Expect the Unexpected

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

(( For: Vexmun, Dire, and maybe Arheim...we're not sure yet if he'll be around or not. ))

The day felt like any other as she watched from behind the devaronian pair out the viewport. The Pendragon was a massive ship, perhaps not as large as others in the fleet that hung suspended over the icy world of Mygeeto, but it was, really, a massive ship. She'd never been that sort of pilot...the type to lead the great beasts around the galaxy...but she had lived on one for several years. According to others, she'd been a decent fighter pilot and she'd enjoyed it to a degree, but...there had always been something off about that life. Shaking her head slightly, Aunna let the memories of that time fade. They weren't really something she wished to relive if she could help it, but the solid mass of metal and lights that was the interdictor had gotten her nostalgic, even if it WAS a sith ship.

Sith. Bah.

She'd never liked the sith, never agreed with their ideals, morals, the way they did things...it irked her and had made her job in the Republic that much easier. Now, finding herself here, in the shadow of this capitol ship that could tear them apart, and to think that her brother was on it...an Admiral for this navy....a small sigh escaped her. She wanted answers, and she'd get them...no matter WHAT day it was. Again she pushed her thoughts away. There was no use in getting angry or jittery now, this had to be done.

Veera had already had her little conversation with the bridge of the Dragon and gotten their permission to land. By the time Aunna pulled herself out of her musing, the freighter was nearly inside the docking bay. Two officers waited for them as the ship touched down and the devaronians powered down the ship. Despite her efforts not to feel afraid for her life, Aunna couldn't shake the "you're in over your head in enemy territory" feeling (aka gnawing uncertainty and fear) that tugged at her.

Turning, the woman headed down the hall and gathered up Ayer, who she'd charged up with a power supply Kuuto had lent her, and nestled him into the now empty pack...a new one she'd "borrowed" (aka hijacked) from the devaronian's extra supplies. This was, of course, on top of the clothes Veera had "given" (like it or not) to her after deciding that Aunna wanted to be a life sized doll. Good thing was, most of it fit fairly well and looked decent on her. Bad thing was Veera had wrestled the, by then, growling woman into a blue dress that reminded her of the ones she'd worn while attending parties with her parents back on Corellia. It had somehow found it's way into her things as well, she noticed, as she settled Ayer down on top of it. Maybe the dratted thing would be damaged by his talons? She could only be so lucky. It was a nice enough dress and, to be honest, even SHE thought she looked good in it, but after being part of that vapid little world for so long she pretty much shunned everything that went along with it...including, and especially, dresses.

Closing the pack, she gave a light sigh and headed for the front of the ship again.

[Vex]

Vex was already there, pacing by the crew exit of the freighter. If the Sith had intended any sort of double cross or tried to storm the entry way, they would have been in for a very nasty surprise indeed.

He'd donned his robes. Though still cut and styled like the Jedi preferred, the inky blackness of them doubled with his demeanor and that black, insidious aura about him to be very ominous indeed. Pacing slowly like a caged kath hound, he let those eyes glare at the entrance, waiting for the Devaronian pair to open it and allow him free.

He could feel her ire, fear, and uncertainty about it all. He really would have to teach the woman how to control her emotions...how to mask and shield herself so that those with the Force could not so easily pick up upon her mood and thoughts. It would have to wait for another time, however. His own mood was projected as oppressively dour, barely restrained murder radiating from him in waves. It would do well in making any that wished them harm to falter...to give him an advantage.

Sometimes it was best to remain hidden. Other times it was best to be as blatant as possible.

To that effect, he had his sabers in his hands, the grip firm but not too tight...emitters tapping restlessly against his forearms as he waited. He remembered the last meeting he'd had with her brother. This one would prove to be even more interesting, he was sure.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

As Aunna approached, she eyed his black robes. A start contrast to the browns and tans typical of the jedi, and the ones he’d worn to rescue her. His presence was different as well…restless, unpredictable, and dangerous…as he paced impatiently at the landing ramp. Veera and Kuuto had made themselves scarce, preferring the cockpit to the roiling beast that was Vex. A drawn out sigh was the only sign she gave to announce her presence to Vex as she nodded to the two mercenaries. A series of clicks and gear sounds and the ramp hissed downward. Outwardly she appeared more than calm, inwardly she stubbornly suppressed the feelings that gnawed at her, denying them the control they wanted. Moving around the deadly thunderstorm that had deemed himself her guardian, she blinked at him quietly for a moment, willing him not to kill anyone that didn’t need to be killed. They attacked, fine, it was self defense, but she’d have no slaughtering if possible.

A corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly before she turned her eyes away from him and descended the ramp, trusting him to be there. With the way he had been acting, there was little doubt in her mind that he wouldn’t be. The two officers approached, shying away from the dark man that was with the person they were sent to meet. It was fairly obvious that this was the ‘Aunna’, the ‘sister’, they had been sent to meet by the Admiral. They looked strikingly similar upon inspection. Aunna lifted her chin slightly, eyeing the soldiers back, blue fire in her gaze. That fear and uncertainty she’d molded into a challenging, and stubborn, iron will that she now turned upon the two, sizing them up as they gazed back. She paid little heed to the man that accompanied her at the moment, her focus on the man and woman, a bothan and twi’lek respectively, that shifted around uncomfortably. No doubt it was more because of Vex than herself, at least that was her interpretation.

“Aunna Borgonia?”

Crystalline gaze turned to the twi’lek woman, one eyebrow raising. The yellow woman shifted.

“Give this woman red eyes and there’s no doubt the two are siblings…Goddess, I hate that look, it gives me the creeps. Feels like she’s looking THROUGH me…Admiral Borgonia sent us to escort you to his state room Ma’am.”

Aunna raised the other eyebrow as she caught snippets of the woman’s thoughts, and then her physical words. Brunette head bobbed once and the two officers readily turned to leave, giving yet another wary glance to the dark jedi. Aunna cast Vex a sideways glance and followed after the officers silently. As they moved through the belly of the sleeping beast, it was apparent that the crew was skittish about them due to Vex’s palpable aura of…disquiet (to put it exceedingly mildly). Aunna herself had to resist the urge to growl a warning challenge at Vex because of it. Those dark tendrils clung to her, trying to wrap about her like they had the day before when Vex had been practicing, sticking to her and trying to sap her of her energy and willpower while trying to instill fear. Once, as they turned a corner quite a distance into their trek, she shot him another warning glare followed shortly by an unintentional emotional “growl” in the force. Why did she say nothing? It was highly likely he wasn’t about to stop.

Fifteen minutes later they stopped at a seemingly random room in what was presumably the deck the officers quarters were situated upon. Already she was fairly certain that this was Jade’s state room…she could practically feel the anticipation lingering about the door, a small smile graced her face for half a moment before vanishing again as the bothan pressed the com switch for the door.

“Admiral, Miss Borgonia is here and the man you suspected would be with her.”

Jade grinned on the other side as he walked to the door and unlocked it. The door hissed open and the expression was gone, the stoic face of the man having returned simply, though it did little to hide his overwhelming joy. He dismissed the officers with a nod, red eyes lingering on Vex for a moment as the worked their way to his sister. He stepped backward and motioned for them to enter. No sooner had the doors slid shut again than Jade grabbed Aunna by the shoulders looking down at her seriously.

Dammit Aunna, do you know how worried I was?! I thought you were dead you stupid girl!

Aunna found herself gripped, chided, then pulled forward into a tight hug. She certainly didn’t fight it. For a moment the two forgot about Vex, despite the man having been a billowing dark cloud of fire and brimstone, and simply held one another. Finally Jade picked his head up off of her and gazed at Vex for a long moment. Red eyes showed none of the emotion that he felt, the turmoil of happiness and lingering fears, as he studied the dark jedi.

Thank you for saving her and bringing her here safely. I would have done more if I could have but…I’m in your debt it seems Mr Praetor.

Aunna had stepped away from him and was looking between the two curiously. She didn’t understand, yet, that Vex and Jade had met each other once in person and spoke again before her rescue.

Wait…done more? You two have spoken before this then?

[Vex]

In a figurative and almost literal sense, he was her shadow as they were greeted and then brought along to meet with the Admiral. Certainly, he was her brother and Vex had a fairly good grasp on the level of concern and care the man had for her, but that didn't do much to quell his distaste for this whole situation.

Fugitive or not, most of the Sith would still consider her a Republic soldier, the enemy, and act accordingly if given their own free will. Therefore, despite her warning growl in the Force and the look she shot him, he was not about to let down that palpable wave in the Force. He wanted them off-beat and off-center as much as possible if he needed to act in her defense.

He followed her in as the Admiral allowed them admittance. Those black eyes looked back to the Twi'lek and she got the feeling that there were decrepit claws hooking into her eyes and peeling back the layers into her mind. The woman gasped sharply and stumbled back...and the sensation was gone as Vex turned back and regarded the two siblings, the door closing securely behind them.

Vex waved the man's words away dismissively, finally relaxing, slightly, and clipping his weapons back to his belt. He reined in that aura, masterfully controlling it and drawing it about him like a mantle around his shoulders to hang comfortably about him. "You did what I required. I did not need any other help. Anything more would have simply been a distraction and gotten in the way. Nar Shaddaa is proof enough of that."


