"I need a ship fixed."
"Well, hello there, Miss!"
"I don't have time for pleasantries."
To say Viveza was on edge was an understatement. She had just spent the last couple of days being chased down by Darth Heiss' goons and just managed to lose them. T,o top it all off, her new ship wasn't in flying condition. Some bounty hunters managed to get in one too many lucky shots.
"Slow down there, Miss," the vendor said.
"Did he just not hear that I don't have time for this?" Viveza thought to herself.
"Let's see what the damage is," The man said while pointing for two pit droids to start working.
Viveza moved to sit on a nearby crate and waited for the droids to finish their work. About half an hour later, the same man from before approached.
"So, how did you come by this ship?" he asked.
"I don't believe that's any of your concern," Viveza replied.
The vendor held up his hands in defence. "Now, now, no need to get testy."
"Just fix my ship, so you can get your money," Viveza said, internally debating the pros and cons of warping this man's mind to make him shut his trap.
"I was just wondering why a lady like yourself would be travelling around in a banged-up ship like that?"
"You won't ask me where I got this ship again," Viveza said firmly.
"I won't ask you where you got this ship again." The vendor repeated with a hazy look in his eyes.
"Get back to work."
The vendor returned to the ship to give some more instructions to the pit droids. Viveza watched as they worked their way through the repairs while nervously tapping her fingers against the crate.
She watched as the pit droids got to work. Milling about as they repaired the blown out engines, and fusing the blaster damaged sides of the ship. Every now and again the vendor looked back at Viveza with a curious expression.
This was the first time Viveza had gotten a good look at the ship since she acquired it from a group of Mandalorians. It was a fairly compact ship with a grey, yellow and forest green paint job. The Sith had never learnt the name of the ship. That may have been something she would have to do eventually. All though it wasn't high on her priority list at that moment.
A few hours later everything was finished. The ship had been adequately patched up. No more gaping holes in the sides or ominous sparks threatening self-destruction. Viveza and the vendor were discussing payment, and towards the end, he made a strange offer.
"I'll even throw a half-price astromech droid for you."
"What's the catch?"
"Why would you think there's a catch?"
Viveza gave him an angry look that said, 'I will break you, little man', as if she were the vendor and he was an annoying customer that just wouldn't go away.
"Okay, okay, well, you see. I've got this astromech that's been around this place for as long as I can remember. He's a smart old thing and is wasted here," the man went on. "Nobody wants to take him on account of the fact that he's an old unit."
"So, you're trying to bump it off on me?" Viveza asked incredulously.
"More or less," he said while rubbing the back of his head. "Listen, I think you and I both know that you're not gonna get far without help."
"I don't need anyone."
"How do you plan on repairing that ship if you get in trouble again?"
Viveza bit her lip. This idiot was actually making a decent point, but she didn't want to admit it.
"Half price?"
"Yep!" the man said hopefully. "And if he doesn't do the job, you can bring him back here and punch me in the face."
Viveza gave him a sceptical look and thought about it for a second.
"Fine." Viveza agreed. It wasn't like she was in the mood to argue, like the vendor said, if she got hit badly again, she could use someone to fix the ship. Plus, she wouldn't have to make another unnecessary stop if that was the case.
The vendor looked like he was about to explode from happiness. He jumped over the counter with a weirdly sincere smile on his face. Why the stars was he getting so worked up because of a droid?
The man led Viveza over to another part of the station where a rusty old T7 unit was minding its own business.
"Oui Teeseven, get over here!"
The droid turned its head towards them and zoomed over. Viveza could now see what the guy meant when he said it had been around for ages. The bucket of bolts looked like it had been repaired and repainted nearly a thousand times over. It was covered in dents and the kind of scratches that something can only get from years of wear and tear.
"Teeseven, you'll be working for this lovely lady from now on. Treat her kindly."
