Private Dig In

[Rinea]

Rinea swallowed blood and felt a hard lump of swollen flesh that made the experience painful. She noticed the fuller extent of the Dark Lord's breakdown. She's seen that defeat before. In others. In the mirror. She knew it intimately from both ends. It had always been her job to exploit it from this end, and yet...

The intelligence officer felt a pause.

"I didn't want you to see me as... this."

You fool. You missed everything in my point. She sighed, and her mixed expression stumbled upon the closest thing it could to a smile. It was mostly in the eyes, which had softened, but her lips quivered at the corners.

Rinea noticed the cigarras had scattered onto the ground. It was a bad idea. Especially given the state of her throat, but she reached for one with a shaky hand and brought it to her mouth.

"Come here... Lighter."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

Kaila stared a moment longer.

Watched as the officer's features twisted with the same confusion and hesitance as her own.

And something else.

Whatever Rinea was trying, she was trying damn hard, she had to give her that. And she hated it, because she couldn't remember the last time someone had tried so hard for her.

But she could certainly remember the last time she wanted it.

She blinked and looked away, anxiously tracing that same finger again.

Until Rinea picked up another damn cigarette, and said those words again.

"Come here... Lighter."

Kaila couldn't bring herself to smile.

But somewhere behind the guilt and the anger, relief shone in her eye.

The young Darth finally moved for the first time since her outburst began, sitting herself down beside the chiss so that she may lean in, touching the end of Rinea's cigarra and lighting it same as before.

After which she found one for herself, and slumped back against the crate to stare at road.

"We need to get you medical."

She took a short drag and continued.

"I've a personal medichamber aboard my courier. Stocked with medical droids."

"Can you walk...?"

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea nodded and proceeded--with some difficulty--to stand up.

She managed to stay on her feet, and the instability subsided. It wasn't that she recovered miraculously, but that between the stims and her personal experience, the Chiss could handle this. "That won't be necessary," she said after exhaling the smoke.

She couldn't handle another drag and threw the damn thing into a puddle.

"Rent us an airpseeder, let's go speculate on real estate." Even now, Rinea was poised to keep working on this, in spite of everything that just unfolded.

The officer looked back at Anathemous as she walked towards the busier street. "Bodr'ine'ako." She kept walking and waved the Sith along.

There would hopefully be a rental facility near the spaceport, especially on a beautiful world such as this.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

She followed her in the corner of her eye.

How the chiss was standing was beyond her. She could have sworn she watched her die at first.

"That won't be necessary," she said after exhaling the smoke.

She couldn't handle another drag and threw the damn thing into a puddle.

"Rent us an airpseeder, let's go speculate on real estate.

So the she wasn't the only one to stay on mission in a moment like this. Kaila stood slowly, taking another, longer drag. Rinea may have thrown hers away but Kaila knew she'd take on the woman's dirty habit soon enough.

Maybe she needed it.

"Bodr'ine'ako." She kept walking and waved the Sith along.

"Hmh."

Another drag for the road.

She followed after her, running fingers through her tousled hair, daring to steal a glance.

"Kaila."

"...just Kaila."

​

 

[Rinea]

"Kaila," Rinea said the name, letting it hang on her tongue.

Eventually, the two managed to find an airspeeder only a block down the road. A Besalisk behind the counter greeted them with a toothiest grin. "Welcome, welcome! Vacationers... Or business?" He made creepy--his attempts at small talk. "Might I suggest the J-5103? It's a nice two-seater, center console has a built-in drink cooler, and it hums beautifully so not to disturb the local ambiance..."

His sales pitch was too jazzy for Rinea's taste, but the Chiss merely glared at Kaila. "Well, what do you think? It's your money." A smirk.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

Kaila had followed silently.

Hell, she hardly even looked at her.

So too had she gone through her last cigarra by the time they found a dealership. It wasn't until after that she remembered spilling them all over the pavement, now she had nothing to do with her hands nor voice.

What could she have possibly said?

Reaching the dealership was a godsend, even the Besalisk was a bit off-putting.

"Might I suggest the J-5103? It's a nice two-seater, center console has a built-in drink cooler, and it hums beautifully so not to disturb the local ambiance..."

His sales pitch was too jazzy for Rinea's taste, but the Chiss merely glared at Kaila. "Well, what do you think? It's your money." A smirk.

