Credit Where Credit's Due (Closed)

[guyloveshotstories]

A firm nod to her. "Sounds good to me," slapping on a coy smile. "Speaking of which, I better get going. Those blasted droids, gotta make sure they're doing their job."

Rising to my feet and going to my belt, I placed the empty bowl and fork to the side, grasped the ends of the belt, turned to her and clasped them together over my hips. A big a sag to the left. Just the way I like it. Patting down the pouches, everything was present and account for, until a glance downwards, a deliberate move to find my boots bit also take a look at Gra'tia's boots. That way when my gaze went upwards it felt, and looked natural in taking a gander at her.

After last night she certainly looked different. Maybe it was the aora around her after releasing all that energy. Maybe she did finish polishing her armor afterwards. Either way, she looked different and I was happy about that.

 

[Poprockz]

"I ought to go eat as well," she replied, taking her bowl and coffee on the tray and heading toward the door. Before she left, she looked over her shoulder and said, "oh, and Sindiium is a pleasure planet, so if you need any... items, be sure to buy them here. I've heard from others that they're expensive when you're actually visiting." With that, she left the room and headed to her own to eat. Thankfully the pot-pie was still hot, and she found it very delicious. She figured it would put him in good spirits to know that his sexual urges would be satisfied soon.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Eyebrows buckled. 'Pleasure planet' you say. Teeth sank into my bottom lip to stop from smiling. "Okay then" giving her another nod. The Mandalorian departed. I was ready to go myself. Still I waited for a couple minutes. Let Gra'tia have a headstart. Then I stepped out into the corridor. Looked left and right and headed for the door.

Don't make eye contact. Don't react. In passing through the dining area the whispers and mutters of other patrons reached my ears. Poor souls complaining about everything in the Galaxy. Never once do they ever think of finding a solution to their problem. Instead it was, how much more booze can I get down my throat before I get thrown out?

Shaking my head at the thought. That could have been me at some point. Outside the weather was still foul. Salt water sprayed the right side of my body going along the walkway from waves crashing against the breakwater. Another heavy frieghter, loaded down with goods, departed and another ship immediately took its place on the landing pad. Just as soon as those legs touched the pad a grounds crew of Calamari people swarmed it to prepare for the offloading.

Eyes locked forward. There sat the Outlander. A sigh of relief escaped my lips. It was still there. Closer I came to it the more I noticed that it was intact. Those droids didn't remove anything. Some of the gouges are still there. Most of them have been removed. Either buffed away or replaced. Excellent. Not perfect but better than when she got here.

For a moment there I stood on the edge of the landing pad looking up at this beauty, hands on my hips. That crooked smile on my face. All of this was so worth it for this baby.

 

[Poprockz]

Once she was done with her pot-pie, she put her helmet back on and left the room, heading for the market district. She had inquired with the server as to where it was. It wasn’t as though she was going to ask anyone who wasn’t being paid to be nice to her here.

The woman walked with long, confident strides toward her destination, keeping an eye out for anyone spoiling for a fight. That was a lot of people, but none made a move. Though she was thorough in her search, she wasn’t able to find any decent candy. The closest she got was sugared fish pudding, but for one it wouldn’t keep for very long, and for two it was made from the eyeballs of fish.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Admiring my ship drew attention of a service Droid. On its little treads it rolled up to me, a data-pad in one hand and it's long, thin, mechanical arms at its side. It had optical tube's for eyes and no mouth. A voice box gave off chirps and whistles to communicate.

"Errrrrr!" announcing itself rolling up to me from behind.

I turned to face it with a confident smirk, "Yeah. I can see you fixed it. What a beauty!"

"Errrupt Naaanaaaa reeww!"

"I know you couldn't get on board. I made it that way. You got a problem with that?"

"Errr waaa nupp nupp"

"Five hundred? Okay. Fine" hissing, pretending I was annoyed. That was a low amount of credits. Far lower than I expected. Don't complain or the Droid may up the charges. Act like you don't have much, and they can't get any more out of you."

"It's topped off, too?"

"Uh-huh!" The Droid even gave me a thumbs up.

 

[Poprockz]

She continued to shop around a bit, though there wasn’t much that caught her eye. Oh! Armor polish! Gra’tia made sure to buy several cans of the brand Redan liked, seeing as she used a lot of his and planned to use more. Those went into a bag and she continued on.

Eventually she got bored and headed back to the docks. Though their next stop would be rife with expensive items, at least there were items, and they were usually good quality as well from what she had heard. It would be interesting to confirm, seeing as she had never been there personally.

