Open Orbit

"As I said, my prowess in battle seems to have removed any stain on my honor due to my perceived betrayal, so no, I do not think there will be a problem working with her. The tradition is a crude one I do not understand, but again, one I am grateful for. And for the other, she never told me, and I never asked."

*Suddenly, she felt complete, whole, a Jedi. Her red skinned hand clasped firmly around the lightsaber hilt so tightly, it was as if a piece of her very soul had been returned to her. So focused on the saber she was, the Togruta hardly noticed she secondary item placed in her other hand, and almost dropped it when the Yuuzhan Vong pulled his hands away from the tech. She blinked, relaxing her grip on the weapon and listening to his last, disgruntle words.

Blinking once or twice, she turned her naturally adorned face up to meet with his eyes, and her expression became truthful and sincere. *

Thank you... Nem Yin.

*But it was so true. The past few days had slowly allowed the tendrils of darkened hopelessness to creep into her mind and wrap around her brain. This, having her weapon back, all be it on a leash attached to her spine, was enough to force those thoughts back, and once again bring back the jedi she was before all of this had happened. She fingered the grooves and few switches on the saber's hilt. The metal felt cool, refreshing, secure against her palm, perfect. She'd built it herself, long ago. She'd gotten to know this weapon almost like her best friend,

And she was good with it.

But the moment ended quickly as more people approached. It appeared as if, for all his fearsome appearance and underappreciated, Nem was actually rather popular, ironically, to the ladies. Perhaps that was because he wasn't leering at them LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! Still, Shay found it a little humorous.

Looking to Maya, the Jedi almost at once recognized a fellow warrior of Ashla....but a dim one. She'd been here much longer than the young Togruta, and when Nem's words came to her mind, reminding her about her mild insanity, Shay's heart at once went out to the Zeltron. With out thinking, or caring what anyone's reaction would be, Shay gave a traditional, polite Jedi bow in respectful greeting. *

A pleasure to meet you Maya. I pray Ashla is keeping you well,

*For that moment, she wasn't the slave, captive the Pirates had picked up. She wasn't the fearful, bound creature Nem had sent his minion to release from her cell. She was a Jedi Knight, Addressing another of the order, how ever far gone the other might be. Hopefully, there was still hope.

And then, another presence came into the Jedi's perception, and Shay blinked again, regaining her composure. She stood straighter as the Vong/ Nagai approached. Her eyes turned and fixated on Saariza. Shay almost felt like she could sense the dislike from the other woman, but she couldn't be sure, and she didn't want to assume anything. Their last conversation had been strained, cut short, full of friction. She wasn't sure how they stood now. A brief smile, friendly, cordial in nature, beset her lips before suddenly fading, her expression tensing up as Nem stroked the biot clinging to her spinal column. It sent a brief, but unexpected singling sensation through her body even if it might not have intended to do so.

Shivering slightly Shay nodded slightly before turning her eyes away from everyone, breathing out and slowly, almost reverently, clipping the saber to her side where it was suppose to be. With a breath of misplaced security, she was able to look at people again. A confidant expression beset her face as she fingered the other item she'd been given. *

I'm fascinated how your people can look at a dieing world, and bring it back to life again. Maybe this one won't be as bad as you've heard. But if it is, we won't be there indefinitely. And I'm quite sure we won't meet our end there.

*She relaxed her shoulders, quite content with herself now, at this very moment. The notion of being on a pirate ship as a captive had fled from her mind again. Why, or what caused thees strange lapses in reason, she couldn't tell, and she really didn't want to. It drove despair away, and despair was crippling.*

It's the awful places we come to, that make us truly appreciate what we have.

