Umbaran Hospitality

[Sierrien]

Her focus barely shifted as Mila asked where she had picked the game up. There would be time for talking later, after she won. Right now she had an important game to play. Possibly the most important game in the history of all games. Her left eye twitched when Mila brought up her family - and then went on to bring up their deaths. Wait, what was this? She had known that her family had died in a horrific crash when she was young... her eyes shifted from her cards directly to Mila's face as she brought up that point as well. And the Crusader didn't stop there, going on to call her gutter trash and saying she had abandoned. Well, that wasn't all that far off from the truth, and it really hit home. She could feel the sting of it. Why would Mila choose to bring that up now? Unless she was just trying to throw her off her game. Well, under normal circumstances it would have worked. This game did not count as normal circumstances; Lairiel was altogether focused. Two could play at that game, however. She let the regular turmoil of her mind take precedence, emphasizing it in her thoughts so that Mila would be sure to pick up on it.

Her legs pulled up then and her cards shifted to hide most of her face - the bottom half hidden behind her knees, the top half hidden behind her current hand. And that was when Mila would hear it - a sniffle from Lairiel. Fake tears weren't too hard for her to bring up. Truth be told, they weren't entirely fake as the woman's words had certainly stung her fairly fragile psyche. BNow she was trying the reverse play, and as her hand shifted to reach out and pick up a card, she took her time with it to make sure that Mila saw she was now crying. She was also concentrating on the Force, and the card she picked up proved to be a positive 6. With a discard of a 1, she would move up to 15 then. A decently good hand - perhaps she shouldn't go for a Sabacc after all. She brought the cards up to hide her face again as she continued sniffling, and kept the turmoil of her mind at the forefront.

Then she moved her cards down and laid out her hand, her hand reaching to press the button as she slumped in her chair. She even looked off to the side as if she was just done with the game now; she was really playing up the 'your words hurt and I'm going to go to my room and cry for hours now' card. She wasn't sure if she was overplaying it, but hopefully it would throw Mila off her own game at least a little, and perhaps make her misplay. She didn't say anything; doing her best to look like she didn't even care about the results of this round anymore.

 

[Gamov]

A twisted grin curled Mila's lips as her words hit home. Watching Lairiel break down was like watching a high speed crash in slow motion. There was a glimmer of defiance in her eyes at first as she made a vain attempt to front her pain with anger. But that brave facade lasted only so long, quickly fading out with a soft sniffle as she tucked herself into a ball to hide the tears that inevitably followed. Mila wasn't sure why watching this girl's mind tear itself apart filled her with so much satisfaction, but the sensation was practically euphoric for her. Suppressing the involuntary shudder that tickled down her spine, Mila licked her lips in anticipation as Lairiel drew another card, waiting just long enough to examine her new hand before laying the cards out on the table and hitting the button on the game console. The Crusader stared into that dejected expression across from her for a moment, savoring the tumult of the girl's thoughts as if they were a fine wine. Lairiel's grief sparked some nearly animalistic part inside Mila, and like a predator circling for the kill, she couldn't help but mock her.

"Aww, what's the matter? Is little Lairiel going to cry? Maybe if mommy and daddy were here to give you a hug... oh, that's right." She let out a scathing chuckle and made to draw a new card for herself. "I'm sorry, it's just that you're so pathetic right now. If you could see your face... hahaha... it's priceless." Palming a new card from the deck, Mila's grin widened as she examined it. She sat at a fairly comfortable positive 14 now; more than enough to crush her, she thought. "I have to tell you Lairiel, this was almost no fun. Almost." She said, laying her own cards out on the table and pressing the button on the console before leaning back in her seat, hands clasped behind her head in a show of arrogant confidence.

The second their cards shifted to reveal their respective hands though, Mila's expression blanked. She had lost. AGAIN! By one lousy number no less. "Are you fucking with me right now?! SERIOUSLY?" She slammed a fist down on the table, rattling the cards and game console a bit as her eyes shot over to Lairiel. "You cheating little harlot! I'm going to rip your eyes out of your skull." The Crusader seethed, still all too aware that she had, in fact, instructed Lairiel to cheat from the beginning. But still...

She didn't think she'd actually lose to her - at least not twice in a row like this. This was impossible, she thought. Bested by a stupid girl and her idiotic card game? Of all the ridiculous, outlandish things to happen. Mila ground her teeth, staring daggers into her apprentice as if to dare her to try and claim her "winnings". The ante was still on the table - in a manner of speaking - but she would be damned if she was going to make this easy on the girl. Standing from her seat, Mila bit her tongue, actually feeling the warm trickle of blood against her cheek as she did so. Her expression hardened into a grim frown and her brow dipped ever so slightly. She wouldn't say another word, letting the pangs of her own roiling emotions speak for her through the Force. Lairiel was welcome to try whenever she felt like she wasn't going to be gutted for moving an inch from her seat. But to say that Mila was pissed off right now would be a gross understatement.

 

[Sierrien]

Mila kept on baiting and degrading her, speaking about her parents being dead again. Okay, maybe her sniffles weren't very fake after all. On the other hand, watching the Crusader put her hand of cards down with such confidence and then notice she had lost - well, that almost made it worth it. Mila called her a cheating little harlot, apparently conveniently forgetting that she had specifically told Lairiel to cheat - which was a good thing, because she would have anyways and then Mila would actually be justified in calling her a cheating little harlot - and then threatened to rip the eyes out of her skull. Now that her cards were down, she could watch Mila stand. The woman wasn't quite as imposing as normal given she was standing there in her bra, but she actually was still doing quite a good job of looking scary despite that. Lairiel was a woman on a mission though; she couldn't let that phase her. Her mostly-fake sniffles and tears were suddenly gone as she considered the woman, and how she could do this without dying.

First things first; Mila had left her lightsaber on the table. That was good, as it meant she didn't have to retrieve her own and then lose a fight. Instead she could use it to her advantage - use whatever tools you can, she mused to herself. Mila was also likely underestimating her, based on their past encounters. She hadn't been nearly as motivate then as she was now, though. She suddenly sprang from her seat, a Force-assisted leap over top of the table sending her flying quickly towards the Crusader. Her left hand slapped down to grab the hilt of Mila's lightsaber as she went, but she wouldn't attack with it directly. Instead her aim was to bodily collide with Mila, her slightly larger frame aiming to body-block her to the ground. And if that worked, she would quickly shift the lightsaber so that the dangeroud end pressed lightly in to Mila's chest, with her thumb on the activator. Of course she wouldn't activate it and Mila probably knew that, but in a 'duel' it should still count as a win. "Surrender?" she would ask, just a bit coyly.

