—Well, I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you to show up...

Valkrul released a sharp whistle from within her mask, capturing the attention of the creature she'd caught stalking its way towards the opening of the escape pod she was tasked with protecting.

The armor clad Knight had been pre-warned that no matter how difficult the location Kylo Ren, chose to send his stowaways, her Master's personal escape pod may be tracked, and he was right. The logic made sense, after all. When the Knights of Ren went to the secrete Jedi Island where their Master was stranded, she and some of her fellow comrades had been pursued by The First Order— no doubt the Redhead's doing— but it was also just as probable that The Supreme Leader had ordered his Apprentice, her Master, found.

—Of course trailing his Knights would be the fastest way to achieve that goal. She mentally conceded.

The Third Knight of Ren's eyes flicked back to the bodies she'd left scattered about the escape pod, then back to the new threat currently approaching her location.

The troopers here were easily ambushed, already fearful of their surroundings and unprepared for her attack, it made taking them out almost... boring. Her Master wouldn't be too pleased at how she'd dispatched them either; He'd spent a long time getting the troopers accustomed, for lack of a better word, to the presence of he and his Knights, but he'd also ordered the residents in the pod be protected from anything and anyone who meant them harm, at least until they were recovered by their comrades.

Honestly the storms hovering over head had almost done the job for her. At the very least she could blame a crash landing on the planet's surface to explain their disappearance if the annoying General of the First Order inquired— she wouldn't lie to Kylo Ren of course— but to anyone else... They'd never know the difference.

Her eyes quickly darted in the opposite direction where she'd left a fiery heap of smoking scrap metal; the remains of the shuttle the bucket heads had flown in on, properly blown to bits by a couple well placed explosives. D'Jynn wouldn't mind that she'd swiped a few of his toys before she'd left for the mission her Master assigned to her solely.

"Hmph." She smirked at the fresh plume of smoke as it bellowed out of the wreckage in one final gasp, another piece of the shuttle sinking into its own skeletal remains as it collapsed in on itself.

Not bad. She mused, but then her smile fell away. She huffed and her eyes trailed back to the beast which had surprised her when she spotted it tasting the air around the vulnerable pod with the flickering of it's long dark tongue.

The thing she was eyeing wearily, she hadn't planned for.

It must have come crawling out of one of the numerous fissures in the surface of the planet, she silently explained its appearance.

Valkrul Ren, was not sure how a Storm Beast had survived so long on a planet with no creatures left to feed on, but here it was. Perhaps somewhere in the deep, thick layers of the planetary crust some semblance of a living ecosystem still survived, but up here, the planet's topside was completely void of life. The dusty wasteland showed no signs of any living inhabitants. She theorized that if the beast came from deep enough beneath the surface than perhaps the initial crash from the escape pod had disturbed a resting place somewhere below their unknowing feet...

"Lucky me." The Third Knight of Ren, clipped impatiently.

She was supposed to be watching out for a rescue team... not getting distracted by Storm Troopers or playing with jumbo sized lizards things.

Common knowledge suggested that the Storm Beasts of Malachor V, and anything else left of this crypt of a planet, had long since died out here. It was a dessert wasteland, a museum for a history long since passed, and a ship graveyard for most who sought entrance to the planet's surface.

Though, Master Ren, had known getting the pod through the storm riddled atmosphere was a risk, he was willing to allow her the task of making certain that it didn't fail to reach the surface, mostly intact and more importantly with it's passengers surviving until they could be picked up by their allies. As for completing that task, it was tricky but she remained in control of her shuttle and slipped successfully through the storms without interference, securing the little pod with a well timed tractor beam, though it was a risky move as her ship could only support the maneuver for a short amount of time before it drained her own shuttle's power, potentially causing her own untimely demise.

Since the storm around her would be drawn to anything conducting it's own electrical power it was good that her shuttle was small enough, fast enough, and beneficially old enough, to make the entrance a safer attempt for her. Still, timing the moment when she cut her engines just long enough to free fall and slip through the momentary openings in the storm shield around the planet's surface, allowing her shuttle to draw as little magnetism to the lightning strikes as possible, was quiet an impressive feat, if she said so herself. It was even more impressive when she powered back up with enough time to catch the little pod in the cone of her tractor beam to slow it's own decent to a survivable pace through the storm. Her Master would be proud, and once again he'd proved his role at the head of their Order.

Kylo Ren knew his Knights well and he deligated their tasks accordingly. Out of the Rens, his Third wasn't the best pilot by any means, but she knew her math and tech well enough to devise a logical solution to best the challenges presented by storm torn atmosphere. Her theory had worked adequately. The interference on the beam over rode the pod's natural auto pilot systems and though the inhabitants within had a hard landing because of it, all in all, they were alive.

Completely intact from what she could tell.

—And feisty, too.

As she watched the scene between the mouthy pilot and the small retrieval unit of Storm Troopers, which had also somehow managed to squeak through the electrical siege a short distance from the pod's landing site, she'd found herself slightly amused.

—Only slightly.

She kept her focus in check as she brought her attention back to the new curiosity before her.

Four scale armored feet dragged hundreds of pounds of tough, reptilian flesh closer to the Knight and she scoffed at the nuisance, which she knew had to be starving.

When was the last possible time the beast could have found something adequate to feast on?

As though confirming her thoughts, it's jowls hung open hungrily and it hissed as it approached her, the noises coming from so deep within the base of it's open orifice low in the back of it's throat, that vibrations ran along it's back through the path of it's jagged spine. At least twelve to fourteen feet long, scale covered, and low on it's haunched front legs, the creature looked menacing enough, and she could tell one good snap from its long, razor filled jaws would unbiasedly rip and shred flesh from bone and body.

"It think that's close enough, my scaly interloper." And the Knight pulled out her blaster gun and raised the barrel, taking point at the things right eye.

Another bone chilling hiss from a much closer place behind the Knight, caused a split in her attention and she quartered her shoulder's in an attempt to keep her back from being turned on either approaching creature.

"Ok, so you brought a friend."

Perhaps the previously mentioned resting place was more of a nest.

The Knight rocked on her right toe, readying herself to make a fast move at any moment. As if noting the Knight's intentions the first reptilian quickly skittered to the left, repositioning itself outward from the Knight's new direction. Her head tilted slightly as she weighed the intelligence of the beasts. She turned again, keeping light on her toes as she stepped herself back into a more tactical position. This time it was the second creature that shifted it's location and that was all the elucidation she needed. These things were keeping her in between them, surrounding her by forcing her in the middle and ultimately making it near impossible for the Knight to physically focus on both at the same time within any given moment.

Luckily for her, she was able to track one or the other, as needed through the Force.

—And then, a third beast revealed itself. This one huge and gnawing on a partially shredded hand and forearm. Using the back of its jaw to chomp through what remained of the unfortunate troopers armor, the creature finished sawing the protective barrier to bits and then swallowed the smaller chunks of meat, bone and armor alike.

The revolting sight was motivational, to say the least.

Behind her mask, the Knight of Ren, barred her own set of teeth and she braced herself for the fight to come. Over the long years, Valkrul, had imagined going out a million different ways... being breakfast, lunch, or dinner, was not one of the ways she'd ever considered before this very moment in time, and she was determined not to resign herself to such a fate now.

