Transport Frigate, Blight Leaper (Currently at Bakura)

[Alisson]

The bridge had been empty, except for Tseneca. Jonas was sleeping, and the burden of the news, now rested fully on herself. Alisson stopped short of the sensor-console, taking a seat. Tseneca hadn't moved nor acknowledged her presence. "Tsceneca?" Alisson said quietly. The woman stirred, a small bodytwitch from the calming realm of what appeared to be REM sleep.

"I apologize, and I was not aware that we'd enter hyperspace so rapidly." Alisson downloaded information she had reported to the Kuati government, "On Nar Shadda, we ran into Nico."

Tseneca spun around, "WHAT!"

Alisson displayed the information on the screen, "I informed Lucas while we were disarming the bomb. She escaped, or had been in the process of escaping. We only saw her long enough to know it was her."

"It says you managed to capture one of her companions?"

"I purchased the Trandoshan for proper trial on Kuat, where our investigators can look into her whereabouts more closely." Alisson spoke quickly, as though downloading the knowledge into the woman, "The man Morgan Zim, who had assisted in the capture of this fugitive, wished to travel with us. It is unfortunate we left him behind."

She accessed the communication she had sent to him, "I informed him, that we plan to pursue Nico on Denon, and her next location, then her next, until we capture her." For Tseneca, she desired an old-fashioned sit down. She wanted to extract the information from Nico, after all, after fifteen years, it had become one of the best leads in finding her lost lover. "I know how to get Nico to talk, but we need to be smart about this."

Alisson accessed the next piece of information, with specific enhancements that must have been made by SAMM, "Thank you, SAMM."

"It was my pleasure." Tseneca scoffed, but allowed Alisson to continue, "While the crew seems to be enjoying refreshing and immediate sleep, Nico has had nearly eight hours on us. She will be ready for us on Denon. If you believe our close encounter on Iego, and Nar Shadda, had been dangerous, she has an enormous amount of time to prepare for us. And judging by Morgan's perspective, she has been planning this one. No spur of the moment, yet cunningly near-fatal engagements."

Alisson displayed Kyp Durron's position, the tight formation between his Republic-Kuati-enhanced starfighter and the Blight Leaper, "Even a Jedi Master might run into a few problems here. She's been known to stump notable Order investigators, and agents sent to retrieve her."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that the odds are not in are favor. Vera will make Drekka's rescue feel like a cakewalk. We shouldn't be counting on victory on Denon, in fact, maybe not even confrontation. We should observe and follow." Tseneca didn't seem like she'd go for that, but Alisson didn't mind. It was logical. "We might have added a few numbers to our group, but don't think we have the upperhand..." Alisson parted with those words.

Tag: Space Jawa

[Clare Velez]

Clare took the soft towel and rubbed the side of her head dry of water from the shower; and soot and debris from Ootman Baatu as she walked down the corridors of the Blight Leaper. She was just in modest clothes. Simple clothes. She passed Lucas in the hall, they were both so exhausted that they couldn’t say anything to each other. They just acknowledge each other by nodding. She continued until she passed Alisson, she didn’t acknowledge her at all. Possibly in her own thoughts. She walked by Badim’s quarters, she put her hand on the door, looked around to make sure no one was around. She sunk her head below her shoulders and whispered, “I’m sorry, for what’s to come.” She gave a slight pat on the Durasteel door and continued down to her quarters. She locked the door, stripped down to her skin and quickly donned her night-clothes, then collapsed on her bed.

Clare Velez

[Firi'Taknik]

The leaper was a strange place when all was silent. though it was quiet, it was the farthest thing from peacefull. A strange mood had fallen over the ship as it sped smoothly through hyperspace. Firi was not force sensitive, nor eloquent in the deep recesses of human emotion, but she knew unease when it surrounded her like a thick blanket.

Everyone was in their quarters. She took shaft down into the common area, where she found Dex seated, awake, braced against a porthole.

He turned when he saw her, his face flushing. He was a sweet man, brash and intelligent, she knew. They were roughly the same age, despite the years between them, as she was barely out of the adolescence of her life span.

Since Aquar had died, she had become quiet. She felt displaced, disconnected, tired. She'd not spoken so much for a need to simply observe, and she felt she fit that role well.

Dex was a different case. He appealed to her on a different level. He reminded her of the human part of herself, and she knew a connection, much different from that of she and aquar, had forged from this.

"I thought you were asleep..." Dex asked as she took a seat next to him.
"I sleep little these days." she told him. played with his fingers nervously.
she set her fingers on his, trying to soothe him. "It's alright." she said. "Home is only as far as you make it... you'll fit in well here..."

[Badim Soilding]

“Blast,” Badim quietly exclaimed, he was frustrated, even their adventure on Nal Hutta didn’t tucker him out. He’d been up for nearly five hours in his quarters, fiddling with his fingers and only few conversations with SAMM. He was impressed with SAMM, though. Badim thought of him as another being, who had feelings and thoughts. But the fact was that it was quite the opposite, SAMM just simulated sentient behavior. It was convincing however. He got up and decided to practice the Way of the Blade in the cargo hold. He grabbed his vibrosword and trekked down to the hold. He noticed Firi and Dex chatting, they didn’t notice him, so he kept quiet and continued to the main hold. He check the room over, making sure no one was in there so he could get a full practice this time. Not being interrupted by anyone like on the Killer’s Fate.

