Plotting a Course

Posted on Sun Jan 6th, 2013 @ 12:42am by Thane & Bomoor Thort & Berry & Kip Hoddai & Sev Rezer & Morgo Le'Shaad & G2-O7

6,369 words; about a 32 minute read

Chapter: Chapter II: Era's Dawn
Location: Red Raptor
Timeline: 1000 Hours (Local Time), Day Seven

OLD

Berry had turned out to be quite the special snowflake, and the strange dynamic that had formed between the two of them left Morgo wondering just what the rest of the Red Raptor crew would be like. Who was this Kip, an accomplished chef if Berry was to be believed? But then again, Morgo was starting to get the feeling that anything edible was amazing to Berry. And who was this person Thane claimed to be his best friend, Bomoor? He must've been a rare individual to be able to win Thane's high regard. And lastly, who was this Mandalorian Bounty hunter, Sev Rezer? Thane seemed to imply that he had the man, more or less, leashed...but Morgo highly doubted that. Thane was a fool if he truly thought Sev Rezer was under his control. The man was Mandalorian. Morgo had not been a fugitive for long, but with a bounty like hers, Morgo had met her fair share of Mandalorians. All of them driven. All of them with agendas of their own, even if on paper they were 'bound' by contract. Some wanted money, while others wanted answers, among other things. Morgo had catered to their demands and for that, Morgo still had her freedom.

Whether or not this Sev Rezer had bent the knee to Thane as completely as he seemed to think, Morgo would see. Because as unsure as Morgo was about this crew, about where this ship would take her, what course it would set in her life, there was one thing that was for certain—and that was Morgo would have to co-exist with this makeshift crew for an indefinite amount of time. And if just for that alone, not counting planets trips or even the infamous Axion, Morgo was in for one hell of a ride.

And despite herself, Morgo was ready for that ride to begin.

NEW

Thane stood in the Red Raptor's recreation room by the circular holoprojector that sat in the centre of the room, just off from the kitchen area, tables and chairs where the crew often shared their meals. Even now, as he leant on the projector, his eyes full of deep thought, he could smell the remnants of recent cooking wafting from the surprisingly clean kitchen.

Whether or not Kip had been using the kitchen recently or Bería had helped herself to some sort of food - the young girl seemingly pleased with most dishes - it was hard to tell. The Devaronian's signature style of cooking left a distinct and spicy aroma that he deduced did not die away quickly, and whilst he enjoyed the food, it was nothing like the dishes he had been served on Caanus. Since events on Nar Shaddaa and with the Jedi Council, he found himself thinking more and more of his homeworld, the planet whom he had tried to ignore with all his might since becoming a Jedi Knight.

Largely, he felt, that was down to the teachings of the Jedi; they thought it best to remove the attachments a young applicant had, and - for the most part - Thane had seen the logic in that, admirably keeping all thoughts of Caanus, his noble heritage and family tucked away within the deepest recesses of his mind, even going so far as to often oppose such systems of government and culture. Now, though, free from the Jedi Code and the hypocritical Council, he found himself beginning to feel more himself, and more at ease with some thoughts that seemed more genuine, rather than the niceties he had once tried to adopt as beliefs.

He had called all of the crew together using his comm unit about an hour ago, regardless of where they were, he asked them to return so they could plot their next move in finding the Cult of Axion. That, and so he could explain why they now had an extra person on board.

Berry stirred in her actual bed, all curled up. Something...someone...was here. But she barely got to sleep since that awesome shopping feast thand now what? She slowly slid to the floor, eyes still closed as she crawled to the door. She poked her head out. "Helloooo?" She fell onto her side, half in the room and half out. Kitchen...maybe some food would wake her up. She continued to crawl around the corner. Yeah, something was making a sound in her room an hour ago. Something about...meeting...and it sounded like Pale Guy...

Berry's eyes opened a tiny slit as she looked around the kitchen across to the rec room. Her eyes widened slightly. It WAS Thrane! "Ah!" she yelped and ducked back into the hallway, although it was sure that he saw her. She patted down her hair and straightened her seagrass skirt. She didn't care she just had on a seaweed chest wrap, but she did care that...well...actually, she didn't.

Berry stood up and slowly shuffled into the kitchen/rec room, smiling sleepily at the pale guy nearby. "Hi. Didja get some sun? Heh." She chuckled and sat down on the bench against the wall by the holoprojector, her eyes closing again. He didn't feel so bad today...better, actually...steady.

