Avast Ye Scallywag
Posted on Tue Sep 1st, 2020 @ 2:47am by Jedi Knight Enchelei Dardana & Jedi Knight Satara' Jalran
Mission:
Episode 1 - All Roads Lead to Nowhere
Location: Nawar'aven - Port Nowhere
Timeline: Concurrent with 'Taking A Chance On A Shadow'
R6-N4G4 or as her Mistress liked to call her Naga, hated being left behind. Not that the droid didn't trust Mistress Satara's Talz companion, he had proven himself far more than the Clones had. But Naga still didn't like it, she should be there by Satara's side as she met this strange connection. But she had a job to do, protecting the ship, and keeping an eye on their Clone prisoner... patient? What was he really at this point, other than unconscious. Kuruk had done quite the job on him, knocking him out cold, even the Medical Droid had trouble stabilizing the Clone. Now Satara kept him unconscious, immobile until she could figure out what to do with him. To N4's calculations, it seemed like a bad idea, but Satara had simply repeated the same thing to her, trust in the Force.
---
Having managed to step away from Hud for a moment, Enchelei, now wrapped up in a robe, so only bits of her skin and eyes were visible ducked into one of the side corridors and almost collapsed into it, the force of events hitting her, now that distance had been gained, as well as relative safety. Sounds of daily scoundrel, smuggler and other kind of illegal life filled the atmosphere, as well as the classic smells of air processing units, thermal and ship exhaust and the like.
Almost enough to forget what had happened but a day or so ago. Was it a day? Two? A week? The Mirialan could hardly tell at the moment.
In the back of her mind, she could feel a headache brewing, which wasn't surprising, stress would do that to you. So she told herself.
Taking a breath, Enchelei pushed herself away from the wall, and headed deeper into the bowels of Port Nowhere. She needed to find Nawar'awen. She didn't know who Nawar'awen was, nor why she needed to speak to them, but she needed to find them. They were in one of the docking bays.
Yes, perhaps they were a mechanic? Maybe? Or a starship Captain that may aid them?
Enchelei wasn't quite sure, the Force could often be very vague in it's guidance, she'd found. Eversince she and Hud Ubar had set foot on Nowhere, she kept hearing the name Nawar'aven in her head. First a soft whisper, then a growing insistence and finally a location. It was close, she could feel that with absolute certainty.
As Enchelei entered the docking bays of the station her vision clouded over, in her mind she could see the ship. Republic for sure, well taken care of but old she'd seen a scrape or two around the galaxy. There were signs of blaster damage on the hull a military ship without a doubt. Upgraded from an old Consular Class ship, her hull no longer the deep red of the Republic Judicial Service, but a dusky white accented by deep blue lines giving it a sense of speed even when docked and obviously not going anywhere.
Enchelei blinked the increasing headache away, or at least tried to. There was a buzzing sound in her ear now. She had to find this ship. She had to stop the buzzing somehow. Yet, as she skulked through the bays, the buzzing got louder. Almost painfully loud as she neared the far end of the docking bay. Then she saw it, in Aurabesh, a bold Republic logo, next to the name, somewhat smudged by blaster fire. Nawar'aven.
So, it was the ship, but the buzzing was still there, loudly drowning out any and all thought, except one.
A Jedi would fly a ship like this. A survivor? Is this what the Force had been trying to tell her? Was there a Jedi hiding aboard the ship. The sense of urgency increased.
The docking extension was still attached. At least with this clearly still being a Republic ship, Enchelei knew how to get around certain security protocols to make her way aboard undetected.
N4G4 made her way outside, rolling down the docking ramp to do a security sweep of their docking bay. The small sensor probe extending out of her head run a scan. So far it had been quiet while Satara and Kuruk were gone, a little too quiet for the droid. After landing the astromech had calculated a 70 percent chance that someone would break into the docking bay and an 80 percent chance that same person would attempt to come aboard. The likelihood of success was far lower... negligible, nearly impossible with active security sweeps by the droid.
Enchelei reached out with her hand, from her hiding place and grasped at one of the crates at the opposite side of the bay through the Force and toppled it over.
Spinning around on her center wheel, the droid's spotlight came on shining down the length of the docking bay. Extending her sensor probe the R6 unit made her way down the dock, cautiously peeking around corners as she began a predictive search pattern.
As the droid went in the desired direction, Enchelei again used the Force to aid her, moving as fast as she could, darting behind covers as she did so. A few deft commands and a brief intervention of the Force, Enchelei slipped inside the ship and was nearly overwhelmed by the emotion it elicited, being on a Republic vehicle like this after everything that'd happened. If only it were not for the headache and the buzzing that got increasingly louder as she entered the ship.
The strength of buzz pulled her into a corridor to her left, almost like a locator beacon, a staticky, painful, annoying locator beacon. The threat of the droid forgotten as she hurried down, trying to locate the source of the buzzing.
Close, she was so close, she could feel it, the urgency, the frequency, the pain. It was right....
"Here...." the buzz was constant and incessant as she reached the ship's Med Bay.
Dardana stopped, took a deep breath and braced herself. Pressing the 'open' button, the Mirialan woman stepped inside.
The room was dark, the only light came from instrument panels and the large bacta tank in the corner. Casting a light blue hue around the cramped space, it clashed with the greens and reds on the status display. She could hear the slight hum of the life support systems, the first bed occupied by a man in a dark bodysuit, his arms restrained to the side of the bed, oxygen mask obscuring his face. As she edged closer to the bed, she caught a glimpse of white duraplast armor, the design stylized with purple and green markings.
