Captain Coruscant and the Hirsute Avenger

[Kes Akiena]

He'd never been the sort that was offered a go at the firing range, and hi reaction reflected as much.

"Sounds nice," he offered, "... I'm sure."

It was hollow at best, and in the face of his previous expressions, Kes knew than there was not much he could offer that would stack up, for lack of a better phrase. He'd never been the one the commandos came to when it came to target practice. Unless he was the one providing targets.

Instead, he focused on the climb that lay before them.

:How far up did you say we have to go on our own?"

Even before the physical exertion he could feel the flare up of deep pain in his side and leg. It made him nervous, suddenly.

[Anauri Rabeak]

Stepping aboard the lift, Anauri waited for Kes to board before pressing the button. The main doors ground to a close, and the lift set of the a shuddering jolt which soon smoothed out into a comfortable ride. "About halfway, though it's not a straight climb. One section is kinda... vented into space, so we'll have to cross over to the access tubes and ladders on the other side near the top."

His left paw clenched and flexed on its own, readying itself for the task ahead. "We... might have to take a break every now and then," he admitted - something he'd never say in front of his own staff. "Left paw's still not a hundred percent. Doc says I damaged it pretty good climbing with it right after it was burned. If I hadn't used all the bacta in the Engineering first aid kits right away like I did, it'd probably be lame and you'd be up here with Chief Engineer Gradoona right now."

A pause, then a smirk as his brown tail flicked at his own joke. "Or not, as she doesn't actually fit in some of the places we'll be going."

[Kes Akiena]

"Ah yes, spacial limitations and the like."

For lack of a better place to have his hands, Kes settled for the old standby; clasped behind his back. Though, it wasn't long before one dislodged itself to reach up and tenderly rub at the inner corner of an eye. That done, his palm moved to smooth down the front of his uniform jacket in an idle motion before once more returning to its' previous spot.

"Glad to hear you're not completely out of the game," he truly meant each word he spoke.

It was Anauri's mention of breaks that gave his worried nerves a small bit of hope.

"If you need rest, then I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm... honestly not one hundred percent myself, so a break every so often will be nice."

[Anauri Rabeak]

What, stress fracture in your knuckle from pushing so many pencils?

The words rattled through his head, thankfully caught by his steel trap of professional sense, never making it out of his lips. What managed to make it through the filter was, "You get it bad in the invasion, too?"

With a deepening hum, the lift slowed to a halt, knocking less than gently against the manual stops placed on its track to keep it from going any higher. Clearing his throat, Anauri dug into his toolkit to remove a diagnostic computer, plugging its cable into a socket in the lift's main interface panel. "Open Sesame," he chuckled, and a typically hidden doorway hissed and slid open on the lift's side, exposing a maintenance shaft. "I would say after you, Sir, but, in this case it's likely best if I go first."

The Nehantite gave his commanding officer no room to argue, plucking the connection free and stepping on through the portal. Gone were even the most remote touches of style and grace in the architecture and surroundings, replaced by cold, Imperial utilitarianism. In some ways Anauri admired it, as everything had a purpose, and there was no wasted effort. For the sake of keeping things going, it was how things should be, in his opinion. The door to the lift shut behind them, just one step in a chain of many to prevent possible loss of atmosphere in spire six, and Anauri looked at the secure door before them. "From here, we climb," he announced.

The door slid open after another override from his computer, leading to a simple access ladder tube. "Every five meters there's a hatch we'll have to open, but we'll have to close the hatch below us first, as we go up. Every time we close a hatch, we can get off the ladder to rest for a bit, they'll more than support our weight. But, it'll be a bit chummy."

[Kes Akiena]

A simple nod as he followed Anauri up, and as his hands closed around the rungs of the ladder they now shared, Kes couldn't help the grimace that found its' way to his lips. With each movement up, he felt mostly-healed stitches protesting in his side. Outwardly he had done his best to project a strong figure, but up until now the redhead had not really needed to exert himself beyond what Doctor Vek had ordered. The Durwi had been particularly adamant, and Kes had mostly followed orders; until now, that was. Still though, he suffered through for the respite it gave him.

"Uh, well," another step up.

"Took a knife to the kidneys."

It was the easiest way to explain the injury. That damn madman had left his mark, and Kes knew he'd carry a small scar until he died.

