. There a few things you could buy new for that."

Shalmendo nodded, "I am considering options."

Iri nodded and slipped into the copilot chair, nestling into it comfortably, "Like maybe an astromech translator for your console there."

Katie blatted.

Iri chuckled, "Katie wants to know why you haven't got one already."

Shalmendo shrugged, "Don't usually need one. I'll install one when I get an astromech for myself."

Iri nodded, "I guess that makes sense...I mean the only Astromech you've ever had on board is Katie, right?"

Shalmendo nodded as he gazed into the hyperspace tunnel.

Iri leaned back, "ahh. Well this has gone pretty well...I mean, aside from when I thought you died or something. What was that anyway?"

Shalmendo glanced over with his glowing red eyes, "The sleep."

Iri blinked, "But you like..turned to stone or something."

Shalmendo nodded, folding his arms, "Yes, that is the sleep. We turn into stone when injured, then stay in the sleep until it is safe."

Iri stared, "You never told me about this...When it happened...I thought you were gone."

Shalmendo shook his head, "We can stay in the sleep for a long time until the threat is gone. I needed to rest after being hit with blaster fire and avoiding a thermal detonator explosion. The sleep let me recover."

Iri scratched his short-cropped grey hair, "that's...pretty scary...I mean, it was for me."

Shalmendo nodded, "But I am fine."

Iri rubbed the back of his neck a little, "You're full of really strange surprises...I thought that thermal detonator got you."

Shalmendo smirked, "Not quite. I threw it quickly but it still exploded nearby and took out my repeater. Some of the material hit me when the generator exploded and knocked my armor off. I'll get it all repaired or replaced."

Iri wiggled a bit in the seat, "I hope you still made a profit, at least."

Shalmendo nodded, "I usually do. I have a savings if I need to recuperate."

Iri sighed a bit, "Okay, good. And that 50k will be a nice windfall for you too, I'm sure."

Shalmendo gave a hint of a smile, "Yes. The credits will help."

Iri tilts his head, "so...do you have any plans for it?"

Shalmendo shrugged, "Might buy a droid...not sure."

Iri nodded, "Well, maybe I could come with ya and give ya some advice?"

Shalmendo tilted his head, "We could also get you a holdout blaster."

Iri blinked as that reminded him, "oh yeah...I ended up using it on that Chiss, actually...the one you loaned me, I mean. That thing has a nasty bite to it. And I should give it back to you. One sec."

Iri hopped up and went to the double bunk room where he quietly retrieved the holdout blaster, and the ampules, and went back into the cockpit, offering them to Shal, "Should be everything...I only used the one shot, so I didn't have to swap them."

Shalmendo nodded and took the items, "Thank you." and went into the armory where he stowed them properly before returning to his seat.

Iri watched him for a few moments, "You are really interesting."

Shalmendo just sat with his arms folded, staring ahead at the tunnel.

Iri wiggled a bit, "I mean it. You're...so uh, unique and everything. I'm really curious to learn more about you sometime."

Shalmendo spoke without turning his head, "If we keep working together."

Iri nodded, "Yeah...I'll certainly give you a heads up on jobs I think you'd be good to have a long for. Like this one. You really handled things expertly. I guess you get into a lot of combat?"

Shalmendo shrugged, "Sometimes." he sighed a bit, "Used to be I'd get caught with my guard down. Used to be naive." He paused, "Lost a friend that way. But I learned." he turned to look at Iri, "Always plan for the worst. You can never have too much 'insurance'."

Iri nodded, "Sorry you lost a friend...And yeah, I brought you along for that purpose. It's..kind of sad we needed your insurance, but I'm glad you came. I guess I'd be dead a couple times over without you, by now."

Shalmendo stared at Iri for a moment, "The payout will be good."

Iri smirked, "You're really obsessed with credits aren't you?"

Shalmendo was quiet for a minute, before speaking, "About the only thing I can really rely on..."

Iri tilted his head, "I don't want to pry or anything but it sounds like...I mean, you said you lost a friend, and it sounds like it's kind of eating at you."

Shalmendo gave no reply, and just stared.

Iri felt like he was walking on eggshells but he felt there was an opportunity here, "Shal, I know you have reasons for being who you are and keeping everything and everyone at arm's length. From what little you told me, it sounds like you have super really good reasons, too. Heck, the Empire occupied my planet, too and it was hard to get anything good, like medicine. They didn't blow my planet up but...I'm familiar with the kind of shit they pulled, and I grew up with it myself. I guess that doesn't compare too much with the slavery, and losing your world and everything, but it does give me a good starting point to say that hey, I really feel for you. From getting to know you over these past couple of contracts, It really seems like you're inherently a good person who's been scuffed up inside. A lot of people try to pretend they're okay when they aren't...I have a little of that going on myself. And while that seems to help, it's more like you're running away from the root of the things that are bothering you."

Iri paused for a moment as he got a couple more thoughts together, "The Empire was nasty. Really Nasty. And cruel, too. Especially to you and your kind. I didn't lose my people, or my planet, but I can still recognize that there's some hurt going on there. A lot of it. It's reasonable, really. I would probably feel like you do if that had happened to me. A lot of people would. I just... Yeah this is gonna sound really cheesy but, I do care about you. You've helped me a couple of times now and that's not something I'm just going to forget at a convenient time. I don't really know exactly what kind of people you're used to working with, but, you're a pretty good person and I care. I'll try to be here to help you if you ever think I can. You don't have to take me up on it or anything but, the offer stands. You did a lot of good for me, and I want to do some good for you, too. That's what a friendship is about. And...well...I don't know how you feel about it exactly, but I consider you a friend. That's important to me. I guess there might be some cultural differences here, but I'm going to treat it as important. I don't know how you guys treat friends, or if you even have them, or whatever...but I'll be here. I'll try to be someone you can rely on. It really seems like you don't rely on anyone, and I don't blame you, but once in awhile? It's not a bad thing. Just, you know...think about that."

Shalmendo stared at Iri for a few moments before settling back into his chair, "Okay."

Iri watched Shalmendo, hoping for a sign of some kind, but the Garrighol was as stoic as ever. At least he had said 'okay'. But that single word was not much to discern a reaction from. Whatever was going on in his head was stuck in there and Iri guessed he would probably never get a good look into the Garrighol's mind. Iri stood up, and patted Shalmendo on the shoulder before he made his way to the galley to do some figuring on his Datapad.

Once settled into the seat, he pulled his Datapad out and began reviewing some of the details regarding the memory cores, how much the payment they would get would be, and considered some options for what to do with it. Iri kept finding himself distracted by thoughts of Shal's past, his uniqueness, and the emotional suffering that seemed to be hidden under a thick layer of defense. Was he imagining it? He might be. Iri shook his head, he rather hoped he was imagining it but if he wasn't... there was a hurting Garrighol in the cockpit. Iri wasn't much of a psychologist so he would have no idea where to begin with that kind of thing, anyway. Maybe someday Shal would open up enough to at least talk about it a little. He shrugged to himself as he checked a few other things, and generally kept busy for the duration of the trip. Some of this time was spent talking to Katie, or checking the condition of the cores once more to make sure they were alright.

A few hours later, Katie started bringing the ship in for landing, and Iri moved up to the cockpit to check on things. Shalmendo was requesting a landing pad, and Wizz was fidgeting in the copilot chair. Iri smiled at Katie who chirped at him. Everyone seemed pretty eager to get things going once they landed.

The ship touched down and Katie shut things down before disconnecting from the terminal, bleeping at Iri as she made her way to the cargo lift, ready to disembark. Shalmendo went as well, and Wizz hesitated.

Iri noticed, "What's up Wizz?"

Wizz shrugged a bit, "ehhh, I'm kind of nervous, but I guess it'll be okay, right?"

