Oh No, Not Now..

[Kay-Larr]

"I'm trying!" Kay was firing almost blindly. She knew that the shields could only withstand so much before they needed to recharge. It was a downfall for her ship, one that would need correcting if she got the chance. She couldn't think about the escape pod or of [member="Kyle Amedis"] inside. Brief glimpses allowed her to see that a transport was nearing it. At least he wasn't going to be abandoned.

The Free Lady shook violently as the shields began to lose their strength, alarms ringing in the air. "Oh this is not good. Kay, we're jumping now!" Terrac turned the ship away from the Destroyer and initiated the hyperdrive. The stars turned to streaks as they made their jump.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Kay unbuckled herself and made her way up to the cockpit. "Where are we going? How long is the jump?"

"Not long. The shields took a pounding. We'll have to buckle down for a bit, doll. Quintas is the closest stop" Just outside of First Order space as far as they knew. Hopefully they'd be safe for the time needed to recharge. But the odds weren't always with them.

[member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

The transmission was short and apologetic, the bridge evidently had lost sight of the smuggling vessel. Very well done, breaking away from the TIEs at the perfect moment and making a jump to Hyperspace. Initial assumptions were that the criminals had made a jump to get out of First Order space. That was a nuisance, if possible they would try to locate the ship, but that was not a priority. They had reacquired the target. That was all that truly mattered for now. "Have the fighters return and begin plotting potential courses based on their last known trajectory."

His attention then came to [member="Kyle Amedis"]. It was time to speak with the man that probably didn't even realize the relationship between the two of them. It was important to Tobias that he be aware of his son's capabilities. The Moff would question Kyle later, once the medics were done with him. He would require privacy for such an inquiry, something that a Moff could find both difficult and surprisingly easy to obtain. He assumed that his son would be more than willing to answer a few questions and follow some sort of procedure. He needed to know what had happened and be sure of the man's resolve. But patience was important, there was a balance to inaction and action. He believed he had found it in the First Order and in himself. Thus he waited for the soldier to pull himself back together.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The lightshow stopped. The ship had made the jump. With a slow swallow, Kyle composed himself. Maybe it was a good thing the duo had fled; maybe it would be the last time he’d see [member="Lady Kay"] – the one claiming to be his sister.

If she was of importance….what if she had used the Force for manipulation? And the message? No, that couldn’t be faked. Could it? Was he seeing images she planted?

He span, a little frustrated and shrugged of a hand from a fellow trooper to help him.

”I’m fine, leave me." Kyle said as he walked through the hangar.

He had a sore head, and that was all. He’d had worse, and survived with little aid. The battle on Takodana had shown that, but he HAD nearly died there if it hadn’t been for that native girl healing him. He knew there would be reports demanded from his, but he’d just rather wait until he got a call to provide one. Maybe it would blow over.

Maybe maybe maybe.

Kyle hadn’t been this unsure about anything in a long time.

[member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

The Free Lady shuddered as it exited hyperspace, almost as though it was out of fuel, but really it was losing energy. The heavy use of shields had started to drain the power cells, almost to their breaking point. A recharge couldn't come soon enough.

With an expert hand, Terrac took the ship into the atmosphere, having already turned off the rear shields to provide more power to the engines so that they had a smoother descent. He docked her on a landing pad near a small city. There had been no sign of Imperial vessels anywhere. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief before Terrac shut the ship down.

"I don't even know how you did that. But, you got us out of the cells, so, I guess I owe you some tea."

"Your flying got us out. I couldn't of gotten this far without you. So I guess that I owe you some whiskey."

"I'll not say no to that. Those are the magic words."

Kay smirked and smiled as she picked up her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. How did they manage to escape? It was by pure luck. The whole event was crazy in itself. She paid the dockmaster the port fee as well as for fuel and power before leading the way into town with Terrac along side her. They both needed to relax and so did the Free Lady. Though they had no intention of staying there long.