*And she needed to cut off the Jedi philosophy. It might not bode well with the Shaped Nagai, the heavily decked out Yuuzhan Vong, the crazy Jedi Zeltron, or the sithly darkling following her. So, almost self consciously, yet not at all apologetic, the young Togruta shut her mouth, and peered straight ahead, toward the hangar doors, wondering where the next leg of her journey would take her, and if Ashla's light would be kind enough to blind her to the horrors around her, that she was obviously oblivious to.*

[quote="Trask":3f209wl1][color=#4080BF:3f209wl1]"As I said, my prowess in battle seems to have removed any stain on my honor due to my perceived betrayal, so no, I do not think there will be a problem working with her. The tradition is a crude one I do not understand, but again, one I am grateful for. And for the other, she never told me, and I never asked."[/color:3f209wl1][/quote:3f209wl1]

[narration:3f209wl1]Having travelled all over the galaxy Arkan had encountered many different societies, many of which valued martial prowess extremely highly. What Trask was saying was entirely plausible for the Iridonian society, Arkan had just never come across someone being forgiven for such a fundamental betrayal before. However he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, he still had Trask on his crew, with his extremely useful stealth ship and had acquired Lita who was skilled indeed if she managed to defeat Trask in combat and get the drop on himself back on the planet.[/narration:3f209wl1]

[npc name=Arkan:3f209wl1][color=#800000:3f209wl1][i:3f209wl1]In that case, make sure you're ready for combat and proceed to the hanger bay with the rest of the crew. I shall meet you there.[/i:3f209wl1][/color:3f209wl1][/npc:3f209wl1]

[action:3f209wl1]Arkan rose swiftly from his chair, allowing it to be pushed back by his legs and fall over. Someone would clear it up at some point. He then walked past Trask and out of the door, making a right turn towards the hanger bay. He was already prepared for anything, his armour having being upgraded slightly. The [url=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Personal_cloaking_device:3f209wl1]personal cloaking device[/url:3f209wl1] the Trask had given to one of his Reapers had been installed to his armour along with the [url=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/No-Show:3f209wl1]no-show[/url:3f209wl1]. Another advantage he'd being brought by the Chiss.[/action:3f209wl1]

[action:3f209wl1]The Captain walked down the familiar corridors with a good feeling, he was back on his ship, even if it was only for a brief period. However the "shore-leave" was exactly his brand of fun, shooting a few droids which inhabited the scrapheap world below would ease any tension he had. He walked into the hanger bay, eyeing the crew and where they had gathered. He recognised all the ships aside from one, it must be Lita's as it was parked almost slap-bang in the centre of the hanger. He strode towards it and as he climbed aboard he yelled back into the hanger.[/action:3f209wl1]

[npc name=Arkan:3f209wl1][color=#800000:3f209wl1][i:3f209wl1]Lets go![/i:3f209wl1][/color:3f209wl1][/npc:3f209wl1]

*The Intendant was so engrossed in discussion with his companions that he almost missed the Captain bark out a command. Nem's head swivelled in the direction of the ship, finding Arkan upon its ramp. He nodded his head, a physical display of his acknowledgement to the boss' order.*

"You heard the Cap'n." *Nem said as his accent reverted to pirate gutter-speak.* "Git your butts in gear. Move it, move it!"

*Frantically he swirled his arm, gesturing from the group to the ship as he ushered the rest of the pirates aboard. When the task was completed and the hangar was once more clear, he strode up the ramp as well, slamming a fist upon the hatch control as he entered the ship.*

*Nodding, Saariza moved to follow Nem onto the ship, ignoring the infidels already on board as she stood besides the Executor and his companions. Grinning despite her overwhelmingly technological surroundings she glanced to Nem with a smile as the hatch began to close.*

*Giving a hard stare before she could believe it herself, that she was a jedi and just spoke without fear of Ashla. Yes she did, this was a stroke of luck on her part. Keeping from the others her wave of emotions on this part, knowing good well if she had any training she be able to feeling through the force. Giving her face a pleasant smile with her own bow back to her. Haven├óÔé¼Ôäót forgotten how to do this much truly this was a glorious day to be had. Having to give a little laugh to her jedi words of wisdom something she had gone too much without.