Iri nodded and patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile, "Yeah don't worry. We gotta turn the cores in for the bounty on them and I'll give you some credits to get you home and stuff, like I promised. If you want you can stay on board for now."

Wizz smiled, "Yeah I think I'll watch some of the holonet stuff in the bunk."

Iri nodded, "Good idea. We gotta go settle things with Lt. Rayne."

Shalmendo, Katie, and Iri rode the cargo lift down. Katie and Iri waited while Shalmendo signed the Datapad offered by a flight officer and requested a refuel. After this, the three made their way to Lt. Rayne's office and Iri buzzed the door.

Lt. Rayne looked up as the three entered and put his Datapad down, "Welcome gentlemen."

Katie blatted.

Lt. Rayne couldn't help but smile slightly, "Ah, and lady." Then looked at Iri as the Argothae sat down, "So, Mr. Keltesh, Did you find any cores?"

Iri grinned, "You bet we did. It turns out there was this archive deep in the Destroyer. It took some doing but we got it open, and inside we found a bunch of cores in special mountings. They were shock absorbent and looked really solid. Anyway, it was easy enough to just pull them out as they were on rails and we gathered all of them up into Shal's cargo hold. We did have some trouble with pirates, but Shal rigged up some traps and took a position with his repeater, so it turned out fairly well. One of the pirates we brought with us, but he just wanted to get off the planet and out of the life of piracy he was forced into. Turns out he's a really nice guy, and a pretty talented cook, too!"

Lr. Rayne nodded, "I see, well how many cores did you manage to retrieve?"

Iri grinned harder, "50 cores, all intact and serviceable."

Lt. Rayne's eyes widened, "50? That many? I'm admittedly a little surprised. Our technicians were hoping for around 20 or so, but...50? In some kind of Archive...that will be quite invaluable, most likely. Of course I did say there was no limit, but I wasn't quite expecting 50 cores. That's quite a few credits." Lt. Rayne adjusted his collar, apparently a little surprised, "That's quite a few credits. I'm going to have to ask you to let us examine them before we can offer payment. All 50, just to verify them. Not that I don't trust you but I have to be able to show my superiors that I verified everything before cashing out such a large payment."

Iri nodded, "Yeah I totally get you. All 50 cores are in Shal's cargo hold."

Shalmendo grunted, "How long?"

Lt. Rayne looked up at the Garrighol who was standing with his arms folded, "Considering how many, with a quick integrity check on each, probably a couple of hours give or take. You can rest assured you will be paid. It's just a matter of formalities."

Iri nodded, they had never stiffed him on a job before and he understood how important it was that they verify the validity and genuine state of each core before cashing out 100,000 credits. "That's fine, Lieutenant." He looked over to Shal, "Can they board and take the units? I mean, it's your ship so, your decision."

Shalmendo nodded, "Very well."

Lt Rayne smiled and activated his intercom, "Get some computer techs to that MC-18 freighter to offload and check the 50 memory cores aboard for authenticity." Then looked up to the two, "I'll contact you both in a couple of hours when everything's said and done. And I'll have your payment ready. I'm assuming you'll be splitting it?"

Iri nodded, "Yep. 50/50."

Lt. Rayne nodded, "Very good. Thank you for the excellent work, and for bringing back such a huge payload for us."

Iri smiled and made his way out with Katie and Shalmendo, giving the Garrighol's arm a pat, "I'm sure you'll be a bit happier once you get the credits in your hand, but just be patient. They've never stiffed me before. I just hope they can afford to pay us." Iri laughed softly.

The Garrighol didn't respond, but Katie blatted a little, apparently amused.

Once back to the ship, Iri saw that a number of technicians and some workers had shown up and were loading a few repulsor carrier units with the memory cores to take them for examination. Shalmendo just stood and watched, but Iri went up in the lift when there was an opportunity, with Katie following.

Iri checked the double bunk where Wizz was relaxing and watching the holonet, "Hey Wizz?"

Wizz looked over, "Heya Iri, what's the news?"

Iri smiled, "They're taking the cores to verify them and then we'll get paid. Lt. Rayne said it would take a couple of hours. In the meantime, you wanna head over to the canteen and get some food?"

Wizz started to nod but hesitated, "Uhh...I'm not gonna just get arrested am I?"

Iri waved a hand, "Nahh, not unless you turn yourself in or something. They're not gonna arrest you with me vouching for ya."

Wizz hmmed, "Well okay...I could use a nice meal and a chance to walk around in a temperate environment for once."

Iri laughed, "Come on then, it's nice and warm outside."

Wizz got up and headed out with Iri, accompanied by Katie, down the lift as they brought out some more of the cores, and the three headed to the canteen.

As Wizz entered, he sniffed at the smells coming from the kitchens, "Oh that smells great."

Iri grinned, "Well go ahead and get what ya want, I'm hungry too."

Katie went and found them a table, while the two worked their way down the serving line. Wizz got samples of everything, while Iri picked out a few things he knew were good.

They took their trays and beverages to the table Katie had 'reserved' for them and sat down.

Iri sipped his coffee before getting started on the rest of the meal, "So you're gonna go meet your dad and stuff, then?"

Wizz nodded, "Yep. I'm gonna go reconcile if I can. We haven't spoken in a number of years but, like you said, he's still my family. So I'll do that, maybe help him out in his speeder shop for awhile while I save up for some culinary classes, ya know."

Iri nodded, "Well we've got a good payment coming here, so I'll give you something to help you get started and all. Least I can do for helping us out and not shooting us in the back or anything."

Wizz laughed, "Yeah, if I wanted to backstab you I'd have had lots of chances already by now. To be honest I was kind of thinking about it when my ex-boss was untying me, like by using the thermal detonator he had to blow you up or something, but you seemed like such a nice guy and everything. And I figured that the big guy would pummel me into dust anyway."

Iri snickered, "Yeah I don't think he would have let you get away with it. I think you made the right choice though. Piracy really isn't for you anyway. I think you'll be happier cooking."

Wizz grinned, "I sure will. I'm never going back to that kind of crap again. It was awful."

Iri nodded and chewed on some more food thoughtfully, "Well don't forget to look me up sometime. I'd love to hear how you make out. Maybe try the food in your place."

Wizz smiled thoughtfully, "ehh, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do exactly... I could try to build up to opening my own place, sure...but that would be a lot of work, probably. Might just be smarter to be a cook for someone else for awhile, ya know?"

Iri thought about that, "Yeah getting some base experience will make you a better manager. Starting from the bottom is a good way to build a foundation of skill through your business."

Wizz nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, so I figure I'll go to some culinary school and become a real certified chef, then work a few jobs until I'm good enough and experienced enough to open my own place. Probably take a few years, but It'll be worth it."

Iri grinned, "I bet it will. We'll keep in touch, I'm sure."

With their meals finished, they headed out to a lounge area where various individuals and species were intermingling.

Iri sat down at a table, "You want a drink, Wizz?"

Wizz nodded as he sat with Iri, "Yeah that'd be nice."

Iri flagged down a waitress, "Hey could we get a couple of corellian ales, please."

She nodded, "Sure thing, be right back with those."

It only took a minute, and she returned with two glasses of corellian ale, setting them down, "enjoy gents."

Wizz sipped his, "ah yeah, that's perfect. Thanks for being so kind, Iri."

Iri smiled, "With all that abuse you had, I think you deserve some niceness for once. Show you the difference."

Wizz laughed a bit, "God yeah. From what you've shown me, I'd join the Rebellion if it was still around."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, kind of don't need it anymore with the Empire pretty much done for and peace spreading across the galaxy and all. It's nice to see the fruits of my labors though. Nice and quiet, now."

