Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 12:54:15 GMT -8
*Landrover strutted the halls of Cloud City. His domain; his kingdom. Let the spice flow free and prostitution run rabid so long as he got his credits. A smile passed his face. Noticing a janitor he lit a shag tossed it to the man and lit one himself and kept walking *
-Landrover-
“There you are brother; taste the freedom.”
*Looking down at the cigarette the janitor replied*
“I don’t smoke.”
*Without turning around Landrover said*
-Landrover-
“Start.”
*Shrugging his shoulders the man picked up the smoke shrugged and took a haul. Another addict born. Landrover sauntered out of sight*
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 23:50:08 GMT -8
*Cloud City is so alive with energy that Landrover can barely keep up with the pace. Exhausted he finally sits*
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Zalus Bidan
Member
Posts: 42 
Affiliation: Goes where the money is
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Zalus Bidan on Mar 23, 2016 20:05:36 GMT -8
Fortunes Favorite landed on a pad, and Zalus stepped off with MIA. He adjusted his glasses, and smoothed out his leather coat, and wrapped his red scarf around his neck. He headed into the massive city once occupied by the Iron Fists. He was shocked to see that the fighting on Manaan had not made its way here yet. He already got most of the best belongings from the IF superiors there. He wasn't here to loot this time, he was here to plant a flag for Kolga. Sadly he would be doing it alone. HIs heart slightly heavy at the thought of saying goodbye to Hensley, but the hole he felt would be filled with credits and women. He headed directly for the administration pavillion, and found it largely unoccupied. Looters ransacked the place already, and dead IF soldiers lay everywhere. It looked like spring cleaning would be a priority. He waltzed in and was disappointed there wasn't much of a fight put up, no fight at all really.
::It looks as deserted as Manaan,:: MIA observed.
"Yeah, should be cake to plant a happy flappy banner on this place and call it the bloated float...not to sound racist against Hutts," Zalus laughed and looked to the faceless mask of MIA, and shook his head.
::May want to refrain from-::
Zalus interrupted, "Yeah I won't bring it up to Kolga. Let's just keep going."
They headed inside and entered the turbolift to the top floor.
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Zalus Bidan
Member
Posts: 42
Affiliation: Goes where the money is
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Zalus Bidan on Apr 12, 2016 12:40:47 GMT -8
The turbolift opened, and naturally Zalus fired several shots into the hallway once he saw the IF banners, but there was no one there to greet him, friendly or otherwise. It was as deserted as everything else. It was true then, they fell back to Manaan for the final holdout. Zalus chuckled and shouldered his ACP Shotgun with a smirk. He adjusted his sunglasses and headed down the hall with MIA.
::It does seem that they made Manaan their final stand. The least they could have done is detonated this place out of pride and crippled the tibanna trade a few months,:: MIA stated with a matter of fact tone.
"Yeah, but it's not like we're dealing with professionals here, just fat womprats that think they're important. All right, the security station is up here, heck, I think this is where Lando Calrissian gave orders once. If so we're in the right place, we'll give jurisdiction codes to Kolga, and call it good. We just expanded his empire in a matter of days beyond Nar Shadda. And if any wars break out between rival groups, say a resurgence of sith or Jedi, they'll have to find alternatives to Tibanna, or come to Kolga. Not really a monopoly, but Bespin is a convenient location for tibanna."
He was thrilled to see that KIA and TBA had completed their side of the plan. Zalus entered the command deck, and at once bypassed the security protocols, it seemed that they had not been changed since the IF took over, and left. In fact they were wide open. The protocols were uninstalled. Likely the information was wiped before they left. Easy pickings, once Zalus had established control, he sent a message to Kolga from Cloud City itself.
::Kolga my brother! We captured the objective, both Cloud City, and Tibannopololis are yours. Congratulations on your castle in the sky and the extra income.::
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Sept 5, 2016 18:33:48 GMT -8
{ Above The Black Bantha }I froze, my idle investigation of the sabaac tables coming to a halt, as I caught sight of a familiar figure entering the second-floor cafe. I wished that I had been paying just slightly better attention to the extrances. I’d seen a woman of Kim’s height and weight, wearing her traditional Follower martial robes, but I’d missed her face, and that made me even so slightly uneasy. I was a perfectionist about these sorts of capers, and I wanted to know everything that could possibly be known about a situation. Knowing Kim’s state of mind could end up being valuable.By now it was almost fully dark outside, and no one by the sharpest-eyed alien looking upward from within the well-lit gambling hall would have noticed my black form as I slid out onto the roof, and began testing the laser torch on the glass. It cut surprisingly easily, and holding the torch at an angle, I cut out a circle of glass, about half a meter in diameter, angling the cut inward so that the plug could not fall through the hole and give away my mischief. The rushing sound of air was unavoidable, but I was counting on the music downstairs to drown out those clues as well. Stepping carefully over to the hole, I placed one foot on the plug, locked my suction cups, and lifted the piece of glass out of its resting place with my boot. Now I had everything I needed in order to drop Dante and Jace their weapons, or provide cover fire from above. ::: Get out of there ::: I hissed into my earpiece comlink unnecessarily. ::: Go! ::: To my surprise, the elderly man in the green kimono followed the others without hesitation, moving with a speed and agility that belied his perceived age. In mere seconds, the threesome had reached an open staircase and were descending two steps at a time. That was my signal, and I released a small satchel into my artificial hole in the glass roof. Deploying a spindly plastic parachute, hastily fashioned from some discarded sheets of packaging, the drop fluttered toward the floor three stories below, carrying Jace’s pistol and ammo pouch, as well as a pair of SE-14 blaster pistols for Dante. Without breaking stride, Jace snatched it neatly out of the air just before it hit the marble staircase.Already, a cry had gone up from the sabacc table, and another cry from near the bag check. The card players merely protested the sudden departure of a man who already owed them a seven-figure number of credits, but several other rough-looking patrons were hurrying for the Syndicate’s no-longer secret arms cache. And then the ground floor dissolved into mayhem, and there was no more time to make careful observations. There was only time to react, and to shoot anyone or anything that looked like a Syndicate sympathizer.By now Jace, Kim, and their unexpected companion had reached the main lobby of the casino, and Dante, his bare hands