Ask Nar Shaddaa The Harder Part

[Nashyr Ris]

-Theme-​

She crouched low, watching events unfold from above. It had been a long time since she had to do anything involving tracking... but it seemed her newfound companion wasn't unfamiliar with stakeouts and the hunt. From far above, thunder rolled quietly, but she didn't smell rain. Not that it mattered, it wouldn't be too much longer before their prey would get a leg up. And it seemed he would, soon. The grip on her blaster tightened; she wanted to go in guns blazing, but knew the odds. They weren't pretty, and though she figured the older guy next to her could handle a firefight, she was pretty certain the reason he was a former cop wasn't because of a regular retirement.

Still. Couldn't judge an old guy by his armor.

The bar didn't need her right now; Jaxu and his friends could handle it at least long enough for her to beat some thugs and return to normalcy. At least... that was the lie she told herself. But around Max, she had the gut feeling that 'normalcy' was not the dish of the day. Rather the opposite.

The mark had led them straight to the hellhole where his people sat; she wasn't certain how he got ahold of this guy in the first place, but she couldn't wait to see them permanently cleaned up from the galaxy.

They didn't even sweep the guy for bugs. If she weren't so focused, she would have snorted in amusement.

"How good are you at disabling things, again?" she glanced at her companion with a side eye, slowly releasing her blaster.

No time for a shootout yet... but it didn't take a Jedi to know she was tense and itching for a fight.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Hunting and tracking were things that Max had learned along the way. You didn't get to be his age, in his professions, without picking up some skills here and there after all. It was just something that kind of came in from osmosis. He had worked with people who could genuinely call themselves trackers or hunters and he was nowhere near there level but he knew enough to do what needed to be done here. After all, they had their prey in their sights and they had the high ground.

And every Jedi worth their salt knew that the high ground was a powerful ally to have.

Following the disgusting creature who masked himself in the flesh of a man was rather easy even without the tracker. The man seemed so incredibly eager to get back to his allies that he barely even tried to evade any potential pursuit. Oh sure he took a few winding alleyways but this was Nar Shaddaa and it was probably harder to get somewhere without using narrow alleyways. It didn't matter anyway as their line of sight was elevated, meaning they never lost him even with the alleyways.

It seemed as though the security was pretty tight though.

"15 guards... seems a bit much personally but I suppose they know they're not popular." he declared with a frown, "I can mess up some electronics rather well and, if we're speaking in idioms, I can disable people rather effectively as well."

Still, he hoped he would not need to actually do anything with his lightsaber or any overt uses of the Force.

"Stealth approach is still our best shot - let's see if we can get to the roof."

@Killa Ree

 

[Nashyr Ris]

Perhaps it was the rain from the last few days, or that she was so focused on revenge. Perhaps it was that she was living on less than four hours of sleep each night, and that all of her dreams were haunted by Jazzy's face, and the faces of the girls that worked under her care.

He mentioned stealth, and she was already plotting a route. Going from roof to roof wouldn't have been the biggest issue, after all, Nar Shaddaa was just in layers of life one atop the other, in the haphazard way of any city planet. She slipped down, beginning the climb, when suddenly her boot lost contact with the metal of one roof, slamming her hip hard against the durasteel and bringing out a hiss of pain.

"Kriff!" she snarled, scrabbling for purchase, and water sloshed down from under her at the motion, causing a clattering further down the alley.

Some of the guards tensed, looking around closer to her area. She gritted her teeth and scooted back, pride nettled at the sudden slip. So she lost the high ground... she would have to either scramble her way back up: painful. Or work at the level she was at, which was nearly a story lower than Max.

Humiliating... but it wasn't over yet.

"You'll probably have better luck," she sighed, patching him in to her personal comm connection. "Be careful, it's slippery here," the last word ended on a grunt of pain. It was going to be difficult going, but she wasn't down yet. Hopefully he'd have better luck than her.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Of course as soon as they decided that they wanted to go for stealth it seemed that the Galaxy, the Force and whatever else governed decided that it was time for them to be punished for their hubris. Almost immediately they were at risk of discovery and Nashyr had taken a painful bump.

