Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jul 10, 2019 18:50:45 GMT -8
The level of frosty side-eye she flung at the man beside her was r.e.a.l. His analogy was spot-on, though, she had to admit.
Malora blinked at the hilt like it had a LOT o’ karkin’ nerve being there at all. His movements were purposeful, clearly meant to explain what would happen if she made a scene. Message received. That reckless streak across her shredded soul bristled a little. A few growling retorts rose in her throat.
But then he said Fel’s full name and a flip switched in her brain. The chip she’d been dunking sank forgotten to the shallow bottom of her whiskey glass and Malora swiveled in her stool to fully face the mystery man. He was tall, dark of hair, blue eyes sharp, threadbare clothes and probably knew how to wield weapons as well as words, and that was all she knew about him. She’d glimpsed him speaking with Mack, so he must be Team Draykon, or at least familiar with him.
She knew she didn’t need to be suspicious here. Old habits and all. This was as safe a space in the ‘verse she’d probably find for her and her crew. For now, at least. Still, the stranger earned an aggressively narrowed eye. He was the first person since they’d arrived who was voluntarily talking about Fel without Malora having to MAKE them talk about him and it left her angry spirit equal parts wary and excited.
Of course, the only thing translating over her features was the angry bit.
“Captain of the ‘Unfair Advantage’, best damn pilot this side of everything, on a lot of people’s shit-lists, and my most trusted friend,” she rattled off, watching his face for anything that might signal recognition or signs that he knew more than he was letting on. “He went missing three years ago. We’ve been looking for him ever since. Might be close, might not, I won’t know until Tweedledee and Tweedledum over here,” she snapped, hiking a thumb in the direction of Montrose and Draykon, “cough up the information we came here to get. Which happens tomorrow, I guess? Because drinks and catching up are more important,” the smuggler finished, tone scathing. Her face darkened. “If I don’t get what we came here for, I don’t care how much I love these asshats, there will be broken bones and mayhem, and the longer we sit here wasting time, time we could be using to find Fel, the farther the heads will roll if shit hits the fan.”
She plucked the soaked, now mushy chip from her glass and popped it in her mouth. “That’s what you can expect. -…who the hell are you, anyway?”
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jul 9, 2019 19:14:32 GMT -8
Never before had Malora been lost for snippy remarks or zinging one-liner insults, especially when it came to Montrose. But as she swiped two whiskeys from the line up and caught Aedon’s eye, the best she could manage was an icy glare as she retreated in silence to the very end of the bar counter. The rage in her chest hasn’t gone anywhere, it’d simply frozen over in favor of self-preservation, lest the smuggler bubble over and end up with a blaster bolt between the eyes for being too…aggressive. The thought gave her pause. What WOULD a blaster bolt do now? How far did her new capabilities go? Sure, she and Tawaza had done a little testing, but her friend had always stopped too early. Well, if she didn’t get the information she needed tomorrow, maybe they’d all find out just how fast she could heal… As far away from everyone as she could get, Mal perched on a stool with a grunt, dragging over a dish of what looked like fried potato skins and stale pretzels. She made no effort to talk to anyone or look at anyone. She downed one glass without a flinch, using the other as a dipping sauce for her snacks. Memories fought to get through the wall of ice. A few made it. Like the time they’d run out of everything on-board but cheap beer and packaged instant bread, so they soaked all the hard rolls in beer and ate them like dumplings, and she and Fel had made a game out of it to see who got ‘drunk on bread’ first. Or when she and Montrose, after escaping Lord Vestera’s clutches, ended up stuck in a cave in the Coruscant Underworld for two days, rationing the bar snacks and small bottles of liquor they’d made off with before their betrayal. Malora’s jaw had been broken, chewing was too painful, so Aedon had crushed up a bag of rice chex and cut the jerky up in tiny pieces, pouring it all in her flask with a bottle of whiskey and shook it until the food had turned to mush and she was able to drink it. It was the nicest thing he’d ever done for her. Later, she’d asked him why. His answer made her laugh. So Malora sat there, dipping her chips in her whiskey, all cold rage and minty leather, and counted the minutes until tomorrow.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Sept 24, 2018 19:14:28 GMT -8
She made one supremely annoyed swipe at the data chips Montrose had liberated FROM HER BRA (bet that was hard for him), but he was too quick for her. Mal was gearing up for swipe two (with a fist this time) when Tobias asked with no small measure of anger what she was doing. Sorry, what the ‘frack’ she was doing. Telling him where to put his ‘fracks’ seemed like it might escalate things, and if she was being honest with herself, any excuse to pummel someone right now looked mighty appealing. She let him talk, yell, hoping Tobias would eventually spit out a better reason for her to take a heavy swing at him. At any of them. Even Liya wasn’t safe right now. She could feel it vibrate through her muscles, that power that wasn’t hers, so easily fueled by her turmoil, destructive, ready. It roiled in her core like boiling water trapped under the pot lid. The level of raw truth he dropped on her instead should have been a sharp smack in the proverbial face. It should’ve had her checking herself with no small measure of mortification right then and there. It should have prompted the most dramatic of apologies, maybe some begging for forgiveness, not just from the brothers but everyone else she’d verbally (and sometimes physically) trampled the past three years without a hint of emotion. It should’ve woken her up, even just a little. But it didn’t. You have to know who you are and what you stand for to feel ashamed of your behavior. And Malora didn’t know herself anymore. “I’ve been waiting. For THREE YEARS,” she spat back at both of them after an uncomfortably long silence, her voice dangerously quiet despite the scorching look on her face. No other words made it past her lips. She couldn’t manage it, the mess of emotions behind her cold facade tying her tongue in a way she’d never experienced before. Mal was so acutely aware of the possible answers dangling just out of her starving reach, so aware of each second that dragged agonizingly by that it had her quivering in distress. But the situation was out of her control, and even in her current state, she knew there was absolutely nothing she could do or say to make it all happen right now. Maybe that realization just made it all worse. A flash of violent in the corner of her eye mercifully reminded her that Draykon wasn’t the only one holding cards here. Just because he wouldn’t share right now didn’t mean Montrose wouldn’t either. He’d bring the data card with them, which means she’d have a chance to get it back. Mal grabbed that small lifeline tight enough to shatter it. Her rival mentioned drinks? Perfect. Hell yes she’d buy. Anything to leave this room right now. Jaw set, the smuggler lifted her chin a little, trying to regain some composure but her bravado was gone. In the back of her mind, Toby’s words screamed at her over and over again, pleading to be heard. “Guess I can wait a little longer,” she said in the same, deadly quiet tone and she turned around without another word. “Li? Montrose?” It was the first time in a long time she’d used his ‘proper’ name. Y’know, without an insulting additive. Mal blew through the doors like a hurricane. “...Red?” she snapped in quick acknowledgement (and in an offer to join them) of Isabelle as she thundered down the hallway. “Drinks on me.”