Wizz grinned, "Yep, nice and quiet..at least until you sell yourself to a pirate by accident. Not doing that again. I think I'm gonna be real careful with credits from now on."

Iri nodded and took a drink from his glass, "mmh. Yeah, they got all sorts of trickery. Con men, pirates, and so on. I've been stiffed a couple of times, but I think I'm wise to it now."

Wizz tiled his head, "Yeah, that sucks." he finished off the glass and sat back, "ahh. This is perfect. Nice music, nice lounge, nice company."

Katie twittered.

Iri chuckled, "She wants to know if you think she's nice too."

Wizz laughed a bit, "Yeah, she's a great little droid. I love those Astromechs. So handy."

Katie blip-bleeped in approval.

Iri grinned as he finished off his drink, "Yep. I'd be lost without Katie."

The two of them went into a bit of a coma like state induced by the combination of the soft music, dim lights, full bellies, and the bit of liquor they'd just consumed. They relaxed deeply. Iri was thinking about what to do with the money, and Wizz was considering a potential gift to bring to his dad as an olive branch to help start the process of reconciling their differences.

The two lounged and chatted, with Katie making periodic comments, until a New Republic officer approached them. "Mr. Keltesh? Yeah Lt. Rayne would like to see you."

Iri got up, "Great. Dang, I can't believe we talked for two hours."

Wizz smiled, "You're fun to talk to. Anyway, I'll go wait on the ship in the meantime. Don't wanna be in the way or anything."

Iri nodded, "Okay thanks. If you see Shal, let him know."

Wizz nodded and made his way to the Ship, while Iri went to Rayne's office.

It turned out Shal was already there, probably having been informed first. Iri stepped in and took a seat, looking at Rayne expectantly.

Lt. Rayne smiled, "Good news, the cores are genuine and while there's a good degree of corruption, the techs think that the mass amount of cores will allow them to reconstruct most of the data fairly easily. I checked with my superiors, and they've authorized the full payment. They were a bit shocked at the amount of cores, however." He chuckled briefly, "I don't think they expected an archive on board that one. Regardless, I'm sure we'll get some very interesting data out of it. And...I have your payments here."

Lt. Rayne placed two boxes on the desk, each with a handle "50,000 credits in each. You can count them if you like, but we might be here for a while."

Iri chuckled as he grabbed one of the boxes, "Thanks Lieutenant. I hope they weren't too mad about the cost."

Shalmendo grabbed his wordlessly.

Lt. Rayne laughed a bit, "They were pretty surprised, but the New Republic honors its contracts! I get the feeling they might have backed out of this one if they could have but we have a policy to fulfill our part of the contracts. I bet they'll be more careful about contract details in the future, however."

Iri smiled, "Yeah I can see why. This was a big surprise for all of us too. But this is also a nice windfall, so thanks for coming through."

Lt. Rayne nodded, "you boys came through for us, and I wanted to make sure we did the same. I look forward to contracting with you again."

Iri smiled, nodded, and made his way out, accompanied by Shalmendo and Katie.

Shalmendo grunted, "Good payment..."

Iri looked up at the Garrighol, "Are you actually happy, now?" he chuckled a bit.

Shalmendo smirked, "I Guess. Let me remind you, you wanted a holdout blaster of your own."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, oh hey, you think you could help me pick one out somewhere?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Be glad to. I know a black market with someone I trust."

Iri hmmed, "I don't know about a black market, Shal..."

Shalmendo glanced down at Iri, "The good holdout blasters are illegal. The rest are heavily regulated. You're not working for the New Republic directly as a special operative, so you can't get these things easily."

Iri thought about that as they entered the lift, "Hmm. Yeah I guess you're right... I could buy something legal but it wouldn't have the kind of kick yours did, huh?"

Shalmendo nodded, "No. Mine are illegal and modified."

Iri squirmed a bit, "Well, I don't like the idea of owning something illegal, buuut then again, that Chiss had armor on and your holdout went right through it. I guess if I use it wisely it won't matter."

Shalmendo nodded, "You also want to get it through security checks and searches. Police aren't the only ones who might check you. Plenty of criminals will strip you for their advantage."

Iri squirmed more as the doors opened and they made their way to the hangar, "Like those Trando scavengers...if I'd had something like your holdout blaster...."

Shalmendo nodded, "You would have been fine. Make sure you practice with it and know how to use it too. Don't want to fumble it and give yourself away."

Iri winced at that thought, "Yeaaaah....that would be really bad. I'll have to do a little training with it."

Shalmendo nodded, "fumbling your last resort is a death sentence."

They approached the ship, and all three went inside. Iri went to check with Wizz.

Wizz looked over from flipping through holonet channels, "Hey you get paid yet?"

Iri smiled, "Yeah, and I've got a present for you, too."

Iri set the credit box on the dresser and pulled out a number of credits, handing them over to Wizz, "Here. I know it's probably more than you expected but I want you to get started on those culinary classes. Hopefully there's some left over so you can get your dad a good present, too."

Wizz stared as he counted the credits, "Gosh! 2000 credits?! That's way more then I've really had before...except maybe when I was gambling."

Iri laughed, "Well stay away from the pazaak this time. Make it count, huh?"

Wizz pocketed the credits and hugged Iri, "Thank you, Iri! This is really amazingly generous of you."

Iri hugged Wizz back warmly, "You can pay me back by keeping in touch, and making me a meal to die for sometime, okay?"

Wizz laughed, "You got it! Uh...I guess this is gonna be goodbye then, huh?"

Iri smiled and squeezed the Rodian's shoulder, "not permanently, Wizz. We can keep in touch and everything. We'll just see each other later, is all."

Wizz smiled, "Yeah...thanks again for getting me off that iceball, man. I have a whole new life to live up to, thanks to you."

Iri grinned, "you go get that life and make it yours, Wizz."

Wizz smiled and made his way out into the hallway where he bumped into the Garrighol, literally.

Wizz bounced back a bit, "Oh! Shal, sir! Uh...hey, I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help and...not shooting me and everything. You guys gave me a second chance and...I'm gonna do what it takes to live up to it. Thanks so much, man."

Shalmendo stared down at the bubbling Rodian, then remembered some words of Iri's. He gave the Rodian a pat on the head, "You're welcome, Wizz. Stay ouf of trouble. Don't become a pirate again."

Wizz beamed, "Absolutely! I'm gonna go become a chef!" he paused, "Uh, permission to disembark?"

Shalmendo's lips pulled up a bit, revealing his two fangs, "Yes. Take care, Wizz."

Wizz beamed and bounced over to the cargo lift. Waving to both Iri and Shal as he descended and made his way out to strike out on his own.

Iri smiled a bit, "That was nice of you, Shal."

Shalmendo shrugged, "He was nice." and made his way to the cockpit.

Iri followed with Katie in tow.

Shalmendo dimmed the lights for the ship and pulled his goggles off with a sigh, "So. Black market?"

Iri nodded, "Sure. It sounds like you know someone worth buying from."

Shalmendo nodded, "Katie?"

Katie, having gotten used to the Garrighol by now went over and plugged into the terminal like before, then twittered curiously.

Shalmendo nodded, "To Trigalis please, Katie."

Katie twittered and started the departure proceedings.

Iri grinned, happy to see them getting along so well. They were really starting to become a team, all three of them. Iri settled into the copilot seat and pulled his knees up like usual, nestling into the chair comfortably.

Slhalmendo checked a few controls as he commed the control tower, "Black Claw requesting permission to depart."

The control tower got back immediately, "granted Black Claw, fly safe now!"

Shalmendo turned the comm off, "Hmm...Iri?"

Iri looked over, "hm?"

Shalmendo continued, "Can a droid handle...talking to people?"

Iri smiled, "Yeah. Protocol droids handle talking, negotiation, translation. All sorts of things involving dealing with people."

