[member="Bryce Bantam"]
Night on Geonosis was cold. The planet was stuck between the blistering heat of the day and frozen chill of the night. Alyija was used to the planet's extremities by now but even so it a climate humans were not meant to thrive in. The settlement and mines had some rudimentary in-built heating and cooling systems which the miners often cursed for being ineffective but out here it became clear just how vital those systems were.
Alyija shivered as she approached the meeting point, rubbing her hands and chest for good measure. He'll be here, the girl thought to herself. He has to be.
Sure enough, her night vision picked up a creature hidden amongst the rocks. The untrained eye, even with the protective night vision goggles, would be unlikely to spot the camouflaged figure whose dusty brown-red skin colour and jagged figure was perfect for concealing itself in the craggy rocks of the cliff side.
"Gelzo," she called out to the Geonosian who began to stir on her approach.
The insectoid creature made an angry burst of clicking sounds.
"Sorry, alright, alright. I'll keep it down. No names," she replied with an unseen eye roll. Granted it was highly unusual for members of the Geonosian hive to speak to outsiders without the authority of their leaders and here Gelzo was in secret asking for a favour. Even so the location they picked was a remote cliff far away from either of their people so it was incredibly unlikely they'd be overheard.
Gelzo picked a holo device he'd been keeping on the floor behind him and beckoned the young girl closer. The two were then illuminated by the red glow of the holo. "This is what your people stole," the Geonosian clicked.
Alyija watched the oval shape rotate on the holo in front of her. There looked to be nothing particularly remarkable about it. "Um, is that some kinda gemstone?"
Gelzo fluttered his wings slightly, a Geonosian gesture akin to a human shaking their head. "Something of far greater significance to our people. Something we are considering an attack to retrieve."
"Whoa," Alyija drew back. "That's... pretty extreme. They're just miners, Gelzo." The Geonosian didn't respond, instead staring back into her face. "Which the hive knows meaning it'll be a massacre..." more and more details began to fit together, "...and your people will look like monsters." A twang of sympathy arose from Alyija's chest. The Geonosian population was barely beginning to stabilise after the great catastrophe centuries ago. She'd heard the Geonosian legends of The Great Clone War, how the Geonosians had fought for their freedom against a tyrannical empire and their mystical 'Jedi cult'. How the war was lost and a genocide or holocaust of unimaginable scale had devastated their once prosperous people. Even today most of the planet remains empty and one unlucky or wrong move could spell extinction for the entire race. This could be that wrong move. Attacking a settlement could bring galactic police wannabes or mercenaries hired by grieving relatives to bring them down.
"Why can't you just try, you know, talking to them? It's not hard. 'Hey give us the rock back please', 'sure thing'. See? Easy. Try it," Alyija sighed.
"The Archduke does not-"
"Does not trust the word of outsiders, I know, I know. They're pretty scummy people but even for this?" Alyija sighed once more. "I'm just talking to myself here," she clarified to Gelzo.
"We have no reason to trust outsiders," Gelzo met her gaze, "but I think we can trust one."
Grinning, Alyija wrapped an arm across Gelzo's shoulder. "Aw shucks, I love you too, buggy-boo." For all their coldness, Geonosians had never been shy about physical contact. Alyija assumed it was something to do with the close quarters living the insectoid species grew up in. The rough, pointed exoskeleton hardly made Geonosians the most huggable creatures but Alyija had always enjoyed the contact nonetheless, it was more than the miners who raised her had ever given.
"Time runs short," Gelzo warned shutting off the holo. "Your leader has what we need."
"The foreman... right," Alyija began formulating a strategy in her mind. "I'll grab it and bring it to the hive as soon as I can!" Gelzo made a click of approval. Turning back towards her dusty land speeder, Alyija nodded at her usual friend.
It was about a standard hour later Alyija arrived back at the mining settlement. Perimeter security was easy to avoid, she'd worked on most of the droids and various security systems themselves at somepoint and worked out their weaknesses, she'd even added a few for her to exploit just for occasions like this, however there was one thing she'd not accounted for.
"Curfew is in effect, brat!" A strong hand grabbed her shoulder from behind and pulled her goggles over her head as she approached the living quarters of the settlement.
Alyija cringed internally. The voice belonged to one of harshest security guards, everyone called him Lazyeye on account of his, well, lazy eye. He was not supposed to be on duty tonight.
"Been off to see the bugs again, haven't you? Disgusting," he spat.
You're not such a looker yourself, if I was on a blind date I'd be happier to see Gelzo waiting for me than you, Alyija resisted to urge to say this outloud knowing it would be counterproductive and instead worked on a strategy to get rid of him. Maybe owe him a favour or convince him that stopping the drunken brawling in the nearby tavern would be more worth his while... Then a figure appeared walking in their direction from the supply pick up and drop off area.
