Oh? You Don't Say.

[Torin Varik]

Her assumptions caused the pilot's eyebrows to perk. The woman's arrogance gripped his attention, but tugged at his nerves.
"I'm sure your Nubian fighters are fine ships..." His real opinions revealed all to much of themselves in his tone.
"But to have excessive computing capabilities has proven to be an... unnecessary over-complication, in my experience." He tried to put it nicely but his distaste was apparent. "And this," he placed his hand on the lower part of the curved wing, a sense of pride in his stance. "this is no ordinary Tie Fighter. I've made several improvements of my own."

No time to explain, although he did want to. He tapped the door to the cockpit open and gave her a self-assured look. "I assure you, this ship has everything I'll need. But thank you for the offer." The padawan humbly declined - a short bow of his head before he moved back, toward the entrance to the cockpit. He had decided, and that was that. "Take us to the blockade. I'll follow your lead."

[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

Mid Rim;
Kashyyyk;
Landing Pads;
[member="Torin Varik"].

<<I'll take that as a no...>>

Detox groaned quietly into Xenia's ear, a pressing, mechanical whisper of logic and good faith; one the droid had already calculated she'd ignore. It was referring to Torin's debunk of computing power, clearly unaware of slicing capabilities while in the cockpit of a fighter- rather, clearly not a slicer at all, despite his apparent engineer status, albeit self proclaimed though it may be. From what she had seen thus far, Jedi were extraordinary combatants, and although they continued to frustrate her from a moral perspective she had learned to at least take them and their abilities seriously. Xenia was close to telling him that 'just trusting' wasn't a skill she had used in a long time, intent on discovering the secrets of the Jedi's ship, but before she said anything else she fell back and merely nodded. No point in asking here, when she could just find out for herself in much more detail later.

"Perfect. You'll follow my lead, I want you two in line with one another. Keep your channels open, I'll be syncing information to you as soon as we're up in the air."

Xenia glanced over to Detox, smiling at the pretty looking twi'lek and spoke near under her breath.

"Destroy our excess N-1... and Detox... keep your cannons primed, we're bringing a Jedi into the air with us..."

 

[Torin Varik]

"Right." He nodded while he ran his hand along the orb of the Claw Craft until it met an opening to one of the maintenance panels. A jungle of mechanics were revealed as he opened it. The ship was just in the midst of a Sith invasion. It could easily have been bugged in his absence, or worse... The pilot did a quick scan then made his way around to the back of the ship where a small ramp extended from. He jogged up the ramp and into the cockpit - the only room in the small fighter. Scanning the room, he checked for evidence of tampering but found nothing.

A hurried walk took him to the control panel. The sophisticated, although dated, Chiss design exhibited obsidian sheets of holo-screens in a classic curved geometric cuts. Levers, buttons, and projectors framed them, alined in patterns. The entire interior of the ship would appear to follow the same theme. However, the appearance was not the only thing that made Torin's Claw Craft exceptional. Chiss engineering was highly efficient and, where it lacked in power, it made for in agility and maneuverability. However, the padawan had even remedied it's weaknesses by adding his own improvements to the propulsion and gun power.

The pilot hunkered down into his seat and activated his com link and waited for the Nubian to retrieve his channel. His fingers slide behind the nooks and crannies underneath and behind the panel. Nothing seemed to be rigged - no explosives, no splicer devices. Leaning back in the seat he took a moment to take a breath, listen to the hum of his engine, and ground himself in the force. The cockpit, the subtle vibration of the engine, it was the perfect setting for the Ace's meditation. He struggled to look beyond the darkness that devoured the planet, beyond the deafening silence of his lifeless allies, striving for a very specific goal. Despite his knowledge of the situation, he needed to know that his master was still alive. He needed to know that the fragile light he had seen in the dark had not yet gone out. A dull reverberation answered him. He was still there.

The crystalline screens illuminated with options, functions, diagnostics, and more. His fingers danced across it, eye brows furrowed in concentration as he studied the condition of the ship. To his pleasant surprise, all seemed to be in good condition. The engines roared to life, pushing a gust of air into the landing pad below. The Jedi gripped the yoke firmly, a new found determination in his eyes. He had not only reclaimed his ship, but he had recruited an ally on a planet conquered by enemies. However, he had failed to be of help to his master and now Nejaa had fallen into the hands of the Sith. How could he have let this happen? No matter now... Now, he had to focus on how he would find him before it was too late.

