Best Served before FUBAR (Rugs)

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The message had been sent just moments prior to the Exodus’ transition into hyperspace from a very well hidden compound sunk quite deeply into the crust of Kuat…

Mr. Yevor,

You have come to our attention as a candidate for our program. A member of our staff will be arriving at the Rodian-Galactic Embassy in thirty Galactic Standard Hours to meet with you in room 103. More will be explained to you upon meeting our staff member.

Thank you for your time.

No doubt it would have been more than a bit…creepy…for the person receiving this to find the message delivered directly to him via private courier. Should the courier have been questioned he wouldn’t have been able to give any more information than the fact that the message had been received through their after hours system and that no one had been able to tell who had placed it. Why? Simple: there was no way to see who had put it through. The biggest question, however, was likely to be one of ‘how did whoever sent this know I was going to be here?’ Well…that and ‘who the frell uses paper any more?’ (That’s what the message was printed on, after all.) The answers to those were far more complex, and really not worth pondering…at least, they weren’t to the pilot of the ship exiting hyperspace twenty-eight hours later over Rodia.

Truth be told, she was just glad to be on the move again.

She had never been one to sit in one place for too long…it made her ‘itch’ (as Archer had so eloquently put it). It was a problem for people like her…people who had rocket fuel for blood. Sure she’d been grounded for longer, and yes, she’d been bored as hell for years (the past few years, actually), but after a few months of real freedom, even if that freedom meant she’d had to keep looking over her shoulder, the young woman had begun to remember why she’d liked the life of a smuggler, and loved her time as a Seven. It was the adrenaline and the sense of freedom…true freedom. Still, if she was going to be sent on errands every few weeks, she could handle the -shudder- guard duty.

Even in the Sevens she’d hated guard duty.

The squawky and grating ‘voice’ of the Rodian ground control worked through the speakers of the Exodus’ comm system moments before it filtered onto on of the screens in basic…not that she needed it, really, but it was nice to know just what he was saying. By now it was all routine. Republic landing codes, number of passengers, destination, time expected on planet…ect, ect. Once all was said and done, she’d smile over at the little draconic droid in the seat beside her. ”Well, 14, only a matter of time now. Let’s get you planet-side, eh?” There was that impish grin of hers as she angled the sleek ship down toward the coordinates that had been transmitted to the ship upon entry approval. Truth be told, the woman wanted nothing more than to go screaming through atmo, dialing down the dampeners and letting gravity take over as she got her fill of her favorite naturally occurring drug…buuuuut she decided to be nice and not possibly terrify the little familiar.

Instead she allowed the ship to soar easily through the sky and avoiding at much entry burn as possible. Smiling, she couldn’t help but think of poor Sev and how much he hated the burn in. Ah she missed those guys, all of them…but especially him. Well, she’d see them again at any rate. Life couldn’t be that cruel to her. She hoped. As they came below cloud cover the expanse of jungle could be seen, like an emerald sea. Breaking this emerald sea was the vast expanse of city that was her destination. It really was quite a sight to behold from the air…she just hoped it was as nice when she landed. She doubted it.

Once they touched down the pilot had been a whirl of activity…of course, 14 helped. In the half hour the Exodus was shut down and the woman was redressed, outfitted for the planet and the situation. With 14 settled comfortably (albeit uncertainly) in a roomy rucksack, the two left the Exodus locked up tight on the landing pad and made for the embassy. With half an hour to spare the two were checked at the doors. Of course, she made a point to leave her weapons at the door (most of them anyway; no one caught the thin, collapsed, baton in one of her belt pouches) and let 14 poke his head out of the rucksack long enough to say hello to the guard and show that he was a droid and not a bomb. Again, no one realized that 14 might as well have been as good as a small arsenal of blasters all by himself. Either way, they were let in easily enough and, after speaking to the front desk, they were on their way to room 103 with twenty minutes to spare.

