Picking a co-pilot and departing

'Jora, is Lixa here?' Dak asked as the two men made their way towards the hangar in which the Ardent Venture was located.

'Yes, Lixa Thask is currently aboard the Defiance.' Jora replied, letting out a brief chuckle.

Good, then Ill see if she doesn't mind being my co-pilot.' Dak decided.

'I'm sure she'll jump at the call. But please don't forget that you're on a top-secret mission to save the Alliance and help win the war, not a pleasure cruise.'

'Come on, Jora, I know that.' Dak's lips curled themselves into a cheeky grin. 'Besides, have you ever seen her in a fight?'

'Oh yes, she nearly took my head off in a bar brawl once.' Jora nodded his head.

'What, on purpose?'

'No, no. A Trandoshan was trying to strangle me, like they're wont to do. Lixa punched him out.'

'That was nice of her.'

'Yes, it's just that when your drunken comrade throws her fist at you, it's easy to get a little nervous about just how drunk she is.' Jora explained. 'Anyway, here she is. The Ardent Venture.'

'Strange-looking thing, isn't she?' Dak immediately observed, taking in the largely white-painted space transport in front of him, a streak of green running behind the cockpit as it projected out in front of the main body of the vessel, serving along with its curved front and leglike docking ports at the back to give it a reptilian look. 'Looks kind of like a turtle.'

'Trust me, it looks even stranger on the inside.' Jora replied.

'Well, that's promising.'

'It's been extensively modified. Improved shields, a hyperdrive capable of .75, boosted sublight drive, upgraded communications systems. Oh, and a few luxury upgrades too.' Jora explained.

'Luxury upgrades?'

'Trust me, you won't believe what they turned the port escape pod into?'

After making his first inspection of the Ardent Venture, Dak headed off to find Lixa. Unsurprisingly, his search for her lead him to the canteen, where he found her seated at a crowded table, opposite a burly-looking guy wearing a standard orange flight suit.

'Hi Lixa.' Dak announced his presence as he squeezed past the collection of pilots, operatives and soldiers that stood round the table.

'Dak!' Lixa cried out, her beautiful face lighting up as she spotted him. Then, in a fluid motion, she yanked her arm to the right, slamming the pilot's arm into the table to win the arm wrestling match, making one half of the crowd cheer and the other groan, and jumped to her feet, silencing both groups of onlookers by pulling Dak towards her and planting a kiss on his lips, her blonde hair tied into a ponytail that whipped through the air behind her as she moved.

If not for the fact that his lips were a bit busy allowing Lixa's tongue to slip past them and enter his mouth, Dak would have smiled at how she chose to greet him. The statuesque blonde was almost as tall as he, so as she held him close, her arms locked round his neck, he could feel her huge, round boobs pressing tight against his chest, and the feeling of his cock starting to stiffen made him groan into her mouth before he started to kiss her back, meeting her tongue with his own. Gradually, the crowd started to disperse.

'Happy to see me?' Lixa asked after the kiss, letting go of Dak and taking a step back to let him get a good look at her while she very openly admired his appearance.

'Definitely.' Dak gleefully replied, letting his gaze scan Lixa's body. The wide-hipped, narrow-waisted blonde was clad in a pair of tight-fitting black pants, combat boots and a white top that accentuated the generous swell of her chest, the size of which pushed the hemline of her top upwards to give a good peek at the toned character of her stomach. 'And you?'

'You know I have a thing for broad-shouldered, devilishly handsome men, Dak.' Lixa grinned naughtily at him.

'Thanks.'

'And the fact that you're hung like a rancor doesn't hurt.' Lixa's grin turned naughtier still.

'...Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment...'

'Lixa,' A Sullustan in a flight suit and a duster stepped up next to them. 'Here's your winnings.'

'Thanks, Denok.' Lixa accepted the assortment of coins and credit chips that the Sullustan handed over to her, then returned her attention towards Dak. 'Can I buy you a drink? It looks like I'm loaded.'

'Actually, I'm here on business.' Dak replied.

'Oh?'

'I'm off on another mission.'

'Didn't you just get back?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Hmmph, I knew I should have knocked Jora out that time on Ord Mantell!' Lixa said, crossing her arms over her stomach and leaving Dak to wonder whether or not it was on purpose that she used them to push her knockers up, not that they needed the boost.

'Before you go off to do something rash, let me just tell you that I need a new co-pilot for this mission. And...' Dak replied.

'Aha.' Lixa's mischievous smile returned. 'Are we going someplace nice? Because I just spent two weeks on a planet that was just one big swamp. After that, I deserve a vacation someplace warm and sunny.'

'Well, its a luxury pleasure planet.'

'Oh, is it adult-rated too?' Lixa jokingly asked, her face beaming like a Wookie pup's the day before Life Day.

'It's owned by the Hutts, so pretty much yeah.' Dak smiled at Lixa's girlish enthusiasm. 'I'm leaving as soon as I get myself a co-pilot.'

'And now you've got one.'

'Excellent.'

'Can I bring my friends?' Lixa asked.

'All of them?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Okay. But we're carrying cargo too, so space is limited.'