The droid stayed quiet for a second. As if it was contemplating whether to agree or not. A couple of seconds later, it made a noise of agreement and followed Viveza and the man back to the counter.
Viveza finished paying and ordered T7 to follow her back to the ship.
"Hope to see you again!" The vendor waved as Viveza walked into the ship.
"I don't think so."
The next couple of hours were filled with nothing but silence. Viveza and T7 sat there saying nothing while Viveza piloted the ship. The ship pulled into hyperspace. All that could be heard was the quiet hum of the ship.
"Pilot + Destination = End Goal?" the droid suddenly piped up.
"I don't know the destination," Viveza said without taking her eyes off the holo map in front of her. "Just trying to get as far away as possible for now."
"Far Away + From What?"
"That's a need-to-know basis."
"You + Jedi = Distance?"
Viveza let out a huff of laughter.
"I wish it was the Jedi who were after me. They would be much easier to deal with." Viveza paused. "Why did you say Jedi?"
"You = Sith"
"How can you tell?"
"T7 = Need-to-know basis."
Oh, great, she managed to get stuck with an astromech who had a wise-guy attitude.
Viveza turned to T7 for the first time since they got on the ship.
"How old are you anyway?"
"Asking + Age = Rude!" he bleeped at Viveza.
"Well, alright then. No asking about age."
Viveza suddenly felt her eyelids getting heavier. How long had she been awake now? 62 hours? That sounds about right. She turned to the droid, who seemed to be trying to find something to do.
"Listen, go and do whatever droids do for a little while. I need sleep," Viveza told him.
T7 didn't question her and rolled out of the room. Viveza switched the ship to autopilot and leaned back in the captain's chair. She started fiddling with the necklace she was wearing and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Melinoe stared up at the pale woman she was supposed to refer to as master.
Heiss was looking down at her. The emotion on her face was a strange mix of amusement and disappointment.
Melinoe moved to spit an insult at the woman but felt something shift in her arms.
Melinoe looked down to see Eglantine in her arms. She was struggling to breathe and still smoking from the lightning that just coursed through her body moments ago.
"The girl has always been a weakling. She should be grateful I let her live as she did."
Melinoe didn't say anything. She could feel the tears building up behind her eyes. She refused to shed any. She refused to give this witch the satisfaction.
"Clean up the mess and meet me in my chambers once you're done." Heiss turned and left the room without another word.
Melinoe just sat there holding her friend.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Eggie." Melinoe couldn't stop shaking. "I'll get you home. Everything's gonna be okay."
The girl didn't say anything. She just smiled up at Melinoe. Why did that make it so much worse?
Eglantine lifted her hand to hold Melinoe's face. The soft smile never left her face.
Melinoe watched with tear-filled eyes as Eglantine used her other hand to place something in Melinoe's own hand. A familiar silver lightsaber.
Viveza jolted awake to find herself back on the ship. She started frantically looking around the space, momentarily forgetting where she was.
It had been two years since the death of Eglantine Stello. Three years since she had lost her best friend and confidant. Viveza rubbed the sleep out her eyes. She could stop thinking about how she could have stopped it.
It should have been you. You could have prevented it. You could have done so many things, but you didn't, and now she's dead. It's your fault. You're all alone.
That was the thought that did it. She was alone. She had nothing to hide anymore. She let out a few hacked sobs and just started crying into her hands. Years of acting like nothing bothered her. Years of pent-up emotion being let out all in one go.
The woman continued to sit there and wept for a while. Until a bleeping made her remember that someone else was on the ship. The T7 rolled over to her and let out some concerned bleeps.
"Didn't I tell you to go away?" Viveza said, quickly composing herself.
T7 bleeped out an excuse. "T7 = Worried."
"I have half a mind to shoot you out the airlock, droid."
T7 let out a sad and disappointed whine. The two of them sat there in silence. Viveza kept going over the dream. Unable to stop. At some point, she had a thought.
"T7, can you find the coordinates for a certain planet for me?"