Satisfied, he stood in the center of the room and closed his eyes.
“To mold the mind and body,” he made slow, swift swings with the sword.
“To cultivate a vigorous spirit,” he tossed the sword in the air, letting it come down, catching it by the hilt before landing.
“And through correct and rigid training, To strive for improvement in the Way of the Blade.” He brought himself up and spun around once with his blade extended and lunged forward.
“To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor.” He stepped back from the lunge, “To associate with others with sincerity.” He lunged forward again.
“To forever pursue the cultivation of oneself,” He took a knee and placed his sword on the ground and rehearsed the final verse,
“And to stay one’s Blade from the Flesh of the Innocent.” He bowed his head and picked his sword up, and released the hold he had on his eyes. A proper rehearsal had been completed this time. He saw the blue light from the porthole in the cargo hold flash off. He looked and saw un-distorted stars and a planet in view.
“SAMM,” Badim asked as he walked to the porthole, “Where have we come out of hyperspace?”

“Denon.”

Tag: Jess, Alex, Kyp Durron Alright, so the Leaper’s here. Alex, if you want Lucas to have a quick duel with Badim, now might be the time, if not, then let me know in the assessment room and I‘ll continue elsewhere.

Badim Soilding

_________________
"No One Deserves To Die, Except For Those Who Do."

[Badim Soilding]

Badim left The Barrel and The Barrel with H6 and made their way back to the Leaper after a brief discussion with Tseneca and Lucas. They were both a little curious, and skeptical with H6 all the same, Tseneca making it clear that if Badim couldn’t change the IFF, she’d blast both of them into dust. Which H6 happily replied that he’d enjoy the engagement. Luckily for Badim, he got himself and H6 headed back towards the Leaper for reprogramming. Badim and H6 entered the Leaper when SAMM sarcasticly asked,
“Badim, who did you bring onboard?”
“Easy SAMM, he’ll be fine after we reprogram his IFF.”
“Commentary: Agreed, I would not want to harm any of Master’s friends. Not on purpose at least.”
“I can see why.”

Badim led H6 to the computer room and plugged him into the input port, where SAMM began reprogramming him.
”Let’s see here… Badim, did the dealer give you a holodisc? If he did, I’d put it in so I can have all the necessary functions available… There. I’ve added photos of the crew to H6’s IFF and have instructed him to only attack when ordered to, or when fired upon. Anything else?
“No, that should do it-” Badim replied when H6 began to squeal,
“Expletive: I can’t see! Ooo, I-I can‘t move my body! Query: How am I suppose to kill now?!”
“SAMM, did you do something?”
”That wasn’t my fault, it’s the holodisc. It’s just rebooting systems, H6, give it five seconds.”
“Expletive:… It’s not working for frak you stupid, ignorant--!” Before H6 could verbalize the last part, his arms began to move, his photoreceptors flashed on and he continued, “Retraction: Nevermind, it worked.”
”I think I should shut you down for what you were saying to me… Should I?”
“Suggestion: Master, if you would like me to continue being in your service, I advice you unplug me from SAMM immediately.”
“Back-down SAMM, he was frightened, no need to get worked up.”
SAMM sighed in frustration. Badim could see that H6 and SAMM would probably have a problem in the future, possibly a hysterical one at that.

Clare walked into the room and was set back when she saw H6, asking what was going on.
“I just purchased H6, don’t worry, Clare, SAMM’s reprogrammed his IFF.”

Badim Soilding

H6-32

_________________
"No One Deserves To Die, Except For Those Who Do."

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

Story Continues Here:
Denon Plot
Part I: "Denon, Landing Pad 16-B"
http://unity.swrpgs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=462

PART II: "HQ of the Intergalactic Bank of the Galactic Union, Denon"

http://unity.swrpgs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=456



And now... we're back on the Blight Leaper

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

The Blight Leaper was refreshingly homely, Lucas taking a breath of the recycled air that was conditioned by the Kuati update, it was easily comparable to the freshness one would experience on a forest world. It was beautiful. Then, Lucas looked down and saw the amount of Leaper grime had greased his body. Tseneca had taken the showers, leaving him alone with Firi.

"Do you miss Iego?" Lucas inquired.

"I miss the sunrise." Her answer was slow, her eyes closing as though to visualize it. "I feel better here. It is not lonely."

Lucas smiled kindly. He felt the same way, except part of that was missing. Clare's bizarre betrayal and Badim's disappearance made things a little depressing.

[Kyp Durron]

Kyp watched the spectacle unfold as Clare jetted off with Badim in tow. When she had fired on them Kyp had instinctively pulled his lightsaber free from it's clip. However most of the fiery rain fell to the ground in front of the group. No matter how traitorous it may seem, if she had really wanted them dead she could have planted a bomb on board the Leaper. Or one of many other things. The droid Badim had purchased was missing as well. Last time the hunk of scrap had been seen was on board Nico's ship.

Though the news of traitorous and missing crew members bothered Kyp it was the lack of a third bounty hunter that disturbed him that most. Only one of the three could have survived the encounter. Kyp knew vengeance was a powerful motivator, mostly from personal experience. Losing one's hand to a sonic generator overload generally wasn't a pleasant experience. It sure hadn't looked it. Before Kyp imagined the hunter took the job for pay, the next time Kyp was sure it would be personal.

Genuinely tired for the days events Kyp was tempted to leave the droid to freeze and drift in space. Despite his distaste for the current task at hand Kyp did what he knew must been done. With the Vigilance close at hand he slid himself back into the seat and fired her up again. The Vigilance though well into her prime was still a work of art. Kyp lifted the starfighter off the platform and up on the general exit vector of Nico's ship. If Kyp was right H6 wouldn't be too far off from geosynchronous orbit.

The Vigilance pierced through the sky and quickly passed customs considering it was a authorized Republic A-Wing. Not like there was much he could hide on-board anyways. Once beyond the checkpoint Kyp searched the emergency frequencies till he came upon a ping out of all the static. Though steady and rhythmic it seemed faint. Obviously Firi hadn't been kidding when she said H6 had taken a hit. Kyp pressed the throttle forward to it's max and followed the signal till he came upon a destroyed airspeeder. It was definitely not something you saw everyday.