The white craft slowly raised from the platform and hovered in the air above it, awaiting the solar sailer to take the lead.

[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

Mid Rim;
Kashyyyk;
Landing Pads;
[member="Torin Varik"].

Torin's complacency barely went unnoticed, his silent yet firm determination. Even while the Jedi's hands and eyes were glued to his own craft, she didn't once take hers off him. In the underworld, that same calm pretense was the sign of murder or ill motive. Here, worn on the religious, blade wielding warriors of the force she couldn't be sure. While she had heard of their virtues, she had seen only their bloodlust. After Torin's brief appraisal there was a glance shared between the two, a sort of 'we're doing this, right?' And Xenia smiled, dipping her chin and turning. A short, abrasive gesture sent Detox towards her own landing pads in a quick jog and she activated the lift for her own landing ramp. All grins and quick movements, she pumped a fist against the hydraulics system and began lifting the landing ramp, grabbing one of the collapsable support beams and heaving herself up and into the Solar Sailer.

"... Torin Varik- I'm Torin Vaaarik--"

Her voice hung low and in obviously humorous banter at a volume where only she could really participate, Xenia reenacted the Jedi's introduction, each time improving upon a relatively convincing 'prince charming' approach. Even once going so far as to swing her head dramatically from one side to another, lips breaking their line and scrunching into a self selected point-n-laugh. Her own controls were more than familiar, most of the lights and panels already lit aglow with activity and quick scans- so she was up in the air at the same time as Torin even despite his head start. The Geisha's perky controls let it bounce in straight lines, browsing quickly through any and all active local channels until he found whichever com signal left Torin's clawcraft at its epicenter.

"Alright... let's see what we're dealing with here...--"
<<-- Detox, do you read me?>>

<<Yesfft... if you'll just...>>

Detox's voice modulator had returned him to its normal functioning, a mechanical tone, though no less intelligent. The explosive noise of blaster fire followed by a more abrupt booming sounded over the intercoms and for a second Xenia's heart beat at two times its ordinary pace. Then she remembered her original orders, destroy the straggling N-1, tie up any unneeded loose ends. <<... is... this a bad time?>> Xenia offered, deep-soaked in sarcasm while shifting the com frequency to a slightly higher quality connection. There was no quick answer or retort, but ahead of her was the beginning of a smoke trail made black with chemicals and super heated plastoids.

<<Form up behind me,>> Xenia spoke into both channels simultaneously, <<and match my speed.>>

 

[Torin Varik]

"Alright... let's see what we're dealing with here...--"​

Finally the Nubian took charge and lead the way. He followed her instruction and synced with her position and speed. "Copy. Right behind you." They had wasted enough time already. Moving forward, knowing that he was that much closer to finding his master, helped calm the pilot's mind. So did being in the air. A star fighter was where Torin felt most safe and secure. He was a practiced bladesman but the sky was where he held the most experience. His days serving the Republic's fleet had been interrupted only recently with the odd assignment to a master that did not request his apprenticeship. Although the decision was out of the ordinary, Torin never once had a reason to doubt the Order. He understood that the will of the force did not always require an explanation, but he was beginning to wonder if the will of the force was even on the side of the Jedi anymore.

He muted his end of the comlink just for a moment. "Alright T-5, do I really deserve the silent treatment?" The astromech fastened to his Clawcraft fired off some beeps and boops in response to its master's voice, almost as if it were frustrated with him. Its round head spun while the photoreceptors dilated and adjusted in a fury. Torin responded as if conversing with the droid. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I should've taken you with me but I'm here now, aren't I? How about I give you a full refurbishing when we get back to Republic space?" There was guilt in his tone but he tried to redeem himself to the pissy droid. T-5 let out a low beep in reluctant forgiveness. "We need to keep an eye on that Sailer. Its pilot has offered to lead us through the blockade. But I'm still not entirely sure if we can trust her..." He adjusted some of the controls while he spoke, still running extensive diagnostics to ensure that there was no trace of tampering. "Don't let your guard down, T-5."

One Sith ships, brandished with the symbol of their faction, littered the atmosphere. Their numbers had even increased since his decent to the planet. T-5 rattled and chirped again, astounded by the number of enemy ships they were fast approaching. Torin unmuted the comlink.

