Discovering an Orphan

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen had been drifting in (unknow to her) Mandalorian space for six weeks now; she quietly savored the end of her last ration packet that she had in her escape pod with her while fingering her B-8R pistol. She was scared about starvation soon because this last pack had needed to last 5 days.

She jumped when her drifting pod lurched, then began to move backwards. She grabbed the pistol off of her lap and bit her lip, then thought about her appearance. Her hair was greasy, long, and matted with dried mud, while her body was streaked with dirt and dried mud; she hadn't had any way to clean herself since she crawled out of a swamp 6 weeks ago.

She didn't know what to expect, so she put her pistol to a non-lethal setting and hesitantly pointed it towards the pod's access hatch. He pod stopped moving and settled, then the hatch opened, revealing somebody. She shot and missed, then gasped a bit when the person entered the pod.

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

As the hatch to the battered old escape pod slowly hissed open, Athena put her hand on her sword. There was no knowing who or what could be in the pod so it was always best to be prepared in case the occupant was hostile.

As the hatch finally lowered to the floor, and the smoke cleared, a single blaster bolt flew past Athena. However, as it flew by about half a meter from her face, she noted that it was in the non-lethal setting. That meant that the passenger probably was just scared, not hostile, as her initial impressions were.

She stepped into the pod, expecting anything... except for what she found. The young girl inside was a pitiful sight, covered in dried mud and grease. She was also frighteningly thin, probably from malnourishment.

Athena tried to calm the girl down,
"Don't worry, I'm here to help. My ship has food and a bath, I'll get you to a safe place."
As curious as she was about the girls situation, getting her out of the pod and into a comfortable environment came first. She would ask her about it later, after she had calmed down a bit.

Edit: Rip wrong account - was supposed to be posted from Athena Jurir but I forgot lol

 

[Aileen Jurir]

The armored figure that stepped through Aileen's pod's hatch was shockingly friendly to her. The female warrior said "Don't worry, I'm here to help. My ship has food and a bath, I'll get you to a safe place." Aileen's mouth started watering at the word food. Anything was better than the tiny packets she had been eating from. The mention of a bath sounded great too. She looked over herself, finally realizing the full extent of how much she needed one; it was embarrassing that this was her first impression to the stranger.

Her eyes began to tear up as she walked towards the taller woman. She had been dealing with severe self-esteem issues the past weeks, asking questions like "Why was I abandoned?" and thinking "I look like a mess". And then suddenly this stranger popped up and took her in.

Wiping away her tears, streaking more filth across her face in the process, Aileen quietly said "A bath would be really nice. And if you have enough food, I'm really hungry. I haven't really eaten anything besides paste in a bag for six weeks..." Then she looked up at the woman and smiled for the first time that she could remember.

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Athena laughed at the child's mention of eating paste in a bag,
"I know how you feel, don't worry, I'll get some real food ready for you in a bit."

She reached her hand out towards the child,
"My name is Athena, Athena Jurir, let's get you to a shower and I'll prep some food for you."

After Athena had dropped the child off in an empty room to clean herself off, Athena headed towards the mess. Shipboard food wasn't the best but it was certainly better than emergency rations.

As she prepared, she thought on what she would do with the survivor. Probably find out where the girl needed to go and who to contact to get her home safely. It would probably make her trip a little longer than planned but Athena wasn't so cruel to just leave a child somewhere in order to get to her destination quicker.

 

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen muttered a "Thank you" as Athena dropped her off in a private room to wash up. She quickly undressed herself and took a long shower, enjoying the hot water and vigorously scrubbing the filth from her hair and body. She changed into her old shirt and pants for the time being, then looked at herself in a mirror.

Aileen gasped as the did; her hair was long and silky, and she no longer looked in such a terrible condition. She studied herself for a while, having never really seen herself. Then she screamed as the room around her started to spin, and she was suddenly somewhere else. An open escape pod was behind her, and in front of her were three people. One was an older man, laying on the ground with a massive burned gash across his chest, one was a lady crawling toward her, and behind her an armored person holding a sinister red plasma blade.

