Ask Externships Are Hard

[Trace]

Namadii was a pretty backwater system, and Trace assumed that was why she had been sent here by the Sith. She could just hear it in her head: send the Acolyte to do the grunt work. Make the Acolyte do thes things no one else wants to do. It wasn't a new story, but Trace wanted honors for this rotation, and that meant acing her job here today.

Namadii's only had one major city, and that was basically a massive space port through which people stopped for fuel before heading onward down the Namadii Corridor. Recent reports said that weapons were being smuggled to rebel cells within Imperial space through one of the docking bays in this system, so Trace had been handed a name and told to observe. Nothing else, just observe and report.

She was almost certainly that while she did the observing, she was also being observed by someone from the ISB to make sure she didn't botch things up... that thought was entirely unsavory. Even if they were "polite" enough not to show themselves, it felt like being watched and judged.

She tried to push that thought out of her mind as she finished sipping the cup of caf that she was using as a cover for why she was just sitting outside this particular spaceport for hours on end. She had drunk so much caf over the last few days. This "observe and report" stuff was really boring. Holy Force lightning was it boring.

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis had barely attended the Sith academy for long before recieving an assignment. These Sith sure didn't fuck around did they? At least she wouldn't be bored.

Or so she had thought. The assignment ended up being a whole lot of waiting around and watching ships come out of a dingy spaceport on a backwater planet. So much for a good time.

She walked the small cities streets in her normal garb and looked more like she belonged in the Coruscant undercity than she did a planet like this. The sun was bright and the trees were green and there wasn't an alleyway to duck into in sight. She sighed before ducking into a cafe instead.

She hadn't brought much with her. Just her credit allowance, her pear phone, and a small capsule of crude... Just in case. Walking up to the counter she ordered a caf as her eyes scanned the occupants. The girl in the blindfold... Something nagged at the back of Ailis mind and once she got her caf from the counter she walked over to the table.

"You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere?" She asked before taking a sip of her caf and scrunching her lips. They made it different out here on the Rim. She pulled the seat next to the blindfold girl out and asked, "This seat taken?" before plopping down in it.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace drained the remnant of her caf from the cup before setting it back down. She didn't actually face the young woman as she sat down. She could sense her just as well whether she was facing her or not.

She took in the woman's "scent" so to speak. There was a unique impression that everyone had, and she relied on those to gain a sense of what the woman was like. She felt out of place. Like she didn't belong here, but then, Trace didn't either. She supposed she couldn't blame her. After all, most people here were just passing through.

It's a big galaxy. I don't think either of us is from around here. Anywhere I would have bumped into you? she asked, motioning toward the chair for the woman to sit. The truth was, she wouldn't have normally done that, but something felt off. Something did feel familiar about the woman.

She also noted that the girl had sat before Trace actually offered the seat. Her lips moved off to the side of her mouth to express something that might have been disapproval.

You have a name, oh mysterious and familiar seat taker? she asked. She really didn't need distractions, but to be honest she was so bored that she was fine with it. Surely someone was going to smuggle some illegal weapons eventually, right?

@Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis observed as the blindfold girl didn't look her way as she sat, which made sense, seeing as she was wearing a blindfold. Maybe she was one of those eyeless uh... Miraculan? Mirakulon? Something like that.

Whatever she was, Ailis felt a shiver down her spine as she almost 'felt' the girl's eyes on her, that latent force sensitivity within here letting her know that she was being observed through something other than the usual five senses. Miraluka! That's what it was.

"I'm uh," she started, a little unsettled but she preserved, "I do have a name, it's Ailis Drast. What's yours?" She finished answering as she looked at the girl intently. Where had she seen her. Then she snapped her fingers and pointed at the girl as she exclaimed, "Oh oh I know. Taris, there was a big party there. Pretty sure, I could be wrong I was pretty blitzed." She laughed.