A short while later, they sat at a small table inside a restaurant. Kay had a reasonable sized plate of food with her tea, while Terrac ordered the biggest steak that they had with a pint of whiskey to wash it all down. One would almost think that it was going to be his last meal, but really the two of them were celebrating their small victory.

"...I still can't believe that a former Senator like yourself us related to Imperial officers. That'll be a slap in your old man's face when he finds out. Do you think he believed you, Kay? He seemed pretty confused."

"I don't know. But he did help us to escape, so it's a good possibility. Still...we don't know anything about him or what his training has taught him. Nor do we know what he'll say when they debrief him."

Terrac nodded and continued eating his steak. Kay took a break from eating for a moment and sipped at her tea, going deep into thought as she pondered on all that had transpired. At least she knew that she wasn't alone in the Galaxy. Yet it was difficult to understand their parents motivations for what they did.

Unbeknown to them, a man had been listening in on their conversation while he slowly ate the same meal that he had every day at the same restaurant. He typed in the information that he had gathered onto his datapad of a former Republic government official here on the edge of First Order space. Perhaps she was a spy like him, but that she was scouting the area ahead of an invasion. Whatever her reasons for being there, that information was going to pay him well. He soon sent the information to one of his First Order contacts to await further instruction.

[member="Kyle Amedis"] [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

It was not surprising that [member="Kyle Amedis"] seemed to be a little out of sorts. Kidnapping tended to have that effect, even the strongest might feel something. Tobias did not let the small notice bother him. There were greater things to be concerned about. Had he fought? Had he gone willingly? The former seemed more likely, the Moff had come to the erroneous assumption that Kyle had been put in the escape pod in order to drag enough attention away from the ship so that it could escape. He was not willing to accept the fact that Kyle would willingly go into an escape pod if those people aboard were friends, after all he could have called off the attack of course. The idea that friends would be enemies of the First Order did not cross his mind.

Tobias moved to intercept Amedis, calling out as he walked, "Captain Amedis!" It was perhaps a brash move on the Moff's part, after all they were supposed to be the heartless decision makers of the Order. They should speak softly and firmly, however there would always be exceptions to that common belief and this situation was one of them. He continued walking towards the trooper, again breaking one of the unspoken protocols. Maybe it was part of the fatherly affection breaking through that had made him break two customs within the last minute, but he would never admit that to himself or anyone who asked.

His steps were brought to a halt by one of the personnel from the bridge walking in front of him. "We have a transmission sir. An informant has seen a ex-Republic Senator on the border of First Order space. The planet matches up with one of the potential destinations for the craft that escaped us." In that moment something clicked in the Moff's brain, an extra piece was put into the puzzle and he was trying to discern its importance. First his son, an unknown fact to most of the men he knew, was kidnapped and taken aboard a smuggling ship. Then the smuggling ship launched an escape pod with Kyle in it, the same ship then using the diversion to escape. Finally an enemy popped up on a world where the ship could have gone.

The conclusion was that this ex-Senator was wishing to play spy or aid the Republic in an unofficial manner. He or she had hired a smuggler to aid in the kidnapping of a First Order soldier so that they could get information. Though, perhaps it was supposed to be a forced defection. Tobias was trying to figure the connection that had his son in all this. It made it seem as if someone was targeting him personally. Shaking his head slowly he responded as controlled as he could, "Good, have the informant follow this Senator and make note of those he comes in contact with. If anything suspicious comes up, then have him call us and get me immediately." He added, "And be sure that he finds out what ship this Senator arrived on. If it matches the one we just lost then get me. Give him whatever fee he wants." Tobias was willing to pay from his own pockets for this. There was something afoot and he wanted to find out what. The question of the weakness of his son had clear left his mind with the development of the circumstances.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

His name bellowed out across the hangar. Kyle slowed in his tracks, exhaled and turned, helmet in his hand now behind his back.

He faced out towards the depths of space; transports were away to the far end of the hangar, TIE fighters were docked at the side and a few lone craft flew outside, troops ran in small packs and droids and officers marched across to where they needed to be. This was the beating heart of the Destroyer, and Kyle was slap bang in the middle waiting for the officer who called him.

