MC: AOTE: Fraught With Disappointment

[Rogue Nine]

"I'll never understand how stormtroopers manage to get by with such shoddy equipment," Conn commented irritably as he plastered a bandage to the forehead of one Ensign Gelsan. The young stormtrooper sat on the operating table, his white helmet sitting in his lap, displaying a wicked crack starting from the middle of the forehead diagonally down to the left cheek.

 

"The prisoner did come at me with a shovel, Doctor," Ensign Gelsan said, wincing a bit as Conn patted the bandage down.

 

Conn wrinkled his nose. "Prisoner Ekeman was 86 years old. He shouldn't have been able to muster enough force to crack your helmet."

 

Gelsan looked up at Conn and shrugged his pauldron-clad shoulders. "Them's the breaks, Doc," he said, hopping down from the table.

 

"Yeah well, go get yourself a new helmet or else next time it'll be your head that gets the case of the breaks," Conn said, moving back to his desk. Spotting a vial, he scooped it up and turned around. "Ensign!"

 

Gelsan was already at the door. "Yeah?"

 

Conn tossed him the vial. "Take two for the headache and call me in the morning."

 

The young trooper grinned at him. "Sure thing, Doc," he replied, then exited.

 

Conn slumped back down in his chair and rubbed his eyes. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered treating Imperials, since they were the whole damn reason he was stuck at this backwater job. It was people like Ensign Gelsan that let him realize that most Imperials were just everyday people, coerced or misguided into joining the Empire. Gelsan was young, fresh out of the Academy, eager to please and serve. Conn hadn't told him that if old Ekeman had swung just a little bit harder, Gelsan would be joining the deceased prisoner in the morgue.

 

He sighed and was about to scrub down when a small rectangular box next to his terminal beeped. His eyes widened slightly as he reached for it. Plugging headphones into a port in the side, he pressed the left side and listened.

 

“Got to hand it to you for clever devices, Conn," Beryl's voice said, crackling slightly. “Sam and I are back from the other facility now. Scary place, but I’ll tell you about it later. Anyway, I think I’ve got a plan, but I need you to get me some kind of really strong poison.” Conn raised an eyebrow at this. “Erm… not for me. Things aren’t that bad yet. But something known to kill an organic creature. And as much of it as you can smuggle.” Conn's other eyebrow raised. The recording became muffled, as Beryl spoke to someone off in the background; he frowned, no one was supposed to know about her communicating with him. Beryl's voice came back on: “Sam’s tired and needs a housecall. So, just bring what you can, when you can, and we’ll see you in our cell. Soon.” He let out a small sigh of relief. Sam had no love for the Imperials, and she certainly wasn't a snitch. He was about to pull the headphones off when he heard Beryl whisper something. He missed it, so he rewound the recording and played it back. “I miss you."

 

Conn felt his cheeks redden slightly and he couldn't help grinning as he stood up and moved to prepare his kit.

 

****

 

A few hours later, Conn stepped out of the elevator and into the cavernous open area of the general prison. Most of the prisoners paid him no mind, but a few waved. Conn returned the gesture, but clutched his medkit closer to his side; this was still a prison, after all. He took a few steps forward, scanning the crowd, until he noticed a familiar face approaching.

 

"Well, well," Max greeted, striding towards him, her expression one of amusement. "Doctor Harlowe, what brings your finely chiseled features down to my cesspool of despair?"

 

"I wasn't aware it was yours, Max," Conn retorted lightly as he moved towards her. When they were close enough to speak without being overheard, he whispered to her, "I need to see Beryl Quitaan, prisoner 21790, quickly."

 

Max raised her eyebrow at him. "Oh do you now?" she asked, already moving. Conn moved quickly to keep up with her. "And whatever do you need to see her for?"

 

It was then Conn realized his mistake. "Erm, sorry, I'm actually hear to see Sam," he corrected, indicating his medkit. "She needs her medication."

 

"Don't lie to me, Doctor," Max said, leading them through the maze of cell blocks. "You know I prefer honesty."

 

Conn sighed. "Fine," he assented. "I'm here to see them both, if you must know."

 

"At the same time, eh?" Max laughed and gave him a light shove. "Hah! I know you're half-Zeltron, Conn, but hell, you're not that charming."

 

"I'm only a quarter Zeltron, I'll have you know," Conn answered, a bit miffed. "And I don't need Zeltron genes to be charming."

 

Max laughed again as they rounded the corner, then stopped in front of a cell. "No need to get all defensive, Casanova, I'm only busting your balls." She cocked her thumb towards the metal bars. "They're all yours. Go get 'em, Tiger." She moved back along the corridor they'd come down, still chuckling to herself.

 

Conn shook his head as he pushed the door open. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he announced as he came through the doorway to see Beryl and Sam sitting next to each other on one of the lower bunks. Sam had her hand on Beryl's leg and shot a look at Conn as he entered. Beryl jumped immediately and planted her face inches from Conn's.

 

"What took you so long?!" she hissed, her words angry, but her lips softening their blow by curving up into a genuine smile.

 

"I'm a busy doctor, Beryl," Conn replied, returning her smile. He moved to sit on the bunk opposite from Sam, Beryl at his heels. Placing his kit on his lap, he snapped it open and removed a few vials, then tossed them across to Sam. "Don't use them up all at once," he cautioned her.

 

Sam snorted. "As if," she shot back, downing a few pills, then reclining back on the bunk.

 

Conn turned to Beryl and held out a jar containing a viscous red liquid. "Concentrated viper kinrath venom," he told her. "Guaranteed to kill almost anything within minutes." Beryl moved to take it, but Conn pulled it back slightly. "Before I give it to you, I need to ask you two questions."

 

Beryl gave him a look of mock exasperation. "Oh really. What?"

 

"One, I want to know what exactly you intend to do with this. And two..." he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "Did you really miss me or were you just saying that?"

