Viszt stood by the side of the female trooper, soothed by a renewed sense of safety. He watched her regard what seemed to be her commanding officer, only he lacked the regalia of anything more than a common grunt. Odd, but unlikely anything to worry about. The Basilisk wasn't exactly running at peak efficiency, Viszt reasoned, and thus it was to be expected that cutbacks across the board would leave some squadrons understaffed, perhaps forcing some lower ranked troopers to step up in roles of leadership. The explanation that Viszt conjured in his mind was enough to banish his concerns. However, the prolonged silence from the 'officer' was a little concerning, though it was soon interrupted by --
CRASH.
With a great scattering of scrap, an urchin tumbled from a balcony and thudded down onto the dirt not a meter from Viszt. His heart skipped a beat, not immediately registering what exactly was happening. Still shaken from the twi'lek's intimidation, he visibly recoiled in shock. Were they back to finish the job? No. Just some street-fight it seemed. Either way, it was further evidence that this town was no good at all. Within moments of escaping one cloister of dangerous junkers, they were now raining down onto Viszt from the sky.
The 'officer' grabbed the flying urchin and dragged him into a nearby building, blaster at the ready, gruffly commanding one of his colleagues to pursue the rest of the street-fighting junkers, and the other to follow him into the building. Viszt supposed he was safer with the troopers, and followed without dispute. The 'officer' barked at the room's occupants, forcefully evicting them, with a pointed blaster as incentive. A feeling of unease returned to Viszt, with the hairs on the back of his neck prickling up.
Something was not right...
As the 'officer' interrogated the junkers in a perculiarly highly-strung manner, Viszt found a stool to sit down on. He wasn't concerned with petty crime, so paid little notice to the rabble, but peered up at the female trooper. "Some town... Even if I had gotten out of that alley, I'm not sure I'd have got back to the Basilisk with all my internal organs intact." He exhaled. "Thanks again."
"You," the 'officer' barked abruptly in Viszt's direction, cutting short any immediate response. "How long till your transport arrives?"
Not right at all...
He glanced up at the trooper with narrowed eyes. What a strange question to ask if they'd been sent to retrieve him. After all, they would be the ones transporting him back. If they hadn't been sent to retrieve him, why had they gone along with it? The alarm bells were well and truly ringing now. "Five minutes." he replied, estimating based on how long the transports usually took to be prepared and dispatched. The 'officer' quickly turned away. It was unclear if he was aware of Viszt's suspicions, but when the troopers began to shepherd the junkers into storage containers, it no longer mattered. This was very blatantly not Imperial procedure, and whoever these people were, they were letting their masks slip.
The 'officer' tore off his helmet, revealing a flustered, sweating human. He glared at the female trooper. "You may not have liked the plan before, might have thought it was overly simple. But if you add any more twists and complexity to this little caper, I swear I will bury you under the Basilisk. So, what would you have me do here? You want me to shoot this Chiss bastard and hope we don't spill any of his blood, so you can have your gorram officer's uniform? Or are we taking him with us? You just developed a sixth sense for trusting people you just met? What's it gonna be?"
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
"No. More. Surprises." The man stared forward, waiting for the female officer to decide Viszt's fate. But if this was a life or death moment, he wasn't going to leave it to a stranger to decide. He wasn't sure who these people were, but clearly they were headed to the Basilisk, and not for a friendly visit. They must be rebels -- and if they had no use for him, he'd be heading for a dirt nap.
"Kolto," he said calmly. He was scared, but he didn't have time to indulge in self-pity at this moment. He needed to figure a way out.
The room stared blankly at him, clueless.
"It's a medicine. It's mostly been supplanted by bacta nowadays, but has its uses, especially for when noxious substances have been inhaled." He gulped dryly, composing himself. "It's rather allergenic, hence why it has been widely superseded. -- The cooling system is down in the Basilisk's medical bay, so we've had to move any refrigerated medical goods into a container in a storage facility just a street over from here." He looked directly into the leader's face, holding his eye contact, keen to prove his worth. "I maintain the personnel's medical records. The Admiral has a rather severe allergy to kolto; deathly, even."
