Fight or Flight

[Hazel Zanteres]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVkHXTeiOg&list=PL7F72E09D4C28FECD&index=2[/media]​

It had been a particularly gruelling number of days for Hazel and the crew of the SLV Satori.

While the OSL wasn't exactly moving about in great swathes anymore, the Hapan still made the effort to spearhead relief efforts when she could. This usually involved pulling together a crew and setting off into the galaxy with a ship full of supplies. Typically they looked towards the more recent conflicts, identify the planets in dire need of air after some recent skirmish or invasion that had dealt a hefty blow to the general public.

These days they avoided directly involving themselves while the conflict was still ongoing, preferring to arrive once the battles were over and assisting in the local efforts to heal the wounded and repair what had been damaged. It avoided potential messes like what had almost happened in Mustafar.

The Satori had arrived on the planet several days ago, immediately setting up base and beginning to deliver the medical supplies where needed. Hazel wasn't one to remain as an observer for long, ordering people around. Once everything had been organized, the Hapan herself was on the ground directly helping out those in need.

But supplies were limited, and they could only do so much. Thankfully they had managed to set up the groundworks of a system to help the local government to continue aiding their citizens without either becoming too overwhelmed and not mismanaging their supplies.

Now though, everyone who wasn't intending to stick around were aboard the Satori and heading back to Monastery. Beyond Hazel and the crew, it also included several other smaller groups that had independently shown up to lend a hand. Some had stayed behind, while others had taken up the offer of a flight off planet to rest before they set off on their way.

Hazel was currently in one of the ship's offices, one she had picked out and set up as her's for the duration of the trip. And as per usual for the Hapan, she had worked herself to sleep and hadn't left for an actual bed. That was how she woke up, half read reports scattered across the desk and nothing else but silence.

She got up from her seat to stretch, only to pause when she realized the vessel wasn't moving.

It wasn't in hyperspace anymore.

And it was eerily quiet, especially for the current hour.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Madeline had been on a few relief missions before the one she was currently helping on. They were grueling and usually very long days that weighed heavily on those helping, Madeline included.

It had taken some time, but it had begun getting easier for her to come to terms with the fact that it was physically impossible to save every person she had come across. She knew it was a childish thought, a thought those less experienced with the galaxy thought possible - still it was a thought she had held firmly onto. It wasn’t because she herself was childish, but rather it kept her grounded. If Madeline didn’t try and put forth her absolute best into everything she did she felt like a failure and that was something she couldn’t stand.

The relief efforts were coming to a close when Madeline had been extended the invitation to board the Satori for some much needed rest before she ultimately took off on her next adventure.

Spending the next few hours with her nose buried deep into a tablet - oblivious to the happenings around her she didn’t realize the ship had stopped moving until she had gotten up to head to the restroom. Eyebrows furrowed she opened the door leading out into a dimly lit hallway.

A mane of wild curls and a curious face peeked out behind the doorframe, eyes scanning the hallway. Slowly, carefully she began her trek down the corridor. It was still, and the quiet that constantly engulfed her seemed even heavier than usual.

Halfway down the hallway a door opening had caught her attention. A tall blonde woman had stepped out, glancing around before catching sight of Madeline.

Slowly, Madeline approached the woman - careful to not do anything to make the woman think she could be behind whatever could be going on.

“I’m Madeline. I was helping out with the relief efforts. Was there scheduled stops along the way to the Monastery?”

Before the woman even answered Madeline picked up on the look behind the woman’s eye and she realized that there wasn’t any scheduled stops - and something was definitely wrong.

Madeline just wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the exact cause.

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Hazel's old military training kicked in immediately, her first instinct being to contact the captain. As such, she hurried over to the intercom mounted to the wall. With a few quick button pushes, the device buzzed to life.

"Doctor Zanteres to Bridge. Captain, status report?"

There was nothing but silence, until...

"There's been a malfunction of the hyperdrive we'v-"

Hazel immediately cut the call off. That was not the captain who had spoken, nor had it been any of the bridge crew. Hell, she didn't recognize the voice as anyone from the crew in general. It could possibly be one of the volunteers who had taken up the offer of a ride home, but that raised even more questions. Mainly, why the kark were they on the bridge?

To the Hapan, it was clear as day what had happened. And she needed to act quick.

Back at her desk, she pulled open one of the drawers and grabbed to things. The first was a blaster, which she slipped into the holster attached to her belt. After that was Valkyrie's Calm, the hilt of which was clipped to the opposite side of the gun.

