Event Money Talks - A Boonta Eve Escapade

[Aska Ryun]

As she collected the items that Alisaah handed her, the feeling of her heart sinking from her chest dominated Aska as the slave informed her how both the saber and her ancestor's holocron had been kept somewhere seperate. At first, as her mind rushed on where they may have been, she considered that possibly the Togrutan had simply missed them but she quickly discarded that theory. She may not have known much about the slave girl but she believed that she could safely rule out any failings on her part. It would go against her nature to fulfill her Master's commands. No, Alisaah was likely correct in that the leader of this team had kept them to himself. After all, she would do the same.

"I can't leave here without them, Ali," Aska said, her tone displaying the panic she felt. That holocron was the key to her unlocking her history and while the saber was less important to her, she had grown fond of having such a rare weapon. Besides, she needed to discover who these men were so it seemed fate was pushing them to a confrontation with this armored warrior. Placing the knives back in her belt, binocs in her jacket and the SE-45 in it's holster, Aska then moved to hand Alisaah the blaster she had taken from the dead Quarren. "This is going to sound crazy, but we're going after that son of a bitch. I think you're right; he has them and if we're doing this then you'll need more than a knife," Urging the Togrutan to take the weapon, Aska knew she was handing a dangerous device into the hands of an inexperienced user but desperate times called for desperate measures. "See this switch here? This is the safety. If it's pushed up like this-" Aska flicked the switch as she spoke. "- then it won't fire. Flick it back and it's live. Just... point and shoot, okay? And be prepared for the kick, that thing hits heavier than some blasters,"

Moving from the storage room, Aska soon led the duo out into the hallway now with her SE-45 held with both hands. Maybe she should have given Alisaah this weapon and used the Bryar, but she didn't consider the fact very deeply. She needed to find that holocron and as they moved down the hall, she soon realized they were going the wrong way.

"Crap," she whispered as she came to a stop before rounding a corner, sticking her arm out to signal the Togrutan to come to a stop. "There's the landing pad. At least we know where we'll need to go to get the hell out of here," Not knowing the layout of the facility was presenting itself to be a challenge despite the small size of the building she had scoped out not long prior and as she observed the landing pad it became obvious escaping would also be dangerous. At least six men were outside loading their loot into the shuttle they had arrived in. Looking back to Alisaah, Aska motioned for the slave to begin walking deeper into the facility.

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Alisaah let out a small sigh. Again, she felt completely responsible for her mistress losing her prized possessions. It was clear they could not leave this place without them even before Aska said it, but the tone of her voice when she did was concerning to the slave. This was the first time her mistress had been truly unsettled. Moments later though, she seemed to regain some composure, giving Alisaah the blaster she had commandeered from the dead Quarren. The Togruta held it awkwardly in her hand. The pistol was heavy and immediately felt lethal just holding it. Aska gave her a brief tutorial on how it worked which made sense, but still, Alisaah had concerns about handling any kind of weapon. She was opposed to violence but since day one it appeared violence followed her mistress wherever she went. Perhaps she would have to learn to at least defend herself, for Aska's sake if not anything else.

The pair moved on but swiftly found they were in the wrong location. The landing pad lay dead ahead. If they were going to escape now could have been a good time to do it, but their quest had changed and it was no longer an option. The men dressed in Boola's uniform were still carting things from the warehouse to the freighter. A pair that had just finished unloading cargo were now returning.

"Mistress we should go back. They're coming and we won't be able to hide here. I don't see the man out there so he must be further inside" she said, spinning on her heel, which was still dirty with the mud from the natural landscape of Nal Hutta and grabbing Aska's arm. She might not know how to fight, but Alisaah could run when needed.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Gritting her teeth, Aska watched the men on the platform as Alisaah tugged her arm towards the inner workings of the compound before turning her attention back to the here and now rather than worrying about their escape. The slave girl was right, of course. It wouldn’t be long before the gang leader would be coming back to interrogate the two women and realise that the two men he had left in charge of their detainment were no longer able to perform their duties. But they still had no idea where he was, what he was doing, who he was with… Hell, even who he was. Tracking him down was only one stage of the problem as once they found him, they’d have to seclude him from any other cronies he had at his aide and then secure both Aska’s belongings and the reason that they had raided this compound under Boola’s banner.

