MC: AOTE: Brothers in Arms

[starmark2k]

"It'll take more than an explosion and a collapsing building to finish me." Nic replied putting his pistol into the holster by his side, he knelt down by Beryl’s side and looked at the large piece of wood in her leg. “Sorry, let’s get you to the shuttle, there’s a med kit in there.”

[JasraLantill]

"Sorry?" She put a hand on top of Nic's shoulder and used him to brace herself as she stood up. "The wound's not that bad," she lied. "And I was trying to kill you. Of course, I didn't know it was you, but still...." She shrugged. "I was overconfident. I sensed you were lame and thought you'd be an easy kill." Then she looked at him and then at the leg she sensed was injured. It was the same one she had shot a few weeks earlier. "Oh, cripe, is that my fault? I shouldn't have shot you. I'm sorry."

 

Both of them leaning on each other for support, Nic led the way back to the shuttle.

 

"Wow," Beryl said as she noticed the blast hole where the fuel lines ran. "I didn't think my shot was that good." She grimaced. "Med kit or not, we won't be going anywhere in this anytime soon."

[Rogue Nine]

"I thought I heard blaster fire."

 

Conn leaned back in his chair and turned his head towards Lana, who sat with a headset to her ear. "Blaster fire?" he repeated.

 

"Yeah," she confirmed. "The electromag interference is making it hard to discern anything on the surface, but I definitely thought I heard blaster discharge."

 

"Well, that TIE was chasing the Lambda for a reason," Max surmised, leaning against the doorway. "Make sure that's what you heard, Lana," she ordered.

 

Conn tried to keep his emotions in check. "That isn't good enough to bring us down?" he queried the petite Lorrdian.

 

Max gave him a curt shake of the head. "Not quite, though it does make things interesting. Keep working on punching through that interference."

 

Conn nodded and turned around to focus back on his work.

[starmark2k]

“Well we need to sort you out before we try to find away off this rock.” Nic informed as he helped her up the loading ramp and into the ship, he set her down on one of the seats near the Med Kit. Taking the Kit he opened it and placed it down next to Beryl. He looked up at her face and smiled. “Don’t worry an injury like that will heal in no time, trust me I have experience with Leg related injuries.”

 

Nic raised an eyebrow and stood up still grinning. “You know what you need more than bacta.” Nic said as he walked over to a nearby crate and took out a Bottle. “Care for some of Kamino’s finest… I thought this stuff was illegal.” Nic informed handing the bottle to Beryl. “Can I steal a ship or can I steal a ship.”

[JasraLantill]

Beryl took the bottle and looked at the label. "Thirty years old. Premium stuff."

 

She looked around. The inside of the shuttle was very plush, and Beryl suddenly checked to see that she wasn't getting blood on the seat she was sitting in. The drinks crate, (well, more like a trolley now that she looked at it) was fully stocked with all kinds of liqueurs from all over the Galaxy--some legal, some illegal, and all expensive.

 

"I guess rank does have its privileges." Hesitant to take a drink, she looked at Nic. "You do realize that this is the base Commander's shuttle."

[starmark2k]

Nic laughed as looked back into the Med Kit. “Yeah, It’s quite nice although I’d have fired the decorator.”

 

Nic took out a Bacta patch and handed it to Beryl, he then looked down at the wound and without saying anything he knew that Beryl knew what he had to do next. Placing his hand on the large splinter he gripped it tightly and looked up at her. “Second it’s out slip that on and hold it there… sorry this will hurt.”

[JasraLantill]

Beryl just stared at him, her eyes sort of vacant as if she was thinking about something else.

 

"What?" Nic asked, poised and ready to extract the splinter.

 

She looked over her shoulder towards the cockpit door. "Is your com working?"

 

"Ye-ah," Nic said slowly. He gave her an odd look. "Who were you planning to call?"

 

"My commander," Beryl said flatly.

 

Nic raised an eyebrow.

 

"Who do you think?" she asked rhetorically. "Jana. I'm supposed to meet her at Ruusan." She frowned a bit. "That is, if she received and understood my message," she added. Looking back at Nic, she said, "We'll have to send out a signal to her. One that she would know was from me. Because we can't stay here very long. Carida Control will be sending out recon for us soon." She pressed her lips together. "Well, looking for me anyway." She thought for a moment. "I suppose I could reprogram the distress beacon. That should get through any magnetic interference from this place." She started to rise.

