Private Flightless Bird

[Evelyn Shaw]

Evelyn's eyebrows rose in surprise, looking at Amea then back down at the tank's occupant.

"It does? That's....huh." A couple pieces were falling into place in the Echani's mind. "Uh no, no one on the crew was Force-sensitive."

She wasn't overly familiar with the Force, knew it existed of course. Met her fair share of Users, both good and bad. But Evie had never really hung out with someone to really know much about it.

Smugglers tended to steer clear of any conflicts that involved Jedi, Sith and all those in between.

The feeling of sadness that enveloped that particular cargo bay of the KIV-2983, almost as if this little creature had been crying out...

"I've no idea where it came from, never seen it's kind before." Evelyn's gaze immediately shifted down, staring at the floor beneath them. The guilt tried to stir further to the surface, but Evie forced it down. She looked back over at Amea. "Yeah...but right now that's for another time. First I want to make sure this little one is somewhere where it can heal."

Ignore it all you want...

...You can't run from it.​

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

Well crap, there went that. The woman hadn’t known it was force sensitive, and more than anything it seemed the creature needed more than just medical attention. Amea placed a hand against the tank but got no response. The creature must have been out cold.

“Right, skip to dealing. I can respect that.” Amea said and rose from the ground. “Normally I wouldn’t suggest it, but we should be within reach of at least one of the known Jedi enclaves around OPA territory. Might be able to help, might also not be able to. They might have a better idea of who or what the creature is, and yet… They may also not.”

Garry approached it with a cautious yet incredibly curious glance from behind Amea.

“Garry, don’t touch that.” Amea said as the kid stared at the creature.

“Aw.” The kid frowned and backed off.

“Our ship should have replacement bacta for when that one has served its use, but… Well, if the current batch won’t do much then I don’t know what will.”

“How do you want to play this?”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

The Echani nodded mutely at Amea's suggestion. Given the creature was Force Sensitive, it would make greater sense to take it to the Jedi for more accurate care. Even someone like Evelyn, who knew little about that, knew a medical facility would only heal part of the little creature's issues.

"Priority should be getting this little one to those that can properly care for it." At least then, something good will have come from this messy situation. "Let's move the tank onto your ship, while you do that I'm going to go pack some things to take with me."

Wasn't like she was going to see the Firebird again anytime soon. But that wasn't to say she was going to say goodbye entirely.

"I..." She had begun to walk towards the door, but stopped. "I'd also like to take Anne with us." The now lifeless Twi'lek that was in reality the only one she could do anything for now. The others...their bodies were either exploded into space, or disposed of by Aleksandr's men. "She has a brother I think I can get in contact with."

With that she departed the room, only to get a few steps away before suddenly poking her head back through the doorway.

"Oh! If possible, I'd also like to try and unseal the engine room door. TC is still in there and I want to see if he can be repaired." She was no mechanic like Anne was, but she suspected something could be salvaged and transferred to a new body, maybe.

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

A somber look fell on Amea. She gave the creature one more look before she looked over at Garry and his father.

“You two take the tank and we’ll see about the rest.” She said and nodded at Skydancer who gave them an equally grave nod. “And be very careful.”

With the orders relayed the two got to work and Amea rushed to catch up with Evelyn as she ventured deeper into the ship. It was a means to get them out of the way and buy herself time with just the one person. Even allies had loose lips, if they saw what she could do…


“We can take your friend to their brother, too.” Amea said and looked over her shoulder to make sure that the others were underway before she rounded the corner with Evelyn. “Losing people is tough, but you are strong enough to push through. I can respect that.”

They approached the engine room door and Amea gently placed her hand on it. Her eyes closed.

“This could take a bit.” She said before the door began to click like a key being inserted into a hole it did not belong in. Hissing to life, the sound of metal on metal could be heard from inside the door as Amea tried to find the correct combination.

“Tell me about your trip.” She said as the procedure continued. “Where were you going?”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

"Let's...just focus on one thing at a time." Evelyn was not looking forward to conversation, after all she knew what it was like to receive that kind of news. She also remembered her reaction to that very news, and how anger her grandfather had-

She shook her head slightly, as if that would do anything to dismiss those memories from surfacing.

