Price on a Horned Head

[Dóiteán]

Exiting out of hyperspace, a lone ship carrying an illegal cargo began it's decent into the atmosphere of Nar Shadda. The ship was the Wolves Fang, a slaver ship captianed by Trandoshan slaver Brosh. Their cargo, one slave, a Ka-Raam warrior. A prize worth a lot of money, atleast that's what Brosh thought. Brosh hoped to fetch a lot of money for the horned warrior.

The ship slowed down as it arrived at a landing space. With a hiss and a low thud, the vessel landed. Stepping off, Brosh led his chained merchandise off the ship. Ashad reluctantly was lead off the ship and followed the Trandoshan. Looking around, he was puzzled about where he was and what he arrived on. Brosh took Ashad to a hideout of his with a caged area. Locking Ashad in the cell, he left to find a buyer for the bulky product.

Ashad sat in the cell, thinking of how he was gonna get back to his tribe. With an arm drapped across his knee, the Ka-Raam warrior stared at the ground. Outside the cell, three other Trandoshans were guarding him. The were argueing about how much they were gonna get for their prize. They expected to get a lot for such a strong looking slave.

 

[Arcangel]

Szazak dejectedly counted the credits from his last job, guarding a freighter as it travelled through dangerous Hutt space to Nar Shadda, wondering how he was going to get by after a less than satisfactory payoff. Hearing a loud thud of a ship landing nearby startled him out of his thoughts, looking up to see four Trandoshans leading a large, horned and tattooed humanoid in chains. Curious, Szazak decided against his better judgement to follow the group.

Staying at a distance behind the Trandoshans, not wanting to be spotted, Szazak followed them through the dilapidated streets and alleyways of Nar Shadda. When it appeared they had reached their destination, a small decayed warehouse covered in graffiti, Szazak ducked down an alley, peaking out to watch them enter the warehouse. A few moments later one of the Trandoshans left the building. After he was sure that no one was watching, Szazak cased the perimeter of the building, finding a window in which to look.

Through the window Szazak could see two of the Trandoshans, guarding the large humanoid, who was sitting in a cell staring at the ground. Szazak did not think this looked like a criminal being brought to justice, but the look of a recently captured slave, confused and unsure of where he was. Realizing this, Szazak decided he might try to do something about it, wondering if the slave had noticed him in the window as he headed towards the front entrance. He also wondered if the slave had noticed how close one of the Trandoshans was standing to its cell.

 

[Nor'baal]

As always, it appeared the market was cramped. In fact, Vilmark had difficulty remembering if he had ever actually been in a market that was nice, open planned, ordered, with a good few escape routes and security that didn’t ask any questions. ’’Well a man can dream.’’ he thought, as he wandered in. Today was a slave auction, and he been asked to fetch a warrior for a client of his.

Security stopped him as he walked in, demanding his entrance fee. He attempted to haggle it down, which was refused, so handed over his credit chits, before promptly taking them back off the counter when the guard was not looking and vanishing into the crowd. Taking a seat at the back of the market, he waited for the slaves to arrive.

One specimen was being delivered by a Trandoshan later on, and Vilmark has been asked to act as the sale agent. Naturally he was also to pocket a nice fee from the transaction, so there were no complaints there. He sat down, straightened out his robe, and waited.

 

[Clayton]

A massive figure stood in the relative shadow of a cantina back-alley. It was a dive, one that was a trap for unwary offworlders. But the hooded figure robed in white did not care. What mattered was the cantina was in full view of the spaceport. A few minutes ago, his datapad had buzzed with a new message, one that contained information that a certain Trandoshan slaver had landed, and what direction he and his crew had been heading in. Under his hood, one black lip raised in a snarl. If there was one species that Rook hated above all others, it was the Trandoshans.

