Reunited [Invite]

[Gambler]

At first a slow smirk grew on Feron's long though unmistakably handsome face. He continued their gentle cruise until Kam roughly pushed him out of the seat. Smoothly he caught himself on a metal ledge with a slight grunt. What the hell was that for?" He growled angrily, standing up straight. His phrik clawed paws clenched tightly to the point of pain until Kam's words washed over him. "You have to be f'ing kidding me. Again? This is worse than the time you slept with Sal Kor's daughter when he supposedly out hunting. When he came back... you remember? I don't think you would even think about sex for the next year or so. And this! Just like old times." Feron sighed, rubbing his muzzle with the unclad palm of his heavy paw. Quickly he blanked his expression and moved back into the seat.

"He would have spotted us already. Ships send out an automatic friend versus foe tag with identification attached. By now he is manning the turrets and ordering them to fire at will. Holy-!" Feron slammed his fingers into the buttons furiously, a panicked expression on his face. The ship began to fire and three fighters were deployed from the docks. "Hang on! This will be rough!" He all but roared, turning almost on a dime, the secondary thrusters immediately going offline. Primary boosters were already primed and gave them the upwards thrust they needed. Searing hot plasma soared past the shielded window, coming so close that Feron swore his fur began to burn slightly. The ship unleashed another round. And another. Feron rapidly pressed the buttons, struggling to move the ship away from the bolts. And then an alarm blared to life.

"Primary stabilizers down! We've been hit! There's no way to make the hyperspace jump. From this angle the six seconds it takes to prime the drive and initiate launch sequence we would be fried. Shields are down to 77%. Damn! Did you ever think to get yourself stronger shields?!" Feron growled over the alarm. His eyes never left the screen or the ship in front of him as he maneuvered away from the shots. Because of the barrage the deployed fighters couldn't close except by a roundabout, flanking route. Struggling to maintain his grip on the situation, Feron whirled the ship around using port side thrusters. Initiating the primary boosters he sped towards the two other ships. "Let's hope the weapons you had installed are top of the line," He breathed, locking on to the first of the four fighters. Pressing a small red button on top of the control panel, Feron went into a barrel roll as twin bolts of plasma sped towards the ship. Both shots hit, one ripping a large hole in the sparse passenger area while the other tore a piece of the wing off. The fighter spiraled out of control and crashed into the other ship. They collided with a loud explosive bang as both ships went up in flames. And then everything went offline.

"What the hell? No... this isn't possible. Kam, looks like you get to face your fears. They caught us in a tractor beam. But the range of those is only 200 meters. We are well out of that...." He trailed off, head drooping down lower. They had baited him. The fighters were 150 meters away from the ship. To take down the immediate threat to make the hyperspace jump he would have needed to take down those fighters. And if he did that... they would be caught in the tractor beam. "I'm sorry Kam. I... I didn't know they had it all planned out. Like they knew exactly what I would have had to do. But I wasn't following predictable patterns... it was like they had planned for someone with impressive skill... Kam, does anyone else know where you are?" Feron asked seriously, standing up from the pilot's chair.

"Dammit Kam! Weren't you the one who always told me that I was too trusting? Yet somehow you told someone where you were going and this man found out. Dammit! Well, there's nothing to do but wait now. Do you have anything you would like to hide? Us for instance? Or any booze? I need a strong one right now..."

 

[Jiang Winters]

"I didn't know she was Captain Eravis's daughter until after the deed was done! If I had known, I wouldn't have gone near her with a fifty-meter pole!" Hakim said in a defensive tone, immediately after Feron finished drudging up yet another unpleasant and embaressing memory, to which the cathar couldn't help but toss in one final remark; "But at least Kor's daughter was worth the aftermath."

All thoughts relating to that were forgotten though, as Fer spoke again, and three fighters were launched from the Vigilante's hangar. Mere moments afterwards, they were thrust into a furious battle with the trio of interceptors.

At first, things started to look bad, but Feron managed to turn the situation around when he took out a pair of the fighters... Only for them to suddenly be seized in a tractor beam.

