Continuing the Search

[Armaud Eden]

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Betha II
Port Canverous

He hadn't spent his time idly, despite his typical desires to do just that. Time enjoyed wasted isn't wasted at all. Master Vandal spoke in the back of his mind, their continued conversation over the ethereal tendrils of the force kept the young man grounded in his ideology. Removed from his home, from Sulon, it was easy to forget who he wanted to be.

Instead of forgetting, he did what Armaud Eden was prone to do. Wonder and wander. He asked about trades running through the Jandoon System, about the cultures and myths of ancient relics. Abandoned planets, such as Jandoon itself, which he and [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] had discovered wasn't as abandoned as expected. Old military facilities, used by long dead political groups, and ancient temples that held dusty dogma of washed up religions.

Everything, with time, had passed - except for these relics. They seemed to be eternal.

"Yeah yeah, you take a left turn right there..." The old smuggler lifted his half emptied demijohn to the dusty sky, exiting the mouth of the cavern with Maud at his side, and hiccuped. "Just a left right...right there. And then you do a couple of twirls and then you're there."

Maud laughed and shook his head. "The hell you take me for, boy?!? Some sort of mystic. Use a star chart, Hakara is hard enough to find as it is."

"Mhm." Maud nodded as he kicked at a particularly stubborn rock in the dirt. He imagined it was some great mountain, buried by the moving sands. "Shouldn't be too hard. I know someone who might just be interested enough to take me there."

"Tell 'em to bring the bug spray." The old man held a hand over his chest as he belched loudly, making a soured face like something else almost came up with it. "Lots and lots bug spray. Those swarms are entirely unrelenting."

Maud nodded again. "I'll keep that in mind."

He had already sent the message to her, waiting to see if she showed up. Either his time would be spent in small talk or in simply biding his time.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

There. She got the coordinates. Looked like she was meeting Armaud at the mouth of one of the caverns. After their escape and return, she thought she'd have to worry about being recognized. But the authority of whoever it was before had already long moved on. They didn't care about a hole in the wall shadowport.

And perhaps they were too busy tracking their quarry elsewhere.

Kinsey had just set down the u-wing and was already performing maintenance on a part outside. It was hot as kark. And dry. Pibs razzled at her from the clay-earth just outside. "No, no. I said hand me the hydro-spanner. HYDRO. Keep your sensors out for Armaud, will yah?" Kinsey was half beneath the belly of her ship, trying to not get too much oil and grease splattered across her face. The tips of her squirming boots were the only things visible in the hot afternoon sun of the planet.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He was starting to become all too familiar with the planet, which was making him question just how much time he had spent there. It's not that he was opposed to living in a certain place for a long duration, it was just that there wasn't much for redeeming value on a barren dessert planet. When the winds blew, they only howled as they whistled lowly through the caverns. Otherwise, it was the movement of monstrous sand dunes that gave evidence to the turbulent skies above them. Maud couldn't help but think that if time could be reversed, this place could be made beautiful with green valleys and verdant swathes.

He mused, realizing that variety was, indeed, the spice of life. For every planet like this, there was a Dagobah or Kashyyyk or Hakara. A place to take in deep breaths without nose bleeds and to get his feet wet.

Whoever had been looking for Kinsey, they hadn't made another trip back. Not as far as the young wanderer could see. Just a hodgepodge of smugglers, bandits, and thieves. And the occasional good Samaritan, though it was a rare and dying breed this far out and this deeply entrenched in enemy territories.

Maud moved quietly to the dock, levitating the Hydro-spanner to his hands. He had only known what it was by the way the robot was holding it, to which it's sensors turned him in mild insult after the slight theft. Setting his staff against the ship, he knelt and placed the device below the ship - by where he assumed the outside of Kinsey's thigh would be.

"So..." He looked over the ship. "No worse for wear, huh?" He was referencing the dent from the Anzati. Either he was looking in the wrong spot or she had managed to hammer it out.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

At the sudden twittering from Pibs, Kinsey reached for her sidearm and had it quickly in her hands and pointed toward the open gap where her feet were. Index-finger eased back instantly on the trigger as the familiar voice filtered to her ears. And she realized Pib's insults were more friendly than threatening in nature.

