The door to the hotel room slid open, the lights came on, and a very tired redhead shed her coat and shoes on her way to drop unceremoniously onto the couch. She thought idly that there should be a bottle of something in her hand, but that would have involved getting back up – something she was not quite ready to do. Instead, she curled onto her side, propping her head up on the arm of the couch, and looked toward the large wall-length window that looked out on the Nar Shaddaa skyline.
She should leave.
She should go get the damned Hope out of the little hangar in the shadowport where it was hidden, and she should just keep flying until the Eternal Empire, the Republic, and the Sith Empire weren't even a thought. Jean Schramme's voice sounded in her head again, accusing her of running at the first sign of her emotional barriers...being breached? Falling? Kriffing soldier types and their need to turn every analogy into a battle thing.
She scoffed. What the hell did that even mean? Emotional barriers.
Patrek Waterfield had made himself a mark from the moment the two exchanged words that first night at Descent. It wasn't the flirting, either. It was the condescension. Zakuulan superiority. Whatever happened, he'd practically drawn a target on his chest that night, and she was prepared to take full advantage of that...of him.
It was an invitation that was so obvious to the former SIS agent that she just couldn't resist the opportunity. The sheer amount of hubris that dripped from so much of what he said broadcasted the exploitable weakness like the gaudiest neon on the Promenade. He was begging for it.
Blue had scolded her for taking the bait (and was probably right), sure, but to walk away from the perfect opportunity to either turn the man into an asset or at least get some usable intel while knocking him down a peg or three? From a selfish standpoint, it could be one last profitable venture to fund a damned nice get-away after all was said and done. Even if all she got was a way to protect the few idiot friends she had left who all seemed to be involved in some form of rebellion against Zakuul, it would be something.
When he wasn't being a haughty, superior ass spouting off in that way that made him sound like the tutting adult over the children's unfortunate misunderstanding that he and the other 'adults' really did know what was best, Patrek was intelligent, attentive, witty. She had enjoyed the flirty verbal sparring with the handsome, older officer, and the heat between them was...
Aittera heaved a conflicted sigh as she pushed herself up into a seated position and pulled her knees up to hug to against her chest. She liked him. She told herself that was a good thing in the end, because it made things easier when one liked their mark. In those moments where she spoke candidly with him, her smile came more easily, more naturally, because they were honest moments. She could be herself with him.
She ran two fingers absently over her lips, recalling another moment in which she'd felt far too honest with him, and her eyes slipped closed. There may have been something here she hadn't quite counted on.
“Just who is seducing who here?” she murmured to herself.
11/18/2015
Tales of the Devious Hope (Aittera Journal Thread)
“I wish I could have come in person, and even began to, but I was argued out of it. It's been a long time, but I still think of you, I still miss you. That's really all I want to say...”
Aittera paused the holo-recording, ran it back, played it again.
" I wish I could have come in person, and even began to, but I was argued out of it. It's been a long time, but I still think of you, I still miss you. That's really all I want to say...”
Pause.
She watched the frozen holo-image of Kol's face for several long, quiet moments. Jean had been quick to point out her run and hide approach to life when they'd spoken earlier, and now, she mused over those final moments before saying goodbye to Kol when word of the first Zakuul attacks had reached them.
“Take the Hope, and get as far away as you can.”
She reached forward to change the holo-terminal settings to record a message and turned to the inset holo-camera's lens...and smiled.
“I miss you too. I've had long nights trying to convince myself that there must be some way to make things work...to make it possible to be together.” She paused, glancing down toward the floor as one or two of those arguments with herself briefly resurfaced in her thoughts. Finally, she looked back up and, this time, her smile was softer, affectionate. “I think we're well past that though, so let's just skip to the important parts...
“I'm okay. I'm not drowning myself in whiskey or hating my life. If nothing else, what happened between us has made me want to live again, honor that knowledge that you're out there, loving me, willing me to be happy. I hope you know I feel the same way.”
