3951 BBY, Nespis VIII, Docking Bay
Erebus
"I'll do you a favor," Mical breathed as they entered the now-dilapidated docking bay, "I won't ask how you managed that."
"Good," Erebus replied, silencing the droid manning the garage and sending him up in sparks. With another wave of his hand, the loading ramp to his ship descended, and without a word, Mical rushed onto the ship and Erebus right after him.
"In there," he directed towards the cargo bay once inside. "You'll find a place for that thing, I'm sure."
Erebus' ship was outfitted for the transport of delicate goods, unsure what the Star Forge had use of for a ship like it but thankful he had found one, nonetheless. This ship had been his home for the past few years, and whether he was being chased by his Sith masters or no, he intended on keeping the thing, if he could. But first -
"Where to?" Erebus said from the controls, scrambling, knowing they hadn't much time. "Where are you headed?"
"You're being awfully generous," Mical called ominously from the cargo bay, "How large of a sum do you expect when this is all over?"
"I'm not interested in money," Erebus spat. "We need to get out of here, fast."
A ship had blackened the sky upon their escape. Erebus first thought it was the debris from his escape plan clouding the city, but when the dust had cleared and the shadow remained, he afforded himself a glance upward to realize that Nihilus' resurrected flagship, the Ravager, was in orbit overhead. Somehow, he knew Nihilus hadn't been after him after what happened on Tatooine. Erebus wasn't that important to him - only when he delivered a relic of note did Nihilus ever seem to care - but now that he had relics once belonging to Exar Kun, well, maybe now Nihilus might bother trying to find him. And seeing his ship on the same planet sure wouldn't help.
"I need to get to my crew," Mical said again, now entering the cockpit, looking over Erebus' shoulder while he fussed at the navicomputer. "We need to plan a drop off."
Erebus side-eyed Mical, almost glaring at him.
"As if we have time for that," he muttered, "Where to?"
Mical's mouth opened, as if to answer, but a sharp thrum pierced the air, a shaft of light emerging from nothingness, instantly silencing them both. A flickering silver light cut through the cockpit, dividing Erebus and Mical from the viewscreen. A lightsaber.
"I'm getting tired of this," Erebus uttered with disdain despite the genuine fear creeping over his bones as his eyes traveled the length of the silver beam to the hilt that created it, and the woman now appearing at its command beside him, close enough to feel her breath on his neck.
"Dantooine," she said through a shuddered breath, "Plot a course for Dantooine."
Erebus was about to retort with another witty rejoinder, as a defense mechanism if nothing else, but as the realization struck him his throat grew dry, the words suddenly stilled in his throat, stuck.
In his lapse of response, Mical sputtered to life, logging in the coordinates to Dantooine as if from memory, the navicomputer chiming pleasantly as he finalized their destination. Erebus remained fixed, watching the woman with rapt attention, realizing he knew her, realizing now just how old she'd grown and how much time had passed - her black hair now streaked with grey, her once lively amber eyes now dull, dark and angry. Even her lightsaber had changed, faded from a bright cyan to a pale silver in the din of his salvaged ship. Erebus had had one other Master before Atris, only one other instructor, briefly, before his reassignment as prospective Historian. As if any more pieces of his past needed resurrecting, as if he needed some reminder, some warning of the things to come.
"It's good to see you again, Master Vash," he croaked after a moment, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I wish I could say the same, Aiden."
3951 BBY, The Harbinger, Outer Rim
Vale
If Vale was good at anything anymore, it was repairing droids. Always had been, always would be. She was good enough that she made a living of it on Tatooine, when milking a living of any kind was near impossible. Good enough that she was often commissioned by Jedi Masters and Knights alike to fix any bugs in the protocol droids roaming the Academy grounds, wherever she happened to be studying. Good enough that Revan once asked her to repair her personal droid, as a joke, just to piss Alek off once. And now, she was repairing a droid that looked an awful lot like that one - an HK, its shining hull the same shape, its eyes set in the same half-malevolent glare - only it was a newer model, silver instead of bronze, and this one had claimed she was its Master.
Shit, don't call me that Ede, Alek had muttered to her once he had unofficially become her instructor during the second leg of the war, indignant but somewhat amused when she had jokingly called him Master while sparring. We're friends, right?
