div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a; border-style: solid initial initial initial;" role="complementary"
div id="notes" class="notes module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; clear: right; min-height: 5em;"
blockquote class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.643em; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"((Nollok Jen'Kari and Fashall both belong to a style="color: #666666; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" /users/SarahNevra/profile" rel="nofollow"SarahNevra/a, who wrote their dialogue.))/p
/blockquote
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div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1069.72px; float: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;" role="article"
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"As promised, Zavish allowed himself to be tucked away with his speeder, and the Wraith Rye's droids had found, in the shuttle's cargo hold. He remained there under the guard of four casino security droids. Rye had food, water, and a cot brought to him so he could relax and while away the time as Rye attended to other priorities. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"For one thing, he took Azix to the casino's clinic and took over a dozen scans. Though the casino had a medical droid on staff, it was missing, presumably deployed elsewhere when the casino guests began to sustain injuries from the cataclysm. Still, its programming was backed up in the clinic's datacore, so Rye did his best to coax analysis out of the unmoored program./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Aside from the broken finger, which they knew about, he found the telltale swelling of a concussion, a worryingly thick fracture in Az's kneecap and dangerous fraying of his ACL, and some damage to his shoulders from repeated dislocations, not just the most recent one. While Azix dozed in the grip of some of the casino's painkillers, with medical cold-packs of much higher quality than they'd been accustomed to packed around his injuries, Rye studied the holo-images and contemplated how stupidly fragile biologicals were./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The sensation of worry was becoming more familiar. It mixed freely with several grades of frustration. With Zavish pledged to help them, many obstacles had been removed from their path, but they weren't out of danger entirely. Not to mention, Rye had had more… 'recreational' plans for his fallen Jedi, but Azix clearly wasn't up for them. Rye'd given him several kolto injections and employed external healing creams, but immersion in a tank would have been better for him. Let him sleep through his healing, if he could. Unfortunately, the casino's clinic didn't offer that sort of immersive experience, so Rye had done his best to make his lover comfortable and stowed the 'party favors' in supply crates in the passenger section of the shuttle. Another time./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He had his droids bring in another cot for the passenger area. The clinic had one grav-stretcher, which served ably to transfer Azix from the clinic to the shuttle. There, Rye laid him down on the sturdy mattress wrapped in clean sheets and draped a soft, warm blanket over him, turning the lights to night-running so he could get better rest./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He sent a security droid to the cargo bay to speak to Zavish. Its chassis didn't have holoprojectors, but he was able to reprogram its vocoder to produce his voice./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""When we reach the Ziost orbital station, what is your plan?"/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Chal, who was in the process of extracting damaged spokes from the agitators of his speeder, gave Rye's cut-out a dry look. "Seems I should be asking you that question," he pointed out. "My ship is docked there, and it'd be the easiest to access, with the least scrutiny. I could take you anywhere you wish, but I have a feeling Tsuva wouldn't like putting himself so fully into my hands."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""He wouldn't," Rye agreed. "But he's also not in any shape to make decisions. I can keep him distracted, if need be, but before we lift off, we need to decide where to go."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish's eyes narrowed as he eyed Rye, taking his measure. "Plenty of neutral planets close by. A handful of Republic outposts."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""... He wants to go home," Rye confessed, glad the droid didn't show his expressions, his uncertainty. "He wants to go to Tython."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Would you like to stop off at a vacation planet first?" Zavish said dryly. "It'll be the last bit of sunlight he'll see for a few years. One look at him, and the Jedi will toss him in a very dark hole."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I share your apprehension. And while I also read your sarcasm clearly, perhaps some sun and sand isn't the worst idea," Rye returned. "He's ignored my admonishments to take care of himself. He needs an extended period of recovery even more now than he did when he first found me, and he needs it on a planet that isn't a raw wound in The Force. Preferably somewhere someone in his state wouldn't attract too many raised eyebrows, and where the Order wouldn't be likely to stumble over him and interrupt his recovery. I'd suggest a Hutt retreat," he said. "Since they've got all that and a full staff of therapists. But I'm afraid we don't really have a penny to our names."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zav stopped his work, looking thoughtful. "House Ekari maintains an estate on Rishi," he said. "I'll double check, but I don't think anyone Tsuva has bad memories of is stationed there at the moment. It's quiet, remote, plenty of sand and sun. The natives are friendly, and the pirates wouldn't bat an eye at him. A good number of them are Rattataki anyway."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm afraid the Order didn't allow Azix to learn much about his own kind," Rye said. "I don't think he has the first clue how to blend in with other Rattataki. But it's less likely other species would take note of him, so that's something."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Chal's gaze was steady. "I noticed. Piss-poor ink and no piercings. Makes him look like a child." Metal clanked as he forced another broken spoke free. "But I've got another positive: psychiatrists may not exactly be native to Rishi, but we can send one to treat him out of our estate. Doubt most of the counselors we employ would object to a beach vacation."