Cruising For Trouble

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori dropped her little training fighter The Grey Sparrow out of hyperspace and into the Amar system. She was on her way back to CSA space from Mandalore, but had needed to fuel up along the way. She was just in a little fighter afterall, and not some big corvette or Star Destroyer. So far, anyways. Whether or not [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] had sent her babysitter [member="Jake Awaud"] to follow after her in case of trouble was anyone's guess.

Her eyes darted the skies outside of her cockpit windows once the lines of stars converged into dots. Her sensors were picking up nothing out of the ordinary this far, outside of ordinary traffic moving in and out of the fueling station that floated near the planet of Amar.

Her mom was known for being a magnet for trouble, yet Lori so far seemed to have not inherited that gift. But she did inherit her mom's sense of adventure and good nature. So at least that was something.

She eased the throttle, bringing the Grey Sparrow towards the fueling station slowly. Other transport vessels moved past, their ships dwarfing her own and gave her a bit of a sense of intimidation. Or maybe it was awe. Did she ever want a massive Destroyer for her very own? Not really. They weren't as easy to maneuver as her fighter was.

Lori chewed the inside of her cheek as she pssed what looked like the outer shell of a corvette that lost a battle very badly. If there was trouble here, then she was sure that she could handle it.

Maybe.

 

[Ultimatum]

"Is the pilot still alive?"

"Yes."

"Almost out of Hyperspace, this ship better hold together."

Ultimatum's full attention was focused on the controls of the small shuttle. The timer was slowly ticking down; the terminus would indicate the arrival at their destination. The droid hoped that the engines could handle it. The pilot, before being incapacitated had warned Ultimatum they had made a blind jump in the general direction of safe space. The engines were leaking fuel, atmosphere was seeping out of the hull punctures, and on top of that Ultimatum was certain that there was an undetonated torpedo in the shuttle's wing. Overall, the situation was rather dire, and the droid felt that there were limited options at this point. With a cargo bay full of shrapnel and a comatose pilot, this ship was not going anywhere until it received repairs.

As the long lines of the stars began to telescope into points of distinct light, the ship shuddered menacingly, and then a roar echoed through the ship. The shuttle started a spin which was swiftly accelerating. Ultimatum, unprepared for a thruster to fail, flew against the cockpit's viewport and he felt the transparasteel groan, and a crack surfaced. Fighting the centrifugal force, the robot forced his hand to the controls, pushing the remaining thruster to slow their corkscrew motion through the void of space.

------

Safely tucked away in the immobile heart of the droid, Upari continued to monitor their passenger. The pilot, now a passenger due to the circumstances, had been buckled in carefully after they had entered Hyperspace. According to his analysis, the Gran had been rendered unconscious by a concussive blast during the earlier engagement. It had been unexpected, as was often the case with pirate attacks. Upari was still puzzled as to why they had attacked, the small shuttle could not have carried anything of value, and if it had, it would have been accompanied by an armed convoy. What had enticed them to attack? It was important to discern the motive, for pirates usually worked for monetary gain. If there had been no chance for valuables to be found on the shuttle, why waste ammunition and energy by attacking it?

------

As the shuttle slowed its incessant spin, Ultimatum turned his attention to his surroundings. Fortune was on their side this time, for they had entered a relatively busy refueling station. With consideration of the rapidly emptying fuel reserves, Ultimatum carefully nursed the ship towards the station. Small bursts to keep the vessel moving in the right direction, Ultimatum saved as much as he could for the slowing manuever he would need to enact soon before reaching the destination. While one hand remained ever close to the controller, his other hand shifted to the commincation equipment and tested its functionality. The screen sparked and fizzled while the speaker blasted out the static that was the background noise of the universe. A small pulse of thrust to keep the ship on course. Spinning the dial, Ultimatum listened to the audio until he reached a fairly common wave. Pushing the contact to emit, Ultimatum began to desperately call, "Emergency, this is shuttle..." Ultimatum's hand tried to find the ship identification, which he remembered seeing scratched into the metal somewhere on the console. Finding it, he felt it and read, "Beta, Zero, Two, Mike...Beta, Zero, Two, Mike, Seven, Niner... Beta, Zero, Two..." The ships shaking cause Ultimatum to lose his spot and he repeated, but stopped. He gave way and spoke, "This is incoming shuttle, we are down a thruster and fuel is low. Still in control, pilot incapcitated and in need of medical attention."

