So Your Boss is Kinda Dead. Sorry!

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"I had my reasons." He said simply. For but a moment, he reached out with the force. To his surprise; the woman's presence was far more...vibrant than others. Tangible and real. Ah, that was it. She was a force sensitive....an unclaimed one at that. Graxin wanted to take her home and cease causing her trouble, but at the same time, the Sith in him had a darker intent. he found himself resisting it for the moment. "And I apologize for interrupting your life. I'll set you on a shuttle home." The Apprentice stood up, and folded his arms behind the small of his back. "I didn't take you just to take you."

For but a moment, Graxin's consciousness brushed against the woman's. It wasn't intentional, he was simply raw. Untrained in the arts of telepathy. She could easily feel it through the force, and judge as to what he was. He was a gray mixed with blues and reds, a myriad of allegiances and morals. In short, within, he was a mess.

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

"Yes, it'd be great to go home and--"she pauses, brow furrowing."Why did you take me in the first place if you're just gonna send me home?!" Lenori starts moving away slowly, her gaze narrowing on the man. Why did he seem so..strange? The colors he radiated off his form were bland, opposite those she had come across in her dream. So he was a force-user as well, but certainly not like others she'd come across on Naboo in rare periods. "Well? If you didn't just take me to take me, why?"

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"Because I've got a bleeding heart." Graxin grumbled. He certainly didn't seem too excited about that fact either, but it was just that. A fact. "I took you so I wouldn't have to hurt you. I can't leave behind witnesses. It's dangerous. I don't make a habit out of abducting pretty young women." He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. "Cross my heart."

The infiltrator tilted his head toward the right and watched as star flew by every second. Hyperspace was an amazing thing--an amazing thing that couldn't just be stopped. They would have to go to Mytus before anything else. I'll try and find you a new job while I'm there...Naboo was pretty....have a name? I'd rather not just call you woman."
[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori sits up against the couch, then strictly back against it, holding her head. She’d never been flying, and it showed now, a rather sickly expression on her face. “Linori,”she mutters sourly, glancing away. “I do not want another job, kindly sir, and if I go back without you, who do you think they’ll pin the murder on?” The miraluka lowers her gaze, vision taking over. She looks over the ship, through the walls, but freezes up. All around them was stars zooming past, planets and systems. It was empty, but full.

 

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Well, that made quite a bit of sense. He cast his gaze down to the floor and pursed his lips. There's another life he ruined to add to the list! "Look, I can get you something better--what do you like?" His tone was quite and gentle. He was trying his absolute best to console this girl over something he had caused. It was the best he could do. "I can't just go back. People's lives rely on what I'm doing." He pulled out the pity card, but, it was the truth. "And uh...good to meet you, Miss Linori."

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori purses her lips and returns her gaze to the human as though she'd practically forgotten he was there, lost in the idea of the space flowing past them. She takes a deep breath and exhales sharply through her nose. She didn't want another job, she thought bitterly."Information...libraries, data entries, facts, known, unknown,"she reeled off quickly. The woman knew what she want, and most of what she listed came at a high price especially in this day and age of factions and war. It was some of the most valuable, even above that of pure combat skill.

"Who are you? Not everyone I know owns a ship and...kills my..boss.."she grumbles, trying to at least make use of the situation.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Graxin perked up at that. She wanted information? That was the business he tended to deal in. "That's what you want? Hell, I can give you that." He plopped down on the floor next to her and splayed his arms out behind him. "A lot of it too."

