Double act

[Alora]

The low hum of the engines somehow soothed Alora's troubled mind. For years she was a wild beast, crawling the dumps of Nar Shaddaa. Then Ral and Carii happened on her path and pulled her out of that trash-pit. She wasn't ungrateful, far from it. But she had trouble expressing her gratitude. They took her in, Carii definitely tried to care for her, but Alora pushed away. She wasn't accustomed to being cared for, it felt alien to her. They took her with them on their journey, even a job to Nal Hutta. Details don't matter to her now, they tried to bring her back into society. Her society, the mando'ade. It felt like they were trying to tame her, but she gritted her teeth and kept silent as best as she could. And then she blew it, all at once in an instant.
The Alii'aliit, the meeting of the clans. Men spoke, particularly one. Sisk Renelo, a clan chief who proclaimed himself Mand'alor. The memory still brought vile to her mouth. He called to arms, to lead a war against the Imperium. A suicide war, suicide for the whole mando nation. And many agreed with him. But Alora wouldn't. She couldn't. So she spoke up. She didn't lie, she didn't try to manipulate, she didn't try to anger or insult anyone. She just spoke what she thought, what she felt deep inside her heart.
But people around her were not used to being told about their failures right into their faces. Especially this new "Mand'alor". It was the difference between being an animal and being one of the "civilized" people. So they alienated her, banishing her from the mando society.
"No matter," Alora thought angrily. "I can wait."
And now, weeks later, she was here, sitting on the bunk in the spaceship flying Force knows where. One favor Carii did her. She was definitely angry with Alora, but this request she didn't turn down.
Now Alora was sitting on the bunk and stared into the dull and dusty visor of a worn and mandalorian helmet. One painted in red and orange once, now almost totally grey, the paint worn off. Her mother's helmet.
Carii brought Alora back to Nar Shaddaa and they found the crash-site, where Alora's ship crashed all those years ago. Alora didn't want to leave her buir on the ugly rock she came to hate. It wasn't the mando way, to care so much about bodies. They weren't relevant, only the soul mattered and the soul lived on as long as the person was remembered. That made Mandalors of old almost immortal. But Alora didn't care.
They buried her mother in the soil of Concord Dawn. Alora wanted to do it on Manda'yaim, but Carii just showed her a hologram of what Mandalor's surface looked like today. Alora agreed that it wasn't a good idea.
Now that low metal locker held her mother's beskar'gam. All of it. Not just a plate or gauntlet. All of it.
- We'll need to replace most of it, - Carii told her then. - It was mostly durasteel and it all twisted and damaged. Most of the circuits are fried and the chipsets rusted away. But the helmet looks to be made from beskar. Will need just new paint work and some repairs on the systems and insides. The visor too.
Alora just nodded to her then. It didn't matter. It was hers now.
Zeera lifted her head from her paws and looked at the hatch leading to the cockpit. Then she looked at Alora and tilted her head questioningly. Alora sighed. Carii was very on edge lately. She parted with her husband, one she surely loved and cared for. And it was Alora's fault, no doubt about that. If Alora could help her, fix her mistakes somehow, she would do it instantly. But she couldn't change the past. And she couldn't change the way she thought and felt. But she will bear the guilt from this moment on. And she hoped she will someday get the chance to repay Carii for her care and patience.
- We are just butterflies, living a single day in the light of the Universe. And then we face the coming of night and die.
It wasn't her own wisdom of course, it was a saying she heard more then once from one of the preachers, who tried encouraging the inhabitants of Lower City of Nar Shaddaa. She didn't believe a word of it then. But now she was starting to believe it.
- But we'll let the Galaxy burn before we die, won't we, Zeera?
Zeera growled something unintelligible, laying her head back down on her paws and closing her eyes. Alora sighed and climbed up the ladder into the cockpit. Carii was sitting in the pilot's chair, inputting some navigational data into the terminal. Her helmet rested on the copilot's seat. Alora didn't dare to touch it before, so it was a sign that Carii didn't want company at the moment. Alora silently turned around and crouched to the hatch, intending to leave Carii to herself.
- It doesn't help if you keep hiding from me, acting like you're a ghost.
Alora bit her lip.
- I know I caused you trouble.
- Trouble? - Carii smirked. - Girl, you almost got yourself killed, drove Arya into combat against Sisk and ruined my marriage. No girl, you didn't cause me trouble. You caused one hell of a havoc.
Alora pursed her lips and didn't reply.
Carii wanted to say something else, but then suddenly the comm terminal beeped loudly. Both Carii and Alora stared at it for a few moment. A bright red light was flashing above the console. Emergency transmission, Code Red.

 

[Ral]

This sucks.

