Open Space and Hyperspace

Adrien watched as Fenrir rested his hand on the table, his expression more or less unchanged save for a hint of interest, but his hand, hidden beneath the table gripped his enforcer tightly ready to draw and fire for if or when the man jumped across the table to attack. However what he saw next was nothing short of amazing, and likely would have set a typical person on edge, even to the point that they might have shot they guy right then and there. But not Adrien. No, instead the smuggler captain sat across the table cool, confident, cocky, as the the blades extended from between the man's knuckles.

He took not of a few things as this happened. The first thing he noticed was that the man seemed to not feel the pain of what looked like very sharp knives cut through his skin and probably even put a lot of pressure on his hands by separating his knuckles more than what they were probably supposed to. If he didn't feel that, then Adrien wondered what other pain he didn't or maybe even couldn't feel. He also noticed how easily they extended, albeit slowly, he wondered if it was so easy to do something like that in the middle of a fight or if he needed a moment to activate them and if they were always that slow or if he could control it and if he could control it was he extending them slowly for emphasis or so as not to startle the two of them. The claws were metal, which was interesting, it made Adrien wonder if the the Warg was a new HRD and Warg was an acronym of some sort or if someone had surgically implanted them inside his body. But was was most interesting was that there was no blood. The cuts were obviously deep because of the length of the blades, and wounds like that simply don't just stay dry, they bleed, they bleed a lot. So where was the blood?

He also noticed Leeza's reaction, though he didn't address it. He would have signaled for her to stop but that would make him seem crazy and it wasn't like her reaction wasn't justified. The only major problem that he had with her reaction was that he wasn't sure how much this guy would even be affected by a blaster, he also didn't want her to inadvertently set the Warg off on some sort of rampage, and that was quite possible, there was something feral about him. He was indeed a predator. The apex predator on this ship? Perhaps. It remained to be seen. Nonetheless, Adrien had fought bigger men, possibly tougher men, maybe even meaner men, but none with that nifty little trick. Still, he wasn't afraid of the man, he wouldn't show it if he was, as evidence by his unflinching reaction to the claws.

Adrien smirked, he'd potentially found a powerful ally or a formidable foe and the thrill of not knowing which it was excited him greatly. With his smirk still dawned he spoke quietly and with intrigue, "Now that's something." He grinned, for the first time revealing the pronounced canines of the Firrerreo species, as he almost salivated at the anticipation of what might happen next.

Not so much as a cringe came as Adrien watched the Warg slice open his face, he simply watched and waited for whatever was supposed to happen next and Fenrir didn't disappoint. The cut almost immediately began to heal itself, a rapid healing factor, not unlike Adrien's but Adrien would keep that to himself. All in all he was impressed with the guy, he still didn't trust him, but he was impressed. He offered a single shallow shake of head in response, "None from me, unless Leeza has some I think we're done here." He stood and looked at Leeza before nodding in the direction of the cockpit.

He had thought about shooting Fenrir to test his healing factor but it may well be put to the test soon enough when they land on Juvex. Instead he looked down at the man, "There's food here, a few bunks through the door over there, and a couple hours to where we're headed. Don't snoop around, don't eat all my food, and keep those claws in your hands." He didn't like the idea of some madman damaging his ship. With that he started walking toward the cockpit.

Fenrir nodded to Adrien, as the man gave a run down of where things were, before warning him not to go snooping around, which was fine by him. He already knew everything he needed to know about Adrien, and what appeared to be the smallest crew he had ever seen. Unless of course there was a couple extra stow aways that weren't willing to introduce themselves, but he doubted that
=Fenrir Asikari=
No worries Boss. I'll be on my best behaviour...
He waited till both Adrien and Leeza had made their way to the cockpit before getting up and grabbing a small snack and heading to one of the crew cabins, choosing the closest cabin to the common room on the left side to make his own. He closed the door and laid down on the bed as he snacked on his snack, as he waited for the Shadow to arrive to it's destination

"Crystal." She hit a couple buttons hard before she swiveled her chair to face him, her knuckles wrapped over the ends of the arms.

