Space

[Rihn]

While Harley showered up, Rihn returned to the pilot seat and broke orbit. Now in deep space, Rihn put the ship on auto-pilot. Then, he voice locked the console and headed towards the medbay.

 

Inside the medbay, Rihn looked around for the needed instruments. Finally finding the physical therapy 'footwear' he was looking for, Rihn commed to find out if Harley was dressed yet. Getting word that she wasn't quite out of the shower yet, Rihn returned to his gallery and relaxed as he drank a caffinated beverage and glanced around at his many plants and works of art that adorned the walls.

 

Finally receiving word that she was presentable for visitors, Rihn knocked softly on the door.

 

In the usual soothing voice quailty that all native Gurlanin had, Rihn asked from outside the door, "Harley, may I came in? I have something for you."

[Rihn]

Rihn chuckled to himself.

 

"Well it might help you to be able to walk around by yourself until then."

 

He gestured, showing her the anti-grav boots.

 

"I use these boot for physical therapy. They simulate a small gravity field of their own making you about to change the amount of gravity working against your body. You just strap this device to your waist. You can use it to change the gravity. As you get better, increase the amount more and more until you are able to walk fine in normal gravity. They are yours to use," he concluded setting the whole set on the floor next to her bed.

 

"Also, here is a comm device. If you need me or anything let me know with this," he said handing it to her. "Other than that, I'm going to get some rest. I imagine you will do the same. As you might wake up before me, feel free to comm me or wander the ship. What's mine is yours, Harley. Sleep well... I see you when you wake up, I guess."

 

Having finished all the things he needed to do, Rihn slept well. They would be in Byss soon enough, but until then his accommodation would have to do. He couldn't help but wonder, though, what he would find her up to in the morning and how healthy she would be as well.

[Rihn]

-Comm to Astraal

 

If possible try to make that close to 1200 or 1300. We have things to discuss before my meeting with Trowa Barton.

 

Rihn out.

 

-Comm ends

[Rihn]

In his room, Tobias carefully meditated on the information he had extracted from her reactions as he pushed her buttons. Judging character was the most important part of his job and one he took very serious. Remaining in his room, he stared at the floor.

 

She has a vornskr. I love vornskrs. The best pet money, skill, or training can buy. Of course, I prefer them wild. Still, maybe I'll have to introduce hers to mine. Maybe they'll become friends...

 

Tobias laughed.

 

Whispering to himself, he mumbled, "But back to business. I still haven't finished my evaluation...hmmm..."

 

...

..

.

 

As Astraal continued eating, her vornskr suddenly growled towards the galley entrance. Slowly peering around the corner, a beautiful young human girl with unkept hair and raggeddy (sp? ) clothes showed her slightly sooty face. She looked like she hadn't eaten for some time, much less showered, along with some visible redness and bruises in various areas.

 

Shyly inching forward, she finally spoke, "Please miss. Could you spare some food? I stowed away on your vessel some time ago and haven't been able to find anything to eat since then. I'm starving. Please..."

[Rihn]

The girl thanked Astraal, "Thank you so much. That would be great."

 

Digging in, the girl ate quickly before speaking again.

 

"You wouldn't happen to have any ice?"

 

Lefting up her sleeve, the girl revealed a large bruise only a few days old.

 

"It might help the swelling go down a little."

[Rihn]

The girl didn't reply to Astraal's first question, instead looking down at the ground as her long hair swallowed her face.

 

When Astraal asked her next question, the girl glanced upward, before looking back down and nodding her head.

 

As Astraal began to apply the first aid, the girl winced just a little.

 

Then she finally replied, "It's... it's from my master... he beat me...before I escaped. He beat me a lot... at least when he got drunk..."

 

The girl paused to lift up up her shirt to reveal a bruise on the rightside of her chest around where the bottom of the rib cage began. With the other hand, she pulled back the hair on the left side of her face to show off another bruise on the farside of her cheek.

 

"That's...that's why I had to escape. Just please don't send me back. Please. I can't go back. Especially after what I've done. I don't know what he'll do to me..."

[Rihn]

The girl glanced down at the question and stared at the pavement.

 

"It....I...I don't want to talk about it... if that's ok..."

