Persevere [Gianna]

[Laira Darkhold]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmVMWK9WS_Q​

Anna watched the security terminal with wide eyes, the tears that had been falling from her eyes had dried now, leaving her face stained with her mascara. What the hell was happening?

She watched the terminal intently, controlling the zoom feature and checking on any shadow that she even for an instant thought was moving.

The plan had been so simple, she and Ryn would go to the communication tower and send the distress call, then they’d take the two-person escape pod there to circle back to the rest of the crew to wait. Ryn had even taken his big plasma-thrower to deal with those… things.

But it hadn’t mattered. She could still hear the sounds he made when it got him. The heat from the plasma-thrower when he pulled the trigger and turned the wall and terminals into burning sludge. She sniffed, realizing she still had some of the spray from his brain-matter on her cheek and in her hair.

Anna had ran, ran as fast as she could and locked herself into the security station down the hall. Only one way in and she was watching it through the holocam. Nothing.

Fear gripped at her, at everything around her. She thought it was the silence that bothered her the most. At least if she could see it wandering the corridors or lurking in the communication center there would be something to focus on. But this eerie, nothingness, just silence left her mind to wander. She didn’t know how much of the message had gotten out before Ryn’s plasma burned the terminal, hopefully someone had heard her plea for rescue, but now there wasn’t any use worrying over it.

Minutes clicked by, nothing.

An hour, nothing.

Anna began whispering to herself, calming herself down enough so that she could act. The holocam would run out of battery soon if she kept using it, and then she’d be blind to everything outside the security closet. “Come on, you lost it. It was hungry, it grabbed Ryn. You got away while it dragged him off. Twenty meters, turn left, ten meters open the door, close the door. Launch.” She repeated it to herself over and over again until she had the courage for it.

She readied herself, deciding it was best to just run for it. No sneaking, no trying to hide from the thing. Just run for her life. Anna clicked the door open, ducking under the rising door, sprinting down the corridor that lay before her bathed in darkness and shadows. She took the turn in the corridor with a skid, sliding as she twisted her momentum to keep propelling herself in the right direction. Her feet were barely hitting the ground as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. <There’s the door!> She smiled in relief, breathing easy for the first time since she had left the safety of the barracks, just in time to hear it.

The hissing. The clattering of skeleton like hands and feet on the deck behind her.

She couldn’t even make herself look behind, not that there was anything more than an inky black form sliding through the darkened corridor. Panic filled her every nerve. <Just run, just run!> Anna slammed into the door, smashing the button for it to open. She could hear it bounding, gaining on her from behind rapidly. The door slid open, she threw herself inside the escape pod hitting the emergency launch lever, falling to the floor as she scrambled for it.

The thing’s racing bounds increased in volume as the hiss of the door closing started. Anna rolled over to her back, eyes wide with fear, seeing the doors close as the thing crashed against the decking. A sudden wash of relief came over her. “HA!” She laughed! Smiling, fresh tears of joy sliding down her face while she got to her feet. Anna had made it, survival was in her grasp and there was nothing that thing could do about it. “HA! I lived you son of a hutt! Suck it!” Her elation was palpable as the creature snarled into the porthole, drool dripping from its jaws. She mimed a crotch-chop at the door before pressing her face to the transparisteel window, “Suck on that!” Anna said with a laugh at the creature on the other side.

It’s mouth opened with a hissing growl. It’s tongue dashed out through the porthole.

The pod launched a few seconds later. Nothing but coldness and death within as air, blood, and bone trickled out of the shattered porthole while the pod listed away from the ship.

​

Laira spun around in her chair, the headphones around her ears playing loudly enough the music could be heard by others passing by her captain’s suite. She was trying to take her mind off everything, to focus on just living each day as best she could while she could. Everything that had happened and that she had done falling around. The redhead was trying her best to be a Jedi, trying her best to set every wrong she had committed onto others right, but it seemed like sometimes it was too little too late. That by nineteen she’d already ruined any chance of the life she wanted.