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""He won't trust a Sith," Rye warned. "And probably won't trust an Imperial. The fact they were hired by you might be an insurmountable obstacle in itself."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Oddly, Zavish's mouth twisted in something like distaste, and his tone echoed notes of resignation. "I know who to ask," he confessed. "Not a trained therapist, so he'd have to work in tandem with a doctor able to prescribe for his needs, but… we do have an… in-law… who may be uniquely suited to assist Tsuva's recovery. Once we're on board my ship, I'll reach out to his husband, see if they'd be willing to do Nol a favor. This is, of course, assuming you'll consent to ride on my ship and allow me to use my comms," he added sardonically. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Would you accept a compromise where I allow all that, but keep you under guard?" Rye asked with faux cheer. "The casino security droids can simply behave as part of your personal guard. Only you and I have to know their primary target is you."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A hairless brow rose. "I doubt I have a choice," Zavish said./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""In point of fact, you have many. You've been unaccountably generous," Rye pointed out. "And by 'you' I mean House Ekari. The more generous you are, the more suspicious I become. I'm sure you understand that instinct."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zav's eyes flicked away. "His recovery would make Nol happy," he said. "And Nol doesn't need any more stress right now. He's in… a delicate condition."/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's head tilt was echoed by the droid. "More of your house's penchant for genetic engineering? Were I less busy, I'd be fascinated. But rather than drill you on the subject, I'd prefer to cut to the chase. I want to speak to him."/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish blinked. "To Nol?"/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yes. I'm not precocious enough to aim higher," Rye assured him. "It doesn't have to be now. Assuming you hold your end of this bargain, I'd be happy to have a nice holo-call once we're settled in a beach house. But one way or another, we need to speak."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""And why is that?" Zavish's tone was arid, but resigned./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Because he tried to lay claim on Azix and failed. Now he's trying to take responsibility for him. I succeeded in laying claim to him, and I am currently responsible for him. Navigating the competing grounds of our respective claims through you is only going to muddle things. No offense intended, but I'd like to cut out the middleman."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"That made him huff a laugh. "Honestly… I think he'd agree with you. Fine. I'll let him know you want to speak. He's blind and deaf, so he often borrows another person's eyes and ears to use a holo. You won't likely get to speak in private."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No need for privacy," Rye conceded. "Just directness."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish nodded. "Then, once we're on my ship, I'll begin making arrangements. Feel free to keep me under watch until then."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""We'll be transferring our belongings as well," Rye informed him. "I realize there aren't many, but I took the liberty of collecting a few things. I'm sure I can find ways to buy or bargain for anything else on Rishi." He wasn't without marketable skills, after all./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zav waved a hand faintly smeared with wheel grease. "Just give me a list of any essentials and I'll see to it," he said. "Clothes and food won't strain our budget."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yet more generous. I'll create a preliminary list. Other needs will make themselves known once we've had a chance to settle." And of course, once Az was recovered enough to start expressing his opinions on the situation. Rye anticipated a few arguments when he came out of the medical fog. Was it selfish to want to keep him there as long as possible? After all, peace was conducive to healing./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish only acknowledged him with a nod, so Rye let the droid go back to silent guard duty. He'd been engaged for the last couple of hours interfacing with the autopilot on the shuttle, but his primary chassis was sitting in a passenger seat at Azix's side, keeping ghosts and nightmares away. With assistance from Darth Virul, he'd managed to hook Azix up to a standard IV which he'd laced with a bit of sedative. His love would sleep deep, untroubled by interfering Force Ghosts. And Sana, if she was still hanging on, would be wise to free herself once they were out of Ziost's orbit. His small army of security and service droids were completing the last of his errands in the city now, reporting back their success one by one. No one was chasing them anymore, so there was no real hurry, but he found himself resenting every moment of extra time./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He was ready to be off this planet. Though it had been his home for centuries, it wasn't a safe place for his Jedi, so it no longer felt like a safe home for him./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Hours later, when the last droid reported in, he finalized the cargo loading, checked that Zavish was where he left him, and closed the bay and passenger doors./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He had never attempted to pilot a shuttle before, even though the shuttle itself knew what to do and had a pre-programmed route. Its shuddering made him unaccountably nervous - aside from the back-ups still tucked away on the museum servers, everything he was was on this shuttle. If it crashed like Azix's shuttle had crashed, if it was shot out of the sky, he ran a risk of death he hadn't been exposed to in ages, one that had become unfamiliar and disquieting to him. Zavish gave him the flight codes, and he transmitted them when prompted, waiting on edge for the reply from flight control, unable to stop his probability assessments from spiraling into fractal after fractal. What if Zavish gave him false codes? What if he gave him codes that would raise an alarm? What if the flight crew was trained to act as if everything was normal until he was within firing range? What if an armed battalion met them at the shuttlebay?