First Reply Bilge Rat Blues

[Scilla]

Scilla was poor. She had no ship to call her own, or to carry her to stars beyond. But what the kiffar lacked in financial liquidity and nautical titleship, she made up for in flexible morals and an even more flexible frame.

Stowing away in the hard-to-reach corners of somebody else's ship was a much cheaper method of transportation. The destination never mattered, because Scilla was in it for the journey. From one place to another, seeing the sights until the sights were no longer worth seeing. Rinse and repeat. 99% of the time, the pilots never even knew she had hitched a ride.

But that still leaves a 1% chance that she does get caught...

Things started out well enough. After the briefest of vibe checks, Scilla slipped her way onboard without a scene, and roosted within the storage hold for the journey's duration. Sometime after the jump to hyperspace, she made the risky bet to slip up and into the ventilation shaft for a look-see at the rest of the ship. It was just her luck that around the same time she spotted another figure, the vent floor creaked, "Ah ffff-"

Then it gave way, depositing the stowaway right in front of the vessel's owner.

"...Sup?"

 

[Xeno]

Aboard The Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

"..."

Xeno didn't reply. He had already been in a relatively bad mood before hand, with a previous mission turning south. Now there was a random child on his vessel. Xeno knew he didn't have time for stowaways, which frustrated the swordsman even more.

"Thanks," Xeno sighed. "Now I need to pay for repairs."

The man clutched his mask in frustration, exhaling as he considered his options.

"Well kid," Xeno began, crossing his arms, "You've sorta caught me on a bad day. My ship's on route to Kashyyyk. You can stowaway on another vessel there, or whatever. I'm not negotiating to be a taxi service."

Xeno paused for a moment. There was something unusual about this girl. She seemed to be force sensitive, but to what extent he did not know. In most situations, Xeno would be weary of such an individuals intentions. Jedi had periodically hunted him due to various misunderstandings. Today, however, he simply didn't have the energy to deal with it, especially with someone younger than him.

 

[Scilla]

"Damn, sorry dude. Good luck with that, tho." Scilla hopped up and dusted off her hands. By all interpretations, rather dismissive of the issue, but really what was she going to do? If she didn't have the money to hitch a ride legally, then she hardly had money to help pay for damages, either.

"'Kid'," Scilla mocked, "Uhkay." Was it just an unspoken truth that everyone called people younger than them, regardless of the length of said age gap, 'kid'? Well, who knows, this guy could be a thousand years old for all she could tell. He apparently wasn't all that interested in showing his face, even when he was presumably alone. Weird.

"Sounds pretty cool. Whatcha doin' on Kashyyyk?" The kiffar idly asked, and began meandering through the hall; As if this conversation wasn't something initiated by her rudely intruding on his ship.

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla​

"'Kid'," Scilla mocked, "Uhkay."

Xeno squinted at the girl from behind his mask. He could’ve sworn she was like 15. Before long, though, she was already pestering him about his intentions on Kashyyyk. Oh great, the swordsman thought to himself. She’s talkative. Not only was the girl talkative, but she was beginning to stroll around like she owned the place. Xeno reluctantly continued the conversation.

“Nothing interesting I can assure you,” Xeno deflected. “I just like to be alone in the middle of the jungle.”

This wasn’t false. Xeno had every intention of being alone, but not for the sake of being alone. He had things to think about, what with his recent failure and his ongoing quest to atone for his sins. The swordsman wasn’t exactly comfortable with sharing that information with a stowaway of all things.

“Do you have a habit of bothering people like this?” Xeno asked, shifting the subject away from him.

 

[Scilla]

Scilla lilted her head and made a snoring noise, "Sorry, I fell asleep listening to you say that," she snickered, "But you did warn me it was boring, I guess." Be alone in the jungle? Lame. There's plenty of places you can be alone, why fly all the way out there to do it? Besides, didn't they have a bunch of creatures crawling around the jungle? Might be hard to be alone with those things all over you.

His next question snapped her out of the internal monologue, "Huh? Oh, only when I get caught," the vulpine grin across her face only seemed to grow as she strolled into the galley.

"Didn't know CEC still made the Barloz-class. You get this refurbished or what?" Scilla asked, a little more genuine now in her interest. Her hand rested against the nearest wall for a moment before her ears perked up, "Feels like the factory standard NovaQuad-D. Did you not mod the engine at all?"Evidently her knowledge on ships went a little deeper than the average person's. Still she shrugged, "I dunno, I might be wrong on that. Corellian Engineering isn't really my wheelhouse."

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla​

Xeno took a moment to collect his thoughts. As soon as his unexpected (and frankly uninvited) guest had dismissed his destination as boring, she had already begun to pester him about his ship. Xeno was a capable pilot, but his knowledge of starships beyond that was fairly limited. He rarely ever made repairs on his own. Xeno had been an assassin, after all, not a mechanic.

"Sorry," Xeno said with a frown, though it was hidden by his mask. "I'm not exactly an expert with ships. I just know how to get myself around. It has a... unique history though..."

