Family Reunions

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Diocletian and his merry band of jail raiders were in a tight spot. They had succeeded in breaking into Loobey the Hutt’s jail for malcontents and freeing their target. The mission had been noisy however and multiple Hutt hoods had been killed in the process. The operation had drawn a bit of attention on the streets as the Underwold of Nar Shaddaa wondered which gang was fighting whom and for what. Situations like this many times left opportunities and the rival gangs of Nar Shaddaa lived for such opportunities.

Thus, it had not been a surprise when Dio and his people had exited the back of the restaurant slash prison and discovered their main exit blocked. It had been inconvenient however and Dio was not pleased at all that he had been proven right. Then his comm had started blinking, the red light annoying Dio somehow. He stabbed down on the button on his vambrace that would answer the comm and ground out, “Hello…” To say that the voice on the other end of the line was not one he expected was the understatement of the century.

The voice took him back to a time when he was just a boy. Playing at the feet of his mother as she sang soft lullabies to a bundle of blankets in her arms. Images of pigtails and games, training and heartache, then pride and resolve. It was a voice he had not heard in years and one that he would never forget. He listened to the voice, pausing for several heartbeats as if in shock before he was able to fully respond.


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[Corrine Solus]

Everything was going smoothly. Just perfectly calm without so much as a hitch. She was slightly worried when Vu'thari found the trandosian son they were after to which he then attempted to claw the Twi'lek's face off. But he handled it with ease. Too much ease in fact. There was something still troubling Corrine about the whole ordeal...but no time to think about that now. The group of them fled the kitchen and started to head for their speeders. Vu'thari noticed them first. A group of Imperial Hutta soldiers just ready to try their guns on the Mandalorians. Luckily they hadn't spotted them yet or bothered to head to the restaurant they were coming out of. Corrine stopped and leaned herself against the wall behind a corner of a building. She peered out to get a better understanding of them. From what she could tell there were five of them in sight. But she had a feeling there might be more around.

"I see five," she'd say quietly. "Do we risk it?"

Corrine looked behind her to make sure everyone was still with her. As always, the troupe was dressed in Beskar'gam gear. Save for Vu'thari who was wearing a smooth and dark armor that to be frank...didn't seem like it helped. Corrine would never fight in something so minimal. Corrine Eldar, a true proud Mandalorian, wore a the iron skin Baskar'gam which she painted red to honor her family. She had her usual "Strill" blaster pistols on her hips, but she'd switched out her old rifle for a new Westar-C1 blaster carbine. Hopefully this one would prove to be more effective than her previous "shriekhawk" which gave her so much trouble on Kashyyyk for the Life Day event. So far, she'd only killed one Hutt officer, but she got off a few other bolts which added to the over-kill of another that Arturo had claimed as his.

Much to her dismay, she had yet to use her fancy new upgrade. In doing that little mission of theirs on the forest planet, she got a rather bountiful reward from all the coin they produced after selling off the Sith gear (and also the actual credits the men at the time had on them). Corrine was able to buy herself one wrist-mounted flamethrower. She had wanted one of those bad boys for years. But with them being highly illegal, it wasn't something she wanted to go flashing around. But now they were at war. Literally. This wasn't just some bounty hunting mission. Ok, for them this was all just selfish gain anyways. But the Sith could attack at any moment! She wasn't about to get blindsided because her morality wanted her to obey some stupid law.

As she turned to check on her team, Corrine noticed Dio looking at his vambrace. She hadn't heard him answer the call, but the voice on the other end was trying to get his attention. "D? Are you alright...? Who's that on the other end?"

Her voice was only slightly distorted due to her helmet over her head, but it was nothing the team of Mandalorian warriors weren't used to. They lived and breathed for battle. Wearing the armor was no burden to them nor was wearing the helmet. They were always prepared for battle and ready to fight. Corrine was no exception. Dio however seemed like he was struck by a hover train. Even though she couldn't see through his visor, his body language said it all. She'd known him for almost two years now. She knew when things got to her brothers. Something was wrong.

​

 

[Vala Solus]

Vala had never seen anything like it before, and she wasn’t quite sure if it met the expectations of her imagination or exceeded it. She knew Nar Shaddaa was one of Nal Hutta’s moons, completely covered in the artificial city structures, a giant mass of neon dulled down by the haze of pollution. But when she thought of cities, she always thought of Keldabe back on Mandalore, the biggest city she had ever experienced in her near nineteen years of life.

Until now.

She piloted the freighter closer to the looming spires, trying to avoid colliding into the congested ship traffic that seemed to come from every which way. If there were any sort of flight pattern, it was not immediately discernible. After a few moments of observation, she just shrugged and picked a slow moving lane to merge into.

The difference between this place and her homeworld were immense. Compared to Nar Shaddaa, Keldabe was a backwater watering hole. She had seen other planetary bodies before, but they were all contained in the Mandalore sector. It felt like an age ago when her father took her offworld for the first time, a first lesson in how to use the navigational and hyperdrive systems. She loved flying then, loved seeing new worlds and feeling that initial adrenaline thrill of the unknown. And for a moment as she lost herself in that nostalgia, she almost sideswiped some gaudy pleasure barge.

