Diamonds and Rust

[Marina DeVoe]

"…Of course I’ll be fine, grandpa. I’ve visited there before, without you or dad. I don’t know why everyone keeps thinking I’m so helpless.” Marina sighed, at the constant concern her family had of her being out there in the wild alone. She wasn’t really alone…she had a droid. It did count as something amongst a lot of circles. She knew The Metal lords thought so. But to try to explain that to her grandfather was- well, it were best not bringing that up.

“Remember, the Guardians are still patrolling it. That reported incident with the pirate raid two months ago was quickly squelched and nothing more became of it.
It’ll be alright. ..really.
Besides, if you and dad aren’t going to make it this year, then who is going to send off your offerings?”

Beep – beep – beep….

“Oh grandpa, I got to go now…time’s almost coming up for the jump.
I’ll transmit again when I get there….
May the Star of Alderaan, shine upon you always..." Marina bade farewell just in time, as the navigation computer had approached final countdown.

The Mariner IV had made final angle adjustment, and was coming down to 5 second countdown to her jump… ...3..2..1...
In a blink of an eye, the Mariner IV accelerated from sub light speed into hyperspace.

Marina sat back for a brief moment, watching the streaks of starlight which had suddenly come to burst ahead of her. The streaking stars seemingly looked like a tunnel of light which her ship was speeding through. It were mesmerizing. At least upon initiation and a few seconds following, before it acted like tunnel vision.
Marina never lost her fascination of watching the star fields streak during a jump. It was always a sight to see. But after a short while, it gave her a headache if she kept looking at it. And millions of stars streaking by, sure made it hard not to notice their brilliance. For Marina, it was jut too bright to take, for any extended period of time.
She were much younger then and knew enough not to stare into that tunnel for too long.

Marina reached over on her console and activated the auto shade. This sent an electron rich current through the cockpit's glass, darkening it. It were an option she thanked the gods many times over for already, that she had enough sense to install it on her ship.
The crystaline infused glass darkened to her desired shade, making the tunnel of starlight loose its brightness and intensity, as well as its hypnotic and headache inducing effect on her. The Mariner IV's controls and displays were now once again the main source of lighting in the cockpit.

It was to be only a two day's jump, based on standard time for the Mariner IV to reach her destination, from the system she had just jumped from. Marina had delivered her load of cargo in that system, as per contract, and were taking the opportunity to take a week or two off before heading back to her family estate on new Alderaan. It were a perfect opportunity to revisit her ancestral star system....and what remained of what was once considered to be the jewel of the galaxy, former Alderaan.

Marina’s heart had been drumming its old beat of anxiety, for the past few days leading up to her pilgrimage.
She found it sometimes even difficult to breathe as the day’s ticked down. It were always like this, no matter how often she visited it….either with family members or going it alone.

Marina opened her eyes, for as that moment’s memory played out, she hadn't realized they closed.
“Shoot…” She gave her console a once over before getting up from the chair to exit the cockpit.
The nav comp was locked on keeping the Mariner IV on course, making slight micro variable corrections in its trajectory. There was nothing more to be done in here for the next two days. It wasn’t like she could even dare deviate a fractional micro angle on her own from the calculated projection her ship was following, while flying through hyperspace. Any minute fractional change or deviance from its angle plane, and before she would know she messed up, she would be instantly atomized, crashing into a large mass, like a planet…moon...asteroid… or even a star, at this speed.

Her asto-mech droid was coming up the hall as Marina exited the cockpit. She waited for it, as her cabin was just outside the cockpit.
“Couldn’t sleep huh?” She commented, causing it to stop and turn it’s turret as if looking up at her.
It chirped and beeped her correct.

“Hehe…yea, my mistake...you don’t sleep, right.
Got to burn that again to brain.." She gestured tapping her index to her temple.

"Ok…well, ship's under your watch...” Marina chuckled touching her cabin door. It swished open on contact.

“Just don’t wake me if we fly through a star or something…got it?” She loved to play with her droid.

And TK-1213 corrected her once more on cue, chirping and beeping away at Marina's amusement. She often wondered if it could read her expressions and determine if she were just playing with it or being serious. Only that her droid was always serious about technical aspects of ship operations, especially hyperspace, letting her know for the thousandth time that flying through a star would end their trip rightly quick.

“Oh…that quick huh?...so, you’re saying you’d let me sleep through it?” Nope, she just couldn't let go of the bait her droid swallowed.

The little RU droid now spun itself around and resettled itself in the same position it was. Yep, it was agitated that she had forgotten that should they fly through a star, all functions , including the ship and everything in it would vaporize.

“Hahahaha....
Ok...ok…don't go popping a circuit. Got it. I’ll try to remember that. “ She was still teasing him as she entered her cabin. Well, who else were she to talk to if not her companion droid?

“ You know I don’t have burned in memory chips like you, you know… I do tend to forget such things.” And the door closed behind her, leaving the droid to beep and chirp it's frustrations in the corridor.

