Session export: GJW XVII - [Team Manchineel]

The purple-hued Nautolan made her way from the cockpit down to the cargo hold of the Siren’s Revenge, her multicolored speaker droid, EK-0H, hovered along beside her, some glimmik band playing at a oddly reasonable level today. Scylla rubbed her black eyes tiredly, it had already been a long day getting the orders for this mission and loading up the newcomers. A good meal and maybe a soak would be in order but first she needed to know where exactly she was flying them to.

The others were gathered in a paint splattered lounge-like area off to the side of the Siren’s cargo hold. It was the easiest place to have everyone gathered, along side their the now multitude of pets brought along with them, with easy access up to the galley up the ladder in the back. A couch and mismatched chairs circled a low table and various illustrations were painted directly on to the walls of the hold. One of the few places Scylla let Kora have free rein with her paints.

Kora perched on top of the couch, squishing the head of the very large teal varactyl that had curled herself around the space. “Aren’t you the bestest girl, Orla. Yes you are~” Orla chirped in response and Kora gave the reptavian’s beak a kiss before looking up, eyeing the newcomers almost warily. They were Vizsla so she didn’t think she needed to worry too much, but even so with all the chaos of the war… Kora shook her head to clear it. “Soooo what exactly is our plan? Are we doing introductions first?”

The ship was unfamiliar to him, the clack of his boots on the sheet metal uncomfortably foreign as he entered the open space intended for their gathering. It was in moments like this, as he moved through one unknown situation to another, that Yeyu felt particularly alone. If it showed on his face, it was a flicker of something forlorn masked quickly by a vibrant smile and the glitter of mismatched eyes as they swept over his surroundings. Quietly trailing after him, nearly stumbling over its own paws was a sleekly shaped Charhound that appeared much more graceful than it actually was.

Perching on the edge of a stool, Yeyu paid no mind to the chittering of the Pikobi on his shoulder. The creature was standing to its full height, the colorful yellow of his crest revealed as the feathers flared up from the back of his neck. Zei’s small talons gripped the liquid soft folds of Yeyu’s black holosuit. The underlayer of the attire was fitted perfectly to his frame, the outer layer draping over his shoulders and flaring out at the waist. It trailed the floor behind him, leaving well-shined, knee-high boots exposed. Around his ankles small creatures gathered and bickered. An undersized Gizka with huge yellow eyes and a soft brown Scurrier pushed and snapped at each other, a tangled mass of limbs and tails that did not bother their master in the slightest.

“I am Yeyu.” His voice was clear and bright, as if this were a late morning tea time and not a mission brief, “I, and my small team here, usually find ourselves sneaking into places. Causing distractions when needed. Not so much the fighting part, though that can be managed if we get caught in a sticky situation.”

Somewhere in the shadows, creeping along the edges unseen, a large Vornskr watched the room. Yeyu could sense him easily, a comforting awareness that brushed against him through the Force. Of all the small beings that he’d built a family of, the beast was the most wild and somehow the most reassuring. In small ways it reminded him of the brothers who had once taught him martial arts; the brothers who had boarded a ship and never returned. Blinking hard, he aligned his features once more and attentively observed the others.

A lithe shadow slips into the room. Not looking to draw attention to herself. She is a young Firrerreo. This being her first mission outside the academy, she planned to watch first and see what everyone else did. Joining new groups was challenging, but once she got a feel for who she was dealing with, she would fair much better. She keeps to the edge of the room and marks all the exits. ready to leave should this first meeting become a fight. She eyes the various critters that are running about. Watching them as they almost seem to be wild.

Her feline eyes taking them all in. Kitty takes in Scylla, the pilot she saw come in just before her. She seems capable, and will probably stop anyone from causing harm to the ship. Kindel was their leader and as highest rank, she knew he would also keep any violence or damage to a minimum. She just didnt want any errant strikes coming her way till she knew what she was dealing with. Some of the others seem to know each other too, so she supposed they would get along ok. Kitty quietly observes everyone. All she says in response to Kindel’s question is “Kitty, I’m quiet and deadly when the situation calls for it.”

