A Way Out

[Subject 37]

He felt sick to his stomach.

He’d felt that way a lot lately, ever since they’d gotten their last order. It wasn’t like they hadn’t expected it, most of them had seen the writing on the wall as soon as Coruscant fell. A part of him had still clung to hope however, hope that the One Sith would rise back up and secure the Core once more. It had been unlikely, but he’d wanted nothing more.

Jorg was a soldier after all, and a Soldier without a battle, hell, a Soldier without a commanding officer was nothing at all. He was at a loss for what to do now, the only thing driving him was an instinct to keep his men alive. Three of them had stayed with him, Blithe, Niri, and Vrask. All of them had been a part of his class at the academy, all of them had known him for nearly a decade now.

Splitting up had been inconceivable.

They had one another, but the three of them were just as lost as he was. In the end they had decided that the only thing to do was...move forward, and in order to do that they would have to leave The Core.

The One Sith hadn’t exactly been the friendliest government, and with it’s central structure now completely collapsed dozens of plants would be vying for independence, planets that had been previously opressed and put down, planets that had been occupied by Stormtroopers like him and his squad. The Core was no longer a friendly place to be, that much was sure. They had known that from the start, and as soon as they’d received the Order they had known what to do.

Clothes had been acquired, their armor had been stored, and the Imperial Shuttle they’d previously owned had been sold. Military surplus always went for a decent price, and even though it was tainted by The One Sith the Shuttle had given them enough credits to get off-world and then some.

Jorg held his head up high, eyes searching the spaceport for freighter Captains looking to take on passengers.

They needed to get off this world, and fast.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh let out a breath as she worked with a few of her crew members to finish loading the small freighter, a modified YT-1760 model with an upgraded hyperdrive and redundant shielding, full of medical supplies and food for delivery on Nubia. Coruscant had finally been liberated from the One Sith, something her parents, had they lived to see through the liberation, would have been happy to see. Having lived under the banners of the Republic and the One Sith, they much preferred the former to the latter.

Kayleigh, a now long since retired Republic commanding officer, had fallen back into a rather simple life. While she was the Captain per say of The Continuum, she was more often than not seen working the engine room and cargo hold. She was a damn fine pilot and strategist, but she was a much better mechanic and front line grunt. And those are the two places she preferred to be when push came to shove. Typically she found herself and her crew taking odd ball contracts for decent pay, running supplies to and from some pretty hairy worlds in the midst of war, though all of it legal. Today however she had managed to score a well paying contract for the Alliance, delivering medical and food supplies to Nubia as a relief aide.

Many of the ships in their general vicinity had also received similar contracts, and as such were busy going about loading their respective cargo as well. From the ramp Kayleigh stood and took in the Coruscant scenery, a sight she hadn't beheld in quite a number of years. Work and obligations had saw fit to prevent any such visitation. That, and the near-death situation she'd encountered by a double agent in the Republic's own secretive agent branch having almost killed her. Things were much simpler now. Credits weren't nearly as good, but she got by.

A few folks wandered past, observing passively before continuing on their way. The woman smiled, offered a kind Hello and a waive. "We're ready to go, Kay." One of the men said from inside the ship, his voice echoing off the durasteel walls as he dropped the final crate into place and secured it, the resounding CLANK resonating throughout the area. "Right. Prep the ship, Taffor."

​

[member="Jorg"]​

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

Jorg wasn’t about to start being choosy with what kind of ship they would be departing the planet on. There were dozens here of course, but most of them were either operated by the Alliance itself or some large corporation that wasn’t too keen on taking passengers. It couldn’t be helped really, he and the squad simply had to jump at the first opportunity that presented itself.

Otherwise they’d get stuck here.

He frowned slightly as they moved in the crowd, passing by an old YT freighter with a friendly looking woman standing on its ramp. For a moment Jorg glanced around himself consideringly, staring at one of the other, newer, ships before eventually deciding that something older was probably better.

The Stormtrooper allowed a few moments to pass as a man appeared behind the woman, setting down a crate before wandering away. Jorg watched for a second more, then signalled for his squad to hold up a moment.

Without anymore hesitation Jorg wandered up to the woman, trying to soften his face and offering the woman a smile. ”Excuse me, miss?"