The words kept repeating themselves over and over in Carii's mind ever since the gathering of the clans. For whatever reason it was the only thing that persisted in the woman's thought processes. Over and over they rang only to send the auburn-haired woman deeper and deeper into a state of semi-depression. Saying goodbye to Ral only worsened the situation as she wished she could have done or said something to have changed what ended up happening, but she knew she couldn't take anything back. The truth was that there had been signs things might not have been going alright for a while, but both had chosen to ignore them. Until the convocation when it all boiled over because of Alora. Carii wanted Alora to remain with them so they could raise her properly, and induct her into Mando'ade society, but Ral was loyal to Sisk who insisted she be taught a lesson. In either case, Ral let Carii go so they could spend some much needed time apart and figure out what they both were doing with their lives. So there she was alone with the teenage orphan aboard her husband's ship. With a heavy sigh she tried to decide when she'd get around to giving him his own stuff back, well giving him his ship back; she didn't need it. She hoped that after some time they could work their issues out, but she knew that wouldn't be for a long time if it happened at all.

Looking at the console in front of her, she checked what the emergency transmission seemed to be about. "Vix? What in the blazes are you doing out here?" The woman muttered to herself as she looked at the transmission's encryption code. The message was tagged for Carii; Vix was trying to contact her. It contained a set of coordinates that led to a space station only a short jump away. Vix was a Mandalorian female Carii had met on Lok while looked for other Mandalorians to rally, and had seen her again on the space station. They didn't get a chance to speak much, so Carii didn't know why she was in this sector of space, but she was more than interested enough to find out why. Entering the coordinates into the navigation computer Carii gave a quiet sigh before glancing at Alora nearby. With a quick tap of the control panel, Carii sent a confirmation message to her friend so that she would know help is on the way. "On my way Vix, be there shortly. Looks like we'll be headed into some interesting action..." She stated loud enough for Alora to hear, but in such a way that it was clear that Carii was mainly talking to herself. Once the hyperspace coordinates were locked in Carii made the jump and the pair of females were well on their way.

Turning to face Alora, Carii did her best to keep herself from shouting at the girl outright. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed and started to speak. "Look, I know you did what you thought was right, but next time you pull a stunt like that and I'll drop stick you in a pit of starved Vornskr and let them do the rest. I am not going to let you throw away your life on some stupid self-righteous quest. I didn't take you off of that cesspool and into my home so you could just go and kill yourself. Is there an understanding between us?" With a heavy sigh, Carii rubbed her temples; the red-haired woman didn't really care what the teenager said in reply; she could feel another migraine coming on, they were very common after what had happened with Alora. Opening her ice blue eyes she looked back to the emerald-eyed girl in front of her. "Look, no matter what you or I, or anyone says, you're still Mando'ad; it's in your blood. You're strong; smart, if only in a savage way for the moment, but we can work with that; you're pretty as well, with a little work you could have boys swooning over you. These are all tools, all weapons in the right hands. You stick with me and you'll become the huntress that parents tell their children about as a horror
story... So, Alora. Now that you've mucked up my life and burned several bridges, what are you going to do with yourself?" She sat back and waited for the reply from the younger brunette.

 

[Alora]

Alora kept her lips pursed while she listened to Carii's rebuke. The woman didn't seem to disagree with her like Ral did. But it was clear that Alora went about it the wrong way and caused so much trouble to people around her. Well, that’s what you get when you're dealing with a wildling. No social experience, no tactics, no sense of moderation. Only a burning hate, savage violence and refusal to back away.
At the last comment Alora half-smiled.
- They already tell horror stories about me…
But she shut up under Carii's angry glare. After a minute of silence she managed to squeeze a reply from her mouth:
- I'll follow your lead.
- Good. We settle on this then. For now. Now get back in your quarters and make preparations, it looks like we'll be pulling a friend out of trouble. I might have need of your… special skills.
Alora grinned and dashed to her compartment. On her way she passed by the deactivated bes'uliik. The thing belonged to Ral and Carii was determined to return Ral what was his. It was such a shame. Alora vaguely remembered stories about these beskar beasts. She even dreamed of riding one of these. But she won't get the chance it seemed.
- One day the Galaxy will shake with fear under the feet of Basilisks. But not yet…
In her cabin she dumped the plain clothes and put on the thick flightsuit and an armored vest Carii lent her. Not proper beskar'gam, but it will have to do. She pulled on her mother's gauntlet, locking it around her forearm. And she slid the beskad in the sheath, fixed below her back horizontally on the waist level.
She looked at her mother's helmet still standing on the bunk. How great it would be to put it on, have a face of a real mando'ad. But it wasn't functional at the moment, she'll be blind and deaf. "Later."
Zeera paced in circles around the cabin, clearly impatient.
- We're going hunting, Zeera, - Alora said, kneeling beside the beast and running her hand over the strill's head. - Mhi ven oya'kari…
The ship shuddered as it entered the hyperspace. Soon the hunt will begin.

