Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Apparently." Soliael said with a smile. "You've never been to Mustafar."

The volcano planet had beaches alright, but they weren't exactly the kind that you wanted to lounge on. Of course Kira knew that, and she was more implying that out of all the planets they would find in the Rishi Maze there was bound to be something of interest. Soliael had no doubt in her mind that she was right, but he hardly expected to find any thriving civilizations poking around every corner.

Of course, one thing he did expect was pirates.

The group that they had encountered back on Rishi itself was very likely already spread all throughout The Maze, and there was no doubt in his mind that sooner or later they would encounter that particular organization once again. It was really only a matter of time. "Though I suppose if there's no beach...You can make it up to me later."

He gave her a wink and sealed the torpedo tubs.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"I don't know... doesn't Mustafar have those lava rides?"

Kira said it with such a sunny disposition it was hard to determine if she was joking or not.

Especially when the woman in question was rocking on her feet with the most of expressions.

The minx.

"Oh really?" she pipped up, speeding up to catch up to her husband only to walk backwards at his side. Odds were that she was going to fall. She had a tendency to be rather klutzy. However, that never stopped her from being a little reckless and silly.

"How about we make a bet to see what we might find on this planet, eh?" her topknot gave a slight bob with every step she took.

"Then when I am right, you can make it up to me later." tossing Soliael's words right back at him, giving him a wink and poke of her tongue for good measure.

Odds were they were going to find something interesting, to say the least. Kira had not forgotten about the Pirates. If this planet had any hideyholes or areas that someone could stay low and out of sight, odds were that Kira and Sol would stumble by them sooner than later.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Bet?" Soliael echoed her as if thinking. They would have to head to the bridge to actually launch the probe, and arrange its targeting vector. It wouldn't do them any good if the thing got dumped onto the planet below and managed to hit a large mountain on the way down. He was sure that Kaili had developed the things with some sort of intelligence but...well droids had a tendency to do stupid things while they considered themselves to be smart.

He'd experienced that more then once.

"Why would I do that?" The former False God as he began to trail out of the torpedo room and towards the bridge. "I still have thirty years left from our last bet."

He inflated the number once more but did it so casually that one might have thought he was talking while reading from a ledger. The tone made him sound so confident in the fact that it may have actually convinced anyone else it were true.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

That immediately sparked an abrupt gasp of protest. One that followed Kira poking the side of Soliael's side.

"You do not have thirty years!" she cried, poking him some more for emphasis. "It was a week!" she told him. "One week!" of course he had tried to say it was a month, but Kira was not about to let him try to sneak 29 years in!

"Don't try to be sneaky sneaky, there buster!" she huffed, blowing her bangs away from her face. She spun on her heel and straightened her walk, ambling forward while returning her attention to the datatablet. He was always trying to pull such tricks. The silly man.

Not gonna get past me on this one!

As if confirming this, the Lorrdian gave a silent nod. .I will be strong, she told herself. Although reality was rather... blurry when it came to such things. The heat that flooded her face was telling.

The doors slid open with a slight hiss, each step closer to the bridge. Deploying the probe would provide more information on the planet. It was a Type One world, they knew that much. A temperate world, but mostly made of oceans. There were a series of islands at the equator. Gravity was a curious thing. There were pockets of it that detailed a few anomalies and shifts.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Three months." Soliael corrected without missing a beat. There was no telling if he was being serious or not, his demeanor pretty much made that distinction impossible. He shifted slightly as they passed onto the bridge, almost barreling over one of the droids who had been on its way to maintain one system or another on the ship. He half turned so that the droid could squeeze past him, lumbering towards Kira and then paying her absolutely no mind as it wandered towards the direction where they had come from.

"We should make them more interactive." Soliael said scratching his beard. "Or at least make them say hello."

He shook his head then bade Kira to follow. "Come on, Honey."

The former false god rushed over towards the central command chair, a large throne like seat with half a dozen controls situated on the armrest. This too was a function of the Freya itself, not the standard version of its class. It had been made mostly for Soliael and his ability as a technomancer, giving him control over the vast variety of functions that could be found upon the ship. As he situated himself in place he smiled and Kira and pointed towards his lap.

"Coming?" He asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Well maybe they are," Kira countered, looking back at the datapad.

"For all we know it just needs to be planet-side before it starts becoming a bit more interactive." They were still learning just what extra bells and whistles Nohei may have given this probe.

"And it wasn't three months!" she poked her tongue out at him. "Nice try, mister.. but not gonna happen."

Narrowing her eyes, the blonde gave him a suspicious look.

"You are lucky you are cute." she told him, taking the few steps forward before she twisted around and plopped herself on his lap. Although, he was quite comfy. Rather boldly, she brought up her legs and the swung herself so that her side was pressed against his chest.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I mean the droid crew, Honey." Soliael said with a smile, one hand resting on her thigh for a moment as the other slid over towards the controls on the armrest. "Not Nohei's droids."

