Which Way Will The Wind Blow?

[Sear]

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Amnell de Portiers"]


Whatever destination they were heading for, it didn't matter. It had been a long, long time since the ship and its crew were handed over to Amnell, and since then... word has gotten out that she was attempting to find the man who gave her everything. Things have changed, lives have changed... Amnells life was about to change entirely. Sear had rushed to her bedroom and knocked on her quarters door. He dared not to enter, but this was important. "Ma'am, you need to come out here," he said, knocking furiously. Out of the view port of her room, she could tell the ship had stopped, dropping out of hyperspace earlier than expected.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell had been resting, almost asleep when she heard Sear's voice on the other side of the door. A part of her wondered what could possibly be this important. "I'm coming, I'm coming..." She muttered as she slipped a light cardigan on over her pj's and headed to the door. Though not before she did take note that the ship had stopped and they for reasons unknown to her were sitting now in normal space. Far too early to be at their destination.

Now she seemed to understand the situation a little better. Or so she thought. She finally came to the door and opened it. "What's going on?" Amnell asked of Sear, seeming rather concerned. "Has the hyperdrive malfunctioned?"

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


Sear leaned against the part of the wall where the door pulled away into the wall, looking mildly stressed and a little uneasy. He wiped his face and forehead, "No, the Hyperdrive is fine. But it seems the little bit of dirt you were digging up for man on top has gotten listeners. It's not the big man, it's his second in command. He made the special order on the Clones, a little trick the big man had. The guy is docking in the hangar bay right now, he demanded to see you. Whatever the reason, it doesn't seem that the big man is too upset with your dirt digging... but it sounds more serious than that. You better get down there."

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell's brow knitted together rather quizzically, wondering what in the worlds was going on. "Okay ..." She managed to say after a moment or two of stunned silence. "I ... I didn't think he'd even noticed that ... the digging." Giving a shrug, she then glanced back to her room. "Come on Nine, let's go." Said as she motioned to the uppity little droid. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't keep him waiting." Sear, she already expected would be joining them. "Just more strangeness with this situation. One of these days, I may just possibly get used to it. Wonder what all of this could be about..." Her voice trailed off, as she started down the corridor, Nine in tow, waiting only a moment for Sear to join her to head down to the hangar.

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


Sear quickly followed behind, as usual. He was her bodyguard, and he would only leave if she told him to. It wasn't just his job, it was his duty. And as said before, it's pretty much a lazy job since she doesn't get heavily involved in anything. As they both made their way through the ship to the Hangar, they could see the man in question, speaking to some of the Spaarti Clones, who quickly walked away as Amnell and Sear came. Sear leaned on one of the ships as he listened in.


---

Viskis looked over at the woman and he wasn't looking too pleased. "Name's Viskis," he reached a handshake for a greeting, "Oh, and the big headshot -- who doesn't need to be a secret anymore -- is Galven Solomon. Take a seat, take a breath. The digging is over, but it's ... well, too late." He took a breath as he crossed his arms. "I don't suppose you have friends in high places do you?" Viskis shook his head, waving that away to forget about it. "Galven is engaged in a mission to save or evacuate some people from a planet, but he activated an encrypted and coded transmission, one that means ... basically, there's an extremely high chance he won't survive." It had almost been a year since he gave Amnell the ship, and now everything has rushed to this. "I'm here to tell you, that you basically have the option to take over GOMM if he falls. And he wanted to make sure you knew, and so he could say goodbye. I mean, if he dies. The message doesn't mean he is guaranteed dead, but he wouldn't press it unless he was pushed into a last resort." He suddenly put his hands up, palms facing her. "And before you even think about it, I can't let you go to his location, it's too dangerous. I just got done talking to those clone officers. And lastly, no, he isn't giving you full control and ownership of GOMM, so breathe and don't freak out. But while you have temporary command, you can order around our trained soldiers and current remaining fleet. I've basically come here to see what your first plan of action is to be. Come with me, or continue living ...here, whatever you're doing here. Galven left you something at the base, but I couldn't retrieve it. It's locked in the server with a password, that you would know."