"C'mon." She beckoned through gritted teeth, not willing to break her defensive stance to initiate the first strike.

There was a loud snapping sound as the beast nearest her back bit at the air in her direction and the Knight whipped around, aiming her blaster at the snout of the beast but against every itching inclination she had, Valkrul, refrained from firing.

Not yet...

These creatures were clever indeed. As the first Storm Beast behind her attempted to distract her, the larger beast at her front and the smaller farther off to her right side moved in closer. The, Knight of Ren, saw what was happening, but how to stop it wasn't as immediately clear to her. The creatures were attempting to close in around her and they were gaining ground by the second. If she wanted to keep all of her limbs intact, she was going to have to act and very soon too, because the average sized of the three creatures was creeping in closer again.

As though the beast had confirmed the decision for her, the young woman nodded in acceptance.

"Very well than, you first."

In one fluid motion the Knight, swung her arm around, placing the reptilian pushing to gain ground from behind her down her sights. She fired two blaster bolts clean into it's large snout and the shocked creature stammered back, groaning and screeching low in its throat. It's head was shaking back and forth as though trying to dislodge the two smoking holes she'd left above the top of its mouth. The shots had been well placed and close enough together that she could see it's long, black tongue flailing beneath the open skin, licking at its wounds from the underside out.

The young woman, had only a moment to take in the surprise of her weapon so effectively damaging the topside of the creatures thick skin before the smaller of the two other creatures charged her at an unexpected speed. She leapt back just in time to avoid the bite of the beast along her weapon arm. The snap of its teeth clamping shut mid air just out of reach of her appendage was startling and she almost lost her footing before she steadied herself last second. Her blaster was trained again, this time on the little Kriffer that almost made off with her arm. Again she fired, but this time, the creature being aware of the threat of the damaging bolts, launched itself sideways, rolling its scaly body along the dusty ground to avoid taking a hit.

As it moved over the ground its scales dug into the dry soil and its body kicked up the thick dust layering the top surface. Valkrul wasn't waiting for the thing to recover. She too darted to one side, bringing herself closer to the third and largest creature, but she was already setting the blaster to position. She fired, but same as the second beast, the monster moved to one side, than the other, dodging and weaving between her shots. In the next moment her Force mapped out movement from the first beast which had recovered and was coming at her again from her flank. The Knight raised her left arm, her palm up and open, catching the predator in the grasp of her Force. The Storm beast was heavy, bitting and snapping in the air, barely inches from her hand, and though she'd ultimately been in worse situations and fought in more dire circumstances than this one, the thought of being torn to pieces and eaten alive set a whole new precedent for panic to set up shop in the back of her mind.

Having one beast trapped in her Force hold and another still charging ahead, dodging her shots, still left the third one out of sight and while the warrior wanted to shoot the beast in her grasp to bits while she had it trapped and vulnerable, there was no way she was allotting the other a clear path to bite her head off while she did so. Instead, having only seconds to act, the young woman jumped backwards, simultaneously launching the beast in her hold into the other charging fiend. There was no down time before she was moving again, whipping around to reposition herself so that all three carnivores were at her front. She was firing on them as quickly as her finger could squeeze the trigger of her blaster.

As though smart enough to know better, the larger of the three beasts chomped down on the smallest, trapping its own kind by the shoulder joint and neck. The caught creature cried out in the most disturbing screech and the larger bit deeper, cutting the sound into silence. The reptilian drooped in the joules of its killer and the one with the holes in it's snout momentarily snapped at the larger, which now utilized the fresh carcass to shield itself from the Knight firing at it.

The realization of what just transpired set in quickly and within what felt like nanoseconds, Valkrul, reacting. She wouldn't give the larger animal the credit it's intelligence deserved; which didn't mean she wasn't aware of it, but right now she could only focus on its brutality, because if there was anything that could keep her mind in check, it was the reality of what fate she was in store for if she let fear dictate her rationalities so she quickly switched her aim to the next smaller of the two remaining creatures.

The smaller Storm beast reared back, squaring itself off with her shots, which initially she found odd, but then she saw it's intention. It's tail had twisted around, wrapping itself into a tight coil of scale and thick skin, leaving mostly its armor clad back down her sights. Repeatedly she was hitting the creature, firing into it until her blaster reached maximum temperature and temporarily locked up, preventing her from firing another shot until it reset upon cooldown.

The beast's back was scorched and shredded under the barrage of her bombardment and it wailed wildly, its scales in places barely clinging to the spinal column along its seared hide. The thing spun on her, raging forward at an uneven ramble. It's body was just barely affected enough by the damage she'd caused to slow the predator down enough for her to throw herself out of the way of before the creature rampaged past her. She hit the ground rolling, her still useless blaster clenched in her hand like a life line that needed to be tied off to something before it would be useful. Still she raised the weapon back in the direction of the larger reptilian; the one she didn't want to let out of her sight even for a moment. It was too smart, too cunning to forget about even for a second, and she was right to focus in on it.

Still using the smaller form in its mouth like a shield, the devious Storm Beast was slashing its tail through the dry, dead top soil at its back, causing a cyclone of dust and debris to cloud the space around its body, camouflaging the one threat she wanted full sight of at all times. In the incremental process of climbing to her feet and glancing back the the beast who'd charged passed for a mere second, she'd lost it. Her head snapped in small swings to the left and right, her focus now set to relocating the larger predator who'd utilized the few short seconds to abandon its defensive position within the swirling dust cloud.

Her alarmed eyes quickly located the missing Storm Beast -who had apparently been using the distraction of the other to advance on the unsecured escape pod while the Knight was stuck climbing up off of her ass. Before she could react the injured, rampaging reptilian was back and when it stampeded recklessly through the area, it caught her in the side of her half mast body. If the creature hadn't been so thoroughly damaged she was sure it would have ended her in one well placed blow, thankfully it was still suffering in the thralls of its injures, causing it to pummel forward in a reckless stupor rather than a deadly bite.

It was the reptilian's massive tail which swiped her from her feet, leaving her body rolling against the ground at an awkward angle. Her helmet slammed off the hard dirt floor but her head remained safe overall, however the initial blow knocked the air out of her lungs. The Knight was momentarily stunned but her instincts remained intact and somehow she managed to pull herself to a mostly standing position. She was slightly swaying on her feet and a sharp pain was shooting through her right side with every inhale, making it increasingly more difficult to regain her lost breath.

The larger of the two creatures found its moment and without hesitation, it was closing in on the wrecked escape pod, spitting what remained of its shield, from its mouth to free up its jaws for a devastating attack. The knight was quick to act, sending a large push of her Force after the beast, shoving it hard into the side of the small pod which rocked forward upon impact. The moment the creature recovered from the unexpected move, it shoved off the small craft, digging claws into dirt and metal in an attempt to free and push itself away from the invisible thing that forced the animal into the side of the pod again.

