Chapter 3: Archaic

[Rogue 4]

Nat found himself between a rock and a hard place. He could say no and be stuck here, or say yes and face the infinate wrath of Nima Secura. He knew which way he was leaning.

Nat forced himself to smile, looking to Nima before returning his gaze to his captor--er, her mother. "Of course not. As long as she's not carrying any needles or her laser scalpal, it's usually just fine."

[Andy 60]

"Isn't this a little much?" Aston sighed. He was sat in chair with his hands stuncuffed behind his back in a darkened room.

"How did you find our base?" Someone barked.

"I was following the numbers!"

"What numbers?"

"Oh come on," Aston protested, "we're going round in circles here. I've already told you: I was a member of the Manarai Freedom Force for three years before Lusankya destroyed the place!"

"I don't think he's lying, boss," another voice said.

"What if the truth serum hasn't taken effect yet?"

"You drugged me!?" Aston groaned; this wasn't the best day he'd had in a while.

"I am qualified," the second voice said, "I do know how to make it work."

"Okay, you win," the boss said, "let him go. I just don't like taking chances."

Aston felt someone come up behind him and release him. As he stood the lights came on, and he saw five humans stood around him. Evidently by their pale skin and dirty clothes they didn't live on the surface.

The boss walked over to Aston. "So, the mighty Manarai's, huh?"

"That's right," Aston said cautiously, "and who might you be?"

(tbc later...)

[Mara 29]

Later, Kaden found himself actually feeling that his stay here at Corellia was becoming pleasant. Being around so many loving and friendly family members, people, really, was almost overwhelming at first. But after one day, he had slipped into a more comfortable state of mind. The huge dinner feast his first night had really helped break the ice. He almost felt he was back on Dantooine, years ago.

He smiled, thinking about it as he ran down a trail through some nearby woods. Kaden had been glad that Brier and her family had mostly left him to his own devices. Despite having gotten used to having so many people around, they understood he needed alone time. The mothers more than others.

Seeing the home come into view, despite its size, it's the only thing he could think of it as, he slowed to a jog. Kaden decided to head in right away for a shower and then look for Artie. To make sure he hadn't gotten in trouble already, this early in the morning.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Mara

[Princess 35]

"Mama, seriously, be nice to Nat! I do have to work with him after all." Nima let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not the innocent girl that you knew when I left for Coruscant. I spent 2 years as a slave, and that changed me. I'm a bit more cynical now, a little less trusting. I killed the man who bought me. I freed my fellow slaves and then made my way back to Coruscant. I made it through medical school, then I joined the NRDF and passed the X-wing test. I got in a bit of trouble though, my commanding officer made a comment that I took offense to, and I kinda slugged him. After that I bounced around squadrons until the Revenant's were formed. I'm happy now. I have a purpose."

Daesha leaned over and hugged Nima. "I've missed you so much Nima. You could have at least called me. I'm your mother! I thought that you were dead." Daesha grabbed a menu and whacked it over Nima's head. "Next time, call!"

Nima ducked away and ended up falling back into Nat's lap. "Yes Mother. If I can. You have to remember being a fighter pilot, I'm also in places that I can't always call." Nima seemed to realize then that she was in Nat's lap, and she sat up slowly, a barely noticeable blush on her cheeks.

[Rogue 4]

Nat's face flushed too, and he tried to act as if nothing had happened. Seela seemed uncomfortable as well, lekku bristling whenever Nima brought up her time as a slave.

"I think Nat can vouch for the lack of time too. He didn't even have time to call his favorite sister and tell her about his exploits."

"You're my only sister, and they're supposed to be classified." He pointed out.

[Princess 35]

Seela glared at Nat. "Just because I'm your only sister doesn't mean I can't be your favorite sister as well, brother of mine."

"She's right." Nima agreed with Seela, if even sometimes just to annoy Nat. "Now that I know you have a sister, I'm going to be sure to keep in touch with her." Before Nat could come up with a comeback, the server came over to take their order. "I'll have the collypod and an ac [pint] of t'ssolok." Nima caught her mother's look of shock. "Mom, it's been a long time since I've had any food from here, so just let me enjoy that terrible drink. I'll be fine."

[Rogue 4]

"Because people usually enjoy terrible things." Nat pointed out the flaw in her logic, shifting his leg as it started to cramp up. He waited for the women to make their orders before making his own.

He felt out of place, ganged up on, and tired.

[Princess 35]

Nima noticed Nat shifting uncomfortably and rubbing his leg. "Are you okay? Is it your leg again?" Nima instantly switched moods from tease to physician. She rummaged around in her small bag. "Cramps again? I've got something in here for those." The longer that she digged though, the more frustrated she got, and finally she dumped the contents of the bag out onto the table. Digging through the small mountain, she finally found a small vial and handed it to Nat before beginning to cram more stuff back into her bag than looked like what would fit.

