Open Coruscant A Bomb Goes Off

[Kaala Vel]

(( OOC: In my next post, a bombing will occur at the spaceport (as a very messy, though successful, assassination) and the bomber will run away. The basic plot of this thread will include chasing down and attempting to apprehend the man. Because Kaala is by no means capable of doing this on her own (being an actual child), please feel free to jump in and help chase down the bad guy. Whether it is as law enforcement, a rival criminal, a Jedi intent on bringing him to justice, or maybe you owned those crates and want to be reimbursed for the damage. Whatever. ))

It had become a habit of Kaala's to come to the local spaceport after school. It was a decent way to get her mind off the stress of academics by people-watching. It was a good day to do so, too. The air was warm but the mixture of fog and smog in the air, although humid, kept it at a reasonable temperature. The crowds were dense, chatty, and ships were lifting off and landing, lifting off and landing. One of her favorite activities was to guess at the lives of different travelers. Was he a bounty hunter with that fancy gun? The old woman in loose robes and kinds eyes gave her monk vibes. The zabrak with burnt orange skin had a dangerous gleam to his eyes. Some pasty young man with curly blonde hair clutched a dirty green backpack to his chest and seemed determined, yet moved around in a paranoid way. She watched as he approached a bunch of crates and set his backpack down. There were so many people for her to watch, yet none of them saw her. It was a public space, but private all the same.

After a while of slouching against the steel beams that supported her little ledge, Kaala decided it was about time to head home. The togruta teen stretched out, sat up, then slid off the ledge and began to slip off onto the ground.

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Ambience IC

Spoiler

​

It was quite a conundrum, Vayla attested, her awkward ability to at times enjoy crowds and at other times endure them. Right now, it was more the former. She could get lost in a crowd like this, somehow still on her lonesome, alone but not lonely, leaving her to puzzle both the notion and the number to put down next in the puzzle on her datapad as she paced along the spaceport grounds. 9? 7? 8? She sighed, positively perplexed. It was master level, no doubt, and she had yet to master this particular problem. It was a good hour for it, though. She was attired as casually as she afforded the time, sporting black boots, blue cargo pants and a black shirt beneath a tan leather jacket. This was not the look of a Jedi and Vayla could appreciate that sentiment right now.

“7… Has to be a 7…” Biting her lip, she pressed on the datapad, and tutted, fighting a frown. “Not 7, is it? Hmmm…” Almost stumbling into someone with her head bowed, she offered a quick apology to a grunting Ithorian, turned her back and paced leisurely. “If not 7...an 8? Wait, no, that can’t be right because the last 8 was the fourth 8 and I already—”

“—ATE!” Vayla exclaimed, almost shrieking in terror, startled by the small creature that had just landed before her and taken her completely off guard. A Togruta, at further look, and a child at that. “Uh, I mean, hi.” Catching herself, the Pantoran looked down, looked up, looked down.

“That was an...interesting...entrance, young one. Out adventuring, I take it?” Probably parkouring from spaceport to spaceport by the looks of it.

 

[Ember Blaze]

The recent past had been a blur for Ember. She had her whole world change when she met the security officer she thought dead, and then that night when she ran into two strangers. But now it was time for Ember to be on her way, off to discover her purpose in this galaxy.

Ember walked along corridors, finally making her way to the nearby starport. The starport was large, a wide variety of people coming and going. Despite the crowds, Ember felt a familiar presence. Kaala must be nearby. Ember still felt uncertain about how things left off last time she saw the young child and decided it best to keep her distance.

Ember couldn't help herself and made her way towards where she felt Kaala was. She told herself she just wanted to make sure the child was ok. While she was still a distance away, Ember could see the young girl, who looked well. Ember watched as Kaala jumped off a small crate and nearly into a passing Pantoran. Ember smiled at the sight, before turning away and walking deeper into the spaceport.

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden was busy sorting some stuff out on his freighter. He could really do with a new one, but for now the old YT-1300 had to make do. Hopefully with his next job he'd be able to keep enough credits to buy something new.

