The Honorable Ones

[Luther Lewis]

FIV Pellaeon - Hangar
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, Enviro-suit.

​

The ship floated silently, a hunk of metal performing a slow slumberous turn in empty space. Luther stared at it through the cockpit windows, entranced by the graceful motion. After a minute passed, it had completed one whole rotation and Luther could see no exterior damage.

He was shaken from his reverie as Anders approached, his feet clanking on the metal floor. “What have you got?” Luther asked, tearing his eyes from the spinning object. “No exterior damage as far as I can see” Anders replied. “Could be due to ion damage, caused by another vessel that then boarded”. The man took a good look at the vessel. “But that’s unlikely, boarders usually strip for parts. This one looks relatively whole”. Luther nodded. “Prep a team” Luther said. “Let’s go for a space-walk”.

- - - - -​

It was good practice to only dock you ship with vessels you trust; therefore, Luther and his team were taking a short hop through space towards the unknown ship. The maneuver was tricky, they had to jump at the right time to compensate for the ship’s rotation. Fortunately, the turn was slow, and they managed to land on the ventral side of the cruiser.

Luther covered one of the stormtroopers as she opened the hatch. A flashlight on the end of his weapon illuminated the interior of the empty airlock. With his free hand he motioned his team to move in, following behind and closing the exterior hatch. The airlock was offline, not even any kind of backup was running. With no power, it was unlikely there would be a breathable atmosphere inside, so he ordered the team to keep helmets on. They breached the corridor, the well-trained crew moving well in zero gravity. When it was obvious that there was no ambush waiting, Luther split the group in two to search for survivors.

It was becoming more and more clear that this was indeed a pirate vessel. The interior components were in poor repair, there was food and drink spilled throughout the ship and graffiti on the walls. He found the brig, empty but with evidence that someone had been held there. There was a pair of discarded stun-cuffs and what looked like blood on one of the pipes.

He was called to the cockpit, entering to find multiple floating bodies. Their clothes and marking identified them as pirates. “<Very Good, leave them for now>” his voice crackled through the comm channel. He floated over to the navcomputer, plugging in a portable battery and watching the screen come to life. Typical pirates hadn’t even locked the device, and it took Luther only a few seconds to bring up the travel history. “<Anders come in>” Luther said over the comms. Luther listened to the affirmative and continued: “<Looks like this vessel was indeed near Sullust. Hull isn’t compromised, the vessel is just powered off. Let’s dock the Zephyr and try to get to the bottom of this mystery>”.

| [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] |​

 

[Cassius Droma]

A calmness seemed to wash over the woman lying in front of him. Cassius heaved a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. Gianna would hopefully be proud. Granted, there was still no telling just what exactly he did inside of Aes’ona’s mind, but the young Jedi had an instinct that it had been positive. A hand touched his arm, and Cassius patted her hand with his.

As she propped herself up, Cassius observed just how exhausted she looked. He could also feel the confusion within her, which was understandable. He’d unlocked something that had been buried so deep that it was completely foreign to her. To have all of that rush back in at once… it was sure to be overwhelming. In a better setting, Cassius might have been able to coax the memories out over the span of a few sessions, but he didn’t even know what he was doing in there. Next time, he’d know better.

Then came her first question, and Cassius had decided to drop the ruse at this point. He briefly looked over to the container of the water. It had started to boil, and would be sterilized soon. She would need to drink it – maybe there was a way for him to rapidly cool it with the Force.

“You were seizing, so I entered your mind to try and heal your head injury,” he said, sitting down in a less attentive position. The danger seemed to have passed… for now. “When I was there, I noticed something,” he paused, unsure of how to put it into words. “A barrier, one that presented itself in the same way your head injury did. I healed that as well, in a way, by breaking the barrier. I guess First Order brainwashing is real after all.”

Her next question was much more existential. Cassius had a prevailing theory – she had been taken from her home, ripped away from her parents, and thrust into the service of the First Order. How the actual brainwashing worked, he wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it was by conventional means, or even through the Force. He could have vocalized all of these things, sure, but instead he said,

“I think you know, now.” If her memories truly had come back to her, then she would remember everything that had happened before she was taken. “It might be difficult to process at first, but it’ll start to come back to you.”

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

The family back on Dosuun that she thought was hers--Taeir, Nileeta, Rache, Raaz--was not. She had lived more than two decades with impostors, and had spent a handful of years less serving her kidnappers. Rather than her life, the faces of her fellow First Imperials in the Order flashed before her: Kiearan Launderslaug, Zanthier Madine, Dermin Brayaa, Vihar Hux, Primat Ren, [member="Luther Ando"]. Who knew? Did anyone? Was it common knowledge to everyone but her, if her selection of comrades were born Imperials, that the Order committed child abductions? Maybe, maybe not, but, when she thought about it, most of the medical history on files for stormtroopers that came across her desk was redacted.