Up another small ways, and the access hatch below them closed with a hiss. Anauri pressed on though, and after another two intervals, Kes let his boots fall to the closed hatchway, moving against the access tube's wall to allow the Nehantite room to come down for rest himself.

"Not the worst I've been plugged, but it's not something I'd recommend trying regardless."

[Anauri Rabeak]

So far, so good, Anauri figured, easing himself back down from the ladder. Beside Kes it was standing room only in the access tube, forcing both men much closer than either would typically stand.

"I'm down a kidney, myself," Anauri smirked. Right paw reaching down to grasp the hem of his tee shirt, he pulled it up enough so that Kes could see a blaster scar on his side, though it was very old. "Body armor only does so much when your enemy is overloading their guns."

The shirt fell and he took to stretching out his left paw, gingerly rubbing over some of the fresher scars. "For one of the fresh sparkys, this whole job would take an hour, tops. But it looks like neither of us are the young bucks we used to be. Does mean we get to order those young bucks around, though," he laughed. "Or, in my case it'd be does. Engineering is mostly women, here."

[Kes Akiena]

"I've noticed the trend," Kes couldn't help but chuckle while casting his eyes upward to the next access hatch. A long breath, and he let his body lean against the wall of the tube.

"Talent and capabilities come wrapped in any and all packages."

A sigh.

"At least, that's how it was in the old days. Back then you didn't have the luxury of tests and the like. You just had exist in the moment and trust the person standing next to you and hoped you didn't get your head blown off. Though," a decidedly dark tone came over his voice then, "... dying was always preferable to capture."

[Anauri Rabeak]

"No it isn't," Anauri countered. His voice was firm, adamant, matching the stonewall expression on his face. "Captive, you're still alive, and you can still mount a resistance. You are still you. Dead just means you mother cries and your son gets angry."

In the cramped confines of the cylindrical shaft, the Nehantite's tail lashed against the wall, creating a soft, echoing brushing sound, as the subject had apparently hit close to home.

[Kes Akiena]

The dark tone of his voice spread to his eyes, and for the first time in a long while, Kes wore a deep frown that seemed so foreign on his usually jovial features.

"In my experience, Chief Rabeak, Imperial interrogator droids and torture tactics are enough to make a man wish for death, his family be damned."

The redhead let out a long breath, looking away and up once more.

"Times were different back then, for people like me."

[Anauri Rabeak]

"We fought the Empire, too," Anauri stated flatly. "But we did it on our own, no help from anyone else, and even some of our other kingdoms fought against us while we were at it. Don't think you have the monopoly on pain, Commander."

It was not an avenue of conversation Anauri wished to pursue any further, as it would only lead to raw nerves and disrespect. Each man's pain was his own, and others should not compare theirs to it, he reminded himself - something which truly should have run through his head sooner. Paws grasping the ladder, the Nehantite hauled himself up it once more, hoping that by climbing up he could escape the topic which stewed in the access shaft. Reaching the top, he hooked one arm around the side rail of the ladder to lock himself in place as he reached his computer's lead up to plug into the override port, then punched in the access code.

Nothing happened.

Furry eyebrows crimping, Jovan's Chief Engineer tried again, but nothing, not even a click. Reseating the lead did nothing, and neither did a reboot. If the lengthy amount of time spent attempting to open the hatch wasn't enough to signal that something was wrong, the angry flick and twist of his tail would certainly give it away to his captive audience below.

"Uh, Commander, I think we may have to reschedule our trip to six. This hatch isn't opening, and I don't have a power box to manually apply power in order to override it. This whole spire is basically buggy past the lift. Gonna give it one more try."

Still nothing. "Damn."

[Kes Akiena]

The dark left his expression as Anauri moved on to their current circumstances. Blinking, Kes let his frown ease away into a mildly perturbed look. Having to retreat back down was an unfortunate happenstance, but he supposed that all good things must come to an end, and that the longer foray out from his office wouldn't be so cut short. He could already hear the trilling comm rings, and the angry voices accusing him of showing favoritism, discrimination, or any other word for preferential treatment. Lately it seemed those types of calls never ended.

In a way he envied Anauri, as the Nehantite could take out his frustrations on the inanimate machinery and bulkheads around him.

"I guess it's inevitable," he finally ventured, letting his eyes drift back down to the closed hatchway he still stood upon. Rolling his shoulders, the redhead let a hand move to grip the side of the access ladder in a loose grip.

