This Day All Gods Die

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Chloe Blake"]
The transmission was voice only.

"They've taken her, Chloe. They took my girl, my very last. If I don't come back -- if I don't come back, I want Alex raised Mando, she's almost ready for her verd'goten. I know you've only met her a time or two, but you're the one I trust. If this doesn't work -- and why should it? Feth it, I've worse than died a thousand times. Nothing's gone right. I'm cursed, Chloe, cursed for my sins, and I've brought that curse on every child of mine. Watch out for Alex, make sure she's safe from my legacy or whatever ill effect. Tell her this from me -- Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la. Uh, loose ends. The artifacts in the Lost City, make sure the Jedi don't get'em, make sure the Mandos don't break'em. I've sent Aaralyn's YTA-1300 down the big access shaft; good chance Aaralyn hid the Healing Crystals of Fire aboard, and a holocron too, doubt she's had time to get them back to the burlap brigade. Just lock that down if you've got time, and...feth, and Allyson Locke. As first mate she'll be captain of the Coronet 'least until I get back. I'm sending you Aaralyn's necklace, it's the key, the last piece of the Codex of Tython. Uh, and see if you can track down a bounty hunter named Mertaal, Skye Mertaal. Tell her thanks for me and...

"...yeah, that'll have to do. Bigger fish to fry, Chloe. Wouldn't put this in your lap if I saw another way. Thanks for all of it."

***​

​

The next transmission went to the Jedi Council, specifically to [member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Talon Vosra"], and [member="Erinyes Draclau"], because frankly they were the only ones he could remember off the top of his head, and he was busy. That, and he didn't know the Council's current composition.

"This message is for the Jedi Council. This is Ember Rekali. I know you've got no love for me after I turned Vosra in for that bounty, nor reason to trust me, at least not before now.

"I'm not just a retired Jedi Master, I'm a Dathomiri- and Keetael-trained tracker. I saw my daughter, your sword, get taken by a Vahla witch for the Dark Lord of the One Sith. This is your courtesy notice. I mean to burn everything. Decent chance I'll get in your way, but then again, after Teta I think you'll be off licking your wounds. So much for glory.

"I've heard you've lost folks to the One Sith. Captured, turned, whatever. I'm sending a location, a set of coordinates near Metellos, in deep space. I'll be there within seventy-two hours. If you want me to track down your people, drop off samples of their blood from the Order's medical repository in an insulated container. I'll find them or where they're buried. No charge. With the blood, drop off any records you have on the members of the One Sith. Combat recordings if you have them, dossiers at least.

"Don't take this as benevolence, don't take this as me coming back to the fold. Jedi service has taken my wife and my five children. You failed at Teta. My turn."

***​

​

[member="Gilamar Skirata"]

"Good chance I'm not coming back from this one, Mand'alor. I've taken a Neta'norac; that'll have to do. I'll not ask you and the vode to back me on this; you've got worlds to defend, and people I love that live on'em. I'd not say no to backup if the situation demands, but don't let me drag you-

"Feth it. My last kid, Gil. They took Aaralyn, wiped her out, made her their attack dog if I'm reading the visions right. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to put my thumbs through their eyes and burn the heart out of them."

***​

​

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

"I've got no right to ask, but I think I need you, Mertaal. The One Sith took my last kid. I mean to throw them down and kill the god of my fathers. If you think you can walk this road with me, I'm sending you some coordinates near Metellos. No hard feelings if you can't, or if you don't get this in time."

 

[Skye Mertaal]

The message came to the Shadow Phoenix, and it was a good thing it did. Had it gone through to the Helm, it was likely that [member="Jonathon Patches"] would not have been too happy about it.

She played it a couple of times, listening to [member="Ember Rekali"]'s voice. It was edged in a tone she'd not heard from the Keetal tracker before. She sat there in front of the comm array of the Phoenix, clad in her leathers, with the glow of the overhead lights and consoles glinting her hair a red hue.

A push of a button and she heard the message anew.

[ I've got no right to ask, but I think I need you, Mertaal. The One Sith took my last kid. I mean to throw them down and kill the god of my fathers. If you think you can walk this road with me, I'm sending you some coordinates near Metellos. No hard feelings if you can't, or if you don't get this in time. ]

Time would pass. Moments of deep thought. The consequences involved. The Pros and Cons. Promises made.