Valkrul wasted no precious time relocating the Storm Beast that had taken her to the ground. Her blaster was finally ready to go and without a moment to spare —because the smaller creature was charging at her again, this time with its mouth wide opened for a death blow. The Third, Knight of Ren, fired into the creatures open mouth, aiming down its throat as it closed in on her, putting a stop to the creature inches from its mark. The beasts feet came out from beneath it and the body slide forward from the momentum, its mouth still wide and gaping, swallowing her whole hand, blaster and all down to her elbow.

The knight stared at her hand and weapon as though she couldn't believe they were still attached to her, one by her arm, the other by the grace of her firm grip. The Storm Beast was dead to be sure, but holy Hoth that had been a close call. She pulled her arm from the hole she'd blown clean through the beast's head. It was then that she noticed the barrel of her blaster, covered in some type of thick viscous goop that was already starting to solidify on the weapon. Puzzled, but not willing to let the firearm go, she tried flicking the hardening sludge free from the gun.

"What in the ever-living, Force?!?"

She recognized that voice. The snark and tone was unmistakable. It was the somewhat amusing pilot who she was "supposed" to be keeping safe...

Her eyes flicked back in the direction of the pod. Her free hand was still reaching outward, but the Storm Beat was no where to be seen.

"Get back in the pod." She ordered, applying no mind compulsion to her words.

The Wookie stood just to the side of the much smaller pilot and he was howling about something which sounded urgent.

She shifted her stance to face the pair and that's when she caught sight of the thing slinking out from behind the pod. Again she reached out with her power taking hold of the creature once more, this time pulling it away from the two vulnerable Resistance fighters who's very presence outside of the pod, was all the proof she needed to know that her Force energy was waining.

The human's hands were protectively shielding his body as though he thought she were targeting him with the Force. She didn't blame him, certainly they'd heard and eventually felt the ongoing ruckus from the inside of the somewhat protective pod, but being locked by her Force compulsion to remained seated within, the were non the wiser to the situation at hand.

Realizing the Knight hadn't set her power to "stun gun" mode, Poe stood there relatively confused for about three seconds before his survival instincts kicked in, clueing him in on the fact that there was something in the area which the Dark-side Force user only a short distance away, was more focused on than he or the pissed off Wookie to his right., and everyone in the Galaxy knew not to ignore a pissed off Wookie!

"Get back in the pod, now!" She instructed. "It's not safe out here."

—And I can't hold this thing forever... But that admittance was just for her knowledge. She certainly would let her enemies in on tactical advantages to use against her the moment an opportunity presented itself.

Though she tried to ignore the sight of her weakness, her eyes followed the path along her arm, landing briefly on her trembling hand before she glared beyond the ends of her outstretched finger tips to the Storm Beast thrashing against her Force hold. She gritting her teeth behind her mask and raised her blaster at the creature, intending to end this here and now.

But as much as she tried, her finger didn't pull the trigger. Her eyes flicked back to the barrel of her weapon than down to her own gloved hand. Her trigger finger was encased by the solidified goop. She cringed and tried to release the blaster but the tip of her gloved finger was fused to the curve of the trigger within the amber like material.

The Knight of Ren, screamed out her frustration in the direction of the Force held Storm Beast, the sound coming out strange from within the vocoder, lowering her natural tone from behind the mask. Her anger was a quick useful bolster to her wavering Force energy and she used that momentary increase to slam the creature into the pod at whatever the equivalent of her full Force was right now. If the two Resistance Fighters weren't going to follow her instructions and take cover in the pod, than she was going to make use of it herself.

Leaving the creature momentarily stunned, Valkrul took the precious seconds she had to work her appendage free of the glove that kept her right hand sealed to her now useless blaster. The Wookie was mewling again and though she could hear the human pilot yelling something in the background, she couldn't make it out in time to decipher what he was saying. Hastily wiggling her trigger finger free from around the object, her hand broke free from the glove and she dropped the protective casing and firearm to the ground.

The beast was shaking it's head, gathering its own composure while she took long strides in its direction. Her right hand reached back and she pulled her curved scythe pole arm free from the latch between her shoulder blades. She'd had enough of this thing already.

The Wookie stepped between she and the pilot, but the Knight couldn't care less. Beyond making sure they didn't get eaten in the process, all she cared about was ending this creature before it ended her.

"Outta the way." She snarled through the vocoder, sounding as menacing as she likely appeared right now.

The pilot side stepped and the Wookie followed suit, if only to remain in a defensive position in front of his friend.

The beast snapped its joules at her and she slammed another small push of her Force into it, this time barely moving the thing. It whipped its tail around to the front of it's body and slammed the long, thick appendage on the ground, causing more dust and dirt to fill the air in a blinding puff that shot out in her direction. The Knight breathed easily through her helmet; the filters within, no doubt working hard to keep what she breathed in from being contaminated by the debris before it could penetrate her mouth. Taking her last step into closing off the distance between herself and the creature, the warrior squared off her hips and lunged forward with a low sweep of her blade; The edge of her weapon, cresting through the space close to the ground where the creature should have been hiding within the earthen cloud.

When her weapon found nothing but disappointing air, the Knight froze, stunned that the thing had moved so quickly out of her range.

Instead, just beyond the dust and raising above the clearing cloud, was a scale clad head; the long snout and bright orange eyes vertically slitted as they locked in on her. The creature continued to rise, bringing itself up on its back legs and extending itself to its full humanoid, hight.

Heart suddenly pounding in her chest, Valkrul's right foot shifted back slightly.

She chanced a glance in the direction of her shuttle, though they wouldn't know it was there until they were right on it...

They could make it...

"Get to my ship." The Knight nodded her head in the direction but the front of her mask remained straight ahead. Her full attention had to stay on the massive Storm Beast, not split between the two Resistance Fighters and the creature who was suddenly more menacing than before.

As though sensing her distraction, the reptilian screeched in their direction.

Valkrul's arm lifted high above her head and she skillfully rotated the weapon in one hand, slicing through the air in front of the creature before locking it back down in her palm.

"If you're hungry, I'm right here." She taunted.

The beast reared forward as though accepting the challenge for what it was. Claws clashed with Durasteel as attempted swipes were exchanged. The much smaller, Knight of Ren, ducked and dodged, bobbing and weaving where needed to avoid leather blows.

Chewie was pushing his friend forward and Poe didn't waste much time putting space between them and that of the, Dark Warrior, and the monster trying to eat him. The only problem that was nagging at him... why the heck was this Dark-sider trying to protect them, putting himself in harms way to keep them alive?

The Storm Beast lunged forward and the Knight brought her crescent blade down at an angle, catching the creature along the length of its snout. The thing hissed and back peddled. It's eyes flicked over its rectangular face taking inventory of the damage done to its upper mandible.

In comparison to the power she applied to the strike, the cut was not as deep as the, Knight of Ren. would have liked to leave, suggesting her weapon's blade was drastically less effective in comparison to the blaster. The beast changed tactics, shifting back to its belly before quickly rushing her.

Valkrul anticipated the next attack but to her misfortune she'd predicted the wrong attack and before she knew it the creature stopped short, launching its tail in a forward flail, taking her feet out from under her completely.