<<So, how exactly are you planning on getting us through that?>>

[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

OS Space - Blockade;
Proximity - Kashyyyk;
Givex Cockpit;
[member="Torin Varik"].

To someone who hadn't ever left the protective bubble of their originating world, they might expect a clear transition between sky and space. Atmosphere and the galaxy. There wasn't though, nearly every time she flew, Xenia's breath was nearly taken away at the almost sudden realization that the planet was behind her. So huge, and so much more than she could ever be- powerful enough to consume her in a single bite yet ever peaceful and omnipotent despite whatever war and destruction was forced upon its surface. And something about the odd, translucent frills of her own fighter, the fish tail of her arc'd solar sail, the humming glow of the world, and the stark, sucking contrast of black ahead. Space, but this particular view wasn't so plain. Normally stars were the only body to interrupt the bleak ebony of perpetual night- here, heavily armed freighters and official military capital ships hovered, still, angrily above. "Think they've seen us," Xenia spoke into the com, selectively to Detox's channel.

<<It doesn't appear so, I'm receiving no interferences, are you?>>
"... Nope."

And she wasn't, but it would only be a matter of seconds before they were bombarded with a hoard of transmissions and hails, no doubt inquiry in the direction of their newly acquainted Clawcraft follower. <<So, how exactly are you planning on getting us through that?>> Xenia answered first with fingers, sending off an already prepared bundle encryption which would appear, for all intents and purposes, no different than a standard swap of information codes. Of course, the 'message' she sent to Torin's craft was only the delivery system for a much different effect, effectively programming all core systems with OS information. It was likely Torin's craft would have more immediate clearance than even she, no doubt impersonating all the same information a powerful Sith Lord might display to his or her government in passing by. After the small delay of uploading time, Xenia activated the com channel which spit out into Torin's cockpit.

"You get that? It should appear as a message, it should contain all the information you'll need to surpass inspection... let's hope you pass as, hmm, Darth Drow over the intercom."

She spoke the name dramatically, exposing the random element of Torin's participation. More over, the way in which she had devised such a scheme. It was a mere copy of information, an impersonation of another sith who actually did exist. With a dreadfully perfect timing both Xenia's and Torin's dashboards would light up with capital hails from the OS blockade. Cautionary warning that to proceed further without first identifying yourself would be akin to suicide.

<<Vessel, this is Blockade Runner Talon, identify yourselves-- mm...>>
Xenia had already sent the information. Her vessel, the Geisha, had long since been registered as 'friendly.'

"This is Geisha, my information's there, we're coming through."

There was a brief passing of silence, the low grumble of a muted yet active com, then eventually the static ended and second man answered her. His voice much deeper, and his tone demanded far more respect- someone of a much higher rank-- her own had already drawn a match, speaking with entitlement in her breath. A growling coarseness, invoking a familiar fear in the subjugates of OS grunts. More a match than her own, cool and resilient sound.

<<You are cleared, Geisha. Shall we prepare a docking bay?>>
"You'd be wasting your time."
<<... Understood.>>

And the signal faded.
Torin's turn; and she could hear everything he said.

 

[Torin Varik]

It took a moment for it all to set in - to fully digest the reality of the situation the padawan had been plunged into. Strange combinations of code danced across his holo-projectors as the woman effortlessly hacked into the craft's central computers and played with it as she pleased. Feeling a bit violated, the pilot tapped the control panel nervously, struggling to track what exactly she had just done to his ship. The level of encryption this woman was capable of was something Torin had only seen among Republic splicers. Then the message appeared - a description of the identification and clearance codes for a member of the One Sith with substantial rank status.

"Wait-- Xenia, you don't understand. I can't just--"

<<Vessel, this is Blockade Runner Talon, identify yourselves-- mm...>>​

​

A thin layer of sweat began to build on hid forehead as he anticipated the result of their not-so-covert escape. If anything went wrong, they would all be shot out of the sky instantaneously. As much as he hated the idea and no matter how risky he thought it was, he had no choice but impersonate Darth Drow. His eyes pressed closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in disbelief.

<<... Understood.>>​

​

A horrible silence shook Torin from his coping - the spot light was now on him. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated again, obviously struggling to find the words a Sith would find. In a low gravely tone, encorperating as much arrogance as possible, Torin answered.

