Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira felt her lips pinch under the scarf. Yup, the big guy was going to get it, later on, tonight. A well-placed elbow went to prod the towering man at her side. A quick, movement that would be unlikely to be noticed.

"Rather dear to me..." she whispered low, a mock affront in her voice. Well, at least they knew a little bit more. The Pirates were also hitting this planet. Likely moving from village to village. The lack of surprise that the Dug had answered Devin's inquiry with implied that this was a common occurance. The Jedi Master's expression grew grim.

Through their bond, Soliael would notice the emotional shift of his wife, to include the familiar glit of determination that she had when Kira was making her mind on a particular subject.

"Ran dotkot bu lumpa. Fa hatkocanh patka wa peggat." «Here is the room. It will cost a peggat. »

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Right.

Money. He had expected something like this, and of course had prepared for it. Slowly the former False god lifted a finger towards the Dug, a symbol to have him hang on for just a few moments. He turned around and began to dig through his pack, eventually pulling out a small bag which he fiddled with. His fingers pinched something inside and Soliael plucked a small gem from it's place.

He had about two dozen more of those, and an entire chest back on the ship. "I have no money, but will this suffice for three nights?"

Soliael had known that currency would be a problem, so he had chosen rare gems as another options. People all over the galaxy, everywhere really, loved shiny things. In his experience pure gemstones were always a grand commodity, and by the way the Dugs face completely lit up he could only guess it was true.

"Yes!"

The Dug snatched the gem away and almost immediately scurried down the corridor, as though he were afraid Soliael would take it back.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

The door slid shut behind the Dug, and not a couple of seconds ticked by before Soliael would hear Kira say, "Your slave?!" in mock affront.

A heavy snort followed, the woman raising her hands to tug and pull at the scarf that had protected the lower half of her face. Sand fell, dusting her robe and fluttering to the floor.

"Well I guess that is better than a bug," she tossed her scarf to the bed, lifting her hands once again to slip her goggles off. A thin layer of grit covered parts of her skin that had been exposed to the elements, a touch of red to the skin.

"So, pirates." she confirmed, adding as her fingers went to unclip her robe.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael nodded to her as he stepped closer. He was pretty sure no one was actually listening, that was an absurd lie he had made up, but he wanted to make sure. Slowly his hands settled on her hips and he quickly went about undressing her.

He was helpful like that.

"Yeah." Something they had already somewhat known. "Probably demand tribute from a village, if they don't pay..."

Soliael trailed off as he unclasped another piece of her robe, frowning slightly. "Doesn't look like these people will be unaffected either."

The trouble of course came with the fact that...well they didn't have a plantary defense force. Kira would want to help this village, but they didn't have an army, they didn't have a fleet, they just had each other adn The Freya. He frowned for a second, dreading the point when he would have to tell Kira they couldn't help these people.

Not directly.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Well, we can try and uncover a bit more information. Maybe even talk to the family." Yup, much as Soliael had expected, Kira was already moving towards the direction of what they could do to help. It was just her natural inclination. There wasn't an injustice that Kira could walk away from, even more so if it dealt with families being subjugated to terrible circumstances because of Pirates.

"They are likely still here," her robe went fluttering to the ground. Hands went to the straps at her shirt. "That will be easy. I can try and see what I could find out."

Large hands went tracing down her arms and over her back. Through their bond, she could feel a slight treble of hesitation. Ah, there wasn't much that Devin could hide from her.

Bright blue eyes went to meet the vibrant orange of Soliael's own.

"We can't just leave."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"We have to." He told her quietly.

Soliael knew very well that Kira wouldn't like it, but they had to be realistic about what was going on here. The Pirates were wiping out entire villages, and while yes Soliael and Kira could fight, they couldn't handle an entire pirate ship. Even if they did fight and win, there would likely be more where the first few came from. It would be foolish, there was no strategy in it, as much as Kira would despise it.

"We can't help these people." He said quietly. "Not here."

His fingers slowly wrapped around her waist. "If we fight, we could probably win...but as soon as we leave the Pirates will come down on them even harder."

Probably wipe out everyone just for having fought in the first place.