Friends. She almost snorted at the thought, with only the half-aware HK intelligence module to ridicule her for it. Asra had been a friend. Darek could have been one - and perhaps could still be a friend, once this was all over. So could Orex, so could Glitch. They reminded her of the people she'd served with alongside on Dxun, aside from the fact that Orex had actually been one of them. Her troops were the closest thing she'd had to a family since Aiden. Perhaps even more so. There's something about the closeness of the end of the world and its impending immediacy that brings people together, keeps them on the same page… it had brought her and Alek together, at least that's how she saw it, initially. Until it separated them once they'd become dangerously entwined, and utterly tore them apart.
After a few adjustments, the HK flickered to life, its eyes now aglow in the din of her appointed dormitory aboard the all-too-quiet Harbinger, suspiciously still since the salvage team returned from the frozen wreckage outside, still no news from Rell.
"Greeting: It is a pleasure to see you alive, Master, provided my receptors are not off-focus," the disembodied head of the HK mumbled as it gurgled to life, its vocabulator no doubt still recovering from the jolt Zaalbar gave it back on Tatooine. "How may I be of assistance?"
"First thing's first," Vale began, placing the head on the generously spacious desk on the far side of the room. "I'm not your Master. And second, where the hell did you come from?"
"Pointed Recollection: Why, you purchased me, Master."
Vale hung her head, already annoyed as she began pacing, thankful the HK wasn't completely reassembled yet.
"I know that," she replied, wracking her brain for the memory of the transaction, coming up just a bit too short for her liking, "It was two weeks ago, part of a large shipment if I'm remembering correctly."
The HK remained silent, but it didn't counter her claim.
She knew she was, in fact, correct. But it had been a week of busy orders, many customers looking to buy, to sell… only now a part of her realized this was all on purpose. If only she'd thought to bring her shop log along with her before the blast. She'd always made a point of keeping records, regardless of the transaction, and now with everything from the past few days weighing on her brain, her memory felt clouded, leaving her unnervingly unsure. And now she had nothing to weigh her memory against, she'd have to go on gut alone.
"I take it ownership occurred when the transaction was completed," Vale stated, tentative, anxious to hear how the droid would phrase things. If HK models were known for anything, it was for their unique choice of words, which is why Revan had one specifically designed to kill on sight but only after cracking wise.
"Assertion: That is correct… Master."
Vale let out a hollow laugh, unsure if the droid was being smart with her or if this one was naturally annoying. Protocols of any variety were the most challenging to crack, especially when ancient, but fascinating nonetheless. Their developed personalities could sometimes be traced to their wiring, a history of damages and repairs either written into their code or evident in the state of their plating if it hadn't been completely replaced. But often there were missing pieces, ticks and traits that could only be explained as having been acquired over time, gleaned from experience and some sort of artificial evolution. But this HK model was new. She'd seen its innards, some of which were still strewn across her neatly-made bed on the other side of the room, and they were immaculate. Before the damage Zalbaar had done to the thing, it wasn't likely this droid had seen action of any kind, at least nothing outside a factory…
She'd gotten lucky in the past month… more new droids than usual, which was something, since Vale had never actually seen any new droids in Anchorhead at all. A few were sold to her at the beginning of the month after a ship crashed out in the Dune Sea, likely spilling half of its contents across the sand like a bread trail to the city. Several scavengers had come in asking for more coin than they were worth, but Vale liked to think she could tell who needed the money more than the others. She still did business as routinely as usual, offering only the fairest price she could afford if she wanted to stay in business, if she wanted to eat that week, if she wanted to pay the cooling bills. But the other set of shiny new droids she recalled were sold by a young woman, a Zeltronian desperate to get off-world, willing to part with all of her belongings if it meant she could make it on the soonest shuttle. Whether she was a plant or one of the myriad of salvagers taking advantage of the crash was responsible for this planted HK, Vale was yet unsure, but she knew the answer was close somehow.
"So what kind of service can I expect from you, as your… Master?"
"Humble Explanation: As a premier-model HK-series protocol droid I am equipped to assist in a number of personal tasks, whether it be a question of translating binary sequences or nullifying any hostile targets."
Vale only watched the disembodied HK head waiting for a reaction, though she knew she would receive none, before muttering, "Hm, thought as much."
