Aboard the Tempest Hunter

[Aurelian Keth]

The Tempest Hunter - Mynock-Series Freighter, Hyperspace, The Corellian Run, Outer-Rim​

Aurelian was breathing heavily as he brought his blade up to parry the end of the spear moments before it took his head off. His opponent spun the blade in her hands with an annoyingly high level of competence. He felt like he was back at the duelling club at University with the rich kids and their professional fencing tutors making him look like a clumsy fool.

Taking a moment to recenter himself he circled his opponent, trying to force his breathing to slow and to calm his mind. His sword was held in the centre stance, tip pointed towards the Twi’lek’s throat with his hands down at waist level. Beneath his feet there was a faint vibration from the humming of the ship’s hyperdrive. Other than the breathing of the male and female circling one another the engines were all that could be heard.

Suddenly the spearhead was thrust towards his chest he caught it with the flat of his blade, twisted and pushed away to drive the polearm down. Countering with a thrust of his own he stepped into range wielding his vibrosword in two hands. His father had taught him a little about how to counter spears and lances, it tended to come down to “Get past the tip” and use close range to your advantage.

His foot slammed down as he moved forward while his sword shot out, tip first, in as quick a thrust as he could imagine.

Not quick enough unfortunately.

The Twi’lek danced aside with ridiculous grace, skipping to the side as she slapped him in the butt with the shaft of her Lyaer'tsa drawing an outraged yelp from the human.

“Enough!” cried Aurelian as he hopped off to the side rubbing at his backside. “I know hyperspace bores you but I think we’ve had enough exercise don’t you?”

Setting his sword vibroblade to the side he sighed. The weapon hadn’t been powered up of course, no matter how realistic his shipmate wanted their training he wasn’t going to risk that.

“I was really enjoying that book you know.” he complained thinking about the ragged old book he’d bought on Ryloth. He'd been reading it up until his friend had demanded they get a bit of physical exercise in. “Maybe now I can get back to it.”

After a sonic shower of course.

In truth the Human was being uncharacteristically snippy because of nervousness. He’d been helping the rebel cell on Ryloth for a few months now but his friend had decided it was time they go to the main rebel base that she was aware of on a planet called Savareen. Luckily it was on the Corellian Run hyperspace route, same as Ryloth, so he hoped the trip didn’t take too long.

Aurelian wasn’t much of an extrovert and meeting the rebels on Savareen scared him a little, it had taken some time to get used to the people he’d eventually considered to be like friends on Ryloth.

“So… uhm… is it much longer til we get there?”

------
@Kayenta Moenkopi

 

[Ner Giza]

Truth be told the man was giving her a better work out that she had anticipated, which was just fine with her. Still he was breathing a bit harder than herself despite his obvious skill. Oh he claimed he was no hand at combat but as his countering move showed he had received a bit of training from someone. When he countered her spear thrust he hadn’t backed away but pressed his advantage to come up behind the reach of her spear head. Not everyone knew the best ways to get round a spear and often times were intimidated by the extra reach her Lyaer’tsa provided.

This put her within range of his own blade but his tells, such as the slamming of his foot upon the ground as he advanced, were all too obvious allowing her time to sidestep the thrust of his blade. Her spear, held in both hands she pivoted round to tap his backside with the but of her spear. Ner’Giza couldn't help but chuckle to hear his yelp and when he called enough she nodded her head letting the base of the spear rest on the hull of the ship. “Oh alright. Still, you are getting better. It’s a good idea to get practice in whenever you can, Aurelian", she said speaking his true name rather than the one under which they had met.

People and their secrets, it was a non issue for her. More often than not those in their line of work had pasts from which they were running. Still, they had grown close enough in their time together to share a few details. He knew her uncle has raised her, but she never explained about what had happened with her parents, while he had given his true name as well as the reason for his flight. “Books”, she muttered, though in truth she found his drive for knowledge even after all the sorrow it had brought to be admirable.

His question made her laugh,“Did you just ask ‘are we there yet’?” It evoked memories from her childhood, going out on hunts with the family and he constant questioning when they would make it to base camp and begin the hunt! Her brother’s had teased about filing her teeth saying since she was always trying to keep up with them she might as well look the part. The memory of her brothers naturally brought forth the sadness that dwelt within her and her hand came up to the back of her neck even as she turned away to look at the navigation screen.

