Chapter 4
Training haze, boring days and golden opportunities
Melissa was well awake before the dawn sun began to show itself through the flimsy curtains. She had in all honesty never gone to sleep after their rude awakening. She had alternated the whole night long between nervous stares at the door, intense brooding stares at Terri, having correctly identified her as the source for the embarrassing flimsy in her pillow. And believe you me, words will be had about that. And finally directing laser like death stares at Carth everytime he distracted her righteous glaring by snoring, which happened roughly every three minutes
Her pique was further heightened by an increasing itching sensation underneath the dressings. She returned to glaring at Terri who was soundly sleeping, how dare she, sleep the sleep of the innocent. Innocent? Hah!
She intensified her gaze, mentally running through her vocabulary preparing the dressing down she was about to deliver. Drill instructors will be singing her praises when they hear of it, they will be in tears from the sheer eloquence of her words, it will become the golden standard of chew outs.
"You know some cultures believe if you stare at someone like that long enough your face will became stuck in that expression" Terri drawled not bothering to open her eyes
Melissa's inner monologue derailed like a freighter hitting an asteroid, forever stopped and scattered across the vastness of space. Terri sat up and swung her legs from the bed. She stood up and scratched her stomach, the lifting sleep shirt showing that at some point Terri had pulled off the shorts she had worn to bed. Melissa hurriedly looked away. Carth decided to give his input by releasing three intense snores, before turning to his side muttering inaudibly.
Terri walked over to her cot and pulled the blankets back.
"Up you go, shower time. Get in there so long while I grab the supplies"
Grumbling Melissa got up and gathered clean clothing before plodding to the refresher preparing herself for yet another embarrassing encounter by needing help to shower herself.
Carth woke as ray of light hit his face. Blearily he sat up, nose picking up the scent of some type of meat frying and freshly brewing caf. He looked around the unit before zeroing in on a new addition in front of the now open window. A clothes line had been spun in front of the window, freshly washed underwear hanging pride of place, dripping onto the floor. He stumbled to the refresher and to his annoyance fond the seat firmly set down. Idly he thought about returning to the cot, but realised that he would have to face semi domesticated life again. He seriously missed his cramped state room, sure he could barely move in it, the bed may have been to short but damn it, at least he did not have to put with all the aggravation women tend to put you through, and to make it worse now there two of them.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, the trio lost in their own thoughts. After leaving Melissa and Carth to start cleaning up Terri settled on her cot and activated the overhead holoscreen. She flicked between the free to air holoscreen channels to try and find anything newsworthy. All she found was footage of happy families welcoming Sith medics into their housing, attractive female soldiers hugging crying toddlers after being "inoculated" and talk show hosts praising the Sith "relief efforts". She was almost thankful for the heavy banging on the door for another "random health check".
Boredom reset itself ten minutes later. Carth settled in a chair and opened a newly bought datapad and downloaded a free to play Sabac simulator. Terri snorted in despairing amusement, not even a full day and she was ready to crawl up the walls. Melissa sat down on her cot looking almost as bored as her. Time for some monor training then.
Terri cleared her throat to draw Melissa's attention. When the girl looked at her, she placed her blaster onto the edge of her cot.
"What are the laws for gun handling?"
Melissa paused for a moment thinking.
"Rule one always assume any gun is loaded and primed. Rule two when picking up a gun check the safety is engaged and that it is not primed, recheck to make sure. Rule three only load when you are preparing to fire, engaging the safety is not enough. Rule four do not point the barrel at anything else but your target."
Terri pointed to the blaster, indicating for Melissa to proceed. Melissa picked up the blaster, keeping the barrel pointed to the floor. She checked that the safety was engaged. Pressing the power cell release she removed the cell and pulled the primer back slightly, the small hiss of tibana gas indicating the weapon had been primed. She rechecked the safety, the cell receiver and primer before placing the weapon down and stepping back.
Carth had been looking up from his game when the lecture started. He gave a rare nod of approval once Melissa completed the procedure.
"Good. Perfect gunrange procedure." Terri said neutrally.
"Thank you" Melissa replied hesitantly, picking up on the tone
Terri pointed to an empty vase on a shelf by the door.
"Assume that is your target, take up your firing position."
Melissa rechecked the pistol on picking it up. She took a wide legged stance, shoulders back, pistol cradled in one hand, arms straight. Again Carth gave a nod of approval. Terri got up and walked around the girl and gave her a slight push. Melissa did not budge.
"Good balance, solid grip, solid posture. Perfect range stance."
Melissa realised this was heading somewhere but for the live of her she could not figure where.
"Would you say using this stance you will get a good grouping on your target?"
"Most likely"
Terri moved in quickly right to her face.
"And what type of grouping would your target get in to you?" Terri asked softly
Terri stepped back. Melissa relaxed her stance and placed the pistol down
"This is nice and well if you are on a firing range with the targets not shooting back. It is a good stance when practising precision."
