Private Won't Somebody Think of the Gungans

[Elena Nyström]

Location: Naboo​

The situation with her career had begun to get desperate so Elena would take any work she could, wherever she could, so when a hospital on Naboo offered to reward the retrieval of vital medical equipment, she jumped at the opportunity. The hospital was far enough away from her home town that her identity could be maintained, however she would have to be careful in case she came face-to-face with any other graduates from her class if they had relocated - it was unlikely but the risk was always higher on her homeworld than out in the wider galaxy.

It wasn't too far-fetched of an idea to believe that the Gungans had taken the equipment, as had been suggested. Elena didn't have much experience with the other sentient species they shared the planet with but she had heard endless tales of how they were troublesome and a nuisance and it seemed they were proving to be true. The thought of having to potentially negotiate with such beings today was almost nauseating, though she didn't expect too much trouble as they hadn't proven themselves to be the most intelligent of creatures while she was half-Arkanian.

It should've been a happy moment to be back on her home planet, or one of them, but it wasn't. Elena had a distaste for both planets she claimed to be from as there was nothing left for her on either of them. She walked beside the blue waters with nothing but contempt for her former home until she came to a jetty and walked purposefully towards the end where a small boat was waiting - it seemed that knowing the right people proved to be of great benefit, even if it was sometimes through illegitimate reasoning.

At the faint sound of footsteps behind her, Elena turned around to face a young man who was approaching her and while she didn't have any reason to be immediately concerned as she looked like any other citizen, albeit a noble one in a long, flowing lilac dress and adorned with jewellery - she was a little wary. "What do you want?" She called out in a rather unfriendly manner, contrasting the attitudes of most of the Naboo who tended to be far more welcoming and amicable.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

There was always something which needed to be done at, well, almost any given planet. As it happened, this odd little medical thingy needed to be retrieved on Naboo which he happened to be visiting for other business. Not having anything better to do, the Mercenary figured that he might as well give it a job. Having left both the heavy armour and repeater on the ship - well aware of the risk of having to swim, Mathieu ventured towards the sea armed with his blaster and a short stun baton which laid inside the backpack along with a breathing device and two sandwiches. Operating on an empty belly was rarely a good idea.

It had to be the gungans who had taken the device. Never would a civilised human have done such a deed - besides, the wet footprints leading away from the facility along with one of the culprits being caught on a voice-log recorder gave all the indication they needed - at least to determine that someone would probably have to go in under the sea to visit the amphibious natives. He did, however, have high hopes that he would be able to avoid getting all too wet as the little watercraft he had rented.

To his surprise, someone already stood on the jetty - her elegant apparel far outshining is own as he came clad in a rather simple jacket. Not only was the Morellian taken aback by her rather harsh demeanour, but he was also confused by why she would question his presences on the jetty. "Coin" he said happily, trying to bring some positivity to the situation. Continuing his approach, he pointed at the boat "I'm just going for a little trip to one of those Gungan bubble-towns" he said whilst bringing out the keys. It was a rather strange practice for undertaking not to give out a set of extra keys, but it didn't matter much to him.

Finally standing next to her, he pressed the little button on the keys, causing the lights of the boat to flash whilst the lock to the top hatch unlocked with a small mechanic 'tock' sound. "What about you then? Enjoying the view?" he asked, not having thought much about how pleasant the lake looked until now.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

Elena watched him carefully with a condescending look, though her wariness of him grew less as he portrayed himself in a cheerful demeanour and was not at all standoffish as she was being so she relaxed a little. After explaining why he was there, she gave a puzzled look. "Yeah, me too..." She replied as she pulled out a set of keys from a bag that hung from her shoulder and jangled with the sound of items hitting against each other. "I'm looking for someone." She told him, a half-truth, as she wanted to know more about his reasoning for being there before she shared hers.

Upon realising the situation, it would be in her nature to get annoyed and argue with the man but she doubted that would get her very far so her demeanour changed entirely and she offered a warm smile. She considered pushing the man into the lake and getting away but that didn't seem very productive as there was every chance he could follow her if he was sensible enough to come prepared for an underwater trip with a rebreather and the last thing she needed was someone wanting revenge so she decided on a different approach.