The frustrated smuggler muttered a few expletives under his breath as he double and triple checked his readouts, then with an exasperated sigh, he decided there was no way to break free of the tractor beam, and so he rose out of the co-pilot's chair and took a few steps off to the side of the spacious cockpit as he listened to Feron speak.

After his friend had finally finished talking, Kam turned around and regarded his friend with a serious gaze. "There's a hidden sensor-shielded compartment in the floor of the shared shower room. There's one faucet marked with red tape and a crudely stenciled 'out of order' sign, twist the cold faucet clear to the right and back, it'll open up a hidden panel in the floor. Crawl in and hide yourself; I'll let myself be captured. Wait an hour, then pop out and... Well, do what you do best. When you start to get their attention, I'll... Figure something out. If nothing else, at least you can use the Tien to slip away and let the Alliance know what happened to me."

Hakim knew it was sort of a stupid plan. Eravis would tear the ship inside out to find something he could use to put Kam away with, but he'd want to interrogate him first... Which loosely translated to beating the living daylights out of the smuggler. But, Hakim knew that resisting a destroyer full of armed Customs agents was a bad idea, and this was the only plan that came to his mind. Still, Feron usually had better plans than he did, so he spoke up again. "But if you have any other, better plans, share. We've only got a couple minutes before we're pulled in and Customs starts cutting a hole in the airlock..."

 

[Gambler]

A hiatus in the conversation stretched out for a moment as Feron thought about the situation. It was generally a bad idea to go up against the Republic customs agency, but he would never get captured again. Ever. The very fact that he had gotten them in this situation was proof that he wasn't on his game that day. Frustrated, he slammed a metal covered hand against the wall, denting it slightly with the force. He couldn't think straight. Everything led up to him being captured again. His heartbeat spiraled and his breathing quickened at the thought. There was no way out. They were doomed. He was going to be a slave again and Kam was probably going to die. Unless...

"Kam, turn everything off. And I mean everything. Keep everything primed, but turn all systems, necessary or not, off. Once that is done we need to get ready. They will send a squad of three or four in to greet us. Scanners will look for all signs of life, so either way we will be detected. No way out of that. But the guards think that we are only armed with mundane weapons. They never take into account my claws when I'm wearing thick gloves. I can get out of the cuffs after the two groups isolate you and me. You will be on your own for a while, but I can get you out." Feron said with more confidence than he felt. It wouldn't be impossible, but it all counted on them thinking of Feron as unarmed and mostly safe. It was a long shot though.

"We could always risk the old grenade trick... it would be painful, but if one of us is seriously injured then they will take him to the medbay for treatment. It will take around three or four hours to heal burns, so that would mean three or four hours of safe unconsciousness for you while I try to escape. Mainly our task will be to take the ship offline. I estimate that the crew is roughly two-three hundred in strength plus the captain. Hostages are tricky, but the captain won't hurt us if we have, say, his daughter in our custody." He said with a grin. Maybe the daughter herself wouldn't mind being Kam's hostage for a few days.

"It would be a difficult thing to manage, but we need to make it look real. Compliance from her is key. Otherwise, we could always blow a hole through the hangar with the turrets and hold them off while you try to get us out of here. That is even less likely to work, though."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Kam rubbed the back of his neck as Feron spoke. 'Yep. From now on, I'm just letting Feron make all the plans.' He thought, finding just a touch of humor in the fact that no matter what the situation, his friend always managed to craft a plan surpassing his own ideas in one way or another.

He was in the process of putting the ship into standby mode, giving it the appearance of having all systems shut down when in reality she was ready to spring back to life at a moment's notice, when Fer mentioned the grenade trick.

"Kriff... I hate the idea of getting torched by a 'nade, but... You're right, it'd work. Besides, Eravis's girl works in medbay, it'd be easy to take her hostage if I was laid up there..." He sighed. "As for trying to blast our way out, I don't think that'll work. We'd need torpedo launchers or anti-ship railguns; my ship has neither, and her current armament is too light to punch that big of a hole through a capital ship's blastdoor. No, let's go with your other plan. C'mon, there's a grenade box in the armory, let's go get this over with." Kam stated, gesturing for Fer to follow as he made his way out of the cockpit and towards the armory, to fetch a grenade and blow himself up.

