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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Karrde's Crew (Dankin, Odonnl, Aves, Ghent; one-shot series) (partial repost)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Tarsier, May 20, 2018.

  1. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Title: Karrde’s Crew

    Author: Tarsier

    Timeframe: New Republic era and later (technically the first couple posts are probably Saga, but it seems weird to say that since they have absolutely nothing to do with the movies or the characters and events therein)

    Characters: Dankin, Odonnl, Aves, Ghent; to a lesser extent Karrde; maybe Mara to some extent

    Genre: friendship/family; one-shot series

    Summary: Some of Karrde’s employees are so close they become family. The family grows, the family shrinks.

    Notes: This involves headcanon and stuff I’ve always kinda wanted to share, but never quite seemed like a story. Recently I got an idea for a couple new one-shots I thought might make a nice series and then I decided to add a few excerpts from previously posted stories for some background.

    Images and rambling below the cut, feel free to skip straight to the story.

    1) Just for fun - here is my celebrity casting of the main characters:

    Dankin - Casey Affleck
    [​IMG]

    Odonnl - Adam Scott
    [​IMG]

    Aves - Joel McHale
    [​IMG]

    Ghent - Fran Kranz
    [​IMG]

    Karrde - Cliff Simon
    [​IMG]

    Mara - (edit of Japanese cover art)
    [​IMG]

    2) I’m not sure how much Mara will be in this series, but for more on my take of her relationship with Dankin, see Overjoyed and Captain and Pilot. (Those stories are not necessarily canon with this series, but the essence of the relationship is the same.)


    3) Canonicity: I wanted this to be fully (Legends) canon, but when I was looking into the status of Karrde’s company in the NJO/LOTF timeframe I realized (as I always do when looking at anything post-VOTF), that the canon was more bizarre than I thought. So this is probably not strictly canon. But if I was just writing my own version of events, Ghent would never have left Karrde. But I kinda like the story surrounding why he leaves.
    tl;dr - The canon is to blame for Ghent leaving the company, but this is probably technically an AU story.

    Table of Contents (in chronological order, not necessarily the order the stories are posted in) (this is aspirational and may change over time):
    1. First Meeting (this post) (Odonnl; Dankin, Karrde, Chin) (excerpt from WFF)

    2. The Guarlara (Dankin; Odonnl, Aves) (excerpt from WFF)

    3. Getting into the Family (Ghent; Dankin, Odonnl, Aves)

    4. New Roommates (Karrde, Nyo, Jarik, Dankin, Odonnl, Ghent, Aves) - Part 2 - Part 3

    5. Leaving the Family (Ghent; Dankin, Odonnl, Aves)

    6. Revisiting the Family (Ghent; Dankin, Odonnl, Aves)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    First Meeting

    Repost - excerpt from Worth Fighting For - Chapter 7

    Odonnl was just shy of sixteen and stranded on Coruscant when Karrde found him. He grew up in an orphanage and spent most of his childhood learning all he could about starships. About six months before his sixteenth life day he was hired by a group of rich kids, not much older than him, to help out on their first flight without adults. They were going to visit the tourist hotspots of the galaxy, starting with Coruscant. They got in trouble—something about a party that got out of control, Odonnl didn’t know the details—and had to run home with their tails between their legs. No one bothered to tell Odonnl.

    He didn’t miss Corellia, he’d just hoped to see a little more of the galaxy before being grounded again. Odonnl had always prided himself on being raised on the mean streets of Corellia. But he was about to find out the mean streets of Corellia didn’t hold a candle to the downright wicked streets of Coruscant.

    * * *​

    It was several days after the ship had left without him and Odonnl was hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. On Corellia, people always had odd jobs for him to do; if nothing else he could wash dishes in a restaurant to cover a meal. Coruscant was different. First he tried the shipyards, hoping to earn a few credits working on ships. They said he was too young and inexperienced. The diners and cantinas on the upper levels threw him out, citing rules about homeless beings loitering. So he’d tried his luck down a few levels. And then down a few more. And a few more. He found himself on a level with no eateries, no stores, no legitimate commercial activity at all. He was lost and starving. He kicked a broken bottle lying in the middle of the street in frustration. The bottle glanced off a nearby building, eliciting movement from a huddled form.

    “Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Odonnl said. He saw the form was human, a child a few years younger than himself. When the boy didn’t respond Odonnl walked over to him. “I didn’t hit you, did I?” The boy shook his head. “Hey, maybe you can help me. How do get I get to . . . somewhere less dark and creepy?” The boy said nothing, instead taking a bite of something in his hand. Food! “Or you could tell me where you got the food,” Odonnl suggested.