"I'm sorry, I've just been a little stressed lately, where are my manners?" She lightly smacked herself on the forehead before offering her hand to the man."I'm Elena, it's nice to meet you. Are you an off-worlder?" She asked, feigning hospitality in the hopes that she could at least fake a rapport with this man to get what she wanted while displaying her status as a native, well... relatively native, to make herself seem like a more desirable companion for an off-worlder.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It seemed to be working! Her rather unpleasant demeanour turned into a rather pleasant one after he had tried to create some sense of positivity. He would still unlock the hatch with his keys, but seeing her take out an identical set did confuse him. "Really? Who are you looking for?" he asked whilst spinning the keys around his finger by the key-ring. Whilst the ship was unlocking and the cabin opening, the mercenary looked over to her "Me? I'm looking for something" he spoke, putting a bit of extra emphasis on 'thing' at the end.

A beaming smile lit up on his face as she introduced herself - maybe she wasn't so bad after all. "Mathieu. It's a pleasure to meet you" he replied casually. An impressed look started spreading across his face along with a light chuckle "How did you know?" Thinking for a few moments, he made a couple of guesses "Was it the accent? My shoes?" Almost regardless of what she answered, Mathieu would in return ask about where she was from "What about you then? Are you local? Must be if you spot offworlders like that" Maintaining a lighthearted tone, he soon threw his bag into the back seat of the small vessel.

Still not seeing any signs of a second ship "Obviously this is the one I rented" he said, pointing at the opened cabin as an indication to the fact that his keys had actually gotten the hatch unlocked "So where's yours? Was it some kind of taxi service?" he asked, whilst preparing to hop into the driver's seat. Still, it would take a few more moments for him to get to that point as he was still fiddling about with the datapad, trying to summon the right address for the built in navigation tool.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

"Oh, just an old friend." She replied dismissively in the hopes that he wouldn't press her further as she wasn't sure how convincingly she could lie on the spot. Elena was suspicious that he spoke of looking for something but showed no recognition of such emotion on her face, though now she was concerned that he was here for the same reason as here. If that were true then it was even more important that she followed him so that she could get what she wanted and claim the reward for herself, even if it meant throwing him under the bus - so to speak.

Elena smiled in an attempt to seem genuinely warm and friendly and indulged him in conversation despite wanting nothing more than to continue this venture alone. "You just... seem like you're not from around here." She replied as she cocked her head to observe him. "And you do speak differently. I hope you aren't trying to blend in." She told him in a light-hearted manner. "Mhmm, not here specifically but Naboo and yeah, you do tend to stand out to those of us with a keen eye." She confirmed. Although not native, Naboo was the closest thing to a home she had and she had spent the best part of twenty years there. "So where are you from then?" She asked out of her own curiosity.

"I think there must have been some kind of mix-up so maybe we could share?" She asked politely, throwing in a smile for good measure and a light touch of his arm. Upon his confirmation, she would climb into the vehicle and place herself in the passenger or co-pilot's seat, either way she didn't care; if he wanted to do the work then she would gladly allow him to do so. It was a shame, he seemed so nice as well but he'd soon learn that being nice didn't get you anywhere in this galaxy nor did it pay the bills - he might even learn that today. "Did you come all the way here just for whatever it is you're searching for?" She asked, trying to gain a better understanding of the man and hoping to coax more information about what it was he was searching for in order to confirm or deny her suspicions.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

There wasn't much of a chance that he'd know her friend - who befriended Gungans anyways? With that in mind, he moved on with a simple nod and short-lived smile. She kept showing that she had a more pleasant side - far removed from what he had first suspected, considering her way of greeting him and the rather formal clothes. It was interesting to hear her elaborate on the ways in which one could spot an off-worlder, although her rather vague initial explanation did seem rather, well, vague. "Blend in? No. I just thought that no one would take notice if I didn't say anything. Maybe it would have worked better if I was a Gungan" he said with a light shrug.

