Chapter 3: Archaic

[Ender 8]

"I asked around, then thought, 'What would Tak do first when off to rescue a damsel in distress?' Wardrobes is a Black Ops hotspot. Wasn't that hard to figure out. Drana's nice, by the way." He glanced at Nat, then back to Tak. "I actually have done this sort of thing before. Just because I'm not fancy enough for my own suit of armor and highly ritualized honor system doesn't mean I don't know my way about."

Edited June 25, 2008 by The Stig

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric joined in. "And we just asked where the man in the scary and completely conspicuous armor went."

[Pandora 77]

Tyrena

Deign had been up for a while. Actually, he thought bitterly as he checked his chrono, I'd hardly call that sleeping at all. It had been one of those unwelcome dream-filled nights, where he woke up physically rested but more emotionally exhausted than he would have been if he'd just stayed up.

He was gulping down his third cup of caf when his secretary buzzed him. "Argos," he said into the comm.

"Sir, Mr. Sano is here to see you."

Deign polished off the cup and set it down on the bedside table and buttoned his shirt. "I'll be right out," he said briskly, sliding his feet into his shoes and heading towards the door.

Cale was seated, as he expected, outside his office door. Deign barely broke stride as he plucked the data chip he assumed contained the requested report on the snatch and grab and pocketed it. "Thanks Sano, good hustle. Get some sleep man, you look like hell."

Deign continued on directly to the brig, nothing but caf on his stomach.

The thought of what he might have to do in the next few hours only made him hope he could keep that much down.

Edited June 26, 2008 by Pandora

[Drake 53]

"Lucky guess," said Tak. "But you're half-right. Wardrobe hears a lot of rumours about a lot of things. Not a very reliable source of information but the staff is friendly. And I actually came here to order some Corellian clothes for the squad." He smiled at Jaim. "Any fashion tips?"

[Rogue 4]

She could hear music before she even lowered the boarding ramp, and knew that they had already begun to party in the streets. Every day was a holiday on Zeltros, and it had been so long since she'd been there. As she walked down the ramp with Takeshi at her side, everything seemed to be going perfect. She smiled at the small child that her cousin was holding. She seemed so thrilled to see her, and as soon as she wriggled free of Lira's grasp she ran over to them as fast as her little feet would carry her.

Layla kneeled down to scoop her up, holding her tightly for a long moment. She had missed her daughter so desperatly that she didn't want to let her go. Seeing her now made her want to leave everything else behind and live just for her, work, just for her future. Do whatever she could to ensure that her life was million times better than her mother's.

She let go, kissing her on the forehead. She introduced Takeshi, and smiled as he knelt down to talk with her, handing over the small ewok doll he had bought her as a gift.

Lay had always sort of been the black nerf of her family, but standing there with Tak and Ayana, she had never felt more at home. She looked up at the sky, feeling lighter, relieved. Takeshi would make a good father, She wasn't sure where the thought came from, but if it entered now she was sure she must have thought it before. Much better than...

When she looked down, it was not Tak's kind eyes that greeted her.

She woke up with a start, taking in her surroundings with widened gray eyes. She wasn't on Zeltros, or a million other pleasant possibilities between here and the outer rim. She was pretty sure she could find a few more pleasant alternatives to this in Hutt Space. No, she was in a dank cell, in the underground Archaic base that had never once been located. Knowledge was power in this industry, and those who knew too much about Archaic and could be trusted too little were dealt with in blood.

She briefly wondered when it would be her turn to die. Surely then she would know at least that Deign would never find Ayana. She would give up everything for her daughter.

She reached down, pulling a small locket from her breasts. Opening it she was greeted with a small holo of her daughter. Seeing her there brought her hope, and returned her to her senses. She needed to live, to get out of here, to give Ayana the best life she could, like she always said she would.

After a long moment she closed the locket, returning it to where it came from.

[Mara 29]

Kaden took a deep breath and braced himself, fully immersing himself into battle mode.

"Artie, full power to forward shields. All you can spare."

A few beeps, then text across his console screen. "That's fine. They won't be getting behind us. Go ahead and divert from back shield."

He armed a proton torpedo, knowing he might not have the chance later and moved his X-wing closer to the destroyer's shield generator.

The swarm of TIEs was coming ever closer. "Okay, Szen, hold on..."

She acknowledged with a click on her comm, fully concentrating on the inevitable battle to come.

[Ender 8]

"Lucky guess," said Tak. "But you're half-right. Wardrobe hears a lot of rumours about a lot of things. Not a very reliable source of information but the staff is friendly. And I actually came here to order some Corellian clothes for the squad." He smiled at Jaim. "Any fashion tips?"

Jaim spread his arms. "You're lookin' at it. For what we're going after, think mechanic. Jumpsuits and vests are good."

[Pandora 77]

Deign didn't bother alerting Layla to his presence before stepping into her cell. She was still laying on the small cot, but he knew she was awake. He nodded at the guard to lock the door behind him and leaned against the wall opposite the cot, but at such an angle that Layla had to turn her head to see him. "Hope you slept well," Deign said, crossing his arms easily over his chest. The last feelings of grogginess had been cast off by the caf. "Are you ready to make your decision?"

[Rogue 4]

She sat up, straightening herself out, sighing inwardly at the sight of her former lover. "Well that's easy, I know better than to think you can make dustcrepes, so I'll just have cereal."

Layla knew he had a more serious decision in mind, but she had decided that maybe she should loosen up and let her natural charm out a bit more. She stood, stretching. "Unless you learned how to cook in the last four years babe."