Thane raised a dark eyebrow at the young woman. "Well, I certainly got out quite a bit," he stated simply, feeling somewhat strange at her proximity. For the past few days on Coruscant, where he had been experiencing all manner of emotions because of various events, there had still be a few underlying currents of peculiar feelings - more relaxed feelings - that did not seem quite his own.

Having Berry now next to him, he realised what the source was, and then also realised he must have had some sort of effect on her, too, when things transpired. He was about to mention it when in the galley, the heating cabinet buzzed and a new astromech droid rolled into the corridor and stopped at Kip's door, whistling and burbling something. Thane's attention immediately focused onto the new machine, one hand clenching into a fist at the sight of another droid on the ship.

The door opened and Kip hurried out, clucking at the droid is a staccato organic approximation of lingua-mechanica before coming in and bending over to inspect the contents of the cabinet through the viewing window. He stood, motioned silently to the droid quickly and as the little device turned and opened a cabinet to fetch some racks and a platter, he opened the door and pulled out a large rack of steaming hot pastry-covered elegantly crafted pies and a casserole.

The large pies were on the rack, which as he thanked the droid, he set onto a raised cooling metal mesh used in professional kitchens that all but Morgo were pretty sure hadn't been there when they had come to Coruscant. The casserole went onto another rack and the platter was set to one side even as he turned and went into the walk-in cooler and pulled out a crate of mixed vegetables is stas-pacs. A cutting board and a small blade kit appeared almost magically from drawers on the prep island as the Devaronean put on a black apron that said "Don't call me an assassin- I might poison your dinner". Then he began to prepare the vegetables, cutting and carving them into fanciful but elegant shapes while preserving their skins and rinds as much as possible where for all the varieties present, the majority of the nutrition was stored.

He burbled to the droid who trundled into the cooler and came back with several bottles and a tub of something white in a basket, which it set beside Kip as he worked. It blorped at him, he whistled absently and then it trundled back towards the front of the ship down the main corridor.

"Feel free to start at any point Thane," Kip said without looking up from the intricate knife work he was doing with a small curved and razor-sharp knife-tool. "I can listen and talk and finish up lunch all at the same time," he smiled slightly as he spoke, the tip of his pointed black tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he worked out tiny adjustments.

The human narrowed his eyes slightly at Kip, once again finding his demeanour irritating. "Perhaps we should wait until everyone arrives? After all, that would be the polite thing to do." He said, deciding to not mention the new astromech droid on board.

Berry pouted as her nose twitched. But the food...it smelled so...goooood...her mouth opened to say something but her brain stopped her so all she did was whine, brows furrowed.

Kip turned and bent, disappearing behind the island and then appeared with a self-contained heating unit large enough to cook a small child in. He set it to the side, eyed it for a moment and counted on his fingers to eleven and then smiled and nodded and returned to his prep, now working the white thick paste-like substance in the tub with oil, herbs and some wine from a bottle he opened. He began to whisk the mixture, nearly silently and looked over at Thane and Berry with the bowl tucked under one arm as he worked.

Berry smiled in his direction, eyes still closed, of course.

The Devaronian was certain an enigma to Thane. During his time at the Jedi Temple, he had often spent hours in the Archives studying other Force-using cultures, ranging from the various incarnations of the Sith, to the Dathomirian witches to even the peculiar Jensaarai, which he actually found an annoying group in history, but he had never heard of Kip Hoddai's Flamewalkers.

Even with his abilities in searching the mind for thoughts or feelings, Thane had no luck with learning anything from Kip's mind; of course, he must have perfected a form of protecting his mind from such invasions, which Thane commended, but it was still irritating to not learn anything more from the Devaronian, who he found to be highly obnoxious, yet undeniably useful and intelligent. He began to wonder what Morgo would make of him as he heard footsteps nearing the rec room.

Morgo strode leisurely into the rec room, her step as light as a soap bubble. She’d changed from her sari back into her white jumpsuit and her deep blue michiyuki that swayed gently with her movements. But a small gold tikka still hung on her forehead from her disguise before—a tiny medallion shaped and bejeweled to look like a third eye. Below the filigree eye dangled a small black pearl, like a teardrop. Morgo’s braid hung down her back like golden rope as she turned her head towards the kitchen, where the wondrous smells must’ve been coming from.