Whilst the mask did obscure the man's face, it was unmistakable who this man was. The tight body suit, the Phase II clone armour, the Republic logo along with the clearly mandalorian style markings. Beskad o'r te tracyn be kyr'am, it read. Saber in the fires of death in galactic basic.
This man was a clone, no mistake.
That very thought incited an avalanche of anger in the Mirialan. Clones were responsible for the terrible event that took the lives of so many of her brothers and sisters, of so many Jedi and younglings.
The buzzing in her head was nearly unbearable now, just slightly outweighed by her anger.
The clones killed her Master, they'd almost killed her! They had killed Master Plo! They had killed Master Secura and Master Billaba and others. They killed everyone! For what? Yes, the Sith Lord controlled the GAR according to the Baran-Do, but how could all of the GAR follow this order so blindly without a single thought as to the order maybe being wrong? How were they all so blind? How could they? They fought and died together, surely that bred trust and familiarity?!
Enchelei reached over and made to remove the clone's mask, fully unaware of the slight rustling of every piece of equipment around the room that was not bolted down.
As the mask pulled away from the Clone's face a red warning light activated, WARNING: SEDATIVE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM DISENGAGED. WARNING... Scrolled across the display monitor in aurbesh.
"Mistress!? What are you doing!?" A high-pitched, but clearly artificial and panicked voice exclaimed from behind her. The distinct sound of a repulsor being activated could be heard as a silver AZI unit rushed over to the diagnostic bed. Reaching out to grasp the mask and attempt to reset the device before the Clone could wake up. "We cannot remove the mask from RC-2363 under security protocol, doing so could allow the patient to wake! As you well know Mistress we cannot...." The AZI unit stopped suddenly seeing the woman that was before him wasn't his Twi'lek mistress; his bright light-blue eyes blinking in the darkness, his head turning to the side in confusion. "Oh... ummm...Who are you?"
Enchelei snapped momentarily out of her daze, looking over at the hovering medical droid. "A victim of these sithspit! Why is your Mistress keeping a Clone onboard?"
"I am sorry, I don't understand." The AZI, said unfazed by her outburst. "RC-2363 is my patient, he is being kept under medical sedation as I run my tests."
"Why!? He and his kind killed Jedi!" Anger returned in abundance to Enchelei as she reached out with the Force, pushing AZI into the opposite wall with hardly any restraint. "Why would your mistress keep this monster aboard?!"
"WAAAAOOHHAAA!" AZI cried as he was suddenly shoved back against the far wall, his repulsors fighting uselessly against the power of the Force. He was sure his chassis was dented as the Medical Droid hit the wall. "I do not know! I am simply a AZI Medical Unit, my primary function is to provide medical care to the Clones of Beskad Squad, and as Mistress requests! Please do not deactivate me, I am simply trying to carry out my programming!"
The simple reasoning was something her buzzing and anger addled mind couldn't fight against. She released the poor droid before turning her attention back to the object of her anger.
Falling to the deck as his repulsors misfired AZI was starting to rise when he detected a groan from his patient.
Buzz's vision was hazy, another pained and confused groan leaving his lips as she looked around the Medical Bay. It was dark, lights filled his vision, looking more like an oil painting rather than a status display. "Whe... where..." He tried to sit up, only to collapse back to the bed.
"Why?" Enchelei leaned over the clone. "Why did you kill us?"
"Kill... have... who are..." He struggled to look at the woman above him, green features resolving as the light flared around her. She... definitely a she, unfamiliar he'd never... beautiful.
"I am Jedi, Clone, and you have murdered us." She leaned closer to him, a snarl on her features. A tattooed hand wrapped around his neck, the temptation to squeeze and and keep squeezing enough to break from temptation and act on it.
"Jedi! Wai-ACKG!" Buzz struggled to avoid her grasp, his mind confused, a thousand voices in his ear screaming directions; Kaminoan, Clone, Jedi... blending into one, a screaming white noise behind his eyes. Choaking underneath the Jedi's strong grip, he could only twist instinctively, struggling against his durasteel bonds.
Rage blinded Enchelei to all else but the breaking of the temptation to end the Clone beneath her hand.
Wrrk-wrrk. Weeeeeoop! Before she could press her attack further a loud threatening screech emanated from the hatchway, the sound of a rocket booster being activated deafened those in the small space; N4G4 hurdling toward their intruder. Slamming into Enchelei's body, the droid sent her flying into the same far wall striking AZI along the way. The Medical Unit let out another cry of confusion as he went spiraling off into another wall.
Landing with a thud, N4G4 let out another series of beeps, boops, and squeaks, rolling forward to place herself between Buzz and his assailant. Bwa-woo boop! Werrk-bee-oOP! She exclaimed, her various arms extending in a fighting posture, her rather menacing blue-tipped electroshock prod sparking menacingly in the darkroom.
There were definitely a few cracked ribs there that Enchelei didn't feel as the adrenaline still coursed through her body. The droid that had slammed into her had positioned itself between the clone and her, looking all kinds of threatening.
"Don't threaten me, droid. This quarrel isn't with you. Move aside or I will move you." The Mirialan slowly got to her feet, only now registering the pain of broken bones.
Buurr-wap, N4G4 extended her grasping claw, curling it backward like a finger several times. brrro beep!
To Be Continued...
