Log:Starlight Vanguard: Finding a Home
Aria Voss goes to the team with news
OOC Date: April 3, 2023
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Aria Voss, Kaine Ul-Nass, Bar'duur, Saito
The Starlight Vanguard: Finding a Home
Apartment, Hangar 03, Dawnrise Starport
Nestled within a bustling hangar in the enigmatic Dawnrise Sector, a charming two-bedroom, two-refresher apartment awaits the weary traveler. With the hum of interstellar engines in the background, this cozy retreat offers solace amidst the constant excitement of a galaxy far, far away.
Upon entering the residence, visitors are greeted by an expansive central space where the living room, dining room, and kitchen areas converge. A large window in the living room serves as a portal to the mesmerizing world beyond. Through its crystal-clear glass, onlookers can marvel at the massive hangar below, capable of accommodating two corvette-sized vessels. The space bustles with activity as droids chatter away, ship technicians diligently attend to their tasks, and security personnel proudly display Voss Galactic logos on their uniforms.
Inside the apartment, tasteful furnishings and a carefully curated interior evoke a sense of warmth and tranquility. With each thoughtful touch, the space seems to whisper words of comfort and reassurance to those who sought respite from their galactic adventures. There are relatively few 'personal' touches, but among them are a shelf in the living room where an old model X-Wing that's seen better days, a few picture disks waiting to be turned on, and a toy GONK droid sit. In the Dawnrise Sector, this modest yet stylish apartment is a beacon of respite, artfully blending the exhilarating spirit of space exploration with the soothing comforts of a well-appointed living space.
Aria had been off-world for a couple of day -- not that anyone would really have noticed or that it was especially unusual for her. Not /everything/ happened on Nar Shaddaa, after all.
But this meeting was different, as her closest allies were about to figure out. She'd sent holonet messages to Saito, Kaine, and Bar'duur, all with the same content: When can we meet? I have a new lead. Send me your availability, please.
And that's how the meeting got scheduled. Of course, even with that, schedules are always subject to change, so there was no guarantee everyone was going to be able to make it. Official business was always easier to conduct over holo-call for that reason. The fact that Aria wanted it done in person was significant. She also wanted it done in her apartment on Nar Shaddaa -- a place she had bug-swept over and over, and that she could post her security detail up in front of to ensure their privacy.
That's where she waited at the scheduled time, a pot of water already warming for tea and a pot of caff already made. She'd also set out some snack that, for anyone that new Aria, looked /far/ too well presented for anything Aria herself could assemble. But, most of her food was to-order. The rare times she tried to cook anything herself never really went all that well.
"Seriously, Figly, give it a rest," These words can be heard, mufled,c oming from the apartment's door. Then there are two knocks on the door. When the door opens, Saito would slowly make his way inside the luxurious apartment, being followed by a small r2 unit. The pilot looks around the apartment for a moment, before hee would offer a smile to Aria. "Is everything ok? I received your message and came as fast as I could." he slowly makes his way to sit down at the nearest couch, seeming to be a bit sllugish. There are heavy bags under his eyes, a probable sign of sleep deprivation.
Not one for being on time except for when all the cards are on the table and the hand's about to be called, Kaine arrives near enough to the appointed time to make it fairly clear how important he thinks the meeting is, given the context. One at the door he knocks, awaits entry, and then steps inside - dressed in his usual servicable, somewhat scruffy, mix of comfortable and utilitarian clothing. There's a decided difference to his carriage as well - as if he's not carrying around some heavy weight or burden any longer, a light in his eyes that's all mischief and deviltry - which Aria may well recognize from days gone by.
"A gathering of the core group, hmm? What's got your guard up that's peeked your interest? " He asks as he walks in, eyes and attention moving from her to Saito, who's given a friendly nod and as well, before turning back to Aria as he looks to find a place to sit.
Bar'duur arrives probably around the time when he was supposed to, he tends to keep to a schedual, something he's learned over the years of running cargo for high end contracts and the like, and he tends to have personal scheduals as well, like his exercise routine, and such. Arriving in the specified meeting area his green gaze turns to Aria, then Saito, and then to Kaine when he too arrives. "Are we talking about sensitive things..?"