[JasraLantill]

“I really missed you,” Beryl whispered back. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, though she really wanted to kiss him more substantially and probably would have had Sam not been there. “And not just in the last few days,” she continued in a low tone, “but….” She paused for a moment, thinking about past times. “We had something good back then, didn’t we? We could have it again, if we get out of here.” She checked over her shoulder, reaching out with the Force while she looked up and down the corridor to see if anyone was watching them. It didn’t appear that anyone was, but still she kept her voice low and her guard up. “When we get out of here,” she corrected herself.

 

Conn said nothing at first, slightly taken aback at Beryl's sudden display of affection. "I hope you're not just saying that to get me to do your bidding," he finally whispered back at her.

 

She clucked her tongue at him. "You'll just have to find out then, won't you?" she said, winking.

 

"Anyway, down to business now," she said looking at the jar of kinrath venom. “I need that for two things. One, there are these really annoying reptiles that patrol the only way into the other facility. Figure it shouldn’t be to hard to get hold of some vermin from around here, lace it up with this, and then feed it to those overgrown lizards as a snack next time I see them. And, two, there are these other creatures that I need to take care of within the facility.”

 

She looked around again, then reached under her mattress and pulled out a small datapad. “Look, here,” she said, covertly showing Conn the screen. “It’s the layout for the other Facility. All except the last level, which I think can be accessed from here,…” She pointed to the display. “…here, or here. Now I’ve been studying these drawings, and one thing stands out as odd.” She zoomed the picture. “These figures,” she pointed to the architectural notations, “they don’t add up, meaning that there is a space between the floors. Not large enough to stand up in, but large enough to hide something. And that’s where I think these other creatures are being kept.” As Conn was giving her a strange look, she added, “Somehow, they absorb or restrict the Force,” she said. “They’re called Ysalamiri, and I need to get kill them in order to be able to get to the level where they are holding my Jedi friend Ryshana.”

 

"That Twi'lek Jedi who came in after you," Conn said, putting two and two together. "Good to know she's still alive."

 

“Of course, it was ‘Jeez the Wonder Jedi’ who was supervising us who told her to do that, doc,” Sam divulged to Conn, having overheard their conversation and feeling a bit more awake now since her latest stim dose. “He’s like a trustee, see? And he wants her to kill of these creatures that suppress his ‘powers,’ and then he said he’d help her. Bad move, in my opinion.”

 

Conn glanced at the reclining inmate. "Oh?"

 

Beryl sighed. “Sam doesn’t trust him,” she explained to Conn. “But I do. And, those creatures suppress my ‘gifts’, as well. The sooner they’re gone, the better.”

 

Sam propped herself up on one elbow. “Yeah, well, I make it a rule never to trust anyone with a comport jammed in their skull,” she said to Beryl. “And neither should you. But, don’ t worry, sweetie.” She grinned, tongue in cheek. “I’ll watch your back side.”

 

Conn arched an eyebrow, but kept his mouth shut.

 

“Of that I have no doubt,” Beryl quipped. “Sam, I have to trust Jeez. We need him. There’s not enough time to bypass the security systems ourselves. There will be a ship here to pick us up in four days, and we have to have Ryshana out of that other Facility before then.”

 

She looked at Conn, as a small wrinkle of worry appeared on her brow. “They are doing something weird over in that other prison section, Conn. Everyone’s got these ‘implants’ in the back of their heads that look like spring jacks, you know like the data ports for testing forward engines? It’s scary. One word and they seem to come together like an army.” She paused. “Hey, Conn, can you get a list of all the medical supplies and drugs that have been sent here for the last three years? Maybe between us we can figure out what they’re doing to them. And stop it.”

 

He furrowed his brow. "I could," he said, rubbing his chin. "It would take some creative querying, however. I don't get the manifests for the other facility, only my own." The corner of his lip curled upward. "Doesn't mean I can't find it for you. I'll get it to you as soon as I can."

 

Beryl straightened up a bit, as someone was approaching, walking down the corridor. It was the ill-tempered Trustee called ‘Time’. He banged his stun stick against the bars of the cell, glaring at Beryl and Sam as he passed. “Slumming it, eh, doc?” He laughed cruelly as he continued on his way down the corridor on his rounds.

 

“Hey, maybe we could use him as the vermin to poison those thick-headed armoured beasts,” Sam suggested.

 

“Nah, he smells too bad to be an appetising meal for anything,” said Beryl. “Besides, I was thinking about something more portable, like rodents or something.”

 

“We could chop him up.” Sam wiggled her eyebrows.

 

“Oh, please….” Beryl rolled her eyes. “Besides the fact that is a totally disgusting thought, it’s too time consuming. Rodents would be easier.” She turned back to Conn. “The plan is that Sam and I will go in tomorrow to do our jobs at the laundry. I’ll leave the poison laced rats outside the door, so that the reptiles will be dead or dying or feeding on one of their kin that is. I’ll access the crawlspace through the elevator, kill those Force absorbing creatures, then meet up with Jeez while Sam does the laundry rounds. Jeez and I will infiltrate the level where Ryshana is being held, free her, and then smuggle her out in a laundry cart. Then we’ll all take the tram back to the mines, where we’ll hang out until the shift’s over, and then let Jeez and Ryshana blend in with the general population until we’re ready to go.” She grinned. “What do you think?”

[Rogue Nine]

"Well, first off, I think it's incredibly risky," Conn replied. "That facility is far more supervised than this one is. You'd need to tread very, very carefully to pull that sort of thing off." He frowned. "Not to mention you're banking this whole thing working on someone you just met here."

 

"Hey, I just met you here," Beryl shot back.

 

Conn shook his head. "I'm different, and you know it." He rubbed his eye absentmindedly. "Sam's right to be wary about this whole thing. Twerna's got some really weird stuff going on there."