thoroughly covered in other people's’ blood, had broken off his slaughter to join the escape, as Jace handed him the SE-14s. They left Crusher’s hired man to guard their rear, and I had to smirk as I saw Tim the Giant standing in the center of an impressive ring of casualties, daring anyone to pass him. My job was almost done. But then, two more of the black-clad toughs sprang out of the shadows near the entrance, and lunged at Kim from either side, in a last, doomed, attempt to recapture her. Reflexively, I peeled off two more shots.As the bolts from my sniper rifle met their targets, felling the Syndicate thugs like two sacks of potatoes, Kim looked up in extreme surprise, searching for the unexpected source of her deliverance. Finally, I was able to catch a good look at her well-remembered face. She looked exactly, uncannily as I remembered her, utterly unchanged by the past three years (did she ever age at all?), but as we made eye contact, I looked deeper, into her eyes, searching for nonverbal information about her situation. There was a little bit of fear, and a lot of confusion in her eyes. I smiled at her reassuringly, but then I froze, horror running down my spine like the coldest torrent of spring’s first waterfall in the Panathan forest, as I realized the emotion that was missing from her eyes. The woman staring back at me looked like Kim, and fought like Kim, but she hadn’t recognized me. How could---what did that mean---!I opened my mouth to warn Jace about Kim, but before I could form the words, a blaster bolt ripped past my face from the left, close enough for me to feel the passing heat. Startled, I threw myself down onto the glass rooftop, but not before another bolt glanced off my helmet, knocking it and my comlink right off my head and into wind-swept oblivion.Swearing under my breath, I looked around for the source of the attack as my hair, newly freed of its restraints, whipped wildly in the wind. Two heads and two blasters were visible about 20 meters to my left, sticking up from an access hatch. My flirtatious tour guide hadn’t bothered to mention that particular aspect of the building’s security. About four feet wide and sticking a couple of feet above the rooftop, with a rusty ladder down the outside, the round maintenance hatch looked more like a drainpipe than a security station, but my rifle wasn’t going to penetrate that much solid sheet metal.Drainpipe? That gave me an idea. I returned fire, then as the guards ducked for cover, I dropped the rifle, and reached inside my pack, feeling around for the grenade pouch. But just as my hand closed around one of the spherical charges, my assailants opened fire once again, and I flattened to the surface of the glass, the wind howling in my ears. Then I realized, they weren’t shooting at me. They were shooting at my moorings, trying to cut me loose. Jumping to my feet, I channeled my best hoopball shot from my academy days, and tossed the grenade into the enclosed metal cylinder. There was a sharp scream of alarm, and then a satisfying bang, and the shooting stopped. But I didn’t get more than a half-second to celebrate my victory. The security guards had succeeded in clipping one of my anchor ropes, and in the very next gust of wind, it snapped, suddenly knocking me to my knees. The wind caught me from there and threw me through the air, then sliding and bumping across the uneven rooftop away from the Black Bantha, flat on my back. In a panic, I threw my sniper rifle and my pack as far away as I could, then grabbed the remaining rope with both hands, and tried to climb back into the wind toward safety. But the swirls were too violent, and the wind threw me into exhaust pipes, and up against walls, and across metal grates, and each collision was more violent than the next. I could feel a sharp pain in my ribcage, and blood running down my face, while the rope burned into my hands. Then, quite suddenly, I was out of the wind, and falling, down, down, down into Cloud City once again, at least half a mile downwind of my starting point. My head ached from the blaster shot and all of the rooftop collisions, and as I fell, my vision swam and I began to lose consciousness. Glancing downward, I just made out a massive pile of old beer bottles directly below me. Then, the acrid smell of smoke filled my nostrils, snapping me back to another time when I fell from a great height, and I wasn’t even aware of the crunch as I landed. Darkness, as black as the coldest winter night on Panatha, swarmed up to swallow me. ### { A distant memory of Panatha }It was near the end of my first semester at the military academy in Tree City, and it was the Winter Holiday, one of the few holidays on which the cadets were allowed their freedom. There were no classes at all, and freedom meant one of four things. If your family lived in Tree City, you went home to your family for the holiday. If they didn’t, but you had the money, you could travel to your home on Panatha, or even elsewhere in the Reach. If you didn’t have the money to travel, but you were a popular cadet, a fellow cadet who lived in Tree City would invite you to join them at their family’s celebration. It was a happy evening, full of family and friends, and food. However, if you were a sixteen-year-old outcast like me, you fell into the fourth category, and that meant you put on your warmest clothes, and wandered the streets of Tree City, watching from the darkness as others celebrated, and imagining that you were one of them.And so it was that I turned a corner, wandering aimlessly through a wealthy neighborhood near the academy, and caught sight of flames shooting from several first-story windows of a two-story house. Running towards the emergency, I heard a familiar voice, now thoroughly terrified, screaming for help. As I reached the front lawn of the house, I recognized the girl standing by the front porch, her attention divided between me and the upper left window, above the porch roof.It was Vanessa Uvumilivu, a second-year cadet who had spent most of the last two months making my life, and the lives of the other first-year girls, as miserable as possible. She wasn’t the only bully, but she was the worst of the lot, and as captain of the hoopball team, she’d been especially focused on attacking me ever since I signed up for hoopball tryouts. Standing almost four inches taller than me, and a good deal heavier, she seemed to think I was too short (and too farmgirl) for the sport itself or the social circle of the team.“Oh, thank goodness, you have to help me.” Uvu blurted out. “Our heater unit exploded, and my little sister’s still inside. Quick, give me a lift.” She pointed to the porch roof, about ten feet above the ground, which sloped up to just below the second floor windows. I got closer, and she saw my face. The terrified look in her face couldn’t hide the disgust. “Oh, it’s you, Tawaza.”I just grunted in response, saying nothing. Kneeling down, I held out my hands, which she stepped onto, and began to lift. She reached for the lip of the roof, and I struggled, wobbling back and forth as I lifted with my legs like we’d been taught. Then, awkwardly, I lost my grip, and Uvu tumbled to the grass again.