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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 22, 2015 16:58:19 GMT -8
three years gone
“I’m home!”
Vidalu Na’an kicked the door of the dwelling open, a thickly wrapped package in her arms. Leigh snapped to attention, her memory processor whirring gently as returned to full function. “It looks like you were successful with your mission,” she said evenly to the woman now bustling across the room. The droid made no move to help—if Na’an needed it, she would ask. Besides, she didn't need to go far before she could spill the package onto their one table and start opening it. Their dwelling was small, and packed to the rafters with work equipment acquired from years of odd jobs. “Yeah…turns out these parts cost more than they used to…and you know Petrikov. No more free repairs.” Na'an rustled through the package for a bit before pulling a delicate chip from inside; she flashed it at Leigh, the chip's narrow conductive threads gleaming even through the clear packaging. "But hey, now that we've got tools, who needs him?" Leigh regarded her friend for a long moment before responding. If her hologram had been enabled, she would have given Na'an a doubtful look. “You are not experienced with these kinds of repairs.” “Oh, don’t be a baby. The parts are good, and we don’t have the credits for a professional. Just tell me what to do at each step, and we’ll be fine.” Before Leigh could protest, Na’an was pulling on her bringing her body low enough for the human to vault onto the robot’s shoulders. Leigh compensated by freezing up her moving joints below the waist; her body only rocked slightly as Na’an’s weight settled, and signed with resignation. “Fine,” she rumbled, dialing down her nonessential functions and retracting the panel leading to her memory storage. “But there is no need to sit on me, you understand.”
The little woman smirked in response. “Deal with it. Now, was it the blue wire I could disconnect first, or the fiberoptics?”
Na’an had always had small hands; even so, she had to move slowly and carefully in order to avoid jostling the delicate electronics under Leigh’s dome. The burnt-out capacitor was easily removeable after a couple of wriggles, which both of them were grateful for. As the welder heated, Na’an spoke quietly, adjusting wiring. “We’ve gotten another job.” Leigh did not need to move to respond. “Oh?” “Yeah.” Na’an nodded, tucking one loose braid behind her ear. She carefully re-routed holonet connectors into the new chip as she spoke, crinkling the fabric of her eyepatch as she squinted. “Noba came down with word today. Said the council’s declared fuel shortages, and the rest of the village can’t get their crops offworld with the current ration. Damn, these are tiny."“Watch your fingers, they spark. So, I assume you want to use our usual plan?”“I was thinking so. Strip an abandoned ship of usable metals, sell the scrap somewhere on the Rim for fuel cells. In and out, nice and discreet. Sound good?” “As long as we scan the ship this time." Leigh paused for a fraction of a second as Na'an accidentally bumped her auditory circuit. "You sound disappointed."Na’an grinned, smacking Leigh’s dome with her free palm. “Maybe. But stop moving.” Her image distorted wildly for a second, then adjusted as Leigh's visual circiut was re-connected to the repair. When the droid's cameras normalized, Na'an was already fousing hard on the last steps. “I mean, we’re not fighting bandits off everytime, I’m used to that," she was saying. "Hell, it’s probably for the best. Who’d live here if bandits came that often?”
Leigh twitched, feeling the capacitor start with a sudden, pleasant pop. “Y-y-you probably would-d,” she said, hearing her vice modulate rapidly to its normal setting. “After all, they like you here.”“Damn right. Farmers love me.” Na’an withdrew her fingers, allowing the panel to slip closed, and paused to lean over and peer at Leigh. “That feel all right?” Leigh ran a quick diagnostic, the droid equivalent of holding her hand up to her forehead to check her temperature. “Coolant has in fact regulated itself. The repairs are not causing me any processing difficulty.” Na'an sighed, then beamed. “Oh, good. I didn’t make you stupid.”“Yet.” “Oh, shaddup.”
Na’an slapped at her again, laughing a little, then leaned down to press her cheek against Leigh’s slowly warming dome. *** They were scheduled to leave the following morning. Leigh didn't believe in wasting time when there was an objective to fulfill, and Na'an would not consider keeping Noba waiting for the haul. A quick call to one of the farm's neighbors got them the use of his freighter, and Noba had already given them flight clearance...and neither Leigh nor Na'an was the type to pack much. Besides, it was a long walk to the neighbor's. Leigh's charge completed shortly before dawn, taking slightly more time that usual due to the power needed to finalize her new component's installation. Her dome glowed dully as she processed the small, empty dwelling in search of her friend. Of course, Na’an was already awake. From the window Leigh could see her on the hill, perched on a high stump to watch the sunrise over the fields. She was shivering lightly, and as the droid watched she brought the heel of her hand up against her face. Leigh often caught Na’an compensating like this, rubbing at the socket under the eyepatch or cocking her head to the side to favor the remaining soft grey eye. Leigh had warned her against it—after all the work they had put into the implant--but apparently it itched too much to ignore some mornings. Na’an had stopped rubbing at the eye; instead, she sat in the grass in a single, fluid motion to watch the dawn. She had become remarkably adept at stillness when she wanted over the years, seemingly melting into the background in every quiet moment. If not for the few flyaway hairs , if not for the leathers flapping in the breeze, even Leigh would have registered her as a statue or oddly shaped stone on resting against a stump. Leigh left the dwelling quietly, and crossed the yard to the bottom of the hill. Not for the first time, the droid considered expanding her background data on her friend. In the last three years, they had gotten to know each other under certain...assumptions. As a result, all that Leigh knew about Na'an before three years ago was what her mo--what Eliana Shan had known. Some of the data matched, but other things...other things about this woman were either wrong or just...missing. Like her tendency to just...slip away like that, looking out into the horizon. Was that something Eliana had never bothered to notice about her friend, that odd mix of high energy and thick, almost tangible quiet? Or was this not the way she had been before, and the Na'an she knew was an entirely different creature than before? Maybe it didn't matter. Human beings were impossible to quantify some days. Either way, the sun was risen; they had to get quietly. “What is it?” she intoned, breaking the silence.
