"Easy Search"
By Vincenzo Lapenta - Neurosurgeon
Sarah Lapage - Neurosurgeon (NPC+)
Joachim Rees - Neurosurgeon (NPC)
Jean Van der Morken - Patient (NPC)
Location: New Plouton Institute of Neuroscience General Hospital, Arcadia
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Vincenzo was going over some documentation while sipping some hot caf. It was
4 days since he started at the enpin, and he had been going over a lot of
documents. Like Standard Operating Procedures, Protocols, some articles,
laboratory stuff, and more. It was logical, but after a couple of days it
became tiring. And he had to read a bit more as he was charged with setting up
a neurotoxicity lab, which was not something that appeared out of nowhere.
Suddenly his comm beeped.
"Dr. Lapenta," he said as he picked up.
"Vincenzo, it's Joachim," came the voice of Joachim Rees, one of his
colleagues, "I have a very interesting case here. Can you come and take a
look. I'm in my office."
"I'll be right there," Vincenzo said. He shut down the comm and headed towards Joachim's office. He knocked and entered. Inside he saw Joachim with a young
man who clearly looked not well. He had his left arm in a mitella.
"Mr. Van der Morken, this is Dr. Lapenta," Joachim said.
"Good afternoon, sir," Vincenzo greeted him.
"I've asked Dr. Lapenta here because he might know more about your problem then
me," Joachim went on. The man just nodded.
"Would you wait in the waiting room for a moment, please," Joachim asked the
patient. The man nodded again and shuffled out of the room.
"What's wrong," Vincenzo asked when he was gone.
"He's referred to us by Dr. Lapage from the Arcadia General Hospital," Joachim
started, but he was interrupted by Vincenzo.
"Lapage, Sarah Lapage," he asked.
"Indeed, you know her."
"I studied with her on Commenor," Vincenzo said, his heart racing. He had
found back Sarah without having to go looking for her on the whole planet.
"Now, what's the case?"
"He's been living near a waste dump for all his life. Although it should have
been safe, clearly there has been some toxic waste on it, and now he can't move
his arm anymore, and perhaps there's some brain damage as well. Here's the
datapad."
Vincenzo took the pad and quickly went over it. He immediately recognised
Sarah's style on the report.
"What would be the best is to get a sample of the toxic waste," he said.
"Not possible," Joachim said, "Sarah tried to get some, but she didn't got it."
"Then we don't have to try," Vincenzo said, "if it's okay with you, I'll take
him over."
"Sure," Joachim said, "I have more then enough work already."
"I'll keep you informed," Vincenzo promised, before going into the waiting
room, where he informed the patient that he would take over the case. He and
Jean went to his office, where the first order of business was to draw some
blood.
"They already did that, doctor" the patient said, seemingly awakening, "back in
Arcadia."
"I've seen that, sir," Vincenzo said, "but I would like to do a few tests they
didn't do there."
"Why didn't they do them right away," Jean asked.
"Because it's a number of tests they don't routinely do there," Vincenzo said,
"I come from Russ VII, a planet so polluted that we have a whole series of
tests that are not commonly used on other planets. If it's toxic waste that
caused your condition, I'll find it."
He put the tubes away for now, and asked the patient to lie down on the exam
bed.
"So you're having trouble moving your arm," he asked.
"That's right, doctor," Jean answered.
"Do you still feel anything in the arm," Vincenzo asked next as he touched the
hand, "like this?"
"No, doctor," the patient said.
"Hmm," Vincenzo said as he moved on. That the patient couldn't move his arm
was for some toxins not all that uncommon, but that he didn't feel anything
was.
"Anything wrong, doctor," Jean asked. Vincenzo could sense his unease and
anxiety.
"Every person is different," he said, "I'll first have to conclude the
examinations."
He continued to feel on different parts of the arm, each time asking the
patient if he could feel it.
"Shouldn't we do some scans or something," the patient asked after a while.
"Those were done in Arcadia," Vincenzo said, "there's no need to repeat them, I
have all the results. But there are some things you can't find on a scan.
Sometimes just feeling will tell you more."
After five minutes on the other arm, as comparison, he told the patient to put
his jacket back on and went back to his desk. Jean sat at the other side.
"I think I know what the problem is," Vincenzo said, "you probably have some
damage to your ulnar nerve. I'll have to wait for the blood tests for
confirmation, but that's my best guess for the moment. Do you still live near
the waste dump?"
"No, I currently live with family," he answered.
"Very good," Vincenzo said, "then the damage will not worsen. I'll have the
blood test results in two days, so if you can come back then, we'll see what we
can do. If it's what I think it is, it will be possible to reverse the
damage."
"Then I hope you're right," Jean said, "is it possible to come around two in
the afternoon. I have an appointment with my lawyer before that."
"Of course," Vincenzo said, marking it in his agenda, "two in the afternoon it
is."
When the patient was gone, Vincenzo went to the lab with the blood samples and
instructed them on the tests they needed to run. When he found out that they
luckily had everything they needed to run the tests, he let them do their job
while he went back to his office. There he informed the receptionist that he
would be going early because he still had some things to do. She confirmed and
told him to have a good day. She probably assumed it was to get some things in
order in his apartment or something like that, and he didn't correct her, as he
wanted to go looking for Sarah. And if they really made noise he could always
say he wanted to speak to her about Jean Van der Morken.
He took the shuttle service to Arcadia and arriving there, he took a taxi to
the hospital. Arriving there he showed his neuroscience card to the
receptionist and asked for Dr. Lapage. As a doctor from a well known
institution, he was allowed entry without questions and he was directed to the
neurology department. Before he could introduce himself to the reception
there, he spotted Sarah walking through the corridor.
"Sarah," he called out to her. She looked at him in surprise as she came
closer.
"Vincenzo," she said softly, "what are you doing here."
"The ground became a bit hot under my feet on Russ," he said, "so I had to
move. As I still remembered the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, I moved
here. I work at the neuroscience institute in New Plouton."
"Why don't you come to my office," she said as she saw the receptionist and two
nurses look at them.
Vincenzo followed her and entered her office.
"You have a nice view," he said as he could see the royal palace from her
office.
"Yeah," was all she said. He took her in his arms, but she struggled free.
"What's wrong," he asked. She just sat down behind her desk and looked at him.
"Why did you have to come here," she said, "now I finally thought I was over
you, you come back. You know I'm married?"
"No," he said. Well that would explain a lot.
"I am," she said, "with a very nice guy. I thought I'd never see you again,
and he's very nice. I did send you a message."
"I never got that," he said, "but I was under police scrutiny, so they probably
intercepted it and never bothered to forward it once they were through with
it."
"Police scrutiny," she asked, "what did you do?"
"I was just part of an environmental group," he said, "you remember I told you
about Russ and the pollution. I joined a group who thought it had to be
cleaned up, and the government didn't like that."
Sarah looked at him.
"Well, my brother and some of his friends thought to take decisive action,"
Vincenzo said, "I spoke out against this, but they went on anyway. The
government liked that even less, so I decided to come here until things have
cooled over.
"That's the way I know you," she said with a smile, "so, how did you find me?"
"I wanted to go searching for you," he said, "but earlier today, Joachim Rees
asked me to look at a case he got from you, and that way I knew where you
were."
"You mean Jean Van der Morken," Sarah asked, "if I'd known you were here, I'd
referred them directly to you. If there's one person on this planet who can
find what's wrong with him, it's you."
"Thanks," Vincenzo said.
"I mean that, Vince," she said, "you've had a lot of toxicology that we
haven't. So, found anything already?"
"I think I know what's wrong, but I'm waiting for confirmation from the lab,"
he said, "if I'm right, it will be almost completely reversible, say about 10%
permanent reduction."
"It could be worse," Sarah said, while trying to fight back the unease she felt
upon seeing Vincenzo again. Her life certainly had turned more interesting.
There fell an awkward silence.
"I think I'll better get going," Vincenzo said, "but maybe we should have
dinner one day."
"Maybe," was all Sarah could say.
"I'll contact you later," Vincenzo said. He gave her a quick kiss and then he
walked out, leaving Sarah with her thoughts in turmoil, even though he hadn't
intended it.
"Tangled Web, Part 4"
By Yelara Neerou
Meer'esh
Amii'a Val'or
Location: Royal Palace, Arcadia
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Despite suggesting firmly that he not attend the
private conference,
but
when he escorted Consular Amii'a into her chambers and
closed the door
behind them, Yelara was disheartened to learn he would
not be leaving.
She
eyed him scathingly, but her expression softened when
she turned her
focus
to Amii'a. Rising from her seat at the small table
within her
solarium,
Yelara gestured Amii'a forward. "It's good to see you
back safely from
your
trip. I hope things went well?"
Amii'a bowed with respect as she stood before the High
Princess. With a smile she replied, "Thank you, your
Highness. All things considered it went well enough,"
she said, knowing that she needn't reiterate the basic
details of her past mission to the Riga colony. It was
all in her report, except for one very important and
troubling matter.
She glanced at Meer'esh for a second, what she had to
report was something the two had talked about before.
Her and the Princess's apparent consort both shared
grave concerns about Ambassador Theen Fida. In recent
months Amii'a had uncovered more and more information
that led her to believe the New Republic ambassador
was grossly abusing his station and influence over
Tae'Karadan politics and economics.
Turning her attention back to Yelara, Amii'a
graciously accepted a seat across from the High
Princess.
"This is a matter that is not in my report," she
began. "An ongoing investigation that, with some new
information I have uncovered from the mission to Riga,
has led me to believe that several members of the
council, and the New Republic Ambassador have been
engaged in numerous unethical economic and political
dealings that are showing serious consequences in the
economy as well as a potentially dangerous fallback in
credibility and viability of the government."
Yelara glanced aside at Meer'esh, who had thought it
necessary to
remain for
the meeting, standing over Yelara's shoulder and
irritating her to no
end.
But, any request for his departure would no doubt end
in a verbal spar
that
Yelara thought highly unprofessional. Barely
tolerating his presence,
she
returned her focus to the consular. "I believe you
should elaborate,
Ms.
Val'or. It would benefit all of us to expose any
shady characters
operating
in this government. Do you have specific names?"
"Of course, your Highness," Amii'a informed. "For
some time I have been looking into many transactions
between prominent business leaders and those who now
make up the council, in regard to our many dealings
through the New Republic Embassy. In more instances
than I cared to discover, a vast sum of contracts,
capital and the acquisitioning of Tae'Karadan commerce
and industry has been directed towards these
individuals and New Republic holdings rather than to
our own people. Many of these dealings I myself have
helped to collaborate with Ambassador Fida, in the
interest of mutual cooperation. Only now do I see that
my efforts to help strengthen our world only served to
deepen the pockets of these traitors."
"Who?" Yelara pressed. "Who are these people? And
does Ambassador
Fida
know of their deeds?"
"Ministers A'jassu, Urioq and Representative Chol'ub
Ueb," she named. "They appear to be at the core, but I
must say that this web of deceit and corruption may
go further. The evidence is quite clear, your Grace,
though well hidden within multiple accounts, faux
identities and dummy corporations. As for the
Ambassador...it would appear he is right in the middle
of it all," she explained. "Numerous accounts of
redirected funds, contractual underbidding, company
buy-outs, questionable donations to public offices,
pay-offs...they are slowly bleeding us to death and
acquiring a dangerously large percentage in the
economy to where we would be all but totally dependant
on the foreign market."
With a thoughtful pause before continuing: "I am so
sorry, your Highness...I cannot begin to express my
outrage and regret! I trusted him, I have worked by
his side for many years. I...I have helped to arrange
many of these transactions between our world and the
New Republic, all-the-while thinking I was helping to
build a greater future for our people..."
"Your intentions were true, Ms. Val'or," Yelara
assured her gently.
"Even if
your loyalties were misplaced." Her eyes flashed
briefly towards
Meer'esh
as she added, "As were mine. It would appear I have
no recourse but
to
have these traitors apprehended. Though, I trust you
have tangible
evidence
of these crimes?"
"I do, your Highness," Amii'a replied as she produced
a
data card with everything she had collected before the
mission to Riga and since. "With your permission, your
Highness, I would like to bring them in myself,
especially Ambassador Theen," she requested with stern
conviction.
Yelara lowered her head in a permissive nod. "The
rest of the council
will
have to be briefed."
"I can be doing that," Meer'esh interrupted.
"No you cannot," Yelara informed him politely, yet
obdurately. "It
should
come from me, and only me. I will do so while you
take Ambassador
Theen and
his accomplices into custody," she told Amii'a,
ignoring Meer'esh's
glower.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention,
Consular. I'm just sorry
Ambassador Theen had to be involved. I respected him
and valued his
advice.
Ambition and greed" --her eyes shifted meaningfully
Meer'esh's way--
"seem
to infect and ruin many. We must end the corruption
here and now."
A mixture of grief and satisfaction boiled within
Amii'a. She dreaded having to bring Theen in after all
they had shared, but at the same time his apparent
betrayal of her trust and people all but overpowered
her later emotions.
"I understand, your Highness, I had the utmost respect
for him too. He was a mentor, and a good friend," she
said with a sour taste in her mouth. "I will bring
them in to answer for these crimes. I thank you for
trusting me with this responsibility." Amii'a bowed
before Yelara and awaited permission to be dismissed.
