Ask Another One

[Darth Malicia]

Felucia. It was scenic but it wasn't filled with the nicest wild life. Demolly liked that, they were similar to her. She'd encountered quite the amount leaving her wounded. A nice freshly bleeding claw mark, on the exact same arm she got the lightsaber burn from that Jedi Master on Tatooine. It didn't ruin her regular outfit, since she was dressed in something more simple; a brown outfit to seem less threatening to her target when she found him.

She still planned on completing her mission despite the injury on her left arm, but the sound of a ship caught her attention. From a distance she noticed it touching down. It couldn't be her target, she knew he was already on the planet, so she ducked behind some trees and smothered her signature.

The sounds of greenery bending to the will of the ships force and landing gear filled the jungle around her. Birds flew overhead and she watched them. Then it hit her. It was a similar signature to the Jedi Master... something light. It had to be a Jedi, and she'd had long plans for the next one she met. But because she was already injured she decided to go a slightly different route this time, at least for the start of their encounter.

She left her hiding place, leaned to her left and placed her right hand on her left arm to appear in more turmoil from her injury. She slowly walked towards the ship, and as soon as the Jedi came out she leaned on a tree and spoke, "Will you... help me?"

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

"Because of COURSE I'm going to keep an eye out for spider things. That's the one thing everyone should be keeping an eye for." The astromech droid gave a sassy warble and then rolled to another part of the ship as the engines of the Skylark Horizon began to wind down. The Jedi shivered slightly at the thought of a giant spider creature scuttling towards him.

The planet and lush forest that covered it was beautiful. Getting out of the pilots seat he stretched his legs and stopped. His head turned towards what he thought of as a cold spot. Continuing to keep that in mind, Byron left his ship and went around the outside. Pain and fear, like that of a wounded animal made him try and focus more on what this feeling was. But the engineer was not the best at scanning minds still and so was defaulting to visual contact.

He was wearing his simple clothes and matukai gauntlets. His recently made lightsaber was clipped in two separate pars along with other tools on his tool belt. Rounding the ship it wasn't long before the one in need of help. "What the...uh. What happened?" Byron would move towards her and try to see if there was something following her that could have caused her injuries. She was well enough to remain standing. There was a clear darkness coming from the stranger. As far as Byron could tell, there wasn't an ambush waiting for him around this woman. "Where'd you come from?"

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

"I was attacked by spiders... one of them was massive," she answered, which he'd know wasn't a lie. If he didn't stop her or try to attack her, she'd move past him and walk up the ramp of his ship. "I need medical supplies," she said, ignoring the other question.

If she got on the ship, she'd start digging around actually looking for medical supplies. Though she wouldn't be able to look long before she heard very familiar sounds outside. "Do you hear that?" she asked, looking towards the ships doorway, forcing a wary look on her face. Now she wasn't actually scared, but slightly annoyed that there was ANOTHER nest around here. It was probably stirred by the ship landing.

She knew it was them by their very distinct footsteps on the ground. It was almost a clicking, but a lot of it because a nest tended to have thousands. There was also obviously heavy footsteps of the largest spider, the mother. It was enough to make the ground shake somewhat.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron didn't stop the woman from moving forward. If anything he stayed close by since it looked like she was not steady. When she go into the ship and started rifling through things Byron protested "I wouldn't do-" A woosh and then light emminated from a dematerialized BG astromech just a few feet from the injured woman as it held a lit blowtorch.

The droid brandished several other tools meant for ship repair and swiveled its head towards Byron with a droid's expression +What in the nine hells did you bring onboard my ship Byron+ She didn't wait for an answer. +I just got rearranging that and you track blood and mud on my ship+ "Low!" The Knight said the droid's name to stop the warbling droidspeak he assumed the woman couldn't understand. His eyes looked towards her and saw she wasn't even looking at him. +What?+ But Byron didn't answer the frustrated toned beeps.

Looking over his shoulder he looked towards the door. A few moments would pass as the building of the steps continued. "Low." The tone was serious and the droid understood. The BG immediatly retracted all of its emphasizing arms and rolled towards the aft of the ship, forgetting about the self-invinted passenger in that moment. BG-L0 gave a few whistles causing the Jedi to curse. "OK...whateveryournameis, first aid kit is in that compartment. Stay here. Strap in if I say so."