[Rogue 4]

Nat didn't feel that the cramp was that bad to merit...the giant mountain that was on the table. He held the small vial in his hand and eyed it warily with golden eyes before looking back to Nima. "I'm not sure I need this."

[Princess 35]

Nima nodded, while still scooping stuff back into her bag. "Just take one pill if you think that you need it. Or if it gets worse. I'll have to check your leg out later though, it shouldn't still be cramping up like that."

At that point, their food came, and everyone lapsed into silence as they ate for a few minutes, until Nima took a sip of her drink and then spit it out across the table. "Wow, that's even worse than I remember it."

[Andy 60]

Coruscant undercity

"Just your average resistance group," the leader said suspiciously. "We took over the area patrolled by the MF."

"What happened to them?" Aston enquired.

"They disbanded after Lusankya tore up the city. Would've thought you'd have known that."

"I left early," said Aston, "to join the New Republic forces. They requested my slicing skills."

"Well, while you were off being a big-shot, Coruscant is still plagued by Imperial loyalists. Despite whatever the New Republic likes to tell you."

"Wait a second," one of the other guys present said, "you were the slicer?"

"That's right."

"The slicer that took down half the sector's power grid to get into an Imperial outpost?"

Aston rolled his eyes: How does everyone know about that, and ommit the fact that we didn't actually take the outpost down? "Yeah, the same one."

"Aston Kendall, you said, right? AK! You're a local legend around here."

"Don't be silly..." Aston said dismissively.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Andy

[Rogue 4]

Very ladylike, Nat observed with a small grimace. "Your mother told you it was a bad idea."

He was trying to keep mostly to himself as he ate his food.

[Princess 35]

Nima grimaced. "I haven't listened to my mother since I was a teenager. You know, that whole rebellion thing." Nima turned to her mother and kept up some small talk, so that Nat and Seela could get caught up. They still had a few days left of leave, and Nima didn't want to ruin all of Nat's time off.

[Rogue 4]

Seela and Nat spoke quietly. "She's quite a character, Nat. Then again, so are you."

Nat shrugged, looking to his sister. "Most of the squadron are. Believe me."

"I believe you. I also believe that you're getting yourself into as much trouble as usual." Seela grinned, brushing a long lekku over her shoulder.

"What about you? I hope you're staying out of trouble."

She nodded. "I've been doing as you told me to. I've avoided the Tarkona clan in general after what they did, and I've been staying mostly to our clan dens. I keep going stir-crazy though."

"Going stir-crazy is what's going to keep you safe." He pointed out.

[Princess 35]

Daesha still couldn't contain her joy over seeing her daughter again. "I have missed you so much Nima. Our clan den was so quiet without your laughter and your smiling face."

"I know Mama, and I've wanted to come home so many times, but I had things I had to do first. If I would have been gone any longer, I would have lost my spot at Coruscant Med. Then the opportunity came to make an even bigger difference, and I had to take it. But I'm here now. And once I exact my vengeance on Cotan, I will come back into our dens. But you know that until I have my blood price paid, I cannot truly come home."

"I know daughter." Daesha bowed her head. "However, as matriarch of our clan, I can take care of this for you. You should not have to relive this event again."

"No mama, I have to do this myself. I have to cleanse myself and wipe my past clean. I need it to feel whole again. Surely you understand that."

"I do. I just want you to be happy again."

"I am happy mama. I'm doing something to make the galaxy a better place, and I'll also be working to rid the galaxy of slaver pirates. Did you see See'lariamor's reaction when I mentioned slavers? I believe that she has a past like mine. Such a nice girl, and she should have happiness and not have to worry about her safety constantly. Vassij'ra must be stopped."

"I agree with you Nima. The council of Matriarch's is taking on this issue. Unfortunately, not all clans feel the same way as our clan and some others. We are working on the problem at home though. But as long as there is a demand, I am afraid that some will still go rogue and sell their sisters into slavery."

[Drake 53]

Takeshi was now sitting in the medlab. His armour and power liner suit were off and piled next to the bed he was sitting on, leaving him in his form-fitting armour-mesh flight suit which was stripped down to his waist. A medical droid had dealt with his minor concussion and had since been poking him randomly and administering bacta salves to his various superficial injuries. Despite constant assurances that he would be fine, the droid had insisted to the point of physically restraining him. Tak guessed that Nima probably had the droids programmed with her bedside manner.

Finally, the med-droid finished up. "Try to get some rest. There is bruising on your ribs so I would recommend avoiding any further combat."

