Private Crazy Way to Catch Up

[Damsy Callat]

Truth be told, Damsy didn't know either. Maybe trust had always been her Achilles' heel, or Achilles' fin? Yes, in hindsight her tendency had and continued to be out of habit to give the benefit of the doubt until she was given a reason to rescind it.

It started as it always did, with Kamino. When her father had pulled her from the water and off the world, a younger Damsy had trusted his good intentions until that day at Sinners' Well when she had found out the truth.

But Mallory Bash hadn't given her a reason, not yet. If anything, Damsy had given her more than a few reasons between tonight and the last time they met to not trust her. So, as far as the Shifter was concerned, she just about owed some long overdue answers to the other woman.

When Damsy could spot her through the crowd once more, she gave a jerk of her head, indicating the desire to get out of here. When Mal had approached to hearing distance, Damsy said, "Nevermind. I beat ya to it."

Finding a place, that was.

"How do you feel about satiating a few years' curiosity, huh?"

 

[Mallory Bash]

Mal caught a glimpse of Damsy again through the crowd, standing alone. The gesture was clear, it was time to leave. She dropped some credits on the bar next to Damsy's and deftly navigated her way across the room towards the Jedi.

Once close enough to hear her over the music, Mal nodded. It looked like they would find that place to talk after all. May didn't push Damsy at all, simply drawing up next to her and following her out of the club. She wasn't nervous. There were secrets with Damsy, of that she was sure. Dangerous ones? Of that she was pretty sure as well. But Mal had spent years on the fringe, where there was little safety, where the underbelly of society had its own society, thieves and robbers, con men and breakers of the law. Keeping things secret, dealing with rivals, avoiding the law. She may have been a newbie when it came to the military, and maybe a bit naieve in that realm, but the ex-smuggler had not only kept herself alive in the Rim, but kept her head above water pretty much on her own for quite awhile, until conscience caught up with her.

That street wisdom also warned Mal not to underestimate what Damsy may decide to reveal. There was the feeling of things beyond her when Damsy spoke. Curiosity was stoked indeed.

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy led the way through the wide, run down streets of Veshok Terrace Apartments. It was a sizable block, smoggy, and empty at this time of artificial night, all making for eerie ambiance. Near the perceivable end, they veered off down a ramp onto a bend in the street. Said bend led to another dead end. A length of wire fence surrounded a cylindrical construction rising out of the ground. A splattering of shanty tents likewise huddled nearby the fence, but alike the rest of the housing complex no one seemed to inhabit them.

As the women approached the fence, a hole cut in it to be about the size of an average woman humanoid or a slightly smaller male became evident. The Shifter stopped beside the gap to turn around and look at Mal. She motioned the way inside. "Flygirls first?" she asked as lightheartedly as she could.

Regardless of if Mal took the lead ducking through the first obstacle or made Damsy do the honours instead, she then approached the building's blast doors. Something had pried one of the pair open, but it wasn't clear either what or how. Either doors looked to be more rust than virgin metal. 'Conde' was spray-painted in Aurebesh on one side, black obscured by all the brownish red texture, while the other 'mned'. Similarly, below each segment, 'No tres' and 'passing'.

But Damsy and Mal were both way beyond a little bit of squatting.

The Shifter slipped unhesitant into the dark, but just a step before looking over her shoulder again. "Don't freak out," she said, a great deal less jovial, as she rose a hand from her side. She stepped a stride further into the shadows before allowing a controlled spark to jump across her splayed fingertips. Another joined, creating twin ribbons of purple-outlined electricity with silver-white cores. The emitted light danced over the decrepit metallic walls, illuminating not much but enough. "Follow me and watch your step."

Damsy got to her knees, starting to ease her way down off a ledge into what appeared to be an old elevator shaft—very old—and waited for Mal to follow suit. The descending climb was slow, ever so careful, and close, with Damsy never straying too far from Mal so that she would loose her light source. She managed to stay hung onto a pipe with one hand and help guide Mal, now without light, into the gap in the shaft that lead into the Reef. Dim florescent light shone from a ways down the circular hallway there, so Damsy didn't call back her Force Lightning as she came up behind Mal. "Home sweet home, right yonder." She slid a hand onto Mal's shoulder, huffing a short snort-laugh. Like she didn't even believe it herself, which she actually, truthfully, didn't. "Foreign fethin' concept, right?"

