Standing outside the dingy bar she had called home for so long, Aska observed the doorway while the clattering of cups and cutlery could be heard from within. With her hood drawn over her head and a cigarra in her lips, the woman remained still along the edge of the suspended walkway as citizens of a wide array of species walked across the path between her and the door. Hesitation held her in place, however. Hesitation to see the familiar faces inside. Hesitation to face the problem that had sparked between her and one of her closest friends on Boonta Eve. Hesitation to tell them what she could come here to say…
”Go, child. Your destiny lies beyond this chapter,”
Gritting her teeth as the voice could be heard within her mind’s ear, Aska reached upward and pulled the cigarra from her mouth before ashing it at her feet. The pain in her heart tugged at her, forcing her to close her eyes.
”Not yet…” she responded quietly, though no one in ear shot would know she was speaking to someone directly.
”These people do not matter. You will see this in time,”
Anger began to boil within at the words as the voice spoke them. Deskar and Quinri had meant everything to Aska ever since she had arrived on Nar Shaddaa all those months ago. They were the family she had always been searching for and welcomed her with open arms and yet here she was, preparing to leave them behind. How could they not matter when they were all she had? Yet just as she was about to raise her voice to the one within her mind, her eyes opening again with supressed rage, she caught a glimpse of the young Togrutan woman walking out of the bar, her shift over for the night. Simply watching Quinri walking away from the building was enough to soothe her, if only for a moment as the frustration was soon replaced with the same guilt she had felt before. Still, with Quinri finally gone, she could go inside and say her good bye to Deskar without being required to deal with the heavier handed issue she faced. Sighing, she pushed herself up from the railing and took one last drag off the cigarra before flicking it over the edge, sending it on a spiral to the depths of the Smuggler’s moon.
The inside of the bar was quiet, as it nearly always was. Only a few tables held any patrons and the bar was sparsely populated though the same stool where Aska had so frequently sat upon in the past on the corner remained vacant. ’Poetic,’ she thought to herself as she moved into her seat, opting to leave her hood over her face.
”What’re ya havin’?” the Besalisk bartender asked, his back turned as he reorganized some of the bottles that adorned the shelving along the back wall. Aska couldn’t hold the smile hearing Deskar’s voice brought on, the same damn question he’d asked her what felt like a million times before.
”A hug would be great but I’ll settle for a beer,” As she finished speaking, the giant bar tender spun around, knocking a glass over into the sink at his side with shattering conclusion. Still, he ignored it.
”Aska!” he bellowed, but the young clone quickly motioned for him to keep his voice down. In response, his face contorted into one of confusion. ”Is something wrong, kid? What’s going… By the five moons, what happened to your face?” he stammered, struggling to keep his voice down. Still, Aska was impressed by the effort. The man’s booming voice could carry across a Coruscanti starport and still be heard clear as a bell, she’d wager it any day.
”Got myself into a bit of trouble, pal,” Aska replied though she was sheepish with her words. ”Big trouble. Can we go somewhere to talk?” She could see the sympathy in his big brown eyes, hints of recognizing just what she could be referring to reflecting through them.
”Was only a matter of time… C’mon. Let’s go upstairs,”
Deskar’s loft… She had never been here before, the bartender typically choosing to remain downstairs to spend time with the two girls before retiring up here when he decided they were getting to be too much for him to handle. It was far more sparsely decorated than she had ever thought it would be, though she never did really think about it. Sitting down on the massive couch in the center of the single room, Aska finally allowed herself to pull the hood back from her head to reveal the wounds she had received on Nal Hutta. One eye was still nearly swollen shut with massive cuts along both her bottom lip and bridge of her nose, parting gifts from the Quarren thug she wound up murdering. Deskar, frowning as he saw the damage, placed a small glass of rum on the table ahead of her before dropping into the massive chair behind him.
”So… What did you do?” he asked, though as she stared at the drink placed before her, she could feel his focused stare. It felt like he was asking questions he already knew the answers too.
”Well, I’m assuming you know Quinn and I aren’t speaking right now?” Aska finally allowed herself to say as she wrapped her hand around the glass. Deskar nodded slowly.
”Aye, I do. She’s ready to talk. You should go see her,”
”I’m… I’m planning on it. So you know why?” The Besalisk smirked slightly.
”Where is the slave girl?”
