Commitment

Posted on Fri May 8th, 2020 @ 12:08pm by Reave & Kalen "Rex" Vickers & Thane & Bomoor Thort & Amare & Mentis & G2-O7
Edited on on Tue Sep 8th, 2020 @ 10:39pm

2,283 words; about a 11 minute read

Chapter: Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Red Raptor, Berthed on Alba
Timeline: End of Week Four, evening of "Scrapheap Challenge" and "Imperial Concerns"

"Bomoor and I have never been there. No Jedi in living memory has even encountered an Imperial, let alone managed to enter their space," Thane explained to their motley crew, the gathered group becoming increasingly at ease with considering each other that.

He had brought them into the purpose-built strategy room, after the conclusion of their various bits of business on Alba, including the resupplying of their ageing Corellian freighter, and was stood on the other side of the central projector that took up a sizeable portion of the adapted cargo hold. The lights had been dimmed to provide a better view of the holographic representation that hung suspended before them, the image being cobbled-together star charts of supposed-Bastion space.

Thane's visage was distorted by the display, but the slight scowl on his pale face made it clear he was deep in thought. Through the Force, he had closed himself off, preferring to keep his thoughts and feelings as private as possible, even from the two on the ship closest to him.

"Every standard year, the Republic sends a general, a Jedi and an ambassador to the 'Gate', an old station established during the earliest years of the Third Republic, in an effort to re-establish diplomatic relations with the Moffist state," the Sith Lord went on, gesturing to one point on the map outside of the Imperial borders. "Every year, it goes unanswered. Since their withdrawal from the Second Republic at the height of the New Mandalorian Crusade, there have been no formal diplomatic ties with any of them. All information is second- or thirdhand, usually coming from disturbing or untrustworthy sources, like Mandalorian mercenaries."

Rex, who was leaning on a nearby wall, arms crossed, huffed a little. He had been a little incredulous when Thane and Bomoor explained their conversation with Theon and what their plan was, but he had stopped short of excusing himself from the excursion. As before, he seemed oddly committed to their joint endeavours.

"We used to hear all sorts on Nar Shaddaa," he said, rolling his eyes a little. "People would pretend they were former Imps or that they had got their hands on some of their prized tech, but none of us believed 'em. As you say; it was just Mandos that seemed to know the most, but the majority of them were Exiles, and very few actually fought against the Imperials during the Bastion War. Mostly, they were scoring easy shots at the Manda'toma folk." When he saw the half-interested expressions offered to him, he a gave a little shrug. "What? Hell, even your old pal Sev told me a little about it. He fought in that war."

“It is their Beskar metal that has prompted Theon’s interest in this situation and what now draws us into Imperial Space too,” came Bomoor’s low echoic voice from where he sat beside one of the control panels, bathed in the same shimmery glow from the projection, “Beskar is seemingly being exchanged between Bastion and GalactaWerks. The Mandalorians of both factions appear to have no involvement in this trade.”

“They won’t be pleased,” Mentis added, appearing thoughtful with his hand gently rubbing his facial scars, “We were only discussing at the junk shop how precious the Mandos are of their metal and how dangerous it can be to trade without their knowledge. But, then again, Bastion and GalactaWerks are probably some of the few entities in the galaxy that wouldn’t care about riling the Mandalorians.”

Amare--arms crossed at her chest, gazing absently at the holoimage--had difficulty pretending to look interested in what the others were talking about. She knew so little of the Mandalorians, their history, or what their connection to this Bastion place was all about. She chose silence rather than revealing her ignorance. Her mind was troubled with Darth Sidious' lesson from the Telos Holocron regarding Battle Meditation, as well as the notion that the group was planning on flying into dangerous territory on the word of a Rift Jedi. The explanation seemed simple enough, but much of it relied on the state of mind and the general feelings of the practitioner, and she was not in an ideal place mentally. Thus the power seemed nigh impossible for her to grasp.

So much had happened to her in the past year, and there often seemed so little time to fully process it all. The planet-hopping journey of the Red Raptor was starting to feel...episodic, and it was wearing her down severely. She needed stability, untainted soil to put her feet down, the sweet ambient music of nature around her with no civilization or distractions so she could focus on her presence and abilities in the Force. Her soul cried out for a domain; a stationary home at which she could learn and weave her Sith cantrips in peace so that she could best prepare to do battle when Serus called upon her to serve his will again.

As Mentis spoke, her mind drifted back to basics; back to her childhood. There still remained one unaccounted piece that gnawed heavily at her, that tore her up continuously inside that so desperately needed to be fulfilled, the primary driver that pushed her to survive so much danger in recent times...

...she needed to find her brother. With her head hung low and arms fallen dejectedly to her sides, she slowly turned and reluctantly stepped towards the door to leave.

"Amare," Thane said softly as his apprentice reached the threshold. There was not an edge to his tone at all, and a genuine look of concern seemed to crease the lines of his still-youthful face. "What is wrong?" He asked. Like her, he had spent time learning about Battle Meditation from Darth Sidious' avatar, and now they were discussing entering the remnant of his fallen empire's legacy.

The door had parted open when the master called to his apprentice. Amare sighed, she knew nothing about her escaped the notice of the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

"A short while ago," she replied and turned to gaze upon the Caanan's eyes, the elemental look of age in them, a weariness in his gold-marked irises that betrayed the vitality of his subtly changing features, "I was given a lead; one last gift from my mother that cost all the credits she had left: they found him. They found my brother, Capo, on some forgotten old Hutt world called Quesh. He's been trapped there for five years as a slave for pirates. I...I'm sorry to bring this up now." She started to return to her place in the room, silently cursing at herself for letting her feelings get in the way of her judgment yet again. "It can wait. We should focus on this Bastion place. It could be very dangerous and we have to be ready."