Down to ten minutes, she stepped into the room and found it empty…good. Setting the rucksack with 14 in it on the long meeting table, she opened it just slightly to look inside. ”Stay there for a moment and don’t make any noise.” With a nod to her instructions, she’d smile to the REA and step away, pulling a small device from her belt and activating it. With five minutes to go she had the video loop running for the security camera and was done sweeping the room for listening devices. Four minutes and she was making a mental emergency exit plan and tapping her status into her datapad to transmit to PFHQ. Three minutes and she was loosening the straps on the rucksack further, allowing 14 to come out if so desired as well as placing a disk-shaped object (small enough to fit in her hand, and only a half an inch or so thick) on the table.

It was beside this set up that she would be found. ‘Corellian green’ tee-shirt was only partially revealed below the desert colored serape draped around her form because her movements had forced her to bring the material of one side up over her shoulder. With that done, however, it meant that the heavy utility belt strapped around her slim waist could be seen, a good compliment to the brown pants (outer hems lined with golden piping) tucked into the top of combat boots. With her blond hair pulled up and back in an easy ponytail, letting it fall in feathers behind her, and stormy grey eyes, any who looked at her couldn’t be quite sure how to place her in the circles of the galaxy. Military? At one point, and still very much so at heart. Fringe? Of course, she’d grown up there and still lived there in many ways. Civilian? In a way…after all, she didn’t quite fit into either of the other two with this new line of work, but neither did exactly fit into this ‘circle’ either.

Well…Samantha had only ever acted simple, no one ever said she was simple…in any way.

[Rugs]

"Now lemme get this straight."

Asyr stood in the shade beneath a balcony on the front of a building across from the Republic Emabassy. His sleeves--both for his long red coat and the black shirt beneath were rolled up to the elbow. He was leaning against a column, smoldering cig in mouth, small piece of paper in one of his hands.

"I'm supposed to go in there, and meet some... person. Because I'm a candidate for a program."

The person he was speaking to? Himself, of course.

"Yeah, that doesn't yell 'trap' or anything." He snorted, blowing out a small cloud of smoke into the humid air before him. A group of Rodian children passed him by, drawing his attention for the moment, and then his silver-blue-eyed gaze returned to the embassy. It hadn't moved. It was still there, waiting on him. Worst part was that he was actually considering taking up the offer.

Everything had been strange from the beginning, really. It all started the afternoon before. The crew was on one of their in-between mission breaks, and it'd brought them to Rodia. Asyr was out and about, doing his usual bar surfing, when, as he was leaving to make a stop back at the ship. Some courier had stopped him to give him the message, which was little more than a folded up piece of paper. They were gone before he could ask any questions.

The most troubling part was that whoever sent this message knew who he was. Does that mean they know what I am? If they did, going into a Republic embassy, of all places, could prove to be dangerous. At first he'd thought to simply disregard it and continue on as he was. However, as that night went on and turned into the current day, he couldn't get it out of his mind. Why did they want him? How did they know where to find him? What in the hells was their supposed program?

So now here he stood, thirty minutes before the appointed time, still wrestling with his decision. Well, on the one hand, another puff of smoke came from his mouth, I could go in there, find out there's nothing to worry about and leave none the worse for it. He took a long draught in from his cig, held it for a moment, and then blew once again. Or, I could go in there, find out I'm in trouble and never come back out.

Decisions, decisions...

He glanced at his chrono.

He only had twenty-six minutes left to make his decision.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty-five minutes later found him rushing down the embassy's halls toward room 103. In the end, he'd decided he might as well go look to see what the deal was. It was just another risk to take in a life that'd been full of risks.

Thankfully, it hadn't been hard to get in on mentioning that he had an appointment within the specific room, which was apparently already occupied by whoever it was he was supposed to be meeting. And, the fortunate part of being someone that practiced his... occupation was that it was an easy thing to hide. Very few outside of his crew knew he was a pirate. Most of the ones beyond that group were dead. To the rest of the Galaxy, he was just a spacer, a traveler, maybe a mercenary when money was needed. A simple man, more or less. Simple compared to the way he really was, anyway. And as such, he'd been let in with little incident, save the expected security check.