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Reaching out she gently shook his hand. "Pleasure." She softly said. Then the name, what she'd been looking for, for so long. "Galven Solomon." Sighing, Amnell did sit down, trying to let what had just been spoken sink in. "Afraid I don't. Friends in high places or friends at all, it's not exactly my specialty." It had just been easier to keep people at arms length. Better that way.

Her eyes dropped to the floor, hearing it was unlikely for him to survive. "I see."

Then it seemed for a moment time had frozen. "He, what?" Words weren't forming. She couldn't string a sentence together for the life of her. Her eyes wide with shock as she ran a slow hand through her still tangled hair. She'd not exactly had the time to straighten herself out before seeing Viskis.

Her mind had already gone there, thinking of what she could do to help. Again, she sighed. The man seemed one step ahead of her. "I..." Amnell stopped, needing to take a deep breath to try and gain her composure. Her mind running with a million thoughts. Another deep breath. She seemed to finally understand what was being offered to her. "It's not like my life has meant much to this point. Amounted to much." The girl shrugged. There was only one obvious answer to her. "I'll come with you."

Her brow knitted together, "Something at the base ... I see." Had to be something simple, something obvious the password. "I guess it's time to stop living as pathetically as I have been. Yeah, that aside ... coming with you seems the wisest course of action."

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

"So, the old man is kicking the bucket, and kicking it in someones face?" Sear huffed with a grin, looking up at the ceiling from looking down, deep in thought. "It was never like him to ever give up anything so easily, at least from what I gathered, he earned everything he has right now, over the course of twenty years, right?"

---

Viskis crouched on the ground in a resting position, calling to the clones that controlled the ship, nodding for them which they understood to put in the coordinates. He looked up at the clone named Sear, giving an honest expression. "Longer, actually, and his history isn't angelic. But he wanted to change that," he continued, shrugging, "that's why he's fighting a losing battle," pausing, he looked up at Amnell before falling purposely into a sitting posture, as if unable to anymore, a saddened expression coming over his face, "and why he fought for you."

There was a short pause, but he once more spoke up," Sorry about... Wherever you were going before. The captain will get this ship moving to the base. You might also get some new datakeys to a new pretty vessel if you stay. But let's cross one bridge at a time, yeah?" Viskis tried to huff a laugh with a grin, but he was stressed about his leader. They had a lot of history.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

She glanced to Sear, cocking her head to the side. Then back to Viskis. Galven seemed an interesting man with a colorful past from what little she could gather. A bit of a sad smile crossed her lips. "He's really one of the few that ever has fought for me. Gave me a shot at a better life. Reminding me there's more to life than just ticking the days off until it finally kills me, and trying not to involve another soul in that." She gave a shrug. "Been more than a bit stupid about my life. I hope, truly that he somehow finds his way out of that mess and I can meet him. I'd just like to know him better. Takes a special kind of man to do what he's done. Especially for a girl he didn't even know."

She shook her head, "Where I was going, hardly matters. It's not important now. There's other things that matter more than that right now." She gave a nod, "One bridge at a time. Motto of my life. So I can live with that."

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


"Now what's gonna happen when we get to this little base?" Sear stretched, looking at the man who claimed to be this second in command, and yet the reigns were being given to a woman the old man didn't know. "And ...no offense," he waved down at Amnell, "but why her? Why would he trust her with all of this responsibility in the first place? It wasn't enough to throw a huge ship in her face along with a stranger that was programmed to stalk her to protect her? He had to throw hundreds of thousands of people, a company, a faction, and capital ships at her?"

---

Viskis shook his head as he listened before looking down and shrugging. "I have absolutely no idea why we couldn't have just followed the old protocol, and I take command if anything goes wrong. Maybe it's the womans problem, it's probably some sort of profound meaning. She has pain and depression, but she hasn't had that fuel her anger or rage, so she knows what people need, need to be happy." He sighed, putting his hands into his pockets. "Maybe he loved her and wanted her to live with him, hell I don't know. Ever since the man was trained by a damn Sith Lord, and did all those... ahem, other things. He hasn't been the same, it's like he's snapped and hanging by a thread. But what Ido know, is when we get to the base, miss special will have to figure out the password to a locked archive that is just for her, and then decide who gets the keys and what is done with them."

