MC: AOTE: Fraught With Disappointment

[stingerhs]

((at this point, only Nic would recognize Invai personally. all of the crew, except for Ryshana of course, would know about him since they were all involved in the incident mentioned earlier, but none of them were incarcerated alongside of him as Nic was.

 

i think the best way to proceed here would be for Jana to walk into the cockpit either right when Nic is turning down the offer or just after. sorry if this wasn't laid out earlier.))

______________

Beryl gave Ryshana a skeptical look at her offer to help. "Are you sure you want to help me?” Beryl asked. “Looking for conduit worms has got to be the nastiest job on the ship. Unless you gas them out with Cyanoxis D-587, which is not only expensive but means a total evacuation of the ship for 24 hours, and Nic would never go for that. They're stringy, and fiddly, and creepy with those buggy little eyes peeking out from every which way. And, you have to crawl under the floor panels just to find the little bas….” Beryl suddenly paused, raising her brow. “Ah,” she said insightfully. “You’ve got a trick to find them, don’t you? A Force trick, perhaps?”

"I might have a couple of tricks for you to learn. Just find me whenever you're ready to get started," Ryshana said with a smile as she went on board the Echo towards her quarters.

 

Plugging the datapad into a terminal, Ryshana uploaded the messages into her computer. Asking for the code words to unlock the heavy encryption, Ryshana put in the words loyalty, obedience, love, and undying into the sequence. After a minute or so of processing, the computer brought up a message that indicated that the decryption was complete.

 

Looking at the messages, Ryshana now had quite a bit of hard, albeit dated, info on the locations of a number of Jedi that had been believed to survive the Purges. It was this data that Ryshana had been so interested in back on Corellia, and now she had it. As Ryshana went through the data, she had to swallow her feelings on a number of occasions considering how depressing the data would be to normal people.

 

There were few if any survivors. Most of the info detailed that the vast majority of Jedi were confirmed dead or were unaccounted for. Scrolling down towards "Yajisif Quiinzara", Ryshana was surprised to see that the Corellians had confirmed the information gathered in the Imperial Database on Jeez.

 

The biggest difference was that the Corellian information was much more detailed. Apparently, Jeez was one of about 10 Jedi that had been captured and were being held for some sort of experiment at the Prison. No other details were there, but it was enough for Ryshana to feel a bit concerned. Experimentation? What's that supposed to mean? she thought to herself.

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Ok, to get things rolling here again, I'm taking over Jana for this post, since WJ has decided to quit the thread. Hope I do Jana's character justice....))