Pain prickled through Aes'ona's nose. She sniffed harshly, and that proved enough to stave off tears, for now. Still, she pulled her knees into her chest. And, on top of her sudden existential crisis, she had no idea, really, of who the man calling himself Cassius was, nor where they were.

She opened her mouth and made some sort of indecipherable sound, her tongue pulled in too many directions by her mind. It was short and irregular as she cut herself off when the reality around her suddenly dawned. The chill of coming evening soaked into her bare arms; there would be time for questions later, most of which she had to ask herself rather than bother Cassius with, but now needs baser than sense of self had to be addressed.

The doctor--at least that wasn't an implanted memory--cleared her throat. She didn't know how to transition from such an event, rather a pair of them, but she managed to ask, "Right, what's to do? What can I help with? Don't say 'lay down and rest'." It was a struggle to stand with only one usable arm. The other she must have sprained in her struggle.

When she got up, she held her temple, a minor wave of tunnel vision afflicting her. "And, um, call me whatever you want," she added, waving her hand dismissively. Her chest felt tight, as if her body was home to two different people. Neither persona fit quite right, so neither did either name.

/ [member="Cassius Droma"] \

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius looked upon her with concern and worry. What exactly were the ramifications of his actions? Had he freed the doctor from one prison, only for her to be trapped in another? He’d just presumably changed the entire course of her life. Perhaps, in time, she would come to terms with her new reality and be better for it. Whether or not he deserved her gratitude remained to be seen.

She seemed intent on getting back to their needs of survival. This, too, made Cassius switch tracks for a moment and think about actually getting off of this rock, or at the very least surviving until someone came to pick them up. Maybe the monotony of a task could help her process what had just happened.

“Well, doctor, I’ll need some time to try and reconnect the beacon to a power source and make sure it’s properly activated. In the meantime, you could maybe work on getting us some more water, as well as maybe some food.” That last one would prove to be challenging. Unless there was some type of flora around here that they could pick or harvest, they would have to resort to hunting.

His A180 blaster was still next to the campfire from when the doctor had ignited the flame. Picking it up, he handed it over, grip facing her. “Not exactly a hunting rifle, but it’s better than sharpened sticks.”

Looking at how she moved her arm, his brow furrowed for a moment. “You know, I could probably try and heal that, as well.” In reality, his recent trip inside of her mindscape had severely drained him, but he could try, at the very least.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Survival instincts were the only things holding the poor woman together. That much was painfully obvious; Cassius wouldn't need to draw on the Force to see that much. "No, you've...I'm alright," she began, lying in more ways than one, shaking her head gently while tucking a few stray strawberry blond hairs behind her ear. "Save your strength. I'll be back soon."

As she passed him, to head back to the pod, she gave Cassius a hesitant pat on the shoulder. Ducking into the doorway and glancing around, she was able to find another, albeit much smaller, container for water. On her way out of camp, the doctor bent to pick up the two thirds that remained of Cassius's pirate cape. Quickly, and after sitting down on a tree stump nearby, she tied a crude sling with her good hand and her teeth. Surprisingly, that alone made her arm feel better. That meant, most likely, that the sprain wasn't that bad.

Then she returned to the stream. After rinsing the canister out once, she filled it up and set it against some rocks poking out of the muddy bank. It was still a struggle to stand. Skirting the bank when she did, she ducked under a low-hanging tree limb into the riparian forest. Finding food in the forest of this backwater would surely prove to be a potentially lethal task, and, even if the doctor had known as much about botany as she did about human and humanoid anatomy, she would not have been the least bit prepared to survive here. There was no tried and true universal technique to accurately assess the edibility of flora, but she knew the very general rule of thumb.

Just...no yellow or white berries, she told herself. It was better not to take her chances with any sort of fungi. Or flashy-colored critters. Or smelly insects. Actually, when she thought about it, meat would probably be a safer choice...if she could catch anything besides organisms that had the aforementioned characteristics.

~†~​

The doctor awkwardly knelt down by the fire after half an hour of hunting and gathering, trying to balance all of her things and keep her left arm bent. She propped the new water container up in the fire, careful to avoid burning herself. Then she set down the cape, which she had taken her arm out of in favor of filling with her modest bounty, and unfolded it. It was nothing short of a miracle that she had found as much food as she had: a few roots that had been partially exposed by a flooding event, two to three handful of small berries, and some sort of squirrel.

"It's not much," she announced to Cassius, wherever he was in the camp. "But I can go out again in the morning if I need to."

~†~​

/ [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Luther Ando"] \​

 

[Cassius Droma]

He gave her a brief nod and knowing look as she passed by him to leave the camp. There was a lot on her mind, no doubt, and he could only hope that she could sort through it all. Briefly, he looked down at the still-inactive emergency beacon in his hand. When he turned it on… there was no telling what would happen. If the First Order came for them, what would the good doctor do? Would she go back with them, turning in the young Jedi? Or would she do something different.

