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[Elias Ryn]

All of them made it inside, Maxims a little worse for wear but nothing that couldn't be fixed. He warmed up his fingers as he explained how he had run into the Kinrath before this moment. Elias chuckled softly, "Guess that means I need to check out this Holopedia. I would have had no clue." It was his first time running across them and he was glad the other Jedi at least had some experience and made traversing the tunnels easier.

Maxims pressed himself against the door and informed what he felt on the other side. Elias gave him a nod of understanding before standing on the other side of the frame and waiting for everyone to be ready. He motioned for Buddy to unlock it and the droid rolled over to the controls before sliding one of its multitools in to unlock it. The door slid down without resistance and he immediately stepped inside, his focus on the smuggler to the right. They were sitting at a table and when the door opened, they all got up in unison before reaching for their weapons a second later.

Elias closed the distance and slashed his lightsaber quickly, the blaster for the man on the right getting cut cleanly in half and rendering it useless. He then shot forward his other hand as the smuggler flew black and into a few crates, knocking him and a few of them down together as the man was knocked out from the hash collision.

He spun on his heel to face the other two, ready for the offensive or the defensive in case Maxim didn't manage to stasis the one in the center. If it was done, Elias would reach out with the force to confirm that no one else was coming before deactivating his lightsaber. He'd glance over to Maxims, "You alright?" It was just a quick check-up as he didn't expect the Jedi to be seriously hurt or anything.

The one in the center would glance between them but keep his mouth shut. Elias walked over to the table and sat down on the edge, in front of the one who was conscious. He just jumped right into it,

"We're here to speak to your leader. Where is he and how many of you are there?"

 

[Maxims Tionson]

His fingers felt like they were actually attached to his hands again so it was time to get moving. The door opened up and Max was in motion just behind Elias. As the Knight had to travel across the room first, he was the second person through the door with his blaster pistol up in his right hand and the Force buzzing in his ears.

Firing once with the blaster pistol, he caught the man on the left in the shoulder, sending him spinning to the ground. It looked like a partial stun rather than a full one so he made a mental note to come back to it as he lashed out with the Force to ensnare the middle man, just capturing him in the effect as he began to squeeze the trigger.

Not enough to have fired… yet.

Max stepped out of the line of fire of the blaster now frozen in position and fired into the back of the downed man from his first blast, actually fully stunning him this time. Moving closer to the middle man, he stood to one side of him as Elias stood to the other. He let Elias ask the question first without un-suspending the man.

“I’m going to let your head move so you can speak.” He told the man quietly, “And we’re going to speak quietly. Please.”

He didn’t have to try too hard to look stern and intimidating – his obviously robotic eye had a habit of focusing and refocusing and it scared the hell out of people who weren’t used to it. Max lowered the stasis from the man’s head, focusing on keeping it up for the rest as Elias did the speaking. It was still a taxing technique to keep up even if the man wasn’t able to resist with the Force.

“… the boss isn’t in the hanger part of the base where we are now. She’s over in one of the old pre-fab buildings outside.” He admitted, reluctantly, glaring at Max first before turning to glare at Elias, “And we’ve got more than you have laser swords or blasters, Sith.”

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Their prisoner tried to resist at first but it was futile against a council member. He revealed the location of where the brains of the smuggling operation was and a sarcastic answer to their numbers. Elias didn't care to waste time and he grinned at the man, "If I was a Sith, you'd have already lost a limb before I even asked you a question." It would have just been to loosen him up. Quickly, he punched the man right in the cheek, knocking the man out cold before he moved him aside with the force. "We know where she is now." They could work with that.

The pair didn't get an exact number of guards that were in the building with them but he suspected there were more than enough. It was a little worrisome that the man classified them as Sith. It meant the propaganda that has been spreading across the holonet was taking hold in some people's minds. That would have to be worked on in due time, they had to find this leader. Elias made his way to the door after Buddy had finished unlocking it. He glanced over to Maxims, "Let's just find her. We don't need the clear the whole base to get to her." Fewer bodies most likely meant better relations in the beginning.

The door opened and Elias stepped out quietly, his lightsaber deactivated to prevent any light and noise coming from him. Buddy had sent him the schematic of the building and he opened it to find the quickest route to the pre-fab buildings. After he determined a certain one was acceptable, he led the way and reached out with the force to sense anyone that would run into them. There were a few close calls but he would turn down another hallway before redirecting them to the correct path.

