Through the City in the Clouds

[Lavi]

Marisa took the blacklight and pocketed it without giving it much examination. A box owned by 'Cova-Co LabourLife,' Izzy says. Never heard of them. Anyways, even without a definite description of the box, it shouldn't be too difficult to spot, unless there are thousands of boxes lined up in this warehouse. Not that grabbing something that they shouldn't be grabbing is a quick and done deal.

As the sounds of footsteps came close, Marisa stepped backwards to meld into the shadows. The single light source would work to her favor as the men passed by. They didn't seem to look around: likely guards that are accustomed to this patrol route. After they left, Marisa turned to give Izzy a nod before heading off herself. She crept slowly down the walkway, making sure to muffle her footsteps in the process, and peeked around both corners. Other than the guards from earlier, there was nothing.

Marisa turned the corner that the guards came from, continuing into a large warehouse. The many aisles provided many opportunities for concealment, which she took for granted. The large room was better lit than the main entrance, though it wasn't swarming with guards. That can change if security goes on alert. Recalling that Izzy wasn't sure how big the box was supposed to be, Marisa began her search. As guards walked near, Marisa simply snuck to the next aisle, memorizing where she left off to return to minutes later.

 

[DeathToll]

Ereshkirgal silently flatened against the opposing wall and out of the light, a mirror image of Marisa's quick thinking; and the guards pass without notice of their presence. Eresh noted her nod, watching her lead the way with the black light in hand and following suit. He crept softly, peeling off down a different isle to cover more territory. Just as much as he was searching for the target label, he was also keeping mind of others around him. But he was more catching himself in moments remembering that he should be keeping attention on those around him rather than it being an automatic protection against surprise. He'd search three or four objects, then realize he'd forgotten to keep aware of his surroundings; looking up and around before repeating the cycle.

The warehouse wasn't filled only with boxes and crates, therefore helping them narrow the search; though objects of different size and make occupied plenty of space for cover. Which Eresh immediately took to use when he was surprised to hear a foot shuffle above him, causing Eresh to quietly retreat to the lining of the nearest object by his side. He could sense a man standing watch overhead on the top level of this isle, over the stored objects below. Eresh had better be careful.

And then, Eresh noticed a clear glass rectangular-bubbled window up in the distance that gave view to an office overlooking the entire lower warehouse from a center angle. The lights within were currently off, which was obviously good. But he hoped none would enter there and take a moment to look over their sneaking grounds.

Traiding guilds, mining unions, private businesses, and so many more official labels were lined across each box. None fit the description. Not yet. They had just begun the search. It would not be that easy. But this was the simple part.

And suddenly, a female merc, rifle crossed in hands, stepped closer and around the corner to Marisa's isle and towards Eresh's position next. What's more, Eresh began to get the strangest feelings from some of the larger crates themselves. Some, he could even swear, were making feint noises; weak signatures of movement catching his preoccupied focus.

 

[Lavi]

Marisa was in the middle of her aisle when the female guard arrived. She silently cursed herself, slipping underneath the nearest bottom shelf and squeezing herself into the tight space as quickly as possible. The woman barely fit, thankfully, though it was impossible to turn her head to look the opposite direction. The sound of footsteps were light but methodical: not terribly difficult to follow, especially for Marisa.

However, the footsteps were getting louder as the guard decided to follow the aisle's pathway. Marisa could recall countless instances where she would have been spotted if the guard looked a certain direction or examined something a little more closely: she realized that her boot jutted out of the shelf a little. Only pinching one's nose and controlling the rate of one's breathing could keep the guard from looking down at her foot. Thankfully, the female guard was not terribly alert, passing by Marisa without any incident. As the guard left her aisle, Marisa slowly started the painful task of getting off the shelf without disturbing anything.

She had difficult seeing the guard up on the second floor catwalk, further slowing her down. By her attempts to peer over in the direction she last noticed the guard, she thonked her head against the durasteel framework. The boo-boo throbbed quite painfully and Marisa had to clench her teeth and suck in air to keep herself from uttering too loud a sound.

((Should I locate said crate or should you?))