On the inside, still strapped tightly to the seat was the H6 droid. In the pure black of space the red light lit up it's chest to show the extent of the damage. It had in fact taken a big hit. Kyp cringed thinking of what would have happened had that bolt hit Firi. It would all eventually catch up to Nico, one way or another. Kyp flipped back through the channels and picked up the Leaper, still on the planet's surface. "I got a droid popsicle up here that desperately needs thawing. Looks pretty bad from here."
_________________
Jedi Master Kyp Durron
Jedi High Council Member
Wields an Azure Lightsaber
Pilot of the Modified RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor Vigilance

"No change comes without conflict. Perhaps my destiny is to be the irritant that forces the discussion, the blister that lets you know your boots don't fit."

[Sara Soto]

Sara walked the markets, buying as many couplings as she thought they needed for repairs to the Leaper. She returned with the parts and found the ship a buzz with activity as they rushed to repair the ship and triangulate Clare’s heading at the same time. She set the required couplings on a table and notified Lucas of where she put them for when he got around to replacing them. She then hunched over a console with data referring to Clare’s exit vector, but with the navicomputer offline, they’d have no way of figuring out where she went until it was operational again.

She wondered about Badim, if he was alive and just being transported somewhere as Clare had implied, or if he was already dead. He’d risked Clare’s life and his own to try and find Sara. She couldn’t figure it out, they both seemed to be falling for each other. Unless she was just playing his feelings to make this happen. She’d have plenty of time to interrogate Badim, after they’ve dealt with Clare’s betrayal. She shook her head and pushed off the console and went to check on Tseneca, who was just coming out of the shower. Dressed and clean. Sara noticed Tseneca's newly cut hair, trimmed to almost a boyish length. She also noticed the cold look on her face as it sent chills up her spine. Lucas had told her about what Nico had said to her at the bank, she’d be cold and pissed too after what Nico had said.

She casually nodded to Tseneca, who made her way to the Navicomputer to begin repairs. Sara stepped into the shower herself and locked the door behind her. She stripped and began to drench herself in the lukewarm water; when she noticed something odd about the tinted water that flowed down her body, as she washed all the dirt and grime from her hair, she noticed a different shade of liquid coming down her shoulders. Her black hair dye was coming out. Her disguise as Diann Reeves had just literally washed away. She shook her head, she’d need to tell the rest of the crew. Her three minutes were up and she stepped out, dried and dressed. Then stepped out to much surprise to several members of the crew.

She stood there as the others stared at her curiously. Her bright red hair shone underneath the ship’s lights.
“If we’re going to be trusting each other, there can’t be secrets between any of us. My real name is Sara Soto, and I’m the one Badim’s been searching for.”

Sara Soto

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

"My real name is Sara Soto, and I’m the one Badim’s been searching for.”

The room fell silent, no one saying anything, but staring at the woman they once knew as Diann Reeves. Lucas took a deep breath, expecting Tseneca to explode all over the place, or Firi to ask some innocent question that only an angel from a wasteland could inquire. When the Nar Shadda homeboys, Dex and Jonas, denied to make a comment, and Alisson remained her usual quiet-self, Lucas let the breath out in a dramatic fashion. "What?!?!" He exaggerated, trying to approach the issue as delicately as a Jedi would, attempting to seize logic and control emotion. But whether it was dueling it down with Nico and her goons, or the fact that he slept three hours, he lost it.

"Okay, so let me get the record straight, here, for everyone who is counting...or maybe, that's just me." His tone was humorously dramatic, than angry, "We've got a Bacta Princess, inside a scorned love triangle with the legendary, yet highly volatile Vera Nico," He pointed at Tseneca, "Sara Soto, the one Badim's been raving about-" Lucas deepened his voice, as though to mimic Solding, "Yeah, Sara Soto this, Sara Soto that-" Even though no one was really saying anything, Lucas could sense they were all feeling the same he was, at least, he thought everyone was. "We've got the most innocent and beautiful person, from that horrible hell-of-planet-Iego" He looked at Firi, "An adopted son of the crimelord Drekka, who bytheway, is a HUTT!"

The room moved, but still, no one really added much to his rant. "Then we have the washed up kid," He was now staring down Jonas. And in this moment, Lucas was really allowed to say anything he wanted, "Who disappears the night that we are trying to find Nico, doing godsknow what. But then again, that's not really the point. He's some Iego crashland kid, with a disturbed past. In fact, he just might be the most normal of us yet, but who really knows at this point? Because we have Kyp Durron, one of the greatest Jedi Masters of our time, flying around in a Republic, yet Kuati-enhanced, star fighter like a personal escort. And yeah, I'm the son of two of the wealthiest Imperials in the galaxy. Hell, while we are at it, telling secrets. I'm a Sith Lord, sent by the resurrected Darth Vader to wipe out all life. And she's my droid commander." He flicked a finger to Alisson.

"You're a droid?" Dex asked innocently, though his tone was mildly sarcastic.

"Oh please, he's being over-dramatic. It happens." Alisson brushed it off. Lucas shot her a look. At least, whether no one believed him or not, they finally called that aspect of her into the open. Alisson had been wanting to tell people, but it wasn't something that defined her as a person. No one here exclaimed "I'm Human! What are you?"

"Wow, Lucas." Tseneca stated, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, well..." He drifted, rubbing the back of his neck, "We're a collection of random. Every sense of the word."

"Welcome aboard Sara Soto. I feel as though if you were really out to kill Badim, you would've done it already. I don't know. Maybe you should explain yourself." Tseneca attempted to be diplomatic in the way she said it, but they were still all surprised.

[Sara Soto]

Sara leaned against the doorway at Tseneca‘s question, she was glad that she was taking a lighter tone to all this than Lucas was. Sara couldn’t help but laugh on the inside at how he was describing the whole crew.
"Welcome aboard Sara Soto. I feel as though if you were really out to kill Badim, you would've done it already. I don't know. Maybe you should explain yourself.”