 

Then at the second question the girl looked up.

 

"A shower would be nice. If it's not too much trouble..."

[Rihn]

Thank her for all her help, the humanoid female began to shower.

 

...

..

.

 

Meanwhile, Astraal sat in the cockpit staring out the view screen at the streaks of light that the Dancer's Run surfed through on it's way to it's destination.

 

Out of the shadows, Tobias stepped forward.

 

"Colorful aren't they? The stars? Each one holding their own planets and millions if not billions of sentient beings. And how about that. It would seem we have almost arrived at one such location."

 

Stopping a few feet infront of her, Tobias questioned, "Would you so quickly feel pity or empathy for that female? What if she is lying? She could be a thief or a space pirate. And even if she isn't, she is a slave. You make a living in the slave trade. What makes her special? Why not imprision her for resale?"

 

His tyranical smirk returning, Tobias finished, "Why did you spare the female, Astraal?"

[Rihn]

His devious smile widened, "Don't sell me short, Ms. Astraal. Remember. I know a thing or two about Vornskrs. I have some myself. And of course, I am the best in the business when it comes to spying, espionage, and the like. But that is a good question, isn't it? One I'll let you ponder as you prep our landing," Tobias ended pointing out the viewscreen at the now quite visibly large planet.

 

Turning, Tobias casually walked out of the cockpit and disappeared back into the shadows. All that he left in his wake was the fading, steady sound of his military-grade boots as they clapped against the metalic floor.

[Rihn]

Now in hyperspace, the fleet prepared for their next move. If nothing else, Rihn was sure he had gotten the Empire's attention. Everything was on schedule.

 

"Continue as planned, Commander..."

[Rihn]

Rihn bit into the food carefully. It was a habit she had developed over her years as a bounty hunter. Used to eating in silence, Rihn didn't speak for most of the meal. Suddenly, her datapad rumbled. Looking down, Rihn quickly looked over the information.

 

An eyebrow raised as something suddenly caught her eye.

 

Looking up at Ki, Rihn spoke with keen interest in her voice, "On you're suggestion, I had your profile cross referenced. It would seem that you have had some extensive dealings with the Black Sun in the past. From what I'm seeing, the actual nature and information on what you actually did for them is sketchy. Would you be able to shed any light on the situation?"

[Rihn]

A wide smile parted Rihn's lips as she gave Ki a devious look.

 

"I imagine so."

 

Without another word, Rihn rose from the table. Taking care of her dishes, Rihn drew her attention back to Ki.

 

"As much as I've enjoyed chatting with you, this is the point where I paths diverge. At least for now. I have a hired bodyguard that will meet us at Nar Shaddaa and take you the rest of the leg of your journey to a safe house. There you will be taken care of until I can assure you're safety on Naboo."

 

Raising a finger to her chin, Rihn added, "Plus, I'm sure the Sun would be very interested to know that you live. If you would like, I could arrange a meeting with them for you. Think about it. I'll be in the cockpit."

 

Finishing what she had left to say, Rihn exited the room in preparation for their drop out of hyperspace.

 

((TO NAR SHADDAA))

[Rihn]

Meeting up in deep space, the Hutt Cartel fleet makes there last hyperspace jump towards their final destination.

 

Commander Orsa looks back at his men.

 

"This is it, boys."

[Rihn]

((nice one... but I'm not going to let you get out of it quite that easily... of course, Rihn is most likely in trouble. He doesn't know about the daemon king thing. Only the sith part. ))

 

Rihn watched from a console as he viewed the destruction. He knew that it wouldn't have made sense to engage the sith until they reached the planet. Suddenly, though, the sith had attempted to change those plans. Rihn wasn't having it. Rerouting the bridge controls to his current terminal, Rihn reinitiated the original destination. He also set up a force feedback should Ryu attempt to hack into the system again. More importantly, though, he locked and encoded the destination. Now only his authorization codes would be able to override the autopilot.

 

He would battle the monster at Myrkr. He would make sure of that. It was obvious he didn't stand a chance otherwise. He was currently three floors below the command deck. Entering the last bit of coding, sending off a message, and initiating a distress call, Rihn made his way towards the original location the sith had came from. He needed to keep his distance as much as possible until then. They were almost there. Just a little more.