 

[DeathToll]

Eresh barely pressed hand over hand as he crossed steps carefully along the left edge of the shelf. Taking into account that the overlooking glassed room ahead was unused, Eresh returned his focus to the crates and boxes there beside him. His head swiveled from side to side, making sure not to miss any labels he may pass. His steps soon halted, though, to notice of the female guard passing along the adjacent isle. He looked through the crate that he was pressed up against, feeling through the Force that which could not be otherwise seen. Marisa was fine, hidden from the passing patrol. He would not let her see him caring for her safety, which caused him to realize that he did; and he pulled away, inching a step back as he retract his sight from the Force and back onto the crate before him.

Cova-Co LabourLife. Eresh mouthed the words silently. Was this it, just before his very eyes? The label was large, square, and had rounded corners. The crate was larger than he'd expected. Would his 'contractor' of sorts have requested such a task that was so difficult to move? It was just over half Ereshkirgal's height, and there were cracks along the sides that allowed for air.

There was no time to waste. He needed to get Marisa over here to examine the label with the black light. So, Eresh tip-toed down the isle and peered around the corner before safely moving to reach Marisa. He was still underneath the overlooking guard's notice from above, who had begun to turn around and go back the other way, and he was now on the opposite side of the isle as the female guard that had chosen to walk down Marisa's pathway. So, if Marisa had then continued down her intended direction, she would see Ereshkirgal's head now peeking around the corner to her isle. He'd wave her over, look both ways behind him once more, then make sure Marisa was coming to him. He'd then attempt to bring her back to the crate and point it out for her to wave over and inspect with the light. If there was a hidden code that lit up under the light, they had found their merchandise.

All the while, Eresh would be keeping watch and looking both ways behind her. He was paying special attention to the female guard, as she could possibly come back around down this isle.

 

[Lavi]

When she finally freed herself from the shelf-prison, Marisa looked down her original intended route to find Izzy already at the other end, waving at her to come over. Assuming that he already found the crate, Marisa slinked over and produced the blacklight that Izzy gave her, following the later to the crate that he found. Sure enough, it had the proper description that she was told. She placed the blacklight directly on top of the bar code, finely printed in the corner of the Cova-Co label and peered at the words that were subtly hidden.

The print was in High Galactic, which Marisa couldn't read. Although she did spend some time in school learning High Galactic, Marisa did not have much need for that alphabet while in Hutt Space, so her knowledge of the subject decayed with time. However, Izzy should be able to read it, since he was the one that had to look for this box. She gestured for Izzy to look at the inscription, giving a puzzled face to indicate she couldn't understand what the text said.

 

[DeathToll]

He payed little attention to her efforts, at the moment giving preference to potential danger. He was alert, in control, and prepared as a warrior. There was nothing that could shake his resolve now. All they had to do was figure out if this was the right crate, and maybe decide if opening the crate would make their job easier. But once she looked up to him, puzzled, he turned to investigate the highlighted area. He figured there would be numbers, a location description, or possibly some kind of code that would make little sense to them at this time. His curiosity soon melted into tension, however. His jaw flexed, teeth clenching with disbelief in restrained anger. He couldn't let himself fall prisoner to his former ideals. What brought him this far was not what he had become. No longer was he the soldier, obedient to rule nor ideal. He was now simply a weapon aimed to fall, to decapitate the enemy no matter what was made necessary for that stroke to become. Ereshkirgal's eyes were fixed, his mind at a stall. He had promised to end those that created men such as he, and yet... he could not so easily look back at himself and turn away. But in that state, he let slip the translated words through blowing lips; whispering what mind could not comprehend running into like this.

"Human... Male... Seven..."

 

[Lavi]

With that, Marisa understood immediately: they were assisting a human trafficking operation. Possibly a slavery ring. She didn't like handling these kinds of jobs. Well, Marisa didn't have to transport slaves in when she was employed, but anything dubious, she hated to do. But, Marisa also didn't like breaking her promises. Although torn by her conflicting ideals, Marisa tapped Izzy on the shoulder to get his attention, gesturing to indicate that they should get the imprisoned boy out of here first. Deciding what to do here isn't the best of ideas.

