Ask The Wild Adventures

[Trextan]

"This is the mining colony of Zennox Five. We need help from anyone who receives this. We can't offer you much, but we are desperate. Moff Baskin was supposed to protect us when he brought what was left of his men here, but he's only protecting himself. A week ago several outlaw vessels landed beyond our town, demanding their friends be released from his prison.

"He refused and they have been fighting ever since. Baskin won't let us leave. Not even our families. Those of us who could, fled to the mines, but the outlaws are already here. The rest are in the town with the troopers. Not an hour goes by without blaster fire. Please. We're desperate."

Trextan slumped back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest. His arm, once new and shiny, now looked weathered and slightly corroded. The robes which had once amused Choli had not been worn for nearly a year. The image of the woman flickered out. The blue holo had been degraded and hadn't conveyed colour, but he could tell she was well into her middle years. It felt genuine.

He flicked a switch and a star map appeared on a small display to his left. Small red lines crossed the black screen, locating the origin. It was a long way from the Coalition, far from the Jedi or even the Rangers. It was a rock with a handful of colonies. The kind of place a fleeing imperial warlord would hide.

"We should help them," he declared, turning to @Choli Vyn. There was a rare determination in his eyes.

 

[Choli Vyn]

On @Trextan's right, the former resistance X-Wing Lieutenant Commander Choli Vyn would lean forward, her forearms resting at the tops of her thighs, her fingers interlocking lightly against one another. There was a deep furrow in the middle of her brows, her olive face deeply contemplating the holo message their ship picked up. She already had an expressive face, but it was her eyes that gave away her emotions, irises a swirling kaleidoscope of dark grays, viridian, and hazel gold. While one could argue that the amount of time the pair had spent together could collectively be considered a few months since they met on Polis Massa, Trexton would have little trouble determining the pensive wariness Choli was feeling. If there was any doubt, it would display itself in the careful tone of her voice as she questioned, “It could also be a trap.” she countered, both brows rising and fingers giving a slight lift from their entanglement.

Choli did not say this to indicate that she wouldn’t want to help; on the contrary, the young woman was far more apt to jump the gun and help when required. However, her time with Chloe and understanding how the hyperlanes this far out could provide the perfect opportunities for pirates or other folks of ill repute to take advantage of a wandering spacer would prompt her to take a step back and look things over a bit more.

“This far out, bait traps are likely.” she continued, giving a slight toss of her head to push back the loose wisps of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. She wore a long-sleeved black blouse and tanned leather breeches reinforced with leather padding on the thighs. Gone were the bright orange flight suits she used to wear. By and large, she would wear clothing that would still cover up the bulk of her body, but after her time with the squadron and under Chloe’s care, Choli had begun to relax a little bit more with it. Nonetheless, it would be a far cry before she’d be seen in anything remotely close to the revealing attire she'd seen a few Twi'leks in the space port cantina wore.

 

[Trextan]

"They didn't offer a reward though…" Trextan mused. He wasn't countering her from his tone, but was thinking it through. He had learned the value in heeding her warnings. There was not much to go on to narrow it down.

Trextan leaned over his small display, eyes narrowed in concentration. What he wore on the ship depended on how badly the squib repaired atmospherics were working. Right now the ship was warmer than he liked it. He wore a simple, short-sleeved vest and cargo pants. As he had passed eighteen he had started to put more weight on his frame. Broader across the chest, his artificial arm no longer looks so out of proportion.

"Signal was definitely broadcast recently, it's not a repeat. Only a couple of systems over. If it was a trap, where would they hit us? I want to go and check it out," he said plainly.

That had changed a little too. It wasn’t long since they had set off from Chloe's ship, but in such close confines, he had learned to get to the point with Choli.

 

[Choli Vyn]

He has a point, Choli thought, bringing her right hand up to rub the side of her jaw. The dark slashes of her brows were still drawn together, her mind going over steps and choices they would need to make. With a deep intake of breath, she gave a sharp exhale, blowing hot air through her nostrils, flaring the sides of her nose as the pilot replied, “Well, we are not in any state to try to make a stealthy approach.”

That same hand along her jaw motioned around her. Their ship oftentimes was held together by more meshtape than parts. Granted, maybe that is a plus to our favor. Who is going to consider stealing this ship? It already looked like a salvage job.

Well, I have to count everything that is to our advantage...

With a slight push of her foot, Choli drew closer to @Trextan, aiming for the navicomputer. A flick of a switch and quick input of coordinates and the distance to Zennox Five came into view.

