Here Goes Nothing (Baltimn - Jedi and Republic and others welcome)

[Lillianne Crasse]

OOC: We're leaving Alderaan at this time and enroute to Baltimn.

Once Rashada was far enough away from the Tavern/Cantina, she moved a little further away from Lou, needing her space and self-conscious about her breath, now reeking of alcohol and stomach acids.

Folding his hankerchief up and clasping it in her hand, she looked over at him once, before dropping her eyes back to the hankerchief.

"You know you can just drop me off at Baltimn. I appreciate all you've done for me thus far, but once we're there I'm not sure what'll happen. It might be best if you just go about doing...well, rescuing more damsels in distress," she said, wary of what may happen...or worse, what may not happen afterall.

 

[Lirreka]

The last fading vestiges of the web of motes still superimposed itself over his field of vision. Baltimn, the very mention of it brought it to view, a veritable snarl of strands enveloped the shining mote. Blinking it away he smiled at her words.

"Baltimn, an interesting world... I suspect however it will not be an easy thing for a lone woman so recently from Coruscant to gain audience with the Supreme Chancellor. It would be safer for you if I were to remain with you until you have secured your meeting."
He turned to look at her as he walked. "Unless of course my company has become a bother to you. Farbeit for me to o'restay my welcome." He made a seemingly absently dismissive gesture with his right hand, the one away from Rashada, a gesture that could easily go unnoticed. Some 60 paces to his right a workman paused to sneeze which forced a droid-run cargo loader to swerve to avoid hitting him... and a chain reaction of events spawned from that one event took the small patrol of security personell out of their circuit, a circuit which, if uninterrupted, would have brought them into view of the duo, eliciting a lengthy process from which at least one of them would not leave unhand-cuffed. Knowing the Current came in handy at times.

"The ship will be clear to take off directly, once we board her that is." He stated casually, as if he'd done nothing at all.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

"Baltimn, an interesting world... I suspect however it will not be an easy thing for a lone woman so recently from Coruscant to gain audience with the Supreme Chancellor. It would be safer for you if I were to remain with you until you have secured your meeting."
He turned to look at her as he walked. "Unless of course my company has become a bother to you. Farbeit for me to o'restay my welcome."

She let out a little hurumph at his comment and turned her head to look at him. "You think it'll be an easier task with two people asking about the Supreme Chancellor? Besides, if the Republic get their hands on you and you dodge questions like you first did me who knows what'll happen," she told him honestly.

"The ship will be clear to take off directly, once we board her that is." He stated casually, as if he'd done nothing at all.

Hearing this, she hesitated. "How do you know that? Wait," she said holding a hand up, stopping him from telling her. "I don't want to know."

She shook her head and then pulled out her datapad. "You don't have an extra computer aboard do you?" she asked, needing to work on a little surprise to get into the Republic mainframe.

 

[Lirreka]

"Why if I didn't know your surly comment was due to your reguritation of an otherwise wonderful meal I'd take offense. I do not dodge questions, it's not my fault that the proper questions are not asked." He exclaimed in mock outrage, that irritating smile still firmly in place.

In the brief time it took to set forth the proper chain of events they'd almost reached the ship. Her words brought a silken smooth chuckle from him.
"Now you're catching on." He commented, the ramp lowering on his ship.

"I have several computers aboard that would suit your needs." He slid back the sleeve on his right arm revealing a bracer-mounted data-pad and comm-link. He activated the comm.
"This is Courier Vessel Aitch Ell sixty-nine requesting launch access from civilian pad one-one Ve four." Again his voice changed subtly as he spoke. Launch Control responded just as they reached the ramp.
"You just can't beat prompt service now can you?" He said to her with a smile.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

"Why if I didn't know your surly comment was due to your reguritation of an otherwise wonderful meal I'd take offense. I do not dodge questions, it's not my fault that the proper questions are not asked." He exclaimed in mock outrage, that irritating smile still firmly in place.