 

[DeathToll]

He came to, recognizing her shoulder tap to put him back on track. They really did need to get out of there. The crate was too large to carry on its own, but taking the child out meant dealing with its possible sounds; and, even worse, seeing the image of a slave child in his arms. He couldn't face that. Eresh looked around and eventually found what he was looking for, a dolly. But that would create problems of its own.

Eresh returned to the crate, reached inside the flowing cloak to the small of his back and retrieved the dagger with which to pry the lid free. It was either this or using Marisa's skills to unlock the mechanism over the front opening. And Eresh gave her a look to make sure he was choosing the better of the two options. If she made no objection, he'd stab the knife into the space between the wooden bars on the right-top and begin prying; pulling it out and sticking it back in along the same crease, prying it off bit by bit until he could separate the lid from its hinges. He'd probably be making some noise, if she'd allowed him to attempt this, and would no doubt catch at least the female's attention. She'd soon be slowly making her way towards the noise. And the man above would also be leaning over to see what the noise was if he could.

Eresh would pull the boy out, tuck his arm underneath the boys legs holding him in a ball like a puppet in front of him, and covering his mouth. Then they'd be off. If he was the one holding the boy, then Marisa would be charged with their protection as they tried to escape...

 

[Lavi]

Marisa shrugged as Izzy showed her his dagger. Either way, they will be making some noise in order to take the boy without the box. As the wood creaked and complained from the dagger's wiggling, Marisa crept towards where she last remembered the female guard from before, pulling a bundle of fibercord from one of her pouches. Crouching behind another crate, she waited for the guard to fully enter the suspicious aisle, to the point where she could hear the guard's breath. In quick and precise movements, Marisa stepped behind the unsuspecting guard, using the cord as a garrote. The movement was timed as the guard exhaled, preventing the guard from crying out as the cord was pulled taut around the neck.

Since Marisa wasn't as tall as the woman, she had to force the female guard to her knees in the process. She closely monitored the guard's health, covering the other's mouth and releasing her stranglehold before the guard could die of asphyxiation. A quick punch to the back of the head knocked the guard out. Pocketing her fibercord, Marisa checked on Izzy's progress, seeing that the boy was being lifted from the crate. Marisa genuinely felt bad for the boy: being caught up in things that he wouldn't understand at the age of seven.

Given the circumstances, the woman knew that she would be in charge of scouting ahead, since she won't be bogged down by the extra baggage. Marisa went ahead to look around for a route back the way the two came. The trip was going smoothly so far, though they should leave before the guards were supposed to check-in with management. The pathway back was blocked by two guards, putting an immediate halt to Marisa's scouting. She signaled Izzy to inform him of the two guards, both whom do not seem to be moving. They were idling around, talking about what they planned to do after their shift.

 

[DeathToll]

Eresh stopped, keeping to Marisa's direction. Though, holding the child there, he soon heard some slight moans and subtle wriggling. It seemed, whatever they had used to sedate the boy was wearing off; as he was not meant to idle here for very long. If this child was anything like Eresh when he was younger, then this would not go well for any party involved. Eresh tried to think of ways to possibly use the issues to come, and so came an idea.

While Marisa was stuck there, and Eresh was thinking, the light switched on to the overlooking office behind them all the way at the back of the warehouse. Two men walked in, one sat with his side to the window and the other sat facing the warehouse.

Eresh lifted his foot behind him, looking to a hard flat that was propped on its side between a metal container and the contents' devider. He gently pushed it out from its resting place with that foot as it slid free and clamored to the floor in the adjacent aisle. The guards would no doubt hear the noise and seek to discover the meaning. Hopefully both guards would leave their current placement, though it would likely only mean one would leave. But not only that, as the noise might also call others to the aisle. Eresh was dominated by the rush of time. His judgement was not as clear as it usually was. And the situation did not help to disperse the clouds from view. And yet, just to prove himself wrong, he might dare run through the haze in hopes of not facing what was in his very arms.

