Live Alone and Like It [Tethis]

[Natasi Fortan]

"There's definitely something on the scanners," the protocol droid said, reaching forward to adjust the long-range controls. "Do you think it is what that fellow said? Do you think it's that ship?"

"It's possible," mused Brooklyn Spencer, pulling her hair back and securing it in a severe-looking bun. She studied her reflection in the viewport, then glanced at the breather helmet that sat in the seat behind her. She wouldn't put it on yet, in case she needed to move fast, because: "It's possible that this whole thing is a trap. I'm sure my, er, persuasive methods weren't all that pleasant. This might be vengeance."

"Surely not, miss. Not when you know where he lives."

"Just be sure the weapons are armed and the engines are hot. We're about to drop..." Her voice trailed off as the Candy Crescendo reverted to realspace. "Try to raise it on comms. At least if there's a record we tried we'll have a defense if we get burned."

The droid adjusted himself, leaning forward and speaking into the comm. "I say! Unidentified corvette, do you copy? Are you in distress?"

 

[Tethis Aresis]

The Reaver was dead in space. It had been hundreds of years since it had shown signs of biological life, in fact. Literally, it was a dead ship, tended by the astromech and labour droids to keep it in good condition. The shipboard AI took care of monitoring things and blowing up the enemies that came across its path. Most would realise it as a corvette type of the CR-series with a much longer bridge and sleeker lines and wonder what the hell was such a rare and unique ship doing drifting through space.

The only voice to answer Brooklyn's hails was a female voice. That female voice ran a number of subroutines before it vocalised its answer, most important of which was that this was the right time. Stats were checked against the Galactic market. Time versus gain was checked. One final subroutine passed through the ship, the most important one of all.

"Greetings. This ship is currently undergoing thawing cycles for the Captain and crew. Please stand by."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn glanced at her droid, lips pressing into a firm white line before she glanced at the droid. A moment later, she pulled her datapad from her inner pocket and typing out a message, a message which her droid then spoke into the comm pickup: "Begging your pardon, but what is a thawing cycle? Are you distressed?" The Spencer girl, meanwhile, leaned forward and adjusted the controls. She activated the life-form scanners and found several different items flagging the scanner.

She muted the comm for a moment and glanced at the droid. "Run an analysis on this. It looks like there's some shielding there, or the signs or else the life forms are not strong."

The droid answered in the affirmative and then activated the comm again. "Can we help, unidentified corvette? We can board with medical supplies." Brooklyn smirked. Medical supplies, indeed -- well, blasters did have their medical applications. They were particularly good for burning protectors off their ship.

 

[Tethis Aresis]

The feminine voice responded rather levelly. "The Captain and the crew of this vessel have been in cryo-stasis for some centuries. I have determined it is time to end the cryo-cycle, as my Level One autonomy dictates." Half of that was basically meaningless, really. More important was the fact that there were people on it. "Beginning cryo-release now."

A long pause, a lot of hissing, and then some beeps. Silence. Then a voice.

"Captain's cryo-release complete. The crew is currently thawing."

The com went quiet for a moment. There was a very rampant shuffling of feet as someone in the background went about something or another.

"Sera... the heck're you on the com to?"

"An unidentified vessel, Captain. And they can hear you."

"...Oh, frak. You a friendly out there, unidentified vessel, or am I gonna have to defend myself?" The voice sounded tired, exhausted, confused and very, very weirded out. He'd just been woken up from cryo-freeze with his faculties intact, at least.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn's eyebrows shot up and she glanced at the droid, her green eyes narrowing a little before she smirked. "Oh, we're friendly enough," said Brooklyn under her breath, just loud enough for the droid to hear her but not loud enough for it to carry over the comm, then nodded at the droid, who repeated: "We come in peace, unidentified corvette. This is the Candy Crescendo, registry Coruscant." The droid paused and Brooklyn throttled the ship closer, putting it into a casual orbit around the corvette, then activated the ship's recording system.

She'd never seen anything like it.

"Forgive my saying so, Corvette, but you don't sound well. Can we assist?" Brooklyn nodded her approval at the droid's handling of the situation. Best to get aboard the ship and see if it was possible to smash and grab from the inside, or decide that it was too risky. Either way, they needed more information. Brooklyn idly checked the clip in her blaster. "We do have some medical supplies..."