So it went as 3 days passed in the crossing...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

Be--be-be-beep-beep. Marina were awakened by her droid.

"Huh?...what is it, TK?..." She asked finding a most desperate urge to stretch. She had fallen asleep reading,with her book now laying on the floor. The droid informed her of what she already had picked up on her own, as she looked at her crono.
She headed to the cockpit, finding the nav comp counting down to the jump's emergence point. The true star system of what was once her ancestral world.

"Oh wow... I was out cold that long, huh?" She asked getting her chair situated to take command of the Mariner. TK picked up her book off the floor and placed it where she had it before.
The droid answered her; she had slept the entire remainder 14 hours of the jump.
"Ok...looks like I caught up on lost sleep....hurray..." Naturally she just mimicked her excitement for the droid's sake. Marina knew that most likely she'd once again be up for god-knows-how long once they emerged in the graveyard..

The nav comp finally got to the final countdown…4…3…2…1…
The ship's hyper-drives disengaged and the Mariner IV for a split second almost seemed to be travelling backward, s as the star fields suddenly collapsed before her and came to a sort of standstill. The Mariner had come out of hyperspace and was just cresting sub-light, slowing down exponentially to what governed the laws of normal space and speed.
They had arrived to her ancestral home system…Alderaan.

Marina sat there looking out, as she disengaged the shading on the cockpit glass. The burst of Alderaan's star filled her cockpit. And before her as far as her eyes could see, stretched the remnants of her once beloved ancestral world. Alderaan.

Taking in the sight and a deep breath, a tear made its way out of her glassy eyes following the contour of her cheek…


[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

Evie had been spending some amount of time going and living among the various Hives of Alderaan. The Killiks had left the original world before the Empire had destroyed it and they had lived on other worlds. Establishing themselves on other planets and bringing more into their fold.

After a great many years, their home world was rebuilt and some had returned. Now she was visiting and they told her of an annual tradition where a visitation took place where the original Alderaan had been. Deciding of her own free will to partake of this tradition, Evie climbed onto her ship and travelled there. Luckily her ship was modified but it was still only little more than a fighter.

She did not have the whole personal connection to this place but she could still pick up what had happened. It had been completed in an instant and she did not feel the people had suffered long. Nothing but boulders filled the space in front of her viewscreen. Suddenly an alarm went off and another ship came into the system.

There was nowhere for her to go but there was no need. Turning on her comms, she waited to hear if the other person attempted to hale her.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

de be beep... her droid nudged Marina out of her deep thoughts.
The field, the belt for the most part seemed to expand forever. At least it looked that way to one's eye. But where once it had been a jewel in the system, was now an asteroid belt, still orbiting Alderaan's star.
It were an emotional moment, one which broke her heart every time she experienced the full brunt of total annihilation a faction could be capable of doing. And this one were committed nearly nine centuries ago by the Galactic Empire...the former Republic under the Supreme Chancellor turned Emperor, Palpatine.

"Yea?... where, TK?" She asked turning from the view and looking over to one of the HUD displaying the vessel her droid had picked up.

"Hmm...kinda small....accounts for why we didn't pick it up upon emergence."

be be de beep de be be... her droid stated that it could have been obscured at their angle of approach in the shadow of one of the larger debri...

"Yea...." She studied it a moment as more data on the vessel streamed in, getting a better insight as to it being friendly or not. It were certainly of a small shuttle or personal transport size.
The scanners were dead on accurate if it weren't for the debri and asteroids obscuring it. "... doesn't show any signs or marking as to where it's from...."
The vessel's design and markings were not in her ship's data registry. But it weren't showing any signs of aggression.
The Alderan Graveyard had a history of scavengers and pirates through the centuries that would comb the fields looking for gift which visiting Alderaani would leave.
It were one reason marina herself were here yearly. it were a kind of pilgrimage and to leave gifts to her ancestors and those whom perished here.

de de ... her droid cautioned her as more info streamed in, tagging it in the fighter category.

"Hmm...what isn't armed these days..." She commented.
Her ship.
Her ship the Mariner IV wasn't armed. Marina was a pacifist.
But being one didn't mean she cowered and hid herself under a rock when aggressors such as sith or marauders struck.
No.
No, Marina would head to the front lines and see about helping those whom were caught behind such aggression. She would help the people, the civilians in providing them with medical, food and shelter...even evacuating them to safer zones if not out of the system altogether. That took a lot of moxie, flying her ship in through blockades, if not hot zones to get to those in need.

be be de de beep...her droid continued with it's warnings that it could be one of the said pirates or marauders.

"Or it could be another descendant... another Alderaani like us... here...paying homage to those who passed.." Sure there was that too. Then again, marina had her bout with scavengers here. Alderaan like any other viable system had once rich resources...precious metals and the like. There had been many who came here to do just that mine.

But the craft she had on her HUD was no miner...not in size.