'Cargo?' As Lixa furrowed her brow, Dak reflected on the fact that this only made the blonde stunner look even more attractive. 'What kind of cargo?'

'It's a surprise.' Now it was Dak's turn to form his mouth into a mischievous smile. 'Trust me, you'll like it.'

'Okay, I'll go get my stuff and then you can meet me in the hangar and fill me in.'

'I'll be waiting for you.'

'Impatiently, I hope.' Lixa smiled again.

'Of course.' Dak replied, and the two of them exchanged another kiss before splitting up and going their separate ways.

Twenty minutes later, Dak was waiting at the ramp to the Ardent Venture, having brought aboard his gear and made another inspection to see that everything was in order, when Lixa showed up behind the controls of a gravsled on which were packed a vast collection of crates, cases and boxes, on top of which were balanced two duffel bags.

'Think you've got everything you need there, Lixa?' Dak smiled as Lixa brought the sled to a halt next to the ramp.

'Oh yes!' Jumping off the sled, Lixa kissed Dak on the cheek and then slid her arm round his waist. Leaning forwards, Dak flipped open the hinged lid of one of the larger metal cases.

'This is one of your friends that I haven't met yet.' Dak said of the bulky rifle that was stored inside the case, on top of several canisters of ammunition.

'That one's new.' Lixa's voice was bubbly and happy as she let go of Dak to pick up the weapon and held it up. 'It's an FA-3 flechette launcher. Kind of like a scatter gun, but it makes a bigger, chunkier mess. I don't have all that much ammo for it though.'

'Let me guess, so you've brought along a scatter gun too.'

'Uh-huh.' Lixa's head bobbed with gusto.

'And what else?'

'Well, let's see...' Lixa started ticking off the various containers with one hand, the other hoisting up the flechette launcher, and she was clarifying their contents as she went along. 'I've got my trusted DLT-19 Commando Special, my grenade launcher, my A280, my X-45, a couple of backup DL-44's in case I misplace this one.' At this point, Lixa patted the heavy blaster pistol holstered on her thigh. 'My T-21, always a party piece, my RPS-6 rocket launcher, and some other stuff as well, like a few knives and the odd sword and an axe or two.'

'Right.'

'Oh, and a case of grenades, just in case.' Lixa hastened to add.

'Lixa, there are times when you scare me just a little.'

'What? A girl can't have too much protection, you know.' While saying that, Lixa managed to look surprisingly innocent for a woman packing enough fire power to storm a small space station all on her own. 'Besides, the Alliance saw fit to promote me to an officer, so I'm clearly not crazy.'

'They did? Congratulations!' Dak said, sincerely.

'Thanks, now help me load all this and we can celebrate me becoming a lieutenant.' Lixa put the launcher back in its case again.

'I thought you would have already.'

'Well yeah, but not with you.' Looking into Dak's eyes, Lixa shot him a smile that was positively filthy.

'Okay, let's get all this onboard.' Bursting into action, Dak jumped onto the sled and started guiding it up the ramp.

'I've been meaning to ask you, Dak...' Lixa said from her co-pilot's seat a little while later as Dak steered the Ardent Venture away from the main body of the Rebel Fleet and prepared the jump to lightspeed. 'What's the cargo?'

'Lashaa silk ladies underwear.' As soon as he answered her, Dak could hear Lixa coo with excitement. 'We're supposed to sell it to finance the mission.'

'All of it? Because I took a peek in the cargo port hold, and it's packed full.' Lixa said, clearly having some sort of ulterior motive, and Dak had a good idea of what.

'Which means we must carrying something like fifty cubic meters of skimpy knickers.'

'Fifty-five, I believe.' Dak clarified. Apart from the other modifications, the Ardent Venture had had its starboard port hold compartmentalized into two sections, one small infirmary and a machine shop.

'Dak?' Lixa's efforts to make her voice even sweeter and more seductive than usual weren't lost on Dak.

'Yes, Lixa?'

'Think we really have to sell every last cubic meter?'

'Probably not.' Dak replied. Considering that Lixa and he were risking their lives for the Rebellion's lofty goals time and time again, Dak considered it fair if they allowed themselves some small luxuries now and then. 'And I can manage the jump to lightspeed on my own.'

'Yes!' After leaning over to give Dak a peck on the cheek, Lixa shot out of her seat and hurried back into the ship, scurrying towards the port hold.

After going over the course once again before making the jump to hyperspace, Dak leaned back in his seat and let out a slightly wearied sigh. Since they had to start out with several short jumps to get away from the fleet for reasons of security, as well as plotting the route to avoid various star clusters, supernovas and gas giants, the journey would be a longer than normal, if the numbers churned forth by the astrogation computer were to be believed. That'd give him enough time to read through the files downloaded into the ship's computer about Illium Prime, Eriadu and the silk trade, as well as get a good night's sleep.

Of course, with Lixa onboard, that wasn't all that he was going to be doing.

'Dak?' Just as he thought of her, Dak could hear Lixa's voice behind him.

'I need your opinion. Does my ass look big in this?' Grinning in response to Lixa's question, Dak turned to get a look at her.