At her query, he simply chuckled into that rebreather and shrugged. "That should be obvious, Aunna." He moved towards the viewport to the stars outside, gazing out of it to allow the two time to catch up.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

It hadn’t surprised her that Vex had refused to withdraw that black, creeping, aura of malice. Insufferable man that he was, Aunna was fairly certain that he thought he was protecting her by acting that way. He may have been right or wrong, but the more people they passed the more she got the feeling that they were thinking he was simply goading them into the action he DIDN’T want. An attack. As they finally reached Jade’s room, Vex had turned his eyes back to the twi’lek woman, holding her there and Aunna growled audibly this time, glaring at Vex in turn. She was fairly certain he’d turned that mind of his on the female officer, searching for some kind of information that might be useful, or perhaps putting some information INTO her mind…then again, there was always just the chance that he was simply giving the other soldiers an example. Whatever his reason, Aunna certainly didn’t approve of his methods. As the woman stumbled back and the door shut, Vex turning to face them, she barely bit back her remarks, allowing him to speak first.

The tension in the room eased considerably as she felt Vex relax, that dark aura pulling away from her. It helped her breathe, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and chest, allowing her lungs to expand properly to take in the air she needed. Jade had nodded quietly at Vex’s statement about Nar Shaddaa and Aunna withheld another growl of irritation. Yes, she’d thought the situation had felt full of Jade’s overzealousness to keep her safe. She turned her eyes to the man who’d deemed himself her protector as he chuckled and spoke to her. Aunna glared and huffed slightly.

Yes, it‘s obvious, I‘m just unsure as to how or why…though I get the distinct feeling it‘s because of me. Perhaps the trial and your subsequent arrival to free me? And by the way…just what the hell do you think you‘re doing Vex? That ‘little‘ warning aura of yours is all well and good, but dammit you‘re just egging them on to attack, stupid as that may be for them to do, and I‘m not sure I want to even ask about the Twi‘lek just now….

She’d tensed up again in her frustration at him and his actions. Jade gazed between the two as Vex moved away, and placed a hand on Aunna’s shoulder, patting it lightly. He really did feel bad for his sister, he could feel the stressed and confused emotions rolling off her. Well, perhaps it was time to get her mind off things for a little while? Aunna sighed as Jade rested his hand against her shoulder and let the frustration ebb away slowly. Turning back to Jade she gave him a small smile and ignored Vex once more to the best of her abilities. It was difficult to do, especially when the man was nearly constantly on her mind for one reason or another. Right now it just happened to be her irritation at his actions. Unbidden the recent memory of his amused chuckle returned, only irritating her more as a small smirk crept to her face. Finally she chuckled, cursing herself silently. Why couldn’t she just stay mad at him? Things were so much more simple that way….

Jade led the way to the couch and two chairs settled against one wall. Aunna followed along after him, eyeing the spartan room. She was honestly surprised at how little there was of his out. There were a few pictures scattered about, most of them bringing back memories that made her smile, one making her pause and gaze at it for a moment and chuckle softly before moving on again. She remembered that one. It had been right after their graduation from school and she’d dumped her water bottle all over his head just to be a pain…their dad had caught the reaction, well, the initial reaction. A fraction of his multitude of books lined the shelves along another wall, there were three small plants of Corellian origins, but his awards, medals, certificates, those were noticeably absent. The Republic ones she could understand, but the ones from their school days? The science awards he’d gotten, the fencing medals? Why? Perhaps they hurt too much. He guided her to a seat and she blinked up at him with a mild smile…it wasn’t returned, and she tilted her head to the side. After a moment he smiled in return and gave her a mischievous wink. She narrowed her eyes slightly and smirked. Oh dear…what’s he up to NOW I wonder…she mused as he moved away.

Aunna had to withhold a snicker of laughter as he brought out a bottle she easily recognized. Corellian “Whyren’s Reserve”, an expensive whisky that, at one point in her life, used to be a favorite of hers. Rolling her eyes slightly, she simply shook her head as Jade returned with the bottle and three glasses. At first Aunna thought nothing of it, but then she realized…she’d never REALLY seen Vex drink anything other than water. Blue eyes flickered between her brother and the dark jedi on the other side of the room. She realized this too late, however, since as soon as she opened her mouth to stop her brother, he’d already begun speaking. Closing her mouth again, she simply waited silently.

Would you care to have a drink Vex?

The offer was casual, the admiral not bothering to remain formal by using last names as he offered one glass of the amber liquid to Aunna who took it and stared at it blankly for a moment. He got the feeling there was something he was missing. Catching Jade’s sudden, though relatively well masked, uncertainty, Aunna grinned up at him and chuckled. She couldn’t help it…she loved to see him squirm, simply because it was SO rare to see. Jade glared down at her for a moment before sighing and taking his own glass to take a small drink from it while sitting down. Aunna poured a bit of her own down her throat, the golden liquid burning down her throat and making her close her eyes tightly for a moment and grin as she shook her head before opening those blue orbs again. She’d forgotten just how much of a kick the stuff had. Vaguely she heard Jade chuckling at her expression and she reached over and thwaped him on the upper arm with a hand playfully, which only made him laugh more. Grinning over at him she snickered lightly and sighed slightly as she finally relaxed a bit against the back of the couch. Finally Jade set his glass down and reached his hands into his pockets smirking. Not again…Jade, really…what NOW? she mused with mild humor.

Pick a hand Aun.

The woman gave her brother an incredulous look and raised an eyebrow.

You’ve got to be kidding me, right Jade? Don’t you think we’re a bit old to be…

That’s precisely why I’m doing it Aun, now pick a hand.

Groaning she sighed, put down her glass on the table, and closed her eyes for a moment, pondering which one she should pick. Knowing her brother, he had something in both hands, or neither hand. She gave a light chuckle to the thought and shook her head an impish smile that echoed her brother’s playing on her face.

Left.

She opened her eyes again as she spoke and watched as he pulled out the badge with her family’s crest on it. Sighing in relief as he handed it over to her, she grinned and went to hug him, but he stopped her with the now empty hand. Confused, she tilted her head to the side and watched as he pulled out the other hand. There, was the all to familiar cylinder of the type of spear the siblings used. He also held it out to her, and she took it carefully and smiled, truly thankful for the gift.

I’m sure you know what that is, I finished it the other day. The badge also has something rather…useful…in it. It’s rather less than you had but I didn’t manage to get all the funds out before the Republic froze your account…All I can do for you is stock you up with what we have in surplus, and…I used some of my recent funds to get you something you can run in.

Aunna blinked, stunned and openmouthed, at her brother for a moment at what he’d just told her. Closing her mouth with a soft snap, she could only shake her head slightly as she tried to find words to thank him.

Happy Birthday Aun.

He pulled her into a tight hug and she wished that she’d been able to do something, anything, for him half as wonderful as he just had for her. There were no words for just how happy and thankful she was, so all she did for a moment was close her eyes tightly and squeeze him with all her might a single tear slipping from under her lashes and down her cheek.

Thank you…thank you so much Jade…I wish…

Stop that thought right there. Don’t be stupid…the only thing I needed was for you to be alive and for you to stay that way.

She nodded slightly and gave him a final squeeze before letting go of him.

Happy birthday Jade.

[Vex]

Vex ignored the two siblings, effectively allowing themselves privacy to reflect and revel in each other's reunion. It included her parting words. She could think or not think what she wished. She would know better than to push it. If he had no desire to elaborate about something, he wouldn't.

He stared out into the inky blackness of space. In many aspects he idly wondered if he should see that as looking into his own eyes. Black, cold, empty...filled with life and yet so overwhelmingly devoid of it. The Dark Jedi was still, pale features seen through wisps of that coal black hair. Imperceptibly, his chin tilted down and he gazed at his own hands. He was finally roused when Jade offered him that drink.

He turned his head, arching a dark brow severely, looking at the man like the Admiral had the mental equivalency of a gizka. It was probably not a look the man received often. Those eyes narrowed slightly and he shook his head slowly. "With my constitution, that swill would have little effect and therefore be wasted, Admiral. Also, you do not know me and should not consider me a friend, therefore, it would be better for all involved if you did not refer to me with such familiarity."

Ah, Vex, master of public relations.

He left them to continue their reunio and watched impassively as he played that game with Aunna. His attention remained on her the majority of the time, more or less like a tightly wound trained kath hound with a protective streak. He heard the exchange and was mildly interested.

Birthdays had never been something terribly important to him. His time in the undercity had, of course, never really gven reason to deal with such mundane trivialities. After all, what crazy person would give something of value away? Then, with the Order, the emphasis was on avoiding attachments and the like.

In truth, Vex did not even really know the date of his birth.

So, he didn't understand the reason for her reaction...the waves of surprise and thankfulness, love and wonder, that reverberated from her.

That lack of understanding disturbed him and he looked away, back to space...to the blackness that seemed a reflection of him.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Aunna had been passively keeping an eye on Vex’s motions and reactions. It seemed he was doing rather well at ignoring them, which was fine for her, she supposed, but…there was something…off. It had made her chew on the inside of her lip slightly, almost feeling...well to be honest she felt sad. Turning blue eyes from his back down to her drink for a moment, she’d been about to reach out to him through the force when she thought she caught a hint of something radiating FROM him. Now that WAS odd. It wasn’t anger, nor frustration, was it…was it sadness? Vex spoke and it was gone, a wisp of something gone that she’d not even been sure had been there at all. Blue eyes looked up to see that expression and all she could do was smirk slightly and roll her eyes at him with a nearly silent snicker.

Jade returned Vex’s look with a placid smile. This man likely should have bothered him more, but if he was honest with himself, the younger man saw far too much of himself in the actions of the dark jedi to be particularly perturbed by his actions or words. If anything, Jade was mildly amused by the situation.

