The War

A Brother in Trouble

Iira had always loved the stars. She used to romanticize them every night, daydreaming of owning her own ship, travelling the galaxy, being able to sit out somewhere in space and watch. It had always brought her peace, when she was upset or troubled, she'd find a window and gaze out into the night sky. She remembered the small pen she'd grown up in, she would lay with her back against the dirty floor and stare up into space for hours. 

Now, she sat in her cockpit, the Marauder floated in the middle of no where, her feet up on the dash, staring deep into the lights of the stars.

She was barely aware as Alsha walked up behind her. She was in pajamas, with fluffy socks, tights and a soft button down shirt, her hair was a mess, she looked exhausted.

"Were you sleeping?" Iira asked, turning back to the stars.

"Yeah, then I realized the engine wasn't running," she said, her arms crossed, "What are ya doing?"

"Well, we're not exactly going anywhere, I still haven't found us a new job to work," she said, "So we might as well just chill here,"

Alsha came over and fell back into the co-pilot's seat, joining her by looking into the stars. They sat there together in silence for a long time.

"I have a question for you," Alsha said finally, looking over at her, "If you grew up a slave, how'd you learn how to fly?"

Iira sighed, tearing her eyes away from the stars, staring into her dash, "If you really want to know, brace yourself, it's a long story," she glanced over at Alsha, who wasn't objecting, sighed again, and turned back to the stars in front of her, "I was first enslaved when I was 5 by two bounty hunters hoping to get a quick reward. They brought me to Zygerria, but, well, the Zygerrians weren't exactly happy to be given a 5 year old girl," she scoffed, "I was sold for 20 credits,"

Alsha cursed softly.

"I grew up in a prison cell doing easy labor, basic cooking, cleaning, that kind of stuff. Some of the guards took mercy on me, taught me different skills, most of them was the kind of stuff to make me more marketable when I grew up a bit more. One of the guys, though, realized that it was no way to grow up. I never did find out his real name, he only ever went by the name Flint. He taught me how to read, how to write, taught me the names of the stars, basic history and math. He'd come and go, working there as a guard was one of many ways he got his money. Sometimes when he came back he would come back with food or gifts from across the galaxy. He told me that one day he would scavenge enough money together to buy me and free me,"

"He sounds like a good guy," Alsha said.

"Oh, he was an asshole sometimes," Iira said with a chuckle, "But he was the closest thing I ever had to a father. He's one of the reasons why I came out the way I did," she paused, "Then, at one point, he slipped up and had to run. He told me that he would come back for me, that one day he was going to show me the galaxy,"

"Let me guess, he never came back?"

She nodded "I was bought when I was 13. It didn't take me long to realize that no one was ever going to come for me," she paused, "Fast forward 7 years and I broke out myself, I led a bunch of the other slaves to freedom. I was travelling the underworld of Coruscant alone with nothing but a ship from Jaelyn and no idea how to fly it when I found Flint again, drinking in some bar, searching for a new job. I barely believed it when I found him, he barely even recognized me. He bought me a drink, we caught up on everything, and then it was me and him. We worked jobs together, he taught me to fly, he trained me with a gun, got me my first sniper rifle, he taught me all the tools of the trade. Then, one day he just vanished, I've been on my own ever since. I still don't really know what happened to him,"