Private Ukatian Tourism

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Eloise Dinn

As Eloise ripped herself away from him—a very light touch, mind you—Gatz reflected on just how much patience Master Amani Serys must possess, to deal with the hotheaded Padawan on a near-daily basis. Gatz hadn't spent an hour with the teenager, and already he wanted to throw her out the nearest airlock. Now, that analogy didn't work considering they were on an oxygen providing planet, but it got his point across.

He was, genuinely, surprised that she'd made friends with anyone—much less some noble from Ukatis.

She then went on to threaten and toss aside a cook. Gatz made sure to catch him, stabilizing the man with his hand, and let out a frustrated sigh. He should have clonked Eloise upside the head the moment he'd spotted her in the spaceport, and dragged her right back to The Vonnuvi. But he stopped himself from shouting at her.

If it had been Valery, Briana, or Cora trapped in "the tower," wouldn't he be just as rash? He didn't know. And because he didn't know, he couldn't bring himself to judge Eloise too hardly for being in the state she was in.

"Eloise," Gatz persisted, voice turning stern for a moment, "I'm not judging or lecturing you—actually, I do think you owe that cook an apology, but that can come later—I'm asking you if you're okay after being manhandled by a monster wearing a crown."

 

[Eloise Dinn]

"Eloise. I'm not judging or lecturing you—actually, I do think you owe that cook an apology, but that can come later—I'm asking you if you're okay after being manhandled by a monster wearing a crown."

“I already said I was fine,” she snapped without breaking her stride. “What else do you want? For me to break down and cry on your shoulder over it?”

Eloise took the lift back the way they had come, jabbing the button for the right floor with her thumb. “Thank you for the intervention," she said. "Otherwise I would’ve ripped their heads off, and some people would be very mad at me.”

They exited the palace via the stairwell tower, and headed north. The path brought them to an area of the city that seemed to be much older than the rest. You could feel the age of the buildings they passed, having not only survived the Mandalorian bombardment but several other skirmishes throughout history as well.

At last, they came upon a fortress surrounding a square white tower. Eloise knew as soon as she saw it that they had reached their destination. “Albrecht is in there,” she declared. “There are guards. Probably scanners and who knows what else. We’ll have to get past it all.”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Eloise Dinn

“What else do you want? For me to break down and cry on your shoulder over it?”

"No." Gatz said softly, "I want you to stop, collect yourself, and work through what you're feeling before you do something you regret. Because I've felt the way you feel right now, and I came face-to-face with what made me feel that way, and I made the wrong choice."

It wasn't that he blamed her. Gatz knew that, of all people, he couldn't judge someone for making a rash decision in a heated moment. He just... he didn't want anyone to make the same mistakes he'd made. Didn't want anyone to murder, like he had. Not even if the person in question had it coming.

He'd spent the last few years trying to be better. But that didn't end with him. It meant inspiring others to be better too. And, maybe he wouldn't have much impact on Eloise. But he still had to try.

Yet, by the way she thanked him for his intervention, maybe he was reaching her more than he thought. Who knew? Maybe he was better at this whole Jedi thing than he thought he was.

"Don't mention it. There's a reason Jedi work in pairs, after all."

Then Gatz saw it: the tower. An austere, solitary building, that he knew housed the crown's most heinous criminals. Or, rather, the people the crown had a grudge against. Just seeing it set a fire in his blood. Imagining Cora sitting in there, for three days as she awaited her judgement, had a fierce anger trying to wrest control of him.

In his own way, he understood why Eloise was in the state she was in. But he sucked in a breath, and blew his fury out. It wouldn't serve him here.

"Let's take a moment to count the guards, and see if we can't memorize the patrols. The more we know, the less hassle we have to deal with."

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise stared at him, her jaw set. There was much she didn’t know about Gatz, but something told her they were entering unstable territory. She was struck with a sense that he might abandon her unless she engaged with his pseudo-therapist bullshit. Like a child who threatened to go home if his friends didn’t go along with the lame games he wanted to play, would he forfeit this whole mission if she refused to stop and self-reflect?

It would be sort of fethed up if he did that. But it wouldn’t stop her. She had planned to do this by herself from the beginning, after all. So she decided to ignore him, for now, and see if he continued to wring his hands and bleed from the heart.

"Let's take a moment to count the guards, and see if we can't memorize the patrols. The more we know, the less hassle we have to deal with."

“Whatever.” She palmed her lightsaber, just in case. Well, not really—she expected a fight would be inevitable at this point, and she intended to be prepared. “Do you think these guards torture or mistreat the prisoners?”

The question’s intent was obvious, given the circumstances. But the answer was plain, and her point would be made regardless. They might not be able to cut off the head of the serpent, but these rats weren’t as big of a deal. If they had to kill a few Tower guards off, it wouldn’t be some great moral failing on their part.

Gatz Derrevar​