Taking a deep breath and looking around for a couple of moments, he exhaled as whilst gaining a rather satisfied expression on his face. "It is a lovely planet. It must have been nice growing up here" he commented, momentarily looking over to her as she asked the question. With his gaze returning to the calm sea, Mathieu spoke "Morellia" his voice was marked with a sense of pride over his home planet "We have the most beautiful summers, you should visit sometime" he said as memories of his homeworld flashed back. It hadn't been very long since he had been there, but he still missed it a lot.

An amused eyebrow rose as she mentioned there being a mix-up. "Oh, yeah?" he asked, not really thinking much of her theory. It seemed rather far-fetched to him at the moment. "Sure, we could share - but let's find out if they really did give us the same ship while at it. Why don't you start her up?" he suggested whilst hopping into his seat by the main controls, letting her take the position at the co-pilot's seat. There was really no need for two people at the helms but of course, it felt better to have a local there with him.

Soon, the two were on their way towards the Gungan city under the seas. Hearing her wouldn't be difficult at all with how little noise the vessel produced. Without really hesitating, Mathieu looked to her and spoke, only glancing back up ahead of them occasionally "It's some medical device that got stolen. The hospital by the spaceport is offering a reward for anyone who can bring it back" he said, not even having considered that she was a potential competitor or even interested party on the whole ordeal. He suddenly stopped speaking as his eyes fixated on the Gungan city emerging a fair bit away. "Will you look at that?!" he exclaimed, utterly amazed "It's their bubble town!" he exclaimed before steering the vessel towards it. Taking what could only be seen as a detour towards the port in an effort to get to look at it for a bit longer. "I don't know about you locals, but I can't recall having seen something so impressive" he stated as they neared port. "Heh, wouldn't it be a shame if the bubble burst as we drove in through it?" he joked whilst pointing the nose of the ship at it.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

It seemed that Mathieu was believing her hospitable demeanour and he had no reason not to; the Naboo were, after all, very hospitable people so it seemed nothing was out of the ordinary from her behaviour aside from her initial greeting but he seemed far to gullible to realise her feigning of charm. He seemed to be at ease, at least that was what she gathered from the way he spoke to her, so thus far everything was going according to plan; he had no reason to worry about her and by the time he did it would be too late. "Don't get me wrong, we love off-worlders, on-worlders, anyone really. We can just tell which people are but that doesn't determine how you're treated." She told him, though it was a truth she didn't care to live by.

"Yeah, it was." She replied thoughtfully. Better than Arkania, she thought. Her childhood had been relatively normal after moving to Naboo, she only grew distasteful of the planet during adulthood when she became bitter at the memories she had obtained here, including the death of her best friend. "Morellia? Such a beautiful planet." She remarked, despite having never heard of it in hopes of continuing to build the rapport between them. "Sounds lovely, maybe I will." She added for good measure. If he was fond of his home, as it seemed he was, then she hoped she would be received well.

"Yeah? I don't see two ships." She replied with the least amount of attitude she could, wording her sentence carefully to avoid being sassy. "Sure." She complied and started the engine. For a moment she wondered whether she could just leave him behind but he could prove himself to be an asset yet and he wasn't exactly threatening so she decided to entertain him for a little while longer. Mathieu didn't seem to have any more qualms so the pair embarked on their journey to the Gungan City; a journey one seemed far more excited for than the other. "A medical device?" She repeated, pretending to be clueless. "Huh, interesting." She played it off coolly by not taking the matter further.

