A Fine Green Mist.

[Zeke]

Ezekiel Saska and his daughter, Cassandra, stood outside the ship enjoying the evening breeze. Zeke stood with his hands clasped behind his back, breathing deep and looking about the spaceport's commercial landing pad with an appraising eye. Over the years these places had become like home to him. He'd even met his wife, Carol, in just such a place. Right now, she was out in the city procuring personal supplies for the family. Therefore, Cassandra was helping him with the manifests and cargo loading, and his stubborn daughter wasn't enjoying it.

"Dad, this is boring," she grumbled as she spun a heavy, boxy datapad between her palms. "Do we have to wait out here? It's getting chilly." She turned to look back up the ramp into the cargo bay of The Curvy Lady, Zeke's Action VI transport.

"It's professional to meet deliveries here, yes," he answered. "And if you'd brought your coat out like I told you, you'd be warm." He straightened his own black hide jacket to punctuate the statement, earning himself a glower from his daughter. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and clenched her jaw, drumming her fingers on the back of the datapad. Zeke looked to the sky as the landing pad's floodlights came on, illuminating the landing zone for an incoming ship. "Here he is," he prompted. "Not much longer, now."

[Ben Merasska]

Ben whistled as he lowered the Albatross, a sleek Sienar Systems WR-542, slowly onto the landing pad. He had a full cargo bay, though admittedly it wasn't a large one in relation to ship itself, and it wasn't contraband or likely to get him arrested! He didn't know how baby food would figure into the larger fight to defeat the Empire, but he'd rather feed some babies than drop off military supplies any day. He smiled widely as he looked at the array of controls before him.

She wasn't Nubian, but then, Ben wasn't sure he was fit to fly Nubian. The Albatross was probably the best sort of ship he could have gotten.

"What's this?" He frowned, looking at one particular button. He pressed it.

"Onboard AI beginning boot-up sequence. All systems show full functionality. Calculating current date and weather patterns: Taungsday, thirteenth day of fourth month, year 1006 of the Ruusan Calendar. Weather for destination: Chilly, nearly 3 standard degrees. Breezy."

"Whoa!" Ben gasped, gripping the flight controls tightly and looking around the cockpit. "What the hells? Who are you?"

"I am the onboard artificial intelligence manufactured with your ship, Captain. My designation is X34-E134R-XE9-S1475."

"Yeah, that's a bit of a name there. So... this ship comes with an AI, huh?" Ben mused, thinking it over. "How's about I call you... Xerxes?"

"Name: Xerxes, spelling X-E-R-X-E-S. Taken from designation. New designation accepted. This unit is now called Xerxes."

Ben shook his head at the random things that could happen to a guy, and blinked as the ship shuddered as the weight transferred from the repulsors to the struts.

"I've got a job to do, Xerxes, so keep an eye on chatter from security, and warn me if they're coming by to do a check-up."

"Very well, Captain."

Ben switched the boarding to lower and walked out. There was the guy; at least, he fit the description, and a younger girl standing next to him with blonde hair. Either he liked 'em young, or he was a family man. As long as there wasn't any trouble, Ben couldn't be bothered to really care which it was.

He pressed the button to open the cargo bay and walked down the ramp to meet the other freighter captain.

"'Lo there!" Ben said, walking up and shaking the man's hand. "Name's Ben Merasska, captain of the Albatross. I got your shipment right here. Everything's ready, not a crate out of place."

[Zeke]

Zeke walked out to meet Ben with Cassandra reluctantly trailing behind. Zeke shook Ben's hand firmly, offering a friendly smile.

"Thanks, Ben. My name's Ezekiel Saska, captain of The Curvy Lady. Call me Zeke. This here is my daughter, Cassandra. She'll be helping me with the trade-off."

Cassandra's smile was tight-lipped, her eyebrows set in a scowl that suggested Ben had slain her family and was now her mortal enemy. She shivered against a wind as Zeke's group began to unload the crates. The Captain stood aside to supervise and instruct his daughter.

"There's a code on the side of each of these. Zap 'em as they haul 'em out and let's hear what they contain and where they're bound for." Cassie stuck her tongue out and pointed her datapad at the first crate. To Ben, Zeke said "I'm sorry for her attitude. Usually my wife helps, but she's in the town getting some time for herself, so I'm training Cassie. You're our last delivery for this stop, so she's impatient to move on."

[Ben Merasska]

Ben grinned widely and shoved his hands into the pockets of his own jacket.

