Ask Flashpoint Blind Leading the Blind

[Trace]

Denon was a catastrophe. It had swapped hands over and over and just walking down the street you could see the impacts of the war. Many buildings still had carbon scoring, portions were collapsing inward on themselves, and death still hung in the air. She could feel the darkness that flowed through the streets, clinging like slug slime to the walls all around.

Trace was a long way from the Taris academy, but these days that seemed to be the status quo. The classroom learning was largely behind her, and externships had started. She was on the verge of graduating, and she was determined to get honors for this.

In this case, she and another Acolyte had been sent out to recover several children who had been kidnapped by a local and growing anti-Force militia group. They had almost no leads and they weren't likely to get a lot of help from the locals. Rumor had it that many of them were harboring these kidnappers. She silently wondered to herself what they were planning to do with the Force-sensitive kids anyway. Well, they weren't going to do anything with them because this was going to be Acolytes to the rescue! Oh yeah, she was going to ace this course.

She stopped at a convenience store, perusing lazily through the snack section and waiting for her partner to get there.

 

[Altair Din]

Denon was legit. It was like a scene from the movies. There were fires, smoke and chaos all around. Riots broke out everyday and the local authorities were constantly fighting uprisings. Of course, Altair was busy walking around and livestreaming what he saw, giving his voice over commentary of the situation. At some point he walked directly through where a smoke bomb had exploded, coughing and almost passing out. He decided then that he should probably lay off social media during this. Thankfully, his partner was Miralukan and wouldn’t see his red eyes or the tears that began to profusely roll down his face.

After getting lost a few times, he finally found himself in the same convenience store, wiping his face off by then. The tiefling stopped to grab some candybars, looking around to see if the shopkeeper was watching. It was basically anarchy out there, so who was going to notice if he stashed a few snacks? Altair walked around the aisle till he spotted his partner.

“Hey! Trace, right?” He asked as he extended a hand to formally meet her, “Sick name. I'm Altair,” Altair said with a smile. Wait, she couldn’t see his smile, right? He felt like a moron, making his face its default expression. Fuck, she could make out his horns. Was she going to freak out? He didn’t need attention to himself with his jacket stuffed full of stolen snacks…

 

[Trace]

Trace picked up a bag of fruit snacks and held them in her hand as her partner approached.

That's me! she said, turning and smiling. Nice to meet you, Altair, she said, grasping his hand and shaking it. She had long ago decided she had endless amusement in people not knowing how her sight did and didn't work. She took in note of what his hand felt like, the feel of long nails or perhaps talons, the strong grip, the way the muscles felt as they squeezed her hand.

The way the Force flowed through him left her with the impression of someone who was tall and strong, and... were those horns? Oh right, he was a tiefling, she had been informed. He felt a little... imbalanced, but like he enjoyed as much of what life had to offer as he could. Also she gained the impression he was in pain even if she couldn't see the watering eyes.

Her head tilted slightly to the side, her version of a raised eyebrow, and her lips fell slightly from their smile in concern. Were you injured on the way here? she asked. She released his hand and headed up toward the counter, slapping some credits down for her bag of fruit snacks before heading out to the street.

I've never been to Denon before, you? she asked. She had no idea how well traveled he was.

 

[Altair Din]

As she shook his hand, one of his snacks slipped out from under his jacket, plopping on the floor. He stared down at it for a few moments before it casually slid to the side and under a shelf as if it were never there. Altair looked at her as she all but called him out for injuries. Shit. He quickly wiped his face off. How could she tell?!?

“Uhh I almost got shot outside and had to fight off a few people,” He blurted out, “You should see the other guys,” Altair added quickly. He wasn’t about to tell her he ran like a moron into a smoke bomb and almost suffocated to death for no real reason. It was like crashing into a parked speeder.

Altair discreetly made it out of the shop with her without paying a penny. He looked around them, the usual noises of protests and chaos erupting.

“Nope,” He admitted, “Seems wild, though. I feel like I’m in a Holomovie!” He said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. Altair put his hands in his pockets, clearing his throat.

“So uh… I forgot to read the mission brief,” He said sheepishly, “What are we doing again?”

 

[Trace]

If he said that he wasn't seriously injured, then she didn't press the matter further. For all she knew, he really had gotten into a fight outside.

