Out of Gas

[Leori Sheltrak]

Space. The Final Frontier... No, that's a different story. A long time ago, in a galaxy...no wait, that's not it either. Both tales are far more interesting and elaborate than the tale of how Leori found herself floating in space with empty fuel gauges....

Several weeks earlier, Leori had left Coruscant with the ousting of the newly appointed Grandmaster Joshua, only two weeks after he'd been appointed. There were many accusations flying, and division within the Jedi of the Republic. She was not in a position to take a side, so she took neither and left. Leori was not a war monger, and she was not cowering instead of taking action. She'd been working her ass off all of her life. She'd been a healer for over twenty years, and on more worlds patching up the beings of the galaxy after battles and wars were fought. Leori was tired. And she was using her journey to the new home of the Silver Jedi to rest and refresh her outlook.

Of course, she'd been too busy meditating to notice things like lack of supplies. So now, she was drifting near Raxus, best she could tell. Not terribly far from her ultimate destination, but it certainly needed more than fumes to make it the rest of the way...

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron entered the cockpit of the Nemesis with an expression clearly indicating his displeasure at being disturbed. During his rather routine departures from Moross space, the Sith Lord was sure to maintain some semblance of communication with his various network of allies and associates. As a result, the Priest of Aatrox's personal vessel had dropped out of hyperspace near the remote Raxus system to send a few transmissions.

"What is it?" Silver-green eyes found the blue and grey robed figure that was one of the...many...that followed Cameron either out of respect or fear of incurring the man's Wrath.

"A vessel just entered the scanner field, Lord Centurion."

Cameron remained motionless. "Excuse me?"

Sensing the large Sith Lord's displeasure, the younger man immediately clarified. "It did not exit hyperspace under power. Focused scans indicate most systems aside from life support have shut down."

"Why do I care, Captain?"

"The transponder tag sir. Republic."

Cameron rollled his eyes. "Mildly interesting. Very mild. Hail it."

The Captain did not offer a verbal response, merely a polite half-bow before setting to the task. Within a matter of minutes, the Captain was broadcasting over an open frequency to the vessel. "Unidentified vessel, this is the Nemesis off your port bow. Do you require assistance."

As the Captain spoke, Cameron allowed his senses to expand through the Force. Slowly his dark presence swelled until it reached the vessel in question. Almost immediately, he could sense the presence of another being - specifically one whom's midichlorians reacted to the chilling push of his own presence. That was indicative only of the fact that the individual had unusually high force activity surrounding them - meaning they were sensitive to it. Whether or not this individual was aware, however, remained to be seen.

[member="Leori Sheltrak"]

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

Leori perked up upon hearing the hail. There was hope for her yet, thank the Force. Eagerly she sent back a transmission. "Yes. I seem to have run out of fuel..." Wow, that sounded really lame saying it outloud to another person.

"Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated." Leori said. And then she frowned. There was a dark presence here. She wasn't certain, but it seemed like one that she'd encountered before. That was a little unsettling.

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

The Captain turned to regard Cameron when a response was received from the vessel.

Cameron, however, ignored the man for the moment. The presence he'd sensed had shifted, responded to his own. That meant, at the very least, it was a being aware of their force sensitivity...perhaps even trained. Finally, he issued instruction to his men. "Inform them we will render assistance, Captain. Contact the nearest expeditionary force with our location."

The Captain nodded his head as the folds of the Sith Lords' clothing disappeared with a rustle of fabric. Keying the communicator, he spoke to the freighter once more. "We've sent for assistance. Will your life support last for..." The Captain paused as his fingers danced over a console in front of him, looking up the last reported location of expeditionary units from the Crusade. He was able to locate a lone Lancer-class Frigate a few hours away by hyperspace trip. "...another four hours?"

[member="Leori Sheltrak"]

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

Leori was relieved that assistance would be provided. And the question of how long the life support would last...well that she didn't know exactly for sure. But, she responded. "Well, it's presently running on battery, and I don't know how long the battery is meant to last..." She trailed off.

The Captain's dispassionate response was immediate. "Well. We'll find out in that amount of time then. Do what you can to conserve. Nemesis out." For the next three and a half hours, the crew of the Nemesis went about routine tasks finishing reports and awaiting the arrival of the Liberator. When the Lancer-class Frigate entered the area, it tractor end Leori's vessel aboard and the Nemesis landed directly beside it in the hangar bay. Guards were present to keep the visitor from going anywhere else...uninvited.

Leori meditated for those hours, until the tractor beam alerted her that the four hours had passed. Look at that, she was still alive. She moved for the ramp of the ship and opened it. The Jedi Master wasn't sure that she should leave her ship, but at least with the hatch open, she wouldn't suffocate as quickly.

