Private Half baked plans

[Acaadi]

The Ranger working on Hosnian Prime didn't believe that Acaadi could be old enough to be a Jedi Knight. Acaadi didn't exactly lie but he didn't specifically outline the fact that he was a padawan either. There were Rangers all across the galaxy working undercover. They were not supposed to be called upon for hairbrained schemes like this one.

Acaadi wasn't certain what to make of the bounty for Phalsi. She was older than him, more capable and definitely cooler. It was one of those times when Acaadi went quite single minded. He decided it would be better and safer for Phalsi to be back with the Order. There she could either be sentenced for what she had done in a civilised manner or protected if the charge was made up.

Kyra had helped contact her and he had chosen a public restaurant to meet her. She didn't know he was coming and not Kyra. Kyra had enough to deal with right now. He was a few minutes late, hopefully so she was already inside. He thought he was very clever for that. If she had come after him she might have fled at the sight of him and not Kyra.

Phalsi Drynchen

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Phalsi quietly waited, reviewing the message she had received from Kyra as she sat there. The wrist device bobbed as she thrummed her fingers on the table while reading, something about it not sitting well, but it was Kyra. Being outside of Silver space warranted Phalsi coming here to see Kyra. Having remained blissfully unaware of the bounty that had been placed on her, she wasn't thinking that someone other than Kyra would show up.

Her frown was plain to see when she looked up from her spot to see Acaadi stepping up to the table. The armored clothes she wore seeming formal rather than somewhat better than street wear. She wasn't wearing her helmet, because it was supposed to be Kyra. The ship had the rest of her belongings on it, lightsabers, gear, everything but the helmet. Foolishly, she had ran to a call from Kyra rather than sit back and look at it for what it was. She had become complacent. Silvery-blue eyes stared at Acaadi as he came to the table, her hand rising to catch a waiter before looking to him.

"Kyra send you with her order?" Her words were almost hopeful. She didn't stop him from sitting down at the table while closing the holo-mail on her wrist device. Focusing her attention on him, her feet shuffled, the half folded mask sitting in her lap.

Acaadi

 

[Acaadi]

"Kyra has... A lot of stuff on right now," Acaadi said. He was already taking an apologetic tone. "It's, er, nice to see you again."

Acaadi was feeling what little plan there was unravelling already. It was more because he was already feeling embarrassed than because he was afraid of doing anything dangerous.

Acaadi drew his datapad from his jacket and placed it on the table. He turned it around towards Phalsi. It showed quite clearly how much the bounty was.

"What...what happened?" he asked. He looked around. It was a very safe cafe in a civilised city. Acaadi was sensible enough not to talk bounties in a rim cantina where half the patrons were bounty hunters and the other half would happily slit throats for spare credits.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She was smiling, looking to him. It was the smile one gave when the world disappointed you and you put one on to keep yourself from crying. His tone helped a little, but she tapped her fingers on the table with a troubled sigh.

"Good to see you too. Easier ways to ask for a date though." It was a terrible joke, and she knew something was up. Her eyes stung as he put a datapad on the table and slid it to her. Her face, a price, past creeping up behind her always. "Sit, please. People get nervous and start noticing things if someone stands for a while." She told him, turning the screen off before anyone could glance around.

She didn't need to see the datapad to tell this story.

"Ran with a bad group of kids. Lots of petty stuff to start with." She leaned forward, taking a breath and watching him. "Have you ate yet? I...I waited for Kyra."

 

[Acaadi]

"No, no haven't eaten yet," he admitted as he sat down. He placed both his hands together on the table. Feeling awkward he then pulled them down off the table and placed them on his lap.

"I can pay if you'd like," he said with a shrug. "You know, make up for the deception and all.

"Are you...alright?" he asked, nodding towards the blank datapad.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She pondered the offer of him paying, the sour expression giving way to one of amusement. "You can pay, this time." She wasn't about to reveal that she had a steady income from a hotel on Hoth, of all places in the verse. But he was offering an apology, and it didn't seem right to throw it back at him.

Sometimes people upset other people to help them. Apparently something friends did when they cared. Something Phalsi had to learn it seemed.

"Trouble I made for myself. Not life threatening. Just..." She sighed, amusement going with it as she stared at the datapad.

"You ever skip class or take the answer paper and sell it? And the teacher gives you detention, or another lesson as punishment?" She spoke softly, her feet tapping softly against the floor as a hand grabbed the tables holopad and turned it on.

"Similar, but more-." Her other hand came up, waving in a slow circle, eyes looking up and away as though the explination would fall from the sky and into her lap. "More costly? Severe, maybe?"

She had noted the people gathered around them, and was dancing around the direct vein of the wanted picture. Last thing she wanted was to get gnabbed while trying to explain things to someone offering to help.

Her eyes wavered over the menu in front of her, finger nearly touching the screen as she looked back to him once more. There was the final bit of guarded hope, or trust on display as she dared ask the question. "Was her message at least true? About her arm...and sisters I mean?"

She didn't know which answer would be worse. A lie she coukd wave off and be upset about. The other option did not allow such convenience.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi silently mused on her question. No, those were not the kinds of things he did. Certainly not cheating on a test of all things. Yet when Kyra was around they did tend to get into trouble. It always felt good though, until they were caught, but no one had ever posted a bounty for it.

"Ah," he went, revealing the answer before even explaining. "I'm afraid that was all true," he continued quietly. He wished he knew what he could do for Kyra. Acaadi was aware she was going to do something to help Nida.

If Kyra asked him to help then he would. Kyra knew that too, which was probably why she hadn't asked. Acaadi didn't know quite how far along her plans already were.

