“You want me to do WHAT?” Titius was looking at his communicator aghast. The tinny voice repeated itself.
We request that you use your ship to bring relief supplies to Collective stricken areas. Your ship…
“…is strictly for my research and own private use. GOOD DAY!”
Titius snapped the communicator in half then booted the pieces into the horizon.
“You sure showed them,” A familiar voice from behind Titius called, accompanied by the sound of metal clapping as Ellac strode up behind the mercenary.“Now then, pack your things; We’re being sent to the Cor’neria System.” The Sith leveled an eyeless stare on his former apprentice, holding up a hand to quell any rebuttal. “And before you start screaming at me, just remember that the Empire isn’t likely to fund your ‘research’ if you don’t do your job; Now, where did you park the Malpractice?”
“Good grief, you really are blind.” Faint humming thrummed below the pair.
“You are standing on it. You didn’t feel the ground was less squishy about ten steps back?”
From behind them came a chuckle, followed by a voice in a mid-range baritone with a noticeable Corellian accent. “Now I’m unsure of whether or not you saw me standing here with my sister-in-law.”
As the duo spun to face the apparent newcomer, there was a feminine groan and a cackling laugh that could only come from a droid vocabulator.
Standing there were a trio that could not look more mismatched if they tried. In the forefront was an unfamiliar male, Marius Apollo Edraven-Erinos, the new Vice-Chancellor of the Taldryan Republic. The electrostaff leaned against the Sephi-Shaevalian’s shoulder, pale silver eyes beneath windswept blonde hair staring almost blankly at them. A small smirk curved the man’s lips.
The paleness of his irises could only point to natural blindness of some kind.
Behind him, standing almost in a triangular pattern, were a short figure in black and blue Clone ARC Trooper armor wielding a bo-rifle and the unnaturally tall, dark grey Gladiator Droid with gleaming blue photoreceptors. The former was revealed to be female almost immediately.
“Marius, must you with the blind jokes?”
“The Master does love his self-depreciative humor,” the HK unit drawled.
The Ranger’s smirk grew, even as the original duo stared. “As you can see, I brought some protection for the mission. And you need not worry; both of you will be well-compensated for your services. My name is Marius Edraven-Erinos; a pleasure to make you acquaintance.”
“Mockery: I told you not to drink that fifth Corellian Ale, Master,” The Sith’s own HK droid chided from behind him.
Ellac looked down at the metal plating beneath his cybernetic feet, staring for a moment too long before glaring back up at the others. “If you’re all done laughing, can we get a move on?”
“Ale of any variety would do precisely nothing to help his demeanor.” Matching the HK’s tone as best he could, Titius added, “Query: you will save some targets for me, yes?”
Kicking a bootheel into the deck below snapped a clasp loose and a hatch slowly pushed open.
“May as well get you all inside. I don’t want to know how high the bounty is for sending a Vice Chancellor through a sublight intake.” The mercenary slipped down the hatch.
Clods of dirt thudded down the hull as the Deru-B-Malpractice shook loose of its semi-burial. Titius had been in the middle of extended field testing but a request by Vice Chancellery was a touch more important.
“Tell the pilot droid where the supplies are and we will be off!” Strapping himself tightly, Titius gestured to the assorted companions and the mesh cargo webbing crudely attached around the cabin. “Standing room only I’m afraid.”