His voice carried with surprising calm, a hand coming up to run over his shaved head as green eyes settled on Kayleigh.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The woman drew in a deep breath, covering her mouth with her hand to disguise the yawn, eyes squinting closed ever so briefly. Though in that singular moment she heard a man's voice as if it were just in front of her. Her vision returned to see that man standing just a few feet away at the base of the ramp, looking up to her. If he didn't have every look of a clean-cut soldier she'd be lying to herself. The posture, hair cut, facial features, hard jawline, everything. Perhaps retired? There were certain to be quite a few around Coruscant, that was for sure.

Kayleigh returned the smile and offered a waive. Her voice was chipper and pleasant. "Hi there!"

Her eyes jumped from Jorg to what looked to be friends, or relatives, or at the very least partners of some sort.

"What'cha need? Ya's lost around here?"

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

They’d planned out exactly what they would say pretty early on. That was the great thing about military discipline, they could create a plan and then actually stick to it.

”Well.” Jorg wanted to approach this carefully, as carefully as he possibly could anyway. ”My names Valyn Artulis.”

He figured an introduction would be best to start with. ”We couldn’t help but overhear that you’re leaving the planet, are you by any chance taking on passengers? We’d pay well, don’t much care about the destination.”

This was the tricky part.

There was always a question of why they were leaving the planet. The simple answer was of course that they were going home, but that didn’t much square with the fact that they didn’t even know where Kayleigh and her crew was going. That was why a big part of their scheme was to use the One Sith’s presence on Coruscant as their motivation for getting off-world.

It was a simple fact that the Sith had restricted travel, and Jorg and his companions were in the perfect age-bracket to have suffered long and hard under the yolk of the Sith. They had all the excuse they needed in one simple fact; they now could do so, unlike when they had been under the yolk of the Sith.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"T'sa Pleasure, Valyn." She walked down partway to the base of the ramp, boots clanking on the light metal beneath her as she carried herself over towards the man and extended a glove covered hand before realizing he might not want to shake a dirt covered glove. Instead, she quickly retracted the hand, pulled free from the grimy garment and offered the hand back out with a nod and a smile.

"Kayleigh." She rarely gave her full name, mostly because some still could put the face to the name as the old Republic commander, one that she wasn't entirely interested in conveying in certain situations. The Republic had once stood for everything she hoped for the galaxy. That was the past though, and with its' demise brought to light a great many faults and darknesses that hid behind faces she had known. It was why she had left the service of the military. At the time she believed she had left it in capable hands, though the last she had heard Ali Hadrix had replaced her commanding officer and committed war crimes that sent the Republic into a twisted, downward spiral.

"Well." She started. "We hadn't planned on it. But credits are credits." Her hands crossed beneath the crooks of her arms as she looked past Jorg and to the others. "So long as you're not criminals and wanted for anything, we could take you on. Though we're headed to Nubia, not sure if where you're headed is on that route or not." It wasn't like she had room to pick and choose how her crew earned their keep, they weren't flying with infinite resources, so if those aboard could pay for transport to someplace not out of the way, all the better.

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

“Not criminals ma’am.” It was true in a way. None of the soldiers of the One Sith had been charged with war crimes and the Alliance wasn’t going after stormtroopers or Yuuzhan Vong yet, too unimportant. Perhaps in a few months they would see minor bounties for officers like him, yet for now he was no criminal, not officially anyway.

He reached out and shook Kayleighs hand finally.

”Just looking to get off world He smiled at the woman as she mentioned Nubia. The planet wasn’t too far off, but it was far enough that they could make the jump and head elsewhere after. ”It’s been a while since we were allowed to go our own way.”

Again he told the truth.

Jorg couldn’t actually remember when he’d last chosen his own destination of travel. It had been his choice to join the Stormtrooper Academy, but since then he’d always followed every order, every command without question. That included travel, now...well now he got to make his own choices.

It was an odd change of pace, but right now it helped him not to lie to this woman and oddly enough he was rather thankful for that.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Kay." She said with a smile. She shifted to the side, gesturing with her thumb towards the inside of the ship. "She's not huge, or luxurious. But you're welcome to hop aboard and find a free bunk. Space in the cargo hold is limited, but if you can find a spot feel free." Stacked wall to wall were crates stock full of supplies for Nubia, secured and locked to prevent shifting in flight or accidental opening.

"Most of the Sith remnant have pulled out of nearby space, but one can't be absolutely certain. I'm hoping it will be a quiet trip, but pirates have been known to target freighters like this because the cargo being transported is quite valuable." She gave a shrug, "It hasn't been too big of a problem for us in the past, but we always prepare anyway."