She drew herself up to stand more confidently, giving the camera a satisfied nod.
“Your people are right. Don't come to Nar. And do me a favor – ignore anything you hear about me in the next few months. You have your people to protect, and I have mine. We'll see where things stand when we're all on the other side of this thing.”
She placed the tips of her first two fingers over her lips, kissed them, then flicked them toward the camera before ending the recording.
Aittera paused the holo-recording, ran it back, played it again.
" I wish I could have come in person, and even began to, but I was argued out of it. It's been a long time, but I still think of you, I still miss you. That's really all I want to say...”
Pause.
She watched the frozen holo-image of Kol's face for several long, quiet moments. Jean had been quick to point out her run and hide approach to life when they'd spoken earlier, and now, she mused over those final moments before saying goodbye to Kol when word of the first Zakuul attacks had reached them.
“Take the Hope, and get as far away as you can.”
She reached forward to change the holo-terminal settings to record a message and turned to the inset holo-camera's lens...and smiled.
“I miss you too. I've had long nights trying to convince myself that there must be some way to make things work...to make it possible to be together.” She paused, glancing down toward the floor as one or two of those arguments with herself briefly resurfaced in her thoughts. Finally, she looked back up and, this time, her smile was softer, affectionate. “I think we're well past that though, so let's just skip to the important parts...
“I'm okay. I'm not drowning myself in whiskey or hating my life. If nothing else, what happened between us has made me want to live again, honor that knowledge that you're out there, loving me, willing me to be happy. I hope you know I feel the same way.”
She drew herself up to stand more confidently, giving the camera a satisfied nod.
“Your people are right. Don't come to Nar. And do me a favor – ignore anything you hear about me in the next few months. You have your people to protect, and I have mine. We'll see where things stand when we're all on the other side of this thing.”
She placed the tips of her first two fingers over her lips, kissed them, then flicked them toward the camera before ending the recording.
11/01/2015
SSDD
“What the hell were you thinkin'?”
“I was improvising!”
“Well, you improvised yerself right out o' keepin' yer head down.”
“I know.”
“This ain't what we agreed on.”
“I know.”
“Ya said two weeks so ya could make some contacts, send a message or two, an' that'd be it. If anyone connects you to me, an' if they think yer some kinda spy or somethin', I could lose the cantina.”
“I know!”
Aittera rubbed her forehead with two fingers as she continued to pace the tiny area behind the captain's chair where the blue-haired spacer's hands flew across control panels, holo-displays, and computer screens. They had never really gotten along to begin with. Aittera had seen the younger woman as a flibbertigibbet while Kelri had pegged Aittera as a mean-spirited bitch that couldn't be trusted.
In the eight or so years since they'd first encountered each other, a lot had changed. Kelri “Blue” Irris had gone from frivolous party girl to business owner and engineering graduate while Aittera had mellowed somewhat from the bitter, sarcastic woman who had lost everything after the death of her fiancee. To Blue's mind, the redhead's love affair with a Sith had gone a long way toward removing the stick from her ass.
“Anyway, finished workin' on the Hope. Upgraded that stealth tech Selus had installed, but I wouldn't push it when it comes to Zakuul sensors. Ya need to get the Hope some'ere safe. That alias won't hold under scrutiny.”
“Yeah,” Aittera nodded in agreement. “I just need a few more days.”
“Yer jokin',” Blue groaned.
“I got a message that I need to respond to, a couple more friends to look up.”
“Mm-hmm.” The diminutive spacer finished what she was doing with the Hope's systems and hopped out of the captain's chair. “No more hookin' up with Zakuul soldiers at my place. Hard 'nough to find safe places for resistance people to find each other on this moon.”
“Hey, I should get points for getting him to leave.”