With all the confirmation she needed, she knew that if she just stuck with Mathieu then she was bound to find the device and when she did then she could thwart his attempts and take the reward for herself. Keep your enemies close had never rang so true. Although she wanted to roll her eyes and snap at Mathieu, she knew she couldn't lest she would ruin whatever relationship she had allowed him to believe they had been building. "Yeah it is quite impressive." She agreed politely. "But maybe we could just... disembark." She reached out and gently steered the ship in the direction of the port.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Was she really saying that off-worlders and natives were treated the same? Sure, some societies had come further in their galactic cosmopolitan endeavours than others - but what she said seemed unlikely, even though they were speaking of Naboo. But them being more tolerant and accepting didn't seem too far fetched and most of the people he met so far had given him a good impression. Maybe it was their vicinity to the Gungan people which had made the original colonisers so famed for their tolerance - why else would there be so strong bonds between the two peoples? Regardless, he simply nodded along and let out a short "How nice" as the conversation continued.

The fact that she spoke of the planet growing up on in the past tense made him wonder if she had stopped enjoying the planet now - but she was quite economical in her use of words and if she didn't want to linger on the topic, he wasn't going to push for them to do so either. They had, after all, only known each other for a few minutes. "You must've seen a few pictures. I could show you a few of mine on our way back" he said, pleasantly surprised that she knew of his homeworld which was remote enough to be unknown to most.

The next comment was received by an entertained chuckle "The lack of two ships could also be because yours haven't been delivered yet" he said but continued on to confirming that they could indeed share. An awkward smile spread across his lips as her keys actually did start the vessel. "Maybe we can ask for half of our money back once we're done here" he suggested whilst hopping onto the ship.

"Yeah" he said enthusiastically "I love the days when I can do a good deed and get paid at the same time. Hopefully, this will be one of those. It must be, right? It's a medical device after all" he concluded after having properly convinced himself that his cause was good. "What about you then? Do you know where in the town you're going to see your friend? Will they be there to welcome you by the port, perhaps?"

A very surprised look appeared on his face and slowly turned to be a bit more annoyed. She had taken control of the vessel to get them to port quicker, despite him doing his sightseeing. But then, she probably had as good of a right to the ship as he did and it was not completely implausible that she was in a hurry "Okay" he said with a low voice whilst letting go of the command consoles. Leaning back and enjoying the view wasn't too bad either and if he was lucky, she'd be in less of a rush on their way home. Which reminded him that they might need to leave together, which really was quite the bother.

Once inside, the cabin opened again and as soon as it did, the Morellian grabbed his backpack and hopped out. "Wow" he said, looking around like a kid around the new life day tree. Letting her deal with shutting down the craft, seeing as she had decided to take control of it anyways, he then quickly went to one of the staffers to receive directions to a number of places.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

"Oh yeah, must be nice." Elena replied, trying to sound genuinely interested but the thought of helping people never really crossed her mind when taking on this work. She cared very little for other people and they cared very little for her so it worked out just fine; everyone looked out for themselves then they only had themselves to blame when things went wrong. It seemed like this man had a lot to learn about the galaxy but he seemed... sweet - she hadn't met many like him.

Elena shook her head and sighed deeply to express sadness. "She won't be coming to the port, she's in hospital." She explained, intending for her lie to give her a reason to visit the hospital, a probable place to find what they both wanted, so she could try and find the equipment before Mathieu so he wouldn't get unnecessarily hurt if it came to it - it would be a shame to damage such a pretty face so she hoped to just leave him behind.

The mood in the atmosphere changed and she could sense it but to try and justify her actions to prevent him from being annoyed with her, she added quickly. "It looks nice but the waters can be dangerous." She explained. It was a poor excuse and the dangers were only small in this place particularly but if he wasn't a local then how was he to know? He seemed gullible enough so far to believe her anyway.

Once Mathieu left the cabin, Elena rolled her eyes behind him but climbed out after him with a fake smile on her face and her bag slung over her shoulder. She locked the ship and dropped the keys into her bag. "Right, well... I'm going to the hospital. Did you want to come with to look for what you need?" She asked, being purposefully vague as not to arouse suspicions of any gungans who might overhear. She hoped this way she would be able to keep an eye on him and should he find it first then she would be able to quickly intercept him.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It wasn't long before she was there with him again. Glancing back, he noted how the vessel seemed to be locked and powered off. Mumbling to himself in an effort to remember the way to the hospital, police station and the more shady part of the town, Mathieu finally turned to look up at her. "That sounds like a good start" he said with a fair portion of enthusiasm. "Perhaps you could even help me find the way there. The officer told me , but it always helps to have someone who knows the area" His words were presented with a friendly voice as he slowly started to move away from the port, out into the open area.

