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Thread: Not In Our Stars

  1. #1
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    Closed Not In Our Stars

    It was a hard thing not to look. A harder thing when you convinced yourself that you could get away with a furtive glance every now and again, without actually considering just how long a glance was, and just how often was too often. Atton Kira did his best; at the very least, he managed not to stare. Part of him wished that he would, though: part of him wished that he would stare and stare until the sight of her now was plastered across every inch of his brain, utterly obliterating the way he'd seen her when they first properly met.

    To look at her now, you could almost fool yourself into believing that everything was fine; that nothing had even happened. The scars were almost completely gone - the ones on the outside, at least - and while she hadn't quite recovered to the full lofty heights of her usual sassy self, there was less shellshock in her eyes these days; she had begun to seem like Sadie K'Vesh again - or at least, the Sadie K'Vesh you caught glimpses of in the bootlegged holos of band performances, and that you heard stories of if you moved in the right circles.

    Hell, here she was, venturing out into the depths of Cloud City without bringing along her big strong bounty hunter bodyguard for a change. That she felt safe being alone out here with just Atton for company seemed like an important step in her recovery; and to Atton it meant something, as well. All these years he had sought to covertly protect her from the shadows, to keep her safe; and while recent events called his success and effectiveness into question, that she had managed to find some small amount of trust for him within herself, well, even the Banking Clan didn't have enough credits to buy a feeling like that.

    "Not much further," he assured, as he led her through the somewhat grimy streets - or were you supposed to call them corridors when they were inside a giant pressurised flying city? - of Port Town. Most visitors to Cloud City found the lower levels such as this off-putting, preferring not to stray from the crisp and clean upper levels. Atton Kira knew better though. For someone like Sadie, raised on the streets of Nar Shaddaa, this was the part of Cloud City that would feel the most like home.

    He risked a glance across at her again; let it linger this time, and offered a smile as he noticed how not entirely comfortable she was. It was subtle, and Sadie knew the game well enough not to be overt about it, but Atton could see the way that she seemed quietly conscious of the weapons that Mr Montegue had insisted she bring with her. It probably wasn't the wisest of moves, but Atton reached out with an arm, barely touching her as he very gently draped it across her back: just a simple, physical reminder that she wasn't down here alone.

    "Don't worry, I've got a reputation. No one down here's stupid enough t' mess with me."

  2. #2
    A person could go and lie to themselves, that was easy. Yeah you knew you were full of dren but you could do it all the same. It was other people that were the damn tricky part; simple if they were just anyone, harder if they knew you. Sadie weren't the type of person who let a whole heap of people into that later category, fact was most folks never even got close. Was a downright surprise that Vitt had managed to get that far - Maybe. Maybe not all things considered - but that meant she didn't have to act around him or pretend everythin' was shiny cheffa cake all the time. Not that she sulked about like a wounded hound either, but around Vitt it was okay to have the bad days along with the good. Everyone else though? Frak 'em. They didn't get to know a damn bit of anythin'.

    All except the Kira guy. Sorta. She didn't exactly drop guard around him, that just weren't her nature, but all things aside she knew he knew and that made for some awkward situations. It weren't like the boss lady that knew you knew that she knew but you could just act like no body was the wiser and everybody was good with it. Sadie had tried that sort of thing with Kira but it didn't work. Not that anyone said anythin' to make it weird. Nen had done plenty of that for everyone when he'd made the point that it was Kira that was actually behind her not dyin' and all. A guy who knew an awful lot 'bout her without any obvious reason why was reason for concern.

    Oh she'd done diggin'. Came up with info 'bout dead family, a stint with the Holonet, even somethin' bout some Countess on Alderaan - mum, not lover - but nothin' added up to why Kira had been keepin' tabs on some slicer slacker girl out on the fringe. He seemed benign enough, though. Sadie figured if he'd wanted her dead there'd been plenty of opportunities for that, the least of which would have involved leaving her all by her onesies in that back room on the backwater planet.

    Fact was Kira was actually nice to her. It was like Nen had said - creepy. And yet not. Sadie couldn't quite figure it out and that just made things all kinds of worse. Vitt hadn't been too thrilled with the idea of her headin' off alone with the guy either, but he'd allowed it just the same and that alone spoke volumes, she figured. If there was actual trouble there was no way the Captain would have let her venture without him.

    All amiableness aside, that didn't mean the guy got to touch her. Flinching away would have been too obvious a thing, even if she had to fight to not do it. A quickened step forward to break contact was what happened, even if it looked more like a stumble and far damn less graceful than Sadie wanted. Fraking body...

    "Figure no one down here messes with anyone less they got some issue with 'em." Yes, 'cause clearly talkin' helps someone forget 'bout th' fact you just took an awkward step when they barely touched y'. "Weird 'bout places like this, safer than folks would expect. Well, unless y' look like easy prey." Smoooooth.

    Yeah okay so it wasn't the finest response Sadie ever had to just 'bout anythin', but it would work. For now. Kept her from askin' exactly why they was goin' to see the boss lady's new pub, at least. Not that Sadie wouldn't have eventually gone there anyway, but she didn't exactly figure it was that big a deal either. Maybe just another attempt at makin' her do somethin' normal. Fair enough for the time bein'.
    Last edited by Sadie K'Vesh; Sep 25th, 2015 at 10:48:27 PM.