Regardless, he knew they had to get off of this rock somehow. Cassius figured that he had a better chance of getting back home by commandeering a First Order shuttle or prison transport than by waiting here for a lifetime. Ducking into the pod, he unlatched a panel from the hull, and started to work.

~~

It had taken some time to get the beacon hooked back into the pod’s emergency power supply. At first, he had no idea what he was doing, as he only had a cursory familiarity with mechanics and engineering – he could fly a ship, but fixing it was a whole other issue. Eventually, he found out that there was a specific port in the emergency power supply that would accept the beacon in this very type of situation. Since part of it was damaged, it took some doing – he actually had to pull out some wires and reconnect them to each component.

Cassius was half-in, half-out of the pod, his legs dangling out of the side. He was just flicking on the big, clunky switch on the beacon as he heard the rustling of footsteps from outside the pod. After a moment, the beacon’s glass housing started to glow yellow – it was active.

He crunched up, emerging from the pod and brushing his hands together to try and get some of the dirt off of them. “Well, beacon’s active. Hopefully someone will hear us.” Stepping over to the fire, he knelt down and took a look at the doctor’s haul. His eyebrow quirked up. “That’s more than I thought we were going to get, honestly…” he said, picking up the tail of the little animal she’d captured. “Never seen this before… where did it come from?” If it was common on the moon and not poisonous, it could prove to be an adequate source of food for a while.

Clean water, food, and shelter… they’d met all of the basic requirements to survive. Now the only question was – how long did they have to survive for?

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

FIV Zephyr
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, FO-X1 'Shadow Trooper' Armour, Stun baton.

​

Luther let out a sigh of frustration. He paced around the abandoned ship, now stabilized and full of oxygen, and tried desperately to find the connection he was missing. He figured this must be connected with Terrani somehow, but he didn’t have much to go on except a bit of dried blood and a missing escape pod. Not even the security cameras were of any help, the pirates had disabled them, most likely because they feared they were being spied on. The whole situation was like trying to solve a puzzle with only half the pieces.

He crossed back over to the Zephyr through the airlock connecting both ships. He skirted past recovery crews running back and forth until he eventually made it back to the bridge. Anders was there, coordinating with crew members. Seeing Luther, he dismissed an ensign and approached. “We’ve picked up a distress signal” Luther raised an eyebrow. “Signature matching the Gozanti?” Luther asked, a feeling of vigor returning to his body. “Indeed” Anders replied, with a slight smile. “Activated while you were on your space-walk, it's transmitting from a nearby moon”. The man gestured to one of the monitors, and Luther moved to see for himself.

“Conspicuous timing” Luther said, bringing up the map up on screen. The moon was close, but not close enough for an escape pod. “And if this is our missing escape pod, they are far off course”. Anders smile didn’t drop. “Yes, I thought the same, but the Gozanti was drifting when we found her. I’ve had one of the ensigns run a simulation”. The man tapped a button, causing a small animation to play. Luther watched as the multiple vectors and calculations flashed on screen. “Good work” Luther said. “Looks like it might have made it after all”. He powered down the screen. “Mark the location of the Gozanti for pick up, then we’ll investigate this signal”.

- - - - -​

​

They drifted in the atmosphere of the moon, the Zephyr moving in a slow glide. Inside, the crew were preparing to make groundfall. “It is very probable that this is a trap” Luther said to Anders, strapping on his black chestplate. “Reminds me too much of the Sunburst Incident”. Anders shook his head. “Then why are you going down alone?” the man replied. “With all due respect sir, I’m much more expendable than you are”. Luther let out a wry chuckle. “I’m guessing it is more because you hate being confined to the ship, Sergeant”. The man scowled. “And this kit is expensive” Luther continued, gesturing to black trooper armour he was strapping on. “Shadowtrooper armour is usually only entrusted to Bureau operatives”. Anders sighed, but let the issue drop. “Fine, at least tell me about this ‘Sunburst Incident’ you keep referring to”.

Luther finished with the straps on his suit and pulled the helmet on. “An Imperial vessel named ‘The Sunburst’ picked up a distress signal and landed on an abandoned planet to search for survivors”. His voice had a tinny quality as it came through the external speakers. He activated the suit’s cloaking systems and continued as he disappeared from view. “When they touched down, they were crippled by an ion pulse”. Anders spun around as Luther’s voice echoed off the metal walls of the ship. “Pirates emerged from the scrub, stormed the ship and killed everyone”. He turned the camouflage off, reappearing behind Anders, causing the man to jump.

“You really think this will be the same?” Anders replied, looking warily at the black armour. “I intend to find out” Luther replied. “Keep the ship in position for now and wait for my signal”. With that he strapped himself into the drop pod, and activated the launch sequence.

| [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] |​

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Evidently, they had been lucky to have landed so close to a stream--not only for water, but also for the berried growing along the green bank. And the woman's streak had continued when she had looked up to the canopy to see the squirrel. Only one had been present then, but more had to be around somewhere. "He was in a tree, eating some kind of...nut?" she answered.