Trying his best to remember the instructions, Mathieu did make the most out of travelling with a local and simply let her take the lead from time to time, readily admitting to not knowing the way there. In the end, it didn't seem like an overly difficult path and remembering how to get back wouldn't be a challenge at all. Shortcuts would, however, be harder as the compartmentalised nature of a bubble town really didn't allow for that much flexibility.

Finally arriving, they would be greeted with a humble hospital which was apparently bustling with activity with new patients being rushed in, a few recovering ones taking a stroll and rushed nurses and doctors heading out for a bit of food before quickly returning to their job. "Is it always this busy here? They almost seem overworked, you know, like when a fight between the swoop supporters breaks out during flu-season and they just get overwhelmed" he said, feeling like he and Elena were the only truly calm ones there.

Once inside, the Mercenary stopped to look at a floor plan in the entrance, hoping to get an idea of where he should go look first. Flipping out his finger, Mathieu pointed at the department of scans and analysis "That's where I'll be going" he said, looking at her. "What about you then? Got an idea of where your friend is? I could come with you to the reception if you'd like company. Maybe they know something about where our machine is anyways" he suggested, forming a warm smile.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

"Of course. I know the way." She replied respectfully before gesturing for him to walk alongside her as they made their way to the hospital. Prior to leaving on the quest, Elena had memorised the directions to the hospital but played the part of being familiar with the city so that it seemed her knowledge coincided with her false story about visiting a friend. Every so often she gave a smile or respectful bow of the head to passersby when they caught her eye, playing the part of a Naboo citizen as she was expected to avoid arousing any suspicions or hostility but the Gungans likely wouldn't know either if it hit them in the face.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Elena immediately searched for directions in the form of signs on the wall as it had now become a race against him to find the equipment first, otherwise the situation would get complicated quickly. "Oh yeah, it's usually like this." She said dismissively as she was distracted, searching on the floor plan for where the prize could possibly be but upon hearing Mathieu announce he had the same idea, her heart sank and she immediately became tense but she knew she needed to quickly fabricate another lie. "Yeah, there." She pointed to a ward, next to the scans and analysis unit. "We could walk most of the way there together." She told him before leading the way down a corridor.

Stopping just shy of the scans and analysis unit, Elena stood outside a ward and announced her departure. "I'll see you in a bit?" She asked, hoping that he wasn't planning on ditching her. She then grabbed the first door to a private room on the ward and walked in, coming face to face with a confused Gungan in bed. The Gungan blinked, surprised. "Who yousa?" He asked, prompting a deep irritated sigh from Elena. "Shh!" She told him before pulling back the curtain across the window slightly to try and see what Mathieu was doing, though to no avail.

"Yousa lost?" The Gungan asked. "No, I'm..." She paused for a moment before turning back to face the Gungan with a warm smile. "-a doctor." She finished before approaching the Gungan's drip and reading the label. A painkiller with a sedative effect in a high enough dosage. "Sorry for that, let me just adjust this for you." She fiddled with the drip to increase the dosage and within minutes the Gungan began dropping off to sleep. Finally alone, she peered out of the window again to see if Mathieu had found what they were both looking for but upon deciding that she had been 'visiting' for a reasonable amount of time, she left the room and walked down the corridor to find Mathieu.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

No need to go to the front desk then. This Elena and the friend she was visiting must have been close since the human already knew where the other was. "Yes, of course. Some company never hurts" he quipped with a friendly smile as they made their way towards the western flank of the hospital. Oddly enough, it seemed to get busier and busier the closer to their destination they got, but then, perhaps it was common for hospitals to do a lot of scans and analyse a lot of things.

