Private Crash Landing

[Tess]

As the spider lashed out, Tess recoiled. She hugged her hand against her chest as she glanced between Nezira and the spider. She forced a smile at Nezira's comment on the spider, trying to be nice with the clearly socially awkward woman. "At least she's cute." she commented. Nezira went on to make clear what her thoughts were on 'friends'. Tess was starting to contemplate whether taking her chances by the ship was better.

"On a planet like this, definitely. But out there...you need friends." she spoke as she gestured to the sky. "People try to take chances with you. And, no offense intended at all, but you are a bit...wound tight. People like looking for trouble and going into the galaxy alone isn't a good idea. And by 'alone' I mean physically." she explained to her, trying to get her to understand what she meant. She watched as the spider scrambled off into the cave, a sense of anxiety creeping up inside her. As long as it didn't scare her, she was fine with it running around. "While you're out there, friends help you out. Good friends that you can trust, not the type of useful idiots that you only use to get stuff done. Those you wanna keep at arm's length. But true friends...those are rare, but they can be trusted with your life." she spoke with sincerity, giving Nezira a warm smile.

She looked at the storm outside, rather glad that she had some shelter. She shifted a bit closer to the flames and warmed her hands. "You want off this planet, right? I'm willing to help you. You definitely don't trust me and I don't blame you. The work I do doesn't exactly promote trust. But I'm looking for something in the galaxy too. I feel that helping you find your way into the galaxy might help me find what I'm looking for too." she admitted. This was a little awkward. Talking about trust while literally living several different lives was making her quite the hypocrite. But then again, Nezira didn't need to know that.

She glanced at Nezira with a curious look. "Don't you know people other than your Sisters? People outside the tribe or something? Or are you guys...close off from the rest of the planet?" she asked her, turning slightly to look at her. she really hoped that she could get this lady to relax. Otherwise a trip offworld might not be the best idea for her...

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira didn't comment on what Tess thought of her spider, but she did listen. Hearing the white-haired woman's whole speech of friendship, real friendship was quite a foreign theme for her. It was quite a long speech even and at first, the Nightsister didn't believe her. Friends are temporary after all, while sistership is forever. She just couldn't see her form of friendship with strangers. Not to mention, those she had met in the past, always ran from her... okay that might have something to do with her attacking them, but that was beside the point.

However, as the agent continued talking, the Nightsister could see the advantage of having other people to rely on away from her home since she won't have her sisters. As she rolled the thoughts around in her mind, she felt Tess' eyes resting on her and looked back at the woman, locking eyes with the girl.

She thought for a bit, leaning more to just snap at Tess and tell her to mind her own business. However, the agent's words earlier did pop in and made her second guess her answer. "None that I trust" started Nezira, as she tried to figure out how to continue. "We... My clan and I aren't exactly well-liked, by the Singing Mountain clan as we often fight them with our spiders" added the Nightsister and held her hand up a bit and flared her magick in the palm. The Ichor was moving and dancing in the palm, while the green toxic coloured smoke caressed the skin as it slithered its way around the hand. Much of the cave suddenly lit up in a green glow around them, almost fighting the fire's light for being the main light source.

"Living in the Singing Mountain with our spiders, don't give us many opportunities to see other people, I guess" shrugged the Nightsister, rotating her hand slowly, before snuffing the magick out and lowering her hand. Looking at Tess again, "we should sleep" comment Nezira and started to lay down, looking at the dancing flames in the small campfire. It was quite soothing to listen to the thunderstorm and splashing rain outside.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Tess was pleasantly surprised when Nezira didn't snap at her. Perhaps she was making progress. She listened to Nezira's explanation, finding the details to be rather interesting albeit rather sad. "At least things don't sound boring around here." she quipped, giving her a smile. Though she didn't have much chance to discuss anything further as Nezira commented on them needing sleep.

Tess glanced around, looking for a comfortable spot to sleep. Between the hard floor, the storm outside and just her instincts telling her not to fall asleep... she doubted that she'd get any sleep at all. but she would try. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Goodnight, Nezira." she said softly, shifting a little closer to the fire. She sighed again and tried to relax... but that wasn't happening. She rolled and tossed around, finding it impossible to sleep. Even her body was begging her to fall asleep but it just wouldn't happen.

