[center]~| 18:23-18:43 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex: Lea, Xid and Nazca |~[/center]

Xid still leaned against the bunk wall, his back filled by the chill and hard surface digging into his back. Currently, he was feeling much better compared to earlier though he knew it was only temporary. The wounds would start to hurt again in time, either by the Sith's torture or natural means when the nerves started to feel again. Force healing was useful but even it had limits, a fact he knew far too well. Discomfort edged into his senses causing him to shift while listening to Shiri and trying to add to his mental list against Lea's negativity. It was better than being useless after all though he really should rest, his mind too restless to let it settle with everything that happened.


When Shiri said something about overpowering the sith, Xid shot upright and shot a surprised look at his friend. He hadn't expected her not to consider the factors he had already. Ones easily overlooked and currently ignored by the others, save Lea. That there was cleared more than the encountered sith on board and that meant a lot more light sabers compared to what he originally thought. He had been about to reply when Shiri turned away. Blinking, he watched her for a moment walking toward Alat and Tolun, their words mingling currently among their own company. It made he felt like a Initiate again. A boy, simply lost, lone and forgotten in the important thick of things as usual. It was bound to happen after all because he failed to understand the world the same way everyone did.


He sighed a bit, leaning against the wall. “She's ignoring all the parts in the machine.”

Lea looked confusedly at Xid. “Huh? What do you mean?”

She’d could vaguely recall that one of her long-term patients had taken on a machine-fixated padawan, but it took her a few moments to connect the dots. Not that that helped her understand his analogy.


Xid turned to Lea and smiled, gently. “Yeah, sorry about that. I don’t exactly see the world in the same way as everyone else. I see it more like a working machine and Shiri’s only looking at the parts that are visible. That’s the Sith that arrive and the troopers. What about the parts that aren’t as well seen? The ship for example is the machine’s shell and outer layer, it’s what holds all the parts within easily. However the parts that are suppose to be here and work towards keeping it, the imperial civilians to troopers and even the sith, know its inner paths and routes. They can navigate it. We can’t so even if we manage to overwhelm one or two sith, where do we go next? That doesn’t count defenses meant to keep us, from their location to how they function and what triggers them. I don’t think they would accept Jedi prisoners unless they mean to keep them contained, do you?” 

“Yes. True. Earlier on I was kept elsewhere on the ship. Even when I got out, I could never find a way to escape. We need to have a plan for escape, not just rush into it.” Lea nodded as she said this, knowing well that the crew would not be too lenient with escapees. She hadn’t been outright hurt by the imperial troopers once they cornered her in the past, but they had not been gentle upon taking her back to the cell. There was no telling what they would do now. Nor, for that matter, was there any telling what the other Sith would do. She at least did not want to lose a hand the way that mouthy criminal had done.

“Do you think they’ve got any surveillance of these cells? Would it not be rather stupid to plan openly before such? If I were one of the Sith, I’d make sure to always keep track of what the prisoners were saying.”

For a moment, Xid considered what Lea said. “I don’t know but I can find out. Give me a second.” 

Gingerly, he turned to the side and rolled up his robe’s sleeve. Then carefully he leaned against the wall and pressed his palm against the wall, relaxing to feel the inner workings occurring in the room. Wires buzzed, gears grinded, and lenses zoomed in as his soul seemed to become in tune to the ship’s breathing machines. He loved the feeling all too well. To become a part of something he understood and not feel isolated, it was a wonderful experience he could become absorbed in for hours. Though he had sank rather deep, Xid’s voice spoke back to Lea. “It seems just to be basic security measures which is odd. I thought they would’ve had much more advanced ones, but then again that’s only this room. I would have to tap into each individual room to know if that’s something common for each one or just this one.”      

“That is convenient. Can they be shut off, disabled or modified?” The trouble, she knew, would be erasing the evidence they’d tinkered with it. But they would just have to take the chance that someone wasn’t watching that particular recording then and there.