    The boy offered him what proved to be the remains of a very stale ration bar.

    In his mind Odonnl knew he ought to decline. But in the end his stomach won out. “Thank you,” he said, tearing off a good-sized chunk and handing the rest back to the boy.

    “Dankin!”

    Odonnl jumped as a deep voice boomed across the empty street and a door in the building opened behind the boys. Odonnl leapt to his feet and started to run. His new friend didn’t get up, but rather shrank away, hugging closer to the building. “What do you think you’re doing? Get back in here now!” The words were slurred but the tone sent shivers down Odonnl’s back. Odonnl paused to look back and saw the voice belonged to a ronto of a human, whose face was crisscrossed with scars and tattoos. The man grabbed the young boy by his shirt with one hand and struck him across the face with the other. “Now!” he screamed releasing the boy's shirt and then kicking his legs out from under him as he scrambled away. Odonnl could do nothing but stand and watch, stunned by the needless cruelty. He didn’t move until the door was shut, with the horrible man inside. Then he sprinted away, swearing to himself that once he had found his way back up he would never come down this low again.

    * * *
    Eventually, Odonnl found a diner on an upper level willing to exchange food for work. He renewed his quest to find work at the shipyards, determined to get off the city planet as soon as possible. While wandering amongst a group of light freighters, a man pulled him aside and gave him a note, telling Odonnl he may have an opportunity for him. The note contained a time and an address. The address was midlevel, lower than Odonnl really wanted to go, but he could hardly ignore his first lead for something that might get him off planet.

    At the designated time, Odonnl arrived at the address. It was a strange restaurant. It was very quiet, sparsely decorated, with the tables spread far apart. The dress of the customers indicated a range from the upper crust to common street thugs. He was immediately shown to a table where an older man was waiting for him. Odonnl tried to focus on what his contact was saying, but aside from catching that his name was Chin, Odonnl heard very little. He was trying to figure out what kind of place this was when his eyes caught a familiar face—the child from the lower levels. Dankin.

    Dankin was sitting beside the tattooed man who had hit him before. Across the table was a very well-dressed man. There was something unsettling about the way the well-dressed man eyed Dankin. “What’s going on there?” Odonnl asked Chin.

    “Once you turn sixteen—What?” Chin glanced over his shoulder. “Best to just ignore them.” Then he added, under his breath, “Nothing you can do about recreation slaves.” Just then the well-dressed man slid a credstick across the table and reached for Dankin, a look of eager anticipation in his eyes.

    Odonnl had heard of recreation slaves. He’d just never believed that they existed until that moment. Back in the orphanage, when a child would complain about the quality of the food or the cramped sleeping areas, the guardians would tell him he ought to just be grateful he wasn’t a recreation slave. Recreation slaves, always young children, were rented out to anyone willing to pay, for any purpose. If they were returned injured or even dead, the renter was simply charged an additional fee, as though he had damaged a rented speeder. Odonnl had always thought the stories were made up to keep the orphans in line. But now he saw all too clearly that the stories were true.

    He didn’t know if it was guilt over taking food from someone who clearly needed it so much more, or frustration over his current situation, or outrage that the galaxy had suddenly become a place of unthinkable torment, but Odonnl did the bravest thing of his whole life. And the stupidest.

    “Don’t touch him!” Odonnl screamed, charging toward Dankin’s table. The tattooed man was a quickdraw. Luckily, Chin was equally nimble and hurled a chair into a glass divider nearby, providing just enough of a distraction that the blaster shot whizzed over Odonnl’s shoulder. Odonnl dropped his shoulder and slammed into the tattooed man. They both fell to the floor, the blaster sliding out of reach. Odonnl wrestled with the man, trying desperately to pin his arms so he couldn’t grab for any more weapons, until several security officers arrived and pulled them apart. As they were putting handcuffs on Odonnl, he saw the well-dressed man slipping out a back door, Dankin in tow.

    The tattooed man pointed at Chin and snarled that he was with Odonnl. When the security officers asked him, Chin glanced at Odonnl and declared he’d never seen him before in his life. They hauled Odonnl away.

    * * *
    Odonnl spent the worst night of his life in jail. He’d been in plenty of jails before—when he was a preteen he’d learned to pick pockets and had been picked up by CorSec on more than one occasion—and this jail was unremarkable. But Odonnl was tormented by thoughts of what was happening to Dankin, of whether he had made it worse, of what he could have done differently to save the younger boy.

