Lounge of the Interlude
As the Interlude pierces through hyperspace, Mirage pulls her robe to the side, exposing the worst of her wounds. She takes her finger and digs underneath the bandaging, groaning and gently pulls it back out. Her finger is covered in green and white pus. Bile fills her mouth and she wipes the sweat off her brow. She looks up at a red ponytail hanging over the seat next to her in the lounge.
"You could kill me right now and take this ship. Why don't you?" Mirage whispers.
"You and I aren't so different Mirage. You say I could kill you. I'm actually not sure I could. Even now," Aurra tosses a look over her shoulder. She looks Mirage up and down, clocking the wound, and lifts her lip in disgust. "Besides, you and I are guildmates technically. We fetch a higher price for contracts if we stick together," she continues.
"Is that why you were with Bossk?"
"We worked together during the clone wars. Once that was ending, we headed off to help a late friend," Aurra says, "Boba lost his dad, Jango Fett. He was," she pauses, "an acquaintance of mine. I took Boba under my wing and here we are."
"I've heard of Jango Fett," Mirage takes a deep, slow breath, wincing, "Died during the battle on Geonosis."
"He did." Aurra says, without question, ending the conversation.
"Crew of the Interlude, this is Raul," Raul speaks over the deck comms.
Aurra presses the comms link button on the wall of the lounge, "Go ahead Raul. You realize we are the only ones on board here right?"
"Save the snappy tone for another time. We'll be reaching the League's border patrol soon. We should set up for approach. Only a few minutes from Vjun," Raul buzzes through.
Mirage yells through the comms unit from her seat, "Raul, let's pull out now," she coughs and a few pink pieces hit the floor.
"Copy that."
Aurra rubs her eyes. They had been flying for a few days now without stopping. Mirage was declining.
A sudden jolt, and the Interlude was standing still in the vastness of open space. Nothing to be seen but specks of stars and a distant twinkle of the planet Vjun.
The lounge door opens and Raul is already storming the deck to check on Mirage. Just like he had every daily checkup. Raul sets the medkit down and starts to redress all of Mirage's wounds. She just tilts her head back on the seat and lets him work. No quips, no remarks, just let him.
"Mirage, you aren't looking good, girl," Raul looks at her good eye that has a faint fog over it.
"Yea? You look like shit too," she smiles.
"You aren't even looking at me," Raul glances back up at her while he cleans the greenish infection out of her side.
Aurra stands up and tosses a coordinate chip to Boba, who's standing at the door, arms crossed. Scope rolls past Boba, following his standing orders to perform maintenance duties at each stop.
Aurra leans her injured arm on the chair and looks at Mirage, slumped back into the seat, eyes now closed and sweat dripping into her missing eye. The cloth, being removed and refitted by Raul.
Graves slowly walks into the room. Eyes sunken and black, skin healing over where the square chunks had been surgically removed. He glares at Aurra.
"I wasn't the one who did this to you. We've been over this," Aurra spits at him with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, well, you damn sure didn't try to stop it," Graves replies.
"Will you all shut up? I'm at the spa right now," Mirage whispers, eyes still closed, head looking straight up. She winces as Raul pulls a stitch out and dumps some clear disinfectant on the site.
Graves fishes a piece of rolled-up and dried ration out of his pocket and hands it to Boba, "Here, eat this. Gotta keep strong Fargo—"
Graves stops. His eyes seem to see straight through Boba into the ship wall behind him. He turns around and walks away without another word.
Boba unrolls the bundle and eyes the sweet bread. The best part of the ration.
Raul finishes up with Mirage and tries to stand her up. She doesn't respond.
"Hey Mirage. I need you to walk with me, girl," Raul taps her face, it rolls to the side, "Aurra, grab her legs. She's out."
Aurra uses her one good arm to hook under Mirage's legs and pick her up while Raul walks backwards towards her bunk room.
"Get her in her room and Boba, keep an eye on her. Aurra, you are with me in the cockpit," Raul orders the crew around.
Boba nods and moves.
"Oh, you're the boss now? You don't think I'll try to kill you in the cockpit anymore?" Aurra chirps to Raul while they both hobble down the corridor.
"I don't really—have a choice—right now—Aurra," Raul huffs between breaths.
They reach the captain's room and gently lower Mirage into her bed.
Raul dusts his hands off on his pants and starts to walk towards the cockpit. Aurra treads behind. Boba starts to hook up Mirage to a fluid drip with a reused bacta bag.
Scope chirps that his job is complete. He rolls into a droid port in the systems' station.
Raul sits down once at the pilot seat and starts to get the ship up and moving. Aurra falls into the co-pilot seat and unwraps the bandage on her shoulder. It's healing up nicely.
"Aurra, get the scanners engaged long-ranged, fifteen-degree sweeps at twelve o'clock," Raul orders as his fingers dance over the modules and gauges.
Aurra lulls her head to the side and her eyes dart over to him. The dark circles surrounding them show her deep desire to sleep.
"Aye aye, Captain Raul. Would you like a Corellian Red with that?" Aurra retorts.