He loaded a crate into his ship then turned to look for another one...but it wasn't there. A sigh escaped him as he eyed the dockmaster walking off. He clicked his tongue and tugged his trench coat to make sure everything was in place before setting pursuit to catch up to the man who just exited the landing pad. His pace was quick as he tried to catch up. He passed a few people, including an anxious looking man with a backpack and a few others. Despite wearing his armour, he was keeping a low profile. Though he still got some stares from people who were clearly drawn by the T-visor.

He ignored the stares as he caught up to the dockmaster and placed a hand on his shoulder. He started going back and forth with the man over a missing crate of cargo...that the dockmaster didn't know about at all. Safe to say, the two would be arguing for quite a bit in the middle of the walkway.

 

[Kaala Vel]

Right as Kaala's feet hit the dirty ground, a deafening sound shook the air. Screams erupted from the crowd in front of her and panic ensued as people began to flee the scene. Over the noise, she missed what Vayla said to her.The teen was shocked--rightfully so--and only came to realize what had happened several seconds later. That sound, the panic, the screams, and the shouts for medical personal could only mean one thing; someone had set off a bomb. Kaala crawled back up onto her ledge and feverishly surveyed the area, assessing the damage with a grimace planted firmly on her white lips. It appeared the bomb had gone off in a set of crates. The tattered remains of some green material laid in the middle, partly on fire, and several humans and aliens were injured nearby. One, closest to the center, seemed to have been fatally wounded. Medical personal were arriving as she observed at that moment, but she could see no enforcement officers yet. That was no good. The attacker would be long gone before then. She would definitely need to be careful on her way home.

As she left the scene, Kaala noticed a familiar face pushing through the crowd and toward her. It was one of the people she'd observed earlier; the pasty man with the green backpack. She unintentionally stared at him, and when he got close enough, they made eye contact. His eyes widened and he darted off in a different direction, toward an alley. Her first reaction was that his reaction was strange. Why would he be intimidated by her? And where was his back--

Oh. Oh no.

Without another thought, Kaala leaped off the ledge and chased after the man. The green material at the center of the bomb's impact was the same green on his backpack. She'd watched him set down that same backpack on those crates. He'd killed someone. He'd injured several. Whoever he was, he was getting away. It was like she'd forgotten that she was a fourteen, almost fifteen, year-old teenager, because she immediately ran after him.

The chase was on.

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden was really getting annoyed with the man, but that was alright. In a few moments all his worries were gone in a literal fiery inferno.

The explosion erupted behind him and he was sent flying forward through the air. Several meters later he crashed into the ground and rolled a few feet further before coming to a halt. He laid face down, groaning as he tried to regain his orientation. He slowly braced his hands on the ground and picked his head up to look around. His helmet laid just out of reach ahead of him. With a wince he scooted up and slid it back on before turning to lie on his side and look around.

People were screaming and running away, while several others were scattered around by the explosion. A few of them looked badly wounded, while others seemed to only have minor injuries. He looked himself over, hoping that nothing was too broken. Thankfully his armour took the majority of the hit.

He spotted the kid from earlier shoving past the crowd before starting to run towards an alleyway. It didn't take much for the disoriented Mandalorian to put two and two together and figure out that skug blew up a chunk of the spaceport. With a heavy grunt he got back on his feet and regained his footing before starting to go after the man. He still worked on getting all his brain cells together, but for now he at least could walk.

As he got into a good walking pace he glanced around, looking to see if other people got hit worse. Not that he was going to help them out...he just wanted to know how badly that mud scuffer was going to get hurt when he catches up to him...

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Music OOC

Spoiler

​

One moment, Vayla was looking down at a young Togruta girl, on the verge of finding out what tickled her senses enough to leap from ledges after said girl had startled the woman. The next moment, she was looking around at a hall of bedlam. Clusters among the crowds cried and coursed through the chaos, on the verge of exploding into mad panic, having been far more than simply startled. It was that moment that Vayla suddenly recalled after fractioned seconds, aware of what had happened. Explosion. Bomb? Where? How many hit? Her thoughts raced to the beats of her heart and the swing of her gaze, answering one question after the other.

