Author's Note:

Well, I did say this chapter would be a doozy. 6500 words. That's a new record for me. My first official collaborative effort here, and if you're not already doing so, go check out Laryn Chillbreeze's fic, "Infiltration" for a new perspective on this chapter and some additional (optional, but very, very juicy) information regarding the circumstances of this chapter. This was an emotional roller-coaster to write, but all in all, it was barrels of fun to put together with the help of the talented Laryn. So go read her story and leave her a review! You won't regret it, I promise!

Massive thanks to Laryn for her advice and assistance, and for boosting her posting schedule so we could get these chapters out on the same day. You're a trooper, and deserve an endless supply of accolades! Many thanks to my readers, reviewers, lurkers, followers, etc. as well. Your support is a huge encouragement to me, and I am so happy that you enjoy following my quirky smuggler and her misadventures.

Finally, I don't own Star Wars, or The Old Republic. So, y'know, don't hunt me down or anything. I'm just borrowing their toys.

Enjoy!
-BB

Questionable Cargo
Chapter Fourteen: The Unfortunate Truth

The next three weeks passed relatively without incident. Given the nature of the months leading up to the confrontation with Nok Drayen and that whole mess, Raya figured a vacation was well in order. She was docked at the spaceport in Nar Shaddaa when she noticed the familiar crease in Corso's brow as they sat in the lounge playing sabaac. He was clearly distracted. Even though he was never able to hide his tells well enough to beat her, his losing streak was surprisingly long, even for him.

Stopping the card game before his debt got too far in the red, she stared at him for a moment, "Corso, is something wrong? You're playing particularly bad today."

"What?" He looked up, distracted by his cards before focusing on her again, "Oh, sorry, Ray. Guess there is somethin' on my mind."

"What's up?"

"Well," he began after a moment, laying his cards down on the table without meeting her eyes, "I've been keeping in contact with Rona."

"Yeah?" She replied, laying her own cards down, genuinely surprised and proud of him for keeping in contact with his cousin despite his disapproval of her choice of occupation. "She okay?"

"She's fine." He explained, "Still heading up the Black Suns, but we've been catching up. Seems like she's warming up to the idea that she can do something better with her life."

"Corso, that's great!"

"Yeah." He responded, "I was kinda thinkin'... maybe, since we're not really workin' right now, if I could go see her again."

"Of course you can, Corso. You can go tomorrow, if you want." Her brow furrowed, "Want me to come with you?"

"Nah, Captain." He shook his head, "I appreciate the offer, but I think this is somethin' I gotta do myself. I won't be long, though. There's only so much of that environment I can take before I have to leave again."

"Sure." Raya responded with an understanding nod, "I'll hit up one of the cantinas 'til you're ready. Flashy could use some new mods. Maybe I'll go shopping for some while I'm waiting."

"Thanks, Ray. This means a lot to me." He said, "I hope you know that."

Smirking, she rose to her feet and moved across to the other side of the table with his eyes following her the whole way. With a sly wink, she sat directly on his lap and slid her arm around his neck, "Well, you'll just have to reward me for my generosity now, won't you?"

"Oh, I think that can be arranged." He muttered, leaning closer to kiss her.

At that moment, the holoterminal beeped in the comm. room.

"It would appear there is a call coming in, Master." Her C2 unit said over the intercom system.

Raya growled as she pulled away from Corso, who just let out a heavily annoyed sigh, "I swear that droid plans this." She muttered, and he chuckled. "A core function of his programming is to see how much he can interrupt me at very crucial and inconvenient moments. I'll have to look into that."

"Master?"

She keyed the intercom, "Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious." Giving Corso an apologetic look, she got up and made her way into the comm. room. Her annoyance was wiped away as she recognized the familiar holofrequency that faced her on the terminal, and she brought up the call with a grin. The holo winked into view to show a human woman, her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, her cybernetic right eye blinking eerily. The wide grin on her face ruined the effect, however, and Raya's arms crossed over her chest as she shifted her weight to one leg, "Well, if it isn't Imara Goodspeed. Been a while."

The woman in the holo smiled broadly, "Hey Ray. How's tricks?"

"Oh you know, blasters, credits, the usual." Raya responded with a shrug, "What've you been up to?"

Imara chuckled lightly, "Most would say 'no good', same as always. Just finished a job and needing some down time; thought it might be fun to get a hold of one of my old friends." She let out an exaggerated sigh, "But the only one around was you."