"It's like Mirage never left. Now there's two of her," he says under his breath.
Aurra works the sensors with ease. Her long white fingers calculating the controls with finesse.
The sensors ping clear.
"Good. Let's get moving towards Vjun. The League will intercept us in a few minutes," Raul states. "Boba, disable the ion torpedo array under the radar dish. If they pick it up, I at least want it powered down," he yells down the hall.
The ship smoothly sails forward as the engines pulse on. It glides in the void, awaiting the inevitable.
League of Free Planets Border Patrol
The Interlude advances at a steady pace towards Vjun. A ship appears on the scanners a few clicks out.
“Ship designation Interlude. Stop your vessel. Free Planets Navy, Nuiri Sector Patrol, Flight ‘Senth’ will commence scans of your cargo onboard under the authority of the local planet Vjun. Set ship frequency to alpha-niner-echo-four-seven channel zed-four and transfer the manifest for the last six standard weeks.”
“That’s a Krayt-class gunship, I’d do what they say,” Aurra says as she straightens in her seat.
Two more blips appear on the scanners. Light fighters.
“G1-M4-C light fighters. Capable craft, but not that much of a threat to us by themselves,” Raul notes.
Raul spins a few dials to get to the right channel. He then patches a few of the cargo documents over to the commanding ship. He checks the designation—Payload.
“Payload, Interlude. Sending the manifest now. We have five souls on board and three are injured. One of them is time sensitive, potentially only a few hours,” Raul releases the comms-link.
“Interlude, state the reason for injury.”
“We had a delivery on Veelo and were ambushed planetside…while out in the swamplands,” Raul lies through his teeth, “Infection seems to be setting in, we’ve been headed here for three days now.”
“Interlude, hold for manifest confirmation.”
A long pause. Raul and Aurra look at each other. Both recognize the other as nervous.
“Interlude. I confirmed your delivery on Veelo, but there is no signature for receiving the goods. I assume this is due to the planetary ambush?”
“A-firm Payload. We lost a lot of cargo, but we are going to lose another crew member as well if you don’t get us expedited to Vjun medical,” Raul pressures.
“Interlude, please remain stationary for cargo pod scans.”
Silence. Followed by another hail.
“Interlude, scans show your pods are empty, bar a small courier ship in your top bay and a single decommissioned enforcement speeder.”
“Payload, that is correct. The courier is a work in progress and the bike too. Just projects,” Raul chuckles.
A long pause again. Raul holds his breathe.
“Sounds like a fun project, Interlude. Payload is going to fly you in to Vjun medical. I have requested a landing zone within Medical Zone 4A. I do need to verify the enforcement speeder is properly secured.”
“A-firm Payload. We’ll follow you in,” Raul relaxes back into his seat and queues the throttle.
“Smooth Raul. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Aurra smirks at him.
“Lots of practice Aurra. Lots of practice,” Raul shakes his head as he trails Payload.
Landing Zone, Medical Zone 4A, Vjun Medical
Raul powers down the ship's systems once the landing gear settles into place atop the landing pad.
“Boba, lower the cargo lift elevator so they can inspect the speeder. Aurra, Graves, help me grab Mirage and bring her out. I don’t really want them on board if we don’t need to,” Raul shouts across the deck.
The crew carries Mirage to the boarding ramp and lowers it down. At the base of the ship is a semi-official-looking man with a clipboard and a medical droid pushing a repulsor lift stretcher. The yellowish cloudy sky has a musty smell. Mirage is placed on the stretcher as the droid whisks her away into the facility. Raul watches her leave and his breath hitches.
The man speaks up, “Name of all patients in descending order of severity.”
“Do we need names for this?” Raul asks discreetly.
He looks at Raul out of the side of his eye. Raul grabs a credstick, presses a few buttons and slides it into the vest of the inspector, quickly looking around.
“Thank you, Mr. Smitch. Mrs Smitch and crew members will be taken care of promptly. We have been told to expedite your care per the orders of Captain Harish,” the man grins and points over at a more official-looking man, Captain Harish, inspecting the speeder under the Interlude, “You will stay here until we inform you of visiting hours. Please have your injured crew follow me.”
Raul tilts his head towards the inspector, showing Aurra and Graves to follow him. They keep quiet and pace behind him into the facility.
Raul walks over to the captain, “Captain Harish, thank you for the help. I really appreciate it. My crew was in a bad way.”
“Don’t mention it. I don’t mind at all. Now this enforcer is a fine bike. Does it run?” he asks.
“Not currently. We had a second bike for parts, but it was totaled recently. I’m not sure we’ll be able to get this running,” Raul puts his arms on the rear seat, leaning down to look closer.
“I wouldn’t mind buying this off you. I have supplies to fix it up. We could use something like this out here,” he nods down at a credstick he pulled from a pocket.
“I’m almost positive…Smitch would kill me if I sold this bike without consulting her first,” Raul sighs.
Captain Harish straightens up, “Well, I suppose I could confiscate it as illegal property.”
Raul hangs his head down, still leaning on the seat. Captain Harish sets the credstick down on the seat next to Raul.