”Hang on,” Aska demanded as she drug her feet once the pair had come back to the same storage unit where they had been held captive. Still sat in the middle were the two chairs that they had been restrained too with Trosh’s corpse at the feet of Aska’s seat while Grip remained unconscious towards the side of the loading area. As she looked them over, Aska began to come up with a plan. ”Didn’t those moron’s say that their boss wanted us alive?” she asked the Togrutan as she pulled her arm from her grasp. ”He should be coming back then, in theory,” Walking into the room, Aska nudged the Zabrak’s jaw with her toe before looking back to her slave. ”Maybe we should just wait for him here after all? We can’t chance missing him by taking a wrong turn somewhere and who know’s who or what he’s with when he find him,” Turning her stare back down to the unconscious man named Grip at her feet, she held her attention on him as she finished speaking to Alisaah, ”We should probably do something about these bantha humpers first, though”

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

The two women soon found themselves back in the room where they had started, having tried to get back far enough away from the traffic of henchmen that were looting the place and transporting the goods back to the ship on the landing pad. Fortunately they had remained undetected thus far. Aska started to think aloud, pointing out that if the Quarren had been so adamant they be left alive, then his boss should be returning for them any time soon. Her mistress' attention then led to the bodies of the two men they had left on the floor.

The area they had been tied to seemed to be a loading bay at the front of a large storage room. The crates that had surrounded their seats looked to be in the stages of being loaded onto the high industrial shelving units that ran the length of the room by Dibb's men, prior to when Boola's cronies showed up unannounced. It looked as though the rest of the room was deserted. Nobody had yet found the bodies and Alisaah supposed that there were numerous halls like this in the complex that the thugs intended to rob.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone else here Mistress, or else they surely would have been alerted by now" she said, walking over to the Zabrak that Aska was turning over with her foot, "I think you're right. The helmeted man will return here if he wants us, but he'll know we've done something if he sees them like this. When I was looking for your things, I noticed that some of these crates had space in them. Can you help me lift them inside the crates Mistress?"

Alisaah bowed her head when she asked Aska's permission for help. Though she was trying to be helpful, she still knew she was not her mistress' equal, it was not her place to issue orders. The Togruta then walked to one of the crates she'd looked in earlier, opened the lid, before returning to the unconscious Zabrak. Crouching at his feet, she grabbed his ankles and waited to see if her mistress would oblige her request for help. If not, she'd simply have to drag him to the crate and figure a way of lifting him up herself.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Listening to Alisaah's request for aide, Aska couldn't see anything wrong with her plan aside from the possibility that Grip may soon be conscious once more though that could easily be solved with another stun blast. Trosh, well he wasn't going to be making any sounds ever again so if they managed to lift his lifeless husk inside one of the cargo crates then it would be the last anyone ever saw of him, at least for awhile. Nodding to the Togrutan as she knelt down to grab the Zabrak's ankles, Aska followed suit and placed her arms under his shoulder and pushed upward with her legs.

"He's... He's heavier than he looks, hey?" Aska grunted as she walked backwards to one of the crates that had remained open. Once they were close enough, the woman dropped the unconscious thug on the edge of the container before pushing him in with a heavy thud. Moving quickly, the two positioned him so that his legs wouldn't interfere with the closing of the lid and just before Alisaah shut him away in his makeshift prison, Aska pulled her SE-45 from her holster and fired another blue ring on his already inanimate form. Looking to Alisaah, Aska shot her a devilish grin. "Don't want him waking up too soon, do we?"

Turning their attention to the dead Quarren, Aska let out a sigh of disdain. Grip wasn't a small man by most standards but the corpse of Trosh was significantly larger. Partnered with the heavy armor that the corpse still wore, moving his body was likely to prove to be a much more difficult endeavor.

"Any ideas on how we can get this fat sack of shit into his new room?" Aska requested of Alisaah with a smirk as she crossed her arms but soon she spotted a crate with anti-grav attachments along the bottom of it's casing. Snapping her fingers to indicate she had an idea, Aska rushed over and soon pushed the crate back towards them. "This'll help," she began as she shut down the anti-grav and once the crate touched down, Aska popped the lid open and tipped it on it's side. "Help me roll this bastard in and then we'll float him back where this box was before,"

Before long, it was done. Both men had been hidden away and they were now alone in the storage room. Voices could be heard in the hall and it became clear that time was running short.

"Quick, get back in your chair!" Aska hissed to the Togrutan as she rushed over to where she had originally been sat but as Alisaah came close, the young clone handed her the SE-45 from her hip. It was too obvious to spot in her holster and if their captives saw it, then they'd know something had happened to Trosh and Grip. "Hold on to this until we know these guys think they're safe in here then we'll catch 'em by surprise,"

And now they wait...