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jul 30, 2018 15:38:27 GMT -8
"Yeah, just waiting for the 'fresher..." He feigned mild discomfort, then continued "Ya gotta let me get in there first, though...cuz the moment you get in there and drop trow, well..." The smirk spreads to a full-on smile "Pretty sure everyone's gonna take off running for the hills, Mal."Malora almost laughed. Almost. “Well yeah, I guess you’d know what it’s like when I go first.” The smuggler clapped him on the shoulder a little too hard. “Y’know, since you’re always lagging one step behind me,” Mal finished, face deadpan. She opened her mouth to sling another particularly brilliant retort in his face when Liya Tawaza’s elbow nudged gently at her arm, sparing Aedon Gavin Montrose anymore grief. For now. “I knew OF it,” she admitted to her friend, her eyes still fixed on her much-loathed verbal sparring partner. “Didn’t know where it was, though. Figured we’d never see it. Guess I was wrong.” She’d lingered on the ship after everyone had left, so she’d missed a lot of the ‘show’ that had most of the visitors scratching their heads in wonder. Not that it would’ve made much of an impact on her anyway, in her current state. In a distant corner of her mind, Mal knew she was being horrible, knew everyone present (well, except maybe Montrose) deserved better than her cold, foul, jumpy one-track-mind attitude. Knew but couldn’t care, not at the moment, not after three years of existing on fumes, barely hanging by hope’s strings. ‘Existing’, because what they’d been doing couldn’t possibly be called ‘living’. Living was Galdaart Fel in the pilots chair. Living was fighting with Wade over the last jar of pickled Brekka beets (and losing the ensuing arm wrestling battle). Living was sitting around the galley table with Liya Tawaza and Daniel Logan, cleaning their weapons while they laughed at Logan’s ‘Kark, Marry, Kill’ answers. It was Wrench rolling around the deck anxiously twittering about how broken everything was. It was burning sky with at least partial cargo in the hold and the promise of credits, or walking shoulder to shoulder down the landing ramp ready to face whatever shit the universe threw their way. Together. That was living. Not this. This had to end. Mal cast a glance at the half-closed doors. She couldn’t hear or see anything beyond, but intuition told her it wasn’t a good time to interrupt Draykon. That, and she’d heard it was kind of rude to be invited to someone’s home and then just barge in anywhere she pleased. Good thing she wasn’t overly concerned about rudeness. The smuggler looked at Tawaza, nodding at the room beyond. “Ready for some answers?”
Mal grabbed Montrose by his collar. “Let’s go, Barney,” she snapped, referencing the popular children’s holoshow featuring a bubbly, musical creature with vibrant purple fur as she unceremoniously half dragged the spacer towards the door. “We’ve got a date with Draykon.” Kicking the doors open wide with her foot, Mal shoved Montrose through them and clomped in after him, expecting to find the self-proclaimed ‘Smuggler King’ sipping his best liquor at a desk or something. Finding him locked in emotional embrace with his brother was… a little jarring. It took a minute, but something in her gave pause seeing so…vulnerable? It was weird, and upsetting, and worrying on a level she’d been out of touch with for many months. Her mask of severity broke momentarily, but she quickly patched it up, folding her arms over her chest and leaning on one hip as she forced herself to stare at the Siblings Draykon. “We gonna talk or…?”
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jul 27, 2018 19:00:01 GMT -8
“This the line?” There was a small but sacred spot in Karana Malora’s icy little heart reserved for the joys of poking (sometimes physically) Aedon Gavin Montrose 's proverbial ‘bear’. The more misery she could inflict on her old rival and frenemy, the more grief she gave him, the happier that spot grew. Usually.
Today, that favorite past time was in the back seat, as was everything else that didn’t pertain to the main matter at hand. The smuggler, having left all her weapons (well, except the knife in her boot. The hell was she supposed to cut her fruit with?) aboard as instructed, had charged around the corner intent on the ‘give-and-get’ of information with zero allowances for distractions. But something about the way Montrose was propped up against the wall outside the mostly closed doors made her pause.
Ugh. Leave it to Purps to successfully sidetrack her.
She edged towards him. Luminous blue eyes peered up at him through his shadowing curtain of violet hair, narrowed suspiciously as she studied his face and tried not to look like she was smelling garbage. No easy feat. In fact, she failed spectacularly, nose wrinkling. “The hell’s up with you?” Less concern, more dark curiosity. “You look like you’ve got cramps or something.”
