Jarl scowls at the prices but let's Daaneth do the talking on this one.
Daaneth shrugs. "Everything has a price." Then he pays the 130 credits for the refueling, docking for the day and the maintenance. "If we're here longer than a day I'll pay up, but I doubt our business will take very long." He smiles at the guards and nods to the rest of the crew that it's time to head out.
"Lets get paid."
The vurk is cautious about those around him as he follows the group,
"Thank you, sir. We'll get you fueled up and ready to go."
Departing the docking bay, you make your way to Vin Dai Soo's shop. The Imperial presence is noticeable, with stormtrooper patrols in place of the planetary police force. Whatever caused the Empire to come to this world, they came in force.
As you enter Vin Dai Soo's shop, he looks up and says, "Ah, you have returned. This is most excellent and fortuitous timing. I had been thinking of closing up shop and did not wish to leave before settling all of my outstanding debts."
He moves to the door and locks it, then flips the sign to "Closed" and motions you into the back room.
Arriving back there, he pulls out two briefcases. Opening them, he shows you a wide assortment of gems. "I sped the extraction process along once the Empire showed up, since I had a feeling things would move more quickly than I would like. Which would you like?"
The gem you sensed appears to be an amethyst. It is yet in its raw state, and has not yet been cut, making it ideal for a lightsaber.
"Sorry, no bounty hunter's guild here. The planetary administrators acknowledge licenses from the Kebrite system. Most of the sector will accept theirs."
Jarl grins, "Credits are easier to spend than gems, pretty as they may be".
Jeren takes his time, looking over the gems in both briefcases, even picking some of them up for a closer examination before finally -apparently- making up his mind.
"This," he says, an uncut amethyst resting in his palm, "should do nicely. It seems to be of adequate worth, yes?"
He shrugs with a smile one might describe as sheepish. "That and I have always been fond of this color."
"No gems for me, I'll take credits." Daaneth says, admiring the amethyst Jeren picked as payment. He muses on how he still knows very little about the strange human, but shrugs it off for now.
"Assuming he's the only one to take a stone, how many creds does that leave?"
The vurk will reach out in the Force as he silently examines the gems to see if any is a lightsaber crystal.
utf
The one Jeren picked is the only one that you can sense the Force in.
Taking the amethyst, the jeweler examines the gem with a special glass. "Hmmm...uncut, yet incredibly clear. The jewel's structure almost seems unique. In my expert opinion, I would sell a well-cut version for 2,000 credits. In its current state, 1,000."
Looking up, he says, "That will leave you 9,000 credits, if no others wish to take a gem." He hands the stone to Jeren.
The vurk makes a mental note about the gem and will ask for his payment in credits.
As the rest of the group requests credits, Vin Dai Soo nods and goes to a safe, from which he removes several stacks of credits before placing them in a case. Handing it to Daaneth, he says, "9,000 credits, plus the one jewel. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Perhaps, once I set up a new shop, we will be able to do business again."
Jarl grins at Vin Dai Soo, "Count on that my friend. The pleasure was from our side as well".
Jarl steps out of his shop.
"Shall we shop for the ship while we are here or just head out of here and back to Fialla?"
"I'm all for shopping for the ship, just not sure how much we want to do here with all this imperial presence." Daaneth shrugs and wonders if there's another planet close by that may be better to outfit their ship on.
This may not be the most prudent place to shop for upgrades/ recommends the vurk.
Jarl shrugs, "I hate to say it but these Imperials have really been encroaching on the Outer Rim lately. We may be running out of places to "get" away from them..."
You've heard rumor of a shadowport called Drev Sarn somewhere in the Acliphar system. You don't know its exact coordinates, but such places are likely to be Imperial free - and may contain the skills and necessary parts to upgrade the ship.
Jarl gets the ship fired up and requests clearance from the tower. After getting it, he takes the ship and flies up towards orbit.
Daaneth sends a message to Fialla, questioning if she has her next job prepared as the ship gets ready for launch.
"Good, then we're all agreed we can get off this rock. If we want to work on the ship, before, or after out next job, I know of a shadowport that may be of use. Drev Sarn in the Acliphar system. Not2Bee, would you be able to track down the coordinates? I don't know them myself, but plenty of my old crew had stopped there in the past."
Daaneth raises and eyebrow at Vessani.
"What? Drev Sarn is a port, not a person. Or did you mean my old crew? They're a bunch of criminals who've never been caught, I'd say they're pretty reliable."
Jarl chuckles, "Let's hope that your new crew continues to share at least one trait with your old crew then!"
Securing the uncut gem inside his utility belt, Jeren suppresses a smile and listens to the rest of the crew, the Captain especially.
