Ask Lothal Picking Up the Pieces

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

By the time this day was over, Zad just might have to enlist in the next baseball tournament, and to hell with huttball. His truncheon went this way, clocked the lights out for Devaronian, that way, made an Ithorian grunt, zig-zagged “Zad Ruzed” across the body of an Aqualish. Take that!

The Ranger whipped his weapon around. The Gamorrean ducked. Damn! Zad yelped as something hard hit him in his back. He turned to face a Chiss throwing oranges. “Take that ya zore losers!” The goon declared. “I’ll have yer eyeballs fer...uh...sommat...fer breakfazt!” The next orange landed on his own head.

While the Chiss studied the ceiling, Zad studied Zaia just to make sure she was okay. It was a passing glance and she seemed to be holding her own against an airborne chair so that was promising. At this rate the two could add ‘engaged in a lounge fight’ to their list of violent confrontations.

“Drunken di’kuts, am I right?” Giving his partner a thumbs-up, Zad looked down to find a yellow bird now sitting on his outstretched arm. “Di’kut!” The bird parroted. “Di’kut!”

Who you callin’ a di’kut? Zad scowled at the bird and tried to shake it off his arm. Its talons held tight to the leathered wrist. “PETEY!” cried a Nagai. What is this lounge, anyway, an interspecies pride movement? "Who let you out, my love!?" The Nagai lunged for the bird just as it promptly flew away. “Di’kut! Di’kut!”

The Nagai didn’t exactly miss, however. Nope, he succeeded in diving into the Ranger as both persons collapsed to the floor, the Nagai on top and Zad staring up at a Mandalorian.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia grit her teeth as a Weequay knocked into her injured leg when she shoved him aside. Even though she felt better today, she realized that she still wasn’t at the top of her game, and she inwardly scolded herself for it. Plus, it didn’t help that a bird was screaming “di’kut!” at the top of its lungs either, and she was tempted to strangle it just so it would shut up.

“My love?” Zaia echoed with a snort as she saw the Nagai. But then he launched himself at Zad, and the two fell to the ground right in front of her. She grabbed the Nagai by the shirt and hauled him off of Zad before kicking him in the temple to knock him out. As for the bird, it had stopped squawking for the moment, and she lowered her blaster.

“Six Daggers, huh? More like six butter knives,” she muttered as she looked around at the room of unconscious or dead gangsters. She put her blaster back into its holster and offered Zad a hand to help him up.

“You alright?” she asked, concern lacing her tone as she scanned him for any potentially life-threatening injuries. From her quick glance it looked like he was fine, but after last night she wanted to be sure. She couldn’t have him passing out in front of her in a place like this. “We still need to find whoever is in charge.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Zad blew through his lips, half-hoping to lie on that not terribly comfortable floor just to take a breather. Instead, he took Zaia’s hand and got to his feet. “I’ve had worse.” He looked around at the motionless thugs and the ones groaning and clutching various parts of their body. “These bozos haven’t.”

He just then noticed his partner’s leg. “Am I gonna have to get the first aid kit again? We got plenty of whiskey this time.” That was another temptation that the Ranger had to ward off given what kind of room they were in.

“The Six Daggers in charge of these butter knives gotta be deeper down. These ‘guards’ were probably set up as a gateway to their bosses.” He shrugged. “Just…very bad about leaving the gate open?”

“Owww…my…my hair hurts…I…didn’t even know hair could hurt…” Spoke a very, very drunk Twi’lek.

Debating whether that had just happened, Zad cleared his throat. “All right, pardner…” He eyed the ruined elevator while reaching for a bottle. “...Let’s take the stairs.”

Whether Zaia had her wound treated or not, the pair would make their exit, Ranger Ruzed stealing a shot of whiskey on his way out. In the stairwell, he heard some tapping further below and faint voices.

“Great. Sounds like more guards are coming up.” He observed the signage. “Warehouse is in between, through that door, likely has its own elevator leading to the mining zone. Or we steamroll through some more douchebags…but I’m shooting them this time.”


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

“Clearly not,” Zaia replied, clicking her tongue as Zad got to his feet. At his mention of the first aid kit, she looked down at her leg. The bleeding didn’t look too bad, and it was as if the wound wasn’t even there if she ignored the pain. “And I’m fine. You can keep the whiskey,” she added with an amused grin. She’d been half-expecting him to mention it, and she wasn’t disappointed.

