One Last Adventure

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Theed was peacefully asleep. The city's population had retreated into their homes for the night, and the normally loud roar of the crowd was reduced to the quiet din of the spaceport. A speeder or two would fly through the streets on occasion, but otherwise, the city was frozen in slumber. Pale street lamps illuminated the gorgeous streets, and reflected the pale moonlight with such a beauty that even the darkest of Sith Lords might have been moved.


Graxin now crossed these streets, unbeknownst to his family. They did not know what he had to do. As much as he liked the idea of embracing his new life, and settling down in an apartment near his mother's home; perhaps watching over his younger sisters as they went about their daily lives, he had duties.

He felt the force now, stronger than ever as its power flowed through his veins. He had no doubt this was because of the Jedi, and despite the dislike some of the masters had for him, he was proud to call himself one of their number. That power had informed him of something; a loose end, a threat that was his responsibiility to take care of. Krag lived, and he readied a new army to steamroll the galaxy.

Graxin could allow the madness to continue no longer.

the mission he embarked on was suicidal. His only goal was the destruction of the Sith Lord, anything beyond that was an afterthought. With Krag dead, the Graug would fall to infighting, and a dangerous threat would be removed.

He moved with a purpose through the spaceport, his boots clacking against the floor with each step. He pulled back his cowl to expose short raven hair, and sharp amber eyes. The doors parted for him, and he entered his private hanger. He had invited one woman to accompany him, a phenomenal pilot, and one he had started his journey with. It was only fitting that she join him now...and there were words he needed to say.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Here we go again.

Our favorite little spacer chick hung around that weathered transport and brushed her fingers across its marred hull, reminded of a time she spent half-drunk hovering over Mustafar. It was funny how perspective changed with time. For the better part of a year, those had been bad memories. But now, looking at the big picture, it was all good times. She had been scared about Graxin back then, but things change and a little bit of waiting things out can do some good.

And now arrived our favorite sorta-Sith dude--less scraggly than last appearance. Corvetta preferred this cleaner cut version. It reminded her of the very first time they had met. Back when they were both weird. Not that she was any different nowadays. She had more responsibility and a slightly thicker pocketbook, but she was still Corvetta; Corvy; the spunky spacer girl.

But it was all still special. "Graxlerod..." she muttered when she saw him, voice threatening and eyes narrowed. The spacer charged at the man and blasted her entire body weight (not much there) into the bigger fellow, hooking her arms around him. She beamed up at him and let her arms loose after a brief moment, still feeling a hint of awkwardness around her old friend. There were emotions between them that she had not quite identified yet, and it was foreign territory for her. "Escape your cage again? Heard the zoo wanted their thing back." She stuck out her tongue.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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No matter how many betrayals, shifts of allegiance, or movements of the galaxy came about, Corvetta always stood by him. When he was hunting Jedi, she'd been with him. When he went to seek the Architects on that failed mission with Ferus and the others, she went with him. When the Sith turned their backs on him, she was there for him.

He struggled to find the right words when he was around her. Sometimes, things were the usual, and he could crack a stupid joke and make her smile. Other times, his tongue tied and his throat grew drier than Tatooine. She was free and he was not, and she breathed in the galaxy while he lived in the force; she was a rainbow of color while he was the dreary gray of a rainy day, and she was perfect.

He lofted a brow at her display, though he knew she meant no hostilities from the use of the pet name. His lips parted in a wide smile as she charged him, his arms held out wide as she crashed against his chest. His arms slipped around her waist, and for a moment, the worry of the fatalistic battle to come was gone from his mind. They didn't see each other enough, not like they used to, and Graxin relished the few times they had together.

"I pulled the keys out of the guard's backpocket." He snickered as he held her closer. "You know I've always been terrible at staying in cages."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta clicked her tongue chidingly after pulling it back in. "Well, I can help you for now," she said, brushing her hair back over her shoulder casually and looking off into the distance, as if deep in thought. "I can crank this one with you, but after that... ya gotta go back to the locker." The pilot placed her hands to her hips and simpered to make the 'demands' sound somewhat serious.

