After spending part of the afternoon picking up necessary supplies for their next trip, Trychon and Raezyr made their way to the Jet Razor. They caught several nervous glimpses from various personnel as they passed.
"News travels fast. Good." Raezyr noted loud enough to be heard, but to nobody in particular. As they entered their docking bay, one of the gaurds clutched his weapon, unsure what to do.
"At ease, soldier." Trychon commented without looking at the man. "You're not looking for any trouble, I'm sure." With an unnecessary gesture, he forced the nozzle of the guard's rifle towards the floor from its ready position.
Both of the Sith could feel the increased tension from the guards, but any heroic ideas they may have been forming dissipated quickly.
They brought their small gravsled to their ship and were greeted by HK-51, Schyrt, and Reed. "Load up, gentlemen and droids. We're ready to get off this rock for the near future."
Trychon unlocked the ship's defenses using his datapad, and got a preliminary reading that all was well on their transport. Regardless, Raezyr insisted that they do a quick visual check of the exterior and main systems and ensured his older brother that it would be a good habit for him to get used to.
After the Sith's two newest recruits finished loading their own small baggage onboard, they joined the assassin droid in offloading the supplies. "Holy dreadnought, Reed!" Schyrt exclaimed. "Look at all the ale we're bringing!"
Trychon peeked around the corner at them. "If you two wanted supplies, you should have taken the time to procure them yourselves. I can't promise there's enough for us to share."
Reed stopped in his tracks. "Of course, milords. We only wanted to make sure we did not arrive late. We'll make due with whatever you deem appropriate for us."
"Good thinking. Perhaps there will be time at our next stop for you to pick up some of your own. We don't have time now though."
The men nodded and got back to work loading the ales on board the Jet Razor, even though HK-51 had already gotten the majority of it.
After Raezyr was confident in his ship's health, the group gathered outside in preparation for their takeoff. Out of the corner of his eye, Trychon saw Haley Stargazer approaching from the entryway.
"Schyrt, Reed... I've changed my mind. Why don't you go ahead and gather yourselves some materiel for the trip." He said as he dismissed them with one hand. The two left in a hurry with a small bow and thanks, but larger grins.
Haley walked right up to the group and eyed Trychon. "Lord Trychon, can I have a minute?"
He looked to his brother, who rolled his eyes under his helmet and walked a dozen paces away to the other side of the ramp, to pretend to engage the droid in idle conversation.
"What is it, Ms. Stargazer?" Trychon asked, allowing his curiosity to show openly, though he kept his voice even.
"I was distressed to find you were gone before I could have further chance to discuss what happened the other day with you." She said in her usual monotone voice.
He stared into her eyes, which betrayed no emotion at all. "It was early, and I didn't want to disturb you. Seemed you were quite comfortable forgetting about it afterwords."
She nodded. "It is... uneasy for me. I am not used to such things occurring, let alone discussing them in front of others. I try very hard to ensure I am taken seriously within the group. Not everyone is very comfortable with my role in the organization."
Trychon nodded in understanding and the cyborg continued. "I did want to extend my thanks again for your help in the cavern. Also, I wanted to apologize for the break in etiquette when I addressed you in name only in front of the group. I was still disoriented and adjusting to my systems coming back online. It won't happen again."
Trychon was about to speak and tell her it was ok, but she continued on. "I have not forgotten what I have gone through, and yes I am aware of how distressed I was. As well as some memories I relived that I my not have properly addressed with myself. In then end, I think what I went through will be for the best. I wanted to give you my appreciation."
She extended her hand towards Trychon, who bemusedly took it and shook it politely.
Haley looked into his eyes and hesitated, as she though she considered offering him more. Then, abruptly she let go of his hand and turned on her heels. She walked back out of the docking bay as quickly as she entered. As she passed by the droid and the younger Sith, she wished them a safe trip without breaking stride.
Raezyr laughed and waved for his brother to join him aboard. They made their way to the cockpit and began pre-flight warm-up.
Raezyr stretched out as the engines came on line. "So. The computer came to say goodbye to her hacker..."
This time, it was the older brother's turn to roll his eyes. Raezyr wasn't done poking fun though. "Look, she certainly would be cute if she was normal at all. I get it. I'm just saying that Huck here has more effeminate qualities."
The droid turned his head to Raezyr. "Resentment: I do not."
Raezyr laughed. "He's more likely to kiss you, too."
"Correction: There ARE limits to my programming, masters."
Trychon shot back irritated. "Ignore him Huck. Raez... drop it. You don't get her."
"Nobody is going to be getting her. She's probably not programed to..." Raezyr began.
"[I]Shut it, Raezyr.[/I] Trychon glared.
Clear that this wasn't a good time for sibling ribbing, the matter was dropped for the moment. Raezyr looked at the chrono. "We'll give the boneheads five more minutes."
He reached out and touched the controls, bringing up the comm. After a minute of searching, it beeped for connection and the speakers were filled with the sounds of a blasters and explosions.
"Hello?" Anya's voice came over the comm.
"Anya? It's Raezyr. Is Tyr there?"
"He's... busy. Can I take a message?"
"Put him on." In a moment, Tyr's voice greeted them, albeit shortly and between heavy breaths. "Tyr, it's Raez."
"Hey guys! How's things?"
"We're fine, thank you. I'll keep this short... I've been informed you have a full schedule at the moment. You've done a great job so far keeping the Republic off our tails, but they have to be close to figuring out what's going on."
"Yeah... it's been closer scrapes lately... but nothing we're not ready for. What's up?" Tyr said with short gaps where the sound of his lightsaber slicing through armor and limbs could be heard.
"Time's up for these games. We're done with our missions and we need to regroup. Meet us within a standard week in the Corellian system."
"No problem." He laughed, right as a the loudest explosion sounded over the comm. "Oop... gotta run! Give Huck my best!" Then the signal was gone.
The sound of their new crew fastening in the back meant it was time to go. Raezyr lifted the ship off without warning to the spaceport, feeling one was unnecessary.
Trychon began fiddling on his datapad.
"What's that?" Raezyr asked.
"Sending a parting gift down for our buddy Jama. The Stalker will give them our best regards in a quick strafing. I'm sure the subtleties won't be beyond even him."
They both smiled as they left the dry atmosphere of Tatooine behind.
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