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell glanced between the two men, listening. After a moment she had to wonder if they even realized she was still sitting there. "You are aware, I'm still here, right? I've not gone invisible or something, have I?" She might have been a slight bit annoyed at that point.

Then she finally had to interject. "I didn't ask for this. Comes as much as a surprise to me, as it does to you both. I assure you." She said with a shake of her head, a little frustrated. Though there was a point she wanted to visit, "As for the pain, the crap I've been through... I've been dealt one of the worst hands of cards that life can throw a person. There's nothing like knowing since you had understanding of the word, that you have an expiration date. One that is much shorter than a good share of the galaxy. To know that every day, every year will be a little worse than the one before as your body turns against you. Every day more pain. If I just sit and a corner and get bitter? Get angry? Go off the deep end? And run off to the darkside of the force or whatever? What purpose have I served, other than to throw my life away? What purpose, other than letting this disease win.... Which I'm not about to do. It won't destroy who I am. I won't let it." Sighing she leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. "So while I could be all those things. I could be angry. I could be bitter. But I'm not. I won't let myself fall that far. No matter how bad it gets. And sure, I have a crappy hand, but I'm still going to play em the best I can till the very last breath I take."

"You ever think that maybe he's doing stuff like this ... to try to make up for the things he's done in the past?" She asked softly, after lifting her head from her hands. "We all have things we regret. Some more than others. He may just be trying to atone for those things in his own way."

Amnell took in a deep breath, and drew her knees up to her chest. "Life, ain't simple. And none of us may ever know why or what was in his head that made him make this choice. But he gave me freedom and safety. Something I've never had in my entire life. Never able to go far from a doctor's care. Never-mind having to fear all the dozens of goons out there that might cause me harm. He gave me a life. And that's not something I'm going to forget. Something I'll be forever thankful for." Another shrug as she laid her head against her knees.

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]

"Whatever it was," Viskis shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Soon, we'll be at the base, and we'll be continuing whatever business he has for you, and we'll have to figure out where we go from there. While he didn't exactly micromanage the organization, he spearheaded it and built the path the farther we went for us, so no someone is going to have to pick up the pieces. I say... one step at a time. I'm gonna have a drink in the mess, if you have any. Need something from all this stress." He stretched his arms and took a breath as he started to walk.

-----


Sear started to walk slowly toward Amnell until he was beside her, putting his hands in his pockets while looking down. "Well, I guess you never expected your life to turn out like this, huh? All the sparkly new shoes, and then a message from a dying friend?" Sear grinned in a passive way, knowing it was still a bad time, kicking at the ground. "I wonder how your life would be if you never entered that auction, you ever think about it? Think this is all still too much?" He turned, to leave Amnell to her thoughts. "Do you think, if given the chance, to go back in time and not put yourself up on the block for all to see?" he spread his arms out in a waving downward motion, the gesture to 'nevermind that,' or 'forget about it,' "I'm gonna nap before things get serious, I'm still hungover from the crapfest with the soldiers last night." He lit up a cigarette and popped it in his mouth, turning around to start walking backward and shrug once more, holding his hands outstretched. "I'm just a gerbil in some guys giant maze, so what do I know about philosophy and all that jazz, eh?" He chuckled slightly, before turning back around and heading towards the exit.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell shrugged, not sure how she felt about any of it. "Alright, we'll figure it out, I'm sure." She didn't know what else to say or really do. "If there isn't alcohol in the mess, I've got some scotch in my room." She offered.

She shook her head, "No, I didn't expect this at all." Then her thoughts did wander to what life would have been like had events not unfolded the way they had now. It wasn't exactly a pretty picture. "Yeah, yeah go ahead. I'll catch you later on I guess."

With that she personally got to her feet and headed off for her own room. That bottle of scotch was waiting for her. Tonight, she certainly needed the drink. She still had little idea what to think of recent events. It still felt like she was stuck in some strange twisted dream.

