Don't Expect an Apology

[Sebastian Thel]

​

Leaning far over a balcony on one of the spaceport's many decks, Sebastian gazed humbly out onto craft as they descended into the stars. A throng of life, both human and alien bustled around the restaurant level behind him, their dealings less reputable than what he what he might come across in Imperial space. The stars reflected in his glasses, their brown frames matching the colour of his eyes and with every ship which took off, they glistened.

"Simon!" The Zeltron at the caf stand yelled at him from across the deck.

"No, no, my name is Sebastian, I told you that four times already." Turning around, Sebastian slurred at the woman, his lip upturned in bewilderment. Next time he would say his name was Space Turing just to screw with them.

"Order for Simon!" The caf lady yelled.

"For feth's sake." Sebastian growled. Pulling his feet away from the balcony, he stormed up to the stand and took his cup of caf. The Zeltron woman looked at him like she was zoned out on some kind of spice and considering where he was, that wouldn't have surprised him. She chewed her gum and blew a bubble at Sebastian, who walked away in frustration, the cup in his hand. After taking a quick sip, he made his way to the wall, where one of the databanks was in his sight.

The caf riled his senses and brought his focus to life, giving him the mental speed he needed to go through with the plan. Caffeine had always been a vice for him, along with holo-games and the two seemed to go hand in hand whenever he stayed up all night playing "Galactic Alliance: Endgame". Maintaining his distance from the crowd, he slunk across the length of the wall and turned a corner, where he arrived in a secluded corridor.

A window covered the wall on the opposite side, standing from the floor to ceiling and giving Sebastian a very nice view of the star system outside. The spaceport was located in between the confederacy and hutt space, where he had followed a lead to the operation of a spice gang, a deal he was attempting to circumvent on the port. Placing his cup of caf on top of the databank, he hit a button on his wrist device and brought up a cipher he had recently cracked.

When decrypted, it revealed the access code to the databank. He entered it into the console and it revealed the information stored within, along with the accounts which had deposited it there. One of them was the account of a spice dealer who was using the databank to launder their funds. Sebastian intended to collect the credits and return them to the authorities, but when he clicked on the account, he found that the credits they were supposed to have left were not there.

"Chit!" Sebastian cursed and slammed the console with his fist. Either they had relocated the funds, or somebody had stolen them, either way, it was an obstacle for Bas.

After logging out of the databank, Sebastian turned off his wrist device and yanked his hair, panicking slightly. He turned around and began to make his way towards the main area of the deck, when he almost ran straight into a young girl who was walking down the corridor. With his caf in hand, he sipped the few drops that had splashed out, only to look up and recognize the girl right away, although she looked older than she had been when he had last seen her.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Sebastian yelled at Loreena, the young girl he had met when he had been studying on Commenor.

Taking a step back, Sebastian placed his caf back on top of the databank and beheld Loreena with shock. She was supposed to have been captured by the Sith when they had taken Commenor, but it would seem that she had ignored his orders at the time. They had met a few times back when he was in university and she had been nice to him, but Sebastian had to put that aside in favor of his job.

"You're an idiot for not surrendering." Sebastian said coldly.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori was in a perfect mood. With the help of some anonymous hired help, she had managed to pull off another job at stealing from one of the numerous drug gangs that worked on this side of the Galaxy. It didn't matter if her hired help took some of the money for himself. As long as it wasn't in the drug gangs pockets, that was all the better. Their cargo was being taken as well by a 'tip' to the local authorities.

So it was time to celebrate with junk food! Lori was just on her way there when she was nearly walked into by [member="Sebastian Thel"] . Or at least it looked like him. The guy didn't seem to recognize her at first, so for a split second she just thought he was merely a look-a-like. That is until he spoke.

Or rather he yelled.

Lori's eyes widened ever so slightly. The last time they were in contact, she had discovered that her FRIEND had decided to work for the enemy. He tracked her down and was sending her enemies STRAIGHT TO HER! By shere luck she had managed to avoid them. And she hadn't heard from Bas ever since.