Kayleigh had been involved in more gunfights than she could recount, more boarding and breach attempts than she cared to recant, and been the target of assassination attempts on several occasions. There was little she hadn't seen when it came to nerve racking situations. The ship had been fitted with a number of upgraded components, hyperdrive, shielding, a few extra less than standard armaments, including an Umbaran tech high yield plasma canon, and an engine swap.

"Nothing to worry about really."

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

It was no surprise that the core was in a bit of chaos right now. The sections controlled by the Alliance were no doubt constantly patrolled, but they could really only maintain a thin stretch of power towards Coruscant itself.

Jorg didn’t blame them.

He’d spent the last ten years of his life working to help control the core, dozens of planets in either constant rebellion or at the very edge of it. The work hadn’t been kind, and the Alliance couldn’t very well resort to the same methods that he had used. The former Stormtrooper had no doubt that Pirates, free-traders, smugglers, and whatever else were now running rampant throughout former One Sith space. Everyone trying to eek out whatever they could.

”We won’t take up much room.” He assured her with a smile. They were used to sleeping in confined spaces after all, and he doubted that much would go wrong while they were on the way to Nubia.

Jorg frowned for a moment as they stepped onto the Freighter.

”Is there any place in particular you’d like to stick us?” The smaller impact they had the better. ”Don’t want to get in the way.

She’d listed off finding a free bunk or just settling down in the cargo hold, but if they were in fact attacked by Pirates Jorg wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t be trampled because of alert stations. Though he and his squad could fight, they were all but useless unless they were boarded.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The woman gestured with her hand for them to follow her up the ramp of the ship and into the belly of the vessel. Once inside the others would see the mountain of crates in place for their trip. Thousands of credits worth of supplies for their relief aide contract. Kayleigh stepped over a floor cart, pushing it into the corner with her feet while a finger pressed on the PA system against the wall.

"Milo we're taking on passengers for this one. Clear bunk space. You've got half a years worth of shit stored in there and we need the room." There was a momentary pause where Kayleigh lifted her finger from the button, awaiting a response. Sure enough, a minute later Milo chirped in. "Ma'am where else would you like me to put it? This stuff's valuable! I'll sell it at the next trade station!" The woman smirked, turning to Jorg before speaking into the pager again. "Blow it out the airlock if you have to. Nobody wants your space junk. Just get it done." The only response that came through was a sigh and a "Yes, Kay."

Her cheeks puffed up from the grin on her face. "There will be space in the bunks as soon as Milo gets his butt moving. Won't be spacious, but it will do." She began to lead them into the ship itself and out of the cargo hold so that the others could finish prepping for takeoff. As she did she showed them around the different areas of the ship. "So what are you guys off looking to do? Coruscant is a big place with a lot of opportunities now."

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

What were they looking to do? It was a good question, one that he desperately wished he knew the answer to.

”Honestly.” It was honest too, there was no reason to lie to her just yet, and she hadn’t asked anything too specific. Coruscant was great, but it wasn’t exactly the place for them to be right now. Jorg knew that, and his squad knew it too. They just wanted out of the core, that was the plan, and eventually they’d decide their step beyond that. ”We’re just looking to move around a little. Coruscant has been nice, but…live here long enough and you grow tired of it.”

They hadn’t actually lived on Coruscant at all, but just a few months was enough for him. They had been here during the fall, and they had fought the Alliance every step of the way. Things had been rough, brutal beyond all belief, but eventually the Sith had fled and they’d been left behind. It should have been a wake up call really, a smack to the face, but Jorg was just a Soldier, and if a Voice of the Dark Lord told him to jump right now, he’d still jump.

”We just want a change of scenery if you will.” Along with some anonymity.

The longer they stayed on Coruscant the more likely someone was to find out who they actually were, and Jorg wasn’t too keen on heading to prison because someone in Alliance command wanted to make a show.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh had been around the block more than enough times to know when someone was intentionally avoiding answering a question. After all, she was the face of the military in front of both the Republic's citizens and its' senatorial congregation, the latter having been the worse of the two by light years. She had learned to be cautious of what she said in the presence of others to prevent unnecessary information from being passed around. After the debacle with Lasedri and the collapse of the Republic, it was clear she was in the right the whole time. A quick, thankful prayer was made in her head that she had avoided disaster by leaving the Republic before that mess hit. It was obvious to her that she should have done more to prevent Lasedri from doing what she'd done, but the past was the past.