"As you should already know, this is Darth... Drow..."
He paused again, grappling for more words.
"I am accompanying Geisha... off world."
He cringed at his own fumbling. He straightened his posture and continued.
"Further explanation is unnecessary... as I am a Lord of the Sith."

T-5 rattled, beeping in amusement at its master's awkward attempt.

[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

OS Space - Blockade;
Proximity - Kashyyyk;
Givex Cockpit;
[member="Torin Varik"].

<<As you should already know, this is Darth... Drow...>>
"Hhhhhh... oh... my god..."

Her eyes held themselves forward, stagnant and so expressly unexpressive. For a moment, she thought the Sith forces might turn their guns toward and obliterate them where they were. Detox might have shot the man out of clean space had it heard the meager attempts at impersonation. <<I am acc-<<Shut him up!>>-sha... off world.>> As if she hadn't expected him to speak again, or perhaps just in shock of the Jedi's rough approach towards an enemy she would have thought he understood well. "Jam fields, level one," Xenia commanded quickly. Detox's personal N1 Naboo starfighter was obviously not of the same stock as the rest. Despite the chrome plating on its exterior and the aesthetically altered thrusters and primary weapons, the interior was laced with enough hardware to wage war on a small fleet. In fact, the weapon modifications were made for smaller weapons, more compact ulterior systems. Personalized jamming fields, highly upgraded personal shielding system, and a lighter frame model were only some of the perks.

<<Yes m'lady.>>

Instantly her systems all blurred from an interference of some kind. Like a jamming field in the first seconds, but it never got worse, the signal projected at just a low enough pitch to crack and make coarse the communication currently underway. Before Torin Finished, his com's channel was beginning to suffer in deep gasps of digital interference. His voice fell lower than it should, carved in white noise. <<FFFurther exxxplanation isszz unnecessszssary... az'iem a lllord of the ssSSith.>> OS vessels would surely experience and quickly diagnose the jamming field, so it had only been introduced in a small burst.

<<Nicely done.>>
"Thought you might like that."

As it was with the monotone droid tone, it was near impossible to tell sarcasm apart from sincerity- and Xenia knew Detox was highly fluent in both forms of casual conversation. It took approximately thirteen further seconds before secondary confirmation came for Torin. A stout sounding apology, brief, then followed instantly by immediate compliance. Many years had taught soldiers what happened to those who crossed Sith, or their friends. Pulsating from the cluster's center, the many heavily clad war ships let their weapon's aim fall back into neutrality.

"Wow, Jedi... you... that was... do you have anything to say for yourself...?"

Throughout the taunt's ending there was a quiet trill of giggling. It almost made the whole thing more sneering. "I would love to see how the soldier's greet Darth Drow when next they see him, I'm sure the rumors of his terrifying presence are beginning already." Regardless, it had worked, as she had expected, and they were cleared. The trio scraped near the surface of one massive beast, a hulking ship of war- heavily altered by their Yuuzhan Vong military. Read paint more in bucket-thrown-splatters ran along the ship, dripping so that it looked to be blood. Blackened, reinforced durasteels, deflective plating in sheets dwarfing the size of any one starfighter.

"Well, you're through either way... but there's one more thing..."

Xenia didn't await permission to continue. "You're gunna have to remove your internal hard drives entirely. Just wiping it won't work- that is unless you wish to continue flying around as Darth Drow, I can tell you really resonated with the guy." As she spoke, she entered the coordinates for her own next hyperspace jump, sending those same coordinates back to Detox and allowing time for the droid to program the same destination. Under a digital prompt, the Geisha and N1 pulled left and cut a heavy curve away from the Clawcraft, before them the wide expanse of space and its numerous solar systems.

"Mind if I keep your... information? Might be in town some day, y'never know, and you owe me."

 

[Torin Varik]

The connection appeared to retreat to a static blur and before he knew it, they were through. They did it. They actually did it. Torin was, admittedly, a bit surprised and certainly impressed. If he had not ran into this woman on the landing pads, he would have likely been Yuuzhan Vong lunch.

