Incogneto

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Bralin"]


Kay needed to get a few things from home on Zakuul. Sure it may have been wiser for her to just send someone else to do it. But one of those things was Viribus. The young dragon was loyal to her and had a tendancy to bite or attack those he didn't know or didn't know very well. He was a bit of a grump sometimes. Or rather, most of the time. So it was far better for her to make this journey from Mandalorian space in a vessel that wouldn't be so easily picked up as something that any royal party or politician would fly around in. There were many that wanted her head or at the very least have her behind bars. The Galaxy was full of tensions and wars, some started by grudges, others started on false pretenses.

Now was not a good time to let her guard down.

She searched through ships for hire and came across a unique one. No weapons, BUT it's defences were key. Plus it appeared to be...sentient? Hmmm....

Kay made a reply to the ship-for-hire ad:

Hello,

I'm responding to your ad about a ship for hire. I think you'd be a great fit. If you could travel to Mandalore to Zakuul and back, that'd be wonderful. And I hope that a young Krayt dragon wpuldn't be a problem. I'll be sure that he's well behaved.

Please let me know.

Cessy.

She didn't want to leave her name, so instead she decided on an alias. Everything else would come later.

 

[Bralin]

Bralin floated calmly in a nebula, getting the "food" he needed to keep living. The living ship hadn't heard and messages recently, so all he could really do is wait and explore the area. Finally though, the Startreader got a message. Someone named Cessy was looking for round trip transport from Mandalore, to Zakuul, then back to Mandalore. It also said that a Krayt Dragon was involved. Bralin had never seen one before, so this was actually a plus for him. Getting to learn about a new creature. The vessel was quick to respond to the message, and moving into jump position.

Cessy,

I am more than happy to take this job, and I have no problem with a Krayt dragon being on board. I am going to begin the jump to Mandalore.

Thank you for hiring me.

Bralin

And with that, the living ship charged up his drive. Energy arced between the his drive tails as the outer pair began to spread. The blue energy began to coat the entirety of his hull, allowing the charging sequence to finish, and soon he shot into hyperspace.

Mandalore Orbit---

After travelling for some time, Bralin left hyperspace to see Mandalore. Odd. He had heard about the scorching that the planet had undergone, but that it had been terraformed and remade. He wasn't expecting what he saw though.

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Thank you, Bralin. I've attached co-ordinates to the nearest space port to my current location.

Regards,

Cessy.

Kay didn't know how far away [member="Bralin"] was coming from, so she made sure to be ready just in case he was close. It wasn't as though she had much to pack, for that was one of the reasons for her to go back to Zakuul.

She had one of her guards at the spaceport that she had given the co-ordinates of in her message at all times so that she'd know when he was to arrive.

Of course Kay had no idea that Bralin was a sentient and living ship. Boy was she in for a big surprise.

 

[Bralin]

Understood. I will meet you at the spaceport.

Bralin.

The living ships slowly slide to the starpart, asking for permission to dock. Once he was in the dock, not knowing if she was waiting there or not, sent a message to inform her that head had docked and was waiting. This would definitely be interesting.

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

The message from [member="Bralin"] was recieved. And once her guard confirmed the arrival and that the ship matched the specs they were given, Kay was sent for.

Twenty minutes later she had arrived to the space port in a transport with a few of her Eternal Guard as her escort. Every single one of them, Kay included, were dressed in civilian clothes. She was well known in political and public circles. There was a vast amount of information of her on the holonet. Some good, some bad, some made up entirely. It was better to hide in plain sight.

She eyed the ship with a raised brow. It certainly was...different. But she saw no sign of a crew. Figuring that the ship had cameras watching her, Kay cleared her throat a but before calling out. "Bralin? It's Cessy...Where are you?"

 

[Bralin]

Kay would see various droids rolling around inside the ship, but no organic crew in sight. Admittedly Bralin was laughing to himself, finding it interesting to see how the others reacted to there being no crew in sight. He wondered how they'd react to him actually being the ship they were standing in. An astromech rolled by, beeping about some maintenance being finished, but then, Kay and her guards would all hear a voice, seeming to come from nowhere as Bralin spoke through the Force to them.

"I'm here. You have already seen me, and continue to."

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Plenty of droids rolling around, but no sign of [member="Bralin"] . Hmm. Both Kay and her guards as she stepped up the ramp, their eyes falling to the astromech droid as it beeped away. The internal structure seemed different. The whole atmosphere of the vessel felt so very strange.

Then the voice came, echoing inside of their heads. A Force user? Kay turned slowly in place, searching for the owner of the voice. "Are you...in one of the droids? The astromech perhaps?"

 

[Bralin]

A slight chuckled could be heard as Kay suggested Bralin was on of the droids. He reached out again, and again spoke through the Force.

"No, Cessy. I'm not any of my droids. I am the ship you in right now."

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay's eyebrows lifted at the mention that [member="Bralin"] wasn't inside the ship, but the very ship itself. The fact that he was speaking through the Force clearly indicated that he wasn't some form of artificial intelligence.

She reached out to one of the walls and touched it with her fingers. "Amazing...As you can guess, I have a lot of questions, but I suppose we can go through them on the journey. Where are our sleeping quarters?"

Kay couldn't help but imagine certain rooms closed to others as they contained vital organs. Was this some kind of creature created with Vong tech? There were so many questions ..

 

[Bralin]

A happyness came over Bralin at hearing his passenger's curiosity. It would definitely be interesting trying to answer her questions as they travelled to Zakuul. Soon, an astromech rolled over, showing a hologram of current deck they were on, and lighting up some rooms. The living ship's voice then came back to everyone.