 

[Tethis Aresis]

"Registration Coruscant... huh. Well then." To Tethis, that was a time and place long ago. He missed Coruscant, at the very least. And high society. And all that kind of thing that he knew he could have done. Not to mention that 'peace' was a relative term when it came to unique and unidentified vessels. He knew for a fact he had the only ship of its kind, ever.

"No need to bring medical supplies aboard. I've got stuff here better than any medicine you might possibly have," Tethis said, sitting in the captain's chair with a hand on his head. Damn, did cryo-sleep take it out of you. He was an accomplished Force-healer, but right now he just needed to sit down and sort out what was going on.

"Alright, level with me, Crescendo, and bring out your pilot because I know you aren't a droid ship. What year am I in?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn glanced at the droid, whose head canted oddly to the side, and then nodded. She leaned over and spoke into the uplink. "It has been eight hundred and thirty five years since the Battle of Yavin," she said quietly, her voice tinted with a posh and refined Coruscant accent. "And depending on how long you've been here, trust me, you will need some medical supplies. You'd hate to come down with a nasty case of the plague the next time you unseal your airlocks. We've got a few doses of a vaccine."

Brooklyn had seen what the plague did to people, and although she had bad intentions for this man's vessel, dying of the plague wasn't sometihng she'd wish on anyone. Plus, he was going to be shipless -- wouldn't that be a bad enough day without dying an extremely slow and painful death?

"Just how long has it been, corvette?" Brooklyn asked, studying the vessel out the viewport.

 

[Tethis Aresis]

"Centuries," Tethis breathed at the realisation.

"Tell me about this plague," he asked, as if he needed to verify his findings. It was unfamiliar. New. Unknown. Perhaps even before-- no, after-- his time. Things these days were going to be very confusing and this would be a common state of events, Tethis had to figure. Yes, he could've taken it straight from her mind but that felt like cheating, almost. It wouldn't be fair. On her.

Besides. "My name's Tethis. No need to call me 'corvette'," he added, "we're both reasonable sentient beings here."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"I don't know a whole lot about it myself," Brooklyn responded. She tried to remember everything she knew about the plague, aside from its widesperad nature and horrifying consequences. "If you're asking about biology, that is. But I can tell you that it was big, and it was everywhere, and my parents were so paranoid about it that they sent my brother and I away to a very, very isolated and very, very sterile school, just to be safe from it."
Brooklyn leaned back in her seat and drew her knees up to her chest as she thought back on it. "It killed I don't know how many people, and I'm sure it was not a pleasant way to die. So if I were you, I would be very careful. Almost all ships these days have a dose or so of an immune booster against it." After a moment, she added: "It's subsided over the last several years, but one can never been to careful. And my name is Brooklyn. You spoke to Mr. Kensington before."

After another pause, she added with a chuckle, "He's a butler droid."

 

[Tethis Aresis]

Tethis leaned back in the captain's seat of the Reaver as he listened, considered the words given freely to him. "This virus... we never had it. That's how old I am, I suppose, if that puts things into perspective. That's horrible." Little did he say that he could protect himself from it through the Force, cure it even if need be in a very limited amount. Unfortunately, that would only protect him - he couldn't exactly cure the ails of every living thing in the Galaxy, nor would he try to.

"It's a pleasure to meet you either way, Brooklyn. My AI, Sera, tends to be rather curt at the best of times."

"My duty is to defend this ship, Captain."

"Yes. I know."

Arms folding across his chest, the Jedi considered his next words carefully. "I'm guessing you still want to board my ship." How did he know? More to the point, what did he know?

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn switched the mute button on and heaved a sigh. This one was smarter than the average mark. Clearly, too smart to rob. She leaned over and turned her comm unit back to receive and said, "No, that won't be necessary. I came across your ship by chance--" Well, she wasn't sure the barkeep she had left bruised and only slightly bloody wouldn't agree. "--and it looked like you were in trouble. We wanted to see whether you needed assistance. It looks like you've got everything under control, though, so if you don't need anything we can take off."

