Open (Lok) Fancy Meeting You Here

[Atris Tharen]

Outer Rim: The Planet Lok
(Aboard a slave trader’s ship, somewhere above the planet Lok)
​

Atris should have known it was a trap. All the signs had been there. Under any other circumstances she would have acknowledged this fact, but the moment she had seen the tears flowing from that young twi’lek’s green eyes, all common sense was thrown out the airlock. She did not consider her affinity for children a fault, but she had never been as close to considering it a weakness as she was now.
It was a struggle to think coherently through the throbbing in her head, and opening her eyes was out of the question at present. Instead, she pressed her eyes closed tight and breathed through the pain, an attempt to collect herself.

**Twenty-five minutes earlier...**

Lok—a dusty, barren planet that had acquired the reputation of being “not much of a planet.” Atris had never been to Lok before, and to her knowledge Nym’s Stronghold was the only major city on the planet. Named after a warlord living during the time of the infamous Clone Wars and who later declared war on the Trade Federation, Nym’s Stronghold attracted pirates, smugglers, slavers, and petty criminals.
Due to the planet’s location on the outer rim, its barrenness, and its past history with warlords and pirates—it was an ideal place for anyone who wanted to disappear. Atris was here to find one such disappearing trandoshan and return him to Coruscant where he would pay for his crimes against the galaxy.
Nym’s Stronghold’s, by all appearances, was like any other city that attracted the smugglers and criminals of the galaxy—dirty and run down. It reminded her greatly of her hometown, Mos Eisley.

As Atris was passing by a dark alley one evening, in search of the trandoshan, a small, quivering voice called out to her. “Miss! Miss!” Approaching the small twi’lek child while Atris from the shadows, she took a crouching position to become eye level with the child.

“You must help me,” the twi’lek girl pleaded, her lips quivering. Atris felt sick to her stomach when she saw the scratches and bruising on the girl’s beautiful purple skin.

“Of course I will help you,” Atris assured her, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on the girl’s arm. “What is your name?”

The girl did not answer. Her arm momentarily trembled under the touch of Atris’ hand before relaxing into it. “They... they took me from my mommy...and—and my daddy.” She began to sob, her shoulders shaking violently.

“Where are your parents?”

“I... I don’t know—they took me from home—“

Slavers, Atris thought with distaste. The important thing was to get the child to safety before dealing with these scum. “Come along... take my hand, and we’ll go somewhere safe. We can make you comfortable and see about getting you back to your parents.”

The girl’s eyes became frantic, her mannerisms choppy. “No—! No, they—we have to go to them now! They—they took my little brother!”

“They have your little brother?”

“Yes,” she nodded emphatically. She wrapped her small arms around Atris’ neck and squeezed tight. “Please, miss! You have to help me!”

“I will,” Atris promised the girl. “Lead me to your brother. I want you to stay behind me and hide, alright?”

The girl nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes. I understand.” She took hold of Atris’ hand and led her at a fast past through one alley after another, finally coming to a stop in front of a rundown and abandoned warehouse.

“Your brother is in there?”

“Yes,” the girl whispered. She pointed to a window on the second floor. “I escaped through there. Please... be careful.”

“Hide behind those crates. I will be back shortly.” Atris scaled the decaying siding and entered the warehouse through the open window on the second floor. It was pitch black inside the warehouse. She reached for her lightsaber on her utility belt. The second she took a step forward in the darkness, several sharp blows were struck to the back and her head, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor. ​

Atris could perfectly recall what had occurred and wished she couldn’t; she was furious with herself for being so stupid and charging into that warehouse like a mudhor. Now able to open her eyes, she glanced about the dimly lit room she found herself imprisoned within. She was seated on the floor, her hands restrained behind her in binders. They were on a ship, most likely somewhere above Lok. Not much time could have passed since she had been knocked out. It was a large ship, so there had to be an escape pod.

She groaned in her throat, still furious with herself and running through her options in her head. She shifted to scoot backwards but found that she was not alone. Turning her neck to see her companion bound behind her, she asked, “And how did you end up here?”