Finally, the arrived at her friend's room. Of course, she wanted some privacy with the person she was visiting and really, Mathieu wasn't all too interested in visiting a person he had never met. Although, if asked, of course he would accompany her into the room - sometimes, moral and emotional support, even from strangers, could mean very much to a sick and lonely person. But that was not something which was needed of him now which allowed him to simply shrug "I might take a while for me, it depends on how well the machine is hidden. But we can exchange comm-frequencies so that whoever is done first can call the other. I doubt neither you nor me feel much like swimming back up" he said, letting out a slight chuckle.

Just about to turn to walk towards his destination, a nurse approached him, wondering what he was doing there. Two innocent eyebrows shot up "Oh, I was just dropping off an acquaintance to visit her friend" he said, pointing a finger at the door to the room. "But I was just about to leave" he continued, not caring much for the now confused nurse, muttering something about how no visitors were expected. With the nurse excusing themself as they quickly moved to enter the room which Elena had just gone in to, Mathieu moved on to the neighbouring section of the hospital. Happy that he might have given Elena and her friend some extra attention despite how rushed the staff seemed otherwise.

Finally in the department for Scans and Analysis, the large Mercenary moved through the corridors at a leisurely pace, listening and looking for anything of value. Soon, he heard an older voice, most likely from a more senior doctor from one of the open rooms not containing any patients. The elder sounded ecstatic, thanking the fish gods for their generous offer, saying that they might be able to save dozens of more lives with the extra scanning capabilities. Working overtime was definitely worth it considering what was at stake. Mathieu's spirits sank as he realised what was most likely going on. Slowly entering the room, he looked at the doctor "Is it the SMAT-075?" he asked with a slight hint of fear in his voice. The Morellian's forehead furrowed as he let out a small "Oh" before his head dropped with his gaze lingering at his feet.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

As she reached for the door handle to leave, the door swung open and in came a nurse who looked at Elena and then at the man behind her with a suspicious gaze. "What yousa doen hair? nosa visitors." The nurse told the stranger. "Am I on the wrong ward?" Elena pretended to share an equally confused look and proceeded to look at the number on the door again. "Oh! I must have misheard them; it was seventy not seventeen." She shook her head and laughed. "What am I like?" She thought aloud. "I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way." She told the nurse before pulling the door open to leave again and once the door shut behind her she walked quickly to where she thought Mathieu might be, knowing that she only had a matter of time before the nurse realised what she had done.

Elena followed the corridors, glancing down the ones running off from the main one for her companion until she faintly heard his voice and rushed to him. "Hey." She greeted him, trying to hide her breathlessness. "Did you find it? Can we go?" She asked before her eyes fixated on a machine that she could only assume was the one they prized. "Oh, is that it? Grab it and let's go." She whispered to him, urging him on but then noticed his demeanour. "What... what is it?" She asked, looking concerned. By now she was on edge, itching to leave before she was discovered. From the looks of it, he had had a change of heart.; there was no time for that and if he was going to directly oppose her then she was unsure if she could complete her goal.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Just after the doctor had replied, confirming that it was indeed the SMAT-075, Elena's voice could be heard - she was surprisingly close. "Huh? Oh, hi" he said, obviously not at all keeping the same enthusiasm and hopefulness which he usually maintained. It was surprising how quickly she managed to identify the machine - he hadn't even shown her a picture of it. But that alone didn't make him suspicious of her, in fact, it was nice that she did recognise it as the Morellian probably wouldn't have had the heart to tell it to her otherwise. Looking up at her, he let out a long "Yeah" before letting his gaze fall back down to the ground. Letting both one and two moments pass, he continued "But I can't. They need it here. It will save dozens of lives" he said, repeating what he had overheard from the doctor earlier.