Rolling up her sleeves, she approached him quickly and punched him square in the jaw with a left hook. "You're an idiot for assuming that I would!" Another punch this time was aimed at his stomach. "You could have gotten me killed!" She was fuming, but it was contained enough that she didn't cause too much of a scene. If anything they probably looked like some couple having a tiff.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Before Sebastian could speak again, Lori's fist collided with his jaw, sending a wave of pain through the side of his face. He stumbled backwards, clutching his face as he fought back memories of having the chit kicked out of him in high school. Sputtering, Sebastian regained his balance and beheld Loreena with surprise, although it was not present. She had seemed so passive when they had first met and he had never expected her to be capable of violence, then again, she had never expected him to be capable of handing her over to the Sith.

"Karking hell!" Sebastian cursed, still grabbing his face. Once his vision became clear, he stared past Lori's shoulder, never looking her directly in the eye and opened his mouth to speak.

"I had a job to do, Lori." He said firmly, maintaining his ground. Sure, the time they had spent together had been nice, but it was in the past, back when Sebastian had been a nervous university student. Now he had more important things to think about, like his role in the intelligence network. "You just got in the way." The statement was cold, conveying Sebastian's swift dismissal of his friendship with Lori in favor of his job. Just as he took a step forward, the young woman slogged him directly in the stomach.

"Son of a queen!" Sebastian shouted, trying to keep his voice low. Winded, he keeled over with his hands on his stomach and tasted blood.

Lori stood above him, enraged and hurt by his actions, for which Sebastian had no apology. He spat blood onto the metal walkway and looked up, then took off his glasses to make sure they weren't broken. As he put them back on, he took his cup of caf off the databank and had a sip to wash the blood out of his mouth, then put it back. Sebastian staggered slightly, still winded from where Lori had punched him and he had to shake his head to regain his vision, then looked at her sternly.

"I'm not in college anymore, my job with the Empire has given me the confidence I had always been looking for." Sebastian explained, having been born and raised under Imperial rule. He had never grown up knowing the fear of crime or instability and he had the Sith to thank for that. "They ordered me to intercept your comms, and I did." He said, his betrayal of Lori having been the only logical thing to do in the face of his work. The information she had regarding her mother and the whereabouts of Commenori officials was of use to the Empire and Sebastian would not sacrificed it just because Loreena had been kind to him a few times.

"It would have made no sense to let you go just because you were my friend." Sebastian said, still rubbing his stomach in pain. The equation on his black T-shirt was presently covered by his hands, his mouth still tinged with the taste of blood. "If you had surrendered, you wouldn't have been killed, the information you have is too valuable." He said, flattening down his shirt. He stood upright and sighed, looking at Loreena with dismay.

"But you didn't, and now everyone has a target on your back." Sebastian let his shoulders drop, slumping with regret. If Loreena had just followed his orders at the time, she could have given the Empire the necessary information and started a new life, a stable life. They could have been friends after all, but no, she had to play the hero and remain loyal to her family.

Sebastian stood back, expecting another punch, hopefully not in his groin. From behind him, he heard low whispers, followed by the cock of a blaster rifle, but he made nothing of it. The money that was supposed to have been in the databank was never deposited, so he didn't assume that anybody was coming to pick it up. Maintaining his distance from Lori, he slunk past the databank and further into the shadows, the drone of space craft looming beyond the window beside them.

"Damnit, Lori! Why couldn't you have just done what I told you?!" Sebastian sighed, challenging Lori's refusal with a heavy shrug.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori's breathing came quick and heavy, fueled by her anger. But she was filled with other emotions as well. Mostly shock; shock that [member="Sebastian Thel"] could be so cold and heartless, especially to her.

She let him talk, let him explain himself while she lowered her hands and unclenched her fists. There was no need to hit him again, at least not yet. Her disappointment in him was written on her face, especially her eyes. "Made no sense? I'd of done it for you, I'd of let you go BECAUSE you were my friend." She studied him. Was he really so naive to think that it'd of been better for her to give herself up? "If I had surrendered and let myself be taken...do you honestly think that they wouldn't of tortured me? Do you think that they ask questions over tea and icecream? No! They would have been brutal and vicious, and it's not as though they'd of let me walk free afterwards. I'd be in prison for life and for what crime? Just for being someone's daughter?"

As he told her that she had a target on her back, Lori furrowed her brows."Why would I be targeted? My Mom's not the Queen of Commenor anymore. The Silvers control the planet now. There's no reason to come after me." Little did she know though that the Sith were beginning a purge of the Jedi. Her training as a Padawan learner would put her in their crosshairs. And her Mom was going to be the head of another Empire soon; one that would be at odds with another Empire of the same name on the other side of the Galaxy.