“Redan!” She called out over the crash of the ocean. “How is your ship looking?”

 

[guyloveshotstories]

A voice called for me as I inspected the underside of the Outlander. "Oh. Hey!" emerging from underneath into the salt spray. "She's looking good. I just need to look inside. I think she's good to go," beckoning her over with a wave of my hand.

Stepping from underneath I the ship and looking at the exterior to leeward, "Fuel is topped off," producing from one of my pouches the security remote. A hard press of the disarm button and the cockpit ramp slowly yawned open to take us in.

"Go ahead and climb aboard. I'm just going to do a couple more checks, and then we can get to this pleasure planet you're so keen on getting to, hehehe."

 

[Poprockz]

He was given a silent stare for a moment before she silently boarded the ship. One might have thought she rolled her eyes or glared at him, but in truth she had simply not known what to say out of embarrassment. It wasn’t that she wanted to be at the pleasure planet; that was just where her friend happened to be. She didn’t want him to think she was some kind of sex-crazed woman.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

An awkward silence between us. Made me think. 'Nice job, jackass.' Ran both hands through my hair and shook my head to clear my thoughts.

After Gra'tia chambered on board I followed suit and closed the ramp behind me. Interior of the ship was warm and dry compared to the exterior.

Crouched to open the secret paneling and looked inside. Everything was rightly in place. This brought the smile back to my face.

Normally if everything is going to plan then something is wrong. I didnt feel it. We didn't make any enemies here. No one seemed to recognize us. Paid the debts, so no one is after us. Don't question it. Just take it and go.

I went to the cockpit, turned on the NAVI-computer and powered up the ship. A shudder then a low rumbling rolled through the ship.

 

[Poprockz]

She made her way to the cockpit as well, strapping herself in and clenching her body. God, she was not looking forward to going through that horrible purgatory between planet and space. At least they were going up rather than down though. The shaking ship, the awful weather - she would be glad to put this place behind them.

"I got some cans of polish," she commented, trying to distract herself from their imminent bumpy ride.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

"That's great" I replied without taking my eyes off my work. Ship powered up and ran a diagnosis on itself. Fuel lines are good. Shield generator good. NAVI-computer is still calculating our trajectory so we can blast into hyperspace once clear of the atmosphere. Console was lit up. I strapped myself in as well remembering what happened just trying to get through here.

Radar flashed. Yep. Dense cloud bank. High crosswinds and heavy rain. Going to be flying blind again. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, my gaze turned over to Gra'tia, "That's great that you got polish. What else did you get?" Partially interested in what she had to say. The other was to do something while the ship continued to run its last diagnosis.

 

[Poprockz]

"Just polish. They didn't have any candy- I mean they didn't have any cans of any other useful fluids." She cleared her throat and stared forward, not deigning to meet his gaze even with the shield her helmet provided to her. "The marketplace is quite barren, and what you can find there is ridiculously priced. If I'm going to be ripped-off, I would rather do it somewhere that actually has products I'm interested in."

 

[guyloveshotstories]

"I can't argue with you on that. Places like this have a virtual monopoly on travellers. That's why I didn't really want to come here. It was the only place that I knew that was isolated enough to be overlooked. If what we have to go through just to get in and out wasn't bad enough, it's the price waiting for once we arrive," chuckling a bit.

Towards Gra'tia I didn't look except for some quick glances. Pretending my eyes are looking over the console, at all the blinking lights and switches. Those thoughts came back. If she only knew what I knew. We are going to a pleasure planet. Would there be a repeat? Could only hope. These thoughts perverted my mind. These images flashed at the worse possible time. Perhaps it was being this close to Gra'tia again, without any outside interference.

BONG BONG BONG

The console sang to us. Ready for flight. "Okay. Everyone strapped in?" saying it loudly. One hand grasping the stick. The other on the throttle. "Here we go! Next stop, Sindiium!"

 

[Poprockz]

"Strapped in and ready as I'll ever be," was the tense reply he received.

She closed her eyes and braced again as the ship lifted and took off. As expected, once they entered the clouds, all hell broke loose. The console was beeping and booping as though screaming at them to get the hell out of that awful environment. Once again, she couldn't help but feel terrified that they were going to plummet down to the planet and right into the arms of the merciless ocean.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Drawing from her, my fingers gripped the throttle tightly. "Here goes nothing!" easing the throttle handle back. Further and further. The engines flared up throwing out a long and wide streak of blue and white plasma flame. The Outlander shook rising up from the pad. "We're clear!" showing us airborne. "Retracting landing gear," letting go of the throttle and flipping the switch just to the left it and gripping the handle again.

