Private A Trip to the Borderlines

[Kaska Arden]

Aeris Lashiec

The Errant Daughter gave a rumbling judder as it reverted back to real space, the swirling blue clouds of hyperspace giving way to a sea of pinprick stars. The console readouts already humming into life with a veritable wealth of intersystem chatter. Situated at the convergence point of two major and lucrative hyperlanes, Rorak 4 had always been a hive of activity for those willing to separate profit from ethics, but the heavy expansion of Bryn'adûl had seen a mass influx of refugees flooding in from further afield. It was estimated around ten billion souls churned through the planet’s spaceports on a regular basis. Many moving on to parts unknown, while others landing in the infamous slave markets of the very same planet they mistakenly believed to be a sanctuary for the genocidal hordes they had left behind. It was a good place for people looking to vanish from the grid.

It was also, by extension, a terrible place to attempt to find just one.

“Still not too late to back out now, you know.” Kaska murmured as she set a course for the space station that orbited the planet, dialing the speed down to a bare crawl above the minimum recommended for inbound traffic. “We are a long way from the stacks here. There is no Order, no Alliance, no backup of any kind. You sure you can handle that?”

She let the question hang in the air before she bashed a few keys, pulling up the reason they had been dragged out this far in the first place. The face abruptly springing into view in a sea of electric blue hololight. A human in his mid-thirties, mousy brown hair greying at the temples and thinning on top, and a heavy set stubbled jaw. Jace Vanth wasn’t quite what you would expect to find in a padawan learner. The accompanying datafeed scrolling beside detailed him as a former soldier that had discovered his force sensitivity late in life, swapping the combat fatigues of the 76th Rangers for the monastic robes of a Jedi in the last eighteen months. Kaska had crossed paths with him a handful of times during those rare visits she had made to the temple on Coruscant, but had never really spoken to the man beyond a few passing pleasantries.

“I am not sure what happened with Vanth.” She continued, the blue light of the holodisplay causing her frown more pronounced. “He always seemed on the level the few times we interacted. A real solid, duty first, by-the-book type. Not one of the usual scumbags with lightsabers, and definitely not the kind I would expect to break into a secure vault.”

The display swam as she waved her hand, shifting to display a triangular looking object with intricate designs and archaic script running up the four edges. A supposed Jedi relic that had only been recently recovered from the Galactic Alliance’s recent victory at Korriban. By all accounts, Vanth had been part of the team that had recovered it, though it had been passed over to a senior archivist for further study. Initial translations of the glyphs and text had dated it from sometime before the years of darkness, though the actual identity and purpose of the device had yet to be discovered. As is stood, it was nothing more than a glorified paperweight; its value purely historic rather than monetarial. Not the sort of thing someone looking to make cred would go to the trouble of stealing. Not when the same vault Vanth had supposedly broken into housed so many other more valuable items.

Nothing about this was adding up.

“Whatever this is, Master Shii was quite adamant about having it retrieved.” She left out the part where Shii had been more focused on the return of the object than the fate of the errant padawan, appearing to have simply written Vanth off the moment it had seemed he had betrayed the Order for his own personal gain. The sheer intensity in the man’s eyes as he rattled off a list of why the item was such a monumental find causing an uneasy feeling in the pit of the Nyraanian’s stomach, but that was not something she was about to broach with a stranger like Aeris. Instead she offered the woman a half-shrug, “I figure if you handle the fancy rock, I can handle Vanth. Divide and conquer.”

Assuming, of course, they managed to find him in the first place.

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Kaska Arden

No order, no alliance, no backup. Aeris considered the stakes for a bit before she shook her head. She understood the worry Kaska might have held, but in the end it wasn’t necessary. While Aeris was undoubtedly one of the more pacifistic Jedi of the bunch, she wasn’t beyond violence. As a child she had experienced the terrors of being driven from her home at so many points it had all blended together. Ossus, Sullust, Coruscant, they had all been considered their last new home until the Order had time after time again been proven wrong.

As she glanced at the object in the hologram it grew all the more apparent why Master Shii was so adamant about retrieving the object. Though she couldn’t place quite what aspect it focused on from merely looking at it. There was something in its pointed, triangular shape that gave her a bad feeling. She tried to imagine the subtle blue or red glow on it, and somehow her mind kept defaulting to red.

“Maybe it’s some form of Holocron, or device.” Aeris stated as if Kaska had already figured out that much. “Which would complicate things.”

“Either way I think it’s best if we both go looking for Vanth. There’s no telling what that thing could have done to him if he spent too much time with it. Provided it ain’t a Jedi Artifact.” The librarian in her forced her to grimace and shake her head. “It was found on Korriban, so chances are…”

She mumbled mostly to herself by now. “It’soldifnotancient.”

“Sithisapossibilityifnotacertainty.” The mumbles continued. “Worstkindofnonfiction.”