HK's were clever in their ability to appear domestic when their true purpose was more akin to a personal bodyguard. But that got her thinking… did this mystery seller want her protected? Did they somehow know about the price to be placed on her head? As if they anticipated a swarm of mercs and bounty hunters to come and claim the sum?
"And as your Master," she began, rounding on the desk again, placing both hands flat on its cool surface, leveling herself with droid's line of vision, "I need you to tell me where you came from. Who sold you, and if not that, then who made you."
"Unfortunate Confession: I cannot, Master. My memory begins and ends with you."
Vale only smiled, though her expression soured.
"I doubt that," she said, "You seemed to have a good idea of what you were doing, what was happening."
Vale recalled those final moments in Anchorhead as painstakingly as she could, closing her eyes for only a moment and instantly placing herself there again. The HK had stirred once Asra had disappeared from the back of her shop, as the others made their first attempt at escaping ahead of her while Vale held the bounty hunters off, distracted them with the destruction of her store front, stalled only by the very HK before her.
"You knew there were people after me, after the price on my head. You knew where I kept my kriffing blaster rifle," she could almost laugh, re-imagining the HK reach behind her to grab the gun, firing enough rounds to nullify the hostile targets that entered her shop with intention of killing or capturing her. "Explain that."
"Impassioned Defense: Master, it is my job to keep you safe. I may have appeared deactivated, but my processor was on standby. Several interested parties visited your place of business in your absence. I merely kept tabs on them."
"...Huh," was all she managed. The droid was likely telling the truth, but she knew it wasn't all of it. My memory begins and ends with you. Was that it's way of telling her it had been programmed to follow her, somehow? To serve her? Or perhaps deliver her to someone else?
"If that's so, then please report."
She did her best to appear interested, neutral if anything. Protocol droids of any variety could detect some level of interest, though many failed to pick up on the nuance of human sarcasm.
"Recalled Observation: The day before your arrival, the shop was not empty, as it should have been in your absence, Master," the droid began, as if aware that Vale was at rapt attention, "Several interested parties entered the establishment under the impression that they were not watched. A mercenary, a bounty hunter, and a man."
"A… man?"
Vale could have questioned the HK's suspiciously poetic rendering of a single scout from each interested party, as if there was any true distinction between a merc and a bounty hunter other than level of freelancing if anything, but doubted the droid would respond to any such suspicion.
"Affirmation: Yes, a man. Clothed in black. Facial structure similar to yours, Master. Likely from the Ploo Sector, Serroco System."
"Interesting," Vale countered, raising a hand to her chin in thought, "Did this man… do anything? Or take anything?"
"Detailed Recollection: No, Master. Though he did… touch a great number of things. The counter, for one. The doorframe. Your tools. And the-"
"That's enough, I get it," she said, raising a hand to shut the HK up if it didn't already get the hint. Vale had done as much as she'd meandered Aiden's ship once she realized it was his, admiring his handwriting, his work, realizing that every surface smelled like him, spoke of him. Even if she could no longer feel the Force, the entire vessel thrummed with his energy, heavy with his presence even when he was not there. Perhaps her shop had felt the same to him, even if he had tried to kill her moments later, his teeth bared like a beast in thrall.
"No discernable affiliation for the… man, I take it?" she ventured, grimacing slightly as she said it, still uneasy to say his name, even if it meant nothing to the HK.
"Confident Assertion: Not that I could detect, Master."
"But what of the others?" she countered, ready to be snarky again now that she reckoned the droid had nothing else to say about her brother, "A bounty hunter and a mercenary are easy to spot?"
The HK remained silent, its eyes' lights blinking rapidly as if buffering, before it could respond.
"Master, I-"
"Miss Rissian?"
Vale's head spun around to the console on the far wall by the door, the disembodied voice startling her before she realized what it was.
"Miss Rissian, if you have a moment."
It was Captain Maris, his voice tense but urgent over the inter-ship communication console.
Vale swiftly shut the HK off, dislodging a wire at the back of its head, before sweeping across the room to the console, answering Captain Maris' call immediately.
"Yes, Captain?"
"I didn't mean to disturb you," Captain Maris said as his face appeared on the screen, a wave of static rippling from top to bottom as his image rendered before settling, his pale face and fair hair set in a blue-white hue. "I just wanted to confirm that the ship will be resuming its scheduled arrival on Telos after a quick detour." His expression soured for a moment before continuing, "We need to refuel, but we should be arriving on Citadel Station only a day later than originally expected."
