Ask Coruscant Payback

[Talak Rand]

As the door started to slide open, Talak's senses flared in alarm. His lightsaber ignited out of reflex and swung up to block the barrage of gunfire. From two opponents that was easier to say than to do, and when a grenade was added into the mix it was even more difficult.

The sword fell from his hand and he shoved the grenade back with the Force as a shot grazed across his robes, only narrowly avoiding his flesh. The grenade detonated to take out the droids, and although Talak was out of the range of a lethal blast, that didn't mean he was safe. Standing out in the open, his arm came up to shield his face, but he was knocked from his feet and a pair of impact points on his left shoulder and in his left side betrayed that shrapnel had found its way into his skin.

He grunted and looked down at the blood oozing out. He grimaced, and with a long, loud groan of pain, pulled the shrapnel free with the Force.

Kriff, he gasped, short of breath and wanting to get out of this place.

Can you... do what you need to? he asked, waving his hand at the open room and looking at the Zilkin that was just starting to get up. No doubt, his ears would be ringing as well, but they were at least both alive.

---​

The man out front immediately grew angry, cursing the women and calling them many misogynistic terms that didn't bear repeating. He drew a blaster while the guards began to open fire. The guard Trys fired at went down in a heap, trying to crawl back to the cover of the speeder and leaving a smear of blood along the ground.

The other guard took cover and returned fire at Trys while the leader turned his blaster pistol on the girls running from the forest. He would inevitably strike and kill some of those charging with their melee weapons. He spoke quickly into his wrist comlink and another speeder with four additional thugs drove up and they started piling out. It was clear that whatever would happen here would be a bloodbath for both sides. Neither was willing to back down.

 

[Trys Aran]

If the Zilkin was bothered, he didn’t show it just then. The moment the threat was neutralized, he quickly sprang up and got to work, popping open the briefcase. He didn’t respond to Talak, fingers quickly tapping on some keys as he got to work. If Talak looked at the screen, he would suddenly a feed with a bunch of names and abruptly scrolling as all the information was being downloaded.

There wasn’t any sign of anyone else for a moment, and the silence was almost eerily quiet. The Zilkin still kept looking over his shoulder every now and then, stepping back to let the download complete. Once that was done, he went into access some folders and pulled up a footage.

“This is what they have in their possession,” He explained, playing the footage. Talak would see himself in the video, unleashing lightning and slashing around with his saber. While there was no clear shot of his face, it was enough for someone that knew him well enough to pick him up.

“I don’t believe they have advanced software to zoom in on the resolution and profile you,” The slicer said, “However, this would have been distributed among their circles. I’m erasing this here, but the damage has been done.”

The download was taking a moment, and in the meantime, the Zilkin rifled through all the security footage to give them a snapshot of the interior of the building. As he clicked through, the corridors and halls appeared empty. That was when he finally switched to the exterior and Talak would see live footage of the firefight that was taking place. He saw the guard shooting at Trys and at least a few of the slave girls being gunned down.

---​

Trys knew she was overwhelmed and couldn’t hold for long, but she also couldn’t back away now. She winced as she watched at least three of the girls fall with a thud on the ground. The other girls remained unfazed, in a crazed bloodlust to kill the men. One of them reached the guard that had turned on Trys and slashed at him with her vibrosword. It was a brutal display as the blade cut neatly through his arm. She didn’t stop there, slicing and dicing repeatedly till he was chopped up into several pieces.

The Ranger aimed and fired at the incoming speeder’s engine, hoping to cause a small explosion that would slow down the thugs that were getting out. She saw one of the thugs reach back and cook a grenade, throwing it at the girls.

“NO!” She shouted at the top of her lungs as she looked at them, “GET BACK!” But it was to no avail, the grenade exploded and sent three more girls flying back. There were agonizing cries of pain and screaming, but the fight didn’t stop despite all the smoke.

Trys looking away cost her as a blaster bolt came through her and hit her in the leg. She buckled at once, but she rolled to the side to get behind cover once more. Trys leveled and fired again, a bolt finding purchase in one of the thugs as he dropped.

 

[Talak Rand]

While the the Zilkin went about his work, Talak jammed a healing stim near his injuries and rubbed a sloppy bacta patch job on as well. It wasn't as nice as his other work, but it was the best he'd get when he was still alert and ready for more guards.