Leigh’s question seemed to snap Na’an out of her reverie; she glanced over herself, looking vaguely surprised that she was still sitting on a hill looking out over Dantooine farmland. When she laughed, it sounded almost embarrassed. “It’s nothing. I thought I heard something, that’s all.”
She stood and hoisted the blaster rifle over her shoulder, and patted the small bulge in her back pocket as she glanced back out again. Their small freighter was waiting out in the distance, a black spot against the fields scenting the air with wheat. Leigh paused, a space long enough for a human to notice, and Na’an noticed. “Really,” she said, scowling. “C’mon, let’s go.”
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 22, 2015 14:36:26 GMT -8
"I don't have a name for you. All I have is a coded burst to send out on a certain frequency when the job is done, and a delivery site for four hours after that. Show up with the girl, or not at all. That was the deal. I didn't ask."
That was all he had to give her. He hadn't asked for details, because he truly didn't care. He just wanted his jobs to get done.. "Then give me that." Na'an sat up, being careful to make sure her weight was resting fully on his knees. She pulled the rifle close to her, not pointing it on him, and tried her best to look friendly. "I'l even give you back this very nice gun if you do. Trust me, if there's Sith involved, this job's not worth the trouble you'd be in."***
Leigh noted the departing speeder just as she downed the last of the pirates. Her back to Cao, she took a quick survey of the situation. There were the bodies of pirates everywhere--most of them maimed and weaponless, some openly crying in the street, but quite a few dead by the hands of the other parties in the area. The girl Valerie had left with the Sith, while the bounty hunters seemed to have given up the chase entirely. Na'an was on the roof, pinning one of them bodily and clearly debating some finer point of the violent altercation that had just ended. "Well, that went famously," Leigh said. Her hologram flickered on, letting her use her virtual face to grimace. "She is not going to be happy." She turned to continue the assessments, the property damage calculation racketing higher with each shattered chunk of duracrete...and caught a flash of blonde hair disappearing around a corner. "One of them didn't go with the Sith," she noted. Leigh processed the information, and made a quick decision on her next action even as she angled her dome upwards. The girl was not the only one still rapidly exiting the alley; the Sith's ally plunged into the alley after her, clearly intent on chasing the girl down to her hiding spot. There was a 47% probability that his objective was ultimately harmless. The other pursuer looked to be one of the bounty hunters, who sauntered in the same direction with a vague, expectant look that Leigh recognized as common to Force users trying to sense their way through the area. The probability that his purposes were benign based on his previous actions were 72%
Those were much smaller numbers than the droid was comfortable with letting slide.
"She's being pursued. On route."From the rooftop above, she could see Na'an nod minutely. Then Leigh powered up her leg servos, and powered down the side route the girl had left through at what was a moderate pace for her, but a full-tilt run for any organic. The child had enough of an advance that she kept well ahead of the droid, but Leigh's objective was not capture; rather, it was to intercept the girl's other pursuer following her sharp turns and switchbacks through the sector's back streets.
I would suggest that you cease this pursuit, she intoned through her comlink transmitters, aiming the burst at both girl and men. She clearly does not desire your protection.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 16, 2015 19:06:01 GMT -8
No sooner had the word "complete" left his mouth than his eyes went wide, his windpipe suddenly being crushed by an invisible force. His hands clawed at his throat, an instinctive reaction, though he knew that there would be no respite that way.
"Kriffing... Jedi!" he gasped out..Na'an hadn't even had time to respond when Ambuscade's face suddenly started turning blue. She started, feeling Valerie's terror spike and twist into rage around his throat, watching him claw at the space under his helmet where air should be. Valerie's. Not the Sith's. He was enjoying it, but wasn't the cause. The power strangling the man at the end of her blaster was the kid's. There was only a second to act. Force Choke only worked if the practitioner had line of sight; if she couldn't see him, she couldn't kill him. Na'an flung herself bodily into the bounty hunter, toppling them both behind the lip of the rooftop and out of the girl's vision. The connection broke instantly, and the bounty hunter's next breath came in a great whoosh of stinking air into her face. She looked up to see the speeder rocketing out the far end of the alley. Leigh and Cao were still taking out the last of the pirates, with no way to catch them before they left their sight for good. On instinct, Na'an gathered herself up in the Force and reached for the girl in the cockpit, her internal voice as loud and bellowing as she could muster with the distance. You think about what you've done here, Val! This man's only a contractor. Someone else hired him. So who's your real problem? And why doesn't your savior care?There was no response--only the roar of the speeder fading away around a corner. Na'an sighed, and swore under her breath. She could only hope the kid would be smart enough to hear and remember..but all things considered?