Terri started pacing, she pointed out the window
"Out there however that stance and safety procedures will get you killed. Out there combatants will not wait for you to load your gun and get into position. They will not hesitate to kill you. The old rules no longer apply. The only rule is do onto them before they do unto you."
Terri walked back to the cots and sat down on hers. She motioned for Melissa to sit.
"What would you say is your biggest asset in a fight?"
"A good blaster and a clean shot?" Melissa replied , hopefully.
Terri gave a mall snort. She reached forward and tapped Melissa's forehead.
"Your brain. Think before you act, why enter a battle when you could have gone around. If you cannot avoid the fight why not set it up to be on your terms. If you have to fight, keep thinking, keeping a clear head will get you through. If you feel you are starting to panic and you will; take a few deep breaths to refocus. Stay aware of your environment. What can give you good cover? Why is that guy trying to move there? What is that fluid I am standing in? Who is behind me? Trust your feelings if your body tells you to move, move."
Terri placed her hands on her legs
"Rule two keep moving, staying stationary will get you killed, always look for better cover. Rule three minimise your profile, the smaller the target you present the harder you are to hit. Rule four don't freeze up, ever. Keep going you can fall apart after the fight, if you freeze up you will die."
Terri reached forward and took Melissa's hands into hers.
"The worst part of any fight, battle, combat, call it what you like is the aftermath. Dealing with the emotions. You will feel a variety of emotions all at once, and this is the most important thing not one of them is wrong. You will feel anger, despair, pride, shame, you may feel relieved, sick or not even not anything at all. All of this normal, do not beat yourself up for being sentient. If it feels that you do not know how to cope, talk about it to someone."
Terri let go of her hands and stood up again.
"Now that the philosophical part is over let us get to the theory, practical will have to wait. Class is now in session and failing to get a passing grade will result in having to scrub the refresher with a toothbrush."
Terri started pacing again
"Conventional military theory states that there are three distinct styles. Precision shooting, rapid fire and over charged shots and as such they try to push everyone into one of the three styles. Reality however will tell you that all is situational. Trying to do rapid fire with a sniper rifle will not work, precision shooting with a heavy repeater will not work. Trying overcharging with either will see the weapon blowing up and taking your head with it. Adapt your style to your weapon and range at which you are shooting. Now that being said if you had to use overcharging what do you think would your criteria for it be?"
Melissa though for a moment, carefully considering her answer.
"If I have to punch through a heavy object like thick armour or hit a larger than normal area."
"Yes to the first, why to the second?"
"The energy on impact tends to spread over the area, so if I was were to say set of an explosive charge the larger the area the more likely it is to trigger."
"When would rapid fire be more effective?"
"To give suppressive fire or when dealing with large numbers, or to rapidly clear space. And precision shooting should only be used for critical targets preferably from longer range."
Terri nodded in approval.
"I would consider that to be a pass. Now how much time was given to close quarter fighting."
"We were taught some grapples and grips but only for three or four classes."
"How did they expect any of you to survive with that?" Terri exclaimed
She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"At this point we should probably start classes for that as well, but till the doctors clear you we can't. Security subversion is mostly practical and on site. Explosives, the same. The only thing that I can easily teach now is sleeping techniques."
"Isn't that a case of either you do it or you don't?"
"Learning to fall asleep anywhere is something that can be taught, and with enough practise become easier and faster to do. Think of it as practical meditation."
Terri pointed to the cot and motioned for her to lie down.
"The trick behind this is to fool your body into a hyper relaxed state. Start with deep breathing first, just breathe deeply in and out."
Melissa feeling foolish complied, just lying there and giving deep breaths for several minutes.
"Now breathe in through your nose, hold your breath for a count of three and breathe out through your mouth. Do that till you no longer think to count while holding your breath."
Melissa, breathing evened out and slowed. Terri moved closer and lowered her voice.
"Keep on breathing, slow and deep. Feel your toes feel them relaxing, breathe, wait till they are relaxed, breathe. Relax your ankles, breathe… Move on to your calves, relax, breathe"
Melissa drifted into sleep. Terri snorted in amusement.
"Cheap round" She muttered.
Carth snored from his chair, datapad forgotten on the floor
"Great, now I am the only one awake."
The first day passed slowly, the monotony only broken by a further two inspections. The holonews showing nothing new, only toeing the party line. Terri had taken to passing time by doing basic exercises in increasing difficulty. Cooking and cleaning was the only other active activities done. Carth rarely left his chair progressing only in levels of difficulty in his game. Melissa spent time sleeping or working her way through the datapad.
The second day passed much like the first but with tempers and emotions starting to wear thin. The troopers on the searches were also more short tempered, which saw more aliens being dragged out in restraints. Annoying them however briefly satisfying that might have been carried an unacceptable risk. Training consisted of trying the teach the sign language of the rogues guild with slow progress by Melissa and no interest at all from Carth
Day three dawned with a screeching noise coming from the passageway and an early morning walkthrough by Sith Troopers and the caretaker. A cleaning droid was rocking forward and backward in front of their door, the screeching coming from it. The caretaker just gave it a look and shrugged walking further. This time around the door had been opened by Carth with Terri and Melissa not even bothering to do more than sit up on their cots. The soldiers only going through the motions of searching On the door closing the two drop down to sleep again.
