Unforetold Consequences
Part 2: Ipimnu
Ipimnu sat in the cockpit of her ship, staring at the drifting debris outside the window. She didn't think that they would escape the blast when the Star Fortress exploded behind them. Luckily for Koth's piloting skills, her ship was only propelled forward. She could hardly believe it even with the wreckage before her. They did it. The Star Fortress that was oppressing all of Nar Shaddaa was finally destroyed.
Ipimnu could not bring herself to join Koth and the rest of the crew in celebration. She could only slump in her seat, succumbing to her sore muscles. This was far from over. She wondered if she would ever leave this life of espionage and war. She thought she could finally put away her blaster rifle and vibro-knife when she left Imperial Intelligence. Her past kept coming back to bite her. Ipimnu might have deleted the existence of her time as Cipher Nine using the black codex, but she could never delete herself from the minds of others. Someone slipped their tongue, and it brought her nothing but suffering. Attracting some of the worst people.
She would never forgive Lana Beniko for what she did to her family. That Sith was the reason why she and her husband, Phi-ton, had to flee the planet, Voss, to Nar Shadda in the first place. Her time settling down on Voss with Phi-ton felt like a fleeting dream, a dream she still longed for despite her better judgment. She could still see their tea shop if she closed her eyes, full of smiling customers with the aroma of fresh brews and sweet pastries. The cool breeze brushing against her pale skin and marveling at the multicolored leaves carried by the autumn air.
Ipimnu sighed to herself. She knew better than anyone that she was more likely to die in battle than ever go back to her paradise.
Ipimnu felt warm hands wrap around her and she instinctively leaned into them, knowing immediately that it was Phi-ton.
The Voss man was lean and muscular in his commando armor. His blue skin was covered in colorful markings that reminded her of an abstract painting. Their eyes met, his yellow eyes gazing into her reddish brown.
"My wife," he began, kissing her freckled cheek. "Don't you want to celebrate with the others?"
Ipimnu shook her head before looking back at the scraps of metal floating outside the ship's window.
"We should be planning our next move, not partying," she said, "With the Eternal Empire's limitless wealth, who knows when another one of those fortresses will be remade and overtake us again,"
Phi-ton hummed in understanding and rested his head on her shoulder. He smelt like a mixture of tea and incense, a soothing combination that loosened her a little.
"Ipimnu, we bring hope back to the galaxy. We show others that we have a chance to defeat Arcann and end this war. Do not fret. Others will join our cause."
Ipimnu smiled a little and caressed his face. He always had a way of brightening the worst of situations. Phi-ton was her lantern in this dark tunnel of life.
"Yes," she replied, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "For now,"
"There you two are," Koth laughed, walking in with two cups of alcohol in his hands. "Was able to snag a few drinks before Len could down it all and get himself into a drunk stupor,"
Koth handed them their drinks.
"One Star Fortress down, five to go. We make a good team!" he cheered before sitting down across from them.
Phi-ton nodded with much enthusiasm. Ipimnu glanced between her husband and their unlikely ally.
"Remember our deal?" Koth asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ipimnu scoffed. Of course, she remembered. It was the most ridiculous deal she had ever agreed to. She would never forget the night they met, that scuffle between Koth's group and the Zakuulian sky troopers in the cantina she used to own. She was indulging in a childhood dream of being a performer while gathering intel when it happened. The group of sky troopers barged into the place, their blasters pointing at her audience. With screaming and blaster fire, chaos ensued. How gallant Koth looked when he swooped in to save her when a sky trooper targeted her. She will never forget the look on his face when she instead saved him using only the vibro-knife strapped to her thigh, hidden until she sliced the sky trooper's head clean off. Koth made his proposal to her right then and there, smiling and covered in droid oil.
Ipimnu smelt and sloshed her drink, checking if it was poisoned out of habit. Once safe, she downed it in one swing. She couldn't contain her chuckle when she noticed Koth trying to cover his anticipation in vain.
"I'm serious. Do you want to be a part of my crew or not?" Koth demanded with a pout.
This made Ipimnu laugh harder and lean back in her chair.