 

"Sit!" Nic pointed at the chair. "I'll reprogram the beacon. And I know the perfect signal." He grinned. "Just need a security code."

 

Beryl reached inside her flight suit and pulled out her code cylinder. "Here, sir. Use this."

 

Nic took it and was gone for a few minutes. Then he returned. "Worked like a charm," he said, handing the cylinder back to her.

 

She looked down at her leg and the splinter, and then up at Nic.

 

Nic raised his brow. "Like I said, it's going to hurt, Beryl."

 

"I know, sir," she said matter-of-factly. "I can take it."

 

Nic yanked out the splinter with one pull. Beryl did flinch slightly, but didn't cry out and didn't wince. She just calmly placed the bacta patch on the now bleeding wound and pressed down on it.

 

"You got something to hold this on, sir?" she asked. "I don't want to bleed all over the Commander's plush seat covers."

[starmark2k]

“Sure.” Nic replied smiling as he moved around some bits inside the Med Kit after a few moments he took out a black band and unravelled it. He Lightly raise Beryl’s leg up and began to tie the strap around her leg and the Bacta Patch. Once done he closed the kit and placed it back where he came from, then he sat down on the chair where it was next to Beryl. Taking the bottle from Beryl he took a gulp of it and offered it back to her. “Good Year… So now all we have to do is wait for Jana to arrive.”

[Writer]

The crew meeting in the common room had scarcely taken ten minutes. Twenty minutes after the meeting, the ship was moved and raised to the surface of the planet once more. No more than forty-five minutes after Jana called for the meeting, they were leaving the Watchtower System behind.

 

Their destination was Ruusan, Jana had determined after the fifth time re-reading Beryl's letter. In that case, there was little use in sending numerous shipping orders to Carida and they were canceled. Teser Quitaan was a little aggravated at being commissioned to cause a diversion when it wasn't needed and insisted on meeting the crew at Ruusan, if only to reassure himself that his sister was safe.

 

The trip to Ruusan was a long one, even in hyperspace, so there was plenty of time for the stress of the situation to mingle with the excitement of the chance at getting Beryl back, a mix which put several of the crew on edge; Cloud kept mostly to engineering, Jana spent most of the time trying to dodge Reibe while Reibe seemed to drift from one place to another without much of a pattern. Jack stayed mostly to the bridge and Sam... well, Sam tended to drift a bit as well, though she seemed to have a bit more of a purpose in her drifting than Reibe did. Jeez kept to his room for the most part.

 

Reibe's drifting led her eventually to the bridge, where she sat next to Jack. Initially, she said nothing, seeming content merely to sit and watch as the ship passed through hyperspace. But finally, she stirred and looked over at Jack.

 

"Some crew this ship's got," she observed. "The resident Jedi's a war hero, the captain's a Force magnet, the mechanic's Force sensitive... then, there's you and Sam, quite the interesting pair you make. Don't think I hadn't noticed how you're each trying discreetly to off the other. And me... well, I'm a freak show in my own right..."

 

She was silent for a couple of seconds, but then she stood and stepped back to close the door between the bridge and the common room, calmly stating, "I know your secret, Jack... the thing you've been working so hard to keep from the crew. Way the records read, the Rhea left a big mark on you..." She put a hand on the door. "This is my promise to you. Your secrets remain secret until you make the decision to reveal them."

 

She came back to sit beside him. "But keep in mind, of the people on this ship right now, I'm the only one who knows what you went through... that isn't aiming to hurt you. You ever feel the need to talk, I'm here."

 

It occurred to Reibe before she entered the bridge for this discussion that she had never addressed the crew by name. Indeed, she'd been extremely cold in dealing with any of them. But Shaam's scolding about her harsh manners had struck her deeper than she would ever admit. She had allowed her years of experience with betrayal eat away at her ability to trust. So did she trust this crew? By no means! But they didn't need to know that... and they could benefit from her knowledge as much as she could benefit from their emotional reactions.

 

Reibe sighed and stared out into hyperspace. Letting Jack know she was available if he ever needed anyone to talk to was the first step in truly becoming the ship's adviser. Somewhere deep in her mind, she wasn't sure that's what she wanted... but you could never really know something until you tried it...

