Brother, Is That You?

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia brushed her forehead while she stood there. It was nice to have a moment to take a breath, even though she knew it was only for a second.

Plus, they had done a great job. Hopefully, all the slaves got out and wouldn't be in the camp for the light show that was about to happen.

She perked a brow to Freya as she tapped her shoulder. She nodded (ignoring the insult) and began jogging towards the entrance behind Freya. She kept an eye out for any other slaves that might be hiding or injured - she didn't see or hear any, so she presumed they had all gotten out. The entire camp was a blood bath. She had a devilish grin on her face - it was karma. Hopefully, they'd be burning in hell now.

She saw the ship, plus Milo at the ship. She ran into the ship with the Milo & Freya, eager to get this place blown into pieces. She gave a grin to Milo, "Ready?"

 

[Milo Ren]

"Ready. Let's ash this chithile."

Milo and Freya hopped aboard the gunship. He ran to the cockpit, and as soon as he took a seat, began to prime the weapons systems. He lifted the ship up, putting the landing gear away as Freya took the copilot's seat next to him.

The gunship swung around and up, with the slave camp in full view. With no noncombatants in the field of fire, the entire place was free game. Freya took aim with some of the bigger turbolasers at the main tent and fired.

The main tent went up in flames. With an almost sinister look on her face, Freya shifted aim and targeted the entire camp, raining down death upon the evil establishment. Soon, there was nothing left but ash and smoke. Freya let go of the ship's weapon controls and looked at Milo.

"It's done."

Milo smiled faintly. Wow, that felt good. He would then turn to Cass, smirk still on his face.

"That's done. Let's get out of here."

With his hands on the controls, Milo rocketed out of orbit. Next thing they knew, the gunship was plotted on a course to Nar Shaddaa. The hyperdrive hummed, and they set off.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She nodded as she followed behind them into the cockpit. She wanted to watch this place burn. It wasn't usually in her character to be as bloodthirsty as she was, but this was revenge. This was taking back everything that these jerks took from her.

She nodded after Freya blew the crap out of the place. She enjoyed watching it burn. It wouldn't bring her family back, but it would give her some satisfaction that no one else would be hurt by these people.

She gave a smile in return to Milo and nodded. "Let's." Hopefully, they'd find her brother there. "Thank you for not giving up," she said quietly.

With that, they were on the course to Nar Shaddaa. It would be a bit of a journey, so they had some time to relax until they arrived in Nar Shaddaa space. She knew it would be at least a few hours so she walked towards the bathroom to take a satisfactory shower.

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo leaned back from the controls. His work on the ship was done for now. They had a few hours until they got to Nar Shaddaa. He silently accepted Cass' thanks with a nod. She left, off to go rest. Probably. Sitting back, the former Ren looked to his daughter.

"You good?"

Freya procured a flask from under her controls and took a swig.

"I'm fine. Wondering when this is gonna be over."

Milo kicked back and sighed, reaching a hand towards her for the flask. When he got it, he took a swig as well, feeling the cool whiskey burn smoothly down his throat.

"It'll be over soon."

The man got up from the pilot's seat and stretched out. Now would be a good time to rest for a bit. Freya raised an eyebrow as he stood up.

"You're bleeding."

It seemed that a stray shot skimmed the edge of Milo's side. He was just now noticing it. His leather jacket was slightly singed, and a few drops of blood were pattering down on the floor of the cockpit. It wasn't a grevious wound, but it still had to be addressed.

"Hmm. I'm gonna hop in the shower, rinse it off. Best to sterilize it before addressing the wound. Stay here. If anything weird happens, let me know."

The former Ren lumbered off to his quarters, where the only working shower aboard the ship was. He didn't even notice that Cass was in it until he entered the latrine, shirtless, showing his wiry body, the fresh wound, and various scars from his years as a slave. Then he saw the outline of Cass in the shower, all of Freya's clothes scattered on the floor.

"Oh, chit."

Milo then backed away, exiting the bathroom. He would sit on his bed until she was done.

"That was close," he chuckled to himself. She probably should have told someone where she was going before she went to bathe.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassi needed a moment to just... Think. It had been a very intense, wild couple of days with little to no time to herself. Nearly being killed by the people she hired, to weird tinglies for the person she did hire, to blowing up the people who ruined her family. She even sang a little song.

A shower was perfect to get all those thoughts out. A nice, long, hot shower. Granted, it wasn't too long. She knew not all of the showers worked on the ship, but she had found one that did work - it was somewhat awkwardly in Milo's quarters. But, she presumed he'd probably be with Freya or doing other things like ship stuff.

She didn't even notice that Milo had came in, and left.