She took a moment to think before asking rhetorically, "All rodents are mammals, right? I've never heard of mammal flesh being poisonous, but maybe they have glands or sacs or something." If so, they could be removed without compromising the meat. "We need to be careful. I can cook if you skin it." If she couldn't even dissect a small animal, she shouldn't have chosen to train in minor surgeries. No, that wasn't it. But, with one good arm, she couldn't have accomplished much here.

After her offer, she stood. "I'll find some something to take the water out of the fire with. Do you have a knife?"

~†~​

​

Had she found herself in another situation, she would have thought it had almost been not worth it to kill, dress, and cook the rodent. So much work for little meat. They had quite possibly been much more careful that necessary. They had ended up discarding more that half of the animal, pieces that looked even slightly suspicious, but better safe than sorry. Even if they hadn't been, the head, feet, and tail would have had to have been thrown out anyway.

But they weren't in another situation, so the doctor didn't complain. Instead, she reached down to the piece of hull in her lap that she had pried off the outside of the pod to use as a makeshift plate, and took up the last of her share of meat. Not that she'd recommend whatever this creature was to anyone who hadn't crash landed into this particular moon, but it tasted a little like Gamorrean pork.

The doctor then started on the root she had boiled, eating it as if it was a carrot. She grimaced at the bitterness, but still, it was edible. After swallowing her bite, she set the root down on her plate and, with a sigh, looked up at Cassius. She stared for a while, though she didn't mean to, but as she bit her lip it was like her words had become syrup in her throat. Finally, she forced them and asked, "What do you think I should do?"

Suddenly nervous, she ducked her head and, looking back to her meal, she began playing with the leftover berries. "I-I mean, I can't go back."

~†~​

/ [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] \​

 

[Cassius Droma]

He still eyed the little animal suspiciously. As the doctor assured him that the rodent probably wouldn’t cause them too much harm, Cassius knelt down and inspected it. Usually, anything that was poisonous or had some sort of nasty defense mechanism had some sort of bright pattern or stripe to it. This one didn’t really have any distinctive marks that would indicate as much. So, he nodded. “It’ll have to do.” Hopefully, neither of them would have a bad reaction to it – he might have saved the doctor from her traumatic brain injury, but stomach pains or allergic reactions… that could be different.

Reaching down to his boot, he withdrew the small silver dagger he had before, holding it over the animal. “If this thing starts burning me with acid blood, I’m blaming you.”

~~

There was no acid blood, and hardly any meat. It was, after all, a small animal, and Cassius had made sure to meticulously cut around anything he thought looked even remotely inedible. That being said, they had a well-balanced meal in front of them. Well, as well-balanced as could be, out here in the wilderness. If they had been really brave, they could have perhaps thrown it all into the pot of boiling water and made a stew out of it, but with no spices, it would still be flavorless.

He was chewing on the rather gamey piece of meat when he could feel the doctor staring at him. Cassius returned the gaze, knowing that the woman was deep in thought. Just as it was about to get awkward, she spoke, breaking the tension on what was undoubtedly the question on both of their minds since Cassius had broken through her brainwashing and unlocked her memories.

Cassius sighed as he looked back at the fire. The sun was starting to get low, and the sky above the canopy of trees was a mixture of brilliant yellows and purples. He’d have to think of whatever Jedi wisdom he could muster. Or, just… normal wisdom.

“You’re right – you can’t go back,” he said. She was in a tough place, that was for sure. Looking back to her, he continued. “Us meeting was not a coincidence.”

He looked down and started tracing a meandering path into the dirt with a small twig. “There are a litany of different options in front of you, provided we get off this moon. If you wanted, you could go back to the First Order, and start feeding intelligence to either the Confederacy or Silver Jedi… but I can’t imagine you’d last long doing that. You could run in the opposite direction, as far as you can. There’s a lot of places in the Outer Rim or even Wild Space where you could lay low for a long time. I’m even starting a little outfit in Wild Space that’s aimed at beating back pirates and helping civilians, but I don’t know if you’d be interested in that,” he let out a soft chuckle.

“You could just… drift. Go wherever you feel the wind takes you. Either way, no matter where you go, I know you’re going to want to help people. It’s the reason you became a doctor, and the reason you were doubting your place in the First Order before you even came to me.” How did he know that? Instinct, maybe – Jedi instinct. “There are a lot of places in the galaxy that could use someone like you. You just have to find a place and save as many as you can.”

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

FIV Zephyr / Moon
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, FO-X1 'Shadow Trooper' Armour, Stun baton.

​

‘Every single time’ Luther thought sourly. ‘I forget how much I hate these things. Then I get back into one…’ To say the drop pod was claustrophobic would be an understatement, he could barely move in the damned thing. On a screen to his left, uncomfortably close, he could see an animation of his flight path. He watched as it predicted his landing site, a large clearing not far from the beacon.