"I don't know about that...there was a time when I wasn't strong in any sense..."

Evie muttered those words, recalling just how self-destructive she had become after the previous deaths she had experienced.

Somehow, she didn't know what was worse. Facing it without having had no say in it , or practically being the cause of it...

"We were on a fairly routine job." Evelyn began, stepping away a bit so she could lean against a nearby wall. "The Captain was decently known, so it wasn't too unusual for us to get direct calls for jobs. Aleksandr had one of his...I guess higher up lackies contact us about moving some 'goods', stuff that needed to be carried to the other side of the galaxy." Which meant treading through a number of different faction territories.

"Whether Aleksandr was just lazy, or if they had some legit reason they couldn't do it themselves, I don't know. But it was all above board." As much as smuggling was anyway. "The goods were...agreeable, the Captain had a stance that we'd never smuggle particular things."

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

A loud ‘clonk’ called out into the hallway as one of the seals inside of the doors were lifted with a hiss. Amea opened her eyes to look over her shoulder, back at Evelyn as she talked about the job. She began to nod before her attention set on the door again.

“So they set you up to blow you up.” Amea said and put her hand back on the door again. “I’ve seen it happen before. Although usually with larger crews. Let the transport pick up more goods than the few you hire on. Place a tracker inside your crate and get a steady feed of pings telling you where they are and when to strike.”

Another hiss echoed down the hallway before a second clonk punched its way around the rooms.

“We placed a beacon on your ship as it was pulled in. OPA will most likely come in to sweep away what they can, so if you have anything that you would like to claim for yourself before that happens, I’d say you have a pretty good window while I work on getting this open.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

Each of the loud 'clonks' took Evelyn by surprise, primarily because the Echani kept slipping into her own thoughts. Half listening to what Amea was saying, the other just drifting off.

"Y-yeah, something like that..."

Run, run, run away...

...Away from the truth...​

...From the responsibility.
​

The truth itched away underneath the surface, but it was easy to ignore and pretend it was something else entirely. It wasn't like she didn't want to, but everything was still so...fresh. The hurt burned like a raging inferno, and every moment Evie was reminded she felt her chest constrict slightly, as though something had a grip on her heart.

"I-no that's fine. OPA can have the supplies and such, I just want a copy of the information." So she could use it to track the bigger fish. "But I'll go start gathering some stuff, personal effects from the others that they wouldn't want to get rid of."

Also an excuse to be out of eyesight and earshot of Amea. Where Evie could let her mask down with any questions being asked.

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

It wasn’t right, but Amea let the woman be alone with her grievances. It wasn’t something she was equipped to handle, and in reality she didn’t want to either. She could show a measure of understanding that this had been thrust upon the other woman, force knowing she understood what it was like to be forced into something you never wanted — but that was the extent to which Amea’s empathy ran.

“Naturally.” She said and let the Echani woman go collect what she needed to. Personal effects or things that would allow her to seek out whoever it was that had done this to her. Either way Amea got to work and over the span of a few minutes she would have the door open. A loud metallic groan spread across the ship as she pried the doors apart with the force.

“Hey, lady!” Amea called for Evelyn. “Door’s open, what was it you—”

She sat her eyes upon the flickering structure inside. “Oh.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

You can't escape...

...Death will always follow...​

...It will haunt you.​

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the guilt that was steadily eating away at her. It was all still too fresh in her mind. Running through the ship, pushing the portable bacta tank all along that way. Rook helping with that initially, while Anne took the lead and scouted the area ahead of them. It was all easy going, until one of Aleksandr's men caught them, and immediately sounded the alarm.

Anne returned fire almost instantly, urging her and Rook to push forwards. But eventually they switched, Anne came to help with pushing the tank, while Rook covered their back. They had gotten halfway across the hangar when Rook fell. It took an entire barrage of blaster fire to take the Wookiee down, and Rook didn't go quietly.

The tank was just up the ramp when Anne had got hit, taking a bolt to her stomach. But she pushed through the pain, laying down covering fire as Evelyn had pushed the portable tank onto the Firebird proper.