In hindsight, Ultimatum would probably have realized the situation was far from dire. The ship still responded and there was no immediate danger of death. But in the heat of the moment, Ultimatum's concern lay mainly in the unknown condition of his pilot and the unknowable control time. At any moment it was possible for the controls to die and the ship would likely head into a spin again, but that did not happen yet.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori's brows furrowed as an emergency call patched threw on the fuel station's open channel. Right away she turned her head to look all around her for the source. At first she didn't find anything.

But then there it was.

The shuttle seemed to limp it's way in the direction of the station in a really odd angle. It was quite the wreck and barely looked like it could function at all.

Lori halted her little fighter's course to the fuel station and turned it about. She flicked on her mic so that she could transmit on that same open frequency. ~Shuttle Beta Zero Two Mike Seven Niner, this is the Grey Sparrow. I'm just a little training fighter, but if you hook up to me, I should be able to lead you to the station a little quicker. Over.~

Whether or not the pilot would respond to someone so young, she wasn't sure. In any case, Lori began to bring the Grey Sparrow towards the limping shuttle. At least if anything, she could nudge the shuttle with gentle pushes of her fighter's nose.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

As the ship continued to move forward, Ultimatum felt that the ship had found a reasonable course and was leaving the thrusters off for a bit. It would, hopefully, maintain its course until they were close enough to the station. The droid was relieved to hear a voice over the communications equipment. It did not occur to the robot that the youthfulness of the voice would suggest anything other than a youthfulness in body. Age was no restriction to a droid less than three years old. He swiftly pushed the contact and replied, "Grey Sparrow, thank you. If you could lead us in, we'll follow your course. Over."

The most difficult part had been calculating the ideal path towards the station. Distance and a direct course would have been easy, but Ultimatum had to consider the traffic lanes and ships. A particular location could be the standard entry point for ships and while it may be safe most of the time, if he passed through as a ship exited Hyperspace, well he would be asking for trouble. With the guidance of another vessel, he could follow a much simpler equation. He did not expect anything more of a fighter vessel. Based on mass alone it would be incredibly difficult to move the larger shuttle.

"Can you keep an eye on the passenger when we reach the destination?"

"We'll see if I can use what I have learned." Upari replied to Ultimatum's mental query. The Shard was learning in the Force, but it was not a quick process. This was as good a time as any to test them.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori sat up straighter in her seat as her message was responded to. At least it isn't beneath some people to respond to a kid. But when one needs help, beggers can't be choosers sometimes.

~Shuttle Beta Zero Two Mike Seven Niner, roger that. My sensors will help, plus my eyes. I've got great peripheral vision, you know?~ A momentary lapse as she got a little excited, feeling just a little more grown up as she was helping these poor people out.

Before speaking again, Lori cleared her throat. ~I mean, follow me. We'll get you to the station quickly.~ She quietly chastized herself for saying 'we'. There was no one else on board her fighter and it wasn't as though the Grey Sparrow was sentient. Regardless, she swung her fighter around once she had gotten close enough to the limping shuttle. Easing her throttle, she maintained a gentle pace, her eyes darting about for any ships that would cross their path. Then she flicked on her radio to transmit to the station. ~Amar Station, this is the Grey Sparrow. I'm leading a shuttle on vector Tee Thirty-Six towards hanger eight. Please keep our path clear. The shuttle's highly damaged.~