"Urrgh!" Poe, groaned in frustration with himself. "I hate to say it buddy, but we gotta help." And he sprinted into action before the Wookie could protest.

Chewie rolled his big blue eyes.

Still moving for his target, Poe, watched as the creature lifted high on its haunches again, returning the beast to its back legs. It was quickly closing in on the fallen Knight who was swiping out with his weapon, keeping as much space between it and the monster above. Then, as it's main focus was on the prey beneath its attacks, the beast was suddenly taken by surprise when large furry arms were wrapping around it and pulling in the opposite direction from its target.

"Good job, Bud. You're the best." Dameron cheered the Wookie on, tossing him a thumbs up as he bent down to meet his goal.

The pilot called from somewhere beyond the Knight's visual field so she extended her neck, lifting her head on the back of her helmet so she could peer through her the mask's thin visor just long enough to catch the human a short distance behind her, crouching over the ground and fiddling with something she didn't have time to identify. The Third Knight had to assist the Wookie before he got himself killed.

Maker knows what her Master would do if that happened...

With the beast still flailing in the Wookie's massive arms, the third, Knight of Ren quickly recovered. Springing up from the ground, Valcrul started for the creature when it's head reared back and it suddenly spit a large, thick, globulous of that same viscous fluid directly into the Knight's face plate. The weight of the marterial alone was enough to send her staggering back and within seconds she'd realize her situation. That thing was attempting to entomb her into her own helmet.

Chewie squeezed the creature in his powerful arms, crushing muscles and organs, popping and cracking bones with every second that passed but still the creature flailed against its attacker.

The Knigth was backpedaling in an attempt to catch her balance. She couldn't tell how much of her helmet was covered by the slime-like substance but she knew from recent experience that every second which passed gave the material time to harden, trapping her in where she was not long to receive oxygen, as the inner filter was also clogged with the thick junk slugging it's way into her helmet's every nook and cranny. Reaching up, her fingers desperately moved to release the latches that locked her Knigthly guise over her head.

Though her unprotected hand landed in the sticky, glue-like, slime at the port of the release mechanism, she couldn't risk not getting out of the helmet before the fluid hardened. She pushed three fingers into the slime and found the release port she needed, clicking them both simultaneously. There was no hiss as she came free. The only sound from the helmet was it smacking against the ground as she flung it down at her feet. Then, ripping the glove free from her left hand, Valkrul hunched forward, gasping for fresh bouts of air while wiping her right hand vigorously against her armored thigh. Once she thought she'd gotten the crap off her skin, her face snapped in the direction of a blaster pointed just above her arched form.

Well, If this didn't, than her Master was certainly going to kill her for failing him!

Shots fired and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for an impact which never came. The young woman blinked at the smoking blaster held in the hands of the very capable Pilot, and then the Knight spun around. In the crushing arms of the Wookie, the Storm Beast had gone still, its broken body limp and lifeless...

And riddled with some rather well placed holes, she might add.

—She might... if she found it at all, impressive.

"If I'd have had a power house Wookie, holding my target still for me, I'd look like a sharp shooter, too." She snarked out loud, only then realizing that she could hear her own voice; Her very feminine, uninhibited, and not at all distorted voice.

Again she found herself whipping around to face the pilot.

"—Ugh...you're welcome." He was already moving closer, his eyes scrutinizing her, darting all over her face, tracing the long braid that swung around her shoulder when she turned on him. And he continued to gawk, his eyes flickered over her armored form, and then back up to her face again.

Without her mask she felt...

Well Force! She didn't know how she felt, not naked... but, exposed maybe...

Her Master had recently seen her unmasked but that was by her choice, and though occasionally her role as the group's rogue required her to go unmasked, she never had to be both, the Knight, and herself, as the Rogue...

Turning her discomfort into anger, she reached out to the pilot.

"Give me my sidearm."

Poe pulled back, shaking his head. "Whoa, I don't think so."

And he wanted to call her something smart mouthed, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything clever right now. The woman in front of him... well, from what he could see, she was stunning! Long golden hair, fair, pale skin, that didn't look at all like it fit her role as a Dark-Sider; guess he was expecting yellow eyes and garish grey skin... but her eyes... sweet Maker, they were the brightest blue he'd ever seen.

The knight switched tactics. Using the tip of her booted foot, she swiped her scythe up from the dusty ground.

Poe threw his hands up, the blaster in his right, hanging upside down by his trigger finger. "Hey now... you may have a fancy weapon, but I," he nudged in the direction of his friend and the Wookie dropped the crumpled reptilian creature at his feet, "have a Chewie."

The Knight grimaced. Even if she thought she could take him right now, her orders were that no harm was to come to the Pilot or the menacing Wookie.

Cocking her head over her shoulder, "I could make you, give me the blaster." She reminded the Resistance Fighter.

"You know, you probably could.. but, judging by how all that just went down a minute ago, I'm betting you're all outta juice." He mocked, playfully while still making a clear point that he understood enough about the Force to call her on her threat.

"I took two of those Storm Beasts out before you two got involved!"

The Pilot knew was an idiot for playing with fire. Poe could tell he was already getting on her nerves but, Mustafar, if he didn't enjoy the little blush her visible anger brought to her pale cheeks. He was getting over the initial shock of how attractive she was, and the surprise of she, being a she, at all. It was so not what he expected.

"Oh yeah, it was real nice of you to leave the biggest of the three for us to contend with."

The pilot was relentless and it made her crazy! No way, no how, was she going to let this Resistance fighting, non-Force user, get her all worked up into a frenzy.

"I kept you safe." She bit back, using her pole arm to lift her helmet off the ground so as not to get any of the hardening sludge on her hands.

"You did." Poe acknowledged, evenly.

The pilot walked by passively, and the Knight played the same card, ignoring him, even while he still had her weapon —as it didn't seem like he intended to use it on her, yet.

Not wanting to give him anymore satisfaction than he already found in himself, Valkrul made a point of eyeing her helmet as the cocky Pilot strode past her, but then...

"You said you had a ship around here?" He called back.

Still holding the helmet at the end of her pole arm she made a point to stride past him, leading the way without so much as another question. She didn't need an invitation to her own shuttle and she damn sure, wasn't going to wait around for him to offer her one.

Poe snickered, and Chewie, nudged him in the arm above the elbow, causing the much smaller human to stagger forward at an angle.

"What?" He flashed his furry friend a tooth filled grin. "I mean..." Using his free hand he gestured to the woman ahead of him and the Wookie grumbled under his breath in response.

Poe could tell the woman a few paces away was already annoyed with him. It was clear by the way she moved, and he wasn't wrong very often when it came to reading a woman's movements... and yet somehow, he found himself giddy over the prospect.

The over confident male, took a few light steps forward, catching up until he'd nearly closed the distance between himself and the mysterious woman. He caught her eyeing him as he got closer and when the two caught each other in a brief glance, she rolled her whole head at him, making him chuckle under his breath.

Valkrul felt him creeping up well before he got close enough to be in her weapon range but she didn't look back until he was within what she considered to be her personal space, an area she normally didn't have to worry about things, let alone nosey pilots, trespassing in —at least, not while she was in her full guise. Wide birth is what she typically got. Not this... strange behavior...