Still, she struck him as the kind of woman to keep going regardless and that was reflected well in his message to him that came quickly after the fall. She had picked herself up and dusted herself off rather quickly.

"I'll try for a distraction, you keep moving."

Of course what he didn't tell her was that he might just be using some of the less overt applications of the Force to give him a hand there. Reaching out with the Force, Max used his higher vantage point to catch sight of a fancy looking speeder down the road that looked very out of place.

Reaching down, he grabbed a stone and threw it. Through the Force his accuracy was without compare and the stone smashed the window of the speeder just as a small gang of hoods was walking past. There was a frozen moment where the guards around the warehouse looked at their boss' fancy speeder and the gang beside it. The gang, knowing they didn't do it but knowing that didn't matter, immediately turned and ran.

Ten of the fifteen guards ran right after them.

And suddenly no one cared about a bang of a ladder on a rooftop.

@Killa Ree

 

[Nashyr Ris]

She took a moment to gather herself back together, when she suddenly flinched at the sharp sound of something breaking some distance away. Suddenly there was a sound of tromping feet... and then they were gone, vanished around another corner. Whatever he did, however, gave her a tremor down her spine. One of awareness... and she was aware of the guards that still lingered.

There were some left, but she could deal with them later.

Her grip eased from the edge of the roof she was clinging on to, and began eyeing her surroundings. It didn't look like such a high-tech facility; there weren't even cams at the windows.

Guess low-level thugs couldn't afford the nicer things in life, including a better security detail. She grinned at the thought; more was the pity for them.

She slid her feet under her into a crouch; eyeing until she spotted it; a type of awning maybe, directly beneath her window. Maybe it was her lucky day, maybe it was just some god smiling from above... but she would take that opportunity and run with it.

So she jumped.

When she landed, she winced at the impact that jarred up her bruised hip, hissing in a breath. Nobody had seemed to notice... and as a finger ran down the crack where the transparisteel window connected with the window frame, nobody seemed to remember locks. She almost could have laughed... but now wasn't the time.

She eased through the cracked open window, peering. No shouts of alarm, no shots fired... so far, so good.

Now to find a computer terminal and take down the holonet.

She relished the idea of finally cutting short one more low-lying gang from attacking any more innocent women. Though she was certain Nar Shaddaa's brand of justice didn't gel well with Max's former training... perhaps they could learn from each other. Though the idea was highly ironic... a strip club owner taking justice tips from a former cop.

Sounded like a damned holovid to be frank.

"I'm in," she murmured, crouched low. "You coming too?"

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

With Nashyr working her way inside, Max knew that they needed to make sure they covered all of their bases. So while she worked her way in to cut off their lines of communication with the rest of their allies on the outside, Max decided that he needed to be the one to take care of the guards who had remained outside.

Sure, most of them had run off but there were still five guards to deal with.

Stilling with the high ground, Max drew his trusty stun baton as he moved quickly across the rooftops towards his target drop zone. He could see an area of the patrol routes where only two of the guards ever actually met up and they would be his target. As a Jedi he was strong in ways most people didn't expect but he didn't want to have to go in there with his lightsaber. Not least of his reasons against such an action was the fact that it would be like a bright shining beacon that he was there.

Stealth was harder with a weaponized glow-stick so he kept it away for now. Instead he activated the stun baton in his right hand and steadied his breathing.

"I'll take out the guards - silently."

Leaping forwards off of the building, Max slowed his descent with the Force but his aim was already spot on. His knees slammed into the side of one of the guards, slamming him violently against the closest wall. The guard's head hit the wall hard and there was a noticeable sound but there was only one guard within a range to hear it.

A guard Max had taken into account when he threw his active stun baton while in free-fall.