“I think maybe Darth Nyiss is testing the Sith too. That might be why the measures aren’t more advanced. Until we figure out a way off the ship and how to keep any plan secret from our captors, there is no point in truly trying to escape. What we really could use is a lightsaber or two.”

Xid, much to his dislike, released his connection to the ship. His soul seemed to deepen into emptiness for a moment as a void began to grow and stop short of swallowing him up. Maybe it was his sensitivity to the machines that made him so sensitive to the inner workings and his own ability, his own knowledge unable to know for sure. It made him realize how odd he was in the end. A fact he secreted hated about himself, his eyes looked toward Lea when she asked her question, followed by the requirements of a lightsaber or two. He bit his lip quietly and then, against his better judgement then motioned for her to edge closer. 

When she came into his personal space, he leaned into whisper something in her ear. “I can’t tell for sure unless I’m touching one. My mechu deru is rather limited because of how my master had me trained, else it would be rather overwhelming. I’m a little too sensitive to machines that even hearing a malfunctioning one is like nails across my brain. However, I could likely disable a camera with a simple touch given a few seconds if they are only basic machines. More complicated will take much longer for various reasons, from determining the model to discovering the weakness to attack. As for lightsabers, I know the main components and could build them, but I just need the elements to make it. Mainly wiring, metal, copper, a few other things. However the crystals are the hardest part, though they are growable. They aren’t possible to manufacture without a refinery and a growing furnace. Something that would get the Sith’s attention even if I had the components or stuff to make it.”  

Finishing his words, he pulled back with a curious look at what he just revealed to see Lea’s reaction.

“Disabling a few cameras would help. But only if we can make it seem like they’re not disabled. Say, can they be wired in a loop? Cameras from both rooms showing the same room?” She asked, thinking of how that could be utilized for their advantage. 

“As for the lightsaber creation… Lets go see what we can use in the medical bay. There’s all sorts of equipment over there.” Lea grabbed Xid’s wrist, pulling him along to the primitive med bay. She had no idea what could be used for what, but it wouldn’t hurt to look. She did not know what equipment they could do without, but if it provided them with a reliable weapon, she suspected most of they could make do without. At least the simpler stuff. 


“That would need someone with slicer skills...which I don’t have.” Xid admitted as he felt his hand snatched and pulled, his body being lifted off the bunk and onto his feet. He nearly crashed into the floor again when Lea practically hauled him to the crude medical bay. His balance restored, he tried to keep the room from spinning as he looked around, eyes noting the different equipment around including an empty kolto tank. Xid’s first reaction was that it didn’t work and it was merely there for some sort of sick amusement, his mind cursing the Sith who’s idea it was. Sighing, he ambled slowly to the nearest display of tools. They appeared to have been moved some from their original places, his eyes shifted to suspect Lea was the one, then set back down again. “Alright, before I get started. Which are the most important tools that can’t be replaced? Namely those for worst case scenario wounds and healing?”

He didn’t know how long it would take him to make the lightsabers, though he spotted some worrying concerns. Some elements appeared to be missing and without them, he wasn’t going to be able to put together a weapon powerful enough to allow them to defend themselves. Best he could presently do was make a mini, centered blast that would only dent the cell doors. He looked to Lea for guidance before continuing, though he peered back to see if Koren had followed them. Personally he enjoyed the comfort the older Knight brought and he was among the best fighters they had experience wise.

Lea let go of Xid’s hand, then started going through the various machines and tools on the tables. “This is good… Trash… Good. Good… Junk… Useless… Excellent…” she kept muttering beneath her breath, moving some of the tools about reorganizing them. Though she clearly had a pattern to it, it would not be apparent to anyone else what that system was.

Without any care for his reaction, she grabbed Xid’s tunic, hauling the slightly taller Jedi down somewhat so she could whisper to him, making sure to keep her hand between her mouth and his ear so that even if there were cameras watching, they could neither hear what she said nor see her mouth in order to use lipreading to interpret it. “The ones at the left side of each table are junk. Most of the tools and machines are useful, seeing how they’ve not bothered to provide us with kolto for the kolto tank. I’d rather not anyone be aware of what we’re planning to do, so do try to play with a few of the others to lay a false trail even as you analyze the junky ones. You probably won’t break the ones we need. Just avoid the ones at the back right corners as they’re fragile.”