Ah, forgive me. Where ARE my manners today? I’ll be sure to remedy that mistake in the future, Mr. Praetor.

He chuckled and returned, then, to his sister and his teasing of her. She seemed distant, more distant than usual anyway, and that worried him slightly. His fears were, for the moment, put at ease as she reacted in the most splendid way to his gifts. She’d always been a practical woman, even growing up she hadn’t wanted dolls for her birthdays like the other girls…Aunna had wanted books or plants or maps she could look at and try to remember. One of her favorite gifts had been a holo-star chart, followed closely by a book of various cultures and myths. He was glad to see that not much had changed in her tastes as far as useful items went. As she pushed him away finally, he gave her a rare smile, red eyes glinting behind those glasses before he finished the last of his drink. These two are wound more tightly than a clockwork spring…I don’t blame them, but…he sighed slightly as he got himself more comfortable in the chair he’d lowered himself into moments ago. He’d opted not to sit on the couch with her for a reason. There was some connection between his sister and the, rather perturbed, dark jedi…thus, it was likely he would rather be closer to her than farther should he choose to sit. For a long moment he gazed at her silently, debating the intelligence of asking this question, but in the end he decided it was best to hear straight from her.

Aunna…just what DID happen?

Aunna had been finishing her own drink when he’d asked…most of it got down her throat. Coughing a bit at the unexpected question, she blinked at him and cleared her throat as she turned her eyes away. That wasn’t something she really wanted to discuss, but she felt she owed it to him. I’ve never kept anything from him before that wasn’t completely personal…it would be wrong to start with this. Aunna sighed and suddenly felt the need for another drink, as bad an idea as that could be.

Jade knew that look. It was that classic Aunna “god I could use a drink” look that typically accompanied talking about difficult topics of discussion. He knew she’d given up drinking more than one of anything besides wine a while ago, but it wouldn’t hurt her to have another in this case. Pouring another small bit of the liquid for her, he put the bottle back down and waited.

I don’t even know where to start…

I was arrested for treason for saving Vex. When we got to Coruscant I was questioned by nearly everyone under the sun, including a togruta jedi, then locked away in isolation until the trial. They forged evidence, and omitted several key pieces, including what’s in the badge….

Ah, so that’s what the unnamed file is.

She nodded and took another drink before swirling the liquid around in the glass and watching the motions of it.

Then they decided to have me testify. It was pathetic that even my own defense was trying to trap me into lies. When they couldn’t they decided to use truth serum on me. In the end, well…you know the court’s decision.

The day I was supposed to be executed, Vex came masquerading as the jedi escort I was supposed to have. We some how managed to get away from that and…

She trailed off, not sure if she really wanted to bring up the topic of Andrew or not. Jade narrowed his eyes slightly. And?...what’s she trying to hide?

In the process of trying to get off world I had yet another run in with the devil in Angel’s skin.

Jade growled loudly, startling his sister and making her jump.

…Andrew….

Even the name was snarled, said with such vehemence that it was like poison to the ears.

Vex…took care of that problem as well.

Jade grunted. The man half wished he’d been able to kill the man himself. It would have been a pleasant day for him, and a most gruesome ending for the blond man that had caused his sister so much pain. Aunna finished the last of her drink and sighed heavily, shaking her head to try and rid it of the memories.

[Vex]

Vex had taken to pacing back and forth by the window, listening as she recounted her story to Jade. Her brother was almost ignored in his entirety, Vex's focus solely on the woman that had, somehow, wound up being integral to his existence. Logically, he understood that the smart decision, now that she was safe, was to go their separate ways. She was correct in the assumption that her usefulness to his cause was minimal at the moment. Even with her offer to help get him inside the temple, he knew the likelihood was minimum. Until she had a cleared name, going anywhere near Coruscant was going to prove lethal for her.

Yet he had agreed to take her on as a learner...to teach her how to use the Force and that latent ability she'd been styming for so long. He'd never intend or desired to take a learner, to train someone. It was a burden, a distraction against his goals...yet he'd agreed. Not in so many words, but she knew him and would understand his intent, his acquiescence to her request.

So here he was, now, aware that he was acting more or less in the capacity of a watch dog. If he was truly honest with himself, he'd agree that he was being a truly possessive watch dog. He knew much. The reasons for acting like this, however, was beyond him. He didn't understand his own reasoning for it, yet found himself compelled to continue.

Hearing the man's reaction to Aunna's talk about Andrew, Vex was filled with a combination of lethal ire and cold satisfaction. He moved his way over to where they are, easing himself down into the open seat next to Aunna, letting his presence in the Force lap against her own lightly like waters from a gentle tide. It was there to reassure her, to allow her to know that, despite the horrible memories Andrew brought up, she was safe now and would not have to worry about that man ever again.

"He'll not bother anyone again...and his penance is fitting."

Reaching out with that mental prowess, he curled hooks of his consciousness into Jade's, plying it open. He was subtle, if possible, but relentless, if necessary, as he peeled back the layers of the man's mental defenses as neatly as surgeon would open up an area with which to work.

The image of Andrew was projected with startling clarity into Jade's mind. He showed him how he had been left, the body curled up in a rictus of agonized fear...those eyes wide and unseeing of the real world even as they gazed on at the terror that he'd been imprisoned in within his own mind.

Vex shifted the view, giving him a peek at just what horrors he had visited upon Andrew...at the loop of memories the man would be forced to relive as the victim this time, always stalked by the dark, baleful presence of Vex. It would be easily apparent that there would be no respite and that, eventually, the man's body would simply break down and die.

He likely already had, given the time that had passed since then.

Smirking, the expression evident in his eyes, Vex pulled himself back mentally, leaving Jade's mind without further molestation. He settled back into that seat, but did not seem relaxed. He never did. If anything, he was like a kath hound, waiting to pounce.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The kick from the whisky was really starting to take effect now, she could feel it. Sighing, she kept to herself, having been eyeing Vex’s pacing every so often. He was wound up tight, and for a moment she wondered WHY he was wound so tight. Idiot…we’re on a ship full of Sith soldiers…hell they could be regular people and Vex would be wound up. Vex plus people equals a wound up jedi…heh, no, more like Vex and MYSELF and people equal up to a wound up jedi. As she’d told her story, she’d done her best to keep from feeling that horrible torrent of fears and doubts…speaking of doubts, she doubted she’d done a very good job of hiding it. Blue eyes had turned to watch the shrouded man pace closer an odd swirl of wrath and satisfaction. No doubt it had to do with the current topic, Andrew. When he settled himself beside her, she was…surprised would have been a simplistic word to describe it. The woman didn’t quite know why she was so stunned by the fact that he chose to be beside her rather than the other chair, but she was. Her surprise only doubled as she felt that relaxing and soothing presence emanate from him, calming her like the warm sun and the cool waves of a lake lapping against the shore.

In her proper state of mind, unaffected by the alcohol, she likely would have done nothing more than relax a bit more and perhaps try to think of a way to thank him silently. Aunna…wasn’t quite in her proper state of mind. The thing about the woman was, the more inebriated she became, the more emotionally and mentally open she became, having little fear of saying or acting on the impulses of her mind or emotions. One reason why she had stopped drinking, and why even now, she tried to limit herself to one glass of her drink of choice before going with something a bit more docile…like water. Jade hadn’t completely forgotten about this, and so, though he didn’t intend on it at first, he decided to use the situation to his advantage to get her to open up about what had happened to her. Now, however, it was Vex who had prompted a reaction.

That reassurance through the force, the way he told her that she was still safe from that nightmare and that she wouldn’t be torture by his presence on this plane of existence again, it nudged her emotions into calling her to curl into him for extra reassurance. There was little resistance from her mind, just enough for her to wait until Vex had settled himself back in his seat (she didn’t know what he did to Jade…yet). Pulling her legs up so they were folded in front of her, Aunna pressed her back against him as much as she could without hurting him. The waves of doubt and fear in her emotions were considerably lessened now, her mind taking that motion of caring and turning it into an invitation. Her own presence, unsettled as it was because of the memories she still sought to push away, wafted back toward him. It was a gentle breeze, soft and feathery in its warmth, a small golden and red flame that danced about, urging the shadows to flee from its small light. Oddly enough, she was NOT surprised by this reaction. Perhaps it was the liquor, but then again, perhaps not. She had, after all, realized the beginnings of these emotions the morning that Vex had come to rescue her. It would be difficult for anyone to tell at that particular moment in time just WHY she wasn’t surprised.

Jade, on the other hand, was surprised. He wasn’t surprised by Vex seating himself beside Aunna, he’d expected it, hence why he sat where he was…no, his surprise came from Aunna’s reaction. She’d sat calm enough, but the fear and uncertainty was obvious, at least to him…he could feel it from her, and if he could feel it, no doubt Vex could. His sister had seemed to relax after a moment, an almost far away look coming to her eyes, but he didn’t have time to ponder the meaning of it. Something…foreign…was lurking its way into his mind, digging in with its claws to hook itself there. Jade wasn’t entirely unprotected, however. The jedi had at least been kind enough to offer him some rather informal training in shielding his mind, and so Vex would be met with something like a thin synthwood fence with a small terrier dog on the other side that gave a nice little bite before being easily kicked away. Mere hindrances for the trained and highly skilled dark jedi. Well, at least they were better barriers than his sister had, unless she sang of course…though, only Vex and Ramseye would know THAT bit of information.

