Once upon a stolen dream (completed)

[Claire Organa]

Location: Balmorra
Headquarters of Contessa

Claire Organa sat once again looking at the message from her cousin Faith. They wanted to send help to bring her to Aldera, her and her sister Victoria. Claire knew that her communications were monitored and that each piece of traffic underwent extreme scruitiny.

When the Sith first came to Balmorra they made it abundantly clear that anything less than cooperation would lead to damage not just to her business but to anyone who worked for her.

If she sent this message with anything other than a negative she'd have to be prepared for any repercussions.

Claire rose up and looked out the window, everything looked normal. It did...but it wasn't. She knew it, and so did the thousands of others. Mr. and Mrs. Jenno from across the way disappeared one night. She didn't know if it was the Sith or if they found a way out. If they left they left with the underground, they left because they couldn't take it anymore.

"I'd love to see my home again" it was all she put into the message, it was all she could think to send that sounded neutral but in truth meant come and get us.

 

[Faith Organa]

Location: Alderaan

The mandalorian fleet was still overhead while it would be easy to ask Draco for a favor she thought it best to see if someone would help her. She would pay them the notice from Claire saying she wanted to see home was all she needed.

This was a kind of refugee request, so...Faith decided to see if Clan Rekali could help her. Would they help her? It was a difficult choice at times to make, but if House Organa was to continue have good graces with the vod, they needed to work together. Rescuing a family member would go a long way with the High Councils of Alderaan and Aldera and reaching out she hoped would generate peaceful intentions. Not that House Organa held any ill will towards any mandalorian, they had always gotten along with them. Her Aunt being there and working that. well Faith hoped it helped their cause some. Perhaps Tia should be asking.

Faith shrunk slightly, suddenly aware that she may be overstepping a boundary.

But.

It was a risk, one she was willing to take.

She put together a request to Clan Rekali.

"Greetings Field Marshall Rekali, at one time you had stated that your clan would do things for credits via contract, and that you would help with refugees. Sir, I have a cousin stranded on Balmorra whichas you now is currently held by the Sith. I must ask sir, are there any among your clan who would be willing to go after my cousin Claire? I await your response"

Yes...short sweet, direct. Just like Faith.

[member="Ember Rekali"] / [member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

“Eli.” A shout rocketed him out of his sleep. Coarse and old, gravely and slightly, but only slightly colored with an edge of exhaustion. It was the voice of Samael Rekali, brother to Ember, uncle to a whole host of Rekali clansmen and designated buzzkill.

“Yu-”

Elijah coughed and tried to rub his eyes. It only registered a few moments later that he was still wearing his beskar’gam. Most Mandalorians kept it on as much as possible, but he probably overdid it by the usual metric - few if any have really seen him without his armor, which meant that even fewer really knew how Eli looked these days.

Suited him fine though.

“Yeah, uncle?”

A grimy, bearded face popped up around the corner. “Freshen up, Ember’s got a mission for ya.”

***​

Ten minutes later Elijah sat in an uncomfortable chair, peering and blinking at the HoloNet feed, waiting for the reception to work in his favor and establish a firm connection with his new employer, the gorram Queen- wait, she wasn’t the queen… ah, feth. What did Samael say again? Well, some kind of royalty anyway.

Bleep, bleep, bleep. Ping.

At the ping a connection was established and Faith would receive the image of a T-visor.

“Lady Organa, I presume?”

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith sat up straighter when the screen came to life, she had expected to see Ember but was surprised when she did not. "ohhh" she whispered regaining her composure, she wasn't sure who she addressed, and worse she wasn't sure how to address him.

She bit her lip nervously, "You presume correctly, I am one of the few that go by the title Lady Organa, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Mandalorian definitely,she couldn't tell through the voice modulator that he had been awakened. Additionally his body language did not say anything afterall she was only looking at a head, a completely covered head.