The room was silent for a moment. He'd played his hand. He just had to hope it was enough. As the silence prolonged for a beat too long, he realised he may have misjudged. A horror dawned on him that they mightn't even be rebels.
"I'm not willing to die for the Empire," he said, this time, his voice shaking slightly. "Let me live and I'll forget I ever saw you."
CRASH.
With a great scattering of scrap, an urchin tumbled from a balcony and thudded down onto the dirt not a meter from Viszt. His heart skipped a beat, not immediately registering what exactly was happening. Still shaken from the twi'lek's intimidation, he visibly recoiled in shock. Were they back to finish the job? No. Just some street-fight it seemed. Either way, it was further evidence that this town was no good at all. Within moments of escaping one cloister of dangerous junkers, they were now raining down onto Viszt from the sky.
The 'officer' grabbed the flying urchin and dragged him into a nearby building, blaster at the ready, gruffly commanding one of his colleagues to pursue the rest of the street-fighting junkers, and the other to follow him into the building. Viszt supposed he was safer with the troopers, and followed without dispute. The 'officer' barked at the room's occupants, forcefully evicting them, with a pointed blaster as incentive. A feeling of unease returned to Viszt, with the hairs on the back of his neck prickling up.
Something was not right...
As the 'officer' interrogated the junkers in a perculiarly highly-strung manner, Viszt found a stool to sit down on. He wasn't concerned with petty crime, so paid little notice to the rabble, but peered up at the female trooper. "Some town... Even if I had gotten out of that alley, I'm not sure I'd have got back to the Basilisk with all my internal organs intact." He exhaled. "Thanks again."
"You," the 'officer' barked abruptly in Viszt's direction, cutting short any immediate response. "How long till your transport arrives?"
Not right at all...
He glanced up at the trooper with narrowed eyes. What a strange question to ask if they'd been sent to retrieve him. After all, they would be the ones transporting him back. If they hadn't been sent to retrieve him, why had they gone along with it? The alarm bells were well and truly ringing now. "Five minutes." he replied, estimating based on how long the transports usually took to be prepared and dispatched. The 'officer' quickly turned away. It was unclear if he was aware of Viszt's suspicions, but when the troopers began to shepherd the junkers into storage containers, it no longer mattered. This was very blatantly not Imperial procedure, and whoever these people were, they were letting their masks slip.
The 'officer' tore off his helmet, revealing a flustered, sweating human. He glared at the female trooper. "You may not have liked the plan before, might have thought it was overly simple. But if you add any more twists and complexity to this little caper, I swear I will bury you under the Basilisk. So, what would you have me do here? You want me to shoot this Chiss bastard and hope we don't spill any of his blood, so you can have your gorram officer's uniform? Or are we taking him with us? You just developed a sixth sense for trusting people you just met? What's it gonna be?"
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
"No. More. Surprises." The man stared forward, waiting for the female officer to decide Viszt's fate. But if this was a life or death moment, he wasn't going to leave it to a stranger to decide. He wasn't sure who these people were, but clearly they were headed to the Basilisk, and not for a friendly visit. They must be rebels -- and if they had no use for him, he'd be heading for a dirt nap.
"Kolto," he said calmly. He was scared, but he didn't have time to indulge in self-pity at this moment. He needed to figure a way out.
The room stared blankly at him, clueless.
"It's a medicine. It's mostly been supplanted by bacta nowadays, but has its uses, especially for when noxious substances have been inhaled." He gulped dryly, composing himself. "It's rather allergenic, hence why it has been widely superseded. -- The cooling system is down in the Basilisk's medical bay, so we've had to move any refrigerated medical goods into a container in a storage facility just a street over from here." He looked directly into the leader's face, holding his eye contact, keen to prove his worth. "I maintain the personnel's medical records. The Admiral has a rather severe allergy to kolto; deathly, even."
The room was silent for a moment. He'd played his hand. He just had to hope it was enough. As the silence prolonged for a beat too long, he realised he may have misjudged. A horror dawned on him that they mightn't even be rebels.
"I'm not willing to die for the Empire," he said, this time, his voice shaking slightly. "Let me live and I'll forget I ever saw you."