The Force never made any promises. So this fight was over. But there was still the last matter to attend to. Na'an turned her attention to the bounty hunter, now trapped under her weight. Under the visor, the bounty hunter's face was slowly returning to a normal color, and he was breathing in gulps and starts that indicated inhales too large for the fit of his armor. Na'an lessened the weight, not letting him up, and considered her options.
She could open her left eye...but that didn't always work with these types. And the weapon was sandwiched beneath them, as well as one of her arms, with her own rifle uselessly slung to her back. But his arms weren't in any position to attack her, and she had just saved his life...maybe this was one of the rare occasions where a little sweet talk would actually work. Na'an gently pushed at his mind with the Force--just enough to make her next few words sound reasonable. "There," she said. "Now you owe me." She smiled winningly at the older man she was pinning, never letting her eye leave his. "And all I want is the name of your client--and for you to just walk away."
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 12, 2015 18:58:11 GMT -8
As Cao dropped back town to the alleyfront, Na'an kept her eye on the bounty hunter, letting the Force and her hearing keep her aware of what else was going on. Below, Leigh was firing on a gang of pirates between communiques. The Sith was focused on the pirates as well, and from the looks of it had garnered some allies. Other parties were nearby, not joining in the three-way battle that had rapidly sprung up. Oddly enough, though, the girls that seemed to be everyone's focus had not left the speeder the Sith had rustled them into. It was smoking heavily, as one of her captors had been dumb enough to fire on the vehicle, but some new 'hero' had stepped between them and the brunt of the fire. Where he came from, who in the nine hells knew, but he didn't feel like a threat. He might even be able to handle the Sith's partner, the freak with the spear. Meanwhile, the Sith himself had broken out his lightsaber against the pirate leader and was already sweating--how out of shape was he, anyway?
All in all, not a bad setup. No one was actually out to kill the girl, and Adelle had been warned if anyone managed a getaway. Leigh was on the ground, as aware of the situation as herself and backed with one of the best damned swordsmen she knew.
They'd protect those girls in the immediate sense, as best they could...and meanwhile, they had left Vidalu Na'an alone with the bounty hunter.
The armored figure on the opposite roof was kneed, dazed from the blast of the grenade Cao had launched back at him. Na'an primed the repeater, keeping the opening in his visor as her target, and rapidly closed the distance between them. The slightest Force Jump landed her lightly within feet of Abuscade--close enough for a normal person to hear, and for a normal cyclops to see without the viewfinder. She kept her left eye closed as she approached--saving it.
"All right, you," she called out, feeling him out for any sign of an attack. "You're obviously the cause of all this mess. You can't dodge a shot from this distance, but if you play ball, you won't have to." She cocked her head downward, where the ruckus was at its loudest. Below her, the second girl was pleading with Valerie to run. "Who made the contract for an untrained kid?"
***
Leigh wasted no time following Cao into the middle of the fight. She'd gotten used to fighting in pairs, and Caoimhin Shan was someone both she and Na'an still trusted implicitly. Besides, he was a good fighter. Leigh knew this from what datalogs she had been able to find, but matching him barrel his way through as large a horde of pirates as could fit into the alley's chokepoint? It was was almost inspiring. Weirdly reminiscent of her friend...
Her focus was on disarming them, rather than causing physical damage; when Cao dropped a pirate, she'd follow through and smash their weapons with a fist or a stomp of her armored boot. She did not fire her cannon again, not with the Sith, his seeming ally, and new defenders all converging on a tight knot on the smoking speeder cockpit. Firing on them would be more efficient, but counterproductive to the initial goal of the targets' safety. Rather, the fight would be to spread them out, scatter the combatants so that they wouldn't need to be fought--and so that the children they were fighting over didn't end up as collateral damage.
"We've got to get them into the open," she commented lightly, smashing a pirate in the face with the side of her cannon. "This is becoming a bit of a cluster."
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 9, 2015 21:54:38 GMT -8
Leigh had run maybe ten yards and sent the comlink message three times before it became clear the message was not going through. If Adelle could hear Leigh, she'd answer the message; she had a much a soft spot for children as Na'an did. She braced her bulk against the alley's opening corner, constantly calculating trajectories. The two new assailants had chosen to focus directly on the speeder now housing two girls and the Sith lord, rather than regrouping with the first on the rooftops above. Two were rapidly approaching the speeder, almost on top of them and too close to fire upon without risk, but the others in the pirate gange were above, free for clear attack if she did it quietly.
Leigh re-assigned her priorities in the face of the new arrivals. Priority 1 was their established goal: the protection of the female minors currently under attack. Second was Na'an's 'command' to contact Adelle in some capacity, which would require alternative routes. Leigh activated her vocal sensors, speaking at a normal volume as she repositioned to fire at the gang clustering at the far end of the alley.
"Adelle's not responding. We're going to have to try the Force," she said, aiming her cannon at the walls. "And we've got more company."