    The next morning a woman arrived at the jail and bailed Odonnl out. She told him she worked for Talon Karrde and that he was to report for duty. Odonnl vaguely recalled Chin having mentioned the name Karrde, but he had no intention of going anywhere but to find Dankin and somehow or another rescue him. Once away from the jail, Odonnl started to walk away. The woman grabbed him by the arm, her grip tight enough to bruise. “You aren’t going anywhere but with me. You already owe Karrde your first four of five paychecks to cover the bail I just paid.”

    Odonnl tried to twist away, but the woman’s grip was firm. She half-led, half-dragged Odonnl onto an action transport parked at a nearby landing strip. She didn’t let go until they entered a large room near the center of the ship. In the center of the room was a large, ornate desk. Sitting behind the desk was a man with sharp features and jet black hair who looked down appraisingly at the new recruit.

    “Let me go! This is kidnapping! You’ll be sorry!” Odonnl had been letting loose a steady stream of indignant retorts since being grabbed and he didn’t let up after entering the room. He was fighting mad and his attempts to free himself caused him to sprawl forward onto the floor when the woman finally released him.

    “You must be Odonnl,” the man behind the desk said.

    Odonnl ignored him, choosing instead to spin around toward the woman who was now blocking the exit, a fresh set of invectives on his lips. But he stopped short, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Chin was seated on the other side of the room. And beside him was Dankin.

    “He’s safe for now. And so are you.” Odonnl turned toward the desk and got his first good look at the man who had altered the course of his life forever—Talon Karrde. “Chin tells me you never gave him a response to my offer,” Karrde continued.

    “What offer?” Odonnl asked.

    Karrde glanced to Chin then back to Odonnl. “An offer of employment. You work on my ship, you follow my orders and in exchange I’ll provide you with a place to sleep, meals, and all other necessities. Not to mention training in a variety of fields. If you decide you don’t like our arrangement, you are free to leave at any time.”

    “What about Dankin?” Odonnl asked.

    Karrde looked very seriously at Odonnl. “He’s your brother, right?” Odonnl didn’t respond right away and Karrde continued quickly. “I do not hire anyone under the age of sixteen. But I could hardly split up orphan siblings. If you will take responsibility for him and work extra shifts to cover his expenses, I suppose there’s no reason why your little brother can’t come along.”

    For several seconds, Odonnl pretended to consider the offer. But in truth he’d already made up his mind.

    Notes: Chin is a canon character; as is Moranda Savich, the unnamed woman.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  2. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    This looks really promising! I love a good Karrde tale. All my old friends are here. (I like to think they are still around, just not making any news. Which is exactly what they should be doing if you think about it ;))

    Odonnl is a cool character. He’s gotten himself in way farther than he thought. His compassion for Dankin shows that even when he’s at the end of his rope, Odonnl still has a moral compass. I’m looking forward to where this goes next!

    Ps - I really liked your casting, too. Nice touch to add that.
     
  3. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    "He's your brother, right?"

    I love the way Karrde has a plausible reason to get Dankin off-planet. And the way that he already considers Odonnl an employee, even though he hadn't already formally agreed.
     
  4. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Thanks for the comments! I really love these characters, it's always great to see another fan! So glad you like the casting - I've given it a lot of thought over the years, but this is the first time I've shared my ideas :)

    Hi! Karrde has a tough exterior, but I think he's really a big teddy bear when it comes to certain things :) Thanks for stopping in!
     
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  5. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    @Tarsier -- [face_dancing] Love Odonnl's bravery and compassion with Dankin and Karrde [face_love] :D Wonderful. Once you're part of his crew, you're set. ;) @};-
     
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  6. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    Nicely done. Karrde is one of my favorite Star Wars characters.
     
  7. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    It's great to see another of your stories about Karrde's crew, and to get a glimpse into more of the origin of their friendships. Odonnl is a perfect mixture of overconfident young pilot and overwhelmed, lost teenager here. I like that he isn't immediately best friends with Dankin, but recognizes a kindred spirit and cares enough to stand up for him when it counts. And of course, Karrde manages to both do a genuinely good thing for these two and (not so coincidentally) manage to earn their loyalty. Typical of him, I'd say.
     
  8. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Yes indeed. :D Thanks for reading!