@ open to anyone who wants to join

 

[Syrin V0ss]

Lok was one of Syrin's favorite places to go to whenever she wanted to play a game of Sabacc. Though she had a bad reputation for being a winner, mostly because she cheated; no one ever seemed to figure it out. However, there was always a bigger fish, in this case, a better cheater; a trandoshan whose name she never learned. He was always at her favorite cantina, and he was always waiting for Syrin to return for another game. Yes, she could have easily just accused him of cheating, but that would take away the fun. Besides, the trandoshan knew just as well that Syrin was cheating in Sabacc. Entering a cantina, The Drunken Wookie, Syrin noticed the trandoshan wasn't in the usual spot. A thug she hasn't seen before walked up to explain, "That punk moved to another spot, heard it's just up the block in an old lookin warehouse."

Sketchy was written all over the building. Syrin couldn't help but notice a small Twi'lek girl being given a handful of credits at the front of the warehouse. It seems the little girl was up to no good, but it eased Syrin's nerves; lots of children would get paid for doing jobs for establishments in this area. Syrin made her way into the warehouse, and it was a nasty looking bar. Some extra dirty thugs sat around drinking and she could hear the sound of some men in the back; she figured the trandoshan was back there. Syrin made her way towards the back, but when she looked into the room there was nobody in there. She immediately caught on that something was going on but the moment she turned around a dart hit her in her lower neck. Five thugs made her way over towards her ready to fight, and so Syrin made the first move. She sent two of the thugs flying backward with a powerful force push, but something felt odd. It felt as if she was tired already, which seemed strange at first; "A simple force push shou-" her thoughts cut off as she realized the dart contained some sort of poison or sleeping agent. The three standing thugs tried to rush Syrin but she let out a force bellow. The men staggered and covered their ears, while Syrin collapsed to the floor. She was still conscious, but her body seemed to have given out. The five thugs immediately surrounded her and began to stomp on her until she was knocked out cold.

Waking up with her hands cuffed and a shock collar around her neck was not exactly how Syrin expected for her day to go. Her whole body ached, and she would have very noticeable bruises all over her right cheek and the right side of her body. She sat there for a few minutes, fuming with anger until the door in front of her opened. It seemed another girl was caught, and she was tossed into the room. Syrin immediately tried to stand up and charge at the guards, but she was immediately shocked. She screamed while writhing in pain. Two greasy and ugly looking guards laughed as they closed the door and walked away. Syrin slowly inched her way back to where she was sitting so she could rest her body up against the wall. She assumed she was on some sort of slave ship, and that the girl and herself were about to be sold as sex slaves. About 10 minutes went by and it seems her companion was finally awake, and she seemed to be in some pain as well. Syrin was rather surprised by how calm the stranger spoke, but she didn't really feel like responding. One could feel anger almost radiating off of Syrin, and with a loud sigh she simply said: "I had a rough encounter."

 

[Atris Tharen]

It was hard to see details with what little lighting the room produced, but Atris could make out a scar on the left side of her companion’s face, and there was no missing the girl’s snow white hair. She was pretty, and Atris was sure no good fate awaited them aboard this ship.

The anger radiating from her white-haired companion was compelling, over-whelming even, but Atris could not blame her. There was extensive bruising and a shock collar around her neck; no doubt she had put up a fight before being taken prisoner—and a good one at that, but they had beaten her badly and unsympathetically. She did not like to imagine it.

“Are you hurt badly?” Atris asked with concern. She knew the question was obvious; it was clear to see that her white haired companion was hurt, but the question was second nature to her and could not go unasked. Having spent the last two years working in med-clinics, health and wellness habitually came to mind first.

Her dark eyes scanned the room as she maneuvered her bound hands to her waist, searching for anything their captors may have left behind. Nothing. They had been thorough, of course. Not only were her lightsabers gone but her entire utility belt. Well, they’re not stupid, she thought irritably, disappointed. She loved it when the bad guys were stupid.

Indulging in her self-anger and disappointment long enough, she took a deep breath, focusing and calming her mind and emotions as best as she could. Then she returned her attention to her companion. “I fear that there will be little hope of escape once they reach their destination, wherever that may be. Our best chance is to make our escape while in orbit. We can’t be too far from Lok at the moment,” she reasoned, “And on a ship of this size there’s bound to be an escape pod or two. First we’ve got to get out of these.” She held up her hands, still bound by the stun-cuffs.

@Syrin V0ss

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

Syrin let out an angry grunt to the stranger's question and quickly responded with assertiveness: "I'm fine." She felt humiliated, and the number one thing on her mind was breaking out of the room and brutally beat down her captors. Syrin watched as the stranger failed to find anything in the room, "No use. The only way we're getting out is by breaking down that door. If I didn't have this shock collar on I would have been out a while ago." Her hands being cuffed had no effect, as she has some proficiency in utilizing her feet. However, the shock collar would instantly immobilize her if any sudden movements were made. Syrin assumed the stranger wasn't a force user, as it seemed she didn't put up that much of a fight due to the lack of bruises.