"Mariner IV to vessel in quadrant 30 sector 70, come in..." She tapped her droid to scoot on over as she got on the comm.
Marina then transmitted her ship registry, hoping the vessel would do the same.

"Got our exit jump?" she asked her droid, under her breath.

beep beep... TK replied. He had set their emergency jump coordinates should the smaller vessel indeed reveal itself to be of ill intent.


[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

If the incoming ship scanned her small fighter for armaments, they wouldn't find any. Evie wanted to be a diplomat and had no ship weaponry. That did not mean her ship was helpless. In ancient battles, these Dartships had been used for ramming other ships and some carried chemical explosives. Hers was a ramming ship, if the need arose but it had no weapons.

While Evie had opened her coms system, she made no move to initiate the contact. On the chance the larger ship proved to be hostile, she turned hers to face it head on. Being built to ram, the Joiner was confident she could hit and run if she needed to.

Her reaction was natural but not needed. The other ship contacted her and she turned her outgoing on to send, "we hear and respond. We are Evie and here to pay respect to our ancestors." Even though Evie was far from an Alderaan native, the Killiks were from here and it was to them she paid her respects.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

be de be be de beep... Her droid hadn't gotten the person's message as it had conflicting pronouns coming from an individual...and there were no other life signs aboard the tiny craft.

"Shush...I got this, TK..." She quieted her droid before responding.

"Uhm... salutations then...
It's Evie, right?
Name's Marina... Alderaani....I'm here paying respects also..." She figured maybe the girl had not disclosed her full name as perhaps she were as wary as she were out here. After all the Alderaani graveyard was often visited by salvagers and what not.

Marina were checking over the data still filtering in from the sector. There were no other crafts within a few million kilometers. it were as far as the ship's scanners could decipher in the field. The small craft seemed to be the only one besides them at the moment.

de de beep chirp... the small craft had changed it's angle, now pointing a possible heading toward the Mariner IV. Marina's droid kept vigil on their immediate surroundings and the other ship's functions as far as picking up power surges and spikes...indicative if it were charging up batteries (weapons)

"The're no weapons charging up....I don't know why she is facing us. maybe she wants to get a good visual...her scanners must be playing havoc with all the debri between us..." She answered TK, shrugging her shoulders.
It were definite, The Mariner IV's scanners were showing that no one but them two were in this sector.

"Ahem..." Marina cleared her throat speaking to the girl. She had determined by the voice that it were a fairly young voice. Evie was either the girl's name or family name.
well, at least they were on some name basis...
Evie...Evie....
Nope, never ran across such a name, nor family name of any Alderaani.
Marina had punched in the name in her ship's database and it weren't on any Alderaani registry. Then again, that could be whom an Alderaani could have married into...even centuries ago.
So Ok, the girl wasn't from any known Alderaani House on registry, but she had stated ancestry. Many Alderaani who were off world went underground after the Empire destroyed their world and through the centuries married and were absorbed into other cultures. Perhaps this were one such lost Alderaani, trying to piece together her roots or trying to find closure after so many years.

"I take it you've been here awhile?... Would you wish to approach? It's customary for Alderaani meeting here in the graveyard to share a meal...kinda like solidarity. " She transmitted, seeing that the girl's ship seemed to be pointing to head in their direction.

Traditions usually had the larger vessel invite the smaller.
"We share one heart, the soul finds comfort in finding the wayward...the lost, but not forgotten..." Marina quoted a common scripture of a prayer. One of many she and other Alderaani come to the graveyard with.



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

Evie was still learning about etiquette when dealing with new people. Within the Hive everybody knew everybody else and communicated telepathically or through clicks and pheromones. As a human, she lacked the pheromone part, but had the ability for the other two. The woman reaching out to her stated her name as Marina and that she was also here paying respects to her ancestors. She said it was custom to share a meal as a sign of solidarity if one met another person out here.

Nodding in reply before speaking, "we accept your invitation, Marina Alderaani. We have not been here too very long." Time meant little to a woman that had no pressing issues or any place she needed to get to. Her position had yet to be found or discovered. "How do we get on board?" She did not have anything to offer Marina in terms of food or drink. Company and conversation was all she could give. Waiting on her reply, Evie shut down any unneeded systems on the chance the other ship had a tractor beam.

Smiling slightly at the last words that came over the communication, she nodded again in thought. They meant so much more to the Hive minded woman than what maybe Marian thought they would.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

be de be beep... the small vessel had pretty much powered down. So her droid confirmed after Evie accepted their invitation.

The girl's ship was pointed directly at the Mariner IV's starboard, midriff, right where one of the two airlocks were located.
Marina activated the beacon lights encircling the airlock. It were like a bull's eye for another ship to dock with it.

"My starboard airlock... it's lit up now as you see. You can dock with us there." Marina happily started to instruct.
"By the way, it's been quite a few trips without company. The belt is so, so vast. Difficult to say how many are visiting it currently. It will be wonderful to share." She added,before her droid beeped in.

de de do beep... it added, in case the tiny vessel didn't have an airlock.