“This is never going to work.” I said. “You’ve got to---” “It has to work.” The terror was in her voice again. “She’s six. Mom and Dad trusted me---stars---”I held up my hand. “Listen. I’m lighter.” I pointed to myself. “You’re taller, and stronger.” I pointed to her. “You’ve got to get me up there.” I pointed upward. “NOW!” She looked for a split second like she was going to argue, as many helplessly terrified people do, but then there was a loud pop from the burning building, and a frightened scream from upstairs, and the older girl grabbed me firmly, and lifted me upward. The edge of the roof came into sight, and I reached for it, grabbing it firmly. Uvu held me steady as I got a better grip and began to pull myself upward. I could feel her shaking from fear, but she was strong. “What’s your sister’s name?” I called down over my shoulder. “Becka.” “Ok.” I pulled myself up until the lip of the roof was against my stomach, then rolled onto the roof. “Get ready to catch us.” I called down, then got up, and dropped through the open window onto Becka’s bedroom floor. Where would a six-year-old hide, I wondered as I quickly got down on hands and knees. The room was filled with smoke, down to about three feet above the floor, and I could feel the heat from the fire. We didn’t have much time.“Becka?” I called out.“W-who is it?” A small, quivering voice to my left asked.“A friend of your sister’s.” I lied, speaking in a casual, friendly voice. “I’m going to get you out of here, ok?” There was a child’s bed to my left, and already I was crawling toward it. I reached out to lift the blanket, and looked under the bed frame. Sure enough, there she was. The little girl started to pull away, but I was too quick for her. I grabbed her, and retreated toward the window, pushing off the bed and sliding across the rapidly-warming floor as I held her firmly. “Hi Becka.” I said, grinning at her. “I’m Liya. Let’s go find Nessa, ok?” She stared at me, and started to smile. “Just look at me, ok?” I said, as I stood up and squeezed out the window again. “Why?” She asked, staring at me in surprise as I located her older sister on the ground below. Small hands reached out as if they wanted to hug me, but she never got the chance.“Because.” I said, and gently tossed her over the edge of the porch roof into the arms of her panicked sister. I waited until she had put Becky down, then dropped to my stomach. But just as I was about to roll over the edge myself, the entire house exploded, and the next thing I knew, I was launched skyward, and then I was falling through the air in a cloud of sparks and ashes and burning debris. I winced as a hundred floating embers burned tiny holes through my clothes and skin. My very last thought was to wonder whether my hair was on fire.### { Cloud City, Police Precinct Station }Much later, the darkness started to lift. I felt gentle hands on my neck and on my wrist, and a strange voice saying, “We’ve got a normal heartbeat.” I tried to open my eyes, and for an instant, I saw Nessa’s tear-streaked face bending over me again, as if I were back on Panatha all those years ago. “Stay with me, Liya.” She pleaded, using my forename for the first time. “Look at me. Focus on the sound of my voice.” Then she was gone, and the strange voice was speaking again. “She’s waking up now.” I blinked, and gasped for air, then gasped in surprise. Two police officers were standing to one side, while a medic was examining me. And the policemen definitely weren’t in Panathan uniforms. I was lying on something relatively comfortably, and the walls around me looked an awful lot like every other police lockup I’d visited in the last three-plus years. “Wh-where am I?” “The drunk tank.” One of the officers said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Why, did'yah think you’d get five-star accommodations? You’re lucky we found'yah when we did.”“Why, what happened?” I asked, now even more confused. The mission was all coming back now, and somehow I knew the mission was complete, so I was able to relax, but I had no memory of the rooftop attack or my fall.“We found'yah in an alley, passed out, beer bottles everywhere. Must have been quite the party, you was soaked in th'stuff.” He replied.Protesting, I tried to sit up. “I’m not drunk. I wasn’t even drinking---.” But the medic pressed his arm against my shoulder and held me down. “Just rest. Sleep it off until morning, and you’ll be free to go. You’re not going anywhere until then.”I wanted to argue, but my throbbing head, ribs, shoulder, knee, fingers, and twenty other body parts told me there was no use. “What time is it?” I asked instead.“Almost 0300.” He replied.That settled that, then. I’d missed the rendezvous by at least four hours. There was nothing I could do now, except wait for morning. If the police thought I needed sobering up, then that meant they had no idea what I’d really been doing, and that was just as well. The last thing I wanted to do was implicate myself by protesting their conclusions about me.Sighing, I lay back against the stiff jailhouse pillow, and waited while they left, locking the barred down behind them. It sure felt good to rest, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important I needed to tell the rest of the crew.......“Your father had that same smile when he slept.” Rumbled a familiar, throaty voice near my ear. I almost jumped out of both my clothes and my skin before I awoke --- to the face and very toothy grin of a familiar Togorian staring at me through the bars of my cell. Crusher was alone in the passageway outside, and my predicament seemed to have amused him greatly.Sitting up slowly, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and then stared in horror at the rope burns crisscrossing my hands. “What happened last night? And how did you find me?” I yawned, and as I moved, I became suddenly aware of a sharp pain in my right side. Unfortunately, I knew that pain. It meant I’d cracked a rib. Wincing, I swung my feet to the floor, and held my left hand against my suddenly-throbbing head.The Togorian grinned. “Come on, did you really think anything as exciting as last night could happen in my city without my knowledge? But perhaps we should get you out of here first, and then discuss the situation somewhere more private.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a hiss. “After all, the cops think you’re just a hapless drunk. They have no clue that you're part of Cloud City's most wanted gang. Let’s keep it that way.”### { The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }*The Palawan martial artist wasn’t sure what to make of her new surroundings or her new companions. First, there had been the warning at her hotel. Then, the reassurances from her Syndicate contact that all was well and she should simply play along with whatever happened. Then, the meeting had gone completely sideways, leaving her to choose between fighting her own way out, or going along with the wishes of the winning side.*
*So far, playing along seemed to have worked, if she were judging solely by her own personal safety, although it was a safe bet that her job with the Syndicate was history. That was no great loss, depending on the identities of her new companions. She didn’t want to call them captors, because they seemed to regard her as a friend, and expect likewise from her. They were far more suspicious of the other victim of their so-called “rescue,” Maximus, an old man in a green kimono from some backwater world beyond the Rim.