Brosh's name had come to Rook's attention on Kashyyyk, and he had used the Imperium's extensive criminal database to dig up whatever leads he could. That led him to Tatooine, and a couple bribes to spaceport control officers meant that he would be informed of when Brosh landed. And so he had. A troop of figures appeared from one of the massive portcullises that marked the spaceport. He raised a military-issue rangescope with one hand and observed the group in perfect detail, even though he was several hundred yards away. Two things he noted made him immensely pleased. First, it was indeed Brosh, albeit with a sizable security detail. Second, they had brought a slave with them. If he could free a slave, it would be the icing on the cake that was killing a Trandoshan. A third observation was someone seemed to be interested the group, though ket his distance as he followed them.

Rook lowered the scope and put it back in a small pouch. He then tailed the group and their odd shadow, grateful that the crowd around the spaceport allowed him to blend in some. Trandoshans with a cage stood out, but a figure in robes less so. He had no idea if the lone figure was a thief, a spy for a rival slaver, or someone who hated slavery as much as Rook did, but if the person was going to start something with the Trandoshans, then Rook would change his plan. He originally intended to hit the group in an alleyway, but now, now he might take advantage of a potential distraction.

The group eventually found themselves at a warehouse. The slavers went in while the tail skulked around a window. It was suspicious enough for Rook to make a snap decision. As Szazak moved along the warehouse wall in the direction of a door, Rook ducked into a cramped alley and circled around to the back of the building. With one leap he was on the roof of a dilapidated structure that by the smell of it, housed squatters. Another force-assisted leap and Rook landed softly on the warehouse roof. While he had brought his lightsaber with, as he never went anywhere without it, he did not want to bandy about as a Sith disrupting Hutt business. Ergo, he had brought his Ryyk blade. With the soft whisper of a well-oiled sheath, Rook drew the large sword and waited by the roof access. When he heard or sensed commotion below, that was when Rook would breach from above. He could practically quiver with anticipation.

 

[Arcangel]

Szazak entered the warehouse, heavy blaster drawn. The stench of dry dirty scales and rotten meat filled the warehouse, indicating that the Trandoshans used this building often. Following the echoing sound of raspy Trandoshan voices to the back of the filthy warehouse, Szazak came to a stop as he spotted a dark hallway from which the voices came loudest. Drawing his shockstaff in his free hand, Szazak proceeded down the dust caked corridor, the voices growing lowder with each careful step.

Finally arriving at a doorway from which he could clearly hear the Trandoshans speaking he paused for a moment and counted voices. After a few seconds he decided there must be three Trandoshans in the room, and prepared to act. Stepping into the doorway he quickly spotted the first Trandoshan, who snarled in surprise as he entered, standing by the window, and snapped a shot off at the Trandoshans chest. Seeing the second Trandoshan to his left, next to the cell of the tattooed slave, he jabbed at him with his shockstick, delivering a powerful electric shock as the Trandoshan was shoved up against the cell’s bars, the sickening smell of scorched scales filling the room. Suddenly, Szazak felt a powerful impact against the back of his head, claws scratching against his tough exeskeleton, sending him sprawling into the room, shockstick lost and blaster skittering into a corner. Instictively he rolled into a crouch, facing his attacker, his fingers clenched into a sharp point, ready to receive an inevitable charge with a powerful thrust, or to charge in turn if the Trandoshan pulled a blaster.

 

[Dóiteán]

Brosh waded through the crowd until spotting a man fitting the description he was given.

"Vilmark i take it? I've got a product that needs selling. This one I think the Hutts would like. A Ka-Raam warrior. Very rare yes?", he said.

*Beep Beep*

"What?", he said into the comm link.

"We're under attack. One target. Must be attempting to free the slave", said one of Brosh's men.

"Must I do everythin?", he said, " I'm sorry but i must cut this short. Someone is trying to free said product now."



Meanwhile......

Someone shot at one of the Trandoshan slavers, the said slaver rolled out of the way and began to draw out his blaster. Another was hit with a shockstick, being knocked back into the bars. The last Trandoshan was able to hit the guy in the back of the head.