She saw the men move behind Bas and ready their blasters. But he didn't see them, nor did he seem to notice. He was too focused on her. She knew who they were, and more than likely they knew that she stole from them.

As Bas finished his question, Lori stepped forward and grabbed his wrist. "Because I'm stubborn, now DUCK!!" She pulled him down as a blaster bolt flew overhead.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

When Sebastian finished speaking, he released an exasperated breath and put his glasses back on, thankfully Lori had not broken them. She was clearly driven by her emotions, something he failed to understand, especially when she said that she would have betrayed her own faction to save his life had it been the other way around.

Sebastian smirked. There was no logic in such a mindset, when he had an obligation to a faction and a duty to carry out, any friendships he had made on the side were just baggage, which was the reason he seldom kept any friends he made to begin with. Placing his hands on his hips, he stared Lori down as she chastised him for his actions, shaking his head with every feeling he had hurt.

"Then I'm not the idiot here." He said coldly, his Imperial accent devoid of expression. "You're forgetting the bigger picture, I had a duty to search the comms for Commenori survivors and report them to the Sith." Waving his hands with emphasis, Sebastian tried to convey the weight of his job at the time of the Seige. An entire legion of Sith troops had been counting on the intelligence he supplied, he would never have sacrificed that just for the sake of one girl he had met. Pointing to his chest, he gestured towards himself to hammer down the responsibility that he had at the time, a responsibility that he could not have allowed his friendship with Lori to hinder.

"One friendship isn't significant where that's concerned, and if it had been you who intercepted my comms, then you would have been within your right to do the same." Sebastian scoffed, becoming quickly frustrated that Lori was not understanding his point. He shook his head, knowing full well that Lori would have been obligated to do the same if it had been the other way around.

A pause followed when Lori reminded Sebastian that she would have been tortured, which caused him to withdraw. He knew, in his heart, that she was right and the Sith would not have been kind to her if she had been captured. For a moment, he cursed himself for being so naive and regretted the hard truth. The faction he served was only kind to those under their command, and only if their obedience held, which was the reason Sebastian had been so afraid to let Lori go. They would have tortured him too, or possibly worse.

"And what do you think they would have done to me had I let you go?" A dismissive shrug was all Sebastian could offer. His shoulders fell and in the pause that followed, a look of genuine sadness hung from his face.

That was all Sebastian said, before the distinct pew of a blaster bolt coursed over his head. Feeling Lori grab his arm, he squirmed within her grasp and tried to push her off as more bolts descended over their heads. The spice dealers had come to retrieve their stolen credits and for some reason, Loreena was right in the thick of it. They did not know that Sebastian was involved yet, at least not until they found the codes to the databank on his wrist device. Another bolt flew, hitting the barrier above them and Sebastian quickly followed Lori out of the corridor and past the restaurant area.

"They've come for the credits!" Sebastian shouted, trying to keep his voice low as he ran.

Darting across the length of the level, he ran after Lori to the corridor on the other side, where he planted his back against the wall. The gunmen hang back for a moment as one of them went to check the databank, only to find that the credits they had come to retrieve were not there. Sebastian heard the man slam his fist into the metal and jolted at the sound, then watched from the side of the corridor as they made their way out, right in the direction of Lori and Bas.

"Wait a minute..." Sebastian began, turning to face Loreena. "You know where the credits are, don't you?" The realization came to him quickly, as there was no way of them knowing that he was involved just yet, leaving Loreena as the only witness. The inkling was a stretch, but it seemed like too much of a coincidence that Lori had been in the same place exactly as the men had shown up. When Lori had asked Sebastian why she would have had a target on her back, she was staring her answer in the face.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

In the honest truth of it all, Lori wasn't entirely sure of what she would have done if she was in the position that [member="Sebastian Thel"] was. Would she have given him up? Would she of advised him to surrender? Possibly. But she would have seen to it that he was taken care of instead of suffering through torture. Maybe she'd of even asked to be the one to ask the questions given that they were friends. It might of gone easier that way, if she was in control.

