The Slow Ride

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was a spark in the gold flecks in Asmus' emerald eyes. It had been a joke, but with a note of challenge. Asmus considered the request briefly. A slight haze had settled over his mind, but he could map out the main logistical routes through Alliance space easily enough. He'd been recommended for the navigational officer's career path back in the academy, but had pushed forward for the Starfighter Corps. Astronavigation and maths both came quite easily to him but he was an analytical pilot too. Visual range was limited so one had to juggle vectors: velocity, acceleration and direction. In some theatres this all had to be done without a clear frame of reference and one still had to avoid passing by the enemy at a velocity that actually prevented making an attack.

"The fleet will be regrouping at Kinyen. We'll be making for Fondor for repairs. We can drop you at Yag'Dhul and you can take a GADF freighter back to Sullust."

He gave a little shrug. "Probably back tomorrow or the next day. Comms aren't open yet, GADF closes off holonet access and public comms once we engage and until the official report is made public. Should be an hour or two and you can call back. What were you doing again? Just giving her a test flight?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Yeah pretty much." He shrugged.

Kaile would be worried about him, he would have to try and use military comms to reach her. The Courier wasn't too familiar with how the Galactic Alliance operated in that regard, but he was pretty sure he could get out a call if he said the right SIS codewords...he just had to remember them. Perhaps he would write them on a sticky note for next time, something he could put inside the cockpit of The Coil so if this ever happened again he wouldn't be pressed into service.

Then again he could just wait an hour or two.

"Yeah." He went on. "I gotta call my Roommate. She'll be worried."

By now news had probably spread, best not let Kaile worry herself to death.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Asmus laughed. "Yeah best get on that. You get a message out to let her know what you were doing or is she going to think you got lost somewhere?"

Turning towards the door he gave a slightly uncoordinated wave towards the door. Gold Squadron had started singing now. It was a little early in the evening for that kind of behaviour in his opinion. What was he doing again? Oh yes, explaining to the pretty pilot.

"Grey terminals on the wall. If you can turn one on the lockdown is off. But you'll need one of us to log you in to make a public call," he said.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"She'll probably assume the worst." Kaile had a tendency to do that. She meant well, always meant well, but she went overboard sometimes.

Not to mention she was annoyingly self sacrificial.

If Kurt didn't update her about his situation soon she would likely go charging into the First Order by herself firing all of The Messa's laser cannons, missiles, and torpedoes. That would be horrifying for multiple reasons, mostly because she would get blown out of the sky in a few heartbeats but also because proton torpedoes were incredibly expensive.

They couldn't afford to waste them.

"I'll grab someone when they come online." Kurt said. "Otherwise we'll have another war on hour hands."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Yeah, well, we just kicked off one..." Asmus replied.

"Yeah..." Another replied. There was a moment as that sunk in. No more border patrols and escorting scout ships back. There was certainly going to be an even greater naval clash than there had been in the fight to Coruscant.

"Anyone want something else to drink?" Asmus asked, suddenly taken by the notion of getting a beer. "I'll get a round."

"Thought you were getting all the drinks?" The Zeltron enquired.

"Yes, but I'm carrying this one," Asmus replied. "Kurt?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Hm?" Kurt said, momentarily distracted by thoughts of what exactly he was going to tell Kaile. "Oh yeah, sure."

His roommate had a way of worrying about him, and with her current...condition, that would likely only get worse. Perhaps he would have to leave out some parts of what had happened...maybe skip the scary elf ladies and flying against the First Order.

That wouldn't be so bad.

"Just have to make sure I don't end up completely shitfaced." That would be rather embarrassing.

"Unless..." Kurt looked at everyone in the room. "We all get shitfaced."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was a raucus call from around the room agreeing with the sentiment. Rogue Squadron were particularly loud. Past iterations of the squadron hadn't taken to their name as literally as this group. Sieb's little experiment of misfits had more leeway in their behaviour on account of their results. Asmus' theory was a long way from unfounded.

"It's what Jilkins would have wanted!" Zillion called out.

"Ah now she knew how to drink," Asmus agreed. As far as he knew she'd been shot down over the surface of Kaeshana. No chance of ejection like Choli. He stood up and made his way to the bar, trying to remember what his squadron had asked for. Fortunately Zillion had followed to help cart drinks back.

"He's not your type you know."

"What? I didn't even.. how do you?" Asmus replied.

"Because Zeltron and because saving you time later," she replied with a smirk.

"Right." Asmus ordered the round and returned with a more varied array of drinks. There was a set of colourful chasers on the tray for everyone he'd ordered without being promoted too.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He wondered for a brief moment if he could ever do this again.