*But there was the perplexing problem of Liya Tawaza. First, Tawaza was supposed to be dead, and everyone knew she was dead, so why had this posse thought that name-dropping that old name would earn them an alliance with her? She would have written it off as a trick, except for the woman she had seen on the roof, and the fact that they had spent over two hours last night waiting for this Tawaza to rejoin them. The two strangers seemed to genuinely believe that Tawaza was alive, and a part of their crew. It had all been too elaborate, too real, to be a charade. A con artist would have had a better excuse ready than "we don't know what happened and she's not answering her comlink and there are cops everywhere so she's probably hiding and so should we."*
*But if so, what then? Where was Tawaza now? Having the real, live Liya Tawaza show up would definitely blow her cover, and badly. But she couldn’t run away without tipping her hand, either. They would expect Kim Zawadi to want to help locate Tawaza, and they would probably want to get started right after breakfast. She didn’t have much time. And then a new idea came to her, and she leaped out of bed, and hastily donned her white robe. Slipping out of her cabin, she began to explore the crew quarters of The Red Cred on silent feet. With any luck, she could locate Tawaza’s quarters before anyone else was awake.*
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Daniel Logan
Member
Posts: 74
Affiliation: The Fel Crew and the Galactic Museum on Coruscant
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Daniel Logan on Sept 6, 2016 18:31:19 GMT -8
It seemed to Daniel that he had been alone on the ship for days, he hadn't even spoken to any one since Dante pulled him aside for some target practice and once Dante was gone he stopped that nonsense. He didn't anticipate needing to use a weapon again, the first time was such an extreme situation that it called for an exception. Instead he sunk his focus into his work, not just the research on the Eye, but on many projects that he had not had the time to work on at the museum. The one downside to his isolation was the silence, typically he had someone to bounce theories and ideas off of but here he was just alone locked away in his makeshift study and it was wearing on him. He removed his glasses and set them down then leaned back and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was exhausted but was still afraid to sleep because every time he closed his eyes he saw those things, the Jekk. He looked around at all of his notes and sighed as he put on his glasses. Held up a drawing of what he speculated the Eye looked like based on ancient descriptions and stared at it for a moment, "Where are you?" He said quietly as he pondered. "I need some caf."
He set the drawing down and stood with a stretch, picked up a book, then opened his door and stepped out into the hall, and then onto the lift. When the lift stopped one floor up he stepped off not realizing how late it was until he had actually made it past the passenger cabins, but he made a mental note to make sure he moved more quietly as he approached the crew quarters since someone might be asleep. If it were earlier he might have found it odd that he hadn't passed anyone, but given the time he assumed that everyone was either asleep or up in the cockpit if they were back from whatever it was they were doing that is, though he assumed that by now they had to be. As he reached the second lift he hoped that it was there so he didn't have to wait to cross.
Luckily it was and he got through to the lounge without having to wait. He set his book down on the table, then turned on the stimcaf machine and sat down to read while the machine worked it's magic. The book he had chosen was actually a relic of the Old Republic called Studies of the Force which was one of the many subjects that Daniel had found himself interested in learning more about. His interest in the force was purely academic of course, he wasn't even force sensitive, but he the force had shaped the galaxy and continues to shape it today which makes it of great historical importance for everyone. He had a series of books like this, from the Old Republic, that he had read through a handful of times each.
He wasn't more than ten pages in when the machine dinged that his caf was done, so he set the book down and got him a cup. He took a sip and sat down again then went back to his book with his cup in hand. It wasn't until he checked his watch to see what time it was on Coruscant that he realized how sleep deprived he actually was, turning his hand and dumping his scalding hot caf all down the front of him. He held back a scream but stood up very quickly to pull his shirt away from his chest. "Son-of-a-" He cut himself off as he looked around from a towel or something to clean up his mess. "Well at least I'm awake now." He said under his breath with slight irritation. This was the only shirt that he had right now, his supplies from home hadn't arrived yet but Jace had given him a shirt before, maybe he would again. He sat his book down on the far side a the table away from the liquid and then walked to the door with to the crew quarters and opened it.
Much to his surprise as the door opened there stood a woman, whom he had never seen, in a white robe. He stood staring at her in confused silence with a hint of embarrassment for a moment before he opened his mouth and in an equally confused tone said, "Uhm, hi," His brow furrowed and he darted around to see if there was someone else with her, "who are you?"
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Sept 27, 2016 20:52:49 GMT -8
{ Cloud City }“Your father had that same smile when he slept.” Rumbled a familiar, throaty voice near my ear. I almost jumped out of both my clothes and my skin before I awoke --- to the face and very toothy grin of a familiar Togorian staring at me through the bars of my cell. Crusher was alone in the passageway outside, and my predicament seemed to have amused him greatly.Sitting up slowly, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and then stared in horror at the rope burns crisscrossing my hands. “What happened last night? And how did you find me?” I yawned, and as I moved, I became suddenly aware of a sharp pain in my right side. Unfortunately, I knew that pain. It meant I’d cracked a rib. Wincing, I swung my feet to the floor, and held my left hand against my suddenly-throbbing head.The Togorian grinned. “Come on, did you really think anything as exciting as last night could happen in my city without my knowledge? But perhaps we should get you out of here first, and then discuss the situation somewhere more private.