 

"It's all we've got, Conn," Beryl said, her face set. "And we need your help. So are you in or not?"

 

Conn sighed. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

 

Beryl brightened. "No, not really."

 

"Before you do anything, however," Conn started, "I need to carry out a little field surgery." He reached for her arm. "They implanted you with a subcutaneous tracking chip. Your mission isn't going to be easy if they know where you are," he explained as he removed a few instruments from his kit. "I'll remove both yours and Sam's; that way you can use them as distractions when the opportunity presents itself."

[JasraLantill]

"Crap, I forgot about that thing," Beryl said as Conn rolled up her sleeve and prepared to make his incision. "Good thinking. You know I still fail to understand what drives the Imps to categorize and label everyTHING...OW!" She frowned at Conn's scalpel. "You ever sharpen that thing?"

[Grace]

"I don't get it," Jana said, hurrying to stay with Reibe as they moved through the halls of the Imperial ship. "You take me to Nic, give me something to make him drink. I do that and you tell me to try healing him. I drain myself to exhaustion and all you do is come in to carry me away?"

 

"That's right," Reibe answered. For such a short woman she moved with remarkable speed. "Any other questions?"

 

"Why?" Jana asked. "You told me you killed him once and brought him back."

 

"Well technically he wasn't all dead," Reibe said. "Just... mostly dead."

 

"But you could have easily done the full job after I passed out," Jana insisted. "Why didn't you?"

 

"Because my primary concern is you," Reibe answered, "and Nic's injuries aren't going to kill him... immediately."

 

"Not... immediately?" Jana echoed, startled. By the time she recovered, Reibe was several paces ahead and Jana ran to catch up. "Whatever... so where are we going now?"

 

At that moment, they entered the hangar where the Echo was docked. Jana halted abruptly.

 

"No," she snapped. "I'm not going anywhere without my crew."

 

"Of course not," Reibe answered, already halfway to the ship. "They'll be joining us in a moment or so. Why don't we get the ship ready, eh?"

 

Slowly, Jana approached and moved up the ramp. Somewhere to the rear of the ship, she could hear Reibe at work and after a moment, the ship began to power on. Jana entered the cockpit and got to work starting the computers, powering the sensors, and in any other way she knew how, preparing the ship for takeoff.

 

"Reibe, when are they supposed to be here?" she called.

 

"Now!" Cloud called, struggling up the ramp, supporting Nic from one side. Jana grinned.

 

"Yes!" she exclaimed. She hurried out toward the ramp and was met by Reibe.

 

"This isn't a good idea," she growled softly. "Back to work."

 

"But..." Jana objected.

 

"Wanna spend the next hour or so unconscious?" Reibe threatened.

 

"You'd do that?" Jana wondered.

 

"No, but you have got to act normal," Reibe said. Jana glared.

 

"This is normal," she growled, pushing past Reibe to meet the crew as they came aboard. "Good to be back, isn't it?"

 

"We don't have much time," Reibe said, coming up behind Jana. "Ship's ready for takeoff." Jerking her thumb up behind her, she ordered, "Pilot, get up there." Gesturing toward engineering, "Engineer, get back there." She glared at Oliver, "Medic, take care of your captain."

 

"Reibe..." Jana began, but the other woman glared at her.

 

"First officer!" she barked. "See to the ship's management while the captain's down."

 

Startled, Jana stepped back. Then, she glared. "You're not the captain." She moved forward until she stood directly in front of Reibe. "Now you listen to me," she growled. "I don't want to hear another command out of you, you understand?"

 

Reibe was not intimidated, but she took a step back with a grin. "Yes ma'am. Orders?"

 

"Jack, get us out of here," Jana ordered. "Cloud, see to the engine room. Oliver, keep an eye on Nic. Don't let him get up before he's able, alright?" Turning again to face Reibe, she said, "And as for you, help Oliver get Nic to the infirmary and then stay the hell out of our way."

 

With a smirk, Reibe bowed and said, "As you wish, Commander."

[starmark2k]

"Whoa everyone freeze." Nic shouted stoping everyone from moving. "If anyone gives the orders around here it's me."

 

"Can someone give us orders that we can follow through?" Cloud Asked, obviously annoyed by both stalls.

 

"Just do what Jana said." Nic ordered trying to grab what authority he could from the current situation. "Jack set a cource for Coords 078-652-991 and when we get there power down the engines and call me. Cloud once we're optimal do a full internal sweep for any imperial trackers."

 

((Note- The coords would seem to lead to nowhere but deep space lightyears from any planet))

[Grace]

"Cap'n, it's good to have you back," Jana said, smiling a little, "but I think the torture you went through may have played with your mind a little..."

 

"No, I played with his mind a little," Reibe cut in. Jana glared.

 

"Shut up," she snapped. Turning back to Nic, she went on, "If I'm not mistaken, the coordinates you gave Jack will put us in the middle of nowhere."

 

"Middle of nowhere's a beautiful place to hide," Reibe chuckled. She slid under Nic's other arm. "C'mon Ollie, get his other side."

 

Oliver took Nic's other arm from Cloud and they started to carry him away to the infirmary.

[Rogue Nine]

"Well, if you'd stop twitching so much, it would hurt less," Conn retorted. He carefully cut a slit in the skin of Beryl's arm. The incision itself was so small, only a few drops of blood leaked out. Drawing a tiny set of tweezers from his kit, Conn reached into the slit with them and slowly drew out the fingernail-sized tracking chip. "There, see?" he said, holding it up for Beryl look at before taking a bacta patch and applying it to her arm. "It goes so much easier when you cooperate."

 

Beryl stuck her tongue out at him.

 

Conn laughed, then moved over to where Sam was. "Now, will you go quietly?" he asked her.

 

Sam snorted and held her arm out. "I'm not delicate like Blondie is over there. Have at it."