A low profile. Had to keep a low profile.

Ain't much now a days that she had to worry about in terms of former enemies getting a hand on her, but she knew that sticking out like a sore thumb with the One Sith was likely not the best way to keep a low profile.

A deep sigh would flow from her lips, her hands rising to rub at her face and over her eyes. Another minute passed before she made her decision.

She would send word to the Captain, he had every right to be in the know. Besides, if he could help out in information, it would work even better. If there was anyone who would be able to bring a low cover and find out information about how to tackle this, Patches was it.

The next couple of minutes were spent in prepping the ship. The transmission sent to Rekali would state the following. Terse, but would convey her decision.

[ Metellos. Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it ]​

 

[Shaw McKeller]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

Master Ember Rekali. My name is Shaw McKeller. I hope you'll forgive my abuse of the Jedi Order's database, but I believe we have a mutual acquaintance: Your daughter, Aaralyn.

I was Master Rekali's padawan. I was there on Teta when she was taken. The fighting was too thick and we were separated. I could not come to her aid fast enough. We eventually fought our way to her captors, myself and another Jedi, but to no avail. I hold myself responsible for her fall. For her turning.

I've included my file into this comm message. All of it, not just the ones the Jedi have. You'll obviously find my past credentials... upsetting. Looking back on it now with the wisdom I've collected over the years... I'm of the same mind. The mistakes we commit to in our youth sometimes last several lifetimes. I discovered this too late. I hope you can look past all of that. Not a Cin Vhetin. Not a white field, no. Just... to let it lie in the past for now. To let the demons slumber a little longer.

From what I'm hearing and from what I'm gauging at from reading your dossier, you're walking a path that seems to go only one way. I wish to join you, if you'll have me. Not out of pride or glory or some old man's hope for redemption from a lifetime of horror. No, I seek only... penance, in a way. Not for me. For Aaralyn. I know what lies along that path as, I think, do you. Let me help you bring her back. Please.

~ McKeller

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Shaw McKeller"]

"Your name is known to me, McKeller. Aaralyn mentioned you more than once, and after Keldabe I made it my business to know the Death Watch intimately. Because she's mentioned you, I've had time to think about you.

"When I was a young man, fresh from Nightsister servitude, under a radical Jedi's wing, we went on a purge. Killed Darksiders of all kinds, even arranged a suicide bomb that took out a convocation. Took me a long time to get back from that, from the innocents I killed for ideology. More than most, I know that a label, an allegiance, doesn't make a man complicit in another's deeds, not automatically -- and so far as I know, you weren't involved when my son died.

"I don't think my daughter is coming back. I don't know if she can be fixed; that's not my world. I don't even know if she can be taken alive, and Force knows they're expecting me. There is every chance this is a one-way trip, but you know that.

"I'm meeting someone near Metellos in three days. Two days after that, if I run the Sith lanes safely, I'll be at Odik, the last Republic bastion on the Byss Run. Meet me there if you can."

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

A heavy sigh escaped the Mand'alor's lips as he listened to the recording over and over. Ember Rekali, he didn't know why he was only now making the connection. Or maybe he knew it, but it didn't matter then. The Sith had taken everything from him. His old, weathered hands ran through the dark hair, grays long overdue. Looking up to the aide that brought the message, his gaze would send shivers down a green Sith's back, and he could see, even behind the armor and the T-shaped visor, that this woman felt the shivers.

This was quite the problem. On the one hand it would give Gilamar the chance to truly test Ember. While his son had fought bravely, he had been tethered down by his wife, also Mando'ade. But Ember...He came out of the blue, almost stepping up to replace the man who had given his life to protect Keldabe. But he was also a witch. And he trusted witches less than Jedi, though he had many a time trusted his life to the man-witch. His resolve would surely be tested. Hopefully he did not fail like he knew Ember's daughter would.

To be frank, he saw this coming. The way she prided herself, carried herself and her "title". Despite this he knew she was a warrior, if her brother and father were any implication. He couldn't let this woman kill Rekali. Looking up to the aide again he grimaced. <The message said he took a Neta'norac. Find one that's missing track it. I want to know its movements.> In the mean time he needed to contact Rekali. Hopefully he hadn't dropped any of his addresses.

