The End is the Beginning

[Sterling Malory Archer]

Nar Shaddaa, the smuggler’s moon. Nowhere in the galaxy can you find more vices and debaucheries. Whatever twisted thing the mind can desire is yours for the taking if you only have the wherewithal to seize it. The teeming masses of the small planetoid were just about the best place to get lost in a crowd. The trick was not losing yourself to the crowd and becoming something else entirely. And so our story begins much as it once began… In a city world teeming with all manner of beings. With a man far more in tune with Machines than other sentients.

---

Sal groaned loudly as his alarm went off, reaching blindly to his bedside for the snooze button. His boss could wait ten more minutes. It wasn’t like he would fire his best mechanic, even if he was late more than he was on time. Sal couldn’t find the snooze button and, with great sighing, rolled out of bed to press the button on the chrono. He really did hate the start of his workday… Especially since he hadn’t gotten a vacation in months. Still, Sal had no real reason to complain. He more or less worked his own hours doing what he was best at. And that alone was enough to pull him through the worst of his days. A quick shower and change of clothes later and Sal was out the door and strolling around the block to the spaceport where he worked.

He didn’t even bother to wave to his employer as he passed, instead flashing his security badge to the guard. Not that he needed it. Sal was becoming quite the familiar face as of late. He scanned his I.D. and walked out into the hanger bay he was responsible for. Docking Bay 42D. The mechanic scanned his work logs in his datapad and frowned. Only the one ship coming in, and it was a recent arrival. Odd, usually they stuck him with all kinds of work. Something felt off thought… Something was amiss. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but as he glanced up towards the sky to see the ship incoming he only frowned more deeply. Whatever it was, it felt familiar. And Ominous. But mostly just comforting.

So he waited quietly for the shuttle to land, punching numbers in on his datapad and logging the time for the record. He didn’t mind routine maintenance. It always gave him a sort of satisfaction. Sal glanced up towards the ships exit ramp as it landed, waiting to greet whoever owned it.

 

[Vulpes]

Had it been ten years already? Has this much life been wasted on a single operation? Arikka thought, her ship touching down as she returned to her not-so-new, and indefinite home, Nar Shaddaa. She had grown accustomed to the typical criminals that infested the area, whether they were Retrade remnants or part of the rising Hutt Cartel that was taking over, she could hardly identify anymore. Truthfully, she couldn't even answer that for herself.

She spoke to the workers on the ship, giving them commands as she departed from the ship. The Codru-Ji, which had her lower set of arms concealed in her baggy jacket, departed from the ship, with a freshly lit cigarette in her hand. She didn't enjoy smoking, and by definition, you could barely consider what she did smoking. It was all part of the 'character' she had been playing for the last decade. It appeared that she smoked, but she would use the Force to produce a small barrier within her lungs, which protected her body from most of the bodily harm done to her by the tobacco products. This did have a negative affect though, it caused her to temporarily drop concealment from the Force, which would give Force sensitives a brief moment to sense her midi-chlorian count. But truthfully? Sometimes she just didn't even bother with the barrier.

'Amy' made her way down the ramp, her hair, clothing, and even ways she moved and talked, were radically different from the time that she was in the Jedi. Her hair was now ear-length, minus the bangs, and had red highlights thrown about within it. She paused for a moment upon seeing the mechanic, but couldn't put a finger where she's seen him. A quick reaction when she see's familiar faces though is she makes sure that her Force-sensitivity is concealed, but she was mid-drag. This caused the barrier to dissipate and her lungs to be caught off guard causing her to have a small coughing fit. Arikka covered her mouth with her arm to not make too much noise within the hanger.

After getting her barrings together, she walked over to the mechanic she thought she recognized, hoping to see some sort of nametag. "Hey, greasemonkey, besides routine maintenance, make sure you toggle some of the energy focused on the shields to the engines. We gotta go fast." She was uncertain if perhaps this man recognzied her and waited for his response, uncertain if she wanted an answer of where he was from.

 

[Sterling Malory Archer]

The barest hint of a frown passed over Sal’s face when the ramp dropped as he felt a sort of itch in the back of his head. Like he had forgotten something. But it was over before it even began and Sal went to work running a surface scan of the ship to check for hull damage. Because of that, he was turned just to one side and bent over the datapad when the woman from the ship walked over and spoke to him. Wonderful. One more spacer with demands and demands. Oh well, the sooner he got her ship ship shape, the faster she would be on her way. Then he could sleep the day off like a bad hangover. Sal still didn’t look up as he answered, his Datapad obscuring the name on his jumpsuit.

“Right, Right. Ill do what I can, but drain too much from the shields and something might get through. And there isn’t a faster way to ruin a day than having a hole punched in your hull while you’re making the jump into Hyperspace. Ill push the engines as far as they’ll go though. I just need your mark on this release form and I’ll get to work Miss-“

Sal was going to ask her name, but when he raised his head to look at her he froze. Something about her was really kriffing familiar. And not in the someone he had drinks with one night and didn’t call again way. She looked like someone he knew… He just couldn’t place a finger on it. Weird… Sal lowered the datapad and held it out towards her, exposing the name embroidered on the front of his jumpsuit. Sal. Right there, out in the open. He had never been too worried about someone coming to look for him. Most of the people he knew from the old days were dead, and the sith didn’t usually bother with Nar Shaddaa.

“Err… Sorry. But do I know you? You seem… Familiar. Kinda like when you think you’ve been somewhere and done something before, Y’know? So. What was that name?”