She noted the armor, and the colors. Since this was not the Field Marshall she could not help but wonder if Ember was alright. Well as alright as someone can be who lost all their children. No one escaped that, ever. It never went away...never. Feth

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

Pretty lass, all things considered, but she was royalty. And at the end of the day that was a class way above the likes of him, so he put thoughts like that outta his mind and went down to business, it was clear she had been expecting someone else. Ember probably, but the Field Marshal had a lot of business these days.

And not enough hands to handle them all.

So it didn’t come as a surprise that some of it got put down the line. One of which was this job apparently.

“Elijah Rekali, ma’am.” the Mandalorian answered, inclining his head just a fraction to designate some sort of vestige of respect.

“As I understand it you have a job for the Clan?”

Down to business, indeed.

 

[Faith Organa]

"Elijah Rekali, well you must call me Faith." So he was of Ember's clan, ok. And he wanted to get right to it, she could handle that matter of fact she could appreciate it none of this run around with titles and expectations. What a relief.

"Yes, the Field Marshall at one time said that he did work for refugees or by contract. My cousin Claire is on Balmorra, and as you may know Balmorra is under Sith control. I am able to speak with her off and on. I'd like to bring her home. Can Clan Rekali do that? Go into Sith territory and retrieve her?" She wanted to say please go get my cousin and her sister Victoria.

She wanted to give him every bleeding heart story she knew if it would convince him to go, "if you decide to go, I'd like to go with you" Ok that might not be the smartest move her in Sith territory but he wouldn't know what Claire looked like and she could help...she knew how to shoot a blaster...at least.

And..well there was no and....

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

Balmorra. One Sith Space.

Gorram. If this had come a few weeks earlier… maybe, it would have been easier then. Sith space had always been quite orderly, fear does a lot to instill the virtue of law Elijah found, but now with the death of the Dark Lord? It was a mess. Rebels fighting loyalists, even the whispers of Yuuzhan Vong at the fringes.

Difficult, difficult.

This couldn’t be a big mission. They would have to get in quick, small, stealthy. Wait. They? Eli blinked as he heard her request.

Royalty running around in the mud. Now that made him smirk just a little bit, luckily the visor hid any expression he might have had. His voice was strictly neutral when he replied to her after a moment of thought.

“Payment?” Simple and to the point. Had this been a milk run he might have waived a fee entirely, but with rebels pitted against loyalists and having to carry around Faith?

Needed something in return.

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

Well he didn't say no, she wished she could see his face it would help her to see what he was thinking. Surely he was thinking about events in One Sith space, it had not gone un-noticed since Alderaan sat on the edge of Sith space.

Now this was also where Faith would get in trouble, he asked her for payment, how much should she offer? She did not move from her position though even if he could read her emotions, she was going to rely upon him to deal with her fairly.

"I will admit that I do not know exactly how much you should be paid. And it likely is not smart of me to admit such a thing. So, I will rely upon you to deal fairly with me, and tell me how much you want for such an endeavor." This was perhaps one of her failings in dealing with people, she counted on them to be honest.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

Money didn’t have the same allure it once had. Who knew that just a healthy dose of luck at the card table could change everything? Vilaz had bartered a sizeable portion of his fortune at the last game - and if fortune don’t say much, well, picture all the cash he had earned for training the clone army of the gorram Republic.

But ain’t no such thing as too much money, he supposed. Elijah wasn’t gonna ask a very big sum, he knew Alderaan had it tough enough as is - personally he would have just declined the job entirely, if it had been up to him.

Wasn’t up to him though.

This was clan matters at the heart of it. So he’d take just enough money to cover all the expenses and just a little bit more to seal the contract, only way to ensure loyalty. Gotta pay for it.

“50,000 credits. 40,000 for the expenses, 10 to seal the deal. Aye?”

 

[Faith Organa]

He was hesitating just slightly. She wasn't sure how to handle that had she said the wrong thing? Only a few hesitated answering her questions.

Waiting. Patiently she folded her hands and smiled in her mind she set aside the fear. The uncertainty of how she felt.