He'd left his weapons on the ship. Even when he was still trying to decide if he'd go, he knew the embassy would be a no-weapon zone. Even the knives he kept hidden in his sleeves were gone. Not that it mattered--his body was a weapon. It was his greatest weapon.

Where's the damn room? Ah! Asyr skidded to a halt in front of the door to room 103 and took a moment to compose himself. He checked his chrono. He was right on time. Barely.

The door slid open and he stepped in, glancing about to see what was waiting for him. A woman stood near a table with a bag on it. Well, she's a pretty little thing. Asyr glanced down to the bag to see a... robotic dragon head stick out and peering at him. His brow furrowed a bit. What the hell?

Well at least it didn't seem like a trap. Just to be prepared, he kept himself on edge, ready to react at a moment's notice if she tried to pull something on him. Outward, he was calm, if still a bit visibly thrown off by the droid.

He wasn't quite sure what to say; he didn't know what was going on, didn't even know the woman's name.

"Well," he started, holding up the note in between his first two fingers, "you called?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

That datapad in her hand switched screens to the man’s profile (lacking some…very specific…information) for her to review (again). He’d worked as a smuggler previously, occasional mercenary work, Echani…well, she’d best watch herself then. She certainly wasn’t looking to get into a fist fight with an Echani. Or any fight, really. It was about that time that the doors slid open to reveal that very same man. Grey eyes had immediately snapped to the sound of the entry and one corner of her mouth lifted just slightly. Well if that look doesn’t take all, shame he’s so tense, but I can’t blame him… Oh yes, he may have appeared calm enough to most, but she was good…very good. There were still some slight twitches to his muscles and the way his eyes moved that gave him away.

Even as he held up the letter and spoke, she nodded. ”Please come all the way in and lock the door, Mr. Yevor…I promise I won’t bite.” Waiting for him to do as instructed, she’d flash him a bright grin, holding out a hand to shake. ”I'm Samantha, and this is REA 14…we call him 14 for the most part. Come on out.” She’d wait for the familiar to clamber out of the rucksack, large eagle-shaped holographic wings flickering to life as he did, and introduce himself further before she continued on.

”Now, I'm sure you have questions, but let me try to preempt some of them. 14 here is the last of the REA line of Familiar droids. The Familiar project is intended to bring these droids (as well as their partners) valuable companionship, life experiences, and allow both partner and familiar to learn from each other. Each partner, such as yourself, is carefully selected for one of the familiars so that both can gain the most from their partnership. It should be known that each familiar is unique in their own way, not just in their abilities, but also in their personality and way of thinking.” She’d smile a bit and chuckle as she relived some of her previous encounters with various familiars and their partners in the blink of an eye. Glancing over at 14, shed give him another smile and wonder just what he was thinking at that moment in time. It was only then that she bothered to notice just how nervous she was. It was like she was giving a mission briefing for Via’s sake! Well, at least she didn’t completely feel like she had the first day jitters. Looking back to Asyr, she’d press a button on the small disk she’d set out on the table, a hologram of the REA design (most specifically 14) appearing and listing various details.

”Now, I'm sure you must have other questions, either for myself or for 14?”

[Rugs]

Asyr slipped the rest of the way into the room and let the door close behind him. While his face was smooth and relaxed--except for the occasional glances at the weird dragon-droid in the bag--and his body completely at ease beneath his layers of clothing, his mind was still alert. Lock the door? His hand twisted on the lock. It clicked loudly.

As she spoke he continued forward to stand before the table, casting glances at the droid as he studied her. At least she's cute. Normally he might have grinned. Now wasn't the time for that, though. Whatever was going on, it was apparently something serious, and he wasn't ready to let his guard down.

Especially not in a Republic embassy.

