Campaign Spring Break Adventure

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl
By this point Tobe's swim trunks were not the freshest. They'd passed the point of clamminess before he'd even reached the station. Tobe stuck to the back seat of the fancy speeder and wished he was elsewhere. A very specific elsewhere.

"Shavvit. I missed meeting the Mikan. Her tentacles shall belong to another. Woe is me."

He began rooting around for a concealed mini-bar, just in case one existed.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

When he was released he was happy that he got his possessions back. His bag could have been evidence, but apparently someone had done fast talking and convinced the local authorities that he was indeed the victim. Forensics would back that up. It was indeed his bag, and the one body on the street was felled by his cohorts and not the boy. Still there was lingering questions in the minds of the officers as they released him.

Standing at the door he saw Kyra. His mind was numb, hours of interrogation and exposure to pheromones had pumped his adrenaline levels into overdrive and now that he found himself in the clear he was crashing. When the girl nodded wordlessly to a waiting speeder he smiled a dopey little relaxed smile and just walked forward, questioningly taking a seat.

The speeder began driving as he suppressed the urge to doze off right then and there.”Can we stop by hotel so I can get dressed?” he asked realizing that he had been wearing a skimpy bathing suit since their meeting.

Kyra was obliging and the speeder stopped by the hotel, which all things considered wasn’t far away. They had after all walked everywhere except the police station.

The hotel card was still in his bag and he was able to walk up to his room and open the door. What greeted him was a mess. His room had been tossed, by the thugs or an overzealous police force he couldn’t be sure although he believed it was more likely the former. His belongings were scattered across the floor. Wordlessly he walked over to a button down short sleeved shirt on the ground and put it over his shoulders leaving it open and slipping a pair of pants on over his bathing suit. Several of his datapads consisting of most of his research had been broken and scattered all over the room. “This is everything I own,” he said staring at the mess.

Tobias Katarn Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra wanted to ask questions. She wanted to talk. But Jaeson seemed dead on his feet and Tobias was elbow deep in the snack bar. For a moment she would wait, but the drag of time without resolution was painful.

Of course she said yes to going to his hotel. She supposed he would want to stay there, which hurt in a way, but she understood they were strangers. They had spent more time in jail than in each other's company. She usually would have spent the car ride rattling away what happened in her 5 hours, but perhaps she was just tired too.

Someone was dead, and she had been there.

She gave Tobias a tight smile as they let Jaeson lead them through. Why was he still here? More food, probably. She whispered a reassuring 'we'll take care of you next' as they moved about.

She thunked into Jaeson's back as he stared at his trashed room. It took several blinks for understanding to hit. She glanced warily over her shoulder, her hand reaching for the saber that had been placed back in her possession. "... Jaesoooon... there's something you wanna tell us about this work you're doing...?"

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Mini-bar mini-bottle of Whyren's Reserve in hand and in stomach, Tobe slouched in behind Kyra Perl and Jaeson Starchaser .

"Well, I mean, our boy's obviously a spy so there's that."

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Kyra thunked into Jae and he felt the impact on his back. If he had been in a calmer state of mind he’d have probably blushed and acted… well like Jae. Instead his mind began to process everything. He scanned the room noting the utter destructive chaos around him. All the drawers were pulled out of their shelves lying loose. What little luggage he had was ransacked all it’s contents on the floor, the mattress tipped over but merciful for his bank account not cut open.

The only object that survived was a standing lamp and the bedframe. Frowning at the comment Tobias made Jae replied, “I’m not a spy,” before trundling over to the lamp. It was only a moment of consideration before his hands started to slide over the surface of the lamp. After a minute he’d moved onto the desk sliding down the legs and then finally settled on the power outlet. Nothing.

“I’m just a university student,” he said, moving over to the bed. The carpeted floor showed indents where the frame had been moved, just a little. Tracing the movement angle he walked to the back of the bedhead. If the police were trying to be obvious they wouldn’t have been this obvious, it reeked of an amateur. Reaching his hand out he grabbed the bug placed on the bed and picked it up. “I can clean up later, I think I just want to get out of here.” he said, lifting the device and showing the others. Well that was spring break over. A sadness washed over him as he put the listening device down on the table. He began to slowly gather up clothes before stopping and thinking better of it. There was no telling what was on them and he just desperately wanted to get out of the room.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra squirmed, her own expression falling as his sadness resonated within her. For a moment, it was incapacitating. But then her better sensibilities kicked in and she jumped into action. She flitted around the room, shooting him concerned glances as she grabbed his things and shoved them in a pillow case.

"It's fine, come on," she urged, the pillow case placed in Tobias's hands, as her own arms wrapped comfortingly around Jaeson's side. She led them out, giving Tobias a concerned look of her own. "Let's just go back to my place. It's safe. I have clothing. Let'sjustgetoffthestreet." And with another wary glance around them, she tried to bring them to the vehicle.