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jun 14, 2018 23:32:28 GMT -8
There were very few things in this ‘verse with the ability to significantly rattle Karana Malora. (Banana-Beef ration bars were on that short list. Right under dream-walker Jekk, and boy were those nasty.) Name-dropping Kaarn was probably the quickest way to unsettle the raven-haired spacer, and hearing it from the mouth of her oldest lavender-hued rival didn’t make it any easier on her already fried nerves. Tir Kaarn. Everything after that passed in a slow blur. Malora stared right through Aedon Gavin Montrose as people joined their table, her features overly slack as she struggled to keep her cool. Memories she didn’t want to acknowledge flew through her thoughts, interrupting the panicked crowd of questions and terror-tinged ‘what now?’ options stampeding over her in her mind. Her hand, awkwardly but successfully patched up by Adrien Draykon, throbbed strangely under the bandages but there was no pain. The slices along her palms and fingers were already beginning to heal. Someone at the table behind them lit a cig, the flash of the lighter glinting off the disc Montrose had tossed on the table in front of Mal. The disc about Galdaart Fel. The disc Tir Kaarn had given him. Some tiny, illogical part of her was afraid if she touched it, the phantom bounty hunter from her past would appear in front of her. The disc rested in a flat, thin, sealed casing. Wordlessly but with swift purpose, Malora plucked the cleaning solution from the medkit on the table, uncapped the bottle and spilled a healthy dose of the contents all over the incased disc, scrubbing at it with one of the rags like it was a week old lasagna pan. Once dry, she swiped the disc from the table (with only a moments hesitation) and tucked it into her bra, slipping the datachip provided by Draykon into the other side. If she was getting any weird stares, she didn’t notice. Or didn’t care. Yeah. Probably that one. What she DID notice as she all but tore herself from her own terror-stricken world was the amount of attention their little table was drawing. Not that it would’ve bothered her on any other day, but given the sensitive nature of what she’d just learned and what she had to discuss next? It was time to find somewhere less exposed. “Can we go somewhere?” It was blunt, lacking her usual verbal swagger and directed at no one in particular. “Too crowded in here, and we’ve got a lot to talk about. All of us.”
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Feb 18, 2018 18:59:21 GMT -8
"……He called..you?" She'd gotten what she'd wanted. Answers had been given, there was a datachip sitting in front of her with possible loads of information on Fel, their three long years of searching every corner of the galaxy might be over and all Malora could do was stare at Draykon in silence. “He called you.” The sudden surge of emotions were so intertwined with each other even she couldn’t figure out how she was feeling. But there was a definite irrational flavor of hurt and jealousy in her tone, even though it made sense why he’d contact Draykon over her, even though she knew there was a damn good reason. But if he could contact Draykon… the image she’d been nurturing for years of her captain locked in some dark hole wasting away under daily torture shattered like the glass in her hand. It was obvious Fel wasn’t in any way ‘ok’. Bounty hunters, First Order, Mustafar, the Cap’n had been pulled into something. But he was alive, he was out and about, he was sending messages to her friends, and in her frayed, exhausted mind rose a question she couldn’t bring herself to think about too hard. Because it meant the blood, sweat and tears of the last few years may have been in vain.
Did he even need their rescue?
In a way, she was grateful the bartender arrived. It snapped her out of her thoughts and gave her a reason not to answer Ade’s last question, although she knew he’d press her about it until she gave in. But not here. Not in the Red Shift. That was a conversation for somewhere else.
Normally, the smuggler would slide her nonchalant sass-mask over her expression and roll up on the newcomer with some snarky innuendos.
Instead, Malora slid the med kit and offered rags across the table to Ade, stood up, threw back the new drink like it was water and got right in the man’s face, sizing him up. “We’re settled here,” she said blandly, but the challenge in her icy eyes was obvious. She traced the tattoo on the right side of his face with her gaze, but she never touched him, even as she circled around him inches away. “Sorry ‘bout the glass. Tawaza, Logan?” Mal motioned for her friends without breaking eye contact with the bartender. “Take a load off, I think we’ll stay a while,” she said, gesturing to the booth she’d just vacated as she slid next to Ade on his side and began rummaging through the medkit.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Feb 14, 2018 20:30:32 GMT -8
The more he spoke, the harder it got not to lose it. She set her jaw, a storm on her face.
"Adrien—" The empty glass in her hand shattered, shards crushed to bits under her fingers. Mal barely flinched, fist still balled up. She glared at him intensely through her false smile of ice. "Do not," she warned quietly, opening her hand and letting the bloody pieces go, "push my buttons right now. I can't play today. I'm holding the pieces of my crew together with both hands, we've been scraping the bottom of the barrel for clues for three years, I'm at the very fethin' end of my rope. I need my captain back. Now." Mal leaned forward a bit. Now it was threatening. "So stop dickin' around, and tell me why I'm here, or things are gonna get rough and it's not gonna be the usual fun brand."
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Feb 14, 2018 19:11:58 GMT -8
"Logan?" Of course. No one else fit the 'dweeb' description in this bar. Malora drummed her fingers on the table in front of her, forever fidgety and full of excess energy. Right now it was more to keep her frustration from bubbling over. But she knew what he was doing. Somewhere behind the curtain, she knew she deserved the stalling. "New boyfriend. Great in bed. Knows a lot o' shit." The barest hint of that playful little quirked smile that usually sat at the corner of her lips when they'd banter showed its face. It was fleeting, but it was there. "Something about those academic boys and those thick glasses, y'know?" Another glass of whiskey, gone. Another spike of irritation at Oz Griffin. She could almost feel the nanites blocking the buzz. When she finally got her hands on that slippery lil' bastard… The smirk dropped, but her tone softened a little. "He's been helping us track Fel down. Still no luck. But it sounds like you might have found something? Or did I read your message all wrong?" She really was trying not to be pushy.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jan 31, 2018 15:52:23 GMT -8
Malora grit her teeth. "Ade, I don't have--…." The time. She didn't have the time to sit and drink and smile and trade stories with her old best friend. She wanted her information, she wanted to find Fel and finish this so she could finally breathe again because at this point, every moment that wasn't spent on furthering her goal felt like suffocating and she was tired of it. They all were. The drain on her friends had been just as significant as it was on her. He knew that. He knew where she was mentally with all this. So why wasn't he feeling cooperative to her? Of course, if she'd stopped to be human for a moment and remove her head from her single-minded rear, maybe she'd remember Adrien Draykon was her friend, too, and she wasn't the only one with problems. Realizing this wasn't a situation she could just muscle through, Mal paused, sighed, reeled herself in a little, and sat down opposite the proclaimed Smuggler King in a barely controlled manner. The trouble-maker tossed back the whole glass of whiskey in one desperate swig, wincing at the burn in her skull. She sat in silence for a moment, obviously trying very hard not to reach across the table and shake him until the answers she wanted spilled from his mouth. Jaw set, she moved her glass out of the way and stared him down once more. This time, she wore a smile. It was a little too wide to be genuine. "Thanks for the drink. And how are things with you?"