"Or, ya know, you can always pay me off." Of course, money was needed no matter what. A girl's gotta eat.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"You know I always pay." He shot back. His hold on her fell away as she dropped her arms, though he made no move to put any distance between them. The Knight simply lingered there for a moment, oddly silent as he gazed down at her. Then, he swallowed heavily, and bit down on his lower lip. "I'm going to finish off Krag. Vulcanus. The old Emperor." He blurted out.

"It's my responsibility to take care of him. He trained me, I have to stop him." He explained. His hands remained deftly at his sides, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He didn't want to drag her along, but he needed her skills as a pilot. He needed someone he could rely on, yet putting her in danger only served to distress him further.

"I don't want to ask you to come without knowing the dangers." He added in a softer voice. He shook his head slowly, and breathed a quiet sigh. Luckily, the hanger was empty save for the duo, and none knew that he resided in the palace. If anyone had followed him, he would have sensed it by now. "I won't blame you for staying."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

The first time Graxin had mentioned anything about Sith, Corvetta had been taken off-guard and become more sober than she had ever been, despite the copious amounts of alcohol she had consumed only a few hours beforehand. She had been scared and questioned everything about her relationship with him--professional or not--and wondered what she had been an instrument to.

But now there seemed to be a pattern to things, and she decided to call him out on it. "Should'a figured. You always ping when you're about to do that suicide thing." She mimed firing a pistol against her head, trying to lighten her heavier words. But she did not feel their weight decrease. It was the truth. Her smile sagged a bit.

"You know the drill, though. I truck ya in, and you take care of business solo." One of these days, she was probably going to have to say no. But there was an attachment between them that felt too difficult to sever, and the pilot found it increasingly hard to decline service to the Sith-turned-Jedi or whatever he was these days. He had changed quite a bit since they had first met, but he was always weird, in one way or another. And Corvetta was weird.

"So... I guess if you're ready to crank..." She extended her hand to shake, trying to get back to 'business as usual', but finding herself more timid this time. What was up with that?

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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The willingness she expressed made Graxin's heart skip a beat. No matter what he asked of her, she always offered her help. No Jedi would ever do that for him--no other being, not even his own mother would do that. No one but Corvetta anyway. He took her hand without hesitation, though he did not shake it.

"This is going to be the last time." He said barely above a whisper. "After this, Vulcanus the Graug, it's all going to be dealt with. I won't try to drag you into anything else. You're the only person I trust with this." He swallowed heavily. His sister had given him her advice. They had spoken extensively on the distraction Corvetta represented. She swayed his thoughts, and he highly doubted he would ever achieve the rank of Master if she remained in his life.

He gazed down at her for a painfully long moment. He had been readying himself for this. The decision had been difficult, heat-wrenching. He was being pulled in two very different directions at once, just as he had with the force. He grew weary of all the momentous decisions.

The Knight shook his head.

He pulled her close, his arm slipping around her waist. His eyes squeezed shut, and any thought that might have preceded his actions was cast aside. Graxin leaned down toward her and kissed her hard, months of pent up affection for the pilot put into his embrace. He knew the dangers she represented to his future, but he needed to know if she felt the same as he did before he made any decisions. He allowed his heart to guide his actions now...and he saw no reason to deny it as he pressed his lips against hers.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

It was difficult to say what she was expecting from him. There had always been some sort of unwieldy feelings between the two--feelings that Corvetta could not quite figure out. Even though she had traveled around this entire galaxy and met people of all kinds; hung out with people from all walks of life; made a 'family' with her smuggler friends; met up with her long-lost cousin, she still felt as if she were isolated. Perhaps it was her alcoholism that had taken her away from people when she should have spent more quality time with them.

The truth was, the pilot girl did not know what she was doing outside of her life work. And she certainly was not prepared for this. She had never kissed anyone before (And it was hard to say that she had kissed yet, because she was not exactly kissing back.), and it felt completely awkward; foreign. What was she supposed to do?

She did nothing.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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It occured to Graxin a moment into things that he had made the wrong move. She just stood there, like he'd done something wrong. Perhaps he had. His arm fell away from her to hang deftly at his side. He pulled himself back: breaking off their short embrace. He should have controlled himself as he had been trained to do. Months of training and discipline, and he had gone and tossed it aside when he should have relied on it the most.

