Chasing Curiosity

[Riamah]

Ailuros had been given a mission from her people to reach out, study and learn of the galaxy at large. Since leaving Trian, she had met with the Jedi and learned from them. It was time to move on though and learn more. Sending a report home, Ailuros left Voss and headed back out into the wilds her people didn't know much about.

Deciding on a course that was still close to him, the cat set off to what would be called imperial space. She had enough rations to last for a while and fell asleep as she travelled. Hearing an alarm going off though woke her up. Growling in irritation, she got up to see what was going on.

It wasn't what she thought and brought her ship out of hyperspace. What might have been a huge problem with her engines wasn't anything to worry about and could be repaired at the planet below hopefully. Before she could begin bringing her ship in for a landing, another alarm went off and her ship stopped moving.

This one indicated she was in a tractor beam and she shut down her engines to allow the larger craft to bring her and her ship on board.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

The door into Graf's quarters slid open, blinding the newly-awoken man with the light creeping in from the corridor. "Admiral, sensors detected an unidentified ship class emerging from hyperspace minutes ago, our gunners have captured it in the tractor beams." A lieutenant informed the disgruntled old man.

"Very good, lieutenant. What is the ship's status?" Tanomas queried, "Whatever is piloting it has deactivated their engines." Was the answer he received. Considering something for a moment, the Grand Admiral began to stand up "Have the stormtroopers board and search the ship, I will personally be accompanying them."

Instead of attempting to argue the safety concerns that that would entail, the lieutenant bowed deeply and left to relay Tanomas' orders.

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"Close all outboard shields. Close all outboard shields."

White-armored Imperial stormtroopers neatly marched in formation throughout the hallways surrounding the Avenger's forward hangar, entering only as the unidentified patrolship was drawn in by the tractor beam. The magnetic fields of the hangar entrance would close behind it while the elite shock troopers filed in.

A contingent of black or grey uniformed Imperial officers entered, followed by the old man in his own. Striding towards the ship, he stared at the landing ramp and faced the technicians that had gathered near the group.

"Open it up."

[member=Ailuros"]

 

[Riamah]

It didn't take long before her RX4 Patrolship was aboard and secured on the stardestroyer. She watched from the cockpit viewer at the stormtroopers entered the shuttle bay. After them came another group of people and an older man. She could immediately see who was in charge here and was quite surprised when he himself ordered her to open the ship.

Since she had been travelling, Ailuros had not put her belt on and kept it off now. Heading to the back of the ship where the port was to open and let the ramp down, she opened the ship for them.

Her stance was comfortable and open, there was nothing hostile in it. Paws held open, it would be seen she had no weapons on her body other than her body itself. Claws were retracted though and not out. The prehensile tail was up behind her back and held at a slightly angle, it waved back and forth almost naturally on its own. Her ears were forward with curiosity.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

The stormtroopers would instinctively raise their blaster rifles to eye level, pointing up the landing ramp as it lowered down to reveal [member="Ailuros"]. The crewmen present gazed up in surprise, as did their leader the Grand Moff, scrutinizing every detail of the feline humanoid.

The girl, or at least what Tanomas thought was a girl, seemed to be part of a species that the old man had never seen in his travels. He gestured for the stormtroopers to lower their weapons, which they swiftly did. Stepping forward, his booted feet clanging lightly on the black durasteel floor, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Who, and most importantly what are you?"

 

[Riamah]

She could tell these soldiers were following standard procedure and didn't feel threat from them since she had not given any sign of it to them. After a moment of their guns raised at her, the older man commanding made a motion and they were lowered.

While Ailuros couldn't see the faces of the troopers, she could the others and those registered surprise. Even the commanding officer showed this surprise. He approached her and asked who and what she was.

"My name is Ailuros and I'm a trianni from the planet of Trian, sir."

If the crew came aboard to scan her ship, she would step down off the ramp to allow them entry, if they didn't then she would stay on the ramp since she hadn't officially been invited on board this larger ship.

Her voice was friendly and she spoke with a slight lisp due to her longer canine teeth.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

"Uh..."

The old man was indeed dumbstruck; a nude cat girl was standing on his ship. Decades of war, hundreds of battles, none of this ever prepared the Caridan for a situation such as this. He turned towards the officers that had accompanied him, scanning their faces for an indication of what to do; finding that most of them were as surprised as him, while others began to openly gawk her.

He turned back, internally admitting that while it was extremely unprofessional, she did possess some sort of a charm to her. "Process her, take a biological scan and index her species. And get some damned clothes on her, you can all stare at your holograms later." The Grand Moff barked, watching as the technicians moved up the landing ramp to scan her ship.

Meanwhile, a squad of stormtroopers moved forward and would begin to escort her out of the hangar into the rest of the ship.

[member="Ailuros"]

 

[Riamah]

The look on the faces of those Ailuros could see appeared to be surprised. She wasn't sure why until the man in charge ordered her processed and put into clothes. Her people didn't wear clothes normally and that must be odd to these people.

"Sir, I have a belt I can put on."

Technicians had already entered her ship and started scanning it. They wouldn't find anything harmful to humans, but a bunch of items her people considered normal rations. Every piece of food contained meat of some kind and there were herbal substances she liked to indulge on when given the chance.