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

After they had successfully deposited the two bodies in the crates, Alisaah did as she was told, also hearing the voices now coming perilously closer to their position. The slave rushed to her chair but in the process was handed her mistress' blaster and told to hold onto it. Almost instinctively she understood why. They could not make it look as though they'd managed to escape or else they'd be in big trouble. Having no time to think and nowhere realistically to hide both the SE-45 and the heavy blaster formerly owned by the Quarren, Alisaah placed the Bryar between the seat and her back and tried her best to hide her mistress' weapon under her left thigh. This would make the weapon accessible if it was needed but awfully uncomfortable for her to sit on. As this felt like a matter of life and death, she would simply have to put up with this discomfort. Fortunately it was Aska's chair that sat facing the entrance way and not hers, which meant that they would need to physically move around Aska to even see anything going on Alisaah's side.

Moments later the door opened. The helmeted man had returned flanked by three henchmen. The henchmen were armed with blaster carbines which they held menacingly in front of them. The man in the helmet stepped forward, his head scanning for sight of the two guards he had left with the pair.

"So tell me" he said, now looking directly at Aska, "What happened to the men who were left to guard you whilst I was gone?"

A shiver ran down Alisaah's spine. The fear within her began to grow again. Although the voice was distorted by the man's helmet, there was something familiar about it and she could not put her finger on what it was. His way of speaking was direct and made her feel uncomfortable even without him looking at her, or even talking to the Togruta directly.

Though Alisaah would not have been able to see this, Aska would easily see the hilt of her lightsaber hanging from the man's belt. In addition to the lightsaber there was a device attached to the other side of his belt which was not one of Aska's possessions and resembled a detonator used for explosives. It was not particularly well hidden, presumably because now that "Boola's" thugs had complete control of the facility, they did not see the need to be covert with any of their plans.

Holding up a heavily armored finger, the three henchmen raised their weapons and aimed them at Aska.

"I suggest you answer me quickly, Aska Ryun, because I have much more pressing questions for you to answer..."

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Sitting back down in the chair that only moments ago served as her would-be location of demise, Aska rushed to reposition the binders to appear as though they still had her restrained without actually placing them back into a locked position. The unknown fact of who was approaching meant that the two women needed to have some sort of element over their captors and considering they had unknowingly stumbled into a full on raid of the vault, their options were limited and this was likely the best they could do…

Finally, as Aska’s heart raced and caused her to feel the pulse of the muscle course through both her ears and the injuries across her face, the armored man returned with three others in toe, all of which were armed with menacing carbines. While his face was hidden away by the helmet he donned, the woman could tell the leader had scanned the room in search of both Trosh and Grip but once he came to the conclusion that they were no where to be found, his head turned to her.

"So tell me… What happened to the men who were left to guard you whilst I was gone?"

Feigning her injuries to be more serious than they had actually been, Aska hung her head slightly though managed a cocky grin in response to his question. Still, she chose to remain silent to further push the deceit. Finally, the clone allowed herself a struggled cough before spitting blood a few feet ahead of her chair.

"I suggest you answer me quickly, Aska Ryun, because I have much more pressing questions for you to answer...”

Hearing her name, now that caught her attention. Turning her face up to meet the gaze of the helmet, Aska’s smile faded and was soon replaced by a serious scowl. Who was this guy?

”How… How do you know… my name?” she responded, though she spoke every word to sound as though it was a struggle for her to force out. Looking around to the three men behind him, she noticed that each of the cronies had turned their carbines towards her and were aiming down their sights. Not an ideal situation, by any means. ”Where ever… Where ever they’ve gone, I… don’t know,” Pausing to feign another cough, the young clone hung her head again slightly. It was then that she saw her lightsaber clipped safely away on his belt. Logically, the holocron should be with him as well but yet there also seemed to be a small hand held detonator clipped to his other hip, and she silently surmised that while he was away he was over seeing some sort of ‘clean up’ plan and now the final step of his operation was right there in front of her. ”They beat the hell out of me and went looking for you,” Turning back to face the man, Aska struggled to hide the anger behind her eyes. She wanted to smash his face repeatedly into one of the shelving units behind him until he was unrecognizable but until she could get his men’s aim pulled away from her momentarily, she had to wait too act. ”I thought you were the boss here? Shouldn’t you know where you’re little womp rats are at all times?”