"Everything's fine," Aria answers Saito without hesitation, though the tension in her features begs to differ. "I just.. need your help." Her smile is thin, but present. Worried. But, then, the twenty-year-old heiress was /always/ worried about something. If it wasn't the Sith trying to get her /alone/ , it was that the Sith were going to find out what she was up to and murder her entire family. Not to mention all of the random violence that surrounded her on Nar Shaddaa, the rival company that was threatening to sabotage one of her ships, and the poor Zeltron didn't even /know/ that Borgol the Hutt had put a bounty on her head for 20,000 credits. /That/ would probably make her head explode.
As it is, she kneels down beside the newly arrived astromech and smiles in gretting, offering a little pat on its dome like she might a pet of some sort. "/You/ must be Figly," she says warmly. "I'm glad to finally meet you."
But then she's back on her feet again at the next knock and stepping back to let Kaine in the door. If she was tense before, it almost seemed like someone touched her with a live wire -- or like she might have /been/ a live wire, herself, ready to scorch anything that got near her. "/Somebody's/ in a better mood than I've seen him in a while," she says, a forced playful little smile barely touching her lips. She might not have been as nonchalant and easy going about it as Kaine, but she was /trying/ .
And then there's Bar'duur, whose presence seems to help relax her again. "We are," she answers Bar first, gesturing over to the seating area. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. There tea and caff, some snacks if you're hungry." Apparently, she wasn't planning on serving anyone.
Then those violet eyes are back on Kaine, and they linger for a moment. He knew her better than anyone else in the room, and it wouldn't have been hard for him to guess that she was about to take a leap /way/ out of her comfort zone. It wasn't unlike that first day she got on his ship, two years ago. Was it scary to go for a wild ride with a near stranger? Absolutely. Did she do it anyway? Of course she did.
"Bar," she says, looking away from Kaine and focusing on him. "You and I talked about raising a militia. And that conversation was centered around VGC." She pauses, letting her gaze linger on /him/ now. "I know you're okay with things that are /less/ than legal, but I'm about to make a proposition that doesn't involve VGC. I wanted the people that I trust the most in my life, but I want to give you the opportunity to leave first if you object. If you have loyalties to the Sith, you shouldn't be here."
"How can I help, Aria?" Saito asks the eiress, offering her a warm, bright smile, despit the exaustion that he feels as a result from his trip. The red-haired pilot returns Kaine's nod, offering him a friendly smile. "How have you been, Kaine? Its been a while." he alsso nods to Bar when the Zabrak arrives, tilting his head to listen to what the Zeltron has to say. There is anxiety and excitement, realisation on his features as he can guess where this is going. Figly rolls closer to the Zeltron, bleeping a string of Binary to her, before he rolls backk to remain beside his owner.
Figly: "It is nice to meet you too, Aria.. Hopefully we'll get a chance to talk soon.. I'll be by that idiot's side, as it seems he'll need my help.. Just please, don't tell him that.. He can't understand what I say, fortunately."
"I've reason to be, but I don't wanna steal your thunder. You've got something big to share, probably gonna risk stupid amounts of things along the way and may nearly kill me three or ten more times...but lets get that over with, Ri... Aria before my news." Kaine says, correcting away from something namewise there at the end, covering it by changing his approach on a chair to one that he approaches the bar and begins looking amongst them for some drink or the other.
No one really can even reasonably think that he's any care for anything Sith or New Order related. He does look over at Bar though, curious, not accusatory - just curious as to how he's going to land.
Bar'duur offers a nod to Saito, and Kaine, offering a little smile. "Hey guys." Then he makes his way over to the food table, picking some things out, mostly things involving meat, but he also likes cheese. He stays away from the sugars for now, though in favor of protien.
A grunt emits from the Zabrak, his green gaze lifting back up and over to Aria when she adresses him directly. "Mmm, a mercenary company." He nods in agreement.
He blinks, eyebrows lifting a little at her words and his head tilts just a bit, while thoughtful consideration flashes over his features. His gaze turns to Saito, and then Kaiden, before he emits a grunt. "I don't have any loyalties to them.. if you're about to talk about something sensitive, are you sure this room is clean and any droids around can be trusted?"