Finally she sat upright and left Nezira by the flames to go sit by the edge of the cave's mouth. She found a nice cozy spot and to sit and simply stared out of the cave. The storm, despite being violent, also had a calmness to it. It helped her to relax in a way. After a while she glanced at Nezira and the fire, noticing it starting to die. Unfortunately there wasn't anything to keep it going. With a shiver running down her back she pulled her legs into her chest and merely stared out of the cave with her pale eyes. She thought over her predicament. If they couldn't get a distress signal out...she would be stuck here. She doubted any of the Nightsisters would want her. All she could do well was fight in this case. She was made to infiltrate people who were actually civilized, not savages like these. It made her also think over her promise to Nezira. She would keep it, no matter what. But she was going to need a lot of help if they managed to get offworld.

She pushed her thoughts aside, not wanting to let panic creep in. She could only hope that everything would play out nicely...

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Whether Tess went to bed or didn't, when morning hit, the storm had passed them and the air was filled with moist fresh smell of the aftereffect of raining. Waking up early, Nezira yawned a bit and felt her small spider, had returned as it had found her hair to be a comfortable resting spot.

Not sure if Tess was awake, he did give her foot a gentle kick with the side of her own boots to wake the agent up. "Time to go," explained the Nightsister, shortly and left the cave without further notice. Coming outside, Vex waited for its owner and lowered itself, for the girl to get up on it.

Waiting for Tess, Nezira used the time to do a quick scan in the area and listening to the surroundings as many ambush animals live on the red planet. Upon Tess exit of the cave, Nezira started to head back for the agent's broken ship the same way they used to find the cave and before they knew it, Tess stood in front of her ship again, still broken as before.

Jumping off her spider, Nezira looked to Tess, "Well?" She asked, just a little bit curious if the woman could do what she promised.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Still sitting by the cave entrance, Tess slowly fell asleep without even realizing it. When morning came, she was stirred awake by Nezira who gave her a kick to her boots. She glanced around and rubbed at her eyes. "Yeah... one sec." she muttered as she got up, stretching herself out. Just about every joint in her body popped from the awkward position before she finally joined Nezira outside. The sun was shining and the air was quiet once more. "That's pleasant." she remarked as she glanced around them.

Noticing that Nezira was in a bit of a rush, she joined her on the trek back to the ship. Once they reached it, she looked around the place for a bit. She was rather impressed by her ship's design and the fact that she actually survived a crash like that. "Uhhh... we'll see." she answered Nezira as she walked up to the ship. The first thing she did was help herself to a nutrient bar, offering one to the Nightsister as well. "Time to get started." she quipped, clambering back into the ship. For the next hour or so she spent her time stripping the panels away and reading over the operator's manual. She was quite happy when there was a section for situations just like this.

Munching on yet another nutrient bar, Tess messed around with the wiring and electronics until she finally had something rigged up. Static came from the radio while Tess bit her lower lips in anticipation. Her greasy hand reached over to a dial and played around with it to tune it in. The static cleared and a very satisfying beeping came through. "YES!" she shouted triumphantly as she threw her arms up. With the emergency beacon beeping away, she stood up and leaned over the top exit of the starfighter. "See? Beacon's up and running. All that's left now is to wait for someone to come help us." she assured Nezira with a confident grin. She climbed out of the cockpit and leaned against a broken wing. "So, what do you want to do in the meantime?" she asked her with a grin.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Receiving the nutrient bar, the Nightsister's eyebrow rose just a bit, looking the strange small package over. The nutrient bar was a very foreign thing to her as in, she had never seen anything like it before. Holding the small bar between to fingers, "what is this?" Asked Nezira suspiciously, sniffing to the wrapped-up package. However, given the nature of the package, the Nightsister had little luck in getting any smell as Nezira hadn't opened the nutrient bar yet.

It was actually a bit funny to watch, as Nezira sat down and tried to figure out how exactly she would get into the small wrapped bar of nutrient. In the end, she managed to rip the top of the package open. Finally being able to get a feel for the strange foreign food, Nezira sniffed it again and she immediately picked up on a fruity, sweet, and slightly tart scent.