Of course Byron and his co-pilot got to looking at Skylrak Horizon the moment they touched down and the astro droid wanted to begin working on the engine. Byron had too, only he had been stopped by the hurt woman. "Right...the door." He murmured to himself as he hit the cargo door controls for the starboard side. They wouldn't be able to take off right away but at least if they came into view they wouldn't get inside the ship.

"Maybe we won't need to even take off." But he could feel the growing shuddering steps. Through the trees running towards the ship through the trees was the large figure of one of the local spiders. "Dank ferrik" He whispered to himself and checked the power levels. The black beady eyes of the spider stared at the ship for a moment. It seemed so alien to the knight though. It was in front of the ship, circling for a moment. A shiver ran down the man's spine, making a silent prayer to the force for BG to finish whatever she had begun in the back of the blastboat.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

Demolly barely paid attention to the droid since it was no threat to her. She didn't need to anyway; the Jedi scolded it and shortly after all the attention shifted to the spiders. Both the droid and the Jedi began to prep for the impending encounter.

She knew it was risky not to prepare herself, but she was on this ship for a reason. So, when the Jedi told her to stay there, she didn't. Instead, she took advantage of the droid and Jedi being distracted. If all went to plan, she'd turn to a console near her and bring up the ships landing records. There was a lot to look through, but she didn't need to do much looking. She instantly noticed he'd landed on the same spot on Ajan Kloss many, many times. If that location wasn't significant to the Jedi, she'd shoot herself in the foot.

Obviously, there was only a small window of time before the largest spider was staring through the window at her and the Jedi. Demolly looked up when she sensed the danger, though continuing to play the role she asked, "Can you uhm... bring me to Serenno please? Like, now? Now, now." She had a well established cover there.

The spider didn't wait for her to finish her sentence however; it drew up for half a second before slamming it's face against the cockpits window. It's sheer weight and teeth could be heard putting a dangerous amount of pressure against it, and Demolly did not want to blow her cover so she risked doing nothing. She was not afraid. She often craved danger, so this was becoming amusing to her. Still, they were in danger, especially since she could hear the smaller spiders making their way up the side of the ship, trying to find or force their way in.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron's hands tightened around the controls of the ship as he looked at the large arachnid like creature. It moved outside of the line of fire for the forward weapons. But using them would have meant diverting power from the engines. It may have been a good idea for him to take the shot since it lunged at his ship, rocking it and causing him to grab ahold of the dashboard and steady himself. Byron let out an unashamed yell as it came running into his ship. It's mandibles scratching and dragging across the top of the ship and the viewport.

"Working on it. Strap in." He said and opened a side set of controls that looked to be an aftermarket addition. "Big Low!? He yelled to the back of the ship as he felt another shudder. Where there had once been a lush treeline, now was a rushing horde of spiders. A resounding and sassy whirl came back letting him know there was a good seal and they were safe to take off.

The Knight didn't hesitate and hit the fusial afterburners. If the woman had listened to him, well, she would probably be sitting in a strapped in seat. But the high acceleration and max thrust of the ship would send her flying to the back of whichever compartment she was.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

This time she listened to him, taking a seat in front of the console she'd just used. She could feel the engines ready, so she strapped herself in as well. She felt a slight pullback when the spider initially tried to stop the ship, otherwise they were off. She wondered what type of damage the ship might've taken from the big and all the small spiders. Maybe just scraps, but there was a possibility for more problems to arise during their trip.

When they were in space, Demolly unstrapped herself and considered reaching for that medkit. Her arm wasn't bleeding anymore but it was raw and could start up again with the wrong move. But, she stared at the Jedi instead and found herself lost in thought for a handful of seconds. If he talked to her during it, she'd ignore him.

She was stuck on the ship with him, and she could kill him. It was an appealing option, but came with a couple issues. If he got a message out before she killed him or if he somehow managed to escape he could give a heads-up that a Sith had been on his ship. If left alive, she could use him more in the future depending on how events unfolded. As much as it pained her, a long game had more benefits than drawbacks.

