Wickedness Awaits

[Darth Valravus]

Location: Celanon, O-6, Outer Rim
Time: Evening
Participants: @Logan @Darasuum
Theme: Careless ❅ KANEHOLLER
Intro: Previously on the Zandrali Diaries... with the arms dealers defeated and one of the light freighters escaped there is one of the ships left that possibly holds some valuable cargo.

Well things had gone south very quickly but it seemed that the situation had not made a total turn for the worst. Drali still had her life, as did Aadya. The double crossing arms dealers had earned their defeat at the hands of the two Sith.

Stepping over one of the bodies she looked at the collapsible table that one of the arms dealers had been at when they had first arrived. There were a few sidearms there, no ammo around them which was wise of the arms dealers that had been planning on selling them. No point in getting shot by their own merchandise. While that had been wise of them, crossing the two sith had been quite the opposite.

On the far side of the roofless hangar there was a VT-1100 light freighter. The vessel was dormant and the Crusader began making her way over to it. She double checked her weapons, wondering if everyone outside had been the only armsmen. Chances were there might be some more inside that were just cowering though she doubted it since the ship's weapons nor its engines and remained powered down.

As she walked across the hard cement floor her eyes glanced up at the sky. She looked towards the path the other light freighter had taken. It was long gone now but part of her wanted to chase after them. Drali was pissed, maybe she would tear out pieces of the ship to vent her frustrations. "If any of you pieces of dianoga crap are still inside I'm going to tear your arms off and beat you with the wet end!" The Deucalian yelled towards the cold vehicle. No response would come but she did not expect one either.

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Well, that definitely was not the way Aadya expected the afternoon to go. The sky above them was slowly turning turning to evening as Aadya scanned around at the dead bodies that she and Drali had felled. None of them seemed to have anything of value on their person, though granted Aadya wasn't particularly keen on rifling through their pockets or anything. Fondling the bodies of a bunch of dead Duros' wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.

Following Drali as she approached the apparently dormant freighter, Aadya laughed at the woman's exclamation. No response was given in return, though that wasn't surprising. If anyone had been inside the ship and watched the carnage that unfolded outside, it was highly doubtful they'd be welcomed guests.

Drawing upon the force, Aadya jumped up in the air so that she landed on top of the freighter. Using her lightsaber, Aadya cut a hole into the top of the vehicle large enough for both of them to drop down through. The circle she cut out dropped down into the ship with a heavy metallic thud, alerting anyone and anything inside that they were about to have some visitors.

"Maybe they'll have the stuff in here," Aadya said down to Drali, peering into the hole she'd cut. The inside of the freighter was dimly lit making it so she couldn't discern much without actually going inside. "Let's hope whatever's inside is nicer than the pricks outside."

WIth that, Aadya dropped down into her self made chute and into the darkness of the ship.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The tall Deucalian did not slow in her pace. Drali head ducked as she came through the loading ramp and into the ship. Her magenta lightsaber remained ignited before he and lit the way of the ship. It was lit still but had not been powered up.

Moving around to the back where the cargo hold was Drali could smell the stench of unwashed bodies. Perhaps these arms dealers were far more foul than she had expected.

There were a few pieces of equipment and items to be sold but not what Drali was looking for. If there were people onboard she wondered where they were. After searching for a few minutes she came to the main cargo hold. Opening up the door Drali had her lightsaber out before her. Lighting up the darkness within what she saw was far from what she had expected.

Chained together in manacles, wearing simple cloths and rags were a group of women. They were not duros but seemed to mostly be humans or near humans. One woman stood up, her posture defiant and her expression matching it. Markings on her face were different from a kiffar or anyone else she had seen before. "Aadya...think you might wanna come look at this." The slaves shifted, their bindings making some noise but the Deucalian did not move closer to any of them just yet.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Apparently Aadya should have just checked if the ramp into the ship was locked and walked in with Drali. Although, cutting a hole into the top and dropping in like some kind of secret agent about to steal government secrets had been kind of fun. Who needs conventional methods of entry anyway.

As she poked around Aadya didn't really find much of interest, at least nothing of interest to her. There were some common arms and explosives scattered about in various chests and on racks, but Aadya knew that she could get those things anywhere so there was no need to burden herself by carrying them.

Hearing Drali call for her, Aadya couldn't help but raise both a concerned and curious eyebrow. Maybe Drali had found the stash of guns and stuff that they'd originally come here to get and they could just grab it and get the hell out of dodge. As she approached Drali's location, Aadya could smell the musty scent of sweat and dirt, topped off with desperation and anguish. It was a unique stench that Aadya had encountered before, back home on Vahl.

With a grimace, Aadya approached Drali from behind. "What'd ya find?" She asked, though the answer to the question became glaringly obvious as Aadya came to stand side-by-side with her friend.