"The best thing we can do is get as much information as we can..." Soliael knew she would hate this. "Then go."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

It was rather saddening, seeing the Jedi Master's expression shift from hopeful to gloomy realization. While there was validity to Devin's statement, it didn't meant she enjoyed hearing it. Kira had a terrible habit of not being able to quite let things go so easily. At least, in her entire do-gooder attitude that made her want to move in without considering the risks and do the right thing.

"Nothing at all?" she bit her lower lip, right hand coming up in a growing wild gesture of helplessness. She had a habit of becoming more expressive with her hand when emotions rode high.

"We could maybe go to the village. Maybe help out there?" what if there were people who were hurt? Kira could help, as could Devin.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"We can check on it." That was probably a good idea anyway. "Though...with the way the Dug was speaking I doubt there are many people left."

Another sad fact his wife wouldn't like. The truth of the matter was that they just didn't have the resources to straight fight the pirates. They had to be intelligent about this. They couldn't fight head on, they couldn't even fight sneakily, not here. If they did anything to resist the pirates it would just come down harder on this village. Soliael knew that, and deep down Kira was more than well aware of that as well. He frowned slightly for a moment, glancing out the window. "I can improve their shield generator."

He told her quietly.

It was a small thing, but at least it would leave them better off.

"But that's really it. If we interfere the Pirates might take it as provocation. We need more information. Where they're based from." With that they could actually do something. If they could hit the pirates where it hurt...that would at least mean something.

"We need to be smart about this." He kissed the top of her head. "Okay?"

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A shield generator? Improve it? It wasn't as all encompassing as Kira would have liked, but it was a middle ground. A way for them to be able to fulfill both of their goals; although odds were once they were at the village, Kira may very well decide to see what else she could do for them. It was just in her nature to be that compassionate.

"Alright." although some of the liveliness had left her. The blonde slash of her brows had furrowed in, her mind elsewhere, considering options and mulling over any other variable or possibility in perhaps dealing with the pirates.

"I just wish we could do more," she added, bringing her hands up to rub at her arms. She felt the warm press of his lips against her temple again; Devin was always concerned about her well being and was well aware she could twist herself in knots over others.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"We will." He said before correcting himself. "We are."

This was about more than just one world, more than just one village. They had to look at the big picture, not what was sitting right in front of their nose. If they could keep an eye on that then they would actually be able to take down these pirates. Focusing on just this place would drag them down and tie them to a fight that they very probably couldn't win. Kira had never really been a strategist, mostly because her skills lay with helping people directly.

"We'll figure out as much as we can about the pirates, visit that other village in the morning." Something neither of them would enjoy.

"Then..." He trailed off. "We figure out where they're coming from."

Once they found the Pirate's main base they would actually be able to do something, maybe even stop all this from happening in the future. Nothing was for sure of course, but as he slowly nuzzled the top of Kira's head Soliael knew that it was the best chance they had.

His arms gently squeezed her.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Alright." Kira would breathe out, shoulders once again sinking. Not in disappointment, just weariness. The whole affair had managed to wiggle its way into her mind, a nagging there that stirred the natural worry wart state of the Lorrdian.

Both hands drew over the small of his back, her fingers interlocking. With a sigh, the woman brought her right cheek to rest against his chest, finding familiarity and comfort in the steady drone of his heartbeat there.

Kira shut her eyes, lashes fluttering. He would always tell her that she couldn't save the entire galaxy; that there was only so much they would be able to do. Kira understood it, but it is hard to hold back in thinking that just maybe she could still do more.

"Not much of a stress-free vacation is it?" her muffled inquiry bubbled up with a faint note of amusement. As much as she could give based on the seriousness of the situation therein.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael shrugged.

"Not yet." They were hardly done with their vacation, and dispatching a few wayward pirates shouldn't take more than a few days. Soliael intended to do this quickly, he had no time for childish games or the egos of men destroying dozens of villages. This would be dealt with swiftly, and it would be dealt with his way if he had to.

As much as Kira wouldn't like it. He wouldn't kill anyone, but he certainly wouldn't take it easy.

"We'll finish this." He told her quietly. "Then get back to finding that beach planet."

It was funny, after so many years living on a paradise world one would have thought he'd grown tired of the scenery. Perhaps it was just nostalgia.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There wasn't much that Kira could say after that. With a brief, but tense smile, Kira gave Devin's right cheek a brief caress, feeling the bristles of his beard tickle the sensitive pads of her fingertips.