It was almost a relief when he began speaking. 100,000 credits. He was taking a risk. Using his ship. And he didn't say she couldn't come. So.

"Deal. Where shall I meet you?" She didn't want him to change his mind or think on it again for something told her he might.

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

Very quick agreement. Part of him wondered if he should have asked for more, but this was a fair deal and Elijah wasn't interested in shaking her down when he was acting as a Rekali representative. Reputation was one of those fleeting things, it takes ages to build up, but just a singular action could send it all crashing down. So no. He didn't ramp up the costs, instead settling for a fairer price - perhaps this show of goodwill would generate some other benefits in the future.

More jobs, maybe some pull if he ever wanted to go corporate himself... opportunities in the mining sector and all that.

"Caamas." It's already on the Hydian Way and close to Alderaan. There was no point in getting Faith to come to Mandalorian territory, have her haul ass all across the Galaxy just for the two of them to go back over the Hydian Way into Sith space.

"You got combat training?"

 

[Faith Organa]

"Caamas, I can do that, and as for combat training. I can handle a blaster but truth is I'm more a diplomat as of late. BUT I will be of help, I promise I will not be a burden." She had training she could do some hand to hand, and she could use a blaster. Aim, squeeze, and don't close your eyes ever!

She kept her serious face on, "I'll see in soon" She hesitated at just cutting the communication as it would be rude, so. Like a good diplomat, she waited for him to respond. Yeah she wasn't offering him anything that was helpful, but it was her cousin, her family she needed to be there.

She prayed he wouldn't change his mind.

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

Once again the frown wasn't visible. But at the end of the day he wasn't her babysitter, if she wanted to risk her life instead of assigning some trusted soldier of hers to his mission? If she wanted to come personally? Elijah wasn't gonna stand in her way, hell, he could even respect the guts it took for a pampered noble girl to go out and into a war zone to fetch her cousin. Took stones to do that. And Eli wasn't gonna ignore such commitment to family whatsoever.

It was almost... Mandalorian, huh.

"Noted, coordinates for the exact meeting are being transferred." with a punch of a button a short burst of information would transfer itself to her. The last thing they wanted was to arise too much suspicion. It would already be difficult to get into Sith space with the civil war brewing, so the less people were tipped off about their operation the better.

The coordinates would lead to a moderately large refueling station orbiting one of the moons of Sirilla. A gas giant within the Cirius system which also held Caamas itself.

"Three days, see ya there." With his fastest ship he could probably get there in two, but that left him with another day of scouting out the station and making sure there weren't any surprises for them.

The transmission was cut right after his last syllable. No diplomacy from the likes of Elijah Rekali.

 

[Faith Organa]

Three days later

Faith was at Caamas, Captain Lindsey her Captain of the Aldera Guard non stop in her ear about risk. She shook her head for the tenth time, "No NO. I have to do this, Claire is family and I have hired a reliable person to help me. I won't leave it to someone who doesn't even know what Claire looks like to go get her."

Faith almost stomped her foot in frustration, "Now I have what I need, I've taken care of it, you." She stopped and breathed, regaining her calm, "Wait here for me if I'm not back in two weeks. Then send the Knight-Errant to find me" Captain Lindsey would know who the Knight-Errant was.

She smiled, "It will be ok, this is Clan Rekali they understand family." With that Faith gave him a dismissive nod "Now take me to the correct coordinates"



[member="Elijah Rekali"]

 

[Claire Organa]

Claire was trying to focus on the order for clothing before her, to think on what her current customers were demanding, or wanting. The dress before her was beautiful, the silouette stunning, and the colors would flatter most women, but the cut for some of her customers would need to be changed.

Should she be thinking about orders, she had just told her cousin to come and get her and Victoria. But how long would that take? months? maybe another year? Claire put down the datapad walking over to the window she looked out at her home.