Shalmendo looked thoughtful as Katie warmed up the engines, "That sounds nice...."

Iri smiled, glad to have Shal's interest, "A protocol droid could handle a lot of personal stuff too...like making food, or helping you to order restocks for the galley. Organizing, cleaning, dealing with other sentients, acting as a diplomat to ease negotiations. Actually, I bet you could benefit a lot from getting one. Oh, and they could translate for Katie for you too."

Shalmendo nodded, "Sounds nice. I could use help like that...I don't like talking to people."

Iri couldn't help but break into laughter, "Yeah I noticed, but that's okay big guy. A good protocol droid will handle all that easy for ya."

Shalmendo nodded as Katie took the ship out of the atmosphere, "Can they fight, too?"

Iri blinked, "uhhh, well not really. Most protocol droids are kind of stiff and not programmed for combat. But..hm, I did hear about about a couple of protocol/security combo units. Maybe you could get one of those?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes, that would be good."

Iri nodded, "I guess it makes sense you'd want something combat ready to some degree, since you're a mercenary and your ship is your home and your base of operations. Yeah it makes sense to protect it well. And since you'd be doing less...negotiating trades and prices...and more negotiating with...rougher clients...it'd be good to have some extra protection. Which reminds me, Where's your RLG droid?"

Shalmendo glanced over, "The pirates blew them up. I'll buy another pair."

Iri sighed, "darn, and we'd upgraded them and everything too. Well, they did their jobs, I guess."

Shalmendo nodded, "Thank you. It helped a lot."

Iri smiled a bit, "I'm glad it helped at least. It actually was kind of neat to see that RLG go after that guy that surprised us. I don't think either of us could have acted that fast."

Shalmendo nodded, "They made good bodyguards, but aren't much in full combat."

Iri nodded, "Yeah and that's why you want some kind of protocol AND security droid combo. We can probably find something."

Shal looked over, "Will you help me?"

Iri nodded, "Sure! You do a lot riskier stuff then I do and I wouldn't want you to go around without some kind of help. Yeah, I'll help you pick out a good one. But the security droids aren't exactly for sale at the corner droid store. Do you know someone in that black market?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Think so. Could still use your advice. They just want to make money, most of them."

Iri nodded, "Yeaaah, so you want me to confirm you're getting a good price and good value in features and all? Second opinion."

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. Don't want to get cheated."

Iri grinned, "I'd be happy to help, then."

Katie twittered as they went into hyperspace.

Iri glanced over at Katie, "she says we'll be there in about an hour."

Shalmendo nodded, "Thank you, Katie."

Katie twittered.

Iri looked over at Shal, "By the way, you don't keep alcohol on board do you?"

Shalmendo shook his head, "Don't really need it..."

Iri nodded, "Yeah I get ya. Just thought it'd be nice to sip some more corellian ale or something, but that's cool. I'm gonna go watch the holonet for a bit."

Shalmendo grunted, "Could we talk more?"

Iri paused, "Sure...about what?"

Shalmendo looked over, "Droids? What would be useful."

Iri settled back into the chair, glancing out at the light speed tunnel, "Sure. I guess you want to buy one with that windfall huh?"

Shalmendo nodded.

Iri smiled, "okay well, you've told me a bit about what you want. You want a droid that can negotiate for you, and probably handle a lot of little 'house' tasks around here and stuff, and can guard the ship too I bet. What else?"

Shalmendo nodded, "weapons maybe."

Iri tilted his head, "Well, yeah some droids have built-in weapons...but most security scanners can detect those unless you conceal them in some way. That can get a bit pricey."

Shalmendo shrugged, "not worried about price. What can be done?"

Iri leaned back as he thought about it, "Hmm. Well for a security/guard type deal some kind of hidden blaster in the arm or something, maybe. A hidden vibroblade could help for close combat. How much fighting were you expecting?"

Shalmendo looked up thoughtfully, "Not sure, but it needs to handle stuff like the pirates. And more."

Iri hmmed, "I don't know, you're kind of getting into war droid territory there...that might be going a bit too far, Shal. You're not planning on wiping out a whole town are you?"

Shalmendo grunted, "No. defense." he turned his chair to look at Iri more directly, "Those pirates? They were pretty easy. Not well organized. Probably stolen weapons. Not very customized. Just Defense weapons won't be enough against harder. Needs serious firepower. Smarts to strategize."

Iri frowned, "Yeah that's way into combat droid level...maybe even assassination droid level."

Shalmendo tilted his head, "Assassination droid?"

Iri smirked, "Well...assassin droids are like these super advanced combat droids that can act as soldiers, or be given missions and find a way to carry them out. Kind of like you. There have been a couple of rogue droids that turned into bounty hunters entirely on their own, without a master to own them. They're really dangerous, deadly, and....I don't think I'd like being in the same city as one."

Shalmendo grunted thoughtfully, "But how do they perform?"

Iri sighed, "They're super deadly killing machines, but if you want to get one of those I think that's way out of my comfort zone, Shal. You don't want to get involved with an assassin droid. And I certainly don't want to either."

Shalmendo shook his head, "Why do you feel that way?"

Iri frowned, "Well they're used exclusively to kill people...like important people that are hard to get to. Like senators or political people. They're dangerous, violent, and like I said, they go rogue. You wouldn't want your droid to just..steal your ship one day would you?"

Shalmendo thought about that, "but they innovate?"

Iri ran his fingers through his hair, "I...yeah....they come up with creative solutions because of their advanced hardware and can strategize really well...You'd only get one to kill a lot of people."

Shalmendo looke down at Iri, "Wouldn't that depend on their instructions?"

Iri shrugged, "Ehh. Yeah I guess so, but every assassin droid I've heard about has gone nuts about killing. I don't like killing. And I don't like the idea of you going around murdering people."

Shalmendo grunted, "I don't murder. I need a capable droid that can cover my back."

Iri eyed Shalmendo, "Then you don't need an assassin droid, Shal. A guard droid would be fine. Something like those RLG units but made for higher grade defense."

Shalmendo shook his head, "That won't be quite enough. Not with the kind of enemies I end up making."

Iri frowned, "You aren't getting involved with political assassinations are you?"

Shalmendo shook his head again, "No. I need a very reliable and smart droid that can help me out of situations. Think about those pirates. If we'd had a droid to help?"

Iri frowned, "Well...I guess it would have helped a lot...I mean you made it pretty clear we weren't getting out of this alive unless we took them out. You didn't lie about that did you?"

Shalmendo grunted, "No."

Iri eyed Shalmendo a bit, starting to wonder, "But you want an assassin droid?"

Shalmendo nodded a bit, "Would it make a good guard?"

Iri tilted his head, "Well...yeah I guess. It would have an advanced heuristical processor it could use to detect potentially dangerous situations and invent successful strategies to defend from them on the fly. Yeah I could see that being pretty helpful."

Shalmendo nodded, "An assassin droid doesn't necessarily have to assassinate."

Iri thought about that, "I guess that's true. It's a droid so...it'll follow your instructions and directives."

Shalmendo nodded.

Iri went on a bit, "So...you're talking like an assassination droid that doubles as a protocol droid? Like...makes tea and sandwiches, but could easily kill a target..."

Shalmendo tilted his head.

Iri frowned, "Sounds kind of...iffy. I mean like, moraly."

Shalmendo shrugged, "I need a capable droid that doesn't get attention."

Iri nodded, "Well if you had an assassin quality droid done up as a protocol droid...and functioned as one, I could see that going kind of unnoticed until someone drew a gun. Is that what you had in mind?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. A disguised bodyguard"

Iri nodded, "Yeah I can see how that would fit you.. And if it had an assassin droid grade brain...it could strategize all sorts of defense plans on the fly to keep you safe. That actually sounds like a really sneaky combo...I mean, if you use it responsibly. You could also use it to kill some people really easily, since they wouldn't expect it. Are you going to use it responsibly?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. You have my word."