Adjusting himself on his perch, Yeyu lifted a hand to lazily scratch the underside of his Pikobi’s beak right where it met the feathers of its jaw. It made almost purr-like trill and the Firrerreo-Nagai hybrid smiled softly before turning his bicolored gaze back to the man questioning him.

“I’m quite confident that we can complete any task you assign us. We’ve never had any complaints…” his voice faded off before becoming cheery once more, “At least not about finishing a job! We certainly aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s on them for having poor taste.”

At his feet the Scurrier and Gizka were deep in a personal war, tiny shrieks of rage drifting up before he nudged the entangled pair with a boot. For the briefest of moments Yeyu’s eyes dropped to the pair and seemed to scold the behavior before lifting back to the others.

“Like I said…distractions are a strong point.”

A low snarl dripped from the shadows behind Yeyu and the shape of his Vornskr slunk to stand next to him. As the obsidian colored beast emerged the duo at Yeyu’s feet fell silent, eyes turning to watch the much larger creature without so much as a peep.

“We are also capable of stealth and subterfuge. There’s a small friend for everyone mission. Don’t let the squabbling fool you!”

Slipping closer to the group, she moves silently and after making sure none of the creatures would get in the way, she stands within the group leaning against a chair. Kitty nods, looking at the hologram, a smile on her face when the moon passes through Kindel’s head, She quickly straightens her face and focuses on the task. “As long as there are shadows and attention has been pulled elsewhere, I can slip into most places. Through airducts and cramped spaces. I can pull a Force cloak to add to my ability to sneak past guards. I’m good with my blaster, and making adjustments on the fly when the situation changes.”

Eyeing the hologram, Yeyu’s mind excitedly whirred with a confusing web of possibilities. Getting up with a small hop, he moved to point at a comms ship he was familiar with. It was similar to what his second eldest brother piloted, the unique antennae giving it away.

“Starting here would be an excellent point. Qingwa - well all Gizkas really - enjoy making snacks out of anything electrical. Mine is very well trained. He won’t start pulling wires out of the walls until I give the command Chī nàgè.”

As Yeyu stepped closer to inspect the build of the craft in the hologram, he failed to notice how the amphibian’s enormous yellow eyes blinked once, then twice. Both the Gizka and the Scurrier moved quietly toward the far wall, making their way there as Yeyu described how the duo worked in tandem to dismantle and disable communications and other tech on board ships. Behind him the creatures did exactly that, working in unison to pull a panel away from the wall just enough that Qingwa could fit most of her body in and begin to pull at the hidden wires.

“Xunsu - my Charhound - is particularly good at overheating things. If Qingwa and Laoshu aren’t able to disrupt or disable something, she’s fantastic at simply generating enough heat to seriously damage most systems.” He gestured to the wiry framed hound with sweet, timid eyes, “She’s a bit shy though and somewhat clumsy so that would need to be taken into consideration…”

As he thoughtfully circled the hologram, pointing out tiny sections of the ship that he felt would be best suited for Xunsu to target, Yeyu failed to notice that her anxiety had already gotten the best of her. Curled up against the leg of a table, her immense heat was not only warping it but actively melting it. The table was leaning precariously, the weight not suited for the sudden change in distribution.

The Pikobi on Yeyu’s shoulder started trilling a warning, the bright yellow feathers on the underside of his crest flashing as he bobbed his head. Mindlessly patting Zei to calm him, Yeyu continued to detail out how his little soldiers could work well for the plan. Mentioning that Zei was trained to locate valuable items and act as a scout. The table wobbled, unseen by Yeyu as he wrapped up his speech.

Hands on hips, proudly looking to the gathered others, he smiled brightly, “We can definitely do this! There’s no team better suited or better trained! We’re practically professional-”

Behind him a loud crashing sound announced the fall of the table almost simultaneously with the ominous flicker of lights before they went out and emergency lights flipped on.