“For the record, I wasn’t here to kill Badim, just watch him, see what his intentions were for finding me. He was the one who was trying to kill me five years ago after all.”

“Kill you?” Firi asked, almost thinking that he was probably a decent man, not a killer.

“He’s had a rough past. I used to run with him when he still worked for Dirod.” Tseneca added, “That’s how he got onboard because of our history together.” Tseneca nodded to Sara, allowing her to continue.

“Point is, as Lucas announced,” she said, shooting a calm look at Lucas, “We’re a motley crew. We’re diverse and different, which is how we can work so well together. All I needed to do was just clear the air, no secrets between me or you guys.”

Another awkward silence fell across the room, everyone contemplating on the rapid changes that were being donned on them. Lucas straightened himself, then finished the conversation for everyone, “Now that we got all this covered. Let’s get Badim and that Shutta Clare.”

Sara Soto

[Tseneca Lowry-Fink]

"No kidding" Tseneca was still in a bad mood, and stalked off to fix the nav computer. Jonas was getting to work on the cuplings.

Lucas got them off the ground well enough as they exited atmo. with the nav offline, they wouldn't be able to jump, but they could at least try to get off the stupid rock.

She opened a panel in the maintenance shaft. Her movements were decidedly deft, if not harsh and jerky from her frustration.



Problems, Tseneca?

"no."

your lying.

"What do you know about it?"

My sensors can feel your blood pressure rising. and then falling. and then rising. and then--

"SAMM, please."

I've read that compliments can cheer people up. Your hair-cut makes you look older

"Not helping"

do you want to hear a joke then? i know one about a rodian who--

"Stop it! PLEASE!?"

Tseneca slammed the compartment shut and threw her wire stripper against the wall. She fell back against the shut door and slid down onto the durasteel deck, tears streaming down her face, fingers twisted in her hair.

There were some things she just couldn't grab hold of. There, hunkered in the maintenence cavity, she felt the streams of anger and regret pulsing through her. She sobbed, breath wavering in and then releasing as heartache swelled, then unbelievable rage at herself and the circumstances surrounding her. What was love anyway? She couldn't remember, had forgotten entirely. The force itself was no cocoon against the swarm of emotions that plagued her. In fact, it cowered in fear against the torrent. She would never have what she'd once had. What she had now was a lost childhood, abandonment, rejection of a lover, the certain death of a close friend. Robbed and beaten, she huddled alone, almost reveling in the certain and unspoken violence of feeling. It was there, everything else intangible was not. The light of the force, still, hid itself. and was nothing to the anarchy of shame and indignant resolution . was nothing to feverent all consuming emptiness wrestling inside her.

After what seemed like hours, She felt the engines roar to life, the cuplings engaged and the nav computer back online. She felt the surge of hyperspace. Dry of tears, still gasping with uncertain breath. She lay against the cold metal and stared into nothing.

[Sara Soto]

They were in Hyperspace, heading towards Clare and Badim, who are likely to have just landed on Nar Shaddaa, or were close to doing so. Hopefully they’d be able to find where her ship is via the signal from the tracking device. She shook her head, she walked into the main hold, where she found a frozen H6 being cared for by Lucas. He was badly damaged, Firi’s statement on H6 taking a hit was an understatement. It was more like a bomb went off in his chest.
“How’s he doing?” Sara asked Lucas, worrying about--possibly--their last memory of Badim.

“He’ll be fine. He went through some shit with Nico; but he should be up and running--” before Lucas could finish, H6’s eyes blinked on and a garbled sentence came from his voicebox.

“Playback: Tell your crew to back off.” he said in a recorded voice of Vera Nico, “I will resort to viol--, and I -- kill the--.” H6 couldn’t finish the last portion of the message, then he blurted out 0.0121 PERCENT POWER, then his eyes flashed off again.

“Dammit,” Lucas let out as he began to work on the droid again, “So where’s Clare heading?”

“Of all places, Nar Shaddaa.”

“Where it began right?” Lucas asked, briefly putting down his tools as he looked at her.

She shrugged, shifting her shoulders as she remembered all that had happened on Nar Shaddaa in the past five years. Her being the first of many to be let free from Badim’s blade, the murder of Badim’s foster parents, the death of Urnath Dirod and joining the crew. “Seems like it.” Sara finished, then went to her quarters to rest for the coming mission.

Sara Soto

[Sara Soto]

(H6-32)

H6’s processors flared in and out of consciousness, as the others on the Blight Leaper would have called it. He pondered within himself as he saw systems returning to functionality, either he was back on the Leaper or was just kidnapped by a gang, being repair by either group. He noticed his power cells recharging to a quarter charge. His hearing was returned to him, hearing Lucas scolding and scoffing at H6’s complex components, then hearing SAMM calmly requesting that they just throw him back out into space. He was safe.

His voice box was still offline, but he could have sworn that he had come online briefly to give Nico’s warning. If he did in-fact come online, he would have remembered to ask that they ignore it and continue the deadly chase for purely his own enjoyment. Deducting that it was just his memory core malfunctioning, he would have to--

He blacked out for some reason. He wondered why, until he noticed his power was close to seventy percent. A sufficient amount for his batteries to begin recharging themselves. He powered his systems up one by one, lastly with his motor core, surprisingly with full functionality. His vision cleared and he saw a bewildered Lucas in front of him. H6 stood a full seven feet tall, towering over the organic. He looked down at Lucas, “Playback: Tell your crew to back off.” he played the recorded voice of Nico, “I will resort to violence, and I will kill them.”

“Suggestion: I recommend we ignore her pathetic attempt at intimidation and continue the pursuit. Preferably with me pulling the trigger.”

“We can’t do that, H6.” Lucas stated, not phased by his seven-foot tall appearance.