So, in her down time, she now tried her best to distract herself from all of that with music, tinkering with her lightsaber, or meditating on the Jedi Code and what she could understand of it. Sometimes she thought about killing herself, but she didn’t have the stomach for that. Dying while fighting she was willing to come to terms with, though it wasn’t something she hoped would happen. But just ending it in a dark room? That was a little too grim even for her darkest moments.

Now she was listening to a song that was upbeat, rocking her head to the beat and occasionally whispering the words to herself while she read a book written by an old Jedi Master. “Yea the whispers all around say she has a reputation, Don't believe it 'til I see it so I want a demonstration.”

There was a knock on her open door. She could feel him in the Force, the tall Death Trooper that had feelings for her she’d brought on as a first mate months ago. Sometimes she wished he’d had let her reciprocate his emotions, before all that had happened but he was adamant that they needed to work through their own individual issues before seeing where things went, but some days Laira just wished she had someone that could hold her and make all her worries disappear for an hour. A minute even.

“Yes?” She turned around, pulling the headphones off as she did with a smile.

“Got a message, thought you’d want to hear it.” Leo answered, handing her the datapad.

She clicked play, waiting for the message to buffer. The image was of a pretty brunette woman, probably had some Hapan blood in her veins based on her attractiveness. She was on a darkened ship, only an emergency light on in her vicinity. “This is Anna Pularu, Human Resources for Ex-Gal Five-three-four-seven, Dona Carlotta. We’ve been boarded, by… something. The ship has suffered severe….” the message skipped, the next time the woman was on, she was crying and the lights were out. “Someone, help me please!” Then there was a scream, and something unintelligible before a bright light and then the message was only static.

And that was it.

“So who all got the message?” Laira asked.

“Us. It’s coming out of the Rishi Maze, deep out there. Anyone who wanted to go look would need a fast ship and a good pilot or they’d never make it. It’d be months before a big ship could go take a look.” Leo finished, arching an eyebrow.

“Sounds like a job for us then. Send the message to Monastery, it’s kind of on the way. Ask them if they want to send a healer to go with us, and if so to have them meet us at Rishii.” Laira stood, leaving her little work station to jog off to the Cockpit and set a course. It was exactly the thing she needed to take her mind off her own self-pity for a while.

Go do the hero gig for a bit, maybe it would help her decide what to do with the rest of her life.

“Alright, Saeza.” The redhead said as she entered the cockpit. No one sat in the pilot’s chair but her while she was aboard and so it was still empty. “Changing course to Rishii, max speed, push the hyperdrive to its limits. Let’s see what the fastest ship in the galaxy can really do.”

[member="Gianna Aegis"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Most of her days were spent between Naboo and Taanab. Gianna had not been responsible for the calamity that had taken place throughout the agricultural world, however, she felt as if it were the opposite. She deemed it her duty to provide for the people that were slowly returning. The fight was over. The galactic powers that had torn the sky apart seemed to have faded, save, for the calming presence of the Silver Jedi. The Confederacy still had their ships running patrol in the aftermath…But equilibrium was returning.

Gianna was adjusting.

She had set about to taking care of her affairs, including, managing the modest estate she held on her homeworld. She used it for a variety of reasons. A place to hang her hat. Mostly? It was a place that her friends and fellow Jedi could use to escape, still their minds, and find peace. War left them all with a little disquiet. Her faith was stronger than most and even she had been left with trauma.

The crimson-haired Jedi Knight still didn’t know how to proceed in regards to [member="John Locke"]. He had become a close friend in a relatively short period of time. Gianna worried. She believed, more and more, that she caused him more harm than good. The young woman didn’t really know how to describe it. His fondness rolled clearly through the Force whenever she was in direct proximity—But it felt warm. Not obsessive or compulsive. This was what drew her concern the most.

The Admiral had raised her loss, even briefly, over the well-being of innocent people. In the end he had done the right thing. He followed the path that she would have chosen, however, there was a darkness in him. A shadow. Even her light couldn’t dash it away.

Monastery was a place she frequented to recharge and restock on a lot of rare healing herbs. She needed, rather wanted, the best fertilizer she could find for the remains of [member="Orn Pharr"]. If anywhere this side of the Galaxy would have it? It would be on the self-proclaimed haven, where everything grew green, strong, and good. What she didn’t expect was to receive a summons in the small tavern she had taken refuge in within Sanctuary. The missive caused elegant brows to scrunch together while she listened to the holo-call that was attached.

