Ask Coruscant - Purging the Past

Aska Ryun

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Coruscant… In reality, it was home. It had been over a year since she had left, but being back on the ecumenopolis world had left a tugging feeling deep in Aska’s stomache. A feeling of anxiety that she simply could not shake no matter how hard she tried. They arrived a week ago, staying on the ship on a distant landing platform far from the busiest sectors of the planet but as she soon found out, there was no such thing as ‘quiet and seclusion’ on Coruscant, much the same as Nar Shaddaa. Perhaps that was why she felt so at home on the Smuggler’s Moon. And perhaps it was what had happened there that added to the degree of uneasiness she felt here and now.

Aska had spent the last few days tracking down Trench and his lab, uncertain of just where it was. She hadn’t spent much time on the surface and while she had a general idea on where she needed to be, it took some detective work to finally locate the facility. But she had done it and was now encased in her new armour while sitting in a rented speeder, overlooking the top of the spire where she had claimed her first kill. The memory of crushing Dur’Agu’s skull under her heel came flooding back as she stared at the platform through her binocs but now it didn’t cause her the pain it once had. Now she had grown accustomed to being a cold blooded killer. Now, it was that exact intention that had brought her back.

”It’s pretty quiet down there,” Aska whispered to Ali as she continued to surveyed the turbo lift. While she knew Ali was not suited to this sort of op, her presence was a growing comfort the longer the two stayed together. Because of this, she asked the Togrutan to come along and to bring the pistol she had been given on Nal Hutta. The others remained on the ship, awaiting their return. ”No surprise there, though. No one ever really came up even when I lived here,” Of course, Aska had yet to explain just what it was they were here to do to Alisaah. She only told her she was going ‘home’ and that it was dangerous, wanting her ‘good luck charm’ near by. She had no clue that the holocron had whispered to her in her dreams. Told her to return, to find information that could lead to a life outside organized crime. Only Aska knew of her intentions.

”Hang on… What’s this?” the clone queried as she turned up the volume of the device at her side that was used to intercept transmissions. It took some time for her to find the wave length that Trench and his scientists had been using to contact the surface but she had finally done so… And what she heard was far from good news.

”Infection rates have exploded far faster than expected. I’ve locked myself in my quarters but I’m afraid most of our staff has already been killed or turned,” Aska immediately recognized the voice. It was Trench, but he sounded panicked. Terrified for his life. ”To add to it, oour droid security force hasn’t registered the infected as threats and are instead serving as a protection force, meaning any rescue team will have little to no luck, I’m afraid. I don’t think we’re getting out, Rahmier. Please, for the sake of Coruscant. Lock down the facility and tell my children that I love them…”

Aska sat in silence for a moment. She had heard that AMS had made it’s way to Coruscant but she didn’t think it was going to be running rampant in her childhood home… The virus had finally touched her life in a way she had never anticipated.

”This might be a bit beyond us now, kid,” Aska stated solemnly. There was little to no chance the two of them could infiltrate the lab now. Not alone. No, she needed the aide of a couple old friends. Flipping the communicator over to beam a transmission, she keyed in the contact code to reach out to some of the only people she had left in the galaxy.

”Hopefully this reaches you, Cave Man. I’m in a bit of a tight spot and I could use your help. And if you’re still with the hairless Wookie, well… All hands on deck,”

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Alisaah Tila

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The slave sat beside her mistress in the rented speeder simply observing. She was very much out of her depth here. Aska was wearing the suit of armor she had acquired following their escapade on Nal Hutta. Ali was also wearing something new but nothing to the extent of a suit of armor.

Following the Blackwell Technology conference on Zeltros, Aska had requested that the next time they visited a planet from the Free Worlds, that her slave dress in something that made her social standing less obvious and more acceptable to the people they would be interacting with. For this reason, Ali was not wearing her usual slave dancer attire and instead wore a cropped top, which still exposed her midriff and some high waist shorts which still left the majority of her long legs on show. Although she normally wore sandals, she had some low top shoes on, which felt a little uncomfortable as she was used to her toes having more freedom. Whilst the outfit was more acceptable, it was hardly conservative, but Alisaah had not felt comfortable without having a substantial amount of skin on show. To provide more protection Aska had told the Togruta to put her leather jacket on. It was a men's jacket so it still fit, but only just due to the difference in size between the two women. Owing to her status as a slave, Ali had explained she needed to wear some kind of choker around her neck, even if it was portrayed more as a fashion accessory as opposed to a symbol of servitude. Meela, who was staying behind with Kayto and Teela on the ship, had found a choker necklace for her to wear to resolve this issue.

Though Ali did as she was instructed by her mistress, she had told Aska that wearing these clothes felt wrong, as they did not reflect her true status. Aska had told her that she would only have to wear these clothes when visiting Free Worlds, but otherwise would be fine to continue dressing as she felt necessary, though Ali knew her mistress did not really care for the slave traditions Ali had been conditioned to uphold. In her lap was the heavy blaster pistol that Aska had given her on Nal Hutta, taken from the dead body of a Quarren captor. The Togruta had killed with this weapon before and whilst she did not know exactly why they were there, she was filled with dread. Aska would not have asked her to bring this weapon if their visit did not involve killing of some kind. She did not want to go through that again - the guilt from before still weighed heavily on her mind. Ali was opposed to violence but it seemed to follow the pair wherever they went. She knew her mistress was an adept killer, but this was not within Alisaah's set of skills.