 

[Vulpes]

Arikka's eyebrow twitched as it rose slightly when she discovered his name, Sal. It faintly rung a bell, and she had to communicate with him. "Err, Mekor. Amethyst Mekor." She faked a smile, not quiet certain of what more to say. Giving him this answer gave her time to fathom a response, "I lived on Corellia and Taris for a little while, I'm rather new to this area.." What the Kriff, Arikka? She thought, realizing that she remembered he was once a mechanic of some sort on Taris.

"But I've got some forms I have to get signed. Let me gather them up, they're in the ship," she started to turn and as she walked, she elaborated her ruse, "Company's ship, just legal crap." Upon getting back into the ship, she quickly grabbed a robust writing utensil and scribbled down in basic on the paper. It was a brief explanation of the situation. She then came back out, holding the papers in a slightly bent, but not folded manner so that no bystanders might catch a glimpse. She handed it to the man. "My boss is a mechanic and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the engines, so save him the embarrassment and keep the note on the downlow.."

The note read in a sloppy, speed written handwriting; 'Sal, I know who you are. Or were. A jedi. meet me on the ship and bring some tools or something, make it look like youre going in to fix the internals or something. -Arikka.

"Make sure you read the issues the bossman has written down. I'll show you where it is in the ship." she smiled, and stepped back allowing him to prepare himself to go inside the ship.

 

[Sterling Malory Archer]

Sal nodded absently as the woman gave her name. Well, what she was using as her name anyways. Man that little sensation in the back of his head would just not go away. It seriously had to be the single most annoying thing he had ever had the misfortune to suffer. So as she left, claiming there was legal paperwork, Sal didn’t really notice all that much. So busy was he wracking his brain for just who the hell she could be. Maybe she- And just like that she was back. He took the paper with a sympathetic nod and, tucking it against his datapad to shield it from view, began to read.

He would have paid good money to see the look on his own face when he reached the end of the note. Through its reading, his expression had moved from surprise to shock, then concern. Finally it had settled on amazement. There was just no karking way. Sal folded the paper and creased it with two fingers, tucking it into his jumpsuit and nodding a little. His eyes couldn’t help but to quest over her torso for the telltale bumps of a second set of arms. It was rude to stare. So instead he just smiled charmingly and nodded a bit. “Right Right. I hope this wont be too difficult to figure out. After you, Miss Mekor was it?”

Sal leaned down and grabbed his basic toolkit, following her onto the ship with only the slightest bit of hesitation. Sure, it could all be a ruse… But if it was, it was a very elaborate one.

 

[Vulpes]

Upon getting into the ship outside of the view of any bystanders and the hearing range of any one who could possibly be eavesdropping, Arikka began to give a light chuckle. Abandoning her attempt at being a hardass and borderline rude, the personality she'd grown accustomed to during her time with the Cartel, she spoke out, with a hint of her more native, Tatoonian accent. "You. We were on Tython years and years ago. We had classes together and you were the techhead who made me get on that stupid speeder bike!" she laughed, her voice then died down, it had been one of the first times she thought about Tython in a while.

"What are you doing here? Are you still in contact with the Jedi?" she asked, her tone getting less playful now. Arikka was not quite prepared to bring up the fact that she would be reuniting with the Order soon, wanting to hear Sal's story before releasing such information.

 

[Sterling Malory Archer]

The man turned to look at her once they were safely inside, his hands on his hips and a smile on his lips. “Like I would forget the first friend I made in the order that easily. It’s been a long time, but it hasn’t been THAT long. Heh.” Sal smirked wide, his face lighting up. It had been a long time since he was anything resembling happy. Sure, he wasn’t exactly a miserable man, but Sal had assumed all his friends in the order dead. And Arikka wasn’t the first one he would think to see on Nar Shaddaa. “I have to say, that’s one hell of a Disguise. You’ve gotten better at hiding… Although I guess everyone who was left had too…” Sal’s mood turned just a bit, his smirk becoming a bittersweet smile as he thought of those who died on Coruscant. Her question snapped him out of his brooding though, and he smiled at her once again.

“What am I doing here? Making some kind of living I guess. I… Left the order. Not long after we last met on Tython. A few too many of my masters had died, and I didn’t agree with where the order was going. So, me being the rebellious guy I was, I hopped the first shuttle for Taris I could. A lot of stuff happened… The short version is I ended up here. Honestly, I regretted leaving the moment I stepped off the transport on this blasted rock.” His eyes grew distant then as he stared past her towards the wall. “I felt it you know… All the way out here. I felt Coruscant. I wished…. I wished I could have been there. Gone out with the rest of the order doing what I knew was right. Instead Im out here, fixing ships for credits and drinking away my problems. But enough about me. What happened to you? Did anyone else make it? What about the Armstrongs?”

 

[Vulpes]

Arikka shrugged, upon hearing the Armstrong name. It took her a moment to remember if she heard news of either of them. "I believe they are both well. The uh..." She paused for a moment scratching the back of her head, "There is actually a rumor on a resurgence of the Order. After these repairs, I was going to head to where the rumors are. I suggest you join me. We need all the Jedi we can get right now."

At this point, Arikka was not quite ready to disclose much about herself, or about the order in general. Working within the Hutt Cartel has caused a few trust issues that'd have to be worked on later on. "Put in your notice after this ship and let's go. We haven't the time for any two weeks notices or anything."