“It’s off the beaten path where I’m not sure how well we’d be on fuel.” she began, the light from the nav computer and the star map reflecting a blue sheen across her face.

“Since it is a mining colony, odds are we can find a place to refuel…. But with that situation, not sure how well the odds are that we could refuel there.” those color-changing eyes went flickering back towards Trextan.

“What would be the plan to deal with the outlaws?” She wanted to see if Trextan had an idea on how he would want to approach it.

 

[Trextan]

He slowly rocked back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew full well that picking a rash plan was going to rightfully earn him some scorn. He had a habit of going with the flow of the Force, trusting his abilities. It had gone wrong enough times that he recognised a need to do more here.

"If we go to the mines they'll think we want to steal ore," he reasoned. "We would need to convince them that the miners should be allowed away from the conflict. But I don't know what to do about the town. Not without drawing more attention than we can deal with. It sounds like it's…under siege. I don't know how we could deal with the Imperials," he admitted.

Trextan touched a hand to her shoulder as she checked out the navicomp. When people were in danger they would try and help them. Trextan had been quite enamoured with the way Chloe lived her life like that. At the same time, the two of them had been through enough war for a lifetime.

 

[Choli Vyn]

“We could try and contact both to see if we can somehow convince them to let us escort the miners from the town…” Choli began, her teeth already biting on the fullness of her lower lip in contemplation. This was a hard one. Choli wasn’t known to be the best at negotiating; she usually was rather blunt about matters and more often than not that didn’t fare well when dealing with other people out of the scope of those who preferred her no-nonsense attitude.

“... even if we manage to come to terms with the outlaws on letting us get close to the town, there are still the Imperials to deal with.” the warmth of his hand began seeping through the fabric of her blouse. In the back of her mind was the nascent inkling of the proximity of his presence, the one that became a bit more aware of when the Jedi Knight would touch her. Back when they first met, Choli had no qualms about getting into Trextan’s space, especially when it dealt with his cybernetic arm. Nowadays, while still awkward, it was a curious, stomach fluttering experience.

Glancing over her shoulder, hazel green eyes would fill with a curious perplexity, “ Unless….” her mind began to race.

This might not be the worst idea. “You think we can just negotiate with the outlaws that we can get their friends out of that imperial prison to get them to leave Zennox Five faster?”

Well, that was one way to kill two womprats with one stone.

 

[Trextan]

"Huh," Trextan replied. He hadn't thought of that. If the outlaws went away then the miners could return to their business. His only worry was that the Imperials would use them as human shields should some kind of authorities come calling.

Trextan left his hand on her shoulder for now, but he was very aware of it too. On a few occasions, they had become quite swept up in a kiss and in letting their hands express affection through touch. Outside of those moments, it was all quite new still. It seemed odd to him that an innocent touch took more conscious effort than squeezing her bum when they had lost themselves in a heated kiss.

"What if the ones in the prison actually…deserve to be there? Imperials lock up all kinds of people, but some must be criminals. But right now, it does sound like the best plan. I can convince a few people at a time, but not like…a crowd."

Trextan could throw his presence into the Force, but his control and concentration could not be readily split between tasks.

 

[Choli Vyn]

The bemusement that went washing over Trextan’s expression at her idea would prompt an upward twitch at the corner of Choli’s full mouth. Slanted eyes with dark green irises would twinkle with mild amusement. For the moment, @Trextan’s hand was forgotten amidst the rising desire to quip at him, “Work smarter not harder, Trextan,” case in point, she brought her left hand up to aim to give his forehead a slight flick.

“We will not be able to dig anywhere into the holonet or their files to know who exactly is in that imperial prison. Chloe has often told me that this far out people make their own version of justice -- how the Moff is acting with not giving the miners protection is a prime example. He is only looking to cover his own hideout here, likely because he will not be getting any reinforcements anytime soon.” With everything going on in the galaxy, it made sense that people were sticking to their own little worlds and trying to find some way to survive.

“Maybe getting whoever it is out to the outlaws might encourage them to leave.” a small shrug of her shoulder and her expression turned serious, “Or it might not. For all we know, it could just be an excuse to take the mines.”

“We can try to see what information we can get by trying to get to the town first… maybe not go into it too blind. I’m just not sure how well Imperials might take to us if they start asking questions.”

 

[Trextan]

Trextan blinked on reflex just before her fingernail struck him on the head. When his eyes opened they managed to say 'really?' He would have smiled were they not tackling such a dilemma.