From there, she moved towards the door, a hand kept close to her blaster she got closer to the exit. With a cautious push of her hand, she deactivated the lock and stepped outside of the office.

Almost immediately her eyes snapped towards the only other presence nearby, the Hapan's hand twitching even closer to her gun. But she hesitated, potentially a mistake as she recognized the young woman as one of the volunteers, and if her suspicions were correct...

Hazel didn't make a further move, clearly identifying the same sense of confusion in Madeline. That and she recalled seeing her efforts back on the planet. It was a judgement call, one the Hapan felt could possibly bite her in the arse, but the woman didn't strike her as the type to hijack a ship.

"Miss Roux, isn't it?" Hazel was the type to keep things clean and organized, especially during relief efforts she made a point to know everyone's names and where they were located. "And no, there wasn't any scheduled stops. We were meant to be going straight to Monastery." Suddenly the sound of a radio crackling to life echoed from further down the hall. Hazel's attention snapped towards it. But she wasn't one to remain still for too long, especially in this situation. She quickly strode over to Madeline, passing a hand against the younger woman's back, forcing her around and guiding back towards the room she had come from. Hazel followed close behind, letting the metal door slide shut and lock behind them.

The Hapan took a deep breath, remaining quiet as she pressed her ear against the door.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

She didn’t hear the crackle of the radio further down the hall, but Madeline did see the way the woman reacted.
From what Madeline could tell it seemed someone was further down the hallway, making noise of some sort. A noise that had the woman reacting quickly and Madeline gave no sort of fight against her when she came over and turned her around.

As Madeline was being lead back to the room she had come from, a thousand thoughts were rushing through her head.

How did the woman know her name? She didn’t outright attack her, so she couldn’t have been apart of the problem - though this could be all a ploy to get her in a secluded place to take care of her before anyone could see. The thought was ludicrous, and Madeline had to mentally berate herself. She was typically very good at reading people, seeing through their outward intentions to pick out the bad if any. Madeline didn’t get that feeling from her - though she could feel her need to move and fast. She forced herself to stop thinking, if even for just a moment and focus on what was currently happening.

Moving a little further away from the door, she felt all her nerves on alert - skin crawling and tingling. Never more than in that moment, did Madeline wish she could hear so she could be at least a little more helpful. She had over time come to terms with her deafness, and it never truly got her into too many sticky situations but it made her feel useless in times like these.

Instead, she stood there careful not to make a noise as her counterpart pressed her ear to the door. Her eyes moved constantly, from the woman, to the door, to around the room searching for anything that could possibly be off.

Hazel Zanteres. The name had come to her suddenly and she realized it was the name of the woman before her. A Doctor - it all had made sense then, and answered most of her questions she had. Madeline felt lucky, to have stumbled across Hazel instead of the two men who were currently walking down the hallway the women just occupied moments before.

Footsteps heavy, fell on deaf ears to Madeline but she noticed Hazel almost perking up a bit at the noise and she realized there must be someone out there. A sudden rush of what felt like ice danced across her skin and she realized it was a mix of fear and adrenaline.

Another crackle of the radio, and mumbled talking - all Madeline could think of was who would want to hijack this ship?

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

She spared a glance at one point, checking on the younger woman as they remained in silence. Hazel could see the tension coil itself within Madeline, the stiffen shoulders, locked legs and in general lack of movement. The fact her breathing was uneven, sometimes creeping out more than intended, made it apparent the young woman wasn't exactly use to this type of situation.

Whereas Hazel was and far too often than she'd like to admit.

Albeit a majority of those were back during the military years, and even they hardly involved a hijacking. It was more about being behind enemy lines, remaining hidden as patrols walked passed.

Not entirely the same situation as a whole right now, but for the moment in time right now?

It was the most relatable thing the Hapan could rely on.

Her breathing remained even as she heard two sets of boots against the metal flooring. Then the sound of metal hitting flesh - someone hoisting a rifle from a holster and into their hands.

"This the place?"

"Yeah, boss said the call came from this office. Stand guard while I go check it out."

"Waste of time man, only an idiot would've remained there. Clearly whoever this Zanteres chick is, she knew we weren't part of the crew and bolted."

There was no response and Hazel assumed one of the men had entered the office at that point. She took the moment to glance over at Madeline again, noting the woman seemed to have a moment of silent realization. There was also a shift in the way she looked at the Hapan, less suspicious and now more relieved. It took a few more minutes, but eventually the man's friend left the office. Then the static buzz of a radio echoed out.

"This is Bravo Two. No sign of Doctor Zanteres, but it looks like she fled immediately after. Took something with her too."