"So we have a destination it seems," he pipes in. "New sights, new people, new jobs." He sighs. "I must admit, this kind of life is really growing on me."
"Hmmm...It would be difficult. Coordinates for Shadowports are typically only given to those who know, and are not found in standard astrogation data. I have no knowledge of such a place in my data banks, but I will check the navcomputer to determine if we have the coordinates."
Moving to the computer, NT-2B plugs in and begins analyzing the data. While he does so, the hypercomm system activates, revealing Fialla.
"Hey, if you're finished up, I've got a job for you guys. Meet me in the Vergesso Asteroids. This one may not have the greatest pay, but it's probably one of the biggest we've got."
Unplugging from the navcomputer, NT-2B says, "I am unable to find the coordinates of Drev Sarn. They appear to not be in the database. I apologize."
Perhaps the place was misplaced, as was Kamino, prior to the Clone Wars. says the vurk.
Daaneth frowns and begins sending messages to all of his old crew, hoping any of them may be willing to part with the coordinates. In the mean time he looks at Jarl and shrugs. "Might as well head back to Fialla in the mean time, yeah? Not like we have anywhere else to be."
"Hope that gem is worth it's wait in creds Jeren, still don't understand why you wanted it so bad. You a collector?"
Jarl turns to Daaneth and grins, "Aye aye Captain".
He pilots the ship to head back to Fialla.
"A collector," Jeren says as he thinks on it for a moment before answering to Daaneth. "I would not say I am. But I do have a fondness for gems, at least for those ones that catch my eye. They may be very valuable, they may not, but still. As long as I find them interesting I suppose." He shrugs. "And besides, there are places out there that credits may not be worth much and where goods and services are provided by trading some other goods or services for them."
"Not that I am in a hurry to trade this little gem away after all this trouble, mind you," he adds with a little smile.
The vurk will give Jeren Vallin a knowing smile at his discussion on the gem he chose.
After a journey of 2 days in hyperspace, you emerge into the Vergesso Asteroids. Your sensors detect two ships. One is the Fireburst. The other is a larger bulk cruiser, with two docking rings extended.
Your comm crackles to life, as Fialla says, "Good, you made it! Dock with the Hope's Redoubt and I'll explain more about the job on board."
The vurk will search his feelings
Jarl gently pilots the ship to the Hope's Redoubt.
Docking with the bulk cruiser on its port side, as the Fireburst docks on the starboard, you wait until you have a good seal on the cofferdam around the airlock and wait for everything to pressurize. Once all of the readouts are green, you open the airlock and float across the tube to the other airlock. Once opened, you are met by a Human woman, wearing a light blue shirt and dark pants, along with a blast helmet and vest. She has a blaster at her side, and says, "Welcome aboard the Hope's Redoubt. Please follow me to the main conference room."
The interior of the ship is clean and well-lit, tending towards white hallways. You see other crew members wearing the same thing as the woman, giving the outfit more the feel of a uniform. You arrive at the conference room to find Fialla already there, along with Gibby. The woman bows you in before leaving. There are some light refreshments and beverages, to which Fialla has already helped herself.
The vurk will take some refreshements.
Jarl grins at Fialla as he grabs a drink, "Awfully formal dress code around here Fialla. What's the job?"
"Don't tell me you didn't have any fun Vessani!" Daaneth says with a smile. He slaps the zabrak good naturally on the back.
He looks over Fialla to see how she's holding up and nods in agreement with Jarl. "Does seem a bit uptight in here. You're not expecting me in one of those uniforms are you?"
Smiling, Fialla says, "No, I wouldn't expect you to wear one of those uniforms. And I wouldn't necessarily call this a military ship, either. It's owned by a good friend of mine from Corellia. We're going to be moving some cargo from this ship to a couple of other locations. He can't deliver it himself due to external pressures, but I'll let him explain a bit more."
After she finishes speaking, the door to the conference room opens and a human man comes into the room. Looking at each of you, he says, "Thank you all for coming. Fialla recommends you as highly trustworthy, so we're bringing you in on this cargo expedition for us. You can call me Stanwell."
He's hiding it, but you can tell he doesn't quite share the same trust in you Fialla does.
perception
NT-2B is incapable of looking surprised, but at the mention of the man being from Corellia, NT-2B studies him closely, searching his memory banks to see if the name "Stanwell" means anything to him.
Perception
Jarl grins at him, "Well met Stanwell. I'm Jarl Tehnos, Pilot of the Fireburst".
Jeren is hardly surprised by the man's lack of trust, for he does feel like so despite hiding it rather well. 'It is not like he knows us after all,' he ponders briefly before following Earl's example and introducing himself as well.
"Greetings. My name is Jeren."