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Nov 1, 2017 23:39:31 GMT -8
Malora, hurrying as she had been in every word, step and action since the call came through, shoved the door open and entered the cantina at a brisk trot, then charged straight for Draykon's booth without a moment's hesitation. I was more careful, nudging Daniel through the door and then sliding through myself, then pausing to scan the room, with my back to the lefthand doorpost. Over the last few hours, I had come to realize that there would be no stopping Malora from charging into danger, so I didn't even try. Instead, I got ready for whatever trouble her entrance might bring down on our heads. A quick glance around the room told him that Karana wasn't here yet so he would set the stage. He turned to meet the eyes of his crew. "I'm meeting a friend, her friends don't much like me. That's why you're all here. Might be bad for me if she brings them." He looked at Silas and handed him a comlink assuming he didn't have one already, "I want you at the bar." Then to Neassa, "You near the door." Then to Isabelle, "And you just do what you do. Stay close but not too close." He gave a cocky grin before addressing everyone, "I'm on frequency 1129. Don't shoot anyone unless I start shooting." He starts to walk away and then turns back, "Or someone shoots me, then obviously shoot that person. A lot." He walked away and put his comlink in his ear and took his booth. Generally speaking, blowing through the cantina doors like a freshly fired bullet probably wasn't smart; Red Shift clientele were usually more than a little jumpy (and drunk) with a 'shoot first, question later' reaction on a hair trigger. She'd seen a few extra wired bastards blast the bartender for accidentally dropping a glass before. Luckily for Malora And Co., the place was crowded enough to drown out the major impact of the doors crashing back and forth into the walls hard enough to send a dusting of duracrete to the ground. The smuggler had no time for caution. Not today. In fact, she had no time for anything or anyone that wouldn't aid her in her search for Galdaart Fel. The quest for Fel had been running full steam ahead for too long, and they were almost out of runway. They either took off right the fuck now or ended up a wet spot on the wall hurtling towards them. So this? This was kind of, well, it. Adrien Draykon was their only hope here. (Words she never thought she'd think, like, ever.) It took her about two seconds to pick him out, propped up casually in a booth across the room from the entrance. Ade. Her tunnel-vision narrowed even further. Mal charged towards him, blaster secure in its holster, no smile, no naughty glint in her eye, no playful saunter in her step. A normal visit would have gone much differently. Their…relationship was more than a little complicated. In fact, Ade had been something of a rock for her the past few years while the rest of her life had crumbled around her, and she'd served a similar role for him, but the last ten months had seen them fall quiet, communications dwindle with only the occasional message here and there promising a meet-up soon. Had she actually stopped to notice now, maybe she'd have picked up on the set of his shoulders, lacking some of the usual swagger, or the absence of that carefree bravado he usually wore so well. But that selfish, one-track mind thing she was rockin' had put everything and everyone else in the back seat, and until she had Fel in her hands, that's where it was gonna stay. "Where is he?" Standing next to the tabled booth with both hands planted on the sticky surface, Mal leaned in towards Draykon, icy eyes drilling his face for answers. She wasn't hostile about it, just very…focused, breathless, like she was waiting for the end of a long but enthralling holofilm.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Oct 15, 2017 11:41:45 GMT -8
Many hours later, The Red Cred broke from hyperspace right smack in the middle of the asteroid field known as the Smuggler's Run. Little had changed aboard The Red Cred, however. All three of us continued to find excuses to remain aboard the bridge, staring as the mottled nothing of hyperspace became starlines, and then asteroid lines, and then humongous death rocks lurching and twisting all around us. The only different was that I now sat at the controls, the byproduct of a lengthier than usual negotiation with Karana. Eventually, 'control freak pseudocaptain' had won out over 'separated lover high on pure adrenaline' and I had scored the dubious responsibility of navigating the approach to Skip One without getting us all killed.The only comfort I could take during our white-knuckled ride through the asteroids was that if we died now, it was undeniable galactic poetry that we would perish right back where the search for Fel had begun, after hundreds of days, thousands of leads, and uncountable bajillions of miles traveled. But there was no further space for my mind to wander. If it had, it would have remembered how I hid The Bronze Star on one of the Skips, or the brawls we got into at the Red Shift, or the adventures aboard Oz's floating city. But none of that nostalgia could be allowed in right now. Even a momentary loss of focus meant death. And then finally I saw it. The yawning maw of the spaceport buried within Skip One. Tucking under one last floating deathrock, I squeezed the Loronar through the opening, teeth clenched. To my surprise and amazement, she fit without incident, and moments later, with a soft bump, we were safely on the ground within the atmo-controlled hangar. At least, as safe as you can be when surrounded by a wretched hive of scum and villainy.Listening to a new hissing sound of coolant escaping from space-knows-where, and glancing with resignation at six new blinking red lights on the main systems console, I slowly let go of the controls, and stretched my lower jaw from side to side. There was an audible pop, and I smiled. That was better. Unhooking my restraints, I swiveled to face Daniel and Karana. They both looked glassy-eyed, no doubt lost in the memories that I hadn't allowed myself to relive."The Red Shift, huh? Better