She'd just finished storing away each and everything she’d bought earlier in the morning into the Medical Bay when she’d smelled the complex scent of food coming from this direction. Curious as to whether the one called Kip would be there, Morgo had followed her nose only to find Thane glowering in the general direction of the kitchen, Berry draped over a bench by the holoprojector, and the one she had been looking for, stirring a bowl in the kitchen. Quietly, she watched him work, studying his expertise.

"Berry," Kip called softly and held up a mixing spatula for her like it was a popsicle for her to lick. It was covered in what looked like fruit compote mixed with some sort of stiff cream mixture.

The part-Aquar's eyes flew opened as soon as her nose registered "fruit" and "sweet" in one combo punch of waking-upness. She grinned excitedly at Kipster, of course after a quick glance for a tail, and then eagerly grabbed the spatula from him. "Thanks! And hi! Oooh you have nooo idea how glad I am that you're back since I toootally forgot to look for your restaurant or food on Coruscant aaand—" Promptly her chatter was cut short as she tasted the awesome stuff on the spatula. Her eyebrows shot up. Now THIS was waking her up. It was like those sour red berries that zinged your tongue back home paired with sweet blobby ones and swished together with yummy seacow cream—so good! She had no more room in her brain for thoughts and all that nonsense and so was fortunately quiet for a while.

As Berry licked the spatula clean, Kip plated the vegetables and pulled apart a kiva melon, the ten centimeter long oval melon had been intricately carved and cute around it circumference all the way into it's central, massive, seed. The pale yellow ring was edible as was the sweetish pink flesh and after he got the one half off, used a pincher tool to pull the large oval seed from the other half, revealing two halves of a while fruit, intricately cut to resemble the Coruscant skyline from their berth at the spaceport.

He filled these halves with the creamed and oiled herb sauce he had whipped in what was clearly a dip for the arranged vegetables, of which there was at least a dozen varieties, some commonly recognized and some note and exotically colored.

He touched the casserole dish with a finger and then poked the crust slightly with his right index claw-tip, popping off a layer of the outer crispy flakiness and smiled, pulling out shallow bowls and spoons for everyone except Bomoor, who had an Ithorian trencher to load up with succulent vegetables and salad. Serving utensils went into the dishes and the pies he moved off of the island and high, where Berry couldn't easily reach them.

He reached under the island again and produced two more bottle of the wine, chilled, with flutes as well as a tumbler for Berry and a chilled pitcher of clear water and a large urn of a green tea with petals and blossoms floating in it with recognizable pepper-like pods in it.

"You may serve yourselves," Kip pronounced, "except Berry, who I will serve to make sure there's enough for everyone else." He grinned at her and retrieved the spatula and tossed it into the cleanser.

Berry burst into laughter, fully rejuvenated. "Oh I'm not thaaat hungry, thanks to Morgogo here." She winked at the Shady Lady, but her eyes betrayed her as they strayed to the food anyway. In fact, her eyes darted between the feast and Kip, brain unable to decide whether her 'intense' observation of the cook was entirely warranted today since, well, she'd have other times to scout for a tail. Ah, no, she'd have more time later! She resumed staring at the food, eyes brightening as she bit her lip.

Morgo stared ahead, distracted by Berry. Before she’d decided Berry’s relationship with the rest of the crew would be akin to how one would treat a little sister. Now, Morgo would have to update her notes on Berry from ‘Crew’s little sister’ to ‘Crew pet’. She watched as Berry watched the food with glinting eyes, a bright pink tongue lolling out in happiness…like a dog. Morgo raised an eyebrow as she stepped forward and wrapped her fingers around the neck of a wine bottle, the glass cool against her fingers. Popping off the cap with a sharp nail, Morgo made short work of the cork and poured the liquor into a nearby flute, letting it aerate in the glass since there was no decanter around. Turning her blonde head to look at the Devaronian, Morgo walked over to the red-skinned man and leaned against a wall as he shuffled about the kitchen.

Swirling the wine in her glass, Morgo's voice was conversational, “I have to say, when I learned I was to serve the crew aboard a smuggler’s ship, I didn’t expect the cuisine would be any good. Never have I been so pleasantly surprised.” And raising her eyebrows, impressed, Morgo inclined her head slightly, “Thank you for the fine food, Mr. Kip.”