Her family had come through so much. Homelessness after leaving Alderaan. No income for months, begging on the streets all because it was unsafe to go home. But they got through, they got jobs, and Claire built this business even though it made people laugh that she worked to dress the affluent it provided the income she needed. She wanted to see them survive a fashion week haggling with designers, and manufacturers, THAT took skill.

She would box up last year's designs and send them out to Alderaan marking them donations maybe she could get her inventory to Alderaan maybe she could open another store.

There were a lot of maybe's right now.

 

[Claire Organa]

She knew that even though Balmorra had grown to be home from the time she was a child that now without her parents, and with the Sith in control and growing stronger every day she had to leave. Faith's offer to come and get her had come at the right time, now she had to make sure she was ready and that anything she wanted was sent out, or personal in nature carried with her.

On the Ship

Faith was pacing slightly she didn't want to have this go badly. She looked over at Elijah who seemed to have an indifference to her presence. Perhaps he had wanted to go it alone, well why wouldn't he. She was just well, a passenger with a limited fighting skill and he was well a mandalorian who did this for a living. She wanted to talk to him but the words just stuck in a place in her throat that wouldn't allow for her to say them. She didn't want to bother him.

What was he thinking, what manner of rescue did he have in mind.

"Do you have a plan for this?" Faith gave him the street address of Claire's shop that's where she expected Claire and Victoria to be waiting. From their brief conversation when she hired him, and their even briefer meeting at the spaceport, she knew he was a man of few words, and liked to just get down to business.

Spoiler

I have permission from [member="Elijah Rekali"] writer to move him about and speak

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Claire Organa"]

Elijah looked away from the controls and settled his visor on Faith. It was probably an unnerving sight, opaque, no way to measure facial expression or any other way to figure out what the Mandalorian was thinking behind that helmet of his, but that was the strength of beskar’gam.

You didn’t have to worry about people reading you.

“Of course.” Rekali replied, before looking back to the controls of the ship. He didn’t seem to be planning to divulge the plan or any part of it.

It wasn’t anything personal. It was just that he didn’t really have a plan, he liked to play these kind of things by ear, but telling her that would only be a cause for concern.

She would freak, he would have to threaten to turn this ship around and all that nonsense.

 

[Faith Organa]

Right she thought that's right she remembered now that was one of the things that Dar did that just put a burr in her panties, he liked to be cryptic. Must be a mandalorian trait, a form of communication crypticism.

"Of course" She smiled tried not to laugh. "How long before we get there" yep here was going to go the are we there now thing. Faith was bored.

She looked up at the top of the ship, Lord help me.

Meanwhile on Balmorra

Claire was shoving the last of the holos of her parents into a bag, well more like a duffle. She looked at the clock that wasn't doing her a bit of good she didn't know when Faith would be there. Come to think of it she didn't know how Faith was getting there, only that she was coming.

Would she come alone? Would she come with Alderaan forces?

Claire flopped into a chair, "I really don't know anything do I. This is so stupid, and feels so unorganized." She frowned looking over at Victoria who only shrugged her shoulders and toyed with her clothing. Claire was holding them together, "Faith will come through. Ari wouldn't leave us here after we sheltered her for so long."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Faith Organa"]

"Don’t make me turn this ship around, lady." Elijah responded after a moment or two.The tone was fairly neutral and the helmet’s audiofeed didn’t give her much in the way of gauging how serious he was being, but the assumption could be made that he was just kidding around.

There was a lot of time to kill, though, between now and when they would finally arrive though.

He flipped a few switches and the autopilot turned on.

"Gonna be a while. Want food?"

So straightforward and to the point. Eli clearly didn’t give a feth if she was royalty or not.

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Elijah Rekali"]

She laughed.

"That's your best come back you're going to turn the ship,around. Next you will say you're going to spank me" , Faith shook her head. What was she thinking. Men. Did she need one in her life? Let alone a mandalorian.

"Food. Oh I'd love some. How about a Snickers so I feel more like myself?" she smiled quoting the new commercial.

"I can help So tell me what to do"

She wasn't upset she was just sarcastic.