Ask [Pzob] Follow Through

[Kotii Solus]

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This was the second time that Kotii and Reiel were on Pzob. This time they had more Mandalorians with them. After previously scouting the area they had determined that it was a bit dangerous even for the two of them to take on. Now with a better idea and more warriors at Kotii's command, there would be an easier time taking the smuggler headquarters.

The Mandalorians were not the only ones with a different composition. Added to the half dozen assorted small craft and light freighters was a GR-75 medium transport. No doubt that was their treasure ship. A YT series, a ccm-220 and two YV corellian light freighters, as well as a lancer-class pursuit were likely the escorts and more autonomous crews.

The guard shifts had been observed and the routines noted of the smugglers. They were a bunch of criminals but they had their habits that made them predictable. The dozen Mandalorian brothers and sisters were waiting to move on the encampment. Half of them were ready to pounce on the bunker. However an E-web was in place outside it. That would be dangerous to approach even for them. But they did not need to assault the bunker directly. There was the option of trying to take the ships in the landing area.

"Still want to try and pass ourselves off as smugglers?" he jested with Reiel, remembering her last idea. This was going to be more of a storm and seize type off operation. They had yet to get close to the bunker themselves and were limited only to surface scans. "There's at least thirty warm bodies, organics. Only about half of them are active at any given time. Looks like...nine are around the ships. There's only one at the bunker though." The Mandalorian was sighted down his sniper rifle. But the Alor of House Solus did not have an intention of taking a shot from this distance.

The plan so far was simple, approach under cover of night. Storm the ships and secure them before they can take off. Any smugglers trying to flee would have to come to them. Then they could take time working the bunker.

@Forsythe Crowholde dice roll for reinforcements. rousing success

[/abox]

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Helmet off and standing beside Kotii, Reiel did nothing to stop the bright grin tinged with a little embarrassment at the joke the Alor of House Solus sent her way. She was grateful for the cover of darkness, hiding the way her cheeks burned both in amusement and self-consciousness she felt – and she wasn't even a bit surprised that he remembered that weird (and somewhat stupid) idea she brought up for them to gain entry at the outpost established by smugglers.

“You did say that we might need to be imaginative,“ she joked back, muffling her quiet laughter with one gloved hand. Unclipping her helmet from her belt the small Mandalorian smoothed her unruly hair before putting back on her buy'ce. Reiel was grateful that he had managed to bring reinforcement with him considering the new additions the enemies have taken themselves. Perhaps they could manage to make time for her to get to know them once this gig was up, but she put the thought aside for the time being and focused on the matter at hand.

Gear and weapons secured, the small Mandalorian readied herself for the initial approach. “Alright, so we take the ships first before anything else, then disable or take the E-web before they could use it against us.“ Stretching her arms and feeling the joints pop, she looked up at the Alor beside her and shot Kotii another sunshine grin.

“Just waitin' for your go signal, chief,“ she told her fellow Mando almost cheerfully. “Oya Manda.“

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

Kotii glanced to the side and looking at the eyes of his comrade. Reiel had her helmet off and readily displayed her face. It was a pretty one too that Kotii smiled at behind his helmet. Easy on the eyes was an appropriate term but the Alor kept such comments to himself. "You certainly are that, Reiel." He replied in kind. Because of her willingness to take off her helmet, like Kotii, she could put on another set of armor or wear a set of clothes like any other galactic citizen. Kotii was willing to give that plan a shot but now it seemed like more force needed to be applied.

When she reiterated the plan, the badger nodded. "Yeah. That way we cut off known escape routes. Any that we don't take care of may hole up in that bunker. But if we don't make a ton of noise...." Mandalorians struck hard and fast. It was not often there were members among that that could do so with precision and secrecy. "...we'll take the entirely by surprise." A facet of war that often Mandalorians had forgotten about to their own detriment.

Mandalorians, regardless off clan, were not invincible warriors but dangerous all the same. It was for that reason they were hunted down to near extinction and persecuted by many.

Kotii rolled his shoulders and cracked the joints in his neck and knuckles one after another. "Now I gotta do that." He muttered after watching and hearing Reiel pop some joints. A chuckle followed as the badger finished rapidly alleviate the tension in his joints.

Looking behind him at the shadow warriors, the werda verda, ready to strike the smugglers. The blank T visor looked one more time at Reiel and gave a nod. "Oya Manda." With that, Kotii set off with the armored warriors to close the distance with the ships.

The Mandalorians flew across the ground without jetpacks. Their swift and sure footed approach was long surveyed and planned out. Now they approached without drawing attention. When Kotii was in range he would make the first killed as he approached one guard from behind. Wrapping his thick arm under the jaw and tightening around the smuggler's throat until he lapsed into consciousness was followed up with the Alor turning and firing both darts from his knee launchers into the bodies of two more smugglers that rounded a corner. They each grabbed where the darts hit, one of them muttering a fading curse before each heavily fell on top of one another.