Stopping in the galley, an open expanse of space that offered couches, tables, recliners, and a massive kitchen area for cooking and dining, as well as a large circular dining table that easily sat twelve, Kayleigh offered for Jorg and the others to take a seat. "This is where we gather for breakfast and dinner, time permitting. Lunch you're kind of on your own, but feel free to make yourself at home for the duration of the trip." Kayleigh took up a seat opposite Jorg and his crew, pulling free a small datapad and quickly sending off a small message to her second, Clara, Valyn Artulis. Run a BC on the name please. Whatever you find, if anything please forward to me. -Kay

Whether or not there was anything to be found was less of a concern to her as to why it was being withheld. After all, taking a group of strangers that had the look and feel of military personnel gave the woman pause. She understood, it wasn't that she was skeptical of their character, as she hadn't divulged her own background, but this was her ship, and shipping out with a bunch of military looking men who preferred not to directly answer any questions outside of a vague generalization made her curious.

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

The search would come back with standard information, mainly that Jorg had been born on Bastion, that his family were relatively well known, and that was about it. During his years in the Stormtrooper corps his name had been all but erased, he had become a numbe TK 1079. The others were exactly the same, their names forgotten.

That gap in their history was suspicious in it of itself of course, but could be explained away if asked.

Jorg slid into the seat opposite Kayleigh, offering the woman a smile. He had no idea whether or not she was suspicious, interrogation had never really been his strong point. A few members of his team had known how to read people, but they were either dead or had deserted as soon as they heard the news. Jorg didn’t blame them too much, though right now he did envy their abilities.

”How long have you been flying freighters?” Jorg knew that for some, it was a family business. One of the boys in his platoon had been that way. His father had been a trader, his grandfather, and his great grandfather, all flying the same ship.

He’d been the first to break from that tradition, something that had been heavily frowned on.

Jorg thought it likely would have been better if he’d stayed, he wouldn’t have gotten killed if he had.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"A while." She said, crossing her right leg over the left. "My father taught me how to fly, and how to fix small ships, among other things."

Before the woman had an opportunity say much else, a bit of white noise cracked through the speakers overhead in the galley with the sound of Clara's voice echoing throughout the ship. "We're cleared for take off, Kay. Give the word." The brunette held out a finger, the universal symbol for 1 sec. A few steps towards the far wall and she pressed her finger once more against the receiver.

"Let's get outta here."

A second later and a small tremble throughout the ship would give notice that the engines had been fired and would shortly be on their way. Kayleigh returned to where she had been sitting and dropped back down into her seat, scooping up the datapad and reading the message that had been returned. It was most peculiar that any and all information regarding the man for quite a number of years seemed to be unavailable. She did know of one possibility: Espionage. She had been in a relationship with an agent of the intelligence bureau of the Republic for a few years, Fixx had been his name. Though where he was now was a mystery to Kayleigh. His identity had been all but scrubbed off the face of the galaxy as well. Perhaps there was in fact something worth investigating here after all.

"Sorry about that." She said, placing the device back at her side. "Last minute checks and double checks. Don't wanna forget anything."

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

”I understand.” Eventually it would come up, he knew it, she knew it, everyone in the room knew it. This woman clearly wasn’t anyone’s idea of a fool and it would be better if Jorg could control when their history was brought up.

Of course, that history would be a lie.

”The Lieutenant would always say ‘Double check, then triple check, then check again.’ Every time we went out on patrol.” There a small hint without giving away too much. Lieutenants did exist in the Stormtrooper corps of course, but that wasn’t where he was trying to steer the conversation. With any luck Kayleigh would think he wasn’t stupid enough to come out as a Soldier of the One Sith and would assume that he was either an Alliance Soldier, or something along those lines. ”Drove it into our heads.”

He gave her a warm smile.

The other members of his crew had taken up positions around the room, taking careful measure to be as relaxed as possible. They knew that Jorg would take care of any problems, or at least that’s what they told themselves. Funnily enough they played their parts far better than Jorg, one of them already half falling asleep as he leaned against the doorway.

Jorg watched them for half a moment then quickly returned his attention to Kayleigh, offering another smile. ”Saved us a few times in The Works.”

