Ash sat on the grass not quite sure what to do, Gacen had been in there for a while and by the sounds of things he was rather occupied. She couldn't say she could really relate to whatever animalistic lust came over them but knew it was best to give them some space. She smiled still, it could've gone a lot worse, they seemed to have reconnected positively, it felt kinda good but not as good as she'd hoped. She thought it might make her lack of direction go away but nope it was still there, there was word from Guss that Risha was planning something so maybe she could help with that. She sighed, nothing ever really filled that lack of direction feeling but Havoc Squad had been the best example of something that gave her direction but even then she was fighting for a corrupt government.
She looked around the jungle and the base set up, Risha certainly had been busy and productive, there were little droids building all over the jungle. She chuckled and she'd also been rich enough, Ash turned to see Guss sitting down next to her he was poking at the ground seeming like he wanted to say something "so how long do you reckon we're gonna have to wait?" someone had to break the silence
Guss looked to her flustered "oh um maybe a while they hopefully will be done soon" Ash nodded knowing Gacen it could be a while "so uh you were travelling with Gacen?" Ash could sense the jealousy even if it wasn't warranted
Ash looked away "yeah I mean I helped him out of prison and then I thought it best someone look after him" she sighed "and I really didn't have anything else to do" Guss nodded rubbing his chin
He turned to her "well I'm glad he's back he was probably missing his Jedi Best Friend" Ash just nodded ignoring the obvious implication
Ash folded her arms "yeah I'm sure he missed his sidekick he told me about it when i was piloting the ship" Guss' eyes widened
He responded in a huff "I'm not a sidekic… he lets you pilot the ship" Ash let herself grin a little bit
Ash nodded "well yes I'm copilot after all and we're equals so there wouldn't be any reason not to" Guss breathed out heavily frowning
Guss sulked "well yes I suppose so… I'm glad he managed to find Risha as a result of me that was quite well placed of me" Ash had to admit messing with him was a little fun
Ash responded "yeah it's a good thing I found that footage of you I'm happy to have helped" Guss frowned a little more before looking away
He mumbled "no one likes a show off" and then continued "I managed to get all these droids here by the way, well before M4-SK was here" he paused "not too shabby if you ask me" Ash nodded just ignoring him now
From behind they heard a voice "that was pretty good of you buddy" Ash turned to see Gacen above them, he jumped down off the ridge "alright we're all done so you guys can come in" Ash sighed not wanting to know what that entailed
Ash asked "so how did it go? Is everything good?" Gacen had a noticeable smile which cause Ash to let out a very genuine smile
Gacen raised his eyebrow "woah what is this are you genuinely smiling" he teased as Ash's signature frown returned "anyway yeah it went awesome you were right no awkwardness but not only that, Risha has some plans of her own if you wanna get involved" It was either this or boring smuggler jobs so Ash nodded
Gacen led them towards the house and as he did Guss jogged up to him "so um about Ash how serious is uh this um friendship" Ash lagged behind but couldn't help but roll her eyes
Gacen shook his head "Guss don't do this to yourself you're both equally good I'm allowed more than one friend, I could never replace you" Guss looked both satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time
He nodded "right right yes equally good friends right" he slinked back "cool cool cool cool" as he passed Ash he mumbled "irreplaceable" Ash had to stifle a laugh due to how little she cared about this weird rivalry Guss had created for himself
Gacen led them into the base and to a large war room where Risha stood waiting for them at a holotable, Ash had to admit as soon as she saw a war room she got a little rush of excitement this could be good.