"Would you be safer back with us?" he asked, fumbling into the question before the waiter finally arrived. Acaadi ordered a bantha steak sandwich.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

"Chit." Phalsi exhaled, eyes down cast to the table. "Just. Chit." She frowned before rubbing her eyes.

"I wouldn't be in trouble if I were back. They would change the deal we had, but I imagine Cheryl will be happy I am back." Phalsi shrugged, leaning forward just a little. "Case worker. She probably noticed with that announcement of the Concord that I had skipped town." She ordered the Rancor steak.

"How have your studies gone?"

 

[Acaadi]

"Yeah it's not good," Acaadi said quietly. His gaze fell to the table and he started to draw small patterns in the salt scattered there.

"That whole lesson - or twelve lessons - about not falling to the dark side. Sounded like nonsense and yet..."

Acaadi shook his head. This wasnt why he had come here. Still, the atmosphere remained a lot more calm than he expected.

"I think I've missed a lot of steps here...who is Cheryl?"

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Amused eyes looked over him, leaning back in the chair as the smile crept up to her eyes. Seemed he was catching up. She slowly leaned forward, a crooked grin appearing as she spoke in a low tone when she was close enough to not be overheard easily.

"Cheryl is my case worker. The teacher was actually companies, the test was blueprints and details like insider trading." She shrugged. "Found out I was good at slicing. Just not at covering my tracks." She leaned back again, scratching her head.

"Emberlene doesn't take kindly to people that back out on their word. Especially given their...interesting situation." She rolled her eyes. "As for the dark side lesson, it is good for both sides. Not just the dark side."

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi was trying to put this altogether in his head. He couldn't tell if Phalsi was deliberately spinning him a yarn or had just decided he knew far more than he actually did.

"So you..." Acaadi looked around to check no one was in direct earshot. "...stole plans from a company, they caught you. Then they set you to work stealing from their competitors? And then the dark side?"

In his mind, it was very clear that she would be better off in Silver Jedi space again. It had all just seemed so much simpler when he was asking Kyra to let him send a message.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She smiled a little as he spoke, only for the smile to turn down as what he said got more and more convoluted. Apparently he wasn't as well informed about the matter as she thought he was. A hand waved in alarm as he went down the list. Her face twisted in confusion, her eyes slowly closing before cursing herself for her terrible people skills.

"No, wait-." A deep sigh came from her as the other hand came to her forehead, the other holding a finger up as if about to help make her point before it sank to the table. "This...this needs to be a private conversation." Her eyes opened and stared at him for a long moment.

"You come by public transport, or you have something docked?" She shook her head, clearing her mind of the misunderstanding that was there previously.

 

[Acaadi]

"Oh," he went, looking around them. They really shouldn't be talking about any of this here. He has thought himself so clever arranging the meeting. That vision of himself had been unwound very quickly. He did, at least, have a cool ship.

"Yeah, I got a ship," he said with a note of pride. "Want to go there now?"

He wasn't going to get fooled by a time to meet later in the day. He was naive, but not quite that stupid. He was struggling to get a read on the situation, but she wasn't being deliberately deceptive.

The ship in question was a particularly sleek shuttle. Silver Jedi stock, but from the mixed pool that wasn't tagged as belonging to the Concord.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

The realization, or at least the gravity of the situation they were speaking in, finally hit Acaadi it seemed. The mention of a ship however had her making a mental side step to try an recall the catalog of ships she had looked over. She wondered quietly if she should have mentioned her own ship, but instead ran down a different line of thinking.

"We'll make the meals to go so we can go take a look at this, ship." She teased him a bit. In the meantime, she bantered a second longer. "Had the ship long?"

A small tap on the datapad screen the table had summoned the serving droid before she asked for the meals to be put in to-go boxes. There was an affirmative before the droid was away once more.

 

[Acaadi]

"It's not mine," Acaadi admitted. "I will get my own ship one day, closest I have is the Twintail fighter that's designated to me."

Acaadi liked ships. He loved ships. His room back at the academy was quite spartan, but there was an entire shelf dedicated to small model ships he has assembled himself.

"You brought a ship? What kind?"

He was supposed to be here to get her back to the academy. Acaadi was aware of the fact that he was instead more focused on whether she had a cool ship. It was probably cooler than what he was flying.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

"Ah, it's always nice having your own ship. I'll have to remember to bring my ship by for you to see it." She remarked quietly before he perked up at the mention of a ship.

"A mirai-class vessel from O'hara holdings. I call it the Gray Messenger. Not a lot of weapons, but it's deathly fast for how big it is." Leaning in, she smiled at him. "You want to see it before we head back?"

"If that isn't too much I mean." She shrugged, sitting back once more to let him chew on the offer.

Acaadi

 

[Acaadi]

"The Gray Messenger?" he said rhetorically.

"That's so cool," he muttered under his breath. He thought he had said it below her range of hearing, but he failed to say it that quietly.

"Yeah, I mean, if you don't mind...they're the ones with the swept forward wings right?"

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She smiled when he spoke, but bit her lip when he thought he had been quiet about it being cool. No comment was made in regards to his words, save for the discreet attempt to not laugh a little. "Yeah, the swept wings. The crew comforts are amazing too."

Her, cool?

She hadn't thought of herself as more than mere trouble, so it was refreshing to hear someone say she was anywhere above that. But her smile grew as the food was brought out in to go containers, picking up her mask before she led the way to her ship.

"Had a YV-929 before this, and a B/E-3 Wing before that." She informed him as they crept upon her vessel. "You into your first one, or had one before this?"