The doorway from the central corridor opened and the large figure of Bomoor passed through into the Recreation Room. He had changed from his Jedi robes back into his casual synfleece shirt and trousers with his lightsaber still firmly clipped to his belt. Without the draping robe, the weapon was more prominent at his side, "Sorry for the delay, everyone," Bomoor nodded to the group, giving a wary eye to their newest companion, Morgo Le'Shaad, "I see Kip has laid out something special for me again. Thank you."

Bomoor took his seat at the table, "I bumped into another new crew member as I was coming down here. A little droid. Who does that belong to?"

"Well," Thane spoke up, looking to his friend, "I can't be blamed for that one. I bring an intellectual physician on board; he," he went on, nodding towards Kip, "brings another bin on wheels."

Staring into her wine, Morgo raised her eyebrows, "I appreciate being likened to cargo, Thane. Thank you for that." The woman said as she sipped on her wine.

Berry laughed, looking all smug especially since her eyes were closed. "Yeah, well I brought food! It's in my tummy." She paused. "Oh, and in a bag in my room...if I didn't eat it yet." She shrugged and fidgeted.

Ignoring the Near-Human's comment, Thane looked straight over towards Morgo, offering her a sarcastic expression. "Well, would you rather be likened to a common criminal?" Although it was said in mostly in jest, his slightly narrowed eyes carried the slightest edge in his tone. "No sign of Mandalore the Amazing?" He then addressed to everyone.

"My thanks for the compliment my Lady," Kip replied, whether guessing or knowing who she was, or had been, was left in the air. "Enjoy this vintage, it comes from Naboo and it's one of my favorite labels. Certainly not the finest I have access to, for that I am reserving for a very special dinner but it's better than country table wine, no?" He ignored Thane's negative commentary though the droid that had been mentioned came rolling down the main corridor towards the galley.

Morgo smiled a bit, the quip she had prepared for Thane dying on her lips as she turned to Kip, “It certainly is. It’d be a heinous crime against fine cuisine to pair table wine with such good food. You made an excellent decision with this Nabooian wine.” The woman said, savoring the slight, white floral bouquet, “I’d ask you who your merchant is, but I don’t think I’ll be buying wine by the cask again for quite a while.” Morgo said, tone only a little dry. Absently, she looked the red-skinned man over, reading his apron and deciding that she quite liked it.

"He's probably shooting lasers!" Berry exclaimed as she totally ruined her sneak attack her hands were going to do to that yummy plate of food nearby.

Having quickly become used to the young woman's antics and behaviour, Berry was largely offered expressions that were an odd mixture of confusion and sidelong glances.

Berry laughed in the face of it all. She was probably used to doing that back home. "NO I meant Rezer lasers! Busy shooting lasers...couldn't be here...yeah." Her excitement at the food was busy fighting with her sleepiness and it was showing. A lot.

"Not to worry my Lady," Kip smiled easily, talking to Morgo, "I've laid in a supply and we'll get regular provisioning as long as I'm aboard. You may find this casserole to your liking, though it is a bit hodge-podge in construction, I've been cooking for quantity over quality you know," he indicated the flaky pastry-covered rectangle, three inches deep that smelled of some sort of protein and something rich and buttery. "My people make this for a certain holiday, Kr'tsh, where we put aside out typically fiery palate for more subtle flavors. The protein is a slightly oily firm white-fleshed fish cooked slowly in a sauce made of redolent herbs and a gravy of seafood broth and ground grain. Zeth root, chopped and cooked until soft with a sweeter root plant and leaves of the Sticha are chopped and cooked with it, providing the faintest bitter, like citrus." He gestured to the massive platter of fresh vegetables, "and of course, there is salad for balance."

"I go away for a few days and suddenly we have more mouths to feed". The Mandalorian seemed the same, aside some new scars on his armor.

As the Mandalorian made his way into the rec room with a swagger that stood somewhere in the middle of rigidity and cool self-confidence, Thane offered the bounty hunter a curt nod of approval. "Excellent," he said, deciding not to ridicule Rezer's arrival; he had at least arrived, after all, and he was pleased to have the man counted amongst them in their hunt for Axion and the Kaiburr shards.