~Roger that. We heard their broadcast before you cut in, Grey Sparrow. Lead the shuttle in. Medical personnel are already on their way.~

~Awesome! I mean--Thank you, Amar Station~ She continued to lead the shuttle towards the station. So far so good.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum would have smiled, had he the ability to do so. If nothing else, the person helping out was energetic, and that was more welcoming than a lax person at this point. The droid kept his eyes on the small fighter that wove through space like a bird through the air. Roughly moving the controls to force the less than amicable shuttle to follow, Ultimatum appreciated her slow pace. For a moment the engine gave a splutter, and the thruster died out. A single second stretched out to what felt like a minute as the robot ran through the effects this could have. Without propulsion, he would have become a small asteroid, a small but study asteroid. The thruster restarted with a shudder that shook the ship harshly. Ultimatum fought with the controls to keep the vessel in the right direction.

The shaking caused a longer crack to appear in the viewport and Ultimatum noticed it. With the reflexed only a few sentients could lay claim to, the robot let one hand fly over to the emergency lockdown and pushed through the thin glass, shattering it, and pushed the contact beneath. The few doors on the shuttle quickly closed and sealed. A few moments later, the cabin decompressed as the transparasteel collapsed and flew into space. There was a momentary gust before the atmosphere disappeared and Ultimatum, still in the cockpit, was surrounded by the void. He was about to press the contact to communicate when he recalled that there was no purpose. One could not speak in space. He could scream and yell into space, but there was no material to carry his vibrations to any ear. He was cut off from those around him.

Upari had the solution moments later. While Ultimatum continued his work, the Shard felt through the Force and found the small communications device. With his intimate knowledge of electronics, Upari was confident he could use the Force to maintain contact with his rescuer. Pulling the Force around his small crystalline body, Upari sent it into the machine and opened it to communicate. At first, the complexity allowed him only to create a burst of static as he attempted to create the sounds necessary to be understood. After a moment, the noise became words that sounded like Ultimatum, yet softer and more organic, "We are okay. Repeat, we are okay. Continuing, further communication limited." The Shard felt wearied by even so low a stress.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori was all pleased with herself and what she was doing. And why wouldn't she be helping people? She was Lori the Manda'Lori'an. Saving people was her destiny!! That is if her parents and brother were anything to go by.

She continued to lead the shuttle through, glad that the Amar Station's traffic control were keeping the path virtually clear for them. But there was always the chance that someone didn't listen to them and didn't follow the rules. So Lori kept her eyes peeled for them.

That was when the voice of [member="Ultimatum"] came through. They are okay? What happened?! She turned her head to look behind her and was shocked to see the state of the cockpit. Oh no. The viewscreen must have shattered somehow. ~We're almost there. Just a few more minutes. Hang in there.~ Lori could see the door lifting for hanger eight. There was sure to be a good story to hear from whomever was on that shuttle.

And maybe...she'll be labeled a hero and get some big medal or something! Yeah! That'd be cool.

Of course if there was trouble coming to the station, then the medal ceremony would have to wait.

 

[Ultimatum]

Fortune, at last, shone upon the group, for no accidents occurred and the shuttle seemed to throw no more trouble to the droid pilot. As they followed the small fighter into the hangar bay, Ultimatum felt his circuits begin to relax. The landing gear worked, surprisingly, though it seemed ironic that it was one of the few systems that had functioned. Ultimatum made sure the hangar door closed securely behind them before he turned off the engines. The characteristic hiss of atmosphere being forced to fill the emptiness of the hangar relieved the droid of any immediate concerns for his passenger. As long as there was air and a medic close by, Ultimatum felt that any sentient would likely survive.

As the room filled with air, Ultimatum pushed the comms contact and gave one last transmission, "Thank you again, Grey Sparrow. We owe you one."