Two hours later Melissa kicked back her blankets with a curse and stormed to the door, hair in wild disarray and sleeping clothes dishevelled. She slammed the control and walked to the droid. Reaching behinds its dome, she depressed a section and the droid powered down. She pushed it to the corner of the unit where a small bench stood with basic tools scattered on it, leaving a trail on the floor from its locked threads. Loosening its cover she started taking it apart. Placing the parts in sequence as she disassembled it, muttering imprecations as she worked, repeating herself frequently due to a limited curse word vocabulary.
The two adults looking on stupefied, neither one had any idea how to handle it. Carth making a rather crude comment, resulted in him receiving a heavy dope slap to the back of his head and a killer glare. He retreated to his chair, muttering under his breath.
The second inspection came three hours later. The troopers were accompanied by an older officer this time. The only difference this time was that the caretaker stepped into the unit following the track marks left by the droid. Melissa had just finished closing the casing and reactivated the droid
"What are you doing to my droid?" The caretaker called out
"Fixing the damned thing." Came the curt reply
The droid finished booting up and silently started polishing the marks it left behind when it was pushed in, it went to the still opened door and resumed its programmed task. The caretaker looked to the droid, the girl, the droid, the girl. In his mind the slot machine hit jackpot and all he saw was credits. Credits he could skim off if he reported droid repairs for a mark up for work he could get done free or cheap.
The officer bemoaned his luck. Here was clearly a prime candidate for recruiting but for her age. If she could repair objects as effectively using basic tools, how much could she do with proper tools and resources. Of course the one who brought her in will be recognised as well. The better the protégé the better the mentor was rewarded.
Terri noted the looks of greed on the men's faces and realised that not only had they an opportunity to get out of the unit, they now had a possible means to get access to information and better equipment. She walked over to Melissa and placed her hand on her shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze before turning to the caretaker.
"Sorry for her rudeness, sir. She is just a bit grumpy from being confined. She so loves working with her hands and all this idleness is getting her down."
Another squeeze gave Melissa her cue.
"Sorry, sir. It was very rude of me. I am just so bored."
The caretaker looked to the officer, and rubbed the fingers of one hand
"I could give her something to do, if one your troops would be willing to look over her to make sure no undesirable bothers her, of course."
The officer nodded seeing no immediate downside. A kickback now and a chance to subtly influence a potential asset, resulting in possible rewards later.
"Five, five, seven, six, detach for monitor duty. You are allowed to converse."
"Sir"
Terri gave a small cough.
"As she is a minor I will need to go with her. And as she cannot legally be paid I think a slight reduction in rent might be appropriate."
Once again seeing no downside; the two nodded. Terri flashed a smile.
"Gentlemen, if you will give us a few moments to get dressed?"
As she steered Melissa to the refresher she noted the officer speak urgently into the helmet of the trooper. Dressing quickly the two followed the caretaker to the basement, the trooper trailing behind. Junk and parts covered the shelves and floors. Several droids were scattered around. Melissa looked at the tools, not the best but of decent quality. Terri trailed among the shelves, she spotted a few boxes filled with old cameras. An idea started to form, she pushed one camera into a pocket.
Melissa was patiently explaining to the caretaker why she needed access to the buildings mainframe, throwing out terms clearly going over his head. Eventually he unlocked the system just to get her to stop talking and walked away to go sit at his desk. The trooper had settled in a chair by the door, clearly already bored.
Terri dropped the camera on the bench, making sure the guard could not see.
"Can you build this into a droid and get our unit linked into the data feed?"
"Programming is not my best area but it is doable, that guy has no idea how his systems work adding a sub routine would be easy. I can tell him the camera's are for a free security update that I was bored enough to build in and give him limited access to one or two droids at a time."
Melissa looked at the trooper. He was clearly bored but still paying attention to their movements, she needed him to be further away. The sludge filled droid oil bath gave her an idea.
"Let us see what he prefers a clean uniform or staying close and getting dirty."
She walked to the bath a hydrospanner in hand. Several sealed drums stood to the side. Tapping against them she heard the dull thumps indicating they are full. She turned to the trooper.
"I am going to have to drain the oil bath, be careful of the oil."
The trooper jumped up taking his chair up a few steps to a landing by the door, clearing a few extra meters. With a hidden grin she opened the chock drain and the sludge started spilling onto the floor, trickling to a drain in the middle of the floor. Walking to a high pressure hose she started spraying the oil, incidentally causing splatters to settle on the walls close to the steps. The trooper pulled back deeper into the doorway.
"Perfect." She thought smirking.