Although his unique skill-set was not one the Jedi may be so fond of, it was certainly one Thane saw a lot of merit in having an experienced Jedi hunter and killer on board - he was certain the abilities worked just as well regardless of the Jedi's Force alignment. "I think I have a bit of explaining to do before we finally take off from Coruscant," he went on, taking a short intake of breath as he nodded towards Morgo, "but I think our physician needs little introduction for anyone amongst us. Sev, you've probably even had a few thoughts about cashing her in from the moment you set eyes on her, but for the sake of politeness, this is Duchess Morgo Le'Shaad, a Scholar hailing from Dromache."

As his eyes settled on her, a swathe of darkness - no, emptiness - spread across his senses, once again perturbed by her apparent absence in the Force. Certainly, it meant detecting her presence would not be difficult based on proximity; she was a black hole amongst a sea of brightly-brilliant stars. What should have been more unsettling, however, was the expression on her face, yet he found it likeable in a respectable way.

Someone different.

Bomoor could feel it. It was difficult to look at the woman as her very visage seemed to sap at the energy he thrived upon, like a being of antimatter. Even if he could accept her as part of the crew, it would take a lot longer for him to adjust to the feeling she gave him. He swallowed the crunchy salad Kip had prepared for him and pushed the negative thoughts away, "I'm sure Duchess Le'Shaad will be very valuable in our exploits," his loud voice addressed the table as well as the latecomer marching over to join them, "But now we are all gathered, I assume we will be deciding on what those exploits are."

Bomoor tilted his head slightly towards Thane, "Or was this merely a dinner call?"

The part-Aquar finally made a noise that wasn't munching and giggled a little at the Ithorigan. "Heeey, it's only second breakfast." Gauging time of day by meals was kind of a reflex for her. She quickly added, "But I don't mind dinner now."

Thane was not surprised by the part-Aquar any more, and was even trying to let himself be somewhat amused by her antics. Whilst a half-grin tugged at one side of his mouth, he focused on his friend, his voice sterner but quieter than the towering Ithorian's. "Well, whilst I didn't mean for us to be eating just yet, it seems Kip can't help himself every time he comes in here, but of course help yourself." He waved his hand towards the kitchen area. "It's dinnertime somewhere in the galaxy."

Not hungry himself, Thane was struggling to find himself amongst the distinct variety of people before him, their unique characters and his own unique relationships with each of them. It was difficult to find an equal footing with all of them at once, but he had already decided that he was not going to try and keep everyone happy. It just wasn't worth it.

"But yes, Bomoor: we're going to plan our swashbuckling. For whatever reasons we are all here, we are all now after a common goal - stopping Axion and getting the Kaiburr crystal shards before he can do any serious damage with them," Thane explained, standing at his full height and rounding the holoprojector that remained inactive. "Even though I have now left the Jedi Order, the Council - in their infinite wisdom - has kindly given their consent for us to proceed with this mission, but also seem quite content to leave us without a leg to stand on in finding either Axion or the shards. It seems that, even in Grand Master Quellus' fanatical purge of all things historical, they lost track of the Kaiburr shards. So," he spread his hands out to the others, "any leads or thoughts would be most welcome."

Bomoor wondered whether Kip or Sev had dug up any information on Axion's whereabouts during their time here but the silence that greeted Thane's question soon answered that question, "The council has given us a free rein but, if we cannot trace Axion, our best course of action is to find as much as we can about the Kaibuur Shards. But, as you have said, the Jedi archives are purposefully lacking of information relating to Dark Side artefacts."

He slowly stood up and joined Thane by the holoprojector, which he flicked on and brought up the Navigational display. He continued to talk as he used the interface, "Therefore, I have been thinking that our best bet in finding that information, if not one of the shards themselves, is to go somewhere that has been heavily colonised by force-users."

With his long fingers, he carefully input a set of co-ordinates and a bright blue-green planet, not unlike so many of the life-bearing planets in the galaxy, zipped up to encompass the display beam, "This is Tython," he directed the group towards the screen, "It may be known to some of you as the supposed Birthplace of the force. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but it is a fact that this planet has been touched by all kinds of force-using groups. Undoubtedly, there will be traces of these civilisations - ruins and archives that may give us some direction in our journey. The best part about Tython is that its awkward location in the inner core of the galaxy has meant that the council has never seen fit to send any expeditions to the planet so the information we want should be untouched."

Thane nodded at his friend's suggestion, seemingly pleased. "A very good idea," he said, crossing his arms as he looked and pondered at the holographic globe before them all. "With any luck, the ruins should have at least something that should point us in the right direction, and even if not, there's bound to be something interesting there." His eyes narrowed at it for a second as he recalled something. "Didn't the Sith have strongholds there during the New Sith Wars, too?" If so, there would definitely be something worth going there for, even if nothing about the crystals was found, he thought to himself.