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Flight control gave him an approach, and he programmed it into the navicomputer. No lasers fired on them as they maneuvered into the bay. The shuttlebay was empty as the landing gear extended and they touched down. Rye sent one of the security droids out to look around and found nothing but a handful of technicians refueling and checking other crafts./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He opened the cargo bay doors./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I suppose it's your show," one of the droids told Zavish, in a somewhat flat rendition of Rye's voice./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The Sith didn't waste time. The droids were almost hard pressed to keep up with the length of his stride as crossed the shuttlebay and found the lead tech. The Imperial dropped what he was doing and came to attention. "My lord!"/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""My personal ship is in bay Aurek 5," Zavish said, his tone striking a balance between authority and aloofness that Rye envied. "I have an injured companion who needs a stretcher transfer. All the cargo goes with me. I expect to depart in no more than thirty minutes."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""My lord," the tech agreed, and began calling orders through the comm. Zavish returned to the shuttle, and Rye opened the passenger doors./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"When Zavish gave Azix's still form a look, Rye said, "He's unconscious. Easier transfer, fewer questions."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zav raised a brow ridge. "You know that old adage about forgiveness and permission?" he said. "With the Sith, it's reversed."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""He's not Sith," Rye replied archly. "And he'll forgive me. I know where his lines are. And as long as you stick to the letter of our deal, none of them will be crossed. At least, not in a way he'll be aware of."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish gave him a dry look and stepped aside. Crisp bootsteps announced the arrival of a pair of medical techs guiding a gurney between them. They boarded with a stretcher and transferred Azix without issue, maneuvering him around the passenger seats and down the ramp. He slept through it. Rye rose and went with him as they wheeled him off, and Zavish followed, droid feet clanking in counterpoint as they followed the med techs through the corridors, to the lifts, to A-level. The med techs checked Azix's vitals while they went, and offered Zavish an extra IV for the trip home, which he accepted, since Rye could hardly accept on Az's behalf. They didn't seem the least bit suspicious, but Rye still half expected to be greeted with a squad of Imperial Commandos in Aurek-5./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Instead, the bay contained only a wicked-looking Cygnus Long-Range A-10 Interceptor with a custom paint job and visible aftermarket modifications, and a handful of technicians hustling to finish her pre-flight checks. The medical team allowed Zavish to lower the boarding ramp for them, and took Azix, with Rye tagging along behind, to the ship's small infirmary. It had enough room for a bed and a bacta tank./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Nearly ten days from Ziost to Rishi," Zavish murmured. "Plenty of time for the tank to do him some good."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye nodded his agreement, and Zavish instructed the techs, who began prepping Azix. They cut off his clothing (no great loss) and sponged him down quickly to get rid of the majority of the grime. They maneuvered him into the suspension frame, hung the IV, and hooked up the respirator, then sealed the tank and let the bacta back in. In some ways, watching the thin blue liquid creep up around Azix's bruised feet, then his calves, then his thighs, Rye felt relieved. Ten days of unconsciousness was a long time. He'd almost certainly miss Azix's company. But it was ten days without worrying, ten days without arguing, ten days of knowing his lover was sleeping safe and peaceful with nothing to do but heal./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Ten days to be the only one worrying about the possibility of betrayal./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"When a Sith Lord made a request, everyone around them understood it wasn't a request. They were cleared for departure in thirty minutes, as planned, with cargo loaded and sealed. Azix left his primary chassis in the infirmary to monitor Azix with the aid of the ship's diagnostic droid hovering around the cramped space, and positioned two security droids on the bridge in the co-pilot's chair and at the gunner's stations./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I assume I can communicate now?" Zavish asked as he silently went through his preflight checklist./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'll be sitting right here listening in," Rye told him. "But yes. Feel free."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish glanced heavenward, but he didn't open a channel until they'd left the shuttlebay and laid in a hyperspace course. Then, before engaging his hyperdrive engines, he had to figure out exactly how to explain to Nollok just what the hell was going on./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"x-x-x/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's projection was in casual dress, a notion he'd become more open to exploring since his experience with the casino's ad program. Nothing so trendy as she'd suggested of course, but simple pants and a faded t-shirt that, if anyone had examined its distressed print closely, would have been revealed as a souvenir shirt from his museum. It was a nod to his past he was considering keeping with him as his selection of appearances evolved. The magprojector etched him atypically in full-size as he impressed his parameters directly on its matrix. Rather than greet Nol immediately, he held up his 'hands' and eyed himself, the semi-solid form created by the particulates. "Interesting," he concluded./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol had been sitting at his desk waiting for the call, per his communication with Zavish immediately prior. He was surprised when a full-sized figure materialized, but quickly deemed