“Oh we aren’t that far off. We should be there within the hour. Surely that is plenty of time to get some more reading done.” Sometimes she worried about all this research into the Jedi but clearly it was his passion and she supported this. Countless markets and along the Death Wind Corridor had netted him a few prizes, at least if his reactions were any indicator of their value. She just didn’t see what good all this lore was going to do him. The Jedi were dead and gone, an extinct cult that had passed on into the realm of legend, the price of coming down on the wrong side of history. Those who lived, who died, who told their stories; The Sith? Who could say how much truth were in the old tales? There was no one to keep their flame, maybe it had never burned to begin…nothing more than bedtime stories for the hopeful.

She looked up from the screen studying his features for a moment lost in thought as his concerns shoved her own from her mind. He was nervous, that much was plain from his hesitant question. “It’s gonna be great, Aurelian. Just keep thinking of all the good we will be doing”, she moved toward the wall and placed her staff in the holding clamps mounted for its housing. “And just think, all those disparate forces in one place? No telling what doors that will open for your continued research.” She didn’t need to mention that would need to be kept on the down low, he knew better than anyone the cost of his interest in the Jedi.

 

[Aurelian Keth]

“Maybe...” he replied with a grin at the comparison she made between his query and a stereotypical childish question. Well it wasn’t unfair. He knew he was being pretty childish and he wasn’t done yet.

“Well it doesn’t feel like I’m getting better. Maybe if you’d let me win more often then my confidence could get a much needed boost.” he complained but he was smiling showing the joke behind his words. Truthfully he knew he held himself well enough in their daily fencing matches and he also knew one other thing, she was putting far more effort than he into these sparring matches than he was. Aurelian always held himself back and he wasn’t sure why. Perhaps his timid nature just instinctively made him afraid he’d hurt his friend? Regardless it was a flaw in his practice, something that he needed to try and work past.

“Maybe.” he admitted although an hour was a bit short to be studying the contents of a new book with any sort of focus. “Perhaps I’ll just go over my old notes instead.”

Chuckling he lifted his sword and walked it over the sheath hanging from a hook on the wall and slid the blade back into its housing. Once done the scholar took a nearby seat and leant back closing his eyes for a few moments. “I’m nervous truth be told, I’m not the most silver tongued individual or the strongest fighter or even a good shot with a blaster.” as he spoke he reached over to the table and lifted his blaster, a Blastech R5 Pistol gifted to him by Ner’s uncle Taln. The smuggler had cracked wise about Aurelian’s “girly gun” and had took his rather pathetic holdout pistol of him before throwing him this sturdier model. It was a fine gun, one too good for a bookworm like him.

Sighing he put the gun back on the table and looked over at his friend. “The chance to help people though? That’s worth the worry. I think we’d done as much as we could on Ryloth...” pausing he give Ner’Giza a warm smile “I know how hard it was for you to leave your home but unless this Alliance grows larger, establishes more cells, then it is doomed to fail. Maybe we can help with that, even if it’s just in some way.”

Crossing his arms Aurelian tilted his head slightly “And the Rebels there are surely no friends of the Sith. Maybe they will know something about the old Champions of Light.” Tapping a finger on the leather-bound book which consisted of his most important notes “If so perhaps they’ll have old legends I’ve not heard yet, maybe they’ll even have black market artefacts. At best some of the smugglers and wanderers may even know old Jedi sites, sites the Empire hasn’t ruined yet.”

His voice had begun to build up in passion, in emotion, with enthusiasm. Looking at Ner he went quiet. Aurelian got feelings sometimes, sometimes about what people would do or what they were thinking, feeling, just little gut feelings that sometimes turned out to be correct. Right now he was getting a familiar vibe from his friend.

“You don't think it’s worth uncovering do you?” he asked. He’d been getting the feeling she felt this way for some time, perhaps holding back comment for fear of hurting him. He'd never voiced his suspicion. Now he did. However his voice was gentle, warm and without reproach. He smiled at her openly. “You can’t understand why I’m obsessed with a cult who are extinct, unlike their age old rivals who now rule supreme.”

 

[Ner Giza]

All she could do was grin and shake her head, having gotten a feel for his sense of humor for a while now. That had taken time, however, as their cultural differences had gotten in the way. Before his words would have sound weak and complaining; now she knew it was just his means of poking fun at himself. At any rate she wasn’t sure what the issue was because he clearly had skill, and though there was no doubt about her own, she was not that phenomenal of an opponent. He should be able to stand up better against her.