Cameron and exited his own vessel behind a small handful of soldiers. Stepping out onto the durasteel surface of the hangar, his silver-green eyes surveyed the ship they'd just rescued from beneath the veil of darkness provided by the hood of his cloak. For now, he waited patiently, standing in front of three other similarly dressed individuals.

Leori peeked out of the ship and saw that there were already others awaiting her. So, she stepped out and slowly approached the robed beings. "Thank you for the assistance." Leori bowed. She was presently dressed in her robes, including the ones meant for colder temperatures. After all, she'd sacrificed heat for air.

None of the others spoke as they stared at Leori. In fact it seemed as if none of them breathed until Cameron finally spoke, his silver-green eyes locked on the form before them. "You'll be paying for the fuel..." Cameron's deep voice resonated throughout the hangar before took two casual steps forward. "Who are you?" There was something definitive familiar about the woman, but he couldn't quite place it.

Leori nodded. "Of course." She hadn't expected a free ride afterall. "I am Leori Sheltrak." There was no need for a rank at the moment, as she clearly didn't know who she was dealing with. Whoever he was, his followers were very dependent on him. They seemed to be waiting for his lead.

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron continued to remain motionless until [member="Leori Sheltrak"] spoke her name. Allowing the words to drift through the many cogs of his expansive memory, the Sith Lord eventually took a step forward. Drawing back the hood of his cloak, he smiled thinly at the woman. "Jedi... Leori Sheltrak." It was much more a statement than a question. "Well then. You'll be coming with me now."

Without so much as a motion to the others, Cameron turned and began walking towards the hangar's exit. The other Aatrox Priests and Priestesses swiftly moved to encourage Leori to follow the large, dark-skinned individual.

Reaching the door, Cameron motioned it open for turning left down the corridor and proceeding to a small meeting room roughly a hundred meters down said corridor. Stepping into the doorway, he motioned for Leori to enter. "Make yourself comfortable. It will take...time to have your vessel prepared for departure again."

Only because the process would not start until Cameron gave the word to do so.

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Leori closed her eyes briefly upon hearing Cameron speak her name. It had been a while, but when they'd first met, he broke her leg. And now she was at his mercy. The Force wasn't smiling on her today it seemed, or perhaps it was, and she just didn't know it yet.

Still, she wouldn't show her defeat. She stood tall and followed as she was ushered her toward the Sith. They turned left down the corridor to a small room and the Jedi Master entered it when prompted to do so. There wasn't much to say in response. It's not like she was going space diving. So, she took the high road. "Thank you," she said as she sat down.

He obviously remembered her. And she had not forgotten him. The question now was, what was going to happen now?

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron watched [member="Leori Sheltrak"] in silence for several moments as he sat across from her at a medium-sized table. When the silence had become almost deafening, the Sith Lord smiled thinly. "So. Leori. What the hell are you doing out here, and where were you going?" Cameron didn't really care why or how she'd run out of gas. Those calculations were actually surprisingly difficult to screw up...especially with the aid of navicomputers that were basically a necessity for hyperspace travel.

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

So there they were. Staring at each other in silence. Not communicating. That was unusual for her. But she was also a stubborn woman, and had refused to speak first. Hurrah for her, she'd won... sort of. Too much time had past, because they weren't even opening with pleasantries, though they'd quite possibly be very forced. So maybe that was a good thing. Questions were answered immediately.

"Actually, I've been drifting between hyper trips for hours longer than necessary because I was so deeply in meditation. I hadn't thought of the prospect that I was burning fuel unnecessarily until I checked the fuel. I'm not used to traveling on my own anymore." She chuckled. Yep, ditzy these days. "I think I'm going to stop meditating for the rest of my journey."

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Actually, [member="Leori Sheltrak"] didn't answer his questions. He supposed she answered one, the more superfluous of the two. Without moving a single muscle other than his lips, the Sith Lord delivered a dispassionate reply. "Where are you going?"

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Leori had obviously not avoided the question as she'd intended. She didn't intend to tell him that she was going to join other Jedi who'd left the Republic. "I have been making my way toward some Jedi that I haven't seen in a long time." Yes, that sounded plausible. "Why is it important where I'm going?"

 

[Leori Sheltrak]

Cameron's patience was rapidly wearing thin. "It's important because I asked. Where?"

Leori sighed. "On Drongar."