"Don't worry about it," Ben reassured him. "I know how it gets. Not with kids, don't have any of my own, but I do know how it gets with wanting the day to be over with."

Droids moved from the walls, pushing repulsor sleds up to the Albatross's open cargo bay and loading the crates onto the sleds. Cassandra scanned the first crate as it passed by.

"Baby food's not the most glamorous cargo to be haulin', but you don't need to be worrying too much about getting boarded," he said, watching as the sleds moved back from the Curvy Lady to the Albatross.

[Zeke]

"Baby food, huh? Not the strangest cargo I've ever hauled. Not sure why anyone would need so damn much..." He eyeballed the first and second crates as Cassie poked the touchscreen and buttons. "I hear you about the boarding problem, though. It's not valuable, so no fear of pirates, and it's totally on the level, so no worries about random Imperial searches." He made a face. "Though, choosing between the two, I think I'd take Imps to Pirates anyday."

"Hey, Dad! Uh, Captain!" Cassie called. "You want we should pop these lids and check on the cargo? This one says it's entirely full of mashed peas."

Zeke made another face and pulled a noise like vomiting. "No thank you. You've sprayed enough mashed peas on my face and hands and rubbed enough in your eyes that I think we've both seen plenty. Move along." He waved his hand to urge his crew on. Cassandra clenched her teeth and scanned up the next crate.

[Ben Merasska]

Ben shuddered in commiseration.

"Gah, don't get me started. I'd rather not have either anywhere near my ship. Can't have it my way though. At least I can run from pirates without having the entire galaxy on me for it, so I guess you're right."

Ben quieted as he saw a Stormtrooper squad pass by the entrance to the landing pad. Thankfully, they didn't enter.

"Mashed peas? So a step up from ration bars then. I swear those things are the blandest edible thing I've ever tasted."

He grinned and watched the droids get the second to last load of crates from the Albatross and begin moving it to the Curvy Lady.

[Zeke]

Zeke gave a full-body shudder that had nothing to do with cold. "I know I just pretended to throw up in my mouth a little, but keep talking ration bars and I'll do it for real. Ugh." Ration bars--especially the military-grade ones that had been mass-produced during the Clone Wars--were entirely tasteless and ran the gamut between hard as durasteel or gooshy as mud. "Only bacta's worse. Ever spend time in a bacta tank?"

[Ben Merasska]

"Oh yeah," Ben nodded. "A couple times. Got burned pretty badly putting out an electrical fire in an engine room once. Spent a couple days in a tank after that. I didn't taste it so much as smelled it on everything for the next week."

Ben watched as the last load was lifted onto the Curvy Lady.

Ben nodded and signed where one of the droids told him to sign, and handed back the datapad.

"Well, I hope I'll see ya around the black Zeke. Good luck with gettin' warm again Cassandra."

He shook Zeke's hand and offered to do the same for the girl. Anyone who handled the manifests had to be respected. One small mistake and you suddenly had a huge debt to cover.

[Zeke]

Zeke added his own signature to the document and shook Ben's hand. "Best of luck out there," he replied. Cassie shook his hand in turn and just smiled again, a little warmer this time now that she was done with her duties. The two turned and walked up their ramp and away from Ben and the Albatross. "See?" he asked his daughter as they passed through the bay and into the ship proper. "Was that so terrible?"

She punched him in the arm and strode off to her quarters. Carol entered the hall just after them and shot her husband a bewildered look. Behind her, the sound of the bay door closing echoed dully. "Did you embarrass her again?"

"I told her about the mashed peas," Zeke said simply. His wife laughed and punched him, too. "Ow!" He pulled his comlink and gave the command for take-off.

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

Stiletto heels clicked with rhythmic purpose as they carried the slender woman forward. A riot of auburn curls cascaded over slender shoulders, standing in contrast to her fair skin and luminous citrine eyes. An unusual sight on the Imperator, but with a reputation for ruthlessness that well preceded her.

If they only knew the half of it, Ana mused, her features remaining stoic as the flow of people traffic broke around her. She strode down the center of the pristine passageway, hands clasped behind her back, hardly noticing the hyperspace lines slithering past the transparisteel viewports. As it had become the Imperator's mission of intercepting Rebel supply shipments and disrupting supply lines, so it had become hers.