[JasraLantill]

Beryl was experiencing an unexpected feeling as Nic tended to her wound. His touch on her bare skin was tender and gentle, and his manner in bandaging on the bacta pad calm and composed--not at all like the way the medics at the Academy infirmary would have treated her. More like the way Conn would have.

 

Conn. Beryl was almost sure he hadn’t made it out of the prison. "… a couple of manslaughter and serious assault charges—mostly staff at the prison and a few soldiers under the command of an Imperial Moff…." That’s what her brother’s aid, Major Payne, had told her when she had first been detained on the Dreadnaught Reaper. Beryl had no doubt that Conn, being the prison’s doctor, was included in the category of prison ‘staff.’ It didn’t really surprise her that he’d be dead—all of her former lover’s had all died suddenly for one reason or another. Why would Conn be any different?

 

And now, here was Nic, risen from the dead in her mind, tenderly taking care of her even after she had aggressively tried to kill him. She had always liked him—his casual manner, his sense of humour, his quirks about money, the way his eyebrow would twitch just that little bit when he had a good Sabbac hand….

 

Nic closed the kit and placed it back where he came from, then he sat down on the chair next to Beryl. Taking the bottle from her, he took a gulp of it and then offered it back. “Good Year… So now all we have to do is wait for Jana to arrive.”

 

“It might be a very long wait, sir.” She studied the bottle in her hand, and then took a swig herself. “Jana may not have understood my message. If she got it at all.”

 

Nic was her Captain, her employer, her boss. She had never acted on any of her impulses towards him, feeling that it was inappropriate, though she’d been quite content to flirt with him every now and again. But could she really go through the pain of losing him again without first letting him know how she felt about him?

 

Beryl suddenly reached out and put her hand over Nic’s, gripping it tight. “Sorry,” she said, as she gently bit her lower lip. “I still can’t believe you’re alive. I just wanted to make sure that you were real.”

[starmark2k]

As Beryl took his hand, Nic looked into her eyes and felt what he had not for years, he did love her but he knew they shouldn’t be together. He had killed the only women he had ever loved back on Naboo, one of the two mistakes he made that led him to become Nic White. The mistakes that led him to make three promises to himself that he would uphold no matter what.

 

The first was never to touch a Sniper Rifle again as the two mistakes were made looking through that weapons scope. The women he had killed and shouldn’t have and the man he should’ve killed but didn’t.

 

The second was to never help a Jedi again, the first mistake had begun when he joined up with the Jedi and aid him in the war effort. He had already broke this promise after Ryshana saved his life, but it was more important to save the Jedi than to help himself.

 

The third was seemed so simple, and he had achieved it for so long until he had met Beryl, this promise was the most important the one to stop him feeling the pain he felt when he killed Tanya. He promised that he would never fall in love again, a promise that was breaking and would hurt not only him if broken but Beryl aswell.

 

He still looked into her eyes his heart and mind were in conflict but Nic knew what he had to do. "Beryl we can't, you'll get hur..."

[JasraLantill]

“Hurt?" Beryl interrupted him. "I don’t care.”

 

“I do.”

 

Beryl’s grip on his hand tightened. “I’ve been hurt lots of times, sir. Not as much as my ex-partners, mind, but….” She bit her lip. “Maybe you’re right, sir.“ She paused. “I’ve got a really bad track record with men. They tend to, well, die, sir.”

 

"Die?"

 

"Not by my hand, sir," she said quickly. "Freak accidents mostly. Except for the last one. He got shot by Stormtroopers."

 

She paused for a moment, then cocked her head to one side. “Aw, to hell, with it, sir…. You already died once.” Her hands cupped his face as she leaned forward and kissed him full on.

[steven]

Jack looked strangely at Reibe at she talked to him and tried to get him to open up to her. This whole thing completely took Jack off guard. Even when Reibe had finished talking and began to look into the hyperspace, Jack still wore a confused expression on his face. He looked at Reibe and then at his half full beer bottle before realizing he hadn't drunk enough to make him hallucinate. It took a few minutes, but it soon sank in that Reibe had said something remotely human.