When he had been with the Republic he hadn't fought for a cause, he hadn't even fought because he hated the Sith. He'd fought for the Republic not out of some sort of ideal, but because fighting had seemed like the thing to do. The Navy had allowed him to hone his skills as a pilot, but that was really all that it had been. He'd only stayed the two years because of his squad, and after their deaths there had been no point to any of it. That was why he hadn't fought the Court Martial.

He frowned for a moment, peering at the drinks that Asmus brought and realizing, it was still the same way.

Kurt didn't really care about the Alliance. He didn't care about the First Order, and her certainly didn't care to fight for either side. His lips thinned slightly, the realization striking him a bit hard. Both Jamie and Kaile cared a great deal about the 'good' of the galaxy, and even though the former wasn't speaking to him at the moment he still felt oddly guilty that he didn't share the same values, but...he just didn't.

Kurt wanted to live his life, he didn't want to fight a war.

Unlikely everyone else in the room it seemed.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Asmus almost stumbled as he set the tray down. He still couldn't bring himself to grin, but he did managed to exaggerate the expression of concern on his face as he set the tray down.

"You're not drinking whiskey are you?" Junta asked, clearly concerned at the notion.

Asmus gave a shake of the head. "Nope, that's Tannis'."

"Oh good," Junta replied sharply.

Asmus lowered himself into his chair and set his bottle of beer and chased on the table before him. He held the almost luminous green liquid in the shall shot glass. "What did we order again?" he asked the zeltron woman.

"No idea."

Asmus shrugged and downed it. The flavour was sickeningly sweet, yet it felt as if it was abrading most of the skin on his tongue. He took a swig of beer quickly. Setting the cold bottle back on the table, he couldn't help but notice the pensive expression on Kurt's face. Asmus knew nothing of the man really, but he'd fought alongside them in the end.

"Well," he said in his direction. "Whether regardless of the fact you were pressed into it by Tannis' elvish holonet girlfriend..."

"Hey!"

"...you still turned out for us. Lot of empty seats here now. Would have been more if you hadn't flanked those interceptors." Another appreciative nod and something that was almost a salute with a beer bottle.

"You know Asmus was a smuggler for five years?" Zillion, the zeltron turned to ask Kurt. "That's not so far away from being a courier I suppose."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Yeah?" Kurt obviously had nothing against smugglers, he came from a planet that was quite literally bursting at the seems with them. "Don't see many smugglers join the Navy."

Most of them liked the freedom too much to give it up. One could make a lot of money in smuggling as long as you did it the right way. Most of the smugglers he knew tended to move firegems or something similar. There was less danger in that and generally you could make a hefty enough profit that any fines you had to pay if you got caught more than made up for it. He frowned for a moment and then shrugged. "What did you run mostly?"

You could tell a lot about a man from what he smuggled.

"What route?" That also mattered.

If he ran up the trade routes then he likely didn't do too much dangerous work. The outer rim? Then probably weapons smuggling or something similar. Kurt didn't really care if it was either or, he didn't judge. As far as he was concerned smuggling was a perfectly legitimate career option.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"I just worked on my uncle's boat for a few years..." Asmus started.

"The one he stole from your own mother," Junta interrupted again. He had a habit of doing that after a few drinks, but he was a very jovial sullustan and tended to get away with it.

"My family are traders and even as a smuggler Kairon was the same. Had goood contacts in both the core and outer rim, so he tended to ship stolen goods in and taking back pretty regular shipments, but avoiding tarrifs and inspections to undercut the usual prices. Towards the end of my time with them he was working for the Alliance moving weapons around, but then he met another smuggler and sort of settled down into more legal work. They have three or four bulk freighters between them last I heard.

"Of course having been part of an illegal business for a few years I nearly didn't get this job. Makes getting the clearance to do mission planning quite tricky!" Being given a plan two minutes before launch and being part of the group privvy to Intel and putting together the plan days in advance were very different when it came to background checks. Asmus was fortunate to get the waiver he did.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He shrugged. "There's a long tradition of Smugglers becoming pilots."

Kurt had heard all the stories, from Niko to Han. Tatooine had it's fair share of local legends that were told and retold a thousand times. The 'greatest hive of villainy and scum' in the galaxy wasn't exempt from folk heroes after all. Usually those heroes were Smugglers. Pirates were too violent, Hutts were...hutts, and mercenaries tended to just be a bit too drifty. Thus Smugglers became the object of affection for most of the kids on Tatooine.

"I thought about smuggling once." He said with a shrug. "Wasn't for me in the end."

Oddly enough Kurt really couldn't explain why that was.