"Careful Armaud," he wouldn't see her grin in the shadows but maybe he'd hear it in her voice. "Keep this up and you might replace Pibs."

That got her a sharp razzle from her droid.

No worse for wear.

"And she's not too bad. Just a minor coupling leak," reaching down, she took the hydrospanner and went to work. A few sparks flew. Booted-feet splayed out as she got a better angle in the tiny space. "Should about....do it." Handing the tool back to Armaud, she began easing her way out, dragging clay and sand along her back as she went.

It was clear getting dirty didn't bother Kinsey. Though. Armaud already knew that from Jandoon.

Hands came up to peel the goggles away from her face as she grinned up at the familiar sight of bohemian.

"How's that hand of yours?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

Grabbing his staff, he stepped back as she pulled herself out from beneath the ship. He wondered whether there was a cleaner place to do that but given their locale, he doubted it. And he wasn't convinced Kinsey had a preference either way.

"Oh this thing..." He lifted his left hand, wiggling his fingers, as he smirked. "Some leaves and poultice, good as new." It wasn't nearly that simple. Splinting a hand was hard work and not re-aggravating the wound was even harder. But he wasn't one for complaining, not when adventuring was the exact cause for it.

"So for all the planets in this system, you couldn't find a hangar with a clean floor to work on your ship..." He tapped on the staff, leaning against it. "Starting to think you prefer it that way."

Memories grew hazy as time went on. And now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall whether she was dragged to the ground by the Anzati or if it was the other way around.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Brows rose up her forehead. "I don't think many shadow ports have clean floors," she smirked and shrugged. Although, a hand brushed across her back, arm angling behind her as best she could to try and brush some of it off.

"Huh," she took a step closer to look at that hand of his. "Never thought natural remedies really worked." Fingerless-gloved hand with a layer of sand on it pressed slowly toward him. Intent was clear. If he didn't move she was about to wipe it on his shirt.

"I always thought a bit of dirt and sand wouldn't bother Plant Man."

Pibs let out a short boop and rolled around.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He had spent too much time here, forgetting that this was actually a shadowport. It was unusual for him to spend so much of his time out of network, so far removed.

"Oh yeah." He remarked with a cocky smirk. "You'd be surprised what a few plants could do. I mean..." He paused as she wiped her hands across his shirt. Narrowing his eyes, he let the pause continue for a moment before breaking the silence. "Most medications are plant or natural resource based."

Verdant gaze shifted down to her hands and then pulling at his shirt to see the damage, he shrugged and smiled. "Ya know. I once spent three months in a hut made out of sun dried mud." He shook his head, looking up. "Sometimes, I get the phantom feeling of dirt still clinging beneath my nails."

Snapping back to attention, he nestled the staff in his elbow and clapped his hands together. "Right. Got a new adventure. But I'm all out of honey."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Armaud Eden]

double post why does this site hate me.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

The hand that was now a little less dirt covered thanks to Armaud fell away. Well. Thanks to his shirt. She stepped back and motioned to him over her shoulder as she turned. The door to her u-wing hissed open. He'd find the place familiar with the addition of a few jars of the honey he sent from last time, sitting snugly on her shelf.

"Well. Luckily for you, I still have some from last time."

With a start, Kinsey wondered when she'd begun to feel so comfortable around this wanderer. Maybe surviving Anzati did that to folk. Even having friends made her a bit wary. Nervous. She could count the people she could trust on one hand. Kriff. Four fingers and none of them were family.

Walking over to the small kitchenette, she turned on the water and began scrubbing her hands. Back was half turned to him as she pushed her troubled thoughts aside. "So what do yah got? Aing-ti monks? Enraged wookies? Treasure in ice beast caves?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

He smiled as she turned, wondering if she expecting more of a response from him. He had numerous siblings, he was used to it. Besides, where was the harm in mild play between friends. And at the same time, he wondered if she had discovered the alchemic properties of the honey - or if it had simply been used for tea and caf.

Not that it mattered, so long as it was enjoyed.

"You can use that honey for cuts as well." He stated matter-of-factly, as if it that would have been easy to tell from outward appearances only. Setting the staff against the interior of the ship, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Watching, quietly.