Seeing Arkan make his appearance for it was worth she ├óÔé¼┬ª. That thought giving away with some kind of pain to her mind. It showed in her face just how it had given her. Following not far behind everyone getting as close to Shay as she could to speak to her on the way but in a low kind of tone to keep from everyone hearing.*
Its, a pleasure to met, Shay when and if we make it back, by the force we need to talk.

*Giving a long deep sigh to what was to come down on this planet just what they was doing here, in her mind no doubt to cause more hurt to someone or a bunch of people.*

*The hull began to fill with a rabble of over-excited pirates, eager for the action of whatever laid in wait for them. Lita rested her hand on the rotating pilot's seat and spun it towards her, lifting its back up before she fell into it. Then, her shoulders rose as she visibly winced from the sound of Nem Yin's strike against the delicate control panel. She spun in her chair and hollered, her robust voice projecting well over the rest of the shouting.*



*Lita turned sharply back to the control panel, hissing a curse under her breath as the engines of the Firespray began to hum to life. Her lips were pulled back in a dangerous scowl that only one or two others in the galaxy might have recognized as fair warning coming from the Zabrak. These pirates had best keep their hands to themselves and not go rifling through her things.

Her voice was a low growl as she turned sharply to Arkan.*

"Better warn your boys to hang on to something, because I sure as fek know there aren't that many seats."

*With a sudden roar of the thrusters, the Firespray lifted up into its vertical position and pushed out of the Carrack's hangar, heading for the junk planet below.*

*In response to Lita's unexpected outburst, Nem narrowed his eyes and turned his head, glancing at the control panel he had struck on the way in. For the most part it appeared undamaged, though he couldn't claim to be an expert on such things. To him it looked like just about any other piece of tech his allies made use of. He cast a perplexed look in the direction of Saariza, uncertain if his smiling compatriot comprehended the device any better than he did. Casually he shrugged his shoulders and returned his head to a forwards position.*

"Oops." *Was all he said, though it appeared to fall on deaf ears as their pilot was already engaged in conversation with the captain.*

*Before he had time to walk into the tiny cockpit compartment and question their fearless leader about their business on the planet, the ship lurched forwards. Combined with the deck plates rumbling slightly beneath his feet, he asserted that they must have just taken off. The movement of the ship was enough to nearly send him tumbling back. Instinctively he planted his feet on the ground and uncoiled his amphistaff. With a snap of his arm he cast a length of the serpent around a secure looking strut affixed to the ceiling. Shem-Veesu managed a tight hold on the metallic beam while the Intendant wrapped the rest of its length around his left arm, binding himself to the creature and further ensuring that if he slid or stumbled, it wouldn't be far.* *There wasn't a lot of room in the back compartment so chances were they'd be bumping shoulders for most of the ride.* *In the following moments he took the opportunity to perform a head count.*

*Everyone who had shown up in the hangar was there, but someone he had expected to come with them was definitely not aboard.* *His mqaaq'it changed colour, casting a blue florescent glow on those in the back, hinting that the Intendant was curious.* *Where was Trask? Given his arrival with Lita, Nem had assumed that the Chiss would be coming with them. His absence raised a number of questions. First among the list was what had happened in his meeting with Arkan? This was just the sort of thing that drove him mad. If the boss wasn't careful there would likely come a time when his routine of keeping the crew in the dark would not pay off. Yuuzhan willing, Nem would be around to point it out when it happened.* *Relaxing, he unfastened a bladder flask of sparkbee honey from his hip and took a swig, starting the party early.*

*Half an hour after the others had left, Trask was in his quarters aboard the pirate ship, the first time he'd even so much as seen them since joining, when the neural link to his ship suddenly came back online, alerting him to the fact that it had arrived. Running a quick calibration of the sensor-to-implant interface, he had his implant overlay the ship's sensor data directly to his field of vision, allowing him to virtually see through the hull of the ship to what lay beyond. There was little to see aside from the usual traffic.*