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

A light snicker was Reiel's only response as Kotii imitated her with her joint-popping (Kad, that name sucked). Cracking her knuckles one last time the small Mandalorian grinned then took off after the Badgers, one hand swiftly pulling out one of her vibroknives as she picked her own target.

Ducking under the cover of shadows and using her height to her advantage, she wove in between tall stacks of crates before darting towards one of the guards. Reiel delivered a swift but powerful kick on the back of the guard's knee, not giving the latter the chance to cry out in pain as he dropped to his knees by slamming the vibroknife's pommel on his temple. Before the guard could crash to the ground Reiel had already grabbed him by the collar and proceeded to drag him behind the crates.

Luck seemed to smile at the small Crowholde when she caught sight of a pair of cuffs hanging from the guard's belt. She cuffed the unconscious guard, stripped him of weapons, then moved on to her next target.

Reiel didn't bother checking on her vode's progress, trusting their skills and capabilities. Instead she pushed forward, still underneath the cover of darkness and her HUD cycled to thermal vision. She steadily and stealthily made her way towards the closest ship, a Lancer-class Pursuit craft. A male Rodian was stationed by the ship, large eyes peering into the darkness ahead. Reiel crouched low, free hand patting the ground until her fingers closed around a small rock. She tossed it towards the Rodian, the latter watching the rock roll to a stop just shy of his booted feet.

Curiosity piqued, he trudged moodily towards the gloom in search for what was responsible for the rock. Did a wild animal do that? He'd heard a few of the guards complain about something moving up ahead a few days ago, and one of the boys mentioned spotting something "leggy". He chalked it up to the dude being high on spice. For all they knew it could've just been some tiny critter–

His musings was cut short when a pair of gloved hands shot out from the grass, grabbing him by the antennae then pulling down hard until his face was smashed onto a duraplast-covered knee. The Rodian guard let out a faint gurgle as his unconscious form was dragged into the grass.

Smirking to herself, Reiel took the poor bloke's singular blaster – this time keeping it for herself.

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

After the Alor of House Solus took down three guards, the sound of movement was only noticeable because he was aware of it. The subtle clink of armor plates touching one another at a joint, the muffled gurgle of a vibro-blade find its way in between a target's ribs, the covert warriors were progressing well. With each of the Mandalorians taking out even one of the smugglers, the criminals were halved in strength without even knowing it.

In groups of two, Mandalorians boarded each of the smuggler vessels, verifying they were clear of more targets. But aside from a few astromechs or droids that were powered down rapidly the rest of the smugglers were either in the depths of the parked GR-75 or in the bunker. <"First badger squad, take the ship, disable engines and lock landing gear in place."> The man did not want the possible treasure trove to go anywhere. Sweeping the transport would go by quickly if they all contributed but for now two black and red clad warriors stood guard while the other four entered. Kotii quickly reloaded the dart launchers in the knee pads of his armor. Commlinks, datapads and any other useful intelligence gathering was pulled from the bodies. Any smugglers that were kept alive were cuffed or incapacitated and kept out of sight. Kotii was proud of how well his sisters and brothers were completing this mission.

<"Second squad...Crowholde..."> He said to locate Reiel and make it clear he was expecting her to join him. <"...let's take that base."> Without further discussion they made their way closer to the dug in fortification. Making sure that he had his heavy blaster in his dominant left hand, the weapon would be loud but would put down most targets in a single shot. His right hand stayed free for the time being though the fingers curled in anticipation.

The E-web repeating blaster sat mounted on its tripod. Behind it, three partially armored guards were still at ease. Two were smoking what Kotii could smell to be spice as they got close. Kotii fired his grapple line at the E-web's barrel and yanked it hard. The guard leaning on it for support in a casual manner fell flat on his but. The heavy barrel of the weapon emplacement swung around and clocked another guard square in the back and resulting in a face plant on the ground. The third partially armored not-stormtrooper stopped short of a laugh, thinking it to be a clumsy mistake of his companions before realizing that was far from the case. Taking a hurried step back and fumbling with their blaster, another badger blind sided them. Their pneumatic fist built into that warrior's armor caved in the chest plate and sent them flying over a backup powerpack for the E-web. The outer perimeter was secure. Now they just had to clear what was inside. Detaching the grapple line, Kotii began to loop the cord and then keep it on his belt for later. Garroting an enemy was never out of the question.

@Forsythe Crowholde dice: success

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

A pair of Badgers appeared behind Reiel seconds after she had dispatched the Rodian guard. Together the two Solus Mandos boarded the ship, presumably to disable its engines and to make sure that none from the opposing side would be able to take it to escape. She watched for a moment, crushing the unconscious Rodian's commlink beneath her boot before her own chimed off.

The small Mandalorian gazed at the base ahead and saw people beginning to approach the hideout. Unholstering both her blasters, Reiel made her way forward after listening to Kotii's message.