 

[Hasanna Everglade]

Vix gave A sigh of relief as she lay back against her seat. One arm lay at her side, the other? Around a still aching hole in her armor. She had miscalculated here... and now here she was, relying on HK to keep watch while she recovered... it was pathetic.

Those scavengers were more organized than she thought, her ships systems were scrambled... she was stuck here fighting them off, barely able to get a signal out to Carii and now? It was a waiting game, like a messed up game of chess.

And right now? She was the one close to getting checkmated.

 

[Ral]

"What am I doing with my life? Huh old boy?" Carii asked the Basilisk War Droid as it sat in the cargo hold of Udese. She had activated it, but with little room to move it mostly just sat there and stared at her emotionlessly; she had the desperate need for companionship, at least with someone or something that hadn't turned her life upside down and spun it on its head. Deep down, Carii hoped everything would turn out alright, that it would all be settled for the better. She hoped, even though she was doubtful it would ever come around to that. At the very least they were going to meet Vix again, someone whom she enjoyed the company of even if they hadn't spent much time together before when they met on Lok and on the space station for the conclave.

The alarm went off, and Carii, now in her own beskar'gam quickly climbed the catwalks and stairs until she reached the cockpit. They had just dropped out of hyperspace near the space station that Vix had sent her message from. There were a pair of ships, salvages or pirates of some such unsavory nature also docked there as well. Great... this just keeps getting better and better. She thought as she quickly maneuvered her ship into a docking position with the space station. As soon as the ship had achieved a hard seal, Carii raced back down to the cargo hold where the main docking hatch was. Looking to the Basilisk she nodded at it, "Keep this ship safe, old boy." And though as if it were acknowledging her request the war droid up a little, lifting its head up a little higher. Turning back to the teenager Carii's face soured. "I'm going after Vix, have your fun but get back before I leave. We won't be staying any longer than we have to." The woman replied quite curtly before opening the door.

Placing her buy'ce on her head, Carii grabbed her rifle and moved in. There were no enemies to be seen, in fact besides Alora wandering off there wasn't anyone to be seen. Interesting... she thought as she looked around breathing slowly as she considered her options. Activating the comlink in her helmet, Carii sent a message to Vix on the same channel she had used to contact her. "Vix, this is Carii. I've arrived on the station and I'm on my way to meet you, give me your position and I'll come get you. What's your situation? Over." She stated trying to be calm despite how rapidly her heart was pumping in her chest. Taking a step forward, Carii eyed her surroundings waiting for her friend to respond to her message.

 

[Alora]

As the ship docked with the station and the hatch hissed open, Zeera darted through it, growling under her nose. Alora sprinted after her. Plan was simple. The attackers, whoever they are had Carii's friend pinned down. So to get her out they needed to lift the pressure. And that meant distraction, diversion. Something that will attract their attention enough to pull forces off their rescue target. And Alora had just the thing.
In few minutes the alarm went off, filling the corridors with sirens and red lights. Perfect. The pair of killers slipped into the shadows and began their hunt.
First was an easy one. A sentry guard, standing in the wide corridor, smoking, and keeping a watch out on the way to main hangars. Zeera never even paused when her fangs torn through the man's armored vest and collar. His buddies found him hanging upside down from the gas pipe a few minutes later, throat ripped out and empty eye sockets bleeding. His face was a mask of terror.
Next was not so hard too. A guy on patrol, checking guard posts in the east part of the station. He was found fifteen minutes after the first one, a comlink shoved deep into his throat, palms nailed to the wall with pneumopistol.
The third was a little trickier. He wasn't alone, so Alora had to make a small noise to get his attention. The man waved one other man to follow him to investigate the strange clicking from the side corridor. Zeera jumped the following guy, while Alora gunned the lead man's legs with the same nailgun she used before. Silent and effective. She was beginning to like this tool. The rest of the group would come looking for the man in a minute and find him sprayed on the floor with his heart cut out and face deformed by a few dozens of nails forming a look of a hedgehog back. The man was still twitching, gurgling in his throat, but he too died.
Three victims did the trick. Alora heard shouts from the pirates as they called for backup. "Assassins, multiple!" she heard. Well, that was partly true. She grinned in the darkness of the airvent and crawled forward. Zeera was leading the way.
In the next ten minutes a big group of pirates emerged from the large gate.
- Spread out and find them! I need them alive so I could teach them a lesson!
Well, alive will be difficult. Alora never did "alive" herself.
- Carii. West corridors clear, you can go in. But try to keep out of sight. Ill draw more of them here to give you a clearer path.
- Got it. Moving in. And when this is over we will have a serious talk about your... methods.
Alora smirked and cut the comm as she leaned out and shoved her beskad through the passing pirate's skull. The man died without a single sound. With one swing of the blade the head came off the neck. Alora bent a single metal rod of the grate and stuck the head onto it, like a relic on display in some weird museum. Then she slipped back into the shadows.
"I'm sure we will, Carii... I'm sure we will."