Through the uproar, she could see where everyone was running away from until a view opened up of outlying crates and what used to be intact ones toward the center. Bodies lay strewn about, some moving and some not, and any guess as to whether the latter were unconscious for now or forever. Green tendrils of fire danced in the wake, what little of it there was already being fought against by firefighters who arrived to the scene beside medics. How many dead? She would have to find out later. First, Vayla aimed to help the living as she made to dash forward. Just then, history repeated itself as a small Togruta landed beside her out of nowhere, then took off running.

“Hey!” Vayla called out with a helpless hand. “Where are you—” Cutting herself off, it was then that she saw a man in a backpack run ahead in the same direction that no one else seemed to be. An alley. With that, she followed suit, bounding up behind the Togruta in an instant. It took a moment more before the Pantoran was on the verge of overtaking the child, when she looked her way and spoke quickly through her breaths. "Stay behind me, child!" Hopefully, the girl would instead interpret that to mean what the woman meant: stay away. Whoever they were chasing, this was no scene for a child.

 

[Kaala Vel]

'Stay behind me, child,' said the stranger. Whether Kaala liked it or not, that would be the case, because the togruta was terribly out of shape. Her most strenuous activity was speed-walking through the halls of school so she would make it to class on time. But even though she was a child, and even though she wasn't cut out for chasing down criminals, she refused to give up. All she could think about was waking up to screaming sirens and one of her mom's friends grabbing her hand and dragging her to the escape pod. The sight of her home being reduced to spare parts was seared into her mind. Kaala would never forget how she felt when she was told her mom didn't make it; how she was killed by a man armed with a bomb and a death wish. She was filled with such anger, such hate for whoever that man was, and the man she chased now was just like him.

"He's...he's getting away!" huffed Kaala in response to Vayla. The man had just disappeared around a corner.

 

[The Storyteller]

The man, Jaxxon Williams, hadn't realized he was being pursued until a voice called out, 'Stay behind me!' He glanced back to see two women--one blue Jedi-looking alien and some child--chasing him. His anxiety shot through the roof, and his eyes feverishly scanned the area for an escape. He darted to the left and into a thin and dimly-lit alley. The end of the alley split off two ways. Before his pursuers turned the corner, he chose to go left and continued to make his escape.

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden spotted the man moving to the left and started to run to intercept. He moved down the left and took another alley to cut the man off. To gain time, he used his jump boots to blast him through the air and a lot closer than it would take to run. He waited at the T-junction between the alleys for the man to arrive.

He found a handy pipe lying beside a dumpster and tested it out before standing at the ready. As soon as the man entered the line of sight, the pipe connected with his face hard enough to knock him flat on his back...and probably break his nose too. "Hello sunshine, where you off to?" he said with a chipper tone before raising the pipe and bringing it down against the man's knee to dislocate it and prevent him from running away.

No doubt his pursuers would catch up and find the Mandalorian crouching over the man with a blaster pressed against his chest. "Now, please tell me why you planted tha' bomb or else me and you are goin' to spend a lo' more time together." he muttered coldly. As soon as the two woman arrived, he'd draw his second blaster and level it towards them by reflex. "Afternoon. Come to join the party?" he said with a smirk behind his helmet then holstered the blaster. He still kept his hand on the grip just in case.

@lizziie @Die Shize

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Music OOC [Recurring]

Spoiler

Vayla kept her eyes on the Togruta a moment longer, making sure that the girl maintained compliance in following the Pantoran’s lead. That was one problem down. The next problem was still fighting to escape the two pursuers who he now fully realized were on his tail. For all he knew, however, these were just two crazy women with a penchant for vigilante justice. Vayla’s outfit was far too casual for anyone untrained in the Force to wager that she was Jedi or otherwise; an advantage that she aimed to maintain. She was running quickly, but not too quickly.

"He's...he's getting away!" huffed Kaala in response to Vayla. The man had just disappeared around a corner.