 

[Gambler]

Now Feron was on a tight pay roll. There was only one chance that this would work. "Kam, I need you to sit still..." Feron said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulders as they entered the cargo hold with the grenade. Before his friend could even mutter a 'What?' he took out a needle and stabbed it into Kam's left arm right on the vein. "The injection should knock you out. I think. I found the mix onboard my rust bucket of a ship. The med droid said it would and I have no reason to doubt it." He said, almost trailing off as Kam began to go limp. Sighing, Feron stood back and placed the grenade a few feet away from his friend. The shrapnel would fly into his back and legs, but not his eyes. The burns would mostly crawl up his back and a little on his chest. Enough to make it realistic.

"Sorry Kam... but it is in your best interest..." Feron said, pulling the trigger and walking out the door. A loud bang ensued moments later and he rushed back in to see his friend....

 

[Jiang Winters]

... Who was laying unconcious on the floor of the hold, back and legs cut and pierced by the shrapnel, and nasty burns criss-crossing his back, just as Fer had predicted.
Kam's condition was severe enough that Eravis would have no choice but to rush him to Medbay, while Feron was taken into custody. His condition was not so serious that he wouldn't make a rapid recovery in sickbay, however; a little bacta here and there, coupled with a few hours, and Kam would be back on his feet.

They couldn't have had better timing with the grenade blast, as not even ten seconds after Fer re-entered the cargo hold, a heavy thump reverberated through the ship as she was forced to dock with the Vigilante. More dull thumps and metal-on-metal grinding noises could be heard from the cargo bay door, as Eravis's techs cut into the control panel for the door to hack it and force entry to the Tien...

 

[Gambler]

"Get those doors open! I want them out! This is a smuggler's vessel, so expect heavy resistance. Don't take anything at face value! Search everything you can find! I want every item quarantined and every loose panel overturned!" A voice called mutedly from outside of the Tien. Captain Eravis, head of customs in this sector of the galaxy. Feron heard the exchange as he slipped on a thick pair of gloves that hid his metal claws. Wrapping some tape around his wrists to further secure the gloves he picked Kam up and started walking towards the drop bay door with a grunt. Six men flooded in, guns raised. Just as he had said they would. "Halt! Who are you?" The one that looked to be of a higher rank than the others commanded harshly.

Acrilar Cerril. I was born on Belmorra around 30 years ago. This is my friend K- Hakim. He was injured when your ship fired on us. He needs medical assistance stat! Either that or you can tell your captain why a man he wanted to see died on your watch." Feron all but growled, refusing to budge an inch. The man nodded slowly and lowered his gun slightly. It took every ounce of willpower for Feron not to snap the man's neck. But he would have to drop Kam and fight off the rest of the ship in the process. And that was even worse than getting captured.

"Very well. You," The man said, motioning sharply at two of the soldiers behind him. "Get this cathar to the medbay. Now! Tell Eravis that he'll be held under the watch of the med team while they reconstruct his skin. Those injuries look fatal, so double time! Now you are to come with me." He continued, slapping a pair of wrist cuffs around Feron's wrists as the two soldiers took Kam from his arms. Feron tensed before relaxing his muscles with a lot of effort.

"Sure. I'll go with you."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Some time later, the two soldiers in charge of Hakim had dragged the unconscious shrapnel-riddled cathar to the medbay, and had crudely deposited him atop a operating table. A medical team quickly descended upon Kam, and set to work cutting off his singed and blood-stained clothes and stabilizing his vitals, so that they could move on to healing up his wounds.

[Methinks a short time-jump is in order. Perhaps by three or four hours?]

 

[Gambler]

Three hours later....

The minutes ticked by slowly like grains of sand in an hourglass. Tick by tick the grains dropped into the bottom. And Feron felt like he was struggling to swim in a muddy bog. Every breath brought that vile concoction of sand and water into his mouth and lungs, but the chance of breathing and surviving was better than drowning with clean lungs. And so it was as he watched the guards change sifts one by one. He figured that they would change every half an hour or so for other more important jobs, but time passed in odd ways when one was in a prison cell. The cuffs binding his wrists were in front of his body because of the cell around him. No one had so much as commented on his oddly long and thick gloves. They hadn't really cared. Slowly Feron worked at the gloves, taking them off inch by inch.

