#thebreakup

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

It was the cold that woke her first. There was no pain, just a severe sense of disorientation. Skinny and bony limbs were shackled within some mechanic device. Converse-clad feet dangled awkwardly.

#stillgotmykicks

Blonde-brows furrowed as she struggled to remember the details of the GA mission that went wrong. She had a good idea of who she was with #darthKoKo. The real question was how long had it been?

Freckled-nose twitched.

Great, now she had an itch that she couldn't reach.

 

[Caulder Dune]

THE MACHINATOR
HYPERSPACE

[member="Spark Finn"]

Across from where Spark dangled, a pair of reinforced blast doors slid open. In strode the less-than-terrifying visage of Darth Adekos, accompanied by a single medical droid holding a datapad. The helmet would lift off of her face as he entered, exposing the Force-nullification collar she wore to plain sight. Adekos had nothing to immediately say, stopping just a few feet from Spark and holding his hand out for the droid's datapad. He appeared to inspect the contents, scrolling through them leisurely before finally saying anything to the captive technopath. "You'll be pleased to know that you've made a full recovery. Indeed, most of your wounds were superficial." Adekos handed the datapad back off to the droid and clasped his hands behind his back, regarding Spark with that expressionless, reflective visor of his.

"Now that you've healed, it's time to discuss the resumption of your training. The first step will have to be damage control. Jedi tutelage has a tendency to stunt individual growth, but we're lucky it hasn't been terribly long." He tilted his head to the side, examining her. She still had those dopey civilian clothes. How could the Galactic Alliance hope to save the galaxy when they couldn't even save their own uniform policy? "I suspect that damage is mostly superficial as well. You'll make another full recovery in due time."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

#lolwut

Blue-eyes beneath glass lenses widened. Her reflection in the Darth's mask as well as how she felt added credibility to his assessment on her health. But her eyes weren't focused on her lack of bumps and bruises or the semi-bleached blood stains leftover on her shirt. They were glued to the reflection of the force-collar around her neck.

Sage Bane surfaced in her memories. It was a good thing she wasn't an overly emotional person or she'd be screaming and blubbering in a shell-shocked induced state of panic by now. Instead, the slicer silently stared at Adekos.

#calculating #itchynose

"Wouldn't it be a little hard to train me," #lolol, "with this thing on and me sandwiched in this metal spaghetti?" Thin-wrists pulled against the restraints in demonstration, as if she wanted to tug against the thing around her neck.

Or maybe it was to scratch her nose.

Light from above caught her eye, sending that itch into a raging fire that exploded into a sneeze, snot flying toward the Darth's visor. It was quickly followed by a sniffle. And another.

Maybe she was getting a cold.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

There was a sickening splurtch as the gob of snot and mucus smacked into the Umbaran's mask. It left a thin trail as it gently descended towards Adekos' chin. It was fortunate that she could not see his eyes, because one of them would have been twitching irritably. Both would have also gone yellow with fury. Still, determined to maintain his composure, Adekos snatched a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the snot clean of his faceplate. Absolutely disgusting. If only he had known he would capture Spark Finn: he would have had this room dusted at least.

"You will not be restrained in that contraption forever. That is merely a temporary accommodation." Adekos took a keen step to the left, decidedly out of the line of fire for any further mucus projectiles. "One that you'll be in until I'm sufficiently assured that you won't make any unnecessary escape attempts."

He folded the handkerchief then clasped his hands behind his back once again. "You'll have to understand that after your little performances on Raxus Prime and Belgaroth I have to be a little more careful in ensuring your compliance, yes?"

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

#butwhatifireallyhavetopee?

Her first thought.

Her second.

"I'm sure you enjoyed Belgaroth and Raxus Prime as much as I did." Head tilted back as she tried to rock the glasses back up the bridge of her nose. She coughed. Ugggh. #allergies #springonaspaceship?

"And how exactly am I supposed to convince you that I won't try to escape?"

Thin-fingers twitched outside the cuffs. #wishicouldupdatemyspacebookstatusnow

Lopsided speckled-gaze leveled back on the Darth. "I mean really. Can we be civilized about this? At least let me stretch my legs. It's not like I can escape with a force collar on anyway."

He was taller, wearing armor, and could use the force. Spark was sure he had countless battle droids and....whatever onboard....wherever this was. He couldn't possibly believe this contraption was necessary. Could he?

#stringbeanintimidation

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"You had every opportunity to be civilized on Raxus." Adekos replied, matter-of-factly. "But you botched an important operation and tried to kill me instead. So now we've been reduced to this."

He made a motion as if wiping a tear from his eye. Normally that might have been a mocking gesture, but in this particular instance he was wiping a stray fleck of mucus off his mask. Adekos had almost forgotten how disgusting teenagers and young adults tended to be.

The Sithling resumed his lecture. "As for convincing me, all you have to do is say it and mean it. I'm an Umbaran. We have that kind of intuition."

 

[Spark Finn]

"Oh please. You've certainly tried to kill me just as much if not more."