The first droid was easy to fix, adding the camera easier. The problem was with linking and hiding the extra data stream. The holofeed was on a secondary and highly secured system which she was unable to access. Terri kept moving things around appearing to be trying to sort shelves. Melissa noted with amusement that the trooper was as frequently distracted as frequently she was bending over wearing a tight skirt and shirt.
Thinking furiously she tried to get a resolution for the problem. Perusing a shelve she noticed a box of clearly brand new older generation datapads, the real prize was a box filled with old routers. She found her answer. She called Terri over to move the boxes for her.
"We set routers on each floor tied in to the power lines to create a small closed system, the routers send the data to a pad and we can access it. It is a bit cruder than trying to link it to the holofeed in the unit but it should be more secure. It will take a bit longer as well but we can get feeds on every floor that way, as far as I can see there is a droid per floor. We get the old guy to start rotating them down for servicing and slowly get access."
Hours later, two oil and grime covered women, a hovercrate, three droids and a soldier whose legs was covered in plastic bags walked into the lobby. Two squads were busy doing shift rotation. Muffled snickering came from the trooper ranks. The older officer was standing there with their now recurring officer.
"Five, five, seven, six, explain yourself." The older officer spluttered
Melissa raised a hand and gave a sheepish smile
"It is my fault, sir. I could not let him get his uniform dirty. There was a lot of oil and grime around. The only way we could have kept it clean otherwise would have been to let him stand by the door and then he could not do his job properly."
"So an ideal compromise was reached." The officer said jovially," I trust he behaved appropriately?"
"Oh yes," Melissa gushed", he kept telling stories of basic training, it sounded like great fun, and tales of the workshops I would love to see the local one."
Forty nine glares would have incinerated five, five, seven six if not for the helmets blocking them. The only one remotely happy was the older officer. Melissa looked down at her clothing
"It would have been nice to get some coveralls, but I guess that is not likely to happen." She said ruefully
She picked up a tablet on top of the hovercrate and handed it to the caretaker
"First two droids are ready, you can start rotating the others down for servicing. I also made an upgrade for you."
"Upgrades?" The old man perked up
Melissa pointed to the camera lenses and then the crate
"I added cameras to them, now you can see if there is any problems on a floor from your desk from that pad. There are old routers in that crate I repurposed, you plug them into a power source, the droid send the data to the router who sends it to the pad. Unfortunately you can only access two cameras at a time. There was not much else I can do with what was down there."
She ran a hand across her face, leaving an oil streak. The caretaker moved rapidly to his desk and tapped into his main system.
"I am giving you a free week for this and doubling your water quota." He happily said.
The younger officer pointed to the three droids.
"You said the first two are ready but clearly there are three."
Melissa pointed to a green and blue striped droid.
"That is an agriculltural droid, his programming is limited to plants and landscaping, which looking outside at the building is sorely needed, that fake grass really needs to go. There are several sacks of fertilizer in the basement with some seed stock. Two; three days he will have a nice garden going for you"
The caretaker nearly started getting palpitations from happiness, a real garden would be a great selling point for the owners. He might be getting a bonus, out of this deal as well! Really, repaired droids, free extra security and now this. He was making out like a bandit here, the stupid spacers had no idea of the value of the work.
The older officer was nearly salivating by now, clearly a young genius and already positive to the Empire. Come hell and high water getting two coveralls to further ingratiate her would be no problem. Maybe start hinting that he found a promising recruit to the base commander, laying the ground work early would not be detrimental
The younger officer however decided to rain on his parade.
" And where do you propose to add these archaic devices?"
Melissa pointed to the turbolift.
"That is an Arkisa J200, they have extra slots pre built for extra processors for taller buildings. It would just be a matter of plugging the routers into a slot on the controls on each floor and it will be ready to go."
Not just good with droids, all mechanical systems it seems.
"I really need to talk to the commander, maybe get a waiver for early enrolment" The older officer thought
The old caretaker happily gave consent and pointed to the turbolifts. The first router was installed and the cameras came online, the data pad showing two squads standing by. No one was paying attention as another device was placed in a secondary slot and the panel closed up. Permission to ad routers to al floor was given and a new trooper assigned to watch them.
Terri started chuckling as the door to their unit closed behind them. She ruffled Melissa's hair, a happy grin on her face.
"Good job, we are in a much better position now."
"Well?" Carth demanded impatiently
"We now have access to the building mainframe, the ability to gain information on movement on all floors and limited information outside." Terri enumerated
Grabbing Melissa and giving her another hair ruffle, she continued her report, tucking the squirming Melissa under arm
"This one was able to build a device to that can sabotage the turbolift and manage to install it under their noses."
"We also have access to an emergency escape route." Melissa added, struggling to break free.
"Where?" Carth demanded.
"There is a manhole in the basement that accesses the sewers, the mag lock on it has been disabled; though the led shows it as locked." Melissa huffed
"The officer from this morning has clearly moved us onto the useful list, so they will probably give us more breathing room. If we play it right we may be able to get movement passes. We also got a free week of rent and a doubling of our water qouta" Terri continued.