That was only if her body block worked in taking the Crusader down to the ground of course; if her attack had fallen apart before that point then she wouldn't even get to the point of threatening the Crusader with her own Lightsaber. And belatedly, she would note that Mila just might hurt her later for daring to use her own lightsaber against her.. but right now, she had more important things on her mind than what the woman may or may not do later. She had a bet to win; she was solely focused on that.

 

[Gamov]

All of the sniffling and whimpering seemed to stop abruptly when Lairiel's attention turned up to meet her cold gaze, a moment of confusion briefly softened Mila's expression as she cocked an eyebrow. It had all been an act? Oh, that was clever. She really must learn to stop underestimating this girl - sometimes it wasn't clear just who was teaching who here. Her attention shifted out of the corner of her eye then as she sensed a fleeting thought cross her apprentice's mind... her lightsaber! Mila's eyes widened noticeably in the next instant as she reached a hand towards the inert weapon, grasping at it with the Force just a fraction of a second too late as Lairiel leapt over the table, snatching the saber up in the palm of her hand as she went. The whole sequence of events played out in seconds as Mila was tackled by the girl, her gathered momentum having all the more impact thanks to the Force as she collided with her.

Mila let out a stiff breath as she instinctively grappled Lairiel's midsection, trying to keep the girl off her as she struggled to maintain her footing; without much success. Her back slammed hard against the durasteel floor, and without much to cushion the fall, forced the breath from her lungs. She grit her teeth and pushed against Lairiel's weight, trying to shift her off, but her attempt faltered short as she felt the cold edge of her own saber being pressed against her skin. Mila's jaw clenched and she swallowed a bit uncomfortably, her eyes shifting from the weapon to her apprentice's impish grin as she offered her the chance to surrender. Surrender? Clearly Lairiel had no idea who she was dealing with. The Crusader knew she didn't have to worry about her saber being used against her, so she chanced a deft move for the stiletto concealed on her thigh.

"Hardly."

The knife slipped free of its scabbard, but Mila made no obvious moves with it right away. It would stay in reserve for now as a means to force Lairiel's cooperation if things didn't proceed as planned in the next few minutes. Instead, she used her free hand to drive a solid punch right towards Lairiel's nose, with all of the power she could muster in the Force to aid her. Assuming that connected and she was given enough room to breathe - literally at this point - Mila would use her apprentice's disorientation to shift her weight over, hopefully pinning her to the floor instead. From there, the Crusader would bring her stiletto to bear on Lairiel's neck in a bid to put an end to this foolishness.

 

[Sierrien]

She collided solidly with Mila, and everything went according to plan - right up until the point where Mila didn't surrender. She had winded herself a bit with her own impact in to the Crusader, but she was fairly sure that Mila would have the worst of it after being slammed in to the floor. She shifted slightly on top of the woman - being pressed up against her when Mila didn't have a shirt on was rather distracting - and she heard the stiletto being drawn. Or perhaps she simply felt it; later one she wasn't sure which, but she knew that it distracted her and she shifted her eyes towards it. Mila didn't play far, not respecting the lightsaber at all as she knew that Lairiel wouldn't use it on her. A punch connected solidly with her nose, a fracture causing it to bleed just about immediately and dazing her to boot. Mila didn't waste any time, spinning them so that suddenly Lairiel was on her back on the floor, and Mila was pressing over her with the knife against her throat. Again, she found herself quickly distracted by the woman's lack of shirt. Right.. knife to her throat, bet to win.

Well, if Mila wanted to play that way, she would too. She wasn't nearly as certain that Mila wouldn't cut her throat as the crusader had clearly been about her not activating the lightsaber, but she ignored it anyways. She was relatively sure that even if Mila sliced her throat open, she'd heal her or patch it up or something - she didn't think the woman wanted to kill her, at least. Besides, she didn't want to surrender so easily when there was such a prize as this on the line, and she had a few tricks of her own that she could still bring in to play. One of them was even her favorite trick of all. Pulling on her connection to the force to speed her right hand, she shifted it up and tried to grab for Mila's wrist to push the blade away from her throat; this was the part where Mila would slash her throat open if she wanted to. Assuming the crusader didn't, she would continue moving.

Next she would toss Mila's lightsaber away, leaving her right hand free as she twisted at Mila's own force, using her power of Malacia to try and steal the woman's equilibrium and balance. If it worked, Mila would find it much harder to do anything that wasn't laying on the floor while being extremely dizzy. She would go off the assumption it had worked to twist her own weight to push Mila off to Lairiel's left, before she straightened and spun in the same motion. Her goal was to hopefully still be holding Mila's wrist, so that she could spin in behind the woman and wrench her arm up by that grip and hold it there, and Mila therefore to the floor front-down. All of this would be further complicated by herself having watery eyes due to her fractured nose, which was still bleeding freely. But, if it worked out, she would also drop a knee on to the small of Mila's back to make it harder to get out of the hold.

Everything would have to go just about perfectly for the last step in her plan, but if it had - her left hand would shift in and deftly unhook the band of Mila's bra.

 

[Gamov]

Things seemed to be going exceedingly well once Mila turned the tables in her favor. A glint of satisfaction flashed through her eyes as the blade of her stiletto pressed against Lairiel's neck, indenting her skin ever so slightly. Just one tiny nick and she would be in serious trouble; surely she would have the good sense to surrender and put all of this childish behavior behind her now. "You're done, girl. Give it up." She said, pressuring the tip of her blade in a bit more to drive her point home. But it soon became clear that Lairiel had no intentions of giving in so easily as her right hand shot out to snare Mila's wrist. As her hand was twisted away awkwardly, however, her knife left an angry red scar across Lairiel's neck. The wound was superficial at best and wouldn't do any permanent damage, but it was enough to force a tiny rivulet of blood to the surface. "You miserable little shit!"

The clatter of her lightsaber skipping along the floor distracted her then, her head whipping in the direction of the noise. Her instincts told her to reach out and retrieve it, but her train of thought was rudely interrupted as a queasy feeling overtook her senses. Her attention snapped back onto Lairiel, sneering down at the girl as she tried to ply Malasia against her. Mila shook the sensation off fairly quickly though, powering through the encroaching dizziness to focus her own powers against her apprentice. With hardly a thought, she used her free hand to shove Lairiel's head back against the floor with a quick telekinetic burst before her own hand found its way to her throat. The Crusader tightened her jaw, lips pursing with a viscous frown as she slowly started to apply pressure to the girl's windpipe.