"That is… good news, Captain," Vale responded, almost unsure of how her alias should be answering instead of herself. "Is there anything I need to-?'
"No worries," he said, before she could finish voicing her thoughts, "You can remain in your quarters for the time being. Meals will be served as usual, if you need sustenance. The ship should be-"
The feed gave out just as the ship lurched, Vale's senses akimbo as she regained her steadiness, "Captain? Captain, can you read me?"
A flash of memory - rain, static, interrupted calls as she commed her platoon, stationed at the temple on Dxun, their words drowned out by both the weather and something… else… something darker, something deeper than the rain-soaked mud that caked their boots and kept them from being quiet - and it was gone, just as fast as it had come. Vale blinked, and waited, hearing only static again for a moment before a voice cut through the white noise.
"- see to it, Miss Rissian. If you need anything just report to -"
The static sliced through his words again, filling the silence with even more uncertainty. As the comm went quiet, Vale could only glance out the window at the two ghost ships still hanging in the distance, stilled by time and something more mysterious, something darker.
"Sure thing," she responded to no one, glancing at the console only to find it frozen, and back at the HK only to find it deactivated, just as she'd left it. Vale sighed, shoulders slumping, knowing she wouldn't be sleeping for a good long while….
3951 BBY, The Harbinger, Outer Rim
Rell
"You can confirm it? The ID? Everything?"
Rell had only ever met Admiral Onasi in person once, but even given her limited experience in the man's presence she knew he was a man not often ruffled, unfazed by anything other than duty, driven by purpose. But now the man's eyes were wide, almost manic, though he maintained an outer calm ever-present on his face as he questioned her now via holo. His image flickered in the space before her, a ghost in miniature on the console at her fingertips as her hands braced either side of the Harbinger's monolithic conference table, replaying the mission in her mind over and over again, sure she had every detail down to the tee.
"I'm sure of it," she affirmed. "The make and model, the carbon scoring you described, and then some. The layout is exactly the same, every nick and scratch accounted for interior-wise, though I can't say the same about the hull."
"And the navicomputer? Did you try to access it?"
Ithiris had taken the lead on that as well, searching every crevice of the starcraft, poking and prodding where she could. The ship had certainly been in recent use, despite some evidence otherwise, but the still-warm astromech proved that the ship had only been inactive for a day or two at most. The lack of life on both ships, not to mention the ...bodies… made Rell want to think these ships had been here for years, but the evidence just didn't add up. And neither did the navicomputer. It had also been in recent use, since the only logged activity viewable was from a couple of days ago, coordinates to the exact spot where these two ships now hung in uncertain balance. But otherwise…
"Voice-locked," Rell sighed, "Couldn't crack that code no matter how hard I tried."
And in fact, she had. It was part of her job description afterall…
Admiral Onasi nodded in understanding, though he looked none too happy at the news.
She shook her head, recounting her intrepid exploration of the Dynamic-class freighter, fearless until she came upon the body in the security room. It was one thing seeing the scarred body of the mangled man on the abandoned ship at first, but there was something about the lifeless body of the woman in the cloak, her face somehow unreadable though Rell could count her every feature, as if every detail was outlined as normally as any other face, but instantly forgettable - not because it was plain, but because it was… cloaked somehow, as if she were programmed to be forgotten upon trying to remember her. Rell shivered still, unsure if this detail was of any use to the Admiral, seeing as she was not the woman he was looking for.
"And the old woman," Onasi said, as if his thoughts had touched on Rell's, "She's-?"
"Confirmed dead by several medics, sir. No ID on her either."
Admiral Onasi seemed unconcerned with the woman's identity, as if he may already have some idea of who she was, might have been, or knew of someone he could ask for further clarification. Someone far above her paygrade.
"What of the droids?"
"The…" Rell floundered, her memory malfunctioning as she processed the question. "The what?"
"Droids," he repeated, "What of the droids on board."
Rell swallowed, resuming her usual professional calm as she laid out the ghost ship's contents again, its layout, its every detail, as far as her recent recollection could tell her.
"Husks," she answered after a moment, the image clearing once she got a hold of herself, "A disassembled HK unit was in the main hold, slumped up against the canteen, and a badly damaged astromech was found in the garage, still sparking enough to potentially cause a small fire."