A glance over showed the Zilkin was moving quickly through his job, and he looked at the footage of himself massacring the slavers. He winced slightly as he saw his brutal dismembering of blondie, but he was relieved to hear that there wasn't anything extremely direct that linked him to the killings.

Then he saw what was happening out front and his eyes went wide. Are you good to go? he asked, but discovered they still needed to upload the virus. His foot tapped impatiently, knowing he couldn't just leave the Zilkin here, but desperately wanting to get up top and help with the fight.

The instant the Zilkin finished, Talak was moving.

Sorry about this, he said before promptly scooping up both the Zilkin and the briefcase and making all speed back out of the building.

---​

Out front, the vehicles engine had caught fire and started to burn. Of the guards, only two remained and the spokesman. The spokesman turned and fired point blank at one of the girl's faces in a gruesome display. He wasn't going to go down without a fight when the speeder across the way suddenly exploded taking another guard with it.

More smoke filled the battlefield and it became even more difficult to see or breathe. Spokesman began to choke on the smoke, coughing and gasping as he pawed along the ground. That was when he felt the hilt of the vibroblade. The dead girl who he'd shot had dropped it, and he seized it in hand. If this was to be his end, then he would have vengeance if he couldn't have life.

He had singled out the Sector Ranger as the spokesman of her group, and he had even seen one of his shots hit her earlier. She would die on his blade. He advanced toward her cover, firing wildly but close enough to keep her head down. His plan was to suppress her until he was close enough to finish her with the blade and look into her eyes as they went dark.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys felt unbearable pain from her thigh, but she had to ignore it for now. She saw the gruesome display ahead of her as the man that first spoke took up the vibroblade and made his way towards her. He rapidly fired shots at her, and she kept under cover, not getting an opportunity to spring up and take a shot.

“Why are you protecting such an abomination!” She could heard the man scream, “You know how much money he can get you if you turn him over to Durr?! And the Crimson Dawn would pay an arm and leg to capture one of his kind!” Trys popped up to take a shot, but he peppered more bolts at her and she had to duck again.

“The saber alone would-!” He called out, but one of the girls managed to get a shot into the side of his shoulder. The man screamed miserably, lumbering towards Trys with a crazed look in his eyes. Trys used that opening to jump up and fire her stun blaster at him, the other gun having run out of ammo.

He fell with a thud, and she pulled out her own vibroblade, not hesitating to run it through his gut and ending him. She watched him sputter out blood, glancing up to see who else was coming at them. The twi’lek women rushed up to join her, “Are you all right?!”

Trys nodded, half limping and using a crate nearby to keep herself propped up. By then, Talak would have come around the corner and possibly have taken out the remaining guards. The twi’lek’s eyes lit up, and she ran over to him.

“Our savior!” She called out, beckoning over the other girls to swarm and surround him. They would all marvel and gush over him, some flinging their arms around him and others bursting into tears and professing him as a blessing from above.

Trys remained where she was, drawing in a deep breath and collapsing on the ground. She rolled over onto her back, gazing up at the sky where the smoke began to slowly fade and reveal a clear sky. She breathed in and exhaled slowly, blocking out her surroundings.

She was in way over her head...

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak made his way out into the sunlight again only to have a smokescreen greet him moments later. He set the Zilkin and his gear down as he pulled the sword from its sheathe again and charged into the fray. By the time he got into the fighting, there wasn't much left of the guards. The last one that was there was easily cut down a moment later, and Talak's head swung around looking for someone else.

That was when the swarm came.

Don't be mistaken, Talak appreciated their gratitude and he appreciated having been able to help them. It felt oddly nice and... warm to have done something to save lives, but he really wasn't used to this much attention... or physical contact... or crying. A blessing from above? That was a first... and most likely a last.

But Talak's mind was focused on Trys and making sure she was okay. So many bodies... he thought, eyes scanning back and forth for any sign of her.

Thank you! Thank you! he said, trying to lowkey pry himself away from the swarm.

Has anyone seen Trys? Where's my partner? he asked. Partner? Isn't that a little presumptuous? It's not like you're actually a Ranger. You're a fake, he thought before promptly rolling his eyes at himself and telling himself to shut up.

