Mission to the Unknown

[Marian J'onzz]

Somewhere...on Kilia IV

"You are being completely unreasonable! I should be able to go if I want to."

Doctor J'onzz, of Kilian nobility and fame looked over his spectacles at his daughter and her current tantrum. She had laid waste to multiple expensive gowns that were becoming of a woman of her stature and age, leaving remnants of fine silk and ribbons in nothing less than shreds. He said nothing, however, letting the tirade continue as it had numerous times before. Eventually she would tire, he suspected.

"And furthermore, this entire planet is a death trap! Why can't we leave? Why can't we go places?"

The longer her father remained silent the more resolved to being completely furious Marian became. Her hands were placed squarely on her hips, shoulders straightened and pushed back just slightly, she felt important.

"And what if I were to just run away, hmm? What would all your rules and such say about that?"

All Doctor J'onzz offered in exchange was a small laugh, nothing more than a passing "heh" as he considered the concept of his daughter, his seemingly impulsive of idea yet short on action daughter, running away. It was nothing short of ludicrous. The paperwork in front of him was far more grounded in reality and deserving his attention.

The girl rounded on her father again.

"I'll do it, you know. I really really will."

The ability of the father to completely block out the daughter had been perfected over the years and for a moment, one blissful moment as far as he was concerned, there was silence. Yet that silence was filled with fidgeting, and lip biting, and general a huff that couldn't really let it be peaceful before a final...

"Fine!"

... was shouted at the old man and the young woman spun on her heel, headed for her bed chambers for a change of wardrobe before she would go to the space docks. Her escape from what she considered a retched existence was there waiting. Not exactly waiting for her mind you, well... he was... he just didn't know it yet.

[J'onn Scarlet]

Elsewhere...

J'onn scrubbed a hand through rebellious hair, and let out a sigh. His frustration was hard to quantify, or to qualify: this offworld jaunt was practically routine, and that was exactly the problem. A thousand years ago, settlers from the Galactic Republic had arrived on Kilia IV, and had promptly been forgotten about. Contact was lost, and the Kilians lived in peaceful seclusion, oblivious and uncaring of the universe beyond the limits of their own star system.

At least, most of them were. As with every society, there were a rebellious few who swam against the tide, rallying against the preconcieved notions of their roles in society. J'onn Scarlet was one of those people.

J'onn was one of the Kilian Rangers: Force adept warriors who served the nobility, nominally as the guardians of peace and justice. Unfortunately for preconceptions, he found himself in the service of the J'onzz estate, answering to the whim and whimsy of the infamous Doctor J'onzz.

Unlike most Kilians, the good Doctor had an appetite for knowledge, and eagerly explored the galaxy at large. Reluctantly at first, J'onn had found him dragged along on those exploits and adventures, but had ultimately resigned to his fate. There were times even when he enjoyed his journeys into the starry beyond; but at the beginning of every adventure, he always left Kilia IV with reluctance, unsure of whether or not he would safely return.

Today was one such beginning, but this journey was different from most. The station of Doctor J'onzz had increased in recent months, and his responsibilities prevented him from making those frivilous journeys out into the unknown. Rather than settle down to a more sensible lifestyle however, the Doctor chose instead to live vicariously through J'onn, sending the ranger out into the galaxy in his stead, alone.

The sigh was repeated as J'onn tugged his duster jacket over his shoulders, and slung the duffel of his most essential belongings over his shoulder. "Just a quick trip to catch the headlines," he muttered under his breath, echoing the instructions of Doctor J'onzz from earlier that day.

He shook his head. "It's never that simple," he grumbled as he stepped out into the corridor, almost instantly colliding with the equally distracted Lady Marian.

[Marian J'onzz]

"Hey! Watch where you're stepping you... J'onn!"

Marian went from ready to threaten to kill to extreme joy faster than it took the average person to blink. She hadn't been to the docks before, and so, didn't know where the Ranger's ship exactly was stationed when it wasn't flying about the galaxy. On top of not knowing exactly what it looked like, this presented a bit of a problem of using it as her get-away vehicle. But as luck would have it, she ran smack into the Captain and thus stood smiling up at him as her arms moved behind her back so that her hands could clasp together as she took up a seemingly innocent stance.

"Just the man I wanted to see."

She rocked back on her heels slightly, attempting to ignore the fact that she was dressed like a commoner rather than one of noble birthright. It was something the Ranger was bound to notice right away, if not point out. It was sadly something that while Marian was overly aware of, she figured if she didn't think about it, then maybe J'onn wouldn't notice.