“No he’s not!” Vayla countered, her voice dancing with determination. Sure enough, the would-be bomber darted to the left of the alleyways. Moments later, Vayla heard the rapid falls of boots behind both her and the Togruta. Not halting her chase, she stole a look at the rear, spotting a fully armored Mandalorian of all people. The sight was concerning to say the least, and her first thought was that he was an accomplice seeking to sandwich the women in the alley or at least buy his friend time to run. Just then, however, the Mandalorian disappeared down another alley. What’s he up to? The direction he took wasn’t necessarily a quicker route. But it’s surely a connecting one. Banking on a bit of chance and hope, Vayla went with the theory that there were now three agents of justice here.

The T-junction was dead ahead, but the bomber had clearly already picked one way of two. Unfortunately for him, he probably had no idea that a woman versed in the Force was among those chasing him. It wouldn't take much deduction to find out which way he had gone but, after hearing a definite clunk!, it also wouldn't much matter.

No doubt his pursuers would catch up and find the Mandalorian crouching over the man with a blaster pressed against his chest. "Now, please tell me why you planted tha' bomb or else me and you are goin' to spend a lo' more time together." he muttered coldly. As soon as the two woman arrived, he'd draw his second blaster and level it towards them by reflex. "Afternoon. Come to join the party?" he said with a smirk behind his helmet then holstered the blaster. He still kept his hand on the grip just in case.

By the time the Pantoran and the Togruta had reached the bomber, he was laying on his back, wreathing and screaming in agony. Looming over him was none other than the Mandalorian who, as Vayla deduced, had cut him off. He clearly didn’t finish there, either, though the other immediate item of attention that stole Vayla’s own was the blaster pointing her way.

Her fingers tensed, a hand reaching toward her jacket before the Mandalorian holstered at least the one blaster that was aimed at the alley’s latest arrivals. It probably had been a jerk reaction on his part, but he was no less threatening with it lowered. If his treatment of this man was anything to go by then Vayla could only keep up her guard. That man, the orbit of this ordeal, who struggled to clutch both his bleeding nose and bent knee at the same time as he howled.

“I don’t think he has much to say right now.” Vayla spoke to the Mandalorian beneath crossed brows. She stepped forward, intending to place herself between both him and the Togruta child, standing a little over a saber’s reach away. “If you plan on getting some answers through screams, Mandalorian, then you might want to apply some first aid first.”

Vayla, however, had no intentions of waiting to find out if the brute even understood the concept. The fact of the matter was that Vayla had been chasing a suspect, and only on account of a teenage girl. Any evidence here was entirely circumstantial, if no less serious. Quickly, she approached the wounded man without much obvious regard for the blaster aimed at him. She crouched opposite the Mandalorian, placed both hands over the wounded man’s knee, and concentrated. She might have closed her eyes for a better job, were she not wary of present company, and instead kept them open as her lips trembled. A moment later and the man had reduced his crying to panting. She had far from mended the leg or the nose, but her efforts had reduced the pain enough to make the man a little more talkative.

“Now, tell me,” she spoke firmly, casting a stern look his way. “Did you bomb the spaceport?”

 

[Kaala Vel]

Kaala was completely out of breath but somehow managed to keep up with the stranger enough to not fall too far behind. She crouched down with her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. When she looked up, she was stunned to see Vayla over the man, hands over him. What was she doing? When his cries reduced, she grew excited. Was she a Jedi? Did she just heal him?

The togruta teen, however, was brought back to reality by Vayla's questioning of the bomber. Searing pain ripped through her chest, brought on by the memory of her mom's death and his own murderous intents. Of course, he bombed the damn spaceport. She saw it with her own two eyes. She saw him walk in with that green backpack at least, and then leave without it. She saw the burning green scraps in the middle of the explosion. She saw him run.

"I saw you," accused the togruta of the man. "You cowardly filth."

-----

The man, no longer immobilized by the pain, shot fearful glances at both the Mandolorian and the woman who had eased his pain. He didn't expect sympathy, nor did he expect that he would have been chased down so easily. He didn't plan on answering; he was going to keep his mouth shut until the police got ahold of him. Then, maybe he could get out.