"Yeah," she exclaimed, "I dare you to say that to one of the Republic's intelligence officers and see how they respond. This isn't a game, Lou. We're talking big time here. They could lock us away if they even believed us to be a threat. The Republic's stakes are high and another big blow could shatter it forever."

As he communicated with the control tower, she turned her face away from him, mind working on what plan would work and not get them locked away forever. Her hacking skills were pretty good, but she'd never hacked into anything as large as the Republic's mainframe before.

"I just hope the Supreme Chancellor is desperate enough to accept help from the unlikeliest of people," she said under her breath.

***********MEANWHILE BACK ON BALTIMN***************​

Khaluq straightened her robes as she stepped out of the shuttle and walked toward one of many security check points. She was pleased to see that the Republic was taking the security and whereabouts of the Supreme Chancellor so seriously. The slightest leak to the wrong people would open Baltimn to disaster just as it did Coruscant. It was the face of the Supreme Chancellor that was holding the Republic together. He had lead them through many ordeals and trials and they looked up to him. Khaluq only wished she could see him the way the public did.

Her last meeting with the Supreme Chancellor was one that she had never forgotten. It was then that Trillian was found guilty and taken to a holding cell as she was ordered and locked in another room, forbidden from even seeing him. It was clear during her time as Grandmaster of the Jedi that the Supreme Chancellor held no love for the Order. She wondered if his viewpoint had changed at all in the past few years.

As she approached the checkpoint, she saw the wary glance of the young officer as she handed over her credentials. It seemed some viewpoints were hard to break. As he handed her credentials back, she thanked him and headed toward the building where her presence had been requested.​

 

[Lirreka]

The smile only widened as he walked up the ramp, he knew her concern was one born of trepidation. She'd taken a large risk, larger than she ever thought she could take just to get this far, it was only natural she would be worried if not outright fearful at this stage. Walking up the ramp he paused and rested his hand on her shoulder.
"It is going to be alright, Rashada. You will see this journey through. Hold true to your beliefs and goals, they will see you stay on course." His words held a calm presence, a reassuring resonance, a genuine openness that was not there before. "I'll show you to the computer."

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Opening her mouth to give him another retort as she turned to face him, she stopped seeing a look in his eyes. He truly believed that everything would work out. Taking his faith in her and the mission, she dropped her eyes to the ground and finally nodded.

Saying nothing else, the pair made their way into the ship, the ramp door closing behind them, sealing off the peaceful world of Alderaan behind them. Ahead lay a great journey, full of dangerous and complications. Yet, the currents of the Force was also directing their path...

In the shadows, a figure watched as the pair had entered the ship. A sinister smile rose on the face of the mysterious figure before withdrawing to the shadows....

 

[Lirreka]

Lou lead the way to the bridge, Once there he directed her to one of the consoles. He turned off the tactile response and a standard access keyboard came into being.
"There we go, your computer M'lady." He smiled brightly as he stepped over to the Pilot's chair.
Swinging around in the chair he ran his hands over the dark interface, the tactile response giving him all the information he needed some of which was not expected. His eyebrow quirked slightly.
"Interesting..." He murmured softly, double checking the information. "There was an old owl that sat in an oak. The more he saw the less he spoke. The less he spoke the more he heard. Now wasn't that a wise old bird?"
He glanced over at Rashada, while she was occupied he tapped out a brief message on his bracer only to cause something to start beeping on his console.
"Ah, Fluctuation in the power relays, happens all the time, just take a moment to straighten out. Be back in a jiff."
He left the cockpit with a jaunty stride, humming the aria to a Bothan opera. Headding back through the corridors he did indeed go to the engine compartment but not to deal with power relays. Instead he opened a hatch and disconnected a rather incongrous piece of equipment that didn't come standard on his ship. Trackers rarely came even with the luxury package. Staring at the device he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, moving the unit around in his hands he quickly managed without looking to disassemble the device. Reflexive Psychometry did come in handy.
"I wonder, was that for me or for Rashada?" He queried the humming engines who did not offer a reply. "Regardless things are finally begining to get interesting." He smiled and returned to the cockpit.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

The mysterious figure had pulled out their datapad, checking to make sure the link was good before stuffing it back into his jacket pocket. Finally, he could enact his revenge against the one that had ruined his plans of old, plans that would have reaped millions of credits in his pockets. Running a hand roughly through his streaked hair, he tried to bite back the anger welling up in him. He could have gone after the man here, but it would only have alerted the Republic to his presence, something he couldn't have.