An idea suddenly popped into Syrin's head. Syrin could attempt to try and use cryokinesis on the girl's cuffs, and then the girl could break them once they were completely frozen. The plan wasn't full-proof, but it was worth a shot; the only problem was that Syrin only had enough energy for one attempt, and she has never attempted to use cryokinesis with her feet. Syrin was only capable of doing an average force push and somewhat being able to use aerokinesis. There was no other plan that she could come up with, so she slowly got up from the ground as to not trigger the shock collar. She then crept over to her new-found companion and placed her foot onto the middle of the cuffs.

Concetration was key. In the worst-case scenario, Syrin would somehow be too proficient and freeze her foot. The opposite worst-case scenario would be that she failed because that means she wasted her energy for no reason. Syrin took a deep breath and imagined all the heat being drained away directly beneath her foot. It was the same concept as when she does it with her hand, but it was much harder to visualize. However, her anger assisted her, as she unknowingly tapped into the dark side of the force once again. Ice crystals would start to form on the cuffs and they seemed to be slowly covered with frost. Syrin stopped after reaching a certain point, not wanting to freeze her partner's hand. She back her foot away and began gasping for air as she fell to her knees. "That should .... work...."

 

[Atris Tharen]

Atris felt the ice slowly forming around the stun-cuffs but remained silent and tried to not think about the cold creeping into her hands; far better to experience a bit of frostbite than to remain a captive. It was kind of the girl to use what was probably her last bit of energy, considering the heating she’d taken, to help Atris.

Atris had intended to sense the layout of the locks and manipulate them to unlock, but the girl had a determined, angered look on her face, and she was not about to argue with her. The darkside permeated from the girl—only for a moment, but long enough for Atris to sense. She was a force user, and that was good because of the situation that found themselves in, but Atris did not know how she put her abilities to use. It did not matter at present. No matter this girl’s past, she did not deserve whatever these slavers had planned for her, and what they needed to focus on now was helping one another escape.

As the girl fell to her knees, Atris applied pressure to the stun-cuffs, and they shattered to pieces. That had been a impressive use of the force on the girl’s part, and it had worked like a charm. “Thank you,” Atris said sincerely, on her feet right away and positioning herself behind the girl to begin work on her stun-cuffs. “This will take a minute.”

She closed her eyes and focused. Slowly everything around her faded into darkness, far away from her mind, and all that remained was the inner workings of the locking mechanisms within these stun-cuffs. Every lever, every cam, every tumbler—one by one they began to visualize in her mind, and one by one she memorized them. The final step, she fluidly ran her hand above the lock, manipulating it to the correct position. Then she heard the reward of her labors: the lock opened with a satisfying click.

“There,” she stated quietly, carefully removing the stun-cuffs from her companion’s hands. “That’s one removed.” Reaching toward the shock collar around the girl’s neck, she hesitated. The shock collar would be trickier than the stun-cuffs had been. She wanted to make sure she had the girl’s permission before she continued. “Is it alright if I remove the collar? Or would you rather?”

@Syrin V0ss

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

Syrin wanted to be surprised about the stranger being a force user, but she was more focused on not passing out. She assumed the stranger was a Jedi, as those of the opposite faction tended to not be as willing to help. With the cuffs now off, Syrin rotated her hand around to stretch her wrists; her hands were paler than usual due to the cuffs being so tight they slightly cut off her circulation.

Though her hands were free, it didn't really make Syrin any happier. Normally she would just freeze her shock collar as well but she was too tired to do so. "Go ahead and do it," she said with an exhausted tone. Syrin wasn't entirely sure how they were going to escape now, but she assumed that the girl could use the same trick with the cuffs with the door. She felt disappointed that she was going to be a burden on the stranger, as she wouldn't be able to be that useful in her current state. However, that wasn't going to stop her from getting her revenge on at least one of the thugs. While the stranger was working on the collar, Syrin would introduce herself: "Voss, Syrin Voss." Her voice still sounded exhausted, but it wasn't as bad as before.