The guards met their shift once more, exchanging a nod and a glance before handing the keys over to the replacement before walking down the hall, rifle shouldered to support its weight. The guard stared longingly down the hall, an extremely bored expression on his face. Feron could almost feel pity for the man if he wasn't the only thing between him and Kam. Finally the gloves slipped onto his fingers where he held them. The guard casually glanced back to see what Feron was up to. He shrugged and muttered something about sweaty palms and really thick gloves. But otherwise he made no more mention as he turned back to watching the hall, leaning sloppily against the cell wall.

Unlike most cells in this day and age the one Feron was held in was quite archaic. Eight thick metal bars rose around nine feet towards the sloped ceiling. Each one was reinforced with something stronger than plain old steel. The dull gray mixed with the shining steel made an interesting contrast . Slowly Feron crept up behind the guard, claws angled for two quick slashes. Without a noise or word he slashed his claws across the guard's neck, cleaning breaking the top of the spine. Before he had a chance to crumple to the ground in a boneless heap, Feron stabbed his other claw into the man's lungs. All five fingers cut into the lung, destroying it and cutting slightly into the heart. The guard fell with a slight thump to the ground. The keys slid out of his pocket and into the cell. With a grimace Feron picked up the keys and opened the door.

Like a hunting cat Feron stalked through the halls of the ship, quickly dogging cameras and the few guards that wandered around. Luckily, all ships this size had a basic layout. The detention center was on the same level as the medbay in case detainees got hurt or if soldiers were wounded detaining said detainees. He wasn't bothered as he slipped quietly into the room where Kam was being repaired. Silently he watched Kam in his rest. There was a lone girl in the room, tending Kam's wounds with tears at the edge of her eyes. She was completely oblivious to Feron as the cathar warrior entered the room. Moving like a silent gust of wind Feron placed a hand over her lips and held her back, a single claw held loosely across her throat.

"Make no sounds. Free Kam and I won't kill you. Make no sudden movements.

The girl nodded and slowly began to untie the straps holding Kam in place. The brown cathar smuggler was freed moments later though still unconscious. He looked almost as good as new though there were bags under his eyes as if his body had worked under complete duress to repair itself in such a short time. Not a single scar marred his body. Feron had to admit that the girl was as talented as she was beautiful. Damn, Kam, you get us both in deeper than I would have liked to even thought of in my nightmares. He thought, taking his claw away from the girl's neck though still keeping her mouth tightly shut.

"Kam, wake up. It is time for us to leave. I have our hostage. Nothing will happen to her. Unless she doesn't tell Eravis not to send hunters after us. Get your arse out of that bed damn you! Eravis plans on checking up on you now!" He growled. He had heard the medbay officers speaking in the hallways as the two chief med officers went to the mess hall. He knocked the other two out before entering Kam's room. There wasn't much time at all.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Kam yawned softly and stretched out on the bed as he heard a voice calling him, telling him to 'get his arse out of that bed'. The groggy smuggler slowly sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes with his hands for a brief moment, before allowing his hands to fall to his sides as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

With a few blinks and one final shake of his head, the brown-furred cathar managed to dispel the remnants of his sleepiness, only to come to a sobering realization. Being captured by Eravis wasn't just a bad dream, nor was being stuck in the Vigilante's medbay. Plus, his favorite clothes were gone, leaving him stuck wearing only a pair of simple white scrubs. Only the top was gone, because no-one had bothered trying to put it on the Cathar.

Essentially, he was stuck in a medbay of a hostile vessel manned by a bat-shit insane Captain with a mean streak and revenge issues, in bright white pants, with no shirt, no socks, with a small army of customs agents between him and freedom. Great.

But, at least he had Fer, and from the looks of it, that lovely daughter of Eravis's. What was her name? Amber? Mara? Kira? After a few moments of thought, he remembered her name, much to his relief.

The smuggler slid off the bed onto his feet, then took a step forward and nodded towards Kira, as he spoke to her in a reassuring tone. "Kira? Kira, don't worry, Fer and I won't hurt you. Just play along and we'll all get out of here fine, alright?"