"I can imagine, and will glady answer the questions I that I can. The rooms on Lerik's hologram are all of my passenger cabins on this deck. Enough for everyone to have there own if you wish. Lerik can lead you to the cabins, though I believe the rear cabins will give the best view of the jump to hyperspace." As he said this, the vessel undocked from the station, and began to drift into position for the jump.

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay looked to the holomap provided. It seemed very straight forward. "My...friends shall have their own next to mine. Lerik? Could you please take us to the rear cabins?"

Just how does a living ship like [member="Bralin"] jump into hyperspace? That was certainly a good question. Kay and her guards followed the astromech, all the while her curiosity grew. "Bralin, do you have a hyperdrive? Or do you travel through different means?" Calculating the jumps could be disasterous without a computer. This was going to be a very interesting trip indeed!

 

[Bralin]

The astromech seemed to nod before beeping to follow him. He began to lead them to their cabins, all having a good, if lopsided, view of the drive tails of the living ship. He listened carefully to the question, honestly not sure how to answer the question. He knew a lot about his own systems, but didn't understand everything. Still, he at least had an answer.

"As best as I understand it, my hyperdrive is tied to my sublight drive. A gravity flux drive. By that, I operate more by dragging myself into hyperspace with gravity. Though, I also cannot affect ships around me." It was honestly the best answer that he had. Soon though, he had drifted into the jump position, and began the jump process. "You may want to watch this." Arcs soon formed between the tails as the outer pair extended away from the main tail. As the tails finished extending the hull began to glow with a blue energy, as if the entire vessel was becoming energized. The moment the glow fully engulfed the hull, the Startreader shot off, begining the journey to Zakuul.

​

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay and her guards followed along, each looking out of the 'windows' when they passed by. And then came their cabins. Hers was inspected by her guards while [member="Bralin"] gave as best of an explanation as he could on how he can travel through hyperspace.

And then came the moment that all were curious about and eager to see. Each pressed themselves against the windows for a glimpse, all wide-eyed like school children. In some ways they were getting schooled, learning about a lifeform that for all intents and purposes could be very ancient, yet it was entirely new to them.

A surge of blue energy engulfed the living ship and then it slid into hyperspace. "Incredible..." Kay remarked outloud.

She walked over to her bed and set down her bag, removing from it all that she needed to make her precious Sapir tea. "If I may ask, Bralin, what is it that you eat? Surely you don't fuel up in the same manner as regular vessels..."

 

[Bralin]

Bralin flew through hyperspace, happy to feel that the others were amazed. It was definitely a different experience, from what the bio-ship could tell, than a standard starship. He then heard Kay ask him a question. What did he eat. Eat? Not really the term he'd use, but he figured that was easier to say.

"My species feed off nebula gasses and dust. Our bodies are capable of converting the material into most of what we need. Our hull structure, fuel, droid pairs. Basically everything."

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

"Amazing. So when you are low on energy, you just fly through a nebula?" If that was the case, it'd be far easier than fueling up at a space port.

"I haven't heard of a species like yours before. And I consider myself quite lucky to have come across you. No doubt you can pass by some sensors that other ships couldn't?" No doubt there were many scientists that would love to learn more about him. Of course they'd probably do so through some not so nice means. Right now Kay was going to learn what she could about [member="Bralin"] through questions. "Where did you pick up learning Basic? What is your society like?" Oh yes, she had a lot of questions.

 

[Bralin]

"Yes" Bralin answered, seeming to be enjoying himself. She then asked about a few other things. She suggested that he might could pass by sensors that would pick up other ships, and asked where he learned basic and what the Startreader's society was like. The sensor thing was actually something he'd ever thought of, and he honestly wasn't sure how to answer her second two questions.

"Well.... I don't actually know if I could pass any sensors, but i would assume that a vessel wouldn't be able to take a lifeform scan. And Startreader society is unique. We travel among the stars, and don't truly have a system we call home. Though we travel most of the time, I would say we try to stay connected, particularly those that are Hui Dor. As for knowing Basic... Our creators spoke the language, so we learned."

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay boiled some water and prepared the Sapir tea leaves, crumbling them into a cup as she listened to [member="Bralin"] respond to her questions. It was a breath of fresh air to have stumbled across something so amazing and unique that for the moment, all of her troubles were out of her mind.

She poured the water over the leaves and gave it a little stir. The tea had to steep still, so she waited patiently for it. "Hui Dor? What is that? Is that a family bloodline?" Maybe it was a religion. It was very hard to guess.

 

[Bralin]

Bralin was somewhat curious about what she was making, but he then realized that he said something Kay wouldn't understand. He thought to himself for a moment, thinking about how to put it.

"Oh. A Hui Dor is what I believe you would call a spouse."

[member="Kay Arenais"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay slowly nodded at the answer [member="Bralin"] gave her. Okay a spouse wasn't what she was expecting. But it was nice to know that his species was very social. As a matter of fact he was very polite and well mannered..

"I have a spouse as well. Though we don't live near eachother anymore. The reasons for it are complicated, but we are still connected and will be until death." That was how she believed Force Bonds worked, anyways.

Her tea was about ready now, so she had a sip. It soothed her like a warm hug, just as it always did.

"Are you always away from battle? Or have you fought in them as well?"

 

[Bralin]

The force around Bralin seemed to convey some surprise when [member="Kay Arenais"] mentioned that she and her spouse would be connected till death. It was interesting for him to think about. Startreaders, being starship, could call to each other with comms if they wanted, but what his passenger described seemed different.

"How exactly are you connect, if I may ask? I can at least tell it isn't physical." There was a slight chuckle after this.

The living ship then thought about Kay's question, slowly answering.

"Not for a long time. At least not me. We escaped our creators after they deemed us failures. That was the closest thing to combat I have been in. Our hulls, though, are powerful, so I assume I'd be able to handle myself in a fight at least."