it a manageable quirk. He got up carefully and stepped around his desk, hopping up to sit on the edge and let his aching feet dangle. He'd dressed casually, one of his ankle-length wrapped robes that rode comfortably under his swelling belly./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Rye, I presume?" he signed./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"On one of the comfortable chairs near the fireplace, Ekari Apprentice Fashall shifted slightly, letting Nol's mental warmth slide into the sense of her montrals so he could hear their visitor clearly./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Lord Jen'Kari." Rye took in Nol's state of undress and said dryly, "Good to see you didn't put yourself out on my account. I've no intention of wasting your time. I'm here to discuss Azrahix Tsuva." As a courtesy, he signed while he spoke. It was probably better if his less than respectful tone didn't fully translate./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Anything else is murder to get into at this point," Nol pointed out, motioning to his belly. "But, anyway. I'm glad to hear he's safe." While someone not used to reading hands might not catch how expressive they could be, Nol's face wasn't a mask; there was genuine relief written across his features and a slight easing of his shoulders. "What did you want to talk about?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Well, his safety is in your hands, isn't it?" Rye pointed out. "Zavish has been extremely generous, helping us get off planet, offering to take us to safe haven. Suspiciously generous, in fact. I'm sure he's communicated Azix's feelings on the subject of you," he said, gesturing. "So I find myself wondering where you benefit from all this."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol took a moment to consider that, thinking about how best to phrase his thoughts. "A large portion of how he is now, what led to his state, is my fault," he said. "I hurt him, badly, in my desire and greed. While I can't... hf." He huffed softly and shook his hands out. "Fix is not the right word. While I can't... solve everything that stemmed from what I did in my pursuit of him, I can do this. I can help him survive, and I can help him... rebuild."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You're describing guilt," Rye said. "This is a lot of trouble and expense for guilt. Especially for Sith, who aren't terribly pressed by the emotion. Is that all it is?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You might be surprised how motivating guilt can be," Nol said. "I destroyed a man's sense of self, Rye. That's a lot to be responsible for and I can't take it back, and yes, I feel fucking guilty over it. While my feelings for him aren't what they were, I don't wish him ill and I would really prefer if he could live the rest of his life in whatever best resembles the kind of way he wants. The state he's in now, though, he's as likely to do something stupid and die as he is to sort out how he fits into the Force."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's eyes narrowed. "He's lived this long," he pointed out. "You understand, no matter how much help you offer us, you have no claim on him. He isn't accepting anything from you. I'm responsible for him, and I'm accepting on his behalf. He won't be repaying you one day, and it won't earn you any sort of relationship with him."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I don't expect it to," Nol said, hands making his words seem small. "I... I hope that someday he might... be willing to hear me apologize. But that is the best hope I have, and if it never comes that is his choice. His life belongs to no one but him, I just want to help him find some steadier footing so he can choose which direction he wants to go with it."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Whether he will or not, you can expect me to handle communications between you unless he says otherwise. And if I think anything you are saying or doing isn't in his best interests, I'll put a stop to it. He's my charge now," Rye said firmly. "I expect to vet these people Zavish says you can send to Rishi to help him."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol smiled softly. "Tel and Kes?" he asked. "Yes, feel free. Tel might be a little short with you, but it's not out of cruelty. He's just... curt. You might or might not be able to get Kes to shut up, it depends on his mood."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's brow spur twitched. Did Nol really think he gave a damn about their conversational skills? "What qualities do they possess that make you think they'll be of help to Azix?" he asked, pointed in both his tone and his gestures./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Tel's background is similar," Nol reasoned. "He was a Jedi, once, until his capture by Lord Kryos. And there was a time when he was recaptured by the Jedi. But he chose his path, and returned to his family here. I feel that his lived experience will help Azrahix understand his options, that he HAS options. And his husband is... just..." He hummed softly, thinking. "How to describe a ray of warm sunshine in the shape of a human body... He's an empath, a powerful one, but truly the least judgmental person in this galaxy and one who cares deeply for those around him. He truly holds no hatred for Sith, or anyone really. While what we are saddens him at times, he never begrudges us our SELVES, and he is the best listener there is."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's eyes narrowed. Nol seemed to have avoided saying it, but, "So he's a Jedi."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""He was," Nol clarified. "When he helped three runaways escape the Order, they exiled him. He is still a fundamentally good person in a way I think few people in this galaxy are, but he is not a Jedi by name anymore."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Then the rumors are true," Rye said. "House Ekari DOES collect Jedi like they're going out of style. I suppose I should be grateful for your experience."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol snorted softly. "He is only Ekari by marriage," he said. "Kes loves his husband deeply but he is not... sunken in like we are. I don't think he ever will be. That doesn't mean those of us who know him love him any less, he's just not... close." His full mouth twisted slightly as he thought. "He can barely stand to be here for long. The planet... hurts him. I think he can help Azrahix, though. He truly doesn't judge, he listens, and he just wants to help pretty much everyone he comes across."