Jason is glad that they have a bit of downtime. He isn't one to complain about hard work and if the repairs had taken all week, he'd have done his job to the best of his ability, but he'd still rather be out there flying. So it's good to be finished with the work and enjoy a well earned break. Of course that doesn't mean there isn't anything else on his mind.

"Do you think we can get the X-wing into the Alabak's gold her cargo bay? Because that would make things a whole lot easier.."

OOC: Cool, thanks!


Lyla continued her hike, her mind now focusing upon the natural environment around her, taking more pictures and notes for the Alliance records and her own interest. She studied the strange crystalline plants and animals. The plants seemed almost normal: narrow and fragile crystals that grew and branched and branched to catch the light, just like trees. The animals were much more unusual; Lyla guessed they harvested an electric charge to generate a reverse piezoelectric effect, using generated internal stresses to move. She saw something like a goat munching on weeds, its long horns sweeping through EM fields, creating a voltage difference between their points to generate a current. It was amazing, the sheer variety of life here formed from very different chemistry and physical principles to the more common carbon-based life. It affirmed to Lyla that life would always find a way.

Strangely, Lyla found herself already understanding more about Isis than she'd read about in the surveys. Perhaps it had been staring into the Life of Isis, or moving her head through the rainbows now. Tera had gained Iponta's memories in her duel. Some of the crystals operated like photonic circuits, and the light carried information – memories, of the Gutretee, and maybe the lifeforms and the planet itself. A planet you learned about just by walking over it. Lyla loved it.

She came to a still pool, the liquid clear as glass and glowing with an inner light from the ground below. It was so beautiful, Lyla just watched it for a time, spying almost transparent crystal fish swimming in it. She conducted some tests, finding it was indeed water, and contained no toxic chemicals, only harmless minerals. Okay. On impulse, Lyla stripped off all her clothes and slipped into the water, finding it cool and tingly on her orange skin. She waded deeper in until her toes no longer touched the floor, then dropped below the surface, diving down into the watery world. The lake bed was faintly translucent, showing a glow from deep within the planet that surface erosion and dust normally concealed. Was it the ever-circling light, or did it go all the way down to the magma? Either way, it was the Heart of Isis.

Lyla swam and bathed for a time, arms and legs and tails waving through the rippling the water. She luxuriated in the cool liquid, so refreshing after the long hike across the warm surface, and felt all her worries and fears, and the dried tears on her cheeks, washing away. After a while, she closed her eyes and drifted, and as the temperature of her skin matched that of the water, it was hard to say where she ended and the water began, and the pool, and the planet. She wasn't Gutretee, she couldn't access the natural photonic circuits, but she had her own way to feel a part of this world.

When fish began to nibble her toes and the tips of her tails, she knew it was time to get out, slopping her way naked and dripping onto the shore. She hadn't brought a towel, she realised. Well. Well, she was far from the ships, the Neskroff folk didn't come out this far, and she hadn't seen any Gutretee in quite a while. Besides, they didn't even wear clothes or have sexual differences, and were made of stone and crystal, so what would they care for a naked female twi'lek? Lyla pulled on her boots and nothing else, stuffed her clothes in her pack, and set off again. Let the sun and wind dry her.

Trying to walk normally whilst stark naked in an exposed valley, Lyla reflected this was becoming a weird habit of hers. She was a naturalist, not a naturist. She had no funny ideas about being skyclad. But she was practical-minded. Orange was good camouflage on Tatooine, and who'd believe a naked woman was spying on them? And if she was going to get soaking wet under rain, or dripping with sweat in a tropical forest, or covered with mud, then why bother ruining her clothes, when she might only take two pairs on an expedition, when she was only person in miles, when she was the only person on the planet? She just lived as one would in the wild, when all alone, though she paid for it with sunburn and bug-bites in strange places.

Tera had been right when she said Lyla enjoyed the attention, showing some skin. Lyla supposed she was a bit of an exhibitionist. She'd been a dancer for a while, to make some money and stop scavenging and being homeless, but she'd come to enjoy it, fortunately. Having been lost, overlooked, forgotten, and unknown as a street-kid and last of her clan, she liked to be seen and remembered, to force attention onto her and affect people, one way or another. It validated her, gave her worth. She'd appreciated it, she felt no shame for it, but had ultimately been unfulfilled by it, hence she'd taken to scouting, becoming one of the few strippers who could field-strip a rifle and strip the skin off a womprat. She'd certainly got used to getting naked and staying naked. Once she'd dried, she left her clothes off. She could get a nice all-over tan, for a healthy shade of orange. On Isis, naked and dancing through the rainbows, she felt like being back in the club. She felt less barriers between herself and the natural world.