“Osik!”

After returning a rude gesture out the view screen, she settled back into maintaining the course of encircling the moon. Well, let’s see what Dio is up to. She tapped an identification code into a comm system attached to the gauntlet of her beskar’gam, hovering over the final input key.

What is he going to think, she wondered, never really having put her brother on the spot like this before, just showing up out of nowhere when she had previously told him she had no intention of ever going offworld again. She hit the broadcast key. Yeah, this may surprise him...

“Hello…” Her voice was tentative, unsure of what really would come next. This was a stupid idea, he might not even be here. What the hell was I thinking, coming all the way out here on my own. She waited a couple minutes for a response before mashing on the key again.

“Listen here vod, if I came out all this way to see you and you’re here and ignoring me, I’m going to be…” She chose her next words carefully, “...well, I’m going to have to find your place on my own and then I’ll just let Edee loose to redecorate it.”

Vala glanced behind her chair to the aforementioned monkey lizard, who was currently fiddling with the latest mechanical puzzle she had built to keep him busy during the long flight, and chuckled to herself. Well if that doesn’t get his attention, I don’t know what will.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian laughed out loud at the hilarity of it all. Here he was, needing a way out of this mess and who shows up but his kid sister Vala. He paused before speaking to look over at the small group of Hutt enforcers keeping them from their rides as she started to speak again. The mention of her pet monkey lizard made him frown, Kal knew how much he hated that beast. Hitting the transmit button once more on his comm he answered.

“Its good to hear from you, your timing is impeccable. Home in on my signal, I could use a lift. By the way, come in hot, it will be a warm reception from some folks that are rather upset with me and my friends right now.” He couldn’t help but smile under his helmet. There definitely had to be someone looking out for them somewhere up there.

He hit the transmit button, sending her his location and starting the homing beacon. Looking over at the group he nodded his helmet in reassurance. Our ride will be here in moments, be ready for a hot extraction. Arturo and Cory, when I give the signal, get their heads down and keep them there. The last thing I need is to buy our guardian angel a new star ship.” With that done he turned to look out into the Nar Shaddaa sky, scanning for the familiar pattern of Clan Solus on any of the incoming ships to their area. It had been a while since he had seen his sister, but he knew she had the same ship.

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[Vuthari]

Outside the Hutt House
Corellia Sector
Nar Shaddaa

The trandoshan was getting heavy. Though Vu’thari had some height on him for a twi’lek, he was not a stout frame. Over his shoulder was an easy 220 lbs. of dead weight. Concentrating on his breathing to fuel his energy, the Jedi “Master” waited patiently as Dio took a call from his comlink. From what Vu’thari could surmise, someone Dio trusted was on the other line and they were close in a ship. It seemed the will of the Force found its way to Mando’ade as well.

Raubeek’s Repair shop on Ord Mantell would be a welcome reprieve to Nar Shaddaa, especially not having to hide every single move with chance of discovery from Imperial Hutta. Ord Mantell was a perfect base of operations that allowed flexibility, being a neutral planet among the warring factions. But it still had an outlaw’s charm due to the rampant smuggling that went through those spaceports. Vu’thari knew they would feel right at home…

Focusing on the present, the twi’lek readjusted their “captive” on his shoulder, preparing himself to sprint to where the ship would land. They were hemmed in to the alleyway for the moment, but when that ship came roaring in, those sentries would turn on them. Taking a second glance, Vu’thari could see they were not garbed in Imperial Hutta uniforms. It was possible these were from the Hutt himself or an “ally” to the Hutt. Vu’thari was silently thankful it was not Imperial Hutta guards—that could have complicated things.

Looking over at Dio, he relayed over his comlink for the benefit of their team, “I am afraid to ask who this 'guardian angel' is…I am ready to go when he or she lands.”

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[Arturo Solus]

Well, that complicates things, Arturo thought, standing guard at the back of the group. He faced back the way they'd come, eyes flitting from the far end of the alley to the exit that led into the Hutt House. A ventilation shaft on an adjacent building bellowed a thin layer of steamy smog into the alley, forcing Arturo to squint, the haze distorting his vision, making his job harder than it had to be. The place reeks, too. The 'trash fire' Dio had started had all but burnt itself out, yet it still made its presence known, smoke catching on the gentle breeze, adding to the murk of Nar Shaddaa's alleys. It made Arturo grateful that his helmet's filters were still working.

He tensed up as someone's comm link bleeped, chancing a wary look over his shoulder, settling down as Dio's voice broke the lull. He didn't know who was on the other end, but he could tell from his brother's tentative albeit hearty reply that it was someone important. To him, at least. Maybe they can help get us out of this mess. He hoped they could, or perhaps would. The appearance of an Imperial Hutta squad had complicated things. The fact that they were loitering around the group's getaway seemed minor in comparison to the threat that more lurked nearby, waiting to pounce as soon as they pinned down where the disturbance was coming from. We all knew this would be risky. The thought didn't console him much. He grimaced as Dio got off the line.