"Enough with this! I am through playing games with you." Just to add insult to injury, Mila suddenly shifted her body weight, planting a knee firmly in the middle of Lairiel's ribs and pressing in to truly steal her breath. If she didn't give up fairly soon, she would pass out from lack of oxygen. Hell, at this point, Mila was fairly sure that even if she did give up, she'd keep going anyway just out of principle. Maybe...

 

[Sierrien]

Things decidedly did not go according to plan this time. In fact, all she really managed to do was get a cut on her own throat - she felt it, and had to hope it wasn't too serious or she was likely going to bleed out - and that was as far as she got. Unfortunately Mila proved resilient against her Malacia, likely having experienced it before or been prepared for it as it was one of Lairiel's more favorite techniques. Mila's hand shifted and a blast of telekinesis cracked her head against the durasteel floor, quite likely hard enough that she'd have a concussion later. It left her queasy instead of Mila like the plan had been. Then to make matters worse, Mila's hand grabbed to her throat and squeezed, cutting off her air flow. Both of her own hands quickly released if they were holding something - meaning she had let the hand with the knife go - and reached quickly for the hand choking her. It was human nature; try to stop the thing choking you. Before she could get it wrench it off though, Mila also shifted her knee in to Lairiel's rib cage, severely winding her due to the pressure of it and putting her in an even worse position.

As she started to see spots and she was still dazed from her head hitting the floor, she couldn't think of a way to get out of this. Actually she wasn't sure if there was a way she could get out of this. Summoning up what willpower she had left that hadn't been dashed out of her head or choked out of her, she did the only thing that could come to mind. She used telekinesis in the hopes that maybe she could win the bet at least before she passed out, though unless Mila stopped due to her winning it would be a rather moot point, as she would be passing out right away. Still, she had to try. She focused on the band on Mila's back, remembering how her own went one. She'd done this hundreds of times. A deft twist and pull tighter, then away and release. She wasn't at all sure if that had been succesful or not, she couldn't see it.

Then she summoned up all the Force reserves she had left and mentally tugged as hard as she could on the front of it. Now that she thought about it, it actually might have a chance of pulling Mila off of herself if it was still done up, though she didn't know if she had enough Force power left to accomplish it. But had she managed to actually undo it, she should be able to tug it free. Not that it really mattered, though - her face was darkening due to the lack of oxygen, the spots in her eyes growing dark. If Mila didn't let go, she would be passed out just a few seconds after she tried her last ditch effort.

 

[Gamov]

She felt it the moment the fight bled out of Lairiel, her hands instinctively clutching at Mila's wrist in a vain attempt to wrench it free from her throat as her eyes slowly started to roll back in her head. But Mila just kept going, applying relentless pressure where it was necessary to force Lairiel's absolute surrender. Things had grown beyond irritating for the Crusader, verging on asinine now. Luckily she had gained the upper hand rather quickly and was easily reasserting her control over the situation. She gradually began easing back on the pressure as Lairiel's face drew slack and purple from the lack of oxygen. Casually slipping the stiletto back into its scabbard, she spared a second to retrieve her saber from the far side of the room with a graceful wave of her hand. "There we go. That's a good girl, just stop fighting it." Mila reached into her apprentice's mind with her words, planting the not so subtle suggestion that any resistance would be rewarded with incredible pain beyond what she could possibly fathom at this point.

Unfortunately, however, resistance is exactly what she got. Even after all of this...

Mila's expression gaped as she felt invisible fingers twist at the clasp on her bra - clearly Lairiel's last ditch effort to win the game they were no longer playing. Her hand curled into a tight fist as she squeezed just a little bit tighter on Lairiel's neck again, the thought briefly crossing Mila's mind to just slug the girl in the face until she passed out. That would put an end to all of this nonsense fairly quickly. As if her feeble telekinetic attempt weren't enough already though, Lairiel actually had the audacity to reach up and try to pull the garment right off of her. That was a line too far for the Crusader and she let her frustration take over as she spit a few terse words of choice out and ripped Lairiel's hand away from her chest as she bounced her head off the floor once more.

"That's! Enough! Out! Of! You!" Pure rage flashed through her normally cool hazel eyes as she clenched down on Lairiel's windpipe so hard the girl's face actually started to turn red. After a moment though, Mila got the hint that she had done more than enough damage, finally relenting as her apprentice slipped into unconsciousness.

Finally breathing out a deep sigh, the Crusader stood over Lairiel, only now realizing that when she had torn her hand away from her chest that it had actually taken her bra with it. A brief flush of embarrassment tinged her cheeks as she pried the garment from the girl's hand and slipped it back on. Hopefully she had already blacked out before that happened - Force knows she would never hear the end of it otherwise. Moving back to the Sabacc table, Mila collected her shirt and jacket, feeling more comfortable as she slipped back into them. She turned her gaze back to Lairiel for a second, giving her limp body a dismissive huff as she cinched up the zipper on her coat. This was not an experience she intended to repeat any time soon, but it had proven useful in its own way. At least now she knew that Lairiel was more than capable of handling herself, so at least that much was a load off her mind. At some point though she would have to address the deeper psychological traumas that were there. This was not a question of it, but when. Mila only hoped she did it sooner rather than later; for later may be far too late.

 

[Sierrien]

Her head was dashed against the floor again, and between that and the harsher squeeze of her neck - it was all too much for her, and she passed out. She had gotten just the barest glimpse of heaven, but she wouldn't remember it by the time she woke up. Thankfully she would wake up at least, as Mila had released the choke hold a few seconds after she had fallen unconscious. Her body had of course coughed and pretty much spasmed for breath before simply falling still, and her throat would quickly develop a bruise where Mila had almost choked all of the life out of her. She was off in la-la land though and wasn't aware of any of it. She wouldn't even stir when Mila finally moved her to the couch she had slept the previous evening on, so that the Crusader could reclaim the middle of the room once more for her meditating. Almost looking lifeless were it not for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, Lairiel's face had retained the red hue for a few hours before it finally faded. The bruise would likely take a week or so to go away completely; at least she would only see it in the mirror, though Mila would see it all the time.