@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

It took everything Alisaah had to just continue looking forward, resisting any temptation she had to move or look around. The bumps and grooves of the two blasters stuck into her leg and back uncomfortably but she had to bare it if they had any chance of getting the drop on these men and retrieving her mistress' prized possessions.

The helmeted man speaking to Aska paused for a moment to allow the clone to speak. He listened to what she said before responding.

"I know your name because you are of particular interest to my employer" came the distorted voice once more, "Admittedly, we did not come here expecting to find you and yet here you are. Really I should be thanking you for saving us time and resources..."

He took a couple of steps towards Aska before he continued his speech.

"As for my men, they were given clear instruction to guard you at all costs. The Quarren may be bloodthirsty when it comes to dealing with humans but even he has more sense than to disobey my orders. Search the room, they'll be in here somewhere..." said the man in the helmet. There was no sense of annoyance in his voice which Alisaah found eerily familiar. One of the henchmen lowered his carbine again and began to make his way back towards the long shelving units further into the room. Alisaah's eyes widened a little and the blood went from her face. If the thug saw that she was no longer bound to the chair they would be found out. She held her breath. The slave knew that if they were going to surprise them it needed to be soon but she had to wait for the right window of opportunity.

"Now, whilst we wait to see where they have got to, I'd like to ask you some questions" said the man, looking Aska in the face, ignoring the fake coughing noises she was making, "I've no need to ask you how you found this place. I'm well aware that you'd have been given that information by the silly little slave girl you brought with you..."

In the middle of his sentence, the man took hold of Aska's lightsaber, unclipped it from his belt and then activated it. The red blade emitting a dull hum which Alisaah heard from behind her. Her eyes were still fixed dead ahead, hoping the henchman that had walked past would not turn back and see she was unrestrained, but in her mind she once again started to panic. What was going on back there? How did this man know what she knew?

"What I'd like to know, however, is why you came here. What else has this slave told you? I suggest you talk quickly..." he growled, before slashing at the floor before Aska's feet with the lightsaber, causing sparks to fly up from the contact.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

'Why? Why do I always get myself into these sorts of situations?' Aska thought to herself as their captor continued speaking to her, his voice devoid of any emotion. This fact struck her as odd since, from her experience, if someone's men suddenly up and vanished then they would have to be at least somewhat concerned. This man, however, he almost sounded as though it didn't matter. Like these men were expendable. Of course, they likely were nothing to him but even still...

"Search the room, they'll be in here somewhere..."

Aska did her best to refrain from showing any concern as one of the thugs walked past her and Alisaah but if her heart wasn't already about to jump out of her chest in a panic, it surely was now. She had only just been able to position the bindings to appear as though they still held her in place but she didn't know if Alisaah had managed to do the same. Would this grunt determine this was a façade? If Aska acted now, would Alisaah be able to protect herself? As it were, the clone aleady figured the odds to be a four on one scenario; the Togrutan had never fired a weapon before and if the man searching the room managed to turn and fire on her before Aska subdued not one, not two, but three men... Would she manage?

"...the silly little slave girl you brought with you..."

Aska wasn't paying attention to the captor as he spoke. Her mind was racing, weighing options... Of course, there were very few available to the two women. Still, what was likely the only certainty was that if she didn't act soon, they were both done for anyway. Now the man had unclipped her lightsaber from his belt and ignited the crimson blade, holding it ahead of himself for a moment. Much as it was for her back in the weapons shop on Lothal, Aska expected this was the first time he had held such a weapon.

"What I'd like to know, however, is why you came here. What else has this slave told you? I suggest you talk quickly..."

As he slashed the floor at Aska's feet, she decided it was now that she needed to act. As the tip of the blade began to swing upwards from it's connection of the durasteel floor, the clone kicked upward with her right leg knowing he wasn't in a position to react accordingly. As her toe made contact with the bottom of the hilt, sending it soaring from his grasp and back towards the wall, she then pushed herself up from her seat with both arms and her left leg before tackling the armored man with all her weight put into her shoulder. Grappling her captor and keeping him close to be certain the two remaining guards from getting a clear shot, she took him to the ground and tried her best to keep an eye on the Togrutan. She needed her blaster and she needed it now.

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Suddenly things kicked into action. After the initial display from the helmeted man, slashing the floor with Aska's lightsaber, she had launched her foot at him, causing the hilt to fly backwards and hit the wall near the entrance to the room. Alarmed, the man snapped his head towards his attacker and went for his blaster but before he could draw it Aska had leapt up from her seat and tackled him to the ground. Her body and limbs were placed in such a position as they tussled on the floor that the two henchmen either side of them had cause to hold their fire. She appeared to be making things difficult for them to hit her on purpose.