"Find her. We cannot afford to have anyone else on the loose."

"Understood." The radio was clicked off, and the man let out a sigh.

"Any idea what she took?"

Hazel's hand subconsciously slipped to her waist, pausing right where her lightsaber hung.

"Not a clue. But the fact she's out on the loose, and not rounded up with the others isn't good."

"Agreed, it's the second one unaccounted for too. The boss wasn't pleased when he learned we hadn't rounded every member of the crew."

"Mhm, let's get moving. The doctor probably got as far from here as possible."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation, as the two began to walk on again. The tension in the air around the two women seemed to simmer away somewhat, though it remained a lingering presence around them. Once Hazel was certain the two men were gone, she unlocked the door and poked her head out.

"Okay, looks like they're far enough away."

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Madeline hated waiting without any knowledge of what was going on. It left her feeling tense and incredibly uneasy.

To help relieve some of the unease she found herself squatting down, lithe fingers grazing the floor nearest the wall gently, before planting her hand face down. Taking a deep breath she paused, waiting until suddenly she could feel it. It was light, and would be barely noticeable to someone who wasn’t accustomed to ‘hearing’ this way. Light vibrations were sent up her fingers and through her hand alerting her that the men that Hazel had heard before were coming closer.

Even as the vibrations paused Madeline stayed still, brown eyes hidden behind lids as she focused all of her energy into what the men were doing.

The only instance she could liken this to in her mind was when she was broken free from her cell when she was still a slave and even then it wasn’t exactly like this. It was a poor attempt at helping her mind calm at the thought of how inexperienced she was at this. It wasn’t helping but she couldn’t let it get to her or let it show. The others on the ship who had helped with the relief efforts were possibly in danger and she had to be calm not only to help them but to also be of any help to Hazel.

Standing up when Hazel gave the all clear she nodded her head, quickly moving out of the door after the blonde. Hand tracing the wall as they walked she kept part of her mind focused on trying to feel for anything out of the ordinary while the other part focused on Hazel. They were going in the opposite direction of the men and Madeline could only assume they were going to assess what was going on with the crew.

Her voice came out quiet, a question buzzing between them she wasn’t sure was the time to ask but she needed to know nonetheless.

“Did they say if they were looking for anyone in particular?"

No, she may not have been in a situation like this before but Madeline was going to make sure to do whatever she could to help.

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Hazel remained tense as they walked down the hallway, head shifting left and right whenever they passed an open doorway. Though it wasn't because she was anxious or nervous, instead it was because she was coiled up like a snake. She was prepared to make a move at a moment's notice, whether it was diving behind cover or taking action should someone else suddenly turn a corner towards them.

"Not anyone in particular no. The only one they named was myself, but that's because of a mistake I made." She spoke quietly, after all they didn't want to make a rookie mistake and be talking too loud. "But they did say I was the second unaccounted for, so I assume they've been looking for you as well."

That itself meant a number of things too. Primarily that the rest of the crew had been rounded up and kept somewhere on the ship. It brought some relief to the Hapan, knowing the crew were still alive. But it tend brought forth even more troubling thoughts.

Why were they being kept together?

Most likely to keep them out of the way, ensure they don't do anything stupid like stopping them. But there were also other scenarios, like holding them for ransom. Perhaps they were keeping hostages as leverage for something.

It also revealed a certain fact to Hazel, namely that they likely had the ship's manifest on hand. That in itself led to its own possibilities, such as wanting to locate and steal what supplies were onboard. Which at this point was next to nothing, as the only stock that remained was those regulated to ship personnel.

And that just raised even more questions. How did they know the Satori was a medical vessel? Had they been on the planet and got onboard with the other volunteers? Or had they somehow managed to pull the ship out of hyperspace.

Or was this internal sabotage?

"We need to get to the engine room, assess the situation and see what's happened with the ship." Taking the lead, Hazel suddenly stopped as they reached a fork on the hallway, leading in three other directions. The Hapan moved cautiously, poking her head out slightly to check if anyone else was around. Each direction seemed clear, for now. "This way." Right now, Hazel was glad she had taken the time to memorize the ship's layout.

She just hoped they wouldn't find any of the hijackers in the engine room.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Madeline couldn’t be sure what she was feeling. Her brain had raced so many times with so many different feelings that she was sure her brain would short circuit if it were to continue on any longer.

The vibrations of the heels of her boots hitting the floor sent shocks up her legs with each step, worry that she was walking too heavily and would give away their positions flashing towards the forefront of her mind.