"Reparable?" Admiral Onasi asked so quickly, so swiftly, the inherent upturn to the question falling flat as he said the words.
"The HK unit is missing parts,but the astromech looks to be in better shape, given the circumstances. Nothing a mechanic can't fix."
"Good, good," the Admiral mused, seemingly pleased as he absently stroked his beard, combing his fingers through it as if Rell were not there. She felt as if she were intruding on a private moment, wondering if the Admiral perhaps forgot this was a visual call and not purely an audible one. "Good."
The last word he said with some finality, alluding to a potential end to this call, or perhaps a purpose. Rell wasn't sure what her next objective was, let alone what was even going on.
"Make sure the ship and all contents are brought back to Telos, I'll make sure my people are there to greet you and take it from there. The Exile as well."
Rell nodded as she stood at attention, happy to hear some directive, suddenly more at ease despite how little any of this made sense to her.
"What about the other specimen, sir?" she asked, almost regretting it the moment she did.
"The specime-? Oh, you mean the body."
"Well the bodies, plural, yes sir."
"The bodies."
Admiral Onasi wasn't so much asking as he was repeating it, as if he almost didn't believe it himself. Rell had no idea what any of this meant, let alone who the two bodies were once, but what had allowed for a once-violent standoff to end in apparent stalemate despite both vessels housing dead bodies… Not to mention that the Sith vessel was oddly empty, despite needing a fleet of a crew to operate. But from what she knew of what the Sith had been once, she ventured it may have not been too much of a stretch to assume the near-destroyed man they'd found had somehow held the ship together himself. She'd heard horror stories of what Darth Malak had done to deserters, to those that still followed Revan, even after she was defeated, even if they still followed his cause. She shuddered at the thought, hoping Admiral Onasi would continue before she had to step in again.
"We'll take care of that as well," he said finally, offering her a polite smile though none too pleasant, "I can take it from there. Just let us know when you expect to land."
"Will do, Admiral," she affirmed again, "We're expected to in about-"
"Officer Amara," a rap came at the door moments before it opened, Captain Maris stepping in before awaiting her response. "Admiral Onasi," he nodded, his face grave before facing Rell again, apparently keen on having the Admiral listen in on what he was about to say, "It appears we may have a bit of a situation."
"A situation?" Admiral Onasi asked, his holo-clone crossing its arms as he asked the question, doubt clouding his face even more clearly now.
"A few of our crew members have gone missing in the past twenty minutes," Captain Maris announced in a hushed whisper, only loud enough for Rell to hear and the for the mic to pick up. "Either our communications have been tampered with or…"
"Or what, Captain?"
Maris turned to Admiral Onasi now, brows knit.
"I'd rather not consider it," he said, voice hushed still, "I'm not a superstitious man, but-"
The lights cut out for a moment, Admiral Onasi's flickering image the only light in the room as the ship seemed to sway slightly, the lights returning only to find Rell's wide eyes on Captain Maris' increasingly worried expression. Rell nodded slightly, as if confirming his fear, feeling the doubt she'd sensed on the freighter grow tenfold.
"I don't like the sound of th-"
And with that, Admiral Onasi's image disappeared entirely, the room plunged into sudden darkness, impenetrable black swallowing the windowless room whole.
"Captain-"
"Agent Am-"
Rell readied herself, hand at her holster before she truly realized what was happening, before her senses could catch up in real time as the lights slowly returned… and Captain Maris was nowhere to be found.
3951 BBY, The Harbinger, Outer Rim
Vale
The caff had grown cold hours ago but Vale continued to sip it, suffering through its bitterness as she fought down the urge to explore the ship, to pay the mess hall a visit and maybe grab a snack… or a three course meal.
Vale was a woman of extremes when anxious. Either she could go hours without eating or down entire helpings of food without ever feeling full. The aching hunger or the temporary relief of eating continuously provided her with the same satisfied feeling that came with avoiding something, enough to push her worries to the back of her mind to instead focus on baser needs. But the caff wasn't cutting it, at least not anymore, and if anything it was only making things worse. Captain Maris mentioned that meals would be served as usual, though she was sure the mess hall wouldn't be devoid if snacks should she go looking for some…
She was about to sweep from the room before pausing at the mirror fixed to the wall, almost startled by the unfamiliar silhouette that met her peripheral vision. Still clad in her foreign garb, Vale suddenly felt strange, tugging at the clinging fabric as if it might strangle her if she didn't change into something more… comfortable.