The togruta's accusatory statement scared him, though. Had she really seen him? She was only a child, though. His word would be better than hers.

"It, it wasn't me!" lied the man. "It m-must of been someone who l-looked like me!"

 

[Ember Blaze]

Smoke filled Ember's lungs, fire burned her skin and the fear from those around her clouded her mind. Then, there was nothing. Sometime later, Ember awoke with a start, her eyes taking in the scene before her. Emergency responders were still arriving, the fire from the explosion still not contained. 'What the hell happened?' Ember thought, wincing in pain as she tried to stand. 'I was on my way to my ship,' her memories slowly making their way back to her, 'and then there was an explosion.' Realization dawned on Ember, and the look of horror spread its way across her face. 'Where is Kaala?'

Ember knew she saw the girl moments before the explosions. She looked around the starport, panicked. Ember searched in vain, there was no trace of her here. Ember reached out in the Force, extending her senses out and into the starport, looking for any clues. Through the Force, she could feel the pain of those around her, the death of those recently passed, and the fear of those who survived was nearly overwhelming. She saw a small hint of a Force user running into a nearby alleyway. The user was following someone, though Ember could not tell who.

'This is the only lead I have, I have to follow it. I hope the Force will guide me.' Ember thought, starting to walk towards where she felt the Force user. She hadn't even made it two steps before she collapsed on the ground, letting a cry of pain escape her lips. Ember felt like her left side was on fire. Touching the spot with her hand, a sickening feeling overtook her. Pulling her hand away, Ember could see the blood covering it. She hadn't even noticed she was hurt.

Ember struggled to her feet, fresh pain shooting through her with every movement. She was able to make the last few steps to the entrance the Force user took, which to her felt like hours, every second of which was filled with pain. Leaning against the door frame for support, Ember replaced her hand on the wound. The explosion and the subsequent wound left Ember weakened. She knew that she would be unable to fully heal the wound. Still, she reached out and felt the wound through the Force, and clamped down on the blood vessels to slow the bleeding.

Bleeding slowed, Ember made her way out of the starport and through the alley, following the Force user as best she could. A short while later, Ember came across four people at a T-junction. One man was on the ground, with a Mandolorian above him. There was a Pantoran there as well, who Ember recognized as the Force user, a fellow Jedi. Standing next to her was Kaala, safe and sound, if not a little winded.

Ember had heard bits and pieces of the conversation as she had approached and heard the accusation in Kaala's voice. "Kaala remember was are all eternal in the Force. What happened back there was a tragedy." Ember said, her voice straining. "Do not let one tragedy beget another." she said, pain still visible across her face. Somehow, the pain Ember was enduring made it easier to see Kaala in the Force and see the hurt and pain the young girl was feeling.

Leaning back against the nearby wall, Ember allowed herself to slide down it, leaving a smear of blood on the wall. Her grasp on the wound was slipping, and she would soon be unable to stop the bleeding. Ember turned her head to the other Jedi. Ember's voice was strained, and she was getting weaker every second, but she managed to say "Think you can help me out?" Ember nodded to the bloodstain on her waist, as more blood trickled out from between her fingers. "I think some shrapnel hit me."

 

[Arden Kryze]

The woman in front of the Togruta sounded like she wanted to scold him for the harsh treatment. Oh boy, she clearly hadn't seen what people were capable off...

"Nah, I jus' haven't pu' enough pressure on him." Arden spoke coldly as he pressed the barrel of his pistol against the man's wounded knee and started to pull the trigger. He would have blown a hole through the man's leg if the woman didn't interfere. He eyed her as she reached out to the man's knee, shifting the barrel of his pistol as she placed her hands on the knee. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but it became abundantly clear when the man's whimpering lessened. His face contorted into a scowl as he watched her.

To top it all off, another woman arrived. And what she said only solidified what he was suspecting. Jedi. It was either them or Sith...and these people were wearing way too much colour for sith, if the stories were anything to go by. But now he was in a crossroads.