"Mistress?" she asked nervously, "I'm scared... I don't understand why we're here. Are we going to get in trouble again?"

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Kliedden Raxx

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Coruscant. Why was it always the cattle pens his work ended up bringing him to? Klied just sighed as he walked down the pathway towards the abandoned landing platform Aska had identified. He had hoped his business with T'lol would have been his last time coming here, but his sense of loyalty had dragged him back. At least it sounded like it would be exciting.

According to Aska's intelligence her target was hidden behind a wall of security droids and infected man-eaters. Apparently too many to handle on her own. Not that he minded, he had never killed a zombie before and was looking forward to the experience. To that end he had dressed in thick bantha fur. The shaggy stuff had served well to protect him from animal bites on expedition in the past, it should do the same for crazed sentients. He also carried his standard armaments. Cycler rifle slung over his shoulder, Westar-55 holstered on one hip and his dagger on the other. He had been hoping to acquire some new armor before his next job, but when a friend asked it was only polite to respond. The trip from Onderon had taken a few days, but they were ready to go now.

As the hunter approached the meeting point he noticed Aska was not alone. It appeared she was being accompanied by a young Togruta that didn't look at all prepared for the mission his associate had described. "Long time no see!" He called with a smirk and a wave as he approached the two women. "Word is you ladies could use a hand?" He asked smugly as he offered his hand to Aska to shake. Afterwards he would offer the same to the Togruta. "Name's Klied." He informed her. He was somewhat worried as to what the girl's purpose was there considering she didn't look the least bit like an experienced fighter, but tried to maintain a polite and professional appearance nonetheless.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Home. No matter where the the hunter and Poffo went, no matter what isolated, swampy moon or desolated ruin of an industrialized heap of planet their next quarry ran to hide, Coruscant would always be home for Poffo Sauvage. He was a proud Coruscanti, and not the stuck up, prep-boys that ran around the surface with their fancy speeders, fancy clothes, and fancy words. No, no. Poffo was from the dirty south...south as in down in the lower levels of the planet. The rest of the galaxy saw the glitz and glamour of what once stood as the galactic capital, but Poffo made a career busting heads in the gritty underbelly that the senators and CEO's didn't like to talk about before he decided to try his hand at bounty hunting.

Poffo knew that Klied didn't like Coruscant. If it wasn't in the middle of the damn jungle or swamp, Klied didn't like it. In a lot of ways, he and Poffo were polar opposites. Yet, in other ways, they were so much alike. They both loved a good scrap, to be challenged, and they both relied on that to get an adrenaline rush. It beat hitting the spice, Poffo supposed. And, thus, why they were here. This was something seen as a challenge for Klied, and yes, Poffo's curiosity was piqued. There was also the fact that Aska and Klied were friends, and while Aska and Poffo may have gotten off to a rough start, they managed to come to an understanding. That understanding was that as a team, they could do a lot of killing if necessary.

Poffo walked in with Klied and the hunter started the formalities. Immediately, Poffo was struck by the pink Togruta. Poffo, if nothing else, was a visual creature, and she had an obvious sex appeal. Poffo nodded in approval. Thankfully, his dark sunglasses would hide his eyes working her over up and down. Poffo would lift his chin to Aska with a smirk. "Hey, sweetcheeks. Long time, no see, yeah, yeah, it has." He wondered if her sense of humor had improved at all. He would find out soon enough by calling her sweetcheeks. Turning to the Togruta, he would offer his massive hand after Klied's. "My government name is Poffo Sauvage, yeah. But I got admirers from this place over here to that place way over there that that call me Mr. Macho, oooooh yeah." And with this he would add finger flourishes in both directions to indicate this place way over there and that place in the far extremities in the other direction. "Yeah, admirers like Aska over there, sure do."

Poffo was a brawler, so he didn't come with a lot of bells and whistles. As much as he liked the Westar, that was Klied's pride and joy at the moment. Poffo would have to take in enough bounties to buy his own at some point. So, he was borrowing the DT-29. It was big, heavy, and it fit his hand well.

Poffo would be satisfied enough if he never fired a shot. His spiked knuckle dusters were in his pocket, and he figured there would be no greater rush than blasting some brain-dead, roided-up sentients in the dome with a set of spiked knucks. As was Poffo's way, he wore leather pants and a tight sleeveless black shirt. He didn't figure the zombies would be intimidated, but if there were any hot-looking ladies to share a drink with after the rumble, maybe he could do some impressing.


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Aska Ryun

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As the speeder remained suspended above the busy skylanes, Aska continued to survey the platform below after sending the transmission to Klied and Poffo. She had no idea where they were in the galaxy since the last time she had seen either of them was back on the jungle world of Teth. It felt like months ago, though in reality it had only been a handful of weeks. Her best guess? Klied had mentioned heading to Onderon for their recovery after getting their asses handed to them by Brag Tyllon and his lackies. They’d be here in a couple days at the very least by her estimation.