The healers wanted her to go?

Gianna hesitated. She wasn’t quite at her best, but seconds later, shook it off. It didn’t matter. If there was someone in trouble an she was able bodied—How could she refuse?

They packed up one of their quicker ships, as time seemed to be of the essence, and the Jedi Knight soon enough found herself on her way. The slender creature left messages for those who were important or for those that were waiting for her on Naboo. On the ship itself she was one of three organics that sent along, plus a pilot, and a few varieties of droid. Gianna hadn’t seen everything that was hastily packed into storage, but briefly, she’d thought there were much larger droids resting in standby.

Gia had never been this far out. Certainly, not to the Rishi Maze. There was something about it that left her feeling unsettled. Perhaps it was the fact that it was in a decaying orbit and the very word gave a sense of unease. The young woman could only take her seat when told. Ever since her frigate had nearly been shot down on Tanaab—It was an issue that she did her best not to acknowledge. Jedi did not have fear. They had logic and a healthy dose of pragmatism. She swallowed hard and slid into the crass webbing while they prepared for takeoff. It was going to be a long, long trip.

The familiar kaleidoscope of color was blinding. Beautiful, but blinding. She had learned to love it long ago, even if, extended space travel tended to leave her queasy these days. It was worse when she had to descend through atmosphere. “Try and make contact with our friends when we get there. Meeting up would be better sooner than later.”, Gianna intoned softly, and the communications officer nodded her head. She wasn’t wearing any armor as she hadn’t expected the urgent call.

There were a few trinkets on her person—But all save the rings around her ears were hidden by pale blue and matte white robes. A sash wrapped around her waist, cinching it, while she had a lightsaber tucked away within the folds. Her hair was pulled back from her face with a partial bun that sat at the crown of her head.

“I have them Knight Aegis. What would you want me to relay?”

“Inform who we are and provide identification. Let them know that we will follow their lead.”

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira sat in the cockpit, her legs kicked up on the dash as was her normal, comfortable position there. She was thinking about what to do once they got back from what she assumed would be a blue milk run. For the most part, only on her worst days did she contemplate her own demise and how she would prefer it to go down, mostly she distracted herself with talking to Saeza, listening to music, or tinkering with something on her workbench. Mostly she’d managed to shove off notions of doing the deed herself, though her rather lengthy note to her friends and family she’d been working on still seemed overly grim, trying to make sure all the things the crimson haired Jedi had never managed to say got written and distributed.

Last night she’d even worked on a short bit to a Mandalorian who’d hurt her what felt like ages ago, so that if she didn’t make it, maybe he’d managed to get it and know that she understood now. That it had all been in her head, and she knew that now, that she didn’t hold any ill-will towards him. Just business after all, but even that seemed hollow to her. It didn't make her feel any better to get off her chest, its not like he cared anyway.

She was in her spacer gear, form-fitting black suit covering her from neck to toe with bare arms stained with a bit of grease from the engine she'd been underneath earlier. She had knee-length black boots and her belt with her lightsaber and pistol worn on her thighs. Her own scarlet hair was left loose and free, brushed and cleaned, falling around her face and down her shoulders. Behind her Saezahttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/138765-saeza-bolokvang/ tapped on the sensors and navicomputer. “The Zareca String hasn’t been heavily travelled. We should be careful going through it.”

“I’ll be at the helm guiding us.” Laira said nonchalantly. “I can manage hyperspace fine, managed that cut through the Briar Nebula didn’t I?” The redhead eased the Hyperspace lever upwards with her foot, sliding them back into realspace above the planet Rishii. The blue tunnel dissipated into thousands of white lines against utter blackness and then the lines pulled back into the pinpricks of stars in the cosmos. “I’ve been working on a course to sling shot us through the String. Gonna put some wear on our hyperdrive but it’ll get us there in time to help them out.”