The lady looked strikingly like her, and she pushed Aileen into the pod just as the warrior's blade was thrust through her back. The woman made a slight gasp, then her hand fell onto the eject button as she fell. Aileen was suddenly back in the room, curled into a ball on the floor and sweating. A single name floated through her mind. "JURIR"

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

As she heard a scream and a crash come from the room she had left the girl in (she still didn't know her name), Athena grabbed her blaster from her holster and rushed towards the source of the disturbance.

Reaching the door, she opened it and looked around, once again wary for any signs of danger.
"What's the problem? Is something wrong?"

As she saw the little girl lying on the floor, she rushed towards the prone figure to check for wounds,
"Hey, are you ok? What happened in here?"

If there were any enemies in the room, she was glad that she kept her armor and helmet on. It had been habit ever since she had heard of the death of her clan.

 

[Aileen Jurir]

"It's ok, there's no one here" said Aileen.

She shakily stood up, wiping some sweat off of her face. "I think that I'm remembering why I was abandoned and who I am..."

Aileen proceed to describe her nightmarish flashback to Athena, shuddering the while time. As she was telling Athena what happened though, Aileen remembered why the name in her head, Jurir, sounded so familiar. The person in front of her was Athena Jurir. When she was finished she looked at her, and with a sudden rush of memories from numerous years, stated "Yes, I remember everything now... my name is Aileen of the Mandalorian clan Jurir, and my parents and clan were murdered by Sith."

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Athena lowered her guard when the girl informed her of the lack of a material threat. However, even had she kept her guard up, she would not be ready for what struck her next.

As the girl described her flashback to Athena, a hollow feeling arose within the pit of her stomach.
No... no way.

When the girl identified herself as Aileen Jurir, Athena fell back and sat down next to the girl. She remained quiet, her mind racing with thoughts and possibilities.
After a bit of silence, she finally spoke up.
"I thought everyone was gone." She looked at Aileen, "Are there any other survivors?"

She had so many questions that she couldn't seem to find a single one to bring out next...
Calm down Athena, this girl still hasn't had anything to eat.

She stood up,
"C'mon, before we talk more, let's find something to eat."

As the pair walked down the hallway, Athena once again started to ponder the possibilities. If Aileen survived, then there could have been other survivors among the Jurir clan, and if there were, Athena would find them and bring them home. A small ray of hope started to form within her, with living proof walking by her side, she could now dare to hope that there could be other survivors from her clan.

 

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen waited for Athena to ponder over her statement and then followed her to the mess area. As she ravenously gobbled down some food she answered Athena's earlier question.

"I don't know of any other survivors. I had an older brother, but the dissappeared a day before the...ah...incedent. How did you escape?"

After taking another mouthful, Aileen quickly added "Since us two are the only family each other have, would you mind if I stayed with you for awhile? Maybe train me in the Mandalorian way of life?"

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

So she didn't know of any other survivors. It was a shame but she didn't lose sight of her newly found hope.
In response to both of the girls queries, she sighed, thinking back on the day she arrived in Mandalore.

She had just gotten off of the shuttle, ready to meet with her contact in Mandalorian leadership, when she had received a message from her father's commlink. Expecting to be able to talk to him, she had eagerly turned it on to find a horror show. Instead of her father's face, the commlink showed a room full of her dead clanmates, along with a Sith in flowing dark robes.

She shuddered,
"I was sent to Mandalore to negotiate our return, you must have been very young back then so your parent's may not have told you, but we were supposed to once again return to the service of Mandalore, after my grandfather forced us to join the Sacred Band."

Pausing, Athena took a breath,
"I wasn't even there when the massacre happened."

Listening to the little girl's request to stay together for a while, Athena winced a little behind her helmet. While she definitely wanted to keep the girl near and teach her the ways of Clan Jurir and the Mandalorians, Athena was but a single woman with duties to attend to.

