Terri looked out the taxi as it flew over Dromund Kaas, she'd never been here despite being part of the sith academy; only really hearing stories of its size and scale and it certainly was brimming in both. She felt a little intimidated by it all but was more worried about the palace she saw in the distance, were they really going to steal from Empress Acina? Without her there it may make it easy enough to achieve but still what if something went wrong and she and Zash were separated. She sighed she knew they had to though this was the only place they knew with Snowbark Amber and without the means to make Zash stronger they may as well turn themselves in.
They arrived in a posh looking district and Zash led her to a High End Dejarik parlor, Terri was confused what they were doing here "um Zash I thought we looking for help with the Amber" Zash tutted and led her to the counter where she exchanged some words with the owner who nodded and walked away
She smiled "trust me Terri this place is more than it seems, and while we're at it it may be good to use a fake name while your here to throw the Commander off the scent" Terri nodded they'd already left their sabers on the ship which greatly worried Terri but she understood the reasoning. Still getting used to the weird Vibrosword she had was certainly a challenge, it was so much heavier than her saber.
After a bit the owner came back and led them to the back and through a curtain where Terri's eyes widened as she saw the back room bar with an array of people discussing all manner of things all with some professional heir to them.
Zash smiled at Terri and gestured to it "welcome to the most sophisticated hovel of criminals this side of Dromund Kaas" she looked around "at least the last time I checked which was admittedly 8 years ago" it certainly didn't look like a skeezy criminal bar so that was something
As they walked towards the bar Terri asked "so you know these people? You've used their services before?" Zash nodded sitting down on a barstool as she looked around for someone
She answered "yeah pretty much every time I'd need an artefact recovered I'd come here under an alias although that has had to change slightly" as if to answer the question a Zeltron woman came up to Zash and smiled
She hugged her "Zaryl I was so sad to hear of your mother's passing I hope the time was not too traumatic for you she and I knew each other quite well" Terri blinked at the name Zash had chosen it wasn't exactly a far cry from Zash but if she was posing as her own daughter then she supposed there was something to it
Zash hugged back but seemed tense "Jynne Ilane I've heard plenty of those stories from my late mother and don't worry it was sad yes but I'm strong enough to power through" she chuckled "and honour her legacy by getting into some capers of my own" Terri was completely bewildered by the mask Zash had on she seemed like a completely different person
Jynne laughed "Oh I bet, taking more artefacts out the rich's hands count me in" she turned to Terri "and who is this an associate of yours" Zash gave Terri a look which suggested she should talk
She smiled and shook her hand "yes I'm Zas... Zaryls assistant my name is uh" she couldn't think of anything for a second but soon thought of something "Lucy my names Lucy" she let out an internal sigh of relief that was close
Jynee smiled "nice to meet you Lucy I'm sure you two must have quite the plan to contact me at short notice" Zash nodded and began to explain
"Yes well we can discuss the details in private, it's quite the heist but Lucy already knows the plan you should wait here" Terri nodded even if she didn't know that much of the plan except what and where they were looking. Still it was probably best if she didn't butt in on the plan they seemed to know what they were doing and Terri wasn't exactly a seasoned criminal, if Terri was being entirely honest she wouldn't mind a smaller role in this particular mission.
She turned to the bartender and ordered some Jogan juice and sipped it quietly until someone came up to the bar, he was tall, short brown hair seemingly human and very noble looking. The robes colours probably indicated what he represented but heck if Terri knew she just sipped her juice quietly.
After a moment he spoke up "now there's something you don't see every day" Terri frowned looking around what was he referring to
She frowned at him, cocking her head "uh what I don't see anything?" the man looked at her a little confused
He laughed awkwardly "your hair, it's not common to see someone with white hair let alone a Mirilian" Terri realised and felt like a right fool
She nodded awkwardly "oh right yeah I guess I've gotten used to it I forget how much it stands out, it's actually quite common among my family but outside yeah not so much" she had admittedly never met another person outside her family with white hair that wasn't over 60 so she guessed it made sense to pick up on
He smiled "well I think it looks great it suits you really well, not that you needed any help" Terri nodded that was nice to hear Terri and Lusari had always stood out due to their long hair but Terri had never minded it. She sipped her juice as he continued "uh aha my names Leru nice to meet you" Terri gave him an awkward smile
She returned the courtesy, well sorta "um I'm Lucy nice to meet you" as much courtesy as a fake name had
Leru nodded "that's a really pretty name" Terri definitely thought so "so what are you drinking?" normally Terri wouldn't indulge a strangers conversation but she was bored waiting for Zash and he was being friendly enough
Terri looked at her drink "oh just some Jogan juice nothing fancy" she liked fruit juice always had, people said that was childish but the joke was on them when they had a vitamin C deficiency.