He then directed his attention towards Fer, speaking in a calm but urgent tone; "I'll follow you Feron; You've got Kira, Eravis's guards won't fire on you. But they'd riddle me with holes if I went first."

 

[Gambler]

Feron hesitated for a moment before nodding his head and slowly moving out the door. And then he froze as he realized he didn't know how to get there. He had been too distracted with trying to think of how he was going to escape to give the route they took from the hangar a second thought. But now he realized what a mess he was in. He remembered the commander taking him down an elevator for three floors and going through a few twists and turns, but that was it. So he growled in Kira's ear in a deep, lethal tone. "How the hell do I get to the elevator?"

She shuddered at the sound of his voice so close to her, but she answered anyway. "Take the next right and go straight down the hall. The elevator is on the left from there." Her whispered in turn. Feron nodded and looked down the hall. There was no resistance as of yet, but that wasn't to say that there was none. By the time they got up to the level where the Tien was being held the guards would have noticed that their two prisoners had escaped. Neither of them had any ranged weapons though the jagged claw against Kira's throat would be enough to get them away safely.

"Halt! What? Kira? Men, don't fi-" A soldier's voice called from behind them. With cat like reflexes Feron dodged the rain of blaster fire coming in towards him before the man who spoke slammed his fist into the one who had fired. The ensuring silence was deafening. At last the man spoke in a rough, unsteady tone. "Who are you? What are you doing with Captain Eravis' daughter?"

"She is our hostage. Tell all of your men that a single blaster raised in our direction will be the death of Eravis' daughter. And if the Captain is as insane as I hear, you will all be dead by this time tomorrow." Feron growled, a feral note to his tone and eyes. The soldier swallowed hard and paled considerably, but he nodded slowly. He put his rifle away and motioned for his men to do likewise.

"We are going to forget we ever saw you, Cathar. If Eravis finds out that we helped you escape he would kill us. If he found out that we killed his daughter he would kill us. Our only choice is to forget we ever saw you. Back to patrol, men!" The soldier said. Feron sighed in relief as the small patrol turned back the way they had come. The soldier was smart, he would give the human that much at least. After a slow count to ten he started to the elevator again. He reached it and sighed once more that they had encountered no resistance. He pressed the button that would take them up three levels.

"That's it then. We're out of here at last." Feron joked, leaning heavily against the side of the elevator. This was too close to comfort. They wouldn't be stopped from here.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Kam silently followed behind Feron, right up until they were caught by a Patrol. Before he had fully registered what was going on, Fer was dodging, and so Hakim threw himself to the floor, just in time to avoid a flurry of blaster fire.

Mere moments later, he heard the distinctive sound of someone getting punched, prompting him to unsteadily rise to his feet and look behind him. There, leaning against a wall, was the guard who had fired at them, nursing his jaw, which the officer had apparently slugged.

The cathar's ears shot up in surprise as the man spoke, but he was very happy to hear that they were essentially being given free passage up to the Hangar, and so he didn't dally in falling back in-line behind Fer as they proceeded to the elevator.

Once inside the lift, Kam stood with his back to the far wall of the elevator, on the opposite side as Fer. "With a little luck, yeah." He said in response to his friend's comment. "Eravis's search crews should be done with the Tien by now and it's getting late, all we have to worry about is running into a pilot doing a last-minute check on his fighter, or a night guard. Either way, with Kira here as our guardian angel, we ought to be fine."

Just as he finished speaking, the elevator slowed to a halt on the Hangar deck, and so Kam gestured towards the door with one hand, inviting Fer to take the lead once again.