Xeno gazed at the walls of the ship that had once belonged to his Sith master. Even before that the vessel had harbored Sith artifacts and slaves, a young Xeno amongst it's victims. The swordsman found his repurposing of the vessel almost cathartic because of that history, turning what once was a tool for pain and death into one of protection.

"I, er, inherited it from an old employer," Xeno explained vaguely. "From what I know, it belonged to a rather notorious Sith lord a good hundred or two years ago, but those could just be rumors. Regardless, the things old. I can't complain. It's the only thing keeping me from being homeless."

Ironic, Xeno thought to himself.

 

[Scilla]

“Meh,” Scilla wrinkled her nose at his disappointing lack of knowledge on his own ship. She seemed to forget that not everyone had the same interest in the field, but shrugged and quickly latched her attention onto the next topic. Unique history, you say?

The kiffar’s dark, beady eyes stared expectantly at him throughout the story, putting on a bit of pressure to make it good. “That does sound pretty rad,” Her initial satisfaction was then replaced with a suspicious raise of the brow, “You tryin’ to pull my leg or somethin’? I'd think a Sith would use a ship a little... scarier looking than this.” She said confidently, despite having minimal knowledge of their ways.

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

"You'd be surprised," Xeno told his uninvited guest. "Sometimes Sith prefer to be covert."

Xeno sighed, scratching the back of his head. He knew this first hand. On his personal journey to preserve the lives of the innocent, Sith seemed to spring up out of nowhere.

"Really keeps a swordsman on their toes," Xeno continued with a shrug. His attention turned back to the stranger on his ship. "So, what's your deal? You some kind of smuggler or somethin?"

The swordsman had become genuinely curious now. He was usually not very social, but something compelled him to continue socializing. It shocked Xeno what information he was revealing about his ship, stuff he would have never told a soul five years ago. Perhaps it was a sign that he was beginning to come to terms with his upbringing...

 

[Scilla]

Scilla shrugged. Jedi and Sith stuff was just a load of weird nonsense to her. She resumed walking around the room, and laughed at his question, “Pfft, I guess if by smuggler you mean, someone who just smuggles herself onto other ships.”

The self-smuggler casually opened up one of the cabinets of the galley and began browsing, “Ya got any grub on this boat?” The audible grumble of a stomach punctuated her hunger. Snacks were a bit hard to bring onboard sometimes. Not a big deal, right? Besides, if she hadn’t been caught, she probably would be stealing some food from here anyway. Now she was simply asking. That’s progress as far as Scilla was concerned.

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

Xeno remembered why he didn't like interacting with people just as soon as he had found it interesting. Already was his "guest" beginning to snoop around the place in search of something to eat. Unfortunately for her, Xeno owned very little.

"About that," Xeno began, "I don't have much in the way of provisions. Just some dry meat left over from a hunt. I don't exactly have the financial means of restocking regularly."

He began to tap his foot slightly in irritation.

"I'd also like it if you didn't dig through my belongings," he continued, "Not that I have much for you to find in the first place."

 

[Scilla]

“Hrm.” Scilla pouted as she laid eyes on the aforementioned meat. Tempting, but she relented to his dissatisfaction, and left the food where it was. “Well I hope this trip to Kashyyyk ain’t long then, or else we’re both pretty screwed as far as eating goes.”

The kiffar blew a strand of hair out of her face, and reclined against the counter. “Where were you hunting at?” Scilla pried; As if she was trying to get him to slip up on some hidden information. Or just incessantly curious.

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

“Where were you hunting at?”

Do the questions ever end? Xeno thought to himself. Even if she wasn't a child, it sure felt like dealing with one.

"I can't exactly recall," Xeno admitted. "I've been lots of places lately. I've, er, made a lot of people upset. Can't exactly stay in one place."

Xeno had a tendency of finding enemies. Sith because he was a traitor, Jedi who thought he was still Sith, crime lords and mob bosses who he gave trouble in some way... It was hard to stay put when everyone seemed to have a target on his head. When one's personal goal is as outlandish as Xeno's, it's hard not to ruffle people's feathers.

"You sure are asking a lot of questions," Xeno pointed out in a rather irritated tone. "You trying to psychoanalyze me or something?"

 

[Scilla]

“Mmmhmmm,” Scilla hummed, a smirk creeping across her face, “You can’t exactly recall? I find it hard to believe you can’t even remember what planet you were on.” She began meandering around the room, stroking her chin in thought

“You’re a weird guy, Mister…” She left a blank for him to fill in his name, “Weirdly suspicious,” She then punctuated. The girl had probably seen a few too many noire holoflicks, based on her mannerisms, “You want to go hang out alone in a jungle? You were hunting on some unknown planet for meat- a planet I can only assume has a jungle of its own you could’ve hung out on. Who even knows what meat this is- people?” The kiffar came a little closer, and pointed up at the man, “Your ship belonged to a Sith once. And you get nervous when I ask questions…” A brow raised high, eyes staring at the emotionless mask in front of her.

“...Whatchu hidin’?”