"Nothing as impressive as that." He admitted with a smile, realizing that the options she offered were things he preferred. Though, her remarks about Aing-ti pinged a thought regarding a certain commander of the Alliance. "Old Separatist base on Hakara. Rumor is that it was left in quite a hurry...vases knocked over, clothes left on the bed, that sort of thing." He gestured with an open hand. "But if you prefer enraged wookiees, I can put that in the hopper for the next trip."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

She shot him a look about the honey comment. Hands flipped off the water and she began drying them on a well-used rag, turning. The water would filter and become reusable again. Her ship ran a very efficient system. It had to.

And the honey healed?

"Now I just feel like you're spinning tall tales," she laughed, slinging the rag over her shoulder, arms crossing just beneath her chest as she gave him a level-stare. Lopsided-grin never left her lips.

"But you've got my attention." Of course he did. Abandoned bases? Sketchy planets. That's all it took. Unless he said Dac or any other primarily ocean-based world, she would've flat-out said no.

Kriff no.

Hand rose to rub along her chin in thought.

"I think I've got enough supplies. Should have enough fuel. What do yah say, Pibs?"

Her pebbledrone beeped an affirmative from the cockpit.

"You got coordinates for this base or are we just winging it?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

Her interest was piqued, that was enough for him. After all, they were chasing her relic. Unless, contrary to her previous statements, she had in fact given up.

Maud assumed not.

Shrugging slightly, he tucked his arms back into a cross over his chest.

"Smuggler outside said that if we..." He pointed skyward. "Go up there and take a left, should get us in the right place." He smiled, the directions were total nonsense. But the truth was that star charts would have more information then he could possess. Once they got into the proper grid and sector, standard analysis tools could pick up planetary emissions and heat signatures.

This wasn't a ghost planet, not like the last one. This was a thing full of life.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Head shook once.

"Yeah. I can see why I should be the one in charge of coordinate and directions between the two of us." Eyes sparkled, the tiny-pricks of white splattered within the depths of blues catching the light just right. Unshouldering the rag, she hung it back over the sink.

"Whelp. Let's have a go. You know the drill. Strap in and prepare for an adventure with the best gorram explorer you know." Pibs whistled at its owner about adding a credit to the swear jar. Kinsey just rolled her eyes and stepped past Armaud, going to the pilot's seat. She began typing in the nav-computer. Though, she probably could've gotten them there without.

That Starchaser blood.

"I've been meaning to ask. Last time, how'd you do all the hoodoo voodoo stuff with your staff. Is it magical or something?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

He scoffed. And then he chuckled a bit. "Going to be hard to steer this thing when you hurt your elbow patting yourself so hard on the back." He teased as he uncrossed his arms and followed her into the small cockpit, taking a seat in the passenger chair.

He paid the little robot no mind as he looked around. Not that he could speak in beeps and boops but if he could, he surmised he still wouldn't have responded.

"With my staff?"

He quirked an eyebrow, wondering if she thought the thing was anything more than an antenna for his abilities. A tuning fork, as some would say.

"Oh yeah." He nodded. "Nope, no magic. Just a conversation." He tightened the straps. "I asked it and it responded."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Wait," she shot him a sideways glance. "You're telling me, you talk to a piece of wood?" Clearly, the art of using ankarres wood was lost on Kinsey. Head shook as she gently took them up. At least her repair job was holding together - for the moment.

"Don't think I've ever been to Hakara," hands moved through the controls with ease, something Armaud would be familiar with by now. The girl knew every sound, light, and tilt her ship made. "At least we've got an easier exit this time."

Yeah, no one was chasing them. It was a nice change. Kinsey didn't have to work so hard to keep her force signature hidden. She would definitely be a bit more lax about it once they entered hyperspace. The chances of a sith hunter sensing her in hyperspace was too rare to worry about it.

"Anything else this smuggler friend of yours tell you about this planet?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Do you suspect those seeds grew because I demanded it?" He retorted, lips curling into a mild smirk as he watched her go to work. She was missing the point of it all but that was no surprise, with how she masked her presence and defied her abilities. Maybe that was for her safety, a thing he considered up to debate. But he was sure that it was to her detriment. And if she was related to that commander, and if any of the stories of his power were true, then she had a hidden potential that she failed to embrace.