At last she found her box canyon, or rather, it found her. She saw the blackened bodies of animals strewn about the valley, making her slow. There was a sudden heat in the air, prickling her bare skin all over. Lyla backed away, fast, until she saw a bright red glow against the cliff-face, a deep cave carved into it. Eagerly, Lyla retreated, going back to a channel she knew would take her out of the cracks and scrambled up the rocky slope and onto the open plain, heedless that a good portion of the planet might now see her. The ruby wildebeest seemed uninterested. She made one concession to dress: a pair of dark sunglasses.

Following the cliffs, Lyla came to the box canyon, narrow, straight, lined with prismatic crystals at both ends. And in the middle was a single, gigantic glowing block of ruby. Light was pumped in one end, reflected countless times between the walls, stimulating the material of the ruby to produce light of a specific wavelength, finally escaping through the crystal wall at the entrance. On the other side of the valley, in the cave, she spied crystal and rock smoking, cracking, even melting. Coherent, collimated, focused. A laser! A gigantic natural laser! It was marvellous, all these natural forces coming together to produce something of such complexity, something that most believed to be wholly artificial.

Lyla watched it for a time. There wasn't much to see, but she was deep in thought. What to report to the Alliance? The ruby would be worth a fortune; though she figured it'd be too impure and imperfect, it could be broken up into small, perfect gems. The laser alone could be a devastating weapon against the Empire, if it could be extracted, intact, and maintained, but it seemed much too fragile.

She would tell them nothing. She couldn't let this planet, this wonder of the universe, be smashed apart to finance a war, nor to fight one. Even if Command agreed with her, there would be others who would seek a fortune at any cost. It would ruin the Gutretee's lands and their culture, the Life of Isis, more than Tera's dark shadow. It would set the Gutretee against Neskroff and start a war. She already knew what weapons the Alliance could bring to bear. And now she new what kinds of weapons the Gutretee might discover. Saying nothing was safest for the Gutretee, and safest for the Alliance.

Satisfied by her decision, trying to forget, Lyla turned away, and through her binoculars she watched the ruby wildebeest, grazing on long, sharp crystal grasses on the plains. They lived like ordinary herd animals, and grew their young in the usual way – hatched from eggs. When one approached the laser, Lyla backed away so as not to startle it, and laughed to see it squirt ruby dung into the canyon. When she saw them fight off a predatory diamond-clawed cat with laser beams from their eyes, she beat a hasty retreat.

Still, she stole a stray hunk of dry ruby dung and a broken emerald plant stalk, just for herself, a collection of interesting souvenirs. Something to retire on.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 04:22, Sun 27 Sept 2015.

Completely focused on his repairs, Klyn stayed oblivious of Lyla's departure for quite some time.
It's made him feel a bit annoyed: he had a tendency to forget some people weren't as involved in his field of expertise as he was.

He was, however, very glad for the help and those two gained quite a few points with him.

To answser Jason's question, he checked a few things first.

"We will be able to carry the X-wing toward the port, but I don't think we will be able to keep it..."

Jason shrugs while chewing on the last bits of his food.

"Still, every X-wing counts for the alliance right? Besides, one X-wing used and returned damaged still looks a whole lot better on our collective record than one X-wing used and lost.."

He does occasionally wonder how Lyla is doing. She looked like she was going through something, she also looked like it was something private, and certainly she could take care of herself. Still, he was born on a core world, raised on a core world and then joined the empire. He wasn't used to people being out of com range. Hopefully she'll do what she needs to do and get back soon.

How was Lyla doing?

Fleeing from a stampeding herd of ruby wildebeest firing laser beams from their eyes into her bare orange bum, that's what she was doing.

*

Getting back into the network of cracks, and away from the herd, Lyla circled around back toward the Alabak's Gold. The day was getting late, and though she was ready and willing to camp the night and extend her journey, she knew the others would worry. Maybe she'd had enough time alone now. She'd gone back to her roots, her good ones, gotten lost and found herself. Now maybe she could go on to be someone more.

From a distance, she spotted the speedertruck, and flashes of light beside it. Suddenly worried, she examined the scene through binoculars, and thought she saw Tera fighting that Bron guy with laser swords. Wondering if she could get there in time to intervene, or if she could snipe Bron from this range, she watched until they broke off and rested, talked, went back to it. They seemed to be sparring, training with the laser swords. Laser swords, seriously? She watched for a while, still wondering if she should check up on them, until she felt guilty for spying and not unwilling to break her interrupt her time alone. Something to ask Tera about later.