The moment was gone almost before it had begun. Giving a pat, Damsy urged her on:

"Well, let's see if anyone's up."



**
Mallory Bash | Arlo Renard | Worrarg

 

[Worrarg]

Worrarg had few places he could go freely. It wasn't that it was hard to traverse the place, it was that it was hard to do it without being noticed too much. As a result he did tend to spend most of his time in the Reef. It was the safest place. His eyes caught sight of approaching individuals, one he recognized as Damsy Callat however, he got into a sort of trot towards the entrance as he watched the two come down the elevator shaft.

The two wouldn't need to wait long before a soft pat of six large feet might be heard approaching them and the White furred white eyed form of the many limbed Voran creature approached them. Tilting his head slightly at the newcomer, she didn't look of sithspawn, or force sensitivity. Yes he knew it could be hidden, but it was still an oddity to see here.

One of the two additional arms at his neck gave a wave to the two, and he spoke in Huttese as he often did here, lacking the abillity to speak basic and expecting Shrywook to be even less known than Huttese. ["Welcome back again. Who is this? They don't look like another one?"] he said, he wasn't being judge-mental about it. It was just a matter of fact, he didn't know what Mallory Bash was here.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai could be found in Nineveh’s makeshift greenhouse, looking extraordinarily uncomfortable with a set of electronic headphones on his head.

After discovering Kai’s fear of loud noises, and that he thus avoided music like the plague, Nineveh had set out to find a musical genre he could enjoy. So far, she hadn’t had much luck.

<I don’t like this,> Kai complained.

Nineveh sighed. “Yeah, well, I don’t like ‘Sounds Only Elephants Can Hear’ either. Mostly because I can’t hear it.”

<It’s weird,> Kai said. He started to reach up to remove the headphones, but Nineveh stopped him.

“Not yet. Let’s try, uh…” She flicked through the list of lowest frequency genres, frowning. “Y’know, I thought this would start out with something like classical music, or whatever. Not this weird esoteric jazz stuff…”

The approaching presence of Damsy jerked Kai’s attention away from the task. She was with somebody else, someone new. Despite Nineveh’s protests, he took off the headphones and left the room, curiosity driving him to seek out the stranger. Nineveh also followed him, albeit much slower as she pushed her repulsor chair forward.

Forerunner beat Kai to the punch, just barely. Kai slid down a stair railing, landing on the floor near the big bird. To the stranger, he offered a cheerful wave.

Damsy Callat Mallory Bash Worrarg​

 

[Mallory Bash]

It didn't take long for Mal to realize they weren't heading to another club or more subdued bar, or anyplace in the entertainment districts for that matter. Mal didn't ask questions, sensing the journey had a weightier destination than just some quiet place to talk. The traipsed right into the Works. While her curiosity grew, the silence between them deepened.

Through the hovels of Veshok Terrace The paused, passing through a hole in a wire fence. Mal's skin prickled, taking a moment to feel the curve of the Tehk'lka Blade nestled at the small of her back. A study of Damsy offered little in way of where they were going, or what she was doing. It was clear the Sithspawn shapeshifter knew where she was going, though there was a certain air of alertness to her that was not present in the entertainment district.

They proceeded inside a dark, abandoned hulk of a building, Damsy offering her first words since arriving in Sector 943. Not freaking out was exactly what Mal was wrestling with. After all the matters of trust between them, was Damsy taking her someplace dangerous, someplace to silence her? Mal shook her head in the dark, cursing herself for thinking such things. She had to give Damsy the trust Mal claimed to place in her.

After the unexpected climb down the elevator shaft, Mal discerned that whatever lay at the bottom, it was intentionally meant to be secret, given the means by which it had to be accessed. Finally, they reached the bottom and stepped into a room. Almost immediately, a creature, one Mal could not identify, appeared. An avian-type, Mal's hand flinched, moving minutely as it began to go for her concealed knife. But she instantly stayed the hand. Damsy had not reacted at all. She knew the thing. And it spoke, in Huttese. A language an ex-smuggler would certainly know. Another one? She thought. Another one of what?" Mal found herself waving back to him.

Then, two more people appeared, a tall, young man and a teenaged girl in a repulsor chair, her legs cearly atrophied and mal-formed. She offered a small nod to them as well.
Damsy Callat Worrarg Arlo Renard

 

[Damsy Callat]

[ "Welcome back again. Who is this? They don't look like another one?"]