"Copy that. You okay with him V?" Arturo asked the Twi'lek as Dio gave out orders, the tracker pausing only long enough to hear a reply before pushing past. He dropped to a knee at the corner, beside Cory. "Looks like it's up to us, C. You ready?" His tone was teasing, almost as if he was trying to make light of a bad situation. He knew the answer would be 'yes, hell yes, damn right,' or 'always!'. He just didn't want to admit to the idea that all of this could end poorly, and that the past few minutes could well be the last few minutes of his life. Of his comrades lives. No, don't think. Do!

Turning to Dio, Arturo gave his friend and brother one final nod, sinking back on his haunches as they waited for their mysterious rescuer to save the day.

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[Corrine Solus]

So Dio knew this person. That was a good sign. Whomever it was though would be coming to them. Also a good sign...? It must be if he was telling this person to come in hot and ready for a battle. Corrine shrugged it off. A rescue was a rescue. She'd look around the corner again just to check the status of their foes when Dio then instructed her and Arturo to lay down some cover fire. Can do. Absolutely. Corrine lived for this. Behind her, Vu'thari would adjust the sleeping Trandosian and settle in next to them. She was still charged with protecting the Twi'lek and she wasn't about to stop that now.

"Stay close Vu-vu. Don't run until you know it's safe." Turning then for a moment to Arturo she'd say to him, "Born ready. Let's see if you can keep up."

She would tease him right back by mentioning a little game of count the dead bodies they all liked to play. Despite her being skillfully accurate with that rifle, she didn't win every time. They still had a chance. Now all they had to wait for was their guardian angel to come swing down so the showdown could begin.

 

[Vala Solus]

Vala quickly glanced from the comm readout on her gauntlet beforing transferring the signal to the ship’s navigational relay. According to the display Dio’s location was somewhere in the Corellian Sector, a higher portion of the vertically structured city, where there were landing platforms a plenty.

But Dio said to come in hot..

And what that meant to her was to get as close to him as possible. Trying to plop this rickety freighter right down onto one of the raised streets in between the buildings would be tight. She could do it, but she’d have felt a whole lot better about it if it wasn’t completely unfamiliar terrain.

“Here we go! Buckle in Edee!” She shouted behind her, and the monkey lizard let out a customary ornery laugh in response. Not one to shirk her own advice, she slid the seat harness over her own shoulders too. This is either going to be fun or totally disastrous… She chuckled to herself at the thought, then veered out of the traffic lane towards the spires.

It wasn’t long before Dio’s location beacon pinged right ahead. Even the hazy flashing neon that was pretty much everywhere on this moon seemed to be obscured by some kind of smoke, either from an exhaust vent of some kind, but more likely a fire. Yeah, knowing Dio, it’s probably a fire.

Vala’s quickly scanned the layout. There was really only one possible landing zone that she had a slim chance of putting the freighter down unscathed. She’d have to be practically perfect to avoid a single scratch, not that she was too worried about that, this thing wasn’t named the Ruug’la Buyca (Ugly Bucket) for no reason.

Alright, let’s try this end of the alley. Her hands began to expertly flip through the switches and buttons on the console while she kept her eyes locked on the view panel. The freighter made it a few stories down before the proximity alarms began to sound followed by an ear-curling screech of durasteel grinding against durasteel. Suddenly everything began bouncing around as massive vibrations echoed through the ship.

The string of curses that flew out of Vala’s mouth were quickly drowned out by the annoyed beeps of the SAD-4A astrogation droid who burst through the cockpit door.

“I know, I know! Sorry gota’ika!! We’ll fix it when we’re outta here!”

With one of the flight stabilizers knocked out, she had a hell of a time regaining control so the ship wouldn’t ping pong across more buildings during the descent through the final level. She’d stick the landing, barely, and probably not without leaving another system bent. Sure enough as the landing gear hit the duracrete, a bunch of sparks erupted from one of the panels, spooking Edee to jump on top of Vala’s head and grab on with a vice-like grip.

The droid spun around and unceremoniously released a fire suppressant goo, then grumbled in binary some more before exiting the cockpit to manually open the cargo door for her brother and his friends.

She hit her gauntlet’s comm button with her chin as she used both hands to pry the monkey lizard off of her. “Well if you didn’t know already Dio, I’m here! Get aboard before something else ends up on fire!”

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

There are times in a man’s life when he is just stuck in a state of awe for several moments. Dio saw the familiar markings of his sister’s freighter the Ugly Bucket as it roared into, he alley. It was majestic, like a leaf on the wind or perhaps a plastic bag caught in a gust. Any comparisons to anything graceful promptly ended as she unceremoniously smashed into the side of one of the buildings at the end of the alley. Well he had said to come in hot.