At the Ranger’s reasoning that the people in charge were probably lower down, she nodded.

“This time you pick the room,” she said as Zad got himself a bottle of whiskey. Eyeing the bottle, she frowned. “Is that a good idea…?” She looked at the complaining twi-lek, but then shrugged to herself. As long as he doesn’t end up like that, whatever. Then she followed Zad to the stairwell, listening to the voices coming from below.

“Do you want to go through the warehouse, then? I... hate stairs.” In actuality she didn’t mind them, but the part she didn’t want to admit was that she didn’t think she’d make it very far in a fight on the stairwell when someone could push her off the edge, especially because of her leg. “I’ll check it out.” She opened the door and peered inside. Metal crates and their lids were scattered everywhere, with broken bottles all over the floor. There were some weapons on the ground too, and she wondered just how much these thugs had been drinking.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s inside. Want to give it a try?” She looked back at Zad, then down at the stairwell. The voices and footsteps were getting louder, and whoever was coming up didn’t sound as drunk as the ones in the room.

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Zad weighed his options. He didn’t take long. “After you, Mando.” Zaia led the pair into the warehouse and Zad locked the door behind. Whoever was coming up the stairs probably had a key though so he approached a metal crate near the wall.

“Help me with this? They’ll probably pass us by but just in case.” The two partners guided the heavy crate in front of the door. Something like that wouldn’t stop the enemy from coming in but would slow them down and that’s all that was needed.

Zad frowned at the weapons and bottles. Something was not right here. It was as if the whole facility was managed by…morons. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

He knelt down, aging knees and all, and rose with a sigh. “Right place at least. This little guy look familiar?” He wasn’t sure how closely Zaia had paid attention to some random dagger back then. “We first encountered it at the bank. Trademark of the Six.” Definitely the right place. Where next?

“Heard there’s trouble upstairs,” came a voice after a door opened at the other side of the room near the elevator.

“Not our problem,” spoke another goon. “We got empty containers and weapons to put inside ‘em.”

Zad quickly gestured for Zaia to follow him into hiding. He found another crate and ducked behind it.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

At Zad’s request, Zaia helped him push the heaviest crate they could find in front of the door. That would buy them at least a couple seconds to do whatever they needed to do. Following Zad’s gaze to the various scattered items on the floor, she nodded.

“Yep. I’d feel like these Daggers would be a little more… organized.” This was by far the worst criminal outpost she’d ever seen, and she couldn’t help but ask herself how they’d even lasted so long like this. Of course, having organization skills wasn’t the only thing that mattered in running a gang or something of the sort, but it did play a factor. But drunken men, weapons and glass all over the ground, it was a wonder that the authorities hadn’t infiltrated this place earlier. Just the two of them had made it this far down. Or could it be that the cops didn’t want to, or something else was keeping them out?

Her train of thought was broken when she heard Zad’s comment about the dagger. Looking at it, she frowned. She didn’t recognize it, but she’d take the Ranger’s word for it. “I didn’t pay attention. But if you’re right, at least we found them.” That was when she heard voices at the door, and she quickly followed Zad behind a crate. The door rattled against the metal box.

“Aw, what kind of idiot would leave that here?” one of the men grumbled as they shoved the door open.

“You know Leo, he’s always trying to prank us. ‘EY, LEO! YOU IN ‘ERE? This is the LAST TIME! Ya hear me?” Zaia grimaced as the other guard reached for the light switch, but nothing happened when he flipped it. “Light’s broken again, but WE’LL FIND YOU!” The pair switched on their flashlights and started checking behind and inside boxes. Zaia slowly pulled out her blaster as they approached her and Zad, glancing at the Ranger. Not again.

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Not again. It wouldn’t be. Zad was in no mood to tumble all over again after barely catching a breather. No, he would sneak his way out of this one just like he had snuck his way out of Corran Velt’s Ranger party ship where that one Jawa Ranger got drunk and fell onto the dance floor. And you really need to rein in your thoughts, Ranger Ruzed.

Having no idea who Leo was, Zad couldn’t quite impersonate him anytime soon, but didn’t want to get caught behind a crate anytime soon. Quickly searching around as the guards approached, he found a wrench and tossed it. It hit a container toward the other end of the room.

“HA!” Moron 1 laughed. “We gotcha, Leo! We catch yer ass this time and you’ll owe us brunch!”

Brunch..? Zad blinked. Why brunch? Why not breakfast or lunch or dinner..?