When he slowed back to a regular pace, she side glanced him, taking in how closely he followed behind her, weighing whether she should reassess her initial perception of him as a possible threat or not.

When Dameron had finally gotten close enough that she'd felt the need to peek back again. The Third Knight of Ren caught his curiosity; A dumb boyish grin splayed on his face like an idiot, leaving her to wonder at what the Pilot found so amusing about his situation. As far as he knew he was trapped on this planet with Wookie sized, man-eating, lizard beasts, an endless lighting belt above, and a very easily agitated Knight of Ren, —which he'd rather snicker at, than properly fear...

—This man must have hit his head.. hard.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice as icy as her cold blue eyes which were now frosting over him.

Poe ignored the edge she carried in her tone and slinked closer to her until they were in step with one another.

"See, I'm looking ahead, and so far I don't see a ship in this direction."

"Oh, don't worry, it's close by." She stated simply, a small something that Poe, couldn't quite pin down, lacing her voice.

Amusement...? He kinda hoped...

Alotting herself a few seconds to take him in, she followed his face with her eyes, noting the swell of his bottom lip and the dark purple and blue bruise that encircled his right eye socket. She could tell it was fresh... sometime within the last twenty-four hours or so if she had to pinpoint a time.

Poe didn't mind her scrutiny. Most women he came across appreciated his brand of charm. Sure he could come off a little strong at first, but after a sip or two... most woman he found himself interested in, shared the intrigue themselves.

"One of my, Brethren?" She questioned curiously, her eyes moving back to lock on the swell of his lower lip as he tasted the bruise with his tongue.

When hie unconsciously swiped the spot where her eyes were dialed in on him, Poe found tender skin, and he flinched as though only just remembering it was sore. His hand raised to the sensitive tissue, testing the size and depth of the split he rediscovered adorning the left corner of his mouth.

"Kylo Ren." He bitterly said from behind his hand, his fingers still probing the swollen flesh.

Much to Poe's dismay, the woman smiled proudly and her next words came with the same telling effect.

"My Master." Her voice rang with pride.

He stopped walking then. His feet planted as though he needed to be still in order to process the next of her words after he clarified, "So you are one of them." When she didn't acknowledge his open statement he expanded the sentence. "A Knight of Ren?"

The Knight, nodded. "Ship's just ahead." She stated, neither specifically responding to his question with her nod, nor denouncing the possible title, but ultimately, he knew the answer.

The way she dressed, the way she fought... the bucket heads back there, which she'd, —well, downgraded to just buckets. It was a good reminder of who he was dealing with and apparently, he needed one to stay on task. It was strange actually, usually woman were more interested in him and not the other way around. It wasn't very often that one took him by surprise.

"The Storm Troopers," He bobbed his head back in the direction they just came from. "That your handy work?"

Her left eye brow lifted with the corner of her lip.

As sign her took as enough confirmation for him. "I thought they were on your side?"

His voice was gruffer than before and the Knight couldn't help but feel curious as to why that mattered to him. Surely, he didn't care about them. He didn't seem to care when he first found the troopers after they destroyed the shuttle door.

"They were not supposed to be here, nor did they have the authority to attack you."

Poe didn't say a thing while he thought about what any of that had to do with why she executed them.

The Knight stopped in her tracks, the Pilot still by her side, and the Wookie not far behind him. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why the mouthy one's silence bothered her, so she answered the too quiet Pilot, hoping that would be the end of it.

"General Hux, is a nuisance and a thorn in my Master's side. Trust me, for his soldiers to follow you here, well it wasn't with the intent to keep you safe!" She somewhat clarified.

He was staring at her more intensely than before. His dark brown eyes piercing into her as though he could look beyond the mask of indifference she wore on what she considered to be her overly, exposed face.

"Why were you keeping us safe?"

She took note of the seriousness of his questioning tone, almost accusatory in it's manner. He'd pocketed the previous cocktail of sarcasm and charm for a later date, or more likely, for a softer target, she decided, before he grilled her suspiciously.

It seemed he was finally taking her serious, and for the moment Valkrul could picture him in some role other than that of an overly cocky, headstrong, pilot, leaving her wondering if maybe he did play a larger part within the Resistance?  —Like this, calculating and suspicious, she could see him as potential leader.

...Fine by her. He'd be easier to deal with bluntly, anyway.

"My Master's orders." She clipped.

Poe couldn't help it when he thought back on the first time he'd crossed paths with Kylo Ren; when the Commander of The First Order had delegated the destruction of an entire village to his Bucket head troops while abducting him for later interrogation.

"And you always follow your Master's orders?" Poe heard how bitter he sounded, but he was too hot headed to sound anything but crass where, Kylo Ren, was involved.

There was no hesitation when she answered. "I trust my Master."

Her voice was level and honest, so far as he could tell.

"Kylo Ren?" He repeated as though there was a chance they could be talking about two different people.

Valkrul, nodded, her eyes locking onto his for the first time since they met. "Kylo Ren." She confirmed, flatly.

"Hmm." He huffed the gruff sound on an exhale.

Poe furrowed his brows, his face hardening into sharper lines and deeper pulls along his forehead and mouth. His lips turned downward as a hard scowl chased away the roguish charm that previously softened his somewhat attractive features.

If she were being completely honest, even while brooding, she found the man, slightly, appealing. Maybe even somewhat, handsome.

Chewie, mewled from behind the pair and, Poe, finally broke the chain of their interlocked stare. His friend was right, the storm over head was growing more erratic, the random strikes that ran across the sky becoming more frequent the longer they stood around playing fifty questions.

Poe started forward again, his mood leading his longer, heavier strides.

"You do actually have a..."

The Pilot froze in his tracks. It had appeared right in front of him, just as he was about to question the Knight about it again. Her ship, seemingly out of no where... it just popped into existence from one step into the next.

"What in the, Jabberwocky tech...?"

Valkrul strode passed him, pride eminent in her beaming smile.

"It seems you found it all on your own." She patronized.

The woman brushed past Poe, lightly knocking his shoulder with her own as she went and the Wookie behind him stared ahead, puzzled by something that didn't look right, but he couldn't quite figure out what. And his friend had said something about a ship, but... what ship... and where in the Galactic Empire did the human disappear to?

Chewie, howled aggressively, his arms flying in the air angrily as the Knight strode into thin air after him. The handle of her pole arm popped briefly back into view and the Wookie cocked his head, moving for it before it could disappear into what seemed like thin air like the rest of them. Three steps forward and everything was clear.

"Calm down big fella, it's just a cloaking device that hides... More than ships." The pilot explained, a stunned expression still on his impressed face. "It's a Lambda right.. T-4a? These things don't come with that kinda tech... I mean.. do they?" Poe was giving voice to his thoughts as they came.

The knight bent down, digging at a small disc she'd planted in the sandy dirt long before she'd met up with the Resistance fighters at her back. Once she had it in her hand the image blocking their existence from the rest of the world glitched and the power of the tech was diverted into the other three discs she still hadn't recovered yet. She rounded up the last of them from around the shuttle's circumference, each one costing the false mirage more of its veil until finally the ship and it's newest cargo were fully exposed for all to see, if there wad anyone left to see them.