"So..." Marian took the tiny pause to peer around the man, as if she expected to see his ship waiting just beyond him. "...where you off to?"

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn's eyes narrowed. "I'm headed out-system, on an errand for your father," he answered slowly, folding his arms across his chest in as disapproving a manner as his restricted, bag-laiden shoulder would permit. Lady Marian was, by virtue of birth at least, a member of the noble household he was honour-bound to serve, though her attire hardly reflected her social standing.

Were J'onn in a particularly generous and diplomatic mood, he would have described her as Dressed for Rellio: a planet on which he had experienced a particularly memorable encounter with - and then discovered a rather unfortunate allergy to - a lovely young Bothan woman. Certain quarters of the planet had been renowned for their women of loose morals and ill repute. Alas, J'onn was far from being in such an accomodating mood; and thus his reaction was less poetic.

"Does your father know you're skulking about the streets dressed like a common harlot?" he asked, tone scolding and judgemental. He held up a hand, stopping her before she could speak. "Of course he doesn't," he answered himself with high, shaking his head. "Knowing your father, he'd have shot you with a stun rifle and tied you to a chair if he saw you walking around like that."

Brow furrowing heavily, J'onn ran his fingers searched out an ornate chain fastened to his clothing, and followed it into his pocket to retrieve an equally ornate, antique pocket chrono. Clicking the latch, he glanced down at the display. "I don't have time for this," he muttered, mind processing the time.

With a practiced flourish of the chain, he twirled the chrono around and flicked it back into his pocket, hand delving into another to retrieve his comlink. "I'm going to summon an escort to take you home," he informed her, eyes returning to their disapproving gaze. "This is no place for a young lady like yourself to be wandering alone."

[Marian J'onzz]

One thing was very clear to Marian at that moment, if she was going to think of something it would have to be done quickly and executed even quicker.

"You never have the time." She spoke with a hint of pitiful accusation that wasn't quite inaccurate.

Ever since she was a little girl Marian had ventured from her father's estate to the outer courtyards of the nearby barracks belonging to the Kilian Rangers, sometimes doing nothing than watching the squires as they were paired off in their sparring. Usually however she was there to find, and usually to attempt to talk to the one who stood before her now. It was the only times she could even attempt to, since whenever J'onn was around her father it only ever meant they were leaving the planet shortly and at times like that neither one of them had time for her and her curiosities about what was beyond their home.

A quick huff of air was released as Marian attempted to straighten herself up to a respectable mannerism once more.

"For your information, Captain, my father sent me here to join you. Since he no longer is able to attend these journeys himself, he decided that I was old enough to now go in his stead."

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn didn't have enough forehead for his eyebrow to rise high enough in response to that. He had known of her father for most of his life; certainly for all of hers; and had, over the last decade or so in his service, come to know Doctor J'onzz fairly well. In all that time, the Doctor had been nothing short of painfully over protective of his daughter, to an excessive degree. Had she been born a son, her father would no doubt have had her training alongside the Rangers for exactly this sort of eventuality. But Lady Marian was, well, a Lady, and her blatant lie was simply absurd.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't have time for this," he said again, barely a trace of patience in his voice.

[Marian J'onzz]

Even before Marian had tossed the idea out there she knew it wasn't probably going to work, but you couldn't exactly fault her for at least trying. It was time for one last desperation attempt.

"If I was a boy you'd let me. Hell, we both know I'd have ended up your squire. That's the only reason, isn't it? I'm supposed to be proper and get married to some pompous ass I don't love... but even that hasn't happend yet. And we both know why. He's stupidly over protective and doesn't think anyone is good enough."

Her hands found their way back to her hips as she eyed the Ranger, stepping so that she constantly was between him and his ability to leave.

"Why are you helping him, J'onn? You wouldn't have let anyone hold you back when you were my age, you went off with my father when you probably were supposed to remain here to do the really boring stuff like keep watch of a town that will never be attacked. Why can't I do the same?"

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn met her gaze with one of equal strength, his eyes as cool and unwavering as iron. Her words carried weight, granted: it was true that gender - among the nobility at least - carried an unprecedented amount of weight within their society, and while she might have been trained to nurture her sensitivity to the Force had she been born to any other family, the Ranger barracks were, in her father's own words, No place for a daughter of mine.