Sighing, she crossed to her bed, rummaging through what other items Mission had grabbed before sending her off on her rendezvous, though none of the team were too clear on what would happen next regardless of outfit choice. Inside her pack there was a set of sleeping clothes, it seemed, not quite suitable to wear during meetings but certainly better than what she was currently wearing. Slipping into a loose-cut mint-green shirt that exposed her midriff, adorned with gold -threaded sleeves that stopped just short of her elbows, along with a pair of deep burgundy loose pants that tapered at the ankle, she wondered why this wasn't the original outfit of choice upon departing. Still unused to clothes that didn't feel like a second skin, this new garb at least didn't have a tendency to cling to her limbs in a way that reminded her of groping hands and unwelcome advances, instead giving her room to breathe.
"Much better," she said to no one, glancing at the disassembled HK in the corner before reaching the door… only a knock came rapping at it just before her palm hit the panel to open it.
"Miss... Rissian?"
Vale paused, startled.
"Miss Rissian, a word, please."
The voice was garbled, quick, and Vale was already on edge, not on her usual game due to the lack of sleep and overcompensation of caff.
"Maker please," the voice said again, though this time it sounded more like it was talking to themselves and not any perceived party, and it was with that that Vale decided to open the door.
Only to find no one there.
She paled, blood freezing in her veins.
Someone was here moments ago, and now the hall was empty, the lights uncharacteristically dimmed.
Maybe they're refueling, Vale told herself, commanding the door to close again as she steadied her nerves. Or preparing to refuel. Saving energy until we arrive.
Glancing out the sorry excuse for a port window her room offered, Vale glanced at the grand expanse that was space, noting that it was empty. No planets, no stations, no way points in sight. They'd left the Sith vessel to hang in the middle of space for the rest of eternity while Vale noticed that the smaller cargo freighter was attached to the hull for transport, but they'd yet made hyperspace since then, drifting somewhat aimlessly until they'd made preparations for the jump… or so she'd assumed.
She needed to find Rell. Something wasn't right.
Vale paused again, re-examining her pack and its contents, eyeing her weapons and her non-alias related clothing, considering foregoing the charade entirely. But something told her not to. At least… not yet. Something told her she'd be back here again, before all was said and done. Whatever that meant. Ever since she'd lost sight of the Force - stopped feeling it, channeling it - she'd had thoughts like these, just as sure but of unknown origin. A gut feeling, she ventured. Whatever it was, she trusted it, but something about the HK caught her eye.
"Rise and shine," she cooed, re-enabling the intelligence module, "How do you feel about going for a little walk?"
"Surprised Statement: Master, my joints are aching for a stroll," he garbled, eyes flickering before glowing at full capacity, "Except I cannot seem to feel my-"
"That's because your heads not attached, dummy," Vale quipped as she tucked a shock stick in her pocket - something these pants seemed wealthy in, to her pleasant surprise, both pant legs generous in the amount of hidden room they offered. "Now, I need to know I can trust you to follow me and follow orders. Are we clear?"
"Bemused Declaration: Master, that is my precise programming. Lead and I shall follow."
Vale hinted a sense of sarcasm, only highlighted by the droid's complete lack of emotion. All dorids lacked facial expression, though Vale always found the HK models to be particularly cold compared to others.
"Good, now try to stay quiet. Don't say anything unless inquired and…" she wanted to say search for hostiles but knew better than to promise anything, lest the bastard get trigger-happy. Or maybe that was just Revan's model… Vale tried not to dwell on it. "Don't get yappy, alright?"
"Mild Indignation: Master, I would never."
Yes, sarcasm, she sighed, keeping her mouth shut for her own benefit as well as the HK's. Definitely sarcasm.
"Alright, let's move out."
It didn't take her long to reattach the rest of the HK's limbs' together, mildly surprised that Zaalbar's annoyed trashing hadn't done more damage - not that she'd blame him.
Vale nodded at the HK, waiting until it slowly nodded its head in return before making for the door again, nervous as she touched her palm to the panel once more. Pressing firmly, realizing her skin was clammier than expected, the door slid open, a rush of tepid air meeting her expectant face as the hall opened up much as it had before. Oddly dark and oddly empty.