Hearing the commotion behind her, Alisaah quickly snapped up the SE-45 from under her left thigh and tossed it to the floor in Aska's direction. Fearing that one of the two guards would shoot her, she yelped and ducked behind the seat, picking up the Bryar blaster in her hands. The third thug heard the fracas and gave a shout, running back down the length of shelves to see Alisaah now out of her seat, crouching behind it. The Togruta turned to face him, her eyes wide like a deer in headlights and shakily held the blaster up at him. He raised his carbine at that same moment, creating a stand off between the two. It was now a test of will. Would the henchman take a shot at the scantily clad slave, knowing his boss wished to question her? He could so easily take her out of the equation.

The decision was taken away from him however, when the slave girl plucked up all the courage she could muster, knowing that the life of her mistress and herself was at stake, to fire upon him. Having never fired a gun in her life, the shot was hard, but somehow it managed to hit it's intended target. Though she had not had the ruthless efficiency of her owner, Alisaah had managed to shoot the thug in the arm. It was not enough to kill him, but he would have difficulty trying to shoot anyone with that carbine using only one arm. Too scared to rise from her position, Alisaah cowered, hoping that the thug stayed down and that her mistress was able to deal with the others. The slave had been lucky with her first shot, there was nothing to say she could repeat it against two enemies standing even closer to her than the man she'd just wounded.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Grappling with the gangster as he attempted to reach for the blaster on his hip, Aska held on tightly as she did her best to keep the man from grabbing his weapon. With each twist the pair performed, contorted with one another in a struggle for survival, the two men at the entrance continued to try and secure a shot on the young clone but came up short.

"Would you two clowns fire already!?"

The growl in the man's voice finally showed signs of emotion as spun to get on top of Aska to push himself away but he soon found her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, making putting any distance between them impossible.

"I... I can't sir! I can't get a clear shot!" one of the goons cried out, following the struggling pair with his carbine.

"Only one of us is wearing armor! Now SHOOT!"

Gritting her teeth, Aska twisted with all of her might and brought the armored man between her and the pair of thugs just in time for their blaster fire to rain down on them. A grunt from the man told her that he had taken a hit to his back and soon after, a burning sensation from her left shoulder signaled that another bolt had managed to graze her while the others scorched the area around them. Pushing herself through the pain, Aska looked back and saw that Alisaah had slid the SE-45 over to her but it was still a few feet away. Releasing her right arm from around the man's neck, the clone reached out for the blaster but soon pulled back as another two blaster bolts rang out, narrowly missing her out stretched hand. As she did, once more did the man try to reach for his own blaster but the woman quickly wrapped her arm around his elbow once again and pulled back, keeping him from un-holstering the weapon. Desperation began to take over and instead of once again reaching for her SE-45, Aska instead reached across the man's chest for his weapon but as her fingers touched the butt of the gun, it became clear that it was too far for her to reach.

"For the love of... GET OVER HERE AND GRAB HER!"

As the two men began to advance, Aska released the gangster's arm and reached back for her SE-45 a second time though this time, her effort was met with the familiar touch of the cold steel of the weapon's handle. Wrapping her fingers around it, she quickly pulled it back and fired as the barrel came into view, soon leaving one of the men in a smoking pile on the ground. As the last of the pair decided to back up and take aim once again, Aska ducked her face in behind the helmet of the armored man as blaster fire landed all around them once again but as soon as the hellfire calmed, she popped her head back out and aimed once more before squeezing the trigger.

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Cowering behind the seat in the commotion, Alisaah could only hope that her mistress was managing to survive. Though they had only known each other a very short time, the Togruta had seen exactly what her new master was capable of. Despite the fear enveloping her and the chaos that surrounded her, the slave began to recognise a feeling that things might just end up okay. Her adrenaline was pumping, the terror did not feel quite so bad. Alisaah had shot somebody for the very first time, but despite her total dislike of violence, she knew that right now it was necessary. If she did not fight she would die. Whether it was here on the floor of Dibb's facility or later on after being tortured to death by whoever these thugs were working for.