Laira didn’t hear it, but she could feel the Yuuzhan Vong Jedi nod and agree behind her. If nothing else, Saeza trusted her ability in the cockpit of anything with an engine. “We are being hailed.” Saeza responded. “It is our Jedi comrades waiting for us.”

“Awesome, they beat us here.” Laira had been a little worried the Jedi wouldn’t show, or wouldn’t make it before she resolved to go on alone, but here they were. She’d met a few members of the Silver Jedi before, but never these ones. Always a little anxiety when meeting new people.

“Good to hear from you!” the redhead said cheerily on the comm channel. “This is Rebel Outcast, coming alongside for personnel transfer.” Laira sat upright in the captain’s seat, taking hold of the control stick in both hands, angling the vessel around towards the Silver Jedi ship. She had the controls modified to mimic a starfighter’s more closely to fit her comfort. “Rowdy, ready our boarding tube please.” There were beeps and whistles of complaint from the astromechhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/138875-r9-t1-rowdy/, but he did seem to be going to fulfill her request. Kicking the pedals, the redhead rolled the freighter over the Jedi vessel to line up with her port side, guiding the vessel in with a heavy mix of practiced talent and Force-assisted reflexes until the two ship’s clicked together.

Saeza stood from her seat and made her way to the boarding tube to await the new arrivals alongside the grouchy astromech who acted as the ship’s chief engineer and navigator. She wore a white Jedi stylized tunic and grey trousers with a reddish brown robe, her raven black hair left loose except for a padawan braid behind her pointed ear. Her bluish grey skin marked with dark red ceremonial tattoos. The Yuuzhan Vong girl stood waiting, her lightsaber hanging from her broad leather belt.

The tube sealed, Laira flashed the running lights to signal a good link, all but honking the horn of the starship, likely making her own way towards the boarding tube.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Gianna stared straight ahead while the communications officer hailed the ship they were slated to link up with. The details of her contacts were rather hazy. The Silver Jedi officials that frequented Monastery seemed to have been assigned to the Light-Sided Nexus versus actually having chosen to remain. The Confederacy was bustling, busy, from the tallest mountain to the smallest hot spring. Yet—Their darksiders could not tolerate the scorching brightness that besieged them when they got too close to the planets source of tranquility. It did not heal them as it restored others.

The calming waters burned. Burned, and burned.

With that in mind Gianna hadn’t really questioned the missive. She was trusting. It could have been a trap. It could have been an enemy that wished her harm for her unwitting involvement in galactic politics. Instead of pulling apart the loose threads until she found something silly to worry about, she chose to follow her instincts. To align with her faith. Their destination was concerning.

The company was not.

Her presumptions were also justified when a cheerful voice poured through the speakers. It filled her with undeniable warmth, a sweet relied, and her hands held the armrests a little more casually. Gianna had no fear in meeting new people. There was a quiet confidence in her that belied years of training and deeds that were only ever pure of heart. She flowed when she moved, showing warmth, but without being wasteful of energy. Her every gesture was deliberate. Every word—A song.

To know her was to know peace. Happiness. Her smile was infectious and had the rumor of bringing even the fiercest warriors to find conciliation among themselves and their enemies. Whether it was true or not, few could attest, but the rumor mill within the Jedi ran almost as well as it did in a house full of fat hens. Most denied it, claiming ignorance to lofty trivialities, but everyone knew the truth.

Gianna found it sweet in a way. It was a relief to know and fully understand that not everyone was perfect.

“Rebel Outcast – We hear you loud and clear. Make your approach.”

The pale-skinned Knight allowed the communications officer to do her job without complaint. It seemed that they would be passing crew. Herself among them. The quiet woman gave a soft, grateful smile, to the crew-hand that offered her a rucksack. It had all the necessities she might need and then some. None of the droids seemed to wake from their slumber. None that weren’t already walking around performing necessary tasks. “Thank you. Will you wait here or follow along?”

“We’ll circle closer in case something goes wrong, but, we won’t engage unless we have reason to. We’ll remain a fall back point.”