She knew she would have to explain this to the child sometime, so Athena decided to do so now,
"I'll try my best. I'm working as a Commando for the Dominion currently, but I'm on break right now so we can stick together for the time being. When I go on duty, however, I will be gone a lot."

In addition to her duties, Athena now wanted to renew her efforts to find survivors of Clan Jurir, although she didn't tell Aileen this. No need to subject the child to any danger before she could take care of herself.

"So, tell me about yourself. What were your family's names? On another not, anything you would like to do or see before we get to Mandalore?"

 

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen thought really hard about her families names. It had been so long... but she did seem to remember some details.

"My father was named Ordan Jurir, a skilled assassin but also a mechanic. He was a Kiffar who married my human mother, Evlin Jurir, a doctor. My dad's older brother, Oreîn, was contacting a Mandalorian named Jar'Kel Vizsla at the time of the massacre. They were old friends trying to help with the return to Mandalore."

Aileen then took a moment to pause; her brother was a sensitive topic. "My brother was Borodan Jurir. He didn't exactly dissapear... he could move things with his mind. He was aggressive. The Sacred Band recruited him and turned him into a monster that..."

She stopped. She started to cry unable to bear the truth of what happened. Sniffing, she quietly said "...that murdered much of our clan."

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Shoot. In an effort to find out more, Athena had inadvertently brought painful memories back to the forefront for Aileen.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember that..."

She thought for a moment before speaking. Reaching a conclusion, she stood up and headed towards a console placed conveniently in the mess room.
Checking the nav charts, Athena confirmed what she suspected. Good.

She motioned to Aileen,
"Come with me for a bit." Athena wanted to cheer the child up, and she had an idea.

Bringing Aileen towards the cockpit, Athena prompted the ship to exit hyperspace (she had entered hyperspace when Aileen was showering), revealing a massive nebulae.

It was both expansive and beautiful - with millions of different colors swirling around to create a painting made of stars and gas.
"I stumbled across this when I was first heading towards Mandalore... It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Athena hoped that this sight would at least take Aileen's mind off of her dead family and brother, in order to comfort her a little.

 

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen sniffed and wiped away her tears as she followed Athena. She wasn't prepared for what she was about to see. Her mouth dropped open a little as she looked at the expansive nebulae. It was so beautiful, with hundreds of colors all over the place.

"Wow..." Aileen breathed. She had never seen anywhere in space before, except where the Sacred Band lived. Her pod hadn't had any windows.

"Is all of space this beautiful? I've never seen anything like it-"

Aileen was cut off by a quiet beeping coming from something in the cockpit. Grabbing Athena's arm to get her attention, she pointed towards the radar. A Claw-3 interceptor had just come out of hyperspace and was heading towards the ship.

[OOC] Did you like the tie into Ji'Kel's backstory in my last post? Jar'Kel is Ji'Kel's father;)

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Athena smiled as Aileen gaped at the sight before them, but when she noticed the radar, she started frowning. Upon seeing the Claw-3 Interceptor heading towards the ship in which the two Jurir's were on, Athena turned towards the communications console.

'Unidentified Claw-3 Interceptor, this is Athena Jurir of the Mandalorian Dominion - I see that you are headed towards us, what is your intention?'

Since Claw-3's were normally employed by the Dominion and their allies, Athena wasn't all to concerned with fighting. However, if it came to it, she took care to prep the Hyperspace drive for a emergency jump.

"Don't worry Aileen, it should be friendly."

[OOC] I guessed so - I'm assuming you will bring Ji'kel into this at some point?

 

[René]

Ji'Kel jumped out of hyperspace in his Claw-3 Interceptor, hoping to spend some time with his favorite attraction in Mandalorian space after a while in a boring hospital on Mandalore. But as he arrived by the nebulae, a Mandalorian cruiser was there in front of him.

'Unidentified Claw-3 Interceptor, this is Athena Jurir of the Mandalorian Dominion - I see that you are headed towards us, what is your intention?'