The other screen showed his time to launch, counting down from sixty. A small speaker crackled to life near his ear and the voice of Anders came though, uncomfortable loud. “What is the point of the suit if you are going to make a racket with the pod?” Luther rolled his eyes. Were it anyone but Anders, he wouldn’t be able to stand the insolent tone that the sergeant so often sported. “Very funny” Luther replied, still watching the timer tick down. “If they are pirates, they won’t find me regardless of how much sound I make” Luther continued. “And if they are survivors, then I’m sure they won’t mind a little scare”. The pause on the other end. “It’s your head, Agent” came the reply, then silence. Moments later, the screen clicked to zero.

He felt a pull as the pod dropped from the vessel and accelerated towards the moon. The vertigo was sickening, but he managed to keep the contents of his stomach from decorating the walls. He focused on a burning hatred for whatever scientist decided this craft was a good idea. From the Zephyr’s bridge, Sergeant Anders watched as the pod streaked through the atmosphere like a bullet, before disappearing.

The landing was worse than the decent. The vessel had measures to slow the craft down, but any change to the speed went unnoticed to Luther. The collision with the ground was a hard one and the pod’s ‘landing’ left large grooves in the ground. The almighty crash would undoubtably be heard for miles but would not the match almighty cacophony that Luther heard within the pod. Fortunately, his helmet cut out the worse of the sound.

He released his tensed muscles as the pod finally came to a complete stop. He felt gravity pull him down, only now realizing that the pod had landed horizontally. Fortunately, the exit was facing the sky and he wouldn’t open the door to dirt. He unstrapped himself from the seat and climbed out of the deathtrap. He stretched in the sun, feeling the new bruises from being jolted around the pod. “Another happy landing” he said, jumping off into the soft dirt.

He pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet, and without a sound, disappeared from view.

| [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] |​

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

The doctor stayed quiet for a long time after Cassius had finished answering, looking down into the fire with knit brows. "Wild space?" she finally echoed. "Would I be...safe there?" she asked again, involuntarily tilting her head and squinting slightly to try and remember the galactic map. It stretched back behind Confederate space, right?

So, yes. Er, maybe. From what little she had been privy to of foreign relations, the Order was distrustful of the CIS rather than outwardly hostile. Good; maybe that meant that the latter's territory would act as a barrier between the expatriate and the empire.

That was, a very soft maybe.

A moment's hope was quick to fade from the woman. Boarders rarely had halted First Order expansion before and, even if this turned out to be one of those rare times, the FOSB surely would not mind them in the least.

She shivered at the thoughts that flashed before her mind, and she was quick to stand. "Don't answer that." She bit her lip and nodded gently. "Let me think on it." Another pause, during which she stooped to pick up her utensils, before she reached her hand out towards Cassius. "If you're finished, I'll go wash the plates."

~†~​

/ [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] \​

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius could tell that she was seriously considering it. While the First Order Security Bureau, if they decided to pursue her, would be as relentless as he’d been told in various reports, the galaxy was a big place, and the First Order wasn’t ubiquitous. A change in name and perhaps some sort of altering to her appearance would solve many of her problems. Honestly, if she aligned herself with any of the more light-side oriented factions of the galaxy, she would immediately be safer. However, that would be a hard sell, as she had already been betrayed by one galactic power before – why trust another?

He was about to explain all of this to her when she cut him off, forcing him to close his mouth and frown slightly. She asked for his plate for her to wash, and he started to hand it over. Just as both of their hands were on the plate, however, he could hear a large crash from somewhere east. His head snapped in that direction, and a dark sense of foreboding flashed in his mind.

“Someone’s here,” he said, standing up. His ears perked up, as did his senses in the Force. He tried to stretch out with his feelings, but still found that due to the draining nature of the healing he’d performed earlier, that he wasn’t at full capacity. Regardless, he tried to listen to anything that might be moving towards them in the forest.

If it was a First Order rescue party, they would more than likely shoot Cassius on sight – if it was more pirates, then maybe the same was true. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to have the element of surprise on their side, if he could help it…

Turning to the doctor, he said, “Stay here – don’t leave camp just yet.” Reaching down, he picked up the A180 blaster pistol the doctor had used before and handed it to her, hopefully to further convey the seriousness of the situation. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He tried to make his tone as reassuring as possible. Then, in a superhuman feat, he leapt up to one of the tallest trees next to the camp, grabbing onto the thick branches and finding a good foothold. He hid himself behind the thick leaves and branches, still making sure that he could see the camp from where he was.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Moon
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, FO-X1 'Shadow Trooper' Armour, Stun baton.
[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"]

​

The dirt was soft beneath his boots, the air that drifted through his filters was warm and moist. When wearing such armour, he always felt more animal than human. Through the suit could fade completely from view, it would do nothing to mask the sound of his footsteps or the rustling of the bush. Therefore, he needed to creep through the underbrush like a Nexu.