He came to a stop in front of the table, hands in the pockets of his coat and let his gaze fall to the droid as she continued her explanation. He grunted softly. So this... thing, this droid was a called a familiar. Old stories and legends remembered from school resurfaced in his mind. Stories about mages and wizards and witches with their animal companions, with whom they shared some sort of magical bond. Familiars. So these droids were a nod to that, then?

The droid, 14, was clambering out of the bag as she finished speaking. Much like its head, the body of the droid was draconic in nature, with a sleek silver-blue chassis. The wings were different, though. Interestingly so.

For starters, they weren't real. They were holographic, and presently were a pale silver, almost white color. Rather than a dragon's wings, as Asyr would expect from the droid's body, they looked like the wings of a great bird. They reminded Asyr of some of the eagles he'd seen on Eshan in his youth. It was all very interesting.

"I... see..." he said, not entirely sure what to make of what was going on. He glanced up at the floating schematic that Samantha provided.

------

As Asyr studied the floating image and information, REA model #14 looked up at his partner-to-be. Asyr Yevor. He was much as his file had said, at least as far as appearances went. He seemed to be a bit bewildered by the situation, though. As he sat down on his haunches, folding his tail around his legs, 14 supposed he couldn't blame Asyr. It must have been very strange to have all of this dumped in his lap out of the clear blue sky.

14 was just happy to finally be getting adopted, though. He was the last of his line to be adopted. Some of the newer FIDES models had even been taken already, while he remained with Father. While he understood that it was just a matter of finding the right match for him, watching all of his brothers and sisters be taken up while he was left behind was... saddening, almost. They'd even found a companion for 10 before him!

But his day had finally come. He finally had a partner in Asyr. As he glanced up at the man (who he noted was rather tall), he wondered what kind of adventures they might end up on...

------

"So lemme get this right," Asyr said, looking to Samantha. "This droid, 14, is supposed to be a companion, right? Like in the old stories about familiars?" He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well I guess that's not too bad."

Asyr looked down at 14. "So what's your ability? Something about a laser drill, from the schematic."

14 nodded. "Yes. I am equipped with the Thermo-Nuclear Laser Drill." He paused for a moment and continued at the lifting of Asyr's brows. "It is a fussion-powered device on the end of my tail" he lifted the end of his tail to indicate as much. "It's best suited for carving through things or against large, slow-moving targets."

"Really now?" Asyr said. His mind was swirling. If that's the case, this droid might be of some use. This droid might be of a lot of use. He crouched down in front of the table to bring himself down to eye level with the droid. "That's pretty cool. What can you cut through?"

"Nearly anything, with sufficient time. I have recorded results from my testing that I can show you, if you'd prefer."

"Yeah, I'll have to take a look at those. That can wait 'til a bit later, though--don't wanna hold the meeting up." He held out an arm. 14 took the cue, but he hesitated, looking back to Sam before he scampered up to take a place on Asyr's shoulder.

"You know," he started to the droid on his shoulder as he stood back up to full height, "I think we'll be just fine, you and I. Two peas in a pod."

14 titled his head to the side. "Two peas? Asyr, I am a droid, not a pea. And you are an Echa-"

Asyr laughed. "It's a figure of speech."

"Oh." If a droid could blush, 14 would have been. His wings shaded a dusky rose color in embarrassment. He'd always been one of the more reserved familiars, quite possibly the stoniest of them all. Figures of speech and sarcasm gave him fits. He had a lingering suspicion one of the programmers did it on purpose, as a joke.

"So, Samantha." Asyr looked to her again, meeting her grey eyes with his silver-blue. "There's something more to this, right? There's no way I'm getting this droid without giving something in return, right?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

As she allowed Asyr a few moments to study the schematics of 14, she leaned casually against the table and studied him in return. More than the expected curiosity and a bit of confusion, she really couldn’t make much out of him…well, not other than the fact that he wasn’t half bad looking. Most people were easier to read and she found it a little odd that she couldn’t with him. It was almost making her anxious. Almost.