"It'll extend a seal lock to match your ship's exit point.." Marina then added, in case Evie's ship had only a canopy. Then a kind of semi wrap seal from the airlock would allow the girl to exist out of her ship's canopy and into the airlock.

"Yea...the roast. Thaw out the prime banta rib roast and set the galley for dinner guests." Marina instructed her droid who was still monitoring the consoles.
"Come on...get to it, I won't have time but to chat when she arrives..." Marina nudged her droid to get going.


[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

With the invitation accepted and directions given to her on how to dock with the other ship, Evie maneuvered her ship into position and the docking was complete. The small conversation that happened while she was on the way interested her, "how long does the visitation last?" The Killiks had many festivals for different celebrations and this one would be brought into the fold. Maybe in the future more of them would make the pilgrimage here.

The canopy of her ship opened and she climbed out. Stretching her legs a little, she would consider getting a larger ship for longer journeys. Her current one did its job of getting her from location to location, but it did not provide much else. Leaving her staff in the cockpit, she did not feel there was any need for it. Something told her Marina was not going to harm her.

She wore high quality clothing that was tailored to her body and proportions. Dark pants and a purple shirt. Since she had left her weapon on her ship, she had no weapons on her. Her hair was black along with her eyes. There was no iris that could be seen, but some sense of individuality was there. Evie was a Joiner for the Killiks, but still had freedom to have her own thoughts. These were what took her away from Yogyog and out into the galaxy. She wanted to be something more than just a number but still remained loyal to her people.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

de be de beep... her droid gave the lowdown on the other craft once it docked.

"Really?... The ship is that far removed from any known system?" That was strange. Even the alloy combination was quite a bit off from what major shipwrights used. It weren't any stronger or weaker, just different as far as analytical percentages. Sure the shape seemed somewhat standard, as there were literally close to a million similar design shapes. Sure, canopy, nose... Ok, hard nose for some reason or other, but then it could be a small asteroid pusher. The many asteroid mining vessels had reinforced noses besides hulls. Just that this ship was really small to push about asteroids.

"Ok, see what kind of fuel it uses and match it up and fill her tanks. I'll go and meet her at the airlock." So marina left her droid at the helm while she headed to her starboard turbo-lift. It took her down to the airlock which was in the lower bay or hold of her ship.

She stood there on the other side of the door waiting for the girl to enter the exterior airlock door.
She then opened hers and met her Alderaani guest. only that the attire the girl were wearing was once again something foreign to her. Foreign as marina was pretty knowledgeable in may styles and fashions throughout the galaxy. Just that the fabric was of a weave she never seen in clothing before.

"Well..." Marina presented herself before extending a friendly hand to her guest.
"Welcome aboard the Mariner IV... it's Evie, right? " She met the girl's hand in hers and slightly shook it.

"Is that your family name or first?" She asked.

"Mine's Marina of House DeVoe from the Aiden Providence..." She said matter of fact, expecting the girl to reveal from which family her Alderaani lineage was from.



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

The ship wasn't meant to push asteroids at all, but ram ships. It might be considered lower technology, but she didn't need anything better right now. She was also far from home and felt happy about it. Here the galaxy was open to her and at home it was not. There, she was hardly more than a number. While out here, it might be the same, she was still making her way into mixing and was learning how to be on her own.

When the airlock door opened and she stepped through into the larger ship, she nodded, "we are Evie Miramat of Yogyog." Her eyebrows lowered in confusion and it took her a few moments to think of a way to answer the question. "Evie is our first name and Miramat is our family," but that wasn't entirely accurate. Being a part of a Hive mind, all were considered her family. Biological parents names meant almost nothing to her. "What is the Aidean Providence?"

Evie had no idea if Miramat was a name from Alderaan or not, she only knew the Killiks originated here and was paying respect to the past.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It were one thing hearing one's voice and another putting a face to it. The girl seemed sweet and to top it off, her age. Also, right away Evie seemed well brought up in mannerism like Marina was, upon coming through the airlock.
Then it were one level up in the turbo-lift to the operational and living quarters of the ship.

So it were Miramat, the girl's family name. To Marina, it sounded like a fine family name, despite she were not familiar with it. Then again, not all Alderaani descendants were able to carry on their ancestors name. Especially after the Galactic Empire dispersed the surviving Alderaani, whom many married into other system families...especially daughters of Alderaani families, during those exile years.
As such, it were not uncommon for descendants of many Alderaani to have new family names.
And Evie were from a system also unfamiliar to Marina. With so many thousands of established and known systems both major and minor, unless you were a droid, one could not possibly know them all.