 

"Indeed," Conn agreed as he went to work. "Now Beryl, go over your master plan with me again," he said. "How exactly am I supposed to get down to the mines? It's not exactly a great place to make a house call."

[starmark2k]

((OK on the Echo side of things i'll get us moving along.))

 

The Echo dropped out of hyperspace into an almost completely desolate area of space. On first look it would apear empty nothing but the cold vaccume of space, but there was somthing there. A rouge lone asteroid that had an intresting mineral composite that deflected most sensors, The only two ways that people would know of its existace is after accidently flying into it or if you have been told of it.

 

Nic walked into the gridge behind Jack, he as walking normally now as oliver managed to heal all the internal damage during the flight. His body still had some superficial damage but no more than the scratches scrapes and bruises that needed a bacta treatment (making Nic wish he had bought the supplies when oliver asked him a week ago).

 

Nic sat in the co-pilot and activated the comm-unit, there was nothing but backgroud static but he initiated a wide band comm frequency. "Password- Haven in the dark."

 

The static continued for almost a minuet before a male voice said. "State Your name."

 

"Nic White."

 

This time static could only be heard for over five minuets without a reply before Nc got annoyed. "I am on your safe list."

 

"I'm aware of that Nic." A familiar feminine Voice replied.

 

Nic's head droped in to his chest as he sighed. "Ohhhh this is not a good week." Nic reactivted the comm. "Hey Carmen, What are you doing out here in the dregs, I thought you'd be on Nar Shaddar or still on Naboo."

 

"Oh Nic and I Thought you came ll this way to see little ol' me." Carmen replied cheerfully.

 

"Can We enter the bace or not?" Nic got to the point.

 

"Indeed." Carmen replied as the ship got caught in a tractor beam that emminated fom the rougue stationary asteroid. Nic held his hand out infront of Jack to make sure he didn't follow his pilot training and attempt to shake it.

 

The ship was drawn slowly towards the asteroid on what semed to be a collission course, just before the ship would impact it a holographic image disapped to reveal a open hanger. The ship was brought into the hanger and it landed on to the metal floor.

[JasraLantill]

"Now Beryl, go over your master plan with me again," Conn said. "How exactly am I supposed to get down to the mines? It's not exactly a great place to make a house call."

 

While Conn worked on Sam, Beryl examined the tracking chip, turning it over in her fingers. "Well, I don’t want anyone to see Ryshana or Jeez when we come out of the tram, so I’m planning on creating a small distraction for when we come back,” Beryl replied to Conn. “Like a small explosion. I saw a box of dets down there near the guards’ station. Certainly wouldn’t be hard for me to get hold of a couple and then set them on a timer.”

 

“An explosion?” Sam asked, as Conn handed her her tracking chip and then started to apply a small bacta patch to her arm. “Isn’t that a bit over the top? You do realise that explosions in mines can cause cave-ins.”

 

“I said a small one,” Beryl explained. “You know, just enough to cause some smoke and confusion and set off some alarm bells." She looked at Conn. "No one would question the facility’s doctor coming down to see if there were any injuries, now would they? And once we’re all together…,” She paused a bit, staring at the tracking chip, before sliding it into her front pocket. “Say, do you think that the Jedi would have one of these tracking things in them, too?” She frowned. “Erm… never mind. Don’t answer that. We’ll deal with it when the time comes. But if they do have one, you’ll need to take them out, Conn.

 

“Anyway,” she continued without letting Conn reply, “we’ll let Ryshana and Jeez ‘blend’ in with the rest of the prisoners when we get back. No one should notice them in the chaos and smoke on the way back here.” She looked at the empty bunk above hers, the one that used to belong to Ice, now in solitary confinement. “Although… I was only planning to bring Ryshana back....” She bit her lip, as she looked over to Max the trustee’s bunk. “Hmm… Max might be a bit suspicious if we bring Jeez in here, too,” she said, sounding a bit concerned. She waved a dismissive hand. “Bah. We’ll deal with that later.

 

“The next morning, again, all four of us will go to work like everyone else, but instead of getting on the tram to the other facility, we'll head with the others into the mines. There’s bound to be a shaft that leads up to the main facility. How else would the miners have gotten out their spoil when this was a commerical mine?

 

“We’ll head up the shaft up to the shipment hanger--there’s bound to be a separate one, 'cause they certainly don’t ship out anything they mine from the hanger I came in from. Then once we’re near the hanger, we’ll contact the Echo, which should be someplace in orbit by then, and tell them to come and get us.” She grinned. “Simple.”

[Rogue Nine]

Conn exhaled as he stood up and returned to sit next to Beryl. "Simple, eh?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Why do I get the feeling that it's going to be anything but?" He replaced his instruments in his kit and snapped it shut. "You're not terribly keen on details, Beryl, which shouldn't really surprise me, because you were never keen on details, even when those details save your life," he said, wagging a finger at her.

 

"I might be able to find a place for Jeez to stay, so that no one gets suspicious. This place is crowded enough, especially with Trustees all over the place." He leaned back into the bunk, pensive. "And I don't see how you'll be able to get to that shaft. It's not like you can just waltz up there and catch the elevator."

[JasraLantill]

"And I don't see how you'll be able to get to that shaft," said Conn. "It's not like you can just waltz up there and catch the elevator."

 

"Oh? The Nine Hells we can!" Beryl said emphatically. "Look, Conn, there is bound to be a freight elevator still there. From what I've seen of this facility, the last thing the Imps want to do is spend any credits on it--especially on this section and the mines. They wouldn’t have wasted the credits to dismantle it. They might have a guard or two, or even a security code on the door, or maybe it’s just run by droids now, but I’ll bet you a thousand credits that it’s there and it’s operational. It’s not a problem. It’ll be fine. Really.”