Dio could not help but laugh out loud and key his comms, “Another perfect landing sis, I’m glad to see you kept your pilot skills up to date.” Turning from the spectacle in the alley, Dio looked to his small group of bandits and nodded. “Get ready to run for it, Ill get their attention.”

As he said the word attention, Dio rose on a geyser of flame, his jet pack activated. He fired his wrist rocket at the small knot of enforcers in an attempt to get their attention from their ride out. The rocket streaked towards its target and exploded just short of the group but right where he placed it. It showered the group with shrapnel and concrete fragments. This caused the enforcers to dive for cover as Dio landed and started sprinting for the freighter.

“LOWER THE RAMP VALA…” Dio shouted into the comms as he ran, trying to suppress a laugh at the same time.

 

[Corrine Solus]

The sight that Corrine got to see made her really glad she wasn't a pilot. While she could fly a ship if she needed to, it wasn't in the girl's blood to do so full time. And after seeing their guardian angel try the stunt she was trying Corrine was especially glad. This person as crazy!.....Corrine kinda liked that.

The ship slid against the metal building and just barely make it to the bottom of the alleyway where the group of them would be waiting for extraction. Corrine's heart was pumping! The adrenaline inside her burned and she started twitching her finger against the side of the gun to prevent her from doing so over the trigger. She was ready to go go go!!!

The voice from the ship, now recognizable to Corrine as female, called for them to board. Corrine was extremely curious as to who this woman was. She'd yet to meet another female in their troupe and this woman had come as such a surprise to Dio she doubted it was his wife. Who then......? Her answer came in his reply as Dio would then call her his sister. Ah. That made sense. He'd mentioned a sister....she thought. Had he? No time to dwell on the matter. It was time for the signal.

Dio would then launch himself over them and fire his wrist rocket to the band of patrolmen in their way. It was clear they were distracted by the sight of this rusty-looking ship practically crashing into the building. His missile crashed into the ground sending shrapnel and concrete everywhere. Corrine shouted in exclamation with a loud 'woooo!'

Now that the signal was given Corrine bolted from her position and began spraying her rifle towards the enforcers. Blaster bolts shot from the gun and over their heads as she pulled the trigger as quickly as the gun allowed. It effectively would keep them from firing back as they feared for their lives and kept behind cover.

"Go go go!" she'd shout as the threat of the enforcers was minimal. She'd then start after the others while continuing to fire from the hip.

Spoiler: OOC

Forgive me for posting twice but my last post I didn't really do anything, so I figured I'd get a dice roll in this time around since she and Arturo were supposed to lead.

 

[Vuthari]

“Hutt House”
Corellia Sector
Nar Shaddaa

The Overhead-class freighter maneuvered expertly through the buildings without too much difficulty. It looked like she was about to set the ship down on the nearest landing pad to the west of their position, but it seemed the “guardian angel” had other plans. The sublight engines roared as the light freighter turned to face the walkway where they could get to the group. The twi’lek wrinkled his brow and looked around to see if anyone was seeing what he was witnessing. Seeing that no one seemed to notice, he mused out loud to no one in particular, “I…don’t think…that…is going to fit…”

His suspicions were confirmed when the freighter slammed into the duracrete building on both sides. Metal started rending and screeching, seeming to gain the attention of any denizen that wanted to listen. The twi’lek’s face wrinkled from the horrendous noise. His mouth was agape at the spectacle of it all. But one thing was certain…there were no eyes on him or the “package” over his shoulder.

Dio made the first move and shot up in the air with his jetpack, scattering the sentries with a well-placed rocket. Cory hunkered down and began spraying the remaining sentries with suppressing fire, yelling, “Go go go!”

It did not take anymore prompting for the Jedi to sprint towards the open ramp on the ship. Channeling the Force through his limbs, the Jedi surged out of the alleyway. Despite the weight on his shoulder, the Jedi crossed the distance to the ship quickly, deftly avoiding any firing sight lines the thugs had. Tearing up the ramp with the trandoshan, the Jedi quickly got inside and laid the trandoshan down behind a trio of crates, checking over the boy to ensure he had not been struck by an errant bolt. Looking over the crates, he checked to see how his “team” was doing with his blaster pistol at the ready...

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[Arturo Solus]

Arturo wasn't looking when the freighter arrived, casting a great shadow across the surrounding blocks, neon-bright lights growing brighter in the 'new-dark'. The low rumble of the ships engines became a keening howl in his ears as it approached, sinking lower and lower, until it was practically right above them. The wave of awe it inspired was palpable, and as Dio broke into laughter, Arturo couldn't help but laugh to. Nerves, maybe, but the tracker couldn't help but see the humor of it all, how incredibly insane this whole thing was. They had hit a Hutt-held building to rescue a prisoner, killed over a half-dozen Hutt enforcers in the process, and now they were waiting for a freighter to land is a space that was, frankly, far too small for its own good, and all while a squad of Imperial Hutta chilled just down the street from them. It was priceless; it was madness.