 

[Gambler]

[OOC: You already changed her name from "Kira" to "Kiara" lol]

The doors of the elevator swung open to reveal quite a normal scene at the hangar. Work crews were busy cleaning, polishing and repairing the freighters and fighters all docked there. Which totaled roughly in the fifties. Even so Feron was easily able to make out the Tien. Its paint job and higher vessel class stood out among the rest oddly enough. Normally Tien would have blended smoothly into the background, but not here in the middle of a customs ship. So many people were either patrolling the deck or making repairs that no one spared the three a second glance to see Feron's claw on the edge of Kira's throat. Not a single person. Cocking his head to the left ever so slightly Feron took a few experimental steps forward. No one noticed. With growing confidence he began to walk towards the impounded Tien. Right as he put the sequence in to lower the ramp someone finally took notice of them.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? That ship is impounded under the order of Chief of Customs Captain Eravis! He ordered us all not to lay a single hand on the m-" He cut off as he realized that Feron had his claw against a woman's throat. And he went three shades paler than humanly possible when he realized that it was Captain Eravis' daughter he was holding hostage. "Y-you c-an't- No, please don't! That's the captain's daughter! Please! Just back away and you won't get us all kil-"

"If anyone so much as raises a gun or gets in our way I will kill Kira! One move to stop us and she dies! I want you to run up and tell Captain Eravis that we hold his daughter hostage and that we'll kill her if he doesn't let us go free! One move to stop us and you'll all die with us when the Captain realizes that his daughter is dead because of you!" Feron roared savagely so that everyone could hear him. Silence greeted him once more as everyone on the dock froze and paled considerably.

"B-but we'll all die! And you can't jus-"

"Can't just what?! You will send orders up. NOW!" Feron roared like an angry lion. He motioned for Kam to board the ship and whispered quietly. "Prime the engines. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.".

 

[Jiang Winters]

[OOC: Ooops. Guess my mind's still stuck on a role-play on another site; there's a character there named Kiara. Oh well. Post edited!]

Kam was surprised by how the entire deck crew seemed completely wrapped up in their own tasks. He was even more surprised when he was able to just follow Feron and Kira all the way across the hangar to the Tien, without anyone paying them so much as a second glance... Well, at least not until Fer started entering the code for the access ramp, which nabbed the attention of a nearby crewman.

Hakim was worried for a brief moment, but once he saw the human pale, all worries left his mind and a smirk tugged on the edges of his muzzle. 'Looks like Eravis has his entire crew terrified into submission.' The smuggler noted, after Feron roared at the crewman.

He turned and nodded once when Fer told him to go and prime the engines, and without another moment's thought, the male ducked into the ship and sped towards the cockpit.

After briefly checking over everything to make sure Eravis hadn't ordered the ship rigged with traps, Kam began powering up the ship, starting with her engines and weapons, and slowly working his way through all the other systems while waiting for Fer and Kira to come aboard.

 

[Gambler]

Feron waited until he heard the slight pur of the engines as they revved up. Nothing loud enough to catch the ears of a human at this distance, but enough for him to hear. Not full activation; no, just a slight tremble as everything primed. And still he waited until everyone on the dock all but ran up to the control room or to the nearest intercom to tell Eravis what had happened. The fear on their faces would have been laughable had Feron been the sadistic type. But instead he only saw it as pathetic. What captain would have their crew so terrified for their lives that the mere mention of taking his daughter as a hostage was enough to scare them for their lives? A bat-shit captain like Kam had called him.

"In second thought, I want no resistance. Tell Eravis to personally send out a com message to me and my friend the instant we clear the range of your weapons. Then we will discuss the terms of his daughter's release. If everything happens smoothly then she will live to see another day. Otherwise I will kill her." Feron was surprised how easy it was to say those words. Even moreso at the fact that he was willing to cut Kira's throat to save his and Kam's lives. And that disturbed him on a new level. The man nodded and sprinted away, leaving Feron to back up the ramp, claw still on Kira's pale throat.

"You want to fly or hold onto the girl?" Feron snapped as he backed into the cockpit. He immediately took his hand away from Kira's throat and stepped back a few steps.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"You fly." Kam answered, rising from the pilot's seat and walking towards Feron and their hostage. "I'll hold onto Kira." He added in, as he slowed to a stop just a few feet in front of her. "Sorry for throwing your life into disarray for a second time, Kira. Your father didn't leave Fer and I much choice." He apologized quietly, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and giving her a faint smile, to comfort the shaken medic after what he was sure was a traumatizing experience.

He then shot a glance back at Fer, and said; "When we're clear of the ship, jump to the co-ordinates I have locked into the navicomputer. It'll take us straight to a safe haven."