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"/Force preserve me./ "Charming. If you have some sort of personnel file on them and any psychiatrists you have in mind, I'll take them," he said dryly. "Zavish says we should expect a ten-day trip to Rishi, so I'll have plenty of time to review them."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'll send what we have," Nol said, nodding. "And a few different files on psychiatrists, I understand it may take a try or two to find someone who gels well. I've been trying to find those who don't have any particular..." He fumbled for a moment. "Prejudices. So there's been some reaching-out to neutral worlds. Nar Shaddaa has a surprising number of freelance mental health specialists."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Small wonder. Then, I won't keep you," Rye said, still eyeing Nol like he expected something else. "Thank you for your assistance."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol nodded again. His hands stilled for a moment and he swallowed before continuing. "Is... Do you think you can help him?" he asked, shoulders tensing. "Can you help him find a path he wants to walk?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye looked faintly repelled by the display of weakness. "... At this point, I'll consider any path he wants to take that doesn't lead back to the Order," he said. "Or your bedroom. Thankfully, that still leaves us with plenty of options."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol relaxed slightly. "Good," he said. "He doesn't belong here, anyway. Never did. It was pure selfishness on my part that tried in the first place." He took a breath and relaxed further. "I apologize for being so candid."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Over on the couch, Fashall snorted very quietly and tabbed to the next page of her book on her datapad./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye had been the one to request his conversation. Now he wanted nothing more than to get out of it. "I'll do my best to forget it ever happened. If there's nothing else?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""One curious point," Nol said after a moment. "Zavish said he found it difficult to describe you. I'm having a hard time understanding what he meant."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye's brow spur arched. "I'm an artificial intelligence," he said flatly. "I'm not sure what's so difficult about that, but organics do struggle with precision."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol tilted his head slightly and gave the distinct impression of a surprised blink. "Oh! Well," he said, smiling. "Interesting. That's actually pretty cool. Thank you for clearing that up."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""My pleasure. Good day, my lord," he said./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Nol bobbed his head politely. "Good day, Rye," he said, then killed the transmission./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye turned on Zavish. "THAT'S the Sith who hurt Azix SO badly?" he demanded, a mixture of disgust and disbelief. "That's the one who seeded his Fall? Really?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish was preparing to jump to hyperspeed. "Two things," he said, hands moving over the nav console with steady meticulous familiarity. "First, if you speak ill of my husband, you won't make it to Rishi. Second, you may be thoroughly unimpressed with Nol. That's fair, because I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Azrahix. But we're about to be stuck together in close quarters for nearly a week and a half. Rather than fabricating secondhand conflict, why don't we both just content ourselves with the knowledge that our respective partners have traded up, and leave it at that?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye considered that for a moment, the security droid's blank face somehow managing to convey, without expression, the depth of his derision. "... He married you because you're the only person in that house of heretics who knows how to behave like a Sith, didn't he?"/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"br /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish surprised them both with a brief, huffed laugh. "Well," he allowed. "I've often thought the same thing, myself."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The light of stars bent into streaks around them as the engines whined. There'd be no more communication while they were in Hyperspace, so Rye fell quiet and let Zavish focus on his own affairs./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He predicted a long and lonely ten days./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"x-x-x/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The route Zavish had plotted avoided the majority of the Perlemion Trade Route, instead hopping them along a collection of smaller routes that would take them directly through neutral Hutt Space rather than veering dangerously close to the core. Their refueling stop was, therefore, Sleheyron, a blackened world of naked basalt dotted with equally black urban sprawls. From above, the resemblence to Ziost post-cataclsym was strong, and it was probably a good thing Azix wasn't awake to see it. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They maintained orbit for several hours while Zavish negotiated to purchase fuel. As with most Hutt territories, gangsters of varying levels of incorporation ran the multitude of districts and tibanna gas mines on Sleheyron. While the fuel was cheap, bought directly from the source with no need for transport costs, negotiating an exchange was only half about prices, and the other half about navigating a delicately balanced web of intrigue and authority to get the best deal without offending the wrong people. Within the first twenty minutes, Rye was profoundly bored. He recorded the negotiation in case it might be useful one day, but otherwise ignored Zavish while he exchanged holocalls with a parade of ever-more-obsequious sleemos representing the local powers. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Of course, Zavish Chal could have walked into the palace of any gangster, corporate executive, or Hutt and taken what he wanted at the end of a lightsaber. Even Rye, who'd spent a great deal of time explaining to Azix that the Empire couldn't function if all Sith were bloodthirsty sociopaths, was surprised by his patience. Despite the volume of bantha-shit being heaped upon him by the local sycophants, he remained blunt and neutral in his dealings, and never showed a hint of irritation, issuing even a few veiled threats with a bland sort of indifference that seemed tailored to the cynicism of his audience. There was no passion in this sort of negotiation; it was just business, and it offended Rye down to his crystalline-matrix soul./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Once a deal had been struck and they'd been given clearance to dock at the appropriate gangster's spaceport on the current night-side, he paid more attention. Outside urban territories, the surface of Sleheyron was a wasteland of angled volcanic spires. Within the urban territories, the spires rose straight up, stabbing into the atmosphere, their lines broken by the gleam of windows like thousands of glittering stars. As in any Hutt settlement, neon was everywhere, straddling the line between advertisement and decoration, but the porous black stone soaked up the light and gave the darkness an oppressive weight. Light-trails from bustling lanes of traffic were quickly swallowed by the shadows. Even when they'd descended far enough to dock at the spaceport, Rye couldn't see the ground level directly below them, though the sprawl thinned out at the edges, buildings shrinking down into clusters of low slums cloaked in an industrial gray smog. He imagined that on the day side of the planet, the actual streets were cast into perpetual gloom. Sleheyron was a slave economy, an ugly economic powerhouse built on mines and refineries. Wealth would, therefore, be literally stratified as the rich claimed the privilege of sunlight. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Zavish got up when the docking sequence was complete and retrieved his armored coat, flipping the hood over his head and tucking his datapad in an inner pocket. Two of Rye's security droids flanked him as he approached the airlock. He didn't protest, just gave one of them a dry look and said, "Stay out of trouble."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It wasn't until he said this that it occurred to Rye that he could leave the ship./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He wasted 0.37 seconds torn between consternation and giddiness. He could /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"leave the ship/span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;". He didn't have to hide anymore. Droids moved relatively freely on their masters' business in Hutt territory. He could blend in with the populace, explore the spaceport, take a taxi, find a cantina or a shopping center. As long as he didn't break the illusion of belonging to an organic master, his presence wouldn't be suspicious. No one would be chasing him./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Sleheyron wasn't the safest world in the galaxy, of course, so he wouldn't roam far. He'd stick close to the spaceport, in well-lighted areas for off-world visitors. And of course, he'd leave his remaining security droids to guard the infirmary and make sure no one interfered with Azix. But precautions aside, for the first time since his creation, he was /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"free./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He made a quick trip to the cargo bay, then slipped into Zavish's quarters to borrow a satchel and a lightweight wrap in House Ekari colors. Then he approached the airlock and punched the release button. It opened onto a cylindrical chamber with a walkway in the center, made to pivot to match the orientation of the docking ship to that of the pylon. He stepped out and the airlock closed and locked. That reminded Rye that he would need Zavish to re-enter, perhaps a slight miscalculation he'd missed in his euphoria over the prospect of free movement, but he had eyes on Zavish. The Sith wasn't going anywhere without him./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He didn't need to breathe, had never really breathed in his life. But as he approached the airlock at the other end of the docking tube, he thought he finally knew what breathless felt like./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A brief lift-ride brought him to the promenade level, and he stepped out into a cacophony of colors, sounds, and odors. Sleheyron had a type 1 atmosphere but as his air filters drew in samples to test, filtering out the miasma of food, unwashed bodies, and engine grease, he could detect traces of lingering volcanic fumes, including tibanna. No risk to most organics stopping over for a brief visit, but those who spent their lives planetside probably experienced a host of health issues later in life as the toxins built up in their bodies. Azure plants with long, spidery creepers and green-and-yellow ferns with clusters of thick vertical spines crowded together in stone planters, doubtless positioned to pull toxins from the air for the sake of visitors - a pretty veneer to conceal capitalist apathy. The slave populace wouldn't be receiving any such considerations, since they had no credits to spend./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye, however, did. As it turned out, an abandoned casino with only automated security was too tempting a target for a practical AI such as himself. What Zavish didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and the more vulnerable he thought Rye and Azix were, the more he'd relax, secure in the conviction that they needed him. He didn't need to know what Rye had managed to pilfer, any supplies he'd laid in for a rainy day. He kept his satchel tucked under one metal arm, concealed under the borrowed wrap, because he'd heard enough stories of the lawlessness of Hutt territories to be cautious of pickpockets and purse-snatchers./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The spaceport's center was mostly open air, with floors blocking off the view only every six levels. Looking down over the glasteel railing, Rye saw the lights of a cantina and casino below him, holographic dancers flickering as they undulated across tables and advertisements. Music drifted upward. Transparent lifts carried visitors between levels, and hexagonal pillars served as maps to businesses and shops on each level. Rye had no destination in mind, so he wandered the level, peeking at permit and tariff offices, courier and teamster services, and a real estate broker's office. None of those interested him, so he took the lift down to one of the shopping levels. There he found shops selling all manner of goods. Half a dozen stores advertised very specific styles of clothing from sloop-punk to business attire, meant to appeal to different species, different age groups, different economic strata. The scent of yeast, salt, and spices drifted out of a fried-dough stand, and metal gleamed in the window of a large department store offering upscale home furnishings. Crammed in between these, he saw a store with a stylized depiction of Sleheyron itself - a souvenir shoppe./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He went inside. The shopkeep eyed him, but didn't protest his presence. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye was amused to find that souvenirs were overpriced no matter where one went. Even a place like this, which he didn't anticipate many people would want to remember visiting, wanted almost three times the standard market price for a t-shirt. Despite that, he found a t-shirt, a hoody and a keychain and brought them to the counter. The salesperson was Rodian and his frills rustled uneasily at Rye, so Rye decided to test one of his cover ideas./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He pitched the droid's vocoder to a mechanical drone. "Please stand by for communication with my master," he suggested. The Rodian blinked. Rye activated his holo-projectors and projected himself in front of the counter, next to the droid, typing on a projected datapad. "What is it, Id-Zeethree?"/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I have located the items you require, master. Are these variations acceptable?" the droid droned. The Rodian, seeing a pureblood face, straightened his posture./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye pretended to glance over at them, then waved a dismissive hand. "They'll do. Proceed."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yes, master," the droid replied, as Rye de-activated his holo-projection. "Based on local the local tax, I estimate a total cost of thirty-eight credits."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The Rodian quickly scanned the three items. "Forty credits. Rounded," he added hastily, when all three of Rye's visual lenses narrowed./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye reached into his satchel and laid out a 50 credit chip. He let the Rodian fold and bag the clothing and slide the keychain in beside them before returning his change./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thank you for your assistance," he droned, and wrapped the bag tightly around its contents, slipping it into the satchel before plodding out of the store. /That was easy,/ he thought, stepping back onto the promenade. /A little talking to myself and no one thinks twice about my 'errands'./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Aside from souvenirs, there wasn't much being sold on the promenade that he didn't anticipate he could find cheaper elsewhere. So he wandered into a custom mechanoids shop, and was greeted with interest by a pair of salespeople (one Duros, one human) who seemed to assume he was emancipated and were happy to talk to him about upgrades to his chassis. One brought him a book of color pictures of custom paint jobs, some of which were full-body, like a custom speeder paint job, and some of which looked more like painted tattoos. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Azix hadn't been exaggerating when he'd mentioned the range of variation available to him. It turned out Imperial Defense model droids had a more limited set of customizations because most respectable Imperial families didn't go for flashy upgrades, but mods still existed for everything from customizing the color of his lenses to replacing his finger joints with colored or metallic modules to new chassis finishes (including transparisteel plates that would show his inner mechanisms - had he been less worried about showing off his holocron core, that might have been appealing) and upgraded padding. He could install flashing lights or neon, hi-bass external speaker systems, upgraded holoprojectors, custom weapons and mounts, and improved communications gear that would allow him to pull messages and radio from orbital satellites. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They wouldn't be on Sleheyron long enough for him to commission any of these, but he took the advice of his eager new friends on a number of holo-mag subscriptions and bought a reloadable credstick to use to transfer credits for holonet purchases. He also bookmarked a number of forums and messageboards on the holonet where such modders were said to gather, sharing their latest custom jobs, commissioning each other as artists or parts machiners, and reviewing products. If nothing else, they would give him something to read for the next leg of the trip, and while he was tending Azix's recovery on Rishi. Once he figured out how to get them a steady income, and learned his way around investment markets to make sure it would grow at a respectable pace, he could start thinking about an even more advanced chassis and all the ways he could make it his own, express his identity across it even when he wasn't projecting himself. According to his new friends, there was a widespread galactic community of droid-modders, most of whom had fairly progressive opinions on emancipated droids or who were emancipated droids themselves, who were creative and enthusiastic about the art./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Rye had shot Azix down when he had mentioned it on Ziost, but now he thought he understood what his lover had been trying to do, and realized his dismissive attitude had been, at best, unfair. Talking to the modders lifted his spirits and opened a huge realm of possibilities he hadn't really been aware of. He wondered what Azix would think if he decorated his hydraulics with spinning iridescent rims, or changed his gunmetal joint segments out for gold, or imperial red. He wouldn't, of course, because he wasn't tacky, but he COULD, and that was… something indefinably wonderful. Freedom on top of freedom. Besides, Rishi was a pirate planet, and pirates were known to appreciate displays of grandiose swagger. Maybe a set of party customizations, spinning rims included, would be perfectly appropriate in that setting. He could swap them out for less flashy mods as needed./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He wondered what Azix might do with himself, with similar freedoms. Surrounded by other, non-Jedi Rattataki, would he want to change his tattoos? Get some piercings? Learn more about his own people, their customs, their history, and perhaps claim them as larger part of his identity?