"Well, y'know how we smugglers are" Raya replied, returning the woman's smirk as she played along, "We're a wily bunch. Hard to know who to trust, and all that." She breathed a quick laugh, "It just so happens that I have some downtime myself. You just call to catch up?"

"Businesswomen, Ray." The woman responded, correcting her as she shook a finger at her through the holo, "Businesswomen. And yeah, I try to keep in contact with people, make sure they're still alive and all that y'know?" Her smile turned wry, "You got plans?"

She shook her head, "Not for a few days. You got somethin' in mind?"

"Well... there's this one slope on Alderaan I've been itching to try." She responded, pausing slightly. Raya could swear she saw a flash of amusement in her friend's good eye through the holo while the mirth faded away from Raya's face and her eyes widened in surprise as she froze. Skiing. Great. Sports were never particularly attractive for Raya. Her idea of a good time was spending hours on the shooting range, just her and her blasters, and her idea of healthy competition was playing (and cheating) at cards.

"Uh huh."

"Oh c'mon." Imara prodded, a confident gleam in her one visible green eye, "You're okay with getting stabbed, shot at, and stars know what else, but you're afraid to slide down a little hill?"

"It ain't the hill I'm concerned about." Her eyebrow lifted, her expression twisting with distaste, "It's the disgusting, swirling, wet mess that people call snow. I mean, I like Alderaan, but not because of the snow." She added, glowering, "That stuff can stay up there on the mountains, well away from me."

Imara let out an inelegant snort, "Snow? Really? You act like you're from Tatooine or something."

Raya just stared at her, unimpressed as the woman paused again, thinking.

"Tell you what." Imara said finally, "We can go out and pester some nobles at one of their fancy-shmancy cantinas afterward. My treat."

Despite it all, she felt herself smirk, "Tempting. I have been itchin' to give my nobility impression another try. Nothin' more fun than showing the nobles how psychotic they are." She was actually quite proud of that impression. If she ever did get around to settling on Alderaan, mocking the condescending stares and smug smirks from the prim and trussed-up faces of the nobility would definitely end up being one of her most favourite past-times.

"Impression?" Imara responded, surprised, "This I've gotta hear. How long d'you think it'll take you to get there?"

"Well, I'm on Nar Shaddaa at the moment, but I have some stuff to clear up with my crew before I leave." She explained, checking up on the duty roster. Risha had already told her she would need to stay on Nar Shaddaa for a while to work through some contacts, but had also made it clear that Raya needn't stay there with her. Corso would be spending the day with his cousin tomorrow, and she doubted Bowdaar would find any fun in the mountains of Alderaan, so she took note of which things would have to be taken care of tonight before they all separated the following day. After a moment of consideration, she finally responded with, "I can be there tomorrow morning."

"Crew?" Imara repeated, her brows arching, "Since when? I thought you wanted your space." The other captain burst out into laughter at her own poor humour while Raya gave her a rather unladylike snort and another shrug.

"Well, you know me." She responded, "I'm full of surprises."

"No kidding. How many people have found that out the hard way?" Imara asked before waving off the response, "I don't even wanna know."

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Raya scoffed, shaking her head. It was no secret to her that the woman had exceeded all of the galaxy's expectations. Her fellow smuggler had managed to escape an Imperial slave camp in the heart of Dromund Kaas, and the woman's skill with a blaster was matched by none but Raya herself. Being a woman, however, came with its own set of expectations. None of which either of the two smugglers measured into. How many times had a man threatened Imara, only to be shown the grave consequences of his actions at the unfriendly end of the redhead's blaster?

The woman gave her a devilish smirk, "Yeah. Ain't it great?"

Raya answered her with a broad grin, "One of the many things I love about this job."

"So, tomorrow morning, Right?" Imara confirmed, her head tilting slightly to the right, "I'll see you there. Bring your new crew if you want."

"They got their own plans." Raya explained with a shake of her head, "'Sides, I'm not really taken with the idea of them seeing me humiliate myself on the slopes of Alderaan."

Imara shrugged, "Their loss. I think you'll do just fine. You can't do this job without a good sense of balance."

Raya glared at her, but the easy banter and her joy at speaking to her old friend again had removed any malice that would have been in it otherwise. Stars, she had missed their banter. It had been so long since they'd last gotten together. "If I end up breakin' somethin', I'm blaming you."