"Is the attention from an officer really a good thing though?" Carth pointed out.
"As long as he believes Melissa is considering joining up, he will be friendly, any resource is better than no resource."
Terri pushed Melissa towards the refresher.
"Let me grab the supplies then I will give you a hand with the dressings."
Terri paused to pull a second datapad from inside the back of her shirt where she had tucked it into the waistband of her skirt while Melissa had distracted the trooper by wrapping plastic around his armour. That prank alone was worth the day's labor. She passed it to Carth.
"We only have three active for now, two inside and outside. If a camera freezes it means the caretaker is assessing the system. He will only be able to access two at a time."
"And why does he have access?"
"Hiding in plain sight, the cameras are fairly obvious. He now believes he is getting more out of the bargain struck. His greed will ensure he does not look closer"
Terri walked to the pile of medical supplies, pausing she grabbed her toiletries bag. Getting a decent shower sounded like a very good idea
Sith Headquarters, Officers club
The older officer knocked back his third drink in five minutes, slamming the glass down hard. Angrily he motioned the barman for a refill. Another officer sat down beside him, motioning the barnan for a drink. He took an appreciative sip as the first one downed yet another glass. Correllian Reserve, only the best for the club.
"What has got you so steamed up, Dursley?"
Dursley took a gentle sip of his drink this time.
"Pearson, Fredericks, Pearson"
"Ah, that explains it all," Fredericks replied.
"This morning he reports that there are residents in the building he had run into at some medcentre and tells me to keep an eye on them. Nothing suspicious there, people get ill, they have to find places to say. A mere coincidence. On my patrol I decide to check on the unit."
" I assume you found something."
"A young girl. She had dragged a broken into the unit, stripped it down and fixed it with spare parts and a basic home toolkit in under five hours after the previous patrol."
"Impressive, but not exceptional." Fredericks replied blandly
"I though so too, I decided to test her. I allowed her to go to the buildings workshop with one of my men. In five hours she had fixed three droids that was fit for recycling and built a security system out of obsolete equipment, not a real impressive one, granted. But still the talent she showed."
"And this explains your ire with Pearson, how?"
"So she comes from the workshop, happy as can be. Already interested in the Empire army, I had instructed my man to start pushing a soft recruitment of course, rightly proud and happy with her work. Pearson decided to try and interrogate her. His paranoia could very well have wrecked all the work I have to done to recruit her."
"It is in the nature of a good intelligence officer to be suspicious and paranoid." A third voice spoke.
The two turned and rapidly stood up, Dursley stumbling slightly. The base commander had snuck up behind them and had listened to the conversation.
"Commander, did you check upon Pearson's suggestion?"
"I rechecked the information on his first contact report. It all came back as they had initially stated. Crew on a freighter, girl got injured, went to a clinic. Found a place to stay from the approved list."
Fredericks decided to throw his hat in the ring.
"I could have a new ensign detached from engineering tomorrow to do an evaluation. Hide one as the guard that watches over her. An engineer should easily see if she is as good as believed and in a better position to give an unbiased opinion"
"Your idea has merit, make it happen." The commander replied, walking away.
From Fredricks view point he had nothing to lose and stood only to gain. If Dursley was right and the girl was worth recruiting, Dursley would owe him a favour for his help in convincing the commander, if Dursley was wrong the fact that it was one of his division that prevented the waste of time would reflect well on him. It might even reflect positively on him in the intelligence office for suggesting that the girl gets evaluated by a professional. Fredericks took a deep sip from his rightly deserved drink. Some days it was good to be him.
Day four had brought a change in schedule. The holonews were running for the first time with something vaguely resembling news with reports of "relief convoys" having come under attack in the lower city by as per description spice addled swoop gangs. No footage of the attacks were shown. But political leaders and councilman was filling the airwaves with pleas to the gangs to leave the humanitarian effort in peace.
"It seems the gangs are pushing back. That is both good and very bad for us." Terri mused
"If the gangs are pushing back they could become allies. We could use their resources to search for Bastilla" Carth suggested
Terri shook her head.
"The only things the gangs would be interested in is protecting their turfs and products. A few republic soldiers and even a Jedi would only interest them if they gained substantially from the deal, let us face it we do not have anything to offer them except ourselves, and face it Carth we would not get much for you on the street market.''
"Hey, I am in my prime." Carth replied indignantly
Terri condescendingly touched his arm
"We believe you"
Melissa was on kitchen duty for the morning preparing breakfast. She snorted as she suppressed a laugh, only serving to draw attention onto herself. Terri did not let go of the easy target she presented.
"Pop Quiz. Elaborate in detail on how escalating gang violence could help or hinder us."