"Keep me apprised of your progress," Yelara requested,
and rose to
indicate
the end of their meeting. She tipped her head at
Amii'a, then at
Meer'esh,
who received a stern glare as tacit warning that he
should leave with
Amii'a. In a blur and rustle of dark skirts Yelara
departed, leaving
Amii'a
and Meer'esh to show themselves out.
Meer'esh
extended his arm towards
the
door, gesturing Amii'a to go before him. As they
began walking, he
moved
closer to his associate. "That has been smooth. Many
people are being
happy to know Theen is gone, I know. You will be
rewarded."
Amii'a started for the doorway but then paused at the
man's words. The High Princess's looks had not gone
unnoticed. Reward? she thought, thinking the
situation and her past relationship with Theen
entirely unwarranted for such a comment, let alone
that Amii'a would expect to be rewarded for doing her
job and having to turn in a longtime friend.
"Personally, I am reluctant in this misfortune," she
said curtly. "A grave injustice has been committed to
my people and against this new government. I take no
pleasure in what must be done, Meer'esh, nor do I
expect a reward. Justice is its own reward, and a
bitter sweet one at that, all things considered."
Meer'esh hesitated, wondering if his employers had yet
to fill Amii'a
in on
their grand scheme, or if she was simply an unwitting
pawn. "Still,"
he
added carefully, "you are being a useful ally. Your
aid will not be
going
unnoticed. I am thanking you."
Amii'a yet again wanted to set the man straight, but
she had some serious work to do and time was of the
essence. Besides, she thought, this is politics;
alliances, compromise, working with those you dislike
and love for the common good... She only hoped that
her and Meer'esh's little talks, as well as those
with the mysterious Ron'amon, were indeed for the
common good. Neither had asked anything from her, and
neither did she ever accept anything - unlike Theen
and
his cohorts. Still, she wasn't about to be an
unwitting pawn twice.
"Your thanks isn't necessary Meer'esh," she said as
she left his presence. "I'm just doing my job."
Slowing to a halt in the corridor, studying Amii'a
with some confusion
as
she hurried off, Meer'esh suspected he had fewer
co-conspirators within
the
palace than he had been led to believe, and that
Amii'a was oblivious
to the
machinations laid out by his overlords. She, too, was
as blind as
Yelara to
the existence of those masterminds slowly bringing
about the ruin of
Tae'Karada, looking no further than their nearest
friends and allies
for
fault and blame. Wreaking dissent and sowing doubt
were their most
powerful
weapons...and they were indeed striking true, for soon
only their
allies
would remain on the council, all the others weeded
out. All that would
be
left, thereafter, was the conquest of Tae'Karada, and
judging from how
easily even the most loyal turned on one another, that
day would be
coming
sooner than projected.
"Arriving on Coruscant"
By Chun Li (currently Ivana Skonezcna) - escort pilot, PI
Alekzander Kerensky - captain of Altdorf (NPC)
Lorgal - Bodyguard and Secretary (NPC+)
Location: Coruscant
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Li looked at Imperial center, as she still thought about Coruscant. The look
from space hadn't changed much since she was here for the last time. It seemed
like ages ago.
"We've just received clearance to go though the shields," Kerensky said.
"Good," Li replied, "take us in, captain."
She had come to like the master of the Altdorf, even though he really towered
above her. Luckily she hadn't seen all that much of Lorgal, who she liked a
little less. But if having to deal with Lorgal was the way to get 40.000
creds, then deal with him she would.
The massive Barabel had kept to himself inside his stateroom, interacting with
very few people. When the captain announced that they had been given clearance
to go through the planetary shields, he decided to make an appearance on the
bridge. Lorgal had worked with Captain Kerensky before, and he respected the
man, but he could not help that everyone on the bridge stopped working to stare
at his huge form.
Leaning casually against a bulkhead, he nodded to Chun Li, whom he had not
gotten to know very well, as well as to the bear-sized human captain.
Alekzander nodded back, a smile barely showing through his forest of a beard,
and expertly directed the Corvette towards their pattern.
"Chun Li," Lorgal said when they were situated safely in the landing pattern,
"Can I see you a moment in my room? I've got some things to discuss."
"It's Ivana Skonezcna," Li said as she walked towards him, "try to remember
that. It can save our lives."
'And definitely mine,' she didn't add.
"Right, Ivana, apologies." The last remark sounded almost like an afterthought.
They made their way to his stateroom in silence. When they arrived, Lorgal
grabbed a datapad from his desk. "This has everything we need to begin our
investigation here. Well... I should say for you to begin the investigation.
I'm mostly here as backup and as a liaison with Rylaa and his assets. The Bothan
we are looking for was last registered the address provided, though he has not
been seen there for some time. The majority of the background information is
here on this pad," Lorgal handed the datapad to Li, "If you want, I can go
along with you. The residential area that Dirge's apartment was located in is a
former Imperial sector though, and they don't take big ugly aliens like myself
very kindly."
"You can better stay on the ship or whatever Rylaa provides here," Li said, "at
least initially. Depending on my initial findings that might change of
course."
"The Boss didn't arrange for much out here, as a just-in-case factor. Dirge had
quite a long arm in the information sector and the Boss didn't want any
tip-offs. If you say for me to stay here, then here is where I'll stay. Just
call if you need some backup, and me and the boys'll be there quick."
"Okay," Li said, "well, I'll be reading this until we've landed."
Lorgal nodded and they left his room together. Chun Li to hers and him to the
bridge to watch the ship's captain at work.
*** two hours later, one of the many starports ***
As soon as the Corellian corvette touched down and lowered its ramp, a
customs official entered flanked by two security guards. Li knew the routine
by now, and she had her ID cards and some other stuff ready.
"Miss Skonezcna," the official said after running the card through his reader,
"everything seems okay here. Enjoy your stay on Imperial Center."
He moved on to the next person.
The massive barabel watched her go from the ramp. When she had disappeared
into the crowd, he nodded to the group of men behind him. The five non-descript
humans pulled hoods over their heads and walked calmly down the ramp, their
fake documents already in hand. Lorgal smiled as they left, his needle-sharp
teeth catching the dim light of the lower-level hanger. The five were part of a
larger plan, one that Rylaa had kept even from his trusted aide. That was fine
with Lorgal, he didn't need to know everything his boss was doing.
Alekzander joined him at the ramp. "Is she gone?" he asked quietly.
"She is."
"What do we do now?"
Lorgal turned to look at the big man. "We wait until she needs us."
Li took a cab towards a tower where she knew she would find some answers.
Sitting back, she looked around to see if she was followed, but seeing nothing
special.
"First Search"
by Chun Li (currently Ivana Skonezcna) - Escort Pilot, PI
Location: Ministry of Commerce Archive, Coruscant
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
"Here you will find everything you need, Ms. Skonezcna," the librarian of the
archive said as he had lead Li towards one of the viewers.
"Thank you," Li said, sitting down and starting up the console. She had come
here to get as much information about Rising Thunder's activities after Rylaa
had been forced to get out. She had posed as a journalist making a documentary
about the company to get access to the records.
By starting her search here she wanted to get an idea about the status of the
company at the moment, something which often included contact information of
the current and past CEOs. She doubted that the information here would be
current, but it would provide her with a starting point. She suspected that
this company probably had some less legal businesses as well which she would
have to investigate, but this would prove a start.
The first thing she did notice was that Rising Thunder seemed to be only a
front, as a crime syndicate with the same name had been taken down a couple of
months ago. A lot of files were not accessible from where she was as they
pertained to the investigation. She did however, managed to get a list of the
last set of board members with their addresses in a routine report that they
probably forgot to classify. The address of Dirge, the Bothan she was looking
for, was the address she already had and knew not to be valid anymore. And
probably the ones for the other board members weren't either. One probably
didn't stay when a criminal investigation was in place. Comparing the list
with the one Rylaa had provided, she saw that only 4 of the original board
members had stayed after the Bothan had taken over.
That would make things a lot more difficult, but it could be done. First of
all she needed more information about this company, or crime syndicate. Maybe
first of all the newspaper records, followed, if necessary, by police records.
From there she might find some leads to get to some of the board members. One
of them had to know where the CEO was, it would just be a matter of getting the
data. Her training with imperial intelligence had provided her with some
knowledge on getting information out of people not willing to give it.
"Parting Ways"
By Omri Kedemoth
Tara Darellia - Pilot (NPC+)
Location: Drogen Shipyards
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
An overstuffed duffel bag flew out of the Griffon's
access hatch, landing on the hanger's deck. Omri
followed it out, hoisting the bag up and carrying it
to a small pile of well-worn plasteel cases. He
wiped the sweat from his forehead with his bare arm.
The hanger was exceptionally warm, and he had removed
his traditional black tunic and was working in a
light, sleeveless white shirt.
He returned to the vessel and climbed back inside. He
strolled through the small ship from bow to stern. He
told himself it was to make sure he had removed all
his belongings. He walked along the short corridor,
running his had along the bulkhead. When he reach the
small cargo hold, he paused.
Omri allowed himself to reminisce. He remembered the
day Kai and he escaped the imperials on this ship.
How she managed to destroy two TIE fighters before
jumping to hyperspace. Their first kiss was in this
cargo hold, not much more than a large closet.
He reached out to touch the cold metal. It was a
farewell gesture to both the ship and its memories.
Climbing back out of the vessel, he began to stack his
belongings onto a repulsorlift cart.
Omri saw the blast door on the far side of the bay
open up and Tara Darellia walked through. She was
dressed equally casually, in a sleeveless tan shirt
and black cargo pants. A small red duffel bag was
slung over her shoulder.
"Good morning, Mr. Kedemoth." Tara's greeting was
accompanied by smug grin.
Omri, without looking up, replied. "Good morning Ms.
Darellia. She's all yours."
With a satisfied "hmmm", Tara turned and strolled
toward her ship. Dropping the duffel bag, she climbed
into the access hatch.
"Geez, it smells in here!" Tara yelled from inside
the cockpit.
Rolling his eyes, Omri yelled back, "I was in transit
almost two weeks getting here."
"Could ya change the air scrubbers once in a while?"
She complained as she climbed back out. She strode
back towards Omri. "Well, it will need a thorough
cleaning and sanitizing, but I think I can make it
livable again." She said, wiping her hands on her
pants.
"I am pained to know you are not satisfied with its
condition." Omri taunted without an ounce of
sincerity.
As Omri arranged his belongings on the cart, Tara
picked up a small wooden box near the stack of cases.
Opening it, she pulled out a small holoprojector.
"What's this?" she asked as Omri turned toward her.
"Leave that alone!" Omri barked, scowling. Tara
activated the projector and a small holograph of a
woman appeared. She was dressed in the same dark
clothes Tara had seen Omri wear, as well as a sword.
The woman was tall, dark-haired and beautiful, with
tattoos on her face, just like Omri.
"Give me that!" Omri snapped as he snatched the
device from her hand before she could react. He
deactivate it and placed it back in the box.
"Sorry!" Tara snipped. After a moment, she asked
coyly, "So, who is she?"
"She is - was - my wife." Omri replied as he tightened
the straps on the hover cart.
Omri's strong reaction deterred Tara from further
questioning. "Sorry," she fumbled, placing a stray
strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Ms. Darellia," Omri turned to face her, his tone flat
and business-like, "It has been a pleasure to meet
you, I hope you enjoy your ship." He turned toward
the hover cart controls.
"Wait," Tara stopped him. "Omri, I want to thank you
again for giving my ship back to me. I don't think I
would have done the same in your place." She
confessed.
Omri sensed the sincerity of her statement, and how
difficult it must have been for her to admit it.
"Tara, it was the right thing to do."
Their eyes had met, locked for a moment.
Uncomfortable, Omri broke it off.
Tara looked down awkwardly. "Well," She stood up
straight, composing herself. "Let me know if I can
ever do anything for you. And good luck on, well,
whatever you are going to do."
"Thanks, and good luck on your new business." Omri
reach out his hand, Tara took it in hers and they
shook.
"Actually, I have my first job." Tara interjected
cheerily, " I'm taking some perishable medical
supplies to Riga."
Omri nodded politely, "It's a good start."
"Yeah... well, I guess I should get the ship ready."
She motioned over her shoulder at the ship.
"Yeah, I need to get this stuff out of here." Omri
replied.
As Tara turned back toward the ship, Omri pushed the
hover cart toward the hanger exit. Before opening the
blast door, he looked back. Tara was taking the
coupling connector from her bag and placing it back
onto the ship. For a long moment he watched. He
told himself he was taking one last look at the ship.
But that was only partly true. He turned back and
pushed his gear through the open door.
He didn't see Tara turn to watch him leave.
"More Search"
By: Chun Li (currently Ivana Skonezcna) - PI, Escort Pilot
Location: Police station, Sector 45-B, Coruscant
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Her search in the newspaper archives had not given the results she wanted. In
fact, it had only been in the news for a couple of days, before other events
took over. So now she had to get her information from the police files, and
that was a bit trickier. First of all some of the files were on a separate
network, not accessible from the outside. So not only she had to get into the
police building, which was not so difficult, but also to the correct files,
which was a bit more trouble.
She walked into the bar where she had just seen a police officer disappear.