Ali’s concern encouraged a slight chuckle from Aska as she dropped the binocs to her lap before leaning back in the driver’s seat of the speeder and looking over to the Togrutan. Pretty much every passing moment since they had crossed paths had been a fight for their life, as was the norm for the clone girl. For Ali, well… She was better suited to the gala on Zeltros than she herself had been. Pulling the pack of cigarras back towards her from the place on the dash she had carelessly tossed them, Aska plucked one out and lit the tabacc, holding the tube in her lips as she tossed the pack towards the dash panel once more.

”Oh, without a doubt,” Aska laughed, playfully punching Ali’s left shoulder. ”Don’t worry about it so much, kid. I won’t let anything happen to you. And besides, I’m calling in some of the best to lend us a hand. Just… don’t tell Poffo I said that,” With a wink, Aska put the speeder back in gear and turned towards their ship. It was time to prepare.

-----------------------​

Sitting in the common area of the freighter, Aska turned one of the detonators in her hands over to inspect it. She had been devising a plan over the last couple days and each of the players had a role. Having given Ali the basic run down on how to use these particular detonators, the clone slipped five of the explosives into a leather satchel and handed them to her just as Klied and Poffo had made their entrance into the craft.

”Klied! And you did bring the asshole, after all!” Aska laughed as she stood up and accepted the hunter’s extended hand before turning her attention to the gargantuan brawler. ”See you haven’t changed a damn bit, Poffo,” Aska continued with a smirk as she patted his massive shoulder while he moved towards Ali. ”Too bad,”

Aska would wait and allow Alisaah her opportunity to introduce herself to the pair of hunters before walking around the holoboard she had set up in the middle of the chamber. Flicking a switch on the top of the table, an image of the lab projected itself into the room with a radiant blue glow.

”No point in wasting any more time than we’ve already lost. What you’re looking at is a hidden, underground lab that has been here for generations. The only known access point I’ve ever come across is here, from the top of this tower,” Aska spun the hologram and pointed to the top of the spire she had been watching the last few days, indicating a turbolift access. ”With a secret code, it descends beyond the lowest levels of the tower and into the lab. That lab, well… Everyone inside is either dead or has been made almost as ugly as Poffo here with that plague spreading through the galaxy. This place… It’s my childhood home. And there’s valuable information inside that I desperately need. We need to break through the lock down, get in there and recover the head scientist if he’s still alive. If not, we need to ransack his office for anything I may need. Second objective? We can’t let these ghouls escape the lab and infect Coruscant any further. So we need to scorch the place,” Aska paused, allowing them to ask any questions they may have had before proceeding with the details of her plan.

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Alisaah Tila

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Back on the ship, Ali sat waiting for the arrival of whoever it was that her mistress had enlisted the help of. Aska had just finished explaining how to use a satchel of detonators which she had then passed to her. Despite having been told not to worry on the speeder ride back to the ship, the Togruta could not help but feel increasingly anxious. The last time her mistress had given her a detonator of any sort, it had resulted in a Hutt compound being totally annihilated in a chain of explosions. Ali tried to keep the memory of that incident out of her mind. She had no clue how many people she might have killed that night and felt horrible contemplating it.

Clutching the bag on her lap gingerly, she watched as two unfamiliar faces boarded. One lean and rugged man covered in what seemed to be animal furs and a second man with a rough and ready appearance who had wild hair and a beard. Her mistress looked pleased to see them, at least the one named Klied, which was plain based on the tone of her voice when greeting him. Aska was not so pleasant to the man named Poffo, having referred to him as "that asshole" before even using his name. Ali supposed this could just be part of their banter. By now she knew her mistress wasn't exactly one for politeness and pleasantries.

One after the other, the two men introduced themselves to Alisaah. Though she shook both of their hands, she bowed her head afterwards. As tended to be the case with Aska following the failed introduction to Quinri and Deskar, Ali supposed that her mistress had neglected to mention to her two acquaintances that Alisaah was a slave in her service. The further they'd gotten from Hutt Space, the more common this seemed to be, because the Free Worlds would not tolerate slavery and Aska needed to keep the information under wraps. Unlike on Zeltros however, they were no longer posing as a dancer and her manager and Aska had not given her any instructions to hide the fact from these two.

"It's nice to meet you both" she said politely, "My name is Alisaah." The slave kept her introduction short as not to distract from whatever it was they were here to discuss with her mistress. Moments later Aska had turned everyone's attention to a hologram of a laboratory which projected itself into the room. According to the clone, this was her home, where she grew up. Ali wondered why they had come and what these two men were here for if they were just visiting the place Aska grew up. Those questions were answered very quickly. They were there to rescue a scientist and then blow the place up. Exactly what Ali had been afraid of.