Damsy watched Mal's face closely as the Voran spoke. Across it rippled what appeared to be understanding, and her own features dropped. She hadn't prepared Mal for that question, but then again how would she have?

"Nah, she's not Spawn," Damsy answered, slowly scooting her attention Worrarg's way—then Kai's—then Nineveh's. "It's a'ight, though. I trust her."

Another glance at Mal, smile tentative and tight-lipped. There was so much she wanted to say. But not here, not now. In the control room, behind closed non-existent door.

Ocean eyes went back front and she stood straight, waiting for two assessments: one from the Sithspawn and the other from the spacer.



**
Mallory Bash | Worrarg | Arlo Renard

 

[Arlo Renard]

It turned out the newcomer was not a Sithspawn. Kai trusted Damsy not to bring anyone dangerous to the Reef, and so he met Mal with an already friendly disposition.

<Hi. Are you a friend of Damsy?> he asked.

Unfortunately, Mal didn’t appear to be Force sensitive, and therefore she couldn’t “hear” Kai’s preferred telepathic method of communicating. Kai inclined his head, wondering why his question didn’t generate any reaction from her, before he realised what the problem was. Hesitating, he swallowed, the atrophied muscles of his throat tightening.

“Hi.”

Nineveh’s head jerked toward Kai, startled. The sound of the doppelganger’s previously unused voice drew a few more stares as well, even though he spoke in hoarse, halting tones hardly above a whisper.

Kai shuffled his feet, then said, “Nice to meet you. My name is Kai. Damsy lives here with us. She is… like our leader. We like Damsy, and if she likes you, we like you too.”

It was obviously more difficult for him to articulate himself verbally, but he had never attempted to string together this many sentences before.

Damsy Callat Mallory Bash Worrarg​

 

[Worrarg]

Worrarg was interested, she'd not really said much on his arrival, though he had noticed the movement of the hand, however soon it stopped. Nor the arrival of Arlo Renard . But Damsy Callat did offer some clarification. She indeed was not a sithspawn, but Damsy said she trusted her. Likely that was sufficient. It didn't really change much how he would act one way or another, though, there likely were less prodding questions involved. There was certainly risk involved, but there could be risk involved with a sithspawn as well.

Kai alos used his voice...a weak voice, but a voice. Almost anything could have drowned it out, no wander he avoided using it. His speech was a bit different than expected, his phrasing as well. Then again, he hadn't heard him actually speak before. And there were certainly differing methods of communication.

["A fairly accurate statement."] What was probably a chuckle came out of him, ["I'll certainly not eat you anyway."] that was a joke, he probably wouldn't eat her regardles.

Well...maybe if she actually attacked. Meat is meat regardless of where it comes from. And what point is there in respect for an enemies corpse?

Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

It didn't take long for Mal to realize where Damsy had taken her, what was going on. Damsy all but confirmed it when she affirmed to the others that Mal was not Sithspawn. When Damsy turned to Mal, offering a small, tentative smile, the ex-smuggler understood the true depth of Damsy's trust. This was a Sithspawn refuge. That was what she was doing, offering help, safety for others of her kind.

Mal met those deep sea eyes with her own hazel gaze. In her glance understanding was revealed. No fear, no judgement. If anything, there was a bit of surprise, not only in the secret refuge, but in the trust given to see it. Her head turned, feeling eyes on her. The young man especially was staring, a curious but amiable look upon his face. There was an hanging moment, the the man spoke. It was not so much the strained, hoarse sound of the quiet tone that was so unexpected, but the look the avian and the girl shot at the speaker, as if startled by the weak sound of his voice.

Mal nodded, realizing the effort that Kai had put into that simple communication. Before she could reply, the avian-being also spoke, confirming Kai's sentiment, with a curious statement about not eating her. Without knowing the being, Mal couldn't tell if it was a joke or a distinct possibility. "I'm Mal." She replied with a small smile. She wondered if their trust in Damsy's choice to bring in a stranger would be shaken if they new she was a Galactic Alliance naval officer. She was not in uniform, nor there on behalf of the Alliance though, she was there as Damsy's friend. Her deep-seated smuggler honor would not allow her to betray the trust of a friend, military be damned.