strap up. Yes, even you, Daniel." Normal protocol was out the window, all that mattered was what would get us to the meeting as fast as possible. That was why my armor kit and a few extra weapons were waiting where I'd thrown them in a corner, after running below decks to retrieve them six hours early. Checking the controls one last time, I jumped from my seat, removed my gunbelt, and started hastily pulling armor plates on over my clothes. It wasn't normal bridge etiquette, but no one gave a womp rat's behind right now.Malora shot up out of her seat, half wondering when the last time (if there WAS one) anyone was actually this excited to set foot inside The Red Shift's grimy walls as she fastened her gun belt over her hips, hurrying over to the controls near the navigation. "Don't sweat it, Logan, it's just for show," she said as she brushed past Daniel, clapping the man on the shoulder as he fumbled a little with his own belt. She'd lent him one of her lighter blaster pistols, quick and easy to draw, fast on the laser spray, decent for the less inexperienced in close combat. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to use it. "I'll soak up the extra bolts if it comes to that," Mal muttered, leaning over the holo station and working quickly. She'd already given Draykon the green light before arriving at The Skip, and another one when they'd dropped out of Hyperspace… and a message or three somewhere between the first and last asteroid, but another 'Hey, I'm here and on my way,' couldn't hurt. Mal debated taking Wrench with her, but decided against it in the end. It was never a good idea to leave your ship completely unattended on The Skip, no matter how well-secured it was. When the last clip was clipped, buckle buckled, and strap tightened, the trio scrambled down the landing ramp and made for The Red Shift with haste, hopes high.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Sept 25, 2017 15:57:19 GMT -8
Well, I have thought about getting back into this for a while, though it has been hard finding time and motivation. If you'll all have me, it'd be awesome to get back into it. Not sure if I would be bringing Dazac back or not, though. Come play! But my vote is with a new character. Let poor Daz rest in peace. Could pick you up at The Red Shift! Or after Fel rejoins. Either way.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Sept 23, 2017 19:01:21 GMT -8
So..... How's everyone doing? HOALY SHIET. Hi. We're almost back together! Heading for The Red Shift.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Sept 16, 2017 1:11:24 GMT -8
{ Aboard The Red Cred } Once we find him. Once we find him. Four little words, but one gargantuan task, and one which none of us were ready to abandon --- or discuss.Daniel didn't make a verbal response to my revelation, but his eyes widened about as far as I'd ever seen the professor's eyes widen. He seemed almost to rise from his chair as his slumped shoulders straightened, and a look of bewilderment was written across his face. His jaw twitched as his mouth started to open, but unlike his first days with us on this ship, he stopped before he blurted something out. Whether it was better awareness of his place on the crew, or just a cautious reaction to seeing Karana's emotions, he remained silent. Which was probably a good move on his part. It was a sensitive subject, and he wasn't a true member of the crew, nor did he know Fel as well as we did. If anyone should be making the call, it was Fel's oldest remaining crew woman, Malora, not me, and certainly not Daniel. If I was being honest, I should have mentioned the credits sooner, like before Jace left. But we weren't being honest about our situation right now, and I'd always told myself, just one more job, and then if there's no more work, I'll bring it up. I kept putting it off. It felt like a defeat to admit we needed to tap Fel's accounts. It was one more step toward Fel being gone forever, and me being the permanent captain. And I didn't like what would come after that. Bad shizz always happened when I was in command. "Well, then." I hesitated, eyeing Malora and half-expecting to be reprimanded for keeping secrets. "What are we waiting for? Let's make a shopping list." So that we would have plenty of rations once we find him.And so, with probably a little too much enthusiasm, they made a shopping list. Or, well, Logan and Tawaza made a shopping list, since the last time Malora was in charge of such things they ended up with sixty-four cases of Corellian whiskey, thirty-seven boxes of spicy pashi noodles, a bucket of frozen denta bean ice cream so big you could fit Scrappy inside, and absolutely nothing they actually needed as far as gear and repairs went. Stocking up didn't take very long, much to the team's disappointment. The momentary burst of zeal gained from the distraction of the task began to fade as they trudged back on-board with the last of the list in tow, the crushing weight of their failures to repair their crew trailing them just outside their conscious thoughts as they desperately clung to the small relief of once again having supplies. They organized, they cleaned, they restocked, they repaired, they checked and double checked systems, and all too soon there was nothing to do again. The Red Cred sat in the ripe, foggy soup of Nar Shaddaa on its rusty landing platform, shiny and ready for anything. Logan combed through maps and charts, looking for places they might have missed. Tawaza and Malora went through lists of contacts they'd already worked twice over. But…nothing. A day passed. And another. One more. Mal had to work hard not to eat everything in the galley out of restlessness. "Captain's Log: Stardate ..blah blah whatever the hell it is. It's Day Four in the smelly pit of the universe." Malora sat alone outside the ship on the edge of the platform, shoulders slumped, legs dangling over the neon billboards, streams of constant traffic and the darkness below it. She flicked a speck of dirt from her knee, watched it float away, stared with tired eyes at nothing when she could no longer see it. "No heading, no tips, still no progress. Braided my hair today like