Demolly stood after her thoughts were in order, and her eyes flicked up and down the man as she finally paid more attention to his build. "Thank you," she said as she walked up to him, bringing a hand up to run a finger gently along his jawline. She smiled, an amused one considering everything. "You know... you're my hero," the small Sith added, leaning up since he was taller. If he didn't pull back, she'd place a kiss on his cheek.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

A single long leg belonging to the large spider arched down in front of his cockpit. The spider was still on the ship. The man jerked up on the controls as the ship skimmed over the treeline for a few hundred feet and nearly collided with a hillside. There was a screeching sound as that was enough to buck the creature off given the continued acceleration and incline. The large animal fell from the ship as it headed through the sky.

Byron's arms relaxed their two handed grip on the blastboat's controls began to ease off the afterburners. Glancing over to his side at the stranger. His heart was still beating fast but if she thought he didn't have questions she would be in for a surprise. Tapping a few other controls he checked the state of his ship. It looked like they had hull damage and some maneuvering thrusters knocked out alignment. "Big Low, you alright?" A confirmed warble came from the back of the ship. "You didn't see the thing that was looking the Horizon like a helpless nerf. Just run a diagnostic and make sure we didn't break anything loose with that take off."

Sighing, the bearded man heard the injured woman's compliment. "You're wel-" The knight stopped short as he felt the hand on part of his face. It was a bit sudden to have the woman leaning in out of nowhere. Byron didn't know how to react. The Knight pulled away but not really far enough to be out of reach. "Uh...that's nice." Byron swallowed as he recovered from the invasion of personal space. His fingers set the controls so the ship would be on autopilot and maintain course without issue. "...maybe you can thank me by answering some questions. Let's start with who you are." She was still injured. Maybe she had lost a lot of blood or was affected by some kind of poison. Whatever the case, she was definitely strange.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

She smiled at his reaction, enjoying it before pulling back and taking a seat beside him. She'd appear very aloof for someone who was injured and sitting beside a potentially dangerous stranger. It was half because she was use to pain, half because she did not see him as a threat undercover. "I don't like answering questions," was her first reply as she leaned back and got comfortable in her chair. "But you did save me, so I'll answer few if you return the favor," she added with another smile.

"I'm Demolly," she said finally. "Just Demolly, and I had planned to stay on that planet but now that I'm injured and up here, it makes more sense go back to Serenno for awhile." She was almost certain that didn't satiate his curiosity, maybe not even in the slightest, but she really didn't care. He'd be able to tell that, too.

"Where are you from? What do you do?" she asked even if she knew one of the answers. Though a thought occurred to her after, so she added, "And whats your name?" She was going to bombard him with even more questions because it prevented him from asking his own, but a high pitched beeping cut her off. Her eyes drifted to the panel the annoying sound was coming from and on it was big letters that spelled out "FUEL LEAK DETECTED".

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron banked the ship, making sure that he wasn't straining the vessel while he listened. The man gave her a furrowed brow look before the alarm went off. "We might not be going anywhere." He commented and began trying to figure and solve for this new issue. The engineer gently began to slow down a bit further until they were moving at measly 5 MGLT. That way they wouldn't have to worry about him not manning the flight controls and if there was a momentum concern or shifting of combustible materials somewhere unseen on the ship, then it would be less likely to spark or catch another piece of the ship like a torn wire or shorted circuit. A fuel leak was more than just a loss of energy to get them between points. It also was an immediate danger and needed to be dealt with. I don't even know what standard day of the week it is anymore.

The Jedi swiveled around and quickly heading towards the back of the ship. "Low!" He shouted and rounded the hall to begin opening a yellowbox. Taking out and placing some tools he set some aside. "Are you going or am I going?" The droid warbled a response. "Well then we can just turn back around and land in spider-filled-jungle-land." The droid did an electronic sigh and tilted down as if sagging its non-existant shoulders. Then straightening up it wagged a manipulator in front of Byron's face. "Totally." Finishing getting the other tools out that BG-L0 would need, Byron would head back to the cockpit and seal the door behind him.