She wasn't given the opportunity to get her belt, but when it was found, it would contain her sword and items she used on her ship to keep it running smoothly.

Following in the middle of the escort, the cat was duly processed and handed some clothes to put on. Shaking her head, she set them back down.

"No, the pants won't stay on. I'll wear the shirt though."

If these people tried to force the pants onto her, she would put up a fight. A few of them would wind up quite clawed up and maybe even hurt. If the issue wasn't pushed, then Ailuros would politely put the shirt on and wait for whatever was going to happen next. While she waited, she started cleaning herself being a cat, she kept herself very clean.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

"She won't put the pants on, ma'am."

"I can hear that, private."

"Well then what are we going to do? The Grand Moff said to get some clothes on her."

A couple of stormtroopers, a corporal and a private, began to argue in front of [member="Ailuros"]. "Ugh, quartermaster gave us human pants, not ones for felines." The Corporal said "I'll have to ask the Sarge to see if that guy's marbles are in the right places."

At this point the Corporal approached her as she cleaned herself, E-11 blaster rifle holstered on her utility belt. "Listen, will you put on the pants if we got something for your tail?" She queried "The crewmen on this ship have been pent up for months and I don't want anything happening to the Empire's guest."

 

[Riamah]

Almost oblivious to the argument happening in front of her, Ailuros continued to clean herself and wipe off the oils from the people that had attempted to force the pants onto her. She would clean under the shirt later when others weren't around that would be embarrassed by her actions. The cat honestly couldn't understand what the fuss was about, but would do her best to adapt. Wearing pants though...

Coming out of her focused cleaning when the Corporal approached and asked if she would wear pants if they had a place for her tail. It was also explained to her why they felt the need for her to wear them.

Tilting her head to the side and tilting her ears forward curiously before answering, "do you not think I can take care of myself against these crewmen? I'll take the pants if you insist, but really don't see a need for them."

Her had placed her belt over the shirt though the items that had been in it were gone. Understanding why, she didn't ask for her weapon back.

If the Corporal insisted on the pants, she would take them.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

"It's not that, it's ju-"

The Corporal was cut off by the sound of her helmet's comlink going off, the woman listening to the person on the other side of the communication. The stormtrooper turned to face the private who was standing guard by the door "We're gonna have to for-go the pants, the Grand Moff wants to see her immediately." She said, receiving a nod of acknowledgement from him.

[member="Ailuros"] would be escorted, shorts or not, to the Grand Moff's quarters, the stormtroopers taking her in before leaving and closing the blast door behind her.

Tanomas sat at a lovely desk, his command console and a crystal snifter full of brandy next to him. He beckoned for her to sit in front of him.

 

[Riamah]

The conversation was cut short when the woman responded to her comlink going off in her helmet. What was spoken allowed Ailuros to relax when she learned she wasn't going to be forced, at least not yet to wear the pants.

Following along with them, she was lead to the Grand Moff's quarters. There she was dropped off and the door closed behind her. This left her alone with the commanding officer that had greeted her when she opened her ship.

He offered her the seat across from him at the desk. The cat nodded and took the offered seat, her tail she allowed to curl up and wrapped around her stomach. Her open curiosity showed on her face and her ears were perked up. The man had yet to introduce himself, so Ailuros did not know how to address him other than by Grand Moff that she had picked up from the conversation in passing between the soldiers.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

Noticing the curiosity on the girl's face, the old man took a drink of brandy before speaking, savoring the liquid courage.

"I am Grand Moff Tanomas Graf, Head of the Imperial Government for the Third Galactic Empire." He greeted, a weak smile flickering across his face as he did so. His eyes darted over to his command console when new data scrawled over the screen.

"So." The Imperial began "Technicians have uncovered some interesting items in your ships navicomputer."

"Apparently you've spent a lot of time in Silver Jedi territory, before visiting the Empire. Let me guess, an operative sent to nose around our fiefdom?"

[member="Ailuros"]

 

[Riamah]

Ailuros noticed the man looked at her as he took a drink and before speaking what was on his mind.

Giving his name and position, the cat nodded. Not only was he a commanding officer, he was head officer. That information alone was very important and lead her to have a great deal more respect for him. Ailuros was raised as a Trianni Ranger so respected those in charge.

His men that had scanned her ship learned where she had come from and that her most recent area had been with Siler Jedi. What he assumed was that she was here on a mission from them to be scout or spy it seemed. He was partially correct, but not fully and she would do her best to answer so he understood.

"Yes, Grand Moff Tanomas Graf. I did spend a short amount of with the Silver Jedi, in their Rangers. It was the best place for me with them since I am a Trianni Ranger. My ship is my people's ships and are built for long journeys. However, I wasn't sent here by the Silver Jedi to nose around as you put it."

Shaking her head as she spoke that last bit, Ailuros was silent for just a moment.

"My people sent me on a mission to learn about what was going on in the rest of the galaxy. You need we are a rather secluded race."

Her home world was actually in what was Dominion control, but in her travels, she had gone into Silver territory first and now Empire territory.

[member="Tanomas Graf"]