He finally managed to tear himself away and spotted Trys... lying on the ground. His eyes went wide and he assumed the worst immediately.

Trys!? he shouted, hands already fumbling with what was left of his medpack and rushing over toward her.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys momentarily closed her eyes, drifting away from the present situation. However, she was pulled back to reality when she heard Talak’s voice. She tilted her head to look at him, watching him frantically fumble to pull out a med pack.

“I’m alive,” She said with a half groan, “I was just taking a break...enjoying the scenery, smelling the roses and giving you time to sign some autographs,” Trys gazed back up at the sky again, “You’re bleeding. Take care of yourself.”

She wanted to do nothing but sleep for days. The slaving ring busting had taken a lot out of her, and she found herself missing home. The wound on her thigh didn’t help either, and it burned profusely. It burned through her flesh and it would take some time to heal.

The Zilkin emerged after a moment with his briefcase. He began to approach Talak and Trys, but he glanced down at her. He then looked up at Talak and gave a warning glance that reminded him of what was to come. After that, he walked back towards their speeder, popped into the back and patiently waited.

The twi’lek and the girls began to regroup and gather, patching one another up. They didn’t leave the area at once, and they would wait for direction from Talak on what to do next. He had unknowingly become the face and leader of a slave rebellion.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak felt a wave of relief when she responded and said that she was alive. Even if they were both wounded, being alive was more important. He caught the Zilkin's look of... disapproval? Warning? Both. But Talak was stubborn, and even if he was standing in the way of an oncoming train, he'd already decided he wasn't moving.

Bah, I'm fine. I already used some healing stims, he objected, quickly going to work on her leg rather than giving further attention to his own injuries. He glanced over at the bodies that littered the streets and the ones hanging from the trees beyond. He scowled, but as he looked at the girls patching themselves up and having a chance to fight for themselves and live he felt... well, it was complicated. On some level he felt vindicated in what he did. The sense of utter despair was gone, but an inexplicable grief remained.

As he finished patching up her leg, he sat back against the wall with a sigh. He knew it wasn't wise to linger here wrong, but he felt exhausted again. The last several days had been extremely draining.

I think... I think we did good, he said quietly before looking over at her. It was outside the law, but she'd already shown that wasn't always the most important thing.

He was blissfully ignorant of the fact that he'd become the leader of the slave rebellion, but he did know that he wanted to give these girls a proper burial if he could... somehow. They deserved that much.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys began to protest at him patching up her leg. It was all superficial anyway, she would have to redo it when she could actually remove her pants. However, she gave up in the end, letting him do what he wanted. She was silent for a long moment, thinking about what he said. It was true, they did do good. Why, then, did it feel like it was never enough?

She slowly rose to sit up, looking over at the girls. She caught the twi’lek looking over at her and give her a warm smile, one she returned. Trys couldn’t help but watch them, seeing the fire that burned even now. These were girls that had everything stripped away from them. These were girls that could have run away from all this and quit. Instead they all came back to fight. They looked towards her and Talak with hope.

Trys watched them for a long moment, “They think you’re some sort of god,” She remarked after a while, not looking at Talak. She hadn’t forgotten what the man from earlier said. Trys looked down at the ground, weighing the past few days and everything they had been through.

“Talak,” She said quietly after a moment, still looking at the ground, “You’re going to have to tell me what happened here that day,” She said at last. Trys finally looked up to meet his gaze, “It’s unraveling bit by bit. And I think it’ll be a lot less painful if I hear it from you.”

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak looked over at the girls gathered here, and noticed that at least a couple of them were looking over at him and smiling. It was... odd, and Talak felt totally lost as to how to respond to them. Yeah, I... he shook his head ...I don't know how to handle that, he said with a snort. It was honesty born out of exhaustion. He hadn't intended to gain a following, yet here it was.

He winced when she said his name. He knew what was coming... he could somehow feel it, and it was a conversation he wasn't ever going to be ready to have. He couldn't bring himself to look at her as she spoke, but he also wasn't pulling away either. He just sat there. He knew that this game he was playing was almost at an end. Had he really convinced himself that there was some chance that he might have a sliver of normalcy somewhere in the galaxy? That he could somehow "run with" a group of law enforcement officers of all people without being found out. Had he thought that these few good deeds would somehow redeem him in her eyes of the darkness that was in him?