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take a bologna sandwich, hold the mustard, HAHAHA!” Laughed Moron 2.

It was the only thing Zad could do as he silently shook his head at his partner. The guards paced away. Then Zad jerked his head to indicate that it was time to start sneaking away. Zaia was closer to the elevator than he was.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Phew. Zad’s wrench seemed to do the trick, and the guards pounced for it like loth-cats with a laser dot. She nodded back to show that she understood as the Ranger jerked his head at the doorway to her right that led to the elevator.

Keeping as quiet as she could, Zaia put her blaster back and got up so that she was crouching. She wasn’t the best at being subtle, but the men didn’t seem to notice her as she made her way to the next stack of crates that hid her from their view.

“Leoooooo… AHA! Oh, never mind.” The sound of a box being turned over made her freeze for a moment before she heard grumbling and some more rummaging. Letting out a silent sigh of relief, she kept going until she was out of the room. The elevator was on the left, positioned in the perfect spot so that the two men wouldn’t notice the pair in front waiting for it. Finally, something good.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Zaia whispered to Zad as the lift doors opened. She stepped inside, looking over the buttons. We’d better pick the right one this time.

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

The stealth op was going well so far. Zad stayed low, reminded himself to work out more, crouching behind crates and racking and what have you to ensure he was not spotted by a wayward flashlight. Given how ‘effective’ these guards were it would take an accident to spot him.

In the elevator, there was no doubting it: Zad knew which buttons to press. “Just a Ranger, ma’am, just doing my job,” he whispered back. “Now, let’s see…” Stroking his chin, he hovered a finger over this floor, that floor, this floor—

“Hey, you!” Moron Unknown Number spoke.

“Yeah, you!” Said the other.

Zad looked up. There was a light shining in his face.

“WE GOTCHA, LEO, HAHA!”

Phew. Zad breathed a sigh of relief and found the right floor.

"Wait..." The guard slowly turned around.

"...That ain't Leo..." The other guard raised his blaster.

Pour me a whiskey— PICK A FLOOR, ZAD RUZED.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

While the pair was taking their sweet time picking a floor, the two guards were busy looking for Leo. And Leo they found— or so they thought before a flashlight lit up the faces of Zad and Zaia. Are you kidding me?

The Mandalorian shot the blaster out of the guard’s hand before he had a chance to pull the trigger, then knocked him aside with her elbow. The other guard had replaced his flashlight with a dagger, one with the same design as the one Zad had shown her in the warehouse. She grabbed his wrist as he attempted to stab down and jerked his arm back until she heard a crack. Then she pushed him straight into the other guard, letting both of them fall over on top of each other. That one was lucky that he only got off with a broken arm.

Zaia slid back into the elevator just as the door began to close, and once it did, she relaxed herself a bit, leaning against the wall.

“Pick a floor yet, partner?”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Zaia went to work, Mando-style, taking those two guards out like they were made of the same glass as one Ranger’s bottles of whiskey. One bottle after the other. All that glass. Broken and gone.

Zaia went to work, all right, while Zad, the Sector Ranger, stood still like an idiot and just watched. An idiot who can’t press the button on a karking elevator.

“Zaia…” He realized they were on the clock but, all of a sudden, he couldn’t move. His finger just hovered in front of the wall panel—once again. “I…” He licked his lips, finger became a hand to hug the wall, and he couldn’t even look at her.

“I didn’t tell you why I’m after these guys, these Six Daggers.” Zad looked at his feet, those black boots that had kicked so many teeth out. “I feel like now is a good time.” Not really. Guards could come through any moment. I just can’t…just can’t move…

The Six Daggers, they were no Pyke Syndicate or Hutt Cartel; rather, remnants of either and more. Small time, they were yet sophisticated enough to be pursued by the law, which was why their defenses at this facility made…little sense.

“They took something from me. I downplay it. I mean, it’s gone, I can’t get it back.” Zad sighed, putting his back up against the wall. “Watched it go in an elevator not much different than this one.” Saying that out loud made him chuckle, but weakly. “That lift went up. We’re going…down.” Down. Down. Down.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

“Zad? What’s wrong?” Zaia took a few steps forward so that she was standing next to the Ranger. His hand was on the wall, and he wasn’t meeting her gaze. “Zad?”