*Rekali. I know what you're thinking, what thoughts are running through your head. When I lost my little girl all I could think about was killing the dastard that took her and my wife away from me. You are vod and though I cannot and will not send a fleet after you, you won't be alone and we'll be sharing a drink you and I. Come back safe.*

[member="Ember Rekali"]

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Aaralyn Rekali was the Sword of the Jedi. But more than that, she was an individual Kiskla could call her friend—most uncommon for the Kiffar. When Kiskla read the final words of [member="Ember Rekali"] about the failure of Teta, she was transfixed on it.
They’d failed the world, themselves, and Aaralyn.

When Ember reached the destination on Mertello, he would be met with viles of [member="Kira Liadain"]'s, [member="Avalore Eden"] and [member="Jannik Morlandt"]'s blood. Recordings of what could be uncovered from both Teta and Coruscant, and what information [member="Talon Vosra"] had on [member="Darth Isolda"]. Plus what [member="Marcello Matteo"] had shared about [member="Darth Shara"] and Kiskla’s knowledge of [member="Darth Vornskr"]. In addition to the requested items, Kiskla had provided her personal contact, with the offer for assistance. If Ember was going to silence The Dark Lord’s voices, he’d need back up.

Spoiler

[member="Ember Rekali"] I was informed of some plans -- updated the blood list!

 

[Talon Vosra]

[member="Ember Rekali"] [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Talon was sitting in the cockpit of the ancient stealth-X when the encrypted transmission was relayed through. It had been long passed time since the Jedi should have gone after Isolda and as he thought of her the image of the Vahla witch entered his mind. Talon leaned back rubbing his head with one hand and resting the other in the crook of his elbow. He didn't really know if the man wpuld respond given their history but as it was Talon had survived escaped and been appointed to the jedi council. He did what he believed a good Jedi and shadow would do, he opened the com via s-thread and began the transmission.

"Ember Rekali?" He said calmly, "This is Talon Vosra, I believe we've met." He paused remembering his near lobotomy at the hands of Krag, but again he pushed it aside and went on, "I have very sensitive information on the One Sith Oracle. I will meet you at a designated location and give you the information verbally. You -can- take this as benevolence, I have personal stock in the witch please meet me before you go."

Talon leaned back and typed out a message to Ossus Academy to have the padawans prepared for field training. Talon wpuld have non of his students suffering the same fate as the current Jedi who had fallen.

 

[Chloe Blake]

[member="Ember Rekali"]


Hey Old Timer,

Don’t you worry none about Alex, I got everything covered if anything were to happen. She’ll be raised by your wishes, if worse comes to worse.

I got the necklace safe and sound. After I send this I’ll head on down the access shaft first, go and see if any of them ‘crons and crystals are aboard. If they are, I’ll bring ‘em on down to the City and set them up nice and proper in the vaults. Don’t worry, ain’t no burlap brigade going to claim ‘em, and I’ll make sure the Mandos don’t break anything.

Ally is here somewhere, but I’ll relay the message. I’ll also see about that bounty hunter, reckon I can pull a few strings in tracking her down. Might not be fast ‘nuff but I’ll do what I can.

I know it may not be much, but I’ll be praying for your safety and that of your own. There’s much that faith and belief that has gotten me through dark valleys in the shadow of death, and I pray this will get you through too.

My granddaddy once told me, it ain’t about what you believe in-- iit is that you just believe in it. About believing in something, and letting that belief be real enough to change your life.

It's about faith.

I will be here waiting for your return.

Ol'val, min dul'skal, ahn guld domina.



~Chloe

**********

With that Chloe sent the encrypted message. Now all that was left was to give the heads up to [member="Allyson Locke"]. A comm message was sent to the Coronet, detailing that Ember had left the young woman as temporary Captain while Rekali was away.

Her teeth would worry her lower lip. While she ain’t had a long time to get to know the younger mech, there was a stubborn streak about her that Chloe knew well. Corellian blood had a way of knowing this level of hot-headedness, and it would be of no surprise if Ally plum decided to make off after Ember.