He took a deep breath, still silent and looking slightly defeated again.

And then what happens? he asked quietly. He already had a good idea of the answer, and maybe he was just putting off the inevitable, but she would notice a difference this time. There was no lying or avoiding or changing the subject. He knew that the Zilkin was right. She was going to find out. Perhaps it was better now than later.

 

[Trys Aran]

She half expected him to get up and walk away when she asked him. What was so damn crazy about what he had done that it made him recoil like this? Trys didn’t look away, didn’t give him the luxury of hiding this time. She wasn’t drugged, and she was here to stay. The girls wouldn’t distract them, the slicer wouldn’t, nothing would.

Trys couldn’t truly guess at what he was hiding. However, when the man had started to mention a saber, a sick feeling began to grow at the pit of her stomach. It began to fester and grow, and it nagged at her internally. She didn’t even know why it bothered her so much - it wasn’t as if she had known him for years. However, it bothered her when she looked at all the hope the girls had in him, all the faith they placed in him.

She looked back at the girls when she spoke again, “Whatever happens will happen after I see this job through. I can at least promise you that,” Trys didn’t know what would happen then. Would she hunt him? Would she need to try and kill him? The thought made her feel sick. The promise was more for the girls than for him. She wouldn't let them down halfway through no matter what ugly truth Talak had to reveal.

She knew she wouldn’t like what he had to say, but she didn’t want to hear it from Durr’s men. She didn’t want to hear it from the twi’lek who was clearly there to witness it. She didn’t want to see it in footage. She wanted to hear it directly from him.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak didn't know exactly what answer he had been expecting, but what she said made him somehow feel betrayed. He knew it was wrong and unfair. He knew that he shouldn't have cared what some random Sector Ranger thought, but she wasn't really a random Sector Ranger anymore.

I see, he said. At least it set the precedent for how things would be. When this was over it seemed they would be enemies, and that thought wounded Talak. He shut people out, and for some reason he hadn't kept her at as much of a distance. And look how you karked it up, he thought.

The silence continued to linger as he tried to think of how to even say something like this. There weren't any words that he could bring himself to spit out in any kind of an order

Slowly, he reached into his robes and pulled out his lightsaber hilt, setting it on the ground between the two of them.

Do you know what that is? he asked. As much as it might have seemed like a dumb question, there were many in the galaxy who wouldn't have recognized it just from the hilt. Somehow he didn't think she would have trouble figuring it out.

 

[Trys Aran]

He still didn’t divulge anything, and for a moment she thought she would have to start yelling at him. Now was not the time to close himself off, not when they were here already. There was no going back now. Trys looked at him as he muttered his ‘I see’ and the defeated look on his face. It confused her more than anything - why did this weigh on him so much? He had been the one that constantly kept himself at arm’s length. Why would revealing a part of him that others had already seen make such a difference? Clearly the girls had seen whatever he had done and still thought of him as a hero.

After a moment, he finally moved and reached in and took out a hilt. He placed it between them, and at once a couple things clicked into place. First was the fact that the Zilkin knew. This was what he meant by getting through a structural deficiency. Trys quickly glanced over at him, and he promptly sank out of sight in the back of the speeder. How had he known before her? It was as if everyone knew except for her, and she felt angry at herself for missing the signs.

Second, she thought of the footages she had seen from the Dathomir prison. She thought back to the witness statement from the thug back at the warehouse on Coruscant and how everyone thought he had been crazy. A lot of devastating things began to play in her mind over and over again. Trys stared at the saber, her face devoid of emotion.

When she spoke, her tone would send a chill down his spine, “Is the blade red?”

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak could feel the changes inside her almost immediately. He could feel waves of anger and perhaps even betrayal flowing through her, and he knew that there was no putting this back in the box. There was no unknowing once it was done.

The change in her voice, though, was even more pronounced. It was ice and lacked any warmth or friendship. Whatever camaraderie they had built up seemed like it had evaporated the instant he revealed the truth. And it was precisely why he had avoided this like the plague.