Her friend simply held up a medpac, "No worries. And no excuses." There was a sideways tilt to her mouth when she added, "See you there, Ray. Good fortune!"

Raya's eyes rolled again in response, "Yeah, yeah, see you there."

The other smuggler gave her a single wave before finally cutting the call, and the comm. room was plunged into dimness again as the holo winked out of view. Raya made her rounds through the ship, looking for Corso and the others.

After informing Risha that the Legacy would be unavailable the following day, but they could all be reached by holo if needed, she came upon Corso and Bowdaar in the mess hall. Her co-pilot was sitting at a table with one of his blasters gutted, the parts spread out before him, likely piecing together an upgrade. Bowdaar was standing in his usual spot by the counter with his back to her, making something to eat. He growled a greeting to her over his shoulder as she made her way over to the table, nodding to him in response. Corso smiled at her while she took a seat across from him at the table, and she returned his grin.

"Hey, Captain. What can I do for ya?"

"Hey, Corso. Can we talk for a minute?"

"'Course." He responded, "What's on your mind?"

"There's been a change in plan." She explained, "I just got a call from an old friend who'd like to meet me on Alderaan tomorrow. So why don't you drop me off there in the morning and take the Legacy to Coruscant to meet with your cousin?"

Corso's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "Really, Captain? You trust me with your ship enough that you'd let me drop you off and fly to another planet without you?"

Her stomach twisted into a knot, "Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound quite as nice." She let out a sigh, forcing herself to stay relaxed, "But yes, I trust you." Holding up a finger to point at him, her tone became harsh and demanding, "As long as you don't get a single scratch on her, and have her back in the spaceport by nightfall. Do not make me regret it, flyboy."

"I won't." He assured her, "I promise."

"How 'bout you, Bowie?" She asked the wookiee from across the kitchen, "I get the feeling you're not really into the whole snow and mountains thing. You wanna stay here on Nar Shaddaa with Risha? I'm sure she could always use someone watching her back with everyone who wants her dead."

"I would be happy to." Was his growled response.

"Great." She smiled.

"I'll have the Legacy back by the time you're done, Captain." Corso responded, "I promise. I don't wanna get too involved in Rona's life while she's still with the Black Suns."

"Sure thing." Raya replied, nodding her understanding.

Corso pulled the Dace Legacy into Pallista spaceport the next day with Raya standing behind him, a hand on his shoulder as she observed the landing platform with the barest hint of a smile on her face. She wished him luck and gave him a quick wink before stepping out of the airlock with a glance around at her surroundings. Satisfied, she strode purposefully out of the hangar and into the lobby as the Legacy lifted off without her, once again having to remind herself that it was Corso flying, not some slimy thief who had no intention of bringing her beloved starship back to her. Her stomach flopped just the same, but she shoved it down. Corso had worked very hard to gain her trust, and she knew as well as he did that this was the ultimate test in finding out whether her claims that she trusted him were entirely genuine. If she was honest, she didn't even know the answer to that herself.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a bolstering breath before opening them again and looking around until she spotted a familiar face. Imara stood to greet her with a broad grin and Raya returned it as she approached the other captain, "Imara. Good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, kid." Imara replied, and Raya shook her head, unable to resist the urge to roll her eyes as she stared, unimpressed up at the other woman.

"Kid? Just 'cause you're all the way up there doesn't mean I'm the kid here. If I'm a kid, you're a baby." Although Raya was four years the woman's senior, Imara seemed forever determined to-quite literally-hold their four-inch height difference over her. It was an old joke between them, old banter that had long been a symbol of their easy camaraderie and quick friendship. Indeed, if Imara had resisted the notion, the older captain would likely have been suspicious.

The other captain simply laughed, "At least this baby isn't afraid of snow."

"I'm not-You-!" Raya sputtered with a fierce shake of her head, "Just 'cause I don't like something doesn't make me afraid of it." She grumbled something about cocky freighter captains and how they had no problem making her do things she didn't want to do before deciding that it would probably be hypocritical of her to say as much aloud, so she let it fall before it got loud enough for the other captain to hear.

Instead of replying further, Imara only laughed harder and started toward the exit, beckoning her to follow, "C'mon Ray. We wanna get there before the sun gets too high."

Raya's only response to that was sarcasm as she thought about all the snow that awaited her at their destination with disgust and moved to catch up with the other woman, "Please excuse me while I rein in my excitement."

