Now that we have names, we need business. I'll make the arrangements to procure the ship parts, what these thugs will want in exchange. In the meantime, you'll need to collect the most important piece of this puzzle. A ship. A ship that—with the right parts, of course—will be capable of making this run. And I have just the ship in mind. It made the Varsuunian Run of Paulking Fourteen. The Nostalgia for Infinity. A cargo freighter, apparently. A smuggler vessel is more appropriate. I did a little digging. There's a man known as the Cargo King who runs a company called Rendia Freight on Ord Mantell. And guess who just hired the Captain of our prized ship? …You have friends on Ord Mantell, right?

First Impressions

Skavak wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked up and saw the XS Freighter coming in hot for a quick landing amid the artillery and gun batteries lighting up the sky. He licked his lips in anticipation for the coming heist, gut twisting excitedly. Everything was perfect and, in just hours, he would be flying off this rock of a world with a brand new ship and a payload to carry him to bigger, better things.

He stood up and tossed the wrench onto the speeder he had been working on, a loud clank preceding the gathunk of the XS Freighter landing. He crossed the hangar, grinning behind his calm façade, and waited for the boarding ramp to drop. He had been waiting for this moment for months, playing subordinate to Viidu and being stuck on this shithole of a planet all for this one, brief meeting. The person that appeared, however, was not at all what he had been expecting. He had known the Captain was a woman, but he had imagined some middle-aged, rough-around-the-edges spacer, thick in the middle and with a personality like leather. Not this. Not her.

His first thought was: do I have time to seduce her?

Alico Starwind was a small woman—near 170 centimeters and 120, 125 pounds, maybe—but there was a curve to her waist and a pleasing measure above it. Her hair was auburn brown, short and angled below her jaw, and her eyes were light green. Skavak took a moment to recoup by pretending to examine the fighting in the far fields with mild interest before watching her walk down the ramp, leather duster kicking around her calves.

"Hello, gorgeous," he mumbled, unable to stop himself.

The answer to his question was no. No matter how he tried to work it out in his head, there was no way he would get the chance to fuck her. Even if she could be persuaded out of her pants in the next five minutes, the Separatist surprise he had orchestrated would be going down soon—fifteen, twenty minutes tops? Then, a systematic execution of well-organized plans would mean he would never see her again. Pity. She was definitely his type. And not the usual type—which was nearly any woman, human woman—that was fair game to accomplish his many ideals. Not like Jishiro, Feylara, Amelia, Kiki, Syreena, the list was extensive. No, she was a woman he would seduce simply for the sake of his own pleasure with nothing to gain but an orgasm.

Oh well. There would be plenty more where she came from once he hit the hyperlanes.

"Can't believe you made it through that Separatist shooting gallery, Captain," he said when she stood in front of him. "Your ship isn't even scratched." He liked the way she suddenly grinned. "It takes guts landing in the middle of a battlefield. Nice flying."

"Why would anyone fight over this dump of a world?"

"Why does anybody fight over anything?" He smirked at her as he turned away. "There's money to be made." He saw her nonchalantly shrug and they walked into the hangar. "The name's Skavak. I'm picking up those blasters in your cargo hold." He let his eyes skim her figure, trying one last time to make time for seduction, but he kept coming up nil somewhere between her naked, pushed up against a wall and the Separatists raiding the hangar. "Excuse the rush, but, uh, need to get out of here quick. Sounds like the bombing is getting closer." He passed her the chip with her payment. "The Separatists will be right on top of us any minute. Soon as I get those blasters, you'll be free to fly."

Right on cue, Corso ran into the hangar wide-eyed and panicky. He gave one last, regretful look at Alico as the kid shouted about the Separatists taking over the air defense cannon. Then he pulled on his mask and pretended to be surprised.

"Woah! Slow down, slow down, Corso. What are you talking about?"

Corso started a long and technical spiel about the situation as he and Alico walked over to him, pausing only to acknowledge the Captain with a, "Corso Riggs. I'm with Skavak. Nice to meet you," before continuing his detailed analysis of the situation. Skavak mentally rolled his eyes before jumping in to speed things along.

"That's bad news, Captain," he announced, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head. "The Separatists will blast you out of the sky if you even think about taking off."

Alico rolled her head back into her shoulders as if gearing up for a fight, knuckles cracking as she linked her fingers together and stretched.

"I'll blast a crater in their operation," she said casually, drawing her blaster and idly spinning it on her trigger finger, "if they put a scratch on my ship. Point me."

Skavak resisted grinning, regretting more and more how this had to play out. He pulled out his compad and pulled up a local map, tapping their location on the screen only a short distance away from the battle zone lit up in red. Alico made eye contact for a moment then nodded. That's when he noticed the stupid smile on Corso's face. So the farm boy had finally noticed the good Captain.

"Good luck," Corso said. "I hope we see you again."

Alico quirked her brow with a hint of a smile, obviously amused by the flirtation. Skavak almost scowled.

"C'mon, Corso, stop drooling over the Captain," he muttered. "We're running out of time."

He headed for the cargo hold as Alico departed, stopping when he noticed Corso was watching her go. He couldn't blame the kid. He had to sneak in one last peek himself.

"Wow," Corso mumbled. "Did you see that?"

"I saw it," he replied, punching buttons on the control pad for the loader droid. "Don't even think about it."

"Why not?" Corso complained. "Wait a minute. Skavak, you're not thinking about—no way. Hold on. Really? With her?"

"You think a worldly woman like the Captain would settle down with a backwater planet farmer like you, kid?"

"Well," he began, sounding disappointed, "I guess not." The kid found his backbone again. "But you shouldn't go after her, either, Skavak—like she's some common space tart."

Skavak gave a bark of laughter. "You saying so proves you aren't cut out for a woman like her." He stopped what he was doing and walked over to Corso, invading his personal space. "A woman like her wants to be treated rough, will treat you rough, wants to grab your hair when you're eating her out, wants to taste herself on you when you kiss her," he saw Corso blush as he backed away, but Skavak kept chasing him, inch by inch, "wants to be thrown against a wall, wants to scream when you're in her, wants it hard and fast, and wants you to talk dirty to her while you're doing it." Corso hit a wall. "She would kill all those Separatists, take two shots of whiskey, and fuck all night long—that's the kind of woman the Captain is. Think you can handle it?"

"You're wrong," he mumbled without looking him in the eye.

"Don't you wish I was." It wasn't a question. He clapped Corso on the shoulder. "But, hey. Don't worry about it. I'm gonna let this one go." He caught a glimpse of Corso's bright eyes just before he turned and headed back to the loader droid.

"Really?"

"Sure, kid," Skavak replied, shaking his head in regret. "Just this once."

A/N:

Hey guys! I know it's strange to read the same story from a different perspective. You've already read the story once, so why read it again? But I hope you will. I really wanted to explore Skavak's motivation for future stories I intend to write. And, hey, some of the scenes are new, so I don't think you'll get bored! Again, I apologize if the telling is jarring as I'm only exploring their relationship progression from Skavak's perspective. My next Alico/Skavak story will be something you haven't heard before, I promise, so please bear with me and my crazy little obsession.