@Atris Tharen

 

[Atris Tharen]

Atris smiled softly at the introduction and turned toward the task at hand. “I’m Atris Tharen. I can honestly say it’s a pleasure to meet you, Syrin—though I wish we had met under different circumstances.” She moved to her knees to take the weight off her feet as she worked. “Thanks again for getting me out of those cuffs. It’s a lot easier when someone else does it.” A minute or two of silence passed, and then there was another faint click.

“That’s that,” she stated, holding the shock collar out for Syrin to see before tossing the collar to one side with distaste and standing abruptly, turning toward the door. “Someone is coming,” she said, followed by the sound of footsteps.

There was the sound of a keypad being used outside the door, and then the door opened with a hiss, revealing a green rodian standing there, his pupil-less eyes staring inward with shock at the two freed prisoners. Outstretching a hand, Atris pulled him into the room and then force pushed him against the wall. The blow had taken him by surprise, and he was out cold instantly.

Rummaging through the rodian’s pockets, Atris found a keycard and took the DL-44 blaster pistol from his hip. She had never been very good with a pistol, so she handed the pistol to Syrin in the hopes that she would make better use of it than she could. “We had better hurry. They might come looking for him, and we’ve got to find our gear before we head for the escape pods.” She proffered a hand to Syrin to help her to her feet, should she want to take it.

@Syrin V0ss

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

Turning her head towards the confused Rodian, Syrin was ready to charge him until Atris knocked him out. She felt a little disappointed that she wasn't the one to knock him out but the task was done. However, Syrin had a slight change of mind once given the blaster. She wasn't very proficient with a blaster but she could do some work with it, and she already knew what her first shot would be. Syrin stood up without taking Atris hand and pointed the blaster at the Rodian's legs, firing into both of his kneecaps. She contemplated shooting him in the head, but she figured her companion would be more disappointed with that choice.

Syrin was not as angry anymore, but she still was gonna get revenge on the others. She looked back towards Atris "Lead the way partner." Syrin already felt that Atris was a trust-worthy person, so she didn't worry about having to follow her.

@Atris Tharen

 

[Atris Tharen]

The two shots to the Rodian’s legs were distasteful and perhaps a bit over the top in Atris’ mind, but she remained silent and did not say a word nor betray her feelings on the matter. She could not blame her companion for her desire to enact revenge upon their captors, particularly considering the beating Syrin had been given. They were slavers and therefore, naturally, vile life forms. Two blaster shots to the knee caps was a small punishment in comparison to the many crimes and travesties they had no doubt committed throughout the galaxy.

Once outside their room, they found themselves in a long, dark hallway that had five or six doors along each side. This was the cell block. Keycard in hand, Atris began opening the door to each cell, one by one, to free anyone else who might have been taken captive. To her relief, each cell was empty. We were the first of this shipment, she thought angrily. This had slowed them down, but there was no question that it had to be done. No one could be left in the hands of these criminals.

Turning on her heel, she led the way down the hallway, acting confident in her direction but not entirely sure of the way to go. She simply followed where she felt the force was leading her, hopefully in the direction of their gear.

Several slow and agonizing moments passed in silence, only the sound of the two girl’s shoes against the floors filled the air. They had yet to run across anyone. Atris had expected resistance right out of the gate. “I think our gear is right around this corner. Strange we haven’t run into...” she began to whisper to her companion, but she had spoken too soon. Footsteps could be heard approaching, and Atris immediately pressed herself to the wall.

As the three criminals rounded the corner, Atris grabbed the first man around the neck from behind and began to choke him out. When he reached for his blaster, she force pulled it from his hands and sent it flying across the ship’s hallway.

@sayso @Syrin V0ss

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

Syrin stood back and watched as Atris checked each cell. When she saw that they were empty, Syrin realized that they have not left Lok yet, or at least they were still near Lok. This means that their escape could be achievable, but it could also mean that they may run into more resistance than usual. She followed Atris down the hallway, trying to keep her breathing to a minimum. She immediately pressed herself against the wall next to her partner, and covered her mouth; she tried to make as little sound as possible.

Atris did a good job attacking the first guard, but now Syrin had the other two to worry about. Luckily, they were caught off guard and seemed distracted by Atris. Syrin aimed her blaster to one of the thug's head and put 3 blaster bolts into his forehead; she turned to do the same to the other criminal, but all but one shot missed. The shot that landed knocked the criminal's gun out of his hand, leaving him defenseless, but Syrin had to reload her pistol. With not much time left she force pulled the dropped gun and finished off the disarmed criminal.