  3. #3
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    Sadie's body language was about as subtle as a Hutt in drag, and Atton witnessed it all plain as day; felt the clench of sadness in his chest as his fingers curled into a fist in thin air, his arm falling uselessly back to his side. Of course she didn't want comfort from him. It didn't matter that the reverse wasn't true: he was nothing to her, and she knew of no reason to trust him. That was the problem with keeping a respectful distance, with helping out anonymously, with trying to protect from the shadows: you earned nothing for it, no gratitude, no trust, no nothing. You found yourself in the situation where some two-bit angry little man-boy of a bounty hunter meant more and was trusted more than Sadie's own -

    He let out a small sigh. He could tell her, of course, but it would make no difference. It would raise more questions than it answered; sacrifice more trust than it earned. After all, it didn't really matter who he was, or why he wanted her safe; just that she was. If that meant keeping the Montegue boy around; if that meant earning his trust so that Sadie would inherit it by proxy; if that meant not a single word of thanks, not a single speck of credit, not even a single hug of gratitude; then fine. He'd lived a lifetime alone. A few more years of the same was a small price to pay if it meant Sadie would stay close enough to keep truly safe.

    That didn't mean he wasn't allowed to dote, though: one of the few secret perks he'd allowed himself to indulge in, via backroom deals, third parties, anonymous donations, and every other avenue he could think of. Today though? Today was different. Today he'd get to do it in person, and while Sadie might never understand why... maybe for now it would be enough.

    "For someone I my line a' work," Atton commented, making sure that his reaction to Sadie's reaction was utterly invisible, acting as if he hadn't even noticed at all, "Lookin' like easy prey can come in handy. The more people y' have underestimatin' you, the easier it is t' catch everyone by surprise. Worst thing in the world is bein' predictable."

    He glanced across at her, and flashed a grin. "Who the 'ell wants to be that kind a' boring?"

  4. #4
    "I can see why you 'n th' boss lady get along." It weren't quite purposely done, but Sadie knew the comment was meant to take the limelight off her for a bit. "Fine set of folks we all are, yeah? Funny how Cloud City seems t' fit what with th' shiny part most people see an' then this goin' on down below."

    She offered a small shrug of her shoulder and tried to ignore the way that it tugged at skin that still felt weird when it was tugged that way. That was the real raw deal of it all, Sadie figured. You could avoid lookin' at yourself when cleanin' up and gettin' dressed and all, but when every damn time you moved you felt weird. She doubted that would ever stop, only question was if she'd ever get used to it.

    "So what's the deal with the joint here anyway? Boss lady recreatin' what she had back on Coruscant? Nice place, that. Only went once. Might have ended up playin' a gig there but... yeah, y' know how that ended up." Off to business then complete with stickin' her foot back in her mouth again.

    Ruddin' mess this was. Was the problem with small talk when you didn't know a lick about the other person and didn't want to ask questions that'd give you more info. Kira seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't just give you info about himself but rather make you work for it and Sadie just wasn't up for that sorta game.

  5. #5
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    "I wouldn't know," Atton offered with a shrug. Almost a total lie, that. While he'd not set foot in Emelie Shadowstar's establishment on Coruscant himself, he knew everything there was to know about it's financials, he'd hacked the surveillance months ago; and as for what boss lady's intentions were, well, he was 50% of what was going on around here, so he knew pretty much all there was to know.

    As far as the club though, the vacant space down here in Port Town that Atton and Emelie had acquired on behalf of Elysian Acquisitions to be one of Bespin's new night spots, and that he was ostensibly bringing Sadie down here to inspect and get her input on security measures, acoustics, and such; that he was far more willing to admit knowledge about. "Truth be told," he continued, "Elysium is gonna be my baby as much as it is 'ers. I used t' run the lounge in the 'oliday Towers up top, but some scummy Hutt came in an' bought the place. The old management didn't really give me all that much trouble, or pay all that much attention t' what I got up to, but Hutts, they meddle, and I don't 'ave the time to be deain' wi' that."

    Atton gestured up ahead to an ominous looking deserted structure, a mix of physical barricades and security fields erected to stop any of the locals trying to annex the vacant space. It looked grim for now but the placement was good - comfortably close enough to Atton's own landing pad, and to the civilian cargo port; far enough away that anyone going anywhere had to wander past here at some point. Nice and inconspicuous. Exactly what they needed.

    Coming to a halt in front of the entrance, Atton hesitated before punching in the access code on the locking mechanism. "I needed a new place t' work an' conduct m' business; Miss Shadowstar was looking for somethin' to replace her investment on Coruscant...." He shrugged, prodding the keypad with the correct sequence of symbols. There was a magnetic thunk as the lock disengaged, and a jab at a keypad caused a hastily installed door to slide open. Atton flashed Sadie another smile, before gesturing for her to follow him inside. "Synergy an' all that, I suppose."

  6. #6
    "Makes sense." Didn't answer a ton of questions, but sounded a might bit like job security to the likes of her so that was somethin' at least.

    The place itself didn't seem like a whole lot, one of them old warehouse jobs that was bein' converted for more entertainin' purposes. Was a good size though, not too small that it couldn't accommodate a bunch of debauchees but not too big that you wouldn't have folks waitin' outside either. Smart stuff, that. Not that Sadie figured it would be any different, weren't like it was either of the two owners' first round with this sorta dren.

    Although just bare bones the place had a good feel to it. Bar was off to one side and looked plenty big enough to stock whatever madness the boss lady could conjure up. Dance floorish area was huge and Sadie figured they'd pack the edges full of furniture.

    "Lotta potential here," she mused while glancin' about. "Guessin' you'll be lookin' at makin' security on the down low so folks don't notice it none? But keep an eye on everyone at all times sorta thin'?"