“Query: Well, why can’t we? We are following her aren’t we?”

”We have Bigger Fish to fry.”

“Query: What do you mean by: Bigger Fish to fry, Egotistic Computer Chip?”

“We’re after Clare,” Lucas replied, trying to beat SAMM to the answer, in anticipation of an argument, “She captured Badim and we’re heading to Nar Shaddaa to get our friend back.”

H6-32

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

Lucas wired the last of it, before asking asking H6 to move his arms. The left was able to rotate, but the right arm experienced several motion limitations. Lucas removed three cords and reconnected them to corresponding locations. "Now?" The right arm moved with ease, but something caused his knees to lock. The model was difficult, and the tweaking allowed him to explore the circuitry in better detail. Future repair time would become much faster. It wasn't something that was required, to explore H6, but it kept him occupied and his mind away from what the Force was pressing him to do.

Lucas wasn't ready to face emotions. He wasn't ready to embrace Tseneca, where no doubt, the seed of doubt and despair had taken hold. He wasn't ready to face Jonas, Firi, Sara or anyone else for the matter. Tinkering behind the droid was emotionless, it allowed him to turn the human side of himself off.

"That seems like a nightmare." Dex was lounging against the far corner, still waiting for the showers.

"I don't mind," Lucas answered truthfully. It brought him back to his childhood, the days where his father would spend hours teaching him the inner and outer workings of hundreds of models. Cybot Galactica had become like a second home, and he had made several friends there.

"Gratitude: Thank you." H6 responded. Lucas lifted the plating, the restraining bolt left a strange circle. Picking up a rag, Lucas applied a cleaning solution, and scrubbed the mark off.

"There ya go," Lucas managed to say, before noticing something else. Nico had placed a small tracking device of her own, right on top of the droid's sensors. He wouldn't have been able to sense it, and the average repair wouldn't have caught it. "Interesting.."

"Query: What have you found?"

"Nico is tracking us." Lucas thought for a moment, bringing small electric-prongs. "This could be useful." Lucas disabled the device, and set it aside for the time being.

"Query: How do you know so much about droid circuitry?" H6 asked, Dex taking a yawn and Lucas managed to get a glimpse of the man drifting to sleep.

"My dad used to own Cybot Galactica..."

H6 made a noise, and spoke in a language he didn't quite catch, though it might've been something in Wookiee dialect. Lucas apologized, removing the tracking tip must've made somekind of feedback that antagonized his vocal speech translators. Lucas played with the module, asking H6 to sing until they were able to get him into Basic.

"...Coruscanti skies, the birth of galactic government- I believe we have solved the issue."

"Try speaking in wookiee."

"Woooo'rrraw"

"Hutt..."

"Ta'booka do boodoo..."

"Calamari."

"I'ta Bata Pa'tok."

"Great, you can switch back to Basic now. I think we've got it all."

"Query: Have you ever had a droid companion?"

Lucas was hit hard with this question. In a way, the family droid was present. Alisson had replaced his childhood companion Sparta. "I did, actually."

"Statement: It must be on Kuat."

"Actually, the power cell gave out over the ocean. I never found her." Lucas lied. The experience was actually traumatic, and dealt with his brother. The experience still left him with chills. "H6, do you mind if I excuse myself, I'm going to steal the shower..." Dex was breathing hard, and allowed Lucas to pass without stirring. In all honesty, the memory of Sparta, his childhood companion, had stirred memories that he hadn't planned to confront. He entered his personal quarters, and dialed a connection to Master Solo.

It failed to connect, and Lucas left a brief message relaying the events which had taken place on Denon. Not wanting to retire or shower, at least yet, Lucas dialed the Republic fighter. Master Durron appeared shortly, and Lucas decided to ask point-blank, "Master Durron, sorry if I am disturbing your rest, but I am having difficulty with my emotions. I do not believe I am in control, and while the New Order promotes some freedoms, I can't help, but feel rage when it comes to Nico. And deep fear for other things..." He tried to be vague, and left it at that. "Do you have any advice?"

[Kyp Durron]

Kyp lay silently aboard the Vigilance. Perhaps lay wasn't the right word. More like sat. Despite his weariness Kyp hadn't caught much sleep. The Vigilance though a faithful ship for all these years was starting to wear at his nerves. It just wasn't made for long distance trips. A steady ping sounded in the cockpit. Kyp answered the call as he stretched out and popped his back.

"Master Durron, sorry if I am disturbing your rest, but I am having difficulty with my emotions. I do not believe I am in control, and while the New Order promotes some freedoms, I can't help, but feel rage when it comes to Nico. And deep fear for other things..." He tried to be vague, and left it at that. "Do you have any advice?"

Emotions. Kyp hadn't felt a whole lot of them for a long time. He had cut himself away from the world, isolating himself behind his Jedi appearance. His past served as his own drive. Kyp thought back to Zeth and his own early life. It seemed like a dream at times. "Lucas, our emotions give us a link to our humanity. Surely there are things I don't know about your past as well as Tseneca's," he was referring to both the speech Nico gave on Denon and the feeling Kyp had got when the Blight Leaper neared him before snagging up H6.

"I can't say ignore them but simply to convert them. No energy in this world is worth keeping if it's negative. We've all felt anger and emotions that can drive us to cold and dark corners of our own minds. Anger and sorrow are weakness. The challenge my young friend is changing those emotions into something physical. Changing what you're mind feels into something your body can use. Perhaps you need to confront these feelings head on. However know that there is a fine line between the dark side and the light. Be wary when treading near it." Kyp rubbed the stubble on his chin, knowing this was a conversation to be had one on one. "We will speak more upon the subject in person once we are on solid ground."
_________________
Jedi Master Kyp Durron
Jedi High Council Member
Wields an Azure Lightsaber
Pilot of the Modified RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor Vigilance

"No change comes without conflict. Perhaps my destiny is to be the irritant that forces the discussion, the blister that lets you know your boots don't fit."