She took a glance at Rinea, then the speeder.

At least she was smiling.

"Hm."

Kaila deposited her ashes in the nearest bin on her way towards the J-5103, giving it a cursory glance while stuffing her now gloved hands into her pockets.

It didn't look as... expensive, as she expected from a world like this.

She browsed the dealership until coming across a Sovereign Solare, which looked like the sort of thing she'd see in Canto Bight. The chiss was given a glance, a questioning brow as if to ask "satisfied?"

It was hardly the apology she owed, but a gesture nonetheless.

"I could just buy it."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea quirked a brow, then looked back at the dealer.

"I guess we're buying it." She said with a shrug.

The vehicle was a little... luxurious, all things considered. It wasn't that the Chiss hated luxury or comfort, nor was it because the Eternal Union didn't have such flash--it did, but it wasn't something you could just... Get. And never locked behind a currency. Such things were reserved for state vehicles and the like; there was purpose, intention behind every design.

The speeder before them didn't look like it was designed with intention. No, it looked as if it had been designed to appear the product of careful consideration. It was loud, overdone, and reeked of excess.

Yet, when she glanced over to Kaila, she wanted nothing else than to accept it. "Well, pay the man."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

"Eager are we?"

Her lips pulled dangerously close to a smile.

She returned to the counter with a faint bounce in her step, pleased the chiss had accepted her offer. All it took was a quick swipe from her wrist-computer, displayed in neon hardlight which responded to her touch.

And displayed a lot of numbers.

The dealer's device chimed softly to indicate their purchase, and the numbers decreased almost imperceptibly only to be quickly replaced as the account was continuously filled by various sources.

Then she swiped once more and it the light was gone.

"Who's driving?" she asked while waiting for the keys.

​

 

[Rinea]

The dealer sat at a computer and generated a lock code for the vehicle and registered it.

"You drive, of course. I have to speculate." Despite the teasing, Rinea looked tense.

The moment from earlier didn't just linger on her thoughts; it actively plagued them, and yet she needed this mission to go well. She needed her plan to be successful. Not just for her, but for the thousands stranded and desperately in need of a home. It would've been easier to handle if that were the only cause for conflict in her heart. No, she looked to Kaila and...

The dealer returned with another creepy grin and handed Kaila a small, metal card with the lock number burned into it.

"Here you go," he said proudly. "A pleasure... doing business today."

With that, Rinea walked with Kaila towards their new ride. She removed a small datapad from her back and began to use it. "I pivoted since our conversation at the bar. I figure a world like this has to have private islands." The very thought sickened her, but it formed the backbone of a master plan.

"That is another thing we will buy today."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

"Of course." she echoed.

Another glance told her that something was wrong however.

And it may continue to be, perhaps forever, and Rinea had every right to feel that way. Even if she should know better than to provoke the Sith. Crimson eyes turned on her, meeting for but a fraction of a second as she looked away, as though she'd glimpsed the sun.

"Here you go," he said proudly. "A pleasure... doing business today."

"Mm." she nodded, swiping the keycard as she turned.

She remained silent as the two slid into their new ride, lifting off soon after. She'd keep them in the air for awhile, long enough for Rinea to run her calculations or browse properties whilst she spent time testing the handling, which felt positively buttery to the young Darth. She was no starfighter ace, not yet at least, but she'd almost miss the thing.

Though she had every intention of handing Rinea the keys by tonight.

Kaila dared to steal another glance at the Chiss in the rear view mirror, again noting her expression.

It reminded her of another mirror. Her mirror, not long after Kirie lost control, made her so powerless.

How things had become so complicated after that, right until the very end.

"Rinea..."

Her voice was soft, but her grip on the controls tightened.

"If by the end of the day, you decide that we should do this over the holonet moving forward... Treat this more businesslike, or that you no longer wish me to call you by that name..."

"I'll understand."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea did not look up from her datapad.

Indeed, her throat burned, a bruise formed at the base of her neck from where it bled inside, and much of the soft tissue was heavily swollen. She wheezed ever so slightly with each breath. For a moment, it seemed as if the chiss might have ignored what Kaila said, but she eventually replied.

"You choked me." Tried to kill me. "You feel bad." Confused--lost, or so she read. "But these interactions are important to me." Her tone was too plain to be authentic. Kaila would know that by now, especially given the conversation they were having.