The questions burned hotter with every passing minute. She swallowed them back, paranoid of speaking until they were safe, dry, and perhaps drinking some hot coco in her home.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Tobe swiped the listening device and cracked it apart with the tines of a discarded fork. He scrutinized the inside as he stripped out the battery. The gear rang a bell, but it also struck him as fairly generic. He left all of it and went with the other two.

Fast forward a tense, surreal, but uneventful fifteen minutes, and the three of them reached Kyra's house. Or Kyra's mother's house, the one that had a swimming pool or swimming pools. Tobe stood awkwardly in the entryway.

"Nice place." Understatement. "You said, uh, clothes?"

Kyra Perl Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

To call it a house was something of a misnomer. It was an estate at the very least, perhaps a mansion although the semantical argument for either was lost on Jaeson. It was large and luxurious and from the looks of things he doubted it was the only property the family owned.

After the awkward speeder ride he’d gone over what he'd say in his head, thought about what those people could be after. A flat expression had taken over his face. Tobias needed clothes first, he needed a shower and Kyra… well she was just fine in his estimation. His face blushed at his own thought. No, he meant she had time to get changed and cleaned up.

Besides she was a Jedi, this was the belly of the beast. “I didn’t know Jedi were allowed to live in such luxury.” Stupid. The deflection wouldn’t last more than a second and could upset the girl, which wasn’t something he wanted. “I mean you hear stories, brown robes and the like…” Good recovery, totally not blatant at all. There was more important things he should have been talking about, more important questions needing answers.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra kicked off her shoes and padded through, the space quiet and eerily empty. At least to her. Echos of memories rebounded off the halls she brought them down- places where children had once occupied enmasse, laughing, fighting, running ...

Now there was just the two at her back, their breath in her ear as she opened up doors and led them inside. It had been someone's room, once upon a time. Male. Kept as it was for the rare occasion said room owner might come visit again. Kyra yanked open the dresser draws and pulled out sets of left behind clothing.

It'd fit them well enough, Dagon was average in size.

"Jedi don't, but my mom retired from the cause eons ago," she informed him, patting down two clothing piles. She frowned. "Dunno why. But uh. She runs clubs now. You know, everywhere," she gestured vaguely to the large window overlooking the dark city. "I'm just visiting. But she won't be home, not till morning, I don't think. Or maybe the next day..." The frowned deepened into her brow line. She looked up, forcing it away with a smile.

"You guys can shower if you want. I'll order food. Burgers okay?" She asked, despite walking out already. "I'll be in the living room. Come out when you're ready! We can talk."






And there she would be found, tablet in hand as she placed an excessively large food order to the house. Three steaming hot cocos were on the table waiting, and under an abundantly fluffy sweater sat Jaeson's and her own saber at her hips. She looked up, literally buzzing with questions.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

Whoever's clothes these were, the guy liked style and - despite some maid's best efforts - smoking, clearly. They were probably worth two or three days' pay, so Tobe showered and put them on. The smell of smoke was pretty faint. Carababba tabac, maybe, nothing overwhelming. And he looked decent in the bathroom mirror. All in all, a huge improvement over blaster-burned swim trunks.

He had to admit, Kyra cleaned up well in a comfy-rich-girl kind of way. Definitely not his type, of course, but still. He took one of the cups and sank into an insanely sinkable chair.

"Don't know if I can thank you enough for all this.
Do I owe your lawyer anything?"

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Showering was good. Jae could feel his mind clearing up as he literally washed away the foreign influence. Changing his clothes he walked out to join the others. There was a range of emotions that burst into being upon seeing the other two. He was of course grateful to them for everything. Tobias hadn’t told the authorities anything and Kyra had… well she had done something very unexpected.

“I just want to say I appreciate everything you’ve done.” He spoke to both of them but he was addressing Kyra. There was a bit of anxiety oozing from him now. “Can I have it back now?” he reached his hand out to accept his saber back. There was reason aplenty for Kyra to keep it. She didn’t know who he was and if she believed Tobias than he was clearly some sort of Sith Spy. Half truth is little better than a lie.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra shook her head at them both, sitting forward to nudge the hot coco closer to each boy. It was as if she couldn't calm until she saw them with a bit of comfort in their body. Kyra couldn't fix everything that happened today, but she could assure they were all comfortable now. It helped her.

"I just did what was right. Wasn't right any of us was caught in it, I don't think." Her gaze flickered to Jaeson's extended hand, her attention falling heavily to the weight of his saber on her.

"No, sorry," she answered Tobias, grimacing sadly. She sat back in her seat, her own cup clasped between the sleeves of her sweater. She let the steam wash over her face, then took a sip of what normal humans might consider sickly sweat dish. It warmed her insides, making her feel a bit more like herself.

"People are dead. I cut off someone's hand. I mean, we did what we had to-- totally..." Her gaze went a bit distant for a moment, images of that severed limb flashing through her mind. "But until you're honest with us, it stays with me. I mean, really, Jaeson-- your room! And what about us, are we in trouble now too? What aren't you telling us? What did they want, and why does some pleb no body in sith space have a saber? We coulda died too. You owe us answers."