While it wasn't a naive combination to find on Dathomir, but the Nightsister found it impressive that there was food with such a combination growing on other planets. When she finally took a bite, it exploded her tastebuds with the fruit, sweet and tart flavour that she actually got a bit overwhelmed by it. So much so, that she just out of reaction spit the pice out. Looking down at the rest of the bar and at the chewed off area, it was a bit too explosive flours compared to what she was used to.

Hearing Tess cheer, Nezira placed the mostly whole nutrient bar on the broken ship and looked up at the white-haired woman. "Good" was her only reply, though the sudden question about what they should do in the meantime, reminded her that she was hungry. "I will find hunt us something to eat, something better than these" explained and nodded at her not even half-eaten nutrient bar and headed for the forest.

Surprisingly, Nezira's giant spider suddenly appeared through the trees, close to the mountain completely silently and followed its owner into the forest again.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Nezira didn't sound nearly as enthusiastic but Tess was getting used to it. She was getting rather curious as to what it would take to actually get a genuine reaction out of the stoic Nightsister. She mentioned getting proper food for them which earned a chuckle from Tess. "I take it you're not a fan?" she quipped as she helped herself to finishing off the barely eaten bar. Unlike Nezira, Tess loved the snack bars. Though she would kill for some chocolate...

Moving over to finish Nezira's bar, Tess relaxed. She was a bit taken by surprise by the giant spider but at this point she was getting used to it. Boredom quickly set in and after a few moments, Tess clambered back into the cockpit and decided on cleaning her pistol as best she could. All the while she tried to check for any signals but it was no use. She could only hope that someone would hear her beacon's call.

She had her pistol reassembled in no time and was outside of the starfighter again. She really hoped that Nezira wouldn't take long. Having a total brick wall of a person to talk to was still better than having absolutely nothing. She pulled out her canteen and helped herself to another snack bar, taking her time with this one as she waited with anticipation for Nezira's return. She just hoped that the Nightsister wasn't expecting her to skin an animal and those things. The thought of it ironically made the assassin shiver.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

A couple of hours passed without Nezira's return and the silence around Tess was only filled with birds and other native forest animals. When Nezira finally returned, she with the help of her spider, dragged a long-necked native grass-eating animal, which actually was the same type that Tess saw yesterday before meeting Nezira.

Cutting the animal free from her spider, and kneeled down by the dead animal. She pulled a ritual-looking knife and proceeded to skin the animal before her. The skinning took a bit, given how big the grass-eater was. Looking up at Tess, "we need a fire going" pointed the Nightsister out, "go find some wood, branches and dried leaves" ordered Nezira with a stoic expression. Focused on skinning the animal, Nezira made quick work of the animal, which she took and folded out on one of the more whole wings of the crashed ship to let it dry.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Tess was about ready to go looking for that Rancor to kill the boredom when Nezira finally returned. The Nightsister dropped a big creature in front of her, earning a surprised look from Nezira. A bit much for just the two of us, don't you think?" she quipped, flashing her a smirk. Nezira asked for her to get firewood, much to her dismay, but she agreed. With a hum she walked off towards the edge of the clearing to start gathering firewood.

Taking advantage of her modifications, she gathered a bunch of big logs, branches and a bunch of smaller sticks all in one go. After several minutes she returned with a massive pile of wood in her arms, dropping it by the dead creature. Patting her hands and arms down, she looked back at Nezira. That works for you?" she asked her, quite happy with the pile she brought. Though her smug look didn't last long when she heard static come to life from her ship.

Wasting no time at all, she clambered back into her cockpit and immediately worked on trying to dial in on the ship attempting to make contact. "Hello? Anyone there?" she spoke into the microphone she set up. She could hear faint voices through the static, though nothing she did could clear up the static. "Hello?!" she spoke louder as if that would help. But unfortunately, the static took over again and soon disappeared. An exasperated sigh escaped her as she sat back in the cockpit. "Dammit." she muttered as she folded her arms. Getting back up, she leaned over the ship's hatch to get a look at Nezira. "Well at least we know it works for sure." she quipped with a forced smile. She got out of the ship and sat down on a broken wing. "Just need to actually get a good connection... whenever someone comes past here again." she explained as she stared off into the woods.