"Captain, this is your boat but I've had my hand slapped before for talking out of turn. You want my opinions, you'll get 'em, but I ain't stupid either. I know what this looks like. Two people have hunted you down looking for a way on your ship within an hour of each other. I'd be jumpy as hell too. And I wouldn't trust any unknowns as far as I could throw them. I did my homework before I found you. I was sent to you by people who worked with you in the past and spoke well of you. I was going in knowing at least that you weren't the type of man who would shoot first and ask questions later. I know you don't trust me. I don't expect you to. It's why I dropped my duffle in the hall. I knew you would probably sneak a look. It's nothing but clothes and toiletries but it's a gesture. An "I'm not trying to kriff you over" act of good faith."

She had left go of the arms of the chair while she spoke and gestured when appropriate to help drive her point across. She pointed back towards the locked door of the cockpit, her voice still low but impassioned. He was definitely going to get her opinion and from the speed at which she was talking, he could probably sense it was her unfiltered thoughts.

"That goon is bad news. I've seen that look in the eyes of men before and it's never a warm and fuzzy thought that stirs in them. They don't see you as human, you're just something to take. I don't trust him. Until I'm given reason to, I'm sleeping with my blasters under my pillow. I dropped my arrogance at the ramp because I need this job. I need you to trust me. That guy? Nope, he's cocky and defiant. It makes my nose twitch."

"Respect is given, trust is earned. You're the captain, and I'll respect that and you. Trust will come later. If you've got my back, I'll have yours."

She turned back to the console and finished up another diagnostic check. As long as she was going to be the pilot, she wanted to be as familiar as she could with the particular ticks and anomalies of the ship. She needed to know what the old girl was capable of and she ran double checks on all the systems. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary as she busied herself trying not to get in his way. Sure, the ship had been modified but that wasn't really a surprise when you come to think of it. They needed to be fast, maneuverable and able to carry a good load. You could look over a spaceport on Nar Shaddaa and be assured that none of those birds were stock. Not if the captain was any good.

After she had finished running the specs and all her diagnostics, she made herself a list of things that might need to be looked at when they landed and could get a mechanic. She wasn't going to bug him with it now. Not while that loose cannon was on board. She was relieved by Ade's assessment and apprehension. It at least let her know they were on the same page. Now to figure out what this guy wanted and if they could lose him on Juvex.

It had been a couple hours since they entered the cockpit and right on time, the alarm went off to get her attention that they were coming up on their destination. She issued the warning that they were leaving hyperspace and she deactivated the hyperdrive on cue, the swirling blue light disappearing as she engaged the sublight engines and proceeded on the proper vector. She radioed their name and intention to traffic control and waited for an answer.

Hyperspace was lonely.

Myri, of course, knew that well enough. While she may not have spent much time in her life within Hyperspace, she had been there enough times to know how it was. First, the ship would take off and prepare to jump. The crew would mindlessly go to their chambers and wait, and when the waiting was over, they almost never bothered to leave their rooms anyway. Hyperspace travel had come a long way since its inception, but the lengths of time people would go traversing the galaxy was still a great one; usually, upwards of several hours, even to a day or more. All that, in fairly consistent silence, without interaction between crew members.

This could be further compounded when you traveled alone, as Myri was doing currently. Her former crew off doing their own business, she had been tasked with taking a working vacation, where she would attempt to find a new pilot for the Sabre of Layne. As best as she could tell, in fact, she needed to find a whole crew. Dr. Perwar, a Bith xenolinguistics expert, had been taken on as the ship's physician, and that had put the crew in a few tough spots before. John, the ship's combat specialist, was a rugged, often apathetic man who seemed to steer away from everyone when he could, preferring to repair the ship rather than talk. And the former captain...

"Good riddance," Myriana muttered to herself.

Quinton Scott, the former captain of the Sabre of Layne, was a sarcastic fellow, who had a good sense of humor and a handsome face, but lacked any respect for Myri. Which, while not necessarily a bad thing, put her off more often than not. While away on business, Quinton had been offered a job working full-time for a larger corporation as a pilot. He jumped on the chance, giving the Sabre to her. Dr. Perwar and John had both been given the chance to remain with her and the ship, but they both needed time to think on it; without the captain, it did not feel quite like home.

So, naturally, Myriana had offered to drop them off on her way home. Coordinates set for Coruscant, she had shut herself in the lonely cockpit and dozed off. Several hours later, she awoke, mumbling to herself about how lonely it was on the bridge without the captain to trade jabs with. She detested the man, but he had been great for conversation.

"And I'm probably gonna be alone for real after this," she moaned, turning around in the chair and peering over the back of the seat at the door.