The sun began to set, the rainbows of Isis fading as twilight spread across the facets of the world. Starlight and moonlight now dappled through the canyons, the crystals glowing white and pale blue and soft pink under night sky, bringing a rich new beauty.

Finding another glowing pool, Lyla bathed away the dust of her travels, enjoying the light show, dark above and light below, and herself in between. Emerging, setting off again, she found crystal flakes clung to her damp skin, reflecting the light and limning every curve. She felt beautiful, divine. This would serve her well if she was in any position to pick up at nightclubs, or go dancing. Oh well.

It was getting dark now, but her twi'lek eyes picked up a lot more light, so she had no troubles finding her way. It was also getting cold, very cold, which got to be particularly noticeable being stark naked. I really ought to get dressed. She'd actually started to forget about it, then she began to feel really silly. And cold. Then, rounding a crystal pillar, she was suddenly back at the Gold – and in full view of everything. Whoops! Quickly, she ducked back behind cover and quickly dressed in shorts and shirt; fortunately, no-one had seemed to be about. She hoped she'd gotten that out of her system too. She'd gotten a good tan and no chafing.

*

Lyla walked into the Alabak's communal area, saying loudly 'Evening!' She dropped her pack and rifle on a couch, then leaned over the table to help herself to some food. Having caught the last bit of conversation, she interjected 'If Command have already written off the X-wing, they might not want it back. You can't undo paperwork.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:48, Fri 02 Oct 2015.

Jason looks up and smiles to see Lyla enter, now once they rejoined the others at the base, they'd all be together again and be able to take on whatever missions lay ahead of them. Her remark causes him to grin slightly.

"Really? I thought we were fighting against paperwork. That's certainly why I joined. I mean the oppression of the galaxy is one thing, but that imperial paperwork, that's the real evil. In any case, it's a shame to leave any ship behind if it can be salvaged, especially an X-wing"

His eyes look Lyla up and down and he finds that she looks good, it's almost like she's standing a little straighter, like a burden has been lifted off her shoulders.

"Find what you were looking for?"

Lyla had been smiling brightly since she stepped in. 'No.' she answered happily. 'If I had, I'd still be out there.' After all, what she'd found was that she was always to keep searching. She nodded to Jason. 'But I feel better.'
This message was last edited by the player at 10:32, Fri 02 Oct 2015.

"Nice to see you back, Lyla" said Klyn, checking on the X-wing now that their ship was - barely - fly worthy."I had begun to think you had changed your mind and followed Bron and Tera.

Anyways, you got back here just in time."

The mood in the Alabak's Gold was upbeat with the return of Lyla. The Rebels were able to enjoy the peace of Isis and the familiar surroundings of the starship. It was a their home and in the morning they would be able to fly it back to the base. If they wanted to take the X-wing with them it would take them an extra couple of hours to rig up a sling to transport it in.

"Glad you feel better, and besides, you know we'd be lost without you.."

Jason grins and gives Lyla a wink, then get's up and takes his dish and cutlery to the cleaning station.

"Well, no rest for the wicked. When we set off back to the base, do you want me to fly or rather do it yourself? She's your ship after all.."

'Just in time for what? Dinner?' Lyla wondered, sitting at the table and helping herself to all that remained. All that time hiking and climbing made a girl hungry, and the twi'lek had three stomachs to fill. And there was a lot of close-to-use-by or close-to-spoiling food to be eaten after the crash. She didn't care what it was. 'Of course you'd be lost – I'm the team guide.' she commented to Jason with a grin, before filling it with food.

Swallowing, she answered 'We don't have an official team pilot right now, not since Mallox bailed on us. Now we've got you and Rynn looking to replace him. So I'll leave it to you two to decide.' she shrugged the matter off, hardly a solid command decision, but she wasn't going to play favourites. They both clearly wanted to join the successful crew; she would see how they played together.

'Hey, Klyn, maybe we should hold auditions?' she called to the engineer, the only one remaining from the original team, half amused, half serious. 'Do either of you know how to fly a Mon Calamari jump freighter? Can you astronavigate?' she began to test the pair.

There was a jar of relish Lyla liked, but found nearly empty. Unscrewing the lid, she dipped her left head-tail in, swirling the writhing orange tip around and into the corners, picking up what was left. Withdrawing the sticky, dripping member, she licked and sucked the relish off with, well, relish. 'Mmm, s'good.' Because why not test under pressure?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Sun 04 Oct 2015.