Finding a woman near her height had been difficult, but Imperial Center had
lots of police. She had located the woman's address and as soon as she was on
duty, Li had sneaked in to get one of her uniforms. With that uniform she
headed towards the duty station that had done the investigation. Timing it so
she arrived at the changing of the shift, she managed to slip in with a bunch
of police officer coming in to start their shift.
Once inside she moved as if she belonged, something among the first things they
learned with intel. Make sure everybody thinks you belong there, and less
people will question you, even if they don't know who you are. Finding a
terminal in a secluded area, Li sat down and started her search for
information. Due to the fact that these systems were separate from the main
network, security was less inside the building. It didn't take her long to get
to the files she wanted.
"What are you doing there," she suddenly heard behind her. Slowly turning she
saw an officer -she only had the uniform of a standard police woman- look at
her.
"I don't know you," he said.
"I'm sorry, sir," Li said, "I'm Ivana, I transferred from sector 492-A a couple
of days ago. I work the graveyard shift, but the lieutenant, Ehmmm..."
"Lieutenant Mackinson," the other lieutenant helped her.
"Yes, sir," Li continued, "he told me to read these files for another case I'm
helping on. It's just taking me longer then expected, but I want to have it
finished before I go home. It will only take about half an hour longer."
"Okay," he said, before leaving.
Li sighed with relief. That was a close
call. Now she had to get out as quickly as possible, before the lieutenant
realised that there was no Ivana on the night shift. She quickly downloaded
the files on her datapad, closed down the terminal and left the building. She
would read them somewhere else and then plan her next step.
"New Friends, New Enemies, Part Two"
By: Mielikki Aune (PC)
Cirran Tyris (PC)
J2O RA-7 (NPC+)
Sgt Mathias "Walker" Coin (NPC+)
Drer Rda (NPC+)
Random NPC's
Location: The Drogen Shipyards, Tae'Remok system, Outer Rim
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Cirran's rapid string of expletives, some of which aimed at the
Gamorrean, some at his ship, the ramp of which had obviously let him
down again, and some at the situation in general, would have made his
friend Walker proud. "What is it on this ship, open day?" he asked as
he circled around to get a packing crate between him and the jabbering
porcine alien, who was making threatening jabs in his direction.
"Friend of yours?" he yelled to Mielikki.
"Worse, my escort!" she yelled as she hid fearfully behind Cirran.
"Look, it's a long story but please just get me out of here! I beg of
you!!" she remarked pulling on his arm. Fearfully she glanced back at
the Gamorrean as he attempted to figure out a way to get to the two
humanoids.
"I don't suppose he's going to listen to reason?" Cirran asked in the
momentary lull.
"Doubtfully," she replied.
Cirran bobbed beyond the reach of the spear a couple of times. He
looked at the girl, the Gamorrean, and all things considered came to a
decision rather rapidly. Nevertheless, he muttered "Why me?" to
himself as he stood up straight, and added "I mean, really!" with a
bitter laugh at the craziness and sheer unfairness of life in the
universe. Then he planted a foot on the mostly empty durasteel packing
crate and heaved with a long leg, sliding it across the deck into the
spear-wielding Gamorrean. The crate thudded into the alien at thigh
height and sent him sprawling slightly, which gave Cirran enough time
to launch himself shoulder first at the staggered alien in a flying
tackle over the top of the crate. It was hard to say who the result
was worse for. The Gamorrean was slammed back into a bulkhead,
dropping his spear, but Cirran's gangly form bounced off the solid
thug and he crashed
heavily to the deck.
"Ow," he said, struggling slowly to his feet as the alien did the same.
The spear was nowhere in sight. Probably joined my blaster somewhere,
Cirran thought groggily to himself, also noting that given the things
that kept happening to him, it might actually be a good idea to get
hold of a replacement blaster at some later date, assuming he survived
this.
Agork also rose slowly to his feet, holding his head he looked about
nervously for his weapon, then at the humanoid male who was getting
back up. Deciding this was not a foe to be dealt with weaponless, the
Gamorrean fighter squealed angrily before he staggered off; he knew
he would not live this down very well once the others got wind of a
Gamorrean getting bested by a puny humanoid. Snorting, Agork took once
last glance at the pair before he ambled off. Mielikki ran over to
Cirran and worriedly looked over his injuries. "I don't think he's
coming back, are you alright?" she asked.
"It depends. Am I dreaming this?" Cirran asked wearily.
"I wish I could say no," she remarked, then without giving it a second
thought she ducked under Cirran's arm and helped him stand up. "Does
this mean you're going to help me escape?" she asked. "I promise I'll
find a way to pay you back, though I don't have any money I'm
afraid..."
Cirran gazed blearily at the direction in which the alien had taken
off. "He ran away! Unprecedented," he mumbled to himself in surprise.
He shook his head, trying to clear it and catch up with events, and
with that realised just what sort of situation he was in. "Help you
escape? From what? " he said. "All it means is that somehow, I just
stopped that big lug from impaling me, for now," he explained angrily.
"Just exactly who are you, anyway? And who was he? Let me guess,
there's a crime lord involved. Or a bounty hunter. Or your
Palpatine's secret love child. Gods, why am I such a magnet for this
stuff? And who uses a spear, for Gods' sakes?" He muttered a quick
highlights package of his earlier outburst of profanity to himself
under his breath. "I think you'd better tell me exactly what's going
on here -" he now addressed Mielikki, " - starting with such pertinent
details as can we expect your 'escort' back - probably with an AT-AT
next time, knowing my luck."
Mielikki hung her head low, she was dreading this. She suddenly felt
small, and vulnerable. "I...I'm a slavegirl for a man named Drer Rda,
a Twi'lek crime lord. That Gamorrean who attacked you was the escort
he assigned to watch over me while I walked around the station...with
my friend Jaytwo...he's my droid friend. Drer had to make a forced
stop here, since the engines and hyperdrive are completely fried
thanks to the droid in charge aboard his ship the Wabretonc. I know
they're going to be stuck here for a good while with repairs, but..."
She could feel tears beginning to collect in her eyes, her heart sank
as the chance of being free of her owner hung barely out of reach. "I
beg of you, please help me, this man stole away ten years of my life!
I just want to get away from him..."
"I knew there'd be a crime lord," Cirran muttered, but he knew he was
already committed, and his attitude softened somewhat when he saw the
girl's tears. "Well, I don't have a lot of time for slavers," he
admitted, smiling to reassure her. "But I'm not sure I'll be so lucky
again when that Gamorrean tells his friends where you are. Time to
take this ship somewhere, and fast. We can come back later and..well,
I don't know what we'll do, but we'll work something out. Luckily for
you, I'm on a mission to compile the galaxy's longest list of
enemies." He smiled and squeezed the girl on the shoulder for comfort,
and started to head towards the cockpit. However, his attention was
arrested by another noise further back in the cargo bay. He looked
frantically around until he spied the Gamorrean's lost spear, which
was sliding as if by magic under a tarpaulin. "Gods, he's not back
already?" he muttered, snatching at the cover to try and reveal any
potential foe.
"No, wait!" Fearing the worst, she ended up nearly doubling over with
laughter at the sight of J20 RA-7 yelling out before the droid banged
his head against the crate as he stood up, dropping the spear.
"Jaytwo, it's alright he won't hurt us."
The droid carefully peeked
out of the crate. "Are you sure? I heard loud noises just a moment
ago, are you sure he didn't try and hurt you?"
Cirran regarded the droid with a resigned look, wondering what else
the evening could have in store for him. "Right - would any other
people or machines who may be currently lurking in my cargo hold
please make themselves known now?" he yelled into the darkness.
"What other droids?" J20 asked confusedly. Mielikki stepped forward to
Cirran. "There's nobody else, just him and me of course...I swear...I
didn't plan on making this trip with a friend...well more like the
only one I have" she replied quickly.
"Nevertheless, you'll forgive me if I turn on the lights on," Cirran
said, moving across the cargo bay to do so, and thinking about his
options as he looked down towards the cockpit. It's going to take a
while to get out of here at this time of night...and then they could
follow us anyway, he thought. He thought back to his Alliance
training. Use your local knowledge, it's a tactical advantage.
"What's the name of this Twi'Lek's ship again?" he called out to
Mielikki from across the compartment. "I may have an idea."
"The Wabretonc." She squinted at the sudden increase of light, as
her eyes adjusted to the lighting. "You do?" She asked. She cursed
herself for not grabbing her cloak when she left Drer's ship, and
absentmindedly she rubbed her arms.
"This is more or less a New Republic station these days, or a New
Republic affiliated one anyway," Cirran told her, "And as I understand
it the New Republic isn't big on slavery - in fact, emancipation is
kind of a founding principle of the whole outfit, really. It's
technically legal in some systems still, but we could make it mighty
uncomfortable for this boss - sorry, owner - of yours if station
security finds out about their activities. And would I be right in
presuming he's probably up to other questionably legal stuff as well?"
"Yes, I could compile a whole list if you'd like." Mielikki gestured
to J20. "Or you could just ask Jaytwo..."
The droid stepped backwards
holding up his arms, "But Rda would have me reduced to scrap if he
ever found out!" He retorted quickly.
"He also has a fair number of
friends and enemies, some of them want him dead and others...well, in
pieces," she finished.
Cirran gave a resigned smile. "I feel his pain. But your mechanical
friend here doesn't need to worry - for the moment. We just need to
let this Rda character know that security on this station has taken an
interest in his affairs, and that there's an inspection of his ship on
the way, a random check - I'm betting he won't stick around long after
that. And as it happens I know just the security officer for the job."
She couldn't help but beam, this sounded too good to be true. Mielikki
threw her arms around Cirran in a hug and smiled at him. "Thank
you...uh...what did you say your name was?" she asked her brow
furrowing.
Cirran smiled, abashed - this was the damsel in distress bit, alright.
"Uh, I didn't - it's Cirran, Cirran Tyris," he said. "And don't thank
me until this works," he added as a caveat.
"Who said you can't thank anyone for helping them?" she asked, it was
then that she became aware of the acute proximity she and Cirran were
now in, the sensation was strange; she didn't feel frightened like she
did with Drer yet somehow being held by a total stranger caused her to
feel at ease.
"Fair enough," Cirran said, smiling and withdrawing slowly from
Mielikki's hug to retrieve a commlink from his pocket, giving her a
pat to the shoulder. He flicked it on. "Walker?" he inquired down the
line.
There was a series of noises on the other end of the line, and then a
gruff voice came online. "Pelor's Teeth spacer, it's half past three
in the morning. This better be good."
Cirran took a glance at the scene around him, which included Mielikki,
J2, the droid, and the Gamorrean's spear in his hand which he had
picked up from the floor. "Oh, it is," he remarked. "Besides, I thought
you were always on duty?"
"Even sergeants have to sleep some time, Tyris. So what is can I do
for you? You need me to sing you a lullaby? No, don't tell me, you've
got yourself in trouble here again already. This Jax bloke you were
telling me about?"
"Er..." Cirran looked sideways at the girl and her somewhat cowardly
robot now seemingly looking to him for protection, "Probably not."
"Look, I'm tired right now, spacer," Walker replied. "M'brain's all
fuzzy. So if that's some kind of weak code for 'melt through my door
with a plasma cutter and a squad of commandos and save my skinny hide
again please, Walker', you should just say so."
"No, look, Walker, I'm fine - mostly," Cirran explained, rubbing his
shoulder where he'd bounced off the Gamorrean. "It's not my door that
I need you to kick down. I've got something of a tip-off for you."
"Really? This should be good." Walker harrumphed cynically.
"Oh, it is," Cirran confirmed. "You might want to check out a ship
called the Wabretonc in bay...do we know the bay number?" he asked his
guest.
"Uh...I think it's bay number 463," she replied.
Sithspit, that's only a few levels down from here, he thought."463,
Walker. Captain's a Twi'lek, name of Rda. Almost certainly something
fishy onboard. Can't tell you specifically what he's doing...except
he's a slaver," he said, with another glance at Mielikki.
"A slaver?" growled the big security man in disapproval. "I'll pack my
favourite gun, the really big one. But is there something you not
filling me in on, Tyris?" came a suspicious voice down the line.
"Yes - be on the lookout for an angry Gamorrean. And sooner would be
better than later," the pilot added, omitting a few other details.
"All right then mystery boy, I'll take a squad down," Walker agreed
reluctantly, "but you're gonna owe me another drink after this, at
least," the soldier finished, signing off.
Cirran turned to Mielikki. "Well, I guess this is where you've got to
work out whether you want this Twi'lek friend of yours arrested,
because Walker will find something to arrest him for. But then he'll
be here. Are there other slaves on his ship?"
Mielikki nodded, "There are, though some of them I'm not on very good
terms with; like the Gamorrean you met earlier."
Cirran grimaced. "Gods, I wouldn't wanna own him...or, er, anyone
else obviously," he quickly explained.
Before Cirran could embarrass himself any further however, an alarm
tone in the hold signalled that someone was trying to get into the
ship, and that more amazingly, for once the security system had
elected to do its job of keeping people outside. "Not good," said
Cirran, and jogged to the cockpit where he could see an external
monitor that showed the area just below the ramp. The screen showed
the Gamorrean he had just finished warning Walker about, along with a
tall sickly, Twi'lek male whose skin was a dark near black purple
color. Alongside next to him stood a burly Gran male toting a blaster.