Once back in the safety of her room, she poured herself a single glass of scotch, with exactly three ice cubes. A heavy sigh fell from her lips. "What in the galaxy am I in the middle of?" She asked aloud.

And Nine had to chime in, "For once, I don't even have a clue."

"Figures, Mister Snarky, you always have some idea, but not one right now." She said with a shake of her head.

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]

------------​

Eventually they arrived at their designated location, exiting hyperspace... It had only been an hour or so. "We have arrived at the GOMM Base. Sending identification... We are cleared," the broadcast sent over the internal intercom. "Lady Portiers, you are requested in the Hangar."

Before she left her quarters, Sear was waiting outside her door to surprise her. "Mornin' sunshine, drunk enough? Let's hope you didn't drink the bottle, the boss didn't ever want you harming yourself, and he himself rarely drank anything. Anyway, ready for this," he made a 'spooky' hand gesture, "supposedly big surprise?" He'd follow her as she continued.


Viskis was waiting in the hangar like last time, swaying off a small hangover, leaning against a shuttle. "Alright, come on." he called out. No troopers were coming, but there was an entire faction now protecting miss Portiers, and she probably didn't even realize it. "I'm going to let you in on a secret. You are a signet ring," Viskis said to Portiers as he climbed in, turning to her to show her a ring he wore. Viskis had a ring with the old symbol of the faction before it changed its name, it was similar to an Imperial symbol, but altered. "Signet rings always have special meanings in organizations. In GOMM, you get special access and privilege, even higher than any High Admiral or Head Moff. So even if the old man fell, half the faction was killed and went into hiding, the signet ring was the key to showing you were trustworthy. He made your identity into one because he wanted to make sure the reason why he cared about the people of the galaxy and made him even go on the mission he's on right jow, that he knew he could die, would always be safe. You're not the only one, sorry to burst your bubble. Many people, in secret, have complete protection from GOMM if they ask... They just don't know they have that ability." He climbed further in, getting into the cockpits seat, asking for clearance as he was granted. "But you're the only one with your identity being a signet ring. You're kind of respected a little more around here, you'll see what I mean." He launched the Shuttle, heading to the small planet below. They passed a massive one thousand meter ship on the way down, with several other patroling ships and stations.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell sighed heavily hearing the page. In her mind, she had no idea of what to expect on the other side of this. It was already weird enough as it was. She took a moment to find something more than pajamas to wear. A simple shirt and slacks, and quickly she ran a brush through her hair.

Walking out, she eyed Sear. "One glass of Scotch, is hardly enough to get one drunk. Feel mildly better about the situation, sure." A smirk followed, showing that she was teasing, just a little. "And ready? Hell no. I don't think anyone could exactly be ready for this. Though, it's not like there's a whole lot of option." So onto the hangar they went.

She gave a nod to Viskis and stepped onto the shuttle. His words, her brow knitted together seeming confused, "I don't understand." She said softly. Though she waited to hear what else he had to say. Slowly she nodded, "Okay, so I sort of understand a little now. Still not entirely sure about this."

As they headed down to the planet, her eyes flicked about looking outside the ship, seeing the other ships on the way down. "I suppose I will." She shook her head, "Not to be disrespectful but this is all, a bit insane and extremely hard to wrap my mind around." Amnell was just being honest at this point.

[member="Sear"]

 

[Sear]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]



"Well you know you don't have to do anything, you don't even need to accept the keys," Sear chimed in, laughing a bit as he leaned back and relaxed, completely uncaring about all of this. He didn't even know why he was following her, it's not like there was an entire army guarding her outside or anything... "You're just here for the little gift the old man left you, right? Have you thought about what the password is?"