She leaned back against the seat, slinging an arm over to rest on its back as she sipped her caf again. "So what brings you to this boring rock?" She asked, though she had started to put two and two together. She was pretty sure the miraluka girl was around the same age as her, and if she had been at the part on Taris that meant she had probably gotten the same invite as her.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace noted the name Drast, though that didn't necessarily mean much. Sure they seemed to have a higher propensity for being from Imperial space - and Sith for that matter - but for ever one Sith Drast there were probably several thousand non-Sith Drast.

When Ailis mentioned the party on Taris, that pretty much confirmed she was, indeed, a Sith. Of course, Trace was familiar with how cutthroat the academy could be and she tensed ever so slightly.

Trace, she replied when asked what her name was in return. You mean to tell me you're not here for course work? she asked, clearly skeptical based on her tone. She wasn't going to have anyone stealing out her work.

Because if you try to screw me up, it's not going to go well, she said, her voice momentarily becoming sharp as she turned to face Ailis. It didn't matter if she didn't have eyes, the point was still across either way and she knew it.

She waited for a long moment, trying to judge Ailis's intentions in the Force and waiting for a response... either confirmation or denial. But the last thing she needed right now was a fight that would draw tons of attention.

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis was paying enough attention to the girls body language to notice her tense at the mention of the party. Did she do something embarrassing at the party? Or, no. Probably because it meant Ailis was a Sith. She wondered if they were classmates.

"I mean yeah, so what?" She said nervously before shrinking under the intensity of the Miraluka's gaze... stare... whatever. Scrutiny was the word she finally settled on. She didn't understand why she should want to screw the other girl up though. Oh right, Sith.

"No it's nothing like that." She mumbled out as she withdrew a little, her usual exuberant confidence taking a hit. All she had wanted was to say hello to a familiar face and now everything was messed up. She brought her knees up to put her feet on the chair, wrapping her arms around her shins as the voice in the back of her mind whispered temptation to reclaim that confidence.

"Sorry, I'm new to the Academy. I barely even know what we're supposed to be doing here." She admitted, probably a mistake but wasn't used to measuring her words. Probably something she would have to learn to do if she was gonna be hanging around with Sith. "I'll just go... Sorry to bother you." She said dejectedly as she started moving to get up.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace kept her attention on the woman for a moment, feeling the way she... squirmed under the attention. It didn't seem like it was an act, which caused Trace to relent slightly after a moment. She'd been stabbed in the back before and swore it wouldn't happen again, but this Ailis wasn't here for that, she could tell.

Okay, if you're not here for course work, then what brings you out here? she asked, her voice no longer feeling so harsh. If the girl still got up to leave, she wouldn't stop her, but asking a follow up question was about as close to an invitation to stay as she was going to get.

I'm here for REC451, she said, her voice slightly quieter now, though there was no one else around. The course she referred to was a reconnaissance course and one that she really needed to pass in order to graduate. The reports on her prior target had been stolen by one of the other academy students, and she was not going to repeat this externship for a third time.

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis stopped getting up as the girl asked her a follow up question, her tone softening. Sitting back down, she planted her elbows on the table and her face on her hands grumpily

"I said it was." Her tone a little moody as she listened to the girl whisper her class. Well, that made sense. "REC101," She replied quietly before continuing into a hushed rant, "They haven't even done a class on reading dossiers and now I'm supposed to be out here shadowing a senior student, but first I'm supposed to find one!" She said with a huff.

Her eyes shot to the door of the cafe as the bell jingled and a Weequay walked in and went up to the counter to order. Returning her attention to Trace, she though about things for a moment. "Well, I guess I found one didn't I? So what's next? She asked. At least she had finally made some progress.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Oh... right, she said when the girl corrected her that she had said she was here for class. Trace had been so flustered by the thought of someone trying to steal her target that she'd almost entirely failed to listen. She wasn't going to admit she'd been flustered, though. That kind of weakness wasn't a good thing among the Sith.