He had no real moral quandaries within the occupation, he didn't mind the idea of smuggling stolen goods, weapons, hell even spice, but actually doing it? Perhaps it was just a bit too hectic. Sure you could make quite a bit of money, but the stress wasn't worth it.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"All the comings and goings of factions mean you have to keep really up to date on your star charts," Asmus said. "Keeping up with which back routes had been picked up by the One Sith and which were still open was a job in of itself."

Asmus took another swig of beer. Looking down he realised he was in that state where he was getting through drink faster than he was noticing.

"I'm from Eriadu, if you hadn't noticed by the accent. I think the First Order dropping bombs probably..." He held up one hand and span it at the wrist as his mind caught up with his mouth. "...Erm...Made me more certain I wanted to sign up."

There had been a more elegant way to say that, but he hadn't been able to find the words.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

It was understandable. If someone bombed Tatooine...or rather if they struck Mos Eisley or Mos Espa he would want to join up with whomever was fighting against them as well. Patriotism pushed people along more than any other emotion. It was a special kind of loyalty.

Tatooine for instance was little more than a ball of dirt. Bombing it to many people wouldn't be as significant as bombing Coruscant, Empress Teta, or yes even Eriadu, but if someone struck his homeworld Kurt wouldn't even hesitate for a second to fight them. It was a natural inclination, or so he thought anyway. "Understandable."

He told Asmus.

"Don't think I have the same motivation." Kurt said quietly.

A shrug rolled over his shoulders, again he felt almost guilty.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"I hope you never do," Asmus replied. "Not that there's, you know, much there to actually bomb but sand," he added. The left corner of his mouth turned up in a cheeky smile. He took another swig of his drink. The conversation across the mess had broken down into smaller groups now. Hyperspace was visible passing by through the view screens down one side of the mess. Asmus saw several senior officers take their leave as soon as they'd finished eating, returning to start the next shift.

"So how did you go from Tatooine to the Republic?" he asked curiously.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He gave Asmus a flate stare.

"Tatooine has it's own sort of beauty." He would defend his homeworld to his last breath, both verbally and physically if he had to. "The canyons, the desert seas, Mos Eisley. It's a peaceful sort of beauty."

One that he loved more than anything in the galaxy. "Maybe they didn't teach you about that sort of thing on Eriadu. Too busy fondling piles of money I imagine."

His expression told that he wasn't serious about the insult, though he would suffer no slight against his homeworld. As for Asmus' other question? It was a good one. Back then The Republic had been quite a ways away from Tatooine, they had actually been controlled by the Techno Union.

"Opportunity, I suppose." He said with a shrug. "I'd come off of a few wins in Pod Racing, took the money and wandered into the galaxy. I just happened to be in The Republic when the money ran out."

He shrugged. "The Navy let me do something I've always been good at."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Pod racing huh? Actually I'd heard it was quite stunning in places," Asmus replied. There was a wistful look in his eyes as he recalled Kaile talking about some parts of it she had visited. That look vanished behind a mischievous grin.

"But..." he started, canting his head from side to side. "...would a few more canyons drilled into the empty desert by a star destroyer really spoil it?"

He probably wouldn't have retorted, but the piles of money comment came a little close to home. He'd left all that behind and a possible job as an account for the company firm for adventure. Admittedly smuggling had consisted primarily of telling droids where to put things and carrying out routine maintenance, but the shadowports had been fun. Little cross-cutting slices of culture with almost no rules to speak of.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Yes." Kurt said unequivocally.

Tatooine of course was the way it was because thousands of years ago some ancient space aliens had come along and glassed the entire thing, at least that was the theory his father proposed. Kurt wasn't sure if he really bought into that, but it made sense in a weird sort of way.

"It would ruin what's already there." He waggled his finger. "There is a difference between natural beauty."

Like what Tatooine had. "And Artificial."

Like what Eriadu had.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"I dunno, is..."

"Asmus." Zillion was a particularly empathetic Zeltron. Asmus was particularly oblivious to when he was pushing a joke too far after a few drinks.

Asmus took the hint, transitioning the subject naturally. He pointed at Zillion. "Zeltros! Now that's a planet. So much natural beauty and civilisation, dancing and culture. You must have gone there on your travels?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Uhhh." Kurt tried to think back. "Yeah."

He remembered Zeltros, or rather he didn't remember Zeltros.

"A few of my buddies and I went there on a trip." Leave. It was a good time, too much of a good time. That week, along with those two days on Nar Shaddaa were still a massive blank within his memory. For the life of him Kurt just couldn't remember what he had done on Zeltros. His squadmates had always refused to tell him.

"I don't remember any of it." He frowned. "Blacked out in the...third hour."

Those first three had been great though.