    Thank you! Karrde is one of my favorites too. :)

    Yes, I think Karrde is very clever in his hiring of employees. ;) Thank you for commenting!
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2018
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  9. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    The Guarlara

    Repost - excerpt from Worth Fighting For - Chapter 10
    Six months after he’d been saved by Karrde, Dankin found himself in a mountainous wilderness with Odonnl and Aves. Aves, only a couple years older than Odonnl, was supposed to be in charge. He had a map and a compass, but Odonnl seemed unconvinced that he knew how to read either.

    “I’m not lost,” Aves grumbled. “It’s just taking longer because I have to babysit you two.”

    Odonnl rolled his eyes and glanced at Dankin. “Right . . .”

    “I hear something,” Dankin said.

    “What is it?” Odonnl asked, straining to hear.

    “Animals?” Dankin replied uncertainly.

    “Could it be the guarlara?” Aves asked.

    Dankin, of course, had no idea. Like most people, he had never seen the exceedingly rare animals in real life before. He hadn’t even heard of such animals existing until two days ago. Guarlara were huge, majestic, jet-black equines so coveted by the royalty of Naboo that it was illegal for anyone outside of the royal family to ride them. There were rumors that a powerful corporate businessman had acquired a black market herd of the animals and kept them hidden deep in the mountains of Ralltiir. A rival had hired Karrde to provide proof of the herd’s existence, to be used to create a scandal that would take down the businessman. Karrde had sent Aves, Odonnl, and Dankin to find the herd and take pictures.

    Dankin heard the sound, a faint braying, again. This time Aves and Odonnl heard it too.

    “That way.” Dankin pointed into the forest.

    They proceeded through trees until they came to a river. The river was about twenty meters across and impossible to tell how deep. The current was swift. None of them were strong swimmers.

    “Here, I see the river on the map,” Aves said. “It looks like there’s a bridge a ways upstream.”

    They walked along the water for a long time. Dankin was tired but didn’t want to complain. He trudged along behind the others, trying his best not to fall too far behind. Dankin was determined to carry his weight, to not be a burden to those around him. But at the moment he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep.

    Dankin jumped as Odonnl, apparently having paused to wait for him, laid a hand on his shoulder. “Not too much farther,” Odonnl said with an encouraging smile. Dankin gave the brightest smile he could muster in return.

    “Sithspawn!” Aves cried up ahead.

    Odonnl trotted to catch up. “What is it?”

    “That,” Aves replied.

    Once Dankin caught up, he saw that Odonnl and Aves were looking forlornly at the river. Specifically at an old tree trunk that stretched across it.

    “That’s the bridge?” Odonnl asked.

    Aves looked from the map to the tree trunk and back again. “It has to be.”

    “There’s no way we can cross that. It probably won’t even hold our weight.”

    Aves nodded agreement. Then he turned, seeming to see Dankin for the first time. “It might not hold our weight,” Aves began, sizing up Dankin as he spoke.

    “No,” Odonnl said. “It’s way too dangerous. What if he falls?”

    “I won’t fall,” Dankin asserted. He moved quickly to the end of the tree trunk and scrambled on top.

    “Wait, come back,” Odonnl said.

    Dankin took a few steps forward, over the water. The tree felt solid beneath his feet and it was easier to keep his balance than Dankin had expected. “I’m okay.”

    “Good job, Dankin. The herd must be close. Here, take the camera,” Aves held the small device out to the younger boy. Dankin easily took the few steps to return and took the device from Aves. “This is very expensive. Karrde will have our heads if it gets damaged. Be careful.”

    Odonnl looked uneasy as Dankin turned back toward the water, but said nothing.

    Dankin no longer felt tired as he looped the camera strap over his head. He was pleased to finally be able to do something helpful, something no one else could do. He took three easy steps, staring at the log below. He slowed a little, aware of how far he was from the bank. Two more steps. Then another. Dankin was past the halfway point. No turning back now. Another step—

    Dankin vaguely recalled the sensation of falling. And a sharp pain in his shin where it contacted a rock. But mostly he remembered suddenly forgetting how to breathe. Even before his head went underwater, it was as though his lungs simply forgot how to function in the icy water. He tried desperately to swim to the bank, but he could hardly tell which direction to push to keep his head above the surface of the water, much less which direction the safety of the bank was. He felt himself being pulled by the current, scraping his legs and arms across rocks. He didn’t notice the pain, and he no longer felt the cold. He simply fought the river as long as he could.

    The next thing Dankin remembered was being on the bank. And shivering.