His eyes moved to a duo talking, both officers, and he assumed one was for him. Blinking, he looked out again and shifted his stance. And then saw one officer move away and one come closer. Only when the officer came closer, he saw by the rank insignia he was a Moff, and looked like he had served a good few years with the Order itself judging by his hard looks.

GREAT.

Kyle sharpened up and lifted his chin a little - the steel jawed First Order Stormtrooper stance.

”Sir."

Ready for anything.

[member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay couldn't believe it, but Terrac had eaten the whole steak. She had a few veggies left on her plate as her deep thinking made her lose her appetite a bit. Maybe she was just worried about too many things. She stared at her plate, lost in her own little world, when Terrac waved his hand in front of her face and whistled. "Hey. You alive in there, doll? We still have some time to kill. We should use it to remove that tracker we found earlier and then scour for anymore trackers that the First Order goons may have hidden on us."

"And see if they confiscated your whiskey supplies, right?"

"Well we can never be too careful." Kay just nodded a little. Terrac knew where her mind was at. He sighed. "Look doll,he's a grown man, a trained soldier. He'll take whatever they give him. He probably doesn't need his kid sister to come and rescue him. Give him some time. If our arrest earlier wasn't a big enough clue for you, it's not safe for us here. So let's not delay our departure any more than we have to."

Again Kay nodded. "You're right. I wish you weren't, but you're right. He said that he might contact me later, so I'll just carry on until he does."

Terrac always found Kay to be stubborn, but at least she was listening to him this time. He didn't like having to separate them, but he had to. For the sake of their lives. It could be safer at some point in the future.

After paying for their meal, they both left the restaurant and headed back to the Free Lady. She was still getting charged up, but at least the refuelling was done. Soon Kay was on top of her ship, using a crowbar to pry off the tracker that they had found before their arrest. The First Order informant caught sight of them at that moment, having followed in behind them minutes afterwards. With other crews mulling about, it was easy for him to record an image of the ship, complete with Kay working on the top of it. He sent it off to his First Order contact, as well as a request for 10,000 credits to be transferred to his account. Not only was he going to provide this information for them, but he was going to see to it that they couldn't leave either.

[member="Kyle Amedis"] [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

The person moved on after the order, no doubt to fulfill the command. Tobias then proceeded to cover the distance between him and [member="Kyle Amedis"]. A lesser ranked individual might have found it a little difficult to pass through the throng of people. That was a perk of being a Moff, all moved out of your way, almost as if you were one of the Sith themselves. Of course he had no delusion about his place in the First Order, only the highest Moffs could actually be considered remotely equal or superior to a Sith whether acolyte or Lord. His position was grand compared to that of the soldiers, but nothing more than dirt to the Sith. It would have been an intriguing dynamic to study, for one not directly associated with the First Order. If someone in the Order were to attempt such observations it would likely be an offense that the Sith would not forgive.

Tobias did not smile, he did not move to show any sign of affection or that he even knew who this trooper was. As was expected of his title, he remained aloof and condescending. And he was perfectly alright with this, as this was an earned position. He did not want his son to inherit power, that was more often than not a weakening action. He wanted Kyle to work hard and prove himself worthy of whatever title he main gain. If that meant that he never became a Moff then so be it, after all a strong Captain was better than a weak Grand Moff. It did not matter what rank his son would achieve, it was the strength of character and will that was of utmost importance. Thus, his role was not to coddle or even acknowledge the man until Tobias was certain that he could stand by himself and not falter.

"Captain. I wish to ask about your recent adventure. Do you have any other obligations at the moment?" The question was of course unimportant. In the First Order, underneath all but the most exceptional of circumstances, speaking with a Moff took precedence to any and all other necessities, aside from speaking with a Sith naturally. As was traditional of the Order however, Tobias waited for a response nonetheless, no matter how unnecessary it might have been.