[Dex Fashiir]

Dex watched as Lucas moved past him after finishing his repairs on H6. H6 had assumed some sort of sleep mode, charging up. Dex felt a profound dissatisfaction as an uneasy silence settled over the ship. He wasn't sure how he felt about returning home so soon. It had been so easy to leave, but would he leave again after they had rescued Badim?

He sighed, and felt someone enter the common area. He turned and saw Firi, clean and changed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her, feeling slightly weak in her presence. She went and sat on on of the community benches, patting the seat next to her. "I'm fine." she said. "a little bruised."

Dex sat with her and met her eyes. They were a glistening violet, deep and insightful.

"Firi?" He started, softly. "Why are you here? You don't seem.... the type."

The angel smiled knowingly. "back on my planet, I also was not 'the type'. When I was hurt, Tseneca and Lucas took me in and gave me shelter. I lost a very dear friend to Nico, whether it was a misunderstanding or an act of terrorism, I know not, but she is wrong in her ways and needs to be put right."

"its not you fight though..."

"and is it yours?" She didn't say this unkindly, but to make him aware of the folly of his statements. He was quiet so he continued. "It would appear, then, that we are not so different. Perhaps we are all the type."

He was quiet for another minute. So was she, appearing to retreat into a place in her mind where things were happier, where she'd connected. remembering. He reached across the seat and took her hand, soft slender fingers in his own callused ones. He wasn't wrong to believe that they had connected, so he took this risk.

She looked at him shyly, and touched his cheek with her other hand, a gesture of familiarity, endearment, if not something else entirely. They sat there motionless for quite some time. And in that moment, he realized how deeply he felt for her. Not just for her beauty, but her courage, and wisdom.

She looked down, breaking the spell. She appeared suddenly fearfull "I should go now." She released herself and glided from the room, leaving Dex in wondering silence.

[Tseneca Lowry-Fink]

When tseneca finally came out of hiding, the ship had gone quiet and she assumed most of them had gone to sleep. She made her way through the common area on her way to the cockpit. H6 was slumped in the corner, in sleep mode, and Dex had his arms folded against the dining table, face hidden within them, shock of red hair protruding. He had fallen asleep. She took down on of the service blankets and laid it over his shoulders before exiting to the bridge.

It was empty, but they were still in hyperspace so the trains of lightspeed raced past the fore-window. She relaxed against her chair, and fingered the small data disk she pulled out of her pocket. After her meltdown in the maintenece chamber, she felt a sullen emptiness. She reached out with the force, feeling for Lucas, or Kyp. both were there. but more distant now. She shook her head. Lucas must be asleep, and who knew with Kyp. She felt the aching need for their company, but then the sanctimoneous urge to simply be alone.

Without another thought, she popped the data disk into SAMM's drive.

What is it?

"I'm not sure... Nico slipped it too me back at the bank. Told me to clean up my "relative mess"..."

Do you think it has something to do with the Cartel? With Dmtir?

"Possibly, thats what we're about to find out..."

The screen before her popped up, a rats nest of figures and statistics embedded with expenditures made by Xucphra and Zaltin, the bacta cartel in the last ten years.

"Frak, thats a lot of data. Bacta flow has been nominal since I fled the planet... nothing out of the ordainary. Why would Nico give me this? SAMM, scan the program for anomolies."

Can you be more specific?

"um... any insufficiancies, anything, I dunno, out of place."

SAMM ran the data through. Sure enough, it was as she'd expected. The numbers clipped up in phases og red and off-green where hidden anomolies lay dormant. Tseneca looked closer.

"Oh my god."

I've never been good with numbers. SAMM joked... he was asking her to speak up.

"This can't be right, there are billions missing here. From the looks of it, my uncles been siphoning funds from the cartel into his senatorial account. That's larceny..."

And embezzlement...

"I don't understand... why would he need to steal funds? He's dictating the whole planet for sith's sake... Unless..."

There's another file...

SAMM flipped to another file, it contained a roster of documented workers mining bacta.

"Wait. those names..." Tseneca's eyes widened. "they're all Vratix... that can't be."

In the years when she was young, the Vratix, the native species of Thyferra had learned to work with the humans in Bacta production. They weren't required to do the heavy labor involved in harvesting and manufacturing the product, Tseneca's father had seen to that, and made allies with the Ashern, the Vratix resitance group.

"Dmtir's using Vratix as slave laborers..." Tseneca was awestruck. She knew her uncle was ruthless yes. He had assumed leadership of both Bacta manufacturers after the death of his brother, her father. And, with Bacta regulation under Imperial control, Dmitr had elevated himself to lord chancellor, residing over the planet as dictator. Thankfully, none of this had effected Bacta production. Tseneca knew that the issue had nothing to do with the Bacta supply, even Dmtir's limited embezzlement wouldn't effect the intergalactic flow. But to assume control over the Vratix was another issue entirely... and what on earth was her uncle doing with the billions he'd stolen?

"Hey, whats going on?" Lucas entered the cockpit and Tseneca switched the screen off, feeling unsettled but not wanting to trouble him with the issue at the moment. They had to find Badim first.

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

"Thank you, Master Durron." Lucas shut off the terminal and thought about what the Jedi had said. It was rewarding to know that he must've experienced some of the same raw emotions, and challenging them, or converting them, as he had said, would make all the difference. Lucas needed to confront what was bothering him, or let it fester and destroy him. He walked to the showers, letting the water run over his body. While Tseneca and the rest of the crew believed the showers ran for little over three minutes, his mother had provided a list of ship upgrades and amenities altered. The shower had been one of his biggest complaints. After a little KDY magic, the water time was virtually limitless.