”Left Ali at the ship. Don’t need her getting in my way and… Don’t need her for what I’m here to do,” Looking up from her glass, tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as she looked at the giant bulky man who had been the closest thing she’s ever had to a father since leaving Coruscant. ”I gotta get off world, Desk… I made a mistake getting involved in all this shit. Terrik… Boola… Zugg… This Alzon son of a bitch… The longer I stay, the more likely I’ll be putting not just myself at risk but you and Quinn. And I can’t live with that,” Pushing the glass away from her, the tears finally started flowing, sobbing as she spoke. ”I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved in all this crap. I should have just stayed content being a dock jockey and left well enough alone,” Burying her face in her hands, everything started coming out. All the frustration she had felt since that fateful day in the skies of Coruscant, her boot firmly placed in the back of Dur’Agu’s skull. Leaving the only life she’d known just to start trying to carve out her own place in the galaxy, only to end up becoming exactly what she had sworn against becoming. Then there was the holocron from the jungles around Iziz that constantly whispered to her in her dreams. Everything flooded her at once, though if she was going to allow herself to be in such a vulnerable state, Deskar was the only person in the entire galaxy she felt comfortable with seeing her as such. Soon, she could feel the weight of his giant hand setting down on her shoulder, causing her to flinch as he agitated the blaster wound in the same location.
”Kid, you needed to do all that. If you didn’t then you wouldn’t be you,” he spoke calmly, clearly doing his best to comfort Aska but she soon lifted her face and locked eyes with him once again, her vision blurry not only from the tears but the swelling, of which was growing worse.
”That’s not even all of it!” she stammered. The flood gates had opened… ”Desk, I’m a damn clone! I was made in a freaking lab, cloned from an ancient Sith! Every choice I’ve made up until this point, they’re not mine! They’re hers!”
She had never told Deskar of who she was, where she had truly come from. All he ever knew was that she came from Coruscant and she was trying to run away from her ‘family’ before choosing Nar Shaddaa as the place to settle down. And as she explained it all, blubbering between each word, he wrapped one of his giant arms around her and pulled her in tightly. Her first response was to try and fight back from the grasp but his hold on her soon began to feel of such a comfort that she had never felt before. Besides, there was no way in hell she’d break out of his iron grip.
”Aska… I’m sorry. You’ve never told me before,” he began. ”But it doesn’t matter. You’re you, kid. Not some ancient war mongerer. Sure, you’ve got some shared similarities it seems but…” Bringing one of his other armsover, the Besalisk tousled the hair on Aska’s head as she placed her face against his stained shirt. ”You’ve got a good heart. I’ve seen it. So has Quinri. We wouldn’t have kept you around if we didn’t think ya did,” Releasing some of the weight of his arm from Aska’s shoulders, the Besalisk pushed her back to look him in the eyes again. ”We both love ya. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. None of it matters. To us, you’ll always be Aska, the girl up to no good,” Flashing his toothy grin once more, he soon pulled her back in and embraced her tightly. The wound on her shoulder ached as he did, but she didn’t care. She needed this.
”I’m going to miss you, Desk. So damn much,” she sobbed.
”Aye, I’ll miss you too. What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?”
”Boola…. She owes me a favor,” Sniffling, the clone did her best to regain her composure but never let go of the giant bar tender. ”I’m going to make her refuel the ship I took from Nal Hutta… and I’m going to run. I don’t know where yet, but I’m gone…” She lied. She knew she needed to go back to Coruscant, back to Trench and his lab. It was safer if he didn’t know…
”And the slave… Ali, you said?”
”Bringing her with me… She’s not safe here. Zugg will come looking for both of us. He’ll kill me and after everything on Nal Hutta… He might want to kill her too…” Finally, Deskar pushed Aska back before standing up from his spot on the giant chair.
”I’m not going to pry details. I understand. But before you go…” Standing from his spot, grunting as he pushed himself upwards, the Besalisk waddled back towards a closet, rustling around inside. As he did, Aska wiped the tears from her cheeks.
”I want you to have this. To remember me by,” Deskar said as he returned to her side, holding out a folded piece of fabric. Taking it from him and unfolding it, a holo projector dropped into her lap. Sniffling, she lifted it upward and activated it to see an image of all three of them sitting at a booth in the bar downstairs. All three were smiling, and the glint in Aska’s eye told her that she was wasted when it was taken.
”I don’t remember this…” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off it.
”No surprise there. It was a few months back, first time the three of us stayed after shift. Take it,”
”I… I don’t know what to say, Deskar… Thank you,” Putting the projector back in her pocket, Aska stood and leaned over before wrapping her arms around the man’s thick neck. ”I don’t need a holo to never forget you, pal. But I love it all the same,” Standing back, Aska locked eyes with the bartender one last time and she could have swore she say tears beginning to form in his. There as a first for everything it seemed. ”But I need to go…” Stepping back, Aska lifted the hood back over her face and made her way to the doorway.