    A small laugh left her as she shoved her hands into the front pockets of the slightly over sized hooded sweater she wore, a boot kicking at the unfinished floor of the club. "Not that I imagine there'll be a lot of unknown illicit dren goin' down here. Figure anythin' that comes in 'n out the doors of that nature will be company approved, yeah?"

  7. #7
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    Company approved. Atton smiled at that. There was no denything that Sadie was a smart and insightful woman; but she was quiet often, and kept her smarts mostly to herself. Just like him, she downplayed herself, hid her skills, let everyone assume she wasn't a threat until she was good and ready for them to know. She wouldn't describe herself that way; might not even think of herself that way, but it was something that she and Atton had vaguely in common. Absolutely zero contact between them, and yet she had somehow found her way onto the same sort of path that he had already walked.

    "Not entirely," Atton countered, with a slight squint of his eyes and rock of his head. "We certainly want anythin' of that nature t' be company approved, but we also 'ave to keep the odd undesirable example out. Lets say that, hypothetically -" He gave her a knowing look. "- we 'ave a client who 'as asked us t' obtain a certain illicit substance, an' the exchange is due t' go down 'ere in Elysium. That's all good an' fine, we can watch that, control that. But suppose some grubber from out on the docks comes in carryin' substances of his own, and he isn't quite as subtle about it as our boys are. He gets snagged by security, and we bring down a whole mountain of scrutiny on our heads. That would be very bad for business."

    Atton continued walking, leading Sadie through the abandoned remnants of refurbishment supplies and equipment. For a moment, he paused to look at a large sheet of fibreboard, marked out with various shapes and patterns. A few squints and estimates led him to conclude that it was intended for behind the bar: a surround to neatly frame the cluster of cogs and machinery that they had decided to make a feature of. Neither the blueprints nor the Ugnaught surveyors they had brought in knew quite what the seemingly redundant mechanism was for, but no one had been willing to see it removed, and so there it stayed, pride of place behind the bar. Or at least behind where the bar would be: it was still a crude frame at this point, most of the components waiting to be assembled and plumbed in. Atton had given the fitters a half day off - not because they deserved it, particularly, but because he'd wanted the place to be empty. No point in forcing Sadie to confront a room full of distractions and strangers; better to let her make her observations in peace, where she didn't have to worry so much about who might be watching her. Besides, there were certain aspects of the tour Atton had in mind that the workmen weren't privy to.

    Finally, the meandering path through the building site brought them to a quiet corner, an inconspicuous door recessed behind an inconspicuous pillar and an inconspicuous rack of shelves. The door was marked the way that many of those on Cloud City's lower levels were: markings in several languages to show that the door was locked and sealed, nothing but maintenance crawlspaces and the inner guts of the platform's mining and refinery mechanisms located beyond. The door was even welded in place, melted metal sealing the divide between the door itself and it's frame. Absolutely, in every way, a clearly unpassable.

    Unpassable, that is, until Atton pulled out a security key card, and slipped it into the rusted and seemingly unpowered lock. A few buttons were pressed without the usual satisfying bleeping sound, and then suddenly there was a hiss. The door did not slide upwards or aside the way it was supposed to; rather, the entire construction, door frame and all, slid backwards several inches before swinging aside on an unseen hinge. Darkness loomed from beyond. Atton grinned, and led the way inside, clanking his way down a flight of corrugated durasteel stairs. The darkness closed in around him, but he counted his descent, knowing exactly when to step out onto the solid floor. He heard Sadie on the steps behind him, considerably more trepidation in her movements.

    Atton drew in a breath and sighed, a sudden wave of anxious nerves sweeping over him. He'd decided this would be a good idea. He'd been fairly confident that Sadie would appreciate this. But what if she didn't? What if the gesture he was trying to make meant more in his mind than it would to her?

    "Wakey, wakey," he called out into the dark, biting the bullet.

    "Voice authorisation confirmed," the room responded through speakers lurking somewhere in the blackness. "Atton Kira, User Zero One."

    Suddenly the shadows began to flicker, tiny glimmers of light manifesting into existence before growing brighter, slowly illuminating the room. The door above them closed automatically, barring any uninvited entry, sealing the two of them privately inside. The lights in the distance soon resolved, transforming into the definite shapes of a bank of monitors, their glow casting enough light to bring data terminals and computer consoles into view.

    Slowly he turned to Sadie, looking both majestic and mysterious the way he was silhouetted from behind by the screens. "I have been following your career f' some time, and I became a little... concerned about your failsafe. I was worried that, given the company y' have a habit of keepin', you might be forced to do somethin' rash while under duress that y'd end up regretting. So -"

    He waved a hand out behind him. "This is as much of your network as I could manage t' salvage, mixed in with everythin' else that I've managed t' build myself over the last twenty years or so. This room has the best slicing and network security gear that money can by, taps into military comms and all the major holonet sub-bands, feeds from all the security sensors on Cloud City, and from everywhere else my droids an' I've managed t' conceal a surveillance device over the years. Hells, give Katie the word, and she can hook you up with a camera feed direct from Captain Montegue's bedroom and 'fresher, if you're inclined t' want t' watch that sort of thing."

    Atton fell silent for a moment, a thoughtful frown crossing his brow, a new layer of sincerity draping itself across his words. "Bog'el tried to take everything from you, an' I wasn't prepared to let that happen. I know this wasn't the same as how things were before, but maybe it's a start."