The Gran paced the area as the Twi'lek - no doubt Drer Rda himself,
Cirran figured - stood talking heatedly with the Gamorrean.
"We're dead!!" J20 remarked as he took in the sight, the droid and
Mielikki having followed Cirran to the ship's control centre.
"Relax!"
Mielikki quipped as she stopped behind J20. "What? What's going on?"
she asked looking to Cirran, and then at the monitor.
"Company," Cirran muttered. "And me without any good silverware." He
tried to appraise the three aliens under his ship and concluded that
it was unlikely that kicking a box into all three of them would work -
if the ramp decided to misbehave itself as it usually did, and with
the Bay more or less deserted at this time of night, it was going to
go badly for him. He could power up his gun turrets perhaps, but
in-dock that would likely cause alarms, questioning, and maybe even
arrest, so instead he flicked the channel on the comm system that
allowed use of the intercom under the ship near the ramp. "Gentlemen!"
he started. "Good morning. Look, I hate to break this to you, but I've
already got a copy of the Encyclopaedia Galactica."
"No, but you do have something that belongs to me human." Drer
remarked speaking in the direction of the intercom, "Agork is also
very displeased to inform me that you failed to cooperate with him;
where is the girl and the droid?" He finished coldly: "If you fail to
cooperate with me, I feel the results will not be very well in your
favor, human." At this the Gran sniggered.
Pleeeease ramp, not now, Cirran prayed desperately, but his mouth
said, "Ah yes, the girl and the droid. Sorry, we've had a chat and the
girl seems to feel your relationship is no longer working out, so
she'll be staying here. And the droid was intensely irritating, so
he's spare parts now. So looks like no girl or droid for you. Thanks
for calling, though."
Drer was unfazed by Cirran's answer. "It is much more complicated than
that I'm afraid, now I suggest you hand the girl and the droid over
now, before Idvat decides to make a new docking hatch for you..." Rda
than looked to Idvat and the Gran raised his blaster and took aim at
the ship, preparing to fire.
"Ignoring the question of whether you could seriously hope to blow
your way in with that peashooter, I'd worry about my own ship, if I
were you," Cirran said hurriedly, strangely conscious at a time like
this of the spoiling effect the Gran's weapon would have on the
'Fool's Hope's shiny, new, aesthetically pleasing hull plating.
At this, Cirran had caught the Twi'lek's attention. "What of my ship?"
Drer replied quickly.
"Everything stowed away on board, is it? Nothing untoward going on in
it, just on the off chance that, say, station security should arrive
to turn things upside down?" Cirran asked in mock curiosity.
AS if on queue, Cirran watched as the Gran evidently called Idvat
lowered his blaster and fumbled around in his jacket before retrieving
a comm unit. He spoke angrily in reply before listening intently, and
his three eyes blinked rapidly in surprise before he turned to face
his boss and Rda snatched the comm unit from him. "This better be
important." Drer snapped. "Yes?" He asked clicking on the comm unit.
"Captain Rda, this is Sergeant Coin of station security," came a voice
down the line. "We are going to conduct a routine random inspection of
your vessel in approximately 5 minutes time, please stand by for
our arrival and have your documentation ready."
Rda refrained from bursting into several stringed together curses in
Huttese and Ryl over the comm unit and instead calmly replied,
"Acknowledged Sergeant Coin, I will see to meeting with you
personally." Inwardly his blood was boiling, already this human was
making more trouble than he already needed to deal with, aside from
ship's repairs. Mentally the gaunt Twi'lek was already forming a
haphazardly shaped plan. Signing off, Drer looked back to ship. "By
sheer coincidence it seems station security is arriving, I'm not
finished with you just yet, human - make no mistakes, you'll not be
the first I have dealt with who has attempted to steal away my girls.
Be grateful that I have not I had the pleasure of dealing with you
face to face," Drer finished.
"Station security? That is a coincidence. Well, I'd love to come
down and see you guys off, but I'm sure you're in a hurry to you know,
go and avoid arrest," Cirran snapped sarcastically.
Turning to face Idvat and the Gamorrean, Drer waved them over, "We're
leaving, I will attend to this matter at a later time." He began
walking following the Gran and Gamorrean but stopped not bothering to
look over his shoulder. "Do not think that I will forget about this
encounter, or you. I trust we will meet again soon human, for your
sake I hope you unlike the others I have dealt will walk away
unscathed, or rather I should say not missing anything important."
Sneering Rda disappeared, following his subordinates.
"I-is he g-g-gone?" J20 asked fearfully.
"Yes," Cirran said, offering up silent but heartfelt thanks to the
gremlins who lived in his ship's ramp, "and if he's even half the
criminal you suggest, he's going to speed up those repairs and be more
gone, and very soon, if he doesn't want Walker to bring his little
operation to a shuddering halt."
The Veaseph woman now sat on the floor, her arms hugging her knees
tightly as her small frame shook violently. Several thoughts raced
through her mind as she attempted to quell her breathing. Oh
Sinikka,where are you when I need you most? She then thought of her
other
family members absentmindedly, wondering if she'd ever see any of them
alive ever again.
Cirran registered the girl's emotion, but like many males, was at
something of a loss for what to do about it. "Hey, cheer up," he tried,
moving to the girl's side on the floor and giving her a lopsided grin.
"We've survived this particular moment, and now we can get on with the
task of figuring out how to survive the next one - which in my recent
experience is about the most you can hope for out of life." It didn't
take him too long to realise that maybe this didn't sound as
comforting as he thought. "Er...I'm not sure if I properly indicated
before that I'm maybe not the safest person to go getting emancipated
by," he finished with a shrug.
Mielikki managed a small smile. "I can't help but wonder if we just
happened to have lady luck on our side and manage to avoid Drer for
the moment." She shivered swallowing a lump in her throat. "Gods know
what'll he do if gets a hold of me." Attempting calm her rattled
nerves as best as possible for the moment anyways, she looked to J20
who spoke up at Cirran's last remark.
"I knew it! We've taken up refuge with a reprobate! If we don't get
taken back by Rda, we'll all end up rusting in a prison cell!"
"Jaytwo! You shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly." Mielikki
remarked standing up next to the droid, J20 buzzed incomprehensibly in
his originally programmed language which resulted in Mielikki batting
him in the back in the head. "Calm down, I'm sure we'll manage to get
out of this somehow...what should we do now though?" she asked, turning
her attention back to Cirran.
"Well, I don't think they'll be back - they'll either be headed
off-station as fast as they can go, or arrested. So I suggest you try
and get some sleep, and I'll keep an eye on things from up here for a
while - that is, if your friend here's willing to let you sleep in the
same ship as, what was it you called me, a reprobate?" he asked,
glaring fairly pointedly at the droid.
J20 stepped back nervously. "I er…take it back, I guess we have no
choice considering the circumstances…we'd probably be better off
staying here then taking any chances with any of the station's more
colorful characters." Jaytwo added quickly as an afterthought.
"Well I can only hope I live up to your monochromatic ideals," Cirran
said sarcastically. "But I've met quite a few of the station's
'characters', as you call them, and trust me, I'm not the worst of
them," he confirmed.
"I'm glad you both agree with one another, to some degree or the
next." Mielikki remarked in regards to the exchange between her droid
friend and Cirran. "Where do you want me to sleep?" She asked then
looking back to Cirran.
"Well, there's a bunk back there. You might actually fit into it,
that'd make for a change," Cirran said, stretching his sore back. "Your
droid can plug into the charge unit in the cargo hold if you can
convince him I have no immediate interest in frying his circuits. I'll
stick around up here for a bit and make sure we're in the clear."
"Thank you." She turned to J20, "Jaytwo I trust you have no problems
staying here now right?" She asked a questioning edge to her tone.
The
droid shrugged his mechanical limbs. "No, not at all, I'll go back to
the cargo hold, call me if you need anything please."
She gave her
friend a reassuring smile, "I'll be alright, go about your business."
J20 nodded before turning and heading off in the direction of the
cargo hold.
Mielikki walked in the direction that Cirran indicated the bunk was
though not before glancing over her shoulder in his direction. After
having found the said sleeping area, Mielikki sat down on the bunk and
stretched, letting out a tired yawn as she did. Lying so she was
facing the wall, the young Veaseph studied its texture blankly as her
mind ran abuzz with many thoughts. Her eyes grew heavy yet the will to
fall asleep seemed far away for her.
In the cockpit, Cirran collapsed wearily into his pilot's chair and
stifled a yawn, his sore limbs providing evidence if he needed it that
recent events had been no hallucination. Before this evening he would
have found it difficult to believe that his life could get too much
more complex, but the universe seemed determine to prove him wrong. He
could only hope that the Twi'lek's threats had been empty ones, and
that he would soon abandon his former slave to...well, to what? Cirran
had no idea what was to become of the girl that had sought refuge in
his ship, but he realised that he would help her if he could. Like
him, she was nearly alone in the universe, and in addition...well, he
could virtually hear the jokes his old friend Feena would have made
when he saw the girl that had all but dropped into his lap... But
remember what you told her? You're a dangerous friend to have, Tyris.
You couldn't protect Kemma, he reminded himself. He stared out into
the now quiet ship bay, thinking, and suspected it might be a long
night.
"First Findings"
by Chun Li (currently Ivana Skonezcna) - PI, Escort Pilot
and Lorgal - Secretary and bodyguard to Rylaa (NPC)
Location: Coruscant
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
It was late in the evening when Li went back to the ship. She only had the
time to skim through the files she had obtained from the police station, but
there were a couple of things that needed to be checked out. Li quickly found
her way to the ship and got onboard.
"I think I've found a lead," she announced.
Lorgal was lounging in the recreation area of the ship cleaning a massive
repeater that your average soldier would call a "crew served weapon". Next to
the couch was a medium sized fusion battery that had been heavily modified to
be worn as part of a backpack assembly. The barabel looked up at Li's
announcement and grinned. "Great! What do you have?"
"Rising Thunder doesn't exist anymore," Li started, "inspectors of the ministry
of trade and commerce got a bit suspicious and the police crashed their little
party. They have two of the last set of boardmembers in custody, the others
are either dead or escaped. Dirge was in the group that got away. The
interesting part is that the police discovered that he had a bit of land on
Commenor and he went there, or so it shows in their records. I'm sure he
wouldn't be there anymore, but I think we can pick up some extra leads down
there."
"Then we go to Commenor, and from there where ever the new lead takes us." A
small red light began to flash on the communicator at Lorgal's belt and he
glanced at it. "Especially since our work here is now completely concluded.
Whenever you are ready..."
Li now had confirmation about the reason of him joining the little party. She
could have handled this alone, with her fighter, but it was clear they had some
business, probably only marginally legal, on Imperial Center. It wasn't her
business, and she wouldn't worry about it.
"Let's go then," she said.
Lorgal's bulk rose from the couch, which gave a thankful squeak, as he nodded
to her. Alekzander poked his head in and said, "The Altdorf's ready to go,
Lorgal, so when you want we can lift off.
"Go ahead, Captain, we're headed to Commenor, I believe Ms. Li has the
coordinates we need."
"Just Commenor for now," Li said, "I'll have to go through the files to get a
more precise location on the planet itself, but I'll have it before we arrive."
When the captain was gone to prepare the departure, Li turned back to Lorgal.
"Nice gun," she said, "there's only one disadvantage, and that's concealment.
And the fact that it's illegal on most worlds to walk around with a thing like
that."
Lorgal's grin nearly split his face. "I don't usually worry about a thing like
concealment, and when I cart it around I usually don't get bothered by whatever
passes for the law on most planets. Besides, this is only my sidearm. I left my
big guns at home."
"Why do I have the feeling I don't want to find out," Li said with a smile,
"well, I'm going to see what I can find out more in those files. I'm in my
quarters if you need me."
"Right," the big barabel said as he turned to follow the Altdorf's captain into
the cockpit. Minutes later, the Corellian Corvette launched from the platform
and rocketed into space towards its destination.
"The Morning After"
By: Mielikki Aune (PC)
Cirran Tyris (PC)
Tasia Harough (NPC+)
J20 RA7 (NPC+)
Location: , Drogen Shipyards
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Cocooned in a tangle of blankets, Mielikki jolted awake instantaneously
from her slumber and clutched her head in her hands, a light sheen of
sweat covering her spotted form. That dream, she had it again, the one
that so vividly reminded her of the day the Empire invaded. The
memories always seemed to come in bits and pieces, sometimes she would
dream specific memories of that time in her troubled youth and other
times she would recall playing with her sister peacefully only to be
swept up by men in blinding white armor and helmets who tore her from
her sister into separate directions. Deciding that sleep would not
come easily, Mielikki rose from the floor thin blanket still wrapped
around her small form.
Quietly she peeked out from her room before padding out into the ship,
aimlessly she looked around trying to rid the memories of the dream
from her mind, its imprint still fresh and bright. Shivering she
pulled the blanket tighter around her form and continued walking until
she found herself in the ship's cockpit. Immediately she spied a tall
form hunched over in one of the chairs and saw that Cirran sat
sleeping upright, though apparently in a rather uncomfortable
position, or at least to Mielikki's viewpoint. Had he sat watch all
night?
Squatting down next to the chair Mielikki tossed her thin blanket over
Cirran's frame and studied his features inquisitively, trying to read
his thoughts as his eyes registered REM. She had lost track of time
until eventually she fall asleep herself.