 

Jack stood up and stood beside Reibe and looked out into hyperspace. "Well since you know so much about little old me, and I know nothing about you.. Who are you Reibe Vailar? I looked around the good old holonet and found some interesting rumors... one of which is that you share the same name of young twi'lek who is very big in the twi'lek/rodian porn industry but let's not get into that..."

[Writer]

Reibe did not answer immediately. It was a question she'd been asked countless times, but one she had scarcely given much thought to. Her typical response to the question was, "No one..." but if she was to be an adviser, that would not do. She'd been suppressing every piece of information on herself that she might not be known by anyone. That wouldn't work anymore.

 

"I've been asked many times," she said finally, "but I've never really cared to give an honest answer. And in the end... well, there's no easy answer." She paused, unsure of how to continue.

[stingerhs]

3 Hours after the attack, 4 months into the Clone War

 

"I would choose my words a bit more carefully, Jedi. If I wasn't mistaken, you have just implied that my leadership abilities are not up to the challenge of reuniting Fondor under the Republic. Hopefully, I am mistaken," Nyrera stated calmly as looked at Ryshana and the group of four Clone Commandos standing behind her.

 

"I imply nothing, General Nyrera. I am merely voicing my concern that perhaps your strategy does not line up with the ways of the Jedi," Ryshana replied as diplomatically as she could.

 

"Well, I doubt that there would be any other way, General Ryshana. One must go to extremes whenever the situation calls for it, and as of right now, our situation does call for it. It would be a shame, however, if I were to mislead you in any way. I'm well aware of your responsibilities as a Jedi, and I can assure you that if I do send you out to kill or capture, it will be in the name of democracy, fairness, and justice," Nyrera responded. "Now, if that is all, General Ryshana, you and your men can be dismissed for six hours of rest. I'll be expecting that you and your men will be ready for their next assignment."

___________________

 

15 Minutes later

 

"Well, what would you have me do? Its not my fault that you decided to run your mouth about Nyrera to his face," Jeez stated harshly. Standing in front of Ryshana with his helmet removed, his face was almost completely devoid of sympathy.

 

"I don't know. This is just so frustrating because we're supposed to do one thing and still serve as a Jedi. I'm just wondering if we're going to be able to do both at the same time, or if we'll have to forgo our duties to the Jedi or to the Republic," Ryshana responded as she seemed to reserve herself to thought.

 

"Well, if the Fondorian News Reports are at all accurate, then I can say that Nyrera is a fairly ambitious man. He's been attacking Techno Union strongpoints and factories across the system for about two months now. He is putting a lot of pressure where it needs to go," Jeez commented.

 

"But what about today? How do we explain why we just attacked a factory that is used exclusively to manufacture droids for the Civil Defense? We didn't attack the Techno Union today, Jeez. We attacked the Civil Defense," Ryshana reiterated.

 

"I know that, but neither of us can see the entire strategic picture. If we're going to help Nyrera re-establish Republic control here on this system, then we have to trust him. The process can be a bit unsettling, but in the end, we have to get this accomplished. To do that, we have to trust him."

________________________

 

Back on the Echo in hyperspace towards Rusaan

 

"Well, I have to ask: how would you describe the Force? I never really did ask Ryshana, but recently I've been curious," Cloud asked Jeez who was sitting across from him in the Common Room. In front of them, there were a couple of plates with what appeared to be a very delicious and well prepared meal.

 

"For starters, that is a very simple question, but yet, it has a very complex answer. First, you have to understand what the Force is. Life creates it and binds all to it, and in equal measure, death also creates it. In the Force, all of life and all of death exists," Jeez stated. Seeing Cloud's awkward expression, Jeez then continued, "Just think of it in simple terms. In order for death to exist, there must be life. As life creates the Force, it also creates death since everything has to die. Conversely, without death, there would be no life. Plants are fed from the decay of dead things that lie buried beneath them, and animals feed on them from there. As such, death creates life, and that translates directly into the Force."

 

Still chewing on a bit of meat, Cloud then said, "So, death and life. That wouldn't correlate to dark and light, would it? Because, that's all I ever hear about: the Dark side versus the Light side and so on."