  8. #8
    Sadie hadn't known what to expect but it certainly weren't this. When Bog had her pull the trigger on her network Sadie had figured that was the end of a bloody era. Everythin' was gone as far as she knew and in her mind that meant maybe one day she might start piecin' it all back together if she was bored or motivated enough but it was one of them things kinda like a stubborn wound, pickin' at it wouldn't do anyone any good and odds are you were just gonna make a mess of things before you actually got anywhere with fixin' anythin'. Or somethin' like that. Either way, she'd taken it all for a lost cause.

    But now there was this. Nothin' was really gone, maybe even better than it had been thanks to Kira's own sources and well... Choked up was a nice way of puttin' how she was feelin'. Air caught in her throat mid breath, she felt like her heart had come to some complete stop somewhere in her chest, the world felt kinda blurry overall - not just on account of the damned annoying tears that wanted to fill her vision and block out sight of all them pretty monitors - and Sadie just... well... it was like when Vitt gave her that quetarra all over again. Just as vulnerable and just as impossible a moment to pretend like she was bein' better off than she was.

    "Wh-why?" was all she stammered and it barely registered that the computer was yammerin' off somethin' about "Saidra K'Vesh, User Zero Two."

    She managed to pull herself away from the displays and looked back towards Kira who seemed all kinds of ominous in the light they were castin'. "I-I mean thanks. Really. I don't really know how t' say that an' make it any bit more meanin'full. Feel like I should, cause y' don't - or, okay, so maybe y' do - know how much this means t' me."

    She was speakin' in circles a bit, words catchin' and cut off a bit as she kept tryin' to remember to breathe enough and blink enough to keep from turnin' into some sort of sobbin' mess even if she felt like her insides had already sunk to the floor and were weepin' like a person who just found out their entire world weren't blown t' bits like they thought it had been.

    "I-I jus' don't get it, y'know? Y'say you've been watchin' after me an' now this and jus'... Why?"

    Sadie weren't sure she wanted the answer but damned if the question wasn't persistent in bein' asked. It was openin' a can that she had thought she had sealed a long time ago, Sadie was sure of it. Frak it, too late to take the question back now that she'd gone and asked it twice already.

  9. #9
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    "Because of a promise."

    Atton had known she would ask. He must have. Of course she would. Sadie was the kind of girl who knew you didn't get something for nothing. She'd always try and figure out what the catch was, the ulterior motive, the hidden reason. She hadn't been on the receiving end of an ounce of charity or benevolence her whole life, so of course she wouldn't start taking such things for granted all of a sudden. It was obvious. Yet, despite how blatant an outcome it was, Atton found him standing there, at a complete loss for anything to say.

    Well okay, perhaps that wasn't true. There was plenty that Atton could say: an entire universe of truths and revelations he could offer to the girl who knew almost nothing about herself. But rather than could, the key factor here was should. Saidra had become who she was in ignorance of her origins, and while there had been more than her fair share of hardships along the way as a result of that, the truth wouldn't undo the past. It might undo the present though, and the future. Atton had the power to change Sadie's life, and her sense of self, completely and utterly. But it was a Death Star of a power. No matter how much you insisted that it was simply a mining station with an utterly benevolent goal, you were still going to end up obliterating someone's entire world as soon as you tried to do anything with it.

    More than anything though, it was that same promise that turned his insides into knots: a promise that he had redefined and stretched the parameters of countless times over the years. Make sure she'll be okay, was what he'd been asked; but that simple request had turned into a lifelong cause of guardianship from the shadows, and now it had transformed into mysterious benevolence in the light of day. Would the next step, the final removal of the screens and barriers between Sadie and the truth, be the final act that broke that promise?

    It was too late for such questions now though; Atton found himself continuing to talk, the final decision made by something other than his brain.

    "A promise I made to my sister, when she realised that the only way to keep her daughter safe was to never see her again."

  10. #10
    "Wh-what?"

    She couldn't have heard right. Sister. Daugher. That meant... No no no. That was a damn impossibility. Sadie didn't have family that was alive and kickin' and takin' an interest in her, she just didn't. That weren't up for debate, that wasn't a question she had asked that was a gorram fact. And yet...

    This time her body went ahead without permission and echoed what she'd been feelin' earlier, legs failin' under her until she hit the cool floor in the most ungraceful landin' ever. Her eyes had been focused on a spot between the two of them and there it stayed for a few beats before Sadie mustered up that bit of courage needed to look at the guy, at Atton Kira, at her uncle; flesh and blood and all that jazz.

    She tried to say somethin' but couldn't, despite mouth openin' and tryin', nothin' wanted to come out. For a brain that was constantly computin' and runnin', now was all kinds of empty and still. Atton Kira was her uncle. His sister was her mother. And all this time...

    Sadie felt her head nod more than she actively made it do so, a deep breath drawn in as she looked back down. "Okay. Well, that answers all whole heap o' stuff."

    So what was she supposed to do now? In holomovies stuff like this ended with hugs and huge changes and all that dren, but Sadie's life was about as damn far away from that sort of thing as you could get. And as much as some questions had gotten answers with that proclamation, it brought on too many others. She'd only gotten mention of one sister of Kira's and she'd been far too young to be Sadie's mum so there was that gaping hole of new information right there, then there was the whole why didn't you say nothing before? but that was better left unsaid. People had reasons and right now Sadie wasn't sure she wanted to know why it was that her mother apparently felt it was better her kid was on her onsies in life rather than growin' up normal.

    She wanted to be mad. Wanted to blame everythin' that had gone wrong in her life on the man who apparently had been keepin' tabs but never actually stepped in. But that weren't right and she knew it. Things happened for reasons even if you couldn't understand 'em. There were bigger pictures and already she was comin' up with hosts of 'em that absolved blame from just about everyone.