A pit fell heavy into Aadya's stomach as she glanced over the poor souls currently chained together inside the ship - they were all obviously slaves. Aadya was vehemently against slavery in essentially any form. Taking away the freedom of another person simply because you thought you could was outrageous and hideous to her. Noticing the only one of the group that stood, her spirit clearly remaining unbroken, Aadya stared into her eyes.

"Did these scum steal you from Dathomir?" She asked, tilting her head a little. Aadya had been to the world several times and had encountered the witches there. This slave looked very much like those that she had seen.

The woman continued to stare, saying nothing. Aadya didn't blame her, though. It was probably impossible to trust any stranger if you'd been yanked from your home by one and forced into bondage. Turning to Drali, Aadya shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe she doesn't speak basic?" She asked telepathically, figuring it would be weird to talk about someone right in front of their face. "Any ideas?"

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

Looking over her shoulder she glanced at Aadya to see what she made of this. Slavery was not that big of a deal for Drali as it was for some people. Deucalians practiced slavery but perhaps that sort of thing was best a subject not broached any time soon if the young woman's reaction was anything to go off of. It was rather strange though that so many Sith found slavery so strange. The Crusader would have thought to find more people comfortable with it than what was actually the case.

Still, fortune seemed to have given these slaves an opportunity. Now they had a new chance at freedom. The Deucalian looked them up and down. Not all of them were so clearly Dathomiri women. There were a few other species among them.

When prompted for a backup option Drali's eyes moved from side to side as if trying to come up with something. "Oh...ummm....hmm, oh okay! Wait here." Without waiting for her cohort to reply the broad shouldered female turned and walked down a side hallway away from the awkward meeting.

Looking along the walls she tried to find what she was looking for. There were some stowed supplies, cast aside signs of habitation from the now dead owners. "Ah-hah! There you are." Bending down she turned the power on for the protocol droid. With a whirl of energy it cycled up and glitched for a moment but recovered.

"Oh, hello, where is-"
"Shut it. You're old masters are dead. I need you to translate." If a droid could blink or show an expression of surprise it probably would have. "I beg your pardon?" He exclaimed. "yup, all dead. Cut to pieces. Now follow me or else I'll do the same to you." a slight "oh my." was uttered and the droid reluctantly hurried after the Deucalian as she returned to where the slaves were.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Aadya didn't say much as Drali scampered off, clearly having an idea of what they could do to communicate with the Nightsister. She was pleasantly surprised when the Crusader returned with a droid in tow. Of all the possible things Drali could have returned with, a droid was quite literally possibly the best option of them all.

"She's Dathomirian, so I'm not sure what language she will speak. Figure it out. Translate for me," Aadya said to the droid, a firm look on her face. She was unsure how dedicated the droid would be to its previous owners, and knowing how stupid the Duros had been when fighting she was sure they may have been too stupid to do a memory wipe on their droid, which could make the machines unpredictable. "Then tell me what, if anything, she says back. Okay?"

"A-alright."

"Ask her how long they've been chained up and ask her if she knows where these thugs may have a base of operations." Aadya paused for a moment, unsure of what else would be worth asking. "Maybe start by asking her if she's going to be willing to help us at all before you waste all your time with the rest."

The droid started relaying Aadya's questions, swapping through a few different languages it thought the Dathomir woman may speak. It took a couple tries, but eventually it found one that she would react to. Aadya wasn't sure what it was but figured it was probably some native dialect to Dathomir.

"The Nightsister said she will tell you nothing. She finds you untrustworthy and doesn't believe you're not just more slavers looking to exploit her."

"Shit," Aadya said, though she wasn't particularly surprised. If she'd been hauled off by some strangers and chained up in a ship, she doubted she'd be willing to trust anyone she didn't know ever again. Turning towards Drali, Aadya shrugged her shoulders. "Your turn."

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

Watching and listening Drali looked between Aadya, the droid and the group of prisoners. As the time went on it seemed the slaves cowering behind the lead prisoner became less worried. They were no longer immediatly afraid for their lives seeing as the droid had been brought to communicate.

Aadya was demanding and direct in her questioning. She wanted the information right away. The Crusader wondered how the Dathomiri were precieving this. They were clearly not in league with the Duro arms dealers nor their slavery side of the business but they could be competitors or no better than those that had bound them thus far.

She tapped a cheek in thought and stared up towards the ceiling trying to come up with something to ease the situation. Finally she deactivated her weapon, holding up her hands to show it was a sign of good faith. To replace it she grabbed a small flask of water on her belt and gestured for the woman to take it.

When she did not the Deucalian opened the flask and took a swig and then tried again. It was to show that it was not poisoned. The Dathomiri kept the distance between them and used the force to immediatly pull it into her grasp. Sniffing it she took a sip and then handed it to one of the women beside her who was much more enthusiastic than she was.