 

~~~~~~~

 

"I might have a couple of tricks for you to learn. Just find me whenever you're ready to get started," Ryshana said with a smile as she went on board the Echo towards her quarters.

 

“Excellent!” Beryl replied. “I’ll do that.”

 

After tucking her bike safely away in the corner of the cargo bay, Beryl went up to the common room. Jana was slouched comfortably in one of the chairs, watching the ending credits for a holoprogram.

 

“Win or Die?” asked Beryl as she sat in a chair opposite Jana.

 

“Yup. Just finished.”

 

Beryl nodded at the holoprojector. “So, what’s on after this then?”

 

“New program,” Jana said. She looked over at Beryl. “Galactic Bandits.”

 

“Oh, yeah. I heard about that,” said Beryl. “They profile ‘criminals’ of the Empire, dramatise their crimes, and then ask for citizens to call the ESB with any information. More propaganda, no doubt.”

 

“I dunno.” Jana yawned. “Looked pretty good. During the last break, they showed a highlight of tonight’s show--a suspect endangering the public by speeding recklessly through Coruscant on a red swoop bike.”

 

Beryl’s grin suddenly faded. “What?! But that’s impossi….” Then she noticed that Jana was trying not to smile. She was baiting Beryl.

 

“You…!” Beryl tossed a seat cushion in Jana’s direction. “That wasn’t funny!”

 

“Ah ha! So you were racing!” Jana accused.

 

“Yeah, well….” Beryl shrugged. “But only against Cloud. And I lost, by the way.”

 

“Lost? Again?” Jana shook her head. “Just ain’t your day, is it? So, how much you lose this time?”

 

“Didn’t bet creds,” Beryl said. “We wagered on conduit worm duty.”

 

Jana grimaced. “Eew. It’s really not your day.”

 

“So, Nic get us a job while we were out?” Beryl asked, changing the subject.

 

“Maybe,” Jana said. “Just overheard him and Jack talking to someone on the com in the cockpit. And Cloud just went in there just before you came in. Suppose we could have a job by now.”

 

“Could have? Suppose?” Beryl gave her friend a strange look. “Wait a sec…. Lemme get this straight. You suspect Nic is negotiating for a job, and you’re not up there with him supervising the offer?”

 

Jana motioned with her hand at the holoprojector. “Win or Die was on,” she stated plainly.

 

“Well, some first officer you are." Beryl rolled her eyes, then rose from her chair. "Well, I’m going to go and check out what's going on in the cockpi...." Beryl frowned slightly. Something wasn't right. “Erm… you and Nic have an argument?”

 

“Nope.” Jana folded her arms over her chest. “Just a difference of opinion on the meaning and existence of honour.”

 

“Ah,” Beryl nodded. “He didn’t understand about the Bloodstripe incident at the Cantina, did he.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Well, he’s Nabooan. They’re all… well… you know….” Beryl frowned, searching for the right adjective. “Nabooan.”

 

Jana gave Beryl ‘the look’. "Fine. I’ll go with you and see what’s going on in the cockpit,” she said reluctantly.

 

They arrived in the cockpit to hear, Jack saying to Cloud, “…sounds dodgy, much like all our other jobs we've had in the past few months."

 

Then a sort of familiar voice on the com was heard saying, “Think about it for just a moment: 20,000 credits. You've got what, 5 or 6 people on your boat, that’s about 4 grand in your pocket if you split it even?"

 

“Twenty thousand?" Jana's eyes widened. "Dodgy or not," she said to Nic, but not loud enough to be overheard by the person on the com, "we haven't had a decent paying job like that in months, Nic. What’s the cargo? Parts? Bacta?"

 

“Swoops?” Beryl offered.

 

((OOC: Ok, Nic needs to refuse the job now and then I think we're back on track, if I correctly understand Stingerhs plot plans. But if I need to edit anything, just let me know.))

 

((I've edited this post since yesterday, to bring Jana into the cockpit with Nic, as per Stingerhs plot plans. So, it's your turn to post now, Starmark, and then I think we're back on track.))

[starmark2k]

Nic turned around to look at Jana. "It don't matter we ain't taking it." Nic said before turning back to the screen "Sorry, But you'll need to find someone else." Nic then switched off the comm unit.

[JasraLantill]

"What?!" Jana and Beryl said simultaneously.

 

"What do you mean we ain't taking it!" Jana continued. "It's 20,000 credits! Dodgy or not, we need a job, Nic." And then she gave him 'the look'.

 

Beryl, who knew that particular look well, took a side step towards the door. "Uh, oh...," she said under her breath.

[starmark2k]

"It could be a million credits for all i care." Nic replied as he pushed past the Two women and cloud. "I ain't doing any work for the Rebel Alliance."

[JasraLantill]

"Who cares if it's for the Rebel Alliance or not?" Jana continued, following Nic out of the cockpit and into the common room. "It's twenty thousand! And it's not like we'd be targeted by the Empire anymore than we have been already. We've got three Force users on board!"

[steven]