"Mistress... what do you mean by ghouls? Why do you want to blow up your childhood home?" she asked. It was an innocent question. After all they had been through together so far, in reality Alisaah and Aska had still only known each other for a few weeks, they did not know each other's entire history. Ali just assumed that as a free woman that Aska's life had been okay, at least in comparison to what she had been through as a slave. The Togruta did not know any other life, but she always supposed that those in the position of master were simply better than the likes of her and that included their quality of life from past to present.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied nodded simply in response to Alisaah's introduction, then followed Aska as she brought up the schematics of the lab they were attacking. He watched and listened closely as she explained the situation, thinking how best to approach the building. He looked at the young woman with surprise when she mentioned that this place was her childhood home. He knew she was originally from Coruscant, but given her demeanor he just assumed she had been a street kid like Poffo. The idea that she grew up in a lab threw him for a loop. Was she the daughter of one of the staff members? If this place was so secret he figured they wouldn't allow for that sort of thing. But given that they were on a tight schedule he figured now wasn't the best time to broach the subject with her.

Next Alisaah asked what Aska meant by 'ghouls'. Again Klied looked a little puzzled by the use of the word 'mistress' from the Togruta. He'd heard such honorifics often enough whenever he was in the company of his upper class relatives. But they were used by servants, and Aska didn't seem like the type of person to have a servant. More then ever he wondered who the hell this girl was. But once again he brushed over his confusion to focus on the matter at hand.

"It's called AMS," The hunter answered Alisaah's question as he crossed his arms. "It's a very dangerous disease that turns sentient species into mindless, ravenous cannibals. If they bite you you'll be infected with it, so you'll want to keep your distance." He glanced over at the brawler in his sleeveless shirt. "Which is why the wife beater was probably a bad call, Poffo." He remarked only half jokingly. He then turned his attention to Ali. "As for why we're burning it down? If we're the only ones that know about it we need to contain the outbreak, otherwise it could potentially kill the entire planet." He looked at Aska. "That is why you want to burn the place down right?" He asked, although he got the distinct sense there was more to it then that. Over the com Aska had made this sound like a standard smash and grab operation. If it was personal that changed things quite significantly.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Poffo listened to the plan. This was a different kind of deal for him. He had busted heads on Coruscant before, mostly illegal prize fights and some bar fights in places and with people the law didn't care about. He had killed people before, but much the same or on different planets by now. But this, this was something to new. This was a data recovery mission which included breaking and entering, theft, likely murder, and then arson of an entire lab in Coruscant...and fires in Coruscant have a tendency to spread.

Rubbing his beard, Poffo took turns eyeing the other three to see if they have any qualms about this little foray into being tracked down by Coruscanti law enforcement. Well, that wasn't much of a problem. In his experience, they were woefully inept. But, a big-ass fire in a Coruscant lab that has AMS on lockdown...that could get the attention of Sector Rangers. That was a different matter altogether.

Klied made the joke about the wife beater, which made the brawler lift a brow. "Ain't got no wife to beat, brother, and wouldn't beat her if I did, yeah. I'm a lover...AND a fighter, but I fight the bad boys and love the bad girls if you can dig that. It's a tank top, yeah, yeah it is. If some braindead roid-rage SOB wants a piece of Mr. Macho, I'll leave whatever goo has replaced his brain all over the wall, yeah!"

But he still wanted to know about the...legality. "How much legal trouble we looking at it if we get pin-pointed here?" He was looking at Klied, because he trusted his headiness more than the others, but it was more of an open question.


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Aska Ryun

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Nodding as Klied explained the virus and it’s effects to Ali, Aska leaned on the table with both hands as the hologram spun before her. The conditions of the op had most definitely changed since she had arrived, and she was starting to have doubts over bringing the slave girl with them. She’d already put the Togrutan through plenty in their time together and what they were about to do… This was looking to be a first for even the experienced fighters. Alisaah was going to be in far over her head. However, as she was about to offer the girl the opportunity to bow out and remain on the ship, Klied’s question stopped her.

”It’s the reason I have now, and that’s what matters,” she stated plainly, devoid of any emotion. The resentment she had held against the scientists for what they had put her through in her youth was enough for her to want to bring the laboratory to rubble. The virus had done that for her, however. Now she needed to act for the sake of everyone on Coruscant. The stakes were raised and she was willing to make the gamble. ”But Klied is right. These… things… They’re no longer the team that I once knew. They’re going to be hungry and they won’t even know the meaning of mercy should we get over whelmed. If you want to stay here, Ali, I’d understand,” Aska offered the Togrutan as she met her gaze with a sense of concern.

Smirking at Poffo as he rambled on, Aska shook her head slightly while she chuckled under her breathe. The guy was an acquired taste, much as Klied had once warned her, but he had a way of growing on people.

”The lab should be far enough below the infrastructure of the tower that the detonation will be contained so hopefully no legal troubles if all goes well, big guy,” Even as she said the words, she knew damn well things had a tendency to not go as planned. Still, considering the lab's purpose and the infection therein, Aska was confident that what they were doing would be looked upon with a welcoming judgment. ”I’m not sure just who built it or when but I do remember it has it’s own source of power from here,” Aska continued, not waiting for Alisaah’s response. Spinning the hologram once again, the clone indicated the power generator nestled squarely at the center of the lab’s design on the bottom of three floors. ”I’ve shown Ali how to set and detonate a series of charges that should create enough of an explosion to cause a chain reaction and collapse the lab in on itself. If you’re still willing,” Aska nodded to Ali. ”Then Poffo, T7 and you will split with us once we get inside and head down to place the charges while Klied, Kayto and I make our way to Trench’s office. With any luck, it should only be the lab that’s affected. I’m no architect though… It might be best to somehow evacuate the buildings above prior to our entrance. A… bomb threat or something, I don’t know. I don’t plan on coming back to this shit hole ever again once this is done so I don’t care how we do it,” Looking to the group for some sort of input, the woman plucked the pack of cigarras from behind her chest plate and tossed it beside the hologram emitter after lighting the smoke.