Oh, ok, well glad you're not hurt, she said. One of the snacks rolled out of his sleeve and awkwardly across the floor, everything outside becoming almost deathly silent as the slight crunching of the wrapper carried out across the space between them. She obviously didn't need to look down at it, but she did anyway.

You should pay for those, she said, though when he opted not to, she didn't stop or make a fuss out of it.

They started walking down the street and she was popping fruit snacks, glad that despite some protests and racket, there wasn't actually gunfire here... right now.

Yeah, it's even worse than I thought it would be, she agreed with him. I know there's still thick fighting in some corners, but I didn't expect this much unrest even where the fighting isn't at its worst, she said.

Though, I heard we might get deployed out toward the new front line in a couple of weeks, she said. The sound in her voice wasn't totally clear whether she was excited or nervous and that was because internally she couldn't decide if she was excited or nervous at the prospect. She'd been in small skirmishes here and there, but nothing like a true battlefield yet.

But yeah, I guess we need to get through this first, yeah? she said. When he mentioned that he hadn't actually read the mission brief she turned toward him. Now, I bet you didn't realize that a blind person could stare right through you in judgement, but Miraluka can.

You seriously are making the blind girl do all the reading? she said, shaking her head. There was a hint of annoyance, but also a bit of humor in her tone.

Bunch of kids have been snagged by some local anti-Force group. We have to find them and recruit them if possible, she said. Easier said than done since all those protesters are here because they hate us. So they say that there's a lot of local support for this... uh... terror group? she said. They called themselves a resistance movement, but they were terrorists as far as she was concerned.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair actually did end up forking over some cash when Trace complained about it. However, when she gave him a stern ‘look’ because he didn’t read the mission brief, he couldn’t help but scowl.

“Jump off my dick, man,” He quipped back, “Been a bit focused not trying to fail my finals to read some stupid brief,” Damn, man, what was it with him always getting stuck with uppity people for his missions?! They were better suited for Jedi. Or maybe Altair was just too laidback for his own good.

“I mean, the easier solution would be to pretend we’re not Force users which-” He cast her a sideways glance, “You will ruin in a second with your Miralukan shit. Your best bet is to put on some glasses and take a blind stick to pose as a legit blind person. We blend in with the protesting crowds and make our way in to scope out the situation and go from there.”

Altair crossed his arms over his chest, “But I’m sure you’ve got a plan all figured out,” He flashed her a grin, “So lay it on me, teacher.”

 

[Trace]

She was glad when he opted to pay out for the things stuffed up his sleeves, but let out a slight sigh as he quipped back at her a moment later. This was why she hated group projects... had she not read the brief, they'd be literally wandering around the streets with no concept of what they were doing.

Still, his suggestion wasn't a bad one, so she decided to relent. Fine, we'll get me some sunglasses, she said, taking a sharp right turn into another store along the way and heading for somewhere where she could get some. They weren't going to be expensive, but they would have to do.

Don't give me that. Yes, how dare I hope my partner knows what he's doing, she quipped back.

And then she came to a stop and sighed. This was where things got more difficult because she had to pick up the individual glasses to try to get a feel for them. Though she could feel them and sense what they were, "styles" weren't particularly made for Miraluka.

Altair would find himself faced with a choice of helping her pick out a pair that weren't horribly ugly or watching her touch each individual pair until she was satisfied and purchased some.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair shrugged, “I don’t worry about it ‘cause my partners are usually more prepared than I am,” He gave her a shit eating grin before realizing again that she couldn’t even see it. The hell was he supposed to do to get across he was being smug? Some kind of victory dance? Dunking her didn’t have the same satisfaction without getting his smirk across..

As they entered the store, Altair rolled his eyes and checked his datapad chrono which suggested she was taking a century. He opted to help out, planning on grabbing any boring pair. However, he suddenly had an idea. He kept a completely straight face as he nabbed a pair from the Starbies and Unicorns section, handing them to her, “These are legit,” He offered, letting her put them on. Once she did, he touched his index finger and thumb in an A OKay sign, clicking his teeth, “Perfect.”

Next he grabbed a stick and handed it to her, “Okay now practice walking around. Can’t confidently be stridin’ as if you can see just fine,” Thankfully the store was mostly empty so they had a chance to get this all out of the way before they headed towards the protests.