"He has a point, remember what happened last time we got ourselves involved with the Rebel Alliance?" Jack said, agreeing with his captain "Captain, we could try our hands once again on Naboo, perhabs we wouldn't be forced to find some old Relic for a corrupted Dreadnought Captain. Wait did you say three force users?"

[JasraLantill]

Jana was slightly taken aback by Jack's question, while Beryl cringed in the background.

 

"Wha...? I...," Jana stumbled over her words, then frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter what I said, Jack," she replied hurriedly. "That's not the point! The point is, we need a job, someone's offering us 20,000 credits for one, and Rebel Alliance or not, we should take it!"

[starmark2k]

"Three?" Nic repeated looking at Beryl. "So Ry told you, or did you always know and think i wasn't any the wiser about it?"

[steven]

"20,000 credit's means big trouble nowerdays. Espically with the Imperial's crack down on illegal activity," Jack paused "What do you mean three. Last time I checked we only had one."

[JasraLantill]

"Three?" Nic repeated looking at Beryl. "So Ry told you, or did you always know and think i wasn't any the wiser about it?"

 

Beryl just stared at Nic for a moment. "Erm... thought we were talking about jobs...," she said, trying to shift the focus of the conversation back.

 

"We are," Jana said, stepping closer to Nic, and blocking his view of Beryl (or at least attempting to given her diminutive stature.) "And since when have we been concerned with illegal activity, Nic? Nearly every activity we do while in Empire controlled space is illegal. I know you don't like the Alliance, but it's twenty thousand. And we need a job."

[steven]

Jack realised quickly what Jana and Beryle were trying to do "Beryl, your force sensitive!?"

[stingerhs]

The more Ryshana thought about it, the more she wanted to figure out what was going on. Closing her eyes, Ryshana did her best to connect with the Force.

 

She had been struggling to connect with the Force over the past couple of weeks, but then again, she hadn't been able to focus on anything in particular. Now, however, she was focused solely on Jeez. Slowly, she began to bring things into focus, but it was extremely difficult to so with a lot of black haze around her.

 

Waves of emotion ebbed and flowed around her along with a searing pain that she could feel from a number of different people around her. Then, she could see a large complex built into the side of an asteroid. In that complex, she could see finally see Jeez through the Force for the first time since she had last seen him with her own eyes.

 

Then, the scene quickly shifted and faded suddenly as Ryshana could hear yelling coming from the Echo's Common Area. Opening her eyes, Ryshana was curious as to what was going on. Shutting down the computer terminal, Ryshana suddenly got an idea.

 

There wasn't anything Ryshana wanted more than to find Jeez, especially now. And over the past couple of weeks, Ryshana had felt a bit useless. But Beryl, Ryshana thought. She had all the reasons to leave the Echo to go after Jeez except for Beryl.

 

Still, there was still the pressing issue of what was going on in the Common Room. Getting up from the terminal, Ryshana went into Common Room and was greeted by the sound of arguing among Beryl, Nic, Jana, and Jack.

 

"Hold it!!" Ryshana yelled out. "What's going on around here?"

[JasraLantill]

Beryl breathed a sigh of relief when Ryshana appeared, thankful for the diversion. "Erm...Nic's turning down a job," Beryl said to Ryshana, avoiding the answer to Nic's and Jack's Force Sensitivity questions as well as Nic's gaze.

 

"A very lucrative job!" Jana added, stepping to the forefront once again. "Twenty thousand credits worth of job, Ry. And he’s turning it down just because it's for the Alliance!” She gave a glance at Beryl. "And we think he should take it," she added.

 

Beryl raised her brow. "We?"

 

Jana nudged Beryl with her elbow.

 

Again Beryl felt put on the spot. "Erm... yeah. Right. We think he should...." Beryl then gave Jana a curious look. Before joining up with the Echo, Beryl had been a pilot for a blockade runner. She knew how dangerous it was running supplies in to blockade planets, and even more so running in anything directly to any Alliance strongholds. And she knew firsthand the consequences of getting caught. Had she and the crew she'd been with not been caught by Beryl's 'Imperial' brother, she and the rest of her old crew would likely be dead now. “Are you sure, Jana? I mean, there’ll be other jobs that’ll come up. Eventually,” she added quietly.

 

Jana wheeled around to face her. “What?! You’re siding with him now?” she said incredulously, gesturing to Nic.

 

“Well….” Beryl shrugged. “He’s the captain. And Alliance jobs are pretty risky….”

 

“It’s twenty thousand credits!” Jana argued.

 

“Look, I’m sure Nic’s got his reasons for not taking it,” Beryl started.

 

“Well, I’ve got twenty thousand reasons why we should!” Jana let out a disdainful snort. “We don’t all have ‘trust funds’ to rely on like you do, you know.”

 