He had no doubt in his mind that the probe droids would spring to life once actually on a planet...though he doubted they were all that expressive either. Droids always had an...oddity to them. He found the happy chirpy ones slightly creepy, but if they had no emotion at all then they were even creepier. He'd never quite found a good middleground between the two aspects, though that might had just been his own personal preference. He shifted slightly and then tapped one of the controls.

The viewport ahead shifted to life, bright blue lights blinking across it.

"Let's just send it to the largest continent." He said with the press of a few buttons.

"Should tell us enough." His fingers gently caressed her skin. "For now."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Oh," Kira replied, only to flush with a sheepish smile after that. Well, she didn't always manage to pick up on things. It was an honest mistake! Anyone would have made the same conclusion.

"Okay, let's do that." she agreed. The larger continent would be bound to have some form of lifeform. Where there was water, there would be life.

Lifting her legs, she stretched them out over the armrest, leaning against her husband as she made herself comfy. Even on this chair, Kira was dwarfed by Soliael. Her right leg began to sway up and down slowly, the Lorrdian bringing the tablet up to guide the Probe to where it had to go.

A few beeps then Kira selected the confirmation button.

"All done!" she cried out, grinning broadly at Sol. The drift of his fingers over her hip and thigh felt soothing. Just by touching her he could lull her to sleep or bring her to the brink.

"Oh, what else did you find?" she piped up after, looking at him with curious eyes.

"Anything interesting?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Nope." He lied. "Nothing of real interest. Maybe some stuff that will come in handy later."

If they encountered those pirates.

He doubted that the Colicoid droids would be much help with that, unless they went to full on war, but the torpedos would certainly come in handy. From what he'd learned back on Rishi those pirates were well supplied, well equipped, and hankering for a fight. They had likely already pushed into Major sectors of the Maze, taking control of whatever they could find. A part of him wondered why, but really he didn't have to look any further then the vast untouched resources that planets like the one below likely held.

"Some ammunition for the ship...a few droids. That kind of stuff." He glazed over it as he keyed in one more command and then finally launched the probe droid.

There was a slight shake of the ship, then a dash in front of them as the white probe launched towards the planet below.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Well I imagine they prepared for any possible situation," the Jedi Master replied, picking up the datapad again to skim over any details the probe might start sending back. It was too soon to really pick up anything , but Kira was curious. Whatever may be out there could be wonderful and extraordinary; or complexly pedestrian. Either were alright for Kira. It was all about spending time with Devin.

"You think the kids are doing alright?" Mothering instinct and that classic concern about their children never was far from Kira's mind. Didn't matter if they were almost adults themselves; or already in Aela's case. It was more the issue that traveling to Rishi Maze meant that Kira wouldn't be able to comm them like normal; which could amount to daily calls at times.

She was the classic busy body mother, but she meant well.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Soliael answered truthfully.

This kids were all well trained, intelligent, and wary enough of danger that they know not to get themselves into too much trouble. Aela of course would be in the thick of battle most of the time, but she had more then enough skill to keep herself safe. The same went for Micah, and the other two? He doubted they were getting into too much trouble.

“Don’t worry so much.” Easier said than done for Kira. “They’re good kids.”

They were good kids, and they knew enough what to do to keep themselves safe.

There was no doubt in Soliael’s mind that all of them would be perfectly fine when he and Kira returned back to the galaxy at large. Especially given the fact that...well they were getting older. For his species they were still babes, but for regular humans? They were adults now, not children any longer.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

“I know,” Kira gave a sheepish expression. “It doesn’t stop me from worrying.” which was another reason why Soliael often kept things from his wife. It wasn’t lying as much as giving her as much information as she needed to know without having her fret over things. Ever since Geonosis when Aela and Soliael had been caught up in the battle, the Lorrdian Jedi Master had a tendency to worry a bit more easily.

“They are all good kids.” it was funny hearing her say that, ‘kids’, when they were almost all fully grown. Nohei was well over eighteen by now and she was the youngest. Granted, parents likely would never truly see their children as anything but their kids.

“I wonder how Aela is doing with her undercover work?” going through and attempting to teach Aela a few of her mother’s blending tricks had been a comedic act in it of itself. It had been all the more amusing when the young blonde woman incredulously stared at the attire her mother had given her and asked just where did this all come from.

The smirk that Kira had given her daughter had not reassure her at all.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael rolled his shoulders. That was a question they would have to ask her, though he knew that it had been somewhat interrupted a few weeks ago when the Alliance had made their strike at Coruscant. “A bit better I imagine.”

While his daughter wasn’t exactly known for her tactics in stealth, she was known for being studious. Out of all of his children Aela was the one most likely to sit down and simply learn. As a child she would read for hours and hours on end, staying in her room and absorbing whatever she could.

That was a good quality to have.