The droid had no idea how to repay a debt like this. It was not the first time something like this had occurred, but every other time it had been a known ally or friend who had been there to rescue him. Ultimatum had a new experience to deal with and something to figure out. But before he could do that, there was a soon to be patient to check on. Finding the emergency switch, he searched for the release. A few moments later the hatches were open, and Ultimatum moved to the passenger area. The Gran seemed to be stable, a pulse, relatively safe breathing, and the cut he had was rather shallow.

"You stay with him."

"Time to stretch my legs."

Ultimatum blinked for a moment as he waited for the command to activate. The back of his armor opened slowly, and the droid lifted himself out of the suit like an insect shedding its skin. Upari now had free reign to control the armor at will, just as Ultimatum had intended. Of course, the Shard would need to use the Force to move it about so unless it was necessary Upari was unlikely to move very far on his own accord. If the pilot deteriorated in an unexpected fashion he planned to move, but otherwise he would just remain.

Meanwhile the true body of Ultimatum, shorter than most humans, raced out of the ship and waved for the medics. He looked about for the pilot of the Grey Sparrow, he intended to thank her as best he could.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori piloted the Grey Sparrow into hanger eight and made sure to give the shuttle plenty of space before she dropped her down gently once her landing gear was down. Of course she had executed the landing perfectly, in her own humble opinion, although it wasn't entirely a soft landing.

She powered down her little fighter as the air once again filled up the hanger, allowing her to exit her craft. Before she unbuckled though, the voice of [member="Ultimatum"] came over her comms. Lori grinned. ~Just glad that I could help, is all. I was coming in to refuel anyways.~ She unbuckled herself and lifted the canopy of her little fighter, standing on her seat before jumping down onto the durasteel floor with a thud.

Her fingers ran through her hair before she headed over towards the shuttle. Already medical personnel were on their way towards it. What caught Lori off guard however was the little droid that came out of the ship. Was that who she was speaking to? Hmm. Her pace never wavered as she approached, although she kept herself clear and out of the way. Hopefully the injured crew member would be okay.

 

[Ultimatum]

The medics flashed past Ultimatum, who was only able to throw out a few words before they were gone, "Seating, Gran, concussion." The droid understood the needs of the medical personnel for haste, it was part of their training, perhaps programming would have been a more apt description based on how deeply ingrained their lessons were. With little attention now on them, he turned his attention to the person who walked in his direction, who he assumed was their savior.

It seemed the sentient who had saved them was on the diminutive side, but still larger than he was by a few centimeters. Ultimatum noted nothing unusual about her demeanor or who she was. When they were close enough to communicate verbally in a comfortable manner, Ultimatum gave a bow as he thanked [member="Loreena Arenais"], "My most sincere gratitude to you. There was no certainty of my, or my compatriots' survival, without your intervention."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Everything seemed to be going well. That made Lori feel even better about herself. Her confidence bloomed, as well as her ego. But teens always had big egos. They were invincible, weren't they?

She looked down to the droid that was just a little shorter than she was and gave it a big smile. Normally she wasn't bowed to unless they learned who her parents were, but [member="Ultimatum"] didn't know. He seemed to be quite grateful. "Oh, I didn't do too much, really. But you're welcome. I just wished that I could've helped sooner. Your ship is in need of a lot of repairs. Who attacked you? Is there a chance that they'll head this way?" If they did, the station should be able to handle it. For the most part. Maybe.

"I'm Lori, by the way. Do you have a name? Or just a designation?" She wasn't trying to be rude. Lori just didn't want to address the droid as 'hey you'.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum admired what he perceived in her to be humility; it was a trait not easily acquired by sentients of any age or species. Her question was valid, and it brought up his earlier wonderings. Now that they were safe aboard the stronghold that this station was, compared to the shuttle he had been in, Ultimatum found that there was no definite answer as to why they had been attacked. Moreover, there was no recollection of identifying their attackers. He had assumed that a group which attacked a shuttle immediately after it exited Hyperspace were criminals. However, it did not explain their inhuman reaction time. It was almost predictive in nature; perhaps they had a Force-sensitive aboard.

As she went on to introduce herself, Ultimatum listened intently. His mind quickly linked the name and appearance permanently in his identification matrices. He found some sentients reacted negatively to being mistaken for someone else and therefore the droid had spent much effort on a program that could identify a person with a mere five percent failure rate; that small portion was primarily related to the inability to completely predict appearance evolution over the course of a lifetime. He commenced his introduction at the appropriate time after hers had been completed, with a semi-bow, "Salutations Lori. I am Ultimatum. I do not have a designation. My compatriot was with the pilot and might come out with the medics. His name is Upari."

He then decided to answer her initial queries as best he could, "I am uncertain as to our antagonists' identities, we had assumed they were pirates based on their propensity to attacking us immediately upon our reversion to Realspace. I should believe they will not attempt a further attack."

The medics came walking past, carrying a semi-cognitive Gran on a stretcher. Meanwhile, the more substantial armor that contained Upari stepped slowly and awkwardly from the ship. Seeming to have caught its foot on the last step it almost tumbled over and took several rapid steps away from the vessel before trudging over to Ultimatum. It gave a single slow nod to Lori before falling still.

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori's eyes blinked wide. " [member="Ultimatum"] ? My mom had a friend with that name. He was a droid too. Very smart and caring, she said; one of her best fr--" Her head tilted to the side a little. Was it possible that they were one in the same? It would be a strange coincidence if they were. "You wouldn't happen to know a [member="Lady Kay"], would you?"

Her brows then furrowed as to his description of who attacked them. "Pirates? What were you guys carrying to attract their attention? And how did you get away? Were they destroyed? Is that why they won't be persuing you?" Plenty of questions were on hand for this one.

Upari's stumble caught Lori's eye. She grinned with amusement and bowed her head too. "Hi! Are you Upari? Your piloting skills are top notch to be able to fly such a wrecked shuttle! Fantastic job!"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum found the likelihood to be infintesimly small that Lori's mother would know a droid named Ultimatum and that her mother would be unrelated to the [member="Lady Kay"] that he knew. There was a small part of him that appreciated the compliments. There was some strange pleasure to be found in discovering that one was talked about in a positive way, Ultimatum was very organic in that manner.

"I know Lady Kay, though it has been awhile since we last met." The droid in fact did not recall if Kay had in fact had a daughter when they had spoken before.

Upari was silent for a moment before the Shard managed to focus its Force into a message to be sent to [member="Loreena Arenais"]. With only one way to communicate with other sentients, Ultimatum aside, the Force speech was short and not entirely grammatically correct, "I am Upari. I am not pilot. Thanks the same."

Ultimatum would have frowned, "I do not believe we were carrying anything of value. We were fortunate to have escaped, the pilot made an immediate jump. We took a missile nonetheless, which is where the pilot got injured and we had to take over. As far as I am aware, the pirates are still quite alive, but there is no logical reason they would follow us here."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori just beemed as [member="Ultimatum"] knew her Mom and that he was the droid she talked about. "Wow!
I can't believe that I finally get to meet you. You're like...like...one of her best friends! So did you guys really go exploring and go on adventures and such? Or was she just pulling my leg?" Her mom didn't go out on adventures much at all. So it was a bit hard to believe that she was capable of it.

Her attention was then drawn to Upari as it Force spoke. Lori just grinned.
"Well you're a natural at piloting! I wonder what daring feats and maneuvers you could do with training?" The possibilities of such a thing were endless.

Ultimatum spoke up again, and she tilted her head as she puzzled over his explanation. "Well that's strange. Maybe the shuttle matched the description of another.
Where were you coming from?" She didn't think that the pilot was what those pirates were after. Of course it could be a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded as bits of memories flowed through his mind, adventures was a word for it. Adventure was such an interesting word; it could mean different things for different people. An adventure for one might be merely to step out their door, while another would think of traveling to far off lands and finding exotic peoples and treasure. "We did indeed have a number of adventures. She was impressive." Kay had managed to accomplish much in her time there, perhaps instilling a part of peace that would come to Ultimatum.