"And here I thought you were the adventurous one." The other woman responded as Raya fell into step beside her, "Stars, you're starting to sound like..." Her sentence trailed off and Raya only stared up at her as the other woman drifted into thought for a moment. "Never mind," she added finally, and though she took note of the woman's pause, Raya decided not to question it. She was no stranger to this job and its secrets, and she'd been at it long enough to know that when a smuggler has a secret, it's usually better not to pry. "You've never been skiing?" The other smuggler asked in disbelief, skillfully changing the subject, "Really?"

"Nope." She responded, shaking her head, "And I'm fairly certain I could go my whole life without experiencing it." It wasn't that Raya wasn't active. On the contrary, this job took more than a little athleticism, and she was no stranger to staying in shape. She just had other ways of doing it. Being raised on the streets didn't leave much room for frivolous activity, though she'd never say as much to her counterpart. The circumstances of their lives had brought them into similar situations, but they'd each had very different childhoods, and Raya was glad that at least one of them had known a warm, loving home and a complete family, even if it was short-lived.

"Space that." Imara scoffed, "I intend to actually live while I'm alive."

"Right," Raya replied, unable to retain her sarcasm once again, "because all these years I haven't been living. Thanks for clearin' that up for me."

Imara simply responded with a shrug, and they made their way to the taxi stand in companionable silence, quickly leaving the port in a vehicle destined for Wardpost Landa. Raya settled into her seat and let her eyes fall onto their preferred view of the mountains, her mind wandering back to when she was here with Corso and the others, getting pissed at the nobility and dragged about by the Republic. Stars, was nothing straightforward anymore? When was the last time she'd been given a job, and it was carried out with no interruptions, no side-jobs, no scheming ship-thieves getting in her way? It felt like an eternity.

"I love this planet." Imara mused from her position beside Raya as they relaxed in their seats. The younger captain's hands laced behind her head, "Get rid of the giant walking bugs and the giant walking egos, and it'd be perfect. I almost didn't mind half the jobs those damned nobles always needed done for them."

Raya was inclined to agree, when the latter part of her friend's statement dawned on her. Surprised, she pulled her eyes away from the passing scenery to meet the other woman's gaze, "You too? I had some errands here not too long ago."

Imara's visible eye widened in mock-affront, "And you didn't call me? What was so damned critical you had to keep it to yourself?"

Had Raya gotten to Alderaan just a couple of weeks later, the two friends would likely have run into each other at some point given the nature of the tasks they then shared with one another. It was a wonder how the Republic ever got any work done themselves, considering how often they relied on outside help like that of the two smugglers. The duo spent a great deal of the trip sharing past experiences from the planet, and laughing unabashedly at the childish nature of the nobility, until finally, the taxi pulled up to Wardpost Landa and they stepped out to make their way to the mountain range that was their destination.

They were momentarily delayed by Imperial sentries along the way, and Raya wondered how to get past without alerting them and getting involved in a battle they had neither the time nor the patience for. They were here on vacation, damn it, and she was not exactly thrilled with the idea of getting shot at by Imperials, regardless of her unmitigated hatred for them. But they proved no match for Imara, who simply activated her stealth field and knocked them unconscious before they were even aware of her presence.

Raya watched the proceedings with an approving nod of her head and thoughts of Why don't I have one of those? crossing her mind before the two of them made good use of their time making faces at the downed Imperials before moving on, their raucous laughter following them into the distance.

Their eventual arrival to their destination had Imara pulling out two pairs of retractable skis and Raya trudging through the snow with an indignant huff. The younger woman handed a set to Raya, who accepted it with no shortage of disdain evident in her face, berating herself and cursing her friend for getting her into this the whole way up the slope, stopping only to strap on the skis and other such necessities. She felt like a child with the way Imara coached her in the basics of sliding down a steep death-slope on nothing but two long, thin pieces of plasteel, and a pair of flimsy sticks keeping her from face-planting into the snow... which was still a very real possibility. She would never say as much, but the looks other folk gave her (which were quite possibly over-exaggerated in her mind), and the incredulous glances she'd gotten from Imara when questioned about her unfamiliarity with the sport gnawed at her, and served only to remind her of a childhood she didn't have. She knew it was ridiculous. She was well aware that many people her age were just as new to the activity as she, but it didn't stop the thoughts from plaguing her, determined as she was to keep them buried.