Iri thought about that. He mostly trusted Shal but this line of discussion was kind of uncomfortable for him. Except...Shal saved him twice now. But he didn't want to be responsible for setting Shal up with some kind of super power droid going incognito as a harmless one.

Iri chewed his lip, "Well, I guess I could help you get something. It sounds like you want something really multifunctional, and potentially deadly. To watch your back. I guess that makes sense for you as a mercenary...have a deadly droid going undercover in case you get in trouble. Do you get in trouble often?"

Shal smirked, "Kind of. Stuff like those pirates is a bit common for me."

Iri nodded, thinking, "Well, if you really want to go all out...and you certainly have the money now, You could get an assassin droid programmed as a protocol droid with bodyguard routines and packaged to look like a more common protocol unit. You could include some hidden weapons to get past inspections, line those with sensor defeating materials, and um...I guess you'd want a secret compartment for a holdout blaster or something, too. There's plenty of room in a protocol droid casing for little extras like that. And with all that together it could keep your ship tidy, deal with all the talking you don't like to do, and be able to rescue you as needed. Would be expensive, though."

Shalmendo nodded, "that sounds helpful. Could it pilot too?"

Iri nodded, "Yeah, it could handle piloting for you if you had it loaded with the necessary programming for all those tasks. Oh, if it's gonna be in combat, you'll probably want the casing to be some kind of blaster protective material, shaped to look like a protocol droid's casing. That way it can still blend but have good armor."

Shalmendo nodded, "Good idea. I don't know much about these things. I appreciate your help."

Iri nodded, "Well I just hope I don't start hearing about a protocol droid freaking out and killing people."

Shalmendo shook his head, "I don't do assassinations. I promise."

Iri sighed, "Well...I guess you wouldn't lie to me. Not after all we've been through...would you?"

Shalmendo shook his head and reached over to put his hand on Iri's shoulder, "No, Iri. I don't lie to my friends."

Iri blushed, wiggling a little. The Garrighol had finally called him a friend. That must have been difficult, and the friendship probably means a lot to the big stoic guy. He was certainly getting more talkative and relaxed around Iri. Iri reached up to pat that big strong arm, "Thanks, Shal. I'm glad you could consider me your friend."

After a moment Shalmendo leaned back and watched the lightspeed tunnel once more. Iri smiled softly, feeling like he'd really made a connection with the Garrighol this time. Somehow, that had a good bit of meaning to him and he felt really good about it.

Iri wiggled in his chair as he stretched out to get up, "I'm gonna watch some Holonet. Uh..unless you had some more questions?"

Shalmendo shook his head, "Maybe later. Enjoy."

Iri nodded and patted the Garrighol on the head gently before leaving and heading to his bunk to stretch out and turned on the holonet feed while he counted and organized his credits a bit, settled a few things around the room, cleaned his boots, and futzed around with some other things, chuckling as he listened to a comedy show.

Soon enough they had dropped out of hyperspeed and made a landing on the planet, in one of the cities. Iri met Shalmendo in the cockpit.

Iri looked out the viewport, it was certainly a different place than Chandrila, and looked more industrial, and shadier, "Okay so...there's a black market here?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. Stick close, it's a bit of a lawless area and a bit risky. Most won't bother you if you stay real close. And I'll just growl at anyone who tries."

Iri nodded, "Okay. Um..do I need a gun?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Bring your pistol. And Katie should stay here. She can't defend herself and droids have been snatched before."

Iri shuddered, "Wow sounds really dangerous here...Yeah, Katie you stay here. Don't let anyone but us in. And you can always call me on the commlink."

Katie wooed in concern, then blipbleeped.

Iri patted her dome, "I won't be gone too long, I promise. And Shal has taken good care of me before."

Katie twittered and stayed plugged into the terminal.

Shalmendo disappeared into the armory and shortly returned with a bag full of items and the damaged blaster repeater, "going to get my armor and repeater serviced."

Iri nodded, "you might want to consider upgrading your armor, Shal. It looks kind of...rough made. You could get some optics put in your helmet, too. For things like zooming and scanning in different wavelengths. Maybe even a built-in commlink."

Shalmendo nodded, "For now I'll repair. I have been considering that, though. Ready?"

Iri nodded, "one sec." and went to get his blaster pistol and his commlink, so he could stay in touch with Katie. He met with Shal in the cargo bay, "Okay, I'm ready...I hope I don't need my pistol."

Shalmendo nodded, "Just insurance. I am armed, too."

Iri noticed Shal's pistol gripped rifle was strapped to his leg, "Okay, we should be fine then."

The cargo lift was lowered, and they walked out of the landing pad, where Shal paid his docking fees and ordered a refueling, then they moved on down the dim streets.

Iri was a little nervous, "It feels kind of...risky here."

Shalmendo patted his shoulder, "It is, but I'm known here. Don't worry."

Iri relaxed a bit at the reassurances, and they proceeded deeper into the town, and started to get into the hustle and bustle of a night district with various things going on. The streets were fairly wide, but choked a little with a combination of people milling around, street vendors selling different delectables, and some temporary stalls. Shalmendo walked past them as people were shouting about the goods that they sold, and even waved away a pair of Twi'lek girls that tried to solicit them. Iri couldn't help but notice they were in rather nice leather boots that reached up to their thighs. He would have stopped and stared but felt the Garrighol's hand on his shoulder firmly pulling him away.

Iri blushed, "Wow uh..those Twi'leks looked kind of nice..."

Shalmendo grunted, "Just sex workers."

Iri looked back at them before the crowds cut off his line of sight, "Yeah but...um...I dunno, they looked kinda fun."

Shalmendo snerked, "Perhaps for you. I don't like Twi'lek girls."

Iri couldn't help but laugh as they proceeded through the crowd, "Oh yeah I guess your people might have different tastes. Yeah that makes sense."

Shalmendo didn't respond, but kept directing Iri around past the neon lights, revelers, and various good offers. Shortly, they came to a darker alley off to the side that nobody seemed interested in going into. Shal directed Iri through there, and made his way further down.

Iri felt a little nervous, "Isn't this where muggings happen?"

Shalmendo grunted, "Sometimes....Almost there."

Iri looked around nervously, gripping his blaster pistol in his pocket, "Well..okay..." He knew Shal could protect them both. Afterall, he'd shown his prowess in battle for Iri before, and Iri had always come out okay. Iri focused on keeping close to Shal.

Shalmendo stopped at what looked like the back door of an establishment and knocked on it. An eyeball droid suddenly popped out and looked at both of them, making Iri jump a little. The droid said nothing as it stared at them.

Shalmendo grunted, "I'm here for a Ruby Bliels."

The droid made a noise, then retracted into the wall and the door popped open automatically.

Iri blinked, "Was that some kind of passcode?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Don't spread it." and went inside, with Iri following.

Inside was a lift which they both got into. It only had two buttons. One for ground and the other was unmarked, Shalmendo pushed it.

Shalmendo grunted as the doors closed and the lift started descending, "Keep in mind we're being monitored."

Iri blushed at the thought someone was watching him but nodded, "This is -really- black market huh?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. But they know me. You they'll be cautious of. Just take it easy."

Iri nodded, hoping they wouldn't do anything crazy to him. He felt a bit like he was going into a proverbial Krayt dragon's den, but trusted Shal.