Graxin shifted his amber gaze to look at her. He decided that telling her the truth really couldn't hurt. He didn't want to lie to the woman. "I'm the right hand of the Emperor within the New Order. I have access to its entire intelligence network...and before you get moral on me, I don't support slavery or anything of the like. I have personal reasons for helping the Imperials." Graxin was an open book this evening. Perhaps it was because she was such an odd breed of force sensitive? "You could work with me if you wanted. Bigger access than what you would ever get on Naboo. Less kidnapping too."
[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori couldn’t help to stare. Her father had taught it was rude to do so, especially considering the different arrays of alien-folk that walked in and out of the university she had attended…despite the fact she was also quite, quite alien herself. Linori rests her hand against her cheek slowly and leans back against the couch. Was it the space travel making her dizzy, or the fact she now learned she was talking to the right hand of the Emperor.
“You must be j-joking,”she stuttered, sitting straight. She seemed blown away, and the possibilities before her were now made clear. Their intelligence network had to be vast, and she didn’t care if the information in it was stolen or not. But was he really telling the truth? “How is someone like –you- the right hand? Wouldn’t you have..killed me on sight? That is how they work, is it not?”
[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"The others would have. I don't kill anyone I'm not told to. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of the procedures." Graxin stated matter-of-factly. He leaned toward the young woman, lips pursed as he tried to assess her age. She couldn't have been much older than he was. "I was raised by Darth Vulcanus, that's how. I do the job that I'm told to do. I let you live because I have a little thing called morals."

He went up onto his knees and studied the woman. She really did seem rather taken aback. "And the way you screamed was just too charming. It stole my heart." He deadpanned, brought a fist over his chest, and then fell back against the floor while holding the fist up toward the ceiling. "Stolen it I say!" Ah, sarcasm. [member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

“Darth Vulcanus?” Linori states, leaning forward on the couch. The name rang a bell, as though she’d come across it several times in the archives, but for some odd reason she couldn’t pull up a face nor any useful information. She points at the buffoon making a fool of himself on the floor, unphased by his playful act. “I don’t believe you, sir. If you were raised by a Sith I’d assume the opposite,” she argues, glaring with unseen eyes.
“Morals or not, if you had been told to kill me, you would.”

Linori hefts herself to her feet, legs wobbly. Curse this space travel…thing. The ship was moving at incredible speeds, and while it looked as though they were perfectly still, her body knew otherwise. She paces herself over to the wall, hands groping cabinets and other devices to keep steady. “Where is this ships computer?”

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Graxin stared up at her through slightly narrowed eyes. He tilted his head upward, and let a soft sigh escape him. At least she was talking to him. "Vulcanus, Krag the Graug Warlord, the Sith Emperor, and a number of other titles that I don't care to list." He shot back, his lips curling into an amused little smile as she seemed to have trouble walking. Graxin had grown up with constant travel, and he had never bothered to consider that it might be a new experience to some people. "And if I was told to kill you, then there would have been a reason for it. You would have had to be doing something terrible., so in that case--" He leaned up to rest his elbows on his knees. "Yes, I would have.:"

Graxin's gaze trailed after her as she stumbled about. The amusement was beginning to fade, and he was considering trying to get the girl to just sit down during thee trip. She might accidentally hurt herself, or the ship for that matter. "It's in the cockpit. The passcode is six-eight-nine-four-eight-eight-two. It's got access to...well, everything Intelligence has gathered really." He paused and pursed his lips. "You alright there?"

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori makes a face. She didn’t know how to feel being aboard the Sith Emperor son’s ship, let alone being near the person she’d just witness murder her boss. He’d kill her if he had reason to, so she hoped she never gave him one. “Yeah,” she replies after a bit of quiet, slowly working her way to the cockpit in a wobbly fashion as though she were wearing rollerblades. The miraluka glances over her shoulder and tucks some hair behind her ear. “I know who he is, just didn’t think he’d send his son for the professor. Maybe you got the wrong one, cause he didn’t do much, kindly sir.”

She eventually makes her way to the flight deck and stands idle, unsure of where to go. All the blinking lights and different panels looked alien to her, so she sort of just..froze up. “Yeah, uh..I’m fine.”

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"He sends me after a lot of people." Graxin grumbled in a rather nonchalant manner. He slipped his arms over his chest, and slowly followed after the young woman. She seemed smart enough, but he wasn't going to just let her roam around the cockpit alone. Not after seeing much trouble she had simply walking around in a moving ship. "And I doubt it. Someone would have messaged me if I karked it up."

He paused, and let his gaze drift over to the flight panel. It was indeed confusing to someone new to such a thing, and it even fooled Graxin at time. He pointed a leatherbound finger toward a holoscreen covered in knobs and buttons in the right hand corner of the panel. "It's that one....first time in hyperspace?"