The bridge was quickly becoming a hive of activity, nowhere near as chaotic as the hangar could be. The images and information sent to them by the informant had identified beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Senator was at least related in some way to the ship that had kidnapped one of their soldiers. Now it was a matter of making the necessary preparations. They were about to call on the Moff, but he appeared to be busy speaking with the missing soldier, and so they held off notifying him of the situation. The money was transferred quickly, the sum was nominal and would likely not cause any trouble for the Order. They were preparing the Destroyer to head to the world. It would need to be played carefully outside of First Order space, but so long as they did not become aggressive with the locals there should be no problem. There were all sorts of fabricated lies that they could use to claim right to arrest the ex-Senator, it might take a little creative thinking but that was not beyond them.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He’d never seen the Moff before – but that meant little in such a large Order, ever growing and expanding, bringing in resources across their sector to take command of new squads and units. Besides, Kyle was a Stormtrooper. End of. He reported to any of higher command be it the likes of Ricochet, Kalast or now this Moff.

”No," came his reply. To the point.

There was no point making small talk or a wise-crack. He had to keep it together to process both the Moff and his soon-to-be interrogation, and also try and filter off the thoughts of his sister…if she was. Behind the forward facing eyes and stiff posture, his mind was racing and he was trying not to show it as best he could.

[member="Tobias Larr"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

When Kay finally got the tracker off, she tossed it down to the ground. Terrac took out his blaster and fired, destroying the device. "Come on, doll, there's bound to be more of them."

She climbed back inside, knowing that they had to look through every nook and cranny, even their quarters. The First Order had a few hours to go through their ship. Panels were opened, either through their inspection or Terrac's flying. It was utterly boring, but they had the time. Some time.

With the two of them distracted inside, the informant approached the ship. He took a vibroblade out of his pocket and began his dirty work, proceeding to cut wires and the fuel lines. He'd done this plenty of times before, so he knew what he was doing. The informant smirked as he walked back to his former position to observe. Not until the First Order arrived, would he let them leave his sight.

Kay frowned as she found a half dozen listening devices in her quarters. She crushed them, rendered them useless and tossed them out. "Terrac someone has been spying on me in my quarters. Did they think that I talked about secret information in there?"

"That could've been any of your strays, doll. Come on. The charge is almost done. Time to get ready to go."

[member="Kyle Amedis"] [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

Tobias nodded slowly, it was good to know that his son was not too rattled to forget standard protocol. "Very good. I have a few questions. Come." Tobias knew he would need to return to the bridge before long, and the walk there would give them more privacy than remaining in the hangar. He turned and began walking towards the exit, certain of his son's following.

"I am sure that you can guess at what my questions will be, so I will ask. First do you know the names of the people who kidnapped you?" His tone remained almost emotionless, exuding only the calm that a Moff was expected to show. Concern was beneath him, along with enthusiasm and any other emotion. As one climbed the ranks the responsibility placed on one's shoulders became greater and greater. In the Order failure was followed more of less by execution, thus with more and more responsibility that a person was giving the more likelihood of failing when making a decision. This then made most men simply try to throw the decision making to another person, covering their own hide so that they would not be blamed for anything should something go wrong. This of course made the higher ups twiddle their thumbs more than actually make decisions. Then the Sith were left with the power of choice, we they could do no wrong in the eyes of the lesser. Tobias might not have liked the situation, but being trapped in the middle of it did not allow him the ability to make any changes. He conformed as was expected. He hoped his son would as well.


The pilots were making last minute adjustments to the flight plan, they awaited mostly the go ahead from the Moff before they could make the jump. As they were leaving First Order territory they would be technically invading, a move only a Moff was allowed to decide upon. Once more it was shown that the decision making was pushed further and further up the chain of the command so that no one but the highest authority could actually be blamed for a mistake if one occurred.

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Kyle Amedis"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Nodding, Kyle let the Moff pass and lead, before turning to follow a step behind to the side. The hangar was a hive of activity, and it seemed units were being assembled. Kyle wasn’t sure why, but he had an inkling. At the Moff’s question, Kyle rolled his tongue around his mouth.