For weeks they had hunted down each and every scrap of information, coming tantalizingly close to capturing their quarry. She herself had been in and out of every seedy joint this side of the Hydian Way, as a Rodian mercenary, a Twi'lek dancer, a Devaronian smuggler, and at one point she'd slithered across part of Coruscant as a Hutt. The last was an experience she preferred to forget, and had it not netted them a pearl of information, Ana would have seen fit to bash a few skulls in.

Most of those would have been her superiors in the Bureau.

Her palm rippled in a grotesque fashion, purely for the benefit of the guards who blanched at the sight as she pressed it against the security panel. The corner of her lips lifted in a gleefully sadistic smirk as her fingers peeled apart and her access card emerged to be swiped after her palm print was accepted. The massive doors whooshed open and let her pass, while her hand slithered back into its proper shape.

Ana was never going to tire of screwing with the poor enlisted saps who had never seen someone of her species before. And truly, few did anymore. Her race was rare, and to find one in service to the Empire was rarer still. Though, there was another, serving in the Inquisitoriate as part of a classified group even she with her clearance knew nothing about.

But her sister Sollé had never taken a path that didn't require a challenge.

Her hands rose to smooth out her black top, adjusting the silver dog-tags that rested against her chest. Ana didn't need to dress in uniform to impress her authority on the Imperator's captain and crew. Her abilities and reputation were enough to keep most of them in line. If it wasn't, then she had clearance to administer her own special brand of punishment.

Another set of doors whooshed open at her approach and admitted Ana directly onto the bridge. The mood shifted upon her arrival, a fact which pleased her greatly. What pleased her more was that the Captain was standing and waiting for her. A loyal Imperial son, she had been pleased to report back, Captain Stayres nodded and waited until she came to stand at his side. Both of them looked out the main forward view port as he spoke.

"We're due to exit hyperspace in less than a thirty seconds. Do you have the information?" he rumbled, his deep voice rolling around in his barrel of a chest.

"I do indeed." Ana replied, pausing only as the ship reverted to real-space and began its sensor sweeps. "We're expecting an Action VI transport. It left Bespin earlier today and should be arriving at any moment, carrying a shipment of arms in the guise of crates of baby food."

She accepted the bottle of water from the nervous Ensign and popped the seal on it before taking a sip. "Apprehension and interrogation are the order of the day, Captain." Ana concluded, arching a delicate brow as she took in the sight of Neelanon floating in space before them.

[Zeke]

Hyperspace lanced around The Curvy Lady as Zeke sat with his hands clasped, mentally ordering their tasks upon arrival at Neelanon. It was a planet Zeke had never visited before, but it was Imperial-controlled, so he had an idea about what to expect. He'd wait in orbit for clearance to land, then get clearance to offload his cargo, then get clearance to get new cargo and passengers, THEN get clearance to leave the planet. Blargh. He wondered how much red tape it would take for him to use their refreshers.

A datapad at his right hand displayed shipping manifests. The babyfood was getting off here, along with a two crates of cleaning agents for the spaceport itself and a shipment of raw materials for a factory that produced repulsorlifts. He'd then take on finished repulsorlift components from that same factory (Enough to almost exceed his carrying capacity! He was glad Carol had double-checked it for him) and perhaps a few passengers, if anyone needed cheap transport to...somewhere. The ship reverted to realspace as he called up the data for his repulsorlift delivery.

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

"Have the tractor beams on stand-by. If they so much as blink without my explicit permission, grab them. Prepare a comm scan. I want their transponder codes."

Ana said crisply, setting her water down to cross her arms over her chest. She stalked forward a few steps, acid-yellow gaze fixed on the field of stars between the viewport and Neelanon.

Tilting her head, she watched as the Action VI transport resolve into realspace from one of the three vectors the ensigns had computed as possibilities. She briefly glanced over at them and nodded her approval before lifting a hand to motion for an open channel.

"Hail the vessel."

"Channel open."

"This is the Imperator. You will submit to being boarded and having your cargo and ship thoroughly inspected. Should you attempt to decline or flee, there will be...consequences."

She almost hoped they would make a run for it. Would certainly make for an entertaining afternoon, the agent mused, and give her leave to torture them once they were caught.

Not that she wouldn't do so anyway.

[Zeke]

"We're receiving a hail from an Imperial ship," Zeke's communication officer sighed.

"Well, that'd be our cue to request permission to do work," he rallied back. "Let's have it." He listened to the curt female voice demand to board and threaten his ship and crew with a blank expression, then made sure his microphone was shut off. It was. "DUN DUN DUN!" he said dramatically, then opened communication.