    “He’s freezing!” That was Odonnl.

    “He’s okay.” That was Aves. Aves, who was soaking wet and visibly shaking.

    Dankin remembered being wrapped in two jackets.

    “Take this.” Aves tossed something to Odonnl. “Shoot anything that moves.”

    “What about the camera?”

    “Forget it. I’ll tell Karrde I lost it. We need to get him back.”

    Aves tossed something else to Odonnl. “Keep us headed southwest. Got that?”

    Odonnl’s footsteps moved away as Dankin was lifted.

    Aves paused and looked down at the young boy, his face drawn with concern. “Are you okay?”

    Dankin nodded slowly.

    “Don’t ever do that again, Dankin. Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

    A couple drabbles of this scene from Odonnl's perspective can be found here (#82 and 83). That thread (beginning with #70, then scattered throughout the rest of the thread) contains several drabbles featuring Dankin, Odonnl, and Aves.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2019
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  10. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Exciting adventure there. =D= Very much tourists being brave ;) But the best part was the friendship feels.
     
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  11. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Brrrrr....falling into a stream that just melted yesterday is not a fun experience!

    "Don't ever do that again...." I get the feeling Karrde is going to say the same thing. Nice update!
     
  12. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Thank you!! I'm glad you liked it!! :)

    Yes, that's very true - I was writing from experience on that. ;)
    Yes, probably so! I haven't thought too much about what Karrde says immediately after the fact, but I do imagine this conversation takes place down the road:

    Aves (handing Dankin a piece of expensive equipment): Don't drop it!
    Dankin (stares hard at Aves): That was twenty years ago! I was a little kid!
    Aves: Yeah, and you have no idea how much trouble I got in!
    Odonnl: I think you got in trouble for almost letting the kid drown--not so much for losing the camera.
    Aves: Well, if he hadn't lost the camera, we could have come up with a much better story...
    Thanks so much for your comments, SiouxFan!
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2018
  13. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Thought that something about the river scenario seemed familiar... then I saw your note at the top of the chapter. :p In any case, it was great to revisit! It's fun to see some of these early days; they're all young and prone to be a bit reckless, but Dankin is even more so than the others realized. Maybe it was a good thing in a way, even if it gave them all a scare -- expensive camera lost, but everyone was just relieved to find Dankin alive and in one piece. Hopefully that put his mind at rest, at least a little. Poor Aves, though -- I can just imagine the You're Supposed to be the Responsible One lecture. :p
     
  14. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Ha! Me too!
     
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  15. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    @Kahara Thanks so much for the comments!! I think that's the last repost, should be new material from now on! I did try to tighten up a slight plot hole, but I don't know if it really helped.
    May not be the last time he hears that lecture....:p

    Whitewater rafting?;)
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2018
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  16. Tarsier

    Tarsier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2005
    Author Notes: This is posted out of order, we’re jumping ahead a bit on the timeline. I’m posting it now because it was inspired in part by the fact that the Solo movie seems to have disregarded a lot of established history and in part by the Underrepresented Challenge. (This story was partially inspired by the challenge, but it is not an entry in the challenge.)

    Rambling in the spoiler section, feel free to skip.
    1. Jarik is a character from The Han Solo Trilogy. In that, Jarik is severely wounded, losing his sight right before saying goodbye to Han and dying of his injuries. For a long time, I’ve had this headcanon that Vo-Shay and Aryzah (from “The Last Hand” in Tales from the New Republic) show up at the last minute and Aryzah is able to use the Force to save Jarik’s life (but not his sight). That is what has happened here, with Jarik joining Vo-Shay, Aryzah, and Nyo in their travels. With Aryzah’s help, he continued to be a solid gunner, even without his sight.

    2. The Wook says Nyo is Force-sensitive, but I did not get that impression when reading "The Last Hand." So here, although Nyo very much wants to be a Jedi, he is, if anything, only slightly Force-attuned.

    3. I’m struggling with characters’ ages in this, so I’m just going to say, for this story, Jarik is about Odonnl’s age and Nyo is about Ghent’s age. (Dankin is younger.) To the extent that is not accurate to canon, I shall blame the Tyus Cluster. :p


    New Roommates - Part 1 of 3

    Talon Karrde wasn’t sure whether he had won or lost last night’s sabaac game. In fact, he didn’t remember much about the night, past entering Kinnin Vo-Shay’s personal freighter for an exclusive game. He was far too old to be drinking too much—he precisely knew his limit, and he did not casually exceed it. No, there had been something else going on. More than unexpectedly potent whiskey, but perhaps less than a spiked drink. It had been something more subtle than that…for he did remember one thing—not vividly, but particularly. He remembered signing the papers. The papers now tucked under his jacket. Employment contracts. Two of them. One for each of Vo-Shay’s two employees.