As an outsider looking in on the traditions of the nobility, J'onn couldn't help but agree about the double standards of it all. He knew Marian; knew how capable she was, and how much potential she had to be everything she attested to be, if given the proper training and support. That her father prevented her - overprotective ever since he'd lost his beloved wife, Marian's mother - seemed unfair beyond words, given how regularly he placed his own life on the line. But that was as far as he was permitted to go: honour bound to serve Doctor J'onzz and his house, there was no way he could ever vocalise his disagreement, no matter how much he wanted to let Marian know that he was on her side.

Resignation slumped his shoulders - alas, not resignation to her protests, but to his own responsibilities. "Even if you were born a boy," he said, voice strained and reluctant, "You would still be expected to follow the instructions of your father." His eyes fell from contact with hers. "Just as I am."

[Marian J'onzz]

It wasn't just his words that allowed her to know he wasn't going to budge on the decision, it was the way it was said and the way he seemed to almost find defeat in that neither of them could go against what their lives had put before them.

"I don't want to leave forever... just this one time." It was a moot point, but Marian couldn't help but say it anyway even as her own body language seemed to slump just slightly.

A deep breath left the young woman. "Go on, then. I've wasted enough of your time."

[J'onn Scarlet]

Even though he knew he'd done the right thing - or rather, even though he knew he'd done his duty, as a servant of Kilia and of Marian's father - he couldn't help the feeling of crushing despair as he caught a glimpse of that utter disappointment in her eyes. He'd heard that, somewhere out in the galaxy, there was a vengeful cluster of black holes known as the Maw; and on worlds such as Tatooine, there were fearsome creatures called Sarlaac who devoured anything that stumbled into their weighting jaws; and yet, the worst terrors of the galaxy could not compare to the crushing pit of guilt that had formed where J'onn's chest used to be.

His eyes rose, braving a glimpse into hers once again, hoping that there was the slightest chance to rekindle a glimmer of the fondness and affection she'd always had for her father's favourite Ranger. He offered the faintest of smiles. "You always did come to see us off when we left; to remind us to come home safely," he recalled, voice gentle.

His brow tugged, conflicted. "Do I at least get a goodbye hug from my favourite heiress?"

[Marian J'onzz]

Marian wanted nothing more in that moment than to respond with the cruel silence her father had perfected when it came to denying her something. But she also knew that placing that sort of blame on the Ranger was juvenile and unwarranted.

She attempted to hold the cool resolved look of hurt for just long enough to get her point completely across before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the man like she had done countless times before.

"It comes with a price though. I get to actually watch you depart. If I can't go with you, I want to at least see your ship." She wasn't exactly in a position to be bargaining, and going against her father's refusal to even allow her to go to the docks seemed like a small offense at that point. Something was going to go her way.

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn sighed, the slightest of smiles tugging at his impression. "Fine," he said, battling it off his face, eyebrows rising high above his eyes as he tried to look at least remotely commanding. "You can watch. But then you stay, until the escort arrives to collect you."

There was no Alright? No Is that understood? There was no room for flexibility. No room disagreement. For once, he decided, she would do what she was bloody well told, even if he had to carry her to the gantry and nail her there, just to make sure.

He held her gaze for a moment longer, before finally glancing away, hands retrieving the chrono from his pocket. He winced as his mind processed the time; far closer to his allocated lauch window than he was comfortable with. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes settling on his ship; he backpedalled a few places, gesturing towards an arbetrary spot on the ground. "Stand here. Stay here. You hear?" he rattled off, rapid fire, not waiting around for a response. His pace quickened, not quite a run, but not far off; he glanced back: "Stay!" he insisted, voice echoing through the docks, before he finally disappeared from view behind a parked freighter.

[Harmony]

Her eyes were closed, and her body motionless; so motionless in fact that her chest remained perfectly still, no breaths moving through it. Even the microscopic motions of blood pulsing through the vessels beneath her skin had ceased. To an unknowing observer, she appeared dead.

Such an assessment was incorrect, of course. Being dead implied that one had been alive in the first place; any appearence of such from her was a falsehood, incorporated into her design and programming by creators who wanted to conjure the illusion of a living, breathing woman. Since she had fallen under the ownership of Doctor J'onzz she had chosen to cease most of those superfluous functions, unless absolutely necessary.