 

Rolling into position, 10 droidekas, 10 droideka mark II's, 10 battle droids, and 5 C-B3's now blocked the bridge exit. The Droidekas initiated their shielding while the rest of the droids opened fire. More were on their way. Rihn, of course, realized that they would serve as nothing less than a diversion. Formidable for sure, but with what he had seen so far he had no doubt that the sith would be able to handle them. Maybe if he was lucky they might even wear the sith down a little or even hurt him. However, he didn't expect them to accomplish much more than that. He just needed time and that's what they could give him. This was it.

 

((Ok... now to Myrkr. ))

[Rihn]

The lights on the dashboard blink as a YT-1930 vessel moves through hyperspace. The cold metal hand of a prototype HK model activates the message and reads it as it scrawls across the Huntress' cockpit screen.

  Hide contents

"49 20 68 61 76 65 20 61 20 6e 65 77 20 61 73 73 69 67 6e 6d 65 6e 74 20 66 6f 72 20 79 6f 75 2e 20 49 6e 66 69 6c 74 72 61 74 65 20 61 6e 64 20 61 73 73 69 73 74 20 74 68 65 20 4d 61 6e 64 61 6c 6f 72 69 61 6e 73 2e 20 59 6f 75 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 66 69 6e 64 20 74 68 65 6d 20 6f 6e 20 43 6f 72 75 73 63 61 6e 74 2e 20 49 6e 66 6c 75 65 6e 63 65 20 74 68 65 6d 20 74 6f 20 68 65 6c 70 20 72 65 65 73 74 61 62 6c 69 73 68 20 74 68 65 20 48 75 74 74 20 66 61 63 74 69 6f 6e 20 61 73 20 61 6c 6c 69 65 73 2e 20 41 77 61 69 74 20 66 75 72 74 68 65 72 20 69 6e 73 74 72 75 63 74 69 6f 6e 73 2e 20 52 49 48 4e 20 61 75 74 68 6f 72 69 7a 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 63 6f 64 65 3a 20 52 49 48 4e 2d 34 32"

From behind it, an R-5 droid comes rolling casually into the cockpit area. RIHN's head jerks robotically as it brings the astromech droid into the viewing range of its photoreceptors.

The droid whistles and beeps in droid speak as it approaches, [Who sent this message?]

Query: So you received the message as well? HK-RIHN asks as he turns back to the console and readouts in front of him. 

[Of course i did. i thought you said Rihn was dead?]

Statement: I know I said that! But it would seem that someone has gotten access to the master's command authorization codes.

[now do you know it was not the master himsself?]

Clarification: Yes, mechanically inferior one. I do not know that for a fact. But short of receiving a live feed of the optical data directly to my state-of-the art, built-in photoreceptors, I can otherwise confirm with a 98.6% certainty that Rihn is dead.

[that percentage sounds made up to me! how did you come up with it?]

Irritated Answer: I do not need to justify the validity of my calculations to the likes of you, inferior one. Your job is to perform basic ship functions. 

[i am far from inferior and my calculations suggest that the probability is that the master must have sent us this message somehow.]

Commentary: If the master had seen fit, in his wisdom, to use you or your calculations for anything other than basic maintenance and navigational tasks, I am sure he would have had you modified to speak basic or any of a plethora of other languages that meatbags speak.

[the way i speak makes my calculations no less valid.]

Concession: You are right, R5-B4-6. It is not the way you speak but your inferior processing capacity and internal components that make your calculations and input invalid and unreliable.

[So are we going to follow the directions or not?]

Answer: Of course, you moronic droid! We will follow the directions sent in this mysterious message from this unknown person. The access codes and encryption are all well within known operating protocols.

[You could have just said that to begin with.]

Request: Inferior one, plot us a course for Coruscant.

[oh. So now you need me?]

Recitation: We have a date with destiny!

Within the course of a few minutes the Huntress drops out of hyperspace and changes course. A new course is plotted before the ship is once again shot back into hyperspace. The new destination, however, will take it into the heart of the Core Worlds. Next stop, the tomb world of Coruscant.

---

Edited February 13, 2019 by Rihn