It was the next morning by the time her eyes finally fluttered open again, a couple of coughs let out as her hand slowly came up to rub at her sore throat. Why was it so sore? She stretched her memories back to the day before, and then it shifted to rub over her face instead. Looking back on it, she could see she was being an idiot. At the time it had seemed completely sensical for her to risk her life just to try and get the woman's bra off. Now she could see that she literally could have died, and obviously that wouldn't be worth it. She also had no idea how long she had been unconscious for. She kept her hand over her face as she willed herself not to cry about her own stupidity. It took a lot of will. She was managing it so far at least, but now she wasn't sure about anything. Was Mila going to hate her now for how she had acted? Maybe they'd get to Umbara and Mila would just discard her. She couldn't really blame her if that was what she did; Lairiel had let her hormones get the better of her and she had attacked the woman.

She let out a brief sigh - brief because it made her cough again - and then she rolled on to her side so that she was facing the wall. Her arms shifted to cross and she just laid there hating herself for now. She had a vague sense that a fair amount of time had passed and they might actually be getting close to Umbara, but right now she didn't care. She had too many dark thoughts in her head that were taking precedence.

 

[Gamov]

GHOST NEBULA
UMBARA
DAY 3

All things considered, the last twenty four hours had passed rather uneventfully. Mila had since put yesterday's antics behind her, though part of her was still more than a little riled because of it. Strip Sabacc... what had she been thinking? Was she even thinking when she agreed to that ridiculous game? It was a question she had mulled over briefly, yet had found no answers to. Lairiel had turned out to be as determined as she was skilled though, that much had been made clear at least. And then her thoughts fixated on that notion for a moment: her apprentice was really so dedicated to her desires that she had been willing to risk serious injury just to satisfy them. Most Sith would have admired her drive and determination, but Mila found her behavior reckless. God, she was sounding like a Jedi with all of that drivel - but it was true nonetheless. Lairiel had abandoned all rational thought just to fulfill some silly debt over a card game. She had allowed her ambitions to overrun her instincts, and as a Sith there was nothing more dangerous. Yet Mila got the distinct impression that it wasn't just any old wager her apprentice had fought so fervently for.

She had really fought... for her? Did she really mean that much to the girl that she would risk life and limb just to...

The thought trailed off half way, managing to interrupt Mila's meditation as her eyes snapped open. Stretching the tension out of her shoulders, her eyes shifted to Lairiel, fast asleep on the couch. Her pale complexion still had that faint reddish hue to it, and the purple bruises on her neck had grown more obvious. But it was the angry remnants of the scar from her stiletto that snagged her attention. She had tended to the wound while she slept, cleaning it and making sure that it hadn't left any permanent damage. Luckily it had only been a glancing blow, yet still close enough to leave her cringing at how ghastly the outcome could have been. A shrill beep from the ship's navicomputer provided a welcome distraction from her thoughts as Mila pushed herself to her feet and went to he cockpit to check their progress. They weren't far now, only a matter of minutes really.

The ship's autopilot features handled their deceleration back to real space, and soon enough their tiny ship was enveloped by the eerie clouds of the Ghost Nebula - Umbara barely visible in the distance through the veil of dust and gas.

Shifting out in the common room split Mila's attention again as she checked their course heading once more and made her way back out to get Lairiel. "Get up, we're here." She said, shaking the girl gently by the shoulder. "We don't have time for games now, Lairiel. This is the real thing. You need to keep your wits about you. No more playing around, understand?" She was fairly certain the seriousness of their task did not escape her, but somehow she wouldn't feel better without hearing her say it out loud. She had already left so much up to supposition already, she couldn't afford to be so cavalier now.

 

[Sierrien]

She had just managed to fall back in to a fitful sleep on her side when suddenly Mila was there, shaking her shoulder. The first thing she noticed was how gentle Mila was being, like the woman thought she was made of glass. It made Lairiel wonder if she felt a bit guilty about choking her out the night before. She shifted on to her back as Mila explained that they were there, that she needed to get up - and that it was time to get serious. She gave a slight nod, her hand shifting to rub over her still sore throat as she spoke. Her voice was just a little bit hoarse, but she didn't devolve in to coughing so that was a plus at least. "Understood, Mistress." She finally moved to sit up, once Mila let her at least, and her hand rubbed at her face again. This time it was to help wake herself up. Her eyes looked towards the cockpit; she couldn't see how long she had from here. Not long, probably. She stood and moved to the refresher, grabbing backpack on the way.

Once inside, she would first rub some water over her face to wake herself up, before looking in to the mirror. She saw the ugly bruise on her throat and the cut as well - which she then inspected a bit closer, wondering if it would scar. It looked like Mila had cleaned it up after she had been rendered unconscious. She was thankful for that; it could have led to a nasty infection or healed wrong if it hadn't been cleaned. Her hand shifted to her nose then, which was also bruised from the punch. She gingerly felt over it as well, wincing before cleaning any remaining blood off of her face. She hoped this wasn't going to involve too much interaction with people, or they were going to have some serious questions going through their minds about why Lairiel looked like she had been beat half to death. Of course, traveling with Mila it might even be fairly obvious that it was Mila who had done it. She let out a sigh and then started to get changed.

Before she could get any farther then taking her sun dress off, however, the ship suddenly shook violently. She barely managed to catch herself on the counter before she cracked her head on something - it was also still tender from being slammed in to the floor twice, though her hair was hiding those bruises at least - and the room went dark as power was cut. What in the Force had just happened? Emergency power kicked in a few moments, painting the room in a red light. The ship was still shaking a bit as she quickly retrieved her new lightsaber, her dress held in her left hand as she burst back out of the refresher in to the main room. "Mila?" she called out, her voice rather full of concern. She could not seriously be on another ship that was going to crash, could she? "What's going on?" she called out quickly, as she tried to gain her bearings and find the crusader. And then if it looked like they really were going to crash, quite possibly hugging her tightly if the woman was unable to prevent her from doing so as her mine was enveloped in pure fear.