[Pandora 77]

Deign indulged her in a smile. He would have laughed out loud if it weren't for the Diktat's promises still fresh in his mind. "Don't be so sure. There are a few new things about me you might actually like and some slight culinary skill is now one them."

He paused, noting Layla's skeptically raised eyebrow.

"I am now not only totally adept at boiling water, but I can make a grilled cheese sandwich without setting the kitchen on fire."

[Rogue 4]

Layla found herself chuckling as she straightened out her tousled red curls. "Wow, that is improvement. And that grilled cheese sandwich sounds tantalizing."

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric nodded. "I do like vests for concealment of weapons and such, if not for fashion."

[Pandora 77]

"Hey, it keeps me alive. Well that and the cafeteria." Enough stalling, Argos, down to business! he scolded himself. "Tell you what, Lay. Why don't I go ahead and tell you what your decision is going to entail, then if you're still hungry, I'll get you that grilled cheese sandwich. Deal?"

[Rogue 4]

"Why do I have a feeling I'm about to lose my appetite?" She sighed, placing a hand on her hip and fixing him with her most serious, judgemental gaze. "What heinous question are you about to ask me?"

[Pandora 77]

Deign thought a moment to make sure he worded this properly. "You know I need information, Layla. And I know you're a tough one to crack. But my sister, however, will be much easier." Deign pulled the datachip from his pocket. "This is a detailed report that explains all the juicy tidbits of knowledge my men could gather about that well-hidden New Republic base you were found on. Either you tell me where Sena is and how to get to her, or this report goes to the Diktat."

He waited silently for only a moment, examining her reaction. "So, Layla? Shall I go whip up some breakfast for you while you mull it over a bit?"

[Rogue 4]

Layla seemed to be in shock for a moment, not quite expecting that. "Hold on for a second while I read the g's here...because you're seriously not flying on all thrusters if you think I'm going to tell you where Sena is so that you can do to her what you've done to me. Besides, you're just greasing the servos: that datachip is empty."

[Pandora 77]

Deign shrugged. "Have it your way. I'll send it on to the Diktat anyway." He slid the chip back into his pocket. "I'll go make your breakfast while one of my guys runs it out to him." He headed for the door, turning around at the last second. "Since when did the New Republic hire Manolorians?" Another shrug. "Maybe he'll know where to find Sena. Mother would so love to see her home again."

Without waiting for another response from Layla, he signaled the guard to let him out. The door bolted shut behind him and he walked to the mess hall.

[Rogue 4]

Layla bolted to the door, gripping the bars so tightly that her pink skin turned white. "Deign... wait!"

[Drake 53]

"I'll make sure Drana gets you a vest," said Tak. "Now we need to get down to business. The longer we spend here, the lower Layla's chance at survival."

He leaned forward, putting his arms on the table. "I propose that we take no more than three vessels to Corellia. Currently we have mine, Jaim's and Captain Fae's. We split up and find three different landing zones. From there, we further split into pairs and find places to stay. I understand that Captain Fae's family has a house near Tyrena. Perhaps she would be willing to house a few guests. After we establish safehouses, we find out as much as we can about the location of the Archaic base. It's no doubt secreted away somewhere so there will be plenty of front businesses and fake trails for us to follow. Once we find the true location of the base, we regroup and draw up a plan of attack."

Edited June 26, 2008 by Drake

[Chickenman 9]

"Sounds more or less what I was thinking. We'll unfortunately need to wait until at least tomorrow morning before we can head out. Any ideas for what we can work on in the meantime?"

[Drake 53]

Takeshi nodded. "We'll need to get engineers set on changing our transponder codes and ship IDs. Other than that, we'll have to brief the squadron and rest up. We'll need to get fake IDs and names made up as well." He looked over at Nat and said," Anything to add, Lieutenant?"

[Rogue 4]

Nat thought about it. "Not that it's going to help overnight, but I think sometime in the future we should have the squadron run drills in a TIE fighter simulator. I am sure Corellia won't be the last world that Revenant Squadron is going to have to give up the X-wings on. It would probably be a good idea to get them used to flying enemy craft as well, so we can blend in easier."

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric nodded. "And civillian ships as well. Very well. If no one has anything else to add, I say we all grab our respective Flights and brief them on what's going on. Then have everyone grab some rest." He realized how futile that last order was. No one was going to get any sleep tonight, least of all he. Not while one of their squadmates, one of their friends, was out there being subject to Force knows what.

"Dismissed."

[Drake 53]

Tak got up from his seat and went to stand beside Jaim. "Go find Szen and Kaden. Kaden will most likely be in the sims. I have the feeling that Szen will be wanting to test out her new prosthetics so she would either be there, in the gym, or in the medbay. All of you meet me back in the pilot lounge. I have some business to do first."

He left Jaim, Nat and Aeric in the room and went to find Drana and Nikolas.

[Pandora 77]

Deign would have continued all the way to the mess hall if Layla hadn't called him back. As it were, he came to a halt a little more than three meters from her cell door. He paused before turning on his heel and returning to her cell, his steps slow and deliberate. He forced a calm exterior, despite the fact that concern for his family's safety nearly sent him into a panic.

"Changed your mind about eating?" Deign said flippantly before crossing the final meter to the cell door. He slipped his fingers through the barsand gripped her hands gently but forcefully, leaning close. "I'm not bluffing, Layla. I don't want to hurt Sena and I don't want to hurt you." His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke. "All I want is information."

Edited June 26, 2008 by Pandora