For a long time he had fantasized about this. He had hoped that his feelings would be returned, and that Corvetta might admit some private love for him. Then she would find a place near Naboo, and they would see each other every day. This was, of course, a childish hope spurred on by the false advice given to him by his mother and sisters.

His gaze fell to the floor, and his face flushed a faint shade of crimson. He swallowed heavily, and repeated the Jedi mantra a thousand times in his head in a vain attempt to center himself.

There is no emotion. There is no emotion. There is no emotion. There is--

"I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly. "That was uncalled for."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Whatever had just happened had happened. It had been done. And whatever composure Corvetta had was out the window. She honestly had never felt this flustered in her life--or at least since she was a little girl. She had never been in love; no one had ever expressed that sort of feeling to her before. It was a bit of a boost to her self-esteem. Still, how is one supposed to react to this sort of behavior?

Alcohol. The spacer pulled a flask out of her smeared cargo pants and choked down half the Taanab gin, its fiery taste searing her throat and producing a raspy cough in reflex. Her breath was heavy and her heart started pumping in exponentially increasing beats, louder; faster. She needed more alcohol. Another swig was drained into her stomach, the liquor biting at her esophagus. Too much.

With a cracking voice, Corvetta gazed at Graxin's face--somewhere about the nose--and scooted softly back to him. What to say, what to say? "It's okay, Graxlerod," she croaked, lending her arms this time around him and leaning her cheek against his shoulder. "We'll learn. Someday."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Whatever personnel might have remained around the hanger gave the duo a wide berth. Part of it came from Graxin urging; he had learned to influence the most subtle thoughts in the average man or woman. The rest scattered simply to give some kind of privacy.

The Knight laced his arms around her waist and gave no reaction to her head resting on his shoulder. It wasn't something would have ever thought he might want--romance was below him as a Sith, and discouraged as a Jedi--but he found himself enamored.

"I miss you when you're gone." He admitted just above a whisper. His axe travelled up toward the Mephirium docked just ahead of them. The ship had been through a lot, and much more lay ahead.

He swallowed heavily, and rested his chin on the crown of her head. "You should stick around for a bit after this whole mess." Words were just dribbling out now. Whatever filter he might have had evaporated. "I'll need a pilot." He lied.

It had been so very long since they had met. They had hunted Jedi, scavenged from old abandoned temples, fought a war, and fled Sith Lord in that time. This was by far the most difficult battle Graxin had fought since. "...If you want."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

"Miss me 'cause I'm the only chick ya ever spent more than five minute around? Am I right?" she half-teased. The thing was, she actually suspected that to be the truth. Either that or he was excellent at pulling the wool over her eyes. It was not like he had never been a Sith and managed to keep that under wraps until some climactic moment. Nope.

Not that she could judge. Corvetta had been around so many guys in her life, but only a rare few offered her any sort of attention. She always seemed to be cast as 'one of the boys', but--somehow--she felt more feminine around Graxin. He let her be herself and still showed--rather obviously, in this moment--that he was attracted to her. It was still a difficult way to think. Was she thinking?

"We'll see, Grax." The pilot eased herself out from under his chin and brushed her colored hair back habitually. She supposed it had been a while since it had last been dyed. Was that something he liked? Did she care if he liked it? "I have a family now. I don't know how they'll latch with you..." Her family--Koko; Tricky; Killer. She was happy with them, yet still had this desire of sorts for Graxin. What would happen with her family?

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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This wasn't something he should have really been concerned with. Relationships were permitted within the order--the grandmaster enjoyed the privilege--but they also knew how to handle such things. Graxin had trouble enough keeping himself under control at the best of times. A Jedi had to be capable of balancing out their significant other with the need to do their duty, and he was unsure if he was capable of that. Did he care?

"Hey now. I know plenty of women. They all just happen to be Jedi, or family, but that's beside the point." He shot back, lips parted in a wide grin. He had assumed the feelings he felt for Corvetta, but now she was mentioning family, and it sounded as much like it did a legitimate reason as it did an excuse. He had family, and they wouldn't like her--he didn't care.

"So what if they don't?" He challenged in a hushed voice. "It's always been the two of us, you and me." His smile faltered for a moment, and he brought his hand up to caress her cheek. "You were with me when I started my training under Vulcanus, and you're here when I'm finally ready to end him and the threat of the Graug. I don't trust anyone any more than I trust you."