----------


"Quiet down, Sear. You don't know how to close your mouth, you're nothing different from your original." He smirked a bit, joking. But they were coming into the hangar and landing. Viskis shut the shuttle down and opened the ramp. They were inside of a greatly massive hangar on the barren planet, "It used to be an old Republic base, from the Clone Wars," he continued, grabbing onto a railing overhead and walking to the ramp. "The outside is toxic air, you wouldn't survive for an hour." The gigantic massive hangar doors slowly began to close and seal the room, but the atmosphere in the hangar was protected by magnetic shielding. There were Stormtroopers filling the entire Hangar and the rest of the base wearing dark grey armor with blue stripes, a few greeted Viskis and nodded to miss Portiers.


"Right this way, please," a Stormtrooper said, "The terminal is in the server room." As they walked through the base, miss Portiers saw a bunch of party equipment which had gone stale and dusty.

"There was a plan to hold a fancy party for the high delegates of the galaxy, but it was put on hold to see what happened... with the Supreme Imperator, if something did." Viskis added."

I'll take a bottle of the good stuff if it isn't going to use, if that's okay." Sear grinned, closely behind.



"Here we are," the Stormtrooper said, stopping at a doorway. "We'll be outside." Beyond the door was the bases huge server room, and beside the first databank was a terminal with a small hard drive. The screen was on, requesting a password.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

"Yes, I could in theory refuse the keys. But that's not me. He's done enough for me. Enough that I feel an obligation to repay that in whatever way I am capable of. Clearly he had a plan in this." That was why she was here. At least that's what she told herself. "I've been thinking about it. I'm not entirely sure, just yet. I'm sure it will come to me." I hope. A thought she kept to herself.

Amnell shook her head, a slight smile coming to her lips hearing Viskis. Her attention came to the hangar they were landing in, peering around. "Interesting." She said quietly as she followed him to the ramp. "Oh, lovely. Just one more danger, awesome." Seeing the storm-troopers, she seemed a little in awe, pausing at the top of the ramp. This day just gets stranger and stranger.

She looked to the fun party stuff gathering dust, a little curiously. "I see." She replied following close behind.

Then she came to the server room. Pausing there, she glanced back to Sear and Viskis. She hadn't a clue at this point, and only watched as the doors closed behind her. Sighing she walked to the terminal. The moment of truth. She tapped her fingers lightly on the edge of the keyboard, wondering what the heck the password possibly could be. It had to be something she knew. Something easy. Something that mattered to both of them.

She reached up and rubbed at her forehead, trying to pull together what it might be. "Only way I'm going to find out, is to try something, anything." She started simple, with her favorite things, things that were easy enough to find out about her. Attempt after attempt failed, and time was slowly creeping by. To her it seemed like forever.

"What in the name of the stars do we both have in common?" She asked aloud. Leaning back she ran her hands over her face and through her hair, wracking her brain for anything at all. It felt like she'd tried every conceivable password in the book. And at this point she wasn't sure just how many attempts she'd made and how much time had passed.

Finally on a whim, she typed in a phrase: Help people, protect them, care for them. And pressed enter one last time hoping against hope she'd maybe possibly found the answer.

[member="Sear"]

 

[Jeron Verity]

[post lost due to self-idiocism. Galven walked in and said something nice]

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell seemed shocked at the sheer amount of data the terminal spit out. There was no way she could even dream to follow everything as quickly as it was displayed. It took her a moment to realize what it was she was seeing. Stunned might not have been the right word. In that moment she couldn't even begin to string a thought together as she understood the what was in front of her. The sheer amount of research done, seemed unreal.

Tears welled up in her eyes, in this research there was a possibility for her to have a relatively normal life. To not wake every single day in a little more agony than the one before it. It may not exactly have been a cure, but it was close.

Hearing the door opened, she turned to see who was there. Her eyes widened, shocked to see him Galven. "I ..." She stopped. Words just weren't forming. Speechless for certain. A minute or two passed before she really could even dream to put a sentence together. "I don't understand. I get the intentions." At least she thought she did. "But, I'm not anyone special. Ordinary, really." Amnell shook her head, "I don't understand."

She glanced back to the screen. "This ... this research, opens up so much. The chance for something more normal, if what little I've caught means what I think it does. It could give me a real life. Something beyond pure agony and a slow, miserable death."