Rushing up the ramp to his ship, he took off his jacket, pulling the datapad out and throwing the jacket on the co-pilot's seat. Attaching the datapad to it's dock on his console, not even glancing at it first, he began going through his pre-flight checks. It was only after the checks were completed that he dared glance back and saw that the device had been disabled.

He slammed his fists into the console. "Di’kutla!"

****************************​

"Thanks," she told him, sitting down greedily before the computer.

Rashada wasted no time as the console had been revealed. Sitting down and checking the system Lou was running, she began to find a program that suprised her, as if most things about Lou didn't suprise her still.

Raising her head just once as he mentioned the fluctuation in the relays, she watched him as he went to see to the problem. Yet, once he had left the cockpit, she was once again lost in her own little world, working on the security grid set up on Alderaan's Academy. If she could just hack into the system and find a way to fool the Republic Intelligence's computers into believing a message sent from her could be from Alderaan, it would buy them some time for her to hack into the mainframe on Baltimn, if she even could. Yet, as long as she could get a message to the Supreme Chancellor, the trip would not be for naught. She'd only have to see how things played out.​

 

[Lirreka]

Returning to the cockpit Lou left Rashada to her work as he took the pilot's chair and with practiced ease readied the ship for launch. If he truly wanted to evade their tail he'd have taken the tracker and attached it to a copycat drone launching it in a completely different direction just before going into hyperspace. Sometimes to see what a person is holding you have to play into their hands.

The ship lifted smoothly, slipping into the flight pattern right on time. Lou leaned back and lit up another cigarette. The smoke sped through his system once more and he used that boost to navigate the airspace around Alderaan without the need of the sensors. Soon they would be ready to make the jump to lightspeed. He glanced over at her, half focused on that crease in her brow.

"Having any luck?" He asked after several moments.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

"Just a minute," she muttered to him as she continued working on the program, "almost got it...almost...there," she finally said with some sort of satisfaction. "I think we're good to go now," she offered, knowing she had the information she now needed to begin constructing the hack for Baltimn.

Turning her head to face him, a mischevious look was in her eye. "Of course the true test will be once we land and I try to upload this into their system. It may go through or it may be rejected. I've still some piddling I need to do before it's ready. So, how long do we have before we get there?"

As the ship had begun leave the planet behind, a sleek looking battleship was not far behind, keeping a distance and trying to mix with the other traffic of Alderaan, but within sensor distance. Mac watched their heading, wanting any inkling to where they might be headed so he could follow and end this annoyance of a man for once and for all.

 

[Lirreka]

Ships danced over his sensors, each intrigal to the ballet that is the Alderaan flight pattern. Lou maneuvered his ship through the otherwise congested space easily. Looking over at Rashada he smiled, took a drag on his cigarette and pulled it free from his lips.

"Well..." He drawled expelling the smoke from his nostrils "It will be several hours, this heading has us going to Corellia but that will change mid-jump." he held up his hand to forestall the question/argument "Yes I know it isn't the most direct route to Baltimn but we aren't actually going to Corellia. I'm going to use the Navicom bypass terminal to change our flight pattern after we hit hyperspace... Yes I've done it before, many times and as for why I'm doing it now... Let's just call it a hunch that we maybe have attracted some attention." He smiled.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Corellia? What on earth..... Rashada opened her mouth, ready to say something when he raised his hand up, stopping her so he could finish his explaination.

"Attention? What kind of attention?" she asked a bit nervously. If they had someone on their tail alerting the Supreme Chancellor about persons seeking him then all was lost. Her eyes darted to the viewport and side window, looking for Republic patrol ready to take them down. Seeing nothing, she brought her worried gaze back to his.

"We don't have room to draw attention, Lou. If word gets back to the Supreme Chancellor that suspicious persons were looking for him, his guards and the Jedi will surely increase security. There'll be no chance in a rancor's cage that we'll get anywhere near Baltimn."

 

[Lirreka]

"Oh I don't believe it's 'offical' attention, at least not at this time... Let's just call it the hunch of a person used to sensing when the water's rippling." He favored her with another smile even as he pushed the ship into hyperspace, on course for Corellia. "Who knows, I could always be wrong." He leaned back in the pilot's seat "Someone took notice of us back on Alderaan, not a Jedi and not Republic... It could easily have been someone who recognized you from your Holo-news reports or even someone from my own colored past. Regardless the situation is moot, if they were following us they'll be making for Corellia not Baltimn. There are advantages of being able to change course in Hyperspace. It makes all the effort I went through installing that bypass worth every credit." That smile crossed his lips again.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Rashada still seemed ill at ease, but relaxed a bit more as she trusted him yet again. What else was there to do? He had gotten her out of tighter scrapes. However, knowing that the person after them wasn't with the Jedi or the Republic seemed to stay in the back of her mind.

"Let's just hope it works," she said quietly so that he wouldn't hear before double checking the program.

Yet, when Lou checked the sensors he would pick up the same ship following their course exactly. It seemed their tail had taken the bait.

 

[Lirreka]

A chuckle left his lips, causing cigarette smoke to puff even as his fingers glided over the touch-sensitive console. Leaning back once more he took one last long drag on his cigarette leaving nothing behind but the filter which he dropped into the ashtray. The smoke lingered in his system as he held it in, finally releasing the spent remains from his lungs.
"We'll be in Baltimn in a couple hours. Would you care for something to eat in the meantime? I have the urge to create in the galley." He smiled looking at her with that half-lidded gaze.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

"Perhaps we better wait this time in case my theatrics are needed again. I'd hate to disappoint you for a second time," she told him as she finally moved away from the computer. Only time would tell if the program was written successfully.

Getting out of the chair, she made her way back toward the bar and began to look for a bottle of water. "Not that your cooking was horrible," she quickly added, not wanting him to feel bad.

 

[Lirreka]

His chuckle filters out once more as he turns in his chair to face her. "It would be egotistical of me to say I knew it was not my cooking and a humble man such as myself would never be egotistical." He grinned and joined her at the bar, pointing out the water as he too claimed one of the rather ornate crystal bottles it was stored in.
"All we need to is relax and wait till we reach Baltimn. If you'd like to lay down you can take your pick of staterooms just past the Galley or if you'd rather be closer to the cockpit there's the lounge just this side of the galley." He returned to the pilot's chair "Or you could sack out in the copilot's chair, it's rather comfortable for such things. I've slept many a night there on sensor duty." He smiled.

 

[Lillianne Crasse]

Taking the crystal bottle and turning it around and around in her fingers, afraid to pick it up and break the bottle, she turned her gaze to his.

"Right. Relax," she said with a hint of her tense emotions behind it. "It's easy to say but hard to do. You do realize the slightest miscalculation could end up getting us locked away or worse for possibly the rest of our lives don't you? Some of these officers prefer to lock you up and ask questions later, much later. I've heard stories of their techniques with rumored terrorists. Add to that the tail we had on us back on Alderaan. It's only a matter of time before they figure out they've been duped. Yeah, relax....that's just what I'm gonna do," she said finally before bringing the bottle up to her lips and taking a sip.

 

[Lirreka]

"Yes, those things can all happen and far worse but also too can success be before us. To dwell o're much on either serves no purpose but to predispose the mind to that event which plagues you. Success or Failure are the outcomes because considering the alternative, quit and run away, is a worse fate. Regardless of the success or failure you did not quit nor will you. We both know that is not in you Rashada... otherwise you'd still be on Coruscant, in that building trying to decide whether or not to exit by the side door or the front." He smiles at her and takes a drink of the pure spring water.