Risha looked sternly at Ash she wondered if she was still mad at Ash for taking Gacen away on that mission "good to see you again Ash how have you been" she had never heard anything said sterner in her life
Ash looked away awkwardly "uh hi um Risha I uh well I want to apolag-" Risha cut her off
She waved it off "relax Ash, you may have taken Gacen from me and gotten him captured separating us for 8 years" she paused for a scary amount of time "but you brought him back so I forgive you" Ash gave an awkward smile nodding
Gacen chuckled "dude she's messing with you" Risha face turned into a smirk as she gestured to the Holotable, upon it was the planet of Dubrillion spinning as they gathered around it
Risha began "As I'm sure you've gathered by now I am trying to retake Dubrillion from this man" a stern Bald man appeared on the table his face long and old, Ash had seen his face once before on a Holo that a terrible scientist had talked to. "This is King Actavarus III of Dubrillion the current ruler of Dubrillion, a Tyrant and more than that a coward" Ash had gotten that impression from him he seemed like the worst type of noble
Gacen chimed in "also a massive Asshole" Risha nodded agreeing with Gacen's comment
Risha sighed "he is the sort of ruler that when he sees a revolution brewing he will destroy cities to stop it" she paused "that's not a metaphor he actually did that, to get at me" Ash could see the hurt in her face as she talked "he and the other nobles surrendered the planet during the eternal empires reign almost immediately but now that has been dissolved it remains unaligned" Ash nodded considering the options
Ash spoke up "it seems if we were to take on this we'd need allies, ones that are powerful and could outsmart such cowardly tactics" Risha nodded sliding a crest across the table to her
Risha continued "absolutely correct but I think we have just gained the first one, if you will be one of the commanders Ash?" Ash looked at the crest of a crown sitting above a factory; she felt an immense sense of pride as she held it.
She let herself smile again "of course I will Risha I've looked into what Actavarus has been doing and if anywhere needs liberating it's Dubrillion" Risha nodded with a smile
Gacen joked "oh wow two times in one day she's doing it she's having emotions" Ash got the knife from her belt and gestured with it to shut Gacen up
Risha shook her head "anyway I can't form any sort of open rebellion as he will sacrifice the people for control and I can't allow that" she brought up a set of plans that each looked complex "so instead I will need operatives to do theses jobs for me, these are a number of plans I have come up with to minimize civilian casualties but allow us the control and foothold we would need" Ash looked at the many plans on the screen Risha certainly had a lot of time on her hands many of these had contingencies and everything but she did worry considering she wasn't a military mind. Risha continued "but for now we have limited options so we will merely be doing scouting and recruitment" she looked to Gacen "Gacen will be handling recruitment of allies due to his certain charms" Gacen looked very full of himself for a second, Risha turned back to Ash "and I wanted you to handle early missions, first you and Guss should head to Dubrillion to check on the scientists inventions" the face of that terrible scientist appeared on the screen
Ash frowned "are you sure Guss would be the best choice for this mission he may slow me down" Risha frowned at her
Guss responded "I don't mind working with her but she does have a point I may slow her down a bit" wow talk about low confidence
She folded her arms "you're a lot more resourceful than you may look" she paused "but more importantly I don't want anyone going in without backup we're stretched thin enough as it is we need to stick together" Ash conceded that was a very good point
Gacen smiled "she's right though I'm sure by the end of the trip you guys will be best mates" they both looked at each other not convinced
Risha continued "nonetheless Armande is the one thing I can't really predict, he has a habit for trying to make inventions and getting something that has an other more dangerous function and as a result it's pretty hard to predict" Ash nodded that at least explained the terrible truth serum
Ash looked at the plans "right so have a look around his base find out what dangerous inventions he has here and report back" Risha nodded Ash was very surprised they were getting on so well
Risha frowned "and if anything goes wrong do NOT mention me or anything about these plans we need this looking like a break in, if you get caught keep the act up until you can escape got it' she was very firm making it abundantly clear how hush hush this had to be
Ash nodded "Understood you can count on me" Ash was surprised she honestly couldn't wait to go, her first proper mission in years she better ace it
Risha smiled turning to Gacen "In the meantime we have to decide what allies we may want to and if any faction would take us" she pressed a button on the table and a red togrutas face appeared on the screen "first of all I'd like to get some of my most trusted allies so Gacen I need you to find Master Sumalee" Gacen let out and audible groan