"On my way," she confirmed, nodding to another Badger as she passed by yet another ship. These Solus folk were pretty efficient and skilled – she reminded herself to mention it to their Alor later. And to her own, of course, knowing full well how both her father and grandfather often pushed her to cooperate and work with Mandalorians from other clans. While Buir's intentions were for her to broaden her connections and make more friends, brothers and/or sisters, Ba'buir's were more on making ties with other clans through marriage. Her uncle Dell used to make fun of her situation whenever she came to him to vent.

"You're practically the clan's princess, little Mal," the older Mando would always joke. "Can you really blame your grandpa for wanting to see you be wed off to a Mando he approves of?"

And, like always, Reiel would jokingly bite back with a "Then he should marry that Mando he'll approve of instead!"

The memory made her let out a muffled giggle, realizing a little too late that the channel between her and Kotii was still on.

By the time she approached with the rest of the Second Squad, the Alor of House Solus and his brethren have aready taken out the guards stationed by the E-web. The first thing she noticed was Kotii keeping the cord of a grapple line to his belt, prompting another snicker from the small Crowholde.

"If you're gonna use that to strangle someone, try asking them 'Wire you struggling?' when they start to struggle," she casually told him, straight-faced underneath the cover of her helm. Kad, her humor was just downright awful. Kotii would probably end up using that wire to strangle her instead for that awful joke!

The small Mandalorian then quietly approached the closest window and took a glance inside through the grimy glass. Reiel spotted six smugglers playing sabacc seated around a small table, and off to another side were four who seemed to be in the middle of a rather heated debate. Two others were sitting back to back just a few feet from the sabacc players, one of the pair already dozing off. All were armed with blasters, and bottles of liquor were strewn on the floor.

Stepping away from the door, Reiel sought Kotii out and began her report. "12 sentients inside, on guard duty I suppose. All armed – I counted five bearing blaster rifles."

@Darasuum

Spoiler: Dice

Twelve guards inside.

 

[Kotii Solus]

A groan came from Kotii as he heard the suggestion from Reiel. "I don't have kids yet so I'll hold off on the Buir jokes." It seemed like a cruel thing to do in someone's last moments. Though it did sound a little funny enough to be followed by a humored breathe from the Alor.

Inside was the last of the opposition. No alarm had been raised yet. Looking over at the Crowhold Mandalorian, "I've got a 'nade for that." He pulled a gas stun grenade from his belt. "We breach on my mark." He said and pulled the pin, arming the knockout ordinance.

Peaking around the window to where he could see the guard, he saw most of the ones around the table were the best to target. Going back to the door he threw the grenade in. Murmurs of confusion and then yells 'Grenade!' The following his of it spewing its stun gas as those inside tried to take cover from what they though could be a more violent device. This was quickly followed by <'gas, gas, put your helmets on!'> The words were in Huttese but many of them did have their helmets donned. Only one of the smugglers at the table had breathed in too much and now lay unconscious spread-eagle with his blaster rifle a meter from him.

"Oya!" he signaled and moved into the room weapon in hand and kept moving allowing his companions to follow. His blaster pistol fired loudly in his left hand, putting down two smugglers as the badger went through the door first. Aden and Atin would follow him with some gas pouring out past them, trying to escape the bunker. Each of the Solus Mandalorians fired at the sources of the defensive blaster shots that were aimed at the now open door. The smugglers managed to land a few lucky shots as the black and red clad warriors stormed in. The bolts hit durasteel plates and beskar to little affect. It was not enough to stop a Mandalorian, not with the distance remaining and the time left for them. Seven of the original twelve smugglers were down in the blink of an eye. Each of them taking a far more lethal way to being neutralized than the drooling gassed smuggler on the ground.

While Kotii only took out one with the stun gas. The rest had partially breathed in the gas a little and would be lethargic. What's more, the gas filled the room and made it harder for them to see even across the room clearly as the grenade jetted out its gaseous payload. The trooper filters would allow them to breathe, but they were surrounded and scared. Kotii's armor also had filter capabilities though any Mandalorian without that would have to manually turn on an air supply or see if any tried to flee.

@Forsythe Crowholde dice: 1/12 got KO'd

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Thank Kad she wasn't going to get herself strangled by her (questionable) top-notch humor. Instead of digging an even deeper grave for herself, Reiel opted to focus on the matter at hand. She gave Kotii a nod and prepared herself for the subsequent assault once the signal was made.

Even if the majority of the guards were equipped with helmets, the element of surprise the stun gas posed did not recede in the slightest. Caught unawares, the Badgers led by Kotii rained blaster fire on the poor schmucks. Reiel got the feeling that she didn't need to raise her own blaster at the rate the Solus Mandos were going, but she wouldn't be a deadweight even if she was the only Crowholde here. Even more so that she was the lone Crowholde in the group.