 

[Trace]

He handed her a pair of sunglasses, and she ran her fingers along them. Thanks, she said, deciding they felt like they were decent in design. She had no idea what kind of color schemes was on them or how ridiculous she was about to look.

As he talked about her confidently striding, she snickered slightly. You just want to see me do a catwalk strut, she said, which was promptly followed up with a seductive bite of her lower lip. Having her eyes and eyebrows covered at all times had taught her to make the most of her mouth for everything.

She turned and walked toward the register, giving her hips an extra bit of sway as she did. Her prior experience as a dancer did wonders for her overall. It was then that she noticed that he was holding a stick in his hand and she remembered he had mentioned her pretending to be actually blind. Right.

Can't I just pretend to not be blind? she asked, mouth twisting up slightly and knowing that it probably wasn't the best idea. But still... she didn't want to.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair watched her do the lip bite, and he had to stifle a laugh. While it would’ve certainly gotten his attention, the ridiculous shades completely detracted from it. He covered his mouth and said nothing, his shoulders shaking a bit from trying not to burst out laughing. He sighed when she complained about playing the part of a blind person.

“I mean..” He thought for a moment, “As long as the shades cover up your eyes, you should be okay,” Altair looked at her, “They just can’t know you’re a Miralukan,” It was an instant give away that she was Force sensitive, “Come on let’s go.”

The tiefling spun on his heel to lead the way out. Altair glanced down at his datapad, actually bothering to pull out part of the mission brief that identified where the base was. The streets were jampacked with activity, crowds protesting or arguing with authorities here and there. Up ahead of them there was a massive crowd of protesters right outside the warehouse. The signs people held up were vicious, most of them calling for public executions of the children.

“Damn and they say we’re the bad guys,” Altair muttered quietly as he looked at the crowds, making his way over towards them. They would have to find a way to sneak past the protesters to get into the building all without being spotted.

 

[Trace]

She'd turned around to take off her blindfold and slip the glasses on, but when she turned back around and was trying very hard not to laugh at her "seduction," he would be able to see her face turn several shades more red. All at once, she felt quite embarrassed and foolish, not realizing he was laughing at the glasses and not at the idea of her being attractive. Maybe tieflings just aren't into any other species? she thought to herself. Or maybe I really am just ugly, she thought, her mind naturally running down that hormonal and very teenage path.

She turned away to save her own mind and headed to the counter to pay, only half hearing the other things he said. As she reached the counter she realized... there was no one there? Maybe that wasn't so irregular, this was a bad area of town with looters running rampant right now, after all.

She headed for the door instead, making her way out and down the street along with Altair. The sounds of protests and calls for executions - no, murders - was a bit shocking. She wasn't used to such outspoken endorsement of murder. Even in the Sith, it was more often than not subtle or reframed in some way.

It's... she didn't even know what to say. Yeah... She needed to be careful indeed not to let anyone know what she really was. As she tried to find an easy route for them through the protesters, she heard a wave of shouting and cheering erupt over the crowd. She reached out with her senses and it didn't take her long to figure out what they were cheering for.

From above, a trio of people came swooping from the sky riding what appeared to be some sort of... hoverboard? Like a snowboard but hovering above the ground.

Citizens of Denon! Too long we've let these Forcers destroy our homes and kill our people. We say ENOUGH! You have called for justice, the speaker said, pointing out to the signs of the people. His voice was amplified by some sort of speaker likely attached to his board.

And we will deliver. The people have spoken! he said, raising his hand in the air and pointing out over the heads of the crowd. Two more "boarders" came down, each holding ropes in their hands. At the other end of each rope was one of the wrists of one of the kidnapped children. Only a few years younger than the pair of Acolytes, he was suspended in the air above the crowd.

The leader of the group swooped down, coming to a stop in front of the suspended boy. Here is your justice! he said, pulling out a pistol and firing point blank into the young man's head. The pair of boarders released the rope and let the body drop down to the center of the crowd, which started to beat the corpse.

As Trace "watched" she felt her stomach churn. She almost felt like she wanted to vomit. Not because of the violence or death, but because of the brutality. She wasn't used to seeing something so... horrifying. She knew there were plenty in the Sith who would have thought that weak or pathetic, but... she kept it to herself.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair’s jaw tightened as he watched the display, he could sense how much it bothered Trace. He shook his head, “That coulda been us..” He muttered quietly, thinking of all the Force sensitive children that were brought over to the Sith. Instead of ending up with Jedi or Sith, this was what happened to the rest? He looked at what it was doing to Trace.