The lift stopped and opened to an area that looked like a converted sewer. It was high ceilinged and dingy mossy tiles made up the flooring, with similar bricks for the walls. Makeshift lamps were set up every so many feet and Shalmendo made his way down the dirty flooring. Shortly, alcoves with various low-key signs proclaimed various secretive businesses, rather than the bright neon that was present above. Looking up, Iri saw a grating through which sounds from the market above could be heard, along with lights flickering through and what looked like people walking over the grate above. He momentarily wondered if he waited long enough...would one of those two Twi'lek girls wander over it...but returned his attention to Shal. They passed several businesses before Shal stopped at one and pushed his way in, motioning for Iri to follow.

Inside it was well lit, but looked a little makeshift. It was a surprisingly large area, with cases displaying weapons of various types. Iri saw everything from blades to blasters, and some other ones he didn't recognize. Further along a wall were bits of armor and helmets on display. Shalmendo walked past all these items to the counter where he punched a button to call for service.

A horned Devaronian in a leathery outfit stepped out looking serious at first, then broke into a wide grin as he spotted Shalmendo, opening his arms, "Shalmendo! Well well, good to see you again. And you recommended me!" He grinned at Iri who felt a little nervous, "I must really be doing right by you for you to be bringing me business. And I don't even have an affiliate program!" He stepped out from behind the counter to walk over and offered Iri a hand, "Name's Landit, I offer a wide range of high quality and difficult to get goods, and I'll be very pleased to be serving you. Mister?"

Iri blushed a bit as he shook the friendly Devaronian's hand, "Uh, Iri. My name is Iri."

Shalmendo put the bag and gun on the counter while the Devaronian grinned in a slightly seductive but also slightly evil manner, "Good to meet a new customer!" he turned to Shal, "He brought money, right?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Can you look at this first, Landit?"

Landit grinned and stepped back behind the counter, "What goodies did you bring me...ah! Your customized light repeater, oooh, took a beating!" He tsked a couple of times, "Pretty badly, too." He turned it over with some effort, "Ouch, a very bad one indeed. " He looked up at Shal, "My prognosis is grim, but you know me, I can repair it! It'll cost though. Not as much as a new one, for sure."

Shalmendo nodded, "The pack exploded, too."

Landit lost a bit of his smile, "Oh that's not good at all! Well, considering you bought that kit from me in the first place, I can get you a new generator and set it up like the last one, and repair the repeater. The generators are easy to come by, so the whole kit will cost, oh, I'd say..." he hmmed as he thought of the pricing, "about 3,000 credits. "He raised a finger, "Special price for one of my favorite customers!"

Shalmendo nodded, "Fine, and the armor?"

Landit opened the bag and inspected, "Oh, hmm, not too much damage here...looks like explosive damage, though. Some broken straps..might be some microfissures..." he mumbled a bit as he grabbed a magnifier to look at one of the damaged pieces. He nodded, "I still think you should replace this old stuff, but if you want it patched, I can do it for about 800 credits. Repaint it too with that matte black you love so much." He grinned at Iri, "You'd think he was a ghost ship captain, with all the black."

Iri chuckled, "Yeah I noticed."

Shalmendo nodded, "Sounds fine. Ready in a couple days?"

Landit shrugged a little, "Ehh, the armor, yeah, but the repeater is probably gonna take a few days. Some of it got fused. If you want a new one I got one in stock but...You want it repaired right?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Repaired."

Landi grinned, "Good, good, We'll take care of this for you. Payment on delivery of course." he tapped at a datapad to get the order put into his system, "And you Iri...here to make a purchase? You certainly picked the best shop in the entire underground for it!"

Iri shifted on his feet a bit, "Uh, well I tried one of Shalmendo's holdout blasters and it got me out of a pinch really nicely...so, I was thinking of getting one of my own."

Landit grinned, "Ohh you must have tried one of the custom ones he ordered right here! With the ampule power cells, yes. Were you looking for a copy of that or?"

Iri rubbed his short hair, "Well, Not quite. I'm more of a scout type then uh...a walking arsenal."

Landi laughed, "I'll have to remember that! 'Walking arsenal', hoo I could get some sales out of that tagline!" He stepped out from behind the counter, "Let me show you some holdouts, Iri." He motioned and lead Iri over to a case full of tiny little blasters, one of which looked familiar to Iri as being the one Shal's was based on.

Iri looked over the selection, "Oh nice...they're so small."

Landit grinned, "Yes indeed, I carry a wide selection of holdouts. This one here is the one that Shalmendo ordered several customized units." He picked one up for Iri to observe and put it back, "Feel free to pick them up and get a feel for them, They're all special display models so you can feel how well they would work for you. Tell me, as a scout...what kind of scenario did you envision using a holdout in?"

Iri picked up a funny shaped one that looked rather streamlined, "Well, as a last resort if someone gets in too close, and I have nothing else to really use for whatever reason."

Landit nodded, "Almost all of these are going to be perfect for that. Most holdouts aren't great with the range, but have a nice small form factor. Most of these go undetected by security scanners, so are easy to stash on your person for a last resort, even in no-weapons areas. Even if you get patted down, depending on how well you hide it."

Iri looked over a few, "Hmm. Shal's take ampules..."

Landit nodded, "Yes, That's based on this military model here. It already took the ampules by default but he had me customize it for more power and range. I also added in a self destruct deal that turns it into a handy little micro explosive. Pretty good yield for a small package."

Iri blinked, "Wow...that's a useful little feature. Kind of like a micro hand grenade."

Landit grinned, "Yes indeed! Perfect for blowing open locked doors, for example. Especially if you're stuck in a cell or something. What features would you consider the most important? Just tell me your thoughts, Iri."

Shalmendo nodded, "He's very good at coming up with solutions."

Landit grinned at Shal, "You are quickly becoming my best customer, even helping me make a sale!"

Iri chuckled, "well I want good firepower up close. I'm not worried about distance firing since I have a pistol for a backup. But like maybe if they get way too close. Reloading it with ampules isn't really a big deal..maybe something really slim."

Landit nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, most of my customers want holdouts that can shoot far, but you want the opposite. What about a stingbeam?"

Iri tilted his head, "Stingbeam? What's that?"

Landit moved across to the end of the display and picked up a tiny unit with an antenna, "This! It's kind of like a holdout blaster, but it packs a super lethal punch up close. Only real downside is the limited shots, and the falloff. Beyond a few steps it can only stun targets."

Iri moved over to take it and turn it over in his hands, "hmm...but at close range? Would it take out say...a Trandoshan?"

Landit nodded, "Yes! Anyone up close you point at will pretty much suffer extreme damage, or immediate death. A lot of people use them for assassinations, as they work really well through armor, too."

Iri felt a little skeptical, "Well, I'm not going to be assassinating anyone..."

Landit waved a hand, "You don't have to. These are perfect for self defense. One shot, bam, dead. And you'll have four more afterwards, just in case."

Iri looked up, "four, huh? So a total of five."

Landit nodded, "Five shots in this tiny little package with extreme damage up close. Actually, the damage is better than a holdout blaster for close quarters. These are perfect for when you want a virtually guaranteed kill the first time, even through armor."

Iri liked the sound of this, "Sounds perfect...what about reloading?"

Landit shook his head, "This model doesn't reload. It's a single-use model. The cell in it is designed only to discharge, but that's how it's so small, so it's basically disposable. A little pricey for disposable, but it's the most powerful shot you can buy at this size. We do have another one that can be recharged from most power sources, if you prefer?"

Iri nodded, "Okay, let me see that one"

Landit picked up another model and handed it over.

Iri felt it in his hand, it was a little bigger, but still easy to conceal. He looked it over, "Where do you swap the power pack?"

Landit chuckled, "This one is so purpose built, you don't need to!" Landit flipped it over in Iri's hand, "This slot here is a special charging port. See, it comes with a unique charging cable you just plug into a standard power port, and you can recharge it as many times as you need to. While the micro power cell on the other unit is designed to hold it's charge for years, you could use the charging cable on this one to top it up once in awhile, or after practicing. One of the things my customers like about this model is you can practice with it and then simply recharge it to keep it ready. The other, you'd end up wasting one or two units just to practice handling it."