With her helmet unequipped with a proper filter, the small Mandalorian stayed by the open door, firing a blaster bolt at one of the disoriented guards who was making a terrible impression of a headless chicken through the haze of the stun gas. Another guard tried his luck by rushing past the other Mandalorians and seemingly hoping that the smallest who stood by the doorway was the most helpless among the lot. He didn't make it past three of the Badgers, with Reiel's blaster putting a hole dead center on the idiot's chest. A one-sided massacre quickly took place as the Mandalorians made short work of the guards, the only survivor – for now – was the lone guard who was knocked out by the gas stun grenade.

Leaving the door open so the stun gas would clear faster, Reiel activated her helmet's rebreather before stepping further into the bunker. The small Mandalorian made a beeline for the knocked out smuggler, nudging the guy with her booted foot.

"Enjoy your beauty sleep, mister," she muttered in a sing song voice before scanning the rest of the bunker. To the bunker's left was a lift with sliding grate doors, and adjacent of it was a stairway that led deeper down the bunker. Conveniently enough, there was a sign by the stairs that said 'Lootz: Authoraized Personnel Onlee' written in scrawny aurebesh. If Reiel didn't know any better she would mistake the sign being made by a toddler.

"Anyone wanna go check the 'lootz' downstairs with me?" she called out to the Badgers with a bright grin, hand making a grand gesture at the crudely made sign and the stairway. The small Mandalorian then began cautiously making her way down, blasters raised in case any hiding smuggler decided to jump at her. However her way down was thankfully unimpeded, and once she reached the bottom of the stairs she was met with the sight of crates stacked high from her left and right.

To her surprise, there was a large cage at the end of the hall. Reiel pressed forward, guard up, as she sailed past the crates and towards the cage. Any humor she felt earlier vanished as soon as she realized what she was looking at. What– or who were locked up inside sparked anger in the small Mandalorian's heart and she wished she had also killed the guards she had dispatched outside the bunker.

Sitting huddled inside the large cage, wide-eyed, were a dozen children of assorted species. Their wrists and feet were bound by chains. The children gazed up at the small Mandalorian, eyes shining with fear as she stopped in front of the cage.

"Those bastards," murmured Reiel through gritted teeth as she holstered her blasters to make herself less threatening in the children's eyes. "What did those bastards do to you..."

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

The group of Badgers and lone Crowholde dispatched the smugglers, leaving bodies with smoke rising from precision targeting. The stun gas wafted out and dispersed eventually. The Mandalorians contiued into the fortified structure to investigate it further.

"After you." He replied to Reiel and added a gesture for her to lead. Normally Kotii would take point but after missing out on the previous breach he felt she had earned it. Watching the Mandalorians back, they made their way into the lower levels of the bunker to where the stores were kept. There was a smell in the air, of unwashed bodies and industrial disinfectant. The hair on the back of Kotii's neck rose in anger as he pieced together the trafficking the smugglers had been conducting.

Reiel was first to comfort the children but Kotii brought a hand up to the side of his helmet as he made a call up to the Mandalorians near the parked ships. <"Scour the ship logs. I want to know every stop they've been to. We've found kids here."> His tone barely hiding the fury he felt rising in his chest. It was unclear if they had been kept as slaves, kidnapped or something else. The intimidating Mandalorian helmet may not have been the most comforting thing but it was not the piecemeal trooper armor.

Holstering his rocket pistol, the badger motioned for the other Mandalorians to stay back. There was not a lot of room in the basement and filling it up with armored warriors crowding small children. Pulling out his blaster he turned to the kids. "Move to the back of the cage and cover your ears." He warned in basic and then repeated it in Huttese just in case.

Coming along side it and angling the muzzle so it wasn't at the children, he fired into the lock of the cage with the heavy hitting sidearm causing the bolt to melt the locking mechanism and open. Pulling the door to the cage open he backed up and holstered the sidearm again. Holding a hand out he would try and motion for the kids to exit the cage. It would be best for them to get out of the basement at least. If they could not find their families then they would become members of House Solus, or Crowholde if Reiel was so inclined.

@Forsythe Crowholde barely success

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Her anger was too great and Reiel drowned in it, fists clenched gr jaw tight. She barely heard Kotii's voice as she herself moved to make way for him. Two of the children, seemingly the youngest in the group, responded to the Alor's gesture. The chains rattled and kept them in place, however.

"Don't you dare hurt them!" a Mikkian boy no older than thirteen snapped at Kotii in Basic, glaring at the two Mandalorians who stood by the cage. Suspicion rang clear in his voice and shone in his wide eyes as he made to place himself between the children and the Mandalorians. For a kid to rise in defiance against strangers whom he assumed were even more slavers looking to loot the smugglers' base...

It took nearly every ounce of Reiel's self-control to keep herself from storming out of the basement and killing the rest of the smugglers they have simply knocked out and restrained. She took a deep breath, grounding herself on their current predicament, and gently placed a gloved hand on Kotii's arm. Her free hand rose to her helmet, slipping it off of her head to somewhat lessen the fear and suspicion the children felt. The small Mandalorian schooled her expression into that of assurance, shoving the anger in the back of her mind for the moment.

