#delferno

her left arm and shoulder were wrapped carefully from the makeshift medical area that had been set up. the burns were still painful, bacta sparse –– enough to ensure that the wounds wouldn’t fester and worsen, but touch or movement ached. there were a thousand things suddenly on her mind to distract from the physical pain. hask seemed to be the most circular thought, any distraction somehow always leading back to him, yet it wasn’t the only major thing she’d discovered. for a moment, she had enough relief to forget those things when she saw del’s face among the other survivors. “thank kriff.” it vaguely hurt, but she still threw her good arm around his neck, holding him tight and trying to ignore the burn of tears threatening her gaze. “are you okay?” she didn’t give him a chance to answer. “we need to talk.”

“this is supposed to be it.” dio beeped from its position floating just behind them in agreement. what had been invisible to the naked eye moments ago had registered on their scanners, the layers of sand covering it blown off from their ships. it was a large, black door to what she assumed was the top of the observatory, built underneath the plateau. “i wonder if it’s as sandy on the inside.”

“there’s a solid chance that this could all be a bust, but...” the prelude doesn’t stop her from inserting the datachip into the computer of the corvus, pulling up the latest intel that they had received about the former imperial rear admiral that they were trying to hunt down. it took a few moments for the corvus to load it up. “well, it’s not like we have any other leads on where he’s disappeared to.” a glance around her, making sure din isn’t in the room out of courtesy before she slipped her hand into del’s back pocket, pulling herself closer to him. “but i’m not quite sure that cato neimoidia is on your travel list.”

“i’ve been told that you’re one of the most clever engineers that the new republic has to offer right now,” padmé remarked with a polite smile. her schedule was something that was kept constantly full, yet despite it, she had kept this meeting off of it. exceptionally few knew about the device that was implanted in her neck and she needed it to stay that way until she had a better grasp on the situation. “i’ve also been told that you’re capable of great discretion, based on your previous service with the empire. it’s a pleasure to meet you, agent meeko.”

“hey.” her voice was uncharacteristically soft, holding up a bottle of cheap liquor and two glasses. “there’s nothing for either one of us to be doing, for tonight, at least. any chance you want to share this with me?”