"What the kriff just happened?" Poe blinked at the shuttle, then at the little discs the Knight shuffled into individual slots located somewhere along the underside of the belt she wore over her armor.

Astonished, Poe, turned back to, Chewie, to see if he was equally effected. "First Order technology!" He tried not to sound so impressed but, damn, he wanted mobile holo projectors for cloaking, well, whatever he wanted, on the fly.

The Knight strummed in a code which began the process of allowing her and her... add ons, access to her shuttle.
"Not First Order, tech," she corrected. "It's mine." The knight finished clarifying, nearly shouting over the pressurized hydraulics as they worked to lower the ramp so the three could board.

The moment the ramp was close enough to the ground the armor clad woman was over the edge, disappearing into the mouth of the open shuttle.

A fairly common shuttle, the traditional Lambda-class T-4a was not exactly what it seemed from the outside. Poe gazed around the insides with the wonderment of a small child, his eyes darting from one shiny thing to the next. The inner shuttle appeared to have been completely gutted. This ship was clearly no longer a transport of any kind. As a matter a fact, it very much looked like the Knight used it as a mixture of some kind of work shop and a living space. There were gadgets, tools, chips and spare electrical parts everywhere. If there was a nook or a cranny hiding somewhere free of parts, he couldn't find an empty one.

"You live here?" He openly wondered without giving any thought to whether the question would come out as intrusive.

"I live where ever I'm needed, but I suppose, yes, —mostly." Her voice drifted back to him from somewhere behind a dura shield which he guessed she'd modified herself to allow some form of division from the flight controls and cockpit to her work/living space.

Chewie seemed just as curious as his friend, but his eyes didn't wander too far from where the Knight resided ahead. He was much more cautious of the space and Poe was greatfull that at least one of them was on guard, just in case.

The young woman poked her head out from behind the shield wall between her and the two interlopers who were now eye balling her space, likely with some judgment, but she digressed. They didn't have time for that at the present. "We may have a problem." Two sets of eyes landed on her and both parties waited for some clarification.

Following that statement, Poe, disregarded his curiosity for the time being and instead he descended deeper into the shuttle, making his way to her in a haste that matched her tone. She disappeared behind the wall again and not a moment later, wide beams of blue and white light filled the shuttle bay, shooting from the ceiling so fast that neither Poe nor Chewie had time to shield their sensitive eyes against the intrusion.

After blinking several times, Poe saw it. A very large, very familiar Alderaanian starship. It was his General's ship, the Tantive IV. Somewhere, floating just above the planet's massive lightning current, Leia was here, likely to rescue his sorry ass... well, maybe more so Chewie, than himself, as he had some serious explaining to do and her, Lady Royalness, was not going to be anywhere near happy with him based on the last time they spoke.

When the Knight re-emerged, her face was very serious, much like when the two were speaking about her allegiances.

"Why would a Resistance Flag ship come all the way out here for a simple retrieval mission? In fact, If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that was the General, herself, coming to bring you two home." The statement was posed no where near a question, so Poe didn't treat it like one.

"To be honest, I'm just as surprised as you are." He shot a quick glance back at his companion. "She must really like you, man." He jested, half heartedly.

But the keen Knight didn't miss how his face had paled several shades, or how dark his eyes had gotten at the mention of the Resistance General being here.

The thing was, Poe was kinda ticked that Leia came all the way out here herself, because he was betting that she was most definitely on that kriffing ship. She just couldn't let some one else do the job... so damn stubborn! By the look of the agitated Wookie behind him, Poe could tell Chewie had the same sense.

"Just who the heck are you two, to get her to come out of hiding just to bring you home?" Before either could answer, the Knight moved in, likely following her own trail of thinking to the end of the path until she came to the same conclusion the Wookie and Pilot had, her eyes widening on the very thought as she spoke it out loud. "You know if she tries to bring that thing down here to get you, shields or no, that ship's going to get shredded to pieces before she breaks through the atmosphere."

Suddenly the Knight looked more alarmed than when she was facing the Storm Beast on two legs. "Master Ren will lose his shit!"

As if the Pilot wasn't confounded by the puzzling Knight enough, that statement left him tilting his head at an uncomfortable angle.

—And just like that she disappeared behind the shield wall again.

Poe went sprinting after her, leaving Chewie growling about something or another behind him. He ducked behind the wall and was momentarily stunned by all the computer screens and key pads, touch stations, and Navi coms, she had customized the cockpit with.

"We gotta beat her to the punch! I can get us up there safely, but there is no way in Hoth's freezing core, that starship make's it through the lighting shield covering this planet without being destroyed in the process..." She repeated, jostling the pilot's head back to the current task to be dealt with before he could snoop around her tech. "The thing is, and this is where you come in," she gathered his attention with her right hand, "sit there but don't touch anything..." she instructed before moving on. "If we go up there in this shuttle, I'm pretty sure we're going to get blown sky high. My ship's not marked First Order, but it's also a rather recognizable craft... and we're going to be no better than floating fodder for just long enough for them to target lock us while we slip passed the lightning stream on our way out through the atmosphere."

Now there, she definitely had a point. The shuttle may not be used for bucket head transportation anymore, but from the outside, it would definitely appear as such, and likely they would come under immediate fire from cannons that would turn this craft and everyone in it into literal spacedust.

Poe pondered quietly for a few seconds, his ears filling with the sounds of her fingers quickly moving over buttons, pulling levers, and then trimming over more buttons.

"Can you get a message out?"

He looked over at her and she was already smiling, her bright blue eyes mesmerizing him every second they held his gaze and for a single breath, he forgot how urgent the situation was. Instead he just stared at her, his own eyes fixed in a trance somewhere between her's and that smile that he wasn't prepared for.

"I've already fixed a target on board, one we can transmit a discreet message to."

She was proud, and to be honest, he was impressed.

"Fixed a target?" He sounded stupefied, and it made her smile widen, her eyes beaming at him like bright, northern lights.

"A droid, old tech," she looked back to the holo screen, her eyes scanning the information and numbers as though she were deciphering the text of an old data pad for answers. "An old protocol droid, data base shows he has codes for thousands of linguistics, including point coding... I can send it a coded message no one else could even pickup on..." Her eyes flicked back to his.

"A C-3po?!" It was a statement and a question, but he was sure that's the model droid she'd somehow locked onto.. and it was a more perfect messenger than she could even know.

He was smiling back now, and it made for an awkward scene when the Wookie, stuffed his head between the panels of her makeshift shield wall. His voice roared loud over head, startling the pilot out of his trance and reminding the Knight of just who she was sharing her emotions with... causing her to internally scold herself and to miss the safety of her helmet even more so.

This wouldn't have been an issue with it on. He'd see a blank face, ahead. Nothing more and nothing less, no matter how she felt underneath.