Coming back he would look over at the woman. "Alright. Hopefully Big-Low doesn't blow us all up." The beeps of the droid came over the comms and was translated on the computer. +the same goes for you+ The man would proceed to depressurize the compartment behind them and then open the door. The magnetic wheel, grappling launcher and safety anchor would be enough to make most people feel some safety. It wouldn't be long before the Skylark Horizon was calmly waiting for the droid to make it safe to even fly again.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

Demolly remained quiet as the pair spoke to one another. She understood the droid clearly but didn't give that away. She knew Force sensitive tended to pick up on languages easier than regular men, and she wasn't interested in giving anything away.

The idea of the ship blowing up wasn't exactly appealing, but she remained calm since there was a chance she'd be able to survive if it came to that. She didn't see why they'd blow up anyway, but they could lose all their fuel which was just as bad in her books.

The small Sith's eyes lingered on the Jedi for a few seconds before she spoke up again, "You didn't answer any of my questions." She frowned somewhat, though smiled again afterwards.

"At least tell me your name. You did rescue me, so if someone asks what happened I'd like to give your name to them," she said with a shrug.

The ship beeped again. It was high pitched and loud, though she wasn't sure what the alarm meant this time. There was also a groaning from the back of the ship, as if a piece of it was going to rip off or something. If that wasn't bad enough she heard... skittering? Little clicking in the walls of the ship... had some of the baby spiders gotten in? All the beeping and problems were starting to get to her. If the Jedi didn't give her something she wanted soon, she wasn't sure what she'd do next. Irritation was starting to bubble in her.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

"Well maybe I don't like answering questions either..." He stated to point out the perceived hypocrisy since she was now the curious one. But he would still answer anyways as he continued to check readings. "Byron, Ryker. You know BG-L0." His head nodded towards the outer hull of the ship where some of the noise continued to come from. He was still so used to being considered a padawan that the title Knight didn't come up as a thought, not that it mattered.

The woman was not perturbed but that was for the best. The pilot of an air liner wouldn't tell his passengers the wings were loose if he could take care of it. Byron wasn't the type of man to intentionally incite fear. Plus the woman seemed to not care about the state of his ship anyways.

A fuel leak meant there was fuel wasn't where it was supposed to be. That also meant it had to be going somewhere. And if that somewhere was still inside the ship, it could pool up and later make the Skylark Horizon a literal blastboat. It was actually no surprise starfighters and ships blew up so spectacularly in the vacuum of space. Force help them if the artificial gravity turned off.

The sounds outside were probably just Big Low moving around. If the spiders could breathe in space, well he hoped BG would tell him if she saw anything. His eyes flicked from readout to readout, making sure that the one thing he could help with was holding his main attention. The alarms were quieted but the blinking light of the fuel leak was still present. The man made a scan of their orbital path over the planet while they were doing repairs. If there were satellites or a high speed debris field. "At least the shields are still working." he muttered to himself, trying to find a silver lining.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

"Byron huh," she echoed, turning her gaze over to him. He was relatively calm for being on a ship that clearly needed some repairs. Demolly wasn't that worried herself, just slightly annoyed. In reality she didn't need to go all the way to Serenno though. Any planet would do.

And a thought struck her as she heard him mumble. "At least?" she said in an annoyed voice. More annnoyed than she really was but she had a lot of experience with the tone. "Shouldn't you be out there HELPING your droid? Clearly there's more than a fuel leak. What if there's still spiders? Whats that groaning sound?" she asked. "Are you going to just let us die on the way there?"

She'd also appear annoyed to him, not just sound it. If things didn't go her way she tended to switch moods quickly, so it wasn't much of an act.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron turned and looked at the petite woman. She was probably suffering from shock. The wound from before hadn't been locked at too closely by the Knight. "In order they were asked. No. There shouldn't be. Nothing good. No." Hopefully that would make her think twice before rattling off a bunch of questions like a hysterical passenger. No Byron. You can't use your force powers to sedate a passenger because they are annoying.

"Once the leak gets repaired, we can travel again. Most living things don't live beyond a few seconds out in the vacuum of space let alone something that can hold onto a ship that has achieved escape velocity. If you want to find a seat in the back I can look at your injury and then we can get you to a doctor or wherever's the next best stop." She seemed to request Serenno out of all places. Maybe she was from there. Erratic was another term that was fitting.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

"So what you're saying is you're useless," she said in the same annoyed tone, noticing she was starting to annoy him. The act, at least, made her seem like an entitled Serenno noble. Maybe he'd connect the dots, maybe he wouldn't.