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori scoffs loudly as she quickly scuttled over to the panel. She waves behind her, nearly tripping before making it to the computer unscathed. “Pfsh, of course! Many times, so many times I uh…lost…count,” she mutters quietly, mumbling towards the end. She sighs softly as soon as she’s in front of the monitor. Finally, a familiar device in this blasted ship. She inputs the code he had given her and sets to work, pulling up multiple screens at once and typing at an incredible pace. As soon as one module had loaded, she had already typed commands a second later then repeated with another set. The bright light from the screen lit up her face, expression taut in concentration.

“Captain Graxin Rade,” she whispers, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked over one of the bits of information posted on the screen. Other displays had maps and planet holograms, bits of color decorating where they’d been conquered. “Enlisted at fourteen in Mytus, four campaign streak thus far, several unlisted documentations of past missions, probably killings…” Linori clears her throat, glancing sidelong towards the man before quickly returning to the screen. “Guess you were telling the truth as far as I can tell, you have the highest clearance it’ll let me access.”

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Really? Because you seem to have forgotten how to walk." Graxin chided. He set his weight against the side wall, and watched Linori's illuminated expression. He was trying to discern what she was thinking, and finding it rather difficult while she was wearing that mask. "Aye, why would I lie about that? I'm not one out to impress, Miss Linori." He nodded matter-of-factly, and glanced up at the nav-comp. They would be arriving at Mytus soon enough.

"So, it's all yours if you want it. I won't hurt you, and I need someone to help me keep track of things...it'd be nice to have someone on the ship as well." He grunted, pushing off the wall to catch a glance at the terminal she was using. He paused mid-step and let his amber gaze drift over it; lips pressed into a thin line. The information seemed correct, though it was filled with holes here and there. "It's just Graxin, by the way. No need for the formalities....rough start, I know, but I promise I'm not too unpleasant."

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori stays quiet for some time, continuing to open new screens and close others. She pulls up different maps and documents, minimizes them, edits a few articles then moves on to the next. After a brief period, she moved her hands from the screen, gaze falling on a hologram of Naboo. She slowly rests her hands in her lap, fingertips touching. “I’m here until I find something better,” she states firmly, waving a hand towards him. “You also kidnapped me without any of my belongings, so you either bring me back or I expect compensation in some form of payment, preferable one which I can buy, you know, clothes?”

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"Oh...yes. Of course you'll be paid...and we can swing by later." It occurred to Graxin that he was quite literally tearing this woman away from friends and family. The thought hadn't presented itself before, as Graxin found a hard time sympathizing. Now, though, it made sense. He fought the urge to place a hand on her shoulder and try to console her--he was the problem after all-- and looked over her shoulder at the terminal. "Erhm....welcome aboard. It's uhm...good to have you." He turned to walk back to the passenger bay. He had many questions to ask her: about her eyes, Naboo, her family, that odd signature she gave off in the force...

Stop.

"We're en-route to Mytus. I'll get you clearance to wherever you want to go...and...sorry, really, I am."

[member="Linori Pryde"]

 

[Linori Pryde]

Linori pauses typing on the screen, fingertips hovering over the module. The weight of the silence presses for her, as though waiting for her to say something in return. The ship was filled with sounds of the engines working at full speed in hyperspace, and little else. The miraluka shifts in her seat and slowly looks back to the screen, the hologram of Naboo orbiting in front of her non-existent eyes. She thought of its lush ecosystem, the culture, the thriving populace and exciting trade ports she’d often accompanied to with her father. Ah, yes. Her father. Her only family. I wonder if he realizes I’m gone, she thinks absently. He was still there; still on Naboo, still home.

Linori quickly waves a hand, dissolving the hologram in an instant. “No,” she murmurs quietly, as though forgetting the Emporer’s son were even present. With that, she remained quiet. She started searching through the database to pass the time and pulled up an image of Mytus, the screen lighting Linori’s face.

Naboo is no longer my home.

[member="Graxin Rade"]