Before long, however, the unfamiliar activity grew more... familiar, as she became more comfortable in the skis and with the motions of the sport. As they moved faster while she grew more comfortable, she was even beginning to have fun, loath as she was to admit it (and she never would).

The morning wore on and Raya reached the bottom of the slope one final time behind a smiling Imara, the joy in her friend's face threatening to tear a smile from her herself. She fought it though, as she came up beside the woman, masking her features with a glare that had become worlds less threatening since Imara had first brought up the sport to her the day before. The sun was high in the sky by this time, and Raya could feel sweat dripping from her nape to creep down the back of her neck and into her overly-puffy coat to tickle her spine. Stars, she missed the freedom of her habitual brown trenchcoat, and longed to be rid of the constricting short jacket she wore in preparation for the cold mountain temperature. "Don't look at me like that," she grumbled, staring at Imara with that too-tame glare, "I'm wet and cold, and yet somehow sweating my ass off. Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we should probably get going." Imara replied, catching her breath, "It's starting to get too warm for us to be here much longer, anyway."

Seizing the opportunity for warmth and comfort, she lifted an eyebrow, "If I'm not mistaken, you owe me a drink."

Imara was silent for a long time, seeming to drift into thought as Raya stared on in curiosity. Looking up at the sun, she frowned, and Raya wondered what had caused the sudden change in her friend's disposition until she finally responded with, "One thing first," before pulling off her skis and the rest of her gear. Her eyes narrowing, Raya did the same and watched as Imara put their gear away in her pack before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a small box, holding it out to her.

Confused, Raya hesitated for a moment, her hand hovering over the box as she made eye-contact with the woman before Imara practically yelled at her, "Well, take it!"

Raya's head tilted as she took the box and unwrapped it, glancing up at her friend for any kind of hint of just what kind of game Imara could possibly be playing until her brow shot up in recognition of the object inside. With a slight gasp, she removed a beaded bracelet she hadn't seen in sixteen years from the box. The image of a heavy purse falling into her hands flashed through her mind. Memories of running breathless from her robbed victim as she tried to escape with the goods and discovering the beads inside when she got clear. Seeing the bracelet made from them proudly displayed on her sister's wrist for the world to observe. The memories stirred in her mind like sand in a swirling wake. The bracelet had been exposed to the passage of time since those days so long ago. The braided nylon string used to create it had frayed, and she could see clear signs of repair in some areas. The colours, bright at the time of its creation, had since dimmed to a fraction of their prior vibrancy. It was the creative work of a child trying to impress her older sister, and its keeping throughout the years was evidently a strong value of a slave trying to remember her past life and the family she'd left behind.

Her eyes stung with tears that she refused to allow, and she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat before she spoke without looking up from the bracelet in her hands, "Where... did you get this?"

Imara was quiet for a moment before she replied, "This is what I think it is?"

"Did you find her?" Raya asked after she nodded, allowing a tiny blossom of hope to rise within her chest, and she finally looked up with wide eyes, "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"So it really was Minara." The woman muttered through her fingers as her hand rose to cover her mouth.

"It had to be." She responded, refusing to allow her hope to be affected by the sad cast of her friend's eye, "Tell me where she is. I have to find her!"

"I... she..."

Imara wouldn't meet her eyes, and there was something about her friend's gaze that burned a truth through her that she refused to acknowledge even then. No.

"Ray, I'm sorry. Bloody stars, I am so sorry. I really did try to bring her back to you. I couldn't. I just... I couldn't."

"What... what are you saying?" Raya asked, even as the hope had already extinguished itself within her, "Is she in danger?" She held up the bracelet, her motions getting frantic as she resisted the implications her friend was making, "If you have this, you had to have seen her."

It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. She had not wasted the last ten years of her life in a relentless search for her sister only to come up empty. Her sister was strong. She was resourceful. She was everything Raya had ever wanted to be as a child. Her sister had taught her how to survive. She couldn't be dead. Minara had promised her that everything would be all right. She'd promised, damn it! She wasn't supposed to be dead!

Her inability to process the information had her responding in anger, and she lashed out at her friend even though she knew she shouldn't, "She had to have given you this, so tell me where she is!"

"I was pretty sure the person I found was your sister." Imara explained, refusing to meet her gaze, "This was on her. Ray... please, you really don't want to know the rest. Trust me."