Luckily, he hadn’t sent any coordinates over to her, so perhaps that may slow her down. A sigh would fall from her lips and concern would fill her. Both hands would drift up and clasp together, her blonde head bowing forward, and her voice a low melodic timbre as she began to pray.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Gilamar Skirata"]
"Good to know, Mand'alor. Very good to know. I'll keep you posted."

[member="Chloe Blake"]
"Thanks for that. See you on the other side."

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]
"Thanks for the assets. I'm on it."

[member="Talon Vosra"]
"I'm all out of time, Vosra. If it's something I can use, leave it at a drop point off Ruan, coordinates inbound, or show up for a comm. For what little it's worth, you've got my apology, but I can't afford to slow down."

Schedule:
T+3 DAYS - Pickup near Metellos, rendezvous with Skye Mertaal
T+4 DAYS - Pickup or rendezvous with Talon Vosra near Ruan
T+5 DAYS - Rendezvous with McKeller near Ovik

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

He'd chopped off thirty-five centimetres from each wingtip of the Neta'norac stealth fighter, stripped out the Niathal shuttle's hangar, and just barely crammed one ship inside the other. The remaining space, such as it was, held the materials the Grandmaster had left at the drop point, frost-rimed from the air's humidity and still too cold to touch. As his Niathal connected with Mertaal's ship, Ember ducked beneath one truncated fighter-wing to cycle the airlock manually. He knew, straight up, that he was eighteen kinds of nervous energy incarnate, hands aching to do something.

He tossed the cyborg a bottle of Whyren's on sight. "Your place or mine?" A dry, self-aware way of asking which ship they'd use to talk, and if they would be using one or both for the coming trip. If she read more into it, oh well.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

Skye’s hand would catch the bottle with a slight smacking sound against bare skin, a stark difference from the beskar’gam gauntlets she normally wore. Then again, the woman before [member="Ember Rekali"] would likely be a might bit different from the Cyborg Bounty hunter he knew.

While the cherry glow of her cybernetic patch would glint a cherry hue over him, there would be a distinct lack of her familiar armor that Ordo had crafted her. Instead of the full armored suit, her black hair would be falling down in loose waves over a comfortable faded blue spacer shirt, brown breeches, and tanned boots. Needless to say, she was dressed for comfort rather than a fight.

And seeing the bits of jitters that nervous energy ran up and down the Mandalorian before her, it was clear he needed a bit of winding down as well.

A jerk of her head would invite him in, “Mine.” she’d say as her hands went to work at the cap of the bottle, twisting it open.

“She might be cramped some, but likely smells better,” she’d joke in an attempt to break the ice for the man whose mind was likely running one thousand klicks a minute.

Compared to the Niathal shuttle, her Firespray would be a bit more tighter of a space. Course, that’s not considering the massive amount of retrofitting the she’d set up in it. Three of the original five prisoner holds had been gutted, making room for a wider common area and studio sleeping quarters, along with that one bit of luxury she had; a santi-steam refresher with a conventional water based shower system with a small tank that would recycle the liquid for use.

That was just one of the major retrofits he’d be able to see stepping into the Phoenix. The rest would be revealed if he made it up to the cockpit and expanded cargo area.

Two glasses would soon have Corellian Gold fill three fingers worth, with one of them held out to Ember were he to enter her domain.

“I won’t bite, Rekali." Encouraging him to take the drink, the corner of the right side of her mouth would perk some, again to help him relax some in banter.

“Maybe.”

If’in this was to be a one way ticket, well… might as well make the most of things. Humor had an ability to lighten the soul.

She learned that lesson a long while ago.

"You holding up right?"

 

[Talon Vosra]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

"Understood." Talon said, "I'll leave what I have but chances are you'll come back to me later. Forget the bounty, it happens."

Talon put all he could in a data card. The information on the sith of ratatak torturing Jedi and holding Kira. He put it all down the vision of what he saw taking place and when he saw it. He entered data about his nearly constant link to the oracle and his ability to sense when she was close as well as the fact she could speak to him across several systems. He entered his information stating he was sure she could read his thoughts and experience what he did across at least a full star system. Then he placed it all in a secured case and set a course for Ruan.