Kitty stares at Yeyu as he enthusiastically explains his plan. In theory it sounded good. But could he pull it off? She watches with a small smile when the first two critters follow his command. She glances at Scylla, wondering if the pilot had noticed. She thought ‘ It would be funny if the power shut out as Yeyu finished explaining his plan.’ Then she sees the charhound flare. Yeyu said she was skittish. It may not have been the best idea to bring such a nervous creature to a meeting with a whole bunch of new people. Sure enough the table starts to melt. She tries to get Yeyu’s attention and just as he ignored the Pikobi on his shoulder, he didnt see her raised hand or waves as the destruction started to unfold in the room. Just as he finishes his speech she laughs for the first time in this company, having kept her composure as this was a job. The light’s go out exactly at the right time, and Kitty is left chuckling in the dark. “Hahaha, oh yes perfect demonstration!” She is still giggling as she tries to make light of the fact that his critters had followed his orders in a most spectacular way. “You may need to pay to fix Scylla’s wiring.” Kitty wipes a tear from her eye as she tries to stop laughing. “And you may be more suited to distraction for this one” she’s grinning ear to ear now.

Kora jumps a little as Kitty speaks up, having not noticed the Firrerro slip into the room until she had spoke. It takes her a moment, but the Togruta wrestles with her instinct to instill Terror from being startled. She had seen the woman board the ship. She was fine. Laying across Orla’s head, she takes a few deep breaths and scritches at the varactyl’s head feathers, while watching Kitty closely. Orla begins almost purring and after a moment she turns her attention back to Kindle.

Scylla leans against the wall as she listens to the brief and to Kitty and Yeyu’s introductions, making mental notes on the pair. Thankfully these two certainly seemed to be more subtle than the rest of them, otherwise whatever plan they made would probably be short lived. She wasn’t too keen on as many pets that they had brought on her ship though. It wasn’t that she didn’t like animals, she just hadn’t had much experience with them having spent most her life on ships. Suddenly the Nautolan looks around, some odd noise on her ship that wasn’t supposed to be there catching her attention.

“DANK FERRIK!” The purple Nautolan had just glanced over to investigate the chittering along the wall and saw the gizka and scurrier pulling at the last wire and the lights blinked out. She lunges in their direction, black eyes spotting them easily in the darkness, but, with a quick tap from Kora, the Orla lifts her tail, stopping Scylla short just as the emergency lights flicker on. Scylla glares at the varactyl and then towards Kora at sitting on the couch and goes to move around it, prompting Orla to move her tail again and lift the Nautolan up this time.

“Oi! Put me down you damn lizard.” Orla chirps in her direction, not budging, and Kora raises a brow, still smirking slightly. “Tell her to put me down. I’m not gonna throw them out the airlock. Probably.” she says to the Togruta. Kora snorts a little but pats Orla again, signalling the varactyl to drop Scylla.

Once she regains her footing after being let down, Scylla brushes herself off and grabs her comms unit. “Vortsune! Reroute the power to the lights and any other damaged systems while I get this rewired. EK-0H, I need a light. And you!” She rounds on Yeyu, pointing directly at him, her heavy tendrils twitching as if the would be whirling around her if they were submerged, “Control your critters or I’m gonna kennel them! I’m not going to have them scuttle my ship.” She stalks off towards the engineering bay to grab tools, muttering under her breath. The speaker droid flickers its lights along with now soft soothing music it had switched to playing when the lights went out, as it floats closely alongside her. “No, a steady light. What? Why would anything flickering help in this situation? And turn the music back. That’s not helping.” she growls to the droid as she rounds the corner out the door. A moment later the glimmik band starts playing again down the hall.

Kora grins at Kitty’s laughter and jumps deftly off the couch, making her way over to the little gizka. She crouches down to scratch just behind its head frill, her skirt pooling around her bare feet. “Well, I, for one, thought that was great. Though you might want to be a little careful with the wires around here. I don’t want a little cutie like you going splat. I’ve put so many explosives in the walls.” She tells it cheerfully.