She listened as he struggled to find the words, her eyes searching his face for some clue as to what was going on. The Ranger had been all for kicking butts back in that common room and had even looked like he enjoyed it, but now…

“Take your time,” she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. He went on to explain how the Daggers had taken something from him, something he wouldn’t be able to get back. She didn’t know what, but it clearly meant a lot to him, and still did. The man had certainly downplayed it; she hadn’t even thought that all this might have been personal for him. As he moved and put his back against the wall, Zaia did the same.

“Down, into who knows what,” she echoed with a sigh. Taking off her helmet, she looked over at the Ranger. She didn’t want to rub salt in an old wound by forcing him to talk about a painful memory if he didn’t desire to do so, but she did want him to know that she was there for him. In a galaxy like this, it was the least she could do. “Hey, Zad. If you need to let it out, I'm here to listen. And, um, the guards won’t bother us. I’ll shoot them if they try.” She offered him a shrug and a half-reassuring grin at the last part. “In all seriousness, partner, take as much time as you need.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Against his better judgment, the kind that could close other people off like a duracrete wall as much as invite them in, Zad picked the latter.

Had Zaia not taken off her helmet right then and there, had their eyes not met for a moment, the Ranger might have kept his cards hidden behind his jacket and closed the conversation right then and there.

It wasn’t her face that mattered. It was the gesture. The willingness. They barely knew each other, but were fighting together to end a threat that they shared. Zad knew what the Six Daggers meant to Zaia: she was their target after that botched bank robbery. Maybe it’s time I tell her what they mean to me.

“I got too close. The Six was my case, but I got too close. There was an informant. A Zabrak. Aemi was her name. Not much younger than me. Those horns they have?” He looked at his hand. “If I’m dumb enough to think about it, I can still feel hers… As smooth as hair.” The hand closed into a fist, but it was as weak as the chuckle had been.

“She got made. I was too late. Watched her disappear in that kriffing elevator. She went up, went with some helmets, and I went after. When I reached the top, the assassins were gone…so was Aemi.” He shook his head, wishing the past could be changed, but dismissed that dumb idea as well.

“Her body wasn’t. They left it on the carpet of her living room. The blood…I can feel hers too…” The fist was cradled in the other hand, fingers caressing scarred knuckles. Just like you did. Right before you kissed each one.

“Don’t get old, kid.” Zad smiled, wishing that was possible. No more than changing the past. Was Zaia eighteen? She wasn’t fifty, was more than a young woman given the kind of helmet she put over her head.
But still young. So young. So much…promise. Whole future ahead of her.

“Maybe if I wasn’t turning into a geezer I could have stopped it.” He might have been angry, he was back then, but he had since relented to reality. If Zad Ruzed could find redemption, maybe this elevator would take him to it.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

The Ranger spoke, and Zaia listened. From what she’d seen today, she couldn’t believe that this was the same group that managed to catch an informant and murder her in cold blood. Not to mention that the something he lost was really a someone. She couldn’t even imagine the pain. As he neared the end of his story and cradled his fist in his hand, Zaia wanted to reach over and comfort him. But before she could, he’d smiled and looked over at her.

“If only that were possible,” she responded with a smile. At his next words, she shook her head.

“I can’t say if that’s true or not, but I doubt there was much you could have done. Don’t beat yourself up for it, Zad.” It came out a bit more blunt than she’d intended, but it didn’t seem like the Ranger was angry. “You might not have been able to save Aemi, but… you did save me. I know it won’t make up for what you lost, but you did what you could. That’s all anyone can ask for.”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Zad nodded at Zaia'a clarity. “Yeah…you’re probably right. That’s all I can really ask for, huh? That and—” A cough exploded from his throat just then, into his hand. He made sure to wipe the few drops of blood off his shirt behind his jacket so as not to be seen. “A cigarette.”

He would enjoy one later, in the open air of the outside world, not in some forsaken facility like this one. “Whatever happens from hereon out, Miss Mando, our scores remain even.” Zad offered Zaia a fist bump, removed himself from the wall, hovered a finger over the panel. Aime…help me. Help me stand…unshaken. He pressed the button. “Going down.”

Down. Down. Down.

The man and the woman descended deeper into the levels of this base belonging to the Six Daggers. The Ranger could have called for backup but the pair knew that this was too personal for him.

Negotiating their way through the mines, they learned the lair of their enemy. It, too, was weakly guarded, an anomaly that the Sector Ranger liked less and less.