    "Y'... Y' aint gonna leave now that I know, are ya?"

  11. #11
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    Wordlessly, Atton took a few slow steps closer, until he found himself with the crumpled form of Sadie at his feet. Carefully he eased himself down something half crouch, half kneeling, as close to Sadie's eye level as he could manage to bring himself. Tears were another thing that shouldn't have been unexpected; but the way they affected him was. It was like a steel beam through the chest, puncturing him so completely that where there had once been anxious twists and tightness there was now only a void. He'd done that; he'd caused that. All these years of watching from a far, of keeping his distance, of not meddling in her life for fear of affecting her choices in a way he simply had no right to; they all came to an end with this.

    Equally unexpected was the way that Sadie's sorrow was echoed in him, his own vision misting over as he tried to find her gaze. "I was supposed t' stay away," he said quietly, a frown tugging at his brow, and suddenly those efforts to look Sadie in the eye seemed like an utterly bad idea. When you said it aloud, it was such a stupid notion; such a pathetic excuse. "I was supposed t' get you safely into the system, get you into foster care, an' then never come near you again. Y' mother didn't want her enemies and dangers becomin' yours, and so I promised that I wouldn't run the risk of anyone tracin' me t' you."

    He seemed almost ashamed, equal parts for breaking his promise, and for following through on it to the extent that he had. "I couldn't 'elp it, though. Figured there wouldn't be any 'arm in checkin' up on you every now an' again. As soon as I found out what 'appened with the family who fostered you though, it was too late. I couldn't step in, and there was nothing I could do to intervene, not without breaking the promise I made. So I -"

    A hollow laugh. "I cheated. I took my intelligence trainin' and' m' trust fund, and I started building this: this network, this information broker empire, this 'ole persona and life a' crime. An 'ole elaborate web a' connections, just t' let me pull on the strings of y' life 'ere an' there. I bounced jobs y' way through third parties. Greased a few palms t' make sure y' got t' perform. Came t' your gigs a few times; hell, y' got fan mail from me under pseudonyms more'n a few times. I did everythin' I could, or at least, as much as I thought I could get away with. But -"

    A tear managed to break free from the shimmering pool collected at the edges of his eyes, disappearing to his cragged features. "I didn't know what Bog'el was doing behind the scenes. If I had, I -"

    "I'm sorry." His head fell, staring down at the floor between them. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I should've done better, an' I -"

    He stopped, words continuing to fail him over and over. There was no point in this. No point in apologising. He was slapping a bandaid on a hull breach: a waste of time when you already knew it would take far more significant measures to repair that extent of damage. He could sit here and say he was sorry until every star in the sky had burned out and died, and it still wouldn't make a damned bit of difference, because it was just words. If any amends was even possible, it'd take actions; it'd take effort; it'd take time. Now was as good a time to start as any.

    Slowly, he reached out to take hold of Sadie's hand, but stopped himself, rethinking the potential foolishness. His wrist twisted, a hand extended in greeting rather than in any attempt at unsolicited comfort. "I've wanted to say this for your entire life: hello, Saidra. I am your Uncle Atton. Y' have no idea how glad I am t' finally meet you."

  12. #12
    Sadie weren't sure what she was supposed t' be feelin' right then. That naggin' voice that was sayin' she should be all sorts of out put by it was whisperin' itself hoarse, though. Maybe someone else would have found everythin' a reason to hate the guy in front of her, and anyone else that knew or had a hand in it, but she just couldn't find it in her to be that way. After all, what good was there in estrangin' yourself from the first actual family you had in your whole Force-forsaken life.

    She caught that bit where he'd reached out and second guessed himself though and even though it went against every bit of her that was demanding a straight no touchie policy, her hand clasped Atton's.

    "Yeah, likewise." Her voice sounded a bit unsure and far away and Sadie hated herself for that and with her free hand reached up and dragged it through her hair. "Look, I aint no good at this sort o' thing. I don't really know what t' say, see? Can count on one hand th' number o' times someone's ever done somethin' f' me that meant a lick an' two of 'em have been all sorts o' recent."

    The same hand that had been in her hair now dragged across the back of her eyes, smudgin' the minuscule amount of makeup she'd put on. She eyed the bit on her hands before wipin' it off on her pants and let out a slight laugh. Try to look a bit nicer for the more proper folks and look what comes of it. That'd learn her.

    "Jus' thanks again, yeah? For..." She gestured to the screens before lookin' back down on where her hand still lightly held onto Atton's. "An' everythin' else, I guess."

  13. #13
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    "No."

    This was the tragedy of it all: the girl so beaten, so undermined by her life that she didn't know how to react when someone gave her a gift; didn't know how to respond to a person who set out only to bring something positive into her life. In truth, Atton wasn't sure how to act in this situation either, what to say or what to do to somehow undo even a shred of the damage he'd allowed to happen; perhaps even had an inadvertent hand in causing.

    "You don't need to -"

    His words stumbled again; he pulled in a small breath, released a small sigh, mustered a small smile onto his lips. "I have a lot a' making up t' do. You don't need t' thank me for a thing until I'm none makin' amends, okay?"

    He let his other hand settle gently atop where Sadie had taken hold of his, his eyes scrunching in the corners as a sincere smile found it's way there for the first time in too many years to count, a gently insistent note of sincerity creeping into his words.