Yes, why? he asked. He didn't know about all of her investigations, and he was somewhat surprised that she would have guessed that if she wasn't well versed in Jedi and Sith lore.

The truth was, he was at a loss as to what to say again. There was a part of him screaming in his mind to run. To leave all of this behind and go back to his nomadic lifestyle of isolation, but he knew he needed to see this through to the end. No matter what pain it caused.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys regretted asking the question the moment he answered. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She didn’t know whether to consider herself the monster or him. She didn’t know whether she was that stupid, or whether he was simply that clever. Her heart began to race, and he would feel an abrupt, tumultuous wave of emotions that ran the full gambit of rage, despair and everything in between. It was a whirlwind that happened all at once.

She couldn’t see anything but the footage from Dathomir - the footage of the man that unleashed fury from his hands. The man that left nothing but a shriveled up husk and a burnt and charred body. The man that gave no regard to life and took what he wanted. She remembered the thug being so terrified as he recalled the red sabers and the devastating power of the people that wielded them.

Trys couldn’t dare believe that Talak had been those people, but she couldn’t rule anything out at this point. She wanted so very badly to believe he was something else. What had the man back at the prison called it? ‘Darksider’? It sounded made up, but it was clear this was not a breed of whatever myth said to be Jedi.

He was an abomination. He was exactly what the dying man she had killed had said he was. The twi’lek was misguided. She had hatred in her heart and would find virtue in whoever took her from that mess. But why did he do that? Why did he come to her aid so many times? Why did he fight so hard to do the right thing? Was it all part of some grand plan?

Trys thought she would vomit, and her fingers curled up on the ground by her sides. There was no doubt he would have expected more questions from her, but none came. She had seen and heard enough, and nothing else he would say would make anything better.

After a bit of difficulty, she slowly eased herself up to her feet. Trys gazed ahead, not even looking at him. She paused for just a moment before reaching into her jacket and fishing out the keys to the speeder. She tossed them into his lap.

“I’m going to stay with the girls tonight wherever they’re seeking shelter,” Trys said quietly, “I’ll see you in the morning and we will game plan on the next base.”

She didn’t leave any room for discussion, and she continued to limp away. It wasn’t often that she allowed herself to be vulnerable, but he didn’t need to be a Force user to see the damage he had caused.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak could feel it all in the Force. Just like he could feel the pain radiating from these girls when they were captives in the lounge. He couldn't shut it out as he felt waves of emotion form her wash over him. He didn't want to feel it, but he knew that nothing he was going to say was going to change it.

She said that she was going to stay with the girls and there was finality in her tone. He knew arguing with her right now wouldn't get him anywhere, but watching her walk away left him feeling profoundly alone. He didn't move. Even after Trys was gone and all the girls had gone to wherever they were staying, Talak sat there. In fact, it took the Zilkin coming over and reminding him that the thugs would be coming back that he finally got up.

He ran on autopilot until he was back at his ship and looking up at it. A mix of anger, betrayal, pain, loneliness, and directionlessness nagged at his mind as he ascended the entry ramp.

Oh you are back master! Artee rushed up and began pouring a glass of wine for Trys only to pause in confusion. His head spun around on its neck and he leaned forward before zipping over to the door and sticking his head out.

Where is mistress Trys? She's not... Artee knew something about what they were up to and that it was dangerous, making the assumption that she was killed.

No, Artee, she's not dead. But I'm not sure she'll be coming back here anymore, he said. Whatever slew of questions Artee had, Talak barely even heard. He felt... numb.

Tonight, he didn't even bother with the glasses and just took the entire bottle of wine and sat down on the couch. He knew he should have patched up. He knew he shouldn't have gotten drunk tonight. He knew that he should have just taken off in the Nomad and never looked back. He knew he should have planned for the chance that Sector Rangers might kick down his door tonight. He knew, he knew, he knew... but he didn't care.

Lock the ship down, Artee, he said, and dove into the bottle. Why the kark couldn't I just be a bounty hunter?

Talak was luckily not too far into the bottle when he finally heard something Artee said. If mistress Trys is gone, does this mean that you will be hunting down the remaining slavers yourself? he asked and Talak stopped mid drink. He looked over at Artee and cocked an eyebrow.