These days he was more likely to smile. She had drawn that out of him on Tatooine, but it had taken more than that. When the resistance had collapsed he had shed a great weight of responsibility. It didn't hang so heavy from his shoulders. No Sith using him, no Jedi code to subscribe to. Not even the expectations of his father.

Trextan looked down at the navicomp, listening for the Force. It didn't draw any clear path before him, but it didn't push him away from their planned course of action either. Understanding what was behind the subtle direction of the Force was beyond him.

"I like it. If we can get to those miners who escaped into the mines, or even reach them on the comms when we get there then it might become a bit more clear."

 

[Choli Vyn]

“Okay, let us do that then,” Choli responded with an affirmative nod. Now that they made their decision it was time to make the next move. A quick confirmation of the coordinates she’d entered earlier and their destination was set.

“I set the coordinates, once we jump into hyperspace, we should get there in a few hours.” They might be flying at hyperspeed, but that didn’t mean that they would get there fast. They were in the Outer Rim now, and stops were few and far between for civilized worlds or trade stations. While they were likely to find an fuel or trade station out here, even Choli couldn’t one hundred percent place her faith in that.

“Any ideas if we are going in with our real identities or would you rather come up with something?” if that were the case, then they would need to get their story straight -- and hope that neither of them messed it up. She swung on her chair to face the piloting console, the motion prompting her shoulder to slip away from Trextan’s hand. Her arms swung up, moving across the console to get them ready to jump into hyperspace.

A passing glance went darting over to the former Jedi Knight, “if it is the latter, try to come up with something that I can at least remember.” or pronounce. It was harder for Choli to try and pretend to be someone she is not, so it took some time for her to prepare for anything undercover. One of the many reasons why she did better flying behind a cockpit than doing anything that dealt with information gathering. Give her a wrench to turn or ship to fly any day.

@Trextan

 

[Trextan]

"I think we just avoid the name Voidstalker if we're dealing with imperials," he replied. "Trextan…Tan?"

He turned his chair towards a console to his side. On a small stand, his saber was being charged. The old white hilt had gone, replaced with something in burnished brass. It sill formed a silver blade, turned to the powerful durindfire crystal.

He unplugged it and picked it up with his left hand. A small compartment opened in his right forearm. The paddle beamer had been in there once. Now there was a space for his lightsaber and a small mechanical arm that snapped out. It could push the saber right into his hand if he needed it quickly.

Trextan carefully pushed it into the compartment. It was a tight fit. The door slid shut. Out in the rim there were not many lightsaber being flung around. He preferred not to use it at all.

"How long till we get there? We can stick to mostly who we are. Say we needed fuel."

 

[Choli Vyn]

“A little less than two hours,” Choli replied, giving a flick of her wrist on another toggle before placing her right hand on the hyperdrive lever.

“Buckle up then, Tan,” she would remind him, the corner of her mouth twitching again, giving him a heads up that she was about to initiate the jump. He had a point. Voidstalker had a tendency to draw out the most curious of reactions. Sometimes a bit more volatile than most. Certainly in former Sith territory. Trextan’s surname would come up in the most interesting of places; one recent holonet search resulted in a rather interesting fanfiction with a former Sith senior leader.

Needless to say, Choli never closed out of a browser as fast as she did after reading the first few paragraphs...One would hope @Trextan never managed to find it.

Throughout the ship, they would be able to feel a slight rumble, as if the ship was stretching out its muscles for the jump. There was still the small chance things wouldn’t go as planned with every jump into hyperspace. Somehow, someway, they’ve managed to do well thus far. Squibs were able to make functioning ships out of trash, complete with tensor beam technology considered to be the most powerful in the galaxy. Choli was able to maintain it, but there was no forgetting that this ship was constructed from a mix match of spare parts.

“Jumping in three, two… one.” The stars ahead began to elongate, the lurch of jumping into hyperspace sent them both back into their seats, the motion causing both chairs to give a shudder and creak in protest. It had a bigger kick than that of an x-wing, something that Choli figured she could fix but that required some more parts that neither of them had currently.

Cash-flow and how to get it had been an increasing pressure. Neither of them was on a payroll anymore, and the realities of life meant that they had to get food, water, supplies, and fuel from somewhere -- and that required credits.

That was another topic they both had to discuss. What to do next about that.

 

[Trextan]

Trextan rocked in his seat to the kick of the jump. It always made him slightly nervous that the inertial dampener were going to fail and he would be painted across the back of the cockpit.