"No promises on that one," said Tak as he began to re-dress himself. "Now go on and fix someone who actually needs it."

The droid wheeled away and Takeshi spent the next several minutes putting his armour back on. Once done, he grabbed some steri-wipes and cleaned the blood from the interior of his helmet, then hooked it to his belt and left the medbay.

Shortly after, he found himself back in the hangar, looking over the damage the invasion had wrought. Many of the ships on the deck had been damaged or destroyed, including many of the Revenant's X-Wings. Fortunately, though, his personal transport, the sleek and stealthy Black Ops vessel that he flew here in, was still intact in its berth.

[Andy 60]

Coruscant undercity

"No, seriously," the obsessive guy continued, "you did a lot to help the resistance movement back then. We should repay you somehow..."

"How's about showing me the way back to the surface?" Aston said dryly.

Everybody laughed, and the boss spoke up. "You're practically on the surface, kid. Follow me. You can call me Bern, by the way."

Aston followed Bern through the warren of their base and eventually came out to a ledge near the base of the cities towers to face a breathtaking view of the reconstruction zones. To the right one of the peaks of the Manarai Mountains was visible, the other hidden by the city itself. In front of him was a vast expanse, mostly of rubble, occasionally pierced by a crumbling skyscraper. Construction droids were in the far distance, repairing the ugly scar that had blighted the planet for over a year now.

"That's quite a view," Aston said eventually.

"Hopefully one we won't have to look at for too long," Bern muttered, then gestured towards a beat-up shuttle. "Whenever you are ready to leave, we'll get Griff to give you a lift back to wherever you're staying."

[Drake 53]

Tak walked to his ship as the base personnel diligently went about packing and storing equipment to leave the base. Many of these men and women had served with the Rebellion so they were trained to evacuate quickly and efficiently. Several vessels were being loaded the shuttles, transports, and even a few fighters that weren't damaged beyond repair.

He got to work warming up the vessel's systems and running checks and, after a short while, the base comm system crackled to life.

"Long range communications have been restored," came the voice causing a small cheer to go up around the hangar.

A moment later, Takeshi's personal comm unit activated.

***

New Republic Defense Force Headquarters, Coruscant

Captain Aeric Tunon walked through the spacious main hall of the NRDF building. He had just gotten out of a meeting with Admiral Besav, and a couple other brass, concerning the status of the base and, more specifically, the Revenants.

He was on his way to the lunch room when his personal comm unit beeped. He removed the unit from his pocket and stared at it. The series of three beeps; one short beep followed by one long beep and then another short beep, was the signal for an emergency message. He activated the comm to listen.

"Calling all personnel currently on leave. This is Commander Tebus, authorization code NR178-gamma-lambda-2827. Base M-2374-alpha has been compromised. Do not return to base. All personnel regroup to Rendezvous Point 000-sigma-5. Repeat, this is Commander Tebus..."

Aeric switched off the comm and lowered it to his side as he stared ahead at nothing. Altagak Base had been compromised? How could that have happened? Why? There were many questions to be answered. The authorization code had been accurate so the message was real.

The rendezvous coordinates the base commander had given were here, at the NRDF HQ. Captain Tunon spun around and walked quickly to the military command centre, hoping they would have the answers he sought.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Atuarre's comm beeped insistantly, startling her out of her reverie.

"Calling all personnel currently on leave. This is Commander Tebus, authorization code NR178-gamma-lambda-2827. Base M-2374-alpha has been compromised. Do not return to base. All personnel regroup to Rendezvous Point 000-sigma-5." Repeat--

Coruscant? Not Altagak Base? In fact, the message had said specifically not to return to Altagak. She chuffed uncertainly under her breath. Something about this wasn't right. All thoughts of her clan forgotten, she lept deftly into her fighter and fired up the repulsors. Someone on Coruscant had better have some answers.

[Princess 35]

Ryloth

Nima and Nat's comms beeped at the same time. Nima answered hers first. "Calling all personnel currently on leave. This is Commander Tebus, authorization code NR178-gamma-lambda-2827. Base M-2374-alpha has been compromised. Do not return to base. All personnel regroup to Rendezvous Point 000-sigma-5. Repeat, this is Commander Tebus..."

Nima stared at Nat in shock for a minute. "Well, I guess that means that our leave is over sooner than expected. Mama, it was great seeing you again, but we've gotta run." She threw some credits on the table, grabbed her bag and headed for the spaceport.

[Ayingel 24]

Coruscant

Szen picked up her comm as it beeped. At least I'm back in my room...

"Calling all personnel currently on leave. This is Commander Tebus, authorization code NR178-gamma-lambda-2827. Base M-2374-alpha has been compromised. Do not return to base. All personnel regroup to Rendezvous Point 000-sigma-5. Repeat, this is Commander Tebus..."