"We're not gonna do that," she assured the young Mikkian, removing her hand from Kotii's arm and going down on one knee before the boy. "You have my word. I'm Reiel, and this is Kotii," she gestured at herself then at her fellow Mandalorian, gaze sweeping from the Mikkian to the rest of the children. "We're Mandalorians. Have you heard of us?"

One of the children, a female Ithorian, piped up rather hopefully, "M-My Da knows M-Mandos! He said they value children!" Then, turning to the Mikkian boy, she continued with a more persuasive tone, "They won't harm us, Hauron! We hafta... we hafta trust them..."

The Ithorian wouldn't know it, but Reiel deeply appreciated the way she reassured Mikkian other kid. Without saying anything else the small Mandalorian inched her way closer towards the children, hands raised where they could clearly see them. She moved as non-threateningly as she could, one hand reaching for the lock that bound the chains. Once again the Ithorian girl showed her willingness to let the Mandalorians help them by slipping a piece of wire she had been hiding towards Reiel.

Meeting the Ithorian's gaze, Reiel offered her a soft and grateful smile before moving to pick the lock. The deed was done moments later, and the children were now free to unbind themselves from the chains. The Ithorian was the first to move, launching herself towards Reiel with a hug.

"Thank you, Miss Reiel," she muttered, grip tightening a bit before extricating herself from the small Mandalorian. With the combined efforts of the two females and Kotii's gestures for them to exit the cage, the children stepped out of their confinement and huddled by the Mikkian who now stood a few steps behind the Badger.

Rising to her feet and turning to Kotii, Reiel asked, "Has the stun gas cleared upstairs?"

If it had, Reiel would begin to lead the children upstairs, mindful of their movements and the way they held themselves. Thankfully none of them seemed to be injured, save for a few small bruises and chafed wrists and ankles from the chains.

"Do yo have somewhere ro return to?" she asked the children as they moved upstairs. A pang of sadness stabbed at the small Mandalorian when nearly all of them shook their heads, including Hauron. Reiel counted ten orphans, excluding the Ithorian girl and a red-haired human boy.

She shot Kotii a helpless look and asked in Mando'a, "Should we ask them to go with us?"

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

Kotii stayed his hand and looked first at the child who had thought of him as a threat. Reiel soon came next, having a more delicate touch to freeing the smuggled children. The other badgers in the vicinity were continuing to work. <"Find some food and water for the kids. We'll bring them upstairs in a little bit. That living sack of garbage on the floor upstairs, bring him and the others to that Aurore"> His orders were acknowledged and soon snack bars and field rations were given to the children after they were freed.

Aside from Kotii it was just Reiel and him that remained to watch the children while everything else was wrapped up. Hearing the Ithorian girl speak up, he decided to follow Reiel's lead further. The heavy blaster pistol in Black Hand's cybernetic left hand returned to its holster with a performing spin, earning an 'ooh' and a soft 'ah'. Children were precious and innocent to all Mandalorians. Anything else was probably dar'manda or aruetiise.

"Yeah we can head up." He answered about the stun gas. But Kotii was not happy for the liberated children, not yet. His anger persisted but the man knew how to focus his fury. "We should bring them to the lancer patrol ship first. That has a medbay. I'll get two badgers to meet us there." The children's injuries could be more thoroughly assessed there. It was only

Heading up, Kotii would keep a close eye on the children. "Stay together. Hold hands." He said, trying to keep the severe tone friendly while leading the way. Bodies in the bunker were still being dragged out. The smell of ozone and fresh corpses would be unavoidable to come across for the prisoners.

As they moved, reports came back of the wiped navicomputers. Only the same neighboring system cooridnates were logged meaning there was little to no lead to no chance of finding the children's homes. There were a dozen children altogether and they certainly have enough ships. By creed, they had freed these children and were responsible for them. Without parents they would die or have terrible lives. <"What other choice is there? We'll give them a new start at life."> They would not need to worry about being unable to fight. They could always come back, try to search for their biological family. But the smugglers had covered their tracks.

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

She was grateful for Kotii's presence here, in the bodies they left in their wake on their way into the base and further into the bunker's basement. Grateful in the sense that there was someone who undeniably felt the same anger that coursed through her veins. She was grateful that he and his fellow Badgers would understand if the lone Crowholde chose to employ targeted violence on the poor sod that would end up being interrogated for what they had done and planned for the children they'd taken.

Forget that all of the children – save two – have no families to return to, no parents, siblings, nor relatives who cried themselves to sleep while they agonized over the disappearance of a loved on.

Slavery was something Reiel would always condemn, even more so when helpless, frightened children were the ones subjected into a horrible fate.