"Looks like someone's compensating for something," he commented drily, grimacing as the ship parked itself between two buildings. Duracrete and durasteel whined, a hollow sputtering sound filling the alley with noise. Now! Sliding out from around the corner as Dio propelled himself upwards, Arturo fired off a salvo of bolts, a wrist-rocket whirring towards the Imperial Hutta, barely recognizable before the rocket hit, sending up a cloud of dust and rubble.

He ran dry as Vu'thari pegged it by, the first among them to reach the ramp that led to salvation. He drew his pistols and kept firing. He knew he was unlikely to hit anything; that wasn't his job, regardless. Keep their heads down, and move! Turning on his heel, Arturo fell back, hoping his comrades would follow suit. He hit the ramp before the other two, halfway home when a sharp pain spread through his back. The ramp slid out from under his feet, and the cold grey of the floor rose to meet him.

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[Vala Solus]

Vala heard an affirmative beep from from her droid, everyone was on board. Before it even had a chance to retract the ramp and shut the cargo bay door, she boosted the thrusters and began to lift the freighter back into the air. She flipped on the speaker relay to the rest of the ship while she still had a chance, then steadily gripped the flight controls with both hands in an attempt to manually compensate for the trashed starboard flight stabilizer.

“This is your Captain speaking. Hold the fuck on. This is not going to be a smooth exit.” She said in an almost sarcastically calm tone, one that didn’t last that long. “GOT’IKA GET BACK UP HERE!”

The droid spun it’s head as if to look between the various humanoids as it finished sealing up the ship, then rolled off towards the cockpit as best it could as the freighter shook mercilessly. When it finally made it, Vala didn’t even so much as offer it a sideways glance, she was entirely too focused on trying to make a completely vertical launch without shaving the metal off the buildings again along the way.

“Need you to handle auxiliary controls.” She finally grimaced through her teeth to the droid, “This is going to be…”

A loud clang, followed by a near sickening reverberation tore through the ship. If it was shaky before, everything just became increasingly more volatile.

“Shuk’yc!!!” and more colorful curses filled the cockpit, joined by a chorus of what could only be described and expletives in binary. “Yes I know that was the port stabilizer, just maintain the thrusters until I get us out of atmo!!”

She realized in that moment the intra-ship communications were still broadcasting. “Ha Ha! Pare!!! I mean it, you may feel your organs going to your feet… just keep it all inside. We’ll get out of here soon!"

Vala was sure her gallows humor wasn’t going to do much to to assuage their concerns, or even be remotely appreciated, but all she needed was to hold steady for another few seconds and they’d be clear of the buildings and the lack of gravity outside the artificial atmosphere would stop the turbulence. Not like there are any more stabilizers to accidentally knock off anyway, she mused to herself, always ever trying to be an optimist even when they could very possibly explode if she made just one critical error. Just one… more… second… there!

The Ruug'la Buyca, battered to hell and now looking even more deserving of the name the Ugly Bucket, burst up and over the skyline. Vala finally stopped white-knuckling the controls and slowly released them, flexing her fingers to let the blood circulate back in before signaling the droid to ease off.

“Utrel'a!!” She nearly laughed, then switched the comm system off. “Take it from here Got’ika, keep us in one of the high sky lanes while I go make sure I didn’t kill any of them, and find out from Dio where he wants us to land this osik.” The droid went about it’s task without even an insulting beep. The silent treatment was how Vala knew it was really annoyed with her. “It’ll be fine from here, I’m sure.”

She unbuckled her seat harness and yanked Edee the monkey lizard down from the top of her head, where he had been hanging on for dear life since this impromptu rescue mission began. Her first couple of steps were troublesome, almost like her legs were made of jelly and absent bone, but by the time she made it out of the cockpit door and down into the cargo doors she was walking as steady as she could be given the circumstances. Even without gravity to really complicate matters, the lack of stabilizers didn’t exactly allow for the remainder of this flight to be remotely smooth.

She burst into the hold with laughter, getting her first good look at her brother’s ‘friends’. “Wayii!!! That was exciting! What did I just bail you out of? Was it crime?” Her eyes got big, like an expression one may be more used to seeing on a young and innocent child, and not so much on an armor-clad Mandalorian woman.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian landed and ran up the ramp of his sister’s freighter just as it started to lift off the ground. Blaster fire hit the structure around him, but it was sporadic and ineffective. The ramp started to raise and Dio made his way into the ship from the exterior. He had been the first in the door of the target and he was the last one stepping off the ground after the mission. They had achieved their mission so far but Dio knew there was still work to be done.

Dio made his way to the crews’ quarters to find his friends. He assisted Vu’thari in making their unconscious new friend comfortable. Well as comfortable as one can be when restrained to a chair in the crew quarters. He took a moment to look around and make sure they were all intact and then the adrenalin dump hit him, and his knees started to buckle a bit. He covered the situation by sitting down in a chair and removing his helmet. He was covered in sweat and smelled like a trash bin, but he had a smile on his face as big as a moon.