    "From now on, you want for nothin'. No matter how big, or how small... you want it, it's yours. All the birthdays, all the Life Days, all the random chances t' do my job an' dote upon my beautiful little niece... too many opportunities t' do what I should 'ave and always wanted t' do have been let pass by, and while I know a -" He waved his hand vaguely. "- military grade pulsewave encryption scanner or a gold plated quetarra with a diamond-studded fret board, or any amount a' gifts or luxuries ain't gonna change a thing about the past or make all the times I should a' stepped in an' been there for you go away an' be forgotten..."

    His gaze fell away a little. "I still wanna try. All the money in the 'verse can't undo the life you've been sufferin', but maybe I can... I dunno. Make it feel like all the struggles an' hardships were worth it somehow, t' 'ave brought your life t' here, an' now."

  14. #14
    "Gonna sound stupid but 'm already startin' t' wonder if that weren't th' case." Even if half mumbled Sadie was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to actually make an exit from her head.

    Another short laugh followed and with another deep breath to put a halt to all them rampant errant emotions that really needed to be put back in their proper place, she looked back towards the monitors. A small twinge of smirk worked it's way to her lips as she studied the setup once more.

    "Military grade scanner, though, you say?"

    The grin widened a bit as she glanced back to Atton.

    "'M kiddin'. Those things are pieces of munk. Curious to see what all y' got set up here. Smart puttin' it down under the club, no one is gonna think anythin' o' anybody comin' and goin' here even at odd hours."

    Gettin' back to her feet, Sadie finally lett her hands go back to bein' free on their own, her fingers practically itchin' to start testin' out what her uncle - that was gonna take some gettin' used to callin' him - had set up for her.

    "So what all kinds of surveillance we got here on planet? Figure I can give that a test run b'fore delvin' in real deep, if y' don't mind."

  15. #15
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    "Mind?"

    Atton let out a chuckle, and with that the tension in his shoulders shattered, his biggest fear disproved. Sadie knew, and she was still here, still talking to him, not just out of professional courtesy but with a smile even. All these years being afraid that the secret was safer than the risk of the truth driving her out of his reach; all that wasted time and wasted opportunities that he'd so stupidly robbed them both of. The guilt was still there, and the shame, but something new draped over it: pure and simple embarrassment of how much of an idiot he was. This was his niece, his sister's daughter. He knew the kind of stubborn resilience that was in her blood. Hell, he'd just seen her shrug off being abused and tortured by one of the people she trusted most, and here she was shrugging it off and getting on with her krasking life. She was made of tougher stuff than he'd given her credit for; and he should have known better.

    "On the contrary, Miss K'Vesh: I absolutely insist."

    Those words hung in the air, the jovial smile that they'd been spoken with wavering slightly as they registered. It was the kind of thing that Atton Kira would have said; but that wasn't who he was anymore, not exclusively. The performance that he acted out, the personality and manner that he wrapped around himself to stop anyone from being able to know the man that was underneath. It was a defensive facade, necessary for his own protection as well as to protect his many secrets. But not protection from her. Not protection from Sadie. Alone with her in this room, she deserved to have him lower his shields.

    "Ath-Thu'ban," he corrected quietly, his voice a strange mix of timid and reverent. "Lady Saidra Ath-Thu'ban of Alderaan."

  16. #16
    Sadie felt her face tug, eyebrow archin' far higher than she'd ever have figured she could manage as she turned back to look at Atton.

    "What?" One of these days she'd come up with a better comeback but for right now that was the best she could figure out. Brain just weren't ready for all these kinds of shocks and dren. "Y' kiddin'... right?"

    Didn't take very long to figure out the look on dear uncle's face and the way he'd said the rather fancy soundin' - what she guessed was hers -full name that it weren't a joke. Made sense she guessed when she let herself have a breather to think for a sec or two. The Countess... err Contessa - damn fancier soundin' titles - had been the guys' mum. Only made sense with the new info that one could connect the dots and just...

    Sadie started laughin'. Oh, it weren't the right reaction and she knew it but... Alderaanian nobility?? HER? Princess of space dust and flyin' chunks. Only took a bit of a few minutes b'fore the significance of that actually caught up with her and brought a halt to the gigglin' and replaced it with a rather stoic look. Atton hadn't exactly gone and offered up more info on her mum or a dad, or any other family members that a family should consist of. Which... considerin' the space dust again...

    "S'rry... Jus'... Y'know. Me a Lady of anythin' is prolly some big ol' cosmic joke. Not s' funny when you really get on with it though. So... Alderaan. Guessin'... we're the only ones left, then?"

  17. #17
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    There was a momentary pause, a brief flutter of hesitation, as the urge to hide behind a reflexive lie gripped him. It was a subconscious habit at this point: lies and misdirection uttered as easily and effortlessly as breathing, a tangle of deceit woven into a blanket that he bundled himself up in as a barrier against the rest of the universe. But Saidra, she didn't deserve to be on the outside of that, she didn't deserve to be treated the same way as everyone else. And perhaps, just this once, maybe Atton deserved to allow himself to be something other than alone.

    One tentative moment longer, and then he turned, crossing the room to a biometric lockbox casually tucked away in an unsuspecting corner. Such meager security measures wouldn't have stopped Sadie of course, and Atton supposed that on some subconscious level he must have known that. Perhaps this had been his plan all along, one that even he didn't fully realise: leave the answers that Saidra deserved to have easily at hand, ready to be stumbled across the first time her curiosity sent her exploring her new surroundings. That would have put all the answers instantly in her hands; that would have made it all her choice, given her the opportunity to contemplate her new reality and approach him on her own terms, rather than being forced to react instantly to him revealing it himself. Perhaps Atton had hoped that approach would be the safer route, the one less likely to deprive him of his niece's company before he even got the chance to know her. It didn't much seem to matter now.