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a hiss. “After all, the cops think you’re just a hapless drunk. They have no clue that you're part of Cloud City's most wanted gang. Let’s keep it that way.” “Alright.” I nodded. So he’d been watching, or at least his people had been. That was good, maybe they could fill in the gaps in my memory. Crusher disappeared, and I could hear him calling for a guard. Glancing around the tiny cell, I took in the dirty, slightly moldy floor, the utterly boring grey walls, the not-quite-level ceiling, and the black metallic bars with just a hint of orange rust beneath the blue aura of ionized air. There was no window, and no way to guess what time it was. There was only a sterile white bed, and a tiny, useless-looking fresher. I shrugged, and was grateful when one of the guards appeared, de-energized and opened the cell door, and escorted us out into the early-morning streets of Cloud City. As soon as we were alone, I turned to Crusher and raised an eyebrow, but he turned on his heel, and led me away, not saying a word until we were at least six "blocks" from the security station. Then, he stopped, and pulled me aside into an alley. “How much do you remember?” He asked.I thought long and hard about last night. “I remember the fight in the lobby of the Black Bantha, and I remember providing sniper cover for my team.” I hesitated. That same nagging doubt tugged at my mind once again. “And after that I don’t remember anything clearly. Just jumbled moments.” He shook his head slowly, clearly agitated about something. “My spy at the Bantha reported that two Syndicate troopers attacked you on the roof, and that you killed them with a grenade, but that before they died, they cut your climbing ropes, and you blew away.” His tone was much less jovial that earlier. “Does that bring anything more back?”Slowly my eyes widened. “Yes. And then I fell.” I massaged my aching ribs, then held up my rope-burned hands. “So that explains all this.” Gradually, I was becoming aware of a fetid stink deeper within the alleyway, and I tried not to breathe too deeply of the foul air.He nodded. “You’re lucky to be alive. My spy thought you were gone, but I know the legendary Tawaza survival skills, so I told everyone to keep an eye out. Unfortunately, the police found you first.” He paused, and then there was a hint of pride in his voice. “You were smart to throw your gear away. Otherwise, I’d be busy bribing a judge, instead of us having this conversation face to face.” “But.” My father’s old friend continued. “My spy also said that something startled you, and caused you to lose focus, and that is why the Syndicate got the jump on you.” He paused. “I know your training well enough to know that it would have to be a very big shock to distract you. So what was it?” I pressed my lips together tightly, and shook my head slowly. The gnawing doubt was back. It wasn’t just my fall that I had forgotten. It was something else. It wasn’t just a tactical detail of the fight, either. It was something big, and something that was still important. “I don’t know.” I replied at last, uncertain and uncomfortable.Crusher sighed a big, rumble-y, Togorian sigh. “Then let us hope it was not important.” He didn’t sound any more convinced than I felt.There was a soft footstep at the entrance of the alleyway, and I spun around. A human boy, not more than 12 or 13 years old, had slipped into the alley behind us. I took a step backward, instinctively putting my back to one dirty wall of the alley, and then realized that he was holding something out to me, with a smile on his face. It was my pack. I unzipped it, and saw that everything was stowed in its place --- my sniper rifle, my climbing gear, and even my blaster-burned helmet. I gasped, looking from the boy to Crusher, back to the runner, back to the Togorian, and so on, unable to verbalize my gratitude. The Togorian grinned toothily. “I thought you might want that stuff back.” The boy bowed politely and disappeared without a word, almost as silently as he had come.“But come, I have something else to show you.” He motioned for me to follow him once more. “After your friends left the Black Bantha, the Syndicate survivors cleared out in a hurry. Following them turned out to be easier than stealing a starship from a degenerate gambler.”### { The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }Much to his surprise as the door opened there stood a woman, whom he had never seen, in a white robe. He stood staring at her in confused silence with a hint of embarrassment for a moment before he opened his mouth and in an equally confused tone said, "Uhm, hi," His brow furrowed and he darted around to see if there was someone else with her, "who are you?"
*The middle-aged Palawan human woman wasn't particularly short by human standards, although she was a full half-foot shorter than Liya. Her long, black hair was pulled back and tied together tightly at the back of her neck, before being allowed to flow down her back, and her white kimono was fastened with a brilliant blue sash around her waist.*"Hi." *She tried to sound casual.* "I'm Kim." *She tilted her head slightly to the left. The stranger didn't look dangerous, but he didn't look like the type of person who would be on a spacer crew, either. Something was wrong. She did what she did best: play dumb, keep talking, and look for information.* "Jace didn't mention that anyone else was aboard."
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Sept 28, 2016 20:23:40 GMT -8
{ Cloud City }“But come, I have something else to show you.” He motioned for me to follow him once more. “After your friends left the Black Bantha, the Syndicate survivors cleared out in a hurry. Following them turned out to be easier than stealing a starship from a degenerate gambler.” "Wow." I looked around, a bit rueful. "For vacating a headquarters so quickly, they did a very thorough job of it." Unspoken was the logical conclusion: We'd stumbled on something much bigger than we'd realized thus far. Who exactly were Dante's enemies, and how could the Fel Crew go toe-to-toe with a galactic-sized adversary? But more relevantly, at the moment, how was I supposed to find a clue among this ruin? I knew the end results of a self-destruct sequence when I saw one, and this one seemed to have been helped along by some very panicked Syndicate troopers."Yes, they did. It's a dead end, but I wanted you to see it for yourself." Crushed rumbled. "My people looked it over. You might find something eventually, if you stay here all week." He extended his paws upward in a gesture of confusion. "But you don't have all week. I know you know the League schedule, but you don't even have that long now." He pulled out a datapad, and waved a police report in my face. It was from the Black Bantha. "The good news is that you're clean, they didn't get your face on any surveillance footage, but I'd estimate you have about six hours tops until the authorities id one of your friends, and pay the Red Cred a visit." He paused. "They already have a lead on my man Tim, but he won't talk, and the charges won't stick. Hard to prosecute a man for using his bare hands in a fight when there were over a dozen illegal weapons recovered at the scene, none of them his, y'know?" The Togorian winked.Turning away from the scene of destruction, I raised an eyebrow. "What about my crew?" I asked. The Bespin trail might have gone cold, but we had made another play last night. "I know you said they made a safe getaway, but did they manage to capture any Syndicate troopers alive?" The original purpose of a prisoner had been to get information about Syndicate operations on Cloud City, but if we had a live informant, he might have offworld information as well. Leading the way back out of the warehouse, I started slowly in the direction of the Red Cred. Crusher shook his head slowly as he followed. "No. Just the two martial arts experts -- that old man, and your friend Zawadi." Kim. I'd forgotten. That was the important problem from last night: it was Kim. My mind started racing, trying to put the pieces back together. Kim was in danger. No, wait. The crew was in danger. The crew was in danger from Kim. Yeah, that was part of it. But why? Think, Tawaza, think. No, don't think about how much your head is hurting. Think about what happened last night.