She turned the water off, stepped out, and grabbed a towel that hopefully hadn't been used before to dry her body off and her hair. It was a few minutes later when she finally emerged from the bathroom with a towel still around her waist, dirty Freya clothes in hand, to see Milo sitting on his bed, one leg up.

She jumped a little before taking a breath, "O-oh." He wasn't wearing a shirt. She saw his upper half with no clothes, which made her turn pink quickly. But she also saw scars - ones that she could tell had been there for a long time. Most worrisome, though, is that he was injured. She winced seeing the scrape on his side. "Ouch, you're hurt," she said quietly as she walked over and sat beside him to inspect it. "Not too bad... Needs to be sterilized," she said quietly.

"I'll get a medkit real quick, I'll be right back."

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo raised an eyebrow as Cass nearly jumped. Then she saw her turn pink and sighed internally.

"There's one here at the foot of the bed."

The man also saw Cass eye up his various scars. Some were earned at the end of the lash. Others were a result of his training. He could tell her how each one was earned, if she wanted to hear.

"Sorry I came in earlier. I didn't know you were in there."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Oh, good. There was one at the foot of the bed. She nodded and went over, leaning down to grab it. With that in hand, she sat down beside him as she opened the kit. "It's okay." Looking towards the graze, "Sit straight for me." Once he did that, she would take the laser cauterizer to disinfect and close the wound. It would only take a few seconds of the small lasers to seal the skin shut.

It felt weird being this close to him, particularly with her being basically naked and with him half naked. Maybe she should strike up some conversation. "Some of these scars are from a while ago," she said out loud. That wasn't the exact conversation she was going for, but it was something at least. She wasn't sure how old he was, but she was sure that some had to have came from when he was a kid. Poor guy.

Setting aside the cauterizer, she pulled out some bacta salve and carefully rubbed it along the now sealed wound. Her skin tingled at the touch of his, even though there was a salve in between.

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo winced slightly as the laser cauterizer did it's work. Modern medicine was a wonder. Within moments, the wound was closed and disinfected. Next came the bacta salve. Cass' hand felt oddly nice against his side, smooth and soft against him. It brought a tingle upon him, which quickly ended after she had asked him about his scars.

"Yes."

Milo gave Cass a sideways glance before elaborating.

"The ones on my back are from when I tried to escape from my master. Twice."

Long, thin scars stretched out long ways through his back, no doubt from a whip.

"The burn on my shoulder is actually an insignia. Hutt Cartel. It was so I was marked as their property."

There was a faded brand on his right shoulder. If she looked at it closely, Cass could make out the symbol of the Hurts.

"Scar on my chest is from a knife fight. Guy missed all main arteries. I didn't. And the rest are from training."

The former Ren earned his scars through rigorous trails designed to weed out the weak. It had left it's toll on his body.

"You have any?"

Milo looked over Cass' exposed body, trying to see if she had any scars. He tried to relatively ignore the fact that she was virtually naked in his bed, with the door closed...

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She took the bandage out along with some water resistant medical tape next. When he glanced towards her, her face had one of concern. Her eyes locked on his for a minute before she looked back.

She ran the bandage over the graze while he explained where his scars came from. She nodded as she listened, taping the bandage onto him. It should be healed within a day or so, thanks to the wonders of bacta.

She looked towards his back and shoulder with a small frown tugging at her lips, resisting the urge to trace some of them with her hand. That was probably why he wanted to help her - it was personal for him. She couldn't imagine the life he had to go through when he was younger. Sitting on the bed she gave a slight smile, "I'm glad he missed, at least."

She nodded, "I have a line from right below my shoulder blade to my hip. Was doing a teaching gig in the outer rims and some raiders showed up, one nabbed me. A couple bullet entry scars on the left of my stomach. Was doing some research on contract and a merc group showed up. I guess hired from the competitors." She shrugged a little, only slightly enjoying that he was clearly looking at her body. Of course, it was the look for scars. But still.

All of her scars were within the past couple of years, fresh with some pinkness still on them.

She couldn't exactly show him, though. The towel only covered so much as is.

 

[Milo Ren]

"Lot more scars then I thought you'd have, that's for sure. You've been in a few fights. Wouldn't guess it."

Milo turned to Cass, locking his eyes in hers.

"I know you want to touch them. Do it."

Why? Why did he say that? He didn't know. Perhaps it was the heat of battle getting to him. Although he had been in enough fights, served in enough wars to last a lifetime, the rush afterwards never went away. One would think he would get used to it. One never did.

Somewhat roughly, Milo grabbed Cass by the wrist and put her hand against his back.

"This is me. These scars are me. They're my past. My body is like a book. A biography. My biography."

His green eyes had a somewhat crazy look to them. It was very apparent that he was hurting from his past, bad.