Immediately after take off we skim the top of the ocean, just above the crashing waves. Banked slowly to the left to get clear of incoming traffic. Apply power to the engine. Check the speed and we are already at 300kmph. "Okay. Okay," saying to myself looking over the instruments and then at the scopes. So far, everything was good. "A little more power and we can get through this quickly.

A dense gray cloud bank greeted us and threw up into its dark embrace. Instantly the Outlander continously shuddered as sheets of dense rain sprayed the windshield.

A powerful cross wind hit us and the Outlander jerked sharply to the left. "Okay!" I said out loud. Compensating with power and banking right.

"Okay. This is where the fun begins," saying it out loud. "Gra'tia, do me a favor, on the edge of the console there, there's this large yellow switch with 'RL' written underneath..." it in Aurebesh. "I need you to flip that switch down. Underneath that switch there's another one, an orange one, that says, "CL". Flip that one upwards!"

 

[Poprockz]

He wanted her to flip switches during all of this?! How was she supposed to get anything done when she felt stiffer than a board?! There was no way she was going to- The ship shuddered and she quickly did as she was told, flipping down the RL switch and flicking up the CL switch. Hopefully that would help the situation. Gra'tia wasn't a pilot, she was a fighter. She didn't know all the intricacies that went into keeping them right-side up, but she assumed it was complicated.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

"Great! Thanks!" I called out without seeing her flip the switches. The lights on the section of console I was looking at told me. Those switches turned off the runway lights, the series of forward looking lights of the ship and switched on the collision lights that are on either side of the ship to mark where we are. Hopefully another ship will see our lights before they flew into us. At this point the radar scope is completely washed out.

Again and again the Outlander is buffeted by crosswinds that seemed to be getting stronger. I was tensed up. My knuckles turned white gripping both the throttle and stick. That's one of the reasons why I asked Gra'tia to flip the switches. Hopefully she would feel she's helping and take away some tension from her. At the same time I was too tensed up to let go of the sticks even if I wanted to.

One let up on the stick and we could go tumbling into the sea. Scopes are useless. The NAVI-computer continued to feed me the proper direction. Altitude increased. Lightning sliced across our path with blinding flashes of white light. "Damn it!" hissing between my teeth. How I wanted to say, 'This can't get any worse' knowing that would doom us for certain. 'We are doing good!" I was saying to myself. Because I was tensed up it came out loudly for her to hear.

 

[Poprockz]

Her helmet turned to stare at him. On the inside of that helmet she was looking at him incredulously. Were they? Were they really? She doubted it. This flight was like being in an alcohol tumbler, shaken back and forth as water rushed everywhere and battered against them.

Still, she really wanted to believe that he was telling the truth and that it wasn't just wishful thinking. He was a great pilot from what she had seen, so she really wanted to trust his expertise. The fact that he had been to this planet several times before was a testament to his skills. "Y-yes. No doubt we'll clear the atmosphere in no time!" Gra'tia replied through clenched teeth.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

"That's what I want to hear, optimism!" nervously chuckling. "Oh, boy!" More throttle. Get us out of this mess. More speed meant we get out of this faster. It also meant we go higher, and going higher meant the storms are more powerful. Winds hit us at 100kmph. Each time slamming the Outlander harder and harder to port. If I could I would stick my blaster pistol outside and shoot the damn storms!

That's it! I'm never coming to this damn planet again. These storms, and their overpriced crap, is not worth it. The pot pies are not bad, though. "Almost there. Almost there!" telling myself loudly. An alarm sounded. Was it serious? Was there a hull breach!?

"Don't worry about that! The power just went out in the kitchen area. One of the light bulbs must have broken," speaking through clenched teeth. That was just one light bulb and many. Probably lose a lot more.

40,000 meters as the clouds began to break. Sheets of rain stopped that now we can see the clouds as the rain drops rolled off the screen. This time the shaking didn't abruptly stop. It faded little by little until the Outlander was flying as if across smooth glass. Outside the atmosphere of various grays bled away to blackness. At last we had reached space!

"Whew!" I sighed slumping back into my rigid seat. Hands on my lap and shaking. Knuckles still white from gripping. "I wasn't nervous. Were you?" I chuckled at Gra'tia even though I was clearly shaking.