Morgo stepped forward, eyes on Thane, " And here I thought you were going to be all stealthy in your pursuit of the Dark Side." She said, mock-surprised, but then her gray eyes returned to the holographic planet, "But yes, Tython used to be the stronghold of many a people, including the Sith, and would be a good place to start. Don't forget Axion is also searching for the crystals and has probably plundered as many historical sites in the Mid and Outer Rims of the galaxy as he possibly could. This one may yet be untouched by him, giving us an advantage if our search yields anything.” Looking up at the rest of the crew, Morgo's voice was slightly grim, "Axion has a distinct advantage over us in this race, armed with manuscripts and old records I'd imagine. We'll need some too if we're to have any chance of beating Axion to any Kaiburr shards."

Thane had grinned to himself at Morgo's comment. Since his final meeting with the Council and his resignation, he felt no disgrace or embarrassment in seeking out the darker relics. "Certainly the worlds untouched by the Jedi since the Grand Proclamation will be of the most interest; locations heavy in the dark side are often cordoned off rather than risking corruption of Knights. There's a lot to gain from these places." He looked to all of those gathered. "Obviously, Bomoor and myself will head to Tython and see what we can learn. I'd also like Bería to come along and perhaps learn a few things - will the rest of you be joining us?"

"Who's Bería? It's Berry!" Her scowl was abated by the prospect of new things to eat...er, learn. To eat.

Morgo rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, "I will go as well, to conduct research and protect the historical sites from damage from general negligence or....idiotic antics." Morgo said, eyeing Berry with a dark intensity. Arching an eyebrow at the green part-Aquar, Morgo spoke, "Climb or smash anything on Tython and I will leash you, understand?"

Berry smiled mischievously at Morgogo, bordering on a smirk. "Heeey, that's not nice, Shady Lady. Maybe I'll leash YOU so you don't leash me! Ahaha," she chortled.

"A hundred credits on the murderer," Thane muttered quickly and quietly to Bomoor, amused at the short exchange between the women.

Kip, nearby, flicked his ears and replied sotto voice, "Careful now, the way that word has been used aboard the Raptor, you just bet on over half of the crew."

Morgo glanced at the two males, feeling what was really going on as the tension rose ever so slightly—utterly unimpressed. Dear Goddess, if this was going devolve into a testosterone fest between the two of them, blathering on about what actually constituted murder versus a righteous killing—a pissing contest of who-killed-who or perhaps who-killed-more, Morgo was going to leave the ship. Right now.

Kip waved off Thane's likely retort and wandered away, back to the kitchen and dished himself some of the casserole and added a few of the vegetables himself, just in case anyone was wondering.

The little droid rolled up, the green and cobalt of the astromech's color scheme at at odds with his ancient design. The dome of its body lacked a camera, per se, have been replaced with sensor grids on several sides and angles. The colored panels on the very top likely held a variety of hidden mechanisms like most astromechs did, such as the periscopic sensor most still had included in their internal tool array. Unlike his predecessors, this droid didn't have the roller arms, instead his entire traction system was based on three orbs mounted on a central stalk under the central body, which seemed able to adapt to whatever surface terrain was needed. Like, this had been a geophysical droid at one time, made for surveys.

It bleeped at Kip who shrugged back at it. It rattle of a more complex tonal string, to which he responded in Basic, "Thoroughly unlikely, though I can see where you might get that as well. No, I suspect the latter is the case."

Much to the surprise of others, Thane had actually smiled at Kip's comment, enjoying that particular variant of banter, rather than the stark contrast in philosophical standings the pair evidently had. In his own mind, whilst he disagreed with the Devaronian, he knew the man was not unintelligent, and there was a still a respect within him, even if he wanted to throw something at him at times. For Thane, that was often a natural reaction to people.

"Then I can't possibly lose," he said, not looking to the droid, even though his curiosity was piqued.

Bomoor hoped that he didn't fall under that category of 'murderer'. He had only ever killed in battle, and he did not find it at all pleasant. Just necessary. He brushed aside the comment and looked towards the holoprojector again, "Obviously, our flight there will be difficult. All hyperspace routes to the planet are long since lost but I'm sure a journey to the planet can be plotted. I understand we have a fairly good Navicomputer and, obviously, the ship's droid."