*Shutting down the overlay, he left his quarters and arrived in the hangar the same time his ship did, then boarded and left almost immediately. The ride to the planet would be a short one, but it would be long enough to replace the damaged power cells in his armor and calibrate a new set of weapons to replace those that had been irreparably damaged on Iridonia.*

OOC: Post-Pirates, again*

*The Aggressor starfighter broke atmo, and almost immediately following, jumped into hyperspace.*

*There were no fond farewell glances, no baleful looks, no emotion of any kind directed at Raxus Prime. There was no time for trivial frivolities. There was an army to be built.*

OOC: After the Pirates.*

*Bursting from the atmosphere was the large ship, an Acclamator II-class, with the name Pink Tutu. It's engines pushed the large ship away from the planet, and as soon as the astroids were brutalized away from the ship, a jump to hyperspace was planned. Pinky Doodle Bob looked back at his planet, left under the stewardship of Max. Then in an instant it was gone in the blink of stretched stars.*

*The Cutlass had overtaken the Impure in the atmosphere, due to it's immense engine banks, and broke into orbit first. The smaller Firespray soon caught up and docked aboard the larger ship. Without leaving the Firespray, Arkan ordered the Carrack to jump to hyperspace, he was not waiting one more moment in this hellish system. Their destination was unknown to most except the bridge crew and the Captain, it didn't matter to the rest of the crew. Soon after the cruiser left the atmosphere it seemed to explode into nothingness, as every entry into hyperspace appeared!*

*Tra-San-Lor hissed at the navigational computer. Wishing that it was a furry jawa or ewok or even a nemodian, his eyes blinked as a small protected scale cover went over it. He was lost. He hissed again at Rha-Ni-Hura and swished his tail at her. It was her idea to go off course and he was a bit mad. Here, two Tiss'shar were on a planet full of junk. There could possibly be nothing to enslave or eat. It had been a few weeks since he ate though they had fresh meat in the cooler, it had not yet gone rancid. And, Tra loved rancid meat. He shifted the controls of the Kissh'nal to enter into an orbit around the planet. He left it on auto-pilot and looked at Rha and hissed as he spoke.*

Itss wasss yourrrrss sssstupid ideaaa tooss gosss heresss. Nowsss tellsss meessss howsss wesss willsss getsss a slavessss.

*He flashed his talons in anger at his stupidity on listening to her.*

*The fact of the matter was that Tra was very stubborn yet he rarely got mad. And, he was not mad at Rha and probably she knew it. He had a large ego and for being Tiss'shar, his smartness and intellect made it worse not to mention that he was the brawn. But, he liked his business partner.*

*Rha remained silent, her tawny eyes heavy-lidded with all of the appearance of disinterest. It would have seemed the female was ignoring her male counterpart entirely, if her own tail hadn't lashed in response to his. She had always considered there's a language of subtleties, and felt superior for it among other humanoids.*

"Alwaysss ssso impatshhient."

*Her forked tongue flickered between rows of sharp teeth as she spoke. She opened her eyes fully and turned her crowned head to the side so that she might better fix her stare on Tra.*

"We haven't even ssseen what isss here, yet. I have instinctsss."

*Actually, what she had was a short-range scanner that had detected the recent pirate activity near the planet. Like a circling bird of prey, if the pirates had been here, there had to be something worth finding. Tra complained often, but he had never become so frustrated with her that he left. Still, she needed him, and preferred to keep him mollified. Rha took a lumbering step closer to the male and traced her claws lightly along his headscales.*

"We won't wassste time. Jussst a quick look. If we sssee nothing on the terrain, we will go elsssewhere."

*Some time later, the XS Stock Light Freighter returned from the surface of the planet, breaking free of its polluted atmosphere to head for empty space. It adjusted to its new heading and disappeared into hyperspace.*