@llamallove

 

[Atris Tharen]

Syrin dealt with the other two slavers in a swift and precise manner. “Nice shot,” Atris grinned, impressed but not surprised by her skill. The third slaver slipped from Atris’ arms and into a heap on the floor beside his two companions.

Rounding the corner, Atris sprinted down the hallway in the direction the three slavers had come and stopped in front of a locked door. She slid the trandoshan’s key card, and to her relief the card reader lit green, and the doors hissed open to reveal the ship’s armory. “Here’s where they’ll have stored our gear.” She strode into the room and began searching for her belongings.

The room was full of all manner of blasters, armor, and weapons—some of which Atris had never even seen before. Evidently these slavers were good at their jobs and had taken captive all manner of life forms, and judging by some of this armor, not all of their captives had been easy marks.

Ah, there you are, Atris thought to herself, relief washing over her as she found her gear stuffed in the bottom of a chest beside two explosive charges. Strapping the utility belt around her waste, she returned her two lightsabers to their rightful place at her side.

Now was the time of decision. Either they made a run for the escape pods now—a feat Atris had every bit of confidence that they could accomplish; or they sabotaged the ship and put a stop to this evil and to all the slavers aboard and then made a run for the escape pods. Atris was in favor of the second option, but she knew the chances of success were much smaller than those of the first.

She turned toward Syrin and said, “The way I see it, we have two options. Either we escape now or we try to blow up the ship before we leave. On a ship of this size, it’s bound to be powered by a reactor—probably a fusion or chemical. If we could make our way to the reactor...” She reached into the chest and showcased the two explosive charges. “We could set these timed charges. That would buy us a few minutes to make our way to the escape pods. Once the charges detonate, it’ll set off a chain reaction, and the whole ship will blow.”

Atris stopped speaking and stared into Syrin’s green eyes, waiting for her companion’s opinion and verdict. “What do you think?”

@sayso

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

Syrin slowly followed behind Atris. Syrin didn't have much on her when she was captured other than a handful of credits, so she didn't really need to grab anything from the armory; though she still entered to look around. She found a small vibroknife with an engraved handle; it seemed valuable. Syrin took the vibroknife to use and to sell later.

With a quick spin Syrin had turned around to face Atris. Syrin would have rather killed everyone on the ship and then use the ship for herself but blowing up the reactor seemed sufficient enough. Before Syrin was about to give her response, the ship alarms went off. A few footsteps could be heard down the hallway, with there being a particularly large sounding footstep moving faster than the others.

There was no time to really think, and Syrin had just recovered a good bit of her stamina. She force pulled a R-799 Micro-Missile Gun off a wall mount, thinking it was a grenade launcher. Syrin aimed the gun down the hallway and fired all 6 shots; a large explosion could be seen and very well heard down the hallway, but the sound of footsteps was gone. Turning her head to Atris, Syrin said: "Let's find that reactor."

@llamallove

 

[Atris Tharen]

The threat had been neutralized and dealt with before Atris had even a second to react. With a missile gun in hand, Syrin had literally blown the hostiles away. “Telling you ‘nice shot’ is going to be a bit of a regular occurrence, isn’t it?” Atris chuckled, exiting the armory and continuing down the hallway.

The doorway at the end of the hall was blown in two and still smoking as Atris stepped over it and the corpses lying nearby. “No need for this, thanks to you,” she smiled, waving the keycard in the air before returning it to her pocket.

The room they found themselves in was in shambles and still partially filled with smoke and small flames from the six shots Syrin had fired, but one thing that was thankfully still in one piece was the computer terminal.

The computer was an older model, but it worked perfectly despite this, and within a few moments Atris had accessed the ship’s layout. “It doesn’t look like we’re too far from the main reactor...” she thought aloud, taking one lightsaber in hand and leading the way down another hallway. One hallway after another, and they finally came stop at the beginning of a much longer hallway. There was a door at the end. “The main reactor should be just through that door. We’d better hurry. I have the feeling that lot you blew away wasn’t the last of them.”

@sayso @Asteroid

 

[Markus Brenner]

Markus reclined in his seat at the bridge as he continued to run an oiled cloth across the length of his blade. He was content to exists in his own little world every time he was maintaining his weapons or equipment, he never understood why other people in his profession had a tendency to thumb their nose at what little routine maintenance their equipment required; a faulty blaster or a full blade would get you killed out there, the least you could do was polish it.