She wasn’t sure if it had something to do with feeling confident in the company she was with in the situation Hazel and Madeline found themselves in or if she was just vibing the feeling off of Hazel, but she felt a set of determination take over her. Never the one to go down without a fight Madeline often found her impulses got her into trouble when she was viewed as nothing more than property. Right now however? Madeline assumed it could only help.

It washed over her slowly, nerve endings throughout her body slowly buzzing to life and she had to busy her fingers with twisting and turning the fabric of her shirt to keep herself calm from the feeling.

Madeline didn’t want to think that the ship had been hijacked from the inside. To think that someone had infiltrated the Satori, making themselves out to be apart of the crew made Madeline’s stomach turn uneasily.

It was incredibly possible though, and the answer Madeline feared lay only beyond the engine room’s door.

Pausing, she gently touched Hazel’s shoulder to garner her attention. Keeping her voice low and quiet she tilted her head towards the door.

“Before we go in...can you uh hear anything?” A gentle motion of her hands towards her ears and Madeline saw the realization of Madeline’s deafness come to light in Hazel’s eyes. “I have been paying attention to any vibrations from them walking or banging anything around but it’s ‘silent’ right now so to speak.”

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

The Hapan was about to step towards the engine room door when Madeline grabbed her attention. Hazel wondered for a moment what the young woman meant, but then it clicked when she emphasised on the hearing part.

"Oh!" The realization that Madeline was deaf finally hit her. "I am so sorry! I didn't even notice." Which in itself was a fairly amusing thought. How did they manage a conversation up until this point? It didn't immediately occur to Hazel that Madeline was able to read lips.

She nodded slightly at her statement, it was obviously going to be a bit more difficult to pick up on certain vibrations when you also had to deal with the hum of the hyperdrive and such.

Albeit the Hapan was unsure how skillful the other woman was with her senses.

Mirroring earlier with the hallway, Hazel approached the door and pressed her ear against it. She focused and listened carefully. But the Hapan could not discern anything specific other than the usual bells and whistles of the engine room.

"I can't hear anything of note." Hazel looked over at Madeline and gave her a small nod. "Stay behind me."

Her hand reached down to her belt, grabbing her blaster and setting it to stun. Taking a deep breath, Hazel brought the weapon before her and slowly made her way through the doorway.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

A smile broke out on Madeline’s lips at Hazel’s reaction when she realized that she was deaf. It was amusing - and she hadn’t been openly making it aware she was deaf. Madeline was never one to use her disability to her advantage. She didn’t like people pitying her because to her, she had been able to do the same things everyone else was capable of doing - she just couldn’t hear.

Sometimes? It was a blessing. A shake of her head followed the woman’s apology, smile still plastered on her face. Now probably wasn’t the best time to be so amused, but she couldn’t help it - and Madeline liked the small ease of tension that was hanging around both of their shoulders from the situation they were in. “It’s okay Hazel! I didn’t really make it a point to immediately recognize or know.”

A smile was returned her way before the air became heavy around them once more. No matter how nervous Madeline found herself, tried and true methods with her or not - she had to trust herself, she had to trust Hazel.

A click, followed by another - soft in nature, tapping of shoes on the floor. Both of them doing their best to stay quiet, keeping footsteps as light as they could as they entered the engine room.

Thankfully there was no one in there - causing Madeline to breathe a sigh of relief.

They were safe. For now.

“Alright - Hazel, I haven’t been on ships all that often but I am a quick learner. What would you like me to do?”

[member="Hazel Zanteres"]​

 

[Hazel Zanteres]

Hazel let out a relieved chuckle when Madeline hadn't taken her slip up too badly. Force...how had she not realized she was deaf?

That was probably going to sit with the Hapan for a while longer, but right now they had more pressing issues to focus on. The brief break of tension, allowing for some lightheartedness to take over was a welcome change.

She nodded at Madeline's reaction, understanding quite well how that felt - not wanting others to know something and letting it define them in that person's eyes. It was annoying, and something Hazel was familiar with.

And then just like that, the tension returned and their minds were back focused on their current situation. Hazel took point and silently began walking through the engine room. Gun was held up ready, primed to fire at seconds notice should they stumble across anyone.

But a couple minutes passed as the duo checked every corner, only to find that no one else was present.

"Okay, looks like it's all clear..." The Hapan cautiously holstered the blaster. "Let's check one of the terminals, we need to find out what state the ship is in." Hazel had went to interact with one of the nearby consoles, but Madeline had beaten her to it.

Hazel laughed softly.

"I need you to run a diagnostics on the ship's systems. A general one, to see what's still running and what they've disabled."

[member="Madeline Roux"]​