Just before the guard could give out a warning about Max's dynamic entry, the stun baton hit him square in the chest and pumped him full of volts. Reaching out with the Force, Max gently lowered the stunned man down as he made sure to check on the health of the one he had hit physically, glad to see that he would live. The stun baton deactivated and returned to his hand with another pull of the Force.

"Two down."

@Killa Ree

 

[Nashyr Ris]

She was tensed in a semi-dark room, listening to hear any sounds of protest, any firing. When she was satisfied there were no blaster shots or shouts of alarm raised through the building, she relaxed... but one hand still settled on her blaster, ears flicking briefly when Max commented on his success. She exhaled, then hummed mostly to herself, picking through the trashy-looking room, scanning her eyes.

Who knew. Maybe she'd get lucky and find a terminal to access.

She almost couldn't believe her eyes when there one was, right by the door. She exhaled suddenly, and she had to swallow back a laugh at.. well...

The arrogance of these men and leaving computers alone like that. But then again... nobody was ever that lucky. Something was gonna cause trouble eventually... but she was just going to get her end of this plan done. Then deal with any repercussions later.

From within one of her side pouches, she withdrew the slim cylinder of a computer spike, leaning forward to better see what she was doing in the dim light. Civilian-grade locking systems... these guys were low-life and lacking in brains. It was enough to make a bad week a magically better one.

After a few beats of silence... there was a click.

A slow, fanged grin tilted her lips... and she gripped her blaster, pocketing the spike.

"Showtime, Max. System's down."

It was time for her to avenge Jazzy, and any other girls they might have hurt. And she wasn't certain if she was going to be as merciful as she had been before.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Alright so the system was down and two of the three guards were down so that meant that it was time to get things back into gear. They had been playing it cautious up until this moment because up until now their prey had the opportunity and the capability to call back some of those who had chased off the thugs and for the chance to call in reinforcements from their allies.

Whomever this group of absolute degenerates could even call allies.

"Copy." he smiled a little bit, "Going loud now we're clear."

With his stun baton in hand, Max headed around the corner of the warehouse to face the remaining guards and things almost immediately started to go wrong. Whether it was because they were simply more alert or if there had been some kind of camera system he hadn't notice before, he turned the corner and immediately found himself with the remaining three guards pointing their blaster pistols at him from a reasonable distance away.

Meaning too far for his melee option to really work here.

He had enough time to curse before the blaster bolts started flying and he flung himself back around the corner, taking two of the blaster bolts to his torso, sending him crashing to the ground on the other side of the corner. Hissing in pain, Max could feel the way his skin blistered and burned even with the protection of his armored robes. One was sizzling in his lower left gut and the other was dead centre over his heart.

Every beat of his increasingly frantic heart sent a shudder of pain directly through his nerves and lit his entire body and mind on fire. His stun baton dropped in the open, Max scurried backwards to press his back against the wall and did something he had been hoping to avoid doing on this damned planet.

Gingerly due to the pain, Max withdrew his lightsaber from it's hidden pouch within his robes and gripped it tightly in his right hand before igniting one of it's blades. It's gentle hum had always been comforting before but now? Now it was a resounding sound of failure, of not being able to be a Jedi without a weapon he disliked using at the best of times.

And now he needed it to keep going.

His vow to keep going, to keep being the best Jedi he could be without hurting others and without announcing himself as a Jedi was ruined and there was nothing he could do.

Spoiler: Dice

Damage taken and a vow broken

@Killa Ree

 

[Nashyr Ris]

Sounds of firefighting outside gave her pause. She felt her stomach drop when she heard him grunt over the line; he must've been shot. She took a breath, intending to call out... and then another sound broke over the line.

A sound that sent a cold chill down her spine... and she exhaled sharply, gripping her blaster tightly as she withdrew it from its' holster, hunkering down and moving towards the exit. Who knew how many gangsters would come barreling away from the danger when they heard their guards' alarm, and they were working with borrowed time. They had to clean house, and get the kark outta here as quickly as possible.

She couldn't believe her ears though. That sound...

"Max! What happened?"

/End Thread