"I'm afraid astronavigation wasn't something the imperials valued to teach to their tie fighter pilots. But if it's got an engine, i can fly it.. I've been hoping to pick up an astromech droid to help me with astronavigation when needed. Unfortunately tie pilots don't make as much as you'd think.. And being a traitor.. well.. Maybe the alliance has an old astromech i can borrow"

He turns back to look at Lyla curiously more than anything, he wonders what it's like to have head tails for a moment. But then decides it's probably for him to really know what it's like, his brain isn't build for head tails. And he doesn't think he'd look all that good without any hair. Baldness has never run in his family and he'd hate to be the first.

"I don't know about 'auditions'" said Klyn.
"  They both have some knowledge of mechanic, which is very good. And both are hard at work. A simulator challenge would be better suited to correctly estimate their skill." turning to face Rynn he added with a smile." We will forget about our first encounter and the three crashes that followed."

At the mention of an astromech he looked a bit sad.
"We had a very resourceful one. He is currently at the base but I have some doubts about the chances of getting him back.  But there is still hope."

The Alabak's Gold was not the fastest or most beautiful starship in the galaxy. Designed for short journeys and minimal cargo space than your average freighter it made up for it by being smaller and more manoeuvrable. Built by the seafaring Mon Calamari it was also highly versatile, the jump freighter travelled in sea as well as it did in space. Jason and Rynn had their first look over the adaptable jump freighter. The ship had clearly seen many battles and survived worse scrapes than this before.

'But a simulator won't include the talent contest, Klyn.' Lyla protested, joking.

'You were a TIE pilot?' Lyla repeated, mildly shocked. She'd known Jason was ex-Imperial, and a pilot, but hadn't put the two together and into one of those funny-looking pods. TIEs were such a symbol of Imperial might, she was disturbed to hear he flew them. She remembered the dogfight over Tatooine, her shooting the TIEs and blowing them up, forgetting the people inside. Well, that was war. Of course, Rebels came from all corners of the galaxy, some of them not so good. She'd heard was Tera had been involved in, and she'd gotten over that, except they'd had times to be friends first. 'Huh.'

'I was wondering where our little Mate had gotten to.' Lyla was disappointed to hear T3-M8 wasn't with them. She'd expected it was lurking about in the engine rooms while they salvaged the ships. Not being able to speak to it, she'd never gotten familiar with the droid, or gotten the impression of a personality behind it. But she'd miss it now the little guy was gone.

Lyla wiggled her lekku around the jar again, then licked it. 'So, what makes you a traitor?'

"Yup, I was a tie pilot, trained at the academy and flew in my squadron for about six months.."

He considers offering Lyla one of the spoons, but she seems to be doing alright, so why bother, if she wants a spoon she'll surely ask for one, or get one herself. So he just turns to face her and leans back against the wall.

"As for why I betrayed the empire.. I guess.. reality hit.. See my father is an imperial officer, my brother is in the stormtrooper corps.. All I ever heard growing up is how magnificent the empire is, how it replaced a corrupt and decadent republic, how it brought peace and security to all, how it stopped pirate raids and smugglers, and how it put the power back with the people, instead of some strange mystics with funky mind powers.."

He gives a casual shrug but looks a little more serious than he usually does as he watches her.

"Sadly.. Things turned out to be very different from what i expected..  The more missions I flew the more I realized the empire is not here to protect us all from a decadent and corrupt republic. It's oppressive and cares very little for it's citizen's rights or well being. Especially if those citizens happen to not be human"

His gaze seems to slip back into the past as he remembers the events that brought him to the empire.

"So one day, me and my squadron were out having a drink.. And they spotted these two women, they were twi'leks too, and they were very attractive. I guess some of my friends thought so too.. They started.. well.. bothering them I guess is the polite word.. Harassing them is another.. threatening them even.. a few of the bar patrons took offense.. I took offense myself.. and before you knew it.. There was a fight, except I wasn't fighting on the side of my friends.. Everything was a blur but even if they were my friends.. I knew the difference between right and wrong.. we were supposed to defend the people of the galaxy.. Not this.."

He takes a deep breath after all that and takes a moment to bring himself back to the present to smile at Lyla.

"And I got really lucky, because after the fight, someone approached me and said 'if you want to fly for something worthwhile, come with me'. And I did. Not like I had a career left, not after getting into a fight with my squadron mates and commander. And that's how I wound up here.. And this time, I AM flying to protect all the beings of the galaxy, whether they have hair on their heads, or tails.."

Having scraped out the jar – Jason seemed immune to the lekku-lick anyway – Lyla fetched a beer from the fridge, one of her Rylothan fermented fungus ales that no one else should – or would – touch. She sat and drank, not needing her tails for that, and listened to Jason's tale. It seemed they'd heard of very different Empires, she from the fringes where it could still be far enough away to avoid and ignore. Until it wasn't.