She glanced at Damsy, then back to Kai. "I like Damsy too, and if she likes you, then so do I." She added.

Damsy Callat Arlo Renard Worrarg

 

[Damsy Callat]

At first, Damsy's face didn't change, but her eyes did: lightening a few watery shades as if the shadow of uncertainty burned off all at once. Though Nineveh hadn't said anything, she was fairly certain everyone in attendance was with her. Especially Kai; sweet, sweet Kai; who literally spoke up when it was so uncomfortable for him to do so. Leader though? Now that was a bit much.

She secondly smiled softly at him. <Thank you,> she telepathed just for him, then addressed the other Spawn aloud:

"Arisso said there's something wrong with our amulets. I won't be here long; just here to fix that." Though a part of her suspected that doing so would take much longer than she expected. And plus, Mal undoubtedly had some questions. "Thanks, y'all. Tell Motina to start dinner without me. I'll probably eat up at the Temple tonight. Be back when I can."

With that, and a later nods at the trio, Damsy led Mal across reception floor and up a scaffolded staircase towards the Reef's control room.



**
Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Mal noted how the others looked at Damsy, listened at how the spoke to her and about her. She was a leader, their leader. Mal looked again to her exotic companion, learning yet another facet of the woman. Damn straight there were some questions, but the spacer waited. Mal knew Damsy, and Damsy knew her. The Kaminoan would know a lot of questions awaited her, and Mal knew she would be given the opportunity to ask them in due time.

The sithspawn... Mal didn't like that name, not anymore after meeting some herself... retreated as Damsy lead her up some makeshift stairs. Mal wondered at Damsy's companions, what they had experienced, what horrors, and what brought them to that hidden place deep in Coruscant's lower levels. They didn't seem dangerous, or malicious, though the bird-being was a bit sketchy. But the girl, and the young man, one could hardly associate them with the Sith. Mal frowned, she had much to learn , about many things.

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy ducked into the doorless threshold where, in place of a wooden or metallic rectangle, hung thin strips of transparent plastic. She held a few for Mal.

In the middle of the room was a table with a variety of kyber crystal necklaces spread atop it, surrounded on almost all sides by walls of buttons, levers, and wheels. Some blinked light, some deployed readouts, some made occasional noise, and all give a feeling of heavy industry. The reception area hadn't given off such vibes, but something had to be going on, being controlled, somewhere.

Without using the Force, Damsy walked over to the table and pulled the roller chair behind it around to the front. She motioned at it: Mal could sit if she wanted. Either way, the Spawn hopped up on the edge of the table. "Well," she began before stretching her arms wide into a wingspan not at all rivaling Forerunner's. "This is it. My biggest secret this time 'round. Goes without saying, but please don't tell the Jedi. Or the Allegiance. Their feelings for us don't needta go getting worse."



**
Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Mal followed Damsy to the entryway, slipping past the clear plastic strips held back by her companion. The room they entered was unexpected, considering the spartan accommodations she had seen of the refuge to that point. Mal couldn't make out what the apparatus, and they crystal necklaces, were all about. But it was an operation of some sort, with quite a bit of equipment. Highly intrigued by the room and its contents, Mal took the offered chair by the back and swung herself around to sit, facing Damsy who lighted on the edge of the table.

Mal again swung her gaze around the room as Damsy made it clear again that she was revealing secrets that were to remain just that... secret. She pulled the brimmed hat from her head and ran her fingers through her raven mane. The hat rested on her lap for the moment.

"Damsy, I wouldn't even know what to tell them." She said, eyes studying the crystals on the table behind the Kaminoan. "But I won't tell them... or anyone what I've seen here." Mal sensed the need for that secrecy, for the safety of Damsy and the people she had already met. Her friend had created something significant there, even if it didn't have that appearance yet. A refuge for Sithspawn would attract all kinds of unwanted attention. Dangerous attention.

Her gaze lifted to the mocha-skinned woman. "So what does all of this do, and how does it relate to the people here?" She asked. If Damsy trusted her to reveal the room, she should be equally willing to explain what it did.