One eyebrow raised dubiously as he decided not to struggle further, the look on Vex’s face telling the admiral it was likely him who was trying to gain entry. You could have at least announced yourself before breaking and entering. The annoyed thought echoed between them as Jade relented. Those startling images rose up in his mind, and a subtle smirk formed on Jade’s face. It was…disturbing…to say the least, but Jade very much approved of the manner in which it was handled. Crimson eyes glinted with his barely contained amusement at the fitting end to the monstrosity that had plagued his sister for half a decade. You hardly need approval from me, but that was really quite…elegant. I’m not sure if he deserved a death that well thought out, fitting as it was. Another good thing about the jedi, they’d helped him hone down his ability to project his thoughts. Either way, the man vanished from his mind, and Jade was left with a dull throbbing in his mind, but the smirk that echoed Vex’s show that he didn’t seem to mind considering the information he’d just received. This had taken moments only, and now, he watched, stunned again, as his sister actually leaned back against the man! The other eyebrow raised and his smirk changed slightly. Ah, so there WAS something between them.

I’ve been curious, just how long HAVE you two known each other?

Aunna blinked up at her brother, seemingly pulled out of her own thoughts. Pondering it a moment, she canted her head to the side, hair swaying along her back and to the side of her slightly with the motion.

Going on…when was that blasted joint meeting? Four months ago? Five?

Closer to Five by now…

Then, nearly five months since I met him. Why?

Jade shrugged his shoulders slightly before removing his glasses and pulling a cloth from his inner coat pocket to wipe them clean again. Glasses…that reminded Aunna that she’d be better off with a pair.

No particular reason, curiosity as I said. That and you two seem to know each other rather well, though that’s hardly saying anything.

Aunna gave him a perplexed look from her position against Vex, but didn’t say anything of her thoughts. Luckily for them all.

Now, I hate to talk business, but it will have to be done, and better now than later. Supplies. The ship Kuuto and Veera are getting will be here tomorrow, aside from the typical supplies will you be requiring anything? Ah, glasses for you no doubt, Aunna.

Aunna blushed and her eyes dropped to gaze at a spot on the floor. She really disliked having to use glasses. They annoyed her to no end, but her sight wasn’t bad enough to need contacts, so there was nothing to be done about it. The embarrassment swirled about her even as she sighed and tried to let it go. Just another thing to add to the list of “What’s wrong with Aunna.”

[Vex]

Vex stiffened considerably as she leaned up against him. His arms raised up slightly as though he wasn't sure what he should do with them or with her. Black eyes flickered down to her and were wide with disbelief as though he didn't quite comprehend the scene that was there before him. Despite the mask, his expression looked as close to one of horror as could likely be seen on the usually unflappable and wrathful features. Despite what Jade might think, it would be clear that this was just as much of a surprise for him as it was for the brother.

Anyone else would have been flayed across the floor by this point. Narrowing his eyes, Vex finally lowered his arms, one invariably draping along her side and around her as she settled in like that. That gaze glanced up to Jade, noting the smirk on the man's face as he asked those leading questions with that smug expression. He wasn't nearly so gentle or subtle this time in smacking down the man's defenses. Yes, they were good, given his limited training...but they were so much chaff before the swing of a lightsaber when it came to Vex's talent. He didn't hurt the man, yet. His consciousness simply looped around Jade's like a noose, tightening just enough to be uncomfortable. It was a warning against him being smart.

"If you have droid remotes, a half-dozen or so of those could prove useful. There are also some supplies that could come in handy if you have access to anything used by the Dark Jedi that sometimes act as your counterparts....

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Foggy as her mind may have been, Aunna caught the surprise in Vex’s actions and through the force. The removal of his arms as obstacles as he lifted them out of surprise, the tensing of his muscles that made him stiffen, the shocked and confused feeling that radiated from him. Unfortunately for the poor former jedi, unschooled in the ways of women, this did nothing to stop her. As she settled back against him, the fear she’d felt nearly completely vanished, and when that strong arm of his wrapped lightly around her waist, the fear and uncertainty melted away completely. NOW she felt safe. There in his arms she felt safe, as uncomfortable as he may have been, she felt rather tranquil like this. Stupid girl, don’t get too comfortable, he’s likely to move any moment. This thought only made her want to hold on to him, this urge (lucky for Vex) WAS ignored…though it was rather more difficult to do. She carefully arranged herself so that the arm closest to the machine he wore wouldn’t accidentally jostle the thing and that she was nestled lightly between his arm and side.

Jade had watched the man’s expression change also. Well, it seemed that perhaps the would be relationship was one sided. The man was tempted to pour Aunna another drink and see where this went. He decided against it. Despite every ounce of surprise and consternation the man had shown, he had wrapped his arm around Aunna and she visibly relaxed. Poor girl, well, even if it was one sided at least she felt safe with him around. He just hoped that the man hadn’t rid her life of one Andrew just to replace it with another. As his barriers were beaten down once more, this time nearly literally beaten down, Jade glared at the dark jedi as he felt his mind being threatened with that tightening grip. The light reflected off of Jade’s glasses dangerously as he eyed the man from the corner of his eyes. There was nothing to be done against the man…not that he was capable of anyway.

We do have droid remotes, yes, but I’m not certain how many we can spare. We also do not have anything typically used by Dark Jedi. Only one has ever been aboard, and I was quite pleased to see him leave again. There was nothing left here…however, if you can give me a list I might be able to turn something up from one of the fleet.

That reminds me, Kuuto and Veera are leaving tonight to bring the second ship back. I’m hesitant to have you go with them to the planet. With that in mind, I can have spare quarters set up for you.

Aunna blinked at that and tensed again. She didn’t like the idea of having to stay the night on this floating sith base, brother or not.

I think I’d rather try my luck with the Mercs…You know I hate the Sith, Jade, why would you even think to ask if…

Because planet side if something happens I can’t help you, and I have little ability to punish whoever might try. Remember that we ARE occupying the place Aunna. There are just as many troops down there as there are up here.

Aunna huffed, displeased. There’s also more room down there than up here to get away.

[Dire Wolf]

((OOC: forgiveness please for any badness that this post is. I always have a hard time posting as Sera for some odd reason, let alone doing it well))

Staff Sergeant Vossk gave a huff as she stepped into the turbo lift, she was to head towards Admiral Borgonia's stateroom. Apparently, SOCOM wanted her to present the fine (in more than one way) Admiral a list of what her little sect of the Sith Jedi hunters required. Be it ammunition, they used slug throwers for obvious reasons, fuel for the little hyperspace equipped shuttle they use, or simple rations for their little area of the ship. Yes, they were allotted (commandeered) a rather large part of the forward berthings.

So the red tinted woman prowled out of the said stateroom with a special kind of predatory grace. All of Sera's movements, even the simple act of walking, mirrored the values of many snipers that came before her. Every act screamed precision, every step looked like it was planned out when a few footfalls before, and her passing was just about as loud as a quiet breeze in a loud city. She smirked at the thought. The look on Dal's face after she walked up and poked him in the side amused her to no end... and she did it quite often because of it. The Zeltron reminded herself to do it again after she returned to the Jedi Hunter area of the ship just after stepping in front of the Admiral's door.

She sighed before hitting the call button.

“Its Staff Sergeant Vossk dropping off the list, sir.”

She sighed again.

The woman wasn't back on the Pendragon thirty seconds before she had made the sojourn up to the fabled officer section of the ship. So, naturally, she had to appear before the admiral in nothing more but he combat equipment... Sera didn't even have the time to stow her pistol. Little did she know, this was a mixed blessing. On the other side of that door lurked one of the kind that she was used to hunting, a Force User, and once that door opened to reveal the dark man it would be painfully obvious. If she didn't have her pistol on her it would be very unlikely that she would even consider entering (even if the Jade ordered it), mostly because entering the room with a Dark Jedi wasn't just idiotic or suicidal. It was masochistic.

All this would knowledge would have prompted her to stop right there, leave the datapad at the door, and simply walk away... if she had it.

The Zeltron looked around at the plush and opulent looking corridor of the Sith Warship and couldn't help but scoff slightly. “Officers: none of the work, all of the glory,” she got a glance at the insides of one of the rooms, “and the good cots, too.” Sera looked back at the drab door, simply waiting for the Admiral to allow her inside. Why? Why didn't she take the few minutes to at least comb her hair so she looked presentable? Wait. Why? Why did she care? Wasn't she supposed to be a ghost, or something like that? The sniper let out an angry sigh. Yup, she liked him. The Zeltron wouldn't even put herself through hell and try to deny it.

The door slid open. Her heart stopped for two reasons. First and foremost: She saw Jade. Well, the woman was feeling more fluttery than anything else, but she couldn't really do anything other than gaze at him for a few scant second before blushing and bouncing her eyes away. Second: That bounce of her eyes led the woman to a rather dark form holding onto a woman. The first thought to cross her mind: “What the hell?!” The second: “Thats Vex Praetor!” The second thought prompted her to quickly shift the datapad from her right hand to her left and let the former of the two hang loosely at her side.

Her mind instantly went into “aww hell, get ready to kill stuff” mode.

If prompted, she could draw her pistol in about .8s of second and hit just about anywhere she wanted on his body. Center Mass was the best bet... as far as hitting him was concerned anyways. But then there was the girl that was clutched in his arms, Aunna, she didn't particularly care about her well being... but Jade probably did. So she may have to pull something mean and shoot through the girl to get through and pierce that souless creature's black heart. So, if her first shot could go off at about .8s of a second, that meant that her following shot would be about a tenth of a second later, seeing as her pistol fired at a solid 600 rounds per minute. Sera could empty out her entire twelve round magazine in just over a second, the Jedi would be on her by then. He would have a few holes, yes, but it may not be enough to stop him.