Amnell sighed softly, still in a state of shock. "I'm not ungrateful. I am. I just don't understand, why of all the people that could have been chosen, when there are so many more worse off than I am, why I was chosen.. The kind of resources this required .... I don't know what to say."

[member="Galven Solomon"]

 

[Jeron Verity]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]

(Post before was lost because while on cellphone I edited it to get the color code for speech, and I didn't feel like scrolling each time so I put the next post in it to make it easier. Then I submitted the edit :/)



Galven walked inside, a little exhausted looking, just coming back from that critical mission and hadn't even taken a breath. As soon as he heard Viskis brought her to the base, he went straight for the server room. "I was once part of a couple Imperial factions, my rank gave me access to such things, and put me into positions I was not only forced into, but had to act upon." Galven said, taking a breath as he gave a 'give me a moment' gesture to those outside. He closed the door and went to the nearby corner. A few chairs were left over from the construction and engineer assessments and he took a seat, stretching his aging bones. "You are special, miss Portiers. You may not be the key to the Galaxy but you sure as hell are the reason for what we do here," he groaned, leaning.

"You're a symbol. One... Proof to my people that I care about everyone in the galaxy. Second... The smile, the tears," he aimed his hand up, gesturing at Amnell, "when we work together, all of us, protect each other, help each other. We can all be as happy as that. It's a slower route, miss Amnell, than... Being happy from forced security or tyranny. Happiness together is also stronger, but it is earned, not given. Your gratefulness is my reward for keeping that sensitive data all the way to today. That method was used by a high ranking individual in the Empire, and it can probably extend your life twice as much with majority of the pain gone, three times as long if we're lucky. But yes, I understand."

He leaned forward, leaning on a hand on his leg, "you are but one frail, weak nobody, right? That's what you think? You think you're unworthy? I just risked my life for an entire planet, expending millions of dollars of supplies, losing soldiers... For nothing. I didn't want pay, I didn't want territory, nothing. I did it for the people of this galaxy, for those who deserve a better life. Just like you, miss Portiers. You offered yourself, that day, as a prize. A date I could never obtain, to help a cause. You could have been matched to a sleazeball, actually you were," he looked down, ashamed of himself, but still muttering a chuckle. "That's what makes you worthy, because you care, just as I do."

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

( )

Amnell wiped away the tears as best she could and listened carefully. Her attention solely on Galven for the moment. Her brow knitted together, as she tried to put everything together, to make sense of it all. For a long while she was silent, just looking at him and thinking. Still struggling to put sentences together. "I see." She said softly. Things were making a tad more sense now.

Her mind was drawn back to the cure. "Never really thought I'd get more than five more years. It's a miserable disease, that takes everything from you. I've been told so many times, there was nothing to be done. No cure. No effective treatments, aside from dulling the pain, that I'd come to accept that as fact." She smiled faintly, "Only thing I ever wanted in life was more time. More time to experience, to live, to learn, to do something that mattered. It's almost surreal to think I could have even twice that or more. Time is a precious, precious gift. To have more? I never imagined it would happen, much less what I'd do with the time. I just knew I wanted it, more than anything else." Amnell seemed to realize she was rambling and stopped, taking a deep breath. A slight wince came with it, the pain creeping back in as her medications began to wear off.

Then Amnell nodded her smile fading a bit. "Yes, that's what I think. Or thought. Until now. It's just strange to think someone would go out of their way, that didn't know me, to help ease my suffering and buy me more time in this Galaxy." She sighed quietly, reaching int her purse, fumbling for a bottle of pills. "Yeah, I was matched to a sleazeball, fortunately one who never followed through." Her voice trailed off, allowing herself to think for a moment.

Then she finally understood. "I suppose I do. I just know what it's like to suffer without end, and it's not something I wish on anyone else. And if I can save just one person from the kind of suffering I've experienced that's all that matters to me. I just never thought it'd be within my power to do anything to help another, when time was ticking down and I was growing weaker daily." Finally the bottle in hand, Amnell fished a couple of pills from it before quickly swallowing them. In a short time, she'd at least feel slightly better than she did right now.

[member="Galven Solomon"]