 

[Gamov]

Mila let out a short sigh, brushing her fingers through her hair as Lairiel shuffled off to the refresher. This whole trip was turning out to be the most exhausting experience of her life, and she wanted nothing more than to be back in the comforts of the temple on Ziost. She wanted to collapse in her bed and sleep for days. She wanted a spot of tea and her pet Corbenic, hell she even wanted to see Kazumi's dumb face again. Quite literally anything would be preferable to this right now; but alas she was forced to endure... as always. Suddenly, as if existing than for no other reason than to mock her, a shrill alarm dragged her attention towards the cockpit with an irritated huff. "What now..." Mila had barely shifted her feet when the shuttle trembled violently. Her heart leapt into her throat as she stumbled against the bulkhead, eyes frozen wide with shock and disbelief as the ship began an uncontrolled dive towards the planet.

"This can't be happening!" Her mind raced as she staggered towards the cockpit, intercepted only briefly by a panicked Lairiel as she tried to cling to her for dear life. "Get off me!" She snapped, peeling the girl away as she stumbled into the pilot's seat. The ship was shaking relentlessly as it hurtled through Umbara's atmosphere like a comet, smoke trailing from the gash in its hull. All manner of bells and whistles shrieked at her, overwhelming Mila's capacity to respond rationally to the crisis. Her view from the cockpit was little more than a rolling sheet of orange flames as the heat from reentry began to melt the ship around them. "No no no no NO! I am not dying here! Not like this!" Desperately grabbing onto the control yoke, Mila felt every little shake and stutter keenly in the palms of her hands as the shuttle groaned in protest, yawing sluggishly to the left as a wing suddenly separated itself from the fuselage in a spray of gnashing sparks and flame.

Avionics went haywire and smoke began seeping into the cabin as Mila struggled with all her might to control their decent. The ship pitched against her suddenly as the rear stabilizer sheared off. It had taken every ounce of the Crusader's strength to hold the dive together, but even she was powerless against the forces of gravity. All at once the ship began a dangerous tailspin and the angry red flames that had once enveloped the craft simmered away as they plunged into the twilight of Umbara. Gritting her teeth, Mila knew this was going to be bad. It was already horrible in more ways than she had ever imagined, but more than that... she knew it was going to hurt. The unrelenting pressure of G-force exerted itself against her like a vice, pushing her back into her seat as her world spun a million miles an hour.

In that instant, some part of her snapped and regressed back to being that frightened little girl she thought she had buried long ago. A nearly imperceptible sob worked its way through the panic and fear as she professed to whatever divine powers that be: "I don't want to die!" Then suddenly, her world shattered as the shuttle slammed into the ground, jarring her violently in the seat. She screamed bloody murder along side the malicious cacophony of the impact, her voice abruptly silenced as she was thrown to the floor, her head snapping to the side and colliding with the instrument panel in the process. And just like that, everything went dark...

 

[Sierrien]

MIla pried her off rather quickly - something about the ship exploding and crashing and needing to get in the cockpit, she wasn't listening. She was much too panicked to be listening. Somehow she managed to make it in to the co-pilot seat and strapped herself in, and then her eyes were closed tightly and she was just trying to shut out the world. And unfortunately - it worked, for the most part. She was dimly aware of Mila saying something about not dying like this, and then she was fairly sure she even heard Mila sob. Then again, maybe that was just her own imagination portraying weakness in Mila so that she'd be more okay with her own... yeah, that seemed more likely. And then there were no more thoughts as the ship crashed, most of the descent blocked out of her mind, and the hard impact made her pass out.

She wasn't fully blacked out - not like Mila seemed to be. She had brief glimpses in her memories of waking up, still strapped to the chair. The next glimpse someone was pulling them both from the wreckage, and then tending to their wounds. Then their hands were cuffed - odd, she remembered thinking - and finally they were left in a holding cell. The cuffs were left on both of them; their belongings had mostly been taken away, not that she had many of them at the time of the crash. Her dress had been in one hand, her new lightsaber in the other. That left her in her underwear, though Mila had been left in her clothes so at least one of them had that going for them. She also knew that she was cold - subconsciously, at least. Something about being in her underwear in a containment cell that wasn't exactly 'heated'. Her form shifted slowly, not quite regaining consciousness, but her mind knew that she had to find heat or she just might die.

And the only warm thing in the holding cell was Mila. So her form curled up against the other woman, despite how awkward it was with both of their arms being cuffed behind their backs. She was at least smart enough not to be overtly on top of the woman, but she was clearly cold so she hoped that Mila would understand if she happened to wake up first. That not-withstanding, her head was on the woman's chest. The guards had seemed not to care about her getting close to Mila, or at least they had left fairly quickly after activating the seal that would leave them in the room. She couldn't recall anything that stuck out about them, her mind just a bit too preoccupied with being cold and their near-death in yet another ship she had been in that crashed. This had been her third; she was starting to believe she simply couldn't be killed by a ship crashing. At least this time Mila had survived it, though.

And then she was passed out again; she had spent more time on this mission passed out than conscious so far. She would also have to hope that Mila would give her another chance to prove herself after this. She wasn't just a lazy butt who slept all the time, she swore! But for now, she was asleep and dreaming about huge comfy pillows for some reason that she couldn't place.

 

[Gamov]

Her eyes fluttered open again for the first time in... how long had it been? Hours? Minutes? Seconds? There was no way for the Crusader's flagging senses to guess how much time had elapsed, nor was it all that important either. What was important, however, what she was presently trying piece together through the haze of her thoughts, was figuring out just where she was. Blinking through the bleary dimness with a stiff groan, Mila shifted slightly against the tense ache in her muscles, vision swimming momentarily as a faint numbness tingled at her fingertips. She flexed her arms to get the blood flowing again, only then feeling the chaffing presence of the restraints around her wrists. That realization alone seemed to shock her senses fully back to reality as she inhaled a sharp gasp, suddenly feeling a gentle pressure against her chest that stopped her breath short. Her eyes swiveled to Lairiel's unconscious form lying against her. "You annoying little girl." She thought, twisting to the side and using a knee to gently shift her apprentice's weight off her body.

Once she had manged that, Mila pushed herself onto her knees, flexing her arms again to work out the latent tension between her shoulder blades before trying to focus the Force on the cuffs to manipulate the locks. Much to her chagrin, however, she found the devices somehow protected against such attempts, so on her wrists they would remain for now; but that didn't mean she had to endure the discomfort of her arms being so roughly pinched behind her back as they were. Once the numbness had faded and feeling began returning to her hands, the Crusader tucked a knee tightly against her chest, then with a fair deal of straining and some muted cursing, managed to slip her bound hands under her boot. Giving herself a second to regain her composure, she repeated the process again, eventually wriggling the cuffs around her other foot. Her hands were still locked in these infernal things, but at least they were out front now where she could actually do something with them - not to mention the relief she felt as she was finally able to relax her sore muscles.