If he did anything. If he didn't... then she wouldn't be forced to bring out the asp.

During that entire though process the woman just held a steely gaze at the Dark Jedi, never breaking for anything that he may or may not have done. Any quick movements towards her or the Admiral would have resulted in the above paragraph to probably take place.

She didn't want that.

Vex probably didn't want that.

Aunna definitely didn't want that.

“Sir, am I intruding?”

[Vex]

Unsettled and caught off-guard by the unexpected affection from Aunna, Vex wasn't paying attention to the Force the way he normally would. He wasn't aware that anyone had even come about with the intentions of entering the Admiral's quarters until the comset chirped with the woman's words. Then all of that attention was drawn away from the former Major while Vex's head turned towards that door, his presence reaching out to determine the potential threat that lay beyond.

The first thing he measured were the defenses. He found them to be considerable. They were more layered and effective than that of the Admiral. That both impressed and unsettled him. A dark ripple in the Force, however, tremored slightly...a subtle warning of potential danger and that made him be far more insistent upon his entrance into that mind. A subtle niche was created. It was enough...allowing him to catch those fleeting thoughts about officers. Clearly a noncommissioned soldier. He also caught the stray thoughts about Jade... it made it very apparent that whoever it was, it was a woman...moreso than the voice itself had been over the comm.

Distantly...focused as he was on the mental intrusion, he heard the door slide open to admit entrance. It was the recognition in her mind, his name that had him moving and reacting at a speed with her thought. His presence was gone from beneath and beside Aunna before she could register anything beyond her flopping onto the couch awkwardly. Vex could move, especially when inundated by the Force and necessity.

That almost calm assessment of the tactical situation, along with the nature of her ammunition, made it rather simple to discern her calling. She hunted people like him. Force Users. Unfortunately for her, there weren't many quite like him, not really. He had a cautious regard for her potential and prowess, but she had just threatened Aunna's well-being by being willing enough to shoot Aunna to get to him.

He would reach out as she finished the tail end of that assessment and stared at him, closing a mental fist around the neural receptors commanding her firing arm to seek her inability to control the limb.

He hadn't moved towards her or the Admiral, that raspy breath broken as he snarled the words in a low, gutteral tone. "You have no inkling as to what I want, Hunter...and an inflated estimation of your capabilities in this situation."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Aunna wanted to gripe back at Jade. His concern was welcome enough…he was, after all, her brother…but she would much prefer to be somewhere open, somewhere there was as much a chance of escape as there was a chance of fighting and winning. As things turned out, she wasn’t about to get that chance…no, the com for the room had chirped up and a woman’s voice had come across it. Jade, huffing lightly, easily recognized the voice and silently cursed his luck. They weren’t supposed to be back for another…he looked at the time and cursed again. They were right on time. Well, this was a lovely position he found himself in as he stood and paced toward the door. Sera (a jedi hunter), Vex (a dark jedi), and his sister (a wanted fugitive and former Republic soldier) all in one place…oh joy.

No one in the room was deaf to the woman’s thoughts…well, not the broadcast ones about the officers anyway. Jade found them mildly interesting as he opened the door for the woman and stepped back to allow her entry (this was out of habit more than anything else, since he certainly didn’t want bloodshed between the three). He stood just inside the doorway, red eyes swiftly taking in her…more than appealing…form, despite the fact that she had obviously not had time to change into a ‘normal’ uniform. Her hair was slightly messy from her mission, gear still hung about her, and…she was staring at him. Red eyes blinked at her from behind his glasses and he offered her a slight smile. Her eyes moved away and those next thoughts struck him hard and he shot her a look.

Intruding? Not exactly, Sera, no. My sister has just arrived with her…

Jade hesitated a moment…just what SHOULD he call Vex anyway? “Guard Dog” sprang to mind…as did several other things: “protector,” “body guard,” for a fraction of a moment “love interest” tempted him, but was swiftly dismissed given the nature of the man he was about to describe.

…the man I contacted to help save her. I believe you know his name, Sergeant…fortunately for all of us you don’t have Orders for him. You do, however, have a data pad I require, I believe?

Jade stressed the fact that he had contacted the man to help recover his sister. While this wasn’t ENTIRELY true, it was close enough to the truth to be believable to nearly anyone. This, coupled with his no nonsense tone, and his use of her rank (which, by now, the zeltron woman would know that Jade had a distaste for formalities such as calling ranks all the time), would add weight and meaning to his words. A meaning of “you’re not to touch them, or it’s the brig and labor for you…IF I’m feeling exceedingly nice.”


The budding songweaver had been perfectly content to remain settled in Vex’s arms, more than happily ignoring the man’s unsettled emotions. Even when the com chirped at them and a woman’s voice came across, it garnered little of her attention…until Jade had begun to exude his discomfort at the presence. Aunna had also heard the woman’s thoughts, who couldn’t? She was about as silent as Aunna herself when it came to them…that, however, wasn’t Aunna’s foremost concern. The closer attention she paid to the environment around her, the more she noticed things were off kilter. Not only was Vex’s attention completely focused, but Jade had reacted strangely and there was just something…wrong…about the air around them.

In her time with the Republic, she’d learned to trust that instinct…what she was now learning to associate more closely with the force…and so she tensed as the door opened. With a sweep of her eyes she caught the small insignia that she’d come to hate more than anything else in the Sith. Even as her thoughts came to Aunna and Vex moved, the brunette was also moving to sit up. She had no idea that the woman was actually thinking about shooting Vex, or shooting her to hit Vex, but she knew a jedi hunter when she saw one, and she wasn’t about to hinder his safety by laying across him. She wasn’t THAT influenced by the drinks she’d had. Slower to conclusions, certainly, but not THAT slow. Even as she registered that Vex was gone from behind her, moving straight away and to the side of them, never once going nearer to the two at the door. This is getting out of hand. The woman had spoken, Jade had spoken, Vex had spoken…well, Aunna was feeling very left out.

She opted to stay silent.

Narrowing blue eyes for a moment, she studied the three. Jade appeared calm as normal, but he wasn’t…his voice said otherwise, he was tense...Vex was not only tense (bordering on anger), but focused on something…he was doing something, she could tell…the zeltron woman, she was being blocked by Jade’s body and Aunna couldn’t tell from her body language, or (at this moment anyway) her face, what she might possibly be getting ready to do. Aunna stood slowly, like one would around a set of particularly skittish and hostile animals. She had already slipped her badge into one of the pouches on the utility belt she wore, the other slowly clipped the collapsed spear, almost naturally, to the place any jedi might have stowed their saber. Sapphire eyes flickered to Vex for a moment before returning to the zeltron woman.

Miss…Vossk, was it?...I understand you’re a jedi hunter. As you can tell, you’ve made my friend here rather jumpy, and none of us like him when he gets like this. Now, I don’t pretend to know what it was you thought to get him so riled, but I wouldn’t put it past you to have thought of trying to kill him, and that was a bad idea…

She paused a moment and those blue eyes lighted on Jade for a moment. He had turned just enough to gaze at Aunna, and to see what Vex was up to. He was…surprised…and just how calm his sister appeared, and felt. Truth was, Aunna was surprisingly calm…well, at least the majority of the emotions she exuded were calm. She was, for all intensive purposes, treating the room of force sensitives and the jedi hunter (who, little did she know, was also a force sensitive) as one would those very same skittish and hostile animals…they would be able to sense her anxiety and they would react to it…she didn’t want that.

…and if you weren’t thinking of killing him, you were contemplating injuring myself…which is an even worse idea. Now, if you are smart --and I hope you are-- then you won’t consider it again. Instead, you’ll just go about giving Jade whatever it is you came here for and leaving us be knowing that we’ll be gone before tomorrow.

Okay, so the last part wasn’t entirely the truth, but the woman didn’t need to know that much, and it was better than Vex snapping at people and doing…whatever he was doing. Speaking of Vex…blue eyes flickered back over to him, his black and shadowed form. There was little point in trying to talk him out of his dangerous mood, but she should at least try to reason with him. Cautiously she sought to reach him through the force. She move slowly, keeping track of her mental wanderings, cutting any straying thoughts off so that her movement was only toward him. Certainly he’d have enough time to notice her and not be startled by her actions. It would be difficult to be startled by something that was calmly and obviously coming toward you, whether it be through the force or physically. Testing her luck, she gently tried to gain his attention, that vine of thought slipping along his mental armor just enough to warrant some attention but remain unthreatening…at least, she hoped it was unthreatening…if not she could be in for a very nasty surprise.

Blue eyes had returned to gazing at Jade and Sera (Jade had said her name after all), only briefly flickering to Vex every once in a while to see if there was any visible reaction. It was unlikely, so she didn’t linger long on him before returning to the other two. If he deigned to link to her mind or not, to hear her or not, that was up to him…she’d tell him her mind silently anyway.

--Vex, while I appreciate your…fervor…and I’m not entirely certain just what you’re doing with that mind of yours…I don’t think you’re helping this situation. Jedi hunter or not, no matter what she thought about either of us, they don’t tend to go fighting random force users just for kicks. Assuming she was thinking of ways to kill one, or both, of us…you can’t tell me that you’ve not done the same thing…laying out a plan of how best to defend yourself, or defeat an opponent the very moment you come face to face with one…even if they don’t mean you harm at that exact moment in time.--

She paused in her thought to him, debating with herself.