"That's a mountain range in the Northern part of Alderaan. It's named after the one that used to be on ..on this.. Alderaan." Funny how she would feel chocked up even 9 centuries later thinking about her ancestral home.
"My father Duke Kyle DeVoe looks over it, same as my family had here too. Before him were my grandfather Duke Onan, before he stepped down. My brother Jerrid will one day step up to the plate..hehe.." Talking about her family always seemed to bring back her spirits.

be de be beep de... her droid then came over the comm, drawing Marina's attention, as Evie relayed where she were from. It knew of a remote system Yoggoy, if Evie's peculiar pronunciation were meaning the same system that is.
Her droid TK had an extensive knowledge of both known, common and surprisingly unregistered systems of the galaxy. Such an extensive library even surprised Marina at times...many times. TK had for the most part been designed for her and the Mariner IV by her grandfather, with little programming upgrades Marina found necessary to tweek. Although at times the droid seemed to have some burned in hard wired directives. Mostly there for her sake and safety it seemed.

"Oh...thank you TK." Marina took a moment to turn to her droid for it's effort in helping her out concerning systems she were not knowledgeable of. "I'm sure we must of passed it in one jump or other.." After all there were billions of star systems in Sky River, what Marina learned to call their galaxy.

de de...be de beep de... it replied, again giving another specific on the system.

"Oh?..." For a moment her droid threw her a curve ball. TK filled in that Yoggoy were out beyond the known systems, in the Unknown Regions. "...you sure?"
be de beep.... it confirmed.

"Er...Ok, later TK." No she weren't about to argue with her droid on the system's location.
"Just...
Just attend to getting the galley ready for dinner... AND STOP eavesdropping on me!" A bit confused, she cut off her comm. It weren't unusual for it to keep tabs on her throughout the ship. But Marina thought maybe Evie wouldn't be comfortable with her droid listening in. So she had sent him to the task at hand, start preparing the traditional dinner she were to have with a kindred heart...a fellow descendant of Alderaan.

Shaking her head, she returned her attention to her guest.
"Hehe...you'll have to excuse my little tin guy. He thinks Yoggoy is out somewhere in the Unknown Regions...haha..." She chuckled. Like really, how could anyone, like Evie from the Unknown Regions come upon the Alderaanian Graveyard?..to do what?...admire the rocks and dust orbiting a star? Her droid had certainly made an err or downloaded the map wrong.

"Like how would it even know what a system out in the Unknown regions would be named for that matter...haha. Yea... I think he's due for some good diagnostic maintenance and service..." She just had to share that with Evie, that her droid must have a glitch in its mapping program.

"Anywho... here we are." the turbo-lift opened up to the upper living quarters of the Mariner IV.
"Oh....If you need to know, the refresher is just around to the right." she pointed out when they stepped into the main hallway.

"Hope you don't mind me talking so much. Just that I rarely get company on pilgrimages."Yes, Marina was quite hospitable to all her guests. And Evie especially. There would be so much to talk about.



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

Pitch black eyes looked at Marina as they explained what the Aidean Providence was. Her life in the Hive was entirely different from what most people would think of as normal. Community based and working as a unit, each person had a role to play and then there were those like Evie that were allowed to go out and explore. "Your family looks over the Providence?" Maybe it was something like what the guards looked over in the Hive. A specific area where they patrolled and did their job.

The titles did not mean much to Evie but she had an idea. "Are you what is thought of a royalty?" Her hive was ruled by a queen and she was treated with a great amount of respect. There was a beeping that came from the communications. Looking in that direction, she attempted to understand what was said. Her exposure to droids was minimal and the beeps had little meaning to her. After it was done and Marina translated what had been said, she nodded. "We are from the Unknown Regions. Your droid is correct. Go look at a map and you'll not find our system anywhere on it." If that happened, she would attempt to show her where she was from.

"We fled Alderann long ago and set up on Yoggoy. Many peoples don't like or approve of Killiks or what we do. So we were hunted and persecuted. We ran and went into hiding. One of the only things we brought with us from Alderaan were flowers and plants. Our world is filled with them now." Even though Evie had wanted to leave and explore, maybe she felt a little homesick. Here she was on her own and alone. Nowhere near her people and not entirely familiar with what was proper or not.

Following Marina further into the ship, she turned her head when the refresher was pointed out and those black eyes turned back to her host. "We thank you for this. This is our first time for a pilgrimage. What are the normal procedures?"

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It took Marina a bit off balance, the girl's inquiry of the Providence and of her lineage. Royalty she weren't. A Duke's daughter she was, but her elder sister Katie had been endowed Duchess of House DeVoe. It had been something her sister inspired to do, as it weren't naturally given despite being a DeVoe. it had to be earned and brought forth to court by head of House, which was her father Duke Kyle DeVoe, and then approved by their queen, Queen [member="Faith Organa"]. Although there had never been anyone denied such title from House DeVoe.