seven times. Finally got the side plait down. …I think we're all startin' to lose it," she narrated to no one. There was a heavy, familiar rolling somewhere behind her, accompanied by the gentle whirring of a slowly swiveling dome. "At least we won't be hungry when we land in the loony bin, huh, Wrench?"Loony ..bin? R2-P47 paused slightly behind her. If he could cock his head in curiosity, he would have. The Astromech accessed his databanks quickly to see if Counterpart_01 had previously explained this type of unknown storage bin to him and found no information on the subject. However, after some careful (and many puzzling sessions) analysis of her speaking patterns over the past year, P47 had deduced that most of what Counterpart_01 said, especially in certain tones, was not to be taken too literally or treated as crucial during processing. He warbled a short query instead, filing 'loony bin' away for further study some other time, and informed her with some alarm that if she shifted just three inches to the left, she'd most likely fall and die. "Nah, I'll be fine." But Mal did stop swinging her legs so vigorously. The smuggler heaved a sigh. "Just thinkin'. Better out here than in there," she admitted, hiking a thumb over her shoulder back at the Red Cred. "It's too empty, too quiet, I can't hear myself."R2-P47 opened his proverbial mouth to comment on her logic, or lack thereof, but decided against it at the last minute. "Anything on those last contacts I gave you to run?" There wasn't much optimism in that question. If he HAD found something, he would have immediately opened with the information, but Mal figured she should ask it anyway. The Astromech's only answer was a quiet, somber, thin little tone. There was no hope left to crush. Maybe that was a good thing at this point. "Didn't think so." Mal gave a half-assed shrug under her leather jacket and went back to scanning the Nar Shaddaa skyline with a lost expression. "Back to square one, then. Again." The trouble-maker jammed her hands in her pockets and swung her feet again…only to find her right pocket was already occupied. She withdrew the flat, circular object, held it to her face for quick inspection. Her brow furrowed. A…holodisk? It was slightly familiar, blue and grey, scratched up and definitely seen better days, but it didn't look broken. In fact, it was flashing. Quite insistently. Mal scooched back from the edge of the platform a little. What had begun as mild curiosity was very quickly turning into full blown need-to-know-right-the-kriff-now. If this was who she thought it was… but she hadn't heard from him in months… That tiny, tiny intuitive part of her, the part that was more in-tune with the galaxy than she let anyone else know… that part was tingling. That part was waking. That part inexplicably said… turning point. Malora took a breath, jammed her thumb on the button and played the message. An encrypted holomessage to Karana Malora is received on a holodisc given to her by Adrien Draykon. When she opens it a blue hologram of Adrien will appear with his signature cocky grin.Unakki! I hope you're misbehaving as much as I am. I wish I could say this was another social call, but it isn't. I'm headed to Mustafar to pick up a shipment and then I'm headed over to the Run to make the drop. I was kinda hoping you could meet me there. I've got a lead on that thing you asked me to help with a while back and since I said I'd help you find this something that's what I'm gonna do. I'm en-route from Naboo, shouldn't take too long get there, get my shipment and be on my way to you.
Who knows, maybe we'll get a minute to make time for another social visit, that is if we can get away from our crews long enough. I'll be at the Red Shift tomorrow, we can meet there. See you soon.As the message ends he winks at her. "…………LIYYYYAAAAAAAA!?" She was up and charging back towards the ship, holodisk held high above her head like some kind of victory baton. "LIYA!!!! DANIEL!!!!" Wrench, squealing and chirping, zoomed after her, absolutely uncertain of what was going on but reasoning (in his startled state) that if Counterpart_01 was screaming, perhaps he should be, too. Malora all but bull rushed the cockpit, not entirely certain how she knew that both Logan and Tawaza were there but not really caring all that much about it because THEY HAD A KRIFFIN' LEAD. "LLIIYYAA!!!!" Liya was standing the moment she heard Malora screech her name, weapon out, ready with an offensive stance. Daniel hovered somewhere half behind her, datapad clutched to his chest, eyes wide, clearly startled. He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up a hand. "No no. No. Just…..listen." Mal surged forward, bright with excitement, pressed the button again and threw (gently) the holodisk down on the table as the shimmering blue visage of Adrien Draykon smiled roguishly at them. As he disappeared with a wink, message delivered, the cockpit fell silent. The short, breathless seconds that followed seemed to stretch into eternity as the realization sunk in. Malora looked at Liya. Liya looked at Daniel. Daniel looked at Malora. It wasn't concrete. It was only a lead, a possibility, a SMALL one, it could be nothing. Malora could see the words in Liya's expression, the caution in her eyes even as hope rose in front of it. Calm. Think. Rationalize. Don't get too excited. It could be nothing. But it could be something. And that tiny chance? It was everything right now. "…We've got a lead, guys." Saying the words out loud felt important to Malora. It made it more concrete, firmer, more 'real'. The hope they produced tasted…familiar, but strange, like a flavor you hadn't encountered in a very long time. "We've got a lead."The short, shocked laugh that burst from her lips afterwards felt even weirder. Malora raked her hair back from her face and hurried over to the pilot's chair. "And I know what you're thinking, but Draykon wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't think it was something, and I trust him, so. I think it's time to leave this cesspit. Pack up." She glanced at her friends over her shoulder. Was that a smile? "Looks like we're goin' to The Skip."