Beryl frowned at the quip against her privileged background. She’d had arguments with Jana before on the subject, but the issue had never really been resolved and was still a bit of a sore point between them. “That’s so unfair, Jana,” Beryl said, her eyes narrowing with irritation. “Just because I have… independent means, doesn’t mean I don’t want us to have a kriffin’ job! I pull my weight around here just like the rest of us!”

 

“There’s a difference between a ‘job’ and a ‘paying job,’ Beryl,” Jana said. “This isn’t charity work I’m talking about here. It’s twenty thousand credits! Not that I’d expect a spoiled little shutta like you to understand the difference!”

 

“Spoiled little... what?!” Beryl spluttered. “Better that, than a diminutive but overbearing lum-guzzling di’kut who can’t see sense for…!”

 

Just then, for no apparent reason, Jana unexplainably lost her balance and fell back hard into Nic, causing both of them to tumble to the deck.

 

Beryl blanched. Oh, crap, Beryl thought. Did I do that? She gave a brief, but panicked glance at Ryshana. Beryl had been thinking of pushing Jana away, but only thinking about it, not expecting it to actually happen.

 

“Jana? Nic?" Beryl asked tentatively. "You alright?”

[steven]

Instincts told Jack to pull out his dagger when he saw Jana falling over. It didn't take long to realise what happened. Sliding the knife back into his belt, he asked "Beryl what the hell did you just do?"

[starmark2k]

Nic pushed Jana off of him and stood up. "Look the empire is clamping down on anything slightly related to any kind of rebels. What makes things harder is having the Emperors most wanted on board and as it seems a pair of force adepts that need to learn to control their powers." Nic made sure he was looking at beryl for the last part. "We're not a democracy on this ship, here i am the emperor and what i say is what we do and we ain't doing this job."

[stingerhs]

In a flash, Ryshana suddenly had an idea. "Fine then. If I can make it a bit easier for you, then just turn me in to the Empire and take the bounty for yourselves. Its a big payout; last I checked, turning in a live Jedi was worth almost 75 thousand. With me gone, it'll be one less reason for you to not take the job," Ryshana said with just a slight hint of sarcasm.

[JasraLantill]

Beryl’s mouth dropped. Was Ryshana serious? She’d turn herself in? Risk being executed, and just leave us, leave me, just like that?

 

“You can’t!” Beryl blurted. “You can’t turn yourself in! You’ll be executed, or… or… or worse!” She looked at Nic. “Nic, you’re the captain. Tell her… no order her that she can’t do that!”

 

She then looked at Jana. “With a few mods, I can get at least 15,000 for my swoop on Corulag. The Stasia Classic is coming up and there’ll be more than a few looking for a good bike. That’ll keep us going until we can find a better job.”

 

She looked back at Ryshana. “You said you’d train me,” she said in a voice just above a whisper. She glanced at Cloud. “We need you. You’re part of the crew now. Please, don't go.”

[steven]

"Turn you in? Over my dead body. Like Beryl said, your one of us." Jack objected "What is surrendering you got to accomplish anyways?@

[starmark2k]

"Hey as much as i hate the rebellion i hate the Empire ten times over..." Nic stated. "We ain't going to hand you in, i always keep my word and i still owe you."

[stingerhs]

"Actually, I'm being very serious, but that's just the first part of a job that I can give you. You see, the other part of the job is where you guys meet me at a rendezvous point and pick me up," Ryshana stated with a bit of confidence.

 

Thinking for a second, Ryshana then said, "And I think that when you 'turn me in', it would do you some good if you had an 'accomplice' to turn in alongside of me. Someone like Beryl perhaps." Ryshana paused and then put on her best salesman voice. "Just think about it: 75 grand, and probably more, and all you have to do is to drop us off at a rather specific Imperial Prison and then pick us up about a week later. You can't tell me that you wouldn't be interested in a simple job like that, Nic."

[steven]

"Out of curiosity, what do you plan to do inside prison? And which prison?" Jack asked, curiosily. "And what are we ment to in that week?"

[starmark2k]

"More importantly." Nic stated not letting ryshana answer Jacks question rightaway. "How are you so sure they won't just kill you and take beryl Away where noone will ever see her again."

[stingerhs]

"If I did my research correctly, they don't want dead Jedi where I want to go. As for Beryl, I know that she can fend for herself, especially if she has a little help," Ryshana responded with a bit of a wink in Beryl's general direction.

 

"As for the prison I'm wanting to go to, it's in an isolated asteroid cluster about 3 parsecs from here. The facility isn't named directly in the Imperial Database, but its operating number is IS4583. Most bounty hunters would know of the facility since it is specifically mentioned in the bounty sheets for Jedi as the place to take live Jedi, and that would serve as your cover for bringing me in."

[steven]

"Makes sence," Jack said "Expect there's one small detail I don't get. Why in god's name do you want to go into an Imperial Prison? And how do you plan to get out?"