Aria laughs at the beeps and whistles from Figly, giving the droid a wink. "I'm sure we will," she says. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind helping me, I'd like you to take center stage." From within the hip pocket of her trousers, she withdraws a slim datastick, which she shows to Figly and slides into a port, if he allows it. It contains a holographic map of the galaxy that he can project on top of the coffee table, a square box blinking over one section that zooms in, and then a planet rotating slowly. There's a name printed beside it in aurek -- Xyndarra. Once the planet makes a complete revolution, looking mostly covered in dense greenery, a box begins to flash on the surface in what appears to be the middle of a jungle. When the Zeltron stands again, her gaze is on Saito, and smile warm. "Well, that's for you to tell me," she says. "/Ideally/, once you've had a chance to think it over and have gotten some rest. I don't think this is drop-everything time sensitive, but days may matter depending on who else has this information." Aria nods at Kaine, she looked like she was about to say something, but when he tripped over her name, her mouth snapped her mouth closed again. It wasn't a complete gut punch -- but it was noticed. Oh the joys of working closely with exes. Whatever happened between them, he was apparently still in her trusted circle of closest friends. "Well, we'll add it to the end of the agenda, then," she says, clearing her throat. To Bar, she smiles. "Everyone in this room, Figly included, has my complete confidence. And yes, I had it swept regularly, and again right before you all arrived." Then, apparently, it was time to get to business. She didn't bother asking Kaine or Saito about their allegiances. "This is Xyndarra. I just finished a meeting with an old friend of mine that heard I was struggling to expand VGC into the outer rim, and she tipped me off about an old New Republic Corvette that was supposedly ditched in the jungle, here. Her name's the Stellar Windrunner, and by salvage rights, if we can get to her, she's ours." A pause, then. "Except, I don't intend to use her for VGC." One by one, she looks at each of them. "I'd like to use her to help the Rebellion."
Slowly, Saito stands from the couch and makes his way to the table. He follows the Zabrak towards the meats and other proteins. He eats slowly, atention far more on the converssation than on what he is eating. Hee chuckles at Kaine's words, nodding in agreement with him. Figly leaves Saito's side and moves near the table, allowing others to take a better look at the planet. The smile that Saito offers the Zeltron is filled with pride. "Well, when do we depart?" is the only thing that he asks, a clear sign of his support, exaustion be damned. He opens his molth to say smoething elce but htinks better of it, deciding to stay cilent.
The wince he catches from Aria at his correction brings just a slight .. something to his expression that's gone again a moment later and Kaine just nods at the topic of his good mood being put on the agenda after whatever she has to say. He lifts the glass of whiskey he's poured and takes a sip, turning to catch sight of the holo that Figley puts up - the droid's comment apparently not directly reacted to - if he understood it at all.
"A _corvette_ ? Fuck, Aria, I'm not even sure your security's enough to be talkin' about that. I'd rather be out in mid-jump talkin' than here, now. " Kaine says, suddenly quite a bit more .. intense in his attention to the room and, well, the door. "You've got my support, but you knew that already. We're going to need more than that though - ultimately. Repair? Fuel? Supplies ? Stupid numbers of credits.. but, hell, I'm in."
Bar'duur makes his way over toward the table now, and the holographic map. He's silent for a time as he watches the holographic images being presented, and he nods a little, slowly, before his gaze turns to Aria and his eyebrows lift just a little bit. Then he nods again. "Hmm, well there are plenty of places all over the galaxy we could stick a hangar and keep it secret, if that's the route you wanted to go." He says. "A CR90?" He asks and a bit of a smile appears on his face. "I used to captain one, for the Array Consortium and for my own group Greywatch."
/Fuck, Aria/... Kaine's words draw a sigh from the woman and a nod. "I understand the concern /completely/ , and with any luck, once this is over, we're going to have a place we can go where we're /certain/ no one is eavesdropping on us. For now, this is the space I had available. Saito's ship's a fighter. I don't fully trust Naro yet. I hadn't had time to go to Bar'duur with this. Until you get another ship, I don't really have any other options."