’Well someday we will sort that out’ she mused silently to herself. At least she had guessed right about him being nervous over this latest venture of theirs. Watching him pick up the blaster she had to smile over her Uncle’s gift. A smuggler he might be but he had never stinted when it came to she or Aurelian’s well being. Upon introducing the two men in her life, she had invoked Twi’njanii, the Twi’leki rite of hospitality. Essentially this made her partner an honorary Twi’lek but to Taln’erca he looked upon the man as if he were her brother. “You know, Aurelian, it takes all manner of skills to keep the Rebellion alive. I can’t image that truth has been lost on this larger faction.”

The tips of her lekku twitched in a gesture that indicated she was fine, though in truth he was right. The thought of leaving Ryloth and perhaps never returning home again was daunting, she just knew it was the smart move to make if real change was ever to become a reality. Listening to her partner speak of the good they could accomplish helped to bolster her resolve further.

His later comment only made her sigh for she hadn’t wished to dampen his enthusiasm, especially when they were embarking into new space, as it were. Her lekku rose in a placating gesture as she spoke, “Now you can’t say I don’t support your research or stand by your quest for knowledge.” He was more than familiar with her views on that issue, but she had never before voiced her doubts. “It’s just that I don’t understand what good can come of it, Aurelian. Even if you can gather every scrap of lore in existence, the Jedi will still be extinct…” She shook her head, “I don’t know. Maybe the research might lead you to some artifacts that could be of use but there are none left to teach how to use the force without being swallowed up by the dark side.”

His ‘feelings’ about things, she had learned over time, were usually right, as though he got small impressions about things to which others were oblivious and she had begun to trust them. Maybe he was one of the force sensitives, it was possible. It was more than possible and it terrified her. “Stumbling around in the dark, Aure...you could lose yourself forever.”

 

[Aurelian Keth]

“I can certainly record the Alliance’s victories for prosperity.” he said with good humour. He knew there was much he could do; frankly the growing resistance against the Empire needed as many people as it could get. Even bookworms like him. He could point a gun and pull the trigger if needed, he hoped, he was just wishing that he could find ways to help people that didn’t mean he’d have to kill people. Killing, no matter how justified or necessary, would never sit well with him.

Sitting with his hands clasped on the table he watched Ner’Giza speak, still wearing a soft gentle smile, while listening to her words. His eyes flickered to her lekku which moved slightly in tune with her words. Aurelius had learnt Twi’leki as well as he could with the help of his friend and her uncle but no matter well he made the sounds, it was still incomplete. The lekku were such an integral part of their interactions. He’d learnt to read what certain movements meant but it left a permanent gap in his vocabulary.

When she was finished he let his smile widen slightly. “You’ve supported me more in my obsession than anyone has ever done Ner. I would never deny that. You are a wonderful friend.” he replied earnestly. He wanted her to understand that she could always voice her opinions around him; she didn’t need to fear that her words might hurt him when she simply wanted to state how she felt. Their honesty kept them alive; it’s what made her such a wonderful partner.

“I understand. In a few of my… less happy moments of the past I actually held the same belief.” he revealed, glancing away and running a hand through his hair. He had almost give up so many times but it almost felt that doing so would betray his parents. They had died because of his need to know more about the Jedi. He had to make that loss mean something. Clearing his throat he stood up. “It’s not about learning to be a Jedi, not about learning to use the powers that they once wielded. It takes a special kind of person to harness the force anyway. But… the Force still touches us, ordinary folk like you and I, it flows through us and across the galaxy touching all living life.” he told her. A river was how he’d always mentally pictured it. A stream of energy, of life, which ran through all of creation.

“The force is… life. When someone dies they rejoin the stream, life passes into the force and becomes one with it. A form of renewal and rebirth. Even if we’re not force sensitive we are connected to it and perhaps if we quiet our minds enough then we will be able to hear it, just a little.”

Aurelian was pacing now, becoming more passionate in his speech, his hands moving as he spoke. “From what I’ve read the Light, what the Jedi were devoted to, is about finding calm… feeling passive and I think that by using these ideals we can also find a sense of peace regardless of one’s ability to actively wield the force. With all the power the Jedi had at their finger tips, all they had to do was give in to the darkness but instead they practiced honesty, compassion and sought knowledge… protected the Republic when they could have ruled it.” he stated his voice picking up in volume. “People claim the Jedi failed the Republic but from my studies I believe it was the other way around, the Republic failed the Jedi.”