She herded the rescues children upstairs alongside Kotii, a small smile on her face as the Alor did his best to dissuade whatever remained of the little ones' hesitation. For their part the children followed the instructions given to them as they followed the two Mandalorians upstairs. As much as she wanted to shield their gazes from the sight of dead bodies being hauled out of the bunker the children still caught glimpses of some of their captors. They shied away from the sight, instead focusing on the food and water given to them, and most importantly on each other.

Reiel realized belatedly that tears have begun to cloud her vision, Kotii's face a blur of colors when she looked back at him after he'd replied to her question. The small Mandalorian wiped a trembling gloved hand to her exposed face, looking away for a moment to hide the burning anger she felt towards the smugglers and the sadness she felt for the children.

"Yeah, that's– that's the best we can do for them," she said in a subdued voice. She mustered a forced but gentle smile for the children and watched as they were led by two Badgers outside towards the Lancer patrol ship Kotii had mentioned earlier. The Mikkian, Hauron, lingered along with the Ithorian girl, both staring at the two Mandos.

"Thank you," said the Mikkian in hushed tones, lowering his gaze. "An'– An' I'm sorry about yelling earlier. I didn't mean to, I was just so scared... that you're like them. They– They hit us when we cry, an'– an'–"

The boy spoke no longer and instead turned tail and ran after the others, leaving the Ithorian girl behind. She, on the other hand, seemed to be the more calm and diplomatic between the two. The girl opted to stay, orange eyes shifting between the two armored warriors. Tapping at her translator device once (Reiel didn't notice it immediately) she offered the Mandalorians a grateful and respectful bow.

"Please take care of the others," she began, raising her head to meet Kotii and Reiel's gazes. "Unlike me and one of the others, they have no one and nowhere to return to. I've only known them for a week, but... but I love them, and I want them to be happy now that they're going to have a new life with your people. That's what Mandos do, right? Take children who have no family or home and give them what they don't have?"

Reiel smiled at the girl and took one of her hands in her own. With a gentle squeeze, the small Mandalorian nodded at the Ithorian reassuringly, free hand gesturing at herself then at Kotii.

"We'll do that, don't worry," she assured the kid. Thankful that at least two of the trafficked children actually have families, she placed a hand on one of the girl's shoulders. "If you're willing, I'll help return you and the other kid to your home."

The Ithorian's eyes slitted into a smile, once again throwing herself at Reiel in a hug. "Okay! Thank you again, Miss Reiel, and–" at the Crowholde's whisper, continued, "Mister Kotii!"

As the kid broke off to run after her friends, the small Mandalorian glanced at Kotii then to the unconscious smuggler who had been previously knocked out by the stun gas. The bastard would probably wake up after a few minutes. The softness in her smile, reserved for the rescued children, vanished. Brown eyes burned with malice once more, clearly intended for the scum who dared to kidnap, hurt, and terrorize defenseless children.

"Gonna have to make a little birdie sing now, shall we?"

She had been looking forward to it the moment she'd discovered the children locked up in that godsawful cage.

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

It was clear that Reiel was upset. The glint of tears welling up in her eyes shown in the night sky. It would begin to be light before too long but for now the chirp of nocturnal wilflife slowly began to creep back into normalcy around the camp. "We can do more than that. We can make sure that others like them are saved from that life." Kotii said his thoughts before he knew it. "We can find out what these hut'uun planned to do with the children and...and end them." His own emotions were rising to the surface, pushing through in his furious tone as he thought about the attrocious scum that sat breathing in another ship's cargo hold.

"We will take good care of them." Kotii dropped down to one knee to be at eye level with the children. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath, calming his nerves before addressing the kids. "There's more, like your loved ones out in the galaxy that are also scared and hurt." His helmet tilted to look over at the Crowholde member. "Together with my brothers and sisters, we will stop more of these bad people from trying to do this ever again. You have my word." It was an oath that the Solus had made to the child but Reiel had borne witness. The badger was a man of his word and it was as good as a promise. He gave a slightly forced lighthearted chuckl for the sake of the children after they hugged Reiel. The Mandalorian rose from the kneeling position and stood back up. Underneath his helmet a serious expression returned to match the cold exterior.

There was little to no information pulled from the various ships. However he knew they were still able to get information from the surviving smugglers. Some of them had been tranquilized or stunned. They were collected and brought into one of the Aurore class light freighters with the loading ramp left open. "They'll talk." He said to Reiel though his voice was not showing confidence. It was a voice that spoke of grim certainty. Each of smugglers were bound in stun cuffs with most of them still in varying states of lucidity. The red and black armor of the Mandalorians stood a few meters away, watching their prisoners until their leader gave a direction with how to handle them.

There were beings in Mandalorian history, individuals of fame or infamy depending on one's perspective. "Do you know what the Mandalorian word for surgeon is?" It was a rhetorical question and only an expected wimper came from the smuggler. "Demagol, it can mean 'sculptor of flesh'..." The vibroblade calmly came unsheathed from Kotii's right hip, angled sideways as he examined the weapon with the respective hand. "...but it can also mean 'butcher.'"