Never having left, the elder looked at them with confused eyes and finally asked what they were talking about. Although he had sympathy for Elena who seemed to be in quite the rush, this time, she would have to wait. In the worst case, he would swim back. "You see, a few days ago, a brand new SMAT-075 was stolen from the hospital by the spacesport by a few Gungans. And I think this is the one" Mathieu spoke with a rather apologetic tone as a sense of panic started to spread across the elder doctor's face. She started moaning, almost sobbing, about how they needed the machine to save lives and how it was desperately needed in their hospital. Holding up both hands, palms facing the floor as he tried to calm her, the Mercenary stepped closer "Don't worry. I couldn't take your machine now" Looking at the elder with kind eyes, she slowly started to calm down "Is there a chance that I could come back for it once things calm down here?" he asked. Thinking about it, the doctor finally nodded meekly "Maybe after one week if I double my efforts, or one and a half" she said, almost as if pleading for more time. "Take the time you need doctor." he said whilst thinking of some kind of deal they might reach. Finally, he continued "You see, the hospital put a bounty on the machine. So, I would suggest that you either pay them to rent it, or, you could pay me to protect it. What do you say?" The doctor started to truly realise the gravity of the situation and stammered that she would have to talk with her superior.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

As the situation grew clearer, Elena grew more and more frustrated and the persona she had built up for herself began to crack under the pressure of the situation. She was no longer smiling or cheery but instead looked cool and emotionless as her resentment built for Mathieu as he had begun to thwart her plan. She watched as Mathieu conversed with the doctor and began to scowl as he did; there was no need to pretend to be nice any more, doing so would only hinder her plan even more than it already had been.

"What?" She blurted out in disbelief as he claimed he could no longer take the machine. Her expression turned to worry as she realised that getting the machine out would be very difficult if he was going to be in her way as well as the Gungans. When he spoke of being hired to protect the machine, Elena scoffed and gave him a look of exasperation but waited until they were alone to speak her mind. "What, and you think that's noble of you? Offering to protect it?" She asked, incredulously. "They stole this machine, people on the surface need it just as much!" She told Mathieu.

Although she didn't explain the reason for her outburst, she expected he would be intelligent enough to understand the situation as it unfolded and the true reason for her visit. "I'm taking that machine back with me." She told him as she walked over to it to pick it up. At this point, she was likely in enough trouble with the hospital so she had nothing left to lose and all she needed to do now was escape. She produced a blaster from her bag and held it pointing at Mathieu as she edged around the outside of the room, towards the doorway.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"What?" he asked confused as she questioned him. Her nice demeanour was now gone and in its place was that of someone callous and mean. Although her words could have been piercing, the Mercenary had never really seen himself as noble and opened his mouth "Not real-.." he begun but didn't quite get to finish before she continued. She had a fair point - who was he to judge which side needed it more? And it was the surfacers machine so perhaps it would be more fair to let them decide what to do with it anyways. But then he remembered the stressed situation down here whilst he had no direct memory of a similar situation at the hospital by the spaceport. "I don't know about that" he said.

While the Morellian had planned on pondering the question further, she suddenly darted towards the SMAT-075. The pieces started falling in place - Mathieu was realising what was really going on and with that, he raised a hand. Just as she was about to go past him, his hand connected with her upper chest, just by the collar bones "Wait just a minute" he said gently pushing her back a little, not even having let her get past him to the SMAT. "The machine should stay here, they only need it for a week or two" he said with an upset voice.

The longer time progressed, the clearer things started to become. His face furrowed, he looked at her intently "Who are you? I'm not letting you take the SMAT" he continued with a determined voice. Now that they stood at a close distance, he was quite prepared to keep pushing, disarm her if she suddenly armed herself or pull out his own blaster which sat readily at his belt. For a moment, he considered pulling out the stun baton from his bag but decided that there would be no need to escalate the situation for now. "They're using it to save lives! You can't just take it away!" his loud voice started to attract more attention among the staffers who carefully started to peek into the room.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

All Elena saw when she looked at Mathieu was somone inexperienced and foolish but he would soon learn from his mistakes and he would learn that kindness came at a cost to those who bear it. A job was a job so she didn't know how anyone would take him seriously if he let emotions or idealistic views of the world cloud his judgement. Sometimes neither consequences were better than the other but at least with one then someone would get paid and she had hoped it would be her or at the very least she had hoped to get half if she was forced to negotiate with him.