He remained where he was, watching the two Jedi and the kid through his T-visor. It was expected of him to drop them then and there, no questions asked. But he wasn't exactly as strict as other Mandalorians were. This could go a number of ways...and from their blissful ignorance, it appeared he had the choice on the matter.

With a sigh he rose to his feet, flipped the switch on his pistol, and knocked the suspect out with a stun bolt at point blank. He then turned to face the new arrival (and her friend if she Pantoran decided to help her) "You lo' jedi?" he asked them. He walked over to the one against the wall and loomed over her. "Do yourself a favour, sunshine, an' don' take her words to heart unless you wanna be a failure." he spoke over his shoulder to the little Togruta. "It's an attitude like hers tha' caused the Empire to take over." he looked back to the woman again. "You need a bacta pack or is your space magic too good for tha' too?" he asked her, tapping his pistol against his leg idly.

@lizziie @Die Shize @ActualRaptors

 

[Kaala Vel]

Ember! The togruta was surprised to see the Jedi. Had she seen her run after the man, or had she stumbled along here by accident? The word directed at Kaala answered her question and reddened her face with a mask of defiance. She wasn't going to hurt him, she just wanted to turn him into the authorities. ...yeah. Ember was right, though, thought Kaala from the back of her kind. She had no reason to care about anyone there. She just...hated bombs. It was hard not to.

Ember's pained face brought her back to the present. It was then when Kaala saw her bloodied hand, and a flurry of emotions crawled across her brown skin. Was it worth going over and trying?

'Do yourself a favour, sunshine, an' don' take her words to heart unless you wanna be a failure. It's an attitude like hers tha' caused the Empire to take over.'

Kaala's attention was soon diverted again, but this time to the man in the helmet. Her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed together. The empire? What? Didn't he realize that was over a century ago? OK, old man.

"And your attitude is supposed to be any better?" Kaala retorted after a second. At least the Jedi helped people. They made a difference. Who was he anyways?

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Music OOC

Spoiler

​

[Kaala] "I saw you," accused the togruta of the man. "You cowardly filth."

Vayla could feel the anger emanating from the Togruta girl, and she could hear the spite in her voice. A strong sense of justice, this one. Promoted by what, I wonder? The Jedi kept her eyes on the wounded suspect all the while, assessing both individuals like they were pieces on a board game, though this was far from any game. The Mandalorian, on the other hand, was more like a piece from another game that had forgotten its place and definitely the meaning of “peace”.

[Bomber] "It, it wasn't me!" lied the man. "It m-must of been someone who l-looked like me!"

A plea of innocence, or a denial of guilt. Which is it? The Jedi’s instincts were to impute this entire ordeal to a case of mistaken identity; influenced, at least in part, by the broiling emotions of a teenaged girl. A Jedi’s instincts, however, were many, and more like sprawling scenarios that were not so different to parallel universes, where any scenario was its own reality. Vayla considered a number as her electric blue eyes penetrated the man’s. Hers were unblinking and unwavering virtual orbs; pitiless prosthetics that computed instead of commiserated. His were alive and wild, dancing and darting, blinking away cold sweat and tears of pain. They looked this way, that way, every which way that was away from the Jedi’s. Then, for a brief moment, the two locked gazes, and Vayla could calculate a million lies and an untold number of untruths.

The question, then, is whether your words hold truth or untruth? It would take only moments from the might of the Force to find the answer, honing in on the senses to separate the falsities from the facts. Just then, though, Vayla’s gaze broke from the suspect’s, as though a nearby power had drawn it. Another Force-user. Entering the alleyway was another woman, and another Jedi. Two are better than one, but this one is hurt.

Ember had heard bits and pieces of the conversation as she had approached and heard the accusation in Kaala's voice. "Kaala remember was are all eternal in the Force. What happened back there was a tragedy." Ember said, her voice straining. "Do not let one tragedy beget another." she said, pain still visible across her face. Somehow, the pain Ember was enduring made it easier to see Kaala in the Force and see the hurt and pain the young girl was feeling.

Words of wisdom slipped out between the new arrival's lips, her mind clearly focused on healing the situation amid her own injury. Vayla couldn’t recall seeing this woman before but, remembering a presence, it was all too likely that her injury was yet another consequence of the explosion.