-- I’m not sure it’s wise to release whatever you have on her now…she’ll see you as an even larger threat and try to harm us, but please…don’t do anything else to her unless you’re left no choice. We’re in the middle of a Sith capitol ship, and brother or not, Jade can’t and won’t stop them from separating us and allowing them to try and kill you.

I…don’t want that.

I need you alive and with me right now.--

Surprisingly, her little lecture (if it could really be called that, seeing as she was mainly stating facts as she’d dealt with them in her experiences) hadn’t taken more than half a minute, the words able to translate more swiftly to him from her mind than if she’d spoken. That was, perhaps, because she tending to think far faster than she spoke…running options and phrasing before she found what she wanted… ‘speaking’ with her mind wasn’t as easy, but it certainly got done faster.

[A®heim]

Ayer hadn't noticed when he went back to "sleep". One moment, he was running fine on auxiliary power trying to keep a sensor open for potential threats on Coruscant, and the next: blackness. It was in this darkness that the little bird droid now found himself, only, he felt very much energized and awake. He reached out a wing slowly. It felt strange, fluid, with very little mechanical resistance he was used to slipping by the lubricant and ball-bearings. Also strange was the fact that he sensed nothing; there were no palpable boundaries he could feel. Where most would now feel fear, Ayer only felt uncertainty, but then is there really much of a difference between the two?

At first he thought he must be out in the endless shadows of that under city, perhaps deemed as unnecessary weight and abandoned. Now THAT feeling; that was fear. It was an emotion not intended for the mechanical to feel and it caught Ayer off guard. It was emptiness; a great seeping hole of nothing in which all things good in the universe plummeted into. For a moment, he began to panic. His strangely livened servos whirled his wings about, searching; searching for something familiar, someone to feel. There was nothing.

Time passed strangely in this world. It didn't help that his internal clock was still a bit wonky, but even just simple numerical advancement proved vexing. One may notice how time may drag or accelerate when the senses are deprived. Perhaps it's why sleeping doesn't really feel like 8 hours, or when one feels rushed; not bothering to take in one's surroundings, depriving oneself of that information.

Ayer couldn't relate to any of this. The phenomenon puzzled him. He had never truly slept, unless he was sleeping now and this was a dream, but...droids don't dream...do they? And he had always, ALWAYS taken in every bit of detail he could. It was his purpose after all. What he was designed for...

A light. A dim light with no apparent source began filling the emptiness, banishing shadows and creating new, terrifying ones. Ayer, in testament to his previous thought process, took in his surroundings.

It truly was nothing. Endless walls of black and grey extending infinitely in every direction. Featureless walls- no, not featureless. In the slowly growing light, Ayer could make out tiny patterns. Patterns he knew well. Circuitry...? His own voice startled him even more, not because of how it sounded but where it sounded. "Circuitry...?" echoed all around him, not originating from him, but from those endless panes of cybernetics. Oddly, it was this external inconsistency that prompted Ayer to ponder why it didn't come from him. He gazed down at himself.

And saw feathers. Not the "feathers" that adorned only his wings and absorbed sunlight, but actual, protein-based, organic, feathers. All over him, long black feathers with a real beak to boot! He appeared to himself, now, as a sort of raven-like bird with not a trace of synthetics anywhere. The walls were speechless.

Fascinating, isn't it? I always found difficulty talking to a machine, no matter how alive it may seem, and thought this may help us both. After all, it's not every day you get to wander your own mind so why not dress for the occasion? The light had begun to congeal and brighten around a point not far in the distance. Ayer couldn't make out the shape but he sure as servos recognized that voice.

Arzahiem. What are you doing here? What is this place, a dream?

The figure came closer and began to resolve itself. It was an elderly gentleman with silver-white hair and a suit seemingly as new as if it had never been worn. Almost entirely human, minus the large pair of snow-white wings sprouting from his shoulders. The aura wasn't there however. Emotion doesn't transfer well into software and even if they had been truly meeting face to face, Ayer, like practically all other mechanical entities, wouldn't have been able to perceive it anyways. Arzahiem's wrinkled face fixed into an expression slightly somber in appearance. Sadly, it is not. It remains the unfortunate truth that your kind are incapable of what most beings define as "dreaming". This is merely a program that's been with you all along, waiting for me to activate it. This- Arza gestured to the sharp angles and nodes adorning the great facades around them, -is you. Your processor. Your chassis. Your mind and body, if you will, and this- The finger that swept around pointing out the walls came to a stop on the raven sitting in front of him, is the real you. Your inner programming that sets you apart from mining droids. Your subconscious. The closest thing I could give you to a soul.

And the form my "soul" has taken? If this is not in fact a dream, than how is this all possible?

The weathered face cracked into a kind, familiar, smile. All of this exists only in 1's and 0's my friend. I simply took the liberties that all game programmers and book authors take and said, "screw it, this is my world." And then I gave some of my world to you, choosing to depict both you and me- Arza gestured to the wings sporting seamlessly from the back of his crisp suit, in our true forms. Mine being a little more literal than yours of course, but hey! I designed you all to be more than a tool. You were made, not to be repressed by your artificial standing, but to represent the real thing with more options and abilities with which to assist the galaxy! Not as mere droids, but as-

Companions, comrades, brethren.

Ah. So you've figured it out already. You understand.

I've understood for a long time now. What I've done for my partner, even for these fugitives, is no act of program or design. It is of pure purpose. You created us to fill a niche that all life needs to flourish. A cork for that small leak in hull of the ship that no one notices until the air has left their lungs.

A proud twinkle flashed momentarily in his eyes. Ayer. You and your brothers and sisters are a dream finally realized for me. I spent the earlier parts of my life carving away at that very leak, never once realizing that I was also on board. What I have done, and what you have shown me in return...it's...it's all this old man ever needed and will ever need. After staring off in contemplation for a few more moments, Arza composed himself. That grandfatherly smile lit his face even more. Anything else?

Ayer opened his beak into as close he could manage to a smile in this form or his normal one for that matter. It was still just as awkward, but he didn't mind at the moment. Naturally. You didn't activate this programming for no reason, I know that, and I know you know I know that. You flatter yourself, old man. We aren't perfect, but we're fairly close. However, all this philosophical stuff is getting to be too much for my uniformed processing abilities, artificial soul or not, to handle. How about some technical questions? I'm much better at analyzing those. How have you activated this? My energy stores were almost completely depleted, I could barely move. There shouldn't have been anything left to activate.

Arza thought about this a moment before answering. I'll admit it was...difficult to arrange this meeting, but then I am quite the extraordinary programmer. Indeed I was unable to get a signal fix on you for quite awhile. I assumed you were depleted from lack of sunlight in that terrible place, so I simp-

How did you know about that?

Ayer, I know just about everything that has ever happened to you. And yes that includes your latest "treachery" against our Republic, but also the truth behind it. I've become very familiar with Aunna and Vex myself, rather curious pair. Now I must ask that you not interrupt me further. Surely I taught you all better.

My apologies.

Thank you. Anyways, I simply sent out the activation code signal to drift about until such time it could make it to you. Admittedly, it took several times longer than I thought it would and I had just become seriously concerned for your well-being when finally you figured out how to tap the emergency auxiliary power. You may have noticed that the energy it supplied didn't last nearly as long as it should have, this was likely caused by the receiving of the signal and the connection that was established through it. I apologize if this caused inconvenience.

None that I knew of. the bird said with a smirk.

Granted, but you see I was unable to contact you like this sooner as it was already dangerously taxing to your remaining energy just to maintain a weak link. You simply didn't have it in you to speak to me.

Then how are we speaking now?

You have been connected to a power cell which has been refueling your systems.

When

I would imagine 2 or 3 now judging by your current energy reserves.

Well in that case, why haven't I woken up yet?

Also my doing. I have kept in a mandatory stasis so that you can recover ypur strength...and so we could have this conversation we're having right now. This is some complicated software, Ayer. Its hard on your processors to run.

It IS rather marvelous. Ayer agreed as he more closely examined one of his wings. The textures were perfect to any naked eye. The rendering alone for the digital model must be pulling some serious stress. So then, when could I wake up?

Arzahiem chuckled aloud, a warm sound that well fit the grandfatherly presence of the man. Well you aren't really asleep you see. That would make this a dream which, as we've discussed, isn't possible for you. No, you're online, you're just in a sort of coma. Only your innermost processors are active, the ones needed to manifest your raven.

My body no longer functions but my spirit lives on? Doesn't that pretty much make me dead?

Arza grinned, his eyes twinkling with that comfortable compassion but now twinged with just a bit of mischief. Nonsense, Ayer. You have a soul, remember? Souls don't die, and the rest of you is purely mechanical. You're as immortal as it gets! Good luck to you, Ayer; you've proven yourself worthy of the intelligence I've gifted you with. Keep watching over those two delinquents of yours! Stop by Kuat sometime if you get the chance, I'd love to see you again, as would your partner! Farewell and...good morning!

ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE; FULL SYSTEM REBOOT INITIATED

[/color]

Wait! What about Mu'haro? He's there?! Arza- All of heaven and hell broke loose at that moment. The walls of circuitry all around him blazed with blinding light. Everything was being swallowed by it. The angelic form of Arza could still be made out, but even he was starting to become indiscernible from the inferno around them. The last thing to disappear was his face, still with that sly grin upon it.