It was only a short time later, as light from the station's artificial
day cycle streamed into the cockpit, that Cirran awoke with a start,
probably caused by his pleasant surprise that no-one was trying to
kill him at that particular point in time. His own vague dreams had
been full of both shadowy figures, laughing at him out of reach, and a
not so shadowy Gamorrean in a chef's hat who was trying to make him
the final morsel at the end of a giant, well-laden kebab skewer. No
need to psychoanalyze that one too hard, he thought to himself, as
last night's events came rushing back.
He stretched and was further
reminded of what had taken place on his ship recently by the all-over
body ache he seemed to be feeling. As he groaned, he registered the
blanket over him, and then the Veaseph girl sleeping on the floor of
the cockpit. She has to be cold. And uncomfortable. I guess she's
used to sleeping pretty rough...and I complain about my bunk, he
thought grimly. It helped him realize that despite the pain and
trouble he was in, he had probably done the right thing, and a smile
flashed over his face. Still, things were undoubtedly a mess. He hoped
Walker had the Twi'lek in a cell by now, but even if that was the
case, between the truly unexpected arrival of Mielikki, having Ares
after him, and whatever the meaning of Jax's taunting message was,
he'd be damned if he knew what he was going to do next.
The moment the light touched her face, Mielikki awakened from her
slumber. She sat upright, and glanced in Cirran's direction hearing
him groan out in pain. She felt bad for the pilot, having dragged him
into this mess that was her life, she could only imagine what his life
consisted of from what he had told her of the previous night. "You
look worse than I feel," she remarked, "Are you gonna be alright?" she
asked, touching a hand to his face trying to judge the severity of the
angry black and blue bruise along his jaw.
"I dare say. I've had worse lately, sadly," Cirran replied, wincing
slightly, and gingerly touching the bruise himself. "This is why I
prefer to fight with a ship. Sure you might get vaporized, but you
don't get the crap painfully kicked out of you before it happens." He
sat up in the chair with a pained expression, and looked down at
Mielikki. "So - good morning," he said, smiling at the randomness of the
universe, that he now found this girl in his cockpit.
"I...uh...woke up in the middle of the night and wandered around, since I
couldn't sleep and I noticed that some-- I mean I noticed you were still
here, I was worried and decided to come see if you were okay," she
replied quickly, noting her face suddenly felt warmer, she smiled
embarrassedly.
"Well, I think I'm mostly fine, although I'm not so impressed with
myself for falling asleep when I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out
for your Twi'lek friend," Cirran admitted. "But it seems that you're
still here, and I'm still alive, so I guess he didn't come back. I
guess that means our next move is...breakfast?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me...can't remember when I last ate...or
rather anything that actually resembled food that I heard of," she
replied shrugging her shoulders. "But I'm up for anything," she stated
sincerely.
The sound of metal scraping against metal caught her ears, and both
saw that J20 had awoken, or rather finished his charging cycle. "Up
for anything of what?" the droid asked looking curiously at the
humanoids.
"Anything to eat...save for...well you know that bantha fodder that
Drer gives the slaves." J20 visibly shuddered. "Oh never mind then.
I'm in complete agreement then," the droid replied.
"Right then, now that we have the droid's approval, let's see what we
can find," Cirran said. "I'd better check something first." He fished
out his ever-present commlink and flicked it on. "Walker? Awake yet?"
The gruff voice on the other end of the line sounded tired. "Haven't had
any sleep yet, thanks to you...been up all night processing this
mystery ship of yours. Threw the Twi'lek in a cell - he's a slaver,
all right, and he's running contraband too. We've impounded the ship,
but the slave issue's a legal nightmare...not sure what's gonna happen
to 'em, plus more than a few seem to be quite happy to stay in his
service...I had to lay a couple of 'em out. How did you know to tip us
off anyway, spacer?"
Cirran looked over at Mielikki, thinking that if it was known she was
an escapee from the crime lords service, she could end up in some net
of red tape that might see her detained for processing for months, or
even back with the Twi'lek, if he had good enough lawyers. He decided
Walker didn't need that information just yet.
"I'll tell you later, Walker...but you say the Twi'lek's in a cell?"
"Him and a few of his uncooperative men," Walker confirmed.
"Right, cheers." Cirran flicked off the commlink. "Looks like it's
safe to go for a wander for some breakfast...maybe we can call past
medical, too," he added wincing, concluding he had possibly cracked
some ribs.
"Alright, but first before we head out, you don't suppose you have
something I could wear...no offense but a girl like me might draw you
some unwanted attention...dressed this like this, anyway."
Cirran looked Mielikki up and down, kept doing it just a bit too long,
and then realized he was doing it. "Uh...good point," he finally
acknowledged. "Although I'm not sure I have much in the way of
suitable clothing around," he finished, thinking of his wardrobe that
consisted mostly of coveralls designed to fit his own nearly 2 metre
frame. "I might have an idea, though." He raised the commlink again,
dialing it to a different frequency.
"Hey, Tasia. Guess who?" he tried uncertainly into the device.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," the foreman was overheard mumbling
in reaction. She cleared her throat and answered at full volume now.
"Mr. Tyris...have another dangerous and completely unprofitable
proposition for me? You do realize Anoran nearly sent me out of an
airlock the last time, I hope."
Cirran winced slightly, remembering the events that unfolded last time
he had talked Tasia into helping him out with something. Nevertheless,
he pressed on cheerfully: "Oh come on, I'm putting adventure into your
life! Plus Walker tells me you've been on holiday, for which I'm sure
you were overdue, and for which I was the inspiration - from a certain
point of view."
"Lerrah and I prefer to call it 'running for our hides', but 'vacation'
could work too," Tasia stated caustically. "So...what is it you want?
A freebie ship tune-up?"
Cirran paused briefly and looked skywards. There was nothing for it
but to just say it. "Clothes," he sighed into the commlink. "I need you
come to my ship with some of your clothes."
There was a stifled laugh that transformed into a snicker. "My
clothes?" she repeated, still chuckling. "How...kinky. Do you want
to borrow some heels, too?"
Cirran smiled. "Don't think I'd fit them. But they aren't for me...I
have something of a situation here...well, you'll see when you get
here. I promise no fleeing required...at least not initially."
"Ooh...now I'm intrigued," Tasia purred. "Where should I meet you?
And how slinky a dress do you want?"
"Come to my ship, she's in bay 63 - oh, and she's a bit shinier than
the last time you might have seen her. Don't bring anything too
slinky..." he looked Mielikki up and down briefly "...we've got
slinky covered here - we're trying to avoid attention."
"You're no fun," she sighed. "I'll be right over."
"Was that a friend of yours or something of sorts between an enemy and
shall I say a colleague?" Mielikki asked, trying to hide the smile
that was creeping across her features.
J20 shrugged, "Well whoever she was she certainly sounded quite upset,
and her sense of humor was truly most peculiar indeed." The RA-7 unit
shrugged his mechanical shoulders again before turning to the side
slightly.
Cirran wondered how to best answer the question. "Tasia and me go way
back..." He frowned. "No, that's not right...we go back, anyway.
Let's just say we've had some rather intense experiences in each
other's company...she won't sell you out to anyone, anyway. Plus
hopefully she's about your size."
"Now I'm really curious about what kind of person this woman is," she
remarked. "Though I do question her taste of clothing given her
suggested offerings," Mielikki added before leaning against the wall.
Cirran smiled. "I guess we'll see what she's come up when she gets
here. And speaking of visitors, I think I had better go to take
another look at that godsdamned ramp of mine until she does. If it had
decided to drop open when your Twi'Lek friend had shown up, I think
we'd have been in serious trouble." He stood up and stretched.
"There's some food back in the cabin somewhere...not anything much
more exciting than protein bars, I'm afraid," he said apologetically.
"That's alright, I don't think I've ever had rations in a long time. I
wonder if they're anything like the rations I remember from back
home..." she thought growing nostalgic, only to feel an accompanying
pain at the thought that she didn't know what happened to her father
or brother during the war with the Empire along with her sister.
"Where is the cabin again?" she asked, quickly diverting her mind from
the subject.
"I call the bunk area the cabin," Cirran explained. "Follow me, it's a
bit of a mess, but I'll dig them out of the right cupboard." He led
Mielikki back to the small living area of the freighter and rooted
around in some cupboards until he emerged with a couple of ration
packs. "Go for your life," he said, handing one to her. "I'm going to
take a look at these servos - don't be surprised if you hear me
swearing loudly. The droid can plug himself in the cargo bay if he
needs power." He grabbed a hydrospanner, noting with slight annoyance
that it would have made a much a better weapon than the length of
tubing he had picked up in the dark last night, and headed further
back into the ship to begin tinkering with its idiosyncratic entry
system.
Mielikki fiddled around with a ration pack before she managed to open
it, and pulled out a protein bar which she sniffed curiously before
taking a tentative bite. "Definitely nothing like what I remember,"
she remarked to herself before taking another bite. "Good though." She
leaned back against the bunk as she continued her meal for a few
minutes Grabbing another protein bar she grimaced as she noticed the
lights briefly dim before flickering back on, followed by a string of
what sounded like curses in Huttese followed by clinking noises. "You
need any help?" she called out to Cirran.
There were loud mutterings from the cargo bay. "Do you know how to
speak Trandoshan? Because I'm pretty sure that's what this piece of
Sithspit subsystem is programmed in," came the reply. The lights in the
ship dimmed again.
"A little, if that helps any," she called back. Protein bar forgotten
for the moment Mielikki got up and made her way to the cargo bay where
she heard Cirran's voice.
Cirran was standing over the small podium that housed the supposedly
simple system that lowered the ship's ramp, muttering to himself and
looking very much like he wanted to take to it with the hydrospanner
he was holding in a more violent manner than the one for which the
tool was designed. "The blasted thing seems to thing we're in space,"
he said. "Can't get the ramp open to check the hydraulics, and there
seems to be something here about an emergency override - but who
knows, it may as well be in Wookiee. And I have no idea why we lost
the lights. Bloody fluidics...who builds anything using fluidics
anymore, anyway?"
Mielikki walked over to where Cirran stood and furrowed her brow as
she attempted to make sense of the gibberish the computer was giving
her. "Who in the galaxy programmed this thing?" Mielikki asked reading
the data feedout before looking back up to Cirran.
Cirran frowned. "It was like this when I bought the ship - one of the
reasons it was so cheap." He didn't add that his half-informed and
under-funded attempts to fix the problem and only resulted in
additional malfunctions. "If you grab that handle over there, we can
try the emergency manual release," he said continuing to enter commands
into the system, mostly at random.
"Sure. It's worth a shot, even if it is apparently in the dark," she
replied before moving to grab the said handle. "Ready when you are."
"OK, give it a go," Cirran nodded. Mielikki pulled down on the
emergency release, which in theory should have opened the cargo hold
even in flight. Nothing happened. Cirran sighed. "Looks like we're
going to starve to death in here...guess I'll try and bypass the
system entirely." He moved onto the ramp itself in order to access the
system's feed line. "Can you pass me that plasma cutter?" he asked his
lovely assistant.
"Here you go." She picked up the tool and handed it to Cirran,
watching as he worked curious with interest. "So what exactly are you
hoping to accomplish, trying to hotwire the ramp so it will do your
bidding for you?" she asked teasingly.
"Well, I'll be happy if I can just get it to..." Cirran started, but
he didn't get to finish his sentence as the ramp, which seemed to have
been waiting for an opportune moment to strike, dropped without
warning into the space below the ship. Mielikki and Cirran were sent
suddenly tumbling down its slope to land in a tangle of limbs on the
hangar deck as the ramp crashed into it.
"Should have seen that coming," Cirran sighed wearily, after a moment
or two of silence.
"Maybe we should just hire an exorcist," Mielikki mumbled as she
lifted her head up, hitting her head against Cirran's chin in the
process. "Ow! Sorry," she remarked grabbing at her temple in pain.
Cirran rubbed his bruised chin painfully, and attempted to sit up as
much as was possible with Mielikki largely on top of him. "Yes, or
maybe I should FLY THE DAMNED SHIP INTO A STAR. You HEAR ME, SHIP!" he
bellowed up at his vessel. The ship offered no reply. Venting
complete, Cirran sank back onto the deck with a ringing head. It had
been a tough 48 hours.
Sounds of hurried mechanical scuffling was heard, and Mielikki heard
J20 call out worriedly. "What happened? Are you two alright!? Should I
send for help!?"
"Your droid worries too much," Cirran muttered from the ground. "Or in
light of recent events around here, maybe not enough."
A shadow descended over the two entangled forms upon the flightdeck,
from which issued an amused, throaty chuckle. As Cirran looked up and
Mielikki craned her neck to do the same, Tasia Harough leaned over to
peer down at them. She was grinning slyly. "See? I knew you wanted
kinky."
Cirran struggled guiltily to extricate himself from under Mielikki.
"We were trying to fix the ramp," he explained lamely.
"It's true, it just so happened to decide to drop when we were both
standing on it, I mean really who programs a ramp to open itself at
random--" Mielikki tripped in her attempt to stand, her legs entangled
within Cirran's longer legs, causing her to fall forward and giving
Cirran barely enough time to catch her.
Tasia nodded her head skeptically, amused by their flustered display.
