The sun lazily rose above the horizon of Coruscant's uppermost layer, it's rays stretching out over the teeming mass of metal and electricity. Ghost sat watching it rise from the waiting area of a large spaceport. As the light hit him, he was forced to raise his arm to protect his eyes, and let them adjust. This was after all the first time he'd actually seen the sun in over a year, and such sudden exposure was unusual. He lowered his arm after a few minutes, he was by no means used to the bright glare yet, but he had adjusted enough that he didn't need to directly block it, though he angled his head down so not as much light pierced through the visors of his mask.
To further avoid direct confrontation with the sun, he turned his head side to side to take in his surroundings, something he hadn't really done before, he had been too distracted waiting for the sun to rise. The spaceport was as busy as always, space liners coming and going, bringing, and taking passengers all over Imperial Space. The passengers themselves came in all types, Coruscanti businessman traveling to the other core worlds, Tourists with all their souvenirs, and scattered here and there, the odd outlier that couldn't quite be placed. Ghost fell into the latter category, after all, he hardly blended in among the populace of the spaceport. He didn't really care though, he had come here to see the sunrise, and a few odd glances from passers by wasn't enough to deter him.
That wasn't his real reason for being here though, it was after all a spaceport, and not a viewing platform. The cruiser he was set to travel on was soon to arrive, it was smaller than a lot of the enormous cruisers that dotted the spaceport. Ghost didn't mind though, it had been the only ship heading to Kiros from this port, and not wanting to wait longer, he'd booked a spot onboard. Ghost pulled the owl trinket given to him by The Merchant from his pocket, studying it again. He knew from past experience that The Merchant didn't just give trinkets like this out without reason, whether the creature knew it or not. From memory, the only creature he had heard of that resembled the trinket was the Kiros bird, a creature aptly found on the planet Krios. Ghost hadn't been to Kiros before, in fact he hadn't even known the bird was named after its home planet.
As such, this was uncharted territory for Ghost, and he couldn't help the feeling of excitement that adventure usually brought on. He did wonder, however, how much of a change it would be for him. Having spent the last year surrounded by nothing but metal, he was unsure if his gear would actually suit the more wild environment of the planet he would soon be on. Foremost example of this being his dark clothing. While useful for disappearing amidst Coruscant's shadows, it was a nightmare in constant exposure to direct sunlight. As such, he hoped the border world had a market where he could get something more appropriate, if not, well he'd have to deal with it.
At that moment the sound of repulsors above heralded the arrival of Ghost's cruiser. Wanting to be as prompt as possible about it, Ghost stood and made his way to the boarding gate for the ship, arriving mere seconds after the ship itself. It was a decent looking vessel, a bit of mismatched paint or paneling here and there, but it looked sturdy and reliable, and from the small amount of people queing up with him, he guessed it would be fairly roomy onboard. Unsurprisingly, the other lined up passengers were not tourists or businessmen, who would have most nothing to do on the frontier world. Instead they were all dressed in more shabby, and practical clothing, most carrying visible weapons. Infact, Ghost was probably possessed less weapons than anyone else, most having rifles or the like slung over their backs.
Not wanting to stare too much, Ghost looked away from his fellow passengers and towards the opening boarding ramp of the cruiser.
Standing at the top of the ramp as it opened was the captain, dressed in a baggy jumpsuit, overtop of which was a beige trench coat, along with a large cowboy hat that sat atop his grey hair. He beckoned for the waiting group to make their way up the ramp, holding his hand out to take the appropriate sum of credits that he was to be paid by each one. As he held his hand out he didn't pay much attention to Ghost as he approached, simply grunting in recognition as the credit chit was dropped into his hand. He hadn't asked for identification, instead he was busy watching the space port with a keen eye for any suspicious activity, you couldn't be too careful after all.
Eventually all the passengers had found their way on board after paying the sum, following the ships boarding corridor until they arrived in a decently sized lounge area, from which a multitude of other corridors started. Soon after they had all assembled the mechanical sound of the boarding ramp closing echoed down the corridor, followed by the sound of boots as the captain too made his way into the lounge area, stopping in front of the assembled group and clearing his throat.
"Alright listen up will you. As most of you have probably guessed already, I'm the captain, names Logan. Now, meals will be served here in the lounge area twice a day, and don't expect anything flash. Most of you will have your own rooms, but four of you will need to double up, though it looks like we already have our first pair" He said with a rather pointed glance at what looked to be a couple. "Off limit areas are the engine room, reactor room, and anything else that sounds important. Have I made myself clear?"
The group all proceeded to nod as the captain finished his rundown, none of them speaking a word, creating a bit of an awkward silence in the room. With the knowledge that his passengers knew the basics, the captain headed off towards the bridge, stopping and turning on his heel just before he passed through the door to the bridge. "Almost forgot, Joey here will show you to your rooms"
He gestured with his hands towards another corridor before turning and heading to the bridge. From the corridor he had gestured to came one of the most curious droids Ghost had ever seen. It had the body of a Droideka, but where it would have originally had laser cannons, it now possessed a pair of large humanoid hands. The rest of the droids original chassis was mostly intact, though it's paint had been redone so that it now had a yellow and orange color scheme. The most strange part, however, was what sat on its head. The thing in question was a bright gold mohawk of fake hair, and while it wasn't too tall, it still wobbled as the droid moved.
It walked over to the group slowly, raising it's right hand in a wave, then pointing towards one of the corridors leading outwards from the lounge room. Then it spoke, something Ghost hadn't been expecting. It's voice resembled that of a B1's, in the fact that it was high pitched, and immensely irritating, though the accent seemed different, more similar to that of a clone.
"Come on, follow this way" It said, causing a few of the group to glance between each other in surprise.
The droid then tucked up into its ball form and started rolling down the corridor it had pointed towards. Tentatively, the group began to follow, Ghost coming last so that he could get a good look at his fellow passengers. There was 7 of them including himself, the couple he had noted previously who took a room together. A large, grey trandoshan, who took his own room, barely squeezing through the door on his way in. A human male, the soldier looking type, rough beard, scars, the like, who like the Trandoshan took his own room. The last person to take their own room was a blue skinned Nautolan lady that, Ghost noted, hadn't made a single sound since they got on the ship, not even when walking.
The door to the last room was open, and remembering what the captain had said, Ghost expected that whoever he would be sharing a room with was already in there. He walked over to the doorway, thanking the Joey the droid who was on his way back to the lounge with a nod of his head. Then he headed through into his room. The last member of the group was already there as expected, seemingly unpacking his bag. The man himself was wearing a full set of clone armor on his upper body, overlaid by a hooded poncho .The lower half of the armor was more widespread, as it was laying over the pair of combat trousers he had on.
One of his weapons, a blaster rifle, was already laying on his bed, along with a blaster pistol. His third weapon was a bit more unusual, a longsword in its scabbard, which ran across his back at a slight angle.
After his quick look at the mans gear, Ghost headed over to his own bed, then started removing his less critical gear from his pockets and depositing it into a drawer. He then stretched for a while, before lying down on his bed tiredly. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable bed ever, but it wasn't half bad, and certainly comfortably for him to fall asleep in. He didn't want to sleep, but he hadn't for a long time now, and he could feel the toll it was taking on his body. So he let out a sigh, closed his eyes, and waited for his mind to descend into the closest thing he could get to a good night's sleep.