With a thunderous noise, she fired four quick shots at the walls around the gang. The shots exploded, bringing chunks of steel and duracrete down thick on their heads and on the ground. As she aimed again, a subprocess continued the calculate the possible property damage, as well as the probability that they'd actually ask for the payments this time.
Na'an tracked the repeater's skittering across the rooftop with a bemused smile. Rather than reach down to pick it up, she kicked it up with her toes, catching it in her right hand. Rather than resisting the urge to laugh, she cocked her head at the man that had kicked it toward her and beamed. "Never thought I'd hear you say that," she said warmly, "Cao."
After all this time, Cao looked...healthy. It was quite the change from three years ago, and in retrospect seeing him as a drunk was really quite stupid. He'd gotten his signature weapon back from somewhere, and the bags under his eyes were less pronounced than Na'an had ever seen them. And was that a smile? Gods forbid.
Maybe it was good that he was here--
And the happy reunion would have to wait. Eye still closed, she swiveled back momentarily towards her partner, just in time to see Leigh fire her cannon again. The blasts exploded onto more bounty hunters--and entire gang of them, and one more besides, and Na'an winced at the sudden concussion of sound. "Shit. Cao, your telepathy's better than mine...can you get a wide-scale message out to the Corellian Sector?" She pointed the rifle over her shoulder, using the barrel to indicate the firing droid below. "Leigh's got the specifics. Then get to the speeder, more of 'em have showed up."
Na'an then cocked both rifles, slinging her own over her shoulder to grip the bounty hunter's repeater in both hands. She smirked confidently, then her eye focused hard on the dazed target on the opposite roof. "I'll take this sumbitch, then catch up."
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 8, 2015 19:42:59 GMT -8
Na'an blinked, and the world had promptly gone to hell. Between the rubble and the sight of the bounty hunter Leigh's cannon had helped launch into view, everyone in the alley had scattered. The Sith was on his way down the other end of the alley with the girl, while the others seemed to have disappeared entirely the minute the explosion went off.
Good. That cleared the way for more creative moves. She shouldered the rifle, and pounded back down the alley towards Leigh.
"We have a contact in the Corellian Sector," the droid said at her approach, dropping the artificial boosters to her voice.
"Good. Put out an APB, I'm going up." Without another word, Na'an reached town with her free hand, wrenching Leigh's body down towards her and clambering onto her shoulder. Leigh sighed, and had her hologram been on her eyes would have rolled.
"Really?" she protested, already revving the gears in her shoulder and pushing her other arm under Na'an's behind. This move was effective, but the aftermath was always...annoying.
Na'an grinned fiercely in response, pulling the black patch of fabric off her left eye to reveal a closed, ravaged lid. She cocked the rifle again, and huddled tight against Leigh's tensing arm. "You know you love it. Hold my patch."
"...Okay, fine. Firing in three...two..."
The motors in Leigh's arm tightened painfully, squealing in protest against being held in place. In the robotic equivalent of a wince, Leigh calculated the amount of miniscule damage the tension was causing in her arm...but it was the fastest way to get up to where the bounty hunter was. And it would give her time to get the alert out about the Sith and his new friend...
"One."
Leigh released her arm. Na'an whooped as the tension flung her up high in an improvised catapult, curling her legs up under her and reaching to grab for the rooftop edge. She vualted up onto the roof, rolling to absorb the momentum, and pushing to her knees to shake the shock of the impact from her hands. Returning to her feet, she allowed herself a smirk, then her grey eye focused again on the target above.
Which...wasn't alone. Apparently, the drunk they had passed on the way here was more than a drunk; his cloak billowed behind him as he thundered his way through the air and the Force. The guy was powerful, and even stranger, he was familiar. She'd seen that style before, following a push at the plummeting bounty hunter with a lash of a lightwhip...
"Lightwhip," Na'an found herself saying, more than a little surprised. "What the...?"
There was no time. She'd be able to talk to this 'drunk' once the bounty hunter was handled. She took a knee, shouldering her rifle and sniping several shots at the rapidly moving target. Her ruined eye remained closed--no point using that unless the target made it necessary.
***
Below, Leigh scanned the area, attempting to map a course from the ground to the rooftops that would be able to handle her bulk. The rails from the fire escape were flimsy, and there were no other courses--she couldn't simply parkour her way through a space like her human friend could. However, she was able to do some things better. As she turned back towards the open street and headed for the nearest cover, she opened up a comlink to the ally that had contacted her only moments before.
Adelle, we need you to keep watch for two people exiting the Refugee Sector. One male in his forties, Sith in nature, and a female, approximately 15. They are together consensually, but they should not be allowed to leave without clarification. Copy.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 7, 2015 18:56:35 GMT -8
For a second, Leigh contemplated the possibility that Na'an would snap. It wouldn't have been the first time--in the early years, she'd had little control over her temper when side trips like this went wrong. There had been...incidents...and then always the property damage payments afterwards.
Instead, to Leigh's immense relief, Na'an only sighed. She lowered the rifle and cocked her ear upward, still listening, and shook her head with resignation.
"I said you could choose. And you did. But oh, honey," She said wistfully. "You don't know anything about the Sith way, do you."