Eresh shot Marisa a distressed look of the eyes to see if his distraction had helped her at all. Maybe they could make a break for the door, and maybe she could take the remaining guard if only the one remained. Eresh still hung onto his secret of the Force, not wishing to resort to that which would expose him and further endanger them both.

 

[Lavi]

At the sound of the clattering can, both guards immediately took note of it. Marisa listened carefully as the guards walked off to investigate the noise. It was likely that the two are good friends, which would work to her and Izzy's advantage. Once the path was clear, Marisa signaled that the coast was clear and continued onward. The rest of the way was relatively simple: despite there being other guards along the way, they were moving on their patrol routes instead of idling. Right when they were about to reach the door, Marisa could clearly hear men attempting to revive the unconscious guards from the entrance.

Marisa bit her lip as she cursed herself for not taking them subdued guards into account. She was accustomed to avoiding guards altogether, which prevented instances such as these from ever occurring. Of course, the circumstances of this particular instance are not of the everyday variety. Looking around, Marisa noticed a vent shaft, large enough for even Izzy to fit into. She pointed at it, suggesting if they try to exit through there. The only possible problem that could arise would be the boy making too much noise while they were in there.

 

[DeathToll]

They had looked out, or lucked out. Though, either way, this was not the time to consider anything except their continuous forward movement out of here. If an opening occurred, they had to take it. So Eresh checked his head to the vent in agreement with Marisa's suggestion. Whether the boy made noise or not, they needed to get out of here. Eresh was still operating under a time constraint. So he would continue to follow Marisa.

Once Marisa lead the way into the vent, Eresh would decide how to navigate through it. If there was crawling space only, he would lay the boy down on his back and use an arm to slide the boy along beneath the cradle of his torso. If he could manage enough space to crouch a walk, he would continue with the boy in arms.

The men in the overlooking office up behind them, began looking out to the dim-lit warehouse below; discussing business of their wealth. And below, the guards continued walking their grid. They would eventually come across someone. But also, someone would soon come across the missing boy's crate, as the timing of this heist was paramount to the narrow gap in time. As for the two friends, the door guards that had gone to investigate the curious noise, they found their discovery questionable; looking around to find the reason for such a disturbance.

Eresh began to feel the moist heat of sweat upon his brow, so wrapped that air did not circulate to his skin as well as he would like. In addition, the boy began to fully awaken. Soon he'd have some questions, as he would realize his abduction. What else he would or wouldn't realize would have been determined by his journey prior to this warehouse. A violent fit could be incoming. But their navigation also posed a threat. Where they came out of this shaft would also determine their continued safety. But Eresh could only tell her where they needed to go once they were on a specific level and out of these vents. So he whispered.

"We need to reach the lower levels..."

 

[Lavi]

The vent wasn't small, but it also wasn't very big. Even Marisa couldn't turn around in the tight area without twisting her body around. Even so, she did not feel uncomfortable with the restriction of movement. The pathways of a ventilation system may seem random at first, but Marisa knew how they are engineered well enough to figure out how to get around. After some minutes of meandering, she finally felt the breeze of the air conditioning system: indicating the location of a maintenance room. They should be able to escape through the fire exit or something from here.

The boy was coming to his senses, causing Marisa to start being concerned. She hoped that Izzy knew how to keep him quiet before their luggage opened his mouth to object to what is happening. When the two arrived in the maintenance room, Marisa kicked open the grate, got into the clearing, and then offered to take the boy so that Izzy could get himself out without crushing the boy in the process.

 

[DeathToll]

Crouched and still carrying the boy, a scraping, dragging sound soon caught his attention as he tried to turn around to see what was the cause. Just as Marisa could not turn around, neither could he, but he did realize that it was his longsword and tried to situate the boy so that he could manage an adjustment with his free hand. He had to push down on the hilt in order to lift up the tip in this lowered position. And being distracted, Eresh did not notice the signs that the boy was clearly waking up in his arms.