He was already royally pissed off, wasn't this as good a time as any? Artee... I think it does, he said. He patched up his wounds - better this time - changed his clothes, and set off into the night. He had the location, he had the lightsaber, and he had no reason to hold back anymore. Might as well spare the remaining girls and Trys from harm's way. I'm coming for you.

 

[Trys Aran]

She didn’t know why this bothered her so much. She had come across many bad people in her time, and she had come across several kinds of betrayals and hidden agendas. Trys had to remind herself that she hadn’t even known him entirely that long. Why, then, did this sting? She could only think of how he had jumped to save her and her brethren. She could think of Artee and the comical times they all shared together. She could think of how Talak had offered her shelter when he didn’t need to.

Did all that mean nothing when it came to the truth about him? Was he truly no different than the rumors she had heard and the footage she saw? It hadn’t been long before that that she considered this all a myth - people with superhuman powers and destructive abilities? Sounded like something out of a Holomovie.

Trys decided to occupy her thoughts by focusing on the girls. They led her back to a safehouse shelter that was stocked with beds and food. It didn’t look sanitary, and she found herself missing the comforts of Talak’s ship. She wasn’t even sure she could have privacy to shower here, and she shared living quarters with several other women.

She hadn’t divulged that she was a Ranger - several of these women were afraid of the law. However, some of them had surprisingly successful backgrounds before they had been captured. Trys met a few that were professionals, doctors and university graduates that led full lives before they were forced into this. None of them felt ready to go back to their past just yet.

After spending the day teaching some of them how to shoot, Trys finally laid down to rest. She had been asleep for only an hour or two when she was awakened by loud chatter and movements. She rose up abruptly, instantly grabbing for her gun.

“The second slaving base is under attack!” The twi’lek - who she learned had been called ‘Fancy’ since she was a child - said excitedly. Trys gazed at her in confusion, “We think it’s the Red Blade!”

Talak? Trys’s expression went from confusion to annoyance. She sighed and looked down, “Are you sure?”

“Yes! The contacts I have there are reporting that they saw one person go in and has heard nothing but chaos! We have to go help him!”

“Doesn’t sound like he needs help…” Trys muttered under her breath. Typical. Talak was playing hero again, doing things on his own terms. Abusing his powers. How many burned and charred bodies would she come across?

Fancy didn’t wait for her, and she and the other girls quickly gathered up their weapons and rushed out. Trys remained behind for a long moment, her jaw tightening and anger coursing through her. At the end of it, she finally swallowed her pride and followed the girls out. They would arrive on the scene within twenty minutes.

 

[Talak Rand]

Theme​

Talak had climbed into the speeder and hadn't even bothered to bring the sword this time. He was going out for blood this time. No prisoners, no witnesses, no regrets. He gunned the speeder through the town at full speeder, and each moment that ticked by, the rage inside of him grew. He channeled it and let it flow.

He was angry at himself for letting someone through his barriers. He knew better than to let someone from the outside into his world, and even more so someone who was from law enforcement. He risked his own safety, he risked her safety, he risked the cult's safety all for what? A few days of feeling like he wasn't alone?

He was angry that he had to make that choice. He didn't want there to be a darkness that threatened to consume him. He didn't want an anger that robbed him of his choice of who he could and couldn't associate with. He was thrust into a life of sacrifice and loss and self-denial without a choice in the matter. The Force expected something of him that took away his decision.

He was angry at her for turning her back on him. Just as he'd feared, the instant she found out the truth about him, nothing else mattered anymore. Everything he'd done and shown went out the window. She had had a glimpse into his world and had slammed the door in his face. She had reminded him just how alone he was.

He was angry that his last efforts to save the slaves had resulted in the deaths of so many. These slavers played with other people's lives and tortured them to satisfy their own desires. They had no thought or concern for anyone else, and would happily torment and destroy just to further themselves.

Everything except the rage melted away, and the speeder came to a stop at the edge of the building. He knew that the Zilkin wasn't here to destroy the data on the drives this time, but he'd brought along the virus that had been left as part of their deal. But first, there was the purge.

He threw his hood up and pulled the lightsaber from his belt, walking slowly and carefully toward the front entrance. The blade lit the darkness and the two Gamorreans out front looked taken aback.