”Go on, kid. And take care of yourself,”
”Go, child. Your destiny lies beyond this chapter,”
Gritting her teeth as the voice could be heard within her mind’s ear, Aska reached upward and pulled the cigarra from her mouth before ashing it at her feet. The pain in her heart tugged at her, forcing her to close her eyes.
”Not yet…” she responded quietly, though no one in ear shot would know she was speaking to someone directly.
”These people do not matter. You will see this in time,”
Anger began to boil within at the words as the voice spoke them. Deskar and Quinri had meant everything to Aska ever since she had arrived on Nar Shaddaa all those months ago. They were the family she had always been searching for and welcomed her with open arms and yet here she was, preparing to leave them behind. How could they not matter when they were all she had? Yet just as she was about to raise her voice to the one within her mind, her eyes opening again with supressed rage, she caught a glimpse of the young Togrutan woman walking out of the bar, her shift over for the night. Simply watching Quinri walking away from the building was enough to soothe her, if only for a moment as the frustration was soon replaced with the same guilt she had felt before. Still, with Quinri finally gone, she could go inside and say her good bye to Deskar without being required to deal with the heavier handed issue she faced. Sighing, she pushed herself up from the railing and took one last drag off the cigarra before flicking it over the edge, sending it on a spiral to the depths of the Smuggler’s moon.
The inside of the bar was quiet, as it nearly always was. Only a few tables held any patrons and the bar was sparsely populated though the same stool where Aska had so frequently sat upon in the past on the corner remained vacant. ’Poetic,’ she thought to herself as she moved into her seat, opting to leave her hood over her face.
”What’re ya havin’?” the Besalisk bartender asked, his back turned as he reorganized some of the bottles that adorned the shelving along the back wall. Aska couldn’t hold the smile hearing Deskar’s voice brought on, the same damn question he’d asked her what felt like a million times before.
”A hug would be great but I’ll settle for a beer,” As she finished speaking, the giant bar tender spun around, knocking a glass over into the sink at his side with shattering conclusion. Still, he ignored it.
”Aska!” he bellowed, but the young clone quickly motioned for him to keep his voice down. In response, his face contorted into one of confusion. ”Is something wrong, kid? What’s going… By the five moons, what happened to your face?” he stammered, struggling to keep his voice down. Still, Aska was impressed by the effort. The man’s booming voice could carry across a Coruscanti starport and still be heard clear as a bell, she’d wager it any day.
”Got myself into a bit of trouble, pal,” Aska replied though she was sheepish with her words. ”Big trouble. Can we go somewhere to talk?” She could see the sympathy in his big brown eyes, hints of recognizing just what she could be referring to reflecting through them.
”Was only a matter of time… C’mon. Let’s go upstairs,”
Deskar’s loft… She had never been here before, the bartender typically choosing to remain downstairs to spend time with the two girls before retiring up here when he decided they were getting to be too much for him to handle. It was far more sparsely decorated than she had ever thought it would be, though she never did really think about it. Sitting down on the massive couch in the center of the single room, Aska finally allowed herself to pull the hood back from her head to reveal the wounds she had received on Nal Hutta. One eye was still nearly swollen shut with massive cuts along both her bottom lip and bridge of her nose, parting gifts from the Quarren thug she wound up murdering. Deskar, frowning as he saw the damage, placed a small glass of rum on the table ahead of her before dropping into the massive chair behind him.
”So… What did you do?” he asked, though as she stared at the drink placed before her, she could feel his focused stare. It felt like he was asking questions he already knew the answers too.
”Well, I’m assuming you know Quinn and I aren’t speaking right now?” Aska finally allowed herself to say as she wrapped her hand around the glass. Deskar nodded slowly.
”Aye, I do. She’s ready to talk. You should go see her,”
”I’m… I’m planning on it. So you know why?” The Besalisk smirked slightly.
”Where is the slave girl?”