Gacen sighed "whaaat we have to work with the by the rules Jedi cmonnnnn what can she offer us" Ash could think of so many things
Risha put her hands on her hips "you think Sumalee is by the book? She's one of the better jedi and regardless we could use her strategic mind on this matter and you know she owes me" Gacen conceded nodding "now you better play nice and get her for me" Gacen nodded
He frowned "fine I may not like her but you have a point" he paused "and to be honest you probably have so much more of an idea of how to take a planet" he was only half joking but Risha did still smile
Risha continued "Intel suggests she's on a planet called Wayland I have some possible coordinates but it may take a bit of searching so take M4-SK with you" she gestured to the corner where Ash hadn't even noticed M4-SK leaning against the wall
They stood up and walked towards them "A new part eh Pard" they paused as their voice became a lot higher pitched "sounds perfect I'll start workin on my character when we have some time Master Zandar" Gacen looked at them a bit bewildered
He responded "I um guess just be a protocol droid for this one" M4-SK nodded as Gacen frowned at them
M4-SK responded "ah yes sounds perfect next time you see me I will be a protocol droid" with that they walked out of the chamber
Gacen frowned "isn't it already a protocol droid?" Risha just shook her head
"Just go with it it's a lot easier than arguing" Guss nodded they clearly were used to it
Ash still was curious about a few things "so in terms of a bigger ally what were you thinking?" Risha brought up what looked like pros and cons lists
Risha gestured to them "Well there are two options either we go with the Republic or the Alliance, the Republic is a little more of a sure thing but also liable to corruption. Whereas the Alliance tends to be volatile so I'm looking for further input hopefully from Sumalee and you two" Ash pretty much had the same opinion of both it was a rather good assessment
Gacen chuckled "don't ask me I have no idea who's running what or the morales of any of them" Ash could back that up he really had no idea what was going on.
Risha frowned "really? Well I guess I'll have to talk to Sumalee and Ash then but I'm leaning towards the Alliance" Ash nodded in agreement, the republic had burned her too many times. Risha shook her head "anyway for now those are the plans I'd advise we leave soon but feel free to at least take a break before we spring into action" Ash nodded she was raring to go but Gacen probably wasn't
Gacen shook his head "I think I'll stay a couple days and make sure to get a perma comm set up with you before I go" Risha smiled as she chucked a commlink at him
She chuckled "already done, you best keep that on" Gacen quickly put it on
Gacen smiled "perfect I like the way you think babe" Ash scoffed as they began to flirt and left to plan the mission
A day or two had passed since the briefing and Ash had been bogged down preparing for the mission but finally she was ready as they prepared the small vessel Risha and Guss had escaped in for a trip to Dubrillion. She smiled, they were all ready, she was gonna get everything she needed, come back and plan a revolution, she hadn't felt this excited in weeks.
She turned to Guss as he packed the ship "ok are you ready? Got all the stealth equipment and the fake credentials" Guss nodded as he carried a box to the ship
He smiled "I checked them all with Risha before I left the base and I think that everything is correct and in order" Ash smiled Guss had proved surprisingly capable when being bossed around he certainly didn't question authority like someone
Ash nodded "sounds good get everything prepped" she glanced past him to see Gacen standing waiting to say goodbye "I gotta say my goodbyes I assume you already have?" he nodded as Ash strode over to Gacen
Gacen smiled a her "look at you two days and already going off on another mission" Ash chuckled he had a point
She looked away "I uh was never one to stay in a place too long, I completed my mission with you now it's on to the next one and all that" she paused "but I'm not going anywhere I'll be back in a couple days ready for your arrival with Sumalee" Ash assumed Gacen felt weird since they hadn't been apart for two years and to be fair it was a little weird
Gacen held his neck "yeah I know but I haven't been away from you since escaping just uh guess I'm just a sentimental fool" Ash nodded he was definitely that
She responded "well don't worry I"m sure Risha can look after you and believe me when I get back we are having a checkup, you can handle this mate I believe in you" Gacen nodded he knew the nature of their friendship at this point
Gacen smiled "thanks for getting me here, I never could've done this without you" he chuckled "there I go getting sentimental again I think i get that from my mom" Ash laughed before she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask him. She was about to speak up but she paused looking at him for a second, he looked happy, maybe she could give him a few days before asking about his family.
She looked to the ship "Well I best not keep Guss waiting don't want him to crash the ship" Gacen laughed clearly relating "I'll see ya soon have fun with your wife" Gacen nodded waving goodbye to her as she walked onto the ship. Here we go she thought another adventure let's hope this ones a good one...