The Akurian Queen

[s'Il]

There was little sense that she could make of all of this, and s'Il's mind was unable to comprehend exactly what it was he was speaking of. What was wrong with the way things were right now?! Why did he have to go and try to place some manner of official sealing to their shared existence?

"I don't know what is wrong with things now, as they stand. We share everything already as is."

She gestured to the box he still held.

"That right there isn't needed. Pair-bonding is... "

She stopped, closing her mouth abruptly at the look on his face, and she held a finger in the air, partially pointed at him.

"... I don't want to talk about this right now."

She crossed the room, calling the dataslip to her waiting hand, and moving to stand in front of him, deftly took the small box and replaced it with their new orders.

"We have other matters to focus our attentions to."

The box was gently set on a small sidetable.

"Do not ask me this again."

[General Dan]

Dan took the orders from her hand, his eyes never leaving hers.

"You know I can't agree to that. If I do, I'm lying to myself about who we are and what we're doing. You don't want to talk about that right now? Fine. I told you, it's not ready. We're at loggerheads on this, you and I. Sooner or later, we've got to figure out exactly what us actually means."

And with that, he stepped past her, only then looking at his orders.

[s'Il]

* * *

The starcharts said it was in the Unknown Regions, and The Akuria System was a prime example of how even a star system could look desolate. Even the blackness of space seemed to give off an air of loneliness, and the blinking stars dotting that inky darkness pulsed a lonesome beat.

Novgorod splashed into realspace with a noiseless crack, banking around as she skirted the edge of the system.

Their destination was Akuria II, but exiting hyperspace in Imperial space - no matter how small the foothold - was tricky business. By now it was second nature for the crew to begin their passive sensor sweeps without the need for Dan to call the order.

Standing beside the chair he inevitably occupied when on the bridge, s'Il clasped her hands in front of her.

"Gods but it even feels forgotten."

[General Dan]

"That's the idea. Out this far off the shipping lanes, and away from prying eyes."

Dan sat back in his seat and watched the approach. Commscan was silent, which was a blessing. The orb before them certainly looked chilly, awash in whites and cool blues, with sparse brown earth peeking through from cloud cover, ocean, and glacier alike.

"Now, we've got to make good and sure it's as forgotten as we'd like. Command needs a staging area to strike in this quadrant of the outer rim, and this is about as far out as we can get and stay in the fight."

[s'Il]

"It is far from anything civilized, no doubt. Far from anything warmer than a cooler-pack, too."

She idly agreed, watching the frigid ball of a planet before them. There was a moment of familiar feelings welling up, and the Lupine gave the barest of scowls as she lifted her arms to cross them over her chest.

"Like Hoth."

A planet full of bad memories, s'Il couldn't help the fleeting moment of forced deja vu that passed over her as she stared ahead.

"Any sign of our supplies contact?"

Their orders had included a rendezvous with one of the more questionable fringe contractors that the fledgling Rebellion often employed; a Captain Torik Beirhannon of the Akurian Queen. Certainly not out of the norm for a mission such as this, but the risks were always there, and s'Il knew that there was a reason that Novgorod was more often than not chosen for these types of missions. When loyalties were uncertain, it helped to have a Jedi in your ranks. It made determining the truth an easier task.

[General Dan]

"We're picking up a mass on the dark side of the planet. Appears to be in polar orbit."

The crewer on commscan waited for orders as he reported his findings. Dan sat up a little in his seat.

"Move us in slow. Passives sensors only. We'll go for a visual. Doubt they want to be seen any more than we do."

Novgorod crept ahead at a slow cruise, banking to align herself with the planet's gravity well, and used the inertia from it to coast into an orbital trajectory that would take them close. The planet's horizon flattened out as they closed distance, and all eyes were fixed to the terminus.

"There."

Dan quickly magnified the view, and a nondescript civilian transport came into view. With line of sight established, they could break the ice in relative confidence.

"Get a tightbeam line to that ship, comm."

He looked to Lok, knowing this was her time to shine.

[Torik Beirhannon]

"Well now. It's about bloody time, eh?"

The whistling of an irate R2 unit was the only answer that was given.

"No doubt."

"I suppose then that we should get this little bit of galactic intrigue started, then; don't you?"

Another few twitters in the affirmative, and Torik Beirhannon brought the Akurian Queen about in a gradual shift that would pivot her to face the new arrival. His commlight blinked, and watching it for only a few moments, the fringe captain tapped at the transmission button.

"Captain Beirhannon, at your service."

[General Dan]

"This is Dan."

He preferred to keep it terse, even if the line was secure. It kept him alive in the unsure early days.

"Glad to see you made it. We're off the lanes by a good margin. Is the cargo secure?"

Novgorod moved alongside, and began a synchronous orbit action with the transport. The Akurian Queen was now his charge, and had to be protected at all costs.

[Torik Beirhannon]

"So you're Dan, eh?"

In the cockpit of his own ship, Torik leaned back in his seat.

"Lots of talk about you going on in the contracting circles. Seems you're a sort of popular man. They say you travel with a one-eyed Jedi, too. She with you now?"