"Sure thing... Now" --she raised her hand, in which was clutched a
pair of black cropped pants and an ivory tunic-- "who do these belong
to?"
Cirran scowled slightly. "Fetching as I'm sure that'd look on me,
they're for her. Tasia Harough, meet Mielikki," Cirran said, getting
Mielikki and himself into a stable standing position with a final
steadying hand.
The Veaseph offered an embarrassed half smile to Tasia as she was
handed the garments. "Thank you, though I'm afraid I can't offer you
anything in return..." she remarked, lowering her head.
Shrugging, Tasia quipped, "Don't worry...seeing you two engaging in foreplay on
the flightdeck is payment enough."
Cirran reddened slightly. "Look, we're not..." he started, and then
sighed. "Doesn't matter," he decided. "How did your own run from bounty
hunter justice go anyway, chief?" he asked. "Mine was a regular barrel
of laughs."
"Don't even mention it," she grunted, her cheerful expression twisting
into a scowl. "You got us into that. I hardly think it's a
laughing
matter." Then, Tasia grinned again. "Though, watching you fumble
through a pathetic attempt at sex makes it all better."
Cirran sighed again. "Look, I already told you it's not like that -
she's a pleasure slave! Er, I mean she was a pleasure slave," he
added hastily, as Mielikki looked at him askance.
"It's not like I chose to become a pleasure slave! The situation is
complicated..." Mielikki barked in rebuttal. "Now if you're both through
catching up I'm going to go change."
Cirran caught Tasia's inquisitive look. "It's a long story," he
explained, and then considered that statement. "Actually, it's a pretty
short story. She ran off from some Twi' Lek criminal and hid in my
ship, I found her, a Gamorrean showed up, I tackled him, he ran off
and came back with her boss to get her back, I objected, he took off,
and Walker caught him and hurled him in the brig. Now you've turned up
here with clothes. I think that about covers it."
The sound of metal footsteps heralded the arrival of the RA-7 unit, who
had been concerned to see the look on Mielikki's face as she stormed
back into the ship. "She seems upset. Did I do something wrong?" he
asked Cirran and Tasia.
"No," Tasia assured the droid facetiously, "but your owner did. He
just declared his newest girlfriend a prostitute." She gave Cirran a
simpering smile. "How charming!"
J20 jumped at Tasia's remark, and at first began speaking in his
normal buzzing speech before composing himself. "A prostitute?!
Mielikki may be a slave girl, but she is not a prostitute!!" He then
looked over to Cirran briefly. "And this man is certainly not my
owner! More or less he's an acquaintance."
Cirran buried his face in his hands. He suddenly felt old. "The
droid's right, it's not mine...it came free with the girl. No, I
mean..." He took a deep breath. "Look, I'm going to stop trying to dig
my way out of this nice little hole I've made for myself. She's a
runaway slave, Tasia, and as may be clear by now..." here he turned
his back on J20, and lowered his voice, hoping the droid wouldn't
hear, "...I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Where does the
station management stand on this sort of thing, do you know?"
"If I know anything about Anoran," Tasia replied in all seriousness
now, "prostitution is not something she allows. You could turn these
people in...and earn the ire of these very dangerous individuals, or you
could just stay out of it." She smirked. "Even with Walker's
protection, I'd choose the latter."
Cirran sighed. "Too late. I turned them in already. But then what's
the ire of a few more dangerous people? It seems I won't be happy
until the entire galaxy is out to kill me. I didn't think, I just sort
of...rescued. It sounds like she's had it pretty tough... and the poor
kid's probably out of the frying pan and into the fire if she stays
hanging out with me. Look,you've got some pull around this place, do
you think you could find her a job somewhere - one that involved
standing up? She seems to know a bit about machines. Right, droid?" he
asked J20 for confirmation.
"Mielikki knows more about droids if anything, but she does certainly
know enough to get by. I hope you're not suggesting she works for
this woman here," the RA-7 unit replied eyeing Tasia warily.
"She can hardly be worse than your former 'employer'," Cirran retorted,
only the smallest smidgen of doubt crossing his mind as he said it.
Mielikki had just caught the tail end of the group's conversation as
she descended the ramp, now dressed in the clothing given to her by
Tasia, her former attire was rolled together into the skirt, neatly and
was tucked under her arm. The feeling of the garments felt alien to
her, she could not recall the last time she had ever dressed in the
equivalent of normal clothing designed to cover her form rather than
to expose her spotted skin. "What's going on?" she asked, stopping
at the bottom of the ramp.
Tasia's keen brown eyes scanned the girl from head to toe. She
emitted an approving sound. "I think I can work something
out...especially if she comes to work everyday looking like she is
now." Her smile was wholly unchaste, though it lasted only a moment
before she became stern. "But I swear, Tyris, if her former owners end
up coming to look for her and make a mess of things on my flightdeck,
I'll have Walker pound you into the deckplating. Deal?"
Cirran frowned, wondering if Walker would side with him or Tasia in
such a situation, and deciding that Tasia could probably provide
certain favours for the big sergeant that he couldn't. "Pounded into
the deckplating. Got it." He put that image out of his mind, and
flashed a smile at a confused looking Mielikki. "Think I just got you a
job," he said.
"That's great!" Mielikki replied cheerfully a smile on her face, it melted
though as realization kicked in. Granted getting a job was one thing,
but what good would that do her if she had no place to return to? "But
what am I going to do about living conditions? I can't hide with you
forever..." she finished, looking to Cirran.
"Well, once Tasia here starts giving you paychecks, there's plenty of
low rental stuff on the station," Cirran said, thinking back to the
uncomfortable time he had spent in his super cheap accommodation on his
first arrival. "In the meantime though, maybe Walker or Tasia can find
you somewhere, or there's always the ship...although I can understand
you might not want to...I mean...well, you know," he finally trailed
off uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck. Tasia looked amused.
"Tyris, you're an absolute coward, you know that?" Smiling at
Mielikki reassuringly, Tasia offered, "You can stay with me for a
while...until you can find your own accommodations, because I know
you certainly wouldn't want to bunk with Cirran. I mean, how many
showers can a girl take in a day to wash off all the drool he'll be
spilling?"
Cirran grimaced, but seemed to swallow his retort...slightly. "You'll
be fine with Tasia..." he confirmed to Mielikki, "....probably," he
finished almost inaudibly. J20 looked alarmed at this last part, and
seemed to start scrutinising Tasia afresh. Cirran nudged the droid
with his elbow where it would have had ribs if it was alive. "Don't
worry, droid. She's OK. She's just never forgiven me for crashing
into her hangar deck," he said to the automation by way of explanation.
"Alright then, Jaytwo and I will stay with Tasia until I'm able to
move out and afford a place of my own...which hopefully will not be a
long time," Mielikki replied after hearing over Tasia's suggestion.
She then looked to Tasia, "I doubt we'll be seeing my former mast--"
She bit the last word as thought it were acidic before quickly
correcting herself. "I mean my former owner will show up anytime
soon...I don't think he quite knew what he was getting himself into
when he came to this station..."
"Ha, who does?" Cirran laughed. Both women were looking at him
somewhat strangely though, so he wiped the smile off his face.
"Ahem...right, well, you keep your head down Mielikki, and if you need
anything, you let me know," he said, smiling reassuringly.
"Don't worry," Tasia assured Cirran, her smile uncomfortably suggestive,
"I'll give her everything she needs."
"Nearly everything I'm sure," Mielikki replied reddening. "I'm sorry
but I don't accept propositions from anyone...former pleasure slave or
not." Before Tasia could offer any suggestive replies J20 stepped forward.
"Mielikki if you wish to leave, I'm ready," the droid said. She nodded.
"I'm ready to go Jaytwo." She looked to Cirran and smiled shyly. "Thank
you for helping us, I really appreciate all that you've done to help me and
Jaytwo." She paused. "Will I see you again?" Her tone was uncertain as
she asked the question, she knew that Drer was locked away yet...part
of herself also feared the possibility that this was all a sheer chance of
luck.
Cirran flashed an only-slightly-unbalanced-looking grin. "Assuming
nobody vapes me shortly, the odds of which I'd put at about 60-40 at
the moment, then definitely. I'll be around. If Tasia gives you any
hassles then let me know, and I'll tell Lerrah on her." He pretended
he couldn't see Tasia's scowl. It's not like she'd probably mind...
he thought to himself. "We should have a drink sometime..." he
continued to Mielikki, "...meet under better circumstances maybe.
There are some good bars around here...no, that's a lie, but the
chances of being attacked by an angry Gamorrean with a spear in any
given one of them are, oh, I would say, at least a good 5 to 10
percent lower than they were last night."
Mielikki gave him a smile in return, and then she and her droid
followed Tasia out of the bay. Cirran watched them go, and then turned
and headed up the malfunctioning ramp of his ship.
"Well, what do you think, Hope?" he asked his ship as he entered the
cargo bay. The ship did not offer its opinion.
"Yeah, I know, I know," Cirran continued, slumping wearily onto a
packing crate, "I've got enough problems of my own...like talking to a
ship, for example...still..."
As he got up to begin working on the ship's ramp again, he couldn't
help thinking that although the Veasaph girl seemed to have at least
temporarily disappeared from as life as quickly as she arrived in it,
a new set of complications had arrived in his already complex life.
"Order of Business: Part 2"
By Amii'a Val'or
NPC's
Location: New Plouton
Date: Selene 20th, 5ABY
***
Someone knew, Amii'a thought as she sat inside the
hover van, surrounded by high tech surveillance
equipment. Once is a coincidence, twice most surely
isn't, she thought in regards to the bombing of
Minister Ueb's personal suite the day before, and the
mysterious circumstances of Minister A'jassu's own
demise the day after. Both were culprits in a web of
political corruption that she had been charged with
bringing to justice. Both were killed before she
could do so, before either could be depositioned. A
third time will not happen, she thoughtfully
commanded.
Several city blocks away she sat and listened as
Minister Urioq ranted and raved about the shocking
deaths of two Council members, two who were political
colleagues, two who were apparent cohorts in a tangled
web of corruption and deceit. She had wanted to bring
them all in to solidify her case against Ambassador
Theen, but deep down she had held high hopes that it
would prove his innocence. It was still painful to
think the New Republic Ambassador, her long-time
friend, could be in the middle of such erroneousness.
She had triple checked all the gathered information
herself, even having had her blue protocol droid
confirm all the corroborating evidence. Droids are
many things, she thought - not entirely confident in
their place of society. But they don't run on
emotions and desires like people, they are true to
their programming.
"Madam Consular, the target is on the move," a young
security officer informed as he noted the trace on his
screen for her to see.
She had obtained the proper warrants, and had
staked-out her mark and had placed a tracking device
upon Minister Urioq's speeder. She had put in motion a
plan to apprehend the man before he two was destroyed.
"Yelzara, we are ready," Amii'a informed by way of a
secure comlink. The message was encrypted and sent to
a special agent who sat by the minister's side. She
had been placed under the guise that she was taking
the minister into protective custody by order of the
High Princess- as there was an apparent death list on
key members of the Council.
Amii'a thought it was fitting, and not entirely
untrue. After all, there was an apparent conspiracy to
off those she was to apprehend, and the High Princess
had ordered the likes of Minister Urioq into
apprehension, Just not for the same reasons the
Minister has been led to believe, she thought with
some satisfaction. She was pleased with the plan, and
did want to apprehend the man before he too could be
killed, but she wanted to do so to bring him to
justice and try to get to the bottom of all that had
transpired.
"Alright people, the target is in motion," she said to
her team. "Maintain positions and communications
silence. When the traffic signals change, all agents
move out."
Amii'a had arranged for the path to come to a stop,
having among her entourage a government slicer who
would remotely control the Minister's droid chauffeur
and would change the traffic signals to stop all
traffic at a four corner intersection on the ground
level of the heart of New Plouton. The path was not
preplanned, only Amii'a knew. She wanted to be
cautious and didn't trust the information to not be
leaked. Only she, Meer'esh and the High Princess were
privy to the list of those political figures to be
apprehended. Two had been taken out already.
She waited.
Waited.
The Minister's speeder approached. She silently
instructed directions for his speeder by pointing to
left and right turns for the slicer to command the
droid driver. The intersection she had chosen, that
she waited upon, was very near. She checked her other
screen, her teams' positions were in motion, each
being directed by a coordinator that took direction
from Amii'a's droid. Only she and it new the route for
the teams and the Minister's speeder, and where they
all would meet.
"Here," she ordered verbally for the first time since
she had called for communications silence. All teams
stopped, the slicer changed the traffic signals to
stop traffic on all levels. "GO!" she ordered, and she
exited the hover van to converge upon the speeder with
the rest of her team.
Exiting her vehicle she noted all team members that
converged from every direction. It seemed a well
choreographed operation, everything was in-place.
Amii'a allowed herself a moment of satisfaction.
And then all hell broke out.
A deafening roar of explosion rocked the intersection.
A wave of heat and a concussive blast knocked her back
against the hover van. The world around her was
silent and time seemed to slow to an eerie crawl as a
maelstrom of thoughts and emotions flooded her mind.
She hit the van with considerable force, the world
around her quickly faded to black.
Her eyes fluttered opened, foggy and unfocused. Her
mind was jumbled, her thoughts incoherent. Sounds came
and went as her hearing struggled to process
information to her brain, everything was chaos.