Stopping and realising how loud he was getting the man smiled and approached Ner, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. “What I mean to say is that their teachings are the opposite of the Sith. Maybe a little bit of light can help us find our way in the darkness.” he told her softly.

Stepping back self-consciously he ran a hand through his hair again, one of his usual tells, and shrugged glancing to the side. “Trying can’t hurt… right?”

 

[Ner Giza]

His claim about recording the victories was actually more important than his flippant comment made it sound. Part of her concerns was about the validity of the ‘sanctioned lore’ the Republica spread. The entirety of the opposing views had been eradicated. If they didn’t write their own histories, no one would. Their truths would die.

Leaning back against the bulkhead, she crossed her ankles and listened to him speak on his passion. His compliment caused her to turn her head and look out into space over the back of the control seats. Arms rose to fold across her chest uncomfortable with his praise for she didn’t think it was anything remarkable on her part; the tips of her lekku twitched in obvious embarrassment. No one had a right to hinder another that way, that was all. Stil, the corner of her mouth quirked up into a pleased grin.

Slowly as he continued his speech, she recovered from her discomfort to focus once more upon his face. Likewise as her focused changed so too did her expression to one of focused concentration. She knew what it was to face giving up on your dreams. Once he began pacing she took up his vacated seat upon the table watching as his pace matched the fervor of his words. Her brows knit slightly together when his talk turned from the metaphysical to that which was more political.

He seemed to check himself, and at the touch of his hand upon her shoulder her own features softened. She chuckled softly as he backed away and slipped to the floor. “It never hurts to try, Aurelian”, she said before waving him off. “But wooo, maybe after a sonic shower? You won’t be impressing anyone smelling the way you do.” Hiding behind her sense of humor, she pushed her worries down. He probably wasn’t a sensitive, anyway, right? They would have hauled him away to be one of the Sith if that was true, back then when he had to go on the run. No, he was just meddling in forbidden lore.

Moving to the control seat she said, “I’ll just keep an eye on things here.”

 

[Aurelian Keth]

"Hmm..." Aurelian made a show of sniffing the air and scrunching up his nose. "Oof… practice what you preach sister." he shot back, after making sure he took a few steps out of slapping distance.

Crossing his arms he made a show of considering her suggestion. "I mean I’d love to but leaving you alone for a few minutes with the ship? I mean how many times did you crash – ahh, I mean have ‘rough landings’ before you met me?" he asked with a friendly grin.

Beeping behind him caused the man to turn as KLT-99Z come in from the cockpit. The little astromech beeped at him and the man smiled, his droidspeak was as good as his basic thanks to the years on his parent’s farm growing up, and he nodded. "Ah that’s right little buddy, thanks.”

Ner’Giza was too sentimental and never memory wiped the droid so it had developed a quirky personality as they were prone too. Not that he blamed her, they were always more fun to work with when they had grown a personality. Ninety-Nine could be a grumpy little bugger when asked to do things.

Deciding it was time to flee before he suffered the captain’s wrath he give a little wave as he walked backwards towards the head. "Alright I’ll hit the showers first… be back in a bit.”

Turning he strode towards the ship’s tiny, cramped, bathroom with it’s little shower.

 

[Ner Giza]

In response to his theatrics, she pulled at her shirt front and effected to sniff, only to look up at him with a shrug of her shoulder and a shake of her head. It was clear she felt the air was clean and sweet as could be. She was about to make protest against his dig at her flying, though when KLT-99Z interrupted. Her mouth gaped open in disbelief at the little astromech droid throwing her into the asteroid belt like that! “Why you little...”, she muttered.

They didn’t call it the Death Wind Corridor for nothing, and well 99 knew it. That was the real reason she hadn’t wiped his memory. Those navigation routes were much too valuable to erase, especially when updates were so infrequent to come by. Surely the Alliance on Savareen had better nav coms, astrogators, and droids. She glared at hers, wishing she had one of those DT-Series droids more than ever. Calling out suddenly to Aurelian as he left she said, “Don’t you use my towel!” Humans had a tendency to shed. She shivered trying not to think about it. Wet hair stuck all over the place was just...gross.