“I don’t know what we’ll find through this door,” he spoke before it and in between two guards he had shot dead, a bolt to either head. “But we go through together.” Zad raised his pistol, ready to give his hosts the proposition of their lives, and opened the door.


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

“Sounds good to me,” Zaia responded with a smile as she returned the fistbump. As he pressed the button and the lift began to descend, she put on her helmet again, ready for whoever else decided to get in the way.

It turned out that there wasn’t much, and she wasn’t sure if she should have been happy about it or not. There was hardly anyone to be dealt with, and they made their way relatively quickly to the door. Zad shot the unsuspecting guards outside, and the room was theirs for the taking.

She nodded at the Ranger’s words and stepped in beside him with both her blasters pointing forward as the door opened. But there was nothing to shoot at, and the only things inside the decrepit room were a beat-up old desk and a carpet that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since the Clone Wars. She lowered her blasters.

“Uhh, are you sure we’re in the right place?”

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

An operations room waited for them, an obvious setup for the Six, but it looked as empty as the space between galaxies.

Zad was…he almost felt horrified, torn between laughing and raging. He could only lower his blaster, feebly, looking around for any kind of clue. What the hell is going on..?

The Ranger had some wits about him yet. The time and distance between that elevator and this room included asking a guard for directions before he made the Ranger shoot him. But he confirmed it. He said the Six are down here. HERE.

“Son of a bitch!” Zad kicked a side table, threw a chair toward a wall. “They’re gone! Were they ever kriffing here!?” Steadying himself, if Zaia hadn’t beaten him to it, he shook his head at the drab wall opposite the entrance, beyond the table. What?

The painting seemed…out of place. It showed, not six daggers, but six mountains before a blue sky. It was large, perfectly straight in the center of the wall, and far too pristine for the environment.

Wasting no more time, Zad holstered his pistol and grabbed the painting. It wouldn’t budge. He tapped the frame, swabbed it with a hand, top to bottom. Found you. He pressed a winning finger and the painting slid upward.

Staring back at the man and the woman were, not six daggers, but six blank viewscreens. “I’ll be damned.” Zad sighed. “They’re here all right. Only…not quite.”


@Sicadorito

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Zaia put her blasters away, straightening up as she watched Zad kick the desk and throw a chair against the wall. She winced. She hadn’t seen him this angry before, and though she’d only recently met him she had a feeling that this wasn’t what he was usually like.

“There must be something else. The guard would have had no reason to lie,” she suggested, looking around the room for some kind of clue. Zad beat her to it though, and she found him staring at a painting of six mountains across the room. It was quite pretty, and unbefitting of the room it was in. When Zad felt around the frame, she wondered what he was doing before he slid the painting upward and revealed the viewscreens underneath. Zaia turned to him, impressed.

“I would never have thought of that.” Always two-faced. Everything was. She wondered how many times she’d have to learn that lesson for it to stick.

“We’ll find them eventually. They can’t hide forever,” she said, walking up to his side. “You can only run for so long before something catches up.”

In the case of the Six Daggers, Zaia intended for that to be her and Zad. The Daggers had toyed with them for long enough, and they would get what was coming for them.

@Die Shize

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

Zaia was right. No damn doubt about it. “Something…” He stared at those black screens, each one of them, one through six and back across, as though they were faces. Between each one was a Zabrak’s. “Something fierce, furious, filled with judgment… Yeah, we’ll catch up all right. That’s a promise.”

Cracking his knuckles, the Ranger stepped back, smoothed fingers through what hair he had, and did a final sweep of the room while expecting to find nothing. He found something. It was a datapad, strewn on the floor beside an ashtray and an empty box, courtesy of a man who had kicked a table.

Zad retrieved it. “Likely left by whatever prick was last in here.” There was no charge. “Lucky for both of us, one of us is a Sector Ranger who happens to know where to take this and get it cracked.”

He slipped the datapad into his coat, stared Zaia in the visor, though he knew the color of the eyes behind it. As gray as a grave, and we’re digging six. Resting a hand on her shoulder, he stared more thanks into her than words could ever give. “Let’s go, Miss Mando. We got justice to serve. And hell's comin' with us.”

They went. The Lothal peacekeepers were called in to clean up the mess. Plenty of questions, plenty of paperwork, but Zad could live with that. What he could not live with was a deceased love interest sleeping in her own grave without any peace. It’s coming. I’m bringing it to you this time, baby, and I ain’t alone. We ain’t alone.

[END THREAD]​

@Sicadorito