Fandom for the rebel starbird

[pluvian_penguin]

Sibtin had been pondering their latest bounty for some time. Droid upgrades. Not something they'd ever considered too useful, but apparently, this was... humans had a phrase they were fond of. A big deal. While they much preferred to rely on their own strength, instead of technological fancy, they'd seen the usefulness that droids had for other beings.

And one of those other beings was going to have to help them with this job. Sibtin trusted themself and their skills entirely, which meant they also knew their limits. A job like this one was going to need a droid expert.

Lucky for them - as much as they hated to acknowledge luck - the guild had a droid expert on hand. They hadn't run into Lykaon very often, but on the few occasions they'd met, Sibtin had been impressed with his skills and professionalism. There was no use working with fools, but Lykaon was no fool, no matter how little Sibtin understood of his work.

So about an hour past the guild's typical lunchtime, Sibtin started from their quarters to the droid workshop. Lykaon was there, just as they'd expected.

The door opened automatically at their approach, and they didn't bother announcing themself any more than the noise of the door already had. Instead they folded their hands behind their back, eyeing up his workstation for a moment for anything that looked like it might explode or make any strange noises. Nothing immediately stood out to them as concerning.

With that assured, they turned their attention to Lykaon himself, their head tilting to the side slightly so they could eye him up better.

"I have a job that needs a droid expert," they said, their voice low and rasping. Mouth closed, they reminded themself. Squishy little things don't like teeth. "Finding schematics and delivering them to the buyer. Everything is on the puck." They held up the bounty puck that they all got their jobs from, then tucked it back into the leather pouch at their hip. "Help me fill the bounty, and I'll take the credits for expenses, and split the rest equally."

They knew when they needed help, but that didn't mean they were going to pay any more than necessary for it. Another slicer could have been found just as easily, and no doubt cheaper. But it looked good, to keep things in the guild. And they were aware that their looks and demeanour made it... difficult, for many of the weaker hunters to trust them. Often this amused them, but they were aware of how difficult their life could become if their guild had no desire to defend them, and had decided to take some steps to remedy this.

 

[The Mechanist]

Sparks flashed before his eyes, his torch in hand as he sliced another damage metal plate off of his current project. A broken down IG droid was in parts over his workstation, and for weeks now Lykaon had been in the process of getting it repaired and rebuilt.

Though he was having an issue sourcing the parts. IG droids were efficient, dangerous, highly south after by hunters, and also expensive. And that therein lies the issue, the expense. Lykaon earned good money working at the guilds mechanic, but trying to find reputable sources of IG parts was starting to weigh heavily on his accounts, even more so now that he finally got a functioning torso. Though the issue with his current piece was the fact that it came in damaged.

The man would definitely be making sure the seller would be learned a lesson in trying to get one past him.

His concentration was short lived as his door opened and there stood a Barabel. Lykaons eyes squinted behind his lenses, his prosthetic arm reaching for a blaster under his table before recognizing the man as one of the guild. Relaxing only a slight bit he sat there and watched as he spoke. Mentioning a bounty that required the aid of a droid smith, and that of course all info was in the puck.

The small little data drive that all hunters of the guild utilized to receive their briefs about their assignments.

The barabel presented an opportunity for Lykaon, the man did after all just finish mentally being anguished about the parts for his current droid project and now he had a means to make that easier.

Lykaon was quiet a moment, pondering the situation before finally speaking, “how much are we talking. And how can I trust you won’t just blast me in the back at the end of the job?” He inquired. He knew this man, Sibtin was his name, and while the few encounters they had together never ended in unpleasantness, Lykaon wouldn’t go so far as to call him a friend just yet.

 

[pluvian_penguin]

Sibtin hissed a laugh, their teeth showing in a grin for a moment before they abruptly closed their mouth. Signs of humour were difficult to discern in Barabels. It took a keen eye, and some understanding of the species. To someone unfamiliar, it would look as though their humour was very short-lived, perhaps even faked.

They had no taste for faking emotions to placate other species, however, so their laugh had been as genuine as it ever was. Whether that meant anything, was not for a conversation like this to decide.

"Forty thousand credits each," they reported. Many beings had problems with the Empire, and Sibtin, being non-human, could fully understand why. But where others had their morals, Sibtin saw opportunity. The Empire could afford to solve all their problems with credits, and that was the language that they spoke most fluently.

"Killing you would damage my reputation with the guild. You are safe as long as guild work is useful to me."

Major players like the Empire, after all, rarely dealt with bounty hunters on an individual basis. It was much more efficient to hand the work to the Guild, and let the members sort it out amongst themselves. Sibtin had been first to lay claim to this bounty, so they had the right to it - unless they failed, at which point, disappointing the Empire wouldn't be their only problem.

Unfamiliar though they were with the specifics of droids, they recognised the one laying on the table. It was in high demand, and expensive. The bounty would be two-thirds of the cost to buy a brand new one. More than enough to cover parts, Sibtin assumed, though they weren't quite confident enough to make that statement to an expert. They were aware of their own flaws, but hubris was not one of them. Lykaon knew more about droids than they ever would, and they assumed that would be enough to get him on their side.

They eyed him, waiting for his next question, hoping it might instead be acceptance. A nictating membrane swept forward and then back, lengthwise across their eyes. Most other species kept their living areas at colder temperatures than Sibtin liked. They'd never mentioned it. Revealing a potential weakness was quite foolish, after all! But they had never attempted to hide the physical tics that indicated their discomfort, mostly because nobody was familiar enough with their species to realise what it meant.