After a long, long shower, Lucas changed into a new set of clothes he had purchased at Kau Kau Galleria. They were snug and fashionable, something he missed while out on adventures concerning "Jedi Business". He walked the long hallway, stopping in front of the quarters of Jonas, before hitting the entrance-request button. It chimed, and a moment later, the doors hissed open.

Jonas was pulling himself up and down on a bar that had extended throughout the room, his arms bulking and subsiding as he did. After he saw Lucas, he hopped down and wiped his forehead. "What's up?" The cool demeanor had seemingly returned to the Iegokid.

"I want to know what the hell happened on Denon. Where were you?" Lucas made sure his tone was cruel, there would be no room for error or correction.

"I ran into an old friend." Jonas dropped to the floor, and began to do push-ups. Lucas sat across the room, his eyes rolling in confusion. An old friend?

"So you were out having a good time, while we were doing detective work?" Jonas grunted a sound that sounded like confirmation. "Why are you even here then? If this isn't serious for you?" This was harsh, as Jonas rolled over onto his stomach and began to crunch. "Wow, I'd get more from a bantha, if I asked. Nevermind." Lucas turned on his heels and made his way out.

"Lucas, stay for a moment. I'm having difficulty getting the words out." Jonas was sincere, his body now perched on his bed, before he laid back. "Valexxia. She has a way with people. You can't refuse her. At least, maybe, I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough." Lucas felt something here, the Force was allowing him to feel the emotions. It was pain, it was anger, it was abuse and something akin to one would feel after being raped. It was dark energy.

"Jonas, what did she do to you?" Lucas breathed, attempting to remember what Masters Solo and Durron had told him.

"She was in my head. Like searching for something. I don't know if she got what she wanted, or what, but she made me. I couldn't help it." Jonas put his head into his hands, the tears streaking between his fingers and disappearing into the bunk. He wiped them from his face, the hard look returning once more. "Look, I don't remember much, nor do I want to. I want to fight her, and I think next time, if there is a next time, I might have the strength to do it."

Lucas approached, maintaining distance, but letting the boy know he wasn't alone. "I'm sorry, Jonas. I've been on several cases, where people have been coerced to do things, horrible things. This Force-sensitivity power is rare, when used like this. She sounds dark." The Darkside had many followers, both outspoken and secretive. "I can help you defend yourself, I can teach you some tricks of the trade, if you will." Lucas set his hand on the boy's head, his eyes closing. In an awe striking moment, Lucas absorbed the pain and the sorrow from the experience. It drained from Jonas, seeping from his body and soul, and into Lucas. Lucas bottled it up, trapping the darkside-powered pain, and using a technique Master Solo had taught him, to vanquish it entirely.

Lucas was shaking after he opened his eyes. "I'm sorry Jonas, I saw everything. I saw the things she made you do, and the way you felt." It was animalistic, it was disgusting. Valexxia, should Lucas ever find this dark-side user, would pay for what she has done. Lucas concealed these emotions carefully, locking them down and inside the fortress of his body. Master Durron wouldn't be able to sense this hatred, this pain shared between him and Jonas. Not even Master Solo. Valexxxia would die, a very painful and horrible death.

"What did you do?" Jonas asked, curious "I can remember it, but its not tugging at me any more. The void is gone."

"She installed a switch." She was planning on using him again, "But I got rid of it. Most people describe it as though a tremendous weight was lifted. Like their minds were focused and present, but when they tried to recall or rethink an event, a blanket of fog would be tossed up... does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, it does."

Lucas moved towards the door. "Sleep well, Jonas. I'm glad we talked about this."

"Me too, keep this between us." Jonas replied, before rolling over. The removal of the darkside energy must've drained him, as he was asleep before the doors shut. Lucas sent out a pulse, and sensed that Tseneca was on the bridge. He entered, finding a strange man on the screen, before it vanished. "Hey, what's going on?" He had said. Tseneca remained silent. "We need to talk." Lucas sat down next to her, rummaging over the controls as a secondary distraction, "About what Nico said. Part of it is none of my business, but I consider you a friend. We've been to hell and back. And we're in this together, probably to the end. It's my mandate to track her down. Now tell me, what exactly is bothering you."

Lucas asked the question, with the undertone that it was obvious. Nico had spilt some pretty terrible images. After nearly two decades of separation and the hope that Emmett Fink was alive, only to discover that he was in league with Vera Nico, and frakking her... not good.

[Tseneca Lowry-Fink]

Tseneca sighed, forcing herself to wither from Lucas and the way he was prying at her with the force. She would tell him herself, not through intuition of psychic powers.

"I'm wondering if I should even go after Nico any more, after what she said."

"What?" Lucas was startled.

"What she said about Emmett... I'm not sure i have any business with it anymore."

"You weren't in this for him, remember? We all have some kind of vendetta against that woman.... We need your help, Tseneca. I need your help."

Tseneca was suddenly very sad, that same darkness pushing past the light and making her soul feel like a black hole. She looked at Lucas, his handsome face looking back at her in earnest.

"Maybe I just need some time to think. Its not just this. Its my family. That disc Nico gave me..." She described what she had found, her uncle's acts of larceny and his siezure of the Vratix against their will. He listened intently.

"We should find Badim... then maybe i just need some time to gather myself. You said you were going back to Corouscant... it may be that we should part ways there. at least once you find someone to help you with tracking down Nico..."

[Alisson]

Alisson entered the bridge at the last moment of their conversation. It was a weird trance, the conversation seemed to disappear as she entered. She didn't like this. She didn't like when Lucas kept things from her, and the woman, Tseneca Lowry-Fink, seemed to exhibit this more and more from him. Alisson took a seat, her eyes narrowing to the back of the short-haired woman. "What's going on?" Alisson decided to speak first.