"I already hate Tan, but feels like it's already stuck. You know, every time we do that I wonder if it'll be the last this ship manages," Trextan said, looking out at the cerulean swirls of hyperspace.

Pulling up a map of the settlement, even if it was twenty years old, he downloaded them to his arm. It had gone silent after his resistance cell had collapsed, but Choli had helped him replace the circuitry inside. Now it was just a general-purpose terminal and comm unit in his arm.

Trextan had learned to trust her piloting in trial by fire. He had never felt a fear quite like the one that had gripped him on the flight out of the resistance hospital. It had looked like they were about to crash every single second as her hands danced across the controls.

"Guns and power packs?" he asked, swiveling his chair and pushing himself to his feet. The ship wasn't large. The cabin was just behind the cockpit with two small bunks. Choli had the top one. Behind that was a remarkably compact galley, if it could even be called that. A sink and a heater and two chairs that pulled out from the wall. Nothing that matched the rest of the ship, bits and pieces the squib had integrated. On the other side was a wash basin, vac-tube room and a sonic.

Trextan leaned over Choli and kissed the top of her head. Expressing affection with little gestures like that was still very new, for both of them. They were working these things out together.

He turned to head towards the very back of the ship. A hold large enough for a few cargo crates and at a squeeze a few dozen refugees if they had to fly away from this settlement. The walls back there were covered by large and small cabinets. A mismatch of storage assembled by the chaotic mind of a squib. Or the chaos of a dozen squib minds building the ship from no planning he could discern.

 

[Choli Vyn]

The press of Trextan’s lips on top of Choli’s head was fleeting, but nonetheless still drew a slight ruddiness over her olive cheeks. Again, the girl gave a mental thanks to the blue wash of light from the star map that hid the faint blush.

“Yeah, we are trying to lay low. Blasters and powerpacks it will have to be,” she began, only to add wryly, “Not all of us have smuggler’s compartments in our arm to help out with that.”

Pearly white teeth went flashing over at Trextan’s direction. It was just a joke, as Choli did not feel tied to using a lightsaber anyways.

“I have to rebuild my blaster anyways -- you know how Chloe gets if she thought we did not have them broken down on the ship.” one of Chloe’s rules in the Aurora was to ensure that no blaster was completely reconstructed on the ship. For the Warden, blasters were a danger on the ship. The habit spread with Choli whenever she came aboard, breaking down the blaster into parts and storing them. She had her Paddlebeamer anyways, so that worked just as well.

“Might as well eat and see what we can figure out about Moff Baskin before we arrive.” she suggested, unbuckling herself after ensuring their course was stable. Sure, their ship had a tendency to make anyone believe it might fall apart at any given time, but it had held together on some of the most wilder turns and maneuvers the second time around on Polis Massa.

@Trextan

 

[Trextan]

Trextan nodded from the back of the ship, before turning back to the cabinet before him. He drew out a small tool box and set it down on the kitchen counter. He had planned to start reassembling his blaster, but decided that he wasn't sure about the plan.

If they were going to get pulled aside and inspected it was going to be as they came out of hyperspace.

"Should I wait til we're on the ground to put these together?" he asked. "It's enough of a backwater that I don't think we'll get boarded any time before then."

He turned to a topic where his mind was always clear: food. He hadn't started filling out his lanky teenage frame by skipping meals.

"Protein sauce and rice?" he asked with a grin. It was not as if they had much choice on such a small galley. If it couldn't be eaten cold, or reheated and rehydrated then they couldn't cook it.

 

[Choli Vyn]

The light sounds of Choli’s footsteps would follow Trextan’s question, joining him in the tiny galley, “That is fine; we can wait until we land. It will not take long to rebuild them. ” Rounding behind @Trextan, Choli gave him a nod.

“Yeah, I think we ran out of the green protein squares already,” she added, moving towards the storage compartments that would have their plates and utensils. Her right hand came back up again to push her hair away from her face. At this point, I should just re-braid it, she thought to herself.

Food is food, and Choli was anything but a picky eater. Her time on Tatooine and going from one assignment to the next with the starfighter squadron allowed for little opportunity to be choosy with anything she ate. More often than naught, most decisions had a tendency to favor the chance of food being part of the mix than credits, as Trextan had found out for himself when he requested Choli’s skills as a guide when he went to Tatooine.

“I think we have some poly-starch left, though,” she added, fingers reaching up to unlock the storage unit and pull out the two plates and multi-utensil tools.