”There was…two. A man and woman.” Now what? ”The male, I didn’t get his name. There was a female. A Senator.” He could lie now and the Moff check the CCTV of the cell and run a face scan and then face treason charges, or give as little as he could.

”Kay.” He looked to the Moff. ”Senator Kay, I believe was her name. Kaine. Kay, something like that.”

He glanced over his shoulder for a second, feeling someone watching him. Paranoia?

”They were on a diplomatic mission close to our space and I feel they were in the wrong place at the wrong time coming across our Destroyer. Sadly we may have pushed them too hard and they fought back.”

[member="Tobias Larr"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Terrac headed down the ramp to disconnect the Free Lady from the charger. A dripping sound caught his ear. He squinted when he saw the fuel leaking onto the tarmac. "KAY!!! GET OUT HERE NOW!!"

It didn't take long for Kay to be running down the ramp to join them. "What is it?"

"What is it?! What is it?!! Our fuel lines are cut! Every wiring here is cut! Someone doesn't want us to leave! I'm starting to think that you're bad luck!"

Terrac was shaking with anger. He stormed over towards where the informant was. But he didn't look at him. Another skitterish individual caught the old man's attention. "You got a lot of nerve!!" He took a swing and punched him square in the jaw. The informant just stepped back and grinned.

[member="Kyle Amedis"] [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

That sounded almost exactly like what they were hunting. Tobias smiled to himself, "Senator Kay." The thoughts that [member="Kyle Amedis"] were a near parallel to what the Moff had in mind. He would have the analysts put the name and face from earlier together, search the database, and make certain that the person their informant had found was indeed this Senator.

Tobias failed to notice Kyle looking over his shoulder, the Moff's attention somewhere else. "Do you have any idea why they took you prisoner?" That was what Tobias was really interested about. If it were as simple as people trying to escape then why take the time to carry a prisoner around. It was easier to shoot enemies and escape that way. What had Kyle had that the Senator had wanted? That was what he would find out, no matter what it took.


The bridge was about as calm as it could be while waiting for orders to come in, one of the men was going now in order to find the Moff and ask if they had permission to go ahead. The rest of the crew on the bridge simply took the time to go over the calculations again, mistakes could happen anywhere and it would not do to fail before a Moff. Their careers and their lives were dependent on the efficiency and infallibility of their work.
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Moving to speak, Kyle simply blew out his cheeks and shook his head.

”I really don't know. She said her intelligence was on the ship planet-side and we could take it to prove her intentions were honorable, but it seems I bit of more than I could chew.”

He looked past the shoulder again for a second, then back to the Moff, who was also seemingly noticing the activity in the hangar.

”I guess I messed up - there was another trooper with me, has he been found?”

There was actually a little concern for the lone trooper; knocked out by the pilot and left on the surface.

[member="Tobias Larr"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

That reaction was what Terrac wanted. Not from the poor sod that he just punched in the face, but from the informant. That look of glee was enough to let the old pilot know who really was behind the sabotage of their vessel. Luckily for the victim of his fury, Terrac had pulled his punch at the last second. Sure he still punched the guy, but not as hard as he could have. In a surprisingly split second, the old man had his blaster out, pointing it at the informant, ready to fire at his chest in point blank range. "Who do you work for?! Tell me the truth or you're dead where you stand!"

Kay was shocked by Terrac's temper, but at least it had solved one mystery. She hurried towards them, noting that the authorities were on their way too. The skitterish victim of Teerac's punch had ran away to get them. "Captain! What's going on?!"

"I work for the First Order or whoever pays more, Senator. You should have stayed in Republic space where you belong." The informant remained perfectly calm and was enjoying every minute of this. He believed that he'd enjoy it even more once he sees the Republic scum in custody.

Just the look in his eyes let her know that they needed to leave sooner, rather than later. "Captain, we have to go." That was stating the obvious and she knew that, but it had to be said.

Terrac narrowed his eyes at the informant, before 'accidently' firing his blaster at the man's foot, causing him to cry out. "Oops! It seems that this Republic scum is not so good at putting away his firearms."