As part of the payment from their last job with Quinton, the crew of the Sabre had received several large crates, all of which were to be opened at their leisure, so long as one of them was delivered to Coruscant to an informant for their previous client. No questions asked, they had loaded the cryo-tube on board and opened the crates to discover bounteous amounts of old Jedi stuff. Lightsabers, crystals, even some modified armor and weapons. Dr. Perwar had taken a few of the more esoteric things for himself to study, while John had been content to take a few weapons. Myri kept most of the holo-journals and datacrons, and had played a few during the early parts of the trip.

All of the items in the crates, while officially belonging to her and the rest of the crew now, seemed to have belonged to someone by the name of Jack Mapio. Jack had apparently been a Jedi about a hundred and sixty years ago. A little digging through her father's records turned up more, telling that Jack Mapio was deceased, dying a happy, ripe old age in retirement on Corellia. He had a son, Jack Jr., who had become a renowned smuggler that had saved several supply chains during the beginning of the Yuzzhan Vong war. He died during a heated battle between the Vong and the Alliance forces, where he had been running medicine from one frigate to another. His son, Jack the Third, had grown up in the military and eventually became a Jedi Knight. He had known her dad, in fact, and trained under him as an apprentice. They had become good friends, and when Jack died suddenly in a space battle over Fondor, Atuna revived a clone of his friend, at his request, to finish his business. None of Jack's memories or abilities carried over into his new life, but that did not matter; it only took a little time to explain what had happened. So, the newly reborn Jack Mapio, the third, retrained himself as a Jedi once more.

What became of that Jack, Myriana could not figure out. Her father's records only listed him as dead, but that had not changed after he had been revived. She decided to call him and ask, next chance she got.

"Why wait?" she muttered to herself. "You're not doing anything better."

She pressed a few buttons, and soon the entire cockpit rang with the electronic tone of deep space communications being connected. A sharp click and a holographic image later, and her father was sitting in the seat beside her.

"Hey dad."

:: Myri, this is a bad time. ::

"Why?"

:: Your mother is coming back soon. We're on a date, seeing a GravBall game on Nubia. ::

A snarky smile crept across her lips. "Out of curiosity, how does a Miraluka 'see' a GravBall game?"

:: I keep telling Melia that those jokes will never be funny. ::

"Real quick, I was just wondering: whatever happened to Jack Mapio?"

Atuna visibly twitched. :: Why? ::

"We have a bunch of crates of stuff that belonged to him. Your records list him as dead, but it seems like that was never updated."

:: I... Yeah, Jack is dead. When I helped revive him, I had to create the body from scratch. It was a fragile thing, not meant for long term use. He died of cloning degeneration at about the age of thirty five. ::

"That sucks."

:: Yeah, well, from what I can gather, he had a son at some point. Dunno where, or with whom, or where he is now, but... that's what I know. Tell me, why do you have several crates of his things? ::

"It was payment for a job. A bunch of mystery crates and a cryo-tube. We're delivering the tube to an informant on Coruscant."

Atuna looked off to his right somewhere, remained silent for several moments, then turned his face back toward Myriana. :: Open that tube. ::

"But my client said-"

:: I'll compensate you. Open that tube, Myriana. For me. ::

Myri stammered.

:: Melia's coming back. Please. Let me know what you find. ::

The comm shut off before Myri could compose herself to reply. Her father had a habit of being abrupt with requests, but he had never tried to interfere with her work before. For him to so brazenly ask her to go back on a contract, and even offer to compensate her, startled her. But, knowing that Atuna would never exaggerate something this important, she righted herself in her chair, stood up, and walked down to the cargo hold. It was several degrees colder than normal to accommodate the cryo-tube sitting against the back wall, and as she approached it, an eerie cold, one much deeper and more penetrating than the one she physically felt, seemed to creep into her. She lifted the control panel and began the thawing process.

All at once, the ice inside began to rapidly heat up. Loud cracks emanated from within the tube. After nearly a minute, the metal door swung open, nearly bopping Myri in the head. Behind it rested the body of a young man with average features, perhaps twenty-one years old or so, leaning back inside a block of ice. As his eyes began to flutter open, she beamed at him, realizing who this man was, or, at least, hoping she was making a correct educated guess.

"Hello there, sleepyhead!" she chirped. "You must be Jack Mapio IV, am I right?"