    From the safe, he pulled out a small device, it's simple appearance a stark contrast to the careful reverence with which Atton held it. He stared at it in his hands for a few moments, before finally turning, and extending it towards Sadie.

    "This is everythin' I 'ave," he explained. "Everythin' I know about you, y' family, and y' mother." More or less, at least. He made a slight gesture towards the bank of screens. "Obviously, I couldn't just leave it around on the network fer anyone to find, but -"

    He trailed off, a somber lump in his throat tripping up a few of his words.

    "There's two copies. This one here, an' another in a safe deposit box in a bank on Ord Radama. If anythin' were to happen t' me, instructions in my will are t' give you the coordinates an' the code. Always hoped I might one day get the chance t' tell you myself, but I couldn't risk the chance that somethin' would 'appen to me and leave you alone in the dark for the rest a' your life."

    A small, sad smile.

    "Guess I wasn't expectin' you t' be the one who suffered the badness that'd bring me into y' life."

    Carefully he took hold of Sadie's arm, lifting it enough so he could place the data storage device into her hand. "Be careful, though. Don't seek answers just 'cause you finally know where t' find them. Not every answer is gonna be an answer you want to hear, an' the person you've become - the incredible woman I only just got the chance t' meet - has never had those answers; never needed them."

    He stared down at the device, knowing exactly what lurked within the storage crystals within that duraplast shell.

    "It's your choice now, Sadie. Make it carefully."

  18. #18
    Funny how downright ominous somethin' so little could be. First Atton handed her a livin' family member, then a fancy title and an actual last name rather than somethin' she picked up out of a holomovie, and now practically the rest of the missin' pieces in her life right all in one big moment. Was a bit overwhelmin' and only took a few moments of lookin' about to find a chair that made the whole thing a bit easier to take.

    She stared at the storage device as if it might spring alive and attack or somethin' equally as laser brained. Whole lot of answers, but as Atton had said not all answer she'd actually like hearin' and maybe just a whole mess of questions more to crack open. Sadie didn't know if she were ready for that. Didn't know if she'd ever be ready for that. Like he said too - she hadn't needed any of that sort of scriff before. Maybe it was best to take this whole thing slow. Weren't like it was goin' anywhere, after all.

    With a nod she pocketed the device, realizin' it probably wouldn't last unseen too long, but damn if she wasn't gonna need a bottle of good stuff to help swallowin' it all down. Besides, she had a nice shiny new toy to play with and what sort of niece would she be if she didn't actually tear right into it?

    The chair was whirled towards the monitors and consoles that made up the huge display system.

    "Think I'll start with th' devils I know t'day. Don't wanna overload."

    Fingertips were interlaced and stretched out in front of her in some silly grand display of preparin' to do what she did best. As an afterthought, Sadie glanced back over her shoulder at Atton again. "Serious, though. Thanks... Unc."

  19. #19
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    Unc.

    Two minutes, and that was who he already was. Whatever worst case scenarios his mind had considered, whatever outcome of Sadie finding out who he was and she was he had possibly imagined, Sadie simply taking it all in stride and getting on with her day wasn't one of them. It should have been, given what he knew about it; but he'd never imagined that he would be something she was content to accept without question. All those years of keeping away, of staying at more than just arms length, and now this.

    Atton smiled. Not a smug smile, not a disarming smile, not a fake smile as part of some manipulation or ploy: he smiled because he needed to, because his brain and body insisted that was the only thing he should be engaged in right now; because that was what uncles did when they couldn't possibly be more proud of the niece sitting in front of them.

    His hand reached up, and tugged at the brim of an invisible hat that he wasn't wearing. "You're quite welcome, milady."

  20. #20
    * * *

    A sound like a futuristic sonic boom reverberated through the cockpit as the Delta 7 Aethersprite burst out of hyperspace, breaking thrusters firing to slow it's ballistic trajectory to a much more sedate pace. The light of Bespin - both the star and the reflections from the swirling clouds of the planet - glinted off the transparisteel cockpit, and cast strange shadows across the circumference of the Jedi Starfighter's hyperspace ring.

    Within, Inyos Aamoran's eyes narrowed at the sensor displays before him, lips drawing into a thin line as he contemplated the Imperial world that loomed ahead. Despite the efforts of Imperial propaganda and politics, Bespin still remained a relatively unvisited world by galactic standards: the casino and resort spires of Cloud City certainly attracted plenty of civilian traffic, but the presence of the Imperial military was still relatively sparse. Even so, dispersed as it was, the Imperials were still there; and that complicated matters.

    Perhaps it was more a case of nostalgia than rational thought, but Inyos always felt more comfortable in starfighters such as this: the Aethersprite felt lighter, sleeker, and more responsive than craft that integrated their hyperdrives; but the advantage they gained over the bloated and sluggish alternatives came with a not insignificant vulnerability. Before the Clone Wars, and even during, the notion of abandoning a hyperspace ring in orbit for later recovery was barely even worth a spare thought. Such was the way of things; and space was large, while hyper-rings were small, making the odds of them being stumbled across and destroyed fairly small. Even if that worst case scenario did transpire, Republic starships carried replacements as a matter of course; anyone stranded by such an occurrence would not be for long. Nowadays though? His Sylliure-31 module was an antique; not even the most recent module used by the Jedi and the Republic. If anything were to happen to it, not only would he be a lone Jedi stranded on a world deep inside the Empire, but questions over why such a ring was in orbit would raise all kinds of questions, and draw all sorts of unwanted attention.

