With a flash of sparks, the cockpit of The One-Eyed Womprat started to light up, alarms rang, some of the few remaining metal panels came crashing to the floor as alerts flashed across the screens. To the untrained eye, it would have looked as if the ship was about to come crashing down to the nearest planet, causing a crater large enough to level a small village.
"What is it this time?" Vex sighed, frustrated as she took her feet off the dashboard and sat up in the pilot's seat. "No hostiles nearby... engines are normal... cooling is... well it's there..." she hummed to herself as she mentally crossed off each of the many issues this ship could have come into. "Are you kidding me?" she let out an exasperated sigh, pressing the accept button on her holo-call.
Within a few seconds all lights returned to normal, alarms were off, and a hologram of a rather fed-up Hutt appeared in the common area of the ship. Not having time to discipline her ship, Vex skipped over to the call. "Jabba!" she called out, feigning excitement, "Hope you've got a job for me, the ship could do with a lil' sprucing up." She chuckled, scratching the back of her right lekku.
Vex was a Twi'lek, born and raised on the lower decks of Coruscaunt during the Clone Wars. Of course, it wasn't her parents who raised her, after thirty plus years she still didn't even know their names. No, it was the streets themselves that raised her, if you can call throwing every danger imaginable at her raising. When opportunity struck, she found herself alone in a ship hangar one day with an unsupervised YT-2400 Freighter. Fast forward many years and now she finds herself a rather prolific smuggler aboard The One-Eyed Womprat, a ship that she so desperately hopes blows up so she can buy a new one without the guilt of knowing she still had this one at home.
The Hutt spoke deeply in his own tongue, Vex didn't understand this so was most appreciative when his Twi'lek assistant poked his head onto the hologram. "His excellency wishes you to know that you must answer all his calls in a much more urgent fashion next time. He also requests a task of you," The Twi'lek spoke quickly as if the Hutt despised listening to him, "On Nar Shaddaa, a crate has been left near one of the markets. It is quite unassuming but holds a great treasure that his magnificence requires. We ask that you bring this to us, post haste." And with a shout from the Hutt the call was closed.
The captain heard a ping on her ship monitor, likely the co-ordinates having been sent her way. "Nar Shaddaa it is." Vex sighed, strolling back to the cockpit and locking in the destination. With the ship on course, she leant her head back and shut her eyes.
A few hours later she was swiftly awoken by the blaring alarms and flashing lights of the cockpit once more. "Why do you do this?" she cried out, having fallen from the pilot's chair this time. She looked out the window and saw the lights of Nar Shadda getting closer. "We're at our destination... is that what you wanted to tell me?" she asked, exasperated as she poked a button to turn off the GPS and was welcomed back to silence. "I swear when I learn how ships work or I find someone who does, I am so going to strip you down to the bare minimum. Just a button that says go, no alarms, nothing!" After venting her anger, she poked her tongue out at the cockpit and walked back to her quarters to get ready.
When flying solo, Vex tended to keep it as casual as she could. Strolling past her mirror she saw her tired face atop her toned green body, dressed in a tee shirt she'd won in a Bantha riding contest on Tatooine and some shorts that barely covered her behind, her lack of socks was something she started to question with how rough the metal flooring of the ship had become from her lack of care. Stripping down to her skin-tight briefs, she grabbed her tan, slim cargo pants, white vest, dark brown leather jacket, waist holster and her boots. She looked like a typical smuggler, and in a business where you needed clients to find you, it certainly helped.
Returning to the cockpit she prepared to dock, "This is the YT-2400 requesting permission to dock." She spoke through the communicator in her best professional tone as a grumpy male voice responded.
"Any unaccounted-for cargo?"
"Nope, just lil' ol' me,"
A few moments passed before the communicator lit up once more, "Alright... docking bay 14." And with that she brought the ship down to ground, the landing gear dropped into place just late enough that she was bounced in her seat and a large thud was heard in the other hangars.
"I will find an engineer, just you wait." She threatened the ship, somewhat jokingly, as she headed for the ramp. Vex strolled out of the hangar, making sure it was locked so she didn't lose it the same way she found it.
She entered onto the streets of Nar Shaddaa, it was filled with the kind of crowd that had been banned from Coruscaunt and the other city planets. Even on this high level, the criminals seemed to roam free and acted as if the planet was theirs. Considering it was under Hutt ruling, they weren't wrong in that assumption.
Before grabbing the container, Vex decided she needed a drink after her time in space. She decided on a rundown cantina by the name of Gregor's. It had all the markings of a scummy cantina: the moody guests, a band that no respectable establishment would let play, slave girls dancing on tables and a greasy alien behind the bar. Just as she walked in she could feel the tension in the air of a fight moments away from happening. The flashing, broken lights on the ceiling only added to the aggravation of the crowd.
Vex made her way straight to the bar, squashed between a drunken Human and a leering Sullustan. With her hand placed on the bar she felt something squishy, her eyes peered down and she saw a slug creature the size of her arm sipping on a drink. She could see the disdain in its eyes as it slithered down the bar. She waved down the owner and pointed to the drink in question behind him to save the language barrier. Luminous orange liquid in hand she turned to face the rest of the crowd, checking to see if she knew any of the rabble. Luckily for her she couldn't spot any smugglers that may be after the same treasure just yet.
As she went for a sip of her drink a Wookiee barged between her and the Sullustan, causing her to spill the bright liquid across her vest, "Ah come on furball, I paid for this," She groaned, nudging him back against the Sullustan. The Wookiee howled in response, his large right fist retaliating with another nudge, causing her to fall back and knock over the Human. "Hey! I am not the colour of Dagobah's swamps." Vex gasped, ignoring the now prone Human behind her.
She stepped away from the bar, placing her now half-empty glass down, both hands motioning the Wookiee to come too. The two of them in a pocket of space as Vex jeered to him, "You owe me a drink, big guy," She got closer as the Wookiee took a swing, managing to duck underneath and get behind him. Quickly she jumped atop his back, arm around his neck, legs around his waist as the Wookiee flailed. "Go down you bipedal Bantha." She grunted as his arms barged patrons out the way.
"Oi! No fighting in me shop." The greasy Gregor bellowed from behind the bar as the Wookiee managed to reach behind himself, grabbed Vex around the waist and threw her across the room. She crashed into one of the booths, a bikini clad Togruta dancer had to duck to get out the way, the top of her head tail scuffed by Vex's boot.
"Okay... fair fight... didn't need the drink anyway." Vex coughed as she rolled off the lap of a rather annoyed looking Bothan. She dusted off her clothes and limped back toward the bar, grabbed her half-empty glass and drank it in one quick swig. The Wookiee got his own drink and strolled off proudly between the, now bored, crowd.
Still a bit sore, she made her way out of the bar, deciding it was time to get the package and leave. She pulled up the image of the drop point on her holopad, inspecting it curiously. From what she could see, it was hidden just behind a jogan fruit stand.