 

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. In darkness, there is little life, and the life that does exist decays quickly. Here in life, you can see this manifested in the Dark side. By using the Dark side, you are in essence destroying life while you yourself are decaying as your own life feeds the darkness. The opposite is true of those that use the Light side of the Force. Everything falls into the cycle of life and death, and in that cycle lies the Force," Jeez responded as he used his fork to take another bite of food.

 

"But what about good versus evil and how that relates to the Force? Why is darkness always associated with evil and so on?" Cloud asked.

 

"Well, that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we are living creatures. Even though life requires death to exist, that does not stop the living from wanting to prolong the inevitable. As such, anything that takes life away at will for its own purposes is often times viewed as being "evil"," Jeez stated. "But don't think for a moment that that is the only part of what we consider good and evil. Those that wish to bend the Force to their will often times find themselves using the Darkside of the Force if and only because they both serve each other until the more powerful entity claims the other.

 

Death serves the man that wishes to destroy his adversaries so that death can continue to exist. Conversely, the same man serves death as it uses the man to accomplish its own ends until it claims the man. Although the man thinks it is he that is bending and shaping the Force to his will, he is unaware that the Force is using him to accomplish its will."

 

As Cloud continued to eat, Jeez then said, "Now, my question to you is this: is it possible for a man to use the Darkside to accomplish good?"

 

Thinking for a moment, Cloud sat there as he finished the last bits of food on his plate. Then, he said, "Well, my guess is that one would have to serve the Darkside of the Force instead of trying to bend it to your will. In that way, you would be able to take life from those that are trying to bend the Force to their will. In the end, good would be the result."

 

Thinking for a moment, Jeez hesitated in his response as he thought for a moment. "Well, that's one way of putting it. To be honest, that's actually one question that I've been thinking about for a long time. In all my years as a Jedi, I've seen a lot of the whole "ends justifying the means", and I'm honestly not convinced that its a good idea. I used to be, but it seems that life has taken me in a different direction as of recently."

 

"If you don't know the answer, then how am I supposed to learn, though?" Cloud asked.

 

"You will learn in time as I am. Like I said, its an easy question to ask with a very complicated answer. That answer is open to all kinds of interpretation, and I'm sure that at least one of us will discover it in the end."

[Rogue Nine]

"They're using some sort of odd frequency modulation that I've never seen before," Lana said, pursing her lips as she listened to the odd static emanating from the speakers.

 

Conn peered intently over her shoulder at the readouts. "I've never seen those before either...but why would they be sending out subspace signals if nothing else but for a distress call?"

 

Lana smirked. "Can't be a very good distress call if it's all garbled."

 

He furrowed his brow. "Maybe it's not," he said, taking out a datapad. "Back when I was decrypting their frequencies, I noticed a very similar scramble algorithm in their communication." Conn reached out and tapped a few keys on the console after examining his pad. "I wonder..."

 

Just then, the static abruptly stopped and gave way to the sound of electronic synthesizers and a low, melodious female voice belted out a chorus. "Emoooootionaaaallll Hoooostages..."

 

Lana, who was obviously too young to remember it, frowned. "Eh?"

 

But Conn's eyes opened wide. "I know this song," he said urgently. "This is from when..." He fell silent for a few moments, then shook his head and pointed at the console. "Remodulate on frequency 100.3, channel Z."

 

The young Firrerreo raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told.

 

The song crackled, then cut out, being replaced by a male voice, unfamiliar to any of them. "This is Nic and Beryl, requesting emergency recovery. Jana, please respond. This is Nic and Beryl..." The message began to repeat itself.

 

Conn looked over at Max who was leaning in the doorway. She smiled, shook her head and beckoned him towards the cockpit. "Help me bring this bird down and let's get her back."

 

As Conn bounded towards the cockpit, Lana arched an eyebrow. "I know who Beryl is," she said, mostly to herself. "But who's Nic?"

 

*****

 

Conn guided the Hammerspace down through the atmosphere, squinting through the cloud cover until it dispersed, revealing the forested green land. It was devoid of anything artificial, save for two hulks of metal marring the landscape. He couldn't help but feel a shiver go up his spine, as the situation was very similar to the one where he had met Beryl for the very first time. He had responded to the distress call before bringing the Hammerspace down, but had not received a response, so that made him just a little bit worried.