"T7 = Will do! / What Planet?" They bleeped. Clearly excited about getting to do something other than wandering around the ship.
"It should be this place in the Outer Rim called Marazi."
Viveza thought the excited bleeping had reached its peak, but when she said Marazi, T7 went into overdrive. He was acting as if Viveza had asked him to take them to see his long-lost mother or something.
Viveza leaned back in the chair as T7 found the coordinates and reset the autopilot. She had a goal now. It wasn't much, but it was still something.
The woman didn't have a plan for when she got to Marazi. She didn't know how to explain to Eglantine's family that she was gone. She didn't even know where to look for them.
Nothing happened for the next few days. Viveza and Teeseven silently went about the ship, trying to occupy their time until they got to their destination. There was a moment where Teeseven commented that it seemed they would get there without incident.
Then the pirates appeared. Deciding to make the ship their target. Viveza didn't have time to tell Teeseven off for his self-fulfilling prophecy before the pirates managed to fire several shots into the hull, causing the system to beep that the hyperdrive was now disabled.
The pirates continued to chase the ship for what felt like several parsecs. Something about Viveza's new ship really seemed to piss them off. They even shot out the escape pod, leaving Viveza with no way to escape.
Viveza hoped that way would back off once she got into Marazi space, but the pirates had gotten in one too many lucky shots by the time they got there. She rushed around the ship's controls. Desperately trying to make a controlled landing, while the ship's engine was sparked and stalled. Viveza rushed around the ship's console. Trying to get something, anything, to work.
The Sith stopped as she looked out the front of the ship. There was nothing but deep seas for klicks. The ship couldn't identify any nearby land close enough to land on. She was doomed. Even if she survived the crash, she would be crushed by the pressure of the ocean. If she tried leaping out before the ship hit the water, she would break every bone in her body.
This was it. She couldn't do it.
Little did Viveza know that while the ship wasn't able to make a landing, it was able to send out an emergency signal that made it to a nearby island settlement.
The settlement had been built on the edge of the island. The tower-like structure reached from the bottom of the seafloor to nearly 100 metres above the water's surface. All over the tower were twisting balconies and outdoor walkways. Making the whole place look like a huge piece of bismuth from a distance.
A young mirialan and human woman made their way across one of the many pathways to an apartment door which they opened and entered without knocking.
"Karaay," The mirialan man waved. "Karaay, we've got a salvage job."
"Okay?" The older man said as he looked up from his desk.
"We thought you could come with us," the woman smiled. "It would be like when we were kids."
"You two don't need me for a salvage job," Karaay told them.
"Come on! It's not very far!" The lad pushed. "You need to get out of this apartment!"
The woman elbowed him in the shoulder. "Mak!" she hissed at him.
"What, Ruta? It's true!"
"You shouldn't be so forward,"
"Enough, okay!" Karaay sighed. "I'll go, but we'll have to be back before sundown."
"Can't leave Baby Jaks waiting," Ruta nodded.
The three made their way out of the upper living levels and to the lower level moonpools. As they made their way, Mak and Ruta explained the situation to Karaay, saying how an unidentified ship had crashed into a nearby biome. One life form was identified, but they had no idea if they were still alive.
"They'll likely have been eaten by leviathans by the time we get there," Karaay said as the three climbed into one of the Holtite class submarines.
"That's so grim," Ruta pouted as she moved to the Holtite's scanners.
"It's realistic," Karaay said as he passed Mak a rebreather.
As they got closer to the crash site, Mak made his way over to Ruta. "He doesn't seem to be getting any better," Mak whispered to her.
"He needs more time," Ruta hushed.
"We're reaching the crash," Karaay called out to them.
"Got it!" Mak called back.
"Still picking up that life sign," Ruta said as she passed the scanner goggles to Mak.
"Alright, in and out," Karaay said sternly. "We can worry about salvaging the ship later."
