Queen of the Core

Posted on Mon Nov 12th, 2012 @ 4:03am by Sev Rezer & Thane & Bomoor Thort & Berry & Kip Hoddai
Edited on on Mon Nov 12th, 2012 @ 4:50am

2,014 words; about a 10 minute read

Chapter: Chapter II: Era's Dawn
Location: Red Raptor, near Coruscant
Timeline: Early, Day Five (Morning - Coruscant local time)

Smacking his hand against the door to Berry's cabin, Thane called out that they were finally nearing their destination, as per Sev's call just a few minutes ago. To those on the ship, it was still very early in the morning, roughly two or three hours before they would ideally like to be up, but it was mid-morning planetside, and the Mandalorian had given them all a short amount of time to get ready for their landing. As per his and Bomoor's request, they would be using a docking station close to the Jedi Temple. Given Sev's standing with the Order, they had decided it best to not directly land at the Temple itself.

Standing behind Thane was his Ithorian friend, who had been awake before him anyway, likely in some meditation, the Human had assumed, whilst he rubbed some sleep from his own eyes, having stayed up late conversing with Darth Bane's holocron yet again, their primary dialogue focusing on philosophy. At first, the Jedi Knight had been slightly perturbed by the similarities of some of his views to the long-dead Sith Lord's, but had come to realise a shared understanding of the world, even if there were some slight differences. With each interaction, he was becoming less bothered by how often he found himself agreeing with Bane, and was even finding himself feeling more resolute about some opinions. Of course, it would take more than just a few interactions to entirely convince him of anything.

"Let's get to the cockpit," Thane said to his friend. "After spending just a couple of days on Nar Shaddaa, I actually think I'll be quite happy to set foot on that glistening ball of bureaucracy again." He began stepping towards where Rezer was waiting, manning the controls. In truth, whilst Thane had quite a good deal of disdain for the many groups on the planet, each believing their viewpoints to be so true, that they had some right to behave in a particular manner, with numerous levels of crime and greed, going all of the way up the ladder to the Galactic Senate itself, the Human nevertheless felt that much safer returning to the galactic capital. Even with the conniving politicians, pretentious Jedi Order and foolish populace, the planet had a semblance of justice and order, as well as some class.

As the two Jedi stepped closer to the cockpit, still lit up by the swirling blue vortex of hyperspace travel, Thane made a mental note to visit the Galaxies Opera House, should time permit.

"Coruscant?? Where?" Berry shouted as she burst out of her cabin, still in her sleepwear. Her hair was all skewed to one side, and her seaweed chest wrap was starting to unravel (it was only tied on), but the part-Aquar paid no mind to it as she scampered bare-footed to the cockpit. Her seagrass skirt flapped with her steps. "Hey, are we there yet??"

Bomoor was almost tripped over as she shot past his legs, but he put a sturdy leg backwards to steady himself, "Not quite yet Bería," he replied, "But Sev will be taking us of hyperspace any moment now."

He stepped forward to stand beside Thane who was gazing out at the space vortex, "This is going to be an interesting visit," he hummed with wary amusement, "Can I recommend you leave 'you-know-what' on the ship so we don't get cut down by some over-cautious guardian thinking we're Sith?"

Nodding in response, Thane nevertheless was not enamoured by the idea. "Whilst I don't like all of this deceit and games, I guess it's the best course of action." His pale features were set in a serious manner as he turned his head to face Bomoor. "And I think 'over-zealous crusader' might be a better turn of phrase, given how Master Quellus has half the Order charging about." Thane exhaled, thinking about the vision and all else that had happened as his eyes skimmed past Berry. "I'm going to have to be uncharacteristically tactful when we meet with the Council." His tone made his disappointment and annoyance clear.

A beeping began on one of the panels and Sev reached up and flicked a switch overhead. Suddenly the vortex slowed, the star trails becoming visible until they ground to a halt and the gleaming planet-wide metropolis of Coruscant shot into view.

"Nevertheless," Bomoor began, now seeing the planet he had called home for over twenty-five years, "I have a good feeling about coming here. There is a certain freshness I have not felt for a long time."

They had pulled out into a busy space-lane of ships trying to enter the Senate District, hundreds of freighters, private vessels and transports all pulling into the planet's orbit.

The crew of the Red Raptor could feel the transition as the former smuggler's ship entered Coruscant's orbit, and the blackness of space was replaced by clear blue skies, which were only temporarily marred by the thick, billowy clouds that separated their line of sight from the sprawling planetscape. As the white cleared, each of those in the cockpit could see the ecumenopolis that was Galactic City, the capital of the Third Republic and the most populated planet in the galaxy.

The Queen of the Core, as the planet had been termed, and it was a title that fit far better than the Glorious Jewel the Hutts had named Nar Shaddaa in their native tongue. Although there was little to separate the two in many respects, such as with levels of crime and depravity, Thane much preferred this world where he had spent most of his life; it was a cleaner and more orderly place, and - for the most part - people were largely safe. It was also where the Jedi Order in its many incarnations had primarily headquartered itself, as well, and the Force was rampant on this world. A surge of various feelings and intentions could be felt flooding from the planet through the Human Jedi; certainly, there was the greed he had felt of Nar Shaddaa, but there was also a sense of righteousness and general good intent, although it wasn't necessarily greater than the other.