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Alisaah Tila

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The prospect of being faced with flesh eating cannibals was mortifying to Alisaah. This entire plan of Aska's seemed to just get worse and worse the more the others continued speaking. Klied had made a comment to Poffo about the way he was dressed, which had drawn a retort from the bearded man, though he seemed to be quite casual about the state of affairs to the point where he was making jokes. Ali looked down at what she herself was wearing. There was a lot more of her red skin on show than there was of Poffo's human skin. If all it took was a bite she would be a gonner.

As she continued talking, Aska offered Alisaah the option not to join them on this misadventure. The slave would have very much liked to have taken it, as she was now fearing for all of their lives, but to abandon her mistress - even on a fool-hardy mission - would have doomed her anyway. If Aska were to perish in the laboratory, Ali would be dishonored, nobody would want a slave who put their own life ahead of their master. Despite having only known each other for a short time, Aska had shown compassion and put her life at risk for the Togruta on a number of occasions without being asked. Even just on a personal level, between the two women, it would be a betrayal not to accompany her mistress - particularly if what she intended to find down there was important to her.

"I'll go with you mistress" she piped up when there was a break in the conversation, "I'll try to do what you showed me with these..." Ali held up the satchel of detonators before returning them to her lap.

Standing in the entrance to the cockpit was Meela, the Twi'lek that Aska had helped free from a life of servitude as a favour to Alisaah. Meela was as close to a mother as Ali had and before reuniting unexpectedly on Zeltros, had not seen since the age of 10. She looked over concerned for the slave's safety. Though she had been a slave herself since her teenage years, she had not been for her whole life like Ali had been and neither had she experienced the harsh reality of being processed as a slave by the Zygerrians. The Twi'lek would have tried to intervene and told Alisaah not to put herself in danger, but knew there was little point. Ali would follow her mistress - it was her way of life - even if someone else she respected and cared for pleaded with her not to.

"Listen Pixie, I'm gonna sit this one out" came Meela's distinct accent from across the room, directed at Aska, "But if you're taking Little Ali with you, please make sure she comes back in one piece... That goes the same for the two of you." The green-skinned Twi'lek then pointed the middle and index fingers on her left hand towards Poffo and Klied.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied just sniggered at Poffo's reply. "Oh my apologies Mr. Macho, I didn't mean to cause offense." He said, raising his palms up in a mock surrender. The brawler had a point though. This little operation of theirs could potentially bring in a lot of unwanted attention. As Poffo looked to him for an answer the Onderonian looked towards Aska.

”It’s the reason I have now, and that’s what matters,” She said in response to his earlier query about her motives. Klied squinted skeptically at the cryptic reply, but said nothing. As he listened to more of her plan his concerns only grew. It seemed to him as though she hadn't taken all the factors into account here. And once again, it seemed like their Togruta team member didn't even want to involve herself.

"It sounds an awful lot like we're wandering blind into a nest of gundarks here Aska." He said unsurely once she had finished with her briefing. "Labs tend to have big investors. I think it's safe to assume whoever those investors are aren't going to be pleased with our actions. And there's no way I'm blowing this place up if there's a risk of pulling the rug out from beneath a few thousand peoples' homes on the next level up." He paused to rub his chin, thinking about what course of action they might be able to take as he inspected the hologram. "Do you have any idea what kind of research was being done there? If it was biological research it's likely they already have contamination fail-safes for just this sort of situation. We would just need to find and activate them. That way we could clean up all the ghouls without having to worry about collateral damage." It was that or just report all this to the local authorities and let them sort it out, but Klied had a feeling Aska wouldn't go for that. Not to mention if this really was a government lab they might just try to cover up whatever they'd been doing there, and he'd be lying if he said all this secrecy hadn't got him just a little curious.

That was when yet another woman showed up, an older Twi'lek. Klied turned to look at her in surprise. This ship had gotten awfully crowded since the last time he'd seen Aska. Just how big was her crew these days? Still, he smiled reassuringly at the woman. "Don't you worry ma'am." He said politely. "This isn't our first scrape. We'll take good care of her." He looked back at Aska, becoming more serious. "I said I'll help you and I will, just promise me we're taking every precaution we can here. This isn't Teth. If we treat Coruscant like it's one big playground innocent bystanders are going to get hurt."

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Poffo Sauvage

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Loudmouth? Check. Egomaniac? Check. Dummy? Not so fast, my friend. Poffo was a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them. In fact, as it came to street smarts, particularly the streets of Coruscant, Poffo might be the closest thing to a genius among the party here. Klied asked the pertinent questions, and anything Poffo would say, any finger flourishes he might add, any charismatic actions he could perform would only detract from the questions that Aska really needed to answer. Poffo loved a good scrap, and he didn't mind danger. But perhaps his biggest fear was getting locked up for prolonged periods of time. In a lot of ways, Poffo was like an animal, and being caged would be worse than death.