Upari's shell bowed in embarrassed thanks. Compliments were rare and far in between. Droids thought they had it rough, not being appreciated or noticed by their creators, but a Shard working with a droid was perhaps worse still. It was not that Ultimatum did not recognize what Upari had done, or that Ultimatum did not give credit where credit was due. But when they did something, Ultimatum was the one who was noticed for it. Upari was unconcerned with such things, the galaxy was filled with so many people doing so many things that trying to get recognition was trying to scream in a hurricane. However, if he heard Ultimatum complain about something similar, Upari would chastise him.

That idea had not occurred to the droid. When asked about his originating point, the droid remembered the rather winding path the pilot had assured was the fastest route to Arkania. Based on the distances Ultimatum doubted that it was true, but had decided to follow his suggestion nonetheless. He was the pilot afterall. "We were on Bonadan, bound for Arkania. Some business details to set up. There were a couple of transports like this one when we left. Think could have been a mistake on their part?"

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Zye Woden]

[member="Loreena Arenais"] @Ultimatum

Zye stood by in line, waiting to be cleared by the ATS (Amar Transport Security) officers in the space port. He tossed his boots into the bin, suffering the indignity of baring his feet in public before tossing his comm unit (a relic of bygone gorgeous ages), and his data pad in a separate container. His short sword and whip were both removed from his belt and placed in separate containers as well.

"ID, please," said the Amaran with a less-than-pleased tone in its vulpine voice.

Without a word, Zye flicked his passport towards her. Part of him wanted to give a simple mind trick to prevent the questions he knew were coming next. She arched her eyebrow, "Do you have permits for these weapons?"

The vampire presented a second set of paperwork. All of them were valid forms of permission to carry both of his weapons of choice. In the galaxy full of flame throwers and turbolaser cannons, the fact that both were so low-key and so non-lethal made them stand out.

The Amaran nodded, Zye could smell her suspicion rising as she saw his race, "Uh-huh, and what was the purpose of your visit to Amar? Business or pleasure."

"It was my pleasure to do business here," he said with as much cordiality as the exile could muster.

"Great," she eyed him, unconvinced, "step aside to be patted down."

"You don't need to pat me down," Zye assured her with a wave of his hand. The woman blinked for a moment. "You will send me through without a problem."

"Have a nice day, sir, thank you for choosing Amaran Airlines," the woman said in a suddenly sweet tone.

Zye grabbed his personal effects and quickly moved through the crowded space port to the private terminal he had rented out for his vessel, the Dark Talon.​ It was sleek, elegant, and one of a kind. He hated having to use public space ports like these, they were such a pain with no end in site of the pure and endless drudgery of beings with their filth. But since House Woden was still lurking in the shadows after their ejection from all they had owned for eons, Zye didn't have a lot of choices. That was the reason he was here in the first place.

It made him sneer in irritation, what good was it for a dark, professional hunter, groomed from a long bloodline of hunters, should find himself searching and scrounging in the back alleys for tax evaders and loan sharks?! He grit is teeth in anger. There were days when the blood of evil ran in the streets thanks to his own hand. There were days when his blade did not cease to make safe the wives and children of Iridonia. Now all it did was get checked by the AST on his way on and off world.

He stormed up the loading ramp and quickly angled the ​Dark Talon ​off the ground. He didn't hesitate to open a bottle of blood from the chilled drawer and savor its organic components. He was a pure blood vamparika, and his pallet required its needs. He winced as the crimson liquid passed through into his stomach. It was hardly the fine quality he was used to, but he was too hungry to complain for now.

A red light on the dark dashboard light up.