Now, however, her mind was wondering if she was going to be penalized for a REC101 student finding her on the job. Hopefully not... but you never could tell with Sith instructors. Well, it was too late now, so might as well see what they could work on to benefit one another.

The mention that the girl hadn't even been taught about gathering and assembling dossiers struck her as odd, and it played slightly along her mouth and cheeks that she thought something was off.

You piss somebody off? Sounds like they're setting you up to fail, she said, the question not an accusation but a genuine thing to consider. If one of the instructors had it out for her, it wasn't impossible that she'd been sent out here to fail or die. Or maybe she just had a particularly difficult instructor.

Once again, she didn't have to turn to take in the details of the Weequay. She could hear the way he walked and breathed. She really was made for recon jobs like this because you could "watch" people without even really being in the same room.

So you were told to find a senior and then what? she asked. Was she supposed to be instructing this 101er? She was barely confident doing this herself let alone teaching someone else. What did the instructors at the academy say? See one, do one, teach one? She supposed it was her "teach one" chance, so she started thinking about what she needed to tell Ailis to bring her up to speed.

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis could tell the Trace was thinking about something by the way the girl's expression changed at Ailis mention of her assignment. Her next words weren't exactly reassuring.

"Probably. The admissions office wasn't exactly happy with me joining halfway through the semester." She leaned back in her chair again, foot fidgeting slightly against the ground. "They we're soooo excited to pick up a Drast, I think I disappointed them when they found out I just discovered my... Abilities." She wondered if maybe she shouldn't be talking about these things in public. Oh well, too late now.

"The paperwork wasn't exactly clear. Shadow, learn. Something like that. The school uses weird terminology, I probably missed the class that explained it all." It wasn't like they had tried to catch her up on anything. It seemed to be a feet first, sink or swim type of school. Not exactly the most reassuring thing but she was used to it. Lower city schools weren't exactly concerned with how their students did either. She slouched in her seat in frustration before taking another sip of caf and watching the Weequay leave... Had he left his drink at the counter?

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Ailis's explanation actually explained a lot. Some sort of early mission experience, but she hadn't been around long enough to get the information she needed to succeed because of late enrollment.

Okay... she said, reaching up and scratching her head. They had their work cut out for them. Okay, well I guess you're going to learn on the job, then, she said, noting the Weequay leave the bar. She could tell his drink was still on the counter, but he was now leaving, heading in the direction of the port across the way. Was this shop connected to the smugglers?

Don't suppose you have a saber, then? she asked, though hopefully - theoretically - they wouldn't need it.

You've already clocked Mr. Sketchy, I take it, she said, noting the way the girl's thoughts seemed to almost flow in the direction of the man who was leaving. Trace hadn't a clue what he was doing, but kept alert just in case. Perhaps he had left something at the counter for someone else... a dead drop of sorts and had just gotten sloppy about remembering to take his "drink."

We're keeping an eye on the port across the street. They're supposed to be smuggling weapons to rebel groups. Observe and report is supposed to be the name of the game, she said.

 

[Griffin Lockhart]

It was a simple weapon smuggling deal and nothing more. Lockhart had done enough of these to understand the drill and to let things play out. It was always the same, one side had the bigger stick and the other needed to acquire their own large stick to even the playing field.

The spaceport of Namadii was massive and was a prime opportunity for work to those who knew how to sniff it out. Even though there was the main port, there were docks infested throughout the entire station just for supplies to be delivered more efficiently. One of those was being occupied by the smugglers as three transport ships remained grounded in it, crates of weapons being inspected, discussed, and packaged to be delivered off-world.

From the Chiss' understanding, the weapons were being delivered to Rebels, the crates bearing Imperial insignias and already removed of trackers. Lockhart had always been amused by the tenacity of the rebels but they paid him well enough to take their proposition seriously.