As his sister came running into the room he looked up from his chair and decided not to stand. Discretion was the better part of valor, but he raised his arms in that come give me a hug expression and waved his arms at her. As she started gushing about excitement and the inevitable questions came, Dio looked over at their unconscious Trandoshan friend and shrugged. “Crime? Me? You must have me mixed up with someone else. A rapscallion perhaps. I... my dear sister, am a freedom fighter and a mechanic. I am definitely not a criminal.” He laughed at that and then gestured around the room. “Everyone meet our savior Vala, my sister. Vala, this is Vu’thari, Cory, and Arturo. Cory is married to our friend Malagith. Arturo is a clan brother and Vu’thari is my business partner.” He let that hang, allowing for the other persons in the cramped crew’s quarters to make their own additions to his impromptu introductions.

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[Corrine Solus]

Behind her, the team was running as quickly as they could. Corrine continued to fire her blaster to keep the guards down and her friends up. Luckily she wasn't paying attention to them so much as the troopers. Had she even looked back, she might have seen Vu'thari showing an impressive display of physical force. The fact he was not only carrying the heavy alien but sprinting faster than even the Mandalorians doing it...that would have confirmed everything for her. What with the way he knew where the prisoners were, how he could make the Trandoshan kid just fall asleep. All of that would confirm he was indeed some sort of Force user.

BUT! Since she didn't see him running it hadn't quite yet clicked in her head. Which was good because she really needed to stay focused and make sure the people with the guns were too scared to try and use them. She'd follow after her comrades making sure she was the last to board the ship. With all the blaster fire going back and forth, and the loud humming of the engines, she didn't notice Arturo practically fainting behind her. It wasn't until the ramp closed up and she turned around that she'd nearly trip over him.

"Ah!" she shrieked while trying to regain her balance. "Arturo! Are you hurt?!"

She dropped her gun right there and then and crouched down next to him. Taking off her helmet she threw that aside too and would start looking over his body for any blaster burns. She didn't see any, but his iron skin had taken a lot of abuse over the years. If any of the others looked at her while she checked on him, they'd see her face was full of worry. And why wouldn't she be. All of them were like brothers to her. She had never said she loved them as such, but it was obvious she did. Corrine always took care of them. She cooked for them. Heck, she cleaned the shop for them too. It was a very womanly thing she liked to do and in her mind that bothered her. She was just glad none of them picked up on it.

"Arturo! Answer me, you kriffing idiot!"

Around her, the ship's engines would begin to purr loudly. The floor shook in a calming kind of way that let the Mandalorian passengers know they were airborne. But the ride was anything but calm. Their guardian angel seemed hell bent on grinding them to dust. She could hear the sound of durasteel on durasteel shredding against on another. It made her ears cringe and Corrine had to stop worrying about Arturo for a moment to cover her ears.

And then everything got much more chaotic. The ship began to shake more as something broke she didn't see or hear from her current position in the back. But with the way things were rocking she knew it wasn't anything good. The oncoming turbulence would quake the back of the ship so hard that Corrine suddenly lost balance and would fall on top of her ward. Well, if Arturo wasn't hurt now the added weight of Corrine.......'S BESKAR'GAM on top of him would. Yes. It was her armor that was heavy. JUST the armor!

Over the roar of the engines Corrine would hear their pilot still calling out to a droid more than likely. But they weren't exactly in a position to point out the comm system right then. She clearly more pressing things to worry about. And if Corrine was any sort of mechanic savvy perhaps she could have then helped out. Perhaps one of the boys would go and assist. She was having...issues of her own right then.

Thankfully the bumpy ride only lasted for a minute more and the gravity controls in the ship took over; they'd likely left the system's atmosphere and were now in cold space. Corrine let out a sigh, still fully aware she was lying on top of Arturo, and then relaxed against him. He probably didn't appreciate that. But he had to understand she was a little afraid for her life there. She would then sit up and laugh while rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"You are not comfy at all in that thing, Arturo."

A whooshing sound would then signal that someone had entered the hold with them and Corrine looked up to see the woman who'd be introduced as Vala. She was younger than Corrine expected. But only by a couple of years. The one thing that Corrine also noticed, she was wayyyy to excited for what had just happened. If Corrine wasn't just afraid of crashing into a thousand pieces she might have enjoyed the situation too. She normally liked the thrill and danger of things like that. But in those circumstances she was the one in control and she was the one taking the risk. Her life had been in someone's hands that she had not known prior to this meeting.

The woman was asking too many questions that the Mandalorians didn't need to be sharing with her. Family or not, what they were doing could get them all in trouble. Best to leave the innocent girl out of it. Dio would have the same idea. He quickly came up with some half-poor attempt to lie to his sister. It clearly wasn't true and she totally wouldn't believe him. But perhaps that was the kind of relationship this brother and sister pair had. Either that or she was smart enough when not to ask questions.