Looking back to the screen, she cleared her throat. "It's your General, up there." She said cooly, "what should it say?" She asked, referencing the message that could save, or doom her shuttle and it's oddly mismatched inhabitants.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Poe, took one more second to think before he looked back at the Knight sitting in the custom Captain's chair, an answer clear on his smirking, lips.

~~~~~~~~~

The moment the General had the confirmation she needed, she was on the move. Her lithe fingers setting a direct course just outside of the atmosphere of the planet, Malachor V, where supposedly the personal escape shuttle her friends —family, really— were waiting for someone of their faction to retrieve them.

"General."

A soft voice sounded from behind her, but she couldn't help to pay the distraction any attention at the moment. Than it came again, slightly louder this time.

"General."

The voice seemed to be following the Princess around at the same pace as her present haste. Liea continued typing, then measuring coordinates, then typing some more into the main navi system, her pace unmoved by the voice trailing behind her in its's attempt to draw her attention to it.

"General Organa!"

A gentle hand perched on the General's left should as she bent down over the navi system and she jumped, her hand naturally reaching for the blaster she kept on her right side. The hand promptly displaced itself from her shoulder and it's owner took a half step back, lifting both pale pink hands into the air as a show of surrender.

"Oh, Xaurus!" The General announced in surprised recognition.

She blinked twice and then removed her hand from her sidearm.

"Do forgive me." She appealed, genuinely.

The Zeltron had been a good crew mate and friend to her over the last five or so years of his service to the Resistance, enough so that she trusted him here now —in the presence of a very sensitive mission, both in expediency and in political delicacy.

The Zeltron kept his hands raised where the General could see them, his dark purple eyebrows arching in surprise at her aggressive reaction.

"It wasn't my intention to startle you, My Lady." He apologized, lowering his head into a slight bow of respect and submission.

Liea huffed at him, placing her own hands over his and pulling them down to his sides. Years ago she'd scold or redirect the young Zeltron for addressing her as such, yet stubborn as he was, he would always respond with something about how she was still a Princess. No matter how many times she reprimanded him for such formalities he'd always reply by pointing out how "blood was not changed simply because one willed it." Eventually she'd given up entirely and now she hardly noticed when he acknowledged her heritage in such ways.

In fact, he very much reminded her of a dear friend she once had. —And his species abilities, much like that of the Force abilities her old friend wielded, came in very handy in sticky situations. It felt like almost a lifetime ago since she'd sent a distress call to a Jedi of a very similar nature to that of this, very gifted Zeltron, but she digressed, not willing to linger on the memories of such long ago times.

Liea took a moment to breath deeply in and out just once before starting over.

"I'm sorry to have startled you, my friend. What is it?" Her tired eyes gave him a moment of her full attention, a feat not easily gained from one spread so thin.

"No apologies necessary, General. After all, I did startle you first." He noted playfully while telepathically sending out soothing feelings to the stressed woman across from him.

Liea sighed in both relief and impatience. "I appreciate your effort, Xaurus, but unfortunately, as is customarily standard for one in my position, my anxiety is very warranted."

The young man stepped into the personal space of his General, his voice lowering in volume so that only she could hear his words.

"Perhaps, but it does your health no good." He gently reminded her.

"Non sense." She shoo'd him from her space and turned back to the Navi charts. "Commander Ackbar," The General began.

"General, I implore you..." Xaurus, tried again, knowing the stubborn woman would take the weight of whatever currently had them all floating in the Outer Rim sector of space, dangerously close to an abandoned Sith planet and very close to what he knew was considered to be enemy territory, onto her own shoulders alone.

"If you'd please, help me navigate a route to a suitable location for an extraction point." Leia called around the towering form of the young man she'd once again placed at her back. Allowing his words to sink behind her current task again, The General was already lost amongst the recordings of the once physical maps and charts she'd pulled from the data base as soon as they found the beacon's stress signal pinging like a blinking flare on the Tantive IV's sonar system.

The Mon Calamari nodded profusely. "Of course, My... —Genreral."

It wasn't often that the Commander found himself having to correct the way he addressed Leia Organa, but when the Zeltron male was around, addressing her as the Royalty that was only ever silently acknowledged while he wasn't, it always made him feel too informal with her. After all, he served her adoptive father when her title was active, and even still, when the Commander learned of her true blood lineage years later which was also revealed to be of royal descent. Further more, through his own examples the Zeltron often reminded everyone of how that station should be addressed. —Once, Leia had even banned the boy from speaking around her until he changed how he addressed her... after about a month and a half of frustration, she lifted the ban herself, having finally been "out stubborned" in the matter.

Xaurus crossed his long arms over his thick chest and set back to resting on his heels, reserving himself to watching the two mull over the limited charts and maps they had on the unknown region. He'd be amused if this situation wasn't so important to the General, after all, it was called the unknown region, for a reason...

After several minutes of the Mon Calamari grunting or groaning over each suggestion he or his General brought forward, only to be squashed with by one issue with the idea or another, the creature finally erected himself.

"The skill it would take to navigate a rescue mission of this magnitude..." The fishlike being began clabbering in frustration. "This planet... it's just... a death trap!" He finally announced his frustration aloud.

Leia ignored her friend's outburst, non of the, had gotten must rest as of late, or, maybe ever really. While her eyes traced the representation of the physical maps, her fingers glided over sections of the holo screen, moving the globe from one direction to another in an attempt to find a clearing in the lightning tempest which was open wide enough a for a rescue vessel to fit through and moving slow enough for the shuttle to then make it back out of the shifting weather before the storms could deluge back in around them again, preventing anything from escaping the storm charged atmosphere.

The Commander was already in a state of perpetual unease, being that they were floating in an air space usually only inhabited by outlaws, pirates, and of course, worse than all of them, The First Order. There were many rumors about The Supreme Leader of the Order himself coming from somewhere out here, and even more horrific rumors about him. Being that, The Mon Calamari, Commander, had spent much of his entire life in the military and during a very tumultuous time in history, he was not afraid of running into a fleet ship, or even The Supreme Leader himself for that matter. He was aware however, how much the possibility of losing the General would cost the resistance if she was somehow captured or worse during a confrontation with the Order. Without her at the helm of the movement, he wasn't sure the Resistance would survive at all. To make matters worse, no one had seen or heard from, Poe, since his latest trip to visit a certain hidden Jedi who everyone was expecting to return with him and join his sister's side several months ago. Dameron was not only the next most influential figure amongst the Resistance, but the only pilot Ackbar was certain would laugh at the difficulty of this rescue mission. Young as he was, the seasoned pilot was always so certain of himself, and the thing was, he was usually quick to prove his abilities, thereafter.

"Where in the Force is Dameron when you need him?" Ackbar finally conceded.

At that name, the General looked up, her hands strumming over the image of the crudely hand recorded maps of the planet's surface. Her shoulders were still haunched over the table when she let out the deep huff that brought everyone's attention back to her.

"Oh,"

Being that he could literally feel through his General's emotions, it was Xaurous who picked up what was going on before anyone else. "—He's down there, isn't he?" His tone was one of exasperation and it matched, Leila's, look perfectly.