Currently, he was under the employ of some Trandoshan who was so in need of quick help Markus didn’t even have time to get his name, the job was a simple one and it was as simple as taking a slave ship to a set of coordinates to have it filled and transported to Zygerria so they could sell their merchandise. Markus understood the plan but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a little bit of extra cash by rounding up a few extra captives before they took off and when two pretty girls decided to try to sneak into the warehouse where the ship was housed he thought it would be the easiest money he ever made. Once they had taken their belongings and found that they possessed lightsabers he realized that he could possibly make a killing from just the two of them which was money Markus sorely needed.

His train of thought was interrupted when the ship was rocked with an large explosion. “What was that, someone report!” Markus barked into his radio as he loaded a fresh cell into his blaster before priming it. The line fizzled for a moment before a vice came over the radio. “I don’t know sir but both of the Jedi have escaped!” said a raspy voice from the other end. Markus cursed to himself as he stowed his blade back in its sheath and set off to find the two women. “Someone find those two. End the one with the white hair, the other one might still prove useful.” He said as he began running towards the sound of the explosion.

Markus rounded the corner next to the reactor control room and saw both of the Jedi standing on the opposite side of the hall way. Markus raised his blaster rifle at the two of them but held his fire so he could speak. “You two have swiftly been getting on my nerves .” He said, pointing his gun at the women with the white hair. “Now, before this goes any further, if you return to your cage I promise I won’t end you painfully.” Markus said, cocking a little bit of a smile.


@sayso llove

 

[Syrin V0ss]

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Syrin wasn't in the mood for a quick laugh and she quickly made her way down the hallway. The area, in which Syrin shot towards, was covered in blood; blown off limbs laid on the ground. She let Atris take the keycard from one of the disgusting corpses, and she stood guard outside the entrance there was more trouble. After Atris was done with the computer terminal, Syrin followed her down a series of hallways until they reached a door.

An annoying pest seemed to have caught up to them. Syrin didn't dare attempt to point the R-799 at him, but she wouldn't even really need it anyways. It seems the old man did not have experience fighting force users since it was a much better idea to just kill them. The man was just close enough for Syrin to use the force in order to crush his windpipe, however, she actually took into account what her partner's reaction would be to that scenario. Syrin turned her head just slightly towards Atris and mumbled: "Don't worry about this idiot, get in that reactor room and set the charges."

With a sharp gaze that could have put fear in a Krayt Dragon, Syrin directed her full attention towards the man. "Sorry pal, but you're not really a threat. You can go ahead and try and shoot at me, I can just block your blaster bolts. Even if you manage to kill me, which you won't, my partner here will already place charges on the reactor core and blow this ship up. No matter the outcome, you will die." Syrin paused and let out a distorted and wicked smile, while her eyes seemed to become bloodshot; she was still filled with anger and hadn't felt satisfied with her revenge yet. "I'll let you know now, you don't want me to kill you because I wouldn't. I'm gonna torture you." Her smile immediately disappeared and her eyes now maintained a cold dead stare on the man; she was completely ready to set up a force barrier. Of course, she wasn't planning on killing the man unless he continued to persist; her plan was to slowly back into the room while maintaining a force barrier and then forcing the door completely shut.

@llamallove @Asteroid

 

[Atris Tharen]

Just when Atris thought she and Syrin had a straight, clear shot to the reactor room, a new obstacle appeared from around the corner in the form of a taller man with dark hair. He was now blocking the entrance. He pointed his blaster rifle at the two of them, ready to shoot at any given moment, and somehow Atris got the impression that this wasn’t just another goon. Perhaps he was the leader of this slave trader ship, perhaps he was a hired gun— it really didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was going to prove more of a challenge than the other slavers they had faced and defeated aboard ship. He was not to be underestimated, of that she was sure.

It was evident by the look in Syrin’s green eyes that her companion was already formulating a plan in her head, and when she heard Syrin mutter, “Don't worry about this idiot, get in that reactor room and set the charges” Atris didn’t argue. Syrin still had some revenge to dish out, and though under ordinary circumstances Atris would not approve of what her companion probably had planned, now was not the time to be arguing over it. They had to get those charges planted, and so Atris would leave this newcomer to Syrin for the time being. It was a simple, straightforward plan, and often those were the best. To over complicate was problematic.

Atris’ hand reached for the yellow blade at her side, ready to deflect any blaster fire this newcomer might fire in her direction. Then she cast Syrin a look that said, “Are you ready?” and made a dash for the reactor room door.