"Son of a Skywalker," Zye muttered. A spaceport on the edge of the planet's orbit loomed before him. He was sure they would likely scalp him for what he had just earned, but the ​Talon​ needed to be filled up.

The dark ship landed gracefully in the landing bay, as Zye stepped out into the open area, he could see some small youth and a smaller droid speaking. Alongside them was also a battered shuttle and a spunky fighter. Zye quirked a smirk as he stepped over, examining the damage to the shuttle. With every step his dark, once glorious cloak fluttered behind him.

"I wish I could say, whoever attacked you was clearly the amateur hour," Zye said drily, swirling the bottle of chilled blood in his hand as he stepped around the nose of the vessel, "I've taken craps cleaner than these blast marks. A gundark with gonorrhea could piss with better precision."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Wow. So her Mom really did more than just drink tea and rule over everyone. That just made her a wee bit cooler. By a little. She'd have to see it with her own eyes to believe it.

Lori placed her hands on her hips as [member="Ultimatum"] explained to her about their route and that there were indeed other shuttles that looked the same. "That could be it then. And you never know, the pirates could've been drunk too."

Speaking of drunk...That was when [member="Zye Woden"] showed up. Lori looked up at the man and his bottle. To say that he had a potty mouth was ....well the truth. He did have a potty mouth! People tended to mind their language around her, but he seemed to hold nothing back. "Yeah? And who are you?
Station...uhh...Station weapons expert or something?"

 

[Ultimatum]

That indeed seemed to be the ideal solution, and Lori suggested something that might also make sense. If he were to spend the time thinking about, Ultimatum was confident that a plethora of possible explanations could be discerned. It seemed hardly to matter at this point. The pirates had failed to accomplish what they had intended unless intimidation had been their mission. "True."

It was at this point that another person joined them. Ultimatum turned as he spoke, observing as the sentient rounded the shuttle. The droid was uncertain if he was drunk, given his clarity of speech. Ultimatum had heard many a course dialect in the galaxy, and the HoloNet was almost as filthy in its depths. As a robot the terms were not particularly revolting, these words had a definition and a meaning, though he himself would have used different verbiage, though that was to be expected from a droid.

From what Ultimatum would have guessed, this sentient did not work in the station. He was not entirely sure as to what the man was, though Upari had a better idea. The Shard in the large suit took a step back so as to appear to look at the sentient. His sight, not of the physical world but that of the Force, spoke more of the man than Ultimatum could have known. Instead of attempting to communicate, the Shard listened to see if he would realize that there was a third in this group.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Zye Woden"]

 

[Zye Woden]

@Ultimatum @Loreena Arenais

Zye didn't eye the young teen with much regard. However, when she asked if he worked there, his face gave a noticeable turn of dissatisfaction at the idea. He gestured to his garments, "Would a common space junkie wear this?"

His clothes, to her credit were a fair bit worse for wear. His dark colored tunic, made from shimmer silk, wasn't in the pristine condition it had been in back in the castle of House Woden. The cloak wrapped across his shoulders was a fair bit more ragged on the fringe that it was a few months ago, and he as well was less clean than he had been. He shook his head in disinterested disgust, "I am so much more than that, Zye Woden of House Woden."

If she knew of him, well it was a toss up what she would recall. It could be the long line of Sithspawn hunters based out of Iridonia, or it could be the fact that they were exiles, or it could be their heritage as users of the dark side. Or, more likely in the bigness of the galaxy, nothing at all.

He took a sip from his bottle of blood. Someone else might have toned their language down in front of the child or treated her with greater delicacy but he had never received that as a youth and he saw no need to show her the same. She was probably the daughter of someone important, but the tone and expression on Zye's face said she was as important to him as the rats in the septic tanks.

"If you are the pilot who flew this scrap, then your ability in combat is nearly as horrible as your taste in shuttles," he offered her his bottle. If she took a sip, all she would taste was a blood concoction from several different species, chilled like some preferred their milk.