“How many credits do we have left?” As quick as she was to change topics, Choli leveled a question to the Jedi Knight that had been percolating in her mind. Ever to the point, it ensured that they both knew exactly where they stood on things now that they were cut off from the Jedi Order and the remnants of the resistance.

 

[Trextan]

"Not…not well," he admitted. Fuel cost more than food, but the idea of being stuck forever on some backwater alien world was almost as concerning as starving to death.

"Enough to refuel once but then we are going to need some work. The nice lady calling for help," he said as he jabbed his thumb back towards the cockpit, "was kind enough to point out that they couldn't offer anything for the help."

Trextan grimaced as he dropped onto his haunches and grabbed one small packet and another larger one. He poured out some rice into one dish and then into the other. Both got a little square of poly-starch and a splash of water and then the dishes went into the microwave, one on top of the other.

"I wish I could help more," he said with a grimace. "Hell, maybe I should take some bounty jobs on legit criminals?"

For all the powers he could wield, it was her skill with a hydrospanner and affinity for machines that picked up credits as they travelled.

 

[Choli Vyn]

“Bounty hunting?!” Choli’s slanted eyes went a little wide in surprised amusement. Part of her wasn’t sure if @Trextan was joking or not, as neither one of them had any real experience in hunting down or tracking criminals before. Well, at least from what Choli knew-- Trextan had not been exactly forthcoming on the sort of missions or prior experiences he’d gone through with the Sith or the Jedi. The corner of her mouth gave a twitch, a couple of steps bringing her near to hand Trextan his plate and multi-utensil.

“I thought one had to be part of a bounty hunting guild to do that?” she mulled aloud, the dark slash of her brows drawing together. She set her own plate and multiutensil down, moving a few steps towards another small storage panel. Their food wasn’t the only items that were limited; drinks were regulated to a few juice boxes, recycled water, and space caf. “Do you want a muja juice or water?”

“... or caf?” she was already reaching for a juice box herself. “If things do not go too sour… maybe we can barter some sort of trade with either the mining town or the outlaws...not sure how well the Moff may be willing to part with some credits if we do end up breaking into his prison to free anyone.”

Curious green eyes went panning back to Trextan, “Do you know anything about bounty hunting?”

 

[Trextan]

"Well I did help out with some police work a bit…when working with the hounds," Trextan mused. "Juice please."

He pulled out a chair from the wall and sat down. That little explanation of his skills sounded particularly weak. Bounty hunters were usually grizzled ex-soldiers. Trextan had seen plenty of war, far too much of it. He couldn't quite picture himself travelling around the darkest depths of the Outer Rim, threatening hardened criminals for information.

"There are non-guild jobs, but I bet those are a bit…dodgy. Loan sharks and the like. Probably not work we would want to do." Trextan felt he had backed away from the idea whilst keeping a reasonable amount of dignity.

"I've got no qualification, don't really have many skills beyond fighting," he said with a soft chuckle. All those years being prepared to fight for one side or the other. Even his own father had furnished him with a prosthetic arm made for battle.

"Even if we can barely scrape credits together no one is telling us what to do. Or to stay in our hospital beds…"

 

[Choli Vyn]

Choli took another juice box then tossed it over to @Trextan’s direction. Amusement once again colored her eyes a vibrant green, “I am sure you have more skills than you give yourself credit for,” she said, returning to the table. She double-checked her own folding seat for stability and then sat down.

Maybe bounty hunting was not the best idea but at least he is trying to think of solutions, Choli was appreciative of that. A slight snort of amused agreement at the fact they were not beholden to anyone now was her only response to that. It is what it is and while many would consider the crowning of their teenage independence, for Choli it really didn’t make much difference. She’d been living on her own for a while and before that, the life of a Tuskan Raider was all she knew. It had been a simpler life compared to the wars and battles the teenager had seen since then. Granted, her survival then meant that her tribe had to hunt for food, scavenge, raid, or grow what they needed. As long as one had a Bantha, it was fine.

Not quite the same here.

Picking up her multi-utensil she flicked on the setting for the knife with a press of her thumb. The blade would flash silver along the side of her face, an expression of focus guiding her attention to the poly-carbonate bread— food always drew the bulk of her attention. With nonchalance, she took the bread with one hand and then began to slice it in half with the other.

“Have a go at it; what can you do?” She encouraged @Trextan to think it through aloud. Sometimes having a sounding board helped.