“She’s likely read all the books she can on the subject by now.” He said with a hint of amusement in his tone. “Plus she takes after you, so the talent will come to her eventually.”

He smiled and kissed Kira’s cheek.

There was not a hint of concern in the way he spoke about the work Aela did, mostly because he had absolute faith in his eldest daughter, much like had with all the kids.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Sometimes Kira wished she was so assured as her husband. So confidant. It t wasn't that she didn't have confidence in their children and their abilities; she did. They both spent an inexorably amount of time training all four of them so they would be better prepared for it. And it wasn't just Kira and Sol. There had been Amore and Cameron -- the latter still irking Kira a bit now and then at his methods. Thankfully, the kids didn't relay too much on how that training went. But also there had been Quietus, Lorelai, and Dissero. If anything, the four Talith progeny were some of the most well rounded and trained individuals in their generation.

They would be fine.

"Yes well... You know how Esme can be," Kira would add. Her eldest daughter wasn't the best with social situations. Nor was she good at lying. Not that she ever would lie; just in more of, keeping low and undercover.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

“She’s a big girl.” Soliael said. “She’s grown a lot, not the least of which happened during her time undercover with that whole criminal thing.”

That had been...fun to hear about.

“I’d be more worried about Micah getting himself into trouble.” The former false God gave half a chuckle to himself as though he was remembering a very funny joke that he had once been told. His weight shifted for half a moment beneath Kira, his eyes following a small bit of tracking data from the probe.

“When I was his age I was touring the galaxy.” His mother had been there, they’d gone from planet to planet causing their own kind of havoc. “Trouble and more trouble I was.”

He gave her a grin then leaned in. “Perhaps I’ll show you later.”

A kiss pressed against her neck.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Micah is a good kid!" Kira would defend her only son vehemently. Although she was quite aware that he by far was the one more apt to get into trouble. Out of all three of the children, he managed to capture the troubling combination of their curiosity and risk taking. He meant nothing malicious about it, but when something fixated itself into his head, it was rare for him to back off.

He was now more of a space gypsy than anything else really. Last she heard he had decided to wander off to Tash-Tarel and investigate an archaeological site. He didn't say what sort of archaeological site, but he always came back with the most curious of things.

And pretty rocks. He knew how much she liked those.

"Mhmm... I'm sure you were quite the scoundrel back then." Kira said wryly, returning the kiss. A small beep of the datapad distracted her from anything else.

"Oh, it hit atmo." she told him, watching the trajectory of the probe. Data would come pouring in.

"Type one Atmo... oxygen rich, so we shouldn't need any suits." more data went streaming across the surface of the tablet.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“We already knew that.” Soliael pointed out with just the smallest hint of a smirk. The scans of the atmosphere had been enough to tell them the air was probably breathable, the probe just confirmed that.

“We’ll let it explore for a few hours.” He said with a yawn. “Let’s go see whats in the rest of those storage units.”

They still had twenty something left to document after all.

The Freya was a vast ship, and Soliael had no doubt in his mind they would stumble upon all sorts of interesting things packed away, he just hoped it wasn’t more war droids. Oddly enough though, whatever they now found would simply be a business.

The other rooms that they’d explored already had more than what they actually needed, so now it was just a matter of finding out the rest of what they had.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"You just want me to be your little worker!" Kira cried out with mock aghast. For added emphasis, the Lorrdian gave a stretch of her arms and her legs, pointing out her toes as she too, gave a loud yawn. They were rather catching after all!

A small snort and her body would relax. "Alright." they really did have quite a bit to do. If they at least took the day to be able to finish all this, then they could be able to take their time exploring later.

"Which storage bay did you end with?" she asked him, moving to slide off his lap and stand on her own two feet.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Storage bay 24” That had been the one with the Colicoid War droids. It wasn’t that he thought Kira Didn’t deserve to see the things but...well he didn’t want her to get any ideas about throwing the damned things out the airlock. “Why don’t you start from the last thought?”

That was the best way to go about this anyway. “I’ll go to bay 25, you go to 52 and we work our way towards each other.”

The whole system might backfire though, for all he knew bay 52 had nuclear weapons in it.

A shrug rolled over his shoulder. He couldn’t control everything, and he doubted that the good people of KDY loaded The Freya down with so many weapons that they could conquer and entire galaxy. No, he expected the rest of the ship to really only contain supplied they would need on remote planets.

Or thats what he hoped anyway.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Fifty-two?" it wasn't a bad idea to say the least. However, "How are you going to write down what you find?" she asked him, her face scrunching a bit in confusion. Granted, he likely would be able to memorize everything. The little show off.

He'd look all smug about it too!

"Okay," she had her datapad as well as the one that would give them updates on the environment probe. "I'll comm you if I find anything interesting." Honestly, she might stop by the galley and grab something to snack on real quick. With a bit of music and food, it would make the time go by faster than doing it in silence.

That was just dreadfully boring.