[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

His family would not like her? She may have been jumping to conclusions, but he was not exactly encouraging about them. The possibility of them hating her seemed like a bad side effect of whatever it was he wanted to do with her. A family that rejected people for seemingly no reason did not sound like a good home. She had been rejected before. Her own blood family had expressed their disappointment in her a long time ago. They were probably willing to have her back at this point, but it was still a weight on her heart.

Corvetta's new family was different, however. She did not believe Graxin understood what she was insinuating. "Grax, it's different." Was it really? Yes. There was a difference between her family and whatever pedigreed line he belonged to. "I chose my family. They count on me and I count on them. I can't just leave them.

"And..." She stuttered, not sure what more to say. She felt like there was something that needed to be brought up in opposition, even if it may have contradicted her feelings. "What is it we'll be doing?"

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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What was the right thing to say here? He was failing--that much was evident--but the situation could still be salvaged. Graxin had never been the best with words; he had grown far more eloquent since interacting with other humans on a casual basis, but he still had issues conveying what he meant. Now might have been the case for that, or perhaps she simply wanted to find a reason to tell him no, without hurting his feelings.

"You don't have to leave them. That's not what I'm asking you." His gaze fell to the floor for a moment. What was he asking her? Truly, he did not know. He was saying things on instinct, rather than thought, and it was far too late to look at the situation logically. His hand fell away from her cheek, he shook his head.

Internally, he thanked the force that the hanger was now empty, save for the usual droid workers. He wouldn't have been able to handle the scrutiny. "I miss you, and I don't know what to do about that. I want you around, and I know we have very different lives now, but..." He stopped himself. The rest of that sentence would have been a deal breaker--Corvetta was a free spirit. She wasn't one to be tied down to anything but her ship, and her crew. And he was no longer apart of the latter.

"I won't try to pull you away from your people. I'm happy to have you around for the little time that I can." He swallowed heavily, and straightened up. "We should probably get moving..." It was obvious that was not what plagued his thoughts. "Vulcanus won't wait."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

I don't have to leave them. Were you planning on tagging along, then? It was a legitimate question for Corvetta to present, but she kept mum on it. There was too much confusion going on--emotions she still did not quite understand but was starting to accept. They were more than just friends at this point, and Graxin had figured it out before she had. "You're never gonna tramp me, ya know..." she muttered, as if she did not want him to actually hear what she said. "We've done this too many times by now."

Corvetta nodded in agreement as he changed the topic to Vulcanus and began to track up the boarding ramp to Graxin's ship. "Let's dust off, then! Plenty of time to yap. And..." She paused to snicker. "...Eat cheese cubes."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"No." Graxin replied bluntly. There was no point in dancing around the issue when the answer was a simple one. Regardless, he followed behind her like a lost puppy hoping to charm her into taking him home. Perhaps it was working, in one way or another. "Doesn't mean we don't have starships or something though. Distance isn't terrible all the time."

The Knight was clutching at straws, and he knew it. There was little hope she would concede to his desires. It was a childish fantasy that he had allowed to play itself out in his mind when he had a moment to spare. There was no validity to it, he saw that now. Perhaps his feelings were simply an illusion as well, something his mind had concocted to give him some sort of drive. Mental gymnastics that his brain went through to make him move forward.

Graxin snickered at her comment about cheese cubes. That didn't need to be explained. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed after her--intent to keep his eyes up. "Tramp you?" He asked innocently. This was Graxin after all, the guy with three years of social experience tops, and even then little exposure to your average person.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

"Tramp, yeah. You know--take me then ditch me." Was her spacer speak coming out too thick? It had been a while since they had really talked, and maybe she was just too comfortable around him to remember to talk like a normal-ish person.

"You're not that type, right?" Oh, why was she even entertaining this subject? It was getting awkward. Then again, they had always excelled at being awkward together, and maybe that was the key to their whole relationship. Could it really be deeper than just that? Corvetta had no idea. She liked him--that much was apparent. In fact, she even liked him. But how far could she follow her feelings? He's going to get killed, or arrested, or something frakking fried if he keeps at this. No way could she commit to that.

[member="Graxin Rade"]