”Come here you little traitor and check the calculations again”, she said and took up a seat at the navigation computer. A series of beeps and squeaks accompanied the sound of him moving into place. “Yes I know you already checked them, 99. Just do it again”, she said in a weary voice. Her partner wasn’t the only one who had apprehensions about their planned adventure. Crash landing was an over exaggeration, though she had her fair share of close calls. She was no expert astrogator though she knew enough that no matter how good the charts, mishaps still occurred. The Corellian Run was not a route with which she was familiar.

It was an pointless exercise, everything was fine and staring at the same figures over and over, even with the assistance of the little astromech, wasn’t going to find any errors; her uncle’s last parting gift to her were these latest charts of the Run. So it was her attention easily wandered as she mulled over Aurelian’s concept of the force.

 

[Aurelian Keth]

He didn’t take long to finish up, he couldn’t exactly enjoy himself. Aurelian hated sonic showered, no water and sonics always made his skin feel weird after he was done. Horrible. He’d been trapped using sonics on shithole worlds plenty of times over the years, usually desert worlds, and he’d never liked the things. Most cargo ships and transports he’d hitched rides on had proper showers.

The Tempest sucked.

"Don’t use my towel." he grumbled "Ha.Ha.Ha. So funny Captain."

No water, no drying required. In theory they were more efficient than water-based showers using ultrasonic vibrations to evaporate dirt and such straight of the body. Most people described them as feeling like a cold shower but to Aurelian they’d always felt a little wrong. Hot water showers were still the best in his opinion, like back on the farm and the university grounds on Coruscant. Man did Coruscant have great showers and even private baths tubs.

Getting dressed into clean clothes, his limited supply of such, the man exited the head and walked back towards the common area. Seeing she was gone the man grabbed his notebook from the table and slid the blaster lying on the table into his empty holster. Walking into the cockpit he saw that Ner’Giza was working away at the navcomputer while Ninety-Nine grouched in the corner, connected to the main computer.

"You work our little buddy right down to the chassis Captain." he said with a grin which Ninety-Nine blooped in agreement to. He enjoyed taking the little droids side because he knew it drove his friend up the wall.

Dropping into the co-pilot seat he glanced across the aisle at his friend in the main pilot chair. She was playing with her personal display although she didn’t really seem to be paying much attention.
"Would you stop worrying? The hyperspace coordinates where planned pre-jump. If something was wrong then we’d be dead already. In the middle of a star or something." he assured her with a shake of his head.

Tapping at his own console he brought up the co-pilot display to see how long was left before they entered the Savareen system. Hmm, he’d have some time to review a page or two of his notes.

 

[Ner Giza]

It was a measure of her distracted worries that when Aurelian came back in and started on about how hard she worked the droid she didn’t rise to the bait. Distractedly she said, “mhm, clear down to his little subroutines…” Usually stuff like that made her feel like they were ganging up on her and it always got her tchun-tchin in a tangle. This time she was deep in her mind worrying what their futures would bring.

Aurelian was a good hearted man, one of the few she had met on or off Ryloth. Losing himself to the darkness would be...She looked up startled as his words jarred her out of her own thoughts. “What?”, she starred blinking. It was as though she experienced delayed hearing; before he could repeat himself she said, “Oh well...I wouldn’t want to be accused of negligence. Being such a horrible pilot and all.” He knew her too well and she didn’t want to talk about what was probably nothing but hyperspace nerves. The man wasn’t going to lose his soul over a few dusty books!

Rising to her feet she grinned, patting her droid on the head as she walked out. “Hope you didn’t use all the hot water!” She knew how much he loved sonic showers and snickered her way all the way to the unit for her own.

She did have a towel, however, and after getting cleaned up she wrapped it about herself and darted to her quarters to get changed into something clean, arms full of her dirty clothes. These she dropped on the floor and then threw open her trunk for her clean things...naturally it was empty. “Oh yeah. Gonna have to have 99 throw those in the sonic shower later”, she muttered to herself as she looked through the room for the odd garment to wear. Unlike Aurelian, she liked the way the shower made her skin feel. But then on Rhyloc they were not as wasteful with their water as less arid world were.

Attired in trousers and a halter top, she fitted herself into her ranger scout suit. The armoured chest plate had been modified for her form, the helmet to accommodate her special needs, but that would not be needed and remained in her berth. Returning to the cockpit she slipped into her seat and said, “How’s that for timing”, her voice said happily upon seeing the control panel. “Prepare to leave hyperspace”, her mood had returned to a sense of anticipation as she prepared to get her first sight of Savareen. Nervous, frightened, well sure. But overall she could not deny her excitement to be joining the greater Alliance forces.