But she wasn't. Bas and her couldn't be friends. They were on opposing sides and just their friendship alone was enough to endanger their lives. How did the saying go? If you love them let them go? There was a time when Lori was developing a crush on Bas as the two worked on some projects in school. But the reality of it was that it could never happen. And to ensure that Bas wouldn't get hurt by the Sith because of her, she had to let him go and let their friendship go too. The only thing that would remain of it would be a slight courtesy. But that was all.

All of those thoughts ran quickly through her mind as the two of them ran through the corridor. Only the mention of credits pulled her out of it. How did Bas know what they were after?

They stopped and took a breather, each with their backs pressed against the wall. Bas started to connect everything together. That was evident as he turned to face her. All that Lori could do was give him a little sheepish grin. "I may have put them in a different pot. Why? You weren't looking for them were you?" How else would he know about them if he wasn't involved in some kind of operation himself?

A blaster bolt hit the wall near them both. Lori grabbed Bas' wrist and pulled him down the corridor. "Time to go!!" She weaved them in and out of the other people moving along in the station. She had to get them to the hanger. Her ship was waiting.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Breathing in and out, Sebastian glared at Loreena slightly when she mentioned hiding the credits elsewhere. Her coy grin sent a wave of anger down his spine and through his fists, but it was not one he acted upon. Withdrawing the credits and returning them to the authorities had been his entire objective, and she had thrown a wrench in it. He leaned back and rested his head against the wall, listening with belated breaths as the gunmen drew near.

"You stole them!" Sebastian shouted beneath his breath, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing the attention of the spice gang. A shot rang out above their heads and Lori took off, grabbing Bas' wrists and pulling him along with her.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted, continuing his sprint after her. He shoved her hand off his wrist and rubbed down the place where she had touched him, all the while looking over his shoulder to see the gunmen in hot pursuit. They weaved in and out through the crowd, avoiding the throng of spacers and other refute which crowded the station. After a while they lost sight of the gang, but they soon showed up when Sebastian followed Loreena down a corridor leading to the hangar bay. Another round of shots were fired, and more members of the gang appeared.

A fierce looking Zabrack woman appeared to be leading the group to track down the stolen credits. With her hair tied up in a red ponytail on top of her head, she pointed to Lori and Bas and gave another nod to the guards, gesturing for them to drop their weapons.

"Take them alive, the nerdy one has information." The woman commanded, chewing the end of a cigarra.

"Nope!" Sebastian cried. He ran across the hangar bay after Lori, who lead him to her ship. Once inside, he let Lori rev up the hyperdrive, while he calibrated the navigation computer to prepare to make the jump before the gang got them first. Sebastian's was not very skilled when it came to ships, and did not know how to fly one, but he was very skilled with their computer systems and made himself useful by processing a clear set of coordinates to swiftly take them out the gang's path.

"You get us out of here, I'll calibrate the navicom." Sebastian offered, while Lori was already busy surging the hyperdrive into action. Muttering calculations aloud, Sebastian cleared the computer system of any interference and determined the most efficient possible route out of the system, entering in a series of operations to divert their path from the gunmen. As the ship descended from hangar bay, the sound of blastfire could be heard outside the windows and Bas turned around to see the gang following them.

When bolts began to rain on either side of the ship, Sebastian swerved around and entered an operation to activate the deflector shield. The extra protection gave them a little more armor while making their escape, ensuring that the ship would not take too much damage in the chase. A round of fire bounced off the shielding, sending the ship rocketing to the side. Gripping the side of his chair, Sebastian grabbed the console and looked up, as though the bolt had flown over his head.

"I hope you're good with those guns!" Sebastian called to Loreena, who would be the one who had to do any firing, because force knoes, Bas couldn't. With the coordinates entered into the computer, all he had to do was wait for Lori to make the jump to hyperspace.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Oh [member="Sebastian Thel"] was mad. Very mad. It radiated off of him like waves. And when Lori grabbed his wrist to try to pull him away from danger, that anger was fully revealed. That made her feel a bit bad. But maybe it was revenge for him trying to get her captured.

But right now the two were on equal footing, both of them getting chased by the same people. There was no time for them to argue morality.

The Jaster's Sparrow came into view. She brought out her passkey from her pocket as she ran and hit a few buttons to open the cargo hatch. Then she ran inside. Knowing that Bas was hot on her heels, Lori slammed her hand on the button on the other side of the hatch to close it. Within seconds she was heading up the stairs to the cockpit and began hitting the switches to ignite the engines and get the Sparrow into the air.

