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 Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:26 am
Trantis is a small planet with dry, arid climate, and is probably located just a little too close to the sun for it's own good. Because of the extreme heat and desert climate, the vast majority of the planet's original inhabitants have moved elsewhere, leaving nothing but a few scattered, run-down trading outposts that primarily sell shady-looking, counterfeit, or stolen goods. The majority of the remaining inhabitants are brigands, bandits, thugs, or space pirates, with the exception of the few shopkeepers running the trading posts.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:05 pm
Grace leaned back in her chair and stared beseechingly towards the ceiling of her tiny little makeshift office. It had been nearly a week since she had had any work, and she was quickly growing tired of sitting around in the ramshackle little one-room hut she called her home and headquarters. Hoping to provide a sufficient distraction, she began humming bits of a Beethoven symphony to herself, but she had barely gotten through the A-section of the first movement when her communicator went off.
"Speak," she commanded calmly in form of greeting, and was greeted by a hushed, urgent sounding male voice.
"You're Grace Alexander?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I have a job for you."
A smile played across the smuggler's lips as she returned her chair to the upright position. "Alright... What do you want, when do you want it, and where am I taking it?"
"It's not exactly that kind of job... I need you to get me out of here."
She sighed. "This isn't a taxi service, you know."
"I'll pay whatever you want." This guy was getting frantic now, Grace noted, and frowned. What could he have possibly done to piss someone off this bad? "Just please, help me out... You came recommend by a friend as one of the best smugglers in the galaxy, and that's exactly what I need right now."
She was quiet for a long moment, then sighed again. "Seven million credits. Where should I meet you?"
"Ranik... Alpha Quadrant, Central Zone."
"Alright... Meet me at the main docks in nine days-- my ship is called the Endeavour. Until then, lay low. I want half the credits up front, if possible."
"Done. Thank you."
"Don't be late... I'm not losing my job for you."
She broke communication and sprung from her chair, gathering her few supplies and donning her stealth armor and weapons before heading out to her ship to start what she had the feeling was going to be the strangest job she'd ever had.
[Travelling to Riiamar Central Zone/Ranik]
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:43 pm
Grace returned to Trantis in her new ship with a definite plan already in mind. The craft would have to be repainted, and there were quite a few tough-to-find parts and some not-exactly-legal software she would need, but she had connections all over to take care of that for her... Many of whom owed her favors.
She called in help both from other merchants on Trantis and a few from other parts of the galaxy, and within a week, the components she needed were arriving. She spent all day, every day out in the desert heat, building, reformatting, re-engineering...
It was almost therapeutic, being out in the heat and working on ships... In another time or another place, perhaps she would have made a living out of it... But she had carved a niche for herself as a smuggler, and she wasn't about to give that up.
The trickiest part of building a ship, she knew, was the name. You had to pick something that was just perfect-- otherwise, you would wind up kicking yourself later for realizing the name was stupid, or you would face the mockery of other pilots. She put a lot of thought into this part of the process, trying to decide what sort of tone she wanted to set.
This ship was sort of a delicate matter, of course... With all due technicalities, it had been a gift, and as such, she felt oddly obligated to prove to Fate that his contribution hadn't gone unappreciated. That had played a major part in the design-- rather than her usual, paler color scheme, she had opted instead to paint the ship black (which she had to admit made look rather sleek). The name, then, had to match this as well. It represented not only a part of her, but a part of Fate as well-- and that was what made it difficult.
The name finally came to her when she had finished all the customization-- it simply struck her out of nowhere, as most of her good ideas tended to. Her ship would be called the Revenant.
A smile played across her lips as she studied the completed craft one morning-- it looked good, now that it was finished. She couldn't wait to take it for a drive, and she knew just who she wanted to show it to first.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:24 pm
Grace was preparing to depart once again when the ship landed. She didn't recognize it, which was an immediate cause for alarm, but it looked like a Rebel ship, so more than anything, it served simply to pique her curiosity. She drew her weapons, just in case, however-- not everyone in the Rebellion had been a fan of her father's work.
As the airlock doors slid open, though, she very nearly dropped them. The man who stepped off the ship was tall-- a good five or six inches taller than her, at least-- and wearing a striking white leather coat. His hair was two-toned black and white, his form was muscular, and he walked as though he were alarmingly comfortable with his surroundings as his made his way right over to her.
"Grace? God, you've grown."
Part of Grace immediately wanted to drop the weapons and run to the man... But she held her ground, lowering the weapons only slightly as she glared at him distrustfully. "Prove you're who I think you are," she said levelly.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a knife, tossing it point-downward into the sand at Grace's feet. It fell over, of course, since sand has very little sticking power, but he seemed nonplussed. "You have the same knife," he told her, a grin forming on his lips. "I gave it to you. Now, why don't you drop those guns and come give your big brother a hug?"
Now it was Grace's turn to smile-- she dropped the guns into the sand and bolted forward, throwing her arms around his neck while he swept her up and spun her around. "Cassius... I thought you were dead! Why didn't you come home?"
"I was being held in an Imperial prison," he explained. "I didn't have much choice... I'm sorry about Dad, Gracie... You know I would never leave you alone like that if I could help it."
"I know." She shook her hair out of her face and gestured back towards her home. "Come on, let's go inside... I was getting ready to head out, but it can wait a while."
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:47 pm
It was two more days before the Alexander siblings left Trantis-- Grace was eager to catch up with her long-lost brother, and Cassius seemed perfectly fine with that plan of action. Overall, actually, he seemed oddly content to let his baby sister run the show, which struck Grace as odd, but on the other hand, he had always behaved differently around her.
"Gracie," Cassius asked as she started the motors of the Revenant, "Is this a new ship?"
Grace looked over at him, clearly confused. "Yes... Why do you ask?"
He shrugged, shooting her an easygoing grin. "A friend of mine told me you were still at home... He said your ship was called the Endeavour, though."
"It was," Grace explained. "I... Had a run-in with a rogue Imperial soldier. He stole my ship off an ore hauler on Ranik, tried to escape, crashed... My ship caught fire. I couldn't have fixed it, even if I would have had a way to get it off the surface of Ranik." The pain in her voice was almost palpable, and Cassius reached out and hugged her.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "That ship meant a lot to you, didn't it?"
"Everything," Grace said, reaching up to wipe away her tears.
"So... How did you get back here without a ship? You can't tell me you just managed to hitch a ride with a complete stranger..."
"I didn't," Grace said, suddenly becoming evasive. "I was on... A friend's ship when the Endeavour went down. He dropped me off at Alpha-Five... The Revenant was sort of a gift from him."
Cassius chuckled. "Sounds to me like he might be more than just a friend, Gracie... Are you going to tell me who this guy is, or am I gonna have to track him down myself?"
"He's just a friend, Caz, I promise. That's it." And besides, she thought to herself as they lifted off, you'll meet him soon enough.
[Exit to Fueling Platform Alpha-5]
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