Upon reaching the maintenance room, Eresh held for a moment and watched as Marisa kicked through the grate. The boy's groggy expressions were being broadcasted over Eresh' shoulder, but the adrenaline of surprise and panic had yet to kick in; still dozing in and out. Eresh passed the boy over to Marisa, thinking he was still within control, and slapped both opposing hands on either side of the vent opening to crouch through it and come to a stand; his sword tapping the vent one last time as he kicked his feet out to the floor one after the other.

Just when all seemed well, the boy awoke in Marisa's arms. Attempting a scream and random cursing in a language Eresh had never heard before, the boy began thrashing and flailing wildly to gain his freedom.

 

[Lavi]

The moment the boy started to flail wildly, Marisa quickly placed a hand over the boy's mouth, clamping down on his jaw to avoid getting bitten, and tried to hush him before anyone could hear. As she brought the boy under a loose state of control, Marisa dropped to her knees to put herself at an equal level as the boy's height. She didn't have to control much else of the boy's body, since he only tried to break free of the woman's grip, clawing at her fingers in a weak attempt to pry away her fingers. Marisa wasn't a mother, or babysat children before, but she tried to gently rock back and forth in order to calm the boy down like what she had seen others do.

As his attempts to break free fell from a state of frenzy to submission, Marisa slowly loosened her grip, but did not fully let go of him. She wasn't sure if the boy would attempt to escape on his own, which would both ruin hers and Izzy's heist and possibly alert security. The boy reverted to a state of whimpering, taking no time at all to pour tears all over Marisa's gloved hands.

Marisa sighed. "Izzy, go on ahead. I'll be right with you."

She continued to cradle the boy, softly cooing. Regardless of whether Izzy left or not, it would take time in order to keep moving now that they have an upset boy to keep quiet. Marisa tried communicating with the boy, to make him feel more secure with the strangers he met, but it didn't seem he understood Galactic Basic.

"Marisa," she tried to introduce herself, pointing to herself to emphasize her meaning.

 

[DeathToll]

Eresh twitched a near reaction that never came to be in response to the boy's sudden outburst, but Marisa had things well under control. So Eresh relaxed his tension and fell idle to her instincts. He teetered back to consider the idea of staying with her and the child, his mouth opening to speak, but then silently moved on to scout ahead.

The door opened from the inside, and Ereshkirgal inconspicuously commited to stepping out so as to look as normal as possible. With a stiff head, his eyes shifted right to left. There was a guard down the way to the right, but he had not seemed to notice anything. Things were quiet, maybe a little too quiet, but it seemed they could manage if the child did not make a scene.

Eresh casually walked to the opposite side of the hall, across from the maintenance room; debating all his current ideals with past ones as we stepped. It was coming to the point that he might force himself to turn over the boy if only to turn the page to that previous life he had distanced himself from and just move on. It seemed he had not yet resigned himself over to the bitter end he once thought he had. But, regardless, he might do so now. It was not easy, nor was it determined what his choice would be, but he could only cling to that goal of ending his brother's enemies in ways they could not. Failure was now his overriding fear.

Eresh cleared his throat uniquely as an audible sign to Marisa that the coast was clear. Whether or not she joined him, or needed more time to coerce the boy was entirely up to her. But Eresh continued on and made sure that they could begin their path to the best way down; perhaps best to choose a ladder, or perhaps another lift. He would, however, keep a part of his attention back on the door in case Marisa need his help.

 

[Lavi]

After a few minutes, the boy seemed to have calmed down. He didn't introduce himself, but felt more at ease with Marisa's novice caretaking. Marisa gave the boy a smile of approval, placing a finger to her lips to communicate silence. Holding the boy's hand, she went over to Izzy and tapped the latter on the shoulder to indicate that she was ready to go. By remaining quiet, Marisa hoped that it would send the message to the boy to not make unnecessary sounds.

 

[DeathToll]

Their captive seemed content in Marisa's care, though unsure of his surroundings. His thoughts were like a pen of chickens, cooing in Ereshkirgal's mind. This hooded and intimidating figure turned back at the tap to his shoulder and looked to the source of his agitation with those blazing yellow eyes. The boy clung tighter to Marisa in that moment, looking back up at the angry villain that held his future in his hands. His own future, might have mirrored that of anothers; one before him, who may have done the same, who may have once been a good person. Ereshkirgal no longer welcomed the luxury of 'good'. But if he had fully embraced that sentiment, he should turn around and steal the boy for his own purpose and leave the girl. Instead, he just turned back around to face what path they would find together.

The first step was the hardest, everytime he stopped. He picked up pace and lead them through the masses. His aim filed them through pockets and pathways opposite of any guard or storeowner that might have been informed of their situation. Sometimes glaring intimidation down the throats of onlookers and other times simply ignoring them, Eresh found no peace in patience. If there was a clock in view, you could be sure Eresh's eyes were on it. Though some of the tight squeezes through passing bodies might have been too much for the child to withstand. His frustration and confusion were becoming clear. What little he knew was making less and less sense to him, and the urge to break into fit or run to hide and calm himself down was becoming too much to bear if left unchecked.

They passed an elevator, without hesitation or explanation. Eresh did not wish to risk the same outcome as last experienced, and was expecting some stairs nearby. His eyes checked the sign with an arrow to the nearest hazard exit, and so he found it. As he pressed into the door to lead them in and hold the door for the others, Eresh noticed the set of eyes watching just across the way; a uniform had noticed the three pass, but didn't move, leaving a creeping chill up Eresh's spine. Down they would go, in privacy; hopefully. He would lead them to the correct level, out to his current 'employer's doorstep' in a manner of speaking, and be rid of this gnawing at his heel for good...

 

[Lavi]

The boy was noticeably taken aback by Izzy's appearance, but a tight squeeze of their shared hands reassured the boy. The crowd was large, but Marisa guided the child through them, following Izzy closely behind. She was too overwhelmed by the masses of bodies to notice the uniformed individual to the side. But, it didn't make too much of a difference to her. The guards in the warehouse would be realizing very soon that someone tampered with stored merchandise and that there was an unconscious guard within vicinity of the missing "item."

The exfiltration had anyways been the most heart-pounding experience for Marisa. Sweat gathered in her gloves, though now was not the place or the time to deal with trivial comforts. Hopefully the two would be able to deliver the boy without a problem.

 

[DeathToll]

Rolling a quick sequence of steps as fast as he could, Eresh pushed himself back to the head of the group in a hurry. He looked at the boy one last time, acting like an old man at a loud concert with the boy's thoughts blaring annoyingly, before deciding to never again lay eyes on him. He was choosing, there and then. Never look back. There was too much at stake.

They traveled to the desired level, down. Eresh knew they were there, becoming more and more somber by the minute. They exited from the stairwell into a back entry way that lead down a maintenance hall and into the back curtain of a loading dock. There were some square outlined panels high above the pathways that clearly caught Ereshkirgal's attention as they sped towards the finish line. Still, he would finish this and get his ship back. By now, it had to be waiting for him somewhere around here. But something troubled him. How would the dock manager hold Ereshkirgal to his end of the bargain? Would Eresh have been able to simply come back here at the right time and just fly away with his ship, even without the slave? His ship must have been the collateral for the deal, but without a meeting for the two to trade -how would this work? He was instructed to just leave the "item" at the door and go. Something didn't quite connect.

He frantically sought to find his ship among the space there, but could not see it. They walked along the waist level safety bars, along the wall, and towards the door. Two more square panels outlined the large door there. Eresh turned around and held out a hand, restricting his gaze to Marisa and above the boy.

"Give it to me..."

He stated the order plainly. He could not acknowledge its humanity, for his own sake. And something was gnawing at him, warning him of something he could not place. He felt like he was being watched, but he could not distinguish between his past self as his lingering conscience and the possibility of cameras or hidden people.

The boy did not like Ereshkirgal's demand, understanding the physicality of the mean man on a basic level. The boy's mouth began to slip open, slowly building a soft whine that would build and build into a cry if things continued as they were.

With two fingers further flexed than the rest, Eresh urged Marisa with that outstretched hand and shrugged his head with expectation. This was painful on so many levels.