Cameron nodded his head slightly. "Drongar..." Cameron did not know the system. Reaching into the folds of his cloak, he withdrew a datapad and typed in the planet name...or what he presumed to be the appropriate spelling. Once the information had pulled up form the device's connection to on board computers, the Sith Lord smiled and looked at Leori. "Curious. Tell me about Drongar. Why there?" He was ninety percent sure she was lying based on the database descriptions of the system. Clever Jedi. Or maybe not, but he was curious to see how she adapted.

Leori shrugged. "Those were the coordinates I was given. I imagine it was so that we were still in Republic space, but far from the core."

"Leori, Leori, Leori..." Cameron's voice quickly took on a much darker edge as his silver-green gaze burned vibrantly. "Let's have an agreement not to lie to each other, shall we? Do you even know what the general composition of Drongar is?"

"I have no idea. I've never been there." That was a lie. She'd been there when the Republic had liberated it.

"So either you expect me to believe that you and several over Jedi are dumb enough to travel to Drongar...without knowing that it is barely habitable. That the air literally kills anyone not acclimated. That it's oxygen content is so high it would saturate your lungs and cause them to explode or slowly erode your brain." Actually...they probably were that dumb. "Or...you are full of shit. So. Again. Were are you going?"

Leori sighed. "Fine, I'm going to Voss."

The Sith Lord tapped the information into his datapad. After taking another brief moment to peruse the information, he looked back up at Leori. "Oh? Now why would Jedi be gathering on a planet not controlled by the Republic...unless... Oh no. Has there been another rift in your Order? Say it isn't so."

Leori narrowed her eyes. "A rift would be putting it lightly."

"Well then. Educate me oh wise and venerable Jedi Master."

"Well, the Order has had three Grand Masters in the last 6 weeks."

"Sounds terribly typical, to be honest." Though the Sith suffered the same plight. Routinely.

"There was one overthrown when the Mandalorians threatened invasion of Coruscant. He had been there about two weeks."

Cameron waved a dismissive hand to stave off the continuous recounting of Jedi leadership failures. "Yeah I don't care. So then. I presume you would prefer to arrive on Voss unharmed?"

"That would be lovely."

"I also presume you would prefer I didn't divulge the location of your people to any one of literally a dozen organizations that would love nothing more than to burn your entire organization to the ground...just to say they did it?"

"That too would be lovely." But nothing was free.

She was so smart. For the first time since they'd been in the room, Cameron smiled genuinely. "I'm very invested in the ongoing relations between the Jedi Order and these Rogue Jedi. Specifically...the movements either might be making against real or perceived enemies. Do you know how I'm going to get what I want?"

"Well I suppose I'd be obligated to tell you in exchange for my safety and secrecy."

Cameron nodded his head slightly. "Yes. Now, you can take solace in the fact that the Moross Crusade has no desire for hostilities with the Jedi. Any Jedi. There are some that move amongst the shadows, however. I assure you my reach extends far beyond what you could conceive. Do not betray me, Leori."

Leori raised an eyebrow. "Do I strike you as one that betrays others?"

"You strike me as a fool for running out of fuel, of all things. Beyond that, I assure you that you are quite unremarkable to me." Withdrawing a communicator, Cameron issued brief instruction to his people. "Take care of our guest's vessel with all do haste." Placing the communicator back into his pocket as a garbled response was heard, Cameron nodded to Leori. "Anything else the Moross Crusade can do for you today?"

"Yes, it was foolish of me. It is not a mistake I will make again." She paused. "Would you tell me more of the Moross Crusade?"

The Sith Lord arched a curious eyebrow. After a few moments of silence, he gave her the cliff notes version. "An organization devoted to the worship of ten deities representing a balance in the dichotomy of good and evil. Our followers do so out of fervent faith and belief in a better way of life where all are accepted and life can be what you wish. The only real rule is to remain faithful, to Moross, and the Gods. There is no strength like fanatical strength."

Leori believed that. And she'd seen it many times. "That would bring about an interesting mix of beings," she commented.

Cameron nodded his head. "It certainly does."

"How did you come to find this Crusade?"

"Whispers on the wind." Cameron smirked slightly. "It is how I come upon a great majority of my information."

Leori nodded. "I imagine that is the case. One can't be everywhere at once."

Cameron nodded his head before pushing his chair back and coming to his feet. "Indeed. At any rate, your transportation should be prepared."

"Thank you." Leori stood up and returned to her ship and prepared it to be on her way.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Before [member="Leori Sheltrak"] departed, Cameron passed her a datapad with a secure encryption protocol to be used to contact himself directly. Satisfied she understood their arrangement, he allowed the Jedi Master to depart unharmed. Smiling thinly, the Sith Lord turned once her vessel slipped from view. "Take us home. There is much to do."