"We mean you no harm. We killed those that had enslaved you. We can free you. We just want some information. Does that sound like a fair trade?" A pause hung in the air for a moment. Drali looked towards the droid "Oh, right, ahem.." He began to speak but the Dathomir held up a hand. "We speak basic just fine."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

In this moment, Aadya was extremely glad that Drali had been with her. It had never even occurred to her to think that the thing these people might want the most was simply a little empathy, to know that they were still people and not simply livestock getting bought by the highest bidder. Aadya had gone the direct route, the demanding answers way without stopping to think what she would have wanted if the roles had been reversed.

"Sorry if I seemed rude," Aadya started, relaxing a bit and giving the Dathomiri a reassuring smile. "I promise, you can trust us. We already wanted to make these dicks pay for screwing us over, but now I want to bury them all for being greasy slaver scum."

The look on the Dathomiri's face was a little hard to read, but it sort of seemed to Aadya that she believed what she was saying. "If we help you, how would we know it wasn't just a quick trip to our own deaths?" The Dathomiri looked Aadya up and down, clearly unimpressed with what she saw.

It was a valid question. Figuring the Dathomiri would be most impressed by a display of strength, Aadya shrugged her shoulders. "The two of us killed the whole group of them that was outside the ship. We are more than capable of finishing what we started."

Apparently negotiations with angry slaves wasn't really one of Aadya's strong points, or at least that's how she felt. Unsure of how the Dathomiri was going to respond, Aadya turned back towards Drali and shrugged her shoulders again. "Maybe you should do the talking, she seems to like you better." Aadya whispered, hoping that Drali would take over and she would't have to stumble her way through this attempt at conversation anymore.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The Deucalian's expression remained a little surprised at discovering the dathomirian had been able to understand basic. It was not so much because she had not expected them to know basic. Quite the contrary. Drali had originally thought they had understood her but their silence had made her come to the conclusion they had not known. Then again, Drali was never one to really hold back her thoughts and speak freely.

Aadya seemed to be trying her best to be nice and caring. She disliked slavery, that much was clear. But it seemed she did not know how to deal with people who were in the same positions as these slaves. Well they were soon to be ex-slaves anyways. Her acolyte cohort suggested she take the lead again but Drali just wanted to shrug. Aadya was not doing so bad. The Deucalian wanted to respond by saying thank you since she likes being liked by people.

"I mean, I've been told I'm not the smartest person but I don't think I do crazy dumb stuff....much. You can come along if you want. I'm going cuz these guys are jerks and I'm going to be the one to give them what they deserve..." She slammed one of her fists into her open palms to emphasize the coming beat down she intended for the deal breakers to receive.

"I also can't promise there won't be a risk. Like these guys are gonna be REEEEALLLY well armed if I had to take a guess. But I'd just say if I were in your shoes I'd want to get a little revenge on anyone that decided it was a smart idea to chain me up." She shrugged realizing that her words were probably less enticing at the prospect of fighting a significant adversary.

"These arms dealers are deal breakers, criminals, slavers, and have just really pissed me off. Whatever you guys want to with your own lives is up to you." She went over to the bonds that held the women inside the room and used her lightsaber to release them.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Drali was making some very good points. Playing to the idea that the would-be-slaves deserved their revenge was a great idea. Aadya couldn't think of a better way to achieve justice than to kill those that would have otherwise sold you into a terrible life of bondage and hardship. They didn't care for the lives of others, why did the slavers deserve to live?

"Perhaps we could make a bargain," Aadya said, looking the apparent leader of the slaves in the eye. "We will aid a quest for vengeance and help you slaughter every last slaver left in their compound. After that, we can escort you back to your home. In exchange, you teach us how to utilize your magic."

Aadya let her suggestion hang in the air, unsure of how the Dathomiri woman would take it. She could tell that the inner machinations of her mind were working, weighing the pros and cons. "You've proven yourself trustworthy by releasing us from the shackles before making your proposition." The Dathomiri woman said, not taking her eyes of either Drali or Aadya. It was apparent she was choosing her words very carefully. "If you help us exact our revenge, I will grant you access to our magic. It is a deal. You should be able to access the ship's travel log to find the location of their compound. I have overheard and memorized the password they use; the slavers were not very smart."

Bowing her head towards the matriarch, Aadya expressed her thanks. Heading up to the cockpit of the freighter, Aadya used the password given to her to access the travel logs. Luckily, one entry showed up multiple times and she figured that was probably their home base.

"Alright Drali, lets finish off these idiots, get these guys back to Dathomir and become some bad ass kriffing witches." Aadya said, returning to the group. It wouldn't take them long to get their stuff together and head off.

//end thread

@Darasuum