Without even thinking, it seemed, Szen headed over to the closet and grabbed her flight jacket. She didn't have any of her other gear, but Nima had luckily thought to grab it for her. She flew out of the room and down the hall, taking a short stop at the desk to explain the situation as an emergency. Outside, Szen flagged down an air taxi and headed to the rendezvous. No break whatsoever. She impatiently tapped her new hand on the door as the taxi wove its way through Coruscant's always heavy traffic.

[Vergere 1]

Home, Corellia

--A bit of a time jump by a few days to catch up with everyone else timewise--

Brier was rather glad Kaden enjoyed the alone time. It helped keep her from having to explain too much about the family, and some of the conversations they held, although they tried to keep it quiet and out of the way.

"No, dad, I can't." Brier rubbed her temples.

"Yes, you can. You have the resources-"

"Oh, dad, leave Brier alone. You know she can't use her sources to help you." Her sister sighed deeply. "Just because you still smuggle doesn't mean the rest of us have to follow suit."

"She's married to a smuggler! She lives in a smuggler's family!" Her father threw up his hands in exasperation.

Brier smiled her soft smile, her voice as soft as usual, even though everyone else was close to shouting. "But I don't help him on his smuggling runs."

Her husband nodded. "Dad, we - and by we I mean smugglers - help out Brier because we can. We love her and we get information she can't. AND-" He pointed to his dad for emphasis, "If we get in trouble, us being contacts sure helps with the likelihood of us getting out of it again."

"No, that's because you're Corellian."

"Dad, luck has nothing to do with it!" Brier laughed her melodic laugh. "I don't mind - my bosses don't mind - if I dabble a bit into the more seedier side of society. It's my specialty. It's what they hired me for - underworld conops. Even if I didn't get raised as a smuggler, my job itself would present me with our more unlawful denizens. But unless I'm on a job, I can't actively help you out. You know that, dad. It's been that way for years."

Her dad sighed and leaned back, this time him rubbing his temples. "I know. I just hoped..."

"Listen. If... and I mean if I accidentally come across the information you want, I may just make sure it makes its way to you."

Brier's sister glanced at her. "Won't it get you in trouble?"

Brier shrugged casually. "No...I work for Intel, and they know my intel isn't the most lawful, for all its accuracy and help. That's the type of agent I am, and its why they hired me. If I can keep giving them good work like I have been, and give them the information they want, they won't care who I got it from, or really, what I need to do to repay my sources." She yawned. "Now, is that all, or may I return to spending some quality time not arguing about work with my family?"

She frowned as her comm beeped, and turned it on to listen. After the message, she simply raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

Edited May 29, 2008 by Tyche

[Mara 29]

Kaden left the refresher adjoining his spacious room and dressed in a fresh flightsuit of gray. He was just strapping on his boots when Artie fairly blew into his room. Looking up, he wondered how the droid had gotten in, then dismissed it. It was best not to think about those things when it concerned Artie.

Artie whistled frantically.

He picked up his other boot. "What is it?" Kaden looked hard at the droid. "You didn't hurt one of the kids, did you?"

Kaden was blasted with an electronic raspberry, then a string of trills. "My comm? What about it?" He stood up and found his small bag and rummaged through it. Finding his comm unit, he clicked it on and played the most recent message.

"Oh."

Artie beeped.

Kaden sighed. "Back to Coruscant...." He finished with his boot, straighted his clothes and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go find Brier," he said, waving at his droid to leave the room. They headed out together, going to find their host.

[Rogue 4]

The Null-10

The Zeltron felt them exit hyperspace, the hum of the hyperdrive engines coming to a sudden halt, leaving silence to reverberate in her ears. She felt her heartrate quicken, and took a deep breath as she tried to calm it. She needed to stay calm and collected. She needed to be on top of her game when she saw Deign again, or as on top of it as she possibly could be.

She couldn't let him use her emotions against her. It was her job to use them against him.

She sat there, waiting patiently for the door to the cell to open. She knew it was only a matter of time. And then she would be ushered to the well-defended Archaic Headquarters.

Ryloth

Nat rose quickly to follow her. "It was a pleasure meeting you, ma'am." Looking to his sister he said, "I'm sorry Seela."

[Princess 35]

Nima was standing outside the cafe trying to flag down a speeder. Unfortunately, there weren't many taxi speeders around, so it took a few minutes. By the time Nat finished saying goodbye to his sister, Nima had finally found one for them. They jumped in together and Nima told the driver "Kala'uun spaceport, and step on it!" She turned to Nat. "I'm so sorry about my mother Nat."