Marina on the other hand, had always wanted to be an explorer...a voyager. Her heart seemed to always be in the stars. As such, she hadn't the motivation, nor her mind set on being a Duchess. There were enough Duchesses in her house. Well two to speak of. her sister and her mother.
But nevertheless, she were a loyal subject to her queen and country, currently interning under Queen Organa as a representative of Alderaan.
Marina made quick references of this to Evie, as what she were just discovering; Evie was somehow associated with the legendary Liliks.

"Whoa...wait...back up a minute...
You're a Kilik?" Clearly, her expression showed her surprise.

be de beep... her droid confirmed the system and it's remote location with the Unknown Regions. How her droid could know that, Marina wasn't going to get into it at this time.
The mere fact that what the girl were claiming was simply astonishing. Marina knew of the history of the ancient Kiliks that had once occupied her ancestral Alderaan way before the first human settlers set foot on it to colonize it. There had been many hive ruins still standing before Alderaan had been obliterated.

The Kiliks as far as Marina had come to learn, had all left the known galaxy and thought to have become extinct by many. But how could Evie be a Kilik if she looked...human? No way the species could have evolved to become humanoid. That defied the logic and laws of evolution.

Beep be de beep beep... Her droid cut in that Evie and other species could well have merged or become part of the Kilik society. Anything was possible, given hundred of years of social evolution.

"TK, please... shush!..." Marina didn't want to hear some downloaded file that somehow her droid had accessed.
"You're not giving our guest any time to talk." She wished to hear it from Evie.

And yes, according to Evie's account, the Kiliks had receded deep into the Unknown Regions after so many species shunned them for their collective hive like-society. It seemed a collective mind like-society was viewed as primitive mind control where no individuality could exist or allowed to exist within that society structure.
But as Marina learned from Evie, it were not so black and white as most had thought in the past or even presence now. The Kiliks were as open minded to absorb other species and cultures into their own society...preserving those traditions, not eradicate them, like the known galaxy had tried to do with them throughout history. Evie seemed positive proof of that.

But there was so much to absorb and so many questions for Marina to ask. One which struck out was when Evie mentioned the varied flora of extinct plants that had forever gone extinct along with their ancestral Alderaan which the Kiliks had somehow preserved with them upon their exodus.
"Y...you mean to say that Yoggoy could have many of the lost flora that once flourished on Alderaan?" It were apparent the excitement in Marina's voice. And why wouldn't she be excited about learning that there was a possibility that maybe, just maybe, some of the original flora of their ancestral Alderaan had survived extinction.
The very idea of re-instituting many of the lost species back into the new world was beyond anything Marina could have hoped for.

Sure, there were many plants and species of plants that had been taken off world throughout history by Alderaani offworld, but not all of them. And even those that had, had not been thought of as anything to preserve and covet. That is, not until Alderaan met it's demise. Only then after Alderaan were destroyed, had the surviving Alderaani who had been off-world put collective efforts in collecting as many exported varieties of their beloved world's flora. But what could be reclaimed off world as far as varieties were concerned were only a fraction of what had existed.

"No. I'm no one for you to be thanking, Evie.
I believe it is me who must thank you and whomever it were that sought to bring you here.
New Alderaan were made to look like our ancestral world, but it lacks much of her character...the flora...the fragrance...the purity of its air...even the hues of the honey it once sweetened our taste buds.
Much of this I can only imagine, for it has been denied me.
If...if only there could be a chance...." She were thinking wild uninhibited thoughts...

"An endeavor to exchange.... like...like some sort of trade between Alderaan and Yuggoy.
I mean.... these lost, extinct species of flora that your people have nurtured on your system, do you think it possible to bring those species to new Alderaan? it would help complete our new home to the splendor of our ancestral world... Alderaan."



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

Evie listened to the explination Marina gave her of her family, liniedge and how it all worked. She wasn't royalty, but not far from it. If life had taken different twists and turns, Marina might well have become royalty. That was not the case though and instead she travelled around as she wanted to and had money to support her.

When Marina halted in her talking about herself, she realized what Evie had said about herself. Giving the other woman a nod, "we are human by blood, but have been taken in by the Yoggoy Hive and are a Joiner. Our parents were before us and it is all we have ever known."

It should hopefully answer the first question posed. As Marina continued, she nodded again, "there is that chance. Your new Alderaan has much in way of life that our world has. Though we did hear we brought with us one plant that was never taken from Alderaan before it was destroyed. A flower. You now know where our home is located, you could travel there and see if our people are willing to share. Alas we did not bring one of these flowers with us."

She did not honestly know how much else the Killiks had brought with them when they fled originally. Only that her home was quite peaceful and colorful. And the bugs were wonderful companions, she did not expect Marina to be interested in them. However, she had mentioned honey and bees took care of pollination, "do you have the right kind of bee on your world? Maybe ours has a different kind and you need to get a queen and some drones."