"Password is The Mando'a word for hidden." Talon said as he reached for the hyper drive activator. Then in a flash he was gone.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

Her clothes and the rest of her took the edge off, but then he'd always liked comfortable-looking cyborgs. Or maybe that was an acquired taste. This sober, she didn't look much like Kol, and he was glad of that. Ten years she'd been dead, or close enough, at least ten years as he reckoned subjective time. "Never thought I'd see a Firespray with this much space," he said, following her in. "Never thought I'd see a Firespray again, period. Good ship, good hull, more hardpoints than shore leave on Zeltros." He took the three-finger tumbler in a motion that followed naturally from the momentum of his purposeful walk, and threw himself down on what passed for seating in the common area. He, too, had left his armor elsewhere, in favor of roughspun trousers and shirt, virtually the uniform of Outer Rim shadowports. There would be time enough, later, for masterforged beskar carapaces and personal armories. He fully expected to put his armor on and keep it on until this whole thing was over, one way or another.

His eyes never left hers, even when he slugged back half the tumbler. Not that he was feeling especially gentlemanly just now.

"You holding up all right?" she asked, and he took a long moment to focus. Whyren's was stern stuff, and that burn lit him up.

"Holding up makes me think of a stable man." The tumbler levitated above his hand, rotated as he twirled his fingers absently. Indigo Vahla eyes stayed locked on hers. "A stable structure. But if a man's a building, I'm no bulwark, nor nothing fancy -- I'm a skyscraper in a long fall. All that matters is what I hit on the way down. The necessary points."

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

Ain't much in a Firespray that wasn't locked down to ensure things didn't go flying all over the place. Be as it may, didn't mean there wasn't a seat for her to take. Small her ship may be, but it would be mighty comfortable enough for two.

Liquid fire went burning down her gullet as one grey and that cybernetic eyepatch met his indigo, and that gaze would not break as she too sat herself across from him. Forearms would come to rest at her thighs, her glass cradled between her palms.

Deep breath came and went, her expression mighty pensive. One forefinger would go tapping against the glass before she gave a nod, "Then what are those points?" she began to ask, setting down the bottle of Whyren's in the small bolted down table between them.

"Where do we start?" She ain't heard back from Patches yet, likely doing a mission of his own. But best to see where they had in their cards so far.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

The glass descended to his grip again. He mirrored her, resting elbows on knees, leaning forward. "As far as things to get done, there's you -- this dock. And then it's off to another Jedi drop point near Ruan, at the edges of the Deep Core. I've given the Jedi my ultimatum, an' they've been dropping off dossiers, blood samples, holovids, everything they've got on folk they lost. I'm not a well-connected man, Mertaal, but I'll use everything I have on this. Money if it comes to it, though I've only so much of that. So. Ruan tomorrow, simple enough. Day after will take us past enemy lines at Prakith, down the Byss Run to the last Republic holdout, place called Osik -- no, Ovik." He took another sip, still didn't look away from her eyes. At this point it'd probably take a lot to break his gaze. "Right in the middle of One Sith territory, far as a map goes. I've got a blood trail on my kid, but it's a directional sort of thing, so using it to track across a galaxy, I've generally got the need to go halfway, recalibrate, go halfway, recalibrate, end up triangulatin' across galaxies. Can take twenty, thirty jumps to get there, but I always get where I'm goin'. Once I've got a better idea of where my kid's at, then we start looking at using our assets and opportunities, seeing what fits. Those Jedi files have blood samples on some of their people that've been taken, plus vid of One Sith in action, and dossiers of all kinds, a metric fethton of'em. We've got a long few nights ahead."

 

[Skye Mertaal]

"I might have something to help with connections," Skye admitted to [member="Ember Rekali"]. I just have to wait on his reply. As angry as it may be.

A bit overprotective over his crew, but Jonathan Patches wasn't one to make her wait long.

"Got a broker who might be able to help out clearing the bulk of the information. His databanks would work faster. 'Sides, who knows what else he might find."

She took another sip of her drink, letting the liquor burn a fire down her throat as her mind went over what he'd told her. It wasn't as if she wasn't well used to pouring over information for a hunt. Just that this was more than going beyond the low profile. They were talking going waist deep into One Sith territory. That required a bit of preparation.

