Stick to Your Ticket

[Meira]

"Next!"

The being at the front of the lines stepped away from the counter and those behind him shuffled forward. Next in line, a Twi'lek, had an infant in her arms that had been crying nonstop for the past twenty minutes. two behind her was a man staring intently at the train schedule displayed on a screen above the ticket counter. This man had failed to notice the line's progression, so intent was he on the numbers that periodically adjusted on the screen. From behind him, an impatient Cathar issued a growl, shoving the man and mumbling curses under his breath.

Massimo stumbled forward, his eyes never leaving the screen as it refreshed and updated the arrival and departure times of the trains. The baby wailed and the ticket vendor shouted out "Next!". The line moved and Massimo again became the target of an unfriendly shove.

"What's your problem?" growled the Cathar.

"They can't make up their minds..." mumbled Massimo, his eyes scanning the screen over and over.

"What?" the Cathar replied, visibly confused.

"They can't make up their minds!" Massimo, sure now that he'd broken the code, turned and smiled at the Cathar. The Beings, the term he'd taken to use in reference to the extragalactic creatures slowly taking over the minds of the Sith Empire, had finally been confused by his movements. Their coded messages in the screens kept changing, signalling that he'd finally gotten the better of them. Massimo was quite proud of himself at that moment. The Cathar decided it would be prudent to ignore the man.

"Next!"

Now more confident, Massimo required no shoving to move forward in the line and to the counter for his turn. With a rather chipper tone, he ordered his ticket for the train that would take him to Saleucami's major space port. As he walked away from the counter, Massimo studied his ticket intently, his expert eyes searching for any hidden tracking device or transmitters. He found none.

Though his smile was wide across his lips, Massimo maintained an alert vigilance on his surroundings. He'd outsmarted the Beings, but he was not so foolish to think that this would last forever. Sooner or later, they'd figure out he'd tricked them and they'd be on his trail once again. He could not allow himself to relax completely until he was able to contact the Republic and convince them of his shocking discovery. Even then, he doubted he could find peace. The Beings knew his mind, coveted it. He would not be safe, truly safe, until the galaxy could unite and destroy this foreign threat.

Such endeavors, however, lie in the future. Massimo knew this quite well and understood that this was no sprint he was racing. He had to have endurance to see it all through to the end. That meant pacing himself and knowing when to rest. Waiting for the train would be a perfect opportunity to do just that. So on his way to the platform, Massimo purchased a hot tea and a news update for his datapad. He found a bench and settled down, sipping at the drink and scanning the news articles to keep his mind in good exercise and current on all the hidden codes and techniques the Beings were using. Even at rest, Massimo's mind was in motion.

[Kella]

Jack was sprawled across one of the station's narrow chairs, arms behind her head, feet kicked out into the aisle. If they were really in the way, someone would ask her to move them.

The station bustled like static in the back of her mind, a humm similar to the thrum of an engine. Though she looked rather unaffected, Jack was actually quite looking forward to riding the train. She'd never ridden one before. Rural Jaemus barely even had a demand for speeders, and even since she'd been with the Sith, she usually just flew places, either as passenger or pilot. And though she'd had her share of leave, she really hadn't done much with that either, as she tended to spend her time off, well, flying. But Richter had wanted to... do something or other around Saleucami, and Jack was more than happy to tag along. It was constantly remarkable how different the rest of the galaxy could be from the fields and farms of Jaemus.

Jack's eyes wandered the room. So many people, from so many places, in such a small space. Somewhat unexpectedly, a particular face caught her attention. There was a man sitting at one of the benches facing her, a few rows over, pouring over a datapad. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly.

"Hey Richter," she said, vaguely gesturing towards the man, "Does that guy look familiar to you?"

[Moonfire]

Richter was standing up, eyes scanning the board of destinations and arrivals, the train station bustling around them. "I read in one of my journals about how Salecumi has such unique vegetation that the insects here are exceptional." He said, voice buzzing with excitement as his he looked over the map, bright dots flickering across the screen.

"So, the better question is... Do we want to go to the Oasis of Yewin or the Magma Caverns? The Oasis is supposed to be lovely this time of year, but the Magma Caverns have this one variety of beetle, fascinating really, that actually burrow into the rock and can withstand extreme temperatures. But... The Oasis does have these great water skimmers..." Richter bubbled happily, glad that the pair had a little time between missions to stop off somewhere as lush as Salecumi.