What in the Void is that supposed to mean? She could only stare off into the distance as the implications dawned on her, and she felt a lead weight settle in her stomach. Bile rose up into her throat, and she closed her eyes, fighting to keep it down. Her determination to push down any emotion that threatened to spill forth had an overwhelming numbness washing over her as she lost herself to thought.

It was her friend's voice that snapped her attention back to the here and now when Imara gently changed the subject, "I'm pretty sure you need that drink right about now."

It took several moments for Raya's mind to catch up before her implants ached with the repeated bunching of her jaw, and she simply nodded.

Raya's thoughts were so far away that she had no recollection of how she ended up in another taxi destined for the House Organa compound, but she shook herself back to reality once she realized she'd been silent for the better part of an hour. They made their way into the cantina and headed for a table in the corner when she finally spoke, her voice achingly calm and unemotional, "Y'know, part of me always knew it was a possibility." The rationality and logic that Fellin had drilled into her during their time together was a prominent feature of their conversations regarding the whereabouts of her sister. He'd been supportive right up to the end of his life, but he always warned her about the dangers of false hope, and she had no doubt that he'd lost all hope for her sister's survival early in the search, though he'd never said as much to her face. "I guess I should've been prepared for this."

"Believe me," Imara replied, understanding evident in her eye, "I know how hard it is to lose family."

"That reminds me..." Raya glanced over as her friend continued, the woman's mouth pulling into a hesitant smile as she changed the subject again, "you said you have a crew. What in all the galaxy would make a loner like you take on a crew? I mean, you said he's handsome, but that was never enough before. What happened?"

Raya thought for a moment, trying to recall exactly how Corso had gone from being a farmboy hick straight off the Mantellian ronto fields to being her co-pilot, to being her dear friend, to being her lover. "I don't... really know." She shrugged, then felt an unbidden smirk pulling her lips upward, "He's just... different."

The look her shrewd friend gave her as they moved to sit spoke of far too much knowledge behind that one green eye and the woman grinned, "Uh huuh. You found yourself a man, didn't you?"

Raya almost missed the chair as she inelegantly plopped into it with an indignant huff, "I—he's not—you just—argh! Stop that!"

"Really?" Imara's eye widened in surprise, "I was just teasing ya. You seriously went and fell for someone?" Throwing back her head, the other captain erupted into obnoxious laughter.

Raya's eyes narrowed in a glower as she slumped down in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

A waitress arrived to take their orders and Imara managed to get her laughter under wraps before continuing, "I guess it was bound to happen sometime. It just caught me by surprise."

"Tell me about it." Raya responded with a rather unladylike snort, "I didn't even realize it until it practically smacked me in the face."

"A smooth one, hm?" Imara's eyebrows lifted as the waitress returned with their drinks, "You better watch it around that type."

Raya simply gave her a sardonic twist of her lips as they drank. She took a massive gulp, swallowing it one go and shut her eyes tight for a moment. Opening them, they then drew down aimlessly into what was left of her drink, looking past the reflection of her tortured eyes as she was pulled away into deep thought once again, the knowledge of the day sinking in before her friend pulled her back to the present, resulting in her taking yet another large gulp. They continued like that, and she found herself getting more relaxed with the alcohol colouring her cheeks and allowing her an escape for a short while before she would be undoubtedly faced with reality once again.

As the afternoon wore into evening, they spent a great deal of time reminiscing and exchanging stories of their rather exciting line of work. Fortunately, they had quite a lot of catching up to do, and it wasn't difficult to keep her mind off the things she didn't want to think about. Imara seemed determined to keep her mind occupied with things other than her sister's death, and Raya was thankful for it.

Finally, Raya emptied the contents of her cup for what had to be near the dozenth round, before slamming the mug down onto the table and leaning back in her seat with a pleasantly satisfied grin. Apparently, her behaviour was not considered "appropriate" among the trussed-up nobility and it drew the attention of one such... gentleman in the corner. Pfft. That man wouldn't know a gentleman if one came up and pulled out his chair for him. Moron'd probably berate him for "getting fingerprints on his chair" or something. She snorted to herself at the amusing thought as she met the man's eyes and he shot her an irritated glare.

Raya was too drunk to care. Hell, she didn't care when was sober, though she probably would have been less likely to erupt into her nobility impression, perfected to a tee. Winking at Imara across the table, she puffed out her chest and threw on the accent that had had Corso roaring in laughter only a couple months prior. "Oh, those spacers over there." She exclaimed, gesturing dramatically with her hands, "Probably spend days languishing about in a filthy ship, surrounded by vermin and who knows what else! Such obnoxious behaviour. No manners, these spacers!"