Leru had a drink of his own, some kind of cocktail "huh nothing Alcoholic? That's unique I bet you'd like some of the cocktails they do here they tend to have juice in them" Terri frowned she didn't like Alcohol very much even when it was a nice cocktail
She shook her head "I don't think so I've never really enjoyed Alcohol the few times I've had it" she wondered how Zash was doing with Jynne
Leru seemed to sigh "well I think it's the thing you might have to try a few times to like" Terri considered it for a second but disagreed, there was a minute of awkward silence as Terri drank her juice "so you hear planning a caper?" Terri frowned should she say anything? She guessed saying she was 'on a caper' could mean anything
Terri nodded "yeah sorta I can't say what it's hush hush but we may be planning something" Terri yawned she wasn't very patient and she wanted to know how dangerous their heist would be
Leru was about to say something but Terri noticed as Zash sped past her in a fury "hey DICK she's not interested so fuck off" Terri gasped as Zash yelled at the man who quickly scurried away
Terri frowned at her "Zaaaa… Zaryl there was no need to yell at him he was only being friendly" Zash gave her a bemused look as she shook her head
She gestured to his drink "Lucy he was clearly hitting on you didn't you realise?" Terri's eyes widened as she heard what Zash said, why would he do that? Why'd he want to hit on her.
Terri frowned at Zash "ewww why would he want to hit on me? I don't even, are you sure? That doesn't sound right" she shivered the idea of it made her feel uncomfortable
Zash sat down next to her with a sigh "Terri I know you may not see yourself that way but you're a very pretty young woman and you may have no interest in them but they don't know that" it suddenly clicked in her head and she realised that indulging him just to be friendly may have not been the best idea
Terri was still confused "but I wasn't interested at all, I wouldn't be" Zash sighed and put a hand on her shoulder
She smiled "that's why I stepped in to get him off your back, sorry if it seemed rash at the time" Terri nodded she actually did appreciate that a lot
Terri smiled "thanks Zaryl sorry I'm bad at seeing those things, thanks for looking after me" Zash smiled back and for a second Terri felt like she wasn't looking back at Zash even just for a second
The second passed quickly though and it left her with a pit of sadness in her stomach "of course Terri, now anyway I've been discussing the details of the plan with Jynne and we'll have to get hold of some blueprints and a crew willing and capable to go into the Palace but other than that we're good" Terri smiled but realised it was just Zash's plan in front of her and sighed
She still put on a brave face "that's great Zaryl I'm glad I can't wait til this is all over" Zash nodded at her with what felt like a bit of a patronising smile
Zash patted her on the back "well hey it's not long now and I really do appreciate all the help you've given me you didn't exactly have to" Terri smiled that was very nice to hear "now come on the hacker for the team is already here just over there" she pointed to a table where a young Ardennian sat with a few datapads in front of him using his extra arms to use them all at once. He wore a pair of goggles and a flight jumpsuit seemingly especially made for Ardannians
Terri chuckled at the sight "well he certainly could lend a hand" she giggled to herself and Zash gave her a somewhat amused look
They walked over and joined him at the table "Dain Gilata nice to meet you I believe Jynne has given you the details on the mission" he turned to them and a big smile came across his face
He shook both their hands at the same time "and you must be Zaryl and Lucy I must say I've never had heist planners that looked like they'd belong in a fashion catalogue so this is bound to be interesting" Zash feigned a laugh but clearly was not amused
She frowned "well I'd hope so your assistance is going to be needed on security and hacking I've heard that's your speciality" he stifled a laugh and showed Zash some of the datapads
He grinned "right now every exit of this place is monitored on these if anything unnatural happens I will know and I'm only doing it now cause, I'm bored imagine what I can do when I'm trying" a grin did cross Zash's face and Terri had to admit this looked mighty impressive
Zash nodded "very good indeed well you should probably get to know Lucy as she will be protecting you during the security side of things" Terri frowned was she really on guard duty she wanted a muted role but not that muted
Terri looked at Zash dejected "So all I'm doing is protecting Dain he looks pretty capable are you sure that's the best use of my talents" Zash wagged her finger to imply 'let me explain'
She answered "no of course not Lucy you know what your best skill is?" Terri thought about it she guessed her ability to visualise an environment "the way you can sense everything so clearly you're going to be perfect for checking blindspots and sensing danger" Terri was pleased with that it certainly sounded better than guard duty
She smiled "I guess that's better I'll do my best" Zash smiled as she stood up