The next words he spoke held a measure of muted defeat.

"Best we be heading back, then."

[Anauri Rabeak]

"Yeah, I'll have to come back with a power pack later," Anauri sighed as he began his descent of the ladder. "Should've brought one with me, but, it's not something I normally keep in my walkabout toolkit. Rather heavy, those."

The words came as his boots thumped down onto the hatch below them, careful not to climb down directly onto Kes's head. Nodding to the floor below, he stated the obvious, because sometimes it needed stating. "Need you to get up the ladder there some so I can hold on here and open up the hatch below to let us down."

Tucking to the side of the tube as much as his bulky frame would allow, Anauri let Kes climb up far enough to get out of the way before straddling the stationary rim of the hatch so that he wouldn't be dropped through like cartoon character when it opened. Once was enough for that rookie mistake. Toolbag swinging from one shoulder as he bent down to reach the access port, Anauri edged it out of the way with his forearm before plugging in his diagnostic computer and running the script to open.

Click.

Nothing. Grumbling, Anauri repeated the process.

Click.

Again.

Click.

A few more times.

Click click click.

From above, Kes could not see the exasperated defeat registering on Anauri's face beneath that oil-stained mechanic's cap, but the expression was almost palpable as he righted his posture and looked up.

"Well, hope you didn't have any important meetings, this evening," the Nehantite attempted to sugar-coat the situation with a sheepish grin.

[Kes Akiena]

From his perch on the ladder, Kes looked back over his shoulder, down at Anauri with a mild expression of disbelief before slowly beginning to descend once more. His boots touched down on the still very much closed hatch. The was a healthy amount of concern in his eyes as he gave a look down first, then up to Anauri. He wasn't exactly feeling speechless, just more puzzled at this point. The thought of being stuck in a maintenance tube hadn't really ever occurred to him. A moment of thought, and he pulled a mixed expression of concern and near-helplessness while resigning himself with a small shrug.

"Nothing too important I suppose," he admitted, "Though I doubt it would make a difference right now."

Though, was it really all that bad? Sure, they would have to deal with cramped quarters, but there were certainly worse things to endure.

At the very least, he wasn't stuck with the Madame. Kes offered an easy smile as his eyes traveled back down to the hatch.

"So." The redhead allowed himself the liberty of leaning back against the wall and threading an arm through one ladder rung to use it as a leaning post.

"Know any good jokes?"

[Anauri Rabeak]

Backed against the opposite side of the tube, Anauri stared down at his diagnostic computer, running it through another reboot and patently attempting to ignore the fact that he was stuck in a maintenance shaft with his commanding officer. The officer he had so far impressed with his ability to do work such as being able to operate maintenance hatches. At the very least Kes seemed to be a good sport, and critically he didn't appear to suffer from claustrophobia.

That made one of them, at least.

Biting back the nagging knowledge of his enclosure, Anauri looked up, and slightly down again to meet Kes's eyes. "Plenty," he replied. "Though my staff might argue their level of goodness." His chuckle echoed within the tube, and that echo was enough to sour his mood once more.

Glancing up at the hatch above, he sighed, "If only we had a plank of wood, right now, we could get out of here."

[Kes Akiena]

Well, it was worth a shot, at least. For his part, Kes was woefully inadequate when it came to knowing any jokes worthwhile. Oh, he'd heard plenty, but trying to remember them? Heh. He usually had his hands full just trying to make it to his next meal with half his sanity. Still though, he kept his smile and general optimism. It was the only thing that he had at the end of the day, and he held on doggedly to the things that made him [i]him[i]. Just so happened though, that jokes were not in the running. He usually turned to others for that, as he did so to Anauri. It would be something to pass the time at least.

The Nehantite's admission of his normal fare being questionable, Kes merely shrugged in response. However, it wasn't long before his own eyes tracked upward to follow the Chief's gaze.

Brow furrowing in thought as he tried to understand what a plank of wood could do to help their situation, he finally gave up.

"I'd certainly like to know how," he questioned.

[Anauri Rabeak]

Anauri continued to look up, eyes fixed on the hatch at the far end of the tube while the rough, calloused pads of his fingertips drummed against his leg.

"Well," he said with a sigh of resignation, "We'd take the plank and balance it on something, making a see-saw. Then we'd use the saw to cut the plank in half. After that we stick the two halves back together to make it whole again. Then we take the hole, put it up against that hatch and climb out through it."

