Private The Taken

[Xin Boa]

The controls didn't give him much to work with. Especially in the atmosphere, manoeuvring was more of a matter of intent than any actual change of vector.

"We're just going to have to hope this thing holds together!" he called back. He kept the ship straight on its path towards the edge of the atmosphere. Slow course corrections wouldn't hinder the TIE fighters, they would simply be afforded more time to shoot them down.

"There are only three of them out there," Adric confirmed, after closing his eyes for a brief moment.

"Great kid, I don't suppose they told you how to blow up TIE fighters with space magic?"

Adric's silence provided the answer.

"I'm going to risk an early microjump," Xin called into the intercom. It was risky, but being sheared apart by gravity was less of a risk than the fighters taking them out with any more delay.

 

[Delila Castillon]

"Oh great, I love certain death."

Dells knew Xin had no choice in the matter. The vessel they had stolen wasn't equipped for a dog fight. Nor did she trust it to hold in a heavy barrage of fire.

Xin made the early microjump and the ship shuddered but held. Microjumps could vary in length of time but she suspected Xin was putting at least five minutes between them and the fighters.

She climbed out of the turret and rushed down to the cockpit with Adric and Xin.

"Close one. Adric how are you holding up? Xin, we taking this bucket to our next stop or heading back for the Saegassum?"

Xin Boa

 

[Xin Boa]

The familiar swirls of hyperspace were their salvation. Now they were here, it would be almost impossible to track them immediately. The group had tracked them down in slow time before, but for now they were beyond reach.

Xin hadn't thought quite so far ahead. It was interesting to realise that having put such a low chance on their survival he hadn't planned further.

"They were determined to get Adric last time," Xin said. "Let's be cautious. We dump the ship at a breaker. Take a couple of transports before we contact Brak and get the Saegassum."

They reverted to realspace, the computer immediately turning inwards and calculating the next route.

"Kid you doing..."

"I'm fine," Adric replied. "You shouldn't have...I can't..."

"It's alright," Xin said quietly. It was a lot to take in. By now, he imagined Adric had tried to make peace with his lot in life. With being raised as a sith acolyte.

 

[Delila Castillon]

"You're part of the crew, we'd do for everyone else. Well, maybe not Skreech."

Dells squeezed the kids shoulder lightly. While Xin may have not have thought they'd reach this far, she was already plotting their future. Right now Delila estimated they were roughly two or three steps ahead of any trouble. Quite good considering the past year of their lives. Not sustainable either. They could breathe but relaxing would be a death sentence.

"Come on kid, lets go see what this vessel has for rations."

---

Shortly later after she had Adric situated with some of the driest looking rations she had seen in awhile, Delila set off to find Xin. It was a tiny vessel and nothing like their home Saegassum. It would do until they dumped the vessel and hopped aboard some type of public transportation. They were back in the safety of hyperspace, she had felt the jump while getting some water for Adric.

She found Xin still in the cockpit. Dells hit the button for the door to slid shut behind her.

"We're going to have to make some tough choices, and quickly. I've got a few ideas...not sure if any of them are the right one to pick."

 

[Xin Boa]

As they went and searched for food, Xin perused the navcomp. The next jump was for empty space a distance from any hyperlane. The following route was going to have to go somewhere.

Xin settled on Skor II. If there was a planet where a ship could be broken down into pieces to make it recognisable it was there. The Squibs would repurpose it within days.

He would keep the transponder and scrub the ID signature from the navcomp.

"We're going to have to make some tough choices, and quickly. I've got a few ideas...not sure if any of them are the right one to pick."

"Hit me," Xin replied, leaning back and taking his hands from the controls. "I've been thinking about who we could report them to. Might be too busy to start the chase if they have a Jedi fleet on them in a few weeks."

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

A small grimace crossed her features. Xin was already two steps ahead of her. Not that it was a bad thing - Dells was thankful that in many ways they balanced one another out. Her line of thinking about the situation was vastly different in this situation and focused on them more so as a unit. Perhaps long ago she would have cared about seeing the Sith stronghold being blown sky high. Not anymore.

"A direction I hadn't thought of. You're right though. If we can inform someone about the issue it could cause enough chaos to give us an edge. Their resources would be stretched too thin to hire a bounty hunter or to pursue us on their own. I supposed whatever port you feel is safest we can tip someone off....who....I don't know. Some Jedi group like you said."

A long stretch of silence.

"We're going to have to do something with the Kid. I don't think this is going to stop. I think for awhile we can get away with it but it won't be long before someone focuses on him again. I'd love to keep him on the crew but is that the right thing to do? Adric has potential to be more than to travel through the hyperlanes with a Squid, giant lizard, washed up old lady and Skreech."

"The old Levantine Sanctum area has a few small Jedi sects....or they used to. It may be good place for him for a few years."

 

[Xin Boa]

Xin nodded slowly. He allowed the idea to sink in.

"I know," he said quietly, glancing over his shoulder. "Even if it wasn't for them tracking us down, after what's happened it might be for the best."

"Adric seems himself and he wanted to get away but they've been trying to turn him into a dark magic wielding weapon for months now..."