She looked to each of them "I have a few more errands to run in the meantime get to know each other it'll make the mission run smoother" she left leaving the two of them alone
Dain gave a sarcastic whistle "well she's certainty a character a bit holier than thou but I've had worse leaders" Terri chuckled she was a bit but it was with good reason
Terri crossed her legs and smiled "yeah a bit she's done a lot for me though so I kinda owe her" Dain nodded he seemed to understand
He held his palms together "yeah that's fair gotta pay your debts, loyalty will get you a lot further in this galaxy than you think" Terri nodded she'd always thought that too "if you don't mind me asking why do you owe her Lucy?" Terri wondered how much she should say definitely leave out the sith part
Terri responded "well she helped me escape this awful school I was at, without her I doubt I would've been able to ever escape so now I'm helping her out in return" she knew it's what was best it's like Zash said she had to honour Lusari's memory
Dain gritted his teeth "ooh yeah that's rough well I'm sure she appreciates your support, you two are rather young to be planning a heist like this what are you 18-19?" Terri did always forget they both were barely young adults
Terri didn't know quite how to answer "well I'm 19 but Zaryl is actually a lot older than she looks I think she's like 40-50 years old she's just got one of those youthful faces I think" she didn't know if that lie would fly but what else could she say
Dain looked at her in surprise "if that isn't looking good for your age I don't know what is maybe she found a sith holocron that granted her 'youth for a great price'" he joked Terri laughed but was fully aware of how likely that actually was
Terri shuddered as her mind went back to why she didn't look so young "she does admittedly I doubt I'll look so good at 40, we've been on a bit of a quest for her just to collect a few things" Dain nodded seemingly interested
He frowned "forgive me for asking if this is intrusive it's just you talk a lot about what she wants but what do you want out of this it sounds like you've done enough to make you guys even" Terri had to admit that was true but of course it was more complex
Terri sighed and looked at him "uh can you keep a secret?" she realised she was giving Dain a lot of information but he was the first person to genuinely ask and he was being very kind. He nodded and she decided as long as she didn't tell it all it was fine "well there was actually a third person with us Zaryl's younger sister uh Sahri, she was about my age and well she's gone now" these fake names were getting out of hand
Dain nodded a solemn look on his face "gone like left or gone gone" Terri nodded at the latter "oh I'm sorry that's terrible" Terri felt herself sniff she hadn't really been able to talk to anyone about it in a long time
She nodded continuing "thing is Sahri was really determined to help Zaryl, she said Sahri knew it'd be ok when she was gone cause I'd help Zaryl achieve her goals. So I kinda have to help her for Sahri, we were very close" Dain nodded clearly seeing how it was affecting Terri
Dain walked round the table and put a hand on her back "hey I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you recall that you two seemed pretty close" Terri smiled wiping her eyes she was strong she could get through it
Terri shook her head "no no it's ok it's nice to talk about it, I can't talk about it with Zaryl it's too difficult please don't tell her I told you" Dain nodded a very genuine smile on his face
He responded "hey of course I won't say a word, I'm a successful hacker for a reason I'm good at hiding secrets, you seemed very close with Sahri though was she like Zaryl or different? Less pompous?" he joked causing Terri to laugh
She started describing her "she really looked a lot like Zaryl but she had long straight hair that went all the way down her back and she had these cute silly bangs that would always get in her eyes" she felt her heart flutter thinking about Lusari again "Sahri would always wear this dark purple lipstick and nail polish that looked so cool I was always so jealous" she felt a tear fall down herself and she breathed in shaky breath. She didn't realise how long she'd been holding onto that it felt good to let it out, she sniffed and smiled even if Lusari was gone she still had the good times.
Dain sat next to her with a smile "she seemed like quite the catch and you seemed pretty taken with her" Terri gasped, what die he? Oh who was she kidding why pretend anymore she'd had the biggest crush on Lusari "losing someone can be tough but as long as you're with the right people you can get through anything Lucy" he moved back over to his side of the table
Terri smiled "yeah I guess so she was very special to me but you're right I can get through it" she looked over to Zash who was discussing something with Jynne, was she with the right people? She wasn't sure she knew.
She decided not to press it right now she had a question for Dain "Hey why do you have goggles with no lenses in them?" she'd noticed it while they were talking but hadn't said anything until now
Dain laughed "oh you noticed, thing is I have perfect eyesight but they just complete the look ya know" Terri chuckled glad to have made a friend it had been an awfully long time since she'd done that...