Once Kelri was gone, Aittera sunk into the captain's chair and pulled up a holo-image taken from a message she'd recently been passed. It was Kol Arren, his face a bit more worn, a few scars long healed now visible on his face. A hint of gray colored his sideburns, but he was every bit as handsome as he'd once been, and he was smiling in that way he would only have smiled for her.
In the years since the Zakuul invasion had separated them, there had been just four dreams shared between them. In two, by the time she'd realized what they were, they'd barely had time to exchange greetings before the dreams had evaporated for whatever reason. She hadn't expected him to find a way to send a more tangible message or that he'd know she was on Nar Shaddaa, so it had been a surprise to be approached.
She deactivated the holo-image and got up to stalk through the silent ship. Blue was right. She needed to leave as soon as she could. She had come to put out feelers to a few old contacts only to find most of those contacts dead. By the time she had gotten an opportunity to ask Major Eiss about Jean, she was sure the answer would be that he was dead too. She had never gotten a chance to ask where he could be found though.
And then, there was this Zakuul guy...Patrek Waterfield...rubbing elbows with the rabble.
What to do about him...
“I was improvising!”
“Well, you improvised yerself right out o' keepin' yer head down.”
“I know.”
“This ain't what we agreed on.”
“I know.”
“Ya said two weeks so ya could make some contacts, send a message or two, an' that'd be it. If anyone connects you to me, an' if they think yer some kinda spy or somethin', I could lose the cantina.”
“I know!”
Aittera rubbed her forehead with two fingers as she continued to pace the tiny area behind the captain's chair where the blue-haired spacer's hands flew across control panels, holo-displays, and computer screens. They had never really gotten along to begin with. Aittera had seen the younger woman as a flibbertigibbet while Kelri had pegged Aittera as a mean-spirited bitch that couldn't be trusted.
In the eight or so years since they'd first encountered each other, a lot had changed. Kelri “Blue” Irris had gone from frivolous party girl to business owner and engineering graduate while Aittera had mellowed somewhat from the bitter, sarcastic woman who had lost everything after the death of her fiancee. To Blue's mind, the redhead's love affair with a Sith had gone a long way toward removing the stick from her ass.
“Anyway, finished workin' on the Hope. Upgraded that stealth tech Selus had installed, but I wouldn't push it when it comes to Zakuul sensors. Ya need to get the Hope some'ere safe. That alias won't hold under scrutiny.”
“Yeah,” Aittera nodded in agreement. “I just need a few more days.”
“Yer jokin',” Blue groaned.
“I got a message that I need to respond to, a couple more friends to look up.”
“Mm-hmm.” The diminutive spacer finished what she was doing with the Hope's systems and hopped out of the captain's chair. “No more hookin' up with Zakuul soldiers at my place. Hard 'nough to find safe places for resistance people to find each other on this moon.”
“Hey, I should get points for getting him to leave.”
Once Kelri was gone, Aittera sunk into the captain's chair and pulled up a holo-image taken from a message she'd recently been passed. It was Kol Arren, his face a bit more worn, a few scars long healed now visible on his face. A hint of gray colored his sideburns, but he was every bit as handsome as he'd once been, and he was smiling in that way he would only have smiled for her.
In the years since the Zakuul invasion had separated them, there had been just four dreams shared between them. In two, by the time she'd realized what they were, they'd barely had time to exchange greetings before the dreams had evaporated for whatever reason. She hadn't expected him to find a way to send a more tangible message or that he'd know she was on Nar Shaddaa, so it had been a surprise to be approached.
She deactivated the holo-image and got up to stalk through the silent ship. Blue was right. She needed to leave as soon as she could. She had come to put out feelers to a few old contacts only to find most of those contacts dead. By the time she had gotten an opportunity to ask Major Eiss about Jean, she was sure the answer would be that he was dead too. She had never gotten a chance to ask where he could be found though.
And then, there was this Zakuul guy...Patrek Waterfield...rubbing elbows with the rabble.
What to do about him...
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