for_everyone | (no subject)

There's only a small port at Mos Elrey, and Hera had already decided to avoid it. She doesn't want to deal with Imperials looking too closely at their identichips, or local 'authorities' demanding bribes to ensure the ship's protection. The other option is to touchdown outside the city – that's not difficult on a planet like Tatooine, and Hera quickly finds a tall dune in the Western Sea along which to tuck away the Ghost. It's eight klicks from Mos Elrey, the collection of sand-and-mudbrick towers black like shadows along the horizon. Which is the downside – they have no speeder, and so they'll have to walk, leaving them vulnerable to attack by Tusken Raiders, along with whom or whatever else might be lurking among the dunes around them.

Of course, that's only one danger. The sky is clear, now a deep gray-purple that's brightening as the twin suns rise. If they leave too early, they run a greater risk of attracting unwanted company, as the Tusken Raiders in particular were known to ride the dunes at night. Leave too late, and they'll be caught in the dangerous midday heat. They'll have to hope there won't be a sandstorm in the time it takes them to reach city, and that they'll avoid any hidden pits or slips of quicksand.

But to Hera, none of those concerns rival the fact that this blasted planet is ruled by the Hutts.

Chopper, unsurprisingly, is content to stay with the ship. Hera has checked over her blaster, and sheathed her vibroblade, and at the moment is rummaging through one of the drawers under her bunk, the doors to her cabin left open.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You going to get it back to me before dark?" Sovi asks.

Hera, meanwhile, is still on the comm with Chopper. "No, a droid flying alone won't look good landing in the port... You could, but I don't want you staying in orbit, it's Tuskens down here and TIEs up there..."

Tsebec speaks up, talking to Sovi, but Hera catches the words 'offer' and 'crawler.' "You can give us a ride?" she asks.

"They're heading to Mos Taike tonight," Sovi says. "It's up north, they'll get in by tomorrow evening. You could meet your ship there - it'll probably be safer, if you land northeast of the town. Sand People avoid that area."

"Why?" Hera asks.

Sovi's mouth twists. "Because it's near a Hutt's palace."

Kanan winces, but --

"If they really -- you, sorry -- " he says, breaking off to address himself directly to Tsebec, "can give us a crawler ride, that'll probably be a better way of avoiding Hutt attention than anything else. So."

He looks back to Hera, eyebrows raised interrogatively.

It seems like a good idea to him! Given the givens.

Given the givens.

Hera looks down to Tsebec. "What's the price?"

The answer is a word she doesn't recognize, and she glances back up to Sovi, who smiles slightly as she translates.

"It's a gift."

"That's kind of you," Kanan says, because they could have asked for anything. More down payment on the sealant, maybe, or rations, or --

Anyway.

"Should we, uh -- when are you planning on heading out?"

At this point Tsebec just looks up at Hera, trilling out a few more words, and gesturing from her to a door on the far side of the room. Then, as an afterthought, they make the same gesture from Kanan to Hera to the door.

Now! seems to be their answer.

Edited 2018-11-28 01:23 (UTC)

Hera nods. "We should leave separately."

Tsebec moves away to gather up the others, while Hera lifts her comm again. "Chop, we have a plan. I'll give you coordinates for rendezvous."

But first, she turns back to their host. "Sovi," she says, reaching out to her, the small photoreceptor back in her palm. "Thank you."

Sovi reaches out to take the photoreceptor, shoving it into her pocket with one hand before clasping Hera's forearm and shaking it slightly.

"It's what I'm here for. I'm glad it's worked out."

For now, anyway. And that's all there is to ask for.

"Maybe we'll meet again." Stranger things have happened.

And, with a nod to Kanan that he returns, she dusts herself off and starts heading back the way they came. The girl has probably been left alone too long already. There's no telling how much trouble she's gotten herself into.

Kanan, meanwhile, waits to follow Tsebec and the other Jawas until Hera's gotten on the move.