When she had left Yoggoy, she had never thought to potentially return so quickly. If Marina wanted to go there, she would need to go with her and ensure her hive did not harm or try to force her to Join. If that were to happen, she wanted it done by freewill.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It were mind boggling as to what possibly could be reclaimed. marina knew there were literally hundreds of thousands of recorded species of plants animals and such that had gone extinct on account of the Empire obliriating their ancestral world.
One flower? There were so many that the new Alderaan had not the privilege to know.

"Bees...bees...." Marina had once studied the differences in the two ecosystem of Alderaan.
"I...I think I remember coming across that a few species of bees had been successfully colonized on other systems, but being the nature of the bees, they crossed with the new foster bees of those systems...kinda become hybrids. So no, i don't believe any of the current bee colonies re-established are true Alderaani bees..no." Marina was certain of it, but didn't know the extent of the cross breeds.

Still, the hybrid colonies which were reintroduced to new Alderaan did their job well. Just that samples on spectral analysis on record indicated that the enzymes in the honey were not at all like it were on their ancestral world. Of course, the lack of many original flora and surrogate ones all factored in. But it was the best and most that the engineers and scientists could do to try and replicate a lost world like Alderaan.

"But with what you say your system and collective have preserved...maybe, just maybe with good effort and time, most of what was lost could be reclaimed..." It were a long shot, but a shot nevertheless. Marina's head was spinning, churning out so many possibilities and scenarios...the wines..the groves of old ...all could possibly come back..like a resurrection.
Her home could be that much more closer to what her ancestors so loved and enjoyed. Alderaan was once a jewel in the galaxy. well, it were what Alderaanii always thought of their world. The possibilities-

be de beeb de beep... her droid pulled Marina from her daydream.

"Huh...what?"
Dinner was getting prepared and TK needed Marina to put the home touches on it. The droid was only allowed to gather the ingredients and set the galley for it's master to cook it. Sure TK could cook. In fact, it was by far a better cook than Marina hands down. But such a memorial dinner of Remembrance had to be prepared by an Alderaanii...at least a descendant or a naturalized Alderaanii.

"Oh yea...wow....that's right..thanks, TK." she replied getting back on track with the meal.

"Evie...would you like to help me prepare our meal? All of the ingredients are from Alderaan. Hehe...maybe you can tell me if they are similar as to what's on Yoggoy?" Now that would be awesome, if they both made the meal together. And it would give them a chance to keep talking about the endless possibilities ahead of them.



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

The picking up and colonization of various people and systems, there was a good chance the bees weren't original, but they were still descendants of the original bees from Alderaan. They had also brought more than a single flower, but that flower was very important to the Killiks. That was why Evie had mentioned it. "The flower blooms and covers fields and is quite beautiful To the best of our knowledge, it did not make off with any other peoples and died when Alderaan was destroyed." She knew what the Killiks called it, but it might be known as something different by Marina. Keeping its name to herself, Evie decided it would be best to remain silent unless her host wanted to know its name.

"Would you want to visit later? We assure you that you would be in no danger." That was sometimes a concern visitors had. The Hive was all Evie knew and to not have it would be like a part of her missing. She dreaded that thought and almost shivered. Goosebumps appeared on her arms, even if they were covered and wouldn't be seen. She certainly felt them.

Marina's droid broke into their conversation, Evie patiently waited as they had their exchange. She asked her if she would want to help make the meal and she nodded, "yes, of course. We will do anything you need us to do." Hopefully it wasn't going to be something horrible, but Marina did not seem to be the kind of person that would do mean things.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Would she?...would she want to visit the original indigenous species of what was once Alderaan?
Evie's invite was without question one of the most intriguing idea.
Yes...yes, she would.
After all, Marina was intern to Queen [member="Faith Organa"] with the intent of one day taking up what her family had been doing for countless generations; to be a delegate of her people. Well, a Duchess, no less. But reason why Marina was given leeway as to follow her heart was that her elder sister Katie had already been given title, like her mother. marina being youngest daughter and twin to her brother had been allowed to pursue her dreams and explore the Galaxy. But naturally, when she was ready, she too would be titled Duchess of Aiden, the Providence her family looked over in new Alderaan's Northern regions...

"Why yes...
Yes, I would be honored to visit your home, Evie. It would be a privilege." She replied, anticipating the wonderful floras that she only knew through historical records. Imagine that, species that were thought to never again be seen by Alderaani, could be touched, smelled and once more used in old traditional herbal remedies and teas.
The possibilities of re-introducing native species back into their new home was outweighing the risks. The Kiliks had for the most part been chased out from the then expanding colonization of man and his kind..other intelligent species. Earlier settlers had found the Kiliks hide mind concept too alien and incompatible with the then current forward colonization mind set of the settlers.
Whether the Alderaani colonist themselves had any thing to do with the Kiliks leaving or not had been lost to records. But undoubtedly, the Kiliks had found the new settlers and colonists too rough on the edges and the two contrasting forms of government and societies had at the time been too incompatible.


de de beep be be.. her droid made mention of the historical implications which had driven the Kiliks to the unknown regions in the past.
Marina just gave it a look. one the droid recognized as 'now's not the time'.