"What do you th-" Suddenly, almost predictably Richter was cut off, not that he minded, his mood was too good. Looking over at the man, who seemed utterly engrossed in his activity or whatever it was he was doing, Richter's brown eyes narrowed. His mood instantly fell.

"Yeah... actually... He is. Isn't he on all those wanted posters? A traitor or something? Let me check the datapad."

[Meira]

"Ariel, stop it." A mousy looking woman chided her daughter. The two were sitting on the bench opposite Massimo. The daughter, Ariel, had been forced to sit still far longer than the average three year old human could often tolerate. She was getting squirmy. But Ariel was a good girl who always tried to please her mother, so she stopped swinging her feet and pulled them up to sit cross-legged on the bench with her head in her hands. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, searching for something to keep her distracted.

"Trade dispute... broken agreements... mid rim beauty pageant winner announced... senator's secret child revealed...."

"Mommy, who's he talking to?" Ariel pointed directly at the mumbling Massimo.

"Ariel, hush. That's not polite."

Massimo absentmindedly took a gulp of his tea. But such a big drink was inadvisable, as the beverage was still quite hot. Massimo found himself fighting the urge to spew the drink out for fear of getting it all over the datapad. He forced himself to swallow the scalding liquid, gasping for air once he had it down. In this moment, he forgot about his datapad and his eyes once again took in his surroundings, just in time to catch the child pointing and the mother silencing her. The mother gave Massimo an apologetic look which the man naturally read as suspicious. He noted the paper news that she had purchased and his eyes immediately scanned through the headlines that were visible.

When he noted a familiar code, his eyes widened, then narrowed as he looked at the mother and the daughter more suspiciously. The mother caught the look and pulled her daughter close with protective arms, resolving to completely avoid eye contact with the bizarre man. Massimo took her avoidance as a victory. The Beings really should chose more assertive agents. This one had no backbone.

Nevertheless, it would probably be a good idea to move, maybe change his ticket. Massimo stored his datapad in his bag and picked up his cup of tea. It was then that he noticed the tag from the tea bag hanging over the rim of the cup. After slinging his bag over his shoulder, Massimo held the tag still to examine it. Sure enough, Massimo was convinced he could feel a micro-tracker on the paper. He stood and moved quickly to a trash bin, pitching the still half full cup into it. He paused there for a moment, looking around and then back to the woman. She was still putting all her effort into avoiding eye contact with him.

Massimo turned his attention to other people on the platform. None seemed to be paying any attention to him. It was hard for Massimo to decide if this was a good, or a bad thing. On one hand, perhaps he was fine. Perhaps there hadn't been a tracker on his tea. Perhaps no one was looking at him because no one here knew who he was. Then again, they could all be agents of the Beings, doing their best to seem natural. So wouldn't they be not looking at him on purpose?

He could feel his heart rate start to quicken as the anxiety of what to do began to weigh on his mind. He continued to glance around suspiciously until he saw a man rummage through a bag and then produce a datapad. What could he possibly need that for? This was bad... Massimo licked his lips and looked toward the ticket booths. The lines were longer now than they had been before. But there was nothing for it. He had to change his ticket.

Moving as casually as his quiet panic would allow, Massimo walked back toward the ticket lines and took up a place in one that he calculated would move the fastest. The people in front of his were mostly solitary travelers with little baggage and bored expressions on their faces. These were frequent travelers who knew what they were doing. They would move quickly.

[Kella]

Anessa listened patiently as Richter babbled on about their different travel options. She wasn't derisively apathetic, but she found herself with sparse opinions for anything not related to her family or flying. Despite her lack of preference, she did like that such simple things could make Richter so excited. It was preferable to some of the other soldiers who tended to treat everything not related to the mission as below their level.

But now her attention was captured by the odd man. She scanned the room, and managed to catch his reflection in a decorative glass panel, so that she could state at him properly.

"Yeah... yeah, that's the guy. Hm." Jack settled back into her seat, curiosity quelled. Her mind returned easily to the previous subject. "I don't really care where we go," she said, "I'm easy to please."