Earlier, there had been the dull ambient sounds of officers milling about, going about their duties, but now all Vale heard were the engines running, the halls quieter than they should be otherwise.
"Stay close," Vale said, pulling a palm-sized holopad from her pocket, "But not… too close."
The HK unit nodded and Vale loosed a breath, thankful this one was good at following directions. At least so far.
Glancing at the holopad, she tried to upload a map of the ship but found that the connection was fuzzy. Slapping the thing against the heel of her palm, the image jolted slightly before coming into focus. The light flickered, offering her a brief window to examine the layout of the floor she was on and the route to the bridge before the entire thing cut out, the light flickering and shuddering out of existence.
"Communications are more than just jammed," she whispered, half to herself and half to the HK unit. Something or someone wasn't just tampering with the systems on this ship but draining the power somehow, sapping it dry. "What the hell did they find on that thing?"
Goosebumps rose on her skin as she asked the question, as if giving the words open air made it seem more real, more mysterious and more… strange, a bad feeling creeping in and settling over her like a shroud, doubt and worry making itself right at home as she thought back to the objects hidden in her pack, the things they'd found on Tatooine and what had happened there...
The rest of the hall stretched on, lifless, though lights promised some activity further down, where the hall branched out to other sections of the ship. Captain Maris hadn't spoken with her that long ago, had he? How much had happened since then? And if this ship was anything like the ones Alek had commanded during the war, then there would be no shortage of officers going about their routine responsibilities, whether they were on active duty or not, preparing for battle or simply going through the motions, keeping the ship running…
Vale thought of a joke, something about taking up journaling once this was all over, but realized that the thinly veiled dark humor masquerading as humor at all would be lost on the droid, something better intended for Asra. She wondered what they'd all do next, if the hunt would lead them further down Revan's rabbit hole along with her, or if they might find something more profitable, something worth pursuing, something that might allow them all to eke out a living without chasing ghosts.
Instead, she chuckled, at nothing and no one, knowing (or hoping) that the HK wouldn't react and would allow her this small thing, this one human thing, despite the fear coiling inside her, ready to spring, ready to-
"General," a voice cut through the dark, thick with the heat and loud with the rain from outside, "Where to?"
Eden looked ahead to only find more impenetrable darkness. Abandoning her eyes, she reached out with the Force to find the entire temple laid out before her like a starlit field, rooms illuminated like star maps, lifeforms glowing like distant planets catching the light as they continued in orbit. Behind her, her troops stilled, awaiting orders. Ahead there were beasts, creatures that had long since made these halls a home, allowed their darker energies to penetrate their simple minds and twist them… but something else lingered here. Someone… though no longer living. And something… hungry for what might be living beyond its walls.
"We go right," Vale said in the present, the memory ringing clear as it overlayed her current consciousness like a kaleidoscope, inwardly joking again that this was something to journal about, something to remember. The memory was clear now, the temple on Dxun. Orex had been at her side, then. He may have even been the one to ask the question.
The HK remained silent at her side, playing along, quiet as promised. The hall ahead was barren as well, but there were echoes here, evidence of some not-so-distant activity. Vale glanced at the HK and nodded, as if in silent reminder that it follow along and stay silent as she took the lead again. She took a step forward.
As soon as she entered the next leg of the hall, the hair on the back of her neck prickled, her elbow grazing something solid even though she was at least a foot from the wall. Vale spun around, meeting the HK with a grimace.
"Please take a step back," she whispered, "I said follow close by, but not right up my-"
She paused, straining her ears, her eyes, her senses, pushing them to the limit. The hair on her arms now stood up, her ear sensing something shuffling beside her, though she saw and felt nothing… but it was almost as if the space beside her sighed, as if the shadows shifted before settling, as if-
"Amused Query: Up your what, exactly, Master?"
"You know what I meant," she hissed, turning back to the HK, annoyed, "Just… stay a step or two behind, is all."
She didn't like this. None of it. The hall shouldn't have been this empty, nor this quiet, even though she swore she could sense something just on the edge of hearing, on the edge of feeling, on the edge of seeing…
It was as if she could feel the Force rippling around her, but was unable to tap into it, as if she were on the verge of channeling the Force but unable to find the right channel to tune into, forever her phantom limb.