She stepped lightly backwards, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she went. "If that man wanted to protect you, he would have been listening through the Force this whole time for more than just you." Na'an bounced once, twice, thrice, the same way she would before a spar. Leigh watched her intently, not powering down the cannon, still on alert. Her friend continued speaking, accentuating her words with three steps that brought her in line with the doctor.
"And he would have done...something...like this." And suddenly Na'an wasn't looking at the Sith anymore. Her eye had swung upwards, locking sharply on the space right above her head. Leigh followed her gaze, and saw an unnatural glint of metal as soon as she did.
"I see him!" Leigh swung the cannon up, aiming at the rooftops and firing a volley at the bounty hunter waiting above. Na'an's arm swung the rifle up into the ready position, and rolled left towards the alley wall to avoid debris from the resulting explosion.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 7, 2015 12:37:13 GMT -8
Unexpectedly, Na'an snorted at the response. "See? That sounds a hell of a lot better, doesn't it?" she said, pointing a thumb back at the solder with a grin. "For all their faults, Mandalorians are more honest men than most Force users you'll ever meet."
She took a step forward, her left hand open again, her right finger on the trigger aimed at Andor. There was no point in moving any more quickly than that; a scared, untrained Force user was dangerously volatile. She had to be treated gently, or risk being lost.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 7, 2015 11:49:08 GMT -8
Na'an barely managed to drop below the lightsaber before losing her arm, skidding to a crouch between the Sith and the doctor. "Shit," she hissed, "This guy's fast." She shot a glance at the men behind her. One, the doctor, already had a slugthrower out, while the Mando who'd been talking when she ran in looked to have enough weapons to stock a small military. If she made things clear to them, they could help get past the Sith and get this kid somewhere where she could breathe for a second.
"Leigh, cover the exit," she said sharply.
"Right." With a whirr, Leigh moved from the cover she had taken fire from and positioned herself to block the alley's only entrance. The droid's bulk looked larger in close quarters, clearly just a bit too large to be human. At the end of one arm, a pulse cannon glowed lightly--ready to fire at any moment, but temporarily at bay. The holographic face was gone, showing only a gleaming, impassive surface where a human head would be. "It is suggested," she said in artificially boosted tones, "That you stand down."
Na'an stood, holding her rifle in a ready position with one arm. Her other hand patted the bulge in her back pocket, shaking loose some dirt before raising palm up into view. "That's right, Darth Whoever-You-Are. You're fast, but not as fast as my friend there. So let's take a minute to clarify things for everyone."
The rifle was still pointed at Andor, but the woman's voice was calm. Na'an focused her gaze on the pale, shaking girl behind him, talking gently to her now rather than the Sith.
"Valerie, I know you're scared right now, but you have to stay calm and think. You're Force Sensitive. You can feel him the same as I can. And you know what danger feels like."
Her eye turned to the Sith again, and there was no hate or anger there--only a bright, steely determination. "Whether you decide you want to go with him or not, he'll still take you. And what he'll do is worse than anything that bounty hunter of yours is capable of. Take a moment and think about what kind of help you wanted...did it look like him?"
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 7, 2015 5:05:06 GMT -8
"I SAID DON'T!"
Na'an slid into the alley and ducked out from behind the doctor, using her outstretched hand to push at the Sith holding the girl. In a single, fluid movement, she used the space from the push to bring her rifle up, gripping with both hands to aim at his chest.
"I swear to god, your kind just don't listen. Leigh?"
There was a small chirping noise. Na'an cocked her head, listening to something no one else in the alley could hear. Her eye never left Andor, but as she held her position a small voice sounded in Ronin's mind.
You're both awful at your jobs if your first focus isn't getting your target out of the alley. Tell you what, we'll get them somewhere safe, and if you're smart you and the Mando will help.
Without waiting, she fired the blaster, moving as soon as the bolt landed. From outside the alley, another bolt followed it--only this one was huge.
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 6, 2015 21:03:11 GMT -8
"She's not responding."
Leigh shifted as Na'an pulled away, kneading at the braided knot at the back of her neck. "I think there's too many people responding to her for her to process. If she's anything like I'll guess, she's not trained to handle talking to more than one other person at once, especially not under the stress she's already in."
Leigh processed the situation a moment. "So bypass the Force. Can you find her?"
"Yeah. There's an alley not far from here. Heavily watched, but no one new seems to be approaching it." Na'an shifted, adjusting the blaster rifle over her shoulder, and turned towards the street. "Let's go see what this is all about."
On cue, Leigh fell in step beside her, and the pair left the shop's yard, passing a man staggering in the middle of the street. The emotions coming from him were muddled, and from the sounds he made in the Force, the paranoia and alarm he was contributing to the general noise was unrelated to the incident. Na'an sized him up, anyway, as they brushed past him. Grey eye met blue and brown, locked for the briefest of seconds...then passed over them to focus on the path ahead.
"Watch that guy, I think he's drunk," she said to Leigh as they passed Caoimhin Shan.
The street was crowded, but Na'an was in no hurry. No one in the alley had moved, not since the second girl had done something quite loud--knock over a droid, maybe? Everyone seemed to be talking still, to the girl, the doctor....and...