"wHa-f.. what do you whant to know?!" One of them said. "Shut up!" another yelled, "We're not telling you-" Kotii kicked the man in the head, interrupting his protest. With the beligerent criminal seeing stars, the badger grabbed the man by the stun cuffs and pulled him onto the deck of the ship with his arms outstretch. In another swift motion, the buzzing knife in the Mandalorian's off hand came down into the smuggler's hand. A cry of pain and the sight of blood sent the other smugglers recoiling.

Staring back, unempathetic towards the terror the traffickers now felt, the Alor stepped closer pulled the knife free. "I won't repeat myself so listen closely. I'll ask each of you a question. You'll write down your individual answers separately. If it doesn't match up to what the other's say...you get to try again with a few less digits." Kotii's let the crimson ichor drip off the blade and onto the deck, leaving the example that was the loud-mouthed smuggler to continue howling in pain. "Let's hope that wasn't his writing hand."

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

It was with utter respect and the belief that he would do just as he'd said that made Reiel offer Kotii a deferential bow after he'd given his word to the children. She didn't need to personally know the Badger to believe his words – a clan's alor never gave their word without meaning and upholding them. Her ba'buir was Clan Crowholde's head himself, so Reiel was immensely familiar with the weight of an alor's words.

With the children being attended to by the other Solus Mandos in another ship, Reiel dutifully walked beside Kotii as they made their way towards one of the light freighters were the smugglers were being held. The Crowholde put her helmet where it rightfully belonged – the children deserved to see the face beneath it but the smugglers didn't. The bastards would be treated to the sight of the ever impassive T-visor, and when the Head Badger began to speak to the scum, the fury in his voice almost seemed to reflect on the dark transparisteel and grey beskar of Reiel's helmet.

While one of the smugglers tried to talk back rather arrogantly Kotii responded with a ruthlessness that didn't surprise Reiel. If she was in the Alor's place she would've done the same and more. When the cry of pain came and blood was shed from the impromptu hand butchering, an amused snort escaped the small Mando's lips before turning into a cold chuckle, turning the smugglers' heads to her direction.

"T-The fuck is that one laughin' a-at?!" one of the smugglers complained weakly, squirming where they knelt.

Reiel wasn't needlessly cruel, but none of the smugglers before her deserved her mercy. "Just write down what he wants," she said, still chuckling light-heartedly while she swept a hand towards Kotii. "Trust me, he won't stop cutting if you keep lying to us or withholding information."

She trusted that he wouldn't.

The unsympathetic remark about slicing through and hoping that it wasn't the poor smuggler's writing hand prompted a laugh from the Crowholde, finding humor in the almost deadpan way Kotii spoke about it. At her laughter, some of the smugglers shifted uneasily in their bonds, casting the small Mandalorian apprehensive looks despite being virtually the least threatening Mando in the group when it came to physical appearances.

"We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die," one of the smugglers, a mousy haired human, muttered repeatedly under his breath as his gaze shifted between the knife-wielding Kotii and the laughing Reiel. "We're gonna die, holy shit, we're gonna die, please, please, just tell them what they want, oh my god–"

To add more panic and paranoia to the smugglers, Reiel walked towards the bastard whose hand Kotii had sliced open and proceeded to drag the scum in front of his lackeys. Forcing the crying smuggler to his knees while nursing his bleeding hand, the Crowholde let the man bleed on the floor in front of his men. When there was a small puddle of crimson in front of him, Reiel grinned down at the other smugglers and said rather brightly,

"Listen up, dearies. If your answers to the Alor's question don't add up, you won't just lose fingers – you're going to add your blood to this tiny puddle here and you won't be writing your answers on paper anymore. You're gonna write them here on the floor, with your blood, until you give up trying to keep the right answers to yourself. All good?"

She was answered with varying degree of whimpers. Turning to Kotii, Reiel made a grandiose gesture for him to take the floor and begin the actual interrogation. It wasn't really her forte, but at least she had a few screws loose to make for a somewhat decent but bizarre intimidator.

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

If Kotii didn't have Reiel on his side, the laughter from the small Mandalorian would have probably given him a feeling of concern. But the two of them shared a focused ire on the cowering smugglers before them. She had some good additions that even caused the Alor to smile a bit too.

Kotii was not a cruel man, at least he didn't think of himself as one. But sometimes a violent act could feel righteous. When it came to punishing the sentient traffickers, there was little mercy to be afforded them.

They only needed a single datapad for this to work. The nearest criminal tensed as Kotii got close. "Where were you taking the children?" He wanted to know so he could find them and kill them too. "We were-" The vibroblade in Kotii's hand began to buzz again and the smuggler quickly remembered he was supposed to type his answer and not say it out loud. "Rightrightright" His terrified hands backspacing several times before handing it back. Kotii pulled it away and read the answer. Zyggeria. The same was answered by everyone except for the injured smuggler with a hole in his hand. The badger didn't want to wipe blood off of the datapad after each use nor did he really expect a good answer from the man.