"Confident Assertion: I can follow orders, Master," the HK said quietly, its mechanical eyes providing little light to the dimly lit hall, "So long as you can lead the way."
She took it as a challenge, sighing as she turned towards the hall and its closed doors again, wondering if any of them worked, wondering how she managed to inherit such a sarcastic droid at a time like this, figuring it was just her luck and she shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest.
"Let me know if you sense anything," she said over her shoulder as she ran her fingers over the shock stick still snug in her pocket, "Movements, voices… tell me if you pick up anything."
"Pointed Observation: The hall is empty, Master," it said, its voice level but sinister somehow, "However, there are movements up ahead, at the end of the hall and approaching the junction."
Sure enough, up ahead was an intersection, a cross between four hallways converging into one. The end of the hall directly before them was completely dark, only the emergency lights outlining the dysfunctioning panel on the wall, thankfully leaving the blast door open for them to pass through.
"I'm not sure where he's gone but since all the comms are down-" a voice said, starting off muffled but growing clearer as Vale inched onward, "I don't know, but if we want to secure the-"
"We should just continue with the drill," another voice cut in, urgent, "We're still not sure what caused the- shit."
Two officers appeared in the junction ahead, the man on the left approaching the panel that likely controlled the entire intersection, before he noticed Vale's silhouette further down the hall. He paused, hand on his holster, but he didn't move beyond that, he only asked, "Identify yourself officer."
Vale raised her hands slowly as if in friendly surrender, mustering up what she remembered of her cover story if asked anything beyond her name.
"Lan Rissian? I'm bound for Onderon, or at least Citadel Station. I was brought on board to-"
"Ah, right, the diplomat," the other said, a Twi'lek she realized as his dark green lekku took shape, stepping out of the shadows and into the poorly lit junction beside his partner. "Are you alright?"
Vale took stock of herself, as if she weren't already sure before being asked, though she glanced warily at the stretch of darkness that stood between her and the officers, as if she knew they were not quite alone, "I think so, yes."
Both officers glanced at one another before eyeing the HK behind her with equally wary expressions, the shadow between both parties revealing nothing and no one, though Vale's senses said otherwise.
"I didn't pass this through customs," she explained, as if being interrogated or brought to task, "He was disassembled when I brought him on board. It. Whatever," she was nervous now, though unsure exactly as to why, "There's a log of it, I just… felt safer going beyond my room if I wasn't alone."
Neither officer answered, but neither seemed to object or suspect her story. It had been true, after all…
"Have you heard from anyone at all?" the human asked, glancing at Vale now instead of the HK, though he still seemed a bit on edge because of it.
"No, not for a while anyway. Just a message from Captain Maris but that must have been an hour ago."
He nodded, looking to his partner as they exchanged knowing glances.
"It's not unusual for this sort of thing to happen out in the Outer Rim, as I'm sure you're aware, Miss Rissian," the Twi'lek said, crossing his arms and mulling it over, as if trying to convince himself just as much as he was her, "Independent systems are known to set up satellites in more remote parts of the Rim to jam systems, block communication and otherwise weave panic in passing ships, especially if they hail from the Republic. I'm sure we'll be out of it in no time, especially since we're nearing the waypoint now."
The waypoint. They must have been really far out there, nearing the Unknown Regions if anything, a blackhole not far off if they were navigating this carefully.
"We're telling everyone with a functioning door to meet in the med bay," the human man continued, pointing a thumb over his shoulder, "All crew are required to update their vaccinations before re-entering Republic Space. Plus, with the systems malfunction we could do with the headcount. At least until we can get things up and running."
Both soldiers sounded just as unconvinced as they looked. All she did was nod in response, taking the man's advice about heading to the medbay, a maw of dread taking root in her stomach as she moved passed the two officers, grimacing in an attempt at 'thanks' before moving towards the only of the working doors in the junction.
The officers watched as walked on, as if waiting until she was out of view before speaking further or going about their business. She could feel the HK humming beside her, as if itching to speak.
"Just spit it out," she said once they'd turned another corner, drawing closer to the medbay if her memory served her correctly.
"Pointed Observation: Master, I have a bad feeling about this."
Vale could only roll her eyes and suck in a breath.
"I'm getting really tired of that phrase, y'know that?"