 

Setting the freighter down between the downed vessels, he quickly ran through the power down checklist, then bolted out of his seat and back towards the loading ramp, where he met Max and Lena. They had their blaster pistols out. "Not taking any chances?" Conn asked as he slapped the controls to lower the ramp.

 

"You know me, Conn," Max replied, rolling her eyes at the doctor. "Besides, it might be a trap." She and Lana moved forward as the ramp came to a stop on the ground, blasters up and pointed at the odd TIE fighter a few meters away. They had landed next to the fighter since it was in a clear patch of area, whereas the shuttle was in a shady copse off to the side. Max carefully picked her way over to the area, pausing just in front of the open ramp. "There's a body here," she said.

 

Conn's heart leapt into his throat as he made his way over to Max and Lana. Sure enough, there was the body of an Imperial pilot laying on the ground, helmet still on. He stepped forward and knelt down, sweeping the helmet off, then breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a male face he did not recognize. Conn put his fingers to the man's neck, confirming what he already knew. "Dead," he pronounced. "Rigor hasn't set in yet, he was probably killed no more than forty-five minutes ago."

 

"He was shot?" Lana asked.

 

The doctor nodded, prodding around the dead man's flightsuit. "Yes... but I don't think that's what killed him," he said, pointing at the man's throat. "His neck is tender to the touch, meaning his windpipe was crushed." Conn lifted one of the man's eyelids, then grimaced. "Yeah, he was asphyxiated," he affirmed, indicating the burst blood vessels in the corpse's eye.

 

The Firrerreo gulped. "You think Beryl did this?"

 

"I hope she did this," Conn replied, straightening up. "Means she's still alive." He turned his gaze towards the Lambda a few dozen meters away. Sensor scans had shown two humanoid life forms in the crashed shuttle, so that's where Beryl and this 'Nic' person had to be. He moved purposefully towards the Lambda craft, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "BERYL!!!"

[JasraLantill]

With hearts pounding and breaths quickening, Beryl and Nic had succumbed to their passion for each other and had adjourned to lay on the soft, plush couch at the back of the shuttle leaving a trail of clothing on the floor in their wake.

 

“Nic… Nic….” Beryl gasped. She pulled herself away from Nic for just a moment to take off the gray undershirt she was wearing. But she had only just gotten the shirt over her head when she thought she heard something.

 

“What was that?” she asked, her arms still stuck inside the shirt.

 

Nic wrapped his arms around her bare back and pulled her down towards him. “What was what?” he asked. “I didn’t hear anything.”

 

Beryl quickly agreed, and hurriedly tossed the T-shirt away. But only a few seconds back into the throes of passion, they were again interrupted by a sound.

 

“There it is again,” Beryl said, between kisses. She lifted herself up onto her elbows and tilted her head in the direction of the cockpit. “Something’s bleeping. I think someone’s answering our signal, Nic.”

 

“Beryl…!” Someone was calling her name from outside.

 

“Yeah, and they must’ve got a really good com system 'cause it sounds like they’re right outside,” Nic observed, deadpan.

 

Beryl blanched. It had only been one word, but she recognised the voice. It was Conn. She looked at Nic, and then at the shuttle’s open door, and then back at Nic. “Oh, crap! Get dressed!”

 

She hurriedly untangled herself from Nic, grabbed her shirt from the floor and put it on.

 

“What?” Nic asked, confused. He began to search under bits of clothing for his blaster. “Imps?”

 

“No. Yes. Sort of,” Beryl said, now putting on her boots. “Nic, just stay here. I’ll be right back. Ow!” She winced as she stood up, noticing a dark stain welling up on her black trousers. Her wound was bleeding again. “Oh, great,” she grimaced as she poked at the bacta bandage. “Just great.”

 

One last look over her shoulder at Nic, and then she headed out the door and down the ramp of the shuttle.

[starmark2k]

“Hang on!” Nic called as Beryl ran out of the ship, he began looking around the room. “Where’s my shirt?” Nic shrugged his shoulder and reached to grab his stolen gun and vibroblade holstering them both, he then gripped the walking stick and began to follow Beryl out of the Shuttle.

[Rogue Nine]

Conn was mere meters away from the shuttle when a pair of black-booted feet appeared at the top of the ramp and started descending. He stopped, laying a hand on the pistol at his hip as the person came into view, just in case it wasn't Beryl. But his caution proved to be unnecessary as the blonde Corellian pilot stepped off the ramp and onto the jungle floor. He strode towards her just as she squinted through the daylight at him. "Beryl!" he repeated.