”Left Ali at the ship. Don’t need her getting in my way and… Don’t need her for what I’m here to do,” Looking up from her glass, tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as she looked at the giant bulky man who had been the closest thing she’s ever had to a father since leaving Coruscant. ”I gotta get off world, Desk… I made a mistake getting involved in all this shit. Terrik… Boola… Zugg… This Alzon son of a bitch… The longer I stay, the more likely I’ll be putting not just myself at risk but you and Quinn. And I can’t live with that,” Pushing the glass away from her, the tears finally started flowing, sobbing as she spoke. ”I shouldn’t have ever gotten involved in all this crap. I should have just stayed content being a dock jockey and left well enough alone,” Burying her face in her hands, everything started coming out. All the frustration she had felt since that fateful day in the skies of Coruscant, her boot firmly placed in the back of Dur’Agu’s skull. Leaving the only life she’d known just to start trying to carve out her own place in the galaxy, only to end up becoming exactly what she had sworn against becoming. Then there was the holocron from the jungles around Iziz that constantly whispered to her in her dreams. Everything flooded her at once, though if she was going to allow herself to be in such a vulnerable state, Deskar was the only person in the entire galaxy she felt comfortable with seeing her as such. Soon, she could feel the weight of his giant hand setting down on her shoulder, causing her to flinch as he agitated the blaster wound in the same location.
”Kid, you needed to do all that. If you didn’t then you wouldn’t be you,” he spoke calmly, clearly doing his best to comfort Aska but she soon lifted her face and locked eyes with him once again, her vision blurry not only from the tears but the swelling, of which was growing worse.
”That’s not even all of it!” she stammered. The flood gates had opened… ”Desk, I’m a damn clone! I was made in a freaking lab, cloned from an ancient Sith! Every choice I’ve made up until this point, they’re not mine! They’re hers!”
She had never told Deskar of who she was, where she had truly come from. All he ever knew was that she came from Coruscant and she was trying to run away from her ‘family’ before choosing Nar Shaddaa as the place to settle down. And as she explained it all, blubbering between each word, he wrapped one of his giant arms around her and pulled her in tightly. Her first response was to try and fight back from the grasp but his hold on her soon began to feel of such a comfort that she had never felt before. Besides, there was no way in hell she’d break out of his iron grip.
”Aska… I’m sorry. You’ve never told me before,” he began. ”But it doesn’t matter. You’re you, kid. Not some ancient war mongerer. Sure, you’ve got some shared similarities it seems but…” Bringing one of his other armsover, the Besalisk tousled the hair on Aska’s head as she placed her face against his stained shirt. ”You’ve got a good heart. I’ve seen it. So has Quinri. We wouldn’t have kept you around if we didn’t think ya did,” Releasing some of the weight of his arm from Aska’s shoulders, the Besalisk pushed her back to look him in the eyes again. ”We both love ya. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. None of it matters. To us, you’ll always be Aska, the girl up to no good,” Flashing his toothy grin once more, he soon pulled her back in and embraced her tightly. The wound on her shoulder ached as he did, but she didn’t care. She needed this.
”I’m going to miss you, Desk. So damn much,” she sobbed.
”Aye, I’ll miss you too. What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?”
”Boola…. She owes me a favor,” Sniffling, the clone did her best to regain her composure but never let go of the giant bar tender. ”I’m going to make her refuel the ship I took from Nal Hutta… and I’m going to run. I don’t know where yet, but I’m gone…” She lied. She knew she needed to go back to Coruscant, back to Trench and his lab. It was safer if he didn’t know…
”And the slave… Ali, you said?”
”Bringing her with me… She’s not safe here. Zugg will come looking for both of us. He’ll kill me and after everything on Nal Hutta… He might want to kill her too…” Finally, Deskar pushed Aska back before standing up from his spot on the giant chair.
”I’m not going to pry details. I understand. But before you go…” Standing from his spot, grunting as he pushed himself upwards, the Besalisk waddled back towards a closet, rustling around inside. As he did, Aska wiped the tears from her cheeks.
”I want you to have this. To remember me by,” Deskar said as he returned to her side, holding out a folded piece of fabric. Taking it from him and unfolding it, a holo projector dropped into her lap. Sniffling, she lifted it upward and activated it to see an image of all three of them sitting at a booth in the bar downstairs. All three were smiling, and the glint in Aska’s eye told her that she was wasted when it was taken.
”I don’t remember this…” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off it.
”No surprise there. It was a few months back, first time the three of us stayed after shift. Take it,”
”I… I don’t know what to say, Deskar… Thank you,” Putting the projector back in her pocket, Aska stood and leaned over before wrapping her arms around the man’s thick neck. ”I don’t need a holo to never forget you, pal. But I love it all the same,” Standing back, Aska locked eyes with the bartender one last time and she could have swore she say tears beginning to form in his. There as a first for everything it seemed. ”But I need to go…” Stepping back, Aska lifted the hood back over her face and made her way to the doorway.
”Go on, kid. And take care of yourself,”
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