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Following that line of potentiality, he found an electronics store and purchased Azix a new datapad and a software package that included games, art programs, some popular holonovels on promotion, and a few months of a streaming service. He took it to a holonet kiosk. There, for both himself and for his lover, he purchased news subscriptions (Huttese for Azix to avoid war-related angst, Imperial for himself), downloaded streamed content (since he'd heard the satellite relays that brought the galactic holonet into the Rishi Maze weren't always reliable), and bought several textbooks and academic treatises on the history and culture of the Rattataki, their physiology, and their homeworlds. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there wasn't much academic material available; the rest of the galaxy didn't seem to find Rattataki very interesting, and the Rattataki themselves didn't seem like big sharers./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Of course, he had five more days on a ship with Lord Chal, who might be coaxed to answer his questions./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What else would Azix want? Music. They'd discussed music, but he'd never actually asked Az what kind he liked. Force, why hadn't he done that? He was objectively the worst boyfriend. He didn't know Az's favorite music, favorite color, favorite foods (except that he didn't like his cuisine quite as spicy as the typical Imperial flavor profile), any games or hobbies, any favorite shows. He had scant little information to draw on, from their stolen moments spent communing together in his holocron. Partners asked about these things; partners were supposed to know them. The holosoaps were fairly clear on that./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He picked a handful of collections - top 200, beach music, Coruscanti Underground, Sithwave, and some sound emulators. Then he purchased a handful of instructionals about PTSD and sexual assault. The ones categorized as self-help, he added to Azix's new datapad, so he could do some of his own recovery work. The diagnostic and treatment-related ones, he added to his holomatrix. Not only would he be of more help to Azix if he was educated, but he'd be in a better position to make sure Azix's Ekari-sponsored therapist was acting in his best interests. Not to mention this… pseudo-Jedi. Former-Jedi. Jedi who married into a Sith family, but didn't convert./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"His full name was Kes V'Rylion, he discovered when he started searching for more information. He'd been in the news. Rye copied all of it, every bit of data he could find without slicing protected systems, then found everything he could on Teleon Virulion, including clips of his performances at Imperial Lightsaber Expos and BOLOs from when he had apparently fled parole with the Jedi Order. /What are the chances/ he wondered with amusement, /that two males of different species should have such similar family names, and then get married?/ /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Because he was curious, he tugged that thread./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What unraveled sent frissons of shock through his processes./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Virulion, it turned out, was a portmanteau. Kes had taken the name too, when he'd married Teleon, changing from V'Rylion to Virulion when they combined their last names into one, but his name change hadn't propagated through the Republic's records because he and Teleon had gotten married, and filed all their marital paperwork, on Alderaan. It was a smart choice for two people marrying across citizenship lines; Alderaan had treaties with both the Empire and the Republic, and those treaties stipulated that Alderaan's laws of marital rights and inheritance would be recognized by both entities. Due to the fact that Kes had helped a small pack Jedi Padawans flee the Order and take refuge with House Ekari, and also due to the fact that he was currently trying to bring charges of war crimes against the Order in the Republic Senate and had, subsequently, been charged with treason in response (Rye wasn't sure whether that was enough for him to /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"like/span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"this person, but if the word on the 'net was true, he had to admire his sand), Kes hadn't filed his name-change paperwork with the Republic. Or, if he had, it had been punitively sent to rot in bureaucratic limbo. Hence, all his public records still carried his unmarried name./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Teleon, on the other hand, was a Sith Lord with Imperial citizenship in good standing. So when he submitted a legal name change, the Empire had processed and disseminated the change with their typical efficiency, and all his Imperial records now showed his married name. So it wasn't until Rye began looking closer and searching farther back that he found the other half of their shared name, and a pointed conversation with his tenents slammed into one of his top ten priority slots./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Teleon Virulion had been born Teleon Virul. He was, as far as Rye could tell with some surface-level genealogy snooping, an excellent candidate to be a direct or near-direct descendent of Dwyn Conlann Virul who was, if records of that time could be believed, the second Sith to take the title of Darth Virul, being the son of freelance assassin and bounty hunter, Jeii Conlann, a Mirialan, and a certain gender-fluid human Force Witch whose holocron-echo currently resided in Rye's chest./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Unless Rye was very, very wrong, Teleon Virulion was Darth Virul's great-great-great-great-GREAT grandson./span/p
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div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a; border-style: solid initial initial initial;"
div id="chapter_36_endnotes" class="end notes module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; clear: right; min-height: 5em;" role="complementary"
blockquote class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.643em; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"((If you're curious how I determined credit-to-dollar conversion, check out a style="color: #666666; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" r/AskScienceFiction/comments/cmcg7f/star_wars_how_much_is_one_galactic_credit_worth/" rel="nofollow"this Reddit thread/a. ))/p
/blockquote
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