"Well, it is late already." there wasn't much that they could do right now. Not yet at least. Perhaps on the morrow they would be able to do more.

"Let's get some sleep." much needed considering the amount of chaos the pair had to work through the past twenty-four hours.

A heavy snort.

"Try to keep quiet to make them believe the story." she gave him a punch on his shoulder, with more bark than bite to her chide.

"We'll see about that." she chuckled, wrapping her arms around him.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He smiled.

This vacation had sort of taken a left turn. Neither of them could have predicted it, but it was an unfortunate truth. He wondered briefly if he drew trouble to himself somehow, whether or not his power function as an odd allure through the force.

The notion was a bit silly, and egotistical, but it felt like the truth at times. "We will."

His hand smacked down on her rear, hard.

"Have to punish you for sass." He explained. "They'll think this is me beating you, horrible really but it's their culture."

Another hard smack.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"OH my gosh, would you stop!" Kira hissed out. This time Kira was able to prevent the neck smack that came down. While her cheek stung, they didn't need this to go over.

"No!" she whispered hoarsely, wagging her finger. Ow, that one hurt.

"And, don't give me that!" she added, narrowing her eyes as she stared up at the circlets of orange.

"I know you are messing around. I can tell." she called his bluff. There really wasn't much that her husband could hide from her. Either way, this was the end of the day. It was enough.

Even if she had to beat him with a pillow to make her point clear.

--------------------------​

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

The next day was about as exciting as you would expect. They woke up, at an odd sort of breakfast prepared in the Inn. Soliael would have said that it was eggs, but in truth the whole mess resembled some sort of mush that he couldn't really recognize. Oddly enough Kira had said it was delicious, or that was what she had told the innkeeper anyway, but he wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't just being kind. Either way though Soliael had barely managed to stomach it.

"I'm going to look at their shield generator." He told her as they stepped outside of the inn.

The large machine could be seen at the end of the town, though with the state that it was in he'd be surprised if the thing could even run. They had detected it's power signature from orbit of course, but he doubted the thing could maintain itself for much longer.

"I think I can make it work a bit better." Even with just a light touch. "Need you to make sure no one sees me though."

Mostly cause he'd have to use the force for this. "Otherwise we might have some explaining to do."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Wait, what exactly are you going to do?" Soliael's wife inquired with a low murmur, her blue eyes staring out into the expanse of desert and sand. There were a few pour stone homes around them, along with some more moisture farms. It was early morning, at least, from what Kira could gather. It wasn't until later that they realized that a single day here lasted nearly three galactic standard days.

It would be a terribly hot seventy two hours soon enough.

Standing beside him, the Jedi master used her robe to sort of wave it behind Devin, allowing the expanse to hide him a bit more from view.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He slowly closed his eyes.

"Machines need maintenance." He told her, though she would obviously already know that. Kira was a very intelligent woman, sometimes she could be a bit silly and forget things, but it wasn't like she was dumb or anything like that. "This thing has been maintained."

He frowned as he caught a true sense of what this thing actually had been through.

"But very...very poorly." His palm pressed against the side of the shield generator, concentration pulling away his attention for a moment and rendering him unable to sleep.

"I'm going to try and fix it." He told her finally. "So that it will actually work if the pirates come."

The best he could do for now.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Well, he knew what he was on to. If her only job was to ensure that what Devin did was kept low key, well, she could do that.

"Alright." the Jedi Master replied, shifting on her feet. A gust of wind swept across the land, picking up a few strands of blonde hair and grit.

"Seventy-two hours.... an entire day is seventy-two hours." Kira spoke aloud, her voice quiet as she kept an eye out.

"That's quite a bit of sun." the petite Jedi kept observing, seeing if anyone would approach them. "Would make a rather long afternoon nap."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"They're probably used to it by now." Soliael said as he slowly began to work on the machine in front of him, his lips thinning and squiggling for a few moments as he tried to focus through all of the distractions. The former Sith Lord frowned.

"This thing is ancient." He said quietly. "Like old Republic Ancient."

That would explain a few things. This village, and the others on this planet, had likely been here for quite some time. There had been a few times in the old age when people had sent ships into the Rishi Maze, either looking for new worlds or resources. "They've tried to fix it a dozen times."

He frowned.

"Looks like it hasn't actually been on longer than an hour in a long time." Soliael was actually quite amazed it worked at all.