 

[Poprockz]

Holy shit, they were going to die, she knew it. Oh god, why did she have to be the one assigned to this trip, and why in any god's name did she allow him to take them to this awful planet to begin with?! His "don't worry about that!" wasn't encouraging. If anything, it only made her more nervous. There was nothing more unsettling than someone trying to be reassuring while their teeth were practically chattering.

She silently prayed that they would make it through, and eventually she felt the ship stop shaking. Her eyes opened tentatively and she sighed deeply when she saw that they had somehow made it through. It was truly a miracle, and she thought to herself that after this mission, she was going to demand that she be kept in a stationary position for a while.

Gra'tia was clenching her chair, her head slowly turning to look at him. "I have to admit, I was just a little bit... concerned at one point."

 

[guyloveshotstories]

"Well, we made it..." speaking rather dryly. My sense of humor left me about forty-thousand meters back in the atmosphere. Needed a moment to gather myself. My legs are jelly. Just useless dangling off the seat. Hands on my lap twitching lightly. I was worried. It was painted all over my face that turned white.

'That planet was a big mistake. Why, of all places did I choose that?' My forehead started to throbb. Now that the adrenalin rush was fading it was replaced by pain through my body. 'Hearing Gra'tia go to town on her lover was not enough to be worth it. Real close though. Real close.' I felt so weak and drained. Now I can't stand or leave my chair. The Outlander continued to fly on its own towards the waypoint.

Blood reached the tips of my fingers. Lazily reaching up and pressing a button I glanced at the Mandalorian

"Let's get out of this place," a turning glance at the NAVI-computer which flashed the coordinates are set. "Going to jump. Here we go!" pulling back on the throttle. Bright streaks of blue and white surrounded the windshield.

*WHOOSH*

 

[Poprockz]

She sighed again, trying to release the tension from her body, quite unsuccessfully. Put her in an arena, make her fight bare-handed, make her eat something disgusting; all of those things were preferable to the sort of bullshit they just survived. It was moments like these that Gra’tia wished she was better at managing such fears. As it was, like her companion, she couldn’t get up at the moment.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

I was relieved to be out of there that I didn't get up for several minutes. Just basking in the glow of the hyperspace tunnel. Breathing slowly. Inhale deeply and let it out slowly. In and out. In and out. The hum of the engines and the glow of the tunnel had a calming effect on me that my mind drifted off. So very tired my eyelids became heavy.

Probably did drift off at some point. When I did awake my neck was stiff as were my joints. Was I still sitting here this entire time?

 

[Poprockz]

He was out, so she decided that she needed to do something to soothe her nerves. Shakily, she made her way to the workshop. It was her intention to polish her armor with the new polish she had purchased earlier. After all, she hadn't gotten to finish previously.

Gra'tia took out one of the cans and opened it, stripping out of her armor until she was just in her black, skin-tight body suit. Her fingers were exposed, but she wasn't worried about getting grease on her hands or anything. She wasn't a graceful, high-class lady who fretted over such things. With the can open, she got to work polishing. The woman used a rag to get it rubbed nice and even over the beskar, though some of it did get on her hands.

After a while, she started to feel... strange. Her body was heating up in the most inopportune places, and she could tell that the more time passed, the more aroused her body would become. The more she rubbed her armor, the more she wanted to rub herself. It was getting to the point where she felt antsy, as though she couldn't sit still. Her gaze went to the polish and she squinted at it. It was... a different tint than it normally was. Upon further inspection, she found that the lid had been cut open and welded shut again. This can was laced.

The Mandalorian got up and walked into the cockpit, spying him just where she left him. She approached, and when she was just a couple feet away, she spoke. "Redan. Wake up."

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Don't remember passing out. Flashes of images in my mind that did not make sense. I heard a voice. A soft one calling for me. My eyes fluttered open to the bright hyperspace tunnel. Oh, I was still back on the Outlander. Memories came back. That's right. I was carrying a Mandalorian and a secret cargo.

Her voice called to me. Blinked several times and sat up. Muscles tensed up. "Ah! I'm awake," running a hand across the back of my neck. "Gah! I'm awake. Wow! My neck is stiff. How long was I out?" craning my head back and closing my eyes to work the kink out of the muscles there.

"Well..." I began to say when my eyes opened and looked up to see a familiar, but different person standing there. Narrowing my eyes to adjust it was...Gra'tia...except she wasn't wearing her...where was her armor? It was just that black body suit.

"Is...uh, is everything okay?" furrowing an eyebrow at her.