Xin's voice dropped into a whisper. The kid didn't need to hear his concerns. He could possibly read their minds by now. That was a strange thought.

"Have any contacts there, or someone who knows them?"

 

[Delila Castillon]

"I agree. Its clear he has some talent that needs honing that is out of our realms. During intake, the Sith....they mentioned you. Perhaps you should go with him for a year or two. Might be useful in the future."

Not a fan of force users, Delila didn't exactly have a long list of contacts who wielded such power. On short notice she could only think of Brad Solo and Samantha Solo as viable candidates. As much as she could remember though both had been trained differently. Their father had taken charge of all the children in the family. It was also a more mainstream sect of the Jedi. Levantine Sanctum space seemed to attract odd off-shoots and those looking for a different way of life. At least, thats what she had seen during brief encounters.

"No, not really. Its going to be some legwork on our part. We will have to use our head start to our advantage. Maybe even just find someone with information, get a location and just show up in person. I'm not above begging Noah Corek for information at this point and that just goes to show how desperate we are."

 

[Xin Boa]

Ah, that.

It had been easy not to think about what they had said to Xin when they arrived. Working the long shifts it had been hard to think about anything at all. The work had been incessant. A great haze stretching out between now and then with nothing but physical labour in between.

Somewhere in that time it had become routine and he had even stopped thinking about how much he longed for his old life back.

"I don't think I much feel like a year or two of being trained in anything right now," Xin said. He let some of the tension bleed out of him and sank into the chair. He looked exhausted.

"Let's contact who we, you, know when we've done a stop. Last thing we want to do is make too much noise on the Holonet and have them right back on us."

Xin took a hand from the controls and reached for hers. It felt, more than ever, as if they had been living on snatches of time. It had to change.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Dells reached out halfway to meet him, interlacing her fingers with his. Privately she was incredibly concerned about Xin. He didn't seem like his normal self, being on the run had clearly taken a toll. Not to mention their longer than anticipated stint in bondage in an effort to rescue Adric - getting out safely had meant learning patterns and movements which took time. She played her emotions close to her chest, knowing Xin had the ability to pick up on such things.

Yet there was no time to voice these concerns or even offer a chance to relax. Once they had figured out their current situation she knew a stretch of boring was long overdue.

"I agree, we shouldn't use the HoloNet or any communication in this ship unless necessary. Public terminals only, busy ones if possible. Anyone we contact should be able to understand the situation. Once we get to where ever you have us headed I'll get right on it. Brak first, to let him know the situation. Hopefully someone out there knows a direction to point us in."

She squeezed his hand lightly.

"Can't wait to hit some unimportant backwater planet. The less technologically advanced the better."

 

[Xin Boa]

A small beep from the console was a two minute warning for the next phase of their journey. Once they'd stopped and realigned it would be a straight run to Skor II.

He hoped the vessel hadn't been flagged as dangerous anywhere. He had to assume not, given it had been used to transport ore off world.

"I could live with enough technology for an open bar wherever we go," Xin sighed. He idly traced his thumb along the outside of her hand. It was as much affection as they had managed to share in the weeks spent underground. Xin realised that even the interior lights of the cockpit seemed bright now.

"I'm heading for Skor II next, get this thing broken down to scrap."

 

[Delila Castillon]

"Skor II,don't think I've ever been there. Squibs right? Definitely never been there. We should be close to the Rimma Trade Route. Prime opportunity to slip away."

Their short term plan was getting a bit clearer,at least in her mind.

"Should be able to get some credits for this. Use that to take a public transport somewhere on the Rimma and have Brak pick us up."

She squeezed his hand again.

"Hopefully this will be the last of our adventures for awhile."

 

[Xin Boa]

"No adventures for a while," he agreed. He checked through the door, making sure Adric wasn't close enough to hear. The boy needed to decompress and not concern himself with what they went through to get him out.

"And when we do, let's avoid those adventures including Brak being shot and a month of hard labour. I've never felt so exhausted through to my bones."

The foreman had been true to his word and fed them enough to keep them working. Not, he suspected, because of any sympathy for the workers but because keeping them healthy kept them working longer hours.

"Reminds me, we need a medical to work out what was in those supplements they kept grinding into our food."

"I can mind the ship if you want to wash up and see if there's anything else we want to take from the ship."

 

[Delila Castillon]

By the time they landed Dells hadn't found much on the ship to keep. There was a rucksack on board, clearly leftover from a crew member. She had stashed in the rations, a few tools, and some first aid supplies. Until Xin scrapped the ship the three of them had no credits - rations would be useful til then. Delila could access her account remotely but at this point if it was being monitored she wasn't going to risk it. Not yet anyway, not until they got Adric safely away.

She had never been on Skor II but had encountered Squibs from time to time. When her parents had their scrapyard on Ord Mantell, Squibs who did visit often liked to haggle and drove a hard bargain. Privately she was grateful that Xin would be handling the Squibs instead of her. Dells wasn't sure of the patience she would have at this point, although without a blaster the Squibs would be relatively safe.