He ducked the first blow and his saber came around to remove the legs of the guard to his left. It swung in a side arc up, cleaving through the handle of the vibroaxe in the other's hand and also carving a path through the torso that sent it stumbling back. He turned and impaled the legless pig through the torso and yanked the blade from the center of the back out the right side of the body. He turned quickly and shoved the blade through the other just below the sternum, pinning him momentarily to the wall behind him.

He hit the door controls and it slid open. If he was angry before, it paled in comparison to what boiled over as his eyes scanned over the room. It was late, and most of the girls had been "put away" for the night. Most in the room were in cages stacked three high like a pet store, shoved into tiny openings that were neither tall enough to stand up in nor long enough to stretch out in. There were a few still being subjected to the horrors of their daily lives, but no matter where they were, he could feel the terror and agony washing over him.

The first of the slavers were getting wise, and preparing to react. Talak charged forward. His saber flashed and cut, cleaving through their bodies without even the slightest hint of remorse. The one Talak deemed to be the leader was a Zygerrian who grabbed a whip and managed to lash it across Talak's back, sending jolts of lightning through him, and driving him to his knees, but true lightning sent the man to the ground. Talak grabbed the whip and lashed it around the man's throat with a flick of his wrist, dragging him - still alive - behind him as he moved to the next man. A sickening sound of strangulating and electrocution could be heard from behind him, but Talak didn't flinch. They deserved every last thing they got.

He ripped his left arm around and half dragged the slaver across the ground before tossing the whip into the rafters with the Force. Talak made sure it stuck, and the leader hung there, feet waving in the air as Talak moved to the next target.

 

[Trys Aran]

As Trys and the girls arrived, she could already tell that there was a full fledged battle going on. Even from here, she could see two speeders rapidly pull up front, several thugs hopping out. Fancy had stocked up on weapons from the thugs back at the lounge, and Trys watched her quickly bring out a grenade to throw.

“Wait WAIT!” Trys stopped her, snatching the grenade from her hand. She showed the twi’lek the importance of actually cooking it before tossing. After she cooked it, she didn’t give the grenade back, instead hurling it directly at one of the speeders. Fancy and a few others watched in awe as the grenade exploded upon hitting the speeder, sending the thugs in separate directions.

“Come on! Just like we talked about! We need to break up into strike teams!” She hopped out of the transport they arrived in, the girls all rushing out. This was completely insane, and she knew many lives would be lost. However, there was no going back now. There was a full scale rebellion going on.

“Remember there are more girls inside so don’t blow everything up!” Trys shouted, feeling absurd for barking orders as if she were in a warzone. The girls shrieked and a few of them dropped at once from the thugs open firing. The Ranger took a few shots, downing at least two of them up front before she rushed into the building.

Trys already saw a few dead bodies, smoke still rising from the saber damage. She continued darting inside, turning to some of the other girls, “Find the prisoners and guard them! Don’t let them loose just yet because it’s too dangerous!” She continued to rush inside, afraid of running into Talak.

Meanwhile, three hire mercenaries came over to block Talak’s path. It was obvious they weren’t part of Vargo’s normal retinue, and they had been hired since the first base incident. They had nicer armor and weapons, and they didn’t hesitate to open up by trying to pepper him with bolts.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak pressed on past the trail of dead left in his wake. There was no stopping the momentum of his attacks, but three heavily armed and armored guards gave him pause. He recognized skill when he saw it, and these three seemed like they would be trouble.

For a moment, everything slowed down around him. He fell back on the more defensive portions of Form X and began to deflect the first of the bolts. His eyes flashed around the room as he never stopped moving. He needed something that would give him an edge. Charging directly in wouldn't work.

He managed to send one of the gunshots back at another of the soldiers, smashing into his shoulder. The door slid open and two more off world guards came out, these two with blunt batons. Was this a trap? he wondered. Another reckless venture he had charged into, and this one wasn't likely to end so well for him.

Well, shab, he thought, determination locking into place as he let the Force flow through him. He knew this wasn't likely to end well, but there wasn't any stopping now. Those girls out there needed his help, and this was something that he knew he could do. These were lives he could save regardless of the cost.