Though she appeared idle, her core processor was far from it: Harmony was deep in conversation with the main computer of the YKL-37R Nova Courier on board which she sat. She often found herself feeling she had more in common with the ship than she did with the organic passengers who travelled aboard her: their respective operating systems both worked far faster than human comprehension; they were both able to comprehend and communicate in various highly efficient base code languages; neither required sleep; and, perhaps most obvious to outside perception, both bore the name of the same woman: Lady Harmony J'onzz.

Through their wireless interlink, the Eye of Harmony informed the human replica droid that the external controls for the main hatch had been activated, and that the hatch had subsequently been opened. Calculations regarding internal air pressure, and the alterations in the chemical composition of the ship's atmosphere were forwarded to her operating system. She filed them away as low priority, though flagged them for possible later retrieval should she feel the need to provoke an emotional response from J'onn Scarlet: his reactions to her constant provision of data and facts seemed to provide amusement to Doctor J'onzz, and the vestages of her human replica programming informed her that this was a good thing.

The Eye of Harmony provided telemetry from its internal sensors, and Harmony's external features mimicked a frown at the presence of only one biosign approaching the cockpit. She turned, allowing her ocular sensors to identify the individual in question. Facial analysis led to the activation of appropriate memory engrams. "Welcome aboard, Captain Sc-"

[J'onn Scarlet]

"J'onn," the Ranger interrupted, holding up a hand to silence the droid.

Apparently as some vestage of her programming - J'onn dreaded to think what it was exactly that Harmony's builders had intended for the admittedly attractive droid when they'd constructed her - she had a habit of referring to the Doctor and he in a very formal manner. While his master seemed to enjoy being referred to as Doctor J'onzz, J'onn had always been a little uncomfortable with being addressed in the same manner himself.

He had, of course, informed the droid of this on numerous occasions, but it apparently hadn't sunk into her programming as yet. His eyes narrowed as he dumped himself down into the pilot's seat, a sigh escaping him. It wouldn't surprise him if the infernal contraption did it just to annoy him.

[Harmony]

"Welcome aboard, Captain," Harmony countered, her replica programming informing her with the necessary vocal perameters and intonation to stress the last word in a manner that, her programming informed her, would minimise the probability of protest from her owner.

Devoid of genuine emotions, she took no pleasure from doing so: it merely seemed logical to stress the nature of their relationship, and remind him that she was a droid, and not the human woman she appeared externally to be. She had observed that the interactions between the Captain and certain females tended to differ from his interactions with males. Doctor J'onzz had described it as 'heroic', and had explained that J'onn Scarlet was the kind of individual who would put his life on the line to save another, even if they were a stranger he had just met; particularly if there was a 'damsel in distress' involved. Given her combat programming, physical strength, and the fact that she was far less likely to die in many of the situations that the Captain willingly threw himself into, it seemed wise to ensure that he did not start thinking of her as another damsel in need of his heroism.

She glanced briefly in his direction. "Your arrival is several minutes later than originally you originally stated," she informed him, tone completely neutral.

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn scowled in her direction, venting a little of his frustration by jabbing at the console controls a little harder than was necessary. Doctor J'onzz assured him that while the droid was programmed to replicate human behaviour, those protocols were no longer active, and as a result she did not posess the ability to display emotions. The Ranger didn't believe it for a second: for something emotionless, she sure did a damn good job of appearing smug.

"I was delayed," he revealed, as much information as he was prepared to offer.

Having learned from past experience, he ran a quick diagnostic of the ship's readiness, checking what systems Harmony had already primed and powered up, in preparation for their departure. Many a time he'd requested she bring something or other online, only to have her 'emotionlessly' inform him that she had already done so. As he expected, all that was required was for him to power up the repulsorlifts, and fire up the main engines.

That annoyed him intensely. I like flipping switches, he grumbled, internally.

In defiance, he reached for the hyperdrive controls, and disabled main power, before flicking it back on again. Reset to zero, the indicator that informed him of the power up progress for the device began to slowly climb. By the time they reached orbit, it would be ready to engage; but at least he'd done something with regards to prepping the ship.

Harmony shot him a look that, had she posessed emotions, would probably have qualified as quizzical. Dialling up the repulsorlift power and lofting the ship a few bobbing meters above the ground, J'onn flashed a victorious grin in reply. His hands fell to the thrust controls, and he twitched his eyebrows with mischief. "Geronimo," he muttered, playfully, before throwing the lever fully forward, and letting the force of acceleration hurl him back into his seat.