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Daniel Logan
Member
Posts: 74
Affiliation: The Fel Crew and the Galactic Museum on Coruscant
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Daniel Logan on Oct 27, 2016 16:12:45 GMT -8
{ The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }
*If Daniel was startled, so was the woman on the other side of the door. Kim half-stepped, half-jumped to the other side of the passageway, putting her back to the wall, and stared at the professor in shock. No one had told her that there were other passengers aboard The Red Cred, aside from the ones that had rescued/kidnapped her last night. She would have immediately assumed the bespectacled man was an intruder, if he had not been quite obviously not a threat, and very much at home on the ship.*
*The middle-aged Palawan human woman wasn't particularly short by human standards, although she was a full half-foot shorter than Liya. Her long, black hair was pulled back and tied together tightly at the back of her neck, before being allowed to flow down her back, and her white kimono was fastened with a brilliant blue sash around her waist.*"Hi." *She tried to sound casual.* "I'm Kim." *She tilted her head slightly to the left. The stranger didn't look dangerous, but he didn't look like the type of person who would be on a spacer crew, either. Something was wrong. She did what she did best: play dumb, keep talking, and look for information.* "Jace didn't mention that anyone else was aboard." Much to his surprise the woman standing in front of him was just as startled as he was, though Daniel was way outside of his element here so despite her seeming to not be trouble he still felt somewhat leery of her. It was a strange feeling for him to immediately express distrust in someone, but beyond the core was a frightening place for an academic who had lead a rather privileged life, never having left his comfort zone, only traveling beyond the Core Worlds with people whom he knew personally. The spacer's life was something he never thought he would find himself in. "I'm not surprised, they probably forgot about me." He joked. "I'm Daniel." He stood silently with an awkward grin after he had introduced himself wondering if he should try to find out if she was an intruder on the ship or just another passenger. That was until he realized that if she were an intruder and he poked his nose where it didn't belong that she was probably well trained enough to make sure he didn't tell anyone he had discovered her given that if that were the case she had been well trained enough to infiltrate the ship without detection thus far. Then again he had seen her face and even spoken with her, albeit briefly, so if she were an intruder he has probably already signed his own death warrant. "So.." He broke his silence trying to think of something to say, "I've spilled stimcaf all over myself and I need to change." He said rather awkwardly before he took a step back, "But I need to see if Jace has another set of clothes I can borrow." |
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Nov 5, 2016 19:11:22 GMT -8
{ The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }
*The doctor's awkward hesitation seemed to put the woman at ease. Recovering from her initial alarm, Kim took a half-step forward away from the wall, and smiled her most charming smile.* "I'm sorry I scared you, Daniel." *She glanced up and down the passageway uncertainly, for effect.* "I'm an old friend of Liya Tawaza's, but we got back very late last night, and I missed seeing her. It's been years since we last spoke. Do you know which cabin is hers?" *She forced herself to blush slightly, and lowered her voice to what she hoped was a gossiping whisper.* "And what's she like these days? Still all uptight about military protocol or did she grow out of that?"
*It was a lot of questions to ask at once, but she needed answers, and now she had an unexpected opportunity. If Jace had forgotten that this strange, out of place passenger existed, he might have also forgotten to include the man in whatever hoax was being perpetrated. This was probably her only chance to find out if her new hosts were really allies, or just a new set of captors using her as a pawn. And to find out if Tawaza was even on Bespin at all. It seemed impossible, but she had to be certain.*
*If her cover was blown, she needed to get far away from the Syndicate, as soon as possible.*
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Daniel Logan
Member
Posts: 74
Affiliation: The Fel Crew and the Galactic Museum on Coruscant
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Daniel Logan on Dec 29, 2016 17:13:03 GMT -8
"You're fine, I've been scaring a little too easy these days." He said laughing at himself as he returned her smile, which he kept through her explanation that she was an old friend of Liya's. "Unfortunately I don't, I'm fairly new here myself. I was heading to see if Jace has an extra set of clothes but I'm pretty new here myself so I don't know which cabin is his either." He looked around the small corridor and then back to Kim. "Process of elimination?" He shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his glasses by pushing them up further with his index finger.
He started to walk toward one of the doors, "Honestly I don't know, like I said I'm pretty new here but she's been nice enough to me in the few interactions I've had with her." He had a bit of an amused grin on his face as he stopped in front of the first door and turned to her. "Uptight about military protocol? That sounds like a story."
This might be his best chance to learn something about the people he was on this mission with and it might give him a little insight on how to connect with at least one of them and not feel like such an outsider. Despite his fears of guns, fighting, the very real and terrifying monsters that are scattered across the galaxy, and just space in general, Daniel was excited about being here.