Ayer had finally had the thing he desired most and now he could never lose it.

Souls never die, after all.

The light rushed at him in a sudden flare that would have been unbearable to gaze upon with living eyes.

And then there was blackness again. However, this time it was rimmed by the familiar glow of his HUD and his light amplification vision was beginning to show trace amounts of light coming from nearby. A quick sensory scan indicated many of Aunna's belongings in his immediate proximity and a synthetic polycarbonate canvas surrounding him completely. A new pack? How long was he out?

After a little searching and a little nudging, Ayer's head poked out of the pocket of the pack. It was still fairly dark, but this time it was because he seemed to be underneath some piece of furniture; a chair or a couch or something. People were speaking in the background, but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying; many off his systems were still warming up and it would be a few minutes before he was at maximum efficiency. He pulled the rest of himself out of the bag, being careful not to damage what looked like a fairly nice dress, and started to hop out from under his darkened lair. A stray thought stopped him from completing this action, however. He was tasked to protect Aunna, and if things went poorly he may be their last element of surprise.

He instead settled back down by where Aunna's foot lay upon the floor only a view inches from underneath; the only part of her he could see from where she was now standing. With a quick, near impossible to notice movement, he tapped it lightly with his beak just to let her know that he was alive and he was ready...

[Dire Wolf]

((For simplicity's sake I'm going to give her some control of her right arm. Got a prob? I can edit easily))

Sera's eyes widened slightly had felt something brush against her mind. It was then that she realized: her mental barriers at that moment were down, she hadn't erected them upon seeing the Dark Jedi, and to make matters worse he was one focused on telepathy. She slammed her walls down on the fist that was closing on her mind. Once her barriers were erected she began to wrap those vines of thought around the fist until it was surrounded by them.... hopefully immobilized and dragged away from her mind. While it was no secret that she wasn't much of a telepath, she was trained enough to defend herself from mental attacks of this nature. More or less.

Her left hand slowly slid down her black clad form and around her back, then she slipped her thumb into a little ring that had been laid flat on the small of her back. She slowly brought that same hand up to her shoulder after the thumb. The occupants of the room would see a silver ring hooked around the base of the woman's thumb, and that silver string would be attached to a long white steel wire. A smile crept across her face.

“Praetor, my estimated capabilities in this situation may be somewhat inflated, but I have what you don't... I have many, many, many toys. Don't attack me again, why, you ask? I pull another millimeter of this wire...”

Sera waved her left hand at the Dark Jedi... a giant lopsided grin pursed her lips.

“... and this room erupts into a small sun or five from the linked thermal detonators in my pack.”

Oh, explosive based suicide mechanisms were so fun! They did wonders for convincing people to back down, especially when they were protecting something that was well within the blast radius, and couldn't possibly escape in time. It was quite obvious from the movements of this Dark Jedi, and the reaction from his companion, that they were linked somehow. Be it love or otherwise, and it was probably love do to their position when she meandered into the Admiral's quarters. Speaking of which...

“Terribly sorry about this, Admiral Borgonia, but I have directives that go up fairly far. And for you, for the record, this Dark Jedi and his ward won't be on it. I'm sure you know the our beloved second general order.”

The second general order of the Sith Military: To kill all Force users on sight. It was at this point that she realized just how much trouble Jade was in; not only did he allow a Force User onto his ship, but into his own quarters. Had she been a lesser woman, one that was gunning for admiralty, she would have reported him to his superior almost the instant that she got back. Sera wouldn't. Though she wouldn't report him because she wasn't a “lesser woman,” no. Whether she consciously knew it or not... she had somewhat of a crush on the good admiral. She promptly walked over to the man and handed him the datapad, then just happened to get caught up in those odd eyes.

Those eyes. For some odd reason, they held a pain... or so she thought that she saw. A pain that she wanted to heal so desperately. She got so caught up in her eyes that she subconsciously began to dump pheromones from all of her pores. Pheromones that could turn the most ardent of Jedi into sex-hungry lunatics at the drop of a hat. She promptly stopped pouring out those pheromones and blinked up at the man once she realized what she was doing. Without a single word she turned around (after giving him the datapad) and walked out of the room, somewhat slowly, allowing her right hand to drag across random objects that she passed. She stopped at the door and looked back at the admiral with a slight smirk on her face, then at Vex.

Sera promptly pulled the wire and dropped it at her feet before walking away, shaking her head ever so slightly. There was no small sun to erupt in the hallway, or anywhere else for that matter. That wire, while it may have been hooked to a few thermal detonators in her pack, would not detonate them should she pull it. It was solely meant for a mechanism to trick the Jedi... to simply make it look like it would to their ethereal senses.

She shook her head ever so slightly as she traveled down the turbolift. “Dark Jedi... heh... people give them far too much credit...”

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Jade barely batted an eyelash at the whole ordeal, his face the stony neutral he was so well known for. He did not enjoy Sera's threats one bit, least of all because his sister was involved. His cold gaze turned to her as she threatened the room with the pin and he knew that later he'd be having a nice little "chat" with the officer and reporting to Barj and the Sith lord that had contacted them during their war briefing not but a month ago. It was because of this meeting that when Sera addressed him, Jade had to try very hard not to laugh in her face. He could practically read her thoughts in her eyes and the way she moved…or perhaps DIDN’T move.

I know PERFECTLY well what my orders are, General Orders or otherwise, Sergeant.

He stated coolly, extending one hand to take the data pad. He gazed at her unwaveringly for what felt like forever, and he could almost feel something in the air change as she stared back. If only she weren’t so wrapped up in the Sith military, and had such a distaste for the Republic. He reprimanded himself silently for such thoughts and narrowed his eyes a bit as she turned and walked toward the door, watching her hungrily through red eyes. He barely even noticed her pull the wire and drop it at her feet, nor did he take much note of his sister’s movement, those crimson eyes unfocusing as his mind traveled to some more…primal…thoughts. With a half muttered excuse about having a stern talking to the woman who’d just left the room, Jade managed to excuse himself from the room, slipping out the door after her (and luckily had the good sense to lock the door so no one might accidentally find two felons and no Admiral in the room), leaving the two alone for the moment.

During this time, Aunna had stolen another sideways glace at her dark jedi before blue eyes flickered back to the zeltron that was threatening them. Yes, she thought it was a bluff, but she wasn’t willing to take any risks over it. Though she’d not sobered up completely, the woman was far from flat out drunk, and even her hazy mind knew when it was just plain suicidal to try anything to try and…there was suddenly a pecking at her foot. Baffled for a moment, she furrowed her eyebrows and glanced down to see a metallic yellow beak poking from under the couch. Ayer! Oh force and heavens she’d forgotten about the little droid! Well, at least he was awake, but there wasn’t anything he could do in this situation.

The dark caramel brunette moved her foot to block him from leaving under the couch and even prodded him once to make sure he got the idea. As soon as the woman had finished her threat and turned to address Jade, Aunna fully looked over at Vex, her face taking on an almost apologetic appearance as she tried once more to reach him through the force. True, Aunna didn’t like the thought of her own death, but she loathed the thought of his or Jade’s deaths far more than any words could describe. Maybe it was the alcohol giving the woman a steady flow of courage, or perhaps that was just who she really was, but even now, she wasn’t afraid…just sorry that he’d gotten caught up in this mess. It was because of these things that Aunna tried to reach out to him…these things and…in being honest with herself, she wanted to let him know she was there just as much as she wanted to assure herself that he was there. A strange, almost foreign, thought crept into her mind, prickling at the back of it, an odd warmth, comfort and light coming from it. “No longer alone,” that was the thought that had crept into her mind, and at that moment she KNEW they weren’t going to die today…and certainly not by this woman.

Aunna smiled then, quietly, minimally, and mostly to herself, but it reflected in her eyes as she looked at him and nodded once (this time, mainly to him) as she allowed the warmth, comfort, and certainty that it would be alright flow from her to whisper about him like a warm breeze along the shoreline. Even before the zeltron started to spill her Eau de Pheromone perfume all about the room, Aunna had to stifle a chuckle as a new song started to bubble up in her mind, though she was sure to keep the words well to herself. The rhythmical sway of the melody, one that reminded her of soothing tropical beaches, couldn’t quite be contained. That was about the time the zeltron had started her impromptu pheromone therapy of her brother, dousing the room with the stuff. The songstress had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she barely noticed anything was different...until slowly, the lyrics to that song started seeping through without her conscious permission.

Hold me closer to your dreams.
Closer to your fears. Close to hear your laughter.
Hold me when you’re close to tears.
I wanna be the one you tell your secrets to.
All I want is to be closer. Closer to you.

The sergeant (Sera Vossk was it?) had left by that time, not that the lyrics would have reached anyone other than Vex considering she’d been keeping a tight hold on them before the pheromones had loosened her mental tongue, and so Aunna moved at last. She’d been fighting a losing battle against the urges that had been stirred up in her thanks to the red toned female that had just left, and now the battle had just been lost. Jade’s interest may have just left him in the dust, but hers was still there and now with Jade gone as well…the opportunity was just too much for the woman to resist. She was, after all, only human and the near bush with death (again, be it real or simply a ruse) only heightened her desire to be closer to him.

Pacing toward him surprisingly more calmly than she was feeling at the moment, Aunna’s sapphire eyes were locked on the dark man, studying him carefully even as her heart worked a bit faster in her chest. It wasn’t long until she found herself beside him, gazing up at him as she walked to stand before him, her right hand coming to rest gently against his chest.