She thought for a moment that only a few seconds had
passed. As she regained her senses and fought to place
everything into order, she realized that more than a
few seconds had transpired. Looking around, still
blinking and still processing, she could see that her
staging point had changed dramatically. Traffic was
everywhere, emergency vehicles and crews were
clearing debris, guiding traffic, maintaining traffic
stops, and the smoldering wreckage of the Minister's
speeder, what was left, was being extinguished.
"What the hell," she tried to say, her voice breaking
and sticking into: uh-uh ell?!
"It was the Minister's speeder Consular," the robotic
voice of her droid informed. "It seems to have
self-destructed. You were harmed in the blast, but the
medics assure me you have sustained no lasting damage
to your body or programming."
Amii'a heard the droid's words, but didn't. She was too
concerned about the Minister's demise, the agent that
had escorted him, her failed objection to bring the
man to justice, and having been undermined yet again.
She boiled from within, wanting to scream and curse,
but her raging thoughts and emotions were dammed. All
she could do was sit there and let the tears of
frustration flow.
"Doing Stuff"
by Chun Li (currently Ivana Skonezcna) - PI, escort pilot
Location: In Hyperspace, en route to Commenor
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
Li was in her room, or the closet that was supposed to be her room. At least
it was bigger then the room in her fighter, but space was still not unlimited
on the Corellian corvette. As a freighter, most of the ship's space was for
moving cargo, not for bunking crew members or passengers.
She sat on her bed reading the datapads she had downloaded from the police
station, trying to figure out where on Commenor she had to be, and also what
extra information she could get. Specially the financial information was
useful, and certainly the account information. If one had a lot of accounts
with banks on one planet, there was a high probability that he showed up on
that planet at one time.
She spent a couple of hours going through all the information, making notes on
another datapad, so she could find back the important stuff easily later on.
While she had done this often enough, she still liked to stretch her legs from
time to time, if the possibility existed. Now it did, so she stood up and
walked to the almost empty cargo bay. There she had set up a small range for
blaster practice. Reducing the power of the blaster so it couldn't do any real
damage, she started her daily practice.
A couple of crew members joined in and it became a bit of a game. Li only had
to let one of the gunners go before her, proving she could hold her own in a
blaster fight. After the practice she put her blaster back on full power and
walked back to her quarters to dig some more in the files she had stolen.
"Party Pooper"
By: Merrick Braston
Analesse D'vrishay
Reinrich Tas [NPC+]
Felicita Hes'ta
Location: Rondeau Hall - Yesdol, New Plouton
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
"Duke N'Beras! You're looking well this evening." Receiving a
gracious wave from the Aqualish mogul, the starstruck reporter flashed
his toothy grin at the holorecorder hovering before him to begin his
introduction. "I'm Dack Fischler from 'TIN Scoop!' schmoozing with the
celebrities outside of Rondeau Hall where we're gathered for a very
special someone's Name Day--"
A very sharp, nearly giddy gasp swallowed the man's words as one of
Tae'Karada's most popular entertainers came into view. The reporter
scurried towards the fleeing musician, hollering his name. Having
flagged his target down, the man turned on his smile and thrust a
microphone under the musician's nose as he trotted alongside him.
"Mr. Braston! How are you doing tonight? You look great!"
"I'm doing fantastic," Merrick Braston said, flashing a star's smile.
"We're really looking forward to the party tonight, and what a night
for it. I don't think we've had a night this great for quite awhile."
He turned slightly to his side to Analesse and gave her hand, still
nestled snuggly in his, a squeeze. "It's a perfect night."
Analesse refused comment, only smiling politely at the reporters, even
as many shouted questions concerning their illicit affair, and the
still unknown whereabouts of Merrick's wife. They were both
well-acquainted with such questions, and had learned they were best
ignored - it was the easiest way to avoid more controversy by
accidentally saying the wrong thing.
Dazzling in their formal wear, Analesse and Merrick managed to finally
clear the swarm of reporters and enter the hall. Doors barred the
inquiring photographers and journalists from gaining entry, and from
putting a damper on their evening.
"Wow," Analesse sighed, looking back for a moment to ensure they
hadn't been followed. "They were pressing so close I thought I'd lose
my dress."
"With this group," Merrick said as he looked around, "I don't think
they would have noticed if you did. Would you like a drink? I think
I see someone passing by over there with a tray."
Analesse nodded, and the two passed the foray into the ballroom. It
was like so many of the social functions they'd attended together,
with much of the same people, and music just as dull. Tawdry, flashy
gowns abounded, the women encased within them nearly bursting through
the seams and alluding not to their substantial girths, but to their
vanity in believing their too-small dresses need not conform to their
actual physical measurements. Analesse, on the other hand, was far
more up to date with the current trends and well-acquainted with
subtlety, if not absolutely subscribing to it that night.
Her willowy frame was perfectly fitted to the long dress, made of a
black, iridescent material that displayed varying shades of purple,
all deep and rich. Although strapless, her neckline was modest, though
she flaunted far more flesh through a slit on the right side, one that
continued beyond her thigh to the edge of the topmost hem, leaving a
thick gap along her side that exposed the curve of her hip and the
contour of one breast. The cleaved fabric was held together by a
wide strip of diaphanous lace that concealed nothing; the other side
of her dress was the same, only differing in that there was no slit,
only a length of lace running straight from bottom hem to top. Just
as much flesh peeked through. Analesse wore the dress well, appearing
not in the least self-conscious about the alluring garment, for she
wore it only for Merrick and no one else in the room.
Merrick picked two glasses from the tray of a passing server and
handed one of the bubbling beverages to Analesse. "You know, one of
these days we really should host one of these and show this set what
real music is. I think I've heard this piece at every party we've
been to, and age and repetition isn't improving it."
Analesse shrugged delicate, slender shoulders. "It's the house band.
What do you expect from amateurs?" She sparkled when a smile curled
her lips. "You thinking of getting up there and showing them how it's done?"
"It's my night to not be up there showing everyone how it's done,"
Merrick said with a chuckle. "I will thoroughly enjoy myself at your
side, and endure the music. Besides, I don't think I would enjoy
myself being away from you for that long."
Watching him alluringly from past the brim of her glass, Analesse
chided, "Sweet-talker. Why bother trying? You know you'll be coming
home with me tonight no matter what."
"Just saying it as I see it," Merrick said. "And, I like it when you
look at me like that."
"Who says I'm looking at you in any way?" she asked coyly. Gaze
shifting quickly towards one of the banquet tables, Analesse
straightened alertly and lowered her glass. "It's Felicita. I need
to speak with her...but I won't be long. You can get us something to
eat, maybe?"
"Of course," Merrick said with a grin. "I just hope half the table
isn't Chippin Delight again."
"So do we both," she answered with a gentle laugh. Pressing her lips
to his cheek, Analesse whispered, "After we're seen for a while, we
can leave. Kim has Aria all night, correct?"
"All night," Merrick confirmed. "She even said she could watch her
all morning tomorrow if you wanted breakfast in bed."
"If? You know I do, so stop teasing." And planting another kiss to
his cheek, she departed for the always ebullient Felicita Hes'tar.
A delighted, hooting laugh shook the plump woman, who had chosen a
long, draping gown as opposed to the constricting numbers she normally
selected. Analesse smiled to herself, wondering if the courteous
suggestion concerning Felicita's choice in garments had been taken to
heart by the elderly lady. It was amusing to, for once, advise her mentor.
Felicita had begun chatting away again to the small circle of
aristocrats who only half-listened as their eyes quested about in
search of other more influential attendees they could latch onto and
fawn over for personal gain, as they were now doing with Felicita.
For the time being, however, Felicita's tale provided an amusing break
in the night's tedium and an opportunity to rub elbows with one of
Tae'Karada's most powerful women; feigning laughter, they believed,
was an effective way to curry her favour, even if it they had chosen
an ill-timed moment in the story to express their false amusement.
Analesse, however, knew Felicita Hes'Tar, understood that she was not
impressed or affected by such contrived displays. In fact, the woman
relished in keeping her audience literally captive with her elaborate
stories, and making them absolutely miserable without giving away her
true aim: to expose them for the absurd fools they truly were. She
enjoyed it so much, Analesse was hesitant to intrude, but required a
moment of her mentor's time. Waiting for the punchline of Felicita's
humourous narration to be delivered, Analesse came up beside the older
woman and requested a private chat. As the others forced chortles and
summoned shrill titters, Felicita excused herself and walked off with
Analesse. The gap her departure made in the circle was quickly closed up.
"My dear girl," Felicita was observing as they found a spot out of the
way, "you are a vivacious one, aren't you? A ravishing outfit!"
Leaning in, Felicita playfully asked, "May I borrow it one night? I
dare say I would astound in that one!" Her clarion laughter rang
through the hall, though little attention was drawn since many were
accustomed to Felicita's raucous vocalizations and simply quaffed
their liquored beverages to mitigate the painful ring in their ears.
She chuckled lowly, then, and grinned mischievously up at Analesse.
"I do enjoy tormenting them. If only they knew how that is the
highlight of these dreadful evenings!"
"You're truly horrible, Felicita," Analesse teased fondly. "I don't
know why you attend these parties if you hate them so. In fact, I
wish you wouldn't. Your attendance is the only reason I come,
otherwise I would gladly stay home."
Felicita watched her with an accusing eye as she chided, "Don't lie to
me, my girl. You come for the boon to your status on this planet. If
you didn't make an appearance here once in a while, you'd be nothing."
"And I'm something as it is?" Analesse shook her head, smiling
wanly. "The White Noise's renovation is stalled indefinitely. I don't
have the proper connections yet, Felicita. I don't know how to get
out of this rut a certain someone's put me in."
"Reinrich again?" At Analesse's nod, Felicita sighed wearily. "That
brat is certainly persistent, is he not? I'll go ahead and make a few calls."
Analesse took Felicita's hands and squeezed them in gratitude. "You
know I wouldn't ask for your help if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
I value your friendship more than I do your list of contacts."
"I know, my dear." Her small, yet pudgy hand patted Analesse's cheek.
"Don't worry - let your wonderful, glorious, beautiful friend take
care of this!" Cocking an eyebrow conspiratorially, Felicita
confided, "Besides, if this project doesn't get completed, I'll never
see you married to that adorable musician over there."
Blush wholly visible while spreading over her creamy flesh, Analesse
smiled demurely. "I don't think it's anywhere near that yet. He has
an ex-wife to put in the back of his mind, and only time - a lot of
it! - will accomplish that."
"That," Felicita quipped, "or this dress of yours." As Analesse
chuckled quietly, Felicita's eye caught an intriguing scene playing
out across the way. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly and nodded
past Analesse's shoulder. "It seems you're needed, dear girl, and in a hurry."
Analesse looked back and gasped softly at the situation escalating
quickly behind her. She was already backing away when she returned
her attention to Felicita. "I'm sorry...I need to--"
"Don't you worry about it," she assured her. "I'll take care of your
little problem. You go and handle this, darling!" Her shooing
gesture was entirely unnecessary, for Analesse barely had time to wave
before she was off hurrying through the maze of socialites, hoping to
prevent another embarrassing incident.
***
Merrick took his time strolling around the food table, filling a plate
with tasty morsels that he knew Analesse would like. He passed over a
plate of Chippen Surprise, and added a few stuffed Bespin olives,
before moving along to where he thought he saw a plate of beebleberry
tarts. Lessa would laugh at him for sure, but he knew she would
appreciate the effort. He hummed to himself as he moved off to pick
up some napkins and another drink.
His food hunt, however, was impeded by a solid body clad in black
tuxedo and standing within his path. A wistful sigh preceded the
man's smug chuckle, and his statement: "I love it when she's not
afraid to expose her assets. Sure, it's bad for business, but not for
my own gratification."
"Reinrich Tas," Merrick said with a forced smile. "Why whatever are
you doing here?"
"This is a party for the elite," he explained superciliously, "and I'm
one of them...which would lead me to ask what you're doing here?"
"I'm here for the stuffed olives," Merrick answered. "Oh, and I guess
someone thought I was one of the elite too. You should try one of the
olives, Reinrich, they're quite tasty."
"No thanks," he declined. His smile was voracious as his eyes
continued to travel up and down Analesse's figure. "I have...tastes of
a different kind. Though, so does she." He shifted his gaze to
Merrick. "Has she opened her legs for you yet?"
"Actually, Reinrich, we're still at the holding hands stage," Merrick
said as he followed the man's gaze. "I mean, we only just got out of
the part where I'd pull her hair and she'd kick my shin, and then we'd
accuse each other of having cooties. If you won't have the olives,
maybe you'd prefer one of those sausages there."
His grin broadened with disgusting arrogance. "Those are more her
taste...at least they were that night in the back of my limo. Say,
Braston," Reinrich asked, his innocent curiousity feigned, "does she
still have that birth mark on her inner thigh?" A deep chuckle filled
with lusty mirth shook him. "Oh does she enjoy having it kissed...you
should try sometime, pretty boy."
"Reinrich, what exactly are you trying to do here," Merrick asked,
turning to face the man fully. "I get the feeling you're trying to
get under my skin and make me angry. If that's the case, then you're
not succeeding. Whatever you and Analesse had in the past is in the
past, and will only affect the present if you continue to push it.