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246 
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Jan 3, 2017 20:29:06 GMT -8
Somewhere behind Daniel in the lounge, there was a thud, followed closely by a colorful curse and the whir of Astromech wheels on the metal flooring. Malora, arms stretched to the limit wrapped around a crate that should have been too heavy for her to carry solo, scowled at the new dent she'd made with the edge of the box in the hallway wall as she stomped into the lounge, all storm clouds and frozen frowns. R2-P47 trailed after her, silent as a grave. Counterpart_01 had been vocalizing most emphatically for the past forty minutes on the topic of Wade_Connors_01's departure, apparently an unexpected and upsetting event. Sensing her distress, Wrench had spent some time trying desperately to decipher exactly who she was speaking to, since they were alone and she didn't seem to be addressing him directly, nor was she using her comms, but he could not find an explanation. Counterpart_01's behavior since Wade_Connors_01's (she had given him a list of curse words and derogatory phrases to use when referring to Wade_Connors_01, but her phrasing suggested that it had not been an order), disappearance had not followed her normal patterns, and so R2-P47 decided after some confusion that his best course of action would be to simply be quiet so as not to interrupt her one-sided conversation but remain attentive and readily available in case she did have orders for him. "Y'know, you comb half the galaxy for the better part of two years lookin' for a guy," the smuggler started again, plunking the crate down on the table with a little more 'plunk' than was needed. She yanked the top off, tossed it on the floor, and began unloading the boxes of stimcaf refills and ration packs in quick succession, slamming them unforgivingly on the counter-top, not quite seeing what was in front of her. "You finally find him playing gladiator for the Hutts, go through hell to rescue his amnesic ass—a metal bikini, people. Me. Again. Once on Varonat was enough, thanks. I had to get sold into slavery to get anywhere near him. I WAS FORCED TO WEAR EYESHADOW AND PAINT MY NAILS. They even made me comb my hair, like… I'm tellin' ya, it was hell." She grabbed an armful of instant noodle packages and made for the kitchenette cabinet like she was on a timetable. "Although, I got to barbecue a Hutt, so it wasn't all bad. Anyway, so I lick boots to get him out of there—Oh, and get this, he doesn’t even LOOK like Connors anymore! At all!" she ranted, attempting to violently stuff the disorganized jumble into the small space with little success. "Nope. I guess Doctor FrankenGalen gave him the ability to spontaneously nip-tuck his face, so now, now Connors doesn't look like Connors, he looks like those square-jawed, shiny-toothed, makes-nine-figures-a-commercial male models for men's cologne, you know the type. But, hey, I found him! Ohh, I found him and I rescued him, and I tried, I really did. I even did a few jobs with him, made some extra credits, flew the skies, smuggled the smuggily goods, y'know. Thought it might jog his memory, make his adjustment back to normal easier. But nooo." Noodle packets seemingly threw themselves off their shelves, raining down around her every time she tried to shift things around to make room. Wrench, seeing an opportunity to be useful, carefully plucked the fallen packages from the floor with his mechanical grasping arm and set them back on the table. Mal had to push the cabinet closed with both hands, ignoring the crunching of crushed noodles until the latch clicked shut. "No, Gladiator Champ decides he doesn't want to remember, he wants his OWN life, this isn't for him, he needs space to…what was it…'rediscover himself'?" She snorted, batting hair out of her face as she leaned over the crate to scoop the last supplies from the bottom. "And then he just takes off in the middle of the night like he's got places to be, and leaves me in bed with a note, a NOTE! 'I'll find you when I'm ready.'" Grabbing the stimcaf cup refill container, Malora swept the small plastic cartons in with their previously dwindling supply and began stacking the few pieces of fresh (well, sort of) fruit she'd managed to snag at the market, tone darkening, voice rising. "Oh, when he's ready, huh? Right, because I didn't just blow years of my life working my ass off to locate him, to bring him back, to keep him safe, so obviously, I don't deserve a few damn weeks of his time. UGH! I should just… I hope he comes back here, I'll-- That stuck up, half-witted, over-muscled tank of karkin' ARROGANCE!!! @%#$!!!!"A tense silence filled the lounge. Malora stared blankly at the unripe, bruised manta pear in her hand as her emotions plummeted from their furious high. Wrench rolled slowly towards her, letting out a short, sad, shakey little electric whooooing noise. He followed it quickly with a questioning warble. "I'm okay, dude," she reassured him, resting a hand on his scuffed dome. "I'm okay. Just venting. Thanks for listening."The droid stared at her. Confusion. Listening? So she had been addressing him?... Tossing the fruit in the air, Malora caught it, took a bite, and sauntered towards the corridor where Daniel stood. "Logan," she greeted him with a casual nod as if he hadn't heard a thing, slapping him on the back in a friendly gesture. But he wasn't alone. The smuggler raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar woman in the white kimono, munching loudly on her fruit as she gave her a lazy once over. Liya's holomessages hadn't been terribly informative, and they'd stopped coming altogether a few weeks ago. "Where's Tawaza?" she asked Daniel with a full mouth, her eyes still on the woman. She leaned towards him a little. "And who's the skirt?"| Daniel Logan | Galdaart Fel | Liya Tawaza | Wade | |
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Jan 24, 2017 21:05:32 GMT -8
{ The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }
*Daniel calmed down, and seemed to relax. That was good. But he didn’t know anything. That was bad. At least he wasn’t going to stop her from nosing about, and if she did open the wrong door, now she had someone she could blame for the ‘crime.’*
*The Palawan woman laughed.* “It is, but it’s long. Another time, perhaps.” *She moved toward the nearest sleeping cabin, and raised her hand to the latch trigger.*
*And then Lora made her entrance.*
ARGHH.
*Skirt had just about had it with everything by this point. Starting with the mysterious com call warning her not to show up for her business meeting at the Black Bantha last night, to the attack on that very same meeting by her current companion-captors, to the unexpected return of Liya Tawaza from the dead, to her uncertainty about whether she was a captive, to this bumbling, useless man named Daniel, the last 24 hours had been a complete disaster. And now yet another new, unknown variable had shown up. According to the script, she should have killed Smacky Lips right on the spot. But the Syndicate wasn’t paying her enough for this shizz. Not anymore. She needed information. Enough information that she wouldn’t be dependent on the Syndicate anymore. And then she was going to disappear, contract or no contract.*
“I’m Kim Zawadi.” *Skirt replied quickly before Daniel could ruin her opportunity.* “And no, we don’t. Have you tried looking in her cabin? I don’t know what chrono you’ve been looking at, but it’s 0600 Bespin time. She’s probably sleeping after that brawl last night.” *Skirt watched the newcomer’s reaction carefully.*
*Tawaza was supposed to be karkin’ dead. If she wasn’t, this was about to go seven kinds of sideways. She had to get ahead of the situation before it was too late.*
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Feb 13, 2017 19:43:33 GMT -8