Vex…

She wanted to say more, but what else was there to say without damaging everything? So, instead of saying more, she let his name hang between them in the silence that followed.


((okies, there’s diversion. Wanted her to go a bit father but this felt like the right place to stop. Vexmun, you’re up! btw: lyrics are from "Closer" by Melanie C.))

[Vex]

The soldier had a more stalwart mind that Vex had originally considered, given how easily she'd been broadcasting before. Once she'd realized what he was doing, those defenses slammed down quicker than blast doors. For a plebe, a simple, normal sentient not trained in the finer arts of mental prowess and defense, she did an admirable job. It seemed that whatever the Sith were doing to train their so-called "Jedi Hunters", the methods were effective enough. Your standard knight might stumble a bit at that unexpected bulwark and find it styming momentarily. Even Vex found the resistance momentarily impassable simply because he didn't expect it. The ardor with which she marshalled her defenses was quite exceptional.

Of course, then she had to do something silly like bluff him with explosives...putting Aunna's life in danger. Then, all those defenses were like so much chaff, parted as easily as flesh and bone could be split open with the tip of his lightsaber. It was surprising the amount of motivation he could have when a certain fugitive of the law was in danger.

It was, therefore, not hard to discern the ruse. Even as she left and the Admiral murmured under his breath and took after her, Vex hand moved, tightening on those lightsabers. The mental tremors from her foolishly self-deluded arrogance made it easy to track her movements. He stared at the bulkhead...leading her motions. It would only take a quick lunge and thrust, slam that lightsaber blade through the bulkhead and into the hallway. The woman wouldn't even see it coming. He pivoted slightly, tensing and ready, when he heard Aunna's words.

Dark eyes blinked in confusion as he looked down at her, seeing that she'd moved in front of him. He felt that hand she pressed to his chest, the pressure of that palm was surprising warm and tingling. It was...very unusual for him. His anger and bloodlust was melting away as he looked into those eyes. His own held confusion...not understanding what was sapping those known, comfortable emotions. He understood even less what was seeping in to replace it. He swallowed heavily, brows furrowing in a dark line in consternation that, for once, didn't seem so certain.

Finally, quirking a brow, his hand lifted. Of its own volition, pale fingers reaching up. They fisted in that dark sienna mane of hers...a hair's breadth from being harsh...not pulling or causing pain, but simply holding, controlling...and possessing. Meanwhile, he felt the lyrics of that song curling about him almost seductively through the Force. He shook his head slightly, as though it would clear his mind and show him what was wrong. He spoke, the tone low and almost questioningly...uncertain?

"Aunna?"

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

(("If you're going to keel over, couldn't you do it in the middle of a crowded city street? I cant be expected to be there to catch you every time." ~ Yuri --yet another time I went 'Enery moment?' or maybe that was more of a Vex moment?--))

Aunna gazed up into black eyes, hardly daring to breathe as she stood there so close to him. A ghost of a smile seemed to flicker about the corners of her mouth from time to time, as if she were uncertain if it were actually alright to smile right now or not. The last thing she needed, or wanted, to do right now was to go and make him angry over something stupid. He may be kind to her most of the time, but he was still a dangerous and unpredictable man with a penchant for becoming “moody” at the drop of a hat. The longer she gazed up at him, however, the more she noticed just how uncertain he looked. He looked just as uncertain as she felt herself…if not more so.

He tried for his typical “dammit woman, what NOW?” look…that oh so amusing (at times anyway) look of consternation that he tended to give her when he felt she was misbehaving in some way or other…but it wasn’t quite as certain as normal. That DID bring a flickering smile to her face for the briefest of moments before it too vanished. She watched his hand move through her peripheral vision, felt it find the back of her head, his fingers wrapping into her hair and holding her there. At first she thought he might actually be angry with her, trying to “put her back in her place,” but she swiftly realized it was no such thing.

Yes, the hold he had on her was fairly dominating, and yes it was certainly controlling how much movement her head actually had. Yes, it was both of those, but it wasn’t to put her down, not to harm her, not anything that would say he was upset in the least. If it was anything, it was possessive of her. This wasn’t exactly breaking news to her, that he was possessive of her, but in this context it made Aunna pause and catch her breath for a moment as she resisted the urge to let out an embarrassed giggle. She managed to save herself from that…barely…though the light blush that came with it was not suppressed. Possessive…yes, she was feeling rather possessive right now as well, her fingers curling themselves into the cloth of his robes just a bit.

If there was ever a time where the former major had a “well now I have him…but what do I DO with him” moment, this was it. Her mind was blessedly clear of thoughts except for the deepest curiosities of just what to do next. He shook his head as if trying to clear it and she smiled gently as she gazed up at him. The questioning uncertainty in his voice as he said her name made that gentle smile solidify just a little bit more. Without thinking much about what she was doing, her free hand brushed some of that unruly hair from around his face, the tips of her fingers brushing lightly against the side of his face.

Just what did she say, or do, to answer his questioning look? The blue fire of her eyes danced as she gazed steadily up at him. Aunna didn’t trust herself to say anything more than the most simple of things…she didn’t even think she could formulate a proper sentence if someone asked her to speak on her feelings at the moment. He may not have understood what he was feeling, but she certainly understood what she was feeling, and through the time she’d known him Aunna had come to realize that the man standing before her now didn’t deal well with emotions. He closed himself off from them, and even though he’d not done so yet, Aunna acutely felt the clock ticking down to the time when he would.

Her hand hovered in the air between them, hesitating. For a moment she seemed to ponder her actions, her arm recoiling slightly before she reached up and lightly rested her hand at the side of his pale face. She stood, breathless, for a heartbeat as she continued to watch his face and eyes for any sign that she might have gone too far. For every ounce of the uncertainty and anxiety she felt, there were two ounces of steely determination flicking behind her eyes, those potent pheromones spurring her onward…though, in all truth, it wasn’t JUST the pheromones.

May I?

The pad of one thumb ran lightly along the strap of his mask. His face was cool to the touch, not cold, yet not overly warm either…only then did she notice the warmth, and subtle strength, that resided under her right hand. She felt, for a moment, that if she tried…if she needed to…she could draw strength from him. It obviously wouldn’t be physical strength, perhaps not even emotional (at least not easily), but if it hadn’t been clear to her before, Aunna certainly knew now that he could (and likely would continue to be) her source of strength for a while to come. The idea actually pleased Aunna more than she cared to admit, and subconsciously she drew closer to Vex, as if doing so might some how allow the rest of her being to absorb that inner strength he held…something she’d felt herself severely lacking since her world had been turned upside down on Nar Shaddaa.

[A®heim]

The little bird recoiled slightly from the kick and pulled away from the edge of the couch. He could detect some small commotion in the room, but he was still having trouble discerning the details; his processors were still a bit worn out from generating the "dream" program. He wanted more information and it was starting to make him antsy. He had no idea exactly where they were, who was in the room, and most importantly, what their intentions were. Hell, they could be in prison! ...with couches....alright so maybe that would be a bit of an overreaction.

Ayer stretched and whacked his head on the bottom of the couch with a muffled clack. He cringed internally at the noise and scolded himself for not being more careful. After all, what else has he been doing for the last several weeks or months or Wizard knows how long he has been with these renegades? Being careful should be second- no, FIRST nature by now. Ayer gave a nearly inaudible whisper of sound resembling a sigh and pondered a question he had pondered many a dark night, What have I gotten myself into-

ALERT: HIGH CONCENTRATION OF PHERMONAL SUBSTRATES DETECTED

[/color]

Ayer silenced the alarm and dismissed the alert message. This was normal any day to have alerts like this going off at any inconsistency, but in the time he had spent on the run such occurrences had been increasingly common; what with all the various toxic wastes and hostile presences that had become a part of their daily life. However, a sensor spike informing him of a sudden increase in movement nearby prompted him to reconsider the alert. Rather half-heartedly, a hatch slid open and a small, telescopic rod bearing a 5mm square of chemical filter paper rose out for a few seconds before retracting.

RUNNING ANALYSIS...

ANALYSIS COMPLETE: 75.08% Nitrogen; 24.26% Oxygen; 0.55% Argon; .091% Carbon Dioxide; TRACE AMOUNTS OF IRRELEVANT GASSES; FOREIGN ORGANIC SUBSTANCE RECEIVED: .019% SEXUAL PHEROMONE CONCENTRATIONS; ZELTRON.

He sat there in the dusky, dusty dark (say that three time fast) reviewing and reviewing that, and other data for a few seconds. He reached similar conclusions each time, but what did it matter? He was trapped, as always, in paltry hiding. Energy draining away without the respite of sunlight. A caged bird. Forced to dwell upon his controversial presence of internal feelings and create annoying sentence fragments consisting of poorly conceived analogies.

It took longer than most would think possible, and you have to give him credit for being a mechanical entity unfamiliar with such ideas, but he finally put two and two together and came out with 99% probability conclusion for the events taking place in the room. Alright, I think I've had quite enough. He said not all too quietly.

Ayer hopped out from under the couch, let out a quick burst from his repulsors, and perched on the back of it. As much as I love being an unconscious dead weight to be tossed around and shuffled about, I think my job here is just about done.

Ayer continued to stride back and forth on the top of the couch gesturing spastically with his wings as stray currents of repulsor energy distorting the air. I was sent to protect YOU, Aunna, but that's very difficult to do from within a backpack! So if you don't mind, could you tell me where we are, where we are going, and what is going o-.....Aunna? .......Vex? ............oh.