 

[Runi Verin]

(FML)

 

[Kaska Arden]

Aeris Lashiec

"Yes, I would simply hate to complicate things when they are just so straight forward," Kaska replied dryly, switching off the holoprojector. Aeris' concerns only serving to increase the uneasy feeling the Nyriaanan Jedi had about this whole affair. The prospect of hunting one of their own had already left a bad taste in her mouth, but the added complexity of an unknown mystery artefact set her teeth on edge. "What were the Sith doing with a supposed Jedi artefact in the first place? Some sort of trophy?"

The chunky rune scribed pyramid seemed a little too gauche, but the Sith Kaska had encountered before now had hardly proven themselves to be paragons of style and aesthetic taste. Or perhaps they simply enjoyed it ironically.

"Truthfully, if Master Shii was not so insistent, I would sooner flush it out of the airlo---" She dropped off as she noticed Aeris was lost in thought, clearly lost in a world of her own judging from the mumbled spiel. Kaska snorted, "And you are not listening. Good talk."

"<<\ Inbound vessel, />>" A voice crackled across her comms, drawing her attention away from the rambling form that was one Aeris Lashiec. "<<\ This is Rorak 5 traffic control. Please identify yourself and state your business. />>"

"<<\ This the light freighter Errant Daughter registered out of Nyriaan, />>" She chimed in response, casting their information and manifest with a few taps of the console. "<<\ Captained by Kaska Arden. Here for trade, repairs and little downtime. Flexible on the order. />>"

"<<\ Confirmed, Errant Daughter. We’ve assigned you a berth in docking bay Senth-Nine and notified the docking official and security team to expect you. Transmitting you the flight path and protocols now. />>"

A security team? That didn't sound good. The uneasy feeling grew until it felt palpable within the air of the cockpit itself. Her brow furrowed, her eyes darting towards Aeris as she signed off. "<<\ Uh, received on that, Rorak 5. Be with you in five. Daughter out. />>"

If it were any other mission, she would have turned and attempted to bolt then and there, trusting in the distance and the Daughter's engines to outrun the station's ability to tractor them in. Only the lingering face of Jace Vanth stayed her hand. Instead she adjusted the autopilot heading with the coordinates provided by the traffic control operator, the inside of her cheek falling victim to her teeth as she agitatedly chewed down.

"You know anything about this?" The question was rhetorical; she honestly doubted Aeris knew much beyond whatever musty recesses of the Temple Library she had been dragged out of. Her company had been welcome thus far if only to break down the monotony of hyperspace, but the Jedi Guardian didn't really expect much from the blonde woman once the osik hit the fan. "Last I knew, Hutt stations were not known for their spot inspections."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Kaska Arden

“There are many things Hutt stations aren’t known for.” Aeris looked at Kaska and then at the communications console. “Not sure why you wouldn’t expect them to run a shakedown on freighters that weren’t their own every now and then.”

The words hung in the air, laced with disdain for the criminals that all too often were associated with the Hutts. Yes, there were a few of them that had made it out of the sphere of expectations, but far from enough for Aeris to change her opinion on them as a whole. She tried to be open-minded, but she was far from perfect. As far as opinions went, it was one she rarely voiced.

“We’ll talk to them, make them see reason, and find Vanth.” Aeris stood from her seat and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Any guard worth their grain in salt will make me the second we step out into the open if I wear this.” Aeris spoke of her rather typical jumpsuit provided by the order en masse. “Could serve as both a repellent and a target on our backs.”

She stopped and placed a finger on her chin to consider the move before her head shook.

“Buy us time, I’ll get changed.”

 

[Kaska Arden]

Aeris Lashiec

"Not sure what criminals you have dealt with in the past, but in my experience they typically they do not warn you ahead of time." Kaska countered as Aeris started to leave the cockpit, sparing the blonde a fleeting glance over her shoulder before giving a dismissive shake of her head. "Something tells me that talking is not what they have in mind."

At least they weren't shooting at them at the moment. Of course, that could easily change. The Nyriaanan leaning forward to flick the vessel's maneuvering jets into life, jolting them just enough to lend the Daughter a subtle drift that would gradually see them veer off course as the station approached. With a multitude of vessels ahead of them demanding attention, it would be hardly noticeable from the current distance unless you were specifically watching their approach.

Almost immediately the comm board lit up again, the voice of traffic control crackling through the cockpit speakers. The casual tone of the operator on the other end sounding unusually stressed for what had to happen a dozen or so times an hour with a spaceport this busy. That coupled with how quick they had been to notice the subtle change cemented that there was definitely more going on here than a simple shakedown. "<<\ Errant Daughter, please advise, you seem to be drifting off course. Correct your heading for berth Senth-Nine. />>"

"<<\ Imdoaeekae kircayi gioo, Rorak Gvi. />>" Kaska replied, switching to her native Nyriaanan tongue. The words sounding clumsy to her ears from lack of practice, but she doubted the operator would even begin to understand the obscure language of a populace a a few hundred sectors away, let alone pick her up for her abysmal accent. "<<\ Ghvido misfungci. Blaki sendi ri sebei qundovleg gunredlei? />>"