    He'd chosen this fighter over his usual shuttle because he'd expected it to be more covert. Suddenly, that decision seemed to have been in error.

    A string of chirps and whistles sounded through the comm unit, prompting Inyos to glance at the small display screen that translated his astromech's instructions. "No, Peethirteen," Inyos replied calmly, as the droid gently reminded him that the fighter's hyperdrive was indeed detachable. "We're going to hang onto it for a little while. It'll be much harder to find if we hide it somewhere within the atmosphere."

    R4-P13 took a moment to proclaim just how problematic he considered that plan to be, but Inyos mostly ignored it. The droid was old and eccentric: this fighter was one of the handful that had been recovered by the Jedi and the Alliance when he and Master s'Ilancy had discovered the wreck of the Jedi Cruiser Venture. By that point, P13 had already spent his entire existence integrated into the structure and systems of this Delta 7, and had then spent thirty years trapped and alone in the vacated hangar bay of an abandoned wreck. The Alliance engineers had wanted to wipe his drives and reset him back to factory specs, but Inyos wouldn't let it happen. Thirty years was more than enough to turn a little astro-droid into a being, and a life - even an artificial one - as complex as P13 had become was too precious a thing to be wasted.

    Besides: Inyos knew from painful experience the affect that so many years of isolation could have on your mind, and your soul. If P13 could be rehabilitated, and keep proving himself useful even with those memories intact, then perhaps Inyos could somehow find a way to do the same.

    His hands loosely on the controls with practised comfort, Inyos tried a few gentle manoeuvres, recalibrating his pilot senses to the feel of the craft with it's additional weight and skewed centre of mass. The weight had all shifted a little further forward, which made the pitch and yaw a little more sluggish, but not problematically so: at least, not out here in the microgravity of space. How the weight would affect the craft's handling once he began to rely on the repulsorlift coils to hold him aloft was another matter entirely. Still, at least Bespin was a gas giant, with no solid ground for him to crash into should anything go catastrophically wrong.

    Just a slow, agonising crushing death in ever increasing atmospheric pressure.

    "Link the stabilisation thrusters on the hyper-ring to my flight controls," he requested, flipping a few switches internally to help expedite the instruction's he'd given to his droid. The hyperdrive module was loaded down with reaction control clusters and station-keeping thrusters to help the unit remain stable and correctly orientated once it was deployed for use from a parent starship: docking a starfighter with a hyperdrive ring was a precision process, and while automation broadened the margin for error considerably, any unexpected variations in the ring's motion could provide all kinds of complications. If that control functionality was there, Inyos might as well make use of it; every micron of potential delta-v was valuable to him now.

    As P13 complied, Inyos took care of his next request on his own, pulling up the navigational data on Bespin's atmospheric patterns, and overlaying data he had gathered so far. It had begun while studying the pale echo of the Jedi Archives that the refugees on Ossus had been able to scrabble together from every source they could find. He had been searching for the wisdom of old Jedi Masters, the kinds of teachings and parables with which he had acquainted himself so thoroughly during his days as a Padawan on Coruscant. Even then, such wisdom was rare: though the Jedi had existed for millennia as the paragons of peace and light in the galaxy, there were events and eras - just as with the Republic - that forced history to be reset, and so much of the knowledge gained before had been lost. The Jedi Purge of recent years had devastated those records, but it was merely the latest in a long line.

    Instead of wisdom, what he had found was an obscure reference, in a half-corrupted memoir that would have hardly seemed worth his attention were it not for a nudge of curiosity and the Force willing him to spare it more than half a glance. Amid the deteriorated words, only two stood out, but only two were necessary.

    Enclave. Bespin.

    It had taken months of private effort to satisfy his curiosity. He had visited numerous worlds within the Alliance, searching through Republic records and personal accounts to learn anything at all, and even that had yielded almost nothing at all. Yet, despite the mystery, he could not help feeling drawn towards it, motivated by the will of the Force to seek out whatever secrets lurked within the clouds of Bespin. It went beyond mere research, went beyond a desire to help the Jedi Order to rebuild and recover: the Force wanted him to carry out this venture; as if there were some personal stake that was meant for him alone to experience. It was something he could not shake, and that his usually rational mind could not overcome. So here he was, staring down at the rusty clouds of an Imperial world, about to begin searching for an atom in a debris field.

    His eyes regarded the most recent piece of the puzzle that he had obtained: a crude map sourced two days ago from the Figg Archives on Gerrenthum, roughly marking out various sights of archaeological significance discovered on the gas world. While Cloud City was the most infamous - and arguably most significant - structure on Bespin, earlier instances of habitation were spoken of in myth and rumour, and a few fragments and rellics of older occupation had been stumbled across over the years. To casual eyes they were a scattered array, no coherent pattern to be unravelled, strewn about by air currents across hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Inyos' eyes were more than casual, though. He had learned all he could about the gas world, studied the scientific surveillance of it's atmospheric patterns, and from here in orbit he could feel the ebb and flow of it's air currents, the living pulse of the planet's existence. For a moment he let his eyes closed, reaching out with more than vision, letting the Force guide his attention. Something at first pulled his mind towards Cloud City, to the myriad souls that dwelt within; but he pulled back against it, forced his focus to broaden, searched for a glimmer of what it was that he sought.

    His eyes opened, hands carefully manipulating the fighter's controls, aiming the nose towards a faint swirl within the clouds. There: a tiny blip, a tiny ripple within the Force that should not have been. He released a slow breath and then, after a moment of reverent pause, powered up the thrusters and began his descent.

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