 

Her eyes widened in surprise as he approached. "Conn?" she asked, her expression incredulous.

 

"You were expecting someone else?" he responded, covering the last few meters between them.

 

"Well, actually---" The rest of Beryl's reply was cut off as Conn pulled her into an embrace, crushing her to his chest.

 

"Finally," Conn said, holding her close. The pent-up frustration, anxiety and worry rolled off of him in a wave after having found her at last.

 

"Finally?" Beryl tried to think what he meant. "I thought you were dead. What, have you been looking for me this whole time?"

 

Conn pulled his head back to look at her and eased his arms away slightly. "I thought you were worse than dead," he replied. "And yeah, I have been looking for you. You're awfully hard to track down, y'know."

 

Beryl began to feel all sorts of feelings that she hadn't felt for a very long time--elation, relief, happiness, wariness, guilt. It was making her head spin. Her Imperial training told her to hold them in check, but being this close to part-Zeltron Conn made it very difficult. She bit the inside of her lip in an attempt to steel herself before speaking. "Personal contacts aren't allowed while in training," she finally managed to say.

 

"Training?" Conn repeated, arching an eyebrow. "Your brother made you go through Imp training?" He wrinkled his nose as he noticed something. "I don't rememeber them teaching me to wear my shirt inside out."

 

Beryl glanced down, then reddened slightly, but before she could get more words out, Max spoke up from behind Conn. "Imps, huh? Well, that explains the shuttle and the TIE, newsie," the slight Lorrdian intoned, approaching with Lana in tow. As Conn and Beryl separated, the Alderaanian doctor standing to the side, Max raked a critical eye over the blonde pilot. "You look like hell, Beryl."

 

At Max's comment, and slightly embarrassed about her recent romp in the shuttle with Nic, Beryl quickly smoothed a hand over her hair. "I'm in better shape now than I've ever been," she replied, as if she were repeating something. Then she looked down at her thigh. "The flesh wound is recent," she added dismissively.

 

"Flesh wound?" Conn repeated again, arching his other eyebrow as his gaze traveled down to Beryl's right thigh, where the pooling blood stood out even against the black of her trousers. "We heard blaster fire before we landed here. Were you hit?" He frowned. "Did this 'Nic' person do this to you?"

 

"Nic? No, sir, not on purpose. I was actually trying to kill him, although I didn't know it was him at the time," she added. "And this just sort of... happened by accident."

 

Kill him? Conn thought. Who is this guy? And why is Beryl calling me 'sir'? He was about to verbalize his thoughts into words when he heard sounds of a second person coming down the shuttle's ramp.

[starmark2k]

A shirtless Nic limped out of the Shuttle and looked around at the people in front of Beryl, normally in this kind of situation he would take out his pistol, but Beryl seemed to know them so he left his gun holstered. His body was still strong, but it also still showed the scars from the various torture sessions he had been through over the last few weeks as well as the lightsaber wound on his gut.

 

Still standing on the ramp he leaned on to his walking stick and smiled at them. “So I guess the thing to do now is introduce myself. I’m Captain Nic White, but you can call me Nic, everyone else does.” Nic extended his hand out to the new man and women as he sniffed the air, there was a slightly familiar smell in the air and he had to think before he could remember what it was. “Is there a Zeltron round here?”

[Rogue Nine]

Conn looked over the newcomer who had introduced himself as 'Nic White'. About the same height as he was, with a well-toned physique which was easy to see, since Nic's torso and arms were bare. Nic held a shirt in his hand, however, as if he'd just grabbed it as he came down the ramp. Conn furrowed his brow at that thought, especially in light of Beryl's disheveled appearance, even as he raked his keen physician's eyes over Nic's scars and a particularly nasty looking gash across the abdomen.

 

Nevertheless, he reached out and gripped Nic's hand in his own. "Doctor Conway Harlowe," he said, giving Nic a firm handshake. "I'm also the Zeltron here. Quarter Zeltron, anyway."

 

Max was next. "Captain Nic White?" she repeated. "And what ship do you captain, good sir?"

