37: Welcome to Raider's Cove.
While eyeing the odd bird like creature, Me'ghan smirked and licked her lips "Oh I don't know… the feathers could present a problem but if we pluck those and suspend him over a fire he might make for a delicious meal."
She playfully elbowed Arielle and winked "What do you say, Captain?"
Behind them Lord Scourge simply rolled his eyes while Malavai Quinn maintained a calm posture and scanned the area to see if anybody was watching them. For some reason the people of Rishi believed Arielle to be the fearsome Captain of a pirate gang named The Red Hulls, no doubt an elaborate ruse in Quinn's opinion and Me'ghan had quickly caught on as she played her part.
Arielle folded her arms and feigned a yawn "Oh I don't know, I've never really had an appetite for his kind. I'd prefer something a little more, meaty."
The Rishii named Qaraah swallowed hard and gave her a wide eyed look "We're all friends here, right? No need for massacres or cannibalism here."
"Uh well except for Gorro I guess" he scratched behind his head "He's been saying you'd show up and that he'd love to take you on. But he doesn't speak for the rest of us!"
"And where can I find this Gorro?" Arielle tried her hardest to sound menacing as Me'ghan bit back a chuckle.
"The cantina, probably. He hangs out there a lot!" Qaraah pointed up ahead "They serve good food there, no need to eat anyone!"
Lord Scourge snarled at the peculiar Rishii as they walked on and Me'ghan finally started to giggle.
"Wow. Whoever's behind this sure gave you one hell of a reputation Eliza."
Arielle laughed "Yeah, can't wait to meet this Gorro" her eyes fell on one of the boutiques nearby "Should we dress the part?"
"No." Lord Scourge and Quinn cried out almost in unison.
"That means yes." Me'ghan wriggled her brows and dragged Arielle along inside.
Twenty minutes later they both re-emerged in a brand new getup. A dark brown leather tricorn hat sat atop Arielle's head while she wore a thin white tunic she'd tied together just above her bellybutton and dark brown leather buccaneer pants with black laced up boots on her feet. Me'ghan wore a similar ensemble though without the hat and whereas Arielle's getup was in white and brown, hers was fully black with a burgundy red top instead.
Lord Scourge glared at Arielle and shook his head though half a smile curled around the corner of his mouth "Really?"
"Hey mind the attitude" she grinned as they carried on towards the cantina "I'm your Captain now, remember? Be nice and I might throw you an arm or a leg later on."
"And here I thought you were my apprentice."
"You've been training?" Quinn cut in as they turned onto the boardwalk.
"A little yeah. I managed to light a candle the other day, with my powers… but then I also set one of my plants on fire which spread to the drapes so it needs a little work."
"I may have something that could help you." he offered "Some of your grandfather's old belongings. I'm not sure what exactly, it's all inside a chest we can't seem to open but perhaps you can."
"I'll get it to you when we're done here."
"Thanks." Arielle smiled while they reached the cantina "Alright, let's find this Gorro."
As it turned out the rodian named Gorro and two of his friends were already awaiting Arielle's arrival and stuck firmly to their belief she was a cannibalistic pirate Captain, eventually giving her no other choice but to end him when he drew his weapons on her and the others. He'd given them little else to go on but the cantina's owner Kareena suggested Kai Zykken, leader of a local gang, may have been responsible for setting Gorro on their path and so the foursome took off again to track Kai Zykken down by interrogating several members of his crew.
"It would be nice if one of these scoundrels gave up a location." Arielle huffed as she elbowed one of the men in his face and knocked him out.
"Yeah this is getting tiresome" Me'ghan agreed and looked around until she spotted a half drunken man stumble out of the cantina they'd visited "wait here."
"Oi that's me rum that is give it back you foul woman!" the man protested as Me'ghan snatched the bottle of booze he carried from his hand and rolled her eyes.
"Tell me where I can find your boss first."
He gave her a blank stare as he made continued attempts to take the bottle back from her and it wasn't until she mentioned Zykken by name that the man seemed to even understand who she meant.
"Zykken's in the warehouse over there" he pointed over her shoulder and when Me'ghan looked behind her, he quickly took the bottle back and muttered "stupid wench."
Me'ghan spun back to him and had half a mind to kill him on the spot but he already stumbled away again so she decided he wasn't worth the bother. Instead she called Arielle, Quinn and Lord Scourge over and the four of them headed towards the warehouse.