"Just discussing Nico, and all." Lucas answered, quite vague on the subject matter. Alisson accessed the travel log. They were almost to Nar Shaddaa. She remained quiet, texting messages to SAMM about technical things, stuff he enjoyed bragging about. He was a smart A.I. probably one of the best.

Suddenly, the light streaks disappeared, and the planet they had left just two days earlier, returned to the display screen.

[Tseneca Lowry-Fink]

Shadda lay before them in the black, and tseneca reached for the comm system. She felt focused now that the task was at hand.

"Rise and shine, we've got a rescue mission to put into action."

It took only a few minutes to gain clearence, and another few to dock the leaper in the corellian sector. It would be safer there, and that was where they'd picked up Badim in the first place. She'd been keeping an eye on the tracking device, and had it sent to a handheld she could carry with her to find where clare had taken him. She got a signal from Kyp saying he'd touched down as well.

The crew gathered outside the gangplank, breathing in the musty air of the smuggler's moon. Tseneca breathed out her nose.

"Allright... lets do this."

Blight Leaper's on Nar Shadda...
http://unity.swrpgs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=108

[Badim Soilding]

Story Continues Here:
Badim Rescue Plot
Nar Shaddaa - Black Stars' Territory - Candrog's Hideout
http://unity.swrpgs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=475&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
_________________
"No One Deserves To Die, Except For Those Who Do."

[Firi'Taknik]

Back At the Blight-Leaper...

Firi let out a small moan as Dex helped her up the gangplank of the ship. The rest of the crew were relaxed and discussing what their next course of action would be leaving Nar Shadda.

She was trying not to complain, but the amount of pain she was in left little to be desired. Dex half carried her to sickbay, where he laid her on her stomach on one of the tending beds.

He worked on her hands first, applying bacta to the worst of the burns and wrapping them in gauze up to her forearms where the scorch marks stopped.
He paused, hands hovering over her back where the blast marks lay.

"Is it... I have to... um..." He stuttered.

"Its okay." Firi whispered, burying her head in the makeshift pillow as he peeled her tunic away from where she'd been shot. She winced in pain, even as the shirt fell away revealing her bare back.

She heard Dex gasp. "you... you have wings?"

She smiled a little. She'd always kept her wings tucked up under her clothing. They were large, yes, but flexible and easily bound.

"Surprise surprise." she joked.

Dex was quiet as he cotterized the wound and helped to seal it with bacta and bandages.

Finally, he stopped and she sat up, holding the rags of her shirt against her bare chest. She let him work on her face next.

She saw him swallow hard as he tended the blisters. She tried to think of other things against the sting.

"Is something wrong." She asked softly.

He paused and looked at her squarely. She took in her breath. his eyes were so dark. Their intensity washed over her like warm water.

"This may scar, you know." He said, as if not wanting to speak what he was thinking. She knew. It's marred your beauty

"There seems to be more in the galaxy then some ethereal beauty. What if I were born an entirely different creature, would you still regard me then?"

"Thats not what I meant..." Dex protested, going back to his work. The burn itself took up a quarter of her face from her forehead, past her eye, to the apple of her cheek.

"What did you mean?" Firi asked, more than curious.

He was quiet. Then, as if seized by a strange other-force, he bent and kissed her softly on the lips.

Firi's head swam, greeted with siren calls and visions of the green fields of home. Dex's lips were soft and warm, and she shivered, feeling her blood pulse up through her temples. Suddenly she felt no pain.

He pulled away, blushing as brightly as his hair. "Um..." He muttered.

Firi meant to respond, but the moment was taken by Badim, who entered the ship looking for dressing for his wounds...

[Lucas Pallanén-Davad]

"Right here," Lucas pointed and H6 dropped the destroyer droid. Lucas protested almost immediately, rushing over and double checking the circuits and key systems to be sure nothing had been hurt. Luckily, they were undamaged. Lucas rummaged for a few seconds, and removed its ability to think, in addition to its ocular implants. "Last thing we need, is for this thing to come alive, and start killing everyone." Lucas said, meant as a joke, yet touched on a raw childhood fear. Though Lucas had loved working with droids and artificial programming, his brother had once played a practical joke on his siblings. Bringing one of the protocol droids to life, it had, more or less, attacked him in the middle of the night. The thought of the droid half-completed and half-wires, still bothered him to this day. Rarely would Lucas leave a droid with its brain unattended. The event had forever scared him, and precautions of paranoia were constantly maintained.

"Suggestion: I can still pound it to pieces. Or perhaps you would prefer to melt it down, and sell the metal for credits?"

Lucas turned to the taller droid, his eyes scanning over its body. Lucas used the Force to collect a tool, before fixing odds and ends. "You actually fought pretty well, did you notice an increase in dexterity?"

"Answer: Yes."

"Good, I adjusted some of your systems. Thought it would help." Lucas took a rag and polished some of the pings that had brushed or impacted entirely. He was built strong, and should anything happen to his programming, he'd be a worthy opponent. Hell, Lucas would probably have difficulty containing his own fear. "Just, uh, don't allow the rain to compromise your systems, and go berserk and kill everyone."

"Statement: The rain will not compromise my systems. What -"

"It's a joke. Just keep a backup file, or something, and upload it into your basic matrix. Instead of a killing machine appearing, if for some accident were to occur, we'd get a gentle giant."

"Understood." The answer was simple, but it would take a lot of work to complete such an effective program. It would be difficult to rig the H6-32 droid back to its original, and factory settings, but in the event that it could happen, Lucas wanted to be safe. Droid intentions were impossible to detect, and the Force generally vague.

Lucas and H6 travelled the course of the ship, the droid disappearing to locate Badim and Clare, whereas Lucas had stopped at the bridge. Tseneca was present, and her soft demeanor meant she was ready to leave, or collapse into her bed. He wasn't sure yet. "I just got clearance, we're free." Her voice sounded the later.

Lucas nodded, "Great. You okay?"