Thane visibly considered Amare's revelation, whilst the nearby Rex seemed a little confused by it all, shrugging at Mentis. Thane walked a few paces around, so he was less obscured by the display and now closer to Bomoor, whom he now looked to, a querying look to his face.

"Nothing Theon told us is time-sensitive," he remarked to his friend quietly, although still audible to the others. The look in his eyes carried more meaning than his words; the pair knew the importance of this possibility to their young charge.

Bomoor rose up and walked over towards Thane and Amare, "No, I would imagine this information will remain relevant for some time and certainly is not the sort of endeavour to rush into," he titled his head slightly as he seemed to try and recall the facts, "The tragedy of the Wolph family has always hung over your head Amare. If resolving it will bring you some peace, then that is a priority."

Behind them, Mentis exchanged a confused glance with Rex before shuffling his shoulders impatiently as he awaited this tangent to play out. Although, he said nothing of his discontent to the assembled party.

"I am in your debt, thank you so much," Amare said with her deepest gratitude and a low respectful bow of her head, now feeling even more sorry for treating Bomoor as unfairly as she did recently. "I promise this will not take long, masters. My brother is a good maintenance tech. He can earn his keep here until we have time to bring him home to Glee Anselm."

"There is no debt," Thane assured his apprentice, deactivating the central display, appearing satisfied with the unexpected progression of their informal crew meeting. He withdrew a datacard from the terminal and concealed it within his grey robes, along with removing other paraphernalia regarding their original plan, awaiting Amare's further explanations.

The Nautolan was not blind to the expressions of confusion and discontent among the others. She turned to Rex and Mentis, exchanging glances with them, and even briefly looked down to catch the eyes of the curious Reave who was silently staring at her with his glowing eyes as he leaned on the wall near the door. It seemed like the Jawa could sense a hint of a profitable opportunity his two other companions had not. Amare started to wonder if Reave was far smarter than he looked, or perhaps was Force-sensitive in a very subtle way.

"I've learned that this group of pirates has the death penalty waiting for them in twelve systems," Amare explained to the ex-cultist and his freelancer friends, "and are worth thousands per head. Help me take them down, and the bounties are yours to split. I won't take a single chip. Any salvage or loot you can gather will be yours, and if we can capture their ship," she turned to focus on Rex, "it's yours to keep. All I want is my brother's safety and their leader's head. Interested?"

Reave, for now, stayed silent but interested, even as Rex looked to both the Jawa and his more recent partner-in-crime. "I don't usually do bounties," the Human said, having taken a few moments to consider what Amare had said, glancing between the Nautolan and the Rattataki. "I mean, Reave here is a dab hand with a heavy repeater and has no shortage of spunk." The Jawa chirped. "But... I dunno. I've seen what you guys can do with those laser swords and magic powers. You don't get the sentence in a dozen systems for being petty thugs. These guys sound the business."

"You can hold our robes," Thane said drily to their smuggler guest, not even looking at the other Human as he leaned back on the projector, crossing his arms. "It would mean that precious ship of yours has been replaced. Mentis would be free from bondage to you, as you seem to treat it."

Reave looked ready to launch himself at the young Sith, but Rex, in a mixed display of bravery and restraint, placed a hand in front of the Jawa, preventing the diminutive Tatooinian from needlessly defending his friend's honour. Even so, as seemed to be his norm since joining the ragtag crew, he said nothing directly to Thane.

"You know I don't see it like that, right?" He muttered quickly to Mentis, before adding, "But what do you think? These guys are your crew now, right?" Rex looked to Bomoor and Amare in turn. "You guys would do the same for him, if he asked?"

"Yes," Amare replied with a nod. "That's what friends do."

"My so called "debt"..." Mentis began, mulling over their odd relationship, "I don't think it was every a matter of credits, but it would be nice to see you reunited with the Janna or another suitable ship. A bit of bounty hunting seems fair in exchange, particularly if it also benefits Amare."

"I will set the navicomp for Quesh," Amare said to Thane and Bomoor with a gentle smile as she left for the door. When it opened, G2 was there. "Oh, G2! I almost stepped on you," Amare said to the little droid. "Please excuse me, my friend." She stepped around the droid and strolled to the cockpit, a great emotional weight already starting to lift itself from her shoulders.

G2 bleeped and warbled in binary that a HoloNet call was waiting for Thane and Bomoor marked private.

"Transfer it here, once the others are gone," Thane commanded the droid, only briefly looking to the astromech. Although he often feigned ignorance of the droid's digital language, the comment once again made clear his grudging recognition of its meaning. As he positioned himself around the large display once again, he looked to Mentis, Rex and Reave. "Thank you," he said politely to them, stopping short of any sentimental manner. "It means a great deal to her."

Rex looked at Thane uncomfortably, glancing just quickly to Bomoor and then to Mentis, before managing to muster a nervous smile for the Caanan. "Uh, sure, man. We'll, uh... we'll leave you to it. C'mon." He gestured to the other two, not saying anything else. Reave, mercifully, remained silent, but quickly scurried off towards the engine compartments of the ship, whilst Rex waited for Mentis. "It's for those guys, Mantis. We got a pazaak game to finish, anyway."

Bomoor gave Mentis a nod, giving his blessing for him to depart with the others before turning back to the panel to receive the call.

Bastion still weighed on their minds, but the flicker of hope that Amare's (or perhaps more correctly, Coda's) fractured soul might see some resolution was a prospect that none of them could overlook. For now, that fate directed them to Quesh.

TBC

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