Melissa felt panic rise in her. This was one of those no right and wrong answer scenarios and from experience she knew both Terri and to a lesser extent Carth would relentlessly test her response. Leaving her confused and unable to remember as to what her first answer was
For the first time and probably only time in the war a republic soldier was saved by a Sith banging on a door. Terri walked to the door. Melissa was about to sigh in relief when Terri spoke over her shoulder
"Think about it, we will continue later"
The older officer stepped into the unit, followed by a female trooper.
"Could we offer you some caf?" Terri offered
"Thank you; but no. It would not be appropriate. This is eight four zero six. She will be watching over you today in the workshop. Now if you will excuse me I need to continue my duties."
He walked from the room leaving the trooper to awkwardly stand there. Melissa caught Terri's eyes.
"Terri, could we go to the refresher it feels like one of the dressings have gotten loose. Matt could you quickly finish up please it just needs to be plated"
She turned to the trooper.
"Sorry for the delay, it is just that the doctors was very specific as to how the dressings should be done and I don't want to have any scarring. I am sure you understand."
"Go ahead, I fully understand." The metallic voice came, she lifted a hand from her rifle to wave them off.
As the door to the refresher hissed close Terri put her face close to Melissa's.
"What is wrong?" She asked softly
"There is something wrong with that trooper."
"I know." Terri replied" What tipped you off?"
"A few things. Like the armour looks brand new, also she seems to be uncomfortable in it, like unused to wearing it. All the other troopers seem to be comfortable in theirs, the way she holds her rifle is like she is unused to it. She seems to be too relaxed at being left with an unknown group."
"Well spotted, what do you think she really is?"
Melissa pondered for a moment.
"I believe she is intelligence. That other officer was asking way too many questions for it to be coincidental."
"You think they made us and are watching to see what we do?"
"No but I think they are suspicious. Commander Onassi's attitude is drawing attention."
"Matt" Terri firmly stated.
"No commander. He is borderline aggressive everytime they come in here. His behaviour is not what a civilian's would be like and it is getting more pronounced."
Terri gave a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling.
"So it was not my cabin fever making me see things. You will need to slightly emphasize your role of a naïve hyper teenage farm girl with a gift for mechanics, who loves to show off. I will have to step up my role as a slightly overwhelmed, doting and overprotective cousin"
"You were playing a role?" Melissa gasped
Terri rolled her eyes and deliver a mock slap to the back of the head. Melissa looked at her, tears forming in her eyes, rubbing her head
"I will run away and join the army." She sniffed, looking forlorn
"You've been there, done that cannot show off your shirt. Now get going drama queen"
Walking from the refresher they noted Carth "subtly" glaring at the now visibly uncomfortable trooper. However he had finished up the food and placed it in two containers. His plate already standing in the washer. Grabbing the containers they headed out by a relieved trooper. Melissa almost immediately starting to chatter, fishing for news.
Apart from the addition of two new droids the workshop was as the left it. The trooper walked to the workbench and laid down the rifle before unshouldering her backpack. Terri and Melissa shared a glance at the further proof that something was wrong. No trooper would as casually lay down a weapon with their back turned to someone who was within grappling range. Reaching into the backpack she pulled out two black bundles and placed them on the bench before pulling a third out.
"Commander Dursley instructed me to pass these on."
Melissa skipped to the bench, no instinctive move to protect the weapon was made. Melissa shook the bundle out revealing a coverall.
Melissa stripped down and was about to step into it when Terri cried out.
"What are you doing?! You do not just get undressed wherever you want."
Melissa looked at her faking confusion, pulling on the coverall
"What is wrong? We are all girls here. And it is not like anyone else can see me."
"And what if that creepy old man had a live holofeed in here?"
Melissa looked at the ground looking sheepishly
"Did not think of that."
"No you didn't, I keep telling you think before you act. You are a young lady now."
A mechanical chuckle came from the speaker of the trooper's helmet, who had pulled a third coverall over her armour
"One thing no one ever tells you is that the barracks and shower rooms are gender combined. Believe me it was a nasty surprise." The trooper shared
"No way!" Melissa gasped in embarrassed fascination
Terri grabbed the third bundle and stepped into the shelves, hiding a smirk. The smirk almost progressed to a chuckle as she had a sudden picture of the expression of a fourteen year old Melissa finding out that fact about barrack life when she had enlisted.
Stepping out later after changing, the trooper was seated in a chair by the bench, rifle negligently across her legs. Melissa was laying out the tools in neat lines. Terri cleared her throat
"Breakfast first." She sternly said
Melissa rolled her eyes and sighed but took her container of food. Holding a breakfast sandwich in hand she turned to the trooper.
"This way too much for me, want some?" she offered.
The trooper was torn in indecision; keep up her roll and decline the offer of fresh non mess made food. Or take the delicious looking food and appear more human to the girl and her gaurdian she was instructed to evaluate, Dursley's orders to do nothing that could alienate the girl still ringing in her ears. Fresh food won out. She lifted the helmet off revealing a dusky complection with closely shaven hair before taking the sandwich.