“So lemme get this right…”

Chuckling at his question, Sam nodded slightly. ”Correct. I can’t say for sure if that’s what the founder had in mind when he came up with the name, but I would say it’s a reasonable assumption.” Grey eyes watched the interaction between 14 and Asyr calmly, though she couldn’t help but be thankful that this man was into smuggling and not piracy. She could only imagine what things poor 14 might go through, might be asked to do, were he ever handed over to a pirate. The thought didn’t settle right with her; luckily she wouldn’t have to worry about that with Asyr. Of course, she didn’t know that Asyr was a pirate…as previously stated, some things had been left out of the information she’d been given on purpose.

As 14 glanced back to her, she grinned and shooed him with a hand to get him going, snickering slightly as he scampered up Asyr’s arm. Well, it seemed to her that these two were going to get along well enough…even with 14’s amusing lack of understanding with the ‘peas in a pod’ comment. Poor little guy…well, he’d learn in time, she supposed. That’s what they were supposed to do, anyway. The rosy tint to his wings made her chuckle quietly to herself for a moment before speaking again. ”I'm sure you’ll come to understand a bit better the longer you’re out here, 14.”

“So, Samantha. There’s something more to this, right? There’s no way I'm getting this droid without giving something in return, right?”

”There are just a few more things, yes. First the guidelines: 1) You’re not to knowingly harm a Familiar agent or those working for Familiar. It’s understood that you won’t always know they’re agents, but if you do know, rule is to play nice if at all possible. 2) You must care for your familiar, their safety and well being often comes to directly impact your safety and well being. This includes treating them as you would any other person. I can tell you from experience, these little guys are sometimes more ‘human’ that some humans, or near humans, I’ve met. 3) Attempt not to openly discuss Project Familiar, or its agents, in more than a general capacity. We’re very serious about our security and the continued safety of our agents, such as yourself, and staff…and speaking openly about either one has the possibility of severe consequences on whatever individual you’re talking about. 4) There are meetings at our headquarters occasionally, and we ask that you attend them when you get the notice. They aren’t mandatory, but they will help you get a good feel of who the other agents are, and what they do so that you know who not to shoot if you’re in a tight spot…and the same is true for them. If you can’t attend in person, I suggest working something out with your familiar to attend long-distance. 14 is quite capable of it, they all are. Now, with that said…”

She’d shut off the hologram of 14 and press another button on the small disk before turning back to Asyr. ”Do you agree to uphold the terms I’ve presented to you concerning the care of your familiar and conduct as far as PF and their agents are concerned, Asyr Yevor?”

[Rugs]

Pale silver-blue eyes hung on Sam as Asyr fold his arms across his chest and listened. She was laying out guidelines. Rules. Terms for his agreement to take on REA 14. It could only be expected.

The first was expected. He was not to harm another agent of Project Familiar. Fair enough, he thought. If I can avoid doing as much, then I will. The Galaxy had a way of being unpredictable, though. It was possible, as Samantha pointed out that he might encounter an agent of Project Familiar without knowing they were agent. The possibility for harm was there, but things would have to fall the right way for the Echani to harm them, since he didn't go around randomly beating people. He could abide by the first rule easily enough.

The second would be easy enough. Asyr glanced up to the little droid on his shoulder. As if I'd want to harm you. He chuckled softly. If 14 was going to be his, he'd take care of him.

Asyr nodded to the third. Keep the information to myself. Simple enough. His relative ignorance of most of the workings of Project Familiar would prove to be his best help there. Beyond the fact that they apparently sent good-looking women to distribute their droids, he didn't know much about them. As for how he got 14, or where 14 came from? He could just be vague.

The last one, though... That gave him pause. Being a part of a crew as he was, he wasn't entirely free to travel about the Galaxy at his leisure; if he was going to go somewhere, everyone would have to, and wasn't going to risk leaving the crew and getting stranded somewhere again. The wheels in his mind turned, trying to think of what to do. It was possible that Lordura would take the Bohemian in when he needed to go to these meetings, but he wasn't sure. Of course, if they weren't mandatory, then it might not be that big of a deal.