Another hint, hopefully she would put two and two together and place them as what Jorg was trying to paint them as; Coruscant Security.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The woman brushed away a few stray locks of hair behind her ear. "So you're all retired? And all traveling away from Coruscant together?" An eye raised. Sure, brothers in arms was a thing, but to become lifelong traveling partners once leaving their service? That was a bit less common, even so now, given the state of the core worlds and their discussion leading up to this point. Her eyes jumped from one to the other until she settled back on Valyn. "Are you all lookin' for that rural style living then? Nubia hasn't got much in the way of cityscapes." The planet, while relatively close in comparison to Coruscant, was a far less urbanized world. A number of large cities populated the planet, comprising the economic center of the world, but much of the planet was country living and backwater farming.

"Any family there?" She wondered. "Mine unfortunately were killed during the invasion of Coruscant by the Sith."

Her life had one and only one regret - Not being there to protect her family in their time of need. If she hadn't been away on an assignment during the initial invasion perhaps she could have saved them. Perhaps instead of searching through wreckage to find their battered bodies she could have shipped them off to a safer place. Not that her father would have left, but still, it wasn't something she'd ever forgive herself for, regardless of what other achievements had come her way.

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

He managed to keep a smiling face when she mentioned the Invasion of Coruscant, his lips only thinning slightly at the mention of the death of her parents.

Jorg and his squad had nothing to do with that of course, unless her parents were Jedi, but he knew that much of the planet had been ravaged by war even after the initial assault. Things had been chaotic for a few weeks, and Jorg remembered well just how much everything went to shit. Of course, it had only been the beginning of it all, Coruscant had just been the spark that started the fire.

”No family ma’am.” It was time to be honest again. ”I come from Bastion, he comes from Zeltros, Anaxes, and Polis Massa.”

It was best to be honest here. ”We were drawn to Coruscant because of work. When I left Bastion was occupied by The Primeval, and...well while Coruscant was controlled by the One Sith CoreSec was at least independant.”

That was actually true as well. CoreSec had never really been used by the One Sith for their crimes, why would they? They had entire battalions of Stormtroopers and Yuuzhan Vong to do their dirty work. CoreSec had been left untouched, if only so that the One Sith had a means of interacting in a more friendly way with the populace.

”We’re just looking for a little rest.” Jorg admitted. ”Some time to get away from it all.”

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Intriguing!" She remarked, recalling just about every one of those planets and the time she'd spent on them. "I've been to all but Polis Massa. It was never included in any of my destinations for work." Work being as a pilot and mechanic for the Republic, not so much her recent gig as a freighter captain. Much of her duty surrounded the core and inner rim. There was little reason to travel towards the outer rim or wild space, given the distance from the capital. More than once she'd been reprimanded for taking a fleet past the line to respond to planetary distress signals. She always believed it was worth the scolding, but the senate saw things differently.

"What is it you lot plan on doing away from Coruscant?" Her question was posed to each of them, her eyes gesturing for an answer from each of the crew accompanying Valyn. They had been rather quiet this whole time. There were a number of subtle tells that indicated to Kayleigh that there was something going on here that she was in the dark about, but she couldn't quite gauge what that was.

[member="Jorg"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

Jorg shrugged. ”It’s a good question, but...tough to answer for all of us.”

The others nodded.

“Most of us were just kids when we joined CoreSec, never went to college or learned any other trade. The Sith kept us pretty insular. Everyone stays where they are, everyone plays their part. Unless you played their kind of ball there wasn’t any opportunity.”

One of the others chimed in, Jorg nodding along as he spoke. It was a good piece to slide in, and a truthful one. The lie in it of course was the fact that Jorg and the others had in fact played ball with the Sith, they had done everything they had been told, followed every order, every command without argument. They’d done some horrible things, but in his head he still tried to justify that to himself in some way.

”I suppose in the end we just want something different.” Jorg said with another roll of his shoulders. ”Something safer than running down smugglers and other criminals.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not.

They had no idea what they wanted to do, no idea where to go. They just didn’t want to end up in prison, or worse.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh smiled and offered the men a nod. She couldn't tell what exactly was truth and what was farce, but at this point in time it didn't seem to be of much consequence one way or the other. They seemed to pose no real threat to her contract, and that was, for the time being, all that really mattered to her. If push came to shove she would probe further, but for now she decided to let the questions fade away. In its' place she decided to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Very well." She said with a bright smile.

"We're not expecting much trouble on Nubia, just delivering some supplies for the Alliance, suppose we could use a hand or three to unload some of the cargo. Would of course lower the cost of transport in exchange for the help, if you're all amenable to that? The crates in the cargo hold shouldn't take more than a few hours to unload with the extra hands."

[member="Jorg"]