Na'an froze. On instinct, her good eye snapped up from the road, scanning the air. Someone else was in that alley besides the set she had heard before. Two men, two women...and a presence that clung to her senses like the smell of rotting meat and old blood. "Shit." Slinging the rifle over her shoulder, she bolted into a run towards the alley, her breath hissing harshly through clenched teeth. Without hesitation, Leigh ran too, following her friend to skid around the corner. "Shit shit shit, this is worse than I thought," Na'an growled, checking the rifle for a charge as she ran. "It's not just some random thugs she's running from, there's a Sith here!"
"Sith?" Leigh needed no more clarification. She pounded forward to take the lead, shoving people aside to clear the path to the alley in her wake. Ahead, the fear was peaking into terror, the girl's mind pitching forward into incoherence at the Sith's presence and promise.
Too many...too many...
"No, honey, no no no, whatever it is don't freak out, I gotcha, don't--" Na'an yelled, out loud as well as as through a broad a Force connection as she could master. Suddenly, a bright light flared in the alley ahead, throwing Leigh back hard enough to almost hit her. She ducked to the side, barely escaping getting clocked by Leigh's arm, and plunged into the alley, one arm holding her rifle, the other reaching forward to grasp the girl's hand. "DON'T--"
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 6, 2015 19:09:20 GMT -8
Na'an stood still outside the shop for a long minute, listening to the voices streaming in through the Force. There was the girl, the one that had sounded out of breath even in her mind, and the other one. Then two men, some indistinct, paranoid murmur...and some kind of doctor? Their thoughts seemed to tumble over each other, rippling through the air as real as sound. There were so many people responding already, and she wasn't calming down at all...if anything, the pressure behind her words was building.
The droid came out of the shop, holding a chip instead of the scrap haul they had arrived on Nar Shaddaa with. "He's remarkably easy to reason with, you know. If only you'd let me upload the language into your brain, you'd be able to get more out of him next time." She paused, inserting the chip holding their credits into a slot in her arm. "Are you sure you're all right? You have that look again."
Na'an started, then snorted. She turned back to face Leigh, stuffing one hand in her back pocket while rubbing at her eyepatch with the other. "Yeah, well. I'm just distracted. There's something going on down here tonight that caught my ear."
Leigh's holographic face flickered, her eyes rolling. "It's the most crime-ridden world in the sector. On our way here, we passed three robberies, six grifters and a bar fight that included fully loaded bowcasters. Of course something's going on."
"You know what I meant," Na'an groused, moving as if to slap the droid's chassis. "I mean, there's a girl. She's been yelling through the Force, and there's some sort of fight gearing up about it..." Her hand slid away from her eyepatch, her gaze serious. "She sounds scared."
She lapsed into silence, her eye tracking something invisible high above them both. Leigh regarded the young woman carefully, not following her gaze upward. This was one of those rare moments, when Na'an went quiet, where the droid wished she knew more about her friend than what she'd learned in the last three years. She didn't rattle easily. not since the surgery--but the sound of a kid in trouble always did something... Well, there was nothing for it. Leigh simulated a sigh, and clicked a lock over the slot with the chip. "Well, then, we should check it out. We have the credits...a side trip before the fuel station won't hurt the farm any," she said, patting Na'an's shoulder and making her hologram wink.
Na'an blinked up at her, then beamed, and it was decided. She leaned up against her friend, closed her eye, and spoke again through the Force, reaching out for the presence whose fear still seemed to be mounting.
<<Hey, you. Valerie. Breathe, honey, you're gonna be all right. You still looking for help?>>
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Mar 6, 2015 17:30:03 GMT -8
"Oh, come on!"
The young woman at Gavin Pol's trading post slammed her fist into the counter, looking annoyed. "You gave us twice as many credits the last time we were here, and this haul doesn't even have blaster scoring on it! It's practically pure ore, isn't that right, Leigh?"She gestured at the tall, hulking figure at her side. The figure, who was holding the sack of scrap the two had arrived with, nodded in the affirmative. "Although to be fair," she said, in a light, feminine voice just a little too tinny to be organic, "The last haul was larger, and laced with crystal detailing meant to detain Force sensitives."The young woman scowled, narrowing her eye at her partner. "You and your semantics. The fact is, Gavin's trying to play us dirty, and we can't go home with less than three month's worth of fuel. You know that..."The trader, an old Wookiee clearly going under a fake name, growled a long string of angry syllables at the pair. The young woman remained unmoved. "Yes, I know, you have kits to feed, yadda yadda yadda. Unless you're about to give us a fair price for hard-won salvage we'll just--" <<Please.. Someone.. Anyone.. I need help.>>
She opened her eyes, scanning her surroundings again, just in case, then closed them again and continued.
<<I'm on Nar Shaddaa. My name is Valerie. I'm.. I'm under attack. Please.. help me.>>
Now she just had to wait.. and hope..