 

[Damsy Callat]

"Well, uh," Damsy began before looking sidelong at the jewelry strewn out beside her. "Sithspawn've got signatures in the Force. If you were Sensitive, you could feel it. Somethin' not right 'bout this place." She stuck a hand down her jacket collar and pulled out a necklace like the rest. She glanced back to Mal. "These help muffle them, though mine don't get too much relative use 'cause I can mask most of my Dark aura myself. But they're not working right at present. Arisso, the 'alf-metal guy from the bar, came to tell me that.

"So now I gotta figure out why, and how to fix 'em." Damsy shrugged. She wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Sith alchemy hurt her head. And her heart.



**
Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Mal's gaze drifted over the collection of necklaces, listening to Damsy. If you were sensitive. The former smuggler had few encounters with Force-users, aside from Damsy, and Mal had never seen her actually employ the Force, at least not outwardly. Since joining the Alliance fleet, there had been brief meetings with jedi from the New Order, but she never interacted with them.

Looking then at the myriad of pieces of equipment in the room, Mal assumed it was a combination of the Force and technology that powered the masking jewelry. She felt a desire to help, but her skills were limited to starship mechanics, not Force relics. Nevertheless, a respect and approval of Damsy's mission in the abandoned refuge inspired Mal. She cleared her throat, then looked up at her friend.

"What can I do to help?" The commander asked, a brow quirked. She meant not only with the curious necklaces, but with the effort in general. In her question was a commitment to help, and to help keep what she had seen and learned secret,

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy took to chewing on her lip and swinging her legs. She looked like an overgrown, nervous child who had just been asked a perplexing maths problem. "Mal," she eventually began, letting go of her lip and built momentum. "It's dangerous. Hella. Look, I know we're friends—" somehow; she still wasn't sure, but was glad nonetheless, "—an' you care, but I do to, so I ain't gonna let you take risks you don't have to. Trust me, not tellin's enough. More than, even."

Though there was much more she could do.

Too much.

Maybe Damsy's head just swam with the overwhelming possibilities.



**
Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Mal's hazel gaze studied Damsy perched upon the edge of the table. She seemed so much more...complex...than the former infamous CIS commander she had met on her ship months ago. She was a Jedi, a Sithspawn, and, at the moment, a very real, honest woman dangling her legs from the table like a school girl. The Kaminoan appeared to be pondering Mal's offer, or searching for a way to couch an answer, when she finally spoke.

Mall was miffed a bit at first, feeling as if she were inadequate to help because she was not Force-sensitive, just a fly girl who managed to find herself plopped into a position in the Alliance Navy. But that wasn't it, and she knew it. Damsy suggested there were things Mal could do to help, but that the woman was protecting her from danger. It seemed to be what Damsy did those days, take care of others. It was obvious from the room she sat it.

Mal nodded. "I can keep a secret." She affirmed. "I ship out with an expeditionary fleet to Outlander Station soon. But if you find something else I can do to help, let me know." Her gaze lifted to the woman sitting on the edge of the table. She had called Mal a friend. Mal had referred to Damsy and a friend. But maybe that didn't best describe the dynamic between the two women. Damsy was something more than an acquaintance, and certainly a trusted confidant. Maybe their relationship didn't need a definition at the moment.

Mal leaned forward and placed a hand on Damsy's knee. "What you are doing here... I think it is amazing. I know many would not agree."

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy looked down at Mal's hand on her knee like she had never experienced physical interaction before. It wasn't true by a long shot, but the idea was strikingly sad nonetheless.

"Thanks," Damsy replied before meeting Mal's eyes again, this time with a tight-lipped smile. She sounded like she wasn't used to that specific praise yet. "It's why I was born," she whispered after.

A half-girl half-shark pup was made in a test tube thirty three years ago to become the leader of the undamned. And maybe even savior—the jury was still out on that.

"Actually, there is a thing. If I ever need an alibi an' you're 'round... I might not like fresh water, but hot's no better."



**
Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

The smuggler-turned-naval officer nodded again. Mal smiled as she recalled what happened to Damsy when in contact with fresh water. Mal's hand withdrew from Damsy's knee. "You got it." She assured the sithspawn. Mal had discovered that Damsy seemed to say the most when she used the fewest words. In the briefest phrase, Damsy had stated her purpose, as if she had recently discovered a more profound reason in her complex genesis. If Mal's part in Damys's noble efforts was to help keep them secret, then she would do all she could to help.

"This night out for a drink has turned out much more interesting than I had planned." Mal commented, laughing lightly. "I think I could use one now even more than when the night started!"