There was a empty crackle as the line opened and closed in short order, audible confusion drowning every word when the operator finally did speak. "<<\ Uhhh, say again, Errant Daughter? />>"

"<<\ Mae navighando ghey ploo blae ghandadi subri. Vali cnous ge virin dhogu ghey. />>"

"<<\ Errant Daughter, seems to be an issue with your communications array. Message is coming in garbled. Repeat, please correct your heading to berth Senth-Nine. Failure to comply will result in serious consequences. How copy? />>"

"You done playing dress up?" Kaska called out, not even bothering to reply to the latest message or the additional ones that followed in a frantic rush. Instead lurching the controls to veer the vessel back in the opposite direction, giving the impression that the pilot was struggling to handle the vessel and over correcting the supposed accidental drift. Buying them another twenty seconds at least. "You can doll yourself up later, preferably when we are not about to be sucking on hard vacuum."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Kaska Arden

There was little point to being a prude in a line of work where a body was seen as little more than a vessel sometimes. Aeris practically dropped straight out of her boots, swept out of her jumpsuit and into the change she had brought from the academy for missions just like this. A set of pants, shirt, and jacket that blended well with any other spacer, even if they were a bit uncomfortable in comparison to the simplicity of the jumpsuit. Her lightsaber found the inner hidden compartment of her jacket, and once the boots came back on Aeris was practically good as new.

“Are you quite done with the sarcasm, Knight Arden?” She pulled out the ranks. A common sign that this librarian was growing increasingly frustrated. “Not sure what you mean by ‘doll up’, but yes. I am done.”

She stood by the pilot and glanced out from the viewport for the last few moments before touchdown.

“And it was the Sunclaws, by the way.” She said and looked down at her pilot. “The thugs that announced their intent to attack us.” A hand patted against the headrest of the nearby seat before Aeris began to step away. “Quite pleasant, all things considered.”

 

[Kaska Arden]

Aeris Lashiec

The Errant Daughter gave a disconcerting judder as soon as the flight path had been corrected.
The flight console immediately transforming into an array of angry red and cautionary orange light, warnings and failsafes automatically kicking in even as the engines cut out to avoid ripping the vessel in two under its own power. Tractor lock. It seemed the station had finally lost patience and given up the flimsy pretense.

Too late to turn back now, she just had to sit and wait for the trap to be sprung.

“Why, did you want me to continue, Knight Lashiec?” Kaska countered as the blonde finally returned to the cockpit, her own frustration at both her companion’s attitude and the clear and present danger they were flying into shining through in kind. While Aeris had been playing dress up, the scene out of the viewport had grown increasingly more concerning by the second as they drifted into the private docking bay on an invisible tide. Even as the spoke, a heavily armed security team was double timing it down one of the interconnecting gangways towards their position, kitted and booted for more than a simple discussion or simple shakedown.

She clicked her tongue irritably and checked the charge on her blaster before rising from the pilot seat. Her own lightsaber already concealed at the small of her back, covered from prying eyes by the length of her spacer jacket and easily confused with the array of tools that hung from her work belt. Part of her wondered if there was any reason to hide it. To pluck one ship out of the thousands coming in and out of the system…

Whoever or whatever awaited them beyond the hatch clearly knew they were coming.

“Pleasant is not the word I would use to describe this.” She murmured, stepping past the archivist to slap the button just over her shoulder. A rush of air blasting her dark hair into disarray as the boarding ramp dropped and began to extend. Rolling her shoulder to loosen the joint up in anticipation for what was likely about to unfold, she cast one final withering glance towards Aeris, brow quirked. “But maybe I am wrong. Maybe they are just here to invite us to have tea and cookies.”

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Kaska Arden

This was where Aeris had come to understand that something did not tick to the metaphorical tock where it was usually supposed to. She remained calm in the face of adversity, and despite getting frustrated at her companion she refused to allow her calm to be disturbed. Instead she gave the Knight Arden a slow lift of her eyebrows and an equally slow nod as if to signal that the spacer’s own concerns had been duly noted.

“It was never-” Aeris stopped to lean away from the woman that stretched over her. “A question of pleasant. Just more pleasant than most such encounters.”

A deep breath of stale air filled Aeris lungs before she coughed it out and tried again. The soldiers were on the approach with their rifles at the ready, and in a brief moment of weakness Aeris felt everything as her better judgment failed her. The barriers came crashing down, her body moving on its own as she reached within herself, pulled at what she had tried to chain down to the ground since this trip had started.

“Ohhh, and maybe it’s the tiny ones with the little chocolate pieces in them, too! Wouldn’t you like that?” She hissed, her body extended towards Kaska before a horribly anxious look fell over her and she back off. Aeris let her eyes slide to the side, over towards the soldiers before she closed her eyes and let in yet another deep breath. With a long exhale she gave them the time of day.

“Gentlemen,” She began as her hands slowly crept up to shoulder-height. “Is there something wrong?”