 

[Gambler]

Feron merely blinked before turning to his friend. "You know, I like coddling as much as the next guy, but seriously? Is that appropriate in this circumstance? You always were the rash one, Kam. And people called you the levelheaded one? Yeah right. Look at what you got us into because you slept with a human." He said, almost masking an extreme distaste for humans. Almost was the key word. Humans didn't help him. They had abused him as much as the other creatures if not more. The ship began to lift gently before clearing the hangar. Feron slowly counted the meter. "50...100...120...135...150.....200....230....270....300." He counted aloud, heaving a sigh of relief as they cleared 300. And then the incoming message alarm blared, startling Feron. He turned it on and stared right into the sunken, hollow eyes of the Chief of Customs, Captain Eravis.

"What have you lunatic scumbags done to my daughter?! I demand her release this instant! My crew didn't inform me of your escape until moments ago and I was about to kill you myself when they told me you had my daughter and was prepared to kill her. Blast you dammit! Where the hell are you going?!" Eravis' crazed voice roared on the com. Feron almost cringed in spite of himself. The man was obviously just as bat-shit crazy as Kam had said he was.

"You will meet her in seven days, unharmed and alive on Corusant. Where? She'll send out a transmission to you with the specifics. Then you will pick her up. If you don't allow us our escape and seven days time lapse then she will die. By my hands. Feron Nial." Feron said tightly, staring Captain Eravis down for a moment. The man looked stricken and insulted as if the presence of Feron was a grave disgrace. As if the cathar were beneath him. And that pissed Feron off.

"You do not tell me what to do cretin! Either you release my daughter this instant or I will kill you! I will hunt your pathetic kind down to the ends of the galaxy and rape your mother! I will-!" Eravis cut off as Feron roared savagely and grabbed Kira, putting a jagged claw on her delicate throat. He roared again like a beast before showing Eravis his daughter. Panic and fear flashed through her eyes as the pressure on her throat increased almost enough to draw blood.

"You will not do anything! You will sit on your ship and meet us in seven days! And then you will DIE AT MY HANDS!" Feron roared in an uncontrollable fit of rage. His muscles bulged as he threw Kira physically into Kam. His eyes were black orbs of fire. He was tensed on a wire thin edge. One more word would send him into a murderous frenzy. Eravis, the fool that he was, tried to speak. Feron roared and slammed a metal encased fist into the system, shattering some of the buttons and denting the metal. Eravis' image flickered and died.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Cripes Fer, what crawled into your pants and bit you in the ass? Don't be so kriffing racist." Kam replied in a mildly surprised, taking a few steps away from Kira so that he was standing behind the co-pilot's chair. He had more to say, and had just opened his muzzle to do so, but before he could, they received a incoming message, from none other than Captain Eravis.

Hakim was tempted to go and grab a bottle of brain bleach as he saw the haunting, pale visage of Eravis, but he forced himself to stay and listen to the heated exchange between the insane Captain and his close friend.

As the brief verbal volleys were exchanged, Kam began to become genuinely concerned for Fer, not because of anything Eravis might do, but rather... Because of the primal fury he saw consuming Fer. He wisely stayed his tongue as Kira was seized, threatened, and then thrown back into him, instead opting to wrap his arms around the freshly terrified young lady and stare in surprise at Fer.

Finally, everything came to an end as the black-furred Cathar slammed his fist into the comms control board, effectively disabling the unit and shutting off the comms channel. He opened his muzzle to mention that he would fix that later, but thought better of it, and instead turned and quietly ushered Kira out of the cockpit, following closely after her and leaving Feron alone, so that he could simmer down.

 

[Gambler]

It took ten minutes for Feron to regain control over his emotions. Ten minutes until he came to his senses. Only vaguely did he hear Kam's words replayed in his head. But he ignored them. For a minute it was all he could do to think. What happened to him? And then he remembered that face. Captain Eravis had beaten him to the ground and almost to death when he had bet 3,000 credits on his victory against Kor. When he lost and was an inch from death Eravis had him revitalized and beaten. The captain's hands held the whips. The scourge. The knives. White hot hatred shone at that memory. He remembered the mans face. He remembered his sneer as he ordered Feron to be dragged to the cage. He remembered Eravis calling him a worthless wretch useless for anything more than he slaughter house.