Gianna nodded and pulled herself across the shining floor. Not for the first time she felt a soft longing. For what? For whom? It didn’t matter. Personal attachments that were capable of altering her focus was not something she ought delve into. With supplies over her shoulder she walked toward the airlock that led to the pressure tunnel that had been arranged by the Rebel Outcast. Her feet seemed as if they barely touched the floor, despite what she carried, and the hem of her robes trailed along in a delicate whisper. Everything about her seemed soft. Light as air, that had somehow been grounded, and topped with jade eyes. They flickered when she lay sight to whom she considered, for all intents and purposes, new friends. They would dive headlong into potential danger. Should they not be comrades?

“Thank you for meeting me. I am Knight Aegis.”, she introduced herself, briefly, as she stepped back through the mismatched airlock of the opposite ship. To one side stood a woman with hair just a few shades darker than her own. She inclined her head softly at both [member="Laira Darkhold"] and Saeza before her heart-shaped features broke with a gentleness. A smile that seemed as natural as the dawn. “You can call me Gianna. Gia—If you like.”

She had never liked formal titles. It got old, fast.

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

From there she would await direction. Did they have information they wanted to share? A plan of attack? Obviously, they wanted to use the smaller, faster ship, but Gia wasn’t sure after that. “Have there been any more attempts to contact us from Ms. Pularu?”

Her heart wished for the affirmative. Grasped at hope.

Her mind fell to logic.

If there had been more, it would have likely already been shared, regardless of travel and distance.

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira walked up behind Saeza to the boarding pod with a cheery smile across her face, lean muscular features abuzz. She wasn’t afraid, the redhead was always happy to meet new people. Or she had been. Now there was a hint of anxiety in the back of her mind, shoving down all the depression and sadness behind layers of walls and defenses to keep others from sensing how broken the pretty little girl had become. She was putting the pieces back together, slowly, but for now she was still more shattered than whole.

When the doors opened, Laira and Saeza had a second to regard the gentle Jedi Knight that would be accompanying them. She was a redhead, like Laira, but where the Resistance Jedi was dressed in a spacer’s catsuit, Gianna wore flowing white robes. She wasn’t soft, but gentle and kind, her aura filled with warmth and light like a summer breeze.

“Hiya!” Laira answered in a bubbly voice, hoping her own aura glowed like Gianna’s despite all the death she’d seen and caused that left an ache in her soul. The scarlet-maned Jedi wasn’t much of a handshaker though, immediately going in to pull the redheaded newcomer in a warm, but brief embrace. Laira put on a devilish grin, “Good to have another redhead on board. They’re my type.” She winked coyly as she spoke, though there was an innocence in her tone that betrayed her joking manner, “I’m Laira Darkhold, this is Saeza, my fellow Padawan Learner. Our third is asleep, but he’s Leo Coburn, my first-mate, and you can call me whatever you like, so long as it’s sweet.” A dusty astromech tootled something as it rolled away down the corridor. If Gianna spoke binary she might understand a few obscenities laced in the droid’s greeting and farewell as it went back to work.

The Yuuzhan Vong girl bowed respectfully when she was gestured to by the redhead, raven strands falling around her face as she did so. “An honor, Knight Aegis.” Amber eyes peered out from under her mane, gentle features surrounded by red tattoos. She certainly appeared less barbaric than her species was known for, and of course, she was clearly Force-Sensitive. "Welcome aboard."

At the Jedi Knight's querry, Laira's smile disappeared, replaced by concerned expression. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to reach her with long range hails.” Laira said, ushering Gianna inside the ship, clicking the door closed and starting to retract the boarding tube.

“We’ll be running up the Zareca string like a blur in no time and off into Companion Aurek. We should get to her quickly enough to offer some help.” Hopefully. Even on a fast ship with an efficient, albeit risky plotted course, it was still a few days since the message had been sent. Logic wasn’t on Anna Pularu’s side, but hope was still there. Plus she wouldn’t be the only person on the vessel, maybe there were others. “But let’s get you settled in, then we can go over what we know and come up with a plan once we are back in hyperspace. Saeza cleared out her room for you to use. This way, hun.” Laira grinned, hoping to pull Gianna along down the corridor that circled the central part of the freighter.

[member="Gianna Aegis"]