Saito's reaction makes Aria laugh, her eyes filled with warmth. "Easy, Flyboy. We need a plan, first. /I/ have no idea what it's going to take to get this thing operational again, much less /keep/ it operational, but I know logistics. You guys are my team, and you're the only ones I would trust to lead this. You tell me what you need to get it done, how many people, and I'll do my best to make sure you have it. If you guys want to do a scouting trip while I'm contacting the Rebellion to ask for help finding people we can trust, I'm all for it."
Once more, Aria's eyes shift to Bar, and she smiles. "Of course you have. Is there anything you /haven't/ done? Well, that's going to be invaluable, then. I don't know how Karlie feels about all of this, but you can use her, please do so. I don't know what shape the ship will be in, but apparently it disappeared from the books nearly fifteen years ago. I don't know what the jungle has done to it in that amount of time."
Saito turns his head to the map that Figly is projecting, his eyes on Xyndarra for a moment. "Do we know if there are others looking for the ship?" he asks in a calm, steady tone. "I mean experience taught me that its better to be prepared for thee whorst case scenario.. There is the pocibility that others might be after this corvette, too." he nods to Kaine and Bar. "We'll need all the help that we can get, specially when it comes to captaining the ship, assuming that we can get our hands on it." the Jedi turns to Aria. "Well, I guess to start, we'd need at least two teams.. One to take care of transporting the people who'll go down to the jungle too retrieve the ship and another team to deal with ambushes.. Perhaps a squad of fighters? I have a Belbulab craft that we can use.."
"Well..." Kaine starts as she says '...until you get another ship... ' and he chuckles softly, "It just so happens that I've solved that little problem. Ran across a YV-666 I was able to acquire for a good bit of accumulated credit and a little bit of careful finagling. Truth Teller is in the VGC hangar right now." Kaine says with an obvious note of pleasure, pride, and .. that mischief back in his tone. He looks at Bar, "I might need to see if I can borrow some of Karlie's time, if she's willing, the 'Teller needs some work , she's damned near stock.. but at that end, should be entirely clean."
A pause, "Squad of fighters? Do we know that many fighter pilots? If we do.. hell yes."
Back to Bar, "You did, hmm? Well that knowledge's sure going to be handy, no matter what ends up happening."
Bar'duur stops to consider for a moment, thoughtful, staring at the holographic image for a bit longer, before his gaze turns to the others. "Hmm, I don't see why we can't pull it off.. well we've got two fighter pilots with fighters in this room right now." He points out. "So it's a start, I guess." His gaze shifts again to Saito and he grunts. "Belbulabs, those were one of the first ships I learned to fly." He says with a smile. "Those are the ones that have four seats right? The merc company Rebel Yell used to use them for a while." Then his gaze turns to Kaine, giving him a nod. "I've done a lot, when it comes to fighting and flying, and Karlie and the ship shop on Tatooine are at your disposal just let her know when you're ready."
"Oh!" Aria blinks at Kaine's announcement, smiling. "That's... congratulations. I know you were working hard towards that." Her hand lifts, shifting her hair behind her ear with a sweep of her fingers -- a nervous tick. She had more to say. She just wasn't saying it.
Her eyes shift back to Saito with a shake of her head. "She said the intel was good, and I told her I'd take it. She wouldn't have given it to anyone else. Now, where /she/ got it from, I can't promise anything. So, sooner is better than later, as long as we're not rushing into anything without thinking it through," she tells Saito. "I like your thought. Maybe there's a chance we already know some that would be willing to help. But we need to be careful who we talk to about this. I can definitely check with the Rebellion to see if they can loan us anyone, but I'm sure they're already spread thin as it is. If you know of anyone..." That's just left to linger with a little shrug.
And then back to Bar, she nods. "Both of you flying escort, maybe Kaine can fly the Haulin Assets? I seem to remember you saying it was... weaponized." A pause, she looks over at Kaine. "I can come with you. I'm not much of a combat co-pilot, but I can stay with the ship when we get there and keep an eye on things. I could even hang out in orbit after you guys land, if that would help -- circle the planet as a kind of early warning radar. I don't know where I'm best used outside of planning, but I don't want any of you to think I'm sending you to do this alone." A beat, then. "What about Naro? And Nayeesa? They both seem like they'd have sympathies. Hell, Mon Calamari doesn't even /exist/ anymore. That has to count for something to a Nautolan."