He would then switch subjects -smart!- and make introductions for them all. Vala Solus. She wondered if she was the type of girl that Corrine could get along with. Or the type of girl she'd instantly hate. She hoped for the latter. Because it never failed that after a few days of being around one another those two types switched. The person she liked...she hated. And the person she originally hated, turned out to be her best friend. It was an exact science. Corrine was a little distracted by the fact she was watching over Arturo to make any remarks about it though. She'd let the boys talk to her for now.

 

[Vuthari]

Vala Solus’ Ship
Corellia Sector
Nar Shaddaa

The Jedi Master was worn out. It had been some time since calling on the Force with such frequency. It was far more effort using the Force to hide it than to be open about it. But this was not the time for such “revelations”. The twi’lek knew he would have to at least tell his business partner at some point…it was inevitable. But now was not such a time.

Vu’thari moved to the back of the cargo area, across from Arturo and Cory. She was doctoring him up, thankfully. He was watching when Arturo was shot in the back and he was going to try and accelerate his healing using the Force, but he was glad Cory came to his side—he was quite sure if he called on the Force to heal, he would have passed out from the exertion of the effort.

Sinking down the bulkhead, Vu’thari got off his feet for a few precious moments, trying to rest in the event this whole scenario got “hairy” once more…and it could. After a couple of moments, Vu’thari pulled himself up and made his way to the cockpit. Peaking in, the twi’lek offered, “Vala…Vu’thari, nice to meet you. Your timing is nice as well…if you need a co-pilot, let me know.”

The unsaid words were “because I know you need one…like now.”

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[Arturo Solus]

"Ack! Not so loud!"

Rolling onto his back, Arturo -alive and kicking, apparently?- took the chance to just lie down and rest his weary bones, blinking as the shadow of a friend blocked out the stars swimming across his vision. His back hurt, his head hurt- everything kriffing hurts! He thought, a hand drifting to his chest, tender ribs aching, the wind everso slowly returning to his strained lungs. Through the clangor of ship-noise he could hear the doors seal shut by his feet. We made it then. And not soon enough, it seemed. Who knew how many more Imperial Hutta were out there? Too many for them to deal with, that was for damn sure.

The ship shook violently as they began to rise, the engines screeching in complaint. Or is that durasteel? The tracker wondered, his half-dazed state leaving him pondering for too long, distracting him as he missed the save. Cory landed on him, awkwardly, sending a stab of pain arching through his entire being. He growled, holding back the need to lash out at something; Damn Imps! Why is it always me? Settling back against the floor, the coldness soothing, Arturo breathed. Inhale, exhale, inhale... He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, it was over. A mop of red hair and an embarrassed gesture calmed the anger swelling in his chest, the non-too-pleasant pressure lifted. "Ha! I could say the same to you," he would retort, sitting up as they broke atmo.

A tentative touch left him gasping as he checked his ribs for the...second- third time, an arm wrapping itself protectively around his abdomen as he used his freehand to get up. Ahh, I hope this is all worth it, he thought, bitter. His friends weren't to fault, they had done their jobs and watched his back. He was bitter about the fact that he'd let a bunch of backwater toy-soldiers get the drop on him. He tried to quell the disappointment welling up in his gut as he turned to Cory. He forced a half-hearted smile, reaching out to nudge the Eldar woman's shoulder appreciatively. A nod accompanied the gesture. "Thank you, C. I'll be okay. Might...go introduce myself...to our savior. Maybe...compliment her piloting skills." He grinned, sarcasm overwhelming.

If he didn't know better, he would've assumed that the pilot was trying to finish him off. That was one hell of an exfil, after all.

---
​

He found himself a seat just as Dio finished making introductions. "Yeah, everything we do is legitimate." Arturo interjected, sending a lazy salute Vala's way, winking at Dio, the message clear: I got you covered, vod. Thanks for the concern, by the way. The hint of challenge was thinly veiled, but Arturo let it rest, his head lulling to one side as his battered body began to finally wind down. He was too damn tired for any further conflict, and he knew, deep down, that he was being ridiculous. Not that it matters. Looking around, the tracker could make out neither hide nor hair of Vu'thari. If he had, he might've told the Twi'lek 'good job' or 'well done'- something along those lines. That could wait, though.

Glancing over at Vala, Arturo nodded a proper greeting. "Vala, Arturo Solus. It's..an honor to finally make your acquaintance. Dio's talked a lot about you," he shot a glance at the man, a subtle smirk tugging at his lips, "and about a certain 'lizard monkey demon' that he so adores."

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[Vala Solus]

Vala gave her brother a hug, then stepped back to listen to his introductions of the others and look at each of them in kind. She greeted them each with a nod and then turned to give Dio the world’s most skeptical look.

“Yeah, uh huh, not crime. It’s neeeeeeeeeeever crime. Well then, I am happy to have been able to be your ride from your briikasak.” She followed up her sarcasm with a smirk. “Well, where are we fleeing… I mean flying to? The droid can manage the autopilot for now, but I’ll have to get back up to the cockpit once we’re ready to jump away from lane traffic.”