 

"The mercenary ship Echo," Nic replied, shaking her hand.

 

"Ah good," Max as she released his grip, then reached into a pocket and pulled out a credit chit. "I'm Captain Maxxenandra Coronis of the freelance ship Hammerspace and I do believe this is for you." She tossed him the chit.

 

Nic caught it one-handed, then held it up to look at it. "What is it?"

 

"One point five million authorized Imperial credits."

[starmark2k]

Nic looked at chip carefully think it was a joke but the chip was real, he looked at Max quizzically. “And why is a virtual stranger giving me so much money? Or is this a new way how ship Captains greet each other because I can’t really see it catching on?”

[JasraLantill]

"It's Ryshana's bounty," Beryl said tonelessly. She stared at Max, then Conn, and then Nic. There were certain things that she didn't ever want to think about, and Ryshana's bounty was one of them. If it hadn't been for Ryshana convincing Nic to cash in on it, they wouldn't have gone to the prison in the first place. Ryshana would still be alive and none of the events in the past two months would have occurred. Now that Ryshana was dead, it felt wrong to Beryl to have the money. But she knew Nic, and quite possibly Jana, could use it, and so she said nothing more about it.

 

"We've got to go," she said instead, abruptly turning her back on Conn and heading for the inside of the shuttle. "I'll get my gear."

[starmark2k]

Nic Looked at Beryl as she walked into back into the shuttle and then at the chip in his hand. He threw it a few centimetres in the air and grabbed it in the same hand, his expression changed to one of anger as he through his hand back and then quickly forward again. The chip left his hand a great speed as it shouted out loud to express his anger. The chip flew out into the forest and slowly down towards the jungle floor where Nic hoped it would be lost forever. He said nothing as took his shirt and placed it over his head and back on his body, he slowly turned and walked back into the shuttle.

[Rogue Nine]

Conn stared after Beryl as she stalked up the ramp and rubbed a hand over his face. Something was wrong. When Nic had appeared, Beryl had exuded surprise and apprehension, along with a twinge of guilt. That, coupled with her unkempt appearance and Nic's shirtlessness led him to believe they might have been up to something inside the shuttle. Nic's appearance and easygoing manner was the only thing that had kept Conn from saying something to her. He would query her about it later, though he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

 

Secondly, Beryl's attitude was far, far different than Conn remembered. She was subdued, almost detached. Her use of 'sir' spoke volumes to him about just how much the Imperials were able to get to her, as she was always one to buck authority and defer to no one. The fact that outwardly she hadn't seemed all that excited to see him also stuck out in his mind. She had always been an emotional person, wearing her feelings on her sleeve, but now it was almost as if she was repressing them. Conn was sure this was an Imperial mannerism as well, but it bothered him how much she had been ingrained into it. That was something he'd have to discuss with her as well.

 

He watched Nic fling the credit chit into the trees and stalk back up into the shuttle. Turning to Max, he saw her shaking her head. "Glad I didn't have to tell him what it was," she remarked. "Otherwise, he might've thrown it at me."

 

Lana, who had been silent up to this point, blew out an exasperated sigh. "That would have been better," she exclaimed, her nictitating eyelids blinking furiously as she bounded toward where Nic had thrown the chit. "At least he wouldn't have been throwing a million and a half credits away." She threw up her hands as she pushed through the leaves. "Don't they want the money they were after?!" she asked rhetorically. "What kind of mercenaries are they anyway?"

 

As Lana searched through the undergrowth muttering, Max came up next to Conn and crossed her arms, joining him in staring at the shuttle. "You're confused," she said, not looking at him.

 

Conn chuckled ruefully. "I thought I was the empath here," he said, scratching the back of his head.

 

"You are, but you also project more feelings than any other Zeltron I've known," Max replied.

 

"Can you blame me?" He sighed, bringing his latent empathic abilities under control, something that usually came easy to him but was rather difficult at the moment.

 

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "No," she admitted.

 

"She's changed, Max."

 

"I know. You don't need to be a Zeltron to tell that." She closed her eyes. "You're just going to have to find out how much, and if you can change her back."

 

"Right," Conn replied mockingly, as if the task in and of itself was nothing. "Then there's 'Captain Nic White' to deal with."

 

"Don't forget the dead Imp back there."