“Hey,” He nudged her, “You know the difference between a Jedi and Sith right now?” He asked, gaze trained ahead, “Jedi would just watch this shit play out and say some bullshit about how life is sacrifice. Well I say we don’t stand for this shit and remind these fuckers exactly why they should be afraid of us," He turned to glare at her, "In case you're wondering, I'm about to go off script of our precious fucking 'mission brief'. So you get with the program or stay out of my way."

He didn’t give her a chance to process what he said. He simply reached over and plucked her shades off, tossing them aside. Without warning, he used the Force to bodily throw people in the crowd out of the way, clearing a path for himself. Altair lowered his head and called the Force to himself, charging in to make a beeline directly for the man that had executed the child. He barely had a chance to make out what was happening, waving around the blaster. He only saw a glimpse of gray before four horns viciously slammed into his gut. He let out a choked cry as Altair pierced the man, shaking his head around in a violent display as he tore through viscera and entrails.

The crowd screamed and people began to run in different directions, the Force sensitive children looked over in stunned shock. Altair yanked his head back, bodily flinging the man aside while he was still alive. His entrails were out and he was screaming in agony but Altair kicked his gun away, leaving him to die a slow death.

The tiefling didn’t look back, hopping up to get towards the children. His horns were bloody and coated in viscera. Just how he liked them.

 

[Trace]

She had no response when he said that it could have been them. She knew he was right, and she felt... she didn't know how she felt. Helpless? Angry? Sick? Disgusted? It was a wave of emotion that left her feeling... numb.

We shouldn't... she said weakly, but he would be able to tell easily that her heart wasn't really in the objection. The numbness was slowly being replaced by a burning rage within her. A desire for vengeance and for justice. Retribution.

She wasn't ready for him to pluck her glasses off, and she quickly clamped her eyes shut. He was off before another word was said, and for a moment everything seemed to slow down. She felt the Force flowing through her in a way she had never quite experienced before. She felt... like it was carrying her away. As if she were being wrapped in a warm blanket while also being carried down the rapid flow of a river all at once.

Before she knew what was happening, her lightsaber was in her hand and she leapt into the air. Her foot struck the top of a protester's head and she catapulted herself with the Force. Her acrobatic training took over more than her Sith training, landing on the tail end of one of the boards.

Her saber slashed down, catching a piece of the other boarder's repulsorlift. He would fall down directly in front of Altair who would have the chance to do whatever he felt like with the man.

For her part, her saber came around, plunging straight through the back of one of the murderers. As she struck, she felt things in the Force she had never experienced before. She felt a darkness flowing out of the man in front of her and she felt a feeling of... power. A feeling of authority and genuine control that she'd never felt before in her life. The power of life and death. The power to take a life for the first time.

She couldn't pause to think further on it as she leapt off, landing just beside Altair as he pressed on toward the other children. It was now clear that several more were in a bus behind the lines of the protestors. Some people had begun to run from the scene of the killings while others were moving against the pair of Sith.

She didn't stop to think more or second guess, moving on survival instinct now. A man from the protests charged toward Altair, but his torso was cleaved in two before he made it to the horned acolyte.

She fell into a sprint along with Altair, but with their height difference there was little chance for her to keep up fully.

Get the bus! Drive the bus! she shouted, hoping that Altair would manage to get to it first. She half expected him to drive it right through the crowd, and... at this point she wasn't even sure she could complain or argue.

Meanwhile, she let her slower pace run interference and draw more aggro from the crowd that was largely dispersing in screams now.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair looked over towards the man that began to charge at him, but he was shortly disposed of by Trace. He could only stare in wonder for a moment, marveling at how quickly she adapted to the situation and how vicious she was. Altair shook his head out of his thoughts, deciding now wasn’t the time to gawk as he leapt towards the bus. He hopped into the seat and started up the engines. However, he didn’t realize that with everyone shooting their blasters, at some point the engines and oil tank took a hit. This meant the bus was damaged and highly flammable.