Eyes burned as she stepped into the abundant sunshine. It had been awhile, whatever planet they had been stuck on was gray and dreary. Even Adric raised a hand to shield his eyes. Dells squinted and looked to Xin.

"I'll leave you boys to deal with the Squib scrappers. According to the ship there's a bank of public holonet terminals a block down. Come find me there when you're done, I've got a lot of calls to make in order to get us picked up."

 

[Xin Boa]

"Nuh a problem!" Xin declared.

It was a problem. Xin had forgotten quite how furiously squib liked to bargain. The bartering was worth far more to them than the prize itself.

He soon found himself trying to reassure Adric that everything was fine as the furry little creatures clambered all over the freighter and tried to make the offer more and more complicated.

"Is this going to take much longer?" Adric asked.

There was an edge of impatience to the boy than Xin couldn't recall. Dells notion of getting him to an expert in the Force made a lot of sense to him.

When Xin started to lose his patience in turn he managed to Force them into offering up Alliance credits in exchange for the ship. In reality, it was probably less than they had offered in various parts and valuable goods in return. He didn't need a good deal, he needed things he could carry on his person and for the ship to vanish into pieces within the week.

He found Dells promptly, standing the small case of credit chits beside her on the table.

"We got a ride coming?" he asked.

 

[Delila Castillon]

"Of course we do. Brak has been waiting on us, was getting worried. Even Skreech gave his regards towards you."

Dells had contacted Brak quickly and setting up a ride had been no issue. She even had the extra time to send messages out to several spacers they had met in passing - asking if they knew of any Jedi strongholds. Everything would be rerouted back to the Saegassum and she hoped in the few days it took to finally get back on board they would have a lead or two.

"I see you got some credits. We're going to need them, we've got to get public transportation to Eriadu. Shouldn't be too difficult considering its a center of trade. I figure we the sooner we can get aboard and out of here the better. Keep moving because we'll stand out after selling that ship to the Squibs. By my rough estimate we're still a day or two ahead of anyone - if any - chasing us. I'd like to keep it that way."

Delila pocketed the credits and gave a small stack to Adric.

"For vending on the public transport. Come on, we need to buy our passage. With any luck we can be off planet in a few hours."

Xin Boa

 

[Xin Boa]

Their credits didn't get them the most comfortable transport, not when they were trying to keep some in reserve. Xin was just able to fit his legs behind the chair in front of him. Fortunately it was three seats together next to a window.

Paying in credit chits left less of a trace. Even if they tracked the ship the Skor it was a big planet to go asking around after a nautolan and a red haired woman.

The kid had dropped off, but Xin was still feeling too on edge to join him in sleep. He had a hand on Dells' lap as he watched hyperspace through the small window.

"You think we might actually get some help from anyone?" he asked.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Before Adric had passed out, Delila had left to get the biggest cup of caf from vending she could find. It tasted horrible and she wondered why she even had high expectations for the drink considering the state of the transport. It remained in her free hand, slowly cooling and half-drunk as she stared at the seat in front of her. There wasn't much to do - no in transport entertainment and she had lost her datapad months ago. Xin held her hand, staring out the viewport with a bit of an impatient air.

She shifted against the back of the overly hard seat, lower back starting to burn as Xin as his question.

"I had a very basic request to find an enclave so, yes I do expect some help." Dells turned her head to look at Xin. "Or are you speaking of help on the other end of the spectrum...with..."

She nodded towards Adric.

"I don't see why not. There's a lot of them out there - someone has to be interested in a challenge. As much as it will be hard on him at first, in the long run it will be a good experience. Maybe have some stability he hasn't had...well...probably ever."

Gaze turned back to Xin.

"Since when did you stop being the optimist between the two of us?I'm supposed to be bringing the doom and gloom."

 

[Xin Boa]

"That a good point," Xin replied. He smiled. Even if it was faint, it was a smile.

"I've been..."

Realisinf they were on a public transport, Xin leaned closer and lowered his voice. He didn't want to spent the entire trip being viewed with suspicion.

"I've been in prison before, but not a labour camp. I am tired to mi bones. A good hot bath at Eriadu before we leave will put me right," he said.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

"A hot bath at Eriadu? You're cute. Although....I suppose it can happen. Eriadu is a trading crossroads so to speak so I imagine there are quite a few public bathhouses in the main area. Enjoy a peaceful float and wash the stench of a bad several months off you while we wait for Brak and Skreech. Skreech better have left our room alone."

She really couldn't respond about the labor camp and their time there. Other passengers plus she didn't want Adric to overhear and potentially feel worse about the situation. They knew what was ahead of them when they took on the task of getting Adric. While Xin wanted a long and relaxing hot bath, Delila personally wasn't letting herself relax until the assignment was over. For her, that meant getting Adric somewhere where he could learn and try to shake some of the ideals Sith and slavers had placed into his head.

Once Adric was safe she had plans for relaxing for at least a month or two. No jobs, no trips across the spacelanes unless they wanted to. Dells wasn't sure of the feasibility of such a ask but she doubted Brak would deny their request to be off the crew for a few weeks at the least.

Delila shifted in her seat again, someone a row up coughed. Ugh.

"Only ten or so more hours..."