"Do not tell anyone I did this. I can get into a lot of trouble for this."
"It will be our secret." Melissa smiled, "Can you tell us your name, that number thing is a bit impersonal."
"Jerra Camph"
Terri suppressed a wolfish smile, the veneer had been cracked and the hunter had become the hunted.
Hours later the trio returned to the unit. Terri froze as she saw the expression Carth's face. She stopped Melissa with a hand to her chest.
"Give me a few moments. It looks like me and Matt have to have a discussion."
Melissa nodded and sat down against the wall. Hesitating Jerra sat down next to her. Muffled angry shouting filtered from the room. Jerra turned her helmeted head to the door
"You want me to check on your cousin? Or get both of you out of here"
Melissa shook her head.
"Terri can handle him, this has been coming for a while. She has been pissed with him since he got me hurt. He has been hanging around to" help" us since then. I think he is scared to return to the ship, if the captain does not fire him the crew will educate him."
"So they are a couple?"
Melissa laughed at that and leaned closer as if to share a secret
"No way. Terri does not know that I know. She is into girls. I saw her slipping of with the astrogation officer on our previous freighter, they were all over each other. They did not see me in the vents."
A few muffled thumps and a crash came from within. Jerra moved to get up. Melissa held her back
"Aunt Allegra, her mother, competed professionally on the outer rim MMA circuit. If he tried anything he will be regretting it now. I kind of wish she had taught me as well, but Terri said it was pure hell."
The door opened and Terri stepped out idly rubbing a skinned knuckle, no other marks visible, looking inside Carth was lying amid the shards of a broken table. Jerra pointed to him.
"If you want to I can have him removed."
Terri shook her head.
"No, he tried his luck and got beaten down. By spacer code the matter has been resolved, if you get involved in a internal matter I will be held responsible for breaching the code."
"Terri, you are not supposed to talk about the code." Melissa whined.
"I am not sharing details on the code just mentioning its existence, no codex was broken. The existence of the code is an open secret."
"If you say so." Melissa reluctantly stated
"Are you sure?" Jerra asked
"If I break the code being blacklisted would be the least of my worries. He does not even register on the screen."
Terri nodded in greeting and ushered Melissa into the room. As the door closed Carth got to his feet grumbling
"I still feel smashing me through a table was too much for patching our cover."
"Carth our cover was about to be blown, drastic measures were necessary."
Melissa got a wicked grin on her face, payback would be hers
"Speaking of updating covers." She started innocently
"Yes?" Terri raised an eyebrow
"I let it "slip" that you are into girls romantically."
"Okay, and?" Came the bland reply
Carth and Melissa looked at her unable to reply. Terri shrugged
"So I play for the home team, no big secret."
Carth looked at Melissa
"I don't know if she is kriffing with us" He said
Melissa decided to go all in, determined to win for once
"So what is your type then?"
"Redheads, especially if they have heart shaped birthmarks on the tush."
Melissa flushed red. She slapped her hands in front of her face, groaning in defeat.
Sith Headquarters Taris
Jerra Camph was walking into the buildings front doors having cleared outside security when her comlink chirped indicating a data message. She read the message and with a soft curse she rerouted from the path to the junior officer mess to the senior officers offices. Twice she was stopped and forced to show the message as proof when she was challenged as a "trooper" in a secured area.
Entering the office she slammed to attention. Seated behind Frederickson desk was the base Commander. Captain Pearson; behind him to the left. Commanders Dursley and Frederickson standing to the side of the office. She stood still for several minutes as the commander was engrossed in a report. Finishing it he held the pad up and Pearson stepped in and took it.
"At ease." He dismissingly stated
She took of the helmet and tucked it under her arm before coming to parade rest. Frederickson cleared his throat
"Proceed with your report."
"As ordered I have observed the girl and her guardian throughout the day. On the technical side the girl is both quite gifted and innovative."
"Clarify." Pearson interrupted
"I have observed her completing repairs in record time without having to consult technical manuals once on several different types and makes of droids. Something that would only be possible for someone who had extensively worked on one type of droid for years. I also observed her manufacture parts for a discontinued line using a basic fabricator and scavenged components."
"Interesting, continue." The Commander stated
"Personality wise I would describe her intelligent with a childlike naivety. I would like to qualify my statement by saying that personality assessments is beyond my remit."
"Her companions?" Pearson asked
"She and her cousin would appear to be inseperable, with the cousin being very protective. I would liken it to a sibling bond. Any attempt to approach will have to include the cousin"
She took a breath.
"The man is not a factor. It seems as if the two would happily break contact with him. On returning to the residential unit there had been a very one sided violent altercation between the man and the cousin. I made the offer to have them relocated away from him, they declined"
"I assume the man is in custody?" Dursley broke in
"No, sir. As no party was willing to press charges I could not interfere. I believe the man to be no threat to them, the cousin had incapacitated the much larger man and left him unconscious on the floor without injury to herself."