And they took to the skies, landing platform heavy with the weight of their abandoned depair.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jun 20, 2017 20:01:25 GMT -8
{ Somewhere else in hyperspace, present day } Taking another sip of too-weak stimcaf, I signed slowly, and looked across the dilapidated galley table at Karana and at Daniel. Jace had left over a month ago, and had been com silent ever since. We were all that was left of the Fel Crew now, and we all knew the reality of the situation. There really wasn’t much left to be said. This was our last cargo haul, and then we would be out of fuel for The Red Cred. Even the payment for a successful delivery would only pay off our existing debts, and no one would loan us any more credits after that piracy fiasco on the Lipsec Run. Dumping your cargo was bad for business, but at least we were alive. We needed a change in strategy, and quickly, or we would be forced to mothball the Loronar and downsize our operation to The Unfair Advantage. It was time to tell the crew, or probably past time, but for a long time I had forced myself to believe that we were days away from finding Fel. That was no longer a lie I could tell myself. “There is one resource I have been holding back all this time.” I reached into my pocket, and tossed a credit chip on the table. “ Fel gave me that to buy supplies on the Run the day before he disappeared. There’s something like 57,000 credits left that I didn’t spend that day.” I looked from one face to the other, gauging their level of surprise. “I never felt that I had the right to spend any more of it, since it wasn’t mine. Instead, I saved it as an emergency fund for the crew, and thanks to Jace’s efforts, we never needed it until now.” I picked up the chip, and turned it over several times in my hand, feeling it’s metallic cold and perfectly balanced weight. “I refuse to believe that Fel is dead, and so this is not our money, but you deserve to know, and to help me decide whether we should use it to keep flying.” "Hell yeah we should use it!" Malora leaned forward a little, a fresh glint in her eye, emerging from the dull, heavy hopelessness that, for the past month, had seen them all staring quietly at the floor and shuffling through tasks like the undead. Her hands flattened against the table, palms over the finger-length dents in the metal she'd left a few weeks ago in an attempt to control her emotions. "Emergency fund? Well, boss, we're flying on fumes and rationing our rations. I'd say this is definitely an emergency." She shrugged at Liya's gaze. "We'll pay him back. Y'know, once we find him." ' Once we find him.' And there it was, the shoddy piece of floating timber they'd all been clinging to as they tried not to drown. The credit chip would offer a small but temporary boost, and maybe a real meal and some stronger caf would help them all think clearly. But it had been years, and there had been many temporary boosts, and Mal found herself a little less enthusiastic with each one. Eventually, they had to draw a line in the sand here. She knew it, Daniel knew it, Liya knew it, but it was never talked about or brought to discussion. They weren't ready yet. Mal figured, when it was time, they'd know, and she had her answer prepared. Despite the rational part of her brain (however small that was these days) knowing they'd have to move on someday, Malora was absolutely one-hundred percent certain she'd never stop looking for Fel, no matter what. Some conflicting shit, right there.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on May 21, 2017 22:38:29 GMT -8
"Well aren't you just soooo thoughtful," Malora snarked back as she bent to grasp the Clawdite's limp arms, cracking the first genuinely happy smile she'd put on in months. But there was no time to revel in it. No time to process the last seven minutes, either, because apparently, they were in a hurry here. With a nod, she tugged the unconscious 'Kim' towards the hallway, trying very hard not to make it look easy. Because it WAS easy. In fact, she probably could've lifted the thing one handed above her head and carried it through the ship without breaking a sweat.
And that scared the living shit outta her.
"You'll have to fill me in on the road, Li. Sounds like I missed a fun party. Hey!! Nerd!" The smuggler paused by the doorway, looking rather breathless with effort as she raised her dark eyebrows at Daniel, expression impatiently expectant. "Am I gonna drag this dinosaur-in-a-dress by myself, or you gonna help a gal out? C'mon, Logan, earn your keep, let's go!" She added a smirk so he knew she wasn't just being a dick, but honestly, he was probably used to the grief he'd received from her on a daily basis before the crew had split. Mal was just catching up on lost time now.
Besides, poking fun at him helped reinforce the idea that everything was alright.
She kept up the act until they were out of Liya's sight and halfway to the airlock, where she scooped the Clawdite from the ground with one hand and hefted the creature over her shoulder with no effort. The good-natured jokes dried up, the smile dropped from her expression. A grave silence followed them, thick with tension and unspoken words. There was too much, far too much to address here and not nearly enough time for any of it.
"Look, Logan," Mal started uncertainly. The scene was on replay in her mind, like an out of control wheel spinning questions like silk. What was wrong with her? What did this mean? How did it happen? WHY was it happening? And why was she suddenly so out of control? She was never not in control, that was her thing, controlling what the world saw of Karana Malora, wearing masks so no one knew her well enough to hurt her. That little display? Not controlled. That was not okay. None of this was okay, she was not okay, but if she admitted that or gave it any further thought, she'd have to answer things she didn't want to realize, face thing she didn't want to face. She didn't have time. Not right now. Need to find Fel first. Need to keep moving forward.
She was scared. Malora was scared.
And Daniel had seen it. In that moment, when he'd managed to reach her, talk her down, he'd seen it. He'd seen a lot of things that Mal wasn't sure she wanted him to see.
First things first, though. "I'm shelving our impending discussion on the shit that went down in the hallway for now, 'cause we don't have time for it yet." She hit the sequence to open the airlock, unceremoniously tossing 'Kim' to the ground, not without a serious thought or two about putting a laser bolt in her shapeshifting skull. "So save your questions for later." With a hiss, the door sealed again, locking the would-be assassin inside, and Malora rounded on Daniel with a chilly expression. "But you're gonna keep what you saw to yourself. No telling Liya, no telling Jace, don't even discuss it with Wrench or Scrappy, are we clear?" she growled, sounding more like a cornered animal than the intimidating Hulk-figure she was going for.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Apr 28, 2017 18:15:52 GMT -8
Attendance? Damn, haven't done this since...well, never.