Disguises, weapons, communication gear, falsified documents. With Patches taking care of her aliases, she had the trappings of that trade set. Getting Rekali one wouldn't be so hard; that is, if they required them to get closer.

A free hand would rise to push the thick mass of her hair away from her face, her expression set. She knew what the extent of this conversation would mean, a one way ticket to the Nine Hells.

She was going to get a hell of an earful she was sure of it. Yet, it was there in Ember's eyes. An expression she could understand well. One she beheld from time to time in the mirror, between flashes of the past and a blurred series of visions due to withdrawal.

Aaarki. A single name, but a name that she would hold dear. Much like the situation Ember now went through. The last relation she'd had kidnapped and sold into slavery. It would take ten years of searching to find her, only to end in a bloody trail of tears.

She couldn't simply sit and stand by and not help Ember. Not after that.

"I've got falsified documents and the like that could get us past One Sith security." she told him, "But once we are inside, things could get tricker. Depending on how tight security and their guards can be -- we are looking at the possibility of several different locations your daughter and the Jedi could be."

This is when the hard questions would come in, that cherry glow seemingly brightening in hue for a moment, "If we end up having to break out more than two at the same time... runs the risk of alerting security... and making it even more difficult to get anyone else out."

Here came the point blank question, "Who are we prioritizing then?"

"And would she come willingly?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

"If you've got a broker that's willing to play ball, I'll get you the files for him straight away. I dare say you've got a better shot of leveraging that information to serve as his payment, better shot than I've got. If it takes funds, I've got some.

"As for what happens if there's multiple folk to break out, I ain't in this for the Jedi. I'll do what I can, but I'm here for my daughter, and if they want their own back they can get off their custom-made Council chairs and fething do something to end the pain. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll bring back whoever I can, if that works for you, but not if it's risking Aaralyn to do it. I don't expect she will come back willingly. Expect I'll have to fight her, knock her out, take her to those who can fix her. I've bought two pair of Oblivion E-11 blaster rifles, the Sith alchemical kind, the kind that wipe your memory right through armor. Ugly stuff, but maybe enough to damp out whatever they've got running through her head. Also bought two pair of Lazy Eye Merr-Sonn Power Fives -- phrik, sig gas, terentatek horn. Hit hard, fething close to Force-immune. Yours if you want'em, two of'em anyway, same with the Oblivions." He bared his teeth in a sharp-edged grin. "Don't take this as me tryin' to buy your affections, now."

There fell a short pause.

"We're bad at this relaxing thing, aren't we." Only now did he look away, a little embarrassed, and knock back the rest of the tumbler. "But then again, I don't think either of us could have relaxed at all with mission detail unresolved."

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Ember Rekali"]


A faint smile would linger, mirth would reflect briefly across that silver eye in regards to the buying of her affection, "And here I was getting excited." she'd tease, her hand extending to take the bottle.

She took a deep breath, all humor aside, thinking things over. "Then your daughter it is." she'd confirm with him. He was right, with things as unresolved as they were right now at the start of this mission detail, she was keen on getting as much as they could done.

"It shouldn't be long before that broker contacts me." she gave a shake of her head, "Don't worry, I have it covered. It ain't about credits. More about trading information. Once we get all that you can get your hands onto, I can send it over his way and get it processed through faster."

She tossed back a deep sip of the Whyren's, steeling her nerves and bringing her a level of focus. This time, it was her giving a sheepish grin.

"That we are," she began pouring herself more of the whiskey. A glance up at him would question if he'd want a refill, if so she'd start to pour him another three fingers worth.

"I've been told before I've a knack at doing the opposite." the bounty hunter was clearly talking more than usual. With a good ear, one might pick up just a hint of an accent in her voice. Faint, but there. It would sound familiar, but unless she started talking in her native tongue, would likely not be picked up too easily.

"My methods of relaxation usually end up with me planetside looking for a place to swim," she admitted, revealing a bit more of herself. She'd then give a nod over to her refresher, "Or take a hot shower." suggesting that tidbit that he was more than free to use it if he so wished.