The mercenary patrolled around the dock and in between the crates of weapons, a half-mask fastened to his face, and his black hair sprouting over the top. His armor was exposed and his typical armament as he didn't help in the loading of goods. The Chiss was simply there for protection and instead prepared if something went wrong, multiple features of the dock programmed to his gauntlet after the smugglers had commandeered it.

In truth, Lockhart wasn't pleased with the amount of time they were taking. They could have already left under his discretion but they were waiting on one more, a Weequay. In order for them to leave smoothly, a port-key was required to pass port security. It was on him and that meant they had to wait as the weapons would be loaded and disguised slowly.

@Phoenix @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis was beginning to get over the earlier shake to her confidence and grinned when Trace mentioned learning on the job. "Great! I love learning." She said excitedly. She hadn't graduated from her shitty school with honors for nothing, though the teachers all kinda hated her by the end of it her grades didn't give them any reason to come down too hard on her. It wasn't like she had been doing anything any of the other kids in her school weren't. The grin turned into a frown at the next question.

"No. All they would enroll me in was introductory courses." They had said it was due to her lack of training and experience. That was fine, she didn't want a stinky red saber anyways. She wasn't exactly a fan of violence. Not like this anyways. She was shocked that Trace had seen the sketchy Weequay without turning her head before remembering what she was.

"Yeah but how did you... right, sorry." She started before thinking for a moment. "You can't see through my clothes can you?" She asked uncomfortably while shifting in her seat, crossing one leg over another. That would be awkward. She listened as Trace explained the operation, and she recalled reading something that might have meant similar in her mission briefing folder.

"Smugglers and gunrunners!" She exclaimed in hushed tones before leaning in to ask with a whisper. "We're not gonna get shot at are we?" She hoped not. She'd seen people shot, maybe ran away from someone waving a blaster around a few times. But she'd never been shot at for real for real before. The calling whisper from her pocket grew a little louder like an earworm in her ear.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Right, don't get shot, then, she said when Ailis confirmed that she didn't have a lightsaber. Yeah, they'd really sent her out here to die, hadn't they? Someone probably needed to have words with someone else about that, but it wasn't Trace's problem.

When Ailis asked if she could see through clothes, Trace simply tilted her head to the side and smiled. I'm blind, she said, though clearly not as most understood it and so she let the mystery linger in the air.

Hopefully not, she answered the final question. She'd really rather not get shot, but one could never say for certain on a job like this. You'll have to learn to fight eventually, she warned, but she also knew that if she was brand new to the Academies that two things were true: 1) she probably knew little about that yet and 2) she would rudely find out very, very soon.

In the meantime, just get to cover and I'll... take care of it, she said. In truth, she was already pretty good with a saber because it was mostly like dancing, but she was still an Acolyte. Having to fight off a half dozen smugglers at once wasn't on the top of her priority list.

Come on, I want to see where Mr. Sketchy's going, she said, standing and tossing her coffee cup in the trash as they headed out. The streets weren't empty, but they weren't busy either. The Weequay headed out across the way to the port before heading inside. There didn't seem to be anyone else at the entrance, but Trace didn't dare head directly in.

Remember not to stare, she said. It seemed simple, but she imagined that the first time on the job with nerves running, people could mess up even the simplest of things.

@Arcangel @Orbit

 

[Ailis Drast]

Trace's words weren't exactly reassuring and her hesitancy to say that she would take care of Ailis was... well troubling to say the least. She also wasn't wrong. If Ailis really was gonna be a Sith and live up to her Drast name she was going to have to learn to fight one day. What better day than today right? The thought filled her with anxiety.

"You're blind, but not like..." Ailis trailed off, not really sure where to go with it and not wanting to offend. Clearly the girl had figured out how to work around the disability, whether it was some form of echolocation or force sight. She silently laughed in her head at the thought of the girl's screeches bouncing off the walls. "Is it like echolocation or something?"