Mak put his rebreather on and then made an okay sign with his hand.
The two men exited the sub via one of the lower hatches. Quickly spotting the wreck and finding a way inside the ship, they swam up to the front of the vessel. Guessing that it hadn't completely flooded yet. Karaay stopped Maks when he saw the blocked entrance shake. Maks nodded in understanding. Moving to the side so Karaay could cut the door open.
After a minute of slicing through the metal, the door fell open. They expected some debris to fall through and sink to the bottom of the ship but were surprised to see an astromech droid who must have gotten caught between the door and a large piece of durasteel.
The still-active droid shook around in a panic. Mak motioned to Karaay, pointing to the droid and then up to their own ship. The older man nodded in understanding.
While Mak led the droid out of the ship, Karaay swam through the door, expecting to find the owner of the life sign. Instead, he popped his head out of the water and found a woman hunched over a broken beam just above the water. Karaay made his water over to the unconscious woman, quickly checking for broken bones and other injuries.
Once he found it safe to move her, Karaay placed a spare rebreather over her face. He carefully lifted her off the beam and wrapped an arm around her, swimming out of the wreak and back to the Holtite. Trying to focus on getting inside and ignoring a sizeable hungry-looking creature heading towards them.
Once he was inside, Karaay heard Mak make a distressed noise. "Gigantic leviathan heading right for us!"
"What?! I shot a beacon to distract it!" Ruta shouted as she helped the now waking woman sit up.
"Just go!" Karaay rushed over to the controls. "We've got who we were looking for."
Mak put the sub into motion. Trying not to show how much he panicked over how close the aquatic beast was to them. Meanwhile, Ruta checked over their new guest.
"Are you breathing alright?" She asked, and the woman just nodded. "Is it okay if we check for injuries?" The woman just nodded again.
Karaay went about looking for bruises, while Ruta asked the odd question to the mystery woman. His eyes landed on a pendant hanging around the woman's neck. He could have sworn he had seen it somewhere before.
Without even thinking, he reached out to look closer, only for the woman to snap her hand around his wrist, causing him to let out a yelp of pain.
"Sorry!" Karaay apologised. "That was out of line."
The woman gave him a look of warning before dropping his wrist. Karaay moved his wrist around, trying to ease the sting.
The ride back was thankfully uneventful. The whole time Karaay was thinking about where he had seen that pedant.
"Welcome to the Enarsa Sept," Ruta smiled as she led the woman down the halls. She didn't respond, just looked around the place like something was about to jump out at her.
Viveza had yet to see the outside, but inside, the foundation was made of dark silvery material, with glowing green power lines built into the wall. Designed to blend in and pass for patterns. It reminded Viveza of a colourful metal she once saw but couldn't place the name at that moment.
"I need to go tell Cordelia about your 'guest'. You okay with helping her check into the med department?" Karaay asked Ruta, who moved to answer but noticed something.
"We have an audience," Ruta pointed to the next floor up, where several beings were looking down at them with curiosity.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you about lulking?!" Karaay shouted up to them. They all screamed in surprised and scattered.
All except one small boy who hadn't been able to see through the group of teens moments ago. "Pa! Did you find anything cool?"
Karaay made an indecisive huff to his son as Ruta led the woman up the walkway. "I'll tell you about it later. I've got to sort something out."
Viveza looked up at the boy curiously. There was some kind of familiar energy coming from him.
If she remembered correctly, the human woman was called Ruta. She led Viveza to another area where they reset her arm and applied several bacta patches to bruises and cuts on her body. After a few hours, Viveza was lying in a hospital cot with the Ruta girl by her side.
"So, do you want me to get your droid?" Ruta asked.
The Sith didn't register what Ruta said for a moment. "He's his own droid. He can do what he wants."
Viveza looked over her arms. She was surprised by the lack of pain in her arm. Or the lack of pain at all.