Kyle chuckled to himself. What a coincidence that he bump into the one Mandalorian that didn't frown when looking at him.

'Don't worry Commando. Ji'Kel Vizsla here. I just got out of the hospital after my...ah...incedent, hoping to enjoy some scenery. Mind if I dock and come aboard?'

Ji'Kel smiled to himself as he said it. The female Commando was the first person since his old girlfriend, a Dathomiri padawan, who stirred up feelings in his gut. Which unfortunately reminded him of his now briskar-covered ribs. It was good to see her again.

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Athena smiled under her helmet and turned towards Aileen.
"I was right, he is friendly." Upon seeing her confused expression, Athena decided to elaborate a bit.

"Ji'Kel and I had a little run in with a mercenary group a little while back - he got pretty badly hurt. It's the first time since I dropped him off a medibay since I've heard from him."

She once again turned to the communications panel,
'Ji'Kel! Permission to dock granted, it's good to hear from you again my friend.'

Looking towards Aileen, she said,
"C'mon, Aileen, I'll introduce the two of you."

[OOC] - Oh yeah, Athena almost never takes off her helmet unless she is alone - so neither Aileen nor Ji'Kel have ever seen her face. Just fyi :)

 

[Aileen Jurir]

Aileen was initially scared for her life. An interceptor, with some pretty strong guns by the look of things, had just left hyperspace and de attached from its hyperspace ring. Luckily, Athena was able to figure out what was going on and explained that this 'Ji'Kel' was just a friend.

As she followed Athena to the docking area, Aileen was bursting with excitement. Another Mandalorian commando, and he seemed to be good friends with Athena. Then she relied the implications of "badly hurt" and "just let the hospital" and "a while back".
"Um, Athena? Not to be rude, but how injured was this guy?"

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Athena debated telling Aileen the truth for a brief moment, eventually deciding on just telling her, as she would see for herself soon enough.
"Pretty bad. Burns, shrapnel, lost his prosthetic arm and real leg. He went through a lot of pain before passing out."

From the look of shock on Aileen's face, Athena supposed she may have understated the extent of Ji'kel's injuries when first talking about the two of them.
"Don't worry, he should be fine now, if he's out of the hospital."

She faced the airlock door as it started to hiss open, revealing the figure of Ji'kel.
"Ji'kel! Fancy seeing you here! How have you been?"

She stepped forward and gave him an embrace, careful not to accidentally bump her helmet into his face. Turning around, she swept a hand towards Aileen,
"This is Aileen. She's family, survived the... events from a couple years back."

 

[René]

Kyle stepped into the air lock after docking his ship, and was immediately greeted by Athena as the door opened. After that was over, Athena asked him how he was and introduced him to the small girl next to her, Aileen. Before seeking, he took off his helmet with a small hiss, letting his red eyes adjust to the light and revealing his blue skinned face, the right side of which was now considerably darker in color and covered in scars.

"It's good to see you Athena. As for me, I was better before the Tatooine Incedent, but I'm feeling better now. I recovered from my concussion after a week and received a full prosthetic arm and half a prosthetic leg. My ribs are also now coated with brisk ar to keep them together. Anyways, how did you find another survivor of the Jurir Massacre?"

In saying this, his hands absent mindedly fingered his lightsaber hilts, remembering the fight that had cost him so much. Finally adressing Aileen, he said,
"Hello Aileen Jurir. My name, if you didn't already hear, is Ji'Kel Vizsla, Mandalorian Commando and ex-Jedi."

Then, nodding towards Athena, he quietly said, "Do you have some time? I need your opinion on something I've been thinking about recently..."

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

In response to Ji'kel's question, Athena filled him in on how she had stumbled across Aileen's failing lifepod a little while ago and how the young child had revealed herself to her.

"Yeah, what did you need?" She turned towards Aileen, "You should go finish up your meal or look at the nebulae some more, we'll be with you right after this."

Athena was curious as to what Ji'kel had in mind, although after the fiasco on Tatooine, she couldn't help but worry a little.