#robotgolems #forcepuppets #machinepartsgonewild

"Ohhhh. Umbaran. Makes so much sense now." The young slicer squinted beyond the Darth. Totes explained his sense of 'humor.' And well, everything else.

#duhey

Speckled-gaze refocused on his slightly smudged visor. Train with him? What was the point to do it? What was the point NOT to do it?

"I'll train with you but I won't kill anyone for you. Now come on Gra-I mean Adekos," #koko. "Can we please, please, please discuss the rest over some fair-trade caf? And I really think I'm going to sneeze again. And my back itches. And I need to clean my glasses."



[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Adekos had done a lot of scoffing in his life. Possibly more than most people. Never in his own history of scoffing did he ever scoff so hard as he did then. "Don't delude yourself, Ms. Finn. I acted in self-defense." He was momentarily put-off by how she seemed to be making a realization. Really? They had crossed paths how many times and she didn't know he was an Umbaran? It had to have been mentioned before. She just wasn't paying attention. She had probably been thinking about... Ponies? Boy bands? Whatever it is teenagers thought about.

"Oh, now you're not going to kill anyone." In light of her slew of complaints and the unlikeliness of a successful escape, Adekos gave a wave of his hand. There was a hissing noise as the locks disengaged, then parted. Spark would be free to fall to the ground unsupported in the next moment. Darth Adekos continued his prattling. "Would it be easier for you if I dressed them up in Stormtrooper armor first? Yes, I imagine that's what you're used to."

 

[Spark Finn]

"If that was self-defense, then I-eeeeEEEEEEEEP," hands shot out as she was suddenly released, landing in a pale, blonde heap on the floor. #rude #Imfree! #needsomeseriouscaf. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, [member="Darth Adekos"] was not dealing with Tahira Solo. Whoever that chick was. Spark always lived in the shadows between right and wrong. She grew up working with criminals and lying wasn't always lying from a certain point of view.

That was neither here nor there. Standing, she promptly sneezed. Glasses fell down to the very tip of her freckled-nose. "Do all Umbarans make jokes like you?" #lolol. "Where's the refresher?" Glasses were adjusted. "And you forgot one thing." Slim digit came up to point at the force collar around her neck.

#pushingit #dontcare

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"That will stay on for now." Adekos nodded to the collar. Such wonderful devices. He became nostalgic every time he saw one. It was an invention of Darth Voracitos'. One that Adekos had used to kill him, but that was all a very long time ago. "And yes. They do."

Compared to some Umbarans, Adekos' humor was remarkably tame. Then again, the fact that it existed was a defiance of Umbaran stereotypes itself. He gestured to the medical droid. "Go escort her to the refresher. I'll speak with her again later." The medical droid immediately turned on its heel and marched itself towards the exit. Adekos gestured for her to follow it.

 

[Spark Finn]

Bony-shoulders shrugged as he declined to release the other restraint. #whatadrag #whatevs "But how much longer is now?" She grumbled under her breath, having to put on a short burst of speed to keep up with the medical droid. She only stumbled once. Once out of immediate eyeshot of the darth, thin-fingers reached out to the paneling of the medical droid just as it stopped in front of the refresher.

The refresher was occupied. They had to wait anyway. #perfectopportunity #whataretheodds?

"I just need to check one thing in your micro-circuits."

The slicer planned to manually rewire the feth out of its programming. Not for anything immediate. Just for something later.

#eeepstillhavetopee

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Spark Finn"]

The droid turned, slapping her hand away.

"No you don't."

These sort of tricks might have worked on a Baktoid contraption, but these were Hegemonic Automaton droids. The kind the galaxy needed, deserved, but never really used.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

A week later...

Spark played her cards right because the force collar was officially off. #awwwyeah That happened two days ago and maybe much to the darth's surprise, the slicer stuck around. #noescapeattempts #canplaythegame In that week's time, she had been given a tour of the station. Except for the off-limits parts.

The gangly-blonde would explore those later. #duh #babysteps

For now, she sat facing one of the large viewports, thin-digits typing away at a datapad. Not her datapad. One from KoKo. She was planning a mission. It was time to get off this station. Now she just had to pitch the idea to her new....'teacher.'

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

There were two libraries on this Lucrehulk. One for Adekos, tucked in some long-gone corner of the ship, and the one he let guests muck around in. Spark Finn was one such guest. She had been surprisingly cooperative so far and so wandering privileges were extended to her. He didn't mention the two squads of Shadow troopers that were always in the adjacent corridors or hallways. Unseen and unheard at all times, but present just in case. No, the more complicit Finn seemed to get the more Adekos' suspicions rose. But a deal was a deal: good behavior meant more freedom.

Hopefully he wouldn't regret such a promise.

The library door slid open, allowing Adekos entrance into the room. She seemed more focused on the datapad, but Adekos didn't slow down any as he marched into the room. "What progress have you made?" He asked, referencing the last assignment he gave her. Which was, of course, to read the first five chapters of the first part of Pendor Kron's Canon of Technometry, published 3922 BBY. It was a rather boring read, but useful. Especially for amateurs.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

Blonde-haired head didn't look up from the datapad as the darth made his usual, flourishing entrance. The man moved at the speeds of missiles. Of course the station #hertemporaryprison was huge. The man certainly got his steps in. His fitbit readings were probably astronomical.