Standing up to follow Trace, she was supposed to shadow her after all, Ailis drained the rest of her caf in one long pull before dumping the empty container in the trash on her way out the door. No reason to waste what she bought. Hurrying to catch up, Ailis jogged up behind Trace before slowing to walk next to her. She tried not to be overly admiring of the graceful way the woman walked, almost like a dancer, and couldn't help feel a twinge of jealousy.

"I wasn'- ohh. The Weequay." She said without thinking before blushing and looking anywhere but ahead. Not that Trace could see her or the flush of color on her cheeks apparently. She did glance at the Weequay once or twice as she walked, scoping him out, as well as taking in their surroundings. "I grew up on Coruscant you know, this isn't exactly my first time tailing someone." That was true, she'd followed people around on the low on occasion.

The Weequay headed in to the spaceport, leaving them to fret outside, but Ailis wasn't about to stand around uselessly and let the other girl do all the work. Spotting an alley off to the side of the spaceport, she pointed it out. "There, maybe theres a way we can sneak into the port around the side." She stepped towards the alleyway, bright sun filtering down to illuminate a trash filled corridor.

@Phoenix @Orbit

 

[Zhaan Duran]

Duran was also here, although on the gun-running side than guarding. He hadn't bothered with his helmet, just a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes while crates and things got loaded up. Gloved fingers idly tapped against a pistol holster, a cheroot cigar burning between his lips. Zhaan was delivering the goods to be transferred, scrubbed clean and ready to go on their way wherever into Sith space. There were only a couple real problems with the whole thing.

"Still switching the rest to Slickback?" asked one of the other smugglers, getting a look from Zhaan. "That's A Ship Named Slickback," the Chiss corrected in casual tones around the cigar, nodding toward the ship in question. "And yeah, load up." Always looking to make more profit, he was also taking goods smuggled out to the rest of the galaxy. He didn't care that in one stroke some rebels would profit from the guns while the Sith got some of their goods out into the galaxy. So long as Zhaan got paid.

It was pretty good money, just not enough to give a fuck about the morality angles. He'd taken a job or two from whatever 'Blackout' was supposed to be before. Plus, there was another Chiss here. That was rare as all hell outside Ascendency space, interesting in and of itself. Zhaan tipped his hat toward the masked-up Lockhart while they patrolled around.

@Orbit @Phoenix @Arcangel

 

[Trace]

Something like that, she said with a chuckle. It was hard to explain. A combination of pseudo-echolocation, emotions in the Force, sixth sense instinct, and technomancy made her life as she lived it possible. The Force flowed through all things, and differently for each thing. If one could feel those differences, they could feel the world around them.

She cleared her throat slightly as she realized that Ailis hadn't thought she was talking about the Weequay, which left one other option that almost left Trace blushing as well.

Nope, I didn't know that. And I'm actually kind of surprised you've done this before. I hadn't ever done this before coming to the academy, she said. She imagined the girl had an interesting story if this wasn't a first for her.

Should put you ahead of the curve, then. REC is basically just tailing on steroids, she said, pausing at the corridor that Ailis poinetd out. Okay, let's go, she said, scrunching up her nose and let out a very quiet groan as the smell of old trash and poorly sealed sewage line hit her nose.

She headed down, walking at a brisk pace so that if they were caught she could pass it off as just passing through, but keeping a proverbial eye open for a side door. Meanwhile, she let her sight expand further outward.

There's a lot of people inside. Multiple ships, I think, she said. Focusing across a larger area like this was more difficult, and the details became blurry to her, but it was a better indication than nothing of what they were up against.

@Arcangel @Orbit @Mr. Teatime

 

[Griffin Lockhart]

Footsteps echoed near the entrance of the dock and Lockhart turned his attention toward the sound. His hand neared the blaster pistol holstered on his leg but the source revealed itself as the Weequay. Smoothly slipping his hand away, the Chiss stepped forward to meet him with a confident stride. Finally, they could actually begin to prepare and take off from the spaceport.