The blaster fire behind her was now raging. The two other henchmen were totally fixated on Aska who was using the helmeted man as a shield. Daring to take a peek at what was happening, Alisaah peeped around the side of the seat just in time to see her mistress blast one of the thugs dead having now managed to retrieve her pistol. Hands shaking, the Togruta lifted the Quarren's gun and tried to aim a shot at the second thug but this time she fired and missed. The blaster bolt flew past the space between him and Aska. Now she'd done it. The henchman turned to look at the Togruta, seemingly surprised that there was someone else there attacking him. His fire towards Aska had ceased and given her enough time to poke her own head back out and shoot the second thug through the side of the head.

Still not used to this killing and murder, Alisaah shrieked as the man's body dropped to the floor, lifeless. Her eyes then darted to her mistress who was still grappling with the helmeted man on the floor. She had to help somehow. Trying to shrug off yet another traumatic experience and forgetting about the wounded thug behind her, Alisaah got up and ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards the wall by the entrance to the room. The goon she had shot, by this time, had crawled to his knees and propped himself over a crate in an attempt to shoot back at Alisaah with his carbine. By the time she'd reached the wall he was firing but the lack of control he had over his weapon at this point was causing the blaster bolts to miss wildly. He was now too far away and the recoil was causing him difficulty.

Scooping up her mistress' lightsaber, Alisaah ducked slightly and ran towards the nearest crate to try and give herself some cover. Shouting from behind the box, the Togruta shouted, "Mistress, I've got it! We need to get out of here!"

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

As she continued to wrestle with the armored goon, Aska tried bringing her blaster up to place it on the man's neck. As it was one of the few places where he had no armor protecting his body, it was one of the few places she would be able to bring an end to the conflict but just as soon as she did, her blaster arm wrapped under the man's own right arm to keep him from un-holstering his own weapon, the man pulled his head forward before jerking it backwards and slamming his helmet into Aska's already bruised and beaten face.

"Dammit!" she cried out in pain, blood now seeping from her nostrils. This day had definitely not gone the way she had wanted and it was time to bring it to an end. Trying to place the blaster back on the man's neck, she soon found his left hand tightly grasping her own, squeezing with what must have been all the power he could muster. And it was a lot. Unable to maintain her grasp on her weapon, the clone was soon forced to release the SE-45 and as it hit the durasteel flooring once again, she was once more unarmed.

"You may have eliminated my guards," the man grunted as he struggled with the woman wrapped around him. "But I will not give up quite so easily,"

"Screw this," Aska replied, releasing her left arms grasp from around the man's own and instead tightly wrapped it around his neck, placing her elbow directly over his esophagus. Squeezing with all her might, she could feel his panic as he began aimlessly swinging backwards at her. He succeeded in smacking the side of her head a couple of times but she didn't allow herself to let go. Squeezing harder with every passing moment, his movements slowly began to grow sluggish and weak before he finally fell limp. Was he faking it? She didn't know but she also knew that she was spent. Finally allowing herself to release her contorted control over the man, Aska breathed heavily as he remained unmoving atop of her. "Schutta..."

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

After a few moments the struggling appeared to stop. Alisaah could hear her mistress' mumbled curses from behind the crate but she knew the final henchman could still cause Aska a problem if he were to get a lucky shot away. Having nowhere else to safely store the lightsaber, Alisaah placed the hilt temporarily on top of the crate as she shakily armed herself with the Bryar pistol once more. The wounded thug was still spraying blaster bolts in her direction but having no success at hitting anything with much accuracy. Taking a deep breath, holding the pistol with both hands, Alisaah pulled the trigger.

To her shock, the blaster bolt flew dead straight across the room and struck her foe in the skull. His eyes glazed over and he immediately fell to the ground. His carbine was silenced. The Togruta's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She'd just taken a man's life. Her insides started to rip apart with guilt and regret. She was never meant to do things like this. What in the galaxy had her mistress gotten her into?

"M... mistress?" she asked weakly, staring off over in the direction of where she'd just shot and starting to well up, "Mistress? I... I killed him..."

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

As Aska pushed the unconscious man off of her, the sound of blaster fire came to an end. Worried for Alisaah, the woman scrambled to her feet and grabbed the blaster she had just discarded but was soon welcomed with the sight of the Togrutan woman, alive and well, cowering beside a crate with an expression of both fear and disbelief. It was obvious that taking the life of another living being had affected the slave in a very familiar way, much as it had been like for Aska when she crushed the skull of Dur'Agu back on Coruscant, but Aska had gotten over it. Alisaah would too in time.