Vala turned to Arturo and chuckled at his comment about her pet, “I’d bring him out to meet you, but I think if he saw Dio he may just lose his lunch everywhere. He’s finicky like that.” She offered him a wink, then arched her brow at him as if she had finally gotten a really good look at him.

She then turned to Corry, who appeared to be tending to the injured man. “He’s not dying right? I’m sure there’s a med kit somewhere in this junkheap if you need it.” The young Mandalorian looked at the other woman for a moment, her eyes apologetic. Vala’s gut instinct gave her the impression that Corry wasn’t sure what to expect of her, and she didn’t blame her. A true Mandalorian warrior like her had been out wreaking havoc with her brother, while she was well past the age of should have been doing likewise… and instead I was too di'kutla to leave Mandalore until now..

She snapped out of that thought and quickly filled the silence, “Alright, heading back to the cockpit to prep going to wherever…!”

*******​

Vala was in the middle of going through the checklist of flight systems when her monkey-lizard let out a screech. Her head swiveled around in time to see the Vu’thari peeking into the cockpit to offer her a hand.

“Sure, why not.. Don't mind the monkey-lizard, he has no manners.” She gestured to the co-pilot’s chair, then sighed at her droid as it vacated the spot, “..See if you can try and get some of the backups online Got’ika. Maybe the rest of this trip doesn’t have to feel like we’re being run over by a shatual herd.”

She continued going through the flight systems for a moment, then gave the Twi’lek a long and curious look, “So you’re not a Mandalorian, how’d you..” her voice trailed off when she realized now wasn’t the time to let her curiosity get the better of her. She shook her head, “Nevermind. You know where we’re going?”

 

[Vuthari]

Vala Solus’ Ship
Corellia Sector
Nar Shaddaa

“Sure, why not…”

She was saying something about a monkey-lizard as he eyed the annoying creature, but there were other matters to attend to—like quickly getting off the Smuggler’s Moon. Without hesitation, the twi’lek slipped into the co-pilot’s chair as the ship began to take off again, but it lurched heavily multiple times and felt as if it was about to roll over. Vu’thari looked down at the warning indicators and looked back up at Vala with a bit of shock, “We lost both stabilizers?”

Already knowing the answer to that question, he did as requested and started rerouting power to the back-up systems, including more thrust to the maneuvering jets. The twi’lek smirked at the young Mandalorian’s comparison to a shatual herd and replied, “Yeah, no guarantees there…” As if to add emphasis, the ship bucked again as it approached the small bit of Nar Shaddaa atmosphere.

Vala was about to ask what his deal was, being the only non-Mand’oa, but decided to save that conversation for later. She asked where they were going.

Vu’thari answered quickly, “Hollastin…not far from here. I am punching in the coordinates now. If should be able to just—”

The Overhead freighter bucked, but this time not due to a lack of stabilizers. Alarms began to sound and Vu’thari did a quick scan. Looking over to Vala, he said, “We have a starfighter on our six…looks like our friends got a word off to an available space asset.”

Yelling back to the cargo area, Vu’thari yelled, “Someone get on that turret! We have company!”

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OOC/Dice Thread

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Diocletian heard the call through the ships communications system that they had a fighter on their tail. Springing into action, Dio ran down to the shaft that connected main freighter to its dorsal mounted light dual laser turret. Climbing up the ladder he settled into the gunner’s seat. He pulled down the headset that would connect him to the ships communications and slid it on. With the flicking of a few switches and tapping of several buttons, he was up and scanning for their mysterious pursuit.

Dio took a moment to focus, wiping the sweat from his eyes and starting to scan the area to the rear of their Overhead freighter. Up popped the pursuing ship and Dio took the opportunity to pepper it with shots from the dual laser turret. The pilot of the pursuing ship tried to duck and dodge but Dio kept up the pressure, reflexes forged in combat being put to good use in the turret. The small ship’s shields could not stand up to that sort of sustained pounding and shots started getting through. After only a few minutes the faux space battle was over, the pursuing ship breaking apart under the barrage from the dual laser turret. “Pursuit eliminated, our tail is clear.”

Dio scanned the sky for a few moments to be sure it was a single. When he was sure they had no further immediate pursuit, he removed the headset and left the turret. He climbed back down the ladder and headed back to the crew area to check on their guest. He was still unconscious and firmly secured, Arturo and Cory faithfully keeping watch on him. Cory was also in the process of handling Arturo’s injuries, Dio walked over and checked on the process. He gave Arturo a reassuring hand on his shoulder, knowing his friend was in good hands with Cory.

After checking that all of his people and the prisoner were accounted for and being attended to, Dio made his way up to the bridge. On his way he ran into Evee in the hallway. Dio never broke stride, he snatched up the monkey lizard by its scruff and tossed it into a maintenance locker. Closing the door, he smiled to himself and then continued into the bridge. “Lets get to Hollastin and get this done.”

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