She looked back to the Nightsister, watching her work the animal. "Know any good recipes for that?" she asked her with curiosity.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

With the animal skinned, Nezira looked at the pile of wood and gave Tess a faint smile, before returning to her nonchalant expression. Building the fire didn't take long and before long, flames were dancing on the wood. With the fire going, Nezira turned back to the skinned animal and begun to remove all the good parts and stabbed the meat through sticks and placed them over the fire.

"We're not eating the remaining animal, Vex is" explained Nezira and out of the wood, the large and massive black spider showed itself. Looking first at Tess, before seeing its master and owner's stern look and went over to eat the animal. Hearing Vex eat was not for the faint of heart as bone started to crack and pop.

"Okay," said Nezira and nodded to Tess's explanation, not thinking more of it as she focused on the grilling meat. "grilling or stewing," said the Nightsister, after thinking a bit on the question. Might not have been to most exciting answer or upbeat that Tess had hoped for, but it was the truth, nonetheless. However, right now, they were grilling the meat over the fire.

The Nightsister wanted to ask Tess about the other worlds and what she would find when leaving Dathomir, but Nezira has had trouble finding a way to ask the other woman the questions. She wanted to ask quite a lot of questions, but thing thought of doing that, was a bit overwhelming for her. Or, maybe she was just afraid of asking the questions.

Nevertheless, Feeling the food, Nezira removed one of the pieces of meat, holding the long stick, poking to the meat to see if it was ready. "This one's ready" stated the Nightsister and handed Tess the stick with meet stabbed to the pointy side.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Tess blinked in surprise at the mention of giving the giant spider the rest of the animal. She glanced at Nezira then at the spider as it started to drag the remains of the animal away. Tess' lips pursed and tried to tune the sound effect out as the spider consumed the animal. For a highly trained agent who's quite used to gruesome situations, she was finding herself to get rather squeamish from the spider's meal. She plastered on a fake smile as she looked back to Nezira, weighing the options of their 'recipes'. A chuckle escaped her as she shook her head. "Grilling's easier so let's go with that." she quipped as she sat down next to Nezira.

She took note of Nezira's discomfort. She clearly wanted to say something but she didn't press the Nightsister. Soon enough a piece of meat was ready and the Nightsister passed it onto her. "Thanks." she muttered with a smile, accepting the meat and taking a bite of it. She sat quietly with her meal for a few moments, nibbling away at it as she thought of something to say. She brightened up as a thought crossed her mind, turning to look at Nezira. "You got any questions?" she asked the Nightsister. "Like of the galaxy, any worlds you'd like to visit, stuff like that?" she explained to her. "You're pretty much going to have the entire galaxy at your fingertips, I'm sure you're curious." she continued as she scooted a bit closer, giving her a soft smile before taking a bite from her meal.

A short while later, the sound of the emergency beacon came to life again. Tess' eyes opened wide as she glanced at the ship then at Nezira. "Um... hold this." she muttered as she handed her the piece of meat before jumping up. Clambering onto the ship again, she jumped into the cockpit and grabbed hold of the microphone. "Hello! Anyone there?!" she called out. "We hear you loud and clear, who's this?" a voice came over the radio. "I crash landed on Dathomir, my ship is beyond repair. I need someone to come pick me and my friend up! Can you assist us?" she asked them. There was silence for a while before the radio perked up again. "Deal. As long as we can get the scrap from your ship." they stated, earning a chuckle from Tess. "Feel free. I don't have any use for it." she agreed, sitting back in relief. "Alright. Sit tight, we'll follow your signal." the voice ordered her. They were clearly some sort of sketchy spacers but she wasn't going to complain.

Climbing out of the ship, she made her way back to Nezira with a massive grin. "Better eat up, our ride's on its way." she explained as she sat down again, taking back her meal and eating further.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira was a bit in her own mind and Tess's voice broke her train of thought and made the girl change focus. There was quite a lot of questions the girl had, but she really didn't have any idea of where to start. That was when a question popped into her mind, a question she's been holding on to, ever since she met a couple of outsiders for the first time a couple years back.