Now, do you have anything else you need to say to me, or can I finish
with this and return to my date?"
"Of course," Reinrich allowed, but before stepping out of Merrick's
path, he said, "though do ask her why she hasn't mentioned her past to
you" --he smirked-- "if you can call last month her 'past'."
Merrick blinked slowly. "Do we want to go see what Lessa has to say,
Reinrich?" Merrick half turned. He stopped one of the servers who
was carrying a plate of refreshments out onto the floor. "Excuse me,
the woman there, could you ask her to come see me at the tables here?
It's very important."
The server followed Merrick's brief head gesture, identified Analesse,
then bowed before leaving to carry out his task. Reinrich, meanwhile,
remained smiling. "Ask her all you want - you believe she'll admit
the truth? She's a great bluffer. If you truly knew her that well,
you'd know that." He paused, studying Merrick with mild amusement.
"But then, you really know nothing about her, do you? Not even the
husband she abandoned on her homeworld? Sure, he slapped her around
once in a while, but that's no reason to break the guy's heart, is it?"
"That's not my place to say," Merrick said with a smile. He took a
step closer. "You know nothing about me, do you? My history, what
I've left in the past? All you're doing is trying to get me upset so
you have a chance to get at her. You know, even if there were truth
to what you're saying, I still wouldn't turn my back on her. I'm
guessing you're hoping that if I'm out of the picture, you can sleaze
your way in to try to woo her into your bed. Like that dress she's
wearing? Pretty scandalous, isn't it? And, I'll give you one guess
who she'll be going home with tonight."
Reinrich's conceited smile took on a fierceness as the men stared one
another down. "And I'll give you one guess how many times she's
barely avoided screaming out my name instead of yours."
"Merrick?" Analesse cautiously laid a hand on his shoulder, glancing
between both men with complete bewilderment. "What's going on?"
"Reinrich is trying to make it so I don't have a good time at this
party," Merrick said as he turned to Analesse. "He claims that you
were unfaithful to me, with him. Just a month ago. Oh, and he claims
that you have some difficulty in not screaming out his name instead of
mine. And, you're a great bluffer, and that I would know that if I
truly knew you. Was that it, Reinrich, or was there more?"
"Oh, there's plenty more," he drawled. Only Analesse saw it, but
Reinrich puckered his lips, miming a kiss for his proclaimed lover.
She looked away quickly. "Don't listen to him," she urged Merrick,
though Analesse had begun trembling visibly. Was it rage over
Reinrich's lies or panic over her infidelity being discovered? "Let's
just go, Merrick. Reinrich's toying with you to avoid boredom."
"You say much the same thing when you show up at my place late at
night for some excitement." Reinrich grinning hungrily.
"Shut up," Analesse hissed. "Just be quiet."
"Why? Afraid he'll believe the truth?"
"Reinrich," Merrick said without any hint of a smile, "I suggest you
give up on this fantasy of yours. It's not healthy, and it's liable
to get you hurt. I would question the sanity of anyone who would ever
consider engaging you in any sort of bedsport. You have all the
charms of a Hutt after a mud bath and considering you couldn't even
move the butter dish as you were slavering over Analesse in her dress,
you really can't have much going for you down there to interest a
woman. Now, you've had your fun, I suggest you drop it there and move
on with your life. Let's go, Lessa. The music at this party is
beginning to hurt my ears."
She nodded unsteadily, and while Merrick turned away from Reinrich to
escort her from the party, Analesse remained fixed to Reinrich's
smarmy grin and predatory stare. It was undeniable that he was up to
something...but Analesse had no idea what, aside from the sabotage of
the White Noise's renovations. Not yet, at least.
Although his verbal assault seemed to have ended as they started off,
Reinrich felt it necessary to land another blow, reminding Merrick,
"Just ask her! Ask her how I know about the birthmark." A low
chuckle followed.
Analesse gripped Merrick's hand, urging him not to turn around or
respond, not with Reinrich's comments having gained the attention of
many in the room. "What is he talking about?" she murmured.
"He knows about your birthmark, and that you like to be kissed there,"
Merrick answered as softly as he could. "He claims that you had sex
with him in his limo a month ago. He claimed you left a husband
behind on your homeworld, and that I could expect the same when you
got bored of me, or that was the implication."
Analesse's face paled visibly and thin frame began trembling once
again. "He said that?" Her voice was slightly breathless. "And do
you believe him?"
"He does seem to know a lot of personal information about you,
Analesse," Merrick said. "I don't want to believe it, but he seems to
have a lot of private, specific information."
In the semi-seclusion of the foray, Analesse tore her hand free of
Merrick's and rounded on him. She was far more devastated than angry.
"I told you I'd never been with him. I can't explain how he knows
what he knows...but nothing he said is true. What kind of woman do
you think I am, Merrick, to believe that I'd had sex with another man
- in the back of a limo, of all places! - while we were together.
Please tell me you're not serious."
"He found out somehow, Analesse," Merrick said. "Somehow, he's come
by the information, and that's what scares me. There are men who are
complete slime, yet have all sorts of charm and could woo a woman into
their bed. Reinrich Tas has no charm, and I couldn't imagine him ever
succeeding at seducing anyone with half a brain." He shook his head.
"I don't believe him, Analesse. After the time we've been together,
everything we've gone through and everything we've shared, I could
never believe that of you. But, somehow, despite all of that, he does
know things. Once we're out of here, I'm going to contact Zale's
people. I think they might be able to help."
"Just forget it," Analesse told him somberly. "He knows about a
birthmark - it doesn't matter. What does is that you almost
believed him. I'm not Kaysa, Merrick," she informed him harshly. "If
you wanted a promiscuous mad-woman, you should have stayed with her."
"Does it bother you that he knows about your birthmark," Merrick
asked. "What about the husband? I stood up for you against him, and
now here you are taking me down. He knows things about you that a man
like him shouldn't know, and you just shrug it off and tell me to
forget it as well. I don't believe what he's said of you, Lessa, but
it does concern me that he knows and that you're handling it this way.
And, that I'm suddenly the bad guy."
"I'm not mad at you," she relented, again reaching for his hand. "I
just don't think we should give Reinrich what he wants. Why would he
say all he's said if he didn't want us to be bothered by it? He
just hopes we'll divert our focus from the White Noise project to this
so he can finally slip in and steal it out from under us. It's what
he's wanted throughout all of this! So...just let it be, Merrick."
"It's not all he's wanted," Merrick answered. "And, he's not going to
go away. He's not going to stop at this, Lessa. What if next time he
pulls this, he's got some other intimate detail of your life to throw
in my face? At what point does the very detailed knowledge he
possesses about your life and your body become an issue for you? What
if he's somehow managing to spy on us while we make love? Doesn't
that bother you?"
"Of course," she insisted, quickly dropping her voice to a whisper as
a passerby inquisitively watched them. "We can take measures to
prevent espionage if that's what's happened, but I'd rather we didn't
devote too much of our attention to this. Reinrich Tas is easily
dealt with, if you just leave it to me."
"After this today, no," Merrick said. "If there's going to be any
dealing with him, I want to be in on it. For what he's trying to do
to us, I want to see his face when it happens."
Analesse looked away to collect her quickly fleeting patience, then
returned her gaze to Merrick. With a cleansing deep breath, she
nodded. "Alright...but if I tell you to drop it, will you?"
"I won't drop it as long as that bastard is invading my privacy and my
life with you," Merrick said. "If he wants to get in our way, he'd
better be prepared for the consequences."
Refraining from an answer, Analesse sighed gently and managed a smile.
"Let's just go home right now and see if we can salvage any portion of
this night."
"Of course," Merrick said. "At least Kim's still watching Aria for the day."
"At least," Analesse echoed, knowing there was no chance of finding
joy again that night, but as they stepped out of the building to again
be assailed by questions and followed doggedly by holocameras,
Analesse mustered a dazzling smile to appear for all the world like
nothing in the universe was at all amiss. How horribly different reality was.
"Artfully Unconvincing"
By: Yelara Zaneth
Meer'esh
Location: Royal Palace of Arcadia
Date: Selene 20, 5 ABY
***
It was the end of another long, tedious council session where much was
said, but absolutely nothing resolved. Yelara was convinced they
preferred listening to their own voices over considering the welfare of
Tae'Karada. Disillusioned, frustrated, and filled with longing for
Liam's return, Yelara was prepared to quit the palace and seek seclusion in
the city. Meer'esh's troubling behaviour only fueled the urge.
While he
had been docile after her harsh words to him, now he had fully recovered his
backbone and was
far worse than previously. No longer timid, he was becoming more outspoken
during the council meetings, and increasingly aggressive in his advances
behind closed doors. Yelara had now resorted to sleeping with her
bedchamber door locked, knowing Meer'esh remained through the night in her
chambers, rather than retiring to his own. He was there during the day as
well,
watching her at every moment and forbidding her from wandering about the
palace and interacting with anyone. Yet, Yelara's defiance refused to be
quashed.
She'd demanded he not attend the council meetings, and recommended
he sleep in his own quarters - when he refused, she made a point of
ridiculing him publicly, forcing him to carry the train of her gown
through the halls of the palace, or polishing a spot on her shoe in a
crowded courtyard. It wasn't anger that blazed in his eyes whenever
performing these menial, degrading tasks, however; they
implored her with a sadness that nearly shattered her resolve each time, but
the incomprehensibility of what had caused his sudden change in demeanour
puzzled Yelara enough to ignore his pleas. Was it possessiveness that made
him overbearing, or was his true personality finally exposing itself, one
that gave Yelara doubt over his professed affection for her? No matter the
cause, Yelara despised him.
Now, Yelara picked up her skirts and hurried through her chamber door,
hoping to fasten it shut before Meer'esh could invite himself in. He snaked
himself through before it could seal, and snatched Yelara's hand away from
the panel. The other swiped at his face, but Meer'esh caught her wrist and
drew her forward into a constrictive embrace.
"No, don't," she rasped, turning her cheek to intercept what she suspected
was an intended kiss.
Meer'esh sighed lamentably. "I am not forcing you,
Yelara. I am wanting you to be calm. There are things you must be
knowing...dangerous things."
"I already know everything!" Eyes now violet slits exuding venomous spite,
Yelara twisted and strained against Meer'esh's hold. "You're cruel, and
hateful, and you disgust me. I don't know who you are! I never did!
You've lied to me about everything!"
His arms held fast to Yelara, despite the beaded embellishments on Yelara's
dress scraping the flesh of his inner arms as she thrashed. "I was wanting
to tell you everything," he said gently, inured to the pain after years of
subjugation and ill-treatment. "Let me...be explaining some things, Yelara.
I am not wanting to harm you."
Feeling his arms loosen their grip, Yelara shoved herself away, pushing off
his chest. She placed as much distance between them as she could manage in
that short moment of freedom. Meer'esh raised his hands before him
innocuously, hoping to assure her he meant what he had said, and to keep her
from bolting. The skepticism and uncertainty warred with compassion for the
once soft-spoken, gentle man she'd met outside a café one summer morning.
She yearned for his return, and hoped displaying some tenderness would coax
that man out of him.
Her expression softened, and although hesitant Yelara
closed the distance between them to take his hands into her own. There was
surprise in the pale violet of his eyes, and a sorrow that ran deep,
obviously having resided there for longer than that very moment. It wasn't
the first time she'd witnessed it, but Meer'esh refused to speak on that
subject, though now it was of minimal importance compared to his erratic
behaviour. "Meer'esh," she whispered, "what's happened to you? What's
changed?"
"You should not have been letting that Jedi in here," he told her in
despair. "If he wasn't filling your head with...thoughts and ideas
everything would be easy now. There would not be concern."
"Concern for what?" she asked softly. "Liam and I...we're not more than
friends, not any longer. You don't have to worry--"
Meer'esh shook his head firmly. "This is not being about my jealousy,
Yelara! It is his influence that is bringing worry. You are making
decisions they are not liking. That is why you must be listening to me!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked in complete exasperation. "Who are
'they'? The council?"
"I can't. I am not to be saying anything more, but you must be listening to
me, to do what I am telling you." He looked away, finding frustration with
his limited knowledge of basic, which was creating an inability to speak
plainly
without divulging too much, though he wanted more than anything to tell
Yelara everything. "Just know, Yelara," he said quietly, "that there is
being more here than you can see. You must be trusting no one but me." Now
he held her puzzled gaze in the snare of his entrancing lilac eyes and
cupped her face in trembling, pale hands. "Yelara...I am protecting you. I
am wishing I could be telling you everything, but you would be in danger if
I did." Her mouth opened to ask for details, but he shook his head. "Just
follow my directions, Yelara, and you will be safe. As long as they can be
using you, you are okay. Otherwise, I cannot be protecting you."
"From who?" she demanded. "Meer'esh, who! Who is doing this!?"
"No," he whispered, the remorse clear. "It is being better if you don't
know. Please...do not be fighting me in public, in plain sight of them.
They will think I cannot be controlling you."
"You can't," she informed him with a wry, faint smile. "I can't just ignore
what I know is right to please whoever it is manipulating you, Meer'esh. I
won't be a mindless figurehead - my conscience won't allow it. I'm High
Princess, and I'll do what I believe is right, whether you and your friends
like it or not!"
"Yelara," he pleaded, but she'd snatched her hands a