Ember turned her head to the other Jedi. Ember's voice was strained, and she was getting weaker every second, but she managed to say "Think you can help me out?" Ember nodded to the bloodstain on her waist, as more blood trickled out from between her fingers. "I think some shrapnel hit me."

As the Jedi hugged the wall, Vayla didn’t hesitate in rising from the ground and hastening over. “Hold still, I’ve got you!” she gently but firmly directed. It was unlikely that the wounded Jedi had any intention of disobeying without even being told as Vayla’s nurturing instincts took over. She crouched once more, but this time it was one of her own Order that she sought to heal, and she wouldn’t hold back.

First, she stole a look back at the bombing suspect and the Mandalorian—who just then aimed his pistol and pulled the trigger. The telltale image of a stun-blast said it all, but Vayla tensed up no less, her fingers poised to push or pull in more ways than one. Blasted brute! Either the man had no intention in getting to the bottom of this crime, or he had plans on taking the now unconscious ‘bomber’ with him to whatever dark hole he had crawled out of, where interrogations only went one way.

He walked over to the one against the wall and loomed over her. "Do yourself a favour, sunshine, an' don' take her words to heart unless you wanna be a failure." he spoke over his shoulder to the little Togruta. "It's an attitude like hers tha' caused the Empire to take over." he looked back to the woman again. "You need a bacta pack or is your space magic too good for tha' too?" he asked her, tapping his pistol against his leg idly.

"And your attitude is supposed to be any better?" Kaala retorted

As the Mandalorian’s pistol tapped against his leg, Vayla struggled to sense the sentiment as to whether he was being genuine or not about that bacta pack. About to chime in, the Togruta did so for her, and suddenly Vayla’s focus had shifted. “Hey, think you can keep watch over your would-be bomber? Just try not to kill him.” She smiled, her request yet genuine, even while, in other words, she was also telling the young girl to keep away from the Mandalorian, who was now somewhere too close to Vayla for comfort.

“And you,” Vayla’s voice dropped to a level of sustained tolerance for the Mandalorian. “If you’re serious then I won’t refuse your offer. My “space magic” only goes so far.” Far enough, but I might need much and more of it to deal with you, and certainly to keep my eyes on the darkness of your visor.

Hoping that the Togruta would comply in keeping back, and that the Mandalorian would live up to his support, Vayla placed her hands over her Jedi companion’s side. “I’m going to first remove the shrapnel and try to ease your pain, my friend,” she spoke calmly with as much bedside manner as a Jedi medic could muster. “Bacta can do the rest.” Or I will if the brute fails to. “Okay, here we go.” With that, Vayla went to work, slowly and steadily pulling the shrapnel out through the threads of the Force. The process would be straight and narrow, as if a droid were taking scalpel and tongs, and would have otherwise hurt as much as expected were Vayla not focusing her efforts on mitigating the pain all the while.

“My name is Vayla. Vayla Mirana. What’s yours?”

 

[Ember Blaze]

It appeared the situation Ember had walked into was more complex than she had expected. Speaking was hard for her, given her current state, so she listened. The man clearly had no problems with hurting others, though he at least used a stun pistol. Kalaa was angry at the supposed bomber and defiant of the other man. But it appeared Ember's words had helped. Then there was the Jedi who was helping her now.

It took Ember a few seconds, but she understood why Vayla was asking for bacta. She did not trust the man, and Ember was inclined to agree. Ember winced as the shrapnel was being removed, though it had hurt less than Ember would have expected. "You can call me Ember. Ember Blaze if you want to be all formal." She said, giving Vayla a weak smile.

"Kalaa, you did well following this man. I do not know if he was the bomber, but I trust your instincts on this." Ember said, her voice straining with the effort.

She looked at the man standing near her, saying "Any help you can give would be appreciated, bacta does wonders on these kinds of wounds." Ember coughed into her hand, wiping the coughed up blood on her cloak. She watched, and listened, as the others talked, doing her best to rest and not disturb her barley healed wounds.