Trychon's plan was complex, and he had to go over it several times before Raezyr was sure he understood just what exactly his brother was proposing to do. "I'm not sure if I'm okay with this," he objected. "After all, betraying someone who trusts you isn't a good idea."
"We've got time," Trychon reassured. "Think it over. If you have questions, we can still talk it over, but in the end you'll see that it's the only way."
"Still, it's a bit unsettling."
"You have to look at the big holo, little brother," Trychon said grinning. "What's best for our ultimate goals? The few who happen to get hurt will ultimately benefit from it, and if they can't see that, then they're holding us back. You once told me to 'Sith up.' I could say the same thing to you right now."
Raezyr sat in silence for a while, mulling over the plans. "I'm still going to have to think about this."
"Like I said, take your time. We have to make sure each facet of the plan is in working order before we can even think about implementing it," Trychon said, reaching over for the bag he had brought, and pulled out Daxon Var's holocron.
They spent the next few days in deep study with the ancient Sith Lord's holographic avatar, and it was in it's usual foul mood, berating them and belittling them when it wasn't teaching them more techniques and rituals of the Sith Order.
During that same time, Mannix had found two new friends in Delki, the male Chadra-Fan mechanic and Bleetz, the female Squib supply officer. Somehow their natural curiosity and genuine friendliness soothed his sense of displacement.
Each day Raezyr and Trychon would check on Mannix during breaks in their intense training schedule, and each day, Mannix seemed to need them a bit less. By the time two weeks had passed, Mannix was not only friends with the two small aliens, but was also making friends amongst Dianna's crew, and especially with some of younger crowd who had hung around Dek, the young man whose death was still a source of stress and guilt for Trychon.
Raezyr enjoyed the small vacation. His days were spent training, studying and working out, and his nights he spent next to the beautiful woman who ran this operation on the remote ice world of Hoth. He knew it couldn't last. Too many things waited for them off planet. He wished somehow that Dianna would leave all of this to Zanz, and go with him, but he knew even suggesting that would put undue strain on whatever type of relationship this was. On top of that, he was worried that some of the actions they were forced to take may only serve to drive her away.
Finally the day arrived. They had taken care to pack quietly, little by little over the last few days as not to draw too much attention when they left. They wanted it to be a quick departure so as make things easier on Mannix.
Dianna walked with Raezyr and Trychon to the space craft hangar where the Jet Razor awaited them. Trychon had launched the Twilight Stalker a couple of days earlier, and it sat in orbit above Hoth, waiting for it's next orders.
As they walked, they made small talk. "Isn't Mannix going to walk with us?" Dianna asked. "Or is he busy saying goodbye to his friends?"
Raezyr and Trychon looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say to her. Tell her, Trych.
No way, this is all you.
Raezyr sighed. "Um, Mannix is staying here with you, Di."
She stopped dead in her tracks. "WHAT?" Dianna said, nearly yelling. "I thought you two were joking. You're seriously going to saddle me with that kid?"
"He's pretty mature for his age," Raezyr said, trying to counter.
"That's not the point, Raez! You know I can-" she began, then lowered her voice to a near whisper. "You know I can barely afford to keep this place operational right now. I can't feed an extra mouth unless he can pull his weight around here."
"We didn't say you HAD to feed him," Trychon interjected. "Just kind of thought it would be a nice thing to do, since he looks up to you and all...."
"Shut up, Trych," Dianna blurted. She was clearly not in a joking mood.
"Di, we're going to be going into some rough places in the next few weeks. Places he's not ready for, and he can't spend his entire time on board the ship with only an HK droid for company," Raezyr explained. "Maybe you could have Taggart show him how to pilot some of these things, or Zanz or Dengar or Teera could show him how to fight. Think of this as your chance to mold the perfect smuggler. He's young. He's smart, and he's intuitive, as well as agile and determined. Trust me when I say that he can do anything to which he puts his mind."
Dianna stood, hands on her hips, silently glaring at Raezyr. Finally after a few moments her features softened as she spoke. "If it were anyone but you Raez, I'd tell them to stick it up their ram jets."
Their good byes didn't take long. Raezyr and Dianna had shared their moment in private a few minutes earlier, and she gave him but a hug and a quick kiss before sending him up the loading ramp where Aitchkay was already waiting.
Dianna grabbed Trychon's arm and gave him a quick hug as well as a peck on the cheek. "Bring my man home in one piece, or you'll have hell to pay, Sith," she said with a smile.
"In that case, I'd just let you keep him now, except you just gave us that speech about not wanting another useless mouth to feed," Trychon said grinning.
"Get out of my base, Trych," Dianna said still smiling, and headed to the control room.
The repulsor lifts whirred to life and the ship lifted half a meter off the deck. Trychon jumped up onto the ramp and boarded the ship as the Raezyr slowly turned the craft around to point toward the hangar doors, which began to peel back.
Snow driven by the wind surged through the opening. The storm outside was bad, but not bad enough to delay their launch. The loading ramp retracted and closed as the ship began to slowly drift toward the entrance. Once it was fully closed, the repulsor lifts whined up to full power and the Jet Razor shot forward, disappearing into the curtain of snow and into the endless night beyond, Korriban their destination.
Sith up Son
ReplyDelete