"Were you followed?" He asked the thug, his voice coming out slightly modulated from the mask. The Weequay just shook his head, prompting another question, "The port-key?" With a nod as his answer first, the man would then reach into his jacket and pull out the device for Lockhart. The Chiss took it within his gloved hand, inspecting it quickly for anything out of the ordinary before tossing it back. "Take it to the pilot."

Not wasting any time, the Weequay went past him and rushed over to Zhaan and the other pilots. It held much more worth in their hands as it would be their ticket out of here in one smooth ride. Lockhart would stare at the entrance that the man had entered from, his gaze holding there for a moment before he eventually turned away to resume his patrol around the weapon crates.

As he walked around, he picked up the nod from the fellow Chiss but he wouldn't return one back. Being in the presence of another of his kind made him uncomfortable and part of the reason why he took on the alias, "Griffin Lockhart." Out of any job in the galaxy, he got one with another Chiss. The mercenary would continue to remain vigilant while the others kept loading.

@Mr. Teatime @Phoenix @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

"I would hope you didn't know," Ailis commented on Trace's reply to her about growing up on Coruscant. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if you were some sort of mind reader too." She giggled before pausing and thinking about it for a moment. Shit, she really hoped the girl wasn't a mind reader or all of her secrets would be bared.

"I sure hope so, I feel so far behind and nobody has been any help at all." She groaned about class. She was used to being the one at the top of the class and now she was nearly flunking out, all the assignments from before she joined the school still affecting her grade and her scrambling to cram and study to try to catch up. And that was without all these field study assignments. Neither the students or any of the teachers seemed to show any interest in catching her up and she was beginning to realize that might be what the Sith were all about.

Stepping into the alleyway with Trace, Ailis was starting to get nervous. Her heart pounded and she couldn't stop thinking about the pill case in her pocket. Focus girl. She told herself as she entered familiar territory, the smell of rotten trash and leaking sewage almost comforting to her nerves as it reminded her of home. How pathetic was that. Anxiety racing she almost didn't hear Trace as she spoke up about what lay ahead.

"Huh? Oh really? Your... sight, it works even into the spaceport?" She asked, clearly impressed. That was so cool. She wondered if she would be able to learn how to do that. Her attention quickly drifted to a hole in the fence surrounding the spaceport, clearly a quick access cut by some smuggler or other criminal that needed a low key entry way.

"Jackpot." She said with excitement in her voice as she pointed the slightly peeling links in the fence out to Trace. Walking up to it, she pulled the opening wide and ducked in, finding herself behind a stack of crates in one of the landing bays. Her palms were sweating and she wiped them off on her pants as she glanced about nervously, uncertain of their next move.

@Phoenix @Orbit @Mr. Teatime

 

[Trace]

How could you be thinking that?! she threw out in "astonishment" a few moments after the other acolyte had commented on her being a mind reader. With luck, she'd catch her thinking about something she didn't want known and make Ailis think that maybe she really could read minds.

Well... ish, she said as Ailis asked if she could "see" inside starports. She could sense the anxiety rising in her partner as they approached the fence, and she felt it in herself as well. Her heart was speeding up, her stomach felt nauseous, and she just wanted to turn around and leave. But that wasn't an option, so she did the only thing she could do: pressed forward step by step and tried to get through it. And tried to put on a calm face in the process.

She ducked under the fence, and slipped her hand along the wall of the backside of the spaceport. She felt the energy that connected her to this place and located what she was looking for.

We need to get to the upper level, she whispered, motioning toward a second story window. She really, really hoped that Ailis knew how to use the Force to jump or she was probably going to get left behind.

Observe and report, she reminded herself. She was not looking for a fight with whoever was inside. Another thought clicked through her head a moment later.

How confident would you feel if you went around the front and distracted them? You're comfortable with... street things, right? Just get them talking for a minute or two and move on? she asked.

@Arcangel @Orbit @Mr. Teatime