He holstered his blaster and walked away with Kay whom was already conversing with the authorities. She had to pay them off of course, and let them be aware of her diplomatic immunity. She hated to do that, but they were in a rush.

"Let's pack up the Free Lady and get another transport. We'll pick her back up later when it's safe." Kay stepped back inside and began to pack her essentials. Hopefully the ship doesn't get destroyed before they get back to it. But she wasn't certain if they would be able to get off world right away.

 

[Tobias Larr]

Tobias found the compassion heartwarming, if not somewhat revolting. That was an emotion that the Sith only seemed to recognize as weakness, thus he believed the same. There was no purpose in fighting against the common belief as it would only get one killed. The Sith made the rules and those lesser than they had to play by those rules. And truth be told Tobias was perfectly fine with that. Sith controlled every aspect of people's lives and thus there was no concern about what one should do in a situation. There was no fear, for the Sith were never wrong and would guide everyone to the peace that this galaxy so desperately needed.

"He will be retrieved once we have apprehended the Senator and her lackey. What intelligence was that? What was she after?"

At that moment a trooper arrived and saluted to the Moff before relaying the message from the bridge. Tobias granted his permission before turning back to [member="Kyle Amedis"]. They would be heading to the planet any moment now. While the informant might have been cut off, that would not stop them from trying to locate their targets.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

When the Moff asked the question about the intelligence he had made up, he wasn't sure what to say. At least the trooper would be safe. Casting his eyes down, searching for answer, he feigned looking puzzled.

”I can't recall, I'm sorry. I kind of pushed for it myself, I had a feeling there would be something in the ship we could pull, and she agreed. I guess I helped walk them out the front door and fell right into the trap I set for myself. Now I say it aloud, I'm not pleased with my actions.”

He would face what came his way like a professional - while what he said was true, partly, the fact he led them out himself was hidden, but then because of that he had been knocked unconscious which WASN'T his plan.

[member="Tobias Larr"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Terrac grabbed his essentials from the Free Lady, namely a pack full of whiskey. Kay on the other hand was a little more resourceful and made sure that her satchel was filled with food and water rations, tea supplies, extra clothes, datapad, commlinks and her blaster. The Free Order was on it's way. The informants actions said as much. A part of her wanted to be caught so that she could have more time with her brother, but then the logical part of her didn't want her to become a political prisoner.

The exited her ship and locked her up before proceeding to the ticket office to buy them passage aboard a vessel to Anaaj. She was sure to pass along their names. After the tickets were bought, Kay then proceeded to head out of town. Terrac followed after her, confused. "Excuse me, doll. But the landing pad is back that way."

Kay kept moving. There was a method to her madness. "I know. And they'll expect us to be leaving to the Free Colonies capital as soon as we can. But we're not doing that. We'll just get away on foot and wait them out." It was a great plan, or so she thought. Terrac just shook his head and continued to follow her. What neither of them thought of was the security cameras at the port and in the area, as well as any number of spies that might be there working for the Order.

[member="Kyle Amedis"] [member="Tobias Larr"]

 

[Tobias Larr]

Tobias was pleased with what his son spoke. Not that he had been captured so easily, no that was deplorable. What made Tobias proud was the understanding that [member="Kyle Amedis"] had been taken prisoner instead of joining them. He did not believe that his son would lie about what had happened. What purpose would that have served? The Moff assumed that there was nothing that would have swayed his son away from the First Order, nothing that would have made him question his loyalties. He hoped to tell him of his heritage. He planned to reveal to him soon, but now was just not the time.

"It is unfortunate. Your intentions were bold, did you acquire anything for it?" He hoped that it had not been a fruitless gesture. If nothing else they had the criminals that had done this within their grasp.


The crew acted immediately after permission was given, the ship jumped to hyperspace. It would not be long before they reached the system. A single message had come through before the jump. The informant had been found out and one of their spies had taken over surveillance. Anaaj appeared to be their target to escape to, but more information would be acquired and sent once the ship arrived.

[member="Lady Kay"]