"I know now that you won't do it again. I believe that, Kaila."

Rinea's eyes flicked up to meet hers in the rearview. "What I want from you is to be open with me." As a gesture of goodwill, or something like it, she followed her own wisdom. "I am ideologically opposed to the Sith. I have read the Sluis Vain report, my operative has seen the death toll." She accused.

Then, in knee-jerk fashion, the chiss doubled down and pulled up the report from her datafeed. The droid intelligence in her implant read audibly, over the vehicle's speaker system.

Subject #23521. Civilian male, mid-thirties. Neurojack split clean at the base of the skull. Cause of death: kinetic trauma to the back of the head. No defensive wounds logged.

Subject #2541-B.Untagged juvenile, approximately six years old. No identifying implants. Third-degree plasma scarring etched across the chest cavity. Surgical staples—non-sterile—suggest recent field intervention. Bled out. Alone.

Subject #2304-G. Male, ~40s. Asphyxiation without obstruction. Airway remained clear, oxygen levels plummeted. Brainwave spike logged milliseconds before death.

She stopped it there. "Do you know what the worst part was?" She did not await her guess. "Over the thousands of morgue entries, they stopped giving clarity. They stopped trying. Every body that was logged had one cause of death: Sith Invasion."

Her eyes returned to the datapad. "There's an island not far from here." Like clockwork, her implant already punched in the coordinates. All Kaila would have to do was confirm it.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

She did not answer at first.

Even the name Sluis Van brought little more than a quizzical brow.

It wasn't until the second report that Kaila truly felt the weight of it all. Her heart sank, eyes closed, she couldn't bear to look Judgement in the eye.

She remembered something.

Something she wasn't telling her.

"Do you know what the worst part was?" She did not await her guess. "Over the thousands of morgue entries, they stopped giving clarity. They stopped trying. Every body that was logged had one cause of death: Sith Invasion."

Her eyes returned to the datapad. "There's an island not far from here."

Kaila just shook her head, and engaged the autopilot.

Then slumped into her seat.

"That's not the whole story." her voice was small, frayed.

The young Darth leaned her elbow against the door, chin resting in her gloved hand while she watched the clouds pass.

"I was on that front."

"The Galactic alliance, jedi, they launched a tri-pronged attack on Sluis Van, Dorvalla and Echnos."

"That's how I became a governor, you see, for my actions during the siege. Field promotion."

"Before the planeshift, these worlds were along the northern border with the Alliance. I don't know what Jedi were like in your reality but here?"

"They cut the power to the frakking dome, Rinea." she said, still incensed to this day.

"They would have let innocents die in a nitrogen filled atmosphere without life support."

"Just to dislodge us from our world."

Her eyes reflected back at her in the window tint, a little more clearly than before.

"I didn't agree with the Empress' methods. But neither did I agree with our enemies'. They were all convinced we wouldn't end this war unless we showed the Jedi what it would cost to destroy us. They said the fear we spread then would save lives later."

"Echnos was a nightmare. Sluis Van was hell. And Dorvalla-"

She grit her teeth.

Frakking Dorvalla.

"I wish I'd fought on Dorvalla."

"I wish we'd killed more alliance that day."

​

 

[Rinea]

She listened. Didn't say a word even during the pauses. Rinea knew how much Kaila's guts were being spilled this day.

Rinea didn't even have the heart to say where this data was from. Or rather, when. She could hear the pain in Kaila's voice as she explained. She sensed struggle, not just for the things she wanted to protect, but an internal struggle.

"You have an enemy," she finally remarked. "I understand that." She did. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't see much distinction between Jedi and Sith. Their kind has a long history of causing, escalating, and continuing galactic wars." So did the Sith, but that was beside the point.

She looked out of the window at the open water and... She began to cough--violently. When she looked down, she saw blood in her hand, more of it speckled across her shirt, and from the rearview mirror, Kaila would see it trickling down Rinea's chin. The Chiss' vision blurred again, her breathing heightened.

An internal warning... Error: Implant failure. Diagnosis incomplete. Priority: critical.

The damn thing meant to put her in a coma if she didn't recover fast. The biomonitor sensor in her spine must've been damaged during that moment.

Rinea passed out in the back seat. Her implant sent an S.O.S. to the Fleet, and the medical logs were sent directly to Sachi Maren along with her location data.

Kaila Irons