If nothing else, he could just attend long-distance. The joys of technology.

”Do you agree to uphold the terms I’ve presented to you concerning the care of your familiar and conduct as far as PF and their agents are concerned, Asyr Yevor?”

Asyr sighed and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He mulled over the decision, not wanting to jump and sign himself into something he might regret later.

"A man's word is binding," echoed the voice of his father. Asyr tried not to clench his jaw at the thought of the old general.

Of course Asyr wasn't nearly as honorable a man as his father--he'd broken his word multiple times in the past, and he often lied about things when he felt the need--but he still had moments where there were things that need to be taken seriously. Like now.

"Before I agree to any of this," he started slowly, "I want to ask you something. Not many people know about me. Even less know how to find me." He let his arms fall to his sides again and glanced up to 14, who still sat on his shoulder. "This is all really fascinating, but I've got to ask: how did you find out about me?"

He paused for a moment, watching her for signs of a reaction.

"And can I trust this organization?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

For a long moment after she had finished speaking and asked her question Asyr was quiet, shifting his weight from side to side as he mulled things over. Grey eyes watched him passively as she wondered just what was going on in that mind of his. Likely weighing the options and debating them. It’s what I’d be doing right about now if I were in his place, she mused. Pulling her serape back down over her shoulder, she waited quietly.

“Before I agree to any of this, I want to ask you something.”

She nodded slightly to that. It was only expected. ”Of course, I’ll do what I can to answer your questions.”

“Not many people know about me. Even less know how to find me. This is all really fascinating, but I’ve got to ask: how did you find out about me? And can I trust this organization?”

A warm smile and a little chuckle was the first response he would get to his questions, not a beat missed before her own answer to his second (and easier to answer) question. ”With your life. You can trust them with your life.” It would be easy to tell by the tone of her voice alone that she wasn’t lying. She had no reason to, and she wouldn’t want to…she owed Familiar a lot already, and she’d only been working with them for a few weeks. ”I know they saved mine…that’s actually how I ended up learning about them.”

Pausing again, she would shift her weight a bit and lean against the table again. ”As for your first question...well…it was explained to me with this acronym: WRAP. ‘With Research, Agents, and Providence’…not necessarily in that order. Chances are you’ve come across a familiar or familiar agent at some point by accident and then research on you and your history began. The more times you were seen or heard about through Familiar’s network the more solid your profile became until you were selected for 14 here.” She nodded in the direction of the REA perched on Asyr’s shoulder with a ghost of a smile. ”I hope that answered your question since that’s about all I really know of the process.”

[Rugs]

”With your life," Sam answered. "You can trust them with your life.”

Asyr nodded once at the response, still mulling over the decision. That she spoke well of them was expected--she'd make a pretty terrible agent if she went around badmouthing Project Familiar--but the way she spoke of them was reassuring. Maybe they could be trusted.

Maybe.

A risk-taker Asyr may have been, but he knew some risks needed to be evaluated before taken. Speaking of risks... His hand patted the pocket on his coat that held his cig container. The temptation to whip a cig out and light it up was there, but he doubted it would be appreciated in facility such as the embassy. Ah well. He'd just have to wait.

He continued to listen as she went on, explaining a bit about how they might have come to select him to receive the familiar. Interesting... It was possible, definitely. The Galaxy was a big place, with lots of people that could go unnoticed--a fact he was relying on in even setting foot into the embassy, criminal that he was--so it wasn't beyond the realm of reason to think he might have crossed paths with a Project Familiar agent sometime in the past. Stranger things had happened certainly.

So whadd'ya make of this, Asyr? A silvery-blue eye looked up at 14, and then to the woman across the table from him. He sighed. "Decisions, decisions..."

Even with her testimony of sorts, he was wary. It was just something that had been built into him after years of doing what he did; you learned to trust your gut feelings, or you could run into a whole lot of trouble. He'd learned that the hard way. Fortunately, he'd been skilled--and lucky--enough to survive his trouble, but that couldn't last forever.