When Lea let go, he started to rub feeling back into his wrist as he watched her. His head tilted to the side and continued to study, mentally realizing there was a hint of repetition. Yet he couldn’t understand the pattern established in the actions. Still hooking his wrist between his fingers, he faced to the side and tried to calculate how to use the kolto. Mentally he debated on either to tear it apart or merely keep it hold and hope it could stand up to the artificial heat and pressure. 

Distracted by his inner thoughts, Xid didn’t keep track of Lea until she instantly gripped his tunic. Her hand seized where the lightsaber had nicked him then jerked him downward where she whispered into his ear. Sadly, despite his deepest wishes, his eyes widened and cheeks grew slightly heated at the sensation of her breath in his ear causing a tingling feeling. At hearing her reply, his face become red with his embarrassment at his reaction while teeth gritted tightly to stop it. He started to nod his understatement before he stopped himself, the cameras likely to pick it up. 

When Lea finished, he pulled upright again then glanced at the table filled by tools. Slowly he walked around her and ended to the nearest one, walking to the end where the side she spoke of lay the useless tools. There wasn’t many as he picking up some from the right then left, careful not to mix them up, examined them then sighed placing them back down. 

A few minutes later, he twisted about and his arm ‘accidentally’ skimmed the table’s edge. The useless tools were sudden sent into the floor where they clacked loudly causing him to jump. “By the Force, can you help me?” 

In the silence of the prison complex, broken only by the distant sound of the other Jedi speaking, the noise of the tools clattering onto the transparisteel floor was remarkably loud. Lea didn’t even think before rushing in close beside Xid and helping him pick them up. The space between those two tables was rather cramped, but she did manage to fit her hands in to grab the innermost tools, though she had to practically squeeze past Xid’s chest to do so. Not that she minded that.


Bending over, Xid smirked subtly when he noted some of the tool’s outer cases had broken. Their insides easy being revealed and wiring sticking out haphazardly through the cracks. It was a perfect excuse to fix them, at least without nosy sith getting completely wise to his attempts to aid his other Jedi. Carefully positioning himself as close as possible to the table when his eyes caught Lea pressing close, squeezing close to his torso. His breath stilled a bit and his body tensed, a natural reaction when she invaded his personal space, unsure what to do. His first thought was to leap back and haul backwards, breaking the contact and sparing him from going red all over again. However that would mean he couldn’t use her cover to rip the wires out farther to give a greater excuse to fully disassemble and fix them. 

“D-don’t move.” Xid said, his words stumbling over themselves. His hand immediately folded under Lea, quickly ripping out a few wires to make the damage much worse than it was originally. His head brushed close as he whispered into her ear. “With each tool, rip out the wires and apart, making the damage worse, so I have to disassemble them. It’s easier to have an excuse to tinker with them if I have to put them back together.” 

He placed the further mangled tool back on the table, then repeated with the next one.

Lea felt her rate breathing increase somewhat with Xid so close, but did not fully understand why. There had not been any real point in her training when she’d been physically close to boys, especially not in the past five-six years. Even when her former master had been close in training, he was not only her master, but also much older. Any training they had close together had been utterly clinical, never any hint of intimacy.

Xid being this close felt odd, but comforting. When he brushed his arm past her chest by accident, she felt an unusual tingle and sucked in a breath, then listened as he spoke of [i]‘accidentally’[/i] dismantling tools. She didn’t know how to react to her body behaving this way, so she focused upon helping him damage the dropped tools. 

Xid tried to keep his mind on the task but he couldn’t help his mind wandering. His skin felt hot and prickly, like someone was jabbing needles in him, as he fumbled with the plasteel and metal cases. His fingers trying to coax more wire out than originally was. It wasn’t easy. Soon, the pile on the table looked more like a tree rat’s nest than anything that was once tools. The last one in Xid’s grip and being stubborn about releasing the small wire within it. Reaching his fingers in, he grunted heavily and tore it apart, the side nicking his thumb. Xid flinched at the pain ripping through his thumb causing him shove it into his mouth. He passed the stubborn tool to Lea to put up on the table while he examined his newly sliced digit, the jagged line ran from the tip down to just a little past the first knuckle.