"No.. My Bellbulab only has one seat," hee informs the Zabrak, listening to the rest of what he says with a nod, atention going to Kaine. "I think you, Bar and me can pull it of.. I'd like other fighters because I believe its better to be safe than sorry," he explains, rolling his shoulders in a shrugh. He turns to Aria, softly bitting his lower lip as if in thought. "I do know others.. I'm not sure if they'd be willing to help, tough I can ask them.. As forr Naro and Nay, I think we should invite them.. The more people we can get, the better." he can't help himself and smiles to the Zeltron. "If you want, I could teach you how too operate a fighter, when we have more time.."
Kaine Ul-Nass's smile is brief and it's pretty clear he knows that Aria wanted to say something more, but they're all clearly more focused on the larger topic at hand, so he just says, "Thanks."
"I can fly whatever's needed, I can also draw on some general rebel alliance assets, at least personally, from their quarter master to help. What I'm trying to decide is if we really want to make this a big big deal, or go in quiet. There's a good bit of precedent for a small focused operation. " He pauses a moment, "But.. we really could probably use a slicer and another good gun or two to go with those others we might trust. At least if we go in the quiet way as opposed to drives and blasters blazing."
Bar'duur considers Saito's words for a moment. "Hmm, oh are those the ones with the big underslung hull pieces? From the Clone wars right?" He seems a bit more curious about the fighter than anything. "I've seen one before, I don't remember where, though."
Bar's gaze turns back to Aria and he nods. "Yeah, it's got some fixed guns and a missile launcher, but the real benifit is the turrets, not as useful if you don't have someone to man them but, with the turrets manned Assets is very handi for anti-fighter duties, that's what we used to use it for in Greywatch, and we used the fighters as strike craft, pretty often, with the corvette being for anything bigger, defended by the rest, all depended on the mission profile."
Aria's violet eyes shift around the room, following the conversation and making mental notes. "So, it's the four--" A beat, and a glance at the droid. "--five of us. Plus possibly Naro and Nayeesa, if they're willing to help. Two fighters, plus the Haulin Assets? Or just the one fighter? I won't be any use on the turret, I can keep the ship flying steady and Kaine can shoot. Maybe that's better than nothing. Or maybe Naro and Nayeesa can help with that."
Her eyes shift back to Saito at his offer and her smile warms. "I'd like that a lot, actually." Such was Aria's thirst for knowledge. She wanted to know /all/ the things and have /all/ the experiences. She just wasn't old enough to have done it all, yet.
She listens to Bar as she crouches once again next to Figly and places a hand gently on his dome. "Thank you for your help, Figly," she says. "I think we're done." And then she withdraws the datastick, slipping it back into her pocket. "We all have something valuable to contribute to this, and I hope we can all agree that it's a worthy cause. I'm excited for what we'll be able to do once we pull this off."
A pause, then, and Aria's gaze shifts to focus on Kaine. "Kaine, without you, I wouldn't be here. I'd probably still be slumming in some dive club in the Elysian or Coruscant underground. I'd never have known what it was like to have sector authorities chasing us for smuggling. I'd never have been brave enough to leave the core -- I certainly would never have considered joining the Rebellion or have have come out to a Hutt controlled world like Nar Shaddaa. You showed me I was capable of more." A beat, and a touch of a sad smile on her lips. "Thank you. I hope you understand that I'm not done asking for your help, though. You're the best smuggler I know. Once we get this Corvette off the ground, we're going to need supplies. Lots of them." A shift, then, to Bar. "And training. All of us are going to need training." Lastly, to Saito, with a quirk of a grin. "And hope for the future. An endless supply of optimism. And a shield against the darkness, because I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of darkness ahead of us." Her eyes even shift down to Figly. "And we're definitely going to need steadfast companionship. Because if we're not there for each other when it counts, all of this is going to fall apart."
And then her eyes lift to look around. "Thank you. All of you. I wasn't sure how well received this was going to be, but I appreciate each of you more than you know."