Kotii would choose another person to start with. If he stayed with the same person at the beginning, then they might get the idea to try and trick the Alor. But this way none of the prisoners' would get a sense of who was going to answer with a believable lie or just answer honestly. But fear was motivating the group of slaver-associates now. Answers about the children's homeworlds was revealed. But evidently all except for two of the kids were orphans. He couldn't prove it, but chances were that if the kids had parents, the smugglers had even set up an untimely demise. They had probably arranged for murders or accidents. "How many kids have you sold into slavery?" He asked as one of the last questions. The rumbling growl deep in Kotii's chest came forth as he asked this. It earned him hesitation. "Answer!" They all jumped as he yelled the singular word. The Alor's shoulders and chest rose slightly beneath his plates and either fist clenched.

This was what they differed on. Some of them had not been in the game long. But it didn't matter how many years of experience they had. Kotii wanted to know how much long they had commited attrocities and if any of them would lie about it. One of them answered two years. Another said this was the 10th 'run' they'd been on. As the last round of answering Kotii's question came through he would look to Reiel. Up until then, Kotii had been debating how to deal with them. They were prisoners and a fitting punishment would be appropriate. But he was not the only one enraged by what the chakaar had done. <"What shall we do with them? What have they earned?"> The tone was heavy in disgust. Perhaps if Kotii hadn't been wearing a helmet he would have even spit.

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Reiel was never needlessly cruel. If one – even just one – of the smugglers swore to change their ways for the better, she could still consider the vow and even let said slaver live to see another day on their new path to redemption. She believed in second chances, just not in the thought that everyone deserved it. That was how she got her eyes and ears on Tinnel IV with the help of her friend, after all.

However she couldn't deny the satisfaction she felt at the smugglers' terror as Kotii interrogated them. One of them probably had the capacity to turn their life for the better, but the more information the Head Badger pulled out of them the less Reiel became convinced that they deserved a second chance. The fact that they even tried to lie – because, really, if your answers were genuine you wouldn't type, delete, then type again, then delete, and so on – caused the gauge she had been using to steadily drop down to the negatives. Eyes narrowed behind the cover of her helmet, one of Reiel's gloved hands hovered over her blaster, a finger tracing the trigger.

Besides, slavers simply didn't just pluck orphaned children and urchins on the streets. The Ithorian girl and the red-haired human boy weren't orphans. As for the rest of the children...?

Probably twenty parents dead. And probably at the hands of these smugglers.

Those two thoughts were more than enough for her to meet Kotii's gaze with a dark glare, the fury directed at the cowering smugglers beneath them.

“Probably a single thing,” the small Mandalorian replied to the Alor's second question while ignoring the first on purpose. Reiel unholstered her blaster and pressed the muzzle on the bleeding smuggler's temple. Unsurprisingly the rest broke out into fearful gasps as she made a show of setting the blaster to stun, to lethal, once again to stun, then back to lethal as if she was undecided on what to do.

Oh, but she had decided. Very much so.

With the rest of the smugglers distracted and shifting their terrified gazes from Kotii to Reiel while pleading for their lives, the small Mandalorian discreetly set her blaster to stun before shooting the cowering smuggler in front of her instead of the bleeding one. Terrified screams filled the ship's interior as the smuggler fell on his back, unconscious.

As if killing smugglers was beneath her, Reiel told Kotii, “If I can have things my way I'd freeze them in carbonite and hand them over to other bounty hunters, hell, maybe even the authorities if I'm feeling charitable. But smuggling children? ” The blaster was eventually set to lethal for the final time before a single bolt found itself dead center on the forehead of the smuggler who had answered that this had been their ‘tenth run’.

“That one right there is fucking unforgivable. I won't mind killing all of them right here, right now.”

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

The helmet of Kotii turned to look at Reiel as she spoke with passion. He did not need to see her face to know how angry she was. Kotii was a member of the Bounty Hunter's Guild and kept a license for his Alias as Black Hand registered. But he was not going to be satisfied with handing them over to authorities. His helmet turned to look at the arrayed Mandalorians of his clan standing by.

His hand that held the vibroblade made it stop. If the smugglers had felt any sense of relief, it vanished as Kotii drew his blaster and leveled it at the nearest smuggler's head. "Unforgivable." The other badgers tightened their weapon stocks against their shoulders or sighted down their sidearms. The group of gathered criminals were unceremoniously executed. Each body recieved more than its fair share of bolts until they were covered in black holes with smoking and glowing centers where shots had been landed.

A few moments after the corpses completely stilled, Kotii kept his blaster extended. This was the first time he had executed anyone. Staring from behind his visor, Kotii's crimson irises moved from body to body. The other members of his clan, no, other Mandalorians looked to him as an Alor to make judgement calls. Kotii felt he had made the right one. Only the coming days would give any indication if that were to change. But he intended to bring results or die trying.

@Forsythe Crowholde ooc: we can end it here if you want