"Eh?"The young woman drew up short, her eye widening. Ignoring the Wookie, now gesticulating in a way that seem to indicate that he was in an arm-tearing mood, she turned to glance back at the trading post's empty door. The droid turned to match her, the face of a young blonde woman flickering to life on its facial dome. "Is something wrong?""...No, no. I think I heard something, that's all." The woman pointed a thumb back at Gavin Pol, smirking. "Would you mind dealing with the old bear for a second? I'm gonna check this out."She grinned wider, as if to show the droid that there was really nothing wrong, then trotted towards the door. The droid shrugged, then returned to their negotiations with the Wookiee. Once outside, the young woman took a deep breath, grimacing at the dank smell of Nar Shaddaa's air. She cocked her head to the side, as if favoring the side without the eyepatch would improve her hearing. Then, her eye slid closed, and Vidalu Na'an reached out through the force. <<Hello? Where are you?>>
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Oct 15, 2013 17:04:07 GMT -8
Several minutes passed while Leigh waited for a response; she realized that Na'an needed time, she hadn't expected an immediate response, but still, for her.. It was quite the wait. Finally, though, she started untensing. Leigh's projected face adopted a comforting smile, glad that the girl was finally letting herself relax..
And then she spoke, and Leigh realized that something was definitely off. That was not Na'an's voice; she didn't even recognize it. She knew about Cao's situation, with another mind inside his head, but the voice remained the same. This, though.. This was unusual. She blinked, confused.
"..It is. Who are you?" Na'an's eye blinked owlishly back. "I'm Tyrono Parr. 'Scuse me." The girl's body sat up swiftly, and with a single push against the droid's metallic body was upright and brushing dust off her tunic. "I'm not surprised you don't know about me. You seem to be a Shan product, and none of the Shans ever bothered to ask many questions. Not that she ever made it easy...damned kid even kept me out for a while." There was no other effort to explain further; rather, the man's voice did not seem to be in the habit of explaining himself often. Instead, he focused on the door, sending Na'an's thin fingers dancing across the access pad. "Heh. You'd think they'd change the access codes once in a while." Na'an's thumb skated across the pad, and the door opened again to reveal Adelle on the other side. "Hello, miss. You're a medical professional, am I correct?" The man who called himself Tyrono Parr held out Na'an's hand, a disarming smile spread across her face. "Don't be alarmed, I'm here to help with the diagnosis, since it's a little more complicated than Na'an thought. Tell me, are you familiar with schizophrenics?"
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Sept 26, 2013 15:39:01 GMT -8
"Hey. Nanii. Look at me."There was no response from the girl curled on the floor for several minutes. Whether because of the fists balled against her ear, or some reason the droid could never guess at, Vidalu Na'an didn't even seem to hear. She only trembled, eye screwed shut, as if she was being drawn tight as a wire by some inexorable force, every muscle drawing tight enough to seem bloodless. Then, inexplicably, there was response. It just wasn't from Na'an. After that minute, there was an abrupt shift. The body's limbs relaxed slightly, uncurling until the toes tapped against the droid's knees. Fingers uncurled, instead tangling softly in Na'an's hair, and the wide grey eye opened and blinked. The sharp look in the girl's face softened, mellowed, as she looked around and took in its surroundings. For the first time in maybe years, her expression was relaxed, even sleepily content. Then she looked into Leigh's projected face, and spoke with the deep voice of a man in his forties. "Sorry, miss, but Vida's busy at the moment," The voice said. "I'm only stepping in for a moment so she doesn't have a stroke while we have a little chat. Is this Felucia?"
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Aug 30, 2013 20:17:23 GMT -8
The reaction to Adelle's request, in retrospect, should have been expected. Adelle had been briefed on Vidalu Na’an’s history, and had had sufficient warning that she wasn’t as stable as she was trying to look. But it can be difficult to know what remark is the wrong one to make. Behind the Jedi and the droid, Na'an froze suddenly. Unseen, her face twisted with a violent mix of emotion: disbelief, anger, and a slowly rising paranoia.
The red voice had found a new target, and with it, a new, terrifying lucidity.
She's ditching us, it said, almost sounding surprised. This bitch is just taking us away and hiding us.
But that wasn't the case, was it? Na'an tried to think it down, think logically. No, she's tired. Look at her, she's hurt. She wants us in a private place so we can confess..
Excuses! We saw the Healer. We don't need to confess--they know. They're putting us away. They're putting us away. they know what we did, they're putting us away, they're putting us down, putting us down like him, don't let them put us down like him.
Na’ans fists tightened bloodlessly at her sides. It's...it's what we need. It's the right thing. Jedi do the right thing.
Jedi? You, Jedi? For the first time, the tempo in her ear rang like a laughing drum. Coward. Weak. You couldn't kill him because you're weak. You put us here because you're weak. All the people, all those deaths, all that blood because you're WEAK, and now you're letting an injured woman lock us away because you think we need confession. Coward. Weak. Foolish.
It's the right thi--
At the repetition, something inside Na’an snapped. The change in the soundless voice was sharp and sudden enough to hurt. It wasn't as lucid now, but it was loud and primal, and no longer needed intelligence. It had the power of conviction.
LISTEN TO ME. WE ARE NOT DONE. WE WILL NOT BE WEAK. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. WE WILL NOT BE PUT AWAY NOT BY HIM AND NOT BY HER.
Na'an shook her head, trying to dispel it and focus, but the coming demand was as clear as if it had been stamped inside her remaining eye.
KILL HER. KILL HER AND RUN.
And there it was. The bright bloody command, and this time at an innocent. Kill.
Na’an had to act. Now.
"I--ah--excuse me!"