@sayso @Asteroid

 

[Markus Brenner]

Markus felt the need to indulge the white haired women for a bit while she monologued on about how she was going to kill him and blow up the ship. All of that vile and bitterness spewing from the mouth of a squeaky voiced teenager actually managed to elicit a genuine laugh from Markus.

It didn’t take a Jedi to sense the amount of hate that was in the little girl’s heart. For all he knew someone probably murdered or enslaved someone she knew, however, the real reason why she was so hell bent on blowing up his ship was of little consequence. What mattered was that she was crazy and possessed a rocket launcher. In another life she probably would’ve made a great mercenary... if she could focus her rage. The way the other older Jedi let the white haired brat make the first move piqued Markus’ interest and struck him as someone who possessed more experience. That was the first lesson any smart mercenary learned when out in the field; let the loud ones get shot first.

“It’s going to be like that then, eh?”, Markus said as he noticed the other Jedi make a mad dash towards him and the reactor room. Taking a deep breath, Markus steadied his aim and unleashed a torrent of aimed blaster shots towards the older Jedi which she expectedly deflected or dodged with ease.

Markus tossed his rifle to the side and reached behind him with two hands, grabbing the hilt of his vibrosword before unsheathing it and holding it at the ready, anticipating a strike from the women. “Come on then, let’s see how good you really are with that fancy glow stick of yours.” he said, taking a strong forward step as Markus swung his blade where he anticipated the brown eyes Jedi would be.

@sayso @llamallove

 

[Syrin V0ss]

.

With a nod of her head, the attack commenced. Syrin slowly followed behind Atris but made sure she was behind her, that way she wouldn't be in view of the mercenary. Luckily the man focused his attention on Atris, and the perfect moment struck. "Never pounce on an advantage when you see it, wait for its maximum effect," Syrin thought to herself as the man pulled out a vibrosword. The mercenary swung his sword towards Atris, giving Syrin the opportunity to take him out. She dashed forward and used the force to hold the sword in place, she would then use the force to throw it back down the hallway he came from. If the merc held onto the sword, he would be sent flying with it, but if he let go he would be defenseless.

There was no pause, Syrin used the force to pull the gun from the ground and fling it down the hallway that she and Atris originated. However, she stood on guard about 10 feet away from the merc in case he had a hidden weapon, which if revealed she would have enough time to defend herself.

 

[Atris Tharen]

The mercenary, if that’s what he was—Atris could not know for sure— fired a continuous spray of blaster fire in her direction. He aimed well, and he shot fast. The yellow blade of her lightsaber ignited, she deflected each blast as she continued to dash down the hallway, but the rate of fire was so fast that she was unable to redirect any of the blaster fire back onto the mercenary. Instead, the blasts were deflected randomly into the walls, ceilings, and floors.

Syrin was right behind her, ready and willing to take action, and when the moment came, her companion did not hesitate. The mercenary drew a vibrosword from his side, an impressive weapon that Atris had no doubt was as deadly as intended in his hands. But she did not have time for a duel of blades; she needed to get into the reactor room and set the charges. That was her first priority.

Thankfully, she was spared the delay of a duel by Syrin. Atris had already seen Syrin’s masterful use of the force back in that cell when she’d freed her from the stun cuffs, and she had every confidence in her companion’s abilities now as well. While Syrin kept the mercenary busy, Atris started breaking into the locked reactor room.

@sayso @Asteroid

 

[Markus Brenner]

Just as he took a step forward to strike at Atris, Markus felt his blade freeze in the air like it was possessed preventing him from fully executing the blow. As the brown haired Jedi dashed past him he looked down the hallway and discovered why he couldn’t complete his swing. Just as he saw the white haired girl start to run towards him Markus felt her attempt to wrest the weapon from his grip; which he managed to barely stop as he gripped the hilt of the blade until his knuckles turned white.

Markus took a second to look behind him, seeing the other woman start to attempt to bypass the lock to the reactor room. It would take her a while to do so but time was not a luxury that Markus had, the two probably either dispatched or killed most of the ship’s crew already. Explaining lost crew was an easy matter, nobody got paid until the job was done anyways, but loosing a freighter was something he sorely did not want to do. Markus furrowed his brow at the white haired women as he pulled his sword back into a defensive position and took a step towards her. “You know I never much cared for you Jedi cultists, I’m going to enjoy this.” He said before leaping forward and thrusting the blade towards Syrin.

@llamallove @sayso