"I never said no," Ipimnu said simply,
"With what we have been through, I believe we are already a team," Phi-ton insisted.
Who would have thought an ex-spy like her could feel this comfortable around an ally she only spent a few months working with. Koth reminded Ipimnu of a steaming mug of caf, his personality bitter but smooth, always energizing everyone around him. He cared for his crew members and soon enough, she and her husband joined his circle. Ipimnu couldn't imagine not being a part of his crew.
Phi-ton poured his helping into her cup. Her husband never was much for the cold hard stuff now that she thought about it, preferring mostly spiked hot drinks. Ipimnu made a mental note to make him a mug of spiked cider later.
"Why even ask?" Ipimnu chuckled.
"Hey, don't blame a guy for making sure," Koth said with a shrug.
"I do have one condition if you want to continue our partnership," Ipimnu said. "My ship, my rules. As long as you and your team follow my rules, I'll follow your lead. Deal?"
She held out her hand and Koth beamed before he shook it.
"Deal!"
The touching moment was interrupted by the holoterminal ringing. One of the crew members, a Cathar with a braided ponytail, rushed into the cockpit out of breath.
"There's an unknown holo frequency," she said before running to the main deck.
The trio followed after her. Ipimnu went to her holoterminal to read the frequency. The ship was cloaked, so she knew that it was unlikely from any of the nearby vessels. Ipimnu's heart swelled when she saw the familiar string of numbers ringing on her holoterminal.
"Put it through, hurry!" Ipimnu ordered.
Ipimnu's eyes widened at who appeared on the holo. She couldn't believe her eyes. During her time on Nar Shaddaa, she tried to contact her remaining family, but no one answered. With the war going on, she feared the worst. Standing on the other side of the holocall was her Aunt Tuiw.
Tuiw was a middle aged Zabrak with her short hair slick back and wearing an indigo jumpsuit. She looked the same as when she met her all those years ago. Tuiw's arms were crossed, her hairless eyebrow raised. It was the same expression she would give Ipimnu when she got herself into mischief as a child.
"It's bout time!" Tuiw said with her usual smirk. "I've been trying to reach you for ages!"
"I could say the same, Tuiw," Ipimnu said. "I have been trying to contact you as well. With the war… I feared you were dead,"
Tuiw laughed.
"Dead?! Ha! We both know that I am the only one who can kill me. And that's Auntie Tuiw to you. I must have been—"
The holofrequency went static for a second.
"Tuiw, can you read me?" Ipimnu called, trying to adjust the frequency.
She could hear a beat in her chest. Holo Frequencies don't static because of distance. They were static if it was damaged. Were they under attack?
"Auntie!"
Miraculously, the static cleared.
"Hey, don't rush me! Tubi, I was getting to that! With all your talk about how there is no death, only the Force, you are more afraid of it than I am," Tuiw cried, arguing with someone out of view. "Wait, Mako, Blizz! Why are you taking her side?!"
"Alert, oxygen levels are dangerously low," an alarm blared in the background.
"Are you under attack?!" Ipimnu cried.
"Ah, not anymore. Imma make this quick," Tuiw chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "So, my ship was attacked by Zakuulians, and it crashed on the Moon. Mako sent you the coordinates a few minutes ago,"
The holocall began to become staticky again.
"Alert. Power reserves are low. Alert. Oxygen levels are low," the alarm blared again.
There was more shouting from the background, but Tuiw didn't flinch.
"Calm down, everyone! We have what, 10 minutes till we suffocate? That is plenty of time for Ipimnu and her crew to come and save us. There is even enough time for me to make some edits to my will,"
"Why are you like this?!" someone offscreen cried.
"We are on our way," Ipimnu said, motioning for the crew to get into action.
Before Ipimnu could send the order, Koth was already at the wheels and sending the ship into hyperspace toward the crashed ship site.
Once Tuiw and her occupants were saved from her crashed ship, Ipimnu called everyone to the main lounge for a meeting. So much had happened in the past rotation that she needed to know what happened and strategize. She had more questions than answers and no plans to fix it. When Ipimnu and the crew arrived, what was left of the Zakuulian enemy was debris with Tuiw's ship stranded on an asteroid. She didn't expect to see only Mako and Blizz and the rest of her aunt's crew being replaced with her other aunt, Tubanii, and her younger sister.