"Good!" Aska stated coldly as she walked over to her slave, offering her a hand to aide her in rising to her feet before retrieving the lightsaber hilt from the crate at Alisaah's side. Looking to the corpse that the Togrutan had created, the burning hole in his face still smoking, Aska sneered at him before spitting blood to the floor beside her. "Look, it was either us or him. If you hadn't shot him then he would have gotten back on his feet and burned holes in our backs as we tried to escape. Self preservation; learn it,"

Turning back to the armored man as he laid motionless on the floor, rage welled within Aska. Moving back over top of him, the clone began to dig around under his plating until she located the holocron and just before she rose, her eyes once again spotted the detonator clipped to his belt. It was obvious to her what it was for; he had no plan on leaving any evidence of the raid and the insignia of Boola's enforcers was simply a back up should the explosion that the detonator would undoubtedly cause should leave some sort of trace. Unclipping the detonator, Aska tossed it in the air and caught it once more before looking to the man's helmet. "No sense in letting a good explosion go to waste," she spat but as she looked into where his eyeholes, curiosity ate away at her. This man had proven to be incredibly familiar and she needed to know why. Not just to satisfy her own questions but to discover who it was that had decided to take Boola's banner and place the blame upon her.

Reaching down, Aska wrapped her fingers across the bottom of the helmet and slowly pulled it away from his head. Blue skin began to reveal itself and before long, as the helmet was fully removed, Aska's jaw dropped. Only days prior, she had met this man; the duros Alzon from Zugg's auction. The enforcer of Alisaah's previous Master. And a man who had now earned her absolute hatred. "I knew I should have killed you..." Aska whispered. "But I'm not making the same mistake twice..." she continued, cocking her fist back in preparation.

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

The Togruta's mistress showed no remorse for the man's death. Alisaah expected this, having seen her kill before, but it felt unsympathetic and uncomfortable. Though she took Aska's hand and got to her feet, there was still a look of shock and remorse on the slave's face. The feeling of taking someone's life felt more alien to her than any of her experiences thus far. For perhaps the first time, she had demonstrated a level of power over someone else. The power to kill. She did not like it one bit.

Aska had returned to the helmeted man laying on the floor and at this point was rummaging through his clothing to retrieve the rest of her belongings. It didn't seem to take long but Alisaah noticed that her mistress took more than she had lost originally. Her green eyes followed Aska's hands as she tossed and caught a device of some sort. Moving from behind the crate to join her mistress, albeit in a slow and solemn manner, Alisaah arrived just as her mistress lent down and removed the man's helmet, revealing the face of Alzon Kekram.

Regardless of what had just happened to her, the slave gave an audible gasp, seeing the right hand man of her former master, Hota Zugg, laying there unconscious before them. The words leaving Aska's mouth did not fully register with Alisaah but seeing her mistress' fist move in preparation to finish him off did. Lurching forward, the Togruta dropped to her knees before her mistress, between the clone and the Duros.

"Mistress! Please don't!" she pleaded, "We must leave before others know what happened here!"

She did not know what possessed her to do this. Alisaah owed nothing to Alzon Kekram. She was a slave and her allegiances lay only with her owner. But then that was the problem, unlike a droid, she had a conscience and it was telling her that killing was bad. The Togruta, though naive, had a heart. She could not take seeing someone else die today. It was not in her nature.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Just as soon as Aska was about to unleash the fury caged within, a product of being viciously beaten by Alzon's trusted man, the Togrutan girl soon threw herself into harms way by coming between the clone and the unconscious Duros, begging for her to refrain. Alisaah was right, of course. Aska knew they needed to leave and it needed to happen soon, but the rage she harbored had festered since they were captured out in the swamp. She needed to unleash it... Somehow.

"You're joking, right?!" Aska snapped. She was of a mind to turn her anger on the girl instead but soon pulled her hand back, though her vexed demeaner was much harder to reign in. "After everything and you're going to defend him?!" The clone continued, her right hand still clenched tightly while her left waved towards Alzon as an indication of who she was speaking of, though it was an unnecessary gesture. "We've got time to finish him off be-"

"Explosives are set, boss! The crew is gonna do one last sweep for anything worth keepin' and then.... Boss? Where are ya?"

The voice echoed from the hall, clearly coming from some figure who was searching for Alzon and while she hated to admit it, also proved that Alisaah was more correct than Aska would have hoped. The rage evident in her fiery gaze as she looked to the Togrutan, the woman let off an angry snarl as she pushed herself to her feet. Collecting the carbine of one of the downed guards, she rushed to the doorway, poking her head out in time to watch a Weequay man walk into another chamber in search of Alzon.