Ruta and Viveza looked around, not quite sure what to say to each other. While Viveza looked, she spotted a small pair of blue eyes staring at her.
"Jaks!" Ruta called. "What did your pa say about lulking?"
"I wasn't lulking," The boy squeaked.
"Really?" Ruta smiled as she motioned the boy over. Ruta messed with the boy's hair as he stared at Viveza.
"Can I help you?" Viveza asked the boy with a frown.
"You're grumpy," The boy said. "Like my pa."
"I got that impression," Viveza sighed.
"What's an impression, again?" Jaks asked Ruta.
"It's how you feel about something," Ruta answered.
"Right," Jaks nodded.
"How old are you?" Jaks asked another question. "I just turned 7."
"Wow," Viveza deadpanned and thought for a moment. "I think I'm 29."
The three of them talked for a while, exchanging basic questions. Viveza had some suspicions about "Baby Jaks", as Ruta called him. She had a feeling he might have had similar suspicions about her.
As two moons raised in the sky, the trio was greeted by two figures. The familiar face of Karaay and a woman Viveza had yet to meet.
"What are you doing in here?" Karaay asked Jaks.
"I wasn't lulking! I swear!" Jaks panicked.
"Let's get you to bed, kiddo," Ruta said as she lifted Jaks into her arms. "I think pa and Cordelia need to talk to your new friend."
Jaks waved goodbye to Viveza. She gave him a small wave back.
Viveza turned her head to the boy's father and 'Cordelia'. If Viveza had to guess, this woman was some kind of higher official around the place. She held herself like an ambassador or senator.
"We're sorry to bother you," Cordelia nodded her head in greeting. "But my friend here was just telling me about that necklace you're wearing."
Viveza gripped the amulet in her hand like a lifeline.
"It's just that someone very important to me once had a necklace like that."
Viveza kept looking at the woman as she explained why she was there. The more she looked at her and how she acted, the way she talked, the words she said.
"You're Eglantine's sister," Viveza realised.
"I knew it! You knew her?!" Cordelia shouted in surprise but quickly composed herself. "I'm sorry, it's just-" Cordelia trailed off.
"She called you Coral and was always hoping you were okay."
"Do you know where she is?" Cordelia asked while she tried to stay calm.
Viveza's breath got knocked out of her by that question. "I-I'm sorry...she-she's dead."
Cordelia turned away from Viveza. Trying to hide the pain on her face. Karaay placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, whispering something to her.
Karaay seemed to be taken back at the news, looking at his friend with sadness and sympathy in his eyes.
Viveza felt a twisting pain in her gut. The guilt she was feeling back on the ship was coming back tenfold. She didn't know what to do. Should she comfort the woman? How was she meant to do that? Tell Cordelia her long lost sister died on a planet she hated without the burial she deserved?
Viveza turned her head to the side, not wanting the two of them to see the tears in her eyes.
The woman took a deep breath and turned back to Viveza. "Thank you for letting me know. Is it alright if I ask you some more questions later?"
Viveza nodded her head.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your rest," Cordelia said with a sad glint in her eyes. "I haven't gotten your name yet?"
"… Viveza," The Sith answered.
Cordelia and Karaay gave her their goodbyes for the night, leaving Viveza alone with her thoughts.
A small part wanted to tell them her name was Melinoe, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Melinoe Lanami died along with Eglantine back on Byss.
Viveza felt her mind going foggy, no doubt leading to a headache. She had no idea what to do from here. Her plan was just to make it to Marazi.
Perhaps it was a problem for the morning, Viveza thought as she tried to relax into the cot's pillow.
Hello and welcome back to Force of Nature! This is an Interlude fic that will fill the gap between TPM and AOTC. Basically exploring what Viveza/Melinoe will be up to during that time period.
Obi Wan most likely won't show up until parts of the fic, so I won't be adding his tags until then.
Thank you to arrthurpendragon & asirensrage on tumblr for beta reading this chapter. You really helped me out.