Her gaze flickered to Tobias, sticking up for his safety as well.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Tobe slurped the posh cocoa happily and settled farther into the posh chair.

"The lady's got a point, Jae. You don't owe me crap, but she sprung you from wherever the Jedi toss lightsaber-using Forcers from Sith space who kill people in Jedi territory. I'm guessing it's not a happy place to spend the next few years. So yeah, your little blond backside owes Kyra the answers and then some."

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

For a moment as he stared at Kyra he could see himself closing the gap between them, he didn’t get to see her fight but he was reasonably assured he could get ahold of the saber quick enough. He shook that thought off nearly as soon as it appeared. Instead the thought of murder was replaced with… no time for that.

“First off,” Jaeson started staring at Tobias, “I didn’t kill anyone.” It was an important distinction to get out of the way. They shot him, he merely put the person in a position to get shot. The rest… well they weren’t having a good time for sure, but they weren’t dead.

Now that that weight off his shoulder he looked between the pair and shook his head. “You’re going to be a bit disappointed,” he said “because the truth is I don’t know what they were after.”

Taking his bag and placing it on a coffee table near a couch he moved and sat down. “But listen, they searched my room and found nothing. I didn’t have anything hidden in there, so they obviously didn’t find what they were looking for. Then they came for my bag. So whatever they were after its in here, or at least they think it is.” He upended the bag and started to deposit it’s contents onto the table.

There was a datapad which contained all of his notes and research, several charcoal rubbings from his last trip containing hieroglyphs that he had yet to decipher, a comb like object with sharp triangular teeth containing a bit of hieroglyphic writing, a bronze pin with a jade stone set in the center of bronze cast ivy vines, a pair of coins, a large tooth or tusk from an unknown creature, a tooth and leather necklace, part of a tablet with ancient huttesse writing, an ivory horn hollowed out with writing that Jae believed to be Sith, a swimsuit, a stack of papers, pen, and a piece of cloth that supposedly absorbed like a billion times its weight in water.

“And there is something else,” he said, taking one of the pieces of loose paper and the pen. He began to draw on the paper and although it wasn’t perfect it looked as good as his recollection. “One of the men who attacked us, he had this mark tattooed on his abdomen. It looks familiar but I can’t exactly put my finger on it.”

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Well maybe you've beaten them up before," Kyra concluded, eyeing his stuff for a curious second before scooting off the couch and resting on the plush carpet on her knees. She reached forward, hot coco discarded, curiously picking through his artifacts.

"Weird. Maybe... Do you mind?" And with no explanation, she picked up the horn, closing her eyes. She tried to let her thoughts fall to the wayside, her senses attune for any images attached to its past.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

"He's good, eh?" said Tobe with half a grin. "I'd bet money every word of that was true. Tells us feth all about who he actually is, though..."

He trailed off as the pile o'stuff registered. Most of it meant nothing to him, maybe nothing to anyone. The horn or tusk, though, with its swirly spiky writing - he'd seen script like that at Marcaragna's place, and tattooed on what was left of her skin.

"That horn or tusk you've got, that writing's Sith I think. A...lady I knew...would say it's old. Like twenty thousand years, way older than most Sith can read. I sure can't."

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra cracked open an eye lid, grinning a little at Tobias’s well stated point. Jaeson HAD said nothing of himself.

She shot the Blond a side glance, then sat up straighter and tried to close her eyes again.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

“I don’t just go around beating on people,” Jae said defensively. He had to stop himself from institutionally pulling back the contents of his bag like a petulant child. His eye practically twitched as he stared at her. Who did she think he was? Okay she thought he was a Sith Spy, clearly. But that wasn’t true and what would he have done to even make her think that… okay so it was a fair.. Ish… assumption.

Tobias of course wasn’t helping. “Listen, I’m just a student.” Okay that wasn’t exactly a lie but it wasn’t exactly the truth. That probably wouldn’t fly. “A student with extended privileges for field study. Otherwise there isn’t much to tell.” A frown covered his face. “I don’t have family,” his eyes looked over at Kyra, “and I don’t really know what else you want to know. I am not a Sith a Spy though.” His eye quirked, “Of course if I was I’d probably say that so use your own judgement I suppose.”

Looking back at the horn tobias had pointed out, “Anyways… yeah that artifact has Sith written on it. Ancient Sith were a proliferate creator of trinkets.”

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Please stop thinking, it's very distracting," Kyra interjected, her eyes cracking open to glance at Jaeson. She gave him a stern, motherly look, then closed her eyes again and tried to make it all go quiet again.

It wasn't working. She squirmed, shifting in place.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

The urge to loot this place was very, very strong. Tobe resisted out of common sense and some degree of conscience.

That, and Kyra's 'stop thinking' comment had him on edge.

He got up, giving Kyra her quiet, and went to wash his mug in the capacious kitchen. This Force crap was hard, and she needed all the help she could get.

Kyra Perl Jaeson Starchaser