    Karrde was familiar with the employees (who was he kidding, the children), at least in the abstract. He was always on the lookout for fresh new talent, and Vo-Shay had such a reputation as a loner Karrde couldn’t help but take notice when he’d taken on a crew.

    He pulled the papers out of his jacket and looked at them, just to be sure he hadn’t dreamt the whole incident.

    Yes, his signature was there at the bottom. And at the top, the names of his new employees— Nyo “Knight” and Jarik “Solo.”

    The wannabe Jedi and the blind gunner.

    What in the galaxy had he gotten himself into?

    * * *​

    Nyo waited impatiently outside the ship. He wanted to turn around, to run back to the Ashanda Ray. He didn’t, not because any part of him wanted to stay, but because he knew there was nowhere to run to. The Ray was gone. Without him.

    Vo-Shay had told him to read the note after the mysterious meeting. Nyo, knowing something strange was going on, had stopped to read it as soon as he was out of sight of the Ray. It was a bunch of nonsense about the Tyus Cluster. About being called back, about needing to return.

    Bantha poodoo. If Vo-Shay wanted to return to the Tyus Cluster, fine. But he would take Nyo with him.

    He’d ripped the note to shreds as he turned to sprint back to the Ray. But Jarik’s hand had tightened on his shoulder. “It’s too late,” he said. “They’re already gone.”

    Nyo wanted to return anyway, to see for himself. But he knew Jarik must have heard the Ray take off. And Jarik wanted to go to the meeting, he didn’t want to be late.

    “The future is forward,” Jarik had said. “Not behind us.”

    Tell that to Vo-Shay, Nyo thought darkly, tapping his foot impatiently.

    Jarik’s grip shifted on his arm, prompting Nyo to turn around. Nyo had been waiting for the boarding ramp to lower, but an authoritative-looking man approached from across the landing pad.

    Nyo had seen images of Talon Karrde before, but they had not captured his full presence. Nyo had intended to start the meeting by saying something surly, maybe even rude, to make sure Karrde knew right off the bat what he thought about being traded as a commodity. But for some reason Nyo found himself hesitating, and Karrde got in the first word.

    * * *​

    It is very real. And yes, he knows how to use it.

    The words entered Karrde’s mind as he noticed the lightsaber clipped to Nyo’s belt. He’d heard them before—last night? Or earlier? No time to think about it now, he was already upon them.

    “Greetings. I am Talon Karrde. You must Nyo and Jarik.” He didn’t include the bogus last names; it wouldn’t do to begin this interaction with a lie.

    Karrde extended his hand, but Nyo sneered at it. Jarik, of course, did not notice. Karrde pulled back his hand, using it instead to reach into his jacket and remove the contracts.

    “I’ll need your signatures before I can assign you a room on my ship.”

    Nyo huffed. “We aren’t slaves. We can’t just be traded. We don’t work for you—”

    “—Yet. We have a few questions before we sign anything.” Jarik cut in, taking a step closer to Karrde.

    Karrde looked into Jarik’s dark sunglasses. Fully opaque, and not the least bit reflective, they weren’t sunglasses at all. Karrde shifted his gaze to Nyo. His eyes were bright and intense and so full of teenage indignation, Karrde’s cheek twitched as he struggled to keep a straight face. He knew that look, he knew it very well. And that gave him an idea. These kids didn’t trust him, it wouldn’t matter what he said to them. But they might trust someone more like them, someone who had been in their position not so very long ago.

    Karrde spoke into his comlink. “Odonnl. Dankin. Ghent. Report to the boarding ramp immediately. There are some people here with some questions for you.”



    Author Note: I hope that made some sense. If not, please feel free to ask questions. Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
    Kahara likes this.
  17. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Excellent beginning and enjoyed the various POVs. Talon is rather out of it ... "Getting too lod for this" he thinks but he's still an astute and tactful judge of character and what the situation demands. And Jarik and Nyo will both find that any time you join the crew of Talon Karrde, it's indeed a very good day. :D
     
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  18. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Talon, Talon, Talon....one should never 'drunk hire'! That's worse than drunk dialing your ex!
     
    Tarsier likes this.