Present and accounted for, pal. *lazy mock salute*
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Mar 6, 2017 1:22:01 GMT -8
*It seemed this newcomer was just as confused as she herself was, but at least the Palawan's carefully worded hints had pushed her into action, and now she knew which cabin was Tawaza's. That was progress. But just as she'd suspected, there was no Tawaza, and no proof that this wasn't all still some elaborate hoax. If so, they'd picked their victim very poorly, and she would make them pay. But right now, she just wanted information. Which no one around here seemed to possess.*
*Kim stared at Daniel.*
*Daniel stared at Malora.*
*And Kim could almost feel Malora's gaze burning holes in her face. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.**And then, there was a digital hoot from the passageway outside, and a green and white R5 series astromech trundled into view, his dome spinning from side to side as he stared them all down, inquisitively. Having identified everyone present, he let out a low, flat, moan as if disappointed, then fixed his gaze on Karana. Extending a gadget arm, Scrapheap pressed a button, and a wall-mounted Holonet set sprung to life.* *Kim, her now face almost as white as her kimono, stabbed a finger into the controls and the broadcast shut off again.* "Well, there you have it." It was pretty obvious who the three suspects were. And none of them were Liya, although that rooftop report sounded suspicious.* "They're on to us. So if you don't know where the frack Tawaza is, maybe you'd better go wake up your two friends and tell them the police are coming for us, and then we can get the frack out of here." *Really, she was more worried about the Syndicate than the police. At least the police wouldn't have her chilled.*"Funny how Tawaza's the only one they aren't looking for." *There was a tone of bitterness in her voice.* "It's almost like she planned the whole thing." *She turned to stare at Karana.* "How well do you know this Tawaza?" *It was time to take a risk. If her intel was bad, this could all blow up in her face. But she was a lot more sure of this part than she was about some of the other poodoo they'd been providing her. And she needed to see how far she could push things before Tawaza turned up and ruined everything.* "Because the one I knew died over three years ago." With every second that ticked by, every scrap of information from the broadcast, every word from Kim's mouth, Malora's frustration levels rose. She was ridiculously uninformed and wildly out of her element here and she wasn't making it hard to figure that out. And that annoyed her further. Somewhere along the line over the past six years, in between all the kidnappings and the tortures and the loss, such excruciating, abundant loss, she'd lost her 'chill' factor, that super cool, poker-faced, resourceful, clear-headed-think-on-your-feet-in-bad-situations version of herself that wouldn't have found her current position overwhelming. It was a realization she'd been straight up denying for the last two years, kicking it back under the waves every time it bobbed to the surface in the heat of the moment, and as long as she wasn't alone or in a leader position, she managed to function fairly convincingly as a poor imitation of what she used to be. As a result, Fel, Connors, Stealer, Tawaza, Logan, even Scrappy and Wrench, her crew had become her crutch, her band-aid, her excuse, and as they'd fallen apart… so had she. Maybe it was her failure to recruit Wade Connors, still raw, constantly salted by her never-ending inner monologue, reprimanding herself. Maybe it was the paralyzing fear that she'd never see the shattered pieces of the Crew of the Unfair Advantage, her family, put back together again, or the alarming fact that something was happening in her cells that she could not explain, much less comprehend. Maybe it was everything, all of it finally catching up to her, every dead friend she couldn't save, every crystal clear moment she'd let her crew down, every cold memory of the trauma they'd all endured over and over again. Her seams were breaking, her edges frayed, and it was getting hard to keep all the stuffing inside. Malora looked at bitter Kim. She looked at her shorter-than-average height. She looked at her long black hair, at the white robe on her body, the blue sash wrapped tightly about her waist. The smuggler couldn't say exactly what it was that triggered her violent, instinctive response, but the shift from irritated, worried spacer-buddy to reckless, aggressive bully was sudden. Her fingers were around Kim's throat in an instant, grip unforgiving, shoving her back against the bulkhead and holding her there with one hand. Her other was perched on the blaster at her hip, ready to draw. And there was a dark kind of fire in her gaze, a distrustful note in her words as she got in Kim's face. "I don't know you," Mal growled, "I don't know why you're here or why you're so interested in my friend, but let's get something straight, Kimmy." There it was again. That…surge of power that wasn't hers, bursting from her cells, flooding her body. It would've scared the shit outta her, had she not been so caught up in this sweeping unstable, unfamiliar rage. Malora squeezed the woman's tender flesh, sliding her up the wall until her feet dangled uselessly. "You're on our ship, you're obviously a wanted woman, I'm running the show here, and in my book, you're guilty until proven innocent, so you're gonna pack up the sassy inquisition act and let me do the asking. You got all that?" A pause, and she let Kim slide just enough for her toes to touch the ground, loosening her grip the slightest to allow for words. Malora's blaster was in her hand, primed and pressed to Kim's side. "You've got ten seconds to tell me why you're so damn interested in Liya Tawaza, because I assure you, she's very much alive."
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Feb 13, 2017 19:43:33 GMT -8
Malora paused mid bite, forehead wrinkled in confusion. "…Brawl, what brawl, there was a brawl?" She looked between Kim and Daniel, hoping for more information. Clearly she was out of the loop here, but it didn't look like either of them knew anything more (or were going to divulge it). Awkward silence engulfed the little group as they all stood blinking, waiting for the other to speak. Malora stared at Daniel. Daniel stared at Kim. Kim stared at Malora. Wrench rolled over a pack of instant noodles on his way towards the group. With a wordless huff and the slightest roll of the eye, Mal shouldered past Kim and she clomped towards Liya's cabin, checking her comms quick. Nothing from Liya or Jace. Par for the course for the past month there. The smuggler fought the unease in her gut over the matter, but her sixth sense wasn't havin' it. She should have checked in by now. SOMEONE should have checked in by now. "Tawaza!!" Malora hammered on the cabin door, waited a moment before hitting the keypad. Not locked. Okay. "Rise 'nd shine, Big T, I've got a lot of questions for aaaand you're.not.here," she trailed off as she entered, noting the empty bed and lack of gear. Yeah. Maybe she was on overdrive, and with the events of the last few years, there wasn't a soul that would blame her for that. But it wasn't like Liya or Jace to just go dark without warning. Whatever they'd been doing on Bespin, it hadn't gone as they'd planned. Immediately, rescue plans unfolded in her mind (well, less plans and more ' we need to go find them and we'll make it up as we go along'). But first, some answers. She spun on her heel, crossed her arms over her chest and hung in the open doorway, blocking entrance for Daniel and Kim. Especially Kim. She had no idea who she was, and there was no way she was gonna let her wander around in Liya's bedroom unsupervised. "Okay," she started, fixing both of them with a blunt stare. "You two seem to know more than I do here. So. Someone tell me about this brawl. Quickly would be better,"
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