There was a door to her left. Na'an turned wildly, opening it to a small enclosed space that looked like a private examining room. Before either Adelle or Leigh could object, she entered without them and re-sealed the door. It wouldn't hold anyone with sufficient determination to get in or out, but it would at least provide a barrier between her and her suddenly-chosen target. It would also provide time. Time for Na'an to get a grip, remember that this woman wasn't a danger, wasn't trying to hurt them, wasn't like Aherk, and wasn't a target. Time for Na'an to try to keep enough sanity to ask for help.
KILL HER
Na'an curled up tight against the door, fists tangled in her hair and balled against her ear as if to block out the noise. But it was inside her, had always been inside her, inside her from the moment that awful video had begun to play. It was her. Which meant it couldn't be blocked. Jedi didn't kill. Jedi didn't WANT to kill. But--
KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER
The scream persisted, drowning out thought and sense and reason in darkness and instinct. It screamed until it was all Na'an could hear, all she could think and feel. It screamed with her heartbeat, and her heartbeat responded, sending familiar tingles of power through her veins. The power was good, it was sure and strong and it wanted to kill. And it would be so simple to kill that woman, as simple as pounding Aherk into the dust of Tattooine had been, as easy as the crack of his bones on Kamino, and then it would be over, it would all disappear in noise and blood and the rising dark—
"Oh, dear. little Vida, what have you done to yourself?"
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Jul 19, 2013 18:29:18 GMT -8
Na'an had just opened her mouth to reply when the Jedi woman returned. Na'an stood immediately, barely refraining from steadying the woman's walk as she came within arm's reach; for all of the softness she had seen before, the injuries looked close to being completely debilitating. They were certainly worse than her own, and her exhaustion was making her unsteady on her feet. But in the end, Na'an did hold back from touching her; the phrase Healer Hamee had used was still too fresh in the air to argue with.
a history of violent instability.
This woman was trusting her, for no good reason at all. It was the least Na'an could do to make this as easy as possible. Don't touch her, in case she was an empath or telepath--no point in forcing anyone to experience the last few hours. Don't argue with whatever the soft woman asked of her. Be as unassuming as she could. Don't listen to the red voice
listen to me goddamnit we aren't done LISTEN
screaming in rage and confusion. She had to keep her resolve or she'd stay like this. Rehearsing the list, Na'an stood to follow the Jedi woman to the rooms. Already, she was trying to figure out where she could begin. The woman was still waiting mildly, hiding the traces of pain from her wounds. Abruptly, an idea emerged from the rest of her thoughts, and Na'an turned to the droid still behind her.
"Leigh, help the Jedi. I'll follow."
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on Jun 8, 2013 18:42:25 GMT -8
Na'an blinked as the woman stepped out, only letting out a long breath once she vanished entirely out the door. She hadn't expected to find someone who would listen to her so easily, although maybe she should have. In recent months, she realized, the Jedi had been nothing but kind to her. Master Man'Sell, in sending her away from Yavin's rising tension...the Healers...And now this gentle-eyed woman. And yet everywhere she looked, she expected hostility, anticipated rejection or, in more paranoid moments, outright attack. It would have to end. It would have to all end. The look she turned to the droid behind her was a question in and of itself. "Are you going to confess too?" She tapped lightly with one knuckle at the metal chestplate. "They probably already know, but if you have a conscience in there too it might do you good while you wait." It wasn't as hostile a question as it might have been. It was why they were here, after all, and Na'an knew they had a lot of unbelievable things to confess. Among those were things the Jedi may not believe: Time travel, synthetic sentience...
Others would be more familiar, like Na'an's inability to touch the Force properly unless she was trying to kill. Or the aforementioned paranoia. And deep, deeper than she'd ever wanted to think she went, the dark little voice that was still pounding in the redness of her blood.
What are you doing.
What are you doing.
What the hell do you think you're DOING?
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on May 24, 2013 10:12:37 GMT -8
As Na'an listened, the wistfulness on her face sharpened into disbelieving hunger. She leaned forward on her elbows, appraising the injured young woman carefully with her remaining eye. It was to the stranger's credit that she did not shy away from the empty socket that joined it. "You're going to help me? You're not in good shape...I don't want to put anyone at risk." Her eye twitched slightly, as if in response to some violent inner thought, then she continued. "The file's not quite up to date, either. There's...things...I should probably confess."
**********
The old Healer watched the two girls meeting with sad resignation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the guard, a burlier young man, pause outside of the door to wait for further orders. Next to him, the little girl had slid down into a fetal position against the door, weeping quietly. Dax sighed. The girl was so emotional, especially after the incidents in her own file. All those deaths, having to cope with them without any of the adult members of her own family, her uncontrolled Force Connection with an entire planet... it was a wonder that the child seemed as normal as she did. He crossed to the entrance, nodding at the guard as he passed. Morgan did not notice his approach; Dax placed himself quietly beside her, waiting until she cried herself out. It was strange. First Morgan, now the girl with the robot. What was it about Adelle Bastiel that seemed to attract such broken things?
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Post by Vidalu Na'an on May 21, 2013 9:09:09 GMT -8
You are, but never when it counts. For example, spotting fake boobs rather than actually corrupting the wish that was wished. I wish my cell phone's battery lasted forever.
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