But the galaxy had much changed since...both for the worse in most cases and in instances such as this, maybe for the better...more tolerant and understanding of the different varieties of species and societies.
marina understood and hoped for the latter in all aspects of her thinking. It were not only the way she were raised, but also instilled in her genes.

The two girls talked some more as they prepared their meal. It was for the most part interesting if not altogether fun, as much of what Marina was using as ingredients were also known to Evie. And those that Evie didn't recognize, were what the current Alderaani used as generic substitute of the traditional ingredients lost to them. This sharing of preparing a meal together was in a way very fruitful, as Marina learned that what she were using as substitute, still existed in bounty on Evie's system of Yoggoy.

"Wow... I could only imagine what a true traditional meal could taste like on your world..."



[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

The ship they were on was far more capable of travelling the distance to her home than her own small ship. Just the small amount of time Evie had been on board made her was to purchase something more for herself. Just maybe not quite this large.

She would happily make the arrangements for them to safely visit and travel there.

"When would you like to go? Communication is almost instant. Not totally, but it doesn't take very long. You see, we have a connection with the Hive and any hive minded bug can communicate with us and us with them. So a message can be given by us right now and then forwarded, if you will. Once an answer it sent, it would be passed along the same route and back to us."

Evie and Marina talked as they cooked and she pointed out the spices that were familiar to her and their names as she knew them. Over the millennia their language had changed as they took into the hive more people. What might be mint to Marina was something else to Evie. If the opportunity was given to her, she would look through the smell the other items in the cupboard and say what they were or if they were not familiar to her.

All in all, the whole ritual was relaxing and Marina found a part of Evie not many knew.

"We are sure some things would be similar, but you would have to try them to know."

[member="Marina DeVoe"]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Evie's invite definitely struck Marina's interest. Would she like to visit her world? Sure she would.

But how had it become possible for someone like Evie to communicate across such large expanse of space, as she were indicating?

"Are you serious?..." Marina stopped dead in her tracks. Actually in the middle of adding the herbs to the simple biscuit mix...an old Alderaanii tradition that went back to the 2nd wave colonists...the farmers. This was thousands of years after the Kiliks had left. The ingredients were what the colonists had grown, from local found herbs which they then cultivated and adapted into their staple....later to become tradition.

"But you are...you know... like me... humankind." It were not something she had known about that the Kiliks could somehow connect not only with their own, but with other sentient. Well Ok, so she didn't much study up on Hive cultures as her classes were more geared toward political law and such. Something which collective mind societies didn't relate to. It would be fascinating to not only meet the Kiliks, but other sentients that had embraced their society. It would certainly complete her studies. Still, how were it possible for others who were not insectoids able to connect their minds to the Kiliks and become part of the Hive?

"How did you come to learn how to do that?" She continued to prepare the mix, giving it just a light kneed, for it had to be baked lumpy as the colonists had first done. Those early settlers had traveled great distances when hyper-drives weren't as efficient as they had now become. The ships and transports were of decent sizes, but that accounted for the fuel and supplies that they needed for the crossings. Old manuscripts found read of the hardships and struggles. Alderaan was beautiful, but it had to be coaxed for it to give up it's bounties. At least it were difficult at first, since the colonists didn't know what was edible and not. And of the foreign seeds they had brought, some fared well, while others did not. The Colonists had to themselves adapt to Alderaan, instead of fighting it to change it like from where they had come from.
Once they embraced the planet, it gave them bounty and welcomed the human settlers as her own.

"I didn't think anything like that were possible, unless one was connected to the force... like a jedi... or the other kind...siths." A slight hint of dislike for siths were apparent in her tone.
But yes, she did know that many force users could do what the Kiliks naturally were able to do. But how could non-force users like Evie and others connect to the Hive that was half a galaxy away, and in the Unknown regions of all places?

[member="Evie Miramat"]

 

[Evie Miramat]

She was holding one of the many spices in her hand when Marina stopped nad asked with some shock in her voice if she were serious. Setting the container down, Evie looked at her with inhuman eyes and nodded. She had thought the surprise was because of the invite, but it turned out to be related to her ability to communicate. We might be human by blood but that is all, we think. The question asked couldn't easily be answered and she shrugged her shoulders and looked entirely confused. This is all we have ever known. Our parents were Joiners and thus we are too. We do not know how it is done, to be honest. It just is. If one joins, then they too gain the ability. It was as simple as that.

We do not know about any connection to the Force. What we do know is that it is something real. Hearing in Marina's tone a distaste for the Sith, Evie did not really reply or react to. We know not of either Jedi or Sith. You make them out to be distasteful. Why? Millenia of memories could be had by asking, but Evie kept herself separate right now from the Hive. Seeking to be something without them. Knowing she could call on them at anytime was something wonderful.

[member="Marina DeVoe"]