Iri nodded, "Yeah, and practice is pretty important. I wouldn't want to fumble this..."

Landit nodded, "Not when you're trying to save yourself, no. If you get in plenty of practice with this model, you'll be well prepared to use it properly in the middle of a life and death situation."

Iri smiled, "how much is this one?"

Landit grinned, "Well, normally I'd charge about 1,000 for it, but since you were referred by my biggest customer, well...I'll give it to you for, say...800 credits?"

Iri glanced up at Shal, "That's a bit pricey but is that a good deal?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Good price."

Landit smiled, "Keep that up Shalmendo, and I'll start a referral program just for you!"

Iri laughed, this guy certainly seemed pleasant, "Well, Okay, I'll take it, then. Borrowing one of Shal's really showed me how useful these are."

Landit raised a finger dramatically, "Sold! To the smart referred customer! I'll go wrap one up for you. Anything else you wanted to grab while you're here, Iri?"

Iri laughed at the flair, "Nah, I think this good for now. But hey, I'll check back in if I do realize a need for anything more."

Landit quickly stepped back behind the counter, "Maybe consider buying an extra just in case?"

Iri shook his head, "Thanks but I think one will do for now. But I'll certainly come back for a second one if I lose it or it gets damaged or anything."

Landit smiled, "ahh, you brought me a LOYAL customer too. Shalmendo, you're a wonder!" before disappearing into the back.

Iri laughed, "That Stingbeam felt really good to hold."

Shalmendo nodded, "Good. I hope it keeps you safe."

Landit returned shortly, bearing a plain looking box, "Here it is! All packed and discreet. Go ahead and check inside, make sure I didn't forget anything."

Iri pulled the box over and opened it. Inside was a second box, black, which he opened, to reveal a brand new stingbeam just like the one he had looked at. He also saw the charging cable and booklet about use, care, and maintenance, "Yeah this looks good, thank you."

Landit smiled, "Payment on delivery, please."

Iri nodded, "Right, one sec." he dug into his pocket and pulled out some credits, counting out the 800 onto the counter, "There, 800 credits."

Landit grinned, "Wonderful! Let me just count them real quick." Landit counted them quickly, finding them all there, "Perfect! I hope you enjoy your Stingbeam, Iri. Oh, I included my comm code incase you have any problems, so you can just ask! Shalmendo I'll get your armor and repeater fixed up, get you a new generator pack set up, and all of that. Should take about 4 days, give or take. Depending on how quickly I can get a generator."

Iri smiled and took the package, tucking it into his pocket, "Great doing business with you, Landit."

Shalmendo nodded, "Know a good droid shop?"

Landit twiddled his fingers thoughtfully, "ahh, yes actually, there's one....six shops up, on the opposite side of the tunnel. Just labeled 'Droids'. Has a good rep around here."

Shalmendo nodded, "Thank you, let me know when they're ready."

Landit grinned as they exited, "I have your holocomm code, Shalmendo, no worry. Come back soon Iri! Maybe I can sell you something worth a lot more!"

Iri laughed as he stepped out into the darkly lit tunnel, "Wow he was something."

Shalmendo nodded, "Good salesman. Knows his stuff. Custom work is great quality."

Iri nodded, "I'm looking forward to getting this charged and practicing with it a bit."

Shalmendo nodded, "Droids?"

Iri smiled, "Yeah, let's see about arranging something good for you."

They made their way up the tunnel again, passing various businesses, then stopped at the one marked 'Droids'. They made their way in curiously.

Inside, the shop was filled with droids ranging from brand new, to very very used, and parts were on display everywhere on stands, in cases, and a few strewn around the floor. Nobody was in sight, however so they approached the counter. A button was provided, like in other shops, to call for assistance, so Iri pushed it for a moment. A tone was heard sounding from the back.

After a few moments a voice called out, "Be right there, one minute!" After which a string of grumbling and clanks and clatters were heard. A few moments later a Toydarian wearing some kind of multi-lensed goggles floated out and up to the counter, pulling the lenses up to look at the two.

The Toydarian glanced back and forth between them briefly, "You boys in the market for a droid? Or wanting one repaired? ...Modified? I do that too."

Shalmendo grunted, "I'm looking to buy a new one."

The Toydarian squinted at the tall form of the Garrighol, "New droids cost a lot. You got money?"

Shalmendo set down a pile of credits on the counter, causing the Toydarian to smile.

The Toydarian suddenly became a lot politer, "Ohh, well that's different!" He flitted over the counter, "What kind of droid you in the market for?"

Shalmendo grunted, "Something very custom..can you do that."

The Toydarian laughed, "Can I do a custom droid?" He waved a hand, "I was building droids since I came out of my mother." he laughed a bit more, and rubbed his hands together, "You want a custom, you can get a custom. Aaaaany kinda custom you want! I do it all. What's on your mind, sir?"

Shalmendo tilted his head, "Iri?"

Iri nodded, a little wary of the Toydarian, "He's looking for a kind of customized protocol and servant droid."

The toydarian nodded and pulled a datapad from his belt pouches, "A servant droid, eh....all the fittings, am I right? Nice gold casing, maybe?"

Iri explained a bit further, "Well we have something kind of special in mind. We want something kind of a combination of a servant droid that can handle lots of protocol things..negotiation, cooking, keeping his ship tidy....but also be a guardian and bodyguard."

The Toydarian busily took notes, "ehh..cooking..tidying..mhmm..." and looked up, "ohhh you mean like those legendary footman bots? Boy those were a piece of work."

Iri nodded, "Yeah something like that. But we want assassin droid quality parts."

The Toydarian tilted his head, "Ehh? You looking to kill someone with a ninja C-3 or something? I mean, it don't matter to me, but if that's watcha want!"

IRi smirked "not exactly. We want something that can act like a protocol droid, genuinely, but also handle bodyguard and combat duty on top of it. Concealed weapons, a smuggling compartment."

The Toydarian's eyes lit up, "ahhh yeah, now I see what ya mean by 'really custom'. Oooh, yeah I can do that. So we're talking a Protocol droid casing with a bunch of advanced parts inside, and concealed compartments, like with sensor blocking lining."

Shalmendo nodded, "Yes. But potentially deadly if needed."

The Toydarian nodded, "Sure, I get what ya mean. Secret blaster or something, yeah? What kind of work you guys in? Not that I care, just so i can figure out what to put in this droid thing."

Shalmendo answered that one, "I'm a Mercenary with my own armory in my ship."

The Toydarian grinned, "Oh I get ya. You want a protocol droid that can kick some butt...clean your ship, make you dinner, kill anyone trying to steal your guns...that kind of thing....Assassin droid brains come with hyper advanced heuristics processors, so with the right programming it'll be a great tactically minded droid, keep you safe. I can handle all of that, no problem. Be expensive though. What you want it to look like?"

Iri spoke up, "Like a common protocol droid. But capable of moving with speed and agility they don't have. It needs to translate, pilot, cook, all those things. Adapt to it's owner and so forth."

The Toydarian nodded enthusiastically as he entered data on his datapad, "This will be one beautiful job, I promise! Gonna be expeeensive though. Gonna have to put in some tiny weapons, lots of programming, learning capacity...all those fun toys, eh? Smuggling compartments with sensor blocking lining...Mmh, probably some blaster and explosion resistant armor painted up real nice to blend with protocol droid style...We're talking like. 10,000 credits on the cheap side. You're a Merc right? Make good money? I could set you up with a payment plan or something."

Shalmendo snorted, "I'll pay up front. But not cheap. Make it good. Real good."