"I've seen some karked up things. Done some, too. Those things will never leave me, like my scars."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She smirked and nodded. No one did. No one thought she knew how to use a gun or throw a dagger into someones head, either. She had been trained on how to use a gun, a bow, the knives, from a young age. It was mainly for hunting for food, but it quickly evolved into defense. She could have defended her little town if she was there. She blamed herself for it, on some level. She could have helped defend, but she was too busy having a picnic with a boy.

Their eyes locked. And she knew what was about to happen. She could feel it in the intensity that he spoke.

She didn't flinch. Her hand slapped down on his back due to the force he had. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. She opened them to stare back into his wild, green eyes. She took a breath and she let her fingers gently dance down his back, on his scars. She couldn't help but feel so bad for him. She could feel his hurt in her. The galaxy was a karked up place.

She didn't let her eyes leave his, but it was clear from her expression that she was concerned. "We wouldn't be who we are, or where we are, if these things didn't happen to us," she would say quietly, nearly a whisper. "The lines that on our bodies... They are your story. They're my story. " She sighed a little as she pulled her hand into her lap.

She took a deep breath and moved the towel so it would show the still relatively fresh scar, while also keeping her more private areas concealed, from the knife so he could see hers. It was only fair, after all. "It will always be here, but it will always continue to heal," she would say quietly. Despite the bad things that happened to them, or anyone, they could always heal. They'd never recover fully. But they could heal enough to live and make it worth it.

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo felt Cass' fingers dance around the lash marks on his back before she gently pulled away and showed her scars. They looked nasty, and like his, told a story. What it was, specifically, was left to be seen. But he visibly relaxed as she spoke in a somewhat soothing tone, and it dawned on him that he wasn't the only one with scars, both physical and emotional. No, the galaxy had enough hurt for everyone.

"Thank you," he whispered quietly. Milo gave Cass a sideways smirk before he turned back to her scar, the one that ran down from her shoulderblade to her hip. Raising a hand, he reached forward to touch it, but stopped midway.

No. He couldn't get close to anyone again, damn it! She would prove to be his weakness if he let her in him. Another target, another Achilles Heel, another body to bury.

Standing up suddenly, Milo turned away so Cass couldn't see his face. All she could see were the multitudes of lines across his back. 80 total. When he spoke, he did so in a quiet, somber tone.

"I'm going to shower now."

The former Ren then stepped away, moving to the closed latrine door.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia wasn't sure what she could do to truly help. There was no real words that could help heal someone, no actions, nothing. It was a matter of acceptance, of dealing with it, and moving on. It was a process that each person had to go through in their own time.

She gave him a smile at his thank you. She could tell he was about to touch it but pulled away. A second later, he was standing up and looked away. She stared at his back.

She couldn't understand how a sapient organism could do that to another. The galaxy was truly a shitty place.

She nodded, "Okay," she said quietly. One he was inside the latrine, she stayed sitting for a moment. They had both exposed themselves a lot. More than most people ever would. Plus, they were basically still strangers. Kind of.

She stood up, finished drying her hair with the towel, then wrapped it back around her. It was time to find some clothes - or at least get her dress clean.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo rested his hand against the shower wall, letting the hot water run all around his body as he thought. What he had just did to Cass was regrettable. It really was. But he did it to shield both him and her from any unnecessary loss that they may both experience in the future. People whom Milo cared for had a nasty habit of dying, often in gruesome ways, and the former Ren was the one left to bury the remains, both literally and emotionally.

Still...a part of him longed for something real. Someone real. He was confused, and understandably so. So he decided to use the time he had in the shower to think, to question both his motives and what his heart really desired.

A few drops of blood hit the shower floor and washed down the drain. It seemed that Cass had missed a spot with the laser cauterizer. No matter. It was only a small wound. He'd live.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia almost left to find some clothes, but stopped. She sighed, turned around, and sat back down on the bed. She was lost in thought. Mainly lost in thought about Milo.

She felt... A connection, with him. She liked him, sure, but they seemed to have a connection that she hadn't really felt with anyone else before. She wasn't entirely sure if Milo felt it too, but after the moment they just had... She was more confident he did. He seemed hesitant, more than anything.

As such, Cassiopeia decided to do the brave move. She opened the door to the latrine and closed it quietly. Dropping her towel, she slipped into the shower with Milo...

***

A few hours later, Milo's ship was landing on the ecumenopolis world of Nar Shaddaa. They had landed in one of the better, safer parts of the city-world. If someone could afford a slave, it made sense that they would be in the more wealthy part of the planet. However, now the harder part came - tracking down Jacob.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

"Ready to go?"