Bad jokes? Oh no, Anauri knew Dad Jokes.

[Kes Akiena]

There was a moment of silence, as he parsed through the explanation. It only took a second however, before the redhead cracked a smile and let out a low chuckle while shaking his head.

"Well," he started, but had to take another small bit of time as another light laugh escaped. It was such a silly thing, and a completely unexpected answer.

"Well, I suppose, hehe, that that's one way of doing it."

His smile remained though, as he shifted his weight onto his other leg. A thought occurred to him then, and Kes sent a teasingly critical eye to Anauri.

"Are the rest of them like that?"

[Anauri Rabeak]

"Some of them are probably worse," Anauri brought his gaze back down, his face boasting a satisfied smile. "When I ask my staff, 'Hey, want to hear a joke?,' the most common reply is something like, 'What, did you finally learn one?'"

The Nehantite did not appear to revel long in his mirth, turning his attention instead to his diagnostic computer. With deft fingers and experienced clawtips he began to pry off the battery casing in the hopes that a hard boot might jar it back to working order. Deep down he knew the issue was with the hatch controls themselves, but he had to feel like he was doing something.

"Going through some of the builds we did back on Nehantish in my day, most of us engineers developed the same sense of humor. Almost everything was cobbled together from scrap and old junk, and things were so bad that the best way to lift our spirits was by telling jokes that were even worse. Guess I picked it up from them." Glancing back up, he sighed, "Honestly it's a bit weird not having another Nehantite around. You get kinda used to things, and it feels strange when they change. Not that I'm complaining about my staff, of course."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes nodded in understanding, wishing suddenly that he could sit down. Sadly, the confines that he and Anauri now found themselves in were a bit less than accommodating, and therefor standing-room-only was the order of the day. Well, hopefully not day. An hour or two maybe, but gods not an entire day cycle. It wasn't that he disliked Anauri, but it was more an issue of basic bodily functions and the last time he'd eaten was a small toasted pastry with too much brightly colored frosting on his way out of his quarters at 0500 hours this morning and he'd skipped lunch, thinking he'd be able to grab a bite from a kiosk after this inspection was through and his stitches were itching and he was hungry and dammit now he was getting thirsty.

A sigh in answer to each running thought that sprinted through his mind, and his eyes went to Anauri.

"I wouldn't drum you off the station even if you did complain," he chuckled ruefully. It was a soft laugh that shifted into a slight groan as his gaze swept up to the hatchway above them. It would do them no good to dwell on the pressing issue though, so the redhead tried to steer their conversation into a different direction.

"What made you leave Nehantish?"

[Anauri Rabeak]

The battery casing on Anauri's diagnostic computer popped open with a harsh snap, and the engineer fumbled with both halves before tucking the battery under one arm.

"Work, initially," Anauri replied. "Unless you're a doctor or lawyer or something, there's not a lot of good-paying work on the surface, so when I was sixteen I got to go to the orbital shipyards for the remainder of my education. Paws-on, so to speak. Shipyards are where the best tech is, even if it's scrap or salvage, and you learn how to make anything work with almost anything in order to cobble a ship together, or to repair something that was incomplete. It's hard, but it's good work. Prove yourself and there are recruiters who'll pick you out for contract work on starships. That's where the money is."

He continued to fiddle with his computer, disconnecting lines which didn't really need to be disconnected, before plugging them back in and hitting the hard reset button.

"Between the ages of seventeen and twenty I think I'd worked on eleven different starships, off-world. Some were better than others, but the last one put a bad taste in my mouth so I went back home. Once there I got persuaded to join the Royal Army, and I was a soldier for eight years before a blaster bolt to the side took me out of action. By then I was married and I had a son. Leaving them behind for months at a time was hard, but I had to support them, so I went back into space, eventually earning enough to open my own shop by the time I got back."

A smile worked up his muzzle, happy times. "It was a damn good shop, and I trained damn good engineers. Got several government contracts, as well as bringing in clientele we didn't normally pull in."

The smile faded as quickly as it came on, and he returned to his tinkering. "But it wasn't meant to last. Lost everything and had to take back to the stars proper, leading crews here and there, clawing my way up the ladder until I could find a new place to call home. Found it here, and I don't intend to let anyone take it away."