​

"Wow, Jedi... you... that was... do you have anything to say for yourself...?"​

​

Thankfully in the privacy of his ship, the pilot's cheeks flushed a bit in embarrassment. Her sarcasm was not misplaced. In fact it was quite entertaining. The Jedi's performance was... well... lacking, to say the least. He threw his head back to rest on the seat in defeat and laughed. "Hah!- Aaah... No, not really. Only that I have never been so nervous in my life." Still in disbelief of their success, a subtle chuckle danced over his last few words.

"I would love to see how the soldiers greet Darth Drow when next they see him, I'm sure the rumors of his terrifying presence are beginning already."​

​

Another quick witted comment fired Torin's way. Her clever spark was not only impressive but entertaining. He couldn't help but smirk. "What can I say? I'm a natural." Joining in on the sarcasm, he shrugged jokingly. Rolling its photoreceptor in dismissal, T-5 interjected a low beep.

"Well, you're through either way... but there's one more thing..." Of course. "You're gunna have to remove your internal hard drives entirely. Just wiping it won't work- that is unless you wish to continue flying around as Darth Drow, I can tell you really resonated with the guy."​

​

​

​

"Right... Thanks..." He had no choice but to clear everything as the Republic's enforcers would not take kindly to his new identity. If he was not forbidden to feel protective of his ship (and its hard drives), he would appear to be a bit more bitter toward her violation than he allowed. Wiping the hard drives would mean reseting many of the efficient systems he had worked hard to customize as well as deleting all of the stored information. However, he couldn't help but be impressed by the woman's affinity to technology.

​

"Mind if I keep your... information? Might be in town some day, y'never know, and you owe me."​

​

He hesitated, unsure of her motive or how to answer. He let out a short chuckle to cover the silence. "That, I do. Well, I don't see why not. I have a feeling our paths will cross again. Besides, I made you a promise. And I'm a man of my word." His tone held sincerity now. "If ever you find yourself in Republic space, I will personally ensure you receive a reward worth your risk," he pitched with a bit of playfulness, likely unaware of the innuendo that may have been interpreted. Unsure how he could express the gratitude she deserved for saving his life, he hesitated. He wished he could thank her in person, rather than over a comlink. Although, in a way, he was grateful. He didn't like goodbyes. "You made the right choice, Xenia. And for that, I am very grateful." Feeling oddly uncomfortable when speaking to her in such a way, he allowed little time to pass before he continued.

"Now, you really shouldn't take too long to get that injury treated. And if you want to avoid more in the future, I suggest you keep your distance from the Sith." Without intention, hostility gripped the word. One word that held so much meaning to him. "Believe me, they will cause you nothing but pain." Transitioning from his seriousness, he continued with a smile she could not see but perhaps she could hear. "And it would be difficult to repay you if you're dead."

[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

OS Space - Blockade;
Proximity - Kashyyyk;
Givex Cockpit;
[member="Torin Varik"].

The pivot of her Geisha's canter as she punched in various hyperspace coordinates jostled Xenia from side to side, more so the product of her own sloppy and carefree piloting than testament to the starfighter's control. Torin's voice had filtered back into normality what with the com's clarity returning and the jamming fields down. A barely tactical sleuth of smaller comebacks and phrases where Xenia could almost catch a glimpse of what a more casual Torin Varik, Jedi Knight, might look like. "Mm, right, the Jedi who promised Republic money," she passed quickly into the coms, the little bits of laughter in her voice taking sarcastic to humorous- but there was still a remote trace of disdain still. Detox chimed in with a sudden blurt of command codes and goofy digital conversation, but made no verbal comment on its distaste for the Jedi. Instead, it merely sent a suggestion to disengage all adjoining com frequencies from the Clawcraft about seven times, then another five alerts asking for confirmation on whichever hyperspace location Xenia had already programmed.

"I can handle the Sith, they're not so tough."

After all they hadn't blown up her NN-2 nor forced her to target her own N1 starfighter and blast it into pieces. She didn't add that, only a brief silence before popping up one last time on the rarely used frequency. "Right, well then," all systems were a go, telemetry had cleared her for departure and the various indicating red blinks began to glow and pulsate on the instrument panel before her. "Fly safe." And with that her engines flared before both the Geisha and N1 flew headlong into hyperspace. Just like that, Xenia was gone and more than millions of miles away. She had gotten Torin off the planet, but where he'd go next was going to be just as much of an obstacle for the world ridden acolyte of all things light.

[End.]