The finality of his realization somehow empowered him. It gave him a clarity he hadn't ever felt before, and it felt nearly foreign to the cold of the darkness. He felt... lighter and faster. He darted at the closest baton wielder, and grabbed the man's hands, spinning him into the line of fire of his comrades.

A backstep nearly put him out of the way of the second baton but it clipped his lips, filling his mouth with the coppery taste of blood. The thug wasn't so lucky and Talak's saber tore across the man's face. It was fluid and quick as that strike turned into a pirouetted strike of the wounded man whose blaster was still trained... and now firing.

An impact slowed Talak's momentum, but it didn't stop him. He couldn't feel anything anymore as he pushed through another impact and his saber tore through the last two men and everything in the room went quiet. Talak's eyes scanned around the rest of the room and he took in a deep breath, but it seemed... difficult.

Pain lanced through his side and he looked down. Blood poured from charred marks on his left side and his right shoulder, and the pain finally began to register. Burning made his breaths shallow, and he reached a hand out to the wall to steady himself only for the right arm to buckle under the weight. He half-stumbled, half-collapsed to the ground and slumped against the wall.

His left hand was shaky and his whole right arm was weak as he struggled unsuccessfully to free the medpack from his belt. When Trys would enter the room, she would immediately be able to tell that these were serious wounds that would require more attention than a simple medpack could give. And she would have a choice to make. The slaves had broken off to finish off from her to the remaining guards and their job would be finished. Alone and wounded, she would never have an easier chance at an arrest or execution than right now. Or she could simply let the "red blade" and everything he represented succumb to natural wounds.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys split off from the group, having given everyone a task to follow. The girls were much better when given proper directions. She had picked up a blaster off a dead body, shooting and taking out anyone in her way. Trys was still limping from her leg injury and not moving as quickly as she would have liked.

Everything around her was a blur, shots were fired and people were screaming. There were the screams of women and men alike, and she knew the girls would fight till they drew their last breaths. Trys followed the eerie trail of bodies, glancing up to see a slaver hanged by his own whip. Some of the other girls marveled at the display, more inspired than ever by the Red Blade’s work.

Trys shot a man in the back before punching a terminal to open the door to a corridor. She limped to the back of it and opened another in time to spot a body drop and then a familiar face. At once she could see that Talak was in horrible shape. Bodies were littered on the ground beside him, and he had been badly outnumbered.

She looked around and realized it was just the two of them, her gun pointed at his chest. Trys couldn’t look away and she was frozen in spot, aware of nothing but the sound of his rattled breathing as his blood smeared the wall he moved against.

‘You’re a good man, Talak,’ She heard her own voice echo in her mind, thinking back to what she had said the day they first met, ‘Your heart’s in the right place,’ echoed as well. Did she say those things superficially? Didn’t she always abide by judging things for herself?

She watched him slide down to the ground. Trys could walk away now and let him succumb to his injuries. She could arrest him and bring him in for questioning. Trys realized her hands were trembling, the gun not quite wanting to continue aiming at him. She hated herself then, hated the situation and hated everything that led up to this point.

Trys finally moved towards him, glancing down at him. She had never been so lost before, and she felt utterly weak inside. She heard an abrupt noise and whirled around, spotting a man with a vibroblade rushing at her. Trys aimed and fired the blaster, but nothing happened. She dropped the gun and looked down, grabbing the nearest thing in sight - the damned lightsaber hilt.

She managed to ignite it right as the man closed the distance between them, the blade going directly through him. Shaking, Trys slowly moved the man aside, glancing down at the horrible weapon in her hand. She switched it off and let it fall to the ground with a clatter before turning to Talak.

“Come on,” She said, reaching into the medpack and pulling out two stim shots. She didn’t hesitate before stabbing both of them into him. It was a borderline overdose, but nothing else would get him moving now. Trys put his arm around her shoulder to support him and lifted up, wincing as her own leg buckled. Despite her opinions on it, she ensured he had his saber back.

She took the back way out of the warehouse, reaching for her comlink and speaking into it, “Bring one of the transports around the back. Now!” Trys pushed ahead, carrying him and half limping under his weight and from her own injury. Her wound opened back up and the leg was bleeding profusely, but she ignored it, making a beeline for the back door.