Looking back, feeling her own piece of meat, she looked over to Vex and a small smile formed. The smile quickly turned back to a nonchelaunt expression as she moved her focus back to Tess. "I~" she paused, chewing a bit more on how to formulate her question. "I've always been curious about these neverending cities I've heard mention on" said Nezira finally, looking back to her meat. Feeling the tenderness, she took a bite of her own juicy and tasty piece of meat. "How can a city never end?" Asked Nezira, clearly confused by the thought of a world with a city that never ends.

The very idea of a city that just continues, seemed so alien. Hearing the voice calling out to Tess, the Nightsister listened to what she could hear of the conversation. "Good. The smell of death, can draw many predators" explained Nezira with a nod and continued to eat her meal. Vex made quick work of the remaining carcass, even cracking and breaking bones of the animals.

Surprisingly, it didn't take too long, before the help broke through the atmosphere of the red planet and was heading towards them.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Nezira proceeded to ask about the 'neverending cities' she heard about. It wasn't a term Tess was used to, but she quickly figured out what she meant by it. She gave an understanding nod as she smiled at her. "Oh yeah. They're gonna be overwhelming at first, I can promise you that. Coruscant's probably the biggest in the galaxy. The entire planet is a city, literally spanning several miles up from its surface. Though I'd suggest staying out of the lower levels. Those are usually rotten to the core with criminals, gangs and other sick people. The upper levels are awesome, though." she explained before taking a few more bites from her meal. "This is really good, by the way." she commented between bites.

Swallowing another mouthful, she glanced at her again. "You will probably get lost. A lot. But that's why I'm here. You stick with me, I can show you around as well as teach you how to use a personav so you don't get lost on those planets. Though just promise me one thing." she continued, leaning a little closer with a smirk. "Try not to attack people if they look like they're criminal or piss you off. People can be assholes a lot of the time." she teased before returning to her meal. Nezira made a comment about the smell of death, causing Tess to immediately stop with her eating. "Um..." she mumbled as she glanced at her meal and then at the mangled corpse the spider dragged off. She was about to voice her concerns when she heard the sound of engines thundering high above them. It got closer and closer until a freighter touched down a few meters away from them. Tess rose from her seat and set her meal aside as her free hand carefully drew her pistol. Hiding it behind her back, she indicated for Nezira to stay back as she approached the freighter.

The boarding ramp of the freighter lowered and a Weequay walked out of the ship along with a scruffy looking Nautolan. "You the gal in need of help?" the Weequay asked, glancing at her and Nezira. "Yeah, me and my friend over there." she commented, studying them. "The deal still holding?" asked the Nautolan as he glanced at the wrecked starfighter. "Not much left of that." the Weequay commented. But before they could even get another word out, Tess brought her gun up and dropped both of them with a bolt in the chest.

She closed the distance and checked them, making sure they were dead. "Slavers." she called out to Nezira as she stood back up. "See that sun insignia on the one's jacket? That's a cartel sign. One that's known for dealing in slavery." she explained. Of course, anyone who knew their cartels would know that Tess was twisting the truth quite a bit. But in this case Nezira didn't need to know that. All that mattered was getting off-world along with her.

Glancing back at Nezira, she nodded towards the ship. "Well? Come on, then! Grab your things and get onboard!" she called out before jogging over to grab her own things and making her way back to the ship. In the cargo hold was a few crates with Black Sun insignias on them, earning a nod from Tess. "See what I mean. Cartels. I bet you the stuff in there's not even legal." she commented as she made her way through the ship towards the cockpit. Reaching the cockpit, Tess slid into the pilot's seat and waited for Nezira to join her. "Grab a seat. Just don't touch any of the buttons. I'll teach you about them on the way." she instructed as she started to power the ship back up. In no time at all they were in the air and flying upwards.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Listening to what Tess said, he gave the Nightsister quite a bit to think over, but it also gave her more questions. What was lower levels? Criminals lived there? Why didn't the city just remove them from the planet, or did that mean that the criminals owned the lower levels?