"You hungry for anything?" she'd ask thereafter, the cherry glow of her cybernetic eyepatch glinting at his direction.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]
At the grin and the eyebrow of inquest, Ember gave a nod and leaned forward. The bottle clinked against his tumbler, filled it with red-brown fire. Fixation was the name of the game, it seemed, and he found he couldn't look away from the contents of the glassware. Better that than Mertaal, presumably, though he had the slightly unsettling feeling that he could have stared at her for a long time yet. He gazed into the tumbler as he leaned back and rested his head against the wall, eyes half-lidded.

"I used to-" He half-shook his head, stopped with a twist of his mouth, took a sip. "I spent a few years as helmsman on an extragalactic expedition, out to this star cluster as far out as the last of the Companions. We used to take shore leave on mad worlds, dead worlds, planets that had never seen a speck of life. Waterworks like you wouldn't believe, some of'em. Freshwater seas, saltwater falls and rivers, pools as narrow as you to me and so deep you'd think they hit mantle on the way down. Pinpoint an oasis from orbit, take a lander down, find underwater caves for miles. One world had a sweetwater sea that turned into lake country, with all the lakes as links to the same web of caves."

 

[Skye Mertaal]

There came a softness in her eye at that description. She sat the bottle down between them, bringing the glass to her lips as she surveyed him over the rim.

“Now that sounds like a sight to see,” she’d say in turn, watching the scruffy damaged plainspoken man tell his tale.

“And swim in.” she’d add with an upturn tilt of her mouth, taking another sip of the liquid fire. One tumbler down and already she could feel the warming effects over her cheeks. Then again, she was never much of a heavy drinker.

She rose to her feet, setting down the lowball glass as she went ambling over to the food-o-matic. There right next to it was a small locker of sorts, with various compartments snapped tight to prevent the spillage of their precious contents.

“I’ve spent the bulk of my time more local. A few times to the core worlds, been to the golden beaches of Corellia, Spira, Velusia…” a wash of somber melancholy would hit, ain’t the same as home though. She’d swing open a few of the containers here and there, taking a small platter out.

“But then again, I’ve always had a penchant for mountain ranges, arctic lakes, crystal clear streams, and fantastic fishing.” a few more swinging and locking of drawers would reveal fresh fruit, cheese, nerf jerky from the clan, some crackers, and even some Uj'alayi. Wasn’t much in terms of a hearty meal, but something to snack on. The food processor would be more apt to create some kind of protein rich meal, but one could only take so much of those food rations before one starts craving something fresh.

Short strides would bring her back, sitting down and setting the platter between them. “Now how did you end up going from a helmsman on an extragalactic expedition to the now?” she would as curiously, leaning forward again to take an apple in hand while the other would reach for her shiv.

No it wasn’t to take a stab at [member="Ember Rekali"], but brought over the red waxy skin of the fruit as she began to slice wedges from it.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

"Somethin' else, it was," he agreed. "Fish that'd melt on your mouth, raised in sweet water." He pondered the glass, but not exclusively, as she bent to open the small locker. Fresh food was a luxury shipboard, and the platter was above and beyond. Set him salivating, it did, even just the smell as she cracked the locker, and he almost missed that edge of melancholy. "The lake country went uphill some. Tough lands, those mountains. More than a few tense moments, even fights. Came back to that world on my second exgal trip, me an' Kol raised our kids there. The mountains had this Dark Side cult -- all gone now. Never did get the chance to look around too much up there."

A small knife appeared from his sleeve in answer to her shiv, and he speared jerky with cheese. "Quite a spread you've got here." A couple of other comments came to mind, but none that really fit; with a shrug, he ate. Not for him to comment on how often she had company, or whether this was a special occasion, or why. Maybe she just liked platters.

"As for how I got here -- ever hear of the Tyus Cluster? This ended up bein' along the same lines -- tight-knit star cluster where time's all warped, runs different in different parts. When we came back at last, handful of years ago, wasn't too much left that we remembered. We missed the whole fethin' Dark Age, Gulag, everything. Something about this time." He took a pensive sip. "Something about this time's drawn all kinds of folk that were out of time. Someday someone'll find out what it is and make a bundle. That's how Aaralyn wound up here, far as I can tell. Without it she'd have died maybe eight hundred years back -- but she'd never have had this done to her."

He grimaced and drained the glass, spearing another chunk of cheese with his combat knife. "Good food. Thanks for this. Needed something human before I forgot what I was."