Elias opened a door that led outside and made his way to a grouping of rocks. He took cover behind it and then pointed to the target building once the others joined him. "That's it." He sat back on his heels and looked to Maxims, "We just need to get inside and hopefully have her able to see reason." It was entirely possible that it wasn't possible but it was just a risk they would have to take.

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max had been a little bit amused that the guard had mistaken them for Sith but in a darkly kind of amused way. It still didn’t fit to his mind that Jedi and Sith were so ‘similar’ to the non-Force sensitives of the Galaxy. Sure, they both used laser swords and could move things with their minds but their actions as groups were night and day in so many cases.

He didn’t imagine the Sith would have taken being insulted by the media and politicians with as much grace as the Jedi did after all.

“Well he was delightful.” He remarked after Elias punched him out, taking a breath to try and take a moment after using the stasis technique for so long, “An idiot to be certain but not a bad person.”

Max had had a chance to look into the smuggler’s mind while holding him in the Force and what he had seen hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as he had feared. The man had joined up out of poverty and sent most of his credits back him to his mother and younger sister. Along with agreeing with the group’s non-lethal policy, it seemed that the smuggler in question was fairly decent.

Intriguing going forward.

He nodded in agreement – they didn’t need to fight the entire base and it would have been counter to any hope they had of resolving the whole issue with minimal violence if they did. Wrapping his cloak around himself, Max took another deep breath and centered himself in the Force before following along with Elias with his weapons all tucked away. Although not true stealth, Max still used the Force to muffle his footsteps and keep a metaphysical eye on where the guards were and where their lines of sight were.

Once they were outside it was clear that one of the pre-fab buildings was more of a central command point than the others and it stood to reason that was where the boss would be. The only trouble, as far as Max could see, was that it was fairly open across the distance. He hummed a little bit.

“Kind of open… we could use a distraction.”

He slowly turned to look at Buddy, who span round to see if Elias was behind him… only to beep forlornly when he realized that Max had meant him. Max shrugged a little bit at him and the droid beeped some unflattering things before zooming off back into the base. The Jedi just turned to his ally with a grin.

“Five credits says he tries to make an explosion.”

It wasn’t an explosion but one of the cooling vents began to spring a leak further inside the hanger itself, causing a thick mist to form and several of the smugglers to go and check it out. Using the confusion and the mist itself as cover, Max and Elias would be able to make it over to the pre-fab they had targeted before.

As they rested against it’s wall, Max would hand over five credits.

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

The way to the building was indeed open. The guards that patrolled it weren't prevalent as they haven't been attacked before. It lowered their guard down but there were still a few men that walked around the building. Elias turned to face Maxims, ready to formulate a plan with him but he had already given a look towards Buddy. The droid beeped unhappily but followed his command and wheeled toward the base for whatever distraction it could pull off.

Elias just smirked, "Alright, you're on." It was most likely a rigged bet as the other Jedi knew the tendencies of his droid but he needed money and he took it anyway. They didn't have to wait long before there would be a sound of a loud hiss. A thick mist began to envelop the building as guards and technicians alike both rushed to figure out the cause. The pair didn't waste any time as they ran through the grounded clouds to the door of the pre-fab building. He glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, "That's quite a nifty little droid." It started to make him miss Wulf a little bit.

Buddy earned him a yield of five credits and he wouldn't complain, offering a smile to Maxims as he collected the credits with one smooth swipe. "Time to get rolling." Elias pulled out his lightsaber and kept it ready in his hand but deactivated. He gave a nod toward the other before opening the door with the force and stepping through quietly. It was a living room basically, couches aligned in the center around a holo. It was homely except for the ammo crates and other supplies that were littered across the room.

A woman stood at the end of the room and she turned around to face the two Jedi with a blaster pistol in her hand. Another guard entered from a door behind her, holding a rifle, and aimed toward Elias. The woman appeared around her mid-thirties, her hair braided and down her back with her facial structure consisting of sharp angles. There was a heavy dose of skepticism in her eyes but her weapon remained by her side, "And who the hell are you two?"

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of pride at his little droid Buddy – he had been with him through thick and thin at this point and he had never let him down. Even when asked to go above and beyond the little droid just gave him a beep and trundled off to get it down. He couldn’t have asked for a better droid to give him a hand.

Enough that he didn’t mind handing over a fiver either.

“I just thank the Force I haven’t added weapons to him.” He shook his head slightly, “Bloody thing would probably challenge The Eternal to a fight…”

Knowing his Buddy he would joke that it might be a fair fight if the Eternal was allowed to bring an extra lightsaber.