At first Lea did not notice Xid nicking his finger on the thin plasteel casing on the final tool. It was only when she put it on the table that she saw the single drop of blood on its gray surface that she realized what had happened.

“Here, let me take a look at that.” she said, concern in her eyes, the previous minutes of strange feelings forgotten for the moment. She pulled his finger out of his mouth, looking over it clinically. Though the cut wasn’t too deep, it still bled well. Concentrating deeply upon the Force, she tried to will the wound shut and healed. That only partially worked. She hadn’t rested since the last round of healing and the Force could only do so much. The wound closed, but was not mended underneath. Then she carefully wiped the excess blood on his finger on her robe.

“There. You’ll still have to be careful. the flesh underneath isn’t mended yet. If you’re not careful, you’ll start bleeding again.”

“Yeah, that was a little clumsy of me, wasn’t it?” Xid answered when she pulled it free, examined and mended it. He smiled gently at the kind gesture then saw it close, knowing both her and he would be completely exhausted by the end of this. Namely if they were the only two able to heal the others. That put them at the most risk. “We need to figure out who else has any medical skills or force healing, namely should something happen to us. I’m sorry to say my force healing is a little lacking compared to yours.”

“Practice makes perfect.” she answered, smiling a little. It felt good to be around someone her own age. Even before she’d been captured on Alassa Major, she had hardly had anyone her own age to be around. Most of the politicians were far older than her, at least in their twenties, and the few who weren’t, were either of strange species or too aloof to get close to. Not to mention that they’d been politicians. Master Shodon had been skilled in many areas, but he had been very flawed when it came to training her socially. She had no idea what was appropriate and what wasn’t appropriate when it came to interacting with people her own age, especially boys. She’d probably have to find someone to ask about that one day.

Until she could do that, she would simply have to do her best. Xid seemed like an decent person. “You’ll no doubt do alright when it really counts. But knowing who can do what will still be useful.” She hugged him as she said that last bit, not really knowing why. It seemed right.

Xid swore he was redder than a fruit when he was suddenly hugged, face turned up in utter surprise. His body stood there for a moment unsure what to do as his usually clever mind fumbled, stumbling over the turning emotions and confusion budding in his core. For a moment any words escaped him and silence seemed to grow longer between the two before he moved. His arm wrapped about hers, not knowing what else to do, and gave her light hug. Instinctively his head lowered to hers, resting there for now until she finished her embrace. When Lea finally let go, he spoke out loud. “Let’s hope we survive this, shall we? Though I’m glad you have more confidence in my abilities than I do. I don’t think my next lesson with a Sith will end with me being unscratched sadly. So be sure you can patch me up afterwards? It’s going to be a long time before we get out.”

“Don’t be so sure. Not all Sith are obsessed with physical harm. I’ve not been harmed much so far in my captivity… Though that might change now, seeing how you and some of the others have been treated.” Holding Xid like that was comforting for her, but initially it seemed he didn’t know how to react. After a few moments he hugged her back, somehow managing to rest his head on her shoulder, despite his shoulder normally being as high up as her mouth. After a minute or so, she let go and took a step or two back, staring a bit curiously at how his face was still a bit flushed.

“Maybe there’s something in the shower system that can be used for creating useable crystals? Or down in the Arena? Or of course, one of the troopers’ weapons if we can get hold of one of them. The focusing crystals there aren’t usually as good, but that could be fixed with a bit of work.”

“Somehow, with my luck, I seriously doubt that. I did manage to seriously piss off the Trandoshan Sith and I get the feeling, he’s not going to be forgiving.” Xid admitted as he recalled his experience, partly shoving away a shudder at the upcoming misery. Any further conversation was stopped when the lift doors  split open and caused Xid’s head to jerk, spotting a Zabrak Sith tossing Nazca inside. 