 

[Aurelian Keth]

"You’re a comedian. We should find you some work at a cantina." he said drily rolling his eyes and shaking his head in despair as she left the cockpit.

Aurelian turned to his notebook and ran a finger over the open page before sighing and shutting the book again. He didn’t want to read it. The man had found himself frustrated more and more lately with his lack of progress. He had so few clues about where he could go and hunt down Jedi lore. Everything was guesswork, two out of three times he was altogether wrong and the rest of the time, in most occasions, the Empire had already picked the holy sites clean.

Needing a distraction he got up and stepped past the droid before kneeling down next to it. "Come on buddy. Let’s play some Dejarik." he suggested. There was a holoboard in the common area, every freighter seems to come equipped with the game by default.

Ninety-Nine beeped a negatory response the man groaned and his voice took on a pleading tone. "Why not? She’s just giving you busy work!" he assured the astromech but when it responded the man sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "She will not memory wipe you. She nearly shot me when I suggested it when we first met."

The droid spinned to face him and splurted out a rather rude burst of droidspeak.

"Hey! I’m not saying she should do it! I didn’t know you back then and you have to admit, you’re a bit weird."

Grouching and grumped at him the droid bumped him hard as it left the cockpit. "Don’t pout!" he called after Ninety-Nine but it was gone already, probably to do some work down by the engines.

Standing at the doorway staring at the retreating droid he sighed. Damnit. He was about to turn away when he saw his friend dart down past the doorway to the corridor with nothing but a towel. Luckily she didn’t notice her human friend but Aurelian’s face still warmed slightly. He sometimes forgot Ner’Giza was so ridiculously beautiful. Taking his place back in the co-pilot seat he opened up his notebook although he didn’t take a word in as his eyes glazed over the page trying to wipe the thought from his mind.

Eventually she returned and he only half-heard the Twi’lek speaking to him.

"Huh? Oh yeah right. Sure." he said snapping the book shut, but avoiding looking at Ner for now. Turning to business would help him focus and get such stupid thoughts out of his mind.

Waking up his dashboard he set the computer to display the necessary readings and he reached over to put his hand on the hyperspace controls. "Confirmed. Dropping out of hyperspace in...." the man paused for a moment as he read the readout "ah… in three, two, one."

On one he pulled back the control and the ship returned to normal space. Glancing a the read out he nodded. "Looks like this is it, we’re at the edge of the Savareen system. Co-ordinates to the planet and atmospheric entry have been programmed into the computer."

He glanced over at her. "You better make sure you have the clearance codes prepared for when we approach the base’s airspace."

 

[Ner Giza]

The Twi’lek busy with her own procedural duties was oblivious to any discomfort her friend had suffered, though she wouldn’t have connected such a thing to herself if she had. As Aurelian made the countdown she grinned over at him. All their plans, months in the making, today would come to fruition. And just like that, the lightshow of hyperspace outside their vessel ceased and the darkness of true-space was open before them.
Her toothy grin abruptly went into motion as her whole expression changed. “Right”, she said turning to check the sensor readout of the area. While in hyperspace they basically travelled blind and were cut off from communications. ““Best get a move on”, she said while initiating the approach to Savareen. The ship altered its course, locking into the pre-programmed coordinates, and they were off. His voice drew her attention, turning her face toward him, as he spoke.

A bit of panic crossed her face and she hesitantly asked, ““Didn’t Taln’erca give you the codes?” His reaction was priceless and she laughed rather than prolong her torment of the man. ““Oh yeah, I do have them somewhere”, she began patting herself down as though looking for them in a pocket of her suit.

In due time they were hailed by the planet, its huge bulk coming into view. Transmitting the clearance codes, she had thought about tormenting the man once more by suggesting she manually pilot them down through the atmosphere but she restrained herself, this time. And so it was the three travelers found themselves in a bevy of activity, a more than welcome change after the boredom of hyperspace. Their lives had drastically changed and there was no telling where the future would lead them. One thing Ner’Giza knew for sure, the Alliance wouldn’t make it unless they got every available asset they could get their hands on, even a pair of smugglers such as themselves. There would be more than enough work to go around.

[end thread]