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

“You’re a weird guy, Mister…”

"Xeno," He filled in.

Unfortunately, this was followed by a boat load of conspiracy nonsense. Implying he was a cannibal? Really?

"People," Xeno commented. "You're joking, right?"

He hated conversations. Xeno was absolutely sure of this now. She was talking like they were in the plot of a holoflick, making him some kind of secret serial killer type. Of course, she was also ignoring the fact that she was stowing away on his ship. Not that he'd share personal information with a stranger in the first place. The swordsman grabbed his temple in frustration.

"This is why I work alone," he muttered to himself. "Fine. Feel free to look around. You won't find much but dust anyways."

Xeno was so irritated, it completely slipped his mind that he did have something below deck he was intending to dispose of, the reason he was going to Kashyyyk no less. Xeno was transporting a Sith Holocron.

 

[Scilla]

Xeno’s lack of a committed answer only reaffirmed her suspicions. But even for her it was still largely conjecture, or mere showmanship; All intended to get him to slip up on whatever his real secrets were. If Scilla genuinely believed he was a cannibalistic, man-hunting Sith Lord, she sure as hell wouldn’t have stuck around to throw it in his face. He would be out one escape pod, and one annoying stowaway.

“Oh I will, Xeno,” The kiffar smirked, “If that’s even your real name.” The invitation to snoop was taken quite seriously and enthusiastically. Scilla waltzed out of the galley, and began heading deeper into the ship.

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

Xeno sighed with relief when the girl happily leapt at the opportunity to explore his ship. Anything that got him out of whatever brain-numbing plot she thought she was uncovering was good enough for the swordsman. Xeno returned to the cockpit, taking position in the pilot's seat. When he was certain he was alone, the Human-Nagai hybrid pulled up his right pantleg, examining a rather gruesome laceration below his knee. Thankfully, the stitching he had used to close the wound seemed to be holding.

Xeno had received the injury during his latest mission. It had been from a Sith warrior, and a rather unskilled one at that. After neutralizing the Sith's lightsaber with his Cortosis blade, Xeno assumed himself the victor only to find a dagger planted in his leg. He easily disarmed his adversary afterwards, but the slip up was admittedly embarrassing. Xeno tried to give the Sith an out after their duel. He knew better than anyone that even a darksider could be a pawn in someone else's game. The Sith took their own life before Xeno had the chance to say a word. Sure, Xeno had ensured that a dangerous Holocron hadn't fallen into the wrong hands, but it still felt like he had failed.

A wave of realization came over Xeno in that moment. He had forgotten about the Holocron.

 

[Scilla]

Though Scilla didn’t realize it, there was a tugging at her mind, subconsciously luring her to the source. Below the decks, a darkness had sensed her malleable presence. One who could be tempted by its promise.

The Kiffar scanned most of her surroundings with a little more brevity than usual, none the wiser to why she was doing so. Eventually she found the way down below, and her unexpected prize: An artifact, one that hummed with an eerie sensation that made her nauseous. And yet, Scilla couldn’t help but approach it. Closer, until she reached out her hand almost without thinking. If she could just touch it…

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla ​

Xeno wasted no time rushing to the lower decks. The girl was Force sensitive. There was no telling what kinds of effects the Holocron would have on her, especially if she was untrained. Xeno was unsure of it's contents. He didn't dare tap into the darkness in fear of corrupting his mind again. Still, he could only assume that whatever lay within it was anything but pleasant.

The swordsman, knowing he was standing right above the room he had stored the artifact in, phased through the floor beneath him and landed on the side opposite to his uninvited guest. He held out his right hand and pulled the Holocron into his grasp.

"That was close," Xeno remarked with a sigh of relief. "You didn't touch it, did you?"

 

[Scilla]

Like a spectre, Xeno phased down into the room, and as soon as he snatched away the holocron, Scilla snapped out of her stupor. That stupor, however, was immediately replaced by fear and suspicion. Whatever that thing was, she didn’t quite understand, but it was undoubtedly evil.

“...What is that?” The Kiffar backed up, and suddenly the room was illuminated by the yellow beam of a lightsaber. Shoddy in its construction, and wavering in her untrained grasp, nonetheless her intentions to keep him away were clear, “Why do you have it?”

Xeno​

 

[Xeno]

Aboard the Unification
Tags: Scilla​

“Alright, a few things,” Xeno began, remaining calm. “First, there’s no need for the lightsaber. Even if I was going to attack you, my sword is woven with Cortosis. Your saber would short out. As for this…” he gestured to the Holocron, “It’s a Sith Holocron. A databank of dark knowledge. I’m heading to Kashyyyk to get rid of it. If how it took a hold of you is any evidence, this thing is dangerous.”

Xeno was doing his best to be as blunt as he possibly could. He didn’t know much about things like de-escalation, or even negotiation for that matter. Xeno had been an assassin after all. The swordsman hoped that this would have the same effect, but he wasn’t sure. He remained prepared to disarm the Kiffar.

“So,” he continued reluctantly, “Any questions?”