 

But Conn’s look of doubt hadn’t faded. Beryl sighed with frustration. “Man, do you have a memory as long as the Hydian Way, or what? Look, Conn, I know I’m not much for fine details, but not bothering to download stupid and useless asteroid drift charts for an Incom test run on Z-95 manoeuvrability functions is one thing—which, need I remind you, I completed just fine without them—but this is completely different. If there are guards we don’t know about along the way, we’ll handle them. We’re breaking out two Jedis and ‘Sam the Uber-soldier’, for Galaxy’s sake.” On cue, Sam gave Conn a quick, but broad and cheesy grin. “Don’t worry about minor details. They’ll sort themselves out. They always do,” she added quietly. She leaned in closer to him and her voice grew softer and more serious. “But if it makes you feel any better, I promise I won’t leave you behind. Trust me, Conn. I’ll get you out of here or die trying, okay?” She paused. “You deserve better than this.”

 

She heard people beginning to file into the cell dormitory area. Beryl looked at the vial of poison she held in her hand. “C’mon, Sam. We’d better go catch some rats to lace for our reptilian pals before it’s lights out. I don’t want to get locked away in solitary for some stupid curfew violation.” She rose from the bunk, pausing to stare at Conn for a moment.

 

She gave him a soft caress of her hand slowly down the side of his cheek. “I won’t let you down. I promise. Just be ready tomorrow at evening shift change to move. We’ll be waiting for you near the tram entrance. Once the explosions go, the guards shouldn’t be paying too much attention to us. Should give you time to extract any tracking devices from our Jedi friends so they can blend in with the others. You take Jeez someplace, Sam and I’ll bring Ryshana here.” She grinned at him. “And the next morning, we’re all outta here.”

[Rogue Nine]

Conn took her hand in his and stood up. "I'm more than okay with the getting out part, Beryl," he told her. "It's the 'die trying' part I'm not okay with." His grip on her hand tightened. "Don't do anything stupid or rash, promise me that." At her look of mock disdain, he chuckled, but remained serious in tone. "I know that's like asking a Hutt not to be slimy or the Tatooine suns not to rise, but I still want you to promise that. For me."

 

Beryl's expression softened. "Stupid? Me? Never. Rash?" She arched her eyebrows. "Always."

 

Conn just gave her a look.

 

"Well, okay... not always. Sometimes. I've mellowed over the years, you know." Beryl amended, shrugging her shoulders. "Fine, fine," she conceded, unable to stand the scrutiny of Conn's glare. "I'll be careful, all right? And we're all getting out of here. Alive."

 

"That's more like it," Conn said, finally releasing his grip. He moved towards the door and was about to exit when Beryl called out to him.

 

"Conn wait," she said, placing the jar down on her bunk. She strode up to him and hugged him before he could react.

 

"Oh brother," Sam snorted, turning over in her bunk to face the wall.

 

"Thanks for being here for me, Conn," Beryl whispered in his ear, ignoring Sam.

 

Conn dropped his kit to the floor gently and returned her hug. "Of course, Beryl," he replied. "You know I'd never stopped caring for you."

[JasraLantill]

"Really?" Beryl pulled away from Conn slightly so she could look into his hazel eyes. "Maybe, when this is all over and we're all out of this place and safe... do you think that, maybe, we could pick up where we left off? That is, if you don't think it's too late or...."

 

"Oh, for crying out loud...," Sam grumbled. She rolled over in her bunk and stared at the pair. "Just kiss him and get it over with, so he can leave and we can go get our rats."

 

Beryl gave Sam a surprised look, then shrugged a shoulder and grinned smugly at Conn. She gave him a single but long kiss, then stood back and slowly ran her tongue over her lower lip. "Yeah, I'd definitely want to pick up where we left off."

 

"Rats, Beryl. Rats," Sam reminded.

 

Beryl gave Conn a wry grin. "You'd better get going," she said to him. She patted the pocket of her trousers where the Sabbac deck was. "I'll keep you posted on things."

[Grace]

Jana frowned at hearing Carmen's voice. "Nic, I don't mean to sound like I'm scolding or anything, but at the same time..." She shrugged. "You took us to a base you knew full well was owned by Carmen? Need I remind you of all the trouble that woman has gotten us into in the past?"

 

"Ah!" Reibe said cheerfully, entering the cockpit. "Did I hear the name Carmen? Splendid! And Jana, don't worry about the trouble Carmen's got you into in the past... remember, I'm here with you. Carmen's terrified to death of me."

 

"Oh, brilliant," Jana grumbled. "So now, she won't do anything but shoot at us once she finds that out... that settles it. Reibe, you are not leaving this ship while we're aboard this station, understand?"

 

"Our roles seem a little flipped at the moment," Reibe observed, amused. "You got it, boss!"

 

Jana rolled her eyes. "Whatever..."

[starmark2k]

"I took us to a base i know is ran by Carmen because only 50 people in the whole galaxy know about, and i did not know that women would be here." Nic Replied. "Anyway we need to lie low and formulate a plan for getting the Echo to land on the planet without having the reaper take us out first. Carmen may even be able to help us, she owes us and is crime lord after all"

[Grace]

"Right..." Jana muttered. "Alright, let's get this over with... before Carmen suckers us into something... wait a second." She frowned. "She owes us? How'd we pull that one off?" But before Nic could answer, she went on, "Never mind that. Let's just get this over with..."

[starmark2k]

“C’Mon then.” Nic ordered standing up and walking out of the cockpit followed by Jana and Jack. They walked down to the cargo bay where Oliver and Cloud were already waiting for them too arrive. The main door began to lower and the whole crew (excluding Reibe) walked off of the ship to be greeted by three of the scruffiest looking guards in the galaxy. It wasn’t long before Carmen herself entered the hanger bay from a far internal door wearing her usual elegant gown that would look more suitable at a ball at the Naboo palace.

 

“Nic it’s good to see you again.” She greeted holding her hand out to be kissed. Nic looked at her with an un-amused look on his face before he just relented and took her hand to kiss the back of it.