Oyigresi. Ipimni was still shaking from finding her fatally injured and unconscious in the damaged medbay, hanging by a thread. Luckily, her sister was now stabilized in her ship's medbay with everyone else ready for the meeting in the lounge.
Ipimnu towered over them, some on lounge chairs and others on the floor. Only Phi-ton sat behind her, nursing a mug of spiked cider that she made for him as she waited for everyone to settle. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips as she assessed all the members of her ship.
"What happened?" Ipimnu demanded, attempting to stop her trembling hands by crossing them.
"Too much," Tubanii sighed. "And no time to explain. Oyigresi doesn't have much time. We need to go to The Alliance,"
"The Alliance?" Ipimnu asked, sorting through all the organizations with that name in her head. "Which one?"
"Hold up," Koth said, "You don't mean that Alliance,"
Tuiw chuckled. "You're pulling my leg, Koth. Of course, it is the Alliance,"
"If that Alliance you are making that face about is our best chance of stopping Arcann. Then yes, it is that Alliance. I already sent you the coordinates," Mako interjected, typing on her datapad.
"Uh, Captain," Len said in distress, looking over Mako's shoulder at her tablet. "That's Odessen's location,"
"Oh no. We are not going to Odessen. There has to be somewhere else," Koth demanded. "Don't the Voss have healers?"
"Voss is on the other side of the galaxy," Phi-ton said. "We do not have enough fuel to get there,"
"Then what about the Jedi?"
"Tython is mostly destroyed with Jedi displaced with most of our healers killed," Tubanii said. "I already contacted them, and they know about our arrival. They have both Jedi healers and even a Voss Mystic,"
"Then it's settled. We are going to The Alliance," Ipimnu said.
"But Ipimnu, they are not what they seem," Koth cried.
Koth sounded more desperate than Ipimnu had ever heard him sound which worried her. However, if this was their only chance of saving her sister, she would have to accept it. She would do anything for her.
"I don't care about any of your trepidation. My sister is dying, and they are her only hope," Ipimnu snapped before rubbing her temple. "Don't tell me you became enemies with them,"
Koth's silence was her answer.
"What did you even do?" Tuiw asked.
"I… might have tried to take a really important ship,"
"I can't believe this," Ipimnu cried.
"Hey, it was my ship," Koth said.
There was beeping coming from Oyigresi's heart monitor, causing Tubanii to jump from her seat.
"Enough! We have to hurry," Tubanii scowled, leaving to check in on her.
"Koth, will they kill you if you return?" Ipimnu asked. "Torture you?"
"No, but—"
"Good, route us to Odessen!" Tuiw shouted.
Ipimnu ended the meeting and followed Tuiw and a grumbling Koth to the cockpit.
The ship flew through Odessen's atmosphere. Ipimnu couldn't help but stare in awe at the wilderness before her. She was used to going to densely inhabited planets full of crowded cities and complications. But this was a calm planet with beautifully tall forests and mountain ranges that stretched for miles.
There was hardly any air traffic as well, only the occasional cargo ship.
"Wow. The air must be so fresh here. Look how blue the sky is!" Tuiw cheered as she looked around.
Ipimnu nodded in agreement. She looked at Koth who was deep in thought.
"Koth, I know that you had a rough time with, but they are our only hope. We also have vital intel about destroying the Star Fortresses which they would surely want. This information for you and your crew's life is more than enough. Trust me, I have done this before,"
"My life and the lives of my crew are not in danger. I wouldn't have agreed with this if I knew they were. Its just… we have our differences, and their commander is a headache," Koth sighed.
The Alliance's Headquarters came to view, the view took a devastating turn.
The structure carved into the mountain range wasn't damaged, but the land around it was almost completely destroyed. It was as if giant hands dug up the whole area. Trees were upturned and craters were left of mountains. Water from disrupted waterfalls flowed uncoordinated into the muddied craters below.
"This… is not how I left it," Koth said as he looked around the place.