Without another word she got up, walked down the ships hall until she found an escape pod. She opened it up and called out. "Is this an escape pod?" Demolly raised her arm in a way that purposely made it start bleeding again, grimacing without having to act. "Ouch." She wanted to come off as reckless and unstable, possibly from her wound or just in general, there wouldn't be a real way for him to know since she was actually hurt.

Would he leave some reckless woman, a potential threat to herself and his ship simply walk around? Really, she was just trying to get and keep his attention.

There was a terminal nearby it, which she started to access. She wasn't sure what she was going to do on it yet. It depended on what the Jedi decided to do.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron took the moments following Demolly's last word in to take a few breaths. Nothing he said would have probably made her satisfied so the only way that fire burned out was to not give it any fuel. The woman got up though and headed after. At first he thought she was going to take a seat in one off the passenger seating area or somewhere relatively comfortable. But that quickly changed when he heard her mention the escape pod. Looking over his shoulder with a furrowed brow he called back. "Don't sit in that." Hearing her pain made him take another look at the controls. "Hold on Big low. I'm gonna see to our passenger's injuries." He said to his droid and left the cockpit.

"You're still bleeding." he tried to guide her towards the more comfortable seating. It wasn't a large ship so hopefully she would listen. His head looked for the first aid kit to see if she had already pulled it out or made a mess. There was some blood spots on the deck but that would get cleaned up later. Byron was calm because he had confidence they were going to deal with this issue and pull through. Both his faith in BG-L0, his ship, himself and also The Force. "Demoly, right? You're going to be fine. We'll be back at one hundred in no time. Don't worry about the escape pod."

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

Well, she got what she wanted: his attention. The Jedi walked down the hall to her, moving to try to guide her to a seat. If she had any sort of conscience left, she might've been able to see the pureness in the man's actions... but all she saw was weakness. If she had a passenger on her ship causing a fuss, she would've stabbed the person already and flushed them out the airlock.

That was why as the Jedi was distracted by trying to guide her, and looking around, she abruptly summoned the Force and attempted to infiltrate his mind to make him pass out. The power she used: Dull Sense. Something used more by the Jedi, but useful when someone wanted an instant reaction. Because the Jedi was distracted, and unaware of her being Force sensitive, let alone Sith, she hoped for success. She was also more powerful than him, she'd sensed it the moment they met, which lent her an edge.

If she was successful, she'd keep the skill up and push him into the escape pod before closing it, then sending it off into space. His droid was still on the ship but there wouldn't be a way for it to know its master was in the pod. She'd make her way to the cockpit again in order to take control.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron shifted his tool belt out of the way so that they wouldn't be in the way. Grabbing the pack he turned back only to feel the palm of the woman's hand against his head. But by then it was already too late. Unlike before when she had touched him, there was no reaction of awkwardness. Only darkness as the otherwise stocky Knight succumbed to the effects of the force techniques. Not even a chance to feel betrayal.

On the computer in the cockpit the dashboard translator typed out the words from BG-L0. +Found the leak and it should be sealed now. Give it a test when you're ready+ The diagnostics was set up ready and waiting where Byron had left it, blinking softly. Beyond it, the lush world of Felucia slowly turned rotated around the the view along with the stars. Inside the Skylark Horizon, Demolly was alone.

@Dread

 

[Darth Malicia]

The Sith got to the cockpit right when the droid finished the repairs, which meant they could jump to lightspeed. Demolly wasted no time taking advantage of this. She found the nearest, safest, planet, calculated the jump then gunned it into lightspeed.

She assumed the droid wouldn't be able to hold onto the ship at lightspeed, so both it and the Jedi would be floating aimlessly in space until/if rescued. Now this, obviously, would be reported but she'd never revealed herself to be Sith. She wasn't even sure the Jedi would've been able to figure out what happened. Her hope was he'd simply think she was a thief, but only time would tell. Maybe he would know.

Demolly had big plans for this ship however, and she never waited to hatch things. She'd put them into motion as soon as she could.

/exit thread

@Darasuum