There was silence from the Rebel ship, and Torik gave a snort before returning to business.

"Your goods are as secure as they need to be, Dan. And, as always, my hatches are open should you want to inspect them."

[General Dan]

"We'll send a shuttle. Want to make sure everything up here is in the green before we start actively poking around down there. If for whatever reason we have to pull up stakes, well, let's just keep our engines warm."

They both knew the risks. The Empire's reach was vast, even potentially in a place as forgotten as this.

"Expect us in five. Dan out."

He cut the line as he stood, looking at Lok with the unspoken request to follow.

"Prep a shuttle, full squad. Not expecting a fight, but we don't exactly have the luxury of being choosy about friends, do we?"

[s'Il]

She was quick to nod, and even quicker to keep pace. They left the bridge without so much as a word, and s'Il found herself reaching up to straighten the sleeveless tunic she wore.

"He sounds funny... "

A worried sideways look from Dan, and she elaborated.

"His accent. I've never heard any like it before... " she looked away, an awkward feeling coming over her.

"... just sounds strange, is all."

Still though, the man's words had struck her, and in an involuntary move she reached up to rub along the lower portion of her scar.

[General Dan]

"Yeah."

It was a confirmation of intangibles. Dan only had his gut to go by, and she had the force. Still, he wasn't a fan of dealing so openly in the familiar at the first go. Trust was a precious commodity, and this wasn't the best way to earn it.

"Brecklin vetted this guy? I mean, we're scouting for a new base, it's not like they kicked the spacer with the least fleas in Tattooine up to his feet for this assignment."

His own assessment didn't seem to help.

"Be ready for anything."

The lift doors parted, and the pair headed towards the waiting shuttle, already getting its loadout situated.

[s'Il]

"Well no, from what I understand the General had no hand in who was chosen to meet with us; that was someone else. A Commander Higgs, I believe."

Keeping pace, the Lupine was mindful to not fall behind, and only when they started up the shuttle's boarding ramp did she slow her gait, falling in behind him as they crested the top of the ramp and ducked into the craft's interior.

With her saber secured on her belt, s'Il knew that if it came to blows she would be ready.

"What did he mean, about you being 'popular' in contracting circles?"

[General Dan]

"Well, this isn't my first rodeo, after all. The early days, everyone was their own chief, cook, and bottle washer. So I've moved my share of guns to hotspots here and there."

He tucked in, securing crash webbing as he sat across from Lok.

"This having our own warship bit is the fairly new part. Back before we even knew there was a larger Rebellion, it was guys knowing guys and being in the right place with what was needed. No ranks, no structure. Old fashioned hand-to-mouth insurgency."

[s'Il]

She mouthed an 'Oh', blinking a few times before instinctively reaching a hand out to him, palm up and waiting. It was a familiar ritual whenever she was forced to fly in the smaller ships, and one that he had graciously taken charge of in the form of a motion-sickness pill dispensary.

It was the only rationed supply that they had been given guarantees on, and she knew that he always had a small cache of them on his person for times just like this.

[General Dan]

"It's a trip through open vacuum, Lok, not an orbital insert."

He scoffed, but the hand remained there. Sometimes, he wondered if he could get away with a sugar pill. This thing of hers was so arbitrary and silly, especially for a Jedi. How she ever got from point A to B without him, he'd never know.

After a second of resisting, a pill was pressed into her palm.

"Can't you take up drinking like any other cosmophobe?"

[s'Il]

The pill was swallowed as she felt the shuttle begin to lift upwards.

"I drink enough; perhaps not as much as you, but we all cannot be so gifted with a high tolerance for alcohol."

Another small bit of jostling as the ship passed through the artificial atmospheric shield and into open space.

"Sometimes I have to wonder if the amount you've consumed over the entirety of your life has finally gone to your head and turned you mad," she mused, her efforts at distracting herself resulting in the fresh memory of a scant twelve hours ago.

[General Dan]

"Nah. I was born this way."

They were, of course, dancing around the bantha in the room. He wasn't about to bring it up. Not now. Too soon.

"I'm not the one claiming to commune with forces beyond, remember?"

The trip was short, and the shuttle soon clanged against the transport's umbilical as a hard seal was established at the egress hatch.

[s'Il]

"Those 'forces beyond' have saved your life more times than I can count'," came the grumbled answer as she swiftly undid the crash-harness. Rising to stand, the Lupine blew a short breath from her nostrils in a feigned snarl.

She had a healthy notion of what was on his mind, and with a cautionary look sent his way, s'Il shook her head in warning.

She waited for the final checks to be made, and as the two joined hatchways hissed open, she squared her shoulders back and stepped through.

[Torik Beirhannon]

Waiting on the other side, of course, was the lanky frame of Captain Beirhannon, leaning casually against the bulkhead a short distance away; far enough to give his guests room to disembark.

When the woman came through first, he straightened up just a little, a widening smile on his face as his arms uncrossed from over his chest.

"How about that; you do exist," he chuckled mostly to himself.