"Screw it, you get your wish for now, kid," Aska growled as she turned back to Alisaah. "For now," she reaffirmed. Finding solace in the fact that there was still another option to bring an end to the unconscious Duros, she nodded her head out to the hallway. "Let's get out of here,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

The slave visibly winced at the aggressive look and tone in her mistress' voice. She was prepared for Aska to punch her but the strike never came. Alisaah's action was in no way motivated by any allegiance or attachment to the Duros, but the more time wasted here meant that they were more likely to get caught again and knowing Hota Zugg, if his right hand man was killed, that wasn't likely to end well either, especially if his former slave was involved.

Looking up at her mistress who snarled angrily at her. The bottom of the slave's stomach felt as though it was about to drop out. She didn't mean to make her master angry. "Mistress, my wish is to get you out of here alive. I'm no use to you in a fight and the longer we stay here the more chance we have of being caught..." she said, her voice giving overtones of sadness.

It appeared that Aska did heed her warning, though it was likely this was due to the comms message that had come through to those in the room rather than anything she said. The slave bowed her head in shame but getting to her feet, followed her mistress out towards the hallway and back the way they had ventured when first attempting to escape. As they went, they would pause and duck into empty rooms or behind obstacles to ensure they weren't seen by the thugs pretending to be Boola's men.

Eventually the pair reached the entrance to the landing pad once more. Huddling behind Aska, she timidly tapped her mistress' shoulder and offered to return her lightsaber. "Do you think this will help us get out of here mistress?" she asked, hoping that maybe she would be less annoyed in the knowledge that at least Alisaah had successfully retrieved her lightsaber.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Scanning the landing pad, it was soon quite evident that Alzon's disappearance had now been noticed and caused a sense of alarm amongst his remaining foot soldiers as they began to hustle around inside the facility, of which was now far from quiet in the ensuing chaos. Aska and Alisaah had remained undetected for the duration of their escape but now, as the pair looked out towards the shuttle that the invasion team had used to begin their assault, the odds of that remaining the truth was far from likely. By Aska's count, seven men dotted the platform with two of them stationed directly at the base of the cargo ramp.

Turning to the Togrutan as she handed Aska the lightsaber she had retrieved, the clone let off a sigh as she stared at the weapon. She was still agitated with the slave girl for interfering with her bringing an end to the Duros but she also knew that Alisaah was not cut out for this sort of thing. Bringing her here was the true lapse in judgment, not her saving Alzon's life.

"Thanks," Aska responded curtly as she picked up the hilt. "But probably not. At least, not right away," she continued as she turned to watch the men that stood between them and their freedom. "We aren't getting back to my ship, that's for damn sure. We'll need to steal theirs if we want to get out of this alive," Clipping the lightsaber to her belt, Aska brought the stolen carbine up before powering up it's energy cell. "We'll need to run and shoot. Don't worry about hitting them, just shoot in their general direction to keep them in cover and pray we make it,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

The slave said nothing more and simply nodded. Aska was the one with experience of these things and her servant must obey. She had experienced much trauma on this visit and would be glad to get away but the chances of that were slim. A large number of the raiders stood between them and their ride out of this place. Even if there was no requirement for her to hit anyone, would they be lucky enough to evade their blaster fire or their clutches and successfully leave? There was only one way left to find out.

Following Aska's lead, Alisaah held up the Bryar blaster, stared at it for a moment and took in a deep breath. The fear that gripped her still lingered within, but if she let it overwhelm her, she would not survive. She would have to harness that energy and own it to get through the next few minutes. The Togruta was under no illusion that if they managed to get away, Aska would no doubt have a few words, possibly a few punches for her judging from how furious she appeared to be at that moment but that fear paled in comparison to the possibility of death they faced here.

The two women then leapt from cover and ran. Being rather athletic and muscular, this was at least something Alisaah was suited to. Her aim with a blaster left much to be desired however. As they sprinted towards the ship, she ran to Aska's left. To her own left were nine thugs who, upon hearing the blaster bolts rocketing from Aska's stolen carbine, began to shout and let fly shots of their own. Shooting whilst running was even worse and more difficult than shooting from a stationary position for Alisaah but somehow, she managed to land glancing blows on four of the men she ran past. The hits struck armor or non-vital areas on their bodies, only enough to cause slight burns, but nonetheless made the job of hitting the two intruders harder than it needed to be.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun