Paradise Falls

[Lupe]

~Cularin System

The Paradise Falls, an old, war-torn, retrofitted Storm-class gunship, silently cruised the void space around the Cularin System. It was modified to hold more cargo space for it's valuable goods, but these goods were no normal goods. No, these goods were slaves, headed to the renowned black market that was at home in the system. The owners of the Paradise Falls, was no other but the Crucible themselves. The Crucible was a infamous slaver organization, known for it's iron grip on the slave trade throughout the galaxy and for it's ruthlessness, and Paradise Falls was one of its best ships. Thus the ship was well manned and its guns were kept operational. Only a fool would attack the ship head on.

Meanwhile, the Vetus, was slowly tailing the gunship, just out of it's sensor range. The Vetus was a small freighter, specifically modified for combat, but it was not here to destroy or attack the gunship, it's pilot was no fool. The freighter was simple there to watch the gunship as it passed through the system and as Lucius, it's pilot, contemplated on what to do next. He knew that he could not simply attack the gunship, for it was completely suicidal, but his contract clearly stated that he must disable the Paradise Falls, and this contract payed good. Thus, the revered bounty hunter continued to contemplate on how best to destroy the slaver ship, until finally it came to him.

Lucius quickly boosted his engines up and brought himself within the slaver ship's sensor range, only time would tell what would happen next.

 

[Crim]

The new shipment of inbound slaves had just arrived on the Paradise Falls. They walked through the corridors in various states of physical and emotional distress. Some were crying or begging for their captors to let them go. Others walked silently, though they held their heads in regret. Some others, only a few, stood emotionless. Usually, these were the guys who were either incredibly dangerous... or incredibly cocky. One of these men was Herroth Ker. He was dressed in tarnished clothes; Corellian pants with a white shirt. The shirt was stained and torn. His pants had been tattered at the shins, ending halfway up his lower legs. His bare, metal feet clicked on the ground as he walked. His beard and hair were messed up, though they were rarely presentable.

He walked like the other prisoners; hands bound and in single-file. As they walked down the line, they were called into a medic's office to see if they were presentable to a bidder. When Herroth was called, he walked to the medic's office and stood in the middle of the room. It didn't look particularly sterile, but this was for a physical, not any sort of actual procedure. The doctor was an older man with a mask on his mouth. He read off of a chart as he circled Herroth.

"Herroth Ker, male 34, height: 1.8 meters, weight: 90 kg. Native to Nar Shaddaa. Is this correct?" the doctor asked.
"Well, I might have lost a bit of weight since my last physical, but yeah."
Ignoring Herroth, the doctor looked at Herroth's face. "Some scarring. Artificial teeth." Moving down, the doctor said, "Track marks on arms and legs from chronic spice use in the past. Urine sample shows no use in the last four years. The main issue seems to be the legs. Hmmmm."
"How's my cholesterol?"
"Mr. Ker, you aren't exactly the model of health. Keep the smartass answers up and you'll be the model of poor health very quickly on this ship."
"You mean I'll be a former spicehead with no legs?"
Ignoring Herroth, the doctor said, "Well, you're a cripple. Nobody wants to buy a cripple."
"I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news."
"We'll just keep you until you sell for whatever reason. Move on to the slave housing."

Herroth walked out of the medic's office and was escorted to slave housing. This was going to be a long day.

 

[Lupe]

The Vetus slowly lurched forward into the Paradise Falls' sensor range. Eventually it got close enough that it was hailed by the slaver ship's crew.

"Unidentified ship, state your business or be blown to smithereens." came a rough, haggard voice over the Vetus' communications unit.

Lucius, the ship's pilot, and only crew member, leaned forward a little bit, into the comm unit's microphone. He was still contemplating on what exactly to say, but once he was close enough to microphone, he knew what to do.

"This is the Vetus, piloted by Lucius Veshok, requesting permission to board."

For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. On the other side of the comm's link, the bridge of the Paradise Falls was bolstering with activity. Junior officers and secretaries were all jumping over each other, trying to inform their superiors that the infamous bounty hunter, Lucius Veshok, was requesting permission to board. Within this chaos was a mixture of fear and amazement, a lot of people by now had heard of Lucius' deeds and accomplishments, and could only wonder why he had chosen to visit the Paradise Falls. Some feared that he came for one of the crew, but others concluded that maybe he was here for one of the slaves. Yet throughout all this bedlam, there remained one being undisturbed, one being whom was calm throughout the whole incident. A heavy, and big, Zabrak sat in the bridge's central chair, seemingly undisturbed by the fact that a revered bounty hunter was knocking on his front door.

"Let him land" came the Zabrack's voice, loud and clear, quickly quelling the various arguments that had spread on the bridge.

"But, sir, is that really wise" said a small Rodian, one of the junior officers, "For all we know-"

"Nonsense! No Bounty Hunter who is worth anything would attack us head on. Remember, we are sponsored by the Crucible. We are untouchable!" interrupted the annoyed captain.

"Then what do you plan on doing with him once he boards?" asked a rather rough looking human, possibly one of the guard captains given his look and stature of an ex-soldier.

"I plan to entertain what he has to say, and see if he has any legitimate business with us. If not, we shall.... dispose of him." answered the Zabrack before giving the final order to proceed with allowing Lucius entrance into the corvette.

"Captain Lucius Veshok, you are clear to proceed." finally came the answer, Lucius had been waiting for. He proceeded on approaching the slaver ship, not sure what would happen once he boarded, but prepared for anything.

 

[Crim]

The slave pens in section B were cramped with minimal space, low regards to health, and practically no privacy. They were more like cages in a kennel for animals than actual rooms. The walls on the blocks were made of bars. The only fixture in a room was a bed. The bed was on a raised slab of metal. The beds varied; some were empty, large footlockers. Others were on crates that had been welded together and then bolted to the floor. The 'toilet' was a hole that extended into a collective septic line shared by the entire ship. The slaves in section A, from what Herroth had been told, were treated better. Better rooms, more privacy, better meals. They needed to be kept well-fed to remain in good condition. Section B was a hellhole.

The smell hit Herroth first; as the masked guards escorted Herroth and the other people to be in section B to their cells, the smell of feces was almost overwhelming. Some slaves keeled over and vomited, resulting in an electric shock from the guards. Herroth was in Cell 34B. There was a non-descript stain on the floor. Another stain was the all-too familiar remains of an improperly cleaned puddle of blood. The guards opened his cell and motioned for Herroth to enter. "I think there's been a mistake. See, I'm actually supposed to be getting out of the slave ship. I think I got in the wrong line or someth-"

Herroth was cut off by an electric shock from a stun baton. Herroth's artificial legs spasmed as the electricity shook his body. When the shock was over, he was pushed into his cell, landing near the non-descript stain. The guards closed and locked his door as Herroth lay down on the floor. As the group moved on, a slave in an adjacent cell said, "Keep up with the wise comments and they won't even bother selling you. You'll end up like the previous occupant of the cell you're in." Herroth, keeping his head on the ground, said, "I'm assuming these stains on the floor have something to do with it?" The man next to him nodded. Herroth looked up at the man. He was a Weequay. "They can't expect to actually sell us after treating us like this," he said. The Weequay said, "They don't. Block B is for the undesirable prisoners. People usually buy us if they want to do some 'punishing' of their own or to experiment on us."

"That's ridiculous," Herroth said as he sat up.
"It's the Island of Misfit Toys in here," he Weequay said as he put his hands against the caged wall. He was missing all fingers except for both thumbs and a ring finger on his left hand. His hands were bandaged, but the bandages were in tatters. "You're going to be here for a long time. I'm Nubs."
"That can't be your real name," Herroth said.
"It has been for the last four years," Nubs said.
"Nice to meet you, Nubs. I'm Herr-"
"You'll be getting a new name. The others just need to propose and vote on one."

Herroth exhaled. "Alright. Who else is here?"
Nubs looked around at the block. "Let's see. The guy next to you is Flipper. He's a Hergelic. He's not usually in a... cheerful disposition. His arm was paralyzed arming some bomb. There's Dribbles. He's a Twi'lek with his headtails cut off. It damaged something in his brain, so he can't stop salivating. He communicates in writing. Another name of note is Chrome Dome, a Wookiee that had some sort of injury or mutation. He doesn't have any fur. There's also-"

Herroth spaced out after that. As much as he loved cynical names, he already needed to develop an escape strategy.

 

[Lupe]

Lucius gently landed the Vetus inside the slaver ship, peering out the view port to analyze the surrounding area, making note of any vents or exhaust shafts that he could make use of. He also looked for guards and counted them, and by his count he knew he was in for a world of fun once shit hit the fan. Eventually, Lucius decided not to keep his hosts waiting so he made his way to the exit, but before he departed his ship he grabbed his mask and put it on. Once off the Vetus, he was greeted by over a dozen guards, each heavily armed and with eyes full of hate that masked the fear they all held. Lucius smirked at this realization, but his smirk soon disappeared when a Zabrak made his way past the guards and stood directly in front of the bounty hunter, showing no fear or worry on his dark face. It was this lack of emotion that told the ex-mandalorian that this man meant business.

"So, what have I done to earn the pleasure of getting to meet you, hunter?" said the Zabrak, towering over his conversational compatriot.

Lucius chuckled "I need some slaves. Is that not what you do? You know, sell slaves."

The Zabrak let loose a small smile that seemed to surprise the guards for the Zabrak was not one to show any sort of happiness "Aye, but it is not usual that people come to buy direct from the source."

"Well, I wouldn't want all the good ones gone before I can come and buy them." retorted the bounty hunter, using his experiences from his days as a smuggler to great use.

"Fair enough." snorted the Zabrak "So what types of slaves may I interest you in?"

Lucius contemplated for a second before answering "Skilled ones, ones that I can use in my line of work."

Now, it was the Zabrak's turn to think. He called upon one of the junior officers, before turning to answer the bounty hunter. "We have a few that may interest you. Jak will take you to see them now." he said, motioning to the junior officer when he said Jak.

Lucius nodded nonchalantly, turning to follow the young human to slave quarters. Jak quickly began to pace towards a corridor, followed by five of his guard friends, before turning into one of the rooms which happened to be one of the slave quarters. "This is Section B," came his whinny voice as he walked. "nothing really valuable is here, unless you want expendable slaves." It did not take the junior officer's words for Lucius to realize this, the quarters were despicable, barely fit for dogs, yet here there were sentients of every kind. Most of them were ill, or crippled, not worth a dime as a real slave, but as lab rat they were worth a moderate amount of money. Lucius groaned at the sight, and longed to get off the ship, but then again the sight reassured him that his contract should be completed ever more so.

They were almost out of the quarters when Lucius caught a glimpse of a slave that appeared familiar to him. He stopped for a second to take a closer look, and after a closer inspection, he recognized the slave. It was Herroth, pilot of his ex-wife's ship, a good friend. Even though Lucius was no longer a Mandalorian, he still held onto his honor and his honor told him that he could not leave Herroth on this hell hole. "Hey, Jak. How much for this one?" said the bounty hunter, calling over the junior officer. The human quickly came over and looked into the cage, contemplating on a price for the slave.

Sadly for him, he was never able to finish, before Lucius grabbed the officer and pulled him in front of him with a pistol pointed at his back. Lucius knew that holding Jak as human shield against the five guards would not stop them, but it would make them hesitate and that hesitation was all the bounty hunter needed. Before the guards were able to fire, Lucius fired five times through the officer's torso, hitting each guard squarely in chest, killing them before they hit the floor.

The bounty hunter then shot open the lock that held Herroth in the cage. "You better get a blaster, ner vod, we're about to have one hell of a party." said Lucius as he shot open the rest of the cages open, hoping that the surge of escaped slaves would at least slow down any reinforcements.

 

[Crim]

As Herroth was spacing out, a man entered the section. Herroth didn't pay much attention, but the other slaves stared at the man. Herroth raised his eyes to see what they were looking at. "Well that was quick. I'm already seeing things. That guy looks familiar," he said to Nubs. As the man walked over to inspect Herroth, the other slaves stared. Herroth tried to process this guy's face. He could have sworn the guy was Lucius, Eire's husband. As the man talked price with a guard, a shot erupted from the guard's back. So it is Lucius. Herroth's lock was shot and the cage opened. "You better get a blaster, ner vod, we're about to have one hell of a party."

Herroth checked the guard's pocket for a blaster. Luckily, it was an officer. Herroth found one holstered to the Rodian's belt and took it. Priming his new gun, he looked at Lucius and said, "Su cuy'gar, Lucius." Rising to his feet, Herroth looked to see the mad rush of slaves trying to get out. He stepped out of his cell and tried to get a clear shot at the door guards. The slaves that were able to attack were rushing the door. A strike from one guard hit a man in the chest on high frequency. Before he could attack another, he was swarmed by the other slaves. Herroth looked for the other guard before hearing a sickening pop. A bald Wookiee, probably Chrome Dome, held a severed arm in his hands.