Looking back to Lairiel, Mila couldn't help but shake her head. Somehow the girl had managed to spend this whole trip either asleep or half naked - usually both. She wondered if it was even going to be worth the grief to retain her as an apprentice after they sorted this whole mess out. Assuming they lived through it that is; one thing at a time though. Giving Lairiel a gentle nudge with her boot, Mila called out to her "Hey, wake up." Even as she did that though, the sound of distant voices filtered into the holding cell from the hallway beyond. Mila couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was pretty sure she had heard a name uttered beneath their murmurs: Vahl. "Vahl?" She repeated the name absently. It didn't sound immediately familiar, but she could have sworn she heard it somewhere before. Shrugging her ruminations aside, she focused on Lairiel again with a slightly harsher nudge this time. "Hey!"

 

[Sierrien]

She was cold again. That was the first the she woke up to. The second was a foot nudging her not exactly gently in the side. She blinked her eyes open and looked up at Mila, fairly confused for a few moments. Why was Mila shackled? Come to think of it, why were her arms so numb? She slowly rolled on to her side and then shifted in to a somewhat awkward crouch, giving a light shake of her head to clear it. As she did, some of the memories that were fairly disjointed from their ship crashing and their being pulled from the wreckage came back to her. She pulled at the shackles, then concentrated and tried to use the Force to make them budge. Nothing happened. She imagined since Mila was also still shackled that the crusader had also been unsuccessful in using the Force to get them off. That meant they were likely somehow immune to it, or incredibly strong. She worked her jaw for a few moments, it was still sore - before speaking to Mila. "Mila... I saw the people who took us. They-"

And she never got to finish the thought as the people who took them were apparently close. She heard their voices then and shut up with a frown, her eyes quickly glancing around the cell in search of some way out. With them being so close, well, it wasn't likely to happen. Not right away, anyways. Still, it was a good time to take a quick stock of what was in the room. A look told her.. not much. It was about as bare bones as a holding cell could possibly get. Her eyes shifted back to the bars as some guards stepped in to view. Clearly Umbaran by their dusky skin and sunken eyes. They stopped speaking basic and said a few things to each other in Umbaran, before addressing the two of them. "The Goddess demands an audience. Do anything rash, and you will be killed." Well, that was pretty straight-forward. Lairiel slowly rose to her feet as she looked towards Mila.

Her eyes returned to the Umbarans then as the bars opened up, then motioned for them to come out and come with them. She frowned slightly, wondering if they could take out these two without any weapons and their hands bound. But she didn't want to get the Crusader killed, so.. she would wait for a signal. If Mila didn't give one, she would simply go along quietly to meet this 'Goddess'... who had to be some kind of crazy nutjob, right? There weren't real goddesses around, she was pretty sure.

 

[Gamov]

The screech of the cell doors being slid open interrupted her apprentice as Mila pivoted to face the guards. She fixed them with a harsh glare, disguising her confusion as they mentioned their "goddess". A goddess? Surely these two were delirious, they had to be. But whoever this "goddess" was, Mila was almost certain she - or it - was almost certainly the culprit to blame for their current circumstances - and probably just as insane as these guards. Still, the Crusader didn't move, even as they reasserted their orders for them to follow, one of them even taking a step forward and brandishing his rifle towards them.

"I said move!"

Mila's eyes narrowed on the guard, shifting slightly closer to him as she peered into the outer most fringes of his thoughts. They were placid on the surface, deliberate and confidant as if there were no other concerns to rile his mind. But it was that very confidence that tipped her off. Searching through the emotions of another was like gazing through mirrored glass, if you looked hard enough you could almost make out what was on the other side. And what she found swimming through the depths of the guard's mind, trapped inside a murky prison, was uncertainty and fear. If she listened close enough, Mila could barely begin to make out the panicked voice calling from the other side of the veil, pleading for help. But it was a plea that would ring hollow to the Crusader... she had no intentions of sparing these weak willed lackeys.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said, venom seeping from her words. "What I am going to do though is send a message to your 'goddess'."

"Enough of this." The other guard barked. "You are coming with..." He moved to grab Mila by the wrists and drag her from the holding cell, only to be thrown back by a telekinetic blast. He impacted the far wall hard, his head snapping back with a sickening crack against the hard durasteel plating, knocking him out cold. The guard with the blaster quickly stepped forward, leveling the muzzle of his gun towards the Crusader; but he too quickly found himself immobilized, seized by invisible hands closing around his throat. The man hit his knees, gasping for air as Mila fixed him with a cold stare, watching the life bleed from his eyes as he collapsed to the floor in a lifeless heap.

Taking a second to compose herself, she let out a relieved sigh. One problem down, a million more to go. "One step at a time." She reminded herself as she turned the dead guard over, grabbing the keys from his belt and unlocking her restraints. Mila flexed her fingers, rolling her wrists a few times to get the blood flowing again before she undid Lairiel's cuffs. Unfortunately, the girl was still in no decent position to be useful to her - half naked as she was. So the Crusader slipped her jacket off and handed it over to her apprentice. "Here, you should at least make yourself half presentable." Allowing Lairiel time to make herself decent, Mila searched the guards over for any weapons, passing up their blasters and sidearms in favor of the small combat knives they carried with them. "It's no lightsaber, but it'll do." She mused.

 

[Sierrien]

Lairiel ended up pretty much just standing there and being a distraction for the guards as Mila took care of both of them. She probably hadn't even made all that great of a distraction, but being cuffed up in her underwear she would think would make them at least a little distracted. She was so super helpful. She did watch with rapt attention as Mila took care of both of them, biting at her bottom lip as she kept from saying anything about how awesome that had just been and really pointing out just how much doing nothing and watching Mila kick ass she had just done. On the other hand, she could pretty well sing Mila's praises if she didn't think that would earn her a couple more punches to the nose. And she was lucky enough that it had healed straight the last time. So instead of doing any of that she just watched - until Mila moved to get the keys from one of them. She moved to the other and used her foot to shift him and make sure he was good and knocked out. Satisfied that he was, she moved back over to Mila just in time to have the stupid cuffs taken off. She rubbed her wrists, then moved over and put then on the guard she had just checked, before rolling him in to the cell they were now vacating.

She moved to put Mila's cuffs on the other one and rolled him inside as well, but realizing he was dead would simply leave him. She then took Mila's jacket with an appreciative smile. "Thank you." She pulled it on and zipped it up immediately; it would do a great deal to keep her warm, even if she was still pant-less. Might as well be well armed and pant-less, she decided, as she pulled a belt off a guy and slipped it around her hips, holster and all. She checked the pistol to make sure it was loaded, then grabbed what extra battery packs she could slip on to the belt before picking up the rifle the other one had dropped. Then she stepped out of the cage and nodded at Mila, to signal she was ready to go. "I'm not exactly an expert with one of these things, but I figured it was better than nothing." she let out, indicating the rifle. Okay, she had never shot one before. She had at least been practicing with the blaster pistol she had stolen, so if it really came to it she could just switch to that and actually be able to shoot people. She also had the Force. All in all, she was just glad to be armed. Her next step was definitely clothing. Oh, and she'd have to find her lightsaber and get that back sometime, too.

She blew out a breath and then brought it back in slowly as she focused her efforts; stealth was something she had been taught but she didn't exactly practice it religiously. Or really at all, lately. Still, once she focused on it the skill came right back in to her mind like she hadn't stopped practicing it - another good thing about being Arkanian - and she would nod to Mila and follow behind her as they crept out of the holding cells. She didn't see any other prisoners; she found that kind of odd. Unless no one else came by this way because they knew bad things would happen to them due to this 'Goddess'. Her head started to shake at the notion of worshiping someone, but then she glanced towards Mila. Well, she could probably get in to a cult that worshiped her... Stupid brain, stop it! she chastised herself. This was not the time nor place to be indulging in teenage fantasies. There were bound to be more guards ahead, and she needed to take at least one of them out so that Mila wouldn't think she was entirely useless.

As if on cue, they heard a patrol of guards coming their way after having moved through the tunnels for about a minute. Lairiel shifted to press herself in to an alcove as she waited for them to close the distance. Feeling out with the Force, she felt that this patrol had four members, and as neither of them had lightsabers, she wondered if perhaps they should just let them pass. Of course, then they'd have a trio of guards behind them. Before they had to make a decision the guards turned down another walkway and continued on their way none the wiser about two rather escaping prisoners. Onwards they crept, soon enough coming to what appeared to be the entrance to the detention block of whatever this place was, and strangely enough it wasn't guarded. She found that odd, but didn't speak up about it, knowing that Mila was plenty capable of noticing these things for herself.

 

[Gamov]

As Lairiel took care of the bodies and pilfered what gear she could from them, Mila took a moment to check her own equipment, maintaining some slim hope that the guards had missed something when they frisked them for weapons after the crash. But alas, with an irritated grumble, she found her various pockets and hiding places had been thoroughly searched beforehand - even her stiletto was missing. "Guess it was too much to hope for that anyway." She would just have to make due with the combat knives she had stolen from the guards; which weren't exactly the most ideal weapons, but you work with what you've got. Glancing back towards Lairiel, she reciprocated the nod, thankful that the girl had sense enough to arm herself in the process. Blasters were clumsy and loud, but they'd work in a pinch if it came down to that. That was assuming Lairiel was a decent shot anyway. That thought sank in like a sliver under her skin; but if the brief tussle they had had on the shuttle were any proof of her apprentice's combat skills, then they might just stand a chance. Probably...

Taking the lead through the corridors, Mila found it surprising - and something of a relief - that Lairiel didn't need to have her hand held. She was quick to pick up on cues in her surroundings and react accordingly, even ducking a second patrol and letting them pass by in order to maintain their cover. There were a couple instances where it seemed like her mind had wandered, to what Mila could only guess, but they were few and far between. Altogether, this was the most focused, and the most professional, she had seen the girl in a while. At least since their game of Sabacc. Mila nearly shuddered at those memories; if she never saw another Sabacc card, it wouldn't be soon enough. Shuffling the thoughts aside as they approached the entrance to the detention center, Mila was struck by the lack of guards here. This place should be crawling with security. So where are they?" She asked herself, her eyes scanning the next room before she took a few tentative steps forward, motioning Lairiel to follow a few moments later.

The room they were in wasn't very large, but it was obvious that it was intended for prisoner processing. A desk at the side of the room which would normally be staffed by a couple guards sat vacant. But that only meant the security terminals there were also left unguarded. Finally, some luck. Moving towards the desk, Mila looked at the displays for the CCTV feeds throughout the facility, finding it strange that there was so little activity on them. If this was supposed to be a training academy, then where were all the students and their instructors? Where were the servants? Hell, even the cleaning droids seemed to be missing in action. If it weren't for the guards they had subdued in the holding cell, Mila would have thought this place to be deserted. Something didn't feel right. Shifting her eyes across the room briefly, she saw the lockup for prisoner belongings and nearly let out a relived sigh as she clicked a few buttons on the security terminal to release the locks. It was probably stretching it to think their gear would have been kept in there, but Mila was feeling optimistic... not really.

"Check the lockup for our gear." She said, directing Lairiel's attention towards the strong room. "I'm going to see if I can't find this 'goddess'. Or possibly an escape route. Hopefully both." While Lairiel searched the room for any trace of their equipment, Mila cycled through the channels on the camera feeds, finding nothing but one empty corridor after the next. This was starting to get increasingly more disconcerting. Then she came across something that made her do a double take - the interrogation chambers. Normally reserved for special purposes, there was more activity on that level of the facility than any other. "What the hell?" Mila's brow furrowed. "Why are you all hiding down there?"

 

[Sierrien]

Lairiel paused as Mila went ahead, then quickly shifted in to the security room herself as she glanced around. After being sure there was no one in the room, she looked towards the guard station and moved to stand next to Mila. At least until the lockup was unlocked and she was told to go check for their gear. She gave a nod and moved towards it, slinging her stolen rifle off her shoulder and propping it against the wall once she was inside. It wasn't exactly small, and searching it actually took her a bit of time just due to the sheer number of lockups of all shapes and sizes in the room. And almost all of them were empty. A few of them had items so old they had all but disintegrated, and finally she found one that had something that she recognized in it. She let out a soft chuckle as she pulled out her sun dress from it. She draped it over her shoulder as she continued looking, eventually finding a small crate with everything Mila had on her when they were captured. She took a few moments to go through it mostly out of pure curiosity, then simply picked it up and walked back out of the room.

She moved to the console and set the crate down next to Mila - it wasn't exactly large, but certainly quite a bit larger than was needed to hold what little Mila had on her at the time - and then she pulled the sun dress off her shoulder and shifted it in her hand, her eyes moving from it to Mila. "Well.. at least it's better than nothing?" she offered, before pulling her stolen belt and Mila's jacket off and offering it back to the Crusader. Once it was taken she slipped the dress on, then pulled her stolen belt back on over top of it, shifting the blaster pistol so that she could get to it easily. Finally she went back and retrieved her stolen blaster rifle as well before returning once more, seeing that Mila had seemingly found just about everyone in the place.. all in the same place. "That's weird. Do you think they're 'worshiping' her down there?" she studied what they could see through the monitors; there were even a few down there that weren't Umbaran. Perhaps that was where the other prisoners had gone?

She considered for a few moments, then shifted her eyes towards Mila. "This isn't really what we planned for.. what's the plan?" she had a few ideas of her own, most of which involved somehow getting her lightsaber back and then killing lots of people, but she wasn't going to overstep her bounds. They were here for a reason, and perhaps Mila would have her own ideas on how that mission should change to reflect current events that were actually happening in this 'academy'. Whatever Mila's plans were, she certainly didn't want to go against them, and she was fairly confident that the woman would want to get her own lightsaber back just as much as Lairiel wanted to. She might not have just created it, but she had put enough time and effort in to it that she wouldn't be keen on just letting some stranger who fancied herself a goddess having it.

She shifted then as she heard the guards they had barely missed from earlier returning, their voices carrying down the halls. They were alone down here, why did they care how loud they were? "I'll take care of them!"Lairiel quickly offered, then ducked down and shifted over towards the entrance, hiding on one side of it as she listened to them getting closer. Yeah, they were definitely coming here. Waiting until they were only ten feet away - close enough that she shouldn't be able to miss - she spun out from the entrance and held the trigger down on her blaster rifle, surprising them and putting a blaster bolt right through one of their heads. She then found out that this rifle appeared to be semi automatic as no more blaster bolts came out of it. She blinked as they raised their blasters towards her, then quickly dived back out of the way. Unfortunately they did too, ducking behind cover on opposite sides of the hallway.

Well, that was unfortunate. Here she was trying to prove she wasn't useless and she had clearly botched it already. She tossed the rifle aside and pulled the pistol she had stolen out instead - she actually knew how to use this thing - and then she closed her eyes and concentrated. She brought both her hands up about a foot apart and focused on the Force, feeling where they were - and then forming a push behind each, she slammed her hands together. Both of them were sent suddenly sprawling from their cover and she spun out from her cover again, taking quick aim and placing a blaster bolt in to each of their foreheads. She glanced around, seeing that all three were dead - and she holstered her pistol, then did a rather cute little victory dance before turning and rushing back in to the room. "Got them!" she exclaimed, with a big grin on her face.

 

[Gamov]

"Vahl, Vahl, Vahl... why does that name sound so familiar?" Mila gently bit at the inside of her lip as the name kept rolling through her mind over and over again. She should know this for some reason, she didn't know why. She just should. Rapping her nails against the edge of the desk, she had to shake the thought from her head and focus; there were more important things in front of her for now. Like just how in the hell thy were going to deal with a crazed goddess and her minions, and find a way out of here alive. She needed a plan, but more than that, she needed her lightsaber. It was funny how much she had come to rely on the stupid thing, never thinking she would have much use for it once she learned how to bend others with her mind. But oh how wrong had that assumption been. Imagine her anticipation then when Lairiel returned from the lockup with a small crate in hand. And the dress...

"It's better than nothing." Her thoughts mirroring her apprentice's sentiments as she traded her coat for the dress. Slipping her jacket back on, Mila rifled through the items in the crate, retrieving her stiletto and the small 2VX palm shooter. But her saber was notably absent. "Of course." She grumbled under her breath. Still, she was slightly better armed now than she had been a second ago, so that was something at least. She briefly considered Lairiel's comments on the Umbarans; "worship" wasn't exactly the word she would choose. Indoctrination was more like it. It seemed likely that the torture chambers were being used to "convert" what few Umbarans were left that hadn't kowtowed to this Vahl person. And just like that she was right back to trying to figure that name out. Damn it! This was going to bug her. And then Lairiel asked her what the plan was - what a great question.

"Frankly, I don't know." Mila said through a weary sigh. They were outnumbered, outgunned - in a manner of speaking - and out of contact with Imperial reinforcements. What a fine mess they were in. "If it were up to me, I would have sent a Stardestroyer in and slagged this place from orbit. But that's me." She added, almost absently as her eyes caught movement on the security monitors. Wonderful... that patrol was back. Before she had a chance to react though, Lairiel was already on it, bolting out the door to confront the guards with her blaster. "No wait!" Mila called after the girl, her words obviously lost or ignored as a shot rang out in the hallway, then a moment of eerie silence followed by a few more shots. The Crusader paused, a skip in her pulse as she hesitated to call out to Lairiel - perhaps just the slightest bit terrified by the silence that could follow. But the tension faded in the next instant as the Arkanian came back into the room, wearing a huge grin on her face.

"That was dangerous what you just did there. You could have been killed!" Mila said, sounding a little less than enthusiastic about Lairiel's brazen actions. "Still... well done. Just, don't be too eager from now on. Never let your ambitions overtake your instincts." Pinching the bridge of her nose and clearing her mind, Mila tried to focus on what their next step should be. Yet even as the ideas were forming in her head, the dull screech of the academy's announcement system interrupted her.

"Ah, it seems someone has let my little Kath hounds out to play." The voice was unmistakably feminine, malice tinging the otherwise gentle demeanor the words attempted to portray. "It seems I have underestimated you two. A pity you decided to so rudely rebuff my offer for an audience, I could have used ones such as yourselves. Ah, but c'est la vie. In the meantime, I do hope you continue to enjoy the Umbaran hospitality."

As the intercom cut out, Mila shifted a worried glance onto Lairiel. Well, that certainly didn't sound good. An instant later, the room fell dark, tinged an eerie red hue as alarms suddenly blared through the halls. "Fuck my life!" She blurted out randomly. "Come on, we need to move. We're just sitting ducks here." Motioning for Lairiel to follow her, Mila bolted out into the hallway and started making her way to... well, she had no idea. Anywhere but here really.