Raul stands up and grabs the stick, “I appreciate the help with medical. I didn’t know it came with stipulations.”
“We rarely know when strings are attached, kinda of like that torpedo bay you have illegally installed,” Captain Harish grins at Raul as he waves a few men over to push the repulsor bike off the lift.
“I’m going back on my ship. I don’t want to see you when I come out,” Raul sneers at the captain.
“Oh, we’ll be long gone. Maybe we’ll see you out there Interlude,” Captain Harish says over his shoulder as he boards Payload, the speeder being pushed onto its thin cargo ramp.
A few hours later
Raul and Boba are cleaning up the bloody mess left throughout the ship since Veelo. The hammock area and refresher unit are the main culprits. Raul scrubs the metal floors with an old brush as Boba mixes up another batch of solvent nearby.
“Hey Raul. You got any family? Any kids?” Boba asks, shutting off the water.
“Yea. I got Mirage,” Raul stops scrubbing for a second, then continues.
“No, I mean real family,” Boba says as he picks up another brush and gets on his knees to scrub.
Raul stops scrubbing and stands up, “Boba, Mirage is my real family. Her and I have been here on the Interlude since the Clone Wars. It doesn’t get more ‘family’ than that.”
“What did you do before you met Mirage then?” Boba questions further.
“Well, if you have to know, I was a cargo master for the Republic and before they hired me as a cargo master, I was homeless and a stowaway on cargo ships. I lied on my application to get the job,” Raul sits on the countertop and sets the brush down, “I was always good at forging documents.”
“Do you think the Republic knew?” Boba stops cleaning and looks up at Raul.
“They did, Boba, they absolutely did,” Raul muses.
PSSSHHHH The sound of the boarding ramp lowering.
Raul and Boba stand up and walk down the corridor to see the ramp. A patched-up Aurra and Graves walk aboard, freshly showered and medicated. Graves has skin grafts replacing the previously missing patches. Aurra’s shoulder is bare and stitched up.
“She’s doing well,” Aurra looks at Raul and stops at the top of ramp, “You can go see her Raul. Go into the facility and tell them you want to see Mrs. Smitch. Your wife.”
Graves lets out a chuckle and stifles it. Aurra elbows him. He laughs out loud at that point and wipes a tear from his eye. Aurra smiles at Raul, that damn smile always looks so menacing.
“Stay here then. I’m going inside,” Raul looks at Aurra for a long moment before descending down the ramp.
“Don’t worry Raul! After I kill Graves and steal the ship, I’ll send someone to rescue you!” Aurra yells after him as she closes the ramp.
“You are a pain in the ass. You know that?” Graves says to her.
“I know,” Aurra quips.
Inside Medical Zone 4A
Raul looks through the glass into the medical room with Mirage laying on a bed. Blue drip lines going into her arms. A medical droid and protocol droid come out of the clear sliding door and approaches Raul.
“Mr. Smitch. She has sustained level one traumatic injuries to three organ systems and multiple lacerations, penetrations and abrasions proximal to the elbows and knees. Additionally, she has two bacterial infections that differ from each other and are pushing for total inhabitation of her body’s system. She should not have survived. It is a miracle she is here now, let alone talking. Her missing eye has been patched up but should remain covered for social acceptance. I apologize, we do not carry replacements at this facility,” the protocol droid informs Raul.
“That’s ok Doc. Thank you for everything,” Raul pushes past the droid and into the room.
Mirage looks at Raul while lying on her back. Her only eye moves.
“Mr. Smitch. I need to tell you something,” Mirage speaks in a low voice.
Raul walks over to Mirage and leans closer to her face to hear. He puts a hand on her shoulder.
“I swear to kriff—If you label me as your wife again, I will skin you alive,” she breathes.
“Mirage, I didn’t—” Raul tries to speak.
“Shhh, I’m not done yet. I will skin you alive—then I’ll wear your skin and commit crimes. Then I’ll patch you back up—and make you serve the time in an imperial prison,” Mirage smiles at the thought.
Raul sighs, “I’m really glad you’re back, Mirage.”
Mirage looks at him and tries to lift her arm to him, but the blue fluid lines hold her back.
Raul reaches out and holds her hand. Raul cries.
Later, Aboard the Interlude
Raul sits in the mess hall at the table with the crew lounging around it.
“They are going to keep her another few days. Just to make sure they can get those infections out of her system. Once they clear her, she’ll be out of commission for a few weeks. She won’t want to hear it, but she’ll need to relax most of our flight back to Ord Mantell,” Raul fills the crew in.
“Sounds good boss,” Graves nods.
Aurra picks her nails, “Whatever.”
“I can co-pilot while she recovers,” Boba chimes in.
“Copy that Boba. You’ll co-pilot. Aurra and Graves, you will be running diagnostics with Scope on the Convor,” Raul eyes both of their reactions.
“Copy that boss,” Graves takes a swig of water and kicks up his feet onto the table.
“Whatever,” Aurra repeats.
Raul sighs. Just a few more days.
Continue Headed to Ord Mantell
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