Sneaking into the building worked but the next phase started immediately because there wasn’t any chance of them sneaking any further. The boss and a man armed with a blaster rifle had them in their sights. Time for subtlety had come and gone it seemed so Max decided it was best to act like it, straightening to his full height and smiling.

“Hello there – I am Jedi Master Max Tionson. This is my friend, Knight Ryn, and we have come to give you a proposal.”

There was a beat of silence before the captain merely raised an eyebrow.

“You snuck into my base… to give me a proposal?”

Max smiled wider.

“Could you think of another way that wouldn’t have involved being shot on sight for approaching?” he countered smoothly, “We have done you no harm – just as you did no harm to those you smuggled from. Still; the locals of Dantooine are suffering and they asked for our aid. Rather than coming to blows I thought it better to talk.”

A pregnant pause before the captain slowly lowered her blaster pistol.

“I’m listening.”

Well that was a start!

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

It was a stare-off between the two pairs, the tension high between them for a few moments as the woman questioned them with her eyes. Maxims eventually eased his posture as did Elias, minimizing the idea of them being a threat. He introduced themselves as the Jedi would just give a nod when his name was mentioned. At the idea of a proposal, it stunned the woman for a second as she didn't know whether to believe that was really the case or if this was something else entirely that she couldn't see.

But the two Jedi didn’t make any indication they were lying or made a movement as if they were about to attack. She loosened her posture as well and flicked her hand at the other man for him to lower his rifle only a few inches. Elias slipped his lightsaber into his belt as he stepped forward with his hands by his side but open to view. “As my friend introduced me, I’m Knight Ryn and we wish to help make a cordial relationship between you and the locals. With the fact that there haven’t been deaths on both sides, we believe that it is a sign that there is some type of potential that there can be alliance between you two people.”

Elias was about to see what the woman’s true character was. “The people of Dantoo town and others are suffering. I assume you’ve made quite a hefty profit from this operation but it can’t last. Dantoo town is not filled with credits and they’re being strangled to death by their supply routes being raided.” Dantoo Town wasn’t the most prosperous town to say the least and the ability for it to pay these extortion rates placed upon them. “That’s why we wish to offer a compromise.” This particular hadn’t been really discussed with the council back in the city but he thought with a little convincing it could be possible.

“You and your men act as guards for the trade routes and help facilitate trade from Dantoo town to the other towns and cities that are in the area. Instead of being payed by selling them their own equipment, they’ll pay you whatever rate is acceptable for both parties.” Elias stopped there to let her think over his words as he glanced over to Maxims and then back to her. It was most likely the proposal she expected but it would still be an idea to think over. It would be an entire flip to what they were currently doing but it could be promising. There was another pause as either Maxims or for the woman to speak.

 

[Maxims Tionson]

The captain stared at the two Jedi for a moment as she thought about the proposal. In the background, Max could swear he heard Buddy beeping something very loudly and very happily. Seemed he was being chased but he was in a good mood about it - he really hoped he wasn't going to have to apologize for his astromech droid embarrassing a bunch of hardened smugglers without any weapons.

He probably was but the plus side was that the Captain seemed less inclined to just shoot the idea down than she otherwise might have been. In fact it looked like Elias had told her things that she didn't already know. After all, they had been here longer than either Jedi so they had to have known the numbers even better than they did.

And right now? They didn't add up.

"And what about my men?" she challenged instead of challenging the idea outright, "They're smugglers and pirates even if they don't like pulling the Dead Trigger. What if they don't like suddenly dropping all the loot to play town guards?"

Max was actually rather happy with the question - he could feel the rifleman's confusion through the Force at the suggestion that any of the men actually liked being criminals. It seemed that they were, more often than not, criminals through circumstance more than intent. They could definitely use that but just in case...

"If you stop raiding the supply lines - other gangs notice, right?" at her nod, he continued, "And when they notice they swoop in thinking it's going to be easy pickings... and you and your men swoop right in when they don't suspect a thing and take their stuff AND get your pay from the locals. You sell their ships or keep them and any crew you think fit your ethos - and you grow."

There was a pause before the Captain asked, in clipped tones.

"Anything else you'd demand from us?"

Max smiled.

"That Jedi ships and personnel get to use this base alongside you."

She grunted.

"Done. Now leash your droid - he's doing something with a firehose that's freaking my men out."

@Orbit