“Get in!” He called out towards Trace in case she was still hobbling behind. The bus began to move quickly enough, a row of terrified people sitting in the passenger seats. As predicted, Altair didn’t give a rat’s ass if he plowed through the protesters, though he made an actual attempt to swerve around them. Most of them were smart enough to jump out of the way, though a few got tapped and fell to the side without much damage.

He thought they were okay when there was a massive boom from the back. Altair looked over his shoulder, “The fuck?!” He saw the back of the bus on fire. He cursed to himself, but he kept driving for now, desperate to put some distance. He could hear screaming behind him as the kids tried to rush towards the front.

“We gotta ditch the bus,” He called out to Trace, finally slamming on the brakes after they were out of the immediate protesting square. Thick smoke filled the bus and the entire thing would explode if they didn’t hurry. Altair parked the bus and ran to the back to shove the children out the exit. Trace would have to help get them off as he passed them to her. He went all the way to the back, unfazed by the fire. Flames licked at his clothing and skin but he paid it no heed, yanking scared children from their seats to push them forward.

Assuming that Trace was outside with all of the kids by then, she would see Altair crashing through windows, landing with a heavy thud on his back on the ground. He was clutching a very young girl that was bawling her eyes out. Altair tilted his head up to look at Trace, flashing her a grin, “You impressed yet?” He decided to quip, his legs actually on fire. He handed the girl off to Trace before he patted out the flames with his bare hands.

“Everyone get back!” He shouted, applying a powerful Force push to send the kids flying before he leapt. The bus exploded behind them, becoming entirely useless. Altair swished his tail around to put out the flame that clung to it.

 

[Trace]

Trace leapt into the bus, flipping out her saber as she started traveling back along the length of the bus while he gunned the engine. Her mind was now far more focused on scanning the area around them, trying to locate anyone or anything that was a threat to them. She was so busy scanning the crowd that she missed the burning at the back of the bus and was thrown bodily to the floor of the bus by the explosion.

Her lightsaber went clanging across the ground and she scrambled forward to grab it, only narrowly managing to get it before a kid who had picked it up literally ignited into his face.

No! Not for you! she said, pushing herself back up and realizing what was going on.

Come on, out! Out! she said, waving her arms to help keep directing the kids out. Fortunately some of the older ones helped the younger who were now quite terrified of the flaming horned man and the blind banshee.

You're going to get burned! she shouted, but Altair either didn't care or didn't hear her. She was about to run in and pull him back, but before she could, he was leaping out of the window, landing dramatically, and literally burning. There was a lot less screaming or even groaning than she imagined.

What the... she started muttering, mouth just slightly agape as he even managed to make a quip about her being impressed.

She took the young child from him and started to move quickly away from the bus before it exploded. She quickly slipped her blindfold back on as they started to move, letting her attention drift back behind them to try to get a gauge of who was chasing them.

Train, ship, speeders, sewers, she started mentally trying to go through ways they could get out of here before authorities showed up or more protestors rallied together for a lynching.

Hovertrain?! she suggested. It's one street over and up a flight of stairs, she said, appearing almost psychic for a moment as she suddenly veered off to the side and up to a train platform that hadn't been visible moments earlier.

She scrambled into the passenger compartment and headed in the direction of the conductors room. See if you can clear out the other passengers! she shouted back to Altair, hoping he'd agree so they could get the train mostly to themselves until they could figure out where they needed to go to not die. That was an important part.

 

[Altair Din]

“Hovertrain,” He agreed, though he couldn’t see it just yet. He simply followed behind Trace with the kids. Sure enough, there was a train waiting. Shit, did she have X-ray vision? Could she see through his clothes??!?!?! Damn that was messed up. While Trace made her way to the conductor compartment, Altair looked at the compartments full of passengers.

“Clear out! It’s an emergency!” He said in his best attempt at an intimidating voice. To his surprise, the passengers all blankly stared up at him. One grumpy lady that was on her comlink switched it off and looked at him.

“I don’t have time for this,” She snapped, looking down at the time, “I gotta get to work. So sit your ass down and ride the train with us or get off cuz we ain’t going nowhere.”

“Yea, I have a birthday party to get to,” Another passenger quipped.

Altair’s jaw dropped, “But…it’s an emergency… people might die!”

“And?” Someone said from the back, “We almost die everyday here. You’re in Denon, princess, get with the program.”