Milo met the two women at the loading ramp. He was in fresh clothing, still in his leather jacket, weapons for the most part concealed. He past by Freya, who gave her father a slight scowl. She could only imagine where him and Cass disappeared to for nearly an hour. When he got next to Cass, he gave her a slight smile, putting a hand on her shoulder for a moment.

"I know who to talk to here. We'll find the Trandoshan who took Jacob, and from there, we'll find him."

Hitting a button next to him, the ramp lowered, revealing the giant, monolithic city that was Nar Shaddaa.

"Let's go."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia stood near the loading ramp. She had switched into fresh clothes, still a pair of Freya's but they fit a little better. Not that much, but a bit. It was strange to be wearing her clothes still, but it would have to do for now. She didn't really have time to clean her dress, after all.

She perked a brow and nodded towards Milo. She was definitely ready for the next part of their mission. This would be the big part, the important part. Within the next hours or days, they would find out what happened to her brother. If he was alive or dead.

Although, her cheeks were still slightly red from what had happened minutes before. She felt his hand on her shoulder for a moment and she couldn't help but get butterflies. She smiled to Milo and nodded, "Perfect. Let's go," she agreed quietly.

With that, the next steps were going into the city. Several different species were walking across, most looked like they were just trying to survive. She let Milo take the lead, unsure of where to go or even start.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo stepped forward, leading the group down the dirty, dim streets of the Smuggler's Moon. He had only been to Nar Shaddaa a few times, but as a Ren, he had built up a network of shady informants to assist him in whatever the First Order needed at the time. Now, his contacts would come in handy to find their missing person...

***

Milo slammed the Duros against the back of the dingy cantina, startling the daylights out of him. The blue alien jabbered away, attempting to talk his way out of whatever situation he had just entered.

"Look, man, I don't got any spice for ya! I've left that-"

"Shut up, Kale."

Kale's red eyes widened for a moment, taking the human who had him by the lapels in for a moment. It took him a few seconds to recognize him.

"....Milo? Oh, chit. Look, I swear I've been keeping the good stuff separate for the First Order."

"I'm not with them anymore."

Kale's big head tilted slightly to the right in confusion as Milo let him go.

"Really? Damn. Uh, what do you need, then?"

"Trandoshan slaver named Hssksk. I need to find him. And you're gonna tell me where he is."

Kale took a deep breath before answering, a look of worry on his face.

"Yeah, I know where the lizard is. He's bad news, though, man. Seen him take down Wookiees by himself."

"Tell me where he is."

"North of the Refugee Sector. Should be shacked up by the docks there with his cargo."

Milo turned away, facing Freya and Cass.

"All right. Let's go there."

Kale cocked his head around, looking at the two women that the former Ren was travelling with.

"Who are they?"

The man shook his head and spoke as he walked forward, away from the cantina's alleyway and Kale.

"None of your business."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia took in her surroundings as she followed Milo. She hadn't been to a city like this before - large, planet wide. The only other one she knew of was Corsucant. With levels of city, trillions of people, and so forth.

It didn't seem to take long before they found the man Milo had wanted to see. And, wow, that didn't long at all for him to spill his beans. That seemed easy enough. Although, he took Wookiees? That was slightly worrisome. Wookiees weren't known to go going down easily. She felt confident that between Milo, Cass, and Freya that they could at least get the Trashodan to spill his beans. Hopefully, at least.

At least, it was interesting to hear that Milo was part of the First Order. That was something she wasn't too surprised to hear considering how he acted and his past. But, did he really embrace the dark side fully? It didn't seem like it - at least to her.

In either case, they were off to the Refugee sector - in the docks. Interesting. Cassiopeia wondered what awaited them there - maybe... Jacob? Or at least, the last puzzle to find him.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

The trio made their way down to the Refugee Sector, passing by sentients of all species in various states of poverty and drug addiction. It didn't particularly faze Milo. He was used to it. Instead of wasting time giving handouts to beggars, he focused on the task at hand: finding Jacob.

A Twi'lek portmaster sat next to a terminal at the dock just north of the Sector. He hardly lifted his head as the trio approached him, with the former Ren looming over him.

"I don't keep credits on me. If you're looking to rob someone, try the vendors down the road."

"I need information. Hssksk. Which ship is his?"

The portmaster looked up briefly before shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't remember. Perhaps some credits would stir my memory."

Milo sighed. His patience was short, but he resisted the urge to assault the Twi'lek. It would only draw attention to the group. He instead reached for his wallet and threw a few credits down in front of him. The portmaster subtly pocketed them, then spoke, his voice a low whisper.

"Dock 3A."

With that information, Milo stepped off to locate the slaver's ship. On the walk there, he turned to both Freya and Cass and spoke, giving them advice.

"No idea what we're going to run into there. Just be prepared."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]