She eventually had her friend laughing herself to tears on the other side of the table until the other woman decided to try the impression herself between gasps of air as she attempted to regain her breath, "Wait... wait..." Raya listened as she performed a surprisingly good impression of the haughty accent herself, "What is such lowly trash doing in here, anyway?"

Said noble had apparently grown tired of their ceaseless ribbing, so he leapt to his feet with a sneer and abruptly vacated the cantina to echoes of the women's cacophonous laughter.

Predictably, the bartender was not happy at the loss of a paying customer, and made his way over to them with a seething glare, "I beg your pardon, ladies. If you continue to ridicule my clients, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Not to go out without leaving a lasting impression (pun intended), Raya leapt to her feet and slapped her hand to a hip jutted out to an exaggerated degree, "Do you know who I am?" She asked, punctuating every syllable as she answered her own question, "I am Captain Raya Dace. There probably isn't a stinking noble in here who doesn't owe me some favour, so the least you can do is let me have a drink in peace."

The bartender simply nodded to a man built like a walking tank and he approached them with an expression that clearly stated their presence was not to be tolerated any longer. She watched as Imara held up a placating hand and didn't resist when her friend took her by the elbow before heading for the exit.

Raya risked one glance back at the patrons of the cantina with a smirk to survey her handiwork. Some of the patrons (most likely middle-class) were staring on with smirks of their own. But most of them were nobility, and had fixated her with scathing glares, and she couldn't resist pushing the luck smugglers were so known for just a little further. She gave an abrupt halt at the door, and whirled around to give the patrons a grand formal bow (quite nearly falling over as she did so), snapped off a sloppy salute before finally slurring her last words to the cantina, "Ladies, gents, and giant walking egos! With that masterful display, I bid you all farewell and good night!"

Imara chuckled beside her as they finally left the cantina, supporting Raya's weight with an arm over her shoulder while they walked, and before long, they were back at the Legacy's hangar. She was distantly pleased and struck with affection as she realized that Corso had made good on his promise to be back with the ship before she was finished, but the alcohol in her system had not afforded her a whole lot of clarity to focus on much more than that. Her heart swelled at the sight of her beloved ship back in her hands, safe and sound though, before Corso stepped out of the hatch and met them at the ramp. She tossed him an unrestrained smile as he simply looked at them with a surprised lift of his brows, and thanked Imara for getting her safely back to the ship. Reaching out to take her arm, he slung it over his shoulder to support her weight.

Imara, now free of her burden, unabashedly looked him up and down before tossing Raya a grin, "You're right. He is cute."

She responded with a conclusive nod, lightly tapping his chest twice with her free hand as she looked up at him, smiling broadly at the blush spreading over his cheeks and down his neck.

"Have a good one, Ray." Imara said as she turned to leave, "See ya around."

It hit her that she may not see her dear friend for another long stretch of time, so she flung one of her arms out to wave wildly at her, and was dimly aware of Corso's free arm shooting out to regain his lost balance at the sudden movement, his feet stumbling beneath him. "Keep in touch!"

"Sure thing, kid."

Raya's cheerful expression darkened to an indignant scowl at her friend's retreating back while Corso gave her a confused look out of the corner of her eye, "Kid?"

She swung her gaze up to his face as he led her into the ship, "It's 'cause I look little an' helpless an' cute," she grumbled before her mouth broke into a becoming smile, "an' you just wanna wrap your arms around me."

He looked no less confused to hear that coming from her, and her expression twisted with disgust as she refused to maintain the illusion, "Ugh, I can't even say that jokingly."

He chuckled warmly, "Now there's the Ray I know." The door to the Captain's quarters slid open effortlessly, and the two hobbled inside. "Call me crazy, but ain't it a little early in the day to be... well, loaded?"

She shrugged, yawning as she stripped the hated overstuffed jacket from her shoulders. She tossed it carelessly into a corner before making her way to the bed, "Felt like the thing to do after findin' out my sister's dead."

The heavy silence from Corso's side of the room fell like a lead weight. Had she been looking at him, she would have seen the abject horror and surprise in his gaze and the empathetic fall of his broad shoulders at the news. As it was, however, she was suddenly exhausted by the day's events, and punctuated it by flopping down on the bed without bothering to remove even her boots and gloves.

She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.