The tiefling blinked a few times, looking at the children that only shrugged vaguely at him. With that, they all took a seat waiting for the train to start up. Apparently they were going on this journey with a fully loaded train. He closed his eyes to focus on Trace, sending her a telepathic message, “No dice clearing the train, but let’s go.”

 

[Trace]

Trace pressed forward toward the conductor's booth just as the train started to move. She was about to lightsaber her way into the compartment, weapon pressed up against the locking mechanism when she heard Altair's voice in her head. Wait, there were still passengers on board? she thought to herself. Her decision to cut into the compartment was suddenly in question and she wondered if it was a little extreme in the situation. Had she gotten carried away in the adrenaline of the moment? Maybe...

She stopped and made her way back toward Altair and the kids, her mouth hanging slightly agape as she got back to the main passenger compartment. They pulled to their first stop and she was nearly thrown from her feet as it did not stop gently.

I think we can get our transport from here, he said quietly to Altair, starting to shuffle the kids out of the train and toward a pickup vehicle driven by a droid. They hopped inside and were quickly whisked the handful of minutes to an ISB safehouse. The entire bus - now not driven by Altair - pulled into an underground garage connected directly to a... actually, a very nice house. Like, way nicer than Trace was expecting. Hide in plain sight, I guess, she thought to herself.

The kids started unloading, and Trace went over to stand next to Altair. The adrenaline was already starting to flow out of her and the exhaustion was setting in.

Did we just make it through that? she asked quietly as the kids started shuffling inside. She could still sense the fear and anticipation, but she could also now sense the excitement as they looked over their new - temporary - living space.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair quietly watched as the kids unloaded and looked around at their new quarters. From the reports, they were all orphans, which made them simple targets without any kind of repercussions. He couldn’t help but watch them, thinking about the kind of lives they led without any family to fall back to and being entirely on their own. In many ways, they were way tougher than him. Even the little ones that were still confused about what was going on.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when Trace spoke, and he glanced over at her, “Yeah…Yeah we did,” He said quietly, still in disbelief. His horns were still red from where he gored someone, and he was surprised no one one the train even reacted, “You okay?” Altair asked Trace. He didn’t forget how shaken up she was from the execution, and truth be told so was he. His coping mechanisms resorted to violence and he saw nothing but red.

“Think they’ll fit in at the academy?” Altair asked as he glanced back towards the children.

 

[Trace]

It had been a harder day on Trace than she had expected and every one of her limbs felt heavy. She didn't even want to move and... truth be told, she wanted to find a corner to go cry in. Anger, fear, exhaustion, and a hundred other emotions all ran through her at once.

Not really, she finally answered after a moment. It was probably more honest than she should have been with "weakness in the Sith" and all that, but she didn't have it in her to pretend everything was peachy. She was terrified not only of what had happened today to the kids but also of what she had seen within herself. It was a piece of her she'd never seen before and... she'd liked it more than she ever wanted to admit.

But guess I don't have a choice, huh? she said, turning and giving him a weak smile.

If they're going to Taris, I'll try to watch out for them, he said, but they both knew how it was. That would only get you so far. I imagine they have strong motivation now, she said.

She was quiet for a long moment before taking a step forward and facing back in his direction. Any suggestions for blowing off steam? Getting our minds off things? she asked. Somehow getting really drunk didn't sound so bad. Not responsible, but appealing.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair kept his focus on the kids. Well, future acolytes. It was surreal to look at them and know they would be walking the halls of an academy soon. Would they adjust and fit in? Oh well, not his problem. The tiefling looked back at Trace, surprised when she fully admitted she wasn’t okay. It made his features soften and made her all the more human to him. It made it easier to relate than someone that always went by the book.

“I was wrong ‘bout you,” He said quietly after a moment, managing a sad smile, “I thought you had it all figured out and were gonna lord it over me the entire time. But you ain’t like that…. And I’m glad,” He admitted after a moment. Altair sighed and looked down at the ground, “I got some herbs on me I was gonna smoke to keep the edge off. We can do that if you’re down.”

Regardless of whether or not she agreed, he would make his way outside and away from the kids. Altair got out the packet of herbs, rolling them into a joint and lighting it to take a long drag. Right away he could feel the calming effects. He held it out for Trace in case she wanted a hit.

“Was this your first mission?”