As Bas raised the deflectors, Lori took the controls and brought the Sparrow out of the hanger. One hand was on the thruster, while the other steered her. The weapons were in another section of the cockpit and she couldn't be at two places at once. "I can't fly and man the guns at the same time! Just keep those shields up! We'll be outta here in no time!" Mentally crossing her fingers, Lori hit the hyperdrive a few seconds later once they were clear. The stars soon turned into lines of light.

With a big exhale, she sat back in her seat. "Phew! That was a close one!" And it was a bit of fun as well. They made it in the clear. So far. "I'd apologize for getting you involved, but you already were, weren't you? What were you doing with the credits? Sending them to your Emperor so that he can have more kids tortured or enslaved?"

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Entering an operation into the console, Sebastian backed up the shield in the event that the gang managed to blast the generator, which ensured that it stayed up for as long as they were in range. He slammed buttons at every turn, while Loreena focused on getting them out of harm's way. Muttering incoherently, he read out his calculations aloud as he input them into the console, maintaining a steady hold on the shield. When Lori yelled back and told him that she couldn't sly and man the guns at the same time, Sebastian just shrugged.

"Shows how much I know about ships!" He laughed, still plugging calculations into the console. Per her command, he raised his hand in a mock salute and held the shields, deflecting the last few rounds of stray bolts fired by the gangsters. The bolts became fewer and fewer, the gangsters having finally given up.

"Looks like we lost them." With a sigh of relief, Sebastian slumped down in his chair and mopped a layer of sweat from beneath the hair that fell around his forehead. Leaving the shields on their current setting for the time being, he charted out a route to the next port, making sure the coordinates were clear of obstacles which might obstruct their journey. Finally, he sighed again and leaned back, feeling somewhat elated to have barely escaped with his life, but it was all thanks to Lori's flying. "That was some nice flying, Lori." Sebastian said, managing a smile.

After shaking the cramps out of his wrists, Sebastian rose to his feet and left his jacket on the chair, then went to have a look around the ship. The ship was nice, not that he was particularly knowledgeable of ships, so he couldn't really tell if it was nice like a computer was nice. He walked out of the cockpit and down to the living area, where he quickly looked around for any holo-games he could play until Loreena and himself reached the next port. Looking up, he saw Lori standing in the door and gave her a plain expression.

"Nice ship, got any holo-games?" Sebastian asked, before looking to see if Lori had any food.

There was a pause, and Lori apologized for getting him swept up in her trouble with the gang. The brief happy moment subsided when Sebastian remembered how she had botched his plan. Slowly, he straightened his back and stood up straight, his teeth clenched when she made a remark about him taking the credits back to the Emperor. The credits were not hers to keep, nor were they the Emperor's, they belonged to the local authorities in the sector.

"The authorities in this sector asked the Empire to help deal with the spice problem." Sebastian explained, keeping his tone calm for the moment. "So they sent me to slice the databanks the gangs were using to launder their funds, I was going to take the credits back to the police." His voice turned cold as he stated the truth, affirming that he was indeed, not going to give the credits to Carnifex so he could enslave more children. Maintaining his ground, Sebastian looked at Loreena sternly, disappointed that she could not understand that not every Imperial was a bad person.

"Those credits belong to the authorities, not the Emperor and not you." Sebastian stated. "So where are they, Lori?" He asked, his voice almost passing off as threatening.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

It was almost like old times. They made a good team in the past, with [member="Sebastian Thel"] working on the calculations while she turned them into something physical. And now here they both were, escaping gangsters and enjoying the rush that it brought.

Lori couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks. You did pretty good too."

She followed him down to the lounge, knowing full well that the ship would give out a warning if something needed her attention. "Of course I have hologames. What do you think that I do on long trips? Sip tea and read a book?"

And then the good feeling was gone. It was her fault for her snappy remark about the Emperor and slaves, but still, it was enough to take away the Bas that she knew and replaced him with this stern personna.

It was hard to know whether or not to believe him.

"Since when does the Sith Empire control the spice trade? They LOVE the anarchy and the means to control people with it." Lori folded her arms across her chest in a defiant gesture. "And I'm not keeping the credits. They are going to go directly to the victims of spice trade crime." As far as she was concerned, the police would just spend it on themselves or give it to the government; people in charge that had more money than sense.