She glanced at the status readout on her computer screen from her scan of the ship. It was, from what little she could see, a very impressive specimen of a ship. Curiosity took over: "Before we go, I have to ask... what is this ship? It looks like nothing I've ever seen before." Mr. Kensington shuffled in his seat, cocking his copper head to the side. Sometimes the Mistress could be so peculiar. He chimed in, "Mistress Brooklyn, it is clearly some sort of modified Corvette." The droid sounded quizzical, as if the answer was obvious to anyone with eyes and/or photoreceptors.

Brooklyn rolled her eyes and said, "Anyway. If you don't need assistance, we'll shove off."

 

[Tethis Aresis]

Tethis had to smile, politely, but the fact he wasn't being watched directly did not elude him. "I suppose a driting ship can be like that. You just happened to arrive at precisely the correct exact moment in centuries - though I expect your arrival triggered Sera's response."

"Correct, Captain."

"Anyway. This is an upgraded CR90-class corvette design, created by SunTech Forge Works by commission of the Emperor of Nyx, named the Nexu-class corvette. The design is lost to the annals of time, I would assume, considering I saw the shipyard that it was built on and the company it was designed by die in the explosion of the world it orbited. This is the only one of its kind." The Master lowered his eyes, sadness tinging his voice. "But I guess none of that is important to you."
He paused for a moment. "Look. I'm all alone out here until my crew comes out of cryo, I barely know where I am and I have little idea about the Galaxy. I'm sure we have some provisions we can fix up around here that will make life palatable. Would you like to come aboard anyway?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn was intrigued. She had gotten into this business to get some excitement, and here she was speaking to an honest-to-goodness anachronism. And it sounded like he had something of a story to tell. Brooklyn folded her arms over her chest and considered this man's value, aside from the ship she had initially meant to steal from him. And if he turned out to be boring story, she could always shoot him and steal the ship anyway.

"If you think we can be of assistance," said Brooklyn, her green eyes tracing over the viewscreen. "Can you give me an approach vector? Not sure where the docking ring is on that thing."

Ten minutes later, an awkward copper figure emerged from the airlock, followed by a slender figure clad in a pair of form-fitting black slacks, a pair of calf-high, thick-plated boots, a v-neck shirt and a high-necked, knee-length velvet coat. Topping it off was a plastic breather mask, its elastic straps disappearing behind her asymmetrical, shoulder-length bob. She glanced around and then called, "Anyone home?" A hand went to her hip, where a blaster pistol rested in her unsnapped holster.

 

[Tethis Aresis]

Eventually, she was finally aboard his ship. It gave Tethis time to change into something a little more comfortable and actually survey what gear they still had left. The crew unfreezing would still be another half-hour or so, which was fine by him. The Jedi changed into a blue tunic with cream pants, brown leather belt with pouch around his waist and black boots on. No hint of lightsaber or any other accoutrements of his advanced station remained visible so as to arouse suspicion. Best not for people to run screaming from him straight away.

The docking rings attached and the door opened to reveal the rather unassuming Jedi when she boarded. She was armed, obviously expecting trouble. "You won't need your blaster here. Welcome aboard the Reaver." Tethis gestured down the white hallways towards the crew refreshment station, where... well. There wasn't much left. "I can offer you stimcaf or water right now. I'm afraid we're completely out of most perishables."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn flinched at the voice, her fingers twitching. He looked unarmed; she could probably shoot him now and take the ship. Licking her lips briefly, Brooklyn considered her karma. What goes around comes around, and while she wasn't afraid of jail, she was afraid of death, or being stranded in deep space on her own, which was essentially the same thing. So she clipped her holster back in place and then strode out of the airlock, finally putting a face to the voice and the name. Tethis looked none the worse for the wear for his cryo-freezing, she thought, and her eyes traced his jaw for a moment before she looked up to his eyes in greeting.

"The Reaver?" she echoed incredulously, her polished Coruscanti accent muffled by the clear plastic of the breather. "That's not a great way to put a girl's mind at ease," she said with a smirk. "I'm fine on the refreshments for now, but thanks. And here." She waved Mr. Kensington forward, and the droid presented a sealed set of immunoboosters. "Take these if you start to feel sick. It's a painful medicine, but believe me when I tell you that the cure is really better than the disease."