'Yeah, I noticed.' Lyla commented, smile as dry as her words. Then her smile fell as the story turned unexpectedly familiar. She grimaced, feeling a familiar fear.

'That was me.' she said when Jason got to the end of his story. 'One of those women, I mean. Not exactly them, I don't think, but I've been there. It's part of why I got out of what I did... Guys like that will only listen to other guys, so we need a good guy to step up and say something, do something... So, on behalf of those women, thanks. You did the good thing.' She raised her bottle in salute.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Tue 06 Oct 2015.

Jason shakes his head slightly.

"I didn't do anything that anyone shouldn't do.. And I don't see you needing anyone to rescue you.. You seem more than capable of handling yourself.. Still, it's disturbing to see how quickly humans fall into dark ways when given just a little bit of power.."

He shakes off those thoughts and looks at her again with a smile, clearly hoping to move on from those topics.

"So what do your people call them? I mean I called them tails but.. I don't know.. is that what you call them too?"

"I'm fine sitting in a gunner's seat or the pilot's chair, as long as we are flying." He said with a smirk that no one could see beneath his mask, but could hear in his voice. "I can handle astrogation, and I don't mind having the crash held against me. I doubt we will be in crystal tunnels on Isis again if we are leaving the planet."

"Of course if we can manage to salvage the X-wing, I might be able to swing it as a reward of sorts for our earlier work." Rynn said, tossing out a possibility. "Having a fighter escort wouldn't hurt right?"

'Especially if we get into another dogfight... Speaking of which, I'm going to need some lessons in the gun turret some day.'



'Well, I am now.' Lyla murmured, recalling her own experiences. Nothing too bad had happened, but she'd had her scares, jerks who thought they had a right to the rest of her.



'That, at least, happens to every species. Maybe we all have a dark side, a beast within we need to yoke.' she philosophised, since it had been the day for it and she was drinking, so it made it okay.



Lyla had a smirky smile, the mixture of amusement, pride, and embarrassment of one describing a particularly personal piece of anatomy that one was nevertheless rather proud of. 'Yeah, "tails" is fine. Technically, they're tentacles, but everyone calls them "tails". Maybe it just sounds better or less creepy. We call 'em lekku, or tchun-tchin – that is, tchun and tchin, left and right.' Lyla flicked her left and right tails respectively.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Jason grins and nods.

"Tchun Tchin.. That's cute. But I think I think i'll stick with 'tails'. Makes a good call sign too if we ever get a squadron together.."

Jason then nods towards Rynn.

"Having an X-wing would certainly improve our odds on whatever mission we get send.. And we might be able to give Lyla some piloting and shooting lessons on the fly.. Though we'd have to do that onboard this ship, sharing the cockpit of an X-wing wouldn't be comfortable.."

"Yes, a fighter would be an huge asset" said Klyn nodding.
"And I have a few ideas about some fine tunings to improve it" he added, his eyes almost sparkling.
"I always wanted to experiment on a X-wing..."

The conversation about the Empire quickly doused his enthusiasm.

"That and the Empire is very good at hiding things it doesn't want to be seen.

And VERY good at showing people how 'good' it would be for your family not to go astray..."

About the 'tails' discussion he pointed
"Well, for me a tails is something coming out of someones, or something's, behind, so I will stick with Lekku, if you don't mind..."

Lyla looked askance at Jason, since his suggestion edged rather close to a racial slur, "tail-head". 'Call sign? That'd be like me calling you Ears or Klyn Hairy. Nuh-uh.' And, given the cultural significance of the lekku, it would be like calling her Boobs. Although she didn't mind showing them, she didn't want to be known by them. 'Nope, if anything, my call-sign should be... Rampaging Lylek. It's kinda like my spirit animal, partly what was I named for.'

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lylek



'Not necessarily...' Lyla muttered, tucking back into her meal. 'But I think I'll stay out of the fighters, thanks.' It was funny; Lyla had wanted to get into piloting, early on, figuring it would be good to just fly away from everything, but couldn't afford the lessons, let alone hope for a ship of her own. She'd since moved onto other things, though she figured she basically did the same now, just ground-based.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:34, Thu 08 Oct 2015.

Jason chuckles and shakes his head.

"You can't be 'Rampaging Lylek' it's way too long, a call sign is supposed to be short!"

He studies Lyla and then shrugs.

"We'll figure it out.. You can still be rampage.. or lylek.. or cutie"

He winks at Lyla and turns to look at Klyn curiously.

"So are we set to go?"

"Well..." he began.
"The Gold is able to fly right now, although I would advise to do it carefully.
But we still need a few hours to attach the X-wing. Once it's done, then we can go.

I will do the true work once we get there."