"Sure," he replied, his boredom evident. "We'll receive you at our starboard docking port." He stood and exited the bridge, walking briskly to the proper airlock to greet his new friends.

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

"I want every sensor scanning that ship, Captain. I'll take a detachment and see to this personally."

Ana spun on one stiletto heel, the movement crisp and efficient. She didn't bother waiting for the Captain's assent as she stalked off the bridge with a purpose, determination in her gaze.

People cleared from her path with increasing alacrity, a fact with which she would normally would have been pleased. This time, however, she didn't have the time or thought to spare to it. Instead, her mind clicked along as she made her way down to the hanger where the shuttles were kept. One in particular had been modified specifically for shuttle to shuttle transfers.

Six armored stormtroopers waited for her by the ramp, along with two customs agents that would be doing the actual inventory and manifest comparisons. Ana motioned for them all to board, picking up her boxy datapad before closing the ramp behind her.

It wasn't long before they approached the Action VI and began the boarding procedure. Ana could only hope that the crew of the Imperator was paying attention as she had asked, as she prepared to be the first across.

[Zeke]

Zeke met Ana'Sera Beliq alone, his hands clasped behind him, wearing the same look of professional indifference that he had worn to greet Ben Merasska. The airlock cycled, he took a breath...and schooled his face right back into its look of polite neutrality as she stepped through with a retinue of Stormtroopers.

"Well met," Zeke greeted them. "I'm Captain Saska. Welcome aboard." He could tell by the severity of this woman's expression and her non-regulation dress that this one wasn't going to be a typical commanding officer. He discarded the pleasantries he usually used as a follow up and got right to business. "If you'll come with me, we can get this inspection underway, Madam Officer."

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

"Thank you, Captain. Agent, or Agent Beliq will do fine."

Ana inclined her head politely, her bright, piercing gaze taking in the sight of him as he stood there. His mannerisms and bearing gave little away, she mused as she followed him, matching her stride to his. Two of the troopers remained at the airlock, while the rest marched along behind her with the two customs agents.

"How much cargo are you carrying at the moment, Captain? Is it all destined for Neelanon?"

[Zeke]

"The hold's at about half capacity now, Agent," Zeke replied smoothly, drawing his datapad from his pocket and allowing it to spin idly between his thumb and middle finger a few times before changing his grip to halt it and bring up the manifest. "A few crates of babyfood and several pallets of materials required to make repulsorlift components." He swept his thumb across the display. "When we get it offloaded we're taking on a full load of finished repulsorlifts to deliver out to a SoroSuub plant on Sullust itself."

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

"Very well. We'll begin by verifying the pallets and their materials against the manifests. Egern, Fiir, be as neat and quick as possible."

Ana crossed her arms over her chest but kept her expression even. Likely the pallets were precisely as described - she had no doubt that some or even most of the Captain's business was honest. The two customs agents did as they were bid, working through the pallets of materials as carefully and quickly as possible.

"Where did you take on the pallets and the crates, Captain?" she asked, casting her acid yellow gaze to the man over her shoulder as she stepped forward to make a notation on an outstretched datapad from one of the agents.

[Zeke]

"Well," Zeke began with a sigh, scrolling back to the current manifest, "It came to me in several stages, with pick-ups on Obinipor, Radeon, and finally, Foless. The babyfood is from there, too."

He watched the troopers work with an air of apparent boredom for a brief moment, rolling out his shoulders and rubbing his neck. He'd done a thorough inspection of those lots himself. It was a big commission, and he wasn't about to lose money over it because a dock worker loaded up the wrong pallet.

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

"Fiir, make note of that. Foless."

Arching a sculpted brow, Ana watched as the customs agents then meticulously replaced the materials on the pallets. In short order, they were done and she took a moment to review the data. They were as the captain had said, raw materials in the proper amounts and weights to be used in the construction of repulsorlifts.

She nodded, signing off on the inspection of them, before motioning to the baby food. "Each crate must be opened and thoroughly inspected. I don't want any mistakes made on my watch." Ana said curtly, crossing her arms over her chest once more as the first was opened.

Smashed peas, the labels read, dozens of little jars that even Ana could remember feeding her daughters all those years ago. As the crate slowly emptied, she kept a mental tally, and inwardly frowned. Something didn't quite add up...

"Agent Beliq? You should see this..."

The words came out of Egern, who motioned for her to step forward and peer inside. A dangerous expression crossed her features as she glanced over her shoulder to Zeke. "Captain? I would dearly love to hear your explanation..."