Askad looked up curiously when he heard the shot. He didn't know who the stranger was and wasn't sure if he was there to help or just to be the one to profit on his sale.

 

[Arcangel]

Stupid, Szazak thought to himself, jumping into a room with three foes, it had been too long since he had been on a real fight and he must have gotten rusty. Seeing that his shot had missed his first foe and the Trandoshan was now drawing his blaster, he quickly leaped and rolled toward the Trandoshan, coming up in a low crouch, grabbing the wrist holding the blaster and giving a sharp tug while rising quickly, using the Trandoshans forward momentum to deliver a powerful upward elbow strike under its chin.

 

[Clayton]

The faint sound of blasterfire echoed below, his signal to enter. The door was unlocked, unsurprising, who really expected your average thief to break in from somewhere that required more than a little effort, or the force, to get to? He hurried down the stairs and saw, from a landing midway down, a Gand doing battle with three Trandoshans. Bold, but extremely dangerous, Trandoshans were strong, strong enough to be a physical threat to even wookiees.

Rook vaulted from the landing and came down to the floor with a loud thud. The Trandoshan that had landed the first hit on the Gand turned to see what was the source of the noise and was met with a face-full of sword. It wasn't Brosh, nor was the one the Gand was fighting. In fact, Brosh didn't seem to be in the warehouse at all. Perhaps he had gone out to get a buyer? Rook growled in annoyance.

Although he didn't see any other enemies in the immediate area, he kept his eyes and ears open just in case. If this warehouse was used by the Trandoshans regularly, there might be more skulking about. He spotted a blaster on the ground and picked up it. A blaster was just as good as a key. Rook aimed at the cage lock and fired twice, the two red bolts smashing into the metal with a spray of red sparks and the acrid scent of melted metal.

 

[Arcangel]

Smashing the Trandoshan under the chin had less of an effect on it than Szazak had desired, but still stunned it enough to give him time to draw back for another strike, this time clenching his fingers together to form a deadly point, with chitinous fingers tough enough to break through Gand exoskeletons, the Trandoshans scales should offer little resistance. With a powerful uppercut Szazak’s piercing strike sliced through the Trandoshans throat.

Letting the Trandoshan drop Szazak turned to face his last foe, but was surprised to see the enemy lying on the ground, its face a bloody mess and obviously dead, with a large, white robed Wookiee standing over him, aiming Szazak’s blaster at the cage lock and letting fly to blasts, sending a shower of sparks over the floor. Glad that the Wookiee was freeing the slave, Szazak began to speak in his native tounge of clicks and buzzes, his vocoder’s hollow electronic voice speaking over him. “Szazak is overjoyed that you have freed the slave, this Gand may have underestimated the Trandoshans, this Gand thanks you for the assistance”.

 

[Dóiteán]

Brosh gathered a varied group of five ranging from Human to Trandoshan, all being paid by him to keep his property in it's cage. They all moved through the side alleys towards the warehouse, weapons drawn. Brosh was angry that someone would dare attack his warehouse. They charged down the last alley to the warehouse. Brosh was smart, he had the five go in first while he followed. Luckily he was clever enough to hire a force sensitive human among the five.


Ashad, still with his arms and legs chained, was still seated but had raised his head at the commotion. Two strange beings fighting his captors and using strange weapons. He watched as one of them shoot the cage lock.

 

[Clayton]

He nodded in acknowledgement and let out a small growl in return. Anyone who wanted to free slaves was an ally in his book. The nape of Rook's neck prickled as his senses picked up a faint ripple in the force, something was coming. He growled a warning to the Gand and motioned at the door. They did not have time to waste, the presence of a force sensitive was closing in fast. There were mere seconds before the reinforcements burst through the door. Rook pointed his palm at the prisoner's cuffs and snapped the chain through the force. Metal splintered and snapped as a link shattered, the alien would still be wearing two unfashionable bracelets, but at least he was free to fight.