The Commander motioned her to continue with a hand gesture
"I enquired as to why they did not wish to gain assistance. They stated that they would then be in breach of something called the spacer code and feared repercussions should said breach occur. I am unfortunately unfamiliar with said code,"
Frederickson flinched and hissed. The Commander looked at him.
"I assume you have deeper knowledge of this."
"Yes, sir. Begging your pardon, in order to explain will require quite a lengthy description"
"Proceed"
"It concerns an incident while I was attached to Admiral Karaths group. A junior officer had approached me with information that her was brother had undergone induction. For brevity sake I would liken the spacer structure as similar in nature as the rogue's guild. They had proposed that the brother would act as an informer within the group. Both Admiral Karath and intelligence had been informed as per protocol. As proof of sincerity we had been given a copy of the code. On induction a blood oath is given and breach of the code is punished brutally."
"How wide spread is this "guild"?" The commander asked.
"At rough estimate eighty percent of all civilian space commerce is a part of it in some form or another?"
"And the status of the infiltration?" Pearson asked
"Did not happen. The severed heads of the siblings were send by courier to the intelligence officer assigned to the case to his civilian adress."
Apart from the Commander, all others present flinched slightly at the brutality of the warning and the punishment. The commander tapped the desk surface idly while in thought. No one moved nor spoke during his contemplation. Abruptly he stood up and looked at Jerra.
"Continue with your efforts. At this time locating the Jedi and republic survivors takes precedent. We will reconsider options once the primary directive has been achieved, till then observe and report, attempt to further sway them is authorised. No active approaches are to be made. Once the lockdown is ended passive observation only"
He swept from the office Pearson following behind. After a few moments of silence Frederickson looked at Jerra.
"Don't kriff this up."
Day five broke with no nocturnal disturbance, though observation of the cameras had revealed movement and inspections on the floors they had access to. Including their floor only seven floors were without coverage. At Melissa's current repair rate that target will be met in two days. After negotiating with the old caretaker for a discovered professional grade sealed toolbox under a pile of junk the previous day; their workbench was slowly becoming worthy of the name. Terri was soldering on two cables and terminals onto an opened blank datapad, when the comsystem chime announced a presence. The now identified Dursley, four troopers and Jerra stood outside.
Dursley and Jerra entered once the door was opened. After addressing the obligatory social niceties Terri turned to the officer.
"Sir, what are the protocols for assessing healthcare? I could not find anything on the holonet when I searched."
A quick look of alarm crossed Dursley's face.
"Any particular reason?" He asked
"Well before this lockdown Melissa had received treatment at a local clinic, they said they want to do a reassessment in five days and I am not sure if it was possible to take her for one at the clinic"
Dursley placed a fake sympathetic smile on his face and took Terri's hand.
"Nominally only authorised personall, medical staff and a limited amount of merchants are allowed to move around freely. Medical emergencies are tended to on site or moved to the closest medcentre. Normally you would have to apply for a specific travel pass and to be honest would likely be declined if it was only for an assessment. But considering how helpful you and that dear girl have been I will give you a personal travel pass, of course eight four zero six will accompany you for safety. I will leave it for you to pick it up at the reception desk"
Terri gave a friendly smile in thanks. Internally she was itching to blow his head of and the sanitizing her hand with a plasma torch.
There was a line in the lobby by the reception desk as the residents was due to pay rent. Several glares were directed at them as Jerra pushed her way to the front and grabbed the datapad the caretaker offered her.
The gravtrain was mostly empty as it sped to the merchant promenade. Stepping from the train they were accosted by two troopers but after reading the datapad the trio was waved. The silence here was not as pronounced as in the residential area. Several of the larger stores were open. Scattered groups of beings were walking the walkways. Most were dressed in the newest and most expensive clothing, those dressed worse clearly being servants judging from the facts that they were the only ones carrying packages. They were getting curious stares from the group. Terri could almost understand their confusion clearly they were on a different financial scale but somehow they had enough pull to rate an official guard following them about.
"Credits talks and poodoo walks" Terri muttered
Zelka was still on duty as they entered the clinic. He got up and approached them, a momentary hesitation on seeing the trooper. Jerra walked to a chair and sat back.
"I was hoping that you or doctor Yin was in for that follow up examination. It would have been terrible to deal with a new doctor." Terri stated, dropping a subtle hint
"Lets step into exam three then, should be no more than a few minutes hopefully." Zelka replied
He manipulated a control and the containment field sprang up. Pressing a second sequence a privacy screen shimmered into place. He pointed Melissa to it after handing her a gown.
"Step inside, disrobe completely, dress in that and lie down on your front on the bed. I will be with you shortly"
Zelka reached into his pocket and pulled out a chain with two tags on it. He silently handed it to Terri, she nodded as she took it, understanding the message. Zelka stepped behind the privacy screen
Terri looked down at the tags. In her hands was a reminder of the stakes they were playing at.