He shifted again and, rubbing his hands together as he thought. The biggest thing he had reservations about was worrying if they knew what he really did for a living. And worrying about what they might do if they knew. Asyr enjoyed being a free man, and rightly so. He sighed. But if they already know enough to find me like this...

Then they could probably find out more, if they so chose.

Seems they've already "got" me, then. Again he sighed as he let his eyes drift back to Sam, meeting her gaze directly, but not challengingly so.

"Alright," he said. "I'm in." He looked around for a moment and then furrowed his brow. "That all I need to say? There's not some oath or something to take before I get to learn the secret handshake?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

He certainly was taking his time on deciding. Not that she really blamed him. Not very long ago she had been in the same situation, except she’d been aboard their main ship at the time with no real way off. She’d also been faced down by a bird, his partner, and his partner’s Dr.Dino…sans miniature rail gun, thank the Goddess. Finally, however, he seemed to come to a conclusion. “Alright, I'm in.”

”Great!” Grinning, she’d nod and start to turn off the small disk that was still settled on the table, cutting the transmission to it (and HQ)…at least for the most part. Chuckling, she’d shake her head at his question. ”Nope, that’s it. We have your verbal agreement to the terms, that’s all we need. No ‘oath,’ no secret handshake, 14 is your new partner, for better or worse…most likely for better.” Picking the disk up, she’d press a button on it twice and wait until it gave a quiet chirp-chirp-chirp in reply before slipping it into its pouch on her belt. ”Yep, everything’s been confirmed. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Yevor.” She’d pick the pack up off the table and close it, slinging it over her shoulder before holding out a hand for him to shake.

Once he did, she’d smile and give a lazy salute before heading for the door. ”You take care of yourself, 14, I'm sure you’ll do well. Take care of each other, boys, I only wanna see you under good conditions.” This last part was more for 14’s benefit than Asyr’s…he wouldn’t know that she was one of the ‘rescue’ pilots for the familiars and their partners should anything really become FUBAR. With a wave of her hand, she’d slip through the door to go and retrieve her weapon and get out of this place.

Truth be told, being in the embassy was giving her the creeps because of her…galactic ‘status.’

[Rugs]

"Oh, well that was easy," said he once she told him that all the things that needed to be confirmed for him to take 14 had indeed been confirmed. "Though I was really looking forward to learning that secret handshake."

He chuckled at nodded to her as she gathered her things. Looks like she's as ready to get out of here as I am.

He considered where he was.

Can't blame her.

"Take care of each other, boys, I only wanna see you under good conditions.”

"Oh, I can assure we'll keep an eye out for each other. And stay out of... well, too much trouble, anyway. " A knowing smile broke through his features then. "It was good to meet you, Samantha." He gave another nod and a lazy salute. "'Til next time." Whenever that as.

"Goodbye Samantha," 14 called after her, twisting on Asyr's shoulder to watch her as she left. "Send Father my farewell!"

And then she was gone.

"Father?" Asyr looked at the little dragon on his shoulder from the corner of an eye. "What, like your creator or whatever?"

Flitch nodded once, settling himself on Asyr's shoulder again. "Yes. To my brothers and sisters, he's Father. Everyone else knows him as the Wizard."

Asyr's brows lifted. "The Wizard?" For a moment, the image of some old man in a robe with a crazy beard and pointed hat working on a droid in some dark room somewhere flashed through his mind. "Well, if it works for him..." He shook his head.

"Anyway, we should get out of here. Too much Republic for me, if you catch my drift."

Flitch's little claws tightened on Asyr's shoulder as the Echani started to make his way toward the door. "Too much Republic?"

"Don't worry about it," Asyr said, waving his hand dismissively. "Let's just get out of here."

Thankfully, the meeting hadn't taken long at all; it'd been much briefer than he thought it would be. As he unwittingly turned the wrong way down the hall, he glanced down at his chrono.

Perfect.

He had plenty of time left to make it back to the Bohemian before lift off.