Needless to say, he was very interested in Aska's answers. Against his best urges, Poffo would actually stay quiet.

As Klied answered the newcomer Twi'lek's questions and concerns, Poffo would simply nod confidently. But soon, his attention would turn back to Aska. Even with the dark sunglasses on, it was quite plain that he was looking at her to see what she had to say.


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Aska Ryun

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As Klied made his opinions clear, Aska hung her head as she leaned forward against the holo-display with both hands. She always had a tendency to run into things head first and deal with the variables as they arose. Was it the best method? Nine times out of ten, probably not. But it had served her well until now. She couldn’t deny that Klied was right, however. This wasn’t Teth. There was more to risk on a world such as Coruscant and she should have taken that into consideration. Still, if they missed even a single carrier of the virus and they managed to get loose, then they potentially had the blood of trillions on their hands as opposed to a few thousand if things went sour. But she needed the pair of hunters fully committed. She needed to compromise.

”It’s a cloning facility,” Aska finally replied. ”And it’s been under my family’s care for as long as I’ve ever known. Investors are the least of our concern, on that you have my word,” His suggestion of anti-contamination fail safe protocols was something she hadn’t considered but there was very little known of this virus. As far as she knew, it wasn’t some sort of air borne or bacterial in any form. But it did give her another idea…

”I don’t know about contamination protocols, but if we can get the astro mech to the droid control room, maybe we can patch into their processors through the main computer and alter the security algorithm. They’re still protecting the scientists as though nothing has changed as far as my intel has provided. Would that ease your conscience, Cave man?” Aska requested of the Onderonian with a smirk. ”It wasn’t something I had considered before but it should purge anything with brain cravings if we set them to eliminate anyone with a pulse. I’m still not entirely ruling out the detonators. We’ll save them as an absolute last resort but so long as things goes smoothly, we’ll do everything in our power to avoid them,”

She still wanted to see the lab burn, but she’d have to forgo that desire for the time being.

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Alisaah Tila

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As the talking continued, Ali became thankful for the logical input from Klied. At least his idea would mean the building's robotic security would do the work she was worried about doing. Something made her feel as though this solution was not quite what Aska wanted to gain out of this adventure, but the Togruta was not going to say anything in case it persuaded her mistress to stick to her original plan. This was now the second operation of it's kind that Ali had been involved with. The first one had ended with her being told to detonate explosives and she was keen to avoid history repeating itself.

Not really knowing how she could contribute, the slave remained seated and watched on as the hunters discussed plans with Aska. Meela left her post in the entrance to the cockpit and joined Ali, taking the seat next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder as if to hug her. It was clear she was also listening in to the conversation as she did not say anything, simply gave Ali's arm a squeeze. It was reassuring and nostalgic. The last time they had shared moments like this, Ali had just been a child. The slave only hoped their party would survive this suicide mission so that it wouldn't be the last time either.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied's eyebrows perked up a bit in surprise to hear Aska's family owned the lab, but he didn't react any more then that. At least this explained why she had grown up there if this cloning facility was some sort of family business. That still left a lot of other questions about the woman's origins, but those were better left for another time. As Aska offered the compromise of trying to reprogram the security droids and saving the bombs for a last resort Klied nodded in agreement.

"That works for me." He conceded before turning his head to look at Poffo. "It'll be a headache having to deal with both the zombies and the droids, but I think we can handle it." He would wait to see if his partner had any other objections. If he didn't he would then turn his attention back to Aska. "I'm ready to go whenever you are. Just say the word." They would need to move quickly and efficiently in order to complete their respective tasks, lest they be swarmed with enemies. At least they had the advantage of knowing the layout of the facility. It would have been even better if they had the exact number of droids and staff members, but they could work with this. Klied would pull out his Westar and set it to kill, ready to begin.

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Poffo Sauvage

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If Klied was satisfied then Poffo was satisfied. He stretched a bit, popping bones in his shoulders and back. He rolled his neck to a rattle of more poppling. Then he made a fist and popped the fingers in his massive hands, loud enough to hear white over the noise of Coruscant.

He pulled out his spiked knuckle dusters and slide them on both hands. Each had four durasteel spikes in matted black to prevent light from bouncing off of them. They would look a dark maroon, however. For anyone that looked closely, they would see that the look came from a film of dried blood that coated them from the scraps he'd used them in before.

The bearded brawler took a deep breath and nodded to Aska. "You're show, Chief. Mr. Macho is ready to make a mark, yeah. Make a mark right here and in the now, if you can dig that."

Sauvage was visibly getting himself pumped. His head was nodding faster at nothing and his fingers were wiggling as if ready to spring into action. It was a routine that he had used for years before prize fights, and now that he had time to get himself in the right frame of mind, he would utilize it. "Lead the way, Yeah. Let's take these zombie out of the land of the living dead and into the land of the dead is dead, yeah!"