 

“Ain’t so bad to see you either.” Nic re plied releasing her hand.

 

Carmen looked over Nic’s shoulder to see Jana standing there and smiled. “And how are you Janey?”

 

Nic quickly held out his hand to stop the inevitable spark of Jana’s short fuse and her lashing out at their host.

 

“So what are you doing here anyway?” Carmen asked with a smile.

 

“We need a place to lie low for a day or two, maybe get a little help.”

 

“Well I can give you a place to stay…” The Crime Lord offered. “On one condition… You have dinner with me tonight.”

 

Nic sighed. “O.K. Dinner it is.”

[JasraLantill]

Beryl was coming back to her cell with Sam--and dead rats they had caught in what the Imperial’s actually called a ‘kitchen’—when they were stopped in the corridor by Max the Trustee. Max had a serious look on her face, and for a split second, Beryl thought that she had found the viper kinrath poison hidden under Beryl’s mattress and was there to take her and Sam both to solitary.

 

“Hey, Blondie,” Max said, looking at Beryl. “You’ve got a… com… call.” Max raised an incredulous brow as she suddenly noticed the dead rats that Beryl and Sam were holding in their hands by the tails. “Erm… do I even want to know why you two are carrying rats back to ‘our’ cell?”

 

Beryl grinned broadly. “Nope,” she said simply.

 

Max’s mouth twisted into a disbelieving smirk. “I think I do.”

 

“Erm… midnight snack?” Sam suggested. “You know, there’s nothing like toasted rat to ward away those midnight munchies.”

 

Her comment caused Max’s to raise her other brow. “Uh-huh…,” she said suspiciously. “Look, I know what little food they give us is crap around here, but…rats?” She shook her head with disbelief. “Anyway… com call,” she said to Beryl. “Just punch your number into the terminal near the lift and they’ll connect you. Better hurry up, too.” She turned to go and finish her rounds. “Lights out in twenty minutes.”

 

“Whoa, wait… you’re serious?” Beryl asked. “I’ve got a com call? You mean, someone’s actually calling for me? Here?” She frowned. “Who?”

 

Max looked over her shoulder as she walked. “How the hell should I know? Go answer it and find out.”

 

Beryl looked at Sam. “Well?” Sam said. “Do like the woman said and go find out. I’ll take the rats back to the cell and get to work lacing them.”

 

Beryl handed Sam her rats, then went off in the direction of the lift.