Two more guards from another entrance ran to the scene with stun batons. Herroth shot twice with the gun. Red bolts raced down the room before hitting each guard in the chest. Lucius smirked. He had been able to shoot like that for a while, but the rush of adrenaline from making a shot like that was still almost intoxicating. As the slaves ran out, Herroth said to Lucius, "So what brings you out here?"

 

[Lupe]

Lucius glanced at his companion as he spoke, only breaking visual contact when a guard entered the room only to meet the wrong end of the bounty hunter's blaster. "If only I had time to explain," he replied to Herroth's question as he got in cover to avoid the blaster fire from guards that were still standing. "Let's just say I'm here for a bounty" Lucius finally admitted as he pulled out his blaster and pointed it directly at Herroth, squeezing the trigger, only to hit the control panel right behind the ex-pilot, sealing the door that led into the hall way. The Bounty hunter then pulled out two explosive charges and tossed one to Herroth

"Put that somewhere that causes big boom" he said simply as he began laying down the one in his hand near some pipes.

Luckily for him and Herroth, they would have little worry about since most of the guards were too busy dealing with slave revolt that they would not be able to stop the pair effectively. Still, they did pose a threat, as they shot wildly into the crowd and at times lobbed thermal detonators. Thus they were able to take some casualties, as seen by the bodies of slaves that littered the floor, scarred by the battle that raged on, but the guards stood no true chance without reinforcements. They knew this, and so did the slaver command.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS HAPPENING OUT THERE?!?" the Zabrak yelled at the personnel on the bridge, as the sounds of battle and alarms echoed throughout the ship.

"We're not exactly sure, but it seems there is a slave revolt happening down in their quarters" spoke one of the Junior Officers that stood in for Jak.

For a few moments it seemed as if the Zabrak was going to tear apart every being on the bridge, but instead he settled with blasting the guard's captain, blaming him for the lack of security. In any other situation, most of the crew would have gasped, but their shock was subdued by the primal fear they felt as they looked on.

"Now, what of our guest, where is he?" the Zabrak asked, returning to his calm composure as he began to sit down.

"We don't know..... sir" said a now shaking Junior officer, as he looked over monitors, trying to find the bounty hunter, but it was impossible as much of the cameras located on that level were destroyed or shut down.

"Then we are to consider him a hostile until further notice, put the guards on full alert. Make sure they are armed with the heaviest weaponry and armor that we have available. I want this revolt ended!" declared the slaver captain, slamming his fist down on the chair's arm rest for further emphasis.

Most of the crew stood confused, as the guard captain was dead and his lieutenant was nowhere to be found, so who was supposed to give the orders, but they were not about to anger the captain further. So, they took it upon themselves to organize his orders. Thus, the guards were ordered to the armory to gear up, and the hangers were closed to ensure no escape.

Meanwhile, down below, Lucius could hear the firefight start to wind down and he looked back at his comrade "This isn't good, bud. They're regrouping." Lucius set another charge down. He knew that his slave revolt wouldn't last a second against a dedicated, organized assault, he would need to move quicker. "Look, I want you to get to my ship, The Vetus, and prep it for flight. I got things to do." With that said, the bounty hunter made his way through the halls and towards the engine room.

 

[Crim]

"Will do," Herroth said, catching the explosive. As Lucius left, Herroth waved and said, "Have fun," He then walked to a guard that he had killed. The first one, a Twi'lek, was slouched against his comrade with a blaster burn in the chest. A dead giveaway. If Herroth put that suit on, he would easily be detected. The other man, however, had taken a bolt to the face. His clothing was relatively intact. Herroth quickly changed into the guard's armor. As he was adjusting the suit, the man's comlink began to sound. "Yama? Come in Yama. What's going on down there?" it said.

Herroth cleared his throat and spoke into the man's helmet comm (which distorted his voice), "Oh, man. These guys are going crazy. It was a madhouse." He made sure to sound out of breath. "Are you injured?" they replied. "No. Well, yes. I... heh, I sprained my ankle chasing this one guy. And then, uh, I got kicked really hard. In the nads. By a Wookiee. Yeah, it really hurt." There was a pause. Herroth was afraid they didn't buy it. "Did you see which way the cyborg went?" they asked. "The new prisoner with the beard and the metal legs? He went with the rest of the prisoners."
"No, the one who was buying slaves."
Herroth looked at where Lucius went and then looked at the opposite door. "Yeah, he went through the right door. The one that leads to the medic's office," he lied.
There was a pause.
"Regroup near his ship. We're going to ambush him there," they said.
"Aw dammit! Uh... damn it, I don't know where he landed.
"Visitor hangar," they said.
"I'm on my way," Herroth said.

Herroth began to run, but then he thought about which door to use. Using the once Lucius had used would be easiest since Herroth pointed the guards away from Lucius' direction. However, he didn't think that led to the hangar. Herroth had come through the central door, which the slaves took. Using the one the slaves took would be a terrible idea. It leads directly to where the slaves escaped. Going through processing would be a terrible idea too. Herroth had redirected the guards to that position. Herroth decided to take the one the slaves had taken. Before leaving, he searched the dead officer's corpse that was near his cell. He took a keycard and then ran like hell for the main hangar.

 

[Lupe]

Well this is going swell, Lucius thought to himself as ran through the hallway, relatively unmolested. I wonder where everyone...., began Lucius before a blaster bolt suddenly streaked right in front of his face. His training immediately kicked in and before a second shot was fired he was on the ground, prone.

"There he is, get him!" yelled the culprit behind the blaster that fired the bolt that had almost killed the bounty hunter. He was armed with a rather well maintained blaster rifle, known for its reliability and rather power blast, as well as being armored with paramilitary armor. Lucius knew things were not going to end well, especially adding the fact that the mercenary's call for help did not go unanswered. About three more mercenaries appeared behind their ally, firing down the hallway at Lucius.

Not wanting to end up blasted, Lucius quickly rolled out of the way and fired back, not aiming much as he wanted to suppress them first so that they are easier to kill. Thankfully it worked, the mercenaries quickly sought cover behind the door to the engine room, calling in reinforcements as they go. Not wanting to let up, Lucius got up still firing. He then began walking towards the door, firing as he went, waiting till he was close enough to toss in a frag grenade. Thanks to his continuous fire, the trio of mercenaries were not able to react fast enough to dodge the blast from the grenade. Still, there armor was good enough that they didn't die, though they were seriously injured.

After the grenade went off, Lucius slowly walked into the room, his pistol held up in a ready stance, just in case there were anymore. He then turned to look at the injured mercenaries. "Your guns, toss them over." he said simply, holding his pistol ready to fire at any of them.

The mercenaries were reluctant to comply, but eventually they tossed the rifles in Lucius' general direction and relaxed. The bounty hunter smirked and chuckled "That's cute, but I meant all your guns" he said, this time firing a bolt so close to one of the mercenaries that it singed some of his hair.

This time, they were much more compliant on giving up their weapons, tossing their grenades and pistols towards the bounty hunter as quickly as they could. Once it was all done, Lucius nodded and tied them up before making his way to the engine. Once there, Lucius smirked, pulling out the explosive he had been carrying and began setting it up.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the scene was chaotic as officers and assistants tried to analyze every bit of information and trying to do a bit of crisis control. During this time, the captain was undisturbed, in order to prevent another outbreak like last time, but all of sudden a voice broke the calm that the captain maintained. "Captain! Captain!" the voice came from a young female twi'lek, one of the many assistants on duty.

The captain frowned and looked at the young woman, he knew that what she had to say was not something he wanted to hear, but still he needed to hear it. Thus he gave a simple "Yes?" in order to show his attentiveness and displeasure.

"We've just got word from one of them squads in the engineering deck. They have engaged the bounty hunter" she said rather quickly, clearly un-affected by her captain's state of mind, which turned out to be a mistake.

The captain's eyes immediately glared with anger once more, but this time he didn't kill anyone on the bridge. He simply got up from his chair and yelled "Get me a squad! We're headed to the engineering deck!". He was not about to let Lucius leave alive, even if that meant losing the ship and his own life.

 

[Crim]

Herroth walked down the corridor. Since a lot of these guards didn't have blasters, they had to rely on melee weapons. The occasional blood splatter coated the walls in a crimson red. As he turned left at a corner, he saw a guard walking down the corridor. Herroth moved swiftly and quickly to reach the guard. "Hey, I'm new here and I need to get to the visitor hangar. Heard there was going to be an ambush there," Herroth said to the guard. The guard turned around and said, "You're kidding me right now, right?"
"No, I just couldn't find the visitor hangar."
"Slave, get back into your holding cell before I cut you down."
"I'm no slave! If I'm a slave, how would I know about the ambush in the visitor's hangar?"
"Well... you do have a point. Go down this hall and take a right. Keep going until you hit a fork; a stairway going up, a stairway going down, and a continuing corridor on the same level. Go through the central corridor. Don't take the stairway up. That goes to hangar control."

Herroth quickly reached for his gun and drew. The guard had little time to react before a blaster bolt ripped through his back. The guard fell to the ground, dead. "Thank you," Herroth said as he stepped over the dead man. As he followed the instructions given to him by the guard, Herroth came across a wall with scorch marks and blood. Bodies were scattered on the floor. Herroth approached the eerily still mass of people, stepping over limbs and bodies. As he navigated through the corpse blockade, he noticed a mostly fingerless Twi'lek on the floor, motionless. "Sorry, Nubs," he said. Herroth continued to walk, eventually clearing the mass of corpses. It was a kill-zone. He would need to tread lightly.

Before long, Herroth approached the fork the guard was talking about. He was about to go to the hangar before remembering what the guard had said about hangar control. "Bingo," he said, looking at the staircase before walking to the hangar control room.

 

[Lupe]

Lucius' prisoners stayed quiet while the bounty hunter worked on arming the explosives he had carried to the engineering room. They were afraid, which was understandable considering that the man holding them captive was a man known for killing in cold blood. The event they were referencing was a rumor going around that Lucius had killed a man at a cantina simply for the thrill of it. Of course, Lucius did kill the man, but it was for a contract and he would clear his name if he weren't given a bonus for keeping his mouth shut on who the contractor was. That was the life of a bounty hunter, taking contracts and earning credits, sometimes they're bad contracts and always its blood credits, but credits are credits no matter where they come from. Still, Lucius did his best to keep some sense of honor about him, just like right now, where he should have killed Herroth due to a contract being placed on him the Empire, but Herroth was an old friend so he decided against it.

Eventually, Lucius finished arming the last explosive and proceeded to get up from the ground, but was stopped by a chuckle coming from behind him. Immediately, his instincts kicked in and he reached for his pistol which was holstered at his side, but was quickly stopped by a single bolt fired directly at his hand. He cringed a bit as the bolt ripped right through the flesh and bone in his hand. He would have cried out if it were not for his training, since his hands were still real flesh with real nerves so it hurt like shit. Still, as mentioned before, his training kept him from screaming like a girl, all his attacker got for gratification was a small frown and a gleam of angers passing over Lucius' eyes.

"Not so fast, bounty hunter" said his attacker, speaking in a voice Lucius had heard before "I have you now, so gently drop your weapons and turn around"

Realizing his hopeless situation, Lucius slowly used his good hand to pull out his pistol, vibroswords, and rifle, gently putting them on the ground, before slowly turning around with his hands up. Now, the bounty hunter had a clear view on his attacker, the Captain, accompanied by about five of his guards. Not wanting to give the Zabrak any gratification, Lucius simply smirked and asked "So how's your day going?"

The Captain gave a hearty, yet grim, laugh "Better than yours, scum." he said flatly as he nodded to one of the guards to apprehend Lucius "You're gonna die soon. That, or you're going to live the rest your life as a pitiful slave."

Now it was Lucius' turn to chuckle, at the Captain's ironic remark "Me, scum?" he asked sarcastically, as the guard approached him. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not much for slavery" With that said, Lucius lashed out pulling the guard to him and holding him in a choke hold, using the man as a meat shield. Still, Lucius knew better than rely on that to get him out, he knew that the Captain was two seconds from shooting him and the guard without a care in the world. Thus, the bounty hunter pushed the guard exactly at that right moment as the Captain squeezed the trigger, killing his own man.

Meanwhile, Lucius had dived to his pistol and fired four shots at the guards, who had the better guns out of them all, before the Captain was even able to think about his second. Each of the bolts found their target, dropping the guards with smoke rising from their chest. Not wanting to leave the job unfinished Lucius lined up for his fifth shot and fired, but his shot was thrown off when one of his prisoners jumped up and tackled him when he was least expecting it. The bolt hit the Captain square in the shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon, while Lucius landed on the ground, hard, with the prisoner on top of him. Luckily, the prisoner still had his hands tied, so he was unable cause any real damage, so Lucius simply pushed the man off, not wanting to kill needlessly. What he didn't expect was a right hook from the Captain landing square on his jaw as soon as he did so.

Luckily, the bounty hunter was able to recover quickly enough to roll away from the Zabrak's follow up punch, letting it land on pure durasteel floor. This stunned the Captain, and gave Lucius just enough time to get up from the floor and get into a defensive position. The Zabrak turned to him quickly, after recovering from his failed strike, this time delivering a swift quick to Lucius side. Since Lucius was expecting an attack, he was able to easily counter by leaning with the strike and letting it land so that he could wrap his arm around it and bring his free arm around, with the blade extended, to strike the Zabrak's chest. Seeing this, the Captain brought his hand to grab the arm that was striking him, using all his strength to prevent the blade from piercing his chest. During this struggle, the Zabrak smirked and spoke "You're not gonna kill me that easily, boy"

Lucius didn't respond, instead he delivered a powerful kick to the Zabrak's open side, forcing him to bend over and lose strength. Using this moment of weakness, Lucius plunged his blade into the Zabrak's chest, piercing his heart, and pushed him away. All the Zabrak could do was give an surprised look as he fell and bled out. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter watched as the Captain took his last breath before picking up his pistol with his uninjured hand and running out the room and to the hanger. Hearing his heavy running, some guards standing in other hallways and rooms began chasing him. Herroth, you better have my ship ready..... thought Lucius as he ran for his life as bolts flew past him.

 

[Crim]

Herroth fumbled in his pockets. "Damn it," he said, not finding anything. "Damn it, I thought I had a clear shot." He was searching for any key card the suit's previous owner may have had. He thought for a minute. He had pawned off all of his security spikes on Bespin so he couldn't hack it. He looked away from the door, shielded his face, and shot the security terminal. Sparks flew and the the door opened. The technician inside turned around and said, "What th-" before being cut off by a blaster bolt to the chest. He fell back, hitting the console behind him before slumping to the ground. Herroth walked to the dead technician and pulled him aside. There were buttons all over the console; some opened the hangar bay doors, some locked the hangar down, some moved giant manipulator arms attached to the hangar ceiling.

Herroth knew the basic structure of these things. These slavers had a few tricks up their sleeves for rowdy visitors. "These idiots may as well have put a self destruct button on this station. Holy hell," Herroth said as he found an 'emergency ventilation' button. He looked through the window overlooking the hangar. A rather sizable group of slavers waited with their weapons pointed at the only door to the hangar. Herroth smiled as he hit the 'hangar lockdown' button. The hangar doors closed and sealed themselves. The slavers looked over at the bridge control room to see Herroth waving at them. He then pressed the necessary buttons to secure the emergency ventilation. The guards below began shooting at the window Herroth was standing behind, but it was too little, too late for them.

The massive hangar bay doors opened and the blackness of space welcomed the men inside the hangar. The ray shields dissipated and the entire hangar depressurized. Guards and anything not secured to the floor flew into space. Herroth waited for two minutes; the average time it takes a man to suffocate. Anyone that wasn't blown out with the air had suffocated in the vacuum created in the hangar. Herroth flipped a few buttons to reactivate the ray shields and pump air back into the hangar. He ended the lockdown to the hangar and then began kicking the window with his cybernetic legs. The transparasteel began to crack before one last kick finally shattered the window. A gust of cold wind flew into the room and Herroth's ears popped due to the rapid change in air pressure. The hangar hadn't completely been re-pressurized yet.

He dropped to the hangar floor and ran to Lucius' ship. He began to prep it for launch.

 

[Lupe]

Lucius made a sharp turn into the hanger, red bolts following close behind him, when he was met by a reinforcement group headed to the hanger. It seems that the slavers had handled the slaves and was now focusing on capturing, or killing, the bounty hunter. This was bad, real bad, Lucius knew that he could not afford to engage the reinforcement group, but he also knew that he needed to get to the hanger as soon as possible. Thus, he began to aim his blaster to at least go down fighting, when all of sudden five bolts from the hanger hit each of the reinforcements. The perpetrator of the shots then made its way to Lucius. "ED?" the bounty hunter said laughing, realizing that the small little droid had just saved his skin.

"Yes, sir." came the droids response in an excited voice "I saw you were in dire need of help, so I came by, sir. Though I'd strongly recommend we continue towards the ship rather than stay in such a hostile area." Lucius grinned and nodded, if anything the droid was well worth the credits he had spent on him. He could always rely on ED to do things he could not. Still, ED was right, he needed to get going, so he finally made his way to the Vetus and entered the ship. "Go, Herroth, now!" he said in a commanding tone, though for good reason, as about ten guards were closing in on the ship, firing at its hull to at least try and detain them. Meanwhile, Lucius made his way to the top gun and sat down in the gunners seat, firing at the guards, not exactly making any hits, but sure as hell scaring the living hell out of them.

 

[Crim]

"Go, Herroth, now!" echoed through the halls of Lucius' ship. Herroth flipped a few switches, firing the engines up. Slavers poured out of the doors to the hangar, firing at the ship. Herroth fired up the shields as a spray of bolts from the laser cannons flew in the general direction of the slavers. It was more of a psychological tactic from Lucius. Herroth suddenly missed the point-defense cannons on the Gamma-1. As the ship began to lift off the hangar floor, the landing gear retracted. The sounds of blaster fire being absorbed by the shields sounded like hail hitting steel drums. The ship backed out of the hangar, past the ray shields.

The sound of blaster fire disappeared, replaced by the empty vacuum of space. The ship moved into position before Herroth hit the forward accelerator. The engines made a sweet sound as the ship shot forth at incredible speeds. To some people, it was the sound of a ship going fast. To Herroth, it was the always welcome sound of 'getting away'. Herroth smiled and called Lucius on the comm. "Alright, we have a clear run to Cularin if we need to stop quickly, but I should be able to make the jump to lightspeed soon if we want to get out of the system. I'm pretty partial to that plan. Another idea is destroying the slave ship, but I don't know if there are any slaves left on that ship. We could report them to the proper authorities and let them take care of it, but I don't know who to call. The Alliance and Imps could spell 'trouble' for us."

 

[Lupe]

Lucius grinned as the Vetus made its way farther away from the Paradise Falls. Once he deemed they were a safe distance away from the gun ship, the bounty hunter dropped out of the gunners seat and into the hallway that lead to cockpit as Herroth spoke through the comm. Immediately, Lucius' grin turned to a grimace. He would have to tell Herroth of his line of work and that he didn't exactly come for him, he was what Lucius called a 'happy accident'. He would also have to tell him that he intended on destroying the slaver ship whether slaves were on it or not. He would have to explain that he was not the same Lucius that fought in the Mandalorian Civil War, he no longer believed in honor. After the horrors he had seen, who would? In the end, all he was was a killer for hire, nothing more, nothing less. He no longer believed in the Mandalore, he was no longer bound by Mandalorian traditions, he was only Mandalorian in name only.

"That's the thing, ner'vod" he said quietly, not wanting to seem threatening or hostile, though failing at it due to his years as a trained killer making his voice a default threatening tone. "I work for the Imperials, the Alliance, the Hutts, the Chiss, anybody who has the credits." he stopped for a second, letting it sink in before putting it in plainer terms. "Basically, I'm a blaster for hire, and that" he pointed at the Paradise Falls "was my target. You were never supposed to be there, it was supposed to be a simple in and out, not a full blown firefight. You simply happened to be there, and I couldn't just leave you there, now could I?" he let the question hang in the air before realizing that this could lead Herroth to believe that he was after his head, which he wasn't "Don't worry." he said, putting a gentle and friendly hand on Herroth's shoulder "I'm not after your bounty, someone else can have that. I am just here to blow that ship to hell. Using this little thing" he said, pulling a small little detonator from one of the pockets on his armor. "So just sit back and watch the fireworks." Lucius pressed the button, and almost immediately the night sky behind them lit up in a glorious explosion. "Now that's nice." he said simply, lost in the beauty of the explosion, before coming back to reality. "Take us wherever you need to go."

 

[Crim]

The bright flash illuminated the sun-glare resistant cockpit. As the ship fell into pieces and the fire fizzeled at it hit the vacuum of space, Herroth watched and wondered how many people had died in that blast. Sure, the slavers deserved it, but there were still slaves on that ship. At least these bastards wouldn't be bothering anyone again. "I was trying to book passage to Nar Shaddaa when I was captured by the slavers. We could head there. Eire's apartment is still reserved. The one she used before becoming a Mandalorian. I'll give you the coordinates," Herroth said. As he stood up from the chair, he switched to the co-pilot chair. He pivoted to face Lucius.

"I had heard rumors that you were a freelancer, but I thought it was just gossip. Now that you've tasted both worlds, what do you think? Herroth asked. He jokingly added, "Was it everything you had hoped it would be?"