‘I remember why I don’t go on missions anymore’ he thought. ‘I hate this’. He’d paid his price for his humanity when he left the special forces, and now he felt very vulnerable as he paced along through the scrub. The fresh air was good for him at least. He had a major case of cabin fever back on the Pellaeon and his subordinates already thought he was halfway crazy,

He followed the beacon’s signal, a small indicator on HUD keeping him on track. The soft *thud thud* of his boots in the dirt slowly turned into a *crunch crunch* as the terrain became more solid. He kept his weapon drawn, not entirely trusting in his disguise. Around him the trees thickened, until his visibility dropped to a small cone in front of him. Were it not for his built in sensor suite, he would have easily gotten lost.

His nerves grew as he drew closer yet to the beacon. Where was the sound? Pirates were a rowdy bunch and would be making a cacophony with their emergency landing. But all Luther heard was the titter of birds and the quiet rustle of his movement. Was this an ambush? It was very possible. If Terrani was alive, he wouldn’t want to spring the trap, so he’d come alone.

He wasn’t sure if it was the pseudo-isolation or his near-broken mind, but the thought of finding Terrani set his nerves even more on edge. Why was he here? He didn’t do field assignments anymore. Not types like these anymore. Yet one indication of Terrani had him abandoning all his current duties. Why was that?

‘It’s personal’ a voice whispered in the back of his head, unbidden. Luther spun around but, of course, the voice was his own. ‘A friend, perhaps the only friend you’ve had for a while’ the thought continued. Luther chest rose as his breathing increased. He could feel butterflies in his stomach. ‘Be prepared Luther’ it continued, an edge its tone. ‘Why would the pirates keep a doctor alive? She’d be a poor ransom. More likely she’s dead, her corpse will appear around the corner. A hole in the head and in the chest, rotting in the sun...”

That was too much. Luther barely had time to remove his helmet, the cloaking field dispelling, before he hurled into a fern.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

The doctor's very first instinct was to call out to Cassius: 'What am I supposed to do?' But, at the last possible moment, she closed her opening mouth and tore her eyes from the verdant canopy. In case that someone Cassius had picked up on was close, she didn't want to give the man away. Especially not if the survival of them both relied on him.

She muttered something incoherent, probably something about being bait, and turned around, trying to figure out what to do next. At least she was holding the pistol in her good hand, as she had dropped the makeshift plates near the fire when she had been handed the weapon. It seemed lucky now that she had sprained her non dominant arm and invested in at least the most basic of sidearm training.

Finally, she sat down on her haunches, resigning herself to Cassius' watch. Part of her wanted to retreat into the wrecked escape pod, but not only was it dusty and generally uncomfortable, but the cover would obscure the Jedi's view. Or so she assumed. She didn't think in terms of the Force, Light or Dark, very often at all, or she might remind herself that perhaps he could use Combat Sense.

In any case, the doctor set the blaster pistol on top of what was left of the pirate cape in favor of picking up the nearby fire poker. There was no use in snuffing out the fire; invisible smoke in the form of radio signal coming from the beacon would lead one to the camp anyhow. What was a little actual smog on top? Neither did she need to stoke the fire, but she needed to occupy her hand. It was threateningly close to trembling uncontrollably and her left already was. As she calmed, focusing on the gentle cracking of the fire instead of the rustling of the foliage surrounding the camp, questions began to swarm her mind. Who was here? Pirates? The Order? Maybe someone of another allegiance altogether, but she didn't know what that may be because she had no idea where in space she had landed.

But, as quickly as they had come, the doctor shook the thoughts away. No point in guesswork. If they had had an easy (or relatively easy) landing and half of a functioning sensor, she would meet them soon enough.

~†~​

/ [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Luther Ando"] \​

 

[Cassius Droma]

From his vantage point high in the trees, Cassius felt he had a pretty good lay of the land. He still had a clear view of the doctor and the camp, as well as the surrounding area. As he waited for their new guest to arrive, it gave Cassius time to theorize just who had arrived. His initial instinct was that it was the First Order, but did they also crash on the moon? It was a very loud sound, after all – certainly sounded like a crash. Wouldn’t they have sent a transport with a squadron of stormtroopers? That’s what he was expecting to see at any moment now – spots of white armor beginning to poke through the trees.

The other option was that it was somehow another escape pod from the pirate ship that had managed to get into orbit and decided to land their pod once the beacon was activated. That would certainly explain the lack of presences he didn’t feel arriving to the moon… and yet, Cassius truly felt there was no one that could have survived what happened to the Gozanti cruiser. Either way, all he had to do was wait to see who it was.

Then again, did he really need to wait? Certainly, he wasn’t about to leave camp and break his word to the doctor, but maybe there was something he could do to scout ahead. There was a collection of horizontal branches that were clumped close enough together that he could sit on. So, he sat down and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. Although he had been drained from traveling inside of the doctor’s mindscape, he had a little bit of energy left that he could focus. If he could be still and let the Force flow through him, he’d be able to reach further out.

Reaching out in the general direction of the crash, he scanned for lifeforms, especially larger ones. There were the little rodent things that the doctor had killed for their meal… a few larger creatures that might make for even better food… and then ah, a humanoid. Due to Cassius’s lack of strength, he couldn’t see this person, but he could feel their presence, and even touch some of their emotions. Anxiety, frustration… it was hard to tell from this distance.

There was a spike in anxiety, and Cassius’s eyes snapped open. Who were they? Part of him wanted to head off to see if he could find them… but like before, he didn’t want to leave the doctor.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Moon
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, FO-X1 'Shadow Trooper' Armour, Stun baton.
[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"]

​

He took a large gasping breath and when he was certain he was not going to be sick again, then reattached his helmet. The was a hiss of air as the suit once again pressurized, and he watched his hand disappear from view. He shivered, despite the warm air. What was wrong with him? He’d spent years as a medic in the early days of his career, tending to the grisly wounded. The thought of seeing another dead body shouldn’t shock him. ‘I need to see a shrink’ he thought.

Emptying his stomach seemed to have helped at least. His felt the queasiness fade and he ran through a few mental exercises the Bureau taught him. Designed to internalize and deal with confronting trauma, Luther’s breath steadied until he felt near-apathy wash over him.

He pushed further through the scrub, the flashing marker on his HUD informing him he was getting close to the beacon. Crouching just outside the clearing, he activated the thermal vision on his helmet. Reds and blues washed over his vision. “One humanoid and what looks like a campfire” Luther whispered, unaware of Cassius’s position in the trees above him. Luther paused, thinking, before moving into the camp proper.

It became immediately clear to Luther that he wasn’t dealing with a large group of hostiles. The campsite was modest, consisting of little more than a campfire by the crashed escape pod. Luther moved slowly, keeping his footsteps light and soundless. His eyes darted left and right, scanning for any threats, but all he could see was a woman crouched over the fire holding the poker. He circled around, gun forward, lest the figure was a pirate.

‘What are the chances’ Luther thought as he saw her face. One in a million, surely. The doctor had a fearsome reputation in medbay, sure, but he’d never expect her to survive and escape a pirate attack. She even showed some survival skills in making a rudimentary campsite. ‘I don’t really know her’ Luther realized. He would have to ask her some questions when they were back on the FIV Pellaeon.

He stepped around the fire, moving towards the woman. He did nothing to mask his steps, instead, deactivating the camouflage system entirely. He stopped about eight feet from her and spoke aloud. “Doctor Terrani?” his voice came out of an external speaker and sounded mechanical and tinny. “Are you alright?”

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

She shot to her feet so quickly she barely had time to feel for the handle of the blaster laid by her side, not yet registering the agent's first few syllables. She raised the gun, but it faltered before setting its sights on Luther. In fact, she lowered it and squinted slightly as she tried to place the figure before her. Luther remained Luther before her; she simply couldn't recall who he was for a moment. Maybe a childhood friend? From that desert scene.

The confusion was most likely thanks to the deterioration of her conditioning.

Soon, though, she shook her head as it came flashing back. The pistol landed softly in the dirt as Aes'ona shuffled towards the man. "Ando, thank the Leader!" she exclaimed. And then a moment of perhaps improper behavior for one of her station, but she though the current circumstance excepted it: Aes'ona threw her un-sprained arm over Luther's shoulder in a hug. She quickly stepped back to a proper distance though.

Her black tank top undershirt was torn, and so were her trousers. Her face was covered in a mess of starship grease from the pod, mud and dirt from scavenging, and dried blood from her stitched head wound; her strawberry blonde hair, pulled back in a now messy ponytail, was plastered to her back in clumps by sweat. She still held her left arm bent and close to her chest. But, despite it all, her eyes sparkled with the hope that the agent's appearance had brought her.

It was strange. She was back to her fabricated self, before the crash, before the pirates, and back on Sullust.

Part of her wanted to fight the sudden internal change, but she couldn't bring herself to. There was nothing bad or dangerous to her about Luther, right? Maybe she would go back to the Order with him. Maybe it would all turn out alright.

But, what about Cassius? She couldn't leave him here. He hadn't left her. It wouldn't be right to just go on her merry way and leave him to his devices.

"Fairly, yes," she answered to his question about her status.

~†~​

/ [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Luther Ando"] \​

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius could feel the unidentified presence getting closer and closer, but he wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly where it was. Although, when it got close enough, he became confused. He certainly would be able to see whoever it was at this point… they seemed to near. Just as he was about to question is senses in the Force, a humanoid form shimmered into the realm of the visible near the doctor. It honestly took the Jedi by surprise, and his eyes widened as his body tensed. Active camouflage… he hadn’t thought of that.