 

~~~~~

 

Sam was just finishing lacing the last rat with poison when Beryl returned. “So?” she asked. “Who was calling you? Your mom? Your arbiter?” She lowered her voice. “Your outside contact that has the ship you mentioned?”

 

Beryl sat down heavily on her bunk. “No,” she said. “My brother. He told me he’s coming to pay me a visit.”

 

“Oh?” Sam asked, as she syringed more poison into the rat she was holding. She grinned. “Must be nice,” she commented lightly. “I never get visitors. Say, maybe he can help us out?”

 

Beryl snorted. “I doubt it. He’s an Imp.”

 

“Your brother is an Imp?” Sam laid the rat down, then frowned at Beryl. “I thought you said that your brother was a smuggler… a blockade runner, like you said you were.”

 

“Telk is a smuggler,” Beryl replied. “But I’ve got seven brothers.”

 

“Wow, big family. And how many of them are Imps?”

 

“Only one.” Beryl sighed and looked down at the floor. She had been hoping that it had been Rayne calling her, perhaps arranging her release on some kind of ‘technicality’. He was always good at finding ‘technicalities.’ But it hadn’t been Rayne. In fact, it had been the one brother she didn't want to talk to.

 

“Admiral Berasmus Quitaan,” Beryl said to Sam. “He said he’s coming here to oversee the disposition of material resources and to do some sort of inspection on the Dreadnaught that’s stationed in orbit here.” She looked up. “I guess he’s sort of in charge of ‘logistics’ in this sector. Supplies, equipment,….”

 

“Material resources like prisoners they can use as live targets,” Sam finished. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen it all before.” She snorted. “Nice brother.”

 

Beryl shrugged. “Yeah, well….” She sighed. “What this means is that we’ve got to work fast to get out of here when we get Ryshana and Jeez out. I don’t want to be here when my brother arrives.”

 

“Me neither, especially if he’s an Imp." She held up the rat for Beryl to see. “Well, that’s the last of them. Let’s hope they do the trick tomorrow.” She took the rat and shoved it discretely under her bunk with the rest of them. “And let’s hope no one decides to steal them for a snack while we’re sleeping.”

 

Beryl raised a quizzical eyebrow. “A snack? You mean, people really…?” She grimaced. “Oh, eew, Sam! I thought you were just kidding when you made that snack comment to Max!” Beryl laid back on her bunk and placed her hands behind her head. “Let’s just get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

 

She closed her eyes, thinking first about Conn, then Ryshana and Jeez, Nic and Jana.... Beryl wondered what her Captain and First Officer were up to, and hoped they were faring better than she and Ryshana were. And what would Nic think of having three extra passengers on board in the form of Conn, Jeez and Sam? In a few moments, her thoughts drifted her into sleep....

[Rogue Nine]

To kill time, Conn did an Alderaanian jig in the medbay.

[Grace]

Jana had in fact been ready to snap at Carmen's calling her 'Janey', but Nic's warning gesture reminded her of Reibe's constant warnings to keep her emotions to herself, showing the other person only what they wanted to see. The funny thing in this situation was that Jana suspected Carmen wanted her to lash out, which was exactly what she was not going to do.

 

Indeed, Carmen looked rather disappointed when Jana smiled sweetly instead of trying to bite a chunk out of her arm.

 

"Carmen, so good to see you," Jana said cheerfully once the crime lord had forced Nic into agreeing to dinner. Carmen turned a wary eye on Jana and frowned.

 

"You too, Janey dear," she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "You seem different... did you get a haircut? Or perhaps a dash of class?"

 

"Hoo..." Cloud muttered. "Here comes a pinch of temper..."

 

But the temper did not show. Instead, Jana laughed. "More like an ounce of common sense with a hint of humor and a pint of restraint."

 

"Surprised a pint would do the trick," Carmen observed. Jana smiled cheerfully.

 

"Well, you are offering a place to stay and a lovely meal experience for Nic," she said. "So I see no reason to pain you."

 

"Who are you and what have you done with Jana?" Carmen demanded suspiciously. Jana smirked.

 

"Not Jana," she answered. Carmen blinked. "What, Janey have a twin?"

 

Jana shrugged. "It's too big for most minds, Carmen. Don't worry about it."

 

Cloud frowned and stretched his Force senses out toward Jana. With a gasp, he pulled back, eyes widening, and stared. His eyes, ears, and other physical senses told him it was Jana standing next to him. The Force told him it was Reibe.

 

Good catch, kid, Reibe's voice echoed in his head. 'Jana' turned her head and winked at him. Took you a little, but good catch.

 

The crew were escorted to quarters where they could stay and once he'd settled in, Cloud immediately went to the room given to Jana.

 

"What have you done to Jana?" he demanded. Jana pulled him into the room and shut the door behind him.

 

"It's a mental illusion," she told him. At that, the illusion fell away, revealing that it was indeed Reibe who'd joined the crew to meet Carmen. "I am a very powerful woman, Cloud." Right before him, she morphed into an identical copy of him.

 

"Where's Jana?" Cloud repeated.

 

"Unconscious in her quarters on the Echo," the false Cloud answered. It sent a chill up Cloud's spine, for even his voice was mimicked perfectly... but then, Reibe morphed back into Jana. "I have the power to influence what people see. Even cameras are fooled. And Jana, in her quarters, resembles me, unconscious and tied up. She'll be alright, but I really needed to see Carmen and I couldn't do that with Jana running around. Don't worry, Cloud. After an hour from now, Jana will be up and going again."

 

"She'd better be," Cloud muttered, staring at 'Jana'. Shaking his head, he turned and left her room.

[starmark2k]

Kriss Raikellii Walked down the corrior leading to his private quarters, the captain was pleased with himself. After 10 years of plotting revenge against his brother the opportunity had arrived. He could not have planned the events and circumstances better, soon all he has been living for will come to it's inevitable end.

 

As he thought of his brother’s betrayal the ships second in command ran up behind him carrying a Datapad.

 

"We received an urgent message from Coruscant Sir!" The young imperial informed. Kriss took the datapad from the officer and frowned as he read the message. "Something wrong Captain?"

 

"We're getting a Visit from an admiral." He replied handing the datapad back.

[JasraLantill]

The next morning, Beryl and Sam ate their ‘breakfast’ in the chow hall along with the rest of the prisoners. The greenish-gray gruel was disgusting, but Beryl ate it nonetheless. She got some dirty looks from Ice’s friend Biz, who was probably mad at her for getting Ice thrown into solitary for a few days, but on the whole the meal was uneventful.

 

As the claxons sounded for the prisoners to go off to their jobs, Beryl felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Max.

 

“Look, I know you two are up to something, and I really don’t want to know what, but…” She lowered her voice. “If you’re planning an escape, I want in.”

 

Beryl raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think we’re planning to escape?”

 

Max snorted. “What else would you be planning? A birthday party?” She tapped Beryl’s bulging pocket with her truncheon. “Contraband?”

 

“Rats,” Beryl replied.

 

“Rats? Again?” Max frowned. “Oh, yeah, you’re definitely up to something. Hey, look,” Max said, her tone turning serious. “I let you carry in that Sabbac deck to the other facility yesterday. Maybe I won’t be so lenient this time.”

 

“Unless… we cut you in?”

 

Max grinned. “See? I knew you were a smart one.”

 

“Well, since you seem to be ‘smart,’ too,” Beryl replied, “I’m sure you’ll find that the opportunity to join us will present itself, when the time is right. Until then, the less you know, the better off you’ll be, right?”

 

Max took a moment to consider, eyeing Beryl and Sam over as she did. “Right,” she said finally. She looked towards the door to the mine lift. “Better get a move on then. You two’ll be late for work.”

 