Finally Feron grabbed hold of himself. He looked down at the coordinates and pressed the autopilot. Then he initiated the hyperspace jump sequence and sat back. As usual the jump made every hair stand up on end as adrenaline rushed through his body. But this time he was too sedate to notice it. His normal forlorn expression was tainted with confusion. After an hour or so of watching the bleak lines of hyperspace pass him by Feron finally stood up and headed for the crew quarters where Kam would have taken the shaken woman. He felt... guilt and something else at his actions. He had never been so ruthless and out of control before. Not even in his exile. Not even in his slavery. But that man had brought up those painful memories to such an extent that Feron had to force himself not to run a metal encased palm over his scared back.

"I... I have come to apologize" He said as he entered the room where Kira and Kam were staying in. "Never before have I lost control of my emotions to such an extent or shown such a degree of contempt for any other race. But I remembered something about your father. Something from my slavery and fight with Kor.... how he had me revitalized and beaten back to an inch of death over and over again. Remember the scars on my back? He caused them. Most of them, anyway. It was Eravis who did it. I am sorry if that is getting in the way of everything else. Please, forgive me, Kira. It was unkempt of me." Heall but whispered, leaning heavily against the door and crossing his arms over his chest. Than he did something he had never even thought about doing since Kam had the phrik claws that adorned his paws made. He took them off and laid them next to Kira. That barrier of shame and trust was great enough that he was able to do something he had never in his life even considered.

 

[Jiang Winters]

The completely traumatized Kira settled onto the center of the crew lounge's couch, while Kam sat down right next to her. "Kam? Who is that... That feral cathar?" She whispered softly, slowly glancing up at the fur-covered smuggler sitting next to her, her brown eyes filled with fear.

"Feron Nial, an old friend of mine. He's... Not normally like this, Kira. He's a good man, trust me on that." Hakim replied, sighing heavily and staring down at the floor under his feet.
"What sort of good man acts like a feral savage when threatened? I mean, yes, I know Eravis has a talent for setting people off, but by the Force!" Kira sighed, tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees as she spoke.

Kam just looked away for a few moments, rather than voice his opinion on the matter. While he didn't agree with her thought about Fer being a savage, Fer's outburst... It scared him as well. He had never been able to best Feron in a sparring match, and should his friend snap... Hakim knew he was as good as dead, or at least Kira was.

After about twenty minutes of sitting in silence, the two finally started speaking again, though both carefully avoided the subject of the events that had lead up to Feron and Kam's escape.

Kam was pleasantly surprised by how quickly Kira had bounced back from the stressful events of earlier; she was back to being her chipper and energetic self, and was happily chattering away about topics ranging from music to plays. Hakim could barely keep up with her, but seeing her in such a good mood greatly lightened his spirits.

The two had just settled into a conversation about a symphonic metal band that Kam often listened when Feron walked in, though Kira didn't notice him at first as she had her back to the entrance and was yapping away at a thousand words per minute. "You still listen to Dark Avenger, Kam! Oh, wow! I'm surprised you still have any hearing left! I remember the first time I heard you listening to them; I thought your ship was going to rattle itself apart because of how high you had the volume cranked up!" She giggled, playfully punching him in the shoulder mere moments before Feron's voice cut in.

All eyes were on Fer as he explained himself and finally asked Kira for forgiveness. The young woman wasn't sure what to do or say; she was not at all expecting this from Fer who she was quite sure was little more than a primal savage, despite what Kam had to say about him.

She hadn't even imagined that he would apologize, and yet... Here he was. When Feron shed his phrik claws and laid them next to her, that was the final straw. The young woman slowly rose from the couch and took a few steps towards Feron, speaking as she moved. "I... Knew Eravis was a monster, I just never imagined he was capable of that..." She murmured, eyes downcast as she slowed to a stop in front of Feron, then slowly but surely looked up into the dark-furred male's onyx eyes. "I forgive you, Feron. But now it's my turn to apologize... For what my father did to you."