For some reason Kai Zykken seemed under the impression he owed the Red Hulls some credits, credits he couldn't afford to pay them which was why he'd hired Gorro to finish the crew off. While nervously trying to come up with ways of saving his own hide, Zykken eventually proposed that rather than paying them what he owed, he'd tell them who tipped him off on their arrival and Arielle accepted only to hear that the scrawny man before them had the message on his datapad, one they'd have to go retrieve themselves.
"Why do I get the feeling that someone out there is having a terribly amusing time at our expense as we run around here following one ridiculous lead after another?" Lord Scourge growled as Arielle pulled Zykken's datapad from the lockbox.
"You're probably right."
She handed the pad over to Quinn who connected it to a nearby holoterminal and as they watched the message Kai Zykken had received, Arielle and Me'ghan gave each other a knowing look.
"Lana." they both called out.
"Are you sure?" Quinn frowned.
"Definitely. That wave of her hand as she spoke with Zykken is a dead giveaway for any Force user." Arielle nodded.
"And I recognized her eyes too—Lana does have a knack for wearing far too much eyeliner." Me'ghan smirked "Which means Theron is likely the one who hacked my ship's computer system and entered the coordinates for Rishi."
"But why such an elaborate ruse? Why not just invite us here the way they have before?" Quinn wondered.
"Beats me" Me'ghan shrugged "Agents and their undercover stuff I guess. We'll find out when we find them."
"They're not far from here…" Arielle mused sensing Lana's signature as she reached out through the Force.
"Good. I tire of these games, let's go." Lord Scourge grunted.
They soon reached a quieter section of Raider's Cove and Arielle inclined her head towards a near hidden entrance door in the far back but before they were able to take another step further an angry looking Whiphid approached demanding retribution for his lost brother Gorro. Lord Scourge quickly made work of him and sent the beaten and bruised creature on his way to let other locals know not to mess with the Red Hulls any further.
"Theron!" Arielle waved enthusiastically as he and Lana appeared to welcome them.
She rushed over and flung herself into his arms before wrapping Lana into a kind embrace as well "I'm so glad to see you both, I've been worried ever since I woke up on Manaan and found you gone!"
"It's good to see you up and about again as well Arielle." Lana favored her with a gentle smile.
"Eliza." she corrected.
"That's new." Theron noted as he hugged her once more and then welcomed the other three "Let's get inside, there's a lot we need to tell all of you."
Once within the safe house and away from prying eyes and ears, Lana and Theron began filling the other four in on everything they'd gone through since going into hiding.
"We need to go after the pirates that run things on Rishi—the Nova Blades. They butcher entire starship crews and enslave anyone on Rishi who stands in their way. And now we've learned that they're working with the Revanites." Theron began to explain.
"The Nova Blades are being sent to attack trade lanes in very specific areas. They've gradually remapped quite a bit of stellar traffic, it's all very strange." Lana added as she poured everyone a glass of ice cold water.
"Sorry, it's the best we've got for now." she apologized for the cheap drinks.
"You're fine" Me'ghan waved her apology off with a smile "So do we know what exactly they're up to?"
"Not yet and that's where all of you, the Red Hulls, come into play." Theron sat back in his chair with a satisfied grin.
"Ah now I see" Quinn thought carefully "A cover of pirate rivalry so we won't fall under the Revanites' suspicions."
"Correct."
"You couldn't have just called me and said 'hey when you get here, pretend to be a pirate'?" Arielle laughed "And cannibalism, really?"
"We needed you, all of you, to sell it which you did masterfully." Lana pointed out "The cannibalism though, that part was Jakarro's idea. He decided you needed a fearsome signature move."
"Of course he did."
"Where's our favorite fleabag anyways?" Me'ghan asked as she looked around the small home.
"Running some errands and getting us new supplies… we're out of basically everything." Theron got up "Where will the four of you be staying?"
"Uh" Arielle eyed the rest of the group "I don't think we expected to be here for long, we may have to look into a nearby hotel."
"Alright well, why don't you guys go ahead and get things sorted out and we'll meet back here in two hours to go over the mission details."
Arielle thought for a moment "Actually… I was hoping you and I could talk first, privately?"
"Sure." Theron nodded "Let's go for a walk then."