Tess would also teach her how to use a personal, whatever it was. Nezira gave her a stare, "why not? If they made me angry on purpose, its my right to hurt them back" stated Nezira and found it very weird not to attack anyone who attacked her first. However, the sound of a ship, made the Nightsister look up at the sky, watching it land a little further away.

Not really listening to what Tess requested with her indication, Nezira just followed Tess, still eating her food, standing a bit behind the white-haired agent. Watching both die, Nezira looked at the two dead aliens, "you people have a very weird sense of what not to attack and attack" admitted the Nightsister and swallowed the last bite of her food.

Turning around, Vex appeared behind her, having come out to check out the noise. "I will be leaving, go back to the mountain Vex and wait for me there" explained Nezira, as if it was a child asked to wait at home. scratching Vex a bit, the spider left them, seemingly having understood what Nezira had said.

Watching her spider leave, being way too big for the ship and she wasn't going to left her spider die on some strange planet. Turning back to face Tess, who already were on her way up the ramp. Not really having anything, other than what she had on, Nezira just followed Tess into the ship and looked at the thinks she pointed out. It did make her wonder, what she meant with legal, but refrained from asking. Oh and slavers was a rather foreign word to her, so it didn't really hit her, like it did with Tess. Looking around the ship, was about to open the crates or try to at least, when Tess called for her.

Entering the cockpit, Nezira took a seat and was quite frankly, overwhelmed with all these buttons.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Glancing back to Nezira, she listened to what the Nightsister had to say. With a chuckle she shrugged at her observation, finding it to be a rather accurate assumption. People have certainly been killed for a lot less than a ship. "You got a point. But you'll learn who to kill and who not to kill, trust me. It can become a messy situation if you attack the wrong people." she admitted as she moved into the ship. She waited in the cargo hold for Nezira to send her spider off before pressing on. It was a huge relief, to be honest. There wasn't space for it and she didn't want to be met with a giant spider whenever she wanted to check something in the hold..

In the cockpit, Nezira looked rather petrified. "Yeah that was my reaction at first as well." she quipped as she flipped some switches and brought the ship online. "But it's all sequence and practice. Once you know which button does what, it's easy to fly just about any ship. Very rarely will you have a ship with systems that's completely different from the industry standard." she continued as the engines came online. The ship lifted off the ground and after a few moments they were flying up and out of the atmosphere. "If you think this is overwhelming, just wait for a few seconds." she quipped with a teasing wink as she flew the ship out of atmosphere. Finally they broke free and the void of space was there to meet them. Tess calmly flew the ship a but further and finally turned it around to show Nezira her homeworld. "And there we go. That's Dathomir." she spoke softly as she sat back, holding the ship in position as she let Nezira take in her homeworld. After a few moments she turned the ship back around and made distance between them and the planet as she worked on the hyperspace coordinates. "Okay, let's not overwhelm you too much at once. Now where can we go..." she muttered as she studied the map.

"Let's go to to Taris." she commented as she selected the planet. The ship jumped to hyperspace and she sat back to let the autopilot do its thing. "There's a bunch of stuff we can do there. Plus it's not as bad as other places. I think you'll actually like it." she spoke as she glanced at her with a gentle smile.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

The Nightsister leaned back in her seat, crossed her legs and placed her folded fingers on top of her knee. Nezira doubted she would ever learn how to fly a ship, and while she needed ships to get off Dathomir for the moment. She knew she wasn't too far from learning Nether travelling, which would give her the ability to travel planet to planet with ease without the use of a ship.

But, for now, it was needed. Nevertheless, she listened to what Tess said. The moment the agent turned the ship around, it caught the Nightsister off guard. She actually blinked a couple of times at the sight of her homeworld, completely amazed by the view of her large, beautifully red planet, it was maybe Tess's first time seeing the Dathomirian girl show a different side of herself.

However, she quickly corrected herself and her unreadable facial expression returned, as Tess turned the ship back around again. Crossing her leg again and placing her folding hands on her knee, Nezira started to actually look around the cockpit. "Maybe, we'll see" commented the Nightsister while looking at some of the screens in the cockpit.

Tess