Rook flipped the blaster around back into his hand and took up a ready stance, blaster aimed down the room, sword up high ready to be brought down upon anyone foolish enough to get near him. What he was more concerned about was the force sensitive. The Gand might have guts, but an adept could turn the tide of any battle. The door banged open and Rook let out a fearsome roar in challenge to the mixed party of Trandoshans and humans that had come to reclaim their prisoner.

 

[Arcangel]

The Wookiee nodded at Szazak and let out a short growl. Before Szazak could say anything else the Wookiee’s expression turned to one of alarm as he growled again and motioned at the door in urgency. Szazak drew his blaster carbine from the folds of his robes and flicked the fire setting to automatic. Hearing a sharp snapping sound, Szazak looked over to see the slaves cufflinks had been snapped, and seeing his shockstaff on the ground near his feet, Szazak gave it a shove with his foot, sliding it towards the slave’s cage before turning to face the doorway.

The Wookiee gave a roaring battle cry as the warehouse door slammed open, a mixed group of humans and Trandoshans trying to make their way through the door. Szazak raised his carbine and pulled the trigger, a stream of ruby red blaster bolts sprayed towards the doorway, stitching a deadly pattern through the air. Aimed waist high and zig zagging within the width of the doorway, Szazak fired off about half the power cell of his carbine, hoping to fill the doorway with the lethal bolts, then stopping to adjust aim and pick off any foes who remained standing.

 

[Dóiteán]

Askad rubbed his wrists as he stood up. Looking around, he saw the strange creature kick a strange rod to him. Picking it up, he charged into the group with an enraged look on his face. Using the strength of his people, he smashed one Trandoshan's skull open. Blaster fire flew past and around him, hitting some as well as missing others. Behind the group was Brosh, his guards, and his force sensitive hireling. They wouldn't charge in until really needed. The mercenaries he hired charged through the door recklessly. With no reguards or tactical planning, they had never bothered to realize the defensive advantage of the wookie, gand, and Ka-Raam in the warehouse.

 

[Arcangel]

As the slave charged into the fray with a feral roar, wielding Szazak's shockstaff like a club, Szazak hoped that none of the blast bolts he had just sprayed into the doorway would hit him. Momentarily impressed by the Ka-Raam's strength as he smashed in a Trandoshans skull, Szazak almost let one of the reckless mercenaries slip out of the deadly melee. Catching sight of a human mercenary backing out of the melee, firing panicked blasts in the general direction of the raging Ka-Raam warrior, Szazak calmly took aim and fired off a burst of ruby death, a trio of red bolts raced to snuff out the mercenaries life.

 

[Clayton]

Rook had fired off a good half-dozen shots before the prisoner charged into the fray. Now that the prisoner was in danger of being shot, Rook discarded his blaster. The force sensitive was still in the picture and needed to be taken care of. The Gand and former prisoner seemed to be holding the inside well, if Rook waded in, it would cause the battle to become unnecessarily cluttered. He growled low and look at a window, judging its size. He should be able to fit, providing he smashed the thin wooden frames.

He drew on the force and smashed the dust encrusted glass and weathered wood, but he did not allow it to fall to the ground. Instead he held his grip on it and sent the sharp debris flying sideways to where the rest of the slavers were holding back from the main fight. Rook then jumped through the desiccated remains of the window and landed in the side-alley.

Rook knew his flurry of glass would buy him only a few seconds, so he outstretched his hand, focusing on aiming at the enemy adept's signature in the force. He channeled powerful negative emotions into raw Dark Side energy and let the resulting Blast launch from his raised palm. The powerful concentration of Dark Side energy left visible ripples in its wake as it cleaved through the air to strike at the unfortunate adept. It was not the most powerful force technique out there, but it was certainly enough to cause severe damage to anything it struck. His lip curled as the Dark Side burned his hand from the attack, the icy chill of burnt nerve endings settling in. With his other hand he brought his sword up, ready to intercept any attack Brosh would have.