She glared at him when he prevented her from passing him and immediately retorted. "I don't care! They stole it and we will get paid to deliver it and it'll help patients on the surface. There are more benefits to returning it." She replied. The situation had escalated considerably and this was the turning point where she could leave without the money but without any further trouble from Mathieu, or she could continue challenging him. She thought for a few moments, unsure about what to do before she had an idea.

Elena backed away from Mathieu and the machine, towards the doorway and once she was close enough to the wall, she threw her elbow back into the fire alarm and set off the building-wide sirens that warned the presence of a fire. The corridor behind her erupted into chaos as people began rushing back and forth to try and evacuate the building but she remained where she was and instead took advantage of the commotion to pull out a blaster, set to stun, and aim it at Mathieu from a few feet away. "We could've been partners." She lamented sarcastically.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

She was cold, truly, but in the end, she did make some sense. A silent gasp could be heard in the background from one of the staffers peering in. They were going to loose their machine and it was devastating. "Elena, listen to yourself!" his voice was raised, allowing it to be heard clearly by those nearby in the corridor outside. He had already established himself as an ally to the Gungans and had no qualms with more people joining him to convince her to refrain from what she wanted to do. "We can save lives. Look at how busy they've kept. And the doctor said that they'd only need it for a week" he continued pleadingly, hoping that she would have a change of heart.

Slowly, she backed away but his right arm which had held her back earlier remained raised, showing her his palm which was pointing down at the floor at an angle. "We can pick up the reward in a week. They will still need it up top, won't they?" his voice returned to a more normal tone as the situation seemed to deescalate. It was then that she pressed the fire alarm - apparently connected to the entire hospital instead of just their floor or wing. Gungans truly were something else. The corridor outside did indeed errupt into momentary chaos before one of the staffers which had watched them picked up the intercom. She spoke in the loudspeakers spread throughout the facility, informing everyone that it was a false alarm from the department of scans and analysis. Having left to make the announcement moments before she pulled the gun, the staffer never thought of calling for security which was probably rather fortunate for the evil woman.

Already suspicious from her sudden triggering of the fire alarm and obviously not one of the people running around trying to evacuate, Mathieu had kept a close eye on her. They only stood a few feet apart and tall as he was, he could, with some effort, reach over to her; which is exactly what he did as he saw the handle of a blaster appear from her bag. With a foot stepping forth and a quick sweep with the right arm, he smacked the weapon out of her hand, causing it to fall down onto the floor a few meters away. Unless she did something sudden, he would lean back, a little but kept hovering relatively close to her "Are you insane?!" he exclaimed angrily as he looked at her. "Security! Call for security!" he hollered, eyes glancing over to one of the nurses who stood frozen, looking at them from behind a cart. He then looked back down at Elena with disappointment and anger in equal measure.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

The world was cold, harsh and unforgiving so she rarely looked out for others under the impression they would not do the same for her. She had one good friend in her life, her namesake; the real Elena Nyström but she was dead now - she died helping others until it killed her and Clara would not make the same mistake.

"I don't care, I need it now! I want to get off Naboo!" She shouted angrily. There was nothing left for her here and her identity would always be scrutinised on the planet where people knew her; she needed to get escape and start a new life under the guise of Elena Nyström. He wouldn't understand, nor could she explain it to him but her intense frustration was noticeable.

When he smacked the blaster from her hands, she looked up at him with a fierce glare and clenched her fists but knew there was nothing else she could do; it had become apparent to her by now that she was in big doo doo dis time. She considered making a run for it but before she could come to a decision on how good an idea that was, she had a Gungan on each arm, restraining her and one of them asked Mathieu if he would like to press charges, prompting a scoff from Elena. "No way, you'd want to take this to a Gungan court?" She asked, clearly amused.

"You're pathetic and you're going to get yourself killed." She told him. "Have a nice life!" She called as she was led away by the Gungans and escorted off the premises. Kindness was a weakness to be exploited and in time he would learn it, though it might cost him dearly.

Mathieu Brion