She took another few steps after the droid, taking a look around the docking area, green eyes narrowing every so often, clearly trying to absorb as much as she could. After a moment, she said absent-mindedly, "Try not to take the mask personally. It's for your safety more than mine."

 

[Tethis Aresis]

Tethis chuckled at her uncertainty regarding the ship's name. It was entirely understandable, really. "Well, that's one of her many names. She has a few thanks to the transponder masks. We can also masquerade as the Faalo's Light and the Litany of Justice. I know it's odd, but all those names have history." He neglected the fact that the Litany of Justice had once been a Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer and his personal flagship when he was both Master Knight and Emperor. Those were useless facts to her anyway.

"I refused the Captain to call a vessel of this capability the Glorious," commented the AI. Tethis responded by shaking his head. It was a smuggling ship, after all.

Accepting the vaccines, Tethis checked them out quickly; they seemed like they'd fit the way they should. Frankly, if any illness crept up on him, he'd be able to purge it within seconds and he wouldn't exactly mind.

"Are you worried abut the plague here? I doubt it'll be present whatsoever," he told her. "This air is from before the plague's time so I wouldn't be too worried about it, and our scrubbers appear to be working perfectly."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"As I said," Brooklyn repeated, her voice cushioned by the mask, "The mask is for your protection more than mine. I don't fully understand how the plague worked, but I know it could be highly contagious, so I don't want to be responsible for causing you harm. It would be no way to repay your hospitality, would it?" She smiled, and the smile was evident even under the mask, and then folded her arms across her stomach and began to investigate the boarding area. It was truly magnificent. Clearly the ship was quite old, and yet it looked fairly advanced. Curiouser and curiouser.

"So what's your story?" she said abruptly, turning to the captain, her green eyes probing. "It's not every day you come across a ship lost in time, with its crew frozen in stasis. How did you end up here? Why were you frozen?"

 

[Tethis Aresis]

"Well, fair enough," Tethis said, and left it at that. He knew there was no plague here, and even if it was he could fix it. She didn't know that. He wasn't going to reveal it to her, either, because that was going to be one hell of a mistake. While she looked around, examining the vessel, he felt it right to explain. His hands came to his hips while he told the story.

"It's a far-fetched tale, and I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you. However, the important bit is that we stayed in stasis partly to preserve some knowledge but also to escape some terrible conditions and wait for the right time to come back. Things were grisly for us when all this happened." And they were. Nyx destroyed. Everything lost... his friends, his home... all gone. Money was just money. The people, his people, could not be replaced. "We just drifted. I don't honestly know where this ship is."

"What about you, hey? How'd you get out this far?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn shrugged. "I had it on good authority that there was an expensive-looking ship out here. In truth, I, uh, might have coerced it out of my source." She flushed a little and clasped her hands in front of her waist, green eyes glancing to the side shiftily. "Anyway, I thought I'd come out here and stake my salvage claim to it. Except it turns out you're not a salvage ship." She smiled slyly. "I assure you it was all on the up-and-up," Brooklyn said quickly.

She shook her head and then looked like she had an a-ha moment, drawing her holocomm from her belt. She activated it and went to her map application. A moment later, a map of the galaxy erupted from it, spinning in place between them. "Here, hold this." She placed the comm in his hand and then put her hand into the field. "You're right here. And over here is the Togoria system. I think. Maybe."

 

[Tethis Aresis]

Tethis' inquisitive smile told her enough. He wasn't about to believe someone who came aboard armed. "On the up-and-up. Sure."

He studied the map, eyes studying the lay of stars. They had not changed in centuries, he was glad to note, and all the familiar systems were falling into place. He could've checked his location on the navicomputer, but he also wanted to keep her busy and talking in case she tried something very silly. "Togoria... so I'm out in the Mid Rim and a very long way from home. I think my last location was out near Ryloth... man, I did drift a long way. There were probably a few hyperjumps in there, admittedly. Right, Sera?"

"I took emergency action in order to evade pirates, including microjumps."

"Thought so."

Tethis considered his next action. And his words. "Well, I've got plenty of fuel, my crew are almost out of cryo and I'm raring to go work out how much damage the Galaxy has seen. A bit of a shame about it, but... whatever. What about you, Brooklyn? What do you intend to do now that you're here?"