[Harmony]

Harmony's exposure to sentient beings was admittedly limited; but it did allow her to categorically decide that J'onn Scarlet was the most confusing and illogical individual she had ever met. By her perceptions, his emotions were incredibly unstable, drifting from frustrated irritation to borderline psychosis in mere moments, with no obviously comprehensible cause for the shift. His command of language was incredibly problematic as well, relying far too heavily on metaphors and turns of phrase for her liking, which made him something of an enigma to her.

His use of the word Geronimo puzzled her, as well. She briefly established a wireless link with the library computer that contained exabytes of data on the cultural histories and languages of various races that Doctor J'onzz had visited and studied over the decades, but she found no reference to the world. Based on it's usage, she surmised it translated roughly to prepare for sudden accelleration, and added it accordingly to her internal linguistical database.

She watched passively through the viewport as the colour intensity of the sky faded from blue to black, in accordance with the thinning of the atmosphere outside the craft, and the corresponding reduction in solar light refraction. Stars began to appear, resolving into fixed points rather than twinking shapes as the atmospheric distortion of their light waves also reduced. She linked with the navicomputer, her operating system identifying the names that corresponded with many of the stars she was seeing, as well as running the necessary calculations for their impending jump to hyperspace.

Almost exactly at the moment expected - J'onn Scarlet always allowed approximately 11.3 seconds to observe the stars after clearing the atmosphere of Kilia IV before requesting hyperspace coordinates - the Captain turned in her direction, and opened his mouth as if to speak. He hesitated however, and glanced down at the primed navicomputer console. A scowl was cast in her direction, and without a word he triggered the control that would activate the hyperdrive.

The view outside the viewport changed to the familiar rotating tunnel of hyperspace. With no aspects of the ship's operation requiring her immediate attention, she rose from the navigator's seat, and turned towards the cockpit hatch, preparing to conform with her secondary role amongst the crew. "I intend to see if Doctor J'onzz requires tea," she informed the Captain. "Do you require a beverage as well?"

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn was so absorbed with the joy of flying, and the frustration of flying with Harmony as a copilot, that it took a moment or two for her question to properly process. "Not for me, thank you," was his immediate response; the droid was almost out through the hatch before a frown flashed across his brow, and he spun in his seat to face her.

"Doctor J'onzz?" he asked, clearly puzzled. He regarded Harmony with narrowed eyes - it struck him briefly that he spent an undue amount of time with his eyes narrowed lately, and wondered idly if there might be any potential side-effects to that in the long term. Now however was hardly the time to dwell on that.

"Doctor J'onzz isn't coming with us on this trip, Harmony. He had to remain on Kilia IV."

[Harmony]

Harmony cocked her head to the side, reflecting his puzzlement. "Curious," she stated. "That being the case, two whom does the additional bio signature on internal sensors belong?"

The question had barely left her lips before the Captain's eyes snapped wide, and he leapt from his chair, sprinting past her into the main corridor. He made to lunge for the the nearest hatch, into the bowels of the ship, but hesitated, shooting a questioning look in Harmony's direction, eyes wide and frantic.

"Starboard escape pod," she explained, calmly, remaining stationary in the hatch as J'onn hurled himself through the door, and sprinted across the ship.

Despite the over-enthusiastic pace of the Captain, Harmony still only arrived a moment or so after he had managed to open the escape pod doors: partly by virtue of her swift but controlled pace; and partly thanks to a good amount of fumbling of the door controls on the Ranger's part. She peered into the escape module, eyes appraising the individual contained within. "I am afraid," she stated, cognative processor running the same facial analysis she had used to recognise J'onn Scarlet earlier, "I am unfamiliar with this human."

[J'onn Scarlet]

J'onn straightened, rising to his full - relatively impressive - height, arms folding sternly across his chest. "I, however," he informed Harmony, his features arranging themselves into a glare, "Am very familiar with this human."

One of those people who posessed a highly expressive face, J'onn could display extremes of any emotion. There were times where he looked mirthful to the brink of insanity; others where he looked utterly confused, or sometimes stern and annoyed. Very rarely did genuine anger show on his features, but at that moment it did. His brows knit tightly together, lips drawn into a thin line as his eyes - wide - glared with all the intensity of a million burning suns. His voice, when it finally escaped, cut through the air like a razor.

"Lady Marian J'onzz," he growled, all the sympathy and familiarity from earlier completely vanished. "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"