Nazca waited until Jayda had left, then her strength left her and she crumbled to the ground, breathing shakily. Death had come a little too close for her taste then. She looked up and gave a shaky grin to the two Jedi looking at her. “Just met three Sith. They’re all fairly different. May have pissed one off forever.”

He broke away from Lea and darted to the fallen initiate while his body leaned down and his fingers pushed to her neck, feeling desperately for a pulse. He shot a disgusted look at the apprentice as she casually retreated back into the lift, vanishing from sight. Part of him hoped the damn thing collapsed on top of her after the sith left, his focus returned to Nazca’s fallen form.  

“Lea help me, quickly. We need to get her off the floor.” Xid cried out. 

Only reason Lea didn’t get to the fallen woman before Xid was that he was closer to her than Lea was. While Xid checked the pulse, Lea checked the woman’s breathing to ensure that her respiration wasn’t compromised. She knew well that while pulse naturally is important, breathing is even more so, and if someone’s breathing normally, they will have a pulse of some sort. It took only a minute to be certain her breathing was steady.

It was only at that point Lea let her focus shift to the woman’s true injuries. Though she would have preferred to check for any damage to the spine or neck, she realized that moving her one more time probably wouldn’t do much more harm than had already been done. She also noted that someone, perhaps one of the Sith, had given the woman’s healing process a jump-start. With that in mind, Lea did her best to help Xid carry the woman over to one of the empty tables in the room. It wasn’t as good as a proper bed would have been, but the distance to the bunk rooms would be far too great to carry her, and all the medical equipment was here anyways.

Nazca looked up at Xid as he checked her pulse, noting with interest he was red as if he had gone a while without breathing. She looked over to where Xid called, then grinned, laughing a little bit. “I’m sorry Xid, did I interrupt you? You can just leave me here, finish your business. I’m sure the kiss would be worth it.” As they picked her up she hissed in pain a little bit. 

“Ow, watch the side. The damn Trandoshan’s claws still hurt even if the jendoslu healed, as painfully as possible, most of the wounds.” She gratefully got onto the table, looking at the both of them. “So, if you see a giant lizard coming for you, prepare for pain. Lots of pain. He didn’t give a shit about information, or turning you. Just pain. Don’t steal from the guy with the robot arm, he’ll immediately drop his facade of being nice and charming and turn into your average rage mongering sith. The Schutta who threw me in here is...unique. I’ll explain more on her later. Oh! I’m Nazca by the way.” She introduced herself to Lea, before smirking knowingly at Xid. “A friend of Xid’s. Nothing more. Just a friend.”

Some part of her felt an odd sense of relief at Nazca’s final words, though Lea did not fully understand why. It didn’t take long to figure out that while the wounds looked pretty bad, there wasn’t much healing that could be done. Not with Lea having healed that many wounds without resting and their nature. Instead she could focus upon patching them up with whatever supplies were available so that they could heal on their own.

“There’s not much to be done about the bruises. Unless aggravated further, they’ll mend in a few days. Seeing how Darth Nyiss doesn’t want us killed, that could even come to pass. Xid, would you pass one of those kolto patches from the gray box on the left table over there? That should help the claw marks on Nazca’s left side.”

“Right.” Xid agreed and moved to grab them, his hands shaking rapidly from seeing his friend damaged. He managed to pry open the box without dumping the important things and fished out a compress drenched in kolto. Without sparing much time, he pressed into her wounds and held it there gently, letting the liquid seep into the wounds where it would heal naturally. 

After Xid placed the kolto patch onto the claw marks, Lea put some medical tape over it to be sure it wouldn’t fall off easily. Kolto patches had adhesive edges, but you could never be too sure. Her pride as a healer demanded that no patients of hers should receive substandard treatment. Once the tape was on, she put the rest back on the side table, then smiled innocently at Nazca. “All done. It’ll still hurt, but it should heal up well enough if given sufficient time to do so.”