Luckily, he was quick to unveil his revelation and he verbally reacted exactly how everyone else in the room was feeling, as well.

"Bloody, kriff."

The very uncharacteristic vulgarity of the usually polite and diplomatic Zeltron raised every eyebrow left in the room. With his arms still crossed over his chest, he shrugged, the violets of his eyes landing back on his General.

"You were thinking it, too!" He accused, a wry smile tugging playfully along the right corner of his mouth.

Leia could never quite pin point what it was about the young man, but somehow he always seemed to endear himself to her. Practically from the very beginning. Maybe it was the ability his species gifts provided him with, but she had a feeling that it was more so because his brand of charming sarcasm, reminded her of old Ben Kenobi, and her Han. It was how she imagined her own, Ben would turn out if she'd ever gotten to know him as an adult... Though she'd never actually asked Xaurous his age, she could tell they would be close in years. Often enough she imagined that if her son would have never gone to her brother's Jedi academy, these two could have been good friends... like Han and Luke... She lamented. With the exception that she had an inkling that Xaurus would be the one likely keeping her son out of trouble. Her husband and brother, though mostly harmless, often fed off of one another's sense of adventure in the most mischievous ways.

Leila's shoulders dropped and she hung her head over the lackluster Navi charts.

Xaurus's arms dropped with his shoulders and he leaned forward. "My apologies, General. I meant no offense."

Refusing to expand upon the cause of her somberness, The General let the dismissal of his apology go unexplained. She wouldn't allow the Zeltron to carry the burden of what wasn't his to bear, but instead she'd initiate her own form of sarcastic shields to deflect attention away from what had truly upset her. Leia re-steeled herself, her eyes sharpening and her focus back on the task at hand.

"—Please, no one on this deck would refer to me as, delicate." Leia slapped her hand over the charts. "Now, let's focus. Two of my closest colleagues and friends are counting on us to come through for them."

Xaurous stepped forward, then. "Well, alright. Let's look at the facts. We're floating dangerously close to a massive storm-encased planet, in what I believe is technically First Order Territory, on a flag ship easily recognized by our enemies, with our craziest pilot,"

Leia shot the pink skinned man a hard look and Xaurous cut his own sentence off in his defense.

"—Well I'm sorry but he is... And the look your giving me is all the confirmation I need on the matter."

He stepped closer to the holo chart mapping out a full model of the planet and it's extreme terrain, with its long jagged, tear like crevasses, and caverns leading deep within the planet's crust, these scars shadowed by the even more viscous looking peaks.

"—Stuck on a deserted, dead planet which is shrouded by unpredictably violent dust and lightning storms and floating above a hellish terrain that could tear through our ship with one wrong pivot. That about right?"

Leia nodded. "Though, I don't like the way you said, deserted." She admitted cautiously.

If there was one thing aside from using his telepathic abilities in their favor, it was the Zeltron's uncanny ability to know a thing or two, about a thing or two. More than once, he'd saved all of their butts with a piece of information based off of one rumor or another. His ear was always to the ground and a time or two Leia had seen him work his magic on an unknowing bystander when more depth of information was required, lessening her about why his species wasn't regarded as one of sensualities and pleasure for nothing.

"Let's hope our friends are the only current occupants, but until we know for sure, we should of course proceed with caution as we are at all of the previously mentioned risks and..." His violet eyes honed in on his General. "We are in the company of the one person who I'm sure the First Order would kill, literally, to get their hands on."

The General's back straightened and she smoothed her hands down the front of her uniform.

"I don't think I like what you're implying, Xaurous." The older woman prickled.

The Mon Calomori tilted his head to one side, watching with renewed curiosity as the two prepared to square off.

Xaurous could feel the indignation coming from the Princess, and while he hated having to be the on to say so, since apparently no one else in the room was willing to question her, he couldn't let it go unnoticed that she, especially, was putting herself in a very perilous situation.

"Without placing myself too high on the pedestal, I have to ask, General —seeing as we can barely get a reading on the beacon, Poe, is using to flag us, and the planet is know for comms interference, just how did you find out that he would be here in the first place? I mean the last we'd heard from, Dameron, he was on his way back here with Finn, Rey, and Chewie. Possibly even, Skywalker, himself... and to be honest," the keen man kept going with his train of thought. "You've been very distracted the last twenty four hours or so and—"

Just then the door to the deck slid open causing the General to pull her side arm on the intruder. C-3po immediately paused on the outskirts of the door, his golden and red hands lifting awkwardly to freeze in the space above his head.

"—Oh dear."

The General let out a captive breath and dropped her arms down to the front of her lap.

"Perhaps I should come back another time." The droid stated, simply.

"Of course you can come in." Leia called after his already pivoting form.

"Oh." He paused. "Most kind of you, General. I do hope you'll excuse the intrusion." He shuffled forward, his golden frame directing lights from every direction of the room to reflect all about the space.

"—Jumpy, lately." The Zeltron finished under his breath, his lips pursing at how quickly he was sure to be dismissed now that the attention shifted onto the disruptive droid.

"I'm certain you are aware, but my scanners have received a distress call from the former Sith planet below, however it is against my better jud—."

Knowing he only meant well, Leia half heartedly rolled her eyes at her robotic companion as she shoved her blaster back in her side holster.

"Yes— we're very aware C-3po. Thank you." And just as quickly the woman paused. "Wait... you do mean the beacon, correct?"

"No Mam, I received a distress call specifically directed to an off grid channel. It is unlikely that any modern tech would catch such rudimentary means of communication, but, as a protocol droid, the ability to discern this form of communication still resides within my programming."

The general took it upon herself to reiterate. "Tech advanced enough to make it to you, but so outdated that our current technology would otherwise ignore it?"

"Old-school." Xaurous mused.

C-3po expanded further.

"To anything not specifically set to pick up on it, the signal would be like spotting a single flare in the center of space, extremely difficult to pick up on while in the know, and near impossible to catch by accident. Further more, in regards to the message itself being translated into my cortex processor; running the analytics, I've discovered that the odds of a transmission being sent directly to my processors by random coincidence at about .00003733339 and at -99.89999999% being sent by mistake. In short, without a target receiver locating and than locking into my personal encryption sever, linking directly to my cerebral network... I may have been able to receive awareness of the initial transmission but would not have been able to decode it without the encryption being downloaded directly to my personal server. The only droid ever allotted access to this line has been R-2, however, I do not recognize the transmitting end, Madam."

"You're saying some one hacked into your processing chip from a remote location in order to send you a specifically encrypted message that only you could have picked up on or have access to?" The General couldn't hide her surprise at the statement which she hadn't meant to come out as a question.

The droid nodded in agreement. "Precisely, General."

An equally surprised, Ackbar, stepped forward. "Is, Lieutenant Dameron, capable of such a feat?"

Oddly enough, all eyes fell back on Liea, who's eyes were still glued to C-3po.

After a short time to think she questioned him further. "Would BB-8 have the capability...?"

Decidedly, it was a good question... but it was not the first "who" option that came to, Xaurous's, mind as a potential suspect.

"As an Astromech, BB-8 would be familiar with many types of tech and mechanical engineering, however the statistical chances of him hacking—."

"—Never mind than." The general cut the droid off before he could spit anymore numbers out than was absolutely necessary. "The transmission, what did it say?" She asked, more importantly.

The droid blinked then monotonously replied. "Don't shoot."

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