#10000steps

She swallowed a chocochew. Somehow she had even managed to convince the darth to get some of her favorite snacks. Probably because he realized it made her more productive. "The," munch-amuncha-munch, "reading assign-," munch, "ment?" Swallow. "That's been done for awhile. I finished the book. Reading code is more interesting."

#truth

"I've got something a little more interesting I want to talk to you about gram--Darth Adekos. A mission. Off-ship." Speckled-gaze finally tore away from the screen and up to meet the darth from her cross-legged position on the vast sofa.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Productivity had increased since the introduction of chocochews. He was willing to acknowledge that much, but there was something undignified about bulk ordering junk food just so a disciple would focus on the assigned readings for a period longer than five to ten seconds. Oh, the things he did to ensure loyalty. It appeared there was more pricey than ensuring that his legacy would continue directly on after his demise. How had Carach ever put up with this constantly recalcitrant, dismissive, demanding attitude?

Oh. Right. Mind control.

Well, far be it for Darth Adekos to lower himself to brainwashing. He'd resort to sugar-based bribery... Which somehow felt worse. "That book is well over seven hundred pages long and the first of seven. You're not downloading them cybernetically, are you?" He said, preparing to pluck the second and lengthier volume off of a nearby shelf. He only stopped when Spark started on about something regarding a mission off-ship. "Oh? A mission? Please, tell me how you intend to further the cause of the Sith today."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

#pokerface

Blink. Blink.

"The first of seven....," she straightened when he got distracted. "Well, not the sith exactly. But you. Further YOUR cause. And it all starts on Taloraan. I know about you leaving the One Sith. What better way to get back at them than to open up the trade route at Taloraan? And there have been rumors of a beastie hiding out within the cloud's depths. I think it's mechanical. And would be very interesting to study."

Glasses were adjusted.

"You get power of an opened trade route through One Sith space. Unlimited fuel access. And a chance to capture a mythological beast. It's an obvious and logical yes."

Blink. Blink. #duh

Man, she had to find the Darth some new threads and kicks. His style was so drab. #needstobemorepinteresting

And when was he going to introduce her to his co-conspirators? There was no way he was a lone wolf, even leaving One Sith.

Eww, hopefully Sage Bane wasn't his friend. Or that Sith dude that did totes gross and inappropes things to women. Or Rev.

#bleck

She was hoping it was the giant whale. Maybe. Sushi was her favorite.

Was he friends with Carach?

#awkward #gulp

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He inclined his head to the side. "What exactly would stop them from simply closing it again?"

There were a multitude of reasons Adekos wouldn't benefit from an opened trade route into Taloraan. Chief among them that he wasn't a trader. Sure, he had been a droid manufacturing mogul for quite some time, but that wouldn't have seen him benefit from an open trade route on Taloraan either. But at the very least, Spark was no thinking economically. Progress at last. First it was trade route talk, then she'd be steering the wheel of her own corporate juggernaut in no time.

They grew up so fast.

"Why don't you tell me more about this mythological beast? I've never heard of such a thing."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Darth Adekos"]

"If they don't know a breach was made in the first place. That's what doctored IFF codes are for." She smiled. Flipping the datapad around, she projected a holograph of the beastie. It was a crude drawing. There were others she scrolled through. Blurry holos captured.

It was the classic Bigfoot of the skies

"I think it's a cross between an Aiwha and Purrgil and maybe some experimentation. Reports are....vague." Unwinding her legs, the captured-slicer popped to her feet. "We should go, obvs. I'll set us a course."

She began to push past the Darth, making her way to the control room. Which was probably an off-limits area. She knew where it was anyway. #duh #slicer #stillneedtodigmore

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Spark Finn"]

The command bridge of a Lucrehulk was located towards the top of the core ship. They were currently on the midlevel. Without use of the executive elevator, it would take Spark Finn approximately one hour to ride all the elevators and walk down all the hallways. There was never a more tedious journey a more tiresome acolyte would have to make. The doors shut and magnetized at her approach, courtesy of Adekos commanding them to do so. "Excuse you?" He had squinted with some measure of skepticism at the crude holograms and drawings. This had all the signs of a ye olde yokel hoax.

And that sort of thing was far, far beneath him.

Adekos folded his arms across his chest in a show of displeasure. "No, not 'obvs.'" What did obvs mean? Obvious? He could not keep up with this hipster shorthand, or their incessant hashing of the tags. The teenage mind was a bogglesome thing. "You won't be setting a course for anywhere. Perhaps you're used to working for the Galactic Alliance, but I prefer to investigate claims for authenticity before acting on them. And no, that hodgepodge of indecipherable nonsense you just displayed doesn't count."

Now it was his turn to rudely brush her aside, directing her back to the couch she had hopped off of.

"I'll send some probes. If anything comes up, I'll consider it. As for you, I think you have another six books to peruse. You can download them to your datapad. Once you've finished that, we can start your practical."