Beryl and Sam headed for the lifts with the other prisoners. Once down in the main area, Beryl pulled Sam aside from the others as they started either boarding other trams or were issued their mining tools. “Look,” Beryl whispered in Sam’s ear. “Over there.” She motioned to some boxes behind where one of the trustees was issuing out tools. “Those boxes of …?”

 

“Yup,” Sam said, noticing the BlasTech logo on the side of the box. “Look like dets to me.”

 

“What do you say we stash some of those for later use near our shuttle platform?”

 

“Now?” Sam asked. She looked left and right. There were a lot of people around them.

 

“No better place to be inconspicuous than in a crowd,” Beryl encouraged. “C’mon. Just walk casually, in front of me towards the platform.” She nudged Sam forward and the two of them made their way past the guard and the tools. As they neared, Beryl reached out with the Force, lifting one of the detonator boxes just millimetres up off the ground, just as Ryshana had taught her to do with the swoop bike in the hanger of the Echo. Using herself and Sam as ‘cover’, Beryl used the Force to ‘float’ the box away with them. And, true to her word, no one even noticed.

 

Beryl ‘parked’ the box behind a group of crates stacked up near the edge of the platform.

 

“We’ll leave it there for now, shall we?” Beryl said. Then, as Sam had a puzzled look on her face, she asked, “What?”

 

Sam looked down at the crate, then back over her shoulder to where it had been, then back at the crate again. “Beryl, did you just…?”

 

“Erm… don’t ask. But, yeah. I did.”

 

“O-kaay,” Sam said slowly.

 

Just as the tram to the other facility arrived for them, Max approached them. “I have to check you guys for contraband before you board,” she said to them, motioning with her hands for them to spread out their arms. She patted them down, disregarding the dead rats in their side pockets, and the Sabbac deck tucked inside Beryl’s boot, and the vial of poison tucked in Sam’s. “Ok, they’re clean,” she said into her com link. She gave Beryl a wink that said, ‘I’m doing you a favour and don’t you forget it,’ and then said, “Open tram doors.”

 

Beryl flashed Max a secretive grin, and then she and Sam boarded the tram. They rode in relative silence until just before the tram was about to stop.

 

“You ready?” Beryl asked.

 

“Suppose.” Sam paused in thought for a moment, the floating crate still in the forefront of her mind. “So… you’re not a….”

 

“No.”

 

“But you can….”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So, where did you learn how to….”

 

The tram doors opened

 

“I’ll tell you later,” Beryl said. She put her hand over the bulge in her pocket. “You ready?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Beryl and Sam exited the tram and went over to the door with the key pad. Beryl punched in the numbers that Jeez had given to them the day before, and the door began to hiss open slowly.

 

Beryl and Sam both took a rat each out of their pockets. “Let’s hope this venom stuff works,” Beryl said, as they readied themselves for the possible onslaught of reptilian sentries on the other side of the door.

[stingerhs]

Jeez stood up in silence. Reaching behind him, Jeez felt the connector in the back of his skull and carefully pulled it out. Darn. Twerna did something again, Jeez thought to himself. I hope he doesn't know anything.

 

Getting his stuff from his locker, Jeez quickly dressed himself and headed out. Going through the checkpoints, Jeez finally stepped outside the Facility on the bridge. Walking down to the middle, Jeez finally relaxed for a moment.

 

Beryl and Sam hadn't arrived yet, so Jeez used the moment to focus himself. As he closed his eyes to focus, he concentrated as best as he could. Just behind him, he felt the emptiness that he had lived in for what seemed to be such a long time. In that emptiness, Jeez could scarcely make out the life essences of the people inside, and one of them pulsed prominently in his mind.

 

Images of a violet twi'lek woman flashed in his mind. She was so beautiful, and he could see himself holding her in an embrace from behind with his chin resting on the top of her head. They were silently looking out over a beautiful forest valley from a marble balcony. Recognizing the location, Jeez's mind flashed images of the same woman lying naked under silk sheets on a bed. She was sleeping as he looked on with a barely noticeable smile curling across his face. Alderaan, Jeez remembered. We fell in love there.

 

His mind then flashed back to the first image of him holding her there on the balcony. Even with his eyes closed, a single tear streaked down his face from his right eye. He remembered that moment so fondly because it was in that moment that everything had finally came together. Even with the bitter taste of a broken relationship still burning in his heart, Jeez had at that moment come to terms with himself. This was the woman that had argued, nagged, and eventually even crossed him, but this was also the same woman that had overcome her own selfish tendencies to recognize what was truly hidden under Jeez's own hard exterior. It was for their exposed vulnerabilities that were able to connect and then come to love each other.

 

Sure, there had been the bonds that come from being in the same military squad, but this had been so much different. Jeez had come to love this woman, and as he stood there, he could feel her essence pulsating softly in the midst of the emptiness. I won't separate us again, Ryshana. I won't, Jeez thought to himself.

 

As he stood there, Jeez continued to focus himself, and finally, he felt a wave come over him. He recognized it immediately, and Jeez finally began to let go of his feelings. He knew that he had to let go of them in order to think rationally, and that's exactly what he did. Settling into his calm state, Jeez suddenly saw a vision flash in his mind.

 

In the vision, Jeez could see 12 Jedi standing in a circle. Their lightsabers were all activated, and they were holding them vertically in front of them as they stood at attention. In the middle of the circle stood two women, but Jeez couldn't make out who they were. Instead, he felt an intensely burning pain emanating from them. They were suffering, and they were dying.

 

Opening his eyes, Jeez saw the door opening down at the other end of the bridge. And so it begins. May the Force be with us, Jeez thought to himself.

[JasraLantill]

As the door slowly slid open, Beryl, ready with poison-laced rat in hand, reached out with the Force, her intention to feel for any large living creatures and then toss a rat to them to eat before the reptiles could even react to her and Sam’s presence. The door was only open less than half a metre when she sensed a large living creature, hurled a rat in its direction, and then cringed when Sam began to laugh out loud at her.

 

Beryl had just tossed a rat at Jeez and it lay in a little furry heap at his feet. There were no signs of the reptilian creatures anywhere.

 

“Erm… don’t eat that,” Sam jokingly warned him. She was still grinning at Beryl’s mistake, but also still very aware and looking for signs of movement or that would indicate a creature might be lurking nearby. If they were, she had a rat ready for them.

 

Beryl grinned sheepishly at Jeez. “Sorry about that,” she apologised, nodding to the rat she had thrown. “That was meant as a sort of distraction for those creatures, not for you.” She listened, and began to hear the hushed whispers that indicated they were nearby. She reached into her pocket and withdrew another venom-laced rat, just in case.

 

She and Sam stepped forward, intending to meet Jeez at the edge of the bridge, but as they did Beryl detected the tiny click of a single solenoid in one of the gun turrets energize. “Crap…that stupid one meter rule….” She immediately backtracked, and held out her arm to prevent Sam from going any further, too. The solenoid clicked off, and Beryl exhaled a sigh of relief. “Looks like the turrets are working today though. Maybe we won’t need ‘distractions’ today.”

 

She and Sam waited for Jeez to come closer so he could escort them across the bridge. She didn’t want to take out the turrets if she didn’t have to. Better to dodge laser beams than teeth any day, Beryl thought.