The Toydarian eyed him, "You want 'real good' huh? I thiiink I can blow your mind, big guy. But you gotta have the credits. I only see about 5,000 on the counter, and I don't think that's much of a down payment."

Iri fidgeted, hoping Shal wasn't going to end up with some kind of super assassin bot that'll end up killing some New Republic senators or something. He'd heard about those kinds of droids going rogue.

Shalmendo nodded and put down another pile of credits, "10,000 down payment. And you make it really good. I'll shore the rest up on delivery."

The Toydarian grinned, making a welcoming gesture with his hands, "heey for that kind of money I'll go home with you and cook for you myself! I'll make you the most amazing droid you'll ever see. I'll take care of everything! I'll even get it delivered right to you, wherever you are when i'm done with it. COD of course."

Shalmendo nodded, "Fine." and handed him a datacard, "my holocomm code."

The Toydarian grinned and gave a little salute, "Sure thing. I'll start sourcing parts right away. I'll throw in a bunch of specials and surprises too, I'll MORE then earn those credits, you'll see."

Shalmendo nodded, "I hope so."

The Toydarian nodded, "Can I get a name for the order and everything?"

Shalmendo nodded, "Shalmendo. My ship is the Black Claw."

The Toydarian paused, "eeeey I think I've heard of you. You've been around here a lot. I've heard about some of your work. Good stuff, good stuff."

Iri asked, "What have you heard?"

The Toydarian smiled, "Ohh, just stuff like if you need serious firepower you hire Shalmendo. If you need a persistent merc that won't give up, hire Shalmendo. Need the best insurance money can buy, hire Shalmendo. Real solid Merc guy. I couldn't prouder to have you for a client! I'll do somethin' up real special for ya, promise!"

Iri nodded.

Shalmendo nodded, "All set, then?"

The Toydarian winked, "All set! As to uh..when you can expect this, ahh....With the kind of parts I'm gonna need, the special weaponry and such? I'd give it a month, at least. Some of that stuff is hard to find and i'm gonna trawl through my contacts, but I'll do it guaranteed. Just gonna take a bit of time, is all."

Shalmendo nodded, "Okay. Let me know."

The Toydarian grinned, "Sure, sure. I'll keep you posted! Thanks for giving me the job! I know you coulda gone to almost anyone you wanted, but you came here. To me. To my humble little hole in the wall. That means somethin. I'll show ya." he paused a moment, "Welp that settles it, I'll let you know how things are going. Maybe contact you when I need some more info to customize it more to be perfect for ya."

Shalmendo nodded, "Thanks." Then motioned and started to leave.

Iri followed, fidgeting, wrestling a little with his conscience.

As they left and returned to the sewer-like tunnel, Iri spoke up.

"Um Shal?"

Shalmendo glanced down at Iri as they walked up the tunnel, "Yes?"

Iri fidgeted, "I'm kind of worried about what you might do with that droid."

Shalmendo grunted, "I gave you my word. I never break that."

Iri looked up, a little surprised. That kind of ethic was rare, especially in a mercenary, "Wow you...really do that? That's kind of rare."

Shalmendo shrugged, "It is the way of my people."

They stepped into the elevator again.

Iri nodded, "Well, that's...yeah okay, I trust you. And knowing about the kind of work you do, I see how such a droid would be useful."

Shalmendo nodded, "Almost required. The RLG droids were good, but they obviously didn't last well in combat."

Iri nodded, "Yeah those didn't quite stand up to your needs. I guess something like this will do the job much better. And all that protocol functionality will help with all that talking to people."

The lift stopped and the doors opened, while the door at the end of the hall opened automatically as well. They strode through.

Iri continued, "Yeah I can see how you need something extra special like that for your needs. A regular protocol droid would fall apart in a day with you."

Shalmendo nodded and lead Iri back to where the ship was docked, "Yes. Not many droids would last. Maybe could have armored up the RLG droids better but I think a custom unit built-from scratch will be better."

Iri nodded, "Well, be responsible with it okay?"

Shalmendo nodded as they weaved through the crowds under the neon lights, "Of course. My word."

Iri smiled a little and snugged into the Garrighol briefly as they walked. Shal was a really nice guy. A bit rough, but it sure felt like had had a heart of gold stuffed away deep in that muscled chest somewhere.

It wasn't long before they made it to the Black Claw, which had been refueled and was waiting for them. The pair rose up into the cargo bay, and went into the cockpit.

Kaite twittered congenially at both of them.

Iri smiled, and pulled out the plain box his new toy was in, "Hey Katie, I got something neat."

Katie twittered and blipped curiously.

Iri laughed and opened it for Katie to see the Stingbeam he had bought, "it's a Stingbeam. Really deadly close up so I can have it for a surprise for any nasty Trandoshan who want to tie me up again."

Katie blip-bleeped positively, then twittered.

Iri chuckled, "I don't know...I guess maybe we could get you fitted with one but you won't need it since I'll have one. Neat Idea, though. Oh, and Shal ordered a custom protocol droid to help him around the ship and stuff."

Shalmendo checked a few things in the cockpit.

Katie twittered curiously.

Iri nodded, "Yeah it'll be custom built and really fancy. Anyway, I'm gonna put this thing on to charge and get something to eat."

As he left the cockpit he hard Shal ask Katie to take them back to Chandrila.

Once in the dual bunk, he found a power port and used the special cable to start charging up the little stingbeam. He sat down and made a thorough review of the manual to make sure he knew how to use it. It turned out it also had a charge shot mode that would use all five shot charges at once, for once powerful blast with a much greater range, so he could still use it for a single distance shot. Iri nodded, that was a smart tactic he could potentially employ if his target was a bit out of reach. It also turned out it had a stun setting. Iri imagined the ways he could have used it on those trandos to get the upper hand and smiled, knowing he'll be much safer with it. He sighed and started packing up, putting all of his items into his backpack, so he could be ready to disembark with everything ready to go. He also grabbed his now fully charged stingbeam and slipped it into his pocket, giving it a pat.

The flight back was fairly uneventful, and they landed back at the New Republic base where Iri's Y-wing was being held.

The three disembarked, With Shalmendo signing a datapad offered to him. Iri went and put in his authorization to get the Y-wing brought back out onto a pad and gave shal a hug around the waist, "Thanks for helping me out shal. I hope your new droid turns out great."

Shalmendo patted Iri on the head gently, "Thank you for your help."

Iri beamed.

Katie twittered.

Iri laughed, "Katie is looking forward to not needing me to translate for her constantly. She says you should probably get an astromech translator though."

Shalmendo nodded, "I think I will."

Iri watched them bring his Y-wing out and place it in an open docking pad. He went over and spoke to the officer who handled it, "Allright, she looks in good condition."

The officer smiled, "Should be. She's all good to go, we topped up her fuel and everything."

Iri nodded, "Great." and signed off on the datapad.

Katie twittered as she got into position under the astromech slot and Iri smiled as he raised her up into it, "okay Katie, warm her up."

While Katie was doing that, he opened the cockpit and put his backpack into position again, taking a last moment to pat his stingbeam in his pocket. It felt good to have that anytime, whether he thought he needed it or not. He'd always be prepared for any surprises. He smiled as he hopped up into the cockpit and got comfortable, lowering the cockpit and sealing it.

Iri checked a few controls and displays, "Okay Katie, Let's get going."

Katie blipped in confirmation and they departed. Iri waved out to Shal as his ship rose up from the platform, and smiled as Shal seemed to wave back before turning to go back into his ship.

Katie twittered a bit as they rose into the atmosphere.

Iri laughed, "We might work with him again, sure. I certainly wouldn't mind it. He's kind of huggable."

Katie blatted a comment.

Iri laughed, "Yeah, yeah I know. Let's get to the next job, silly girl."