The projection continued to spin and the Ithorian eyed the white clouds shrouding the planet, "I'm more concerned about what Tython will hold for us once we get there. It is rumoured to be very sensitive to changes in the force, which is why no civilisation was ever able to settle there permanently. Imbalances can cause storms, earthquakes and even volcanic eruptions. It may be fabled as a place to find peace with the force but it is in fact a very dangerous place to be, if what I have read is to be believed."

"I can give the salient hardpoints to the navicomp so it may plot a course to Tython from here," Kip observed to no one in particular, simply offering the information.

Morgo turned her blonde head, a small smile on her lips, impressed on how well the crew came together, "Perfect." She said quietly, almost to herself. Eyes flicking over to the Devaronian man, Morgo tilted her chin up slightly, "And will you be joining us, Mr. Kip?"

"It's Mister Kipster," Berry mumbled between mouthfuls. She managed to open her eyes to gaze over at Kip in apprehension. "We need more food when we're there," she breathed in fear.

"Someone has to cook," he replied jauntily, "and lost knowledge has to remain lost, in some cases. So if we want to get to Tython this year, I have to input those galactic hardpoints manually."

"And someone has to pilot this ship", Sev said. "Not that I like where we're going. Tython has a bad history. Especially after being wiped out by the sith and before that being the so called 'Jedi Homeworld'."

Mister Kipster AND Mr. Laser--er, Rezer--were coming along, too? Berry tried to hide her excited smile behind her cup but failed miserably.

Morgo’s eyes followed the Mandalorian bounty hunter. She hadn’t said a word to him since he came aboard, somewhat abruptly. And in the duration of this crew discussion, he hadn’t looked at her once—a good sign, if anything. Yet as much as she knew that he probably wouldn’t turn her in, she still bristled at the sight of the man’s angular suit of Mandalorian armor. Just looking at it bothered her, reminding Morgo or other things, other times, and other Mandalorians...

With a sigh, Morgo shut down that line of reasoning. It took her nowhere and did her no favors whatsoever. Thus discarding the thought, Morgo took to studying the Mandalorian instead. The man was slighter than the other Mandalorians Morgo ever had the misfortune to meet, but he still had the build of a warrior…and Morgo made a note not to underestimate him, the ‘Jedi-killer’. His armor was beaten and faded, but there was an undeniable greenish cast to the Mandalorian iron. Absently, Morgo wondered whether this Sev Rezer was truly a man of duty, as the green of his armor would typically denote, or whether he simply liked the color for its ease of camouflage.

After a moment, Morgo put on a pleasant face and gently pushed off the wall she’d been leaning on, making her way over the Mandalorian, smiling lightly as she switched her wine glass to her off-hand and extended the other.

“It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Rezer." Morgo said, perfectly polite, "And as awkward as it is for me to bring up, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try turning me in at any point. I very much enjoy my freedom.” She said, eyebrows raising, looking into his hazel eyes (while silently noting that at least one person on board stood level with herself, height wise). And pausing a moment, Morgo wondered whether or not she should casually drop a hint that having to always watch her back tended to...unsettle her, and an unsettled physician has a higher chance of making a mistake in the medical room. Fatal mistakes. And that it would be soo unfortunate if she accidentally killed him while trying to treat whatever injuries he might sustain. A small cut could become irreversibly infected. A simply surgery could turn deadly.

And then Morgo remembered she was actually supposed to be trying to coexist with the crew, and thus decided against casually threatening the man.

"Perhaps you could exchange pleasantries with our resident bounty hunter later?" Thane said simply, moving away from the holoterminal and towards the corridor that would lead towards the cockpit. "I'm not meaning to be rude - I'm more than happy for you both to exchange awkward glances over a bowl of Kip's spicy morsels until the banthas come home - but I'd like to get us underway and towards Tython as soon as we can."

Not waiting for the inevitable retort, the former Jedi stepped away from the group and down the corridor.

In just a few short days - as tumultuous as they had already been on Nar Shaddaa - once again, things had taken a dramatic and peculiar turn in this new quest bestowed upon the ragtag group. A new figure had joined them - a fugitive, no less - and they had a clear goal in mind.

They were taking their first fateful step towards stopping Axion, and whatever else that would entail.

CHAPTER END

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