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Aska Ryun

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Rolled 5/100 for droid slicing 🙃

The pair of speeders touched down on the top of the tower as the sun descended beyond the towers that lined the horizon. Night time was falling on Coruscant and while it was truly a world that never slept, it did provide them with shadows to keep their entrance a secret from prying eyes. Hopping out of the speeder, Aska walked around and offered Ali a hand to raise her from her own seat. Meanwhile, Kayto and T7 touched ground and made their way over to the lift door.

”Everyone in. The droid can slice the security encryptions on the way down,” Aska told the others, motioning for them to get on board the elevator. Since the lift served as a standard access for the building that was above ground, it would function normally until they reached the lowest levels of the tower. Once they hit bottom, that was when Teela would need to give them a go-around past the code that would descend them further into the lab.

As the droid worked away, Aska cracked her neck in anticipation. She knew the virus was wide spread in the facility and that the droids were going to be a hindrance until Ali, Poffo and Teela made their way to the droid control station. This was not going to be as easy as walking in and walking out. However, as she played through the possible scenarios in her mind, she was interrupted by a screaming cry from the droid as the lift came to an abrupt stop.

”What the hell?” Aska declared as the T7 unit was thrust backward by an electrical surge from the interface. Shaking it’s disc-shaped head, Teela let out a slow and depressed whistle of defeat.

”It would seem the lockdown procedure has too strong an encryption for our little friend here to bypass, Mistress,” Kayto translated. This was a problem. How were they going to get the lift to the bottom? Pondering for a moment, Aska decided now was a time to test out one of her new toys.

”Stand back,” the woman ordered as she pulled the lightsaber hilt from her belt. Igniting the blade into the floor of the elevator, she carved a hole large enough for her to fit through before peering down. They were close at least, forty or fifty feet from the bottom. Retracting the blade, she looked to the team around her. ”Be right back, kids,” She stated then proceeded to step over the hole and fall to the dark depths below.

Falling through the elevator shaft, Aska watched as the ground grew closer. Closer. Then, just as it seemed she was about to hit the surface with force that would undoubtedly break her legs, she activated the repulsion boots. They were designed to propel her upwards but in a pinch, they could slow her fall. Enough to keep her from suffering serious injuries at least. And they did just that as she made impact. While she was unable to stay on her feet, she knew she was at least able to stand. She still felt it, though.

”…. Ouch,” Aska groaned, pushing herself to her feet. But she was at the door that would open into the lab. Into her home… Pulling the saber from her belt once again, she seared her way through the door and peered inside. Ahead and about twenty feet beyond a glowing rayshield were two security droids on patrol but they had not yet seen her. Slipping through the door, Aska disengaged the saber and got to work. From this level, she could at least access the terminal and call the lift downward. Getting it to return to the surface, well… Hopefully the droid could find a way to end the lockdown. But as the lift once again whirred to life, it attracted the attention of the two droids.

”Zzzzt. Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. Eliminate foreign entities,” The droids declared simultaneously. Advancing on her position, the machines didn’t yet fire on her. Knowing fully well the shields would interrupt their attack, Aska raised her SE-45 and crossed the hall into the doorway of the security offices before calling out to her descending team.

”Two droids, moving in! Be ready!”

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Alisaah Tila

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Ali was unsure exactly what Aska intended to achieve by throwing herself out of the turbolift into the unknown, but soon the lift began to descend once more. Her mistress' skills were very impressive. Shortly after they started moving again, Aska's voice could be heard from the darkness below. Enemy contact already.

When the turbolift touched base Ali ensured that she stayed behind Poffo and Klied. The Togruta was the least proficient in combat out of the non-robotic members of their party, whereas these hunters could no doubt handle themselves, otherwise Aska would not have trusted them with this highly personal mission. Once they had exited the lift, Ali and Teela, crouching low to try and remain unseen would head towards Aska's position.

They waited there for a moment, peering around to see the security droids slowly making their way down the hallway towards the ray shield that separated the turbolift from the main facility. The area around the entrance to the turbolift was now crammed with the number of their party. At the moment Aska, Klied and Poffo made their move to engage the droids, Teela would trundle across the corridor into the room opposite with Ali in close pursuit. The room looked empty but would provide enough space for them to take cover and stay out of the others' way.

It was not obvious to Ali, but Teela had not head to this room to hide. It was in fact, the Security Office which led into a Security Storage Area. Once inside, the T7 droid would scan the room with it's optical sensor to locate the security terminal. Teela interfaced with the terminal as Ali peeped outside to watch what was happening with the others. The astromech successfully deactivated the rayshield, granting them entry to the facility, but a loud zap startled Ali and caused her to snap around. Teela's beeps and whirs became frantic and the droid's head span a full 360 degrees twice.

"Teela?" asked the Togruta, timidly, "What happened?"

A response was not forthcoming, the droid simply continued it's droidspeak rambling and shot out of the security room like a bolt before rocketing down the corridor after Aska and the others. Ali gave a yelp and jumped to her feet, chasing down the hallway after the astromech.

"Teela wait! Come back!"

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Kliedden Raxx

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Things certainly weren't getting off to a good start. Aska's droid's attempt to bypass the lab's security was met with rather disastrous results. Klied flashed the woman a concerned look, only to step back confusedly as she took out her lightsaber and started cutting a hole in the floor.