"Can you feel them?" Thane then asked Berry as Kip walked into the cockpit, the Jedi only giving him a cursory glance. "Can you sense them all - the life of the planet and its people?"

Berry's head bobbed as she stared at the planet, her eyes wide. "Yeah there's, like, ten billion times more people here than on Velusia!" So weeiiiird. But perfect for her purposes. That meant there were probably a ton of people to teach her something....she glanced at Pale Guy, frowning slightly. Well, if nothing worked out then maybe she'd let this stinker do something—but not quite yet!

Kip smiled slightly and remained silent. :Status?: he sent.

:Still in hyperspace, eta six hours, forty minutes: came Ef's response.

Kip blinked and focused on the planet below. "Is there some way we should remain in contact while we're here?" Kip asked. "I have to get provisions for the ship, after all."

"Our Jedi comlinks," Thane replied, as if Kip's question had prompted a point he had meant to raise before. He pulled two of the trademark Jedi communicators from his own pocket, and extended his hand to Bomoor, prompting for the Ithorian's own ones. "Mine and Bomoor's are already all tuned to the same channel, so we can pester each other whenever need be." He gave his two to Kip and Berry whilst Sev continued to bring the Raptor down towards the planet.

"I don't believe there's a set time for us to return," the Human went on, crossing his arms as he went to continue observing their descent, "but we should stay in touch if we make any decisions for whatever reason. Between us and the Jedi Order, we should have enough money to have some maintenance done on the ship, have it registered anew and get a few extra gadgets." Thane turned his attention back to the others. "Maybe an outrider, like a small two-man fighter?"

"A fighter can't dock with a freighter of this class," Kip pointed out, "so jumps into hyperspace are going to last a long time for the people in it." He shrugged and after taking a com, turned and headed back into the ship, "I gotta do some shopping when we land."

Thane watched with a raised eyebrow as the Devaronian left. "What an enlightening contribution," he said ironically, "but he has a point." He then looked to Bomoor, his voice friendlier. "Doesn't mean you can't get that swoop bike of yours, though."

Berry had mostly tuned out but suddenly gasped. "A bike that swoops?? Whoooaaaa!" Her hands gesticulated in excitement, and she dropped the comlink in the process. "Hey, can we have some more foodmakers?" Wait, why did she care? Oh well, the Jedi deserved good food.

Sev Rezer that had remained silent until that moment, switched the comm on. "We're being queried. Coruscant Control, this is cargo freighter Red Raptor. We carrying no cargo and have a crew of five. Request permission to land."

The bored officer of the Coruscant Traffic Control office came to life. "This is Coruscant Control. Permission granted, Red Raptor. Follow coordinates and land at dock 590. Customs officers will be waiting for inspection. Out."

The Red Raptor quickly followed its instructions and within minutes it was starting docking procedures.

Sev finally turned to Thane and the others. "Give me your comlink frequency. It'll be enough for me. As for this ship, so far, no red flags have been raised, so it must be clean. You two Jedi have your job with the Order, but I'll not be around in case your masters decide that I need to be stopped again. I'll be at Coruscant's bedrock level. I have some things to do there."

Bomoor had ignored Thane's earlier comment about the swoop bike. He knew that Bomoor was a casual fan of the Swoop races but he was not keen that everyone should know about it.

"Since we're going through Coruscant Control and the previous owners of this ship were likely less than law-abiding, are we certain that we are not carrying any illegal cargo?" The Ithorian looked around at the rest of the crew, the sudden threat of the authorities finding barrels of spice under the grates had now become a genuine concern.

"We have one thing," Thane said, raising one of his crossed arms to rub his chin before glancing over to Bomoor again. "The holocron." Whilst it was not necessarily an illegal item to possess, there were several laws concerning the trading and handling of them, and given the bounty the Reborn Jedi Order had placed on Sith and dark artefacts, most customs officers would simply report anything of the kind to the High Council. "But nothing this won't help," the Human added with a grin, holding a credit chip between his fingers.

No one had a chance to reply before the Raptor began its final descent. A Coruscant Security officer garbed in the usual CoruSec navy blue with his arms clasped behind his back was flanked by two Customs Bureau agents, ready and waiting to inspect the peculiar and suspect craft now landing at Dock Five-Ninety. The CoruSec officer's stripes identified him as a lieutenant, and his face seemed permanently forged into a grimace, as if his job was the most important occupation in Galactic City.

Even so, Thane could sense the greed and lust for a higher station within the lieutenant, and whilst he felt disgraced that a law enforcement official had such urges, it nevertheless benefited him in this situation. Even as he felt some comfort at the certainty of safety concerning Bane's holocron, he hoped the officer would one day suffer for his greed.

But not today, he mused, turning the credit chip in his hand.

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