Just as he was about to leap from the tree and attack the newcomer, he noticed that he called out the doctor by her name. It was certainly a First Order trooper alright… and this was a rescue mission. Was it, though? Where was everyone else? And had they come in for a hard landing in a shuttle, or a drop pod? Talk about efficient allocation of resources… sending one guy. Maybe he was just really good at what he did.

As Cassius listened, he realized that the doctor knew this trooper – called him ‘Ando’. A friend, maybe? A friend who’s in the First Order. Cassius reminded himself as he leaned forward on a branch to get a better view. This situation certainly wasn’t the one that Cassius expected. He was envisioning a whole team of stormtroopers – a shuttle landing nearby… a shuttle with a hyperdrive that he could steal. Instead, there was a lone trooper with a drop pod. What would he do then? Wait for a shuttle to arrive?

He leaned further in, in hopes of catching more of their conversation. As his foot applied more pressure to his foothold, a resounding crack echoed through the forest. Suddenly, Cassius felt his foot fall out from under him, and before he could grab onto anything, he was tumbling down towards the forest floor. He wouldn’t be able to recover fully from the fall at this point – he’d more than exposed himself now. With the Force, he would be able to completely cushion his fall, but he was back in incognito mode – he had to make it look good.

With a thump, he hit the ground on his back, about four meters behind the First Order trooper. It might have sounded bad, but he actually didn’t sustain any injury. Already anticipating a weapon being pointed at him, Cassius raised his hands, palms out, in a defensive position. “Whoa whoa whoa!” Cassius yelped, doing his best to sit up, but not too quickly. “Don’t shoot!” his eyes were wide with fear, but in reality he was calm and calculating. “I’m with her,” he pointed to the doctor. “I was captured with her back on Sullust. I owed them some credits, so they decided to just sell me to make up for it.”

If he could play the long game, the First Order might pick him up and, with luck, take him to Sullust or somewhere else with transport. Then he could make his way home. If the trooper was going to shoot him and leave him for dead… well, that was the other reason why his hands were up.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Moon
Equipment: G-11F Blaster Rifle, FO-X1 'Shadow Trooper' Armour, Stun baton.
[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] | [member="Cassius Droma"]

​

He was surprised by her reaction and laughed at her lopsided hug. “Good to see you Doc. I didn’t expect anyone to be alive after we found that wreck in space”. He pulled away, tapping the side of his helmet to activate comms device. “Sieger Ren’s pizza service” came the reply, in Anders awful imitation of a Corellian accent. “Let’s keep this professional, Sergeant” Luther said in exasperation. “These calls are recorded”.

He pressed a few buttons on the datapad on his wrist. “I’ve just sent you my location. Do a sweep over, make sure there aren’t any hostiles, then land”. The pause on the other end as the Anders relayed the command to the crew, after which the Sergeant then spoke up. “Does this mean?” “Yes” Luther interrupted. “I’ve found Terrrani, have a medivac team prepped”.

With that, he lowered his hand and turned back towards Aes’ona. “Alright, let’s get-” he was interrupted by a loud crack and his head whipped up to see a humanoid figure fall from a nearby tree. He snatched up his weapon from where he left it, leveling it just as the man shouted, “Don’t shoot!”.

Luther said nothing as the man spoke, his face unreadable behind the black helmet. ‘His story is plausible’ he thought. The Gozanti had clearly been refitted as a slaver ship and had more enough room for multiple prisoners. But the man clothes didn’t exactly mark him as one of the captured, more like one of the captors.

“Is that true, Doc?” Luther asked, not tearing his eyes off the potential enemy. “And you” Luther said again, the mechanical voice now directed at the newcomer. “If you truly mean no harm, drop your weapons. Nice and slow now”.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona smiled warmly at Luther and gently patted his shoulder pad before she stepped back to retrieve her pistol, first retying her sling with her good hand and teeth. She returned as Luther was finishing up his comm call. She started to nod, guessing what he was about to say, before a loud crack interrupted them both.

She knew before she even saw: Cassius.

At first, shock infiltrated and stiffened her joints. This is it, she thought. On Fondor, her mission with the Security Bureau, she had let the agent take the lead, as she--and probably, if not him, the FOSB brass--didn't have complete confidence in the undercover intelligence abilities of a non-combat military doctor. In truth, though, she hadn't allowed herself the confidence to think on her feet. It wasn't like she was incapable. On the contrary, actually.

If she imagined this to be an emergency surgery instead of a...whatever is was, she would be alright. Cassius, her make believe patient, would be alright.

"It is," she said curtly, an not-entirely-fabricated edge of urgency in her voice as she slid the barrel of her pistol into the waistband of her pants. "He was out scavenging." She hurried to Cassius's side and offered him a hand. "I thought you were too far out," she told Cassius. "I was going to come look for you."

~†~​

/ [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Luther Ando"] \​