"What are you-" He started to ask before she finished her work and promptly jumped through without giving an explanation. "Aska!" He shouted worriedly and moved to look through the hole, only to see she had used a pair of repulsion boots to safely land. The hunter just sighed as he watched her move to cut her way into the facility. "She could stand to let someone know what she's doing before she jumps..." He muttered mostly to himself. Nevertheless it worked, and they were moving down again soon. As the doors to the lab opened Klied was the first off the elevator, drawing his Westar and moving forward cautiously.

”Two droids, moving in! Be ready!” Aska warned them from her position in the doorway to the room across the hall. Klied took up his own spot across the way, peeking around the corner to see their incoming enemies. Just as Aska had said, only two in sight from here. Simple enough. The moment they got close enough to pass through the shield Klied acted. With lightning reflexes the hunter ducked out from behind cover and fired his weapon twice in quick succession. The security droids were no match for a heavy blaster, each exploding into burning hunks of metal barely a second after crossing the energy field's threshold. Klied smirked and lowered his weapon, only to frown again as things once more started to get out of hand.

The astromech managed to actually drop the shield this time, only to then immediately wheel around the corner and charge down the hall, Ali following behind. "Dammit slowdown!" Klied shouted after them as he started to follow, raising his weapon once more and keeping his eyes fixed down the hall for any more droids or zombies. "Stay with the group!" This was bad. It looked like one side of the hall was filled with doors to many rooms, probably the dormitories. If a droid or zombie suddenly appeared and attacked the astromech or Togruta, Klied and the others would have mere seconds to react.

Dice
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Poffo Sauvage

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A laser sword? What did the Jedi call them? They were all over the Holonet these days. But, while this may be hard to believe, Poffo was not one for watching the news to keep up with current events. Was Aska....a Jedi? He was shocked, bewildered. He thought the Jedi were pompous, flighty, aloof, self-righteous kriffers in robes. Aska was not that. However, the Jedi did seem to have a penchant for blowing stuff up if the Holonet was being accurate things, and Aska was here to...possibly blow stuff up. Maybe the shoe did fit?

He was less concerned or shocked about Aska doing something foolish. He had come to expect that. He liked the curveballs. But the light-beam sword thing...well, that was kind of freaky. He was stunned silent, looking down the hole she created. He wanted to make a joke to Klied about how Papa Bear was worried about Mama bear with his "she could stand to let someone know..." comment. He was clearly concerned about her well-being. But that damned sword...Poffo had to shake it off as the lift hit the ground and the droids made their debut for this event.

Sauvage reached for his blaster, but Klied was lightning fast. He blasted both of them in rapid succession, bullseyes on both on both them. Poffo never even had a chance to draw. Then the droid they called Teela took off down a hallway with the hot dancer Togruta chasing. Poffo was unsure who Klied was yelling at to "Stay with the group!" Was he talking to Ali, giving her a command to come back? Or was he telling Poffo to stay here as he would take off and retrieve the droid and the Togruta? Poffo figured the former since if he left, there would be no group left to leave. Might as well take the group in that direction, so the bearded brawler took off after them....now a train....a droid, a Togruta, a hunter, and a brawler as the caboose.

Klied was faster that the Coruscanti and jumped out to a bit of a lead. One of his worst fears came true as an AMS zombie busted his door down reacting to the sound of living flesh running down the hallway. The living dead creature turned and gave chase behind Klied and Ali, but Poffo had a head of steam and was able to catch him from behind. He blindsided the monster with a brutal overhand right to the base of the neck. The spikes of knuckle dusters drove into the back of the spine and the arteries. It shattered bones in the vertebrae just below the skull and severed an artery in the neck, spraying the hallway with blood and plasma like some sort of horrific geyser. The zombie fell to his knees, already paralyzed and in the last few moments before seeing total darkness. It then collapsed unceremoniously face first on the blood-drenched floor.

"Ooooooh, yeaaaaah!" Poffo yelled, adding a finger flourish with both hands as he stood over the body, staring at it as if he could intimidate the corpse. But then, doors from boths sides of the hall started to be broken down from the inside as zombies awoke with the promise of organics to feed on. One by one they cleared their way into the hall, massive, strong, undead creatures. Some of them between members of the party, and some that had boxed them in, though the droid had a head start and cleared the foremost zombie. 16 zombies in all tore down their doors with vicious intent, seven from the right side of the hall, and nine more from the left.

"Oooooooh, nooooo!" Poffo yelled in response. He quickly drew his DT-29 and started firing at the zombies behind him. He wasn't a good enough shot to guarantee he wouldn't hit Klied or Ali, and he had enough faith in Klied to quick-draw-McGraw the zombies between them...if he didn't get killed right out of the gate, anyway. And, if Aska had decided to follow and he shot in her direction...well, it was better than shooting Klied, right? And besides, didn't see footage of Jedi blocking blaster bolts with their lightbeam laser swords?

The DT-29 only had six shots per pack...he managed to drop two of the four zombies, but two more were closing fast. He quickly holstered his blaster and threw up his hands...but he hoped to hell that Aska was coming from the backside to take care of the other two.

Quite a few apparently. Dice Roll

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