Shame.

"Not very much." He replied dryly. "Hard to make out the words between belches and groans of his stomach aching. Though I'm sure that had nothing to do with the persistent alcohol consumption and terrible diet." He had watched the man snarf down a meal fit for three and consumed twice as much rye whiskey. Could smell him from a mile away.

"Rumor is that it was settled by Jedi, or at least given protection, following the Separatists settling it for resources. But I'm more interested in the Hakaran swarms, if I'm being honest." His eyes gleamed with promise. A chance to communicate with a new species, he was beside himself at the opportunity.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Well. I don't know. You don't seem the demanding type." It was lost on her but that was okay. It would probably be the same way if she tried explaining how she knew the right place to be when flying or jumping through hyperspace without a nav-computer. It was a feeling and she just did. Of course she knew it was the force. But explaining the force wasn't easy, either.

"Heh. Sounds like you spoke to cherry-cheeks Charlie." Then again, almost any smuggler fit that description. Kinsey excluded - obviously. In fact, if Armaud looked for it, he wouldn't find a drop of alcohol on board her ship. There was a specific reason for that.

Without too much fuss, they eased into space and then into hyperspace.

It would take a few hours to get there.

Thumb hooked behind them as she unbuckled her crash-webbing. "Tea or water's in the back. Help yourself. And hold up." Dark, sandy brows scrunched together. "You said swarms? Like of bugs?"

 

[Armaud Eden]

He was far from demanding. But if his ideology had demanded that he demand the pine to grow, that it somehow responded well to a raised tone, then he would have done so. But convincing the seed to grow by offering mental prospects of the future, that was the way that Master Vandal had taught him.

As with all things, honey attracted far more than vinegar.

“Mhm.” He uttered nonchalant as he headed down into the belly of the ship. He wondered if she would swing overhead, as she had before. “I aim to converse with them….”

He stated with his hand turned out, as if it had been obvious. “Would you like some tea?”

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Head shook a bit incredulously. Pibs warbled. "Don't worry. You won't be carried off," she spoke to her droid, then took the few short steps down into the main cabin.

"Of course you want to talk to them. You're the kind of guy that never meets a stranger." She remembered the field mice he picked up before they got swooped up in that net on Jandoon. "Not that I'm complaining," because of her own run in with him, before they even knew each other, she'd made a good amount of credits off his 'rocks.' Enough for that power converter.

"And I'll have the dewberry lemon," she plopped into one of the seats, kicking her boots up on the opposite one across, hands cradling her head as she leaned back and got comfortable. "So what's your story, Armaud? I'm surprised you haven't been recruited to fight with one of the superpowers in the verse by now."

 

[Armaud Eden]

He nodded as he tore the packets open, the water already steaming and rising from the mugs. No concern over turbulence out here, not unless they ran into debris mid hyperdrive transit. And if that happened, he imagined he wouldn't be worrying about much at all. Dipping the dewberry lemon into the mug, he dunked another of his own into his own mug. This time, it was a concoction of his own herbs, allowing the debris to free float as it brewed. He'd end up chewing and herbal decoction of water, rosemary, thyme, and a number of other phorbs and herbs.

"Not for a lack of trying." He admitted somberly as he approached. Setting her mug on her thigh, he waited for her to grab it. "Careful. It's hot."

Finding a seat of his own next to her, he took in a deep breath as he cat's cradled his fingers over the rim of the mug - allowing the steam to raise and warm his palm. "It's not that I don't care." He wanted her to know that. That despite constantly putting on airs, he was only free in most senses. But he just couldn't abide the mentality of the Alliance, answering war with war. And he couldn't abide the Republic either, who sought to once counter violence with inaction. And by the time he was old enough to be a value, they were nothing more than galactic ash.

Leaning back against wall behind him, he closed his emerald eyes. "When neither side is right, it's easier to escape, right?" He wasn't wise or a sage, he knew nothing of what stood as good or bad. But he knew what was right for him. Opening his eyes, he turned to Kinsey and smirked. "Besides. My story can't be that interesting...not for the greatest adventurer in the known galaxy." He held out his free hand. "Why not regale me of one of your adventures? You must have many."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]