Evelyn could vividly remember the mix of emotions that crossed the Captain's face as he rushed out of the cockpit. Confusion, anger...

She pushed those thoughts and memories aside, looking around for a couple large bags. From there she began mulling about the first couple rooms, taking items she knew her crew; her friends wouldn't have wanted thrown away. Part of her hesitated taking credits, but Evelyn knew they would've wanted them to be used, than be wasted away.

“Hey, lady!”

The Echani placed her almost filled bag on the floor, making a swift dash back to where Amea was standing. Hope was clear in Evelyn's eyes as she approached, but that instantly dimmed when she finally looked into the engine room.

It was a wreck, not a single bit of machinery wasn't in some form of disrepair and sparking. A couple had just outright exploded, while others had internally overloaded and fried. And then there was TC, the loyal astromech droid that now just sat there...lifeless. He was still connected to the auxiliary port, having managed one last request before the end.

"Damnit..." Any hope Evelyn once had, was now completely gone. She walked into the engine room, not too particularly concerned with the sparking machinery, and crouched down beside the droid. Evelyn sighed as she placed a hand on his domed head. "Thank you, TC."

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

It was hard to explain what it was, but something about dead hardware brought out something within Amea. The sight of the dead astromech droid was something that didn’t strike her as right. It had a set of rules it followed and that was it. The purpose it filled was something that people were more often than not incapable of, and in this very moment it stood to reason that this little thing was one of the biggest reasons this ship had even gotten this far in the first place.

A brief frown spread on Amea’s lips. She had seen plenty of dead people, and yet a small droid was enough to send her into a state of contemplation regarding the fragility of her own mortality. It wasn’t right but it was the reality of things, and perhaps in many ways she found comfort in being a cog in some machine, just like this droid.

She served a purpose, and that was good enough for her.

“I’m sorry for your loss, but…” Amea placed her hand on Evelyn’s shoulder. “We should really get out of here.”

“Do you have anything else you need to take care of before that?”

Evelyn Shaw

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

She had held out hope that TC would survive, at the very least the astromech would've survived all this. He had no direct involvement in her naive actions. He was just part of their crew, working to the very end of his mechanical life to keep them all safe.

His death, all their deaths were as consequence of her impulsive action.

Murderer.

Murderer.​

Murderer.​

No!
​

For the first time since everything had happened, since the voices in her head started, Evelyn mentally shouted back. She was expecting them to rebuttal, to return with double their effort. But there was nothing, her sudden outburst had deafened them for a time.

"Yeah, you're right." Time wasn't really on their side if they wanted to leave. OPA aligned or not, there would be questions, and right now Evelyn didn't need that.

She slowly stood up, turning around and giving Amea a small, thankful smile.

"I just need to finish packing, it shouldn't take me much longer."

And true to her word, roughly five minutes later Evie returned with two bags in toll. One strapped over her left shoulder, while she held the other in her right.

"All right, I'm ready to go."

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

It was hard not to notice the turmoil beneath Evelyn’s skin. It was there in how she moved and how she looked at those around her. Although the flood stopped for the moment Amea couldn’t help but give the woman a look of concern before she too rose up. She put herself by the ramp leading down into the hangar as she waited for the Echani to wrap up her business before they finally reunited a few moments later. With a roll of her shoulder Amea beckoned for the other woman to follow.

“We’ll be turning the beacon on and wait for a few minutes before we depart.” Amea explained as they walked over to the Squealing Shrieker. “Long enough to leave a trail if the owners of this vessel decides against better judgment to hijack us all, yet also long enough to leave before the OPA starts to think we’re too involved in this.”

She looked over her shoulder at Evelyn. “I just really don’t like paperwork.”

As they stepped up the ramp to the ramp to the ship Amea would show Evelyn to an empty bed. It was a shared space between the four of them, but way she figured it was better than the alternative which was that someone had to sleep in the cargo hold. Or be left behind for that matter.

“The ship is fast enough to get us where we need to go, just tell the Captain the details. I’ll be around if you need anything.”

The two separated. Amea punched in the activation code for the beacon and together they let a few more minutes pass before they took off and into the next part of their new adventure. But where that was, and how they got there, well…

That was a story for later.