Malora paused mid bite, forehead wrinkled in confusion. "…Brawl, what brawl, there was a brawl?" She looked between Kim and Daniel, hoping for more information. Clearly she was out of the loop here, but it didn't look like either of them knew anything more (or were going to divulge it). Awkward silence engulfed the little group as they all stood blinking, waiting for the other to speak. Malora stared at Daniel. Daniel stared at Kim. Kim stared at Malora. Wrench rolled over a pack of instant noodles on his way towards the group. With a wordless huff and the slightest roll of the eye, Mal shouldered past Kim and she clomped towards Liya's cabin, checking her comms quick. Nothing from Liya or Jace. Par for the course for the past month there. The smuggler fought the unease in her gut over the matter, but her sixth sense wasn't havin' it. She should have checked in by now. SOMEONE should have checked in by now. "Tawaza!!" Malora hammered on the cabin door, waited a moment before hitting the keypad. Not locked. Okay. "Rise 'nd shine, Big T, I've got a lot of questions for aaaand you're.not.here," she trailed off as she entered, noting the empty bed and lack of gear. Yeah. Maybe she was on overdrive, and with the events of the last few years, there wasn't a soul that would blame her for that. But it wasn't like Liya or Jace to just go dark without warning. Whatever they'd been doing on Bespin, it hadn't gone as they'd planned. Immediately, rescue plans unfolded in her mind (well, less plans and more ' we need to go find them and we'll make it up as we go along'). But first, some answers. She spun on her heel, crossed her arms over her chest and hung in the open doorway, blocking entrance for Daniel and Kim. Especially Kim. She had no idea who she was, and there was no way she was gonna let her wander around in Liya's bedroom unsupervised. "Okay," she started, fixing both of them with a blunt stare. "You two seem to know more than I do here. So. Someone tell me about this brawl. Quickly would be better," |
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
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Post by Liya Tawaza on Feb 27, 2017 21:35:14 GMT -8
*It seemed this newcomer was just as confused as she herself was, but at least the Palawan's carefully worded hints had pushed her into action, and now she knew which cabin was Tawaza's. That was progress. But just as she'd suspected, there was no Tawaza, and no proof that this wasn't all still some elaborate hoax. If so, they'd picked their victim very poorly, and she would make them pay. But right now, she just wanted information. Which no one around here seemed to possess.*
*Kim stared at Daniel.*
*Daniel stared at Malora.*
*And Kim could almost feel Malora's gaze burning holes in her face. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.*
*And then, there was a digital hoot from the passageway outside, and a green and white R5 series astromech trundled into view, his dome spinning from side to side as he stared them all down, inquisitively. Having identified everyone present, he let out a low, flat, moan as if disappointed, then fixed his gaze on Karana. Extending a gadget arm, Scrapheap pressed a button, and a wall-mounted Holonet set sprung to life.*
*Kim, her now face almost as white as her kimono, stabbed a finger into the controls and the broadcast shut off again.* "Well, there you have it." It was pretty obvious who the three suspects were. And none of them were Liya, although that rooftop report sounded suspicious.* "They're on to us. So if you don't know where the frack Tawaza is, maybe you'd better go wake up your two friends and tell them the police are coming for us, and then we can get the frack out of here."
*Really, she was more worried about the Syndicate than the police. At least the police wouldn't have her chilled.*
"Funny how Tawaza's the only one they aren't looking for." *There was a tone of bitterness in her voice.* "It's almost like she planned the whole thing." *She turned to stare at Karana.* "How well do you know this Tawaza?" *It was time to take a risk. If her intel was bad, this could all blow up in her face. But she was a lot more sure of this part than she was about some of the other poodoo they'd been providing her. And she needed to see how far she could push things before Tawaza turned up and ruined everything.* "Because the one I knew died over three years ago."
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on Mar 6, 2017 1:22:01 GMT -8
*It seemed this newcomer was just as confused as she herself was, but at least the Palawan's carefully worded hints had pushed her into action, and now she knew which cabin was Tawaza's. That was progress. But just as she'd suspected, there was no Tawaza, and no proof that this wasn't all still some elaborate hoax. If so, they'd picked their victim very poorly, and she would make them pay. But right now, she just wanted information. Which no one around here seemed to possess.*
*Kim stared at Daniel.*
*Daniel stared at Malora.*
*And Kim could almost feel Malora's gaze burning holes in her face. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.**And then, there was a digital hoot from the passageway outside, and a green and white R5 series astromech trundled into view, his dome spinning from side to side as he stared them all down, inquisitively. Having identified everyone present, he let out a low, flat, moan as if disappointed, then fixed his gaze on Karana. Extending a gadget arm, Scrapheap pressed a button, and a wall-mounted Holonet set sprung to life.*
*Kim, her now face almost as white as her kimono, stabbed a finger into the controls and the broadcast shut off again.* "Well, there you have it." It was pretty obvious who the three suspects were. And none of them were Liya, although that rooftop report sounded suspicious.* "They're on to us. So if you don't know where the frack Tawaza is, maybe you'd better go wake up your two friends and tell them the police are coming for us, and then we can get the frack out of here." *Really, she was more worried about the Syndicate than the police. At least the police wouldn't have her chilled.*"Funny how Tawaza's the only one they aren't looking for." *There was a tone of bitterness in her voice.* "It's almost like she planned the whole thing." *She turned to stare at Karana.* "How well do you know this Tawaza?" *It was time to take a risk. If her intel was bad, this could all blow up in her face. But she was a lot more sure of this part than she was about some of the other poodoo they'd been providing her. And she needed to see how far she could push things before Tawaza turned up and ruined everything.* "Because the one I knew died over three years ago." With every second that ticked by, every scrap of information from the broadcast, every word from Kim's mouth, Malora's frustration levels rose. She was ridiculously uninformed and wildly out of her element here and she wasn't making it hard to figure that out. And that annoyed her further. Somewhere along the line over the past six years, in between all the kidnappings and the tortures and the loss, such excruciating, abundant loss, she'd lost her 'chill' factor, that super cool, poker-faced, resourceful, clear-headed-think-on-your-feet-in-bad-situations version of herself that wouldn't have found her current position overwhelming. It was a realization she'd been straight up denying for the last two years, kicking it back under the waves every time it bobbed to the surface in the heat of the moment, and as long as she wasn't alone or in a leader position, she managed to function fairly convincingly as a poor imitation of what she used to be. As a result, Fel, Connors, Stealer, Tawaza, Logan, even Scrappy and Wrench, her crew had become her crutch, her band-aid, her excuse, and as they'd fallen apart… so had she. Maybe it was her failure to recruit Wade Connors, still raw, constantly salted by her never-ending inner monologue, reprimanding herself. Maybe it was the paralyzing fear that she'd never see the shattered pieces of the Crew of the Unfair Advantage, her family, put back together again, or the alarming fact that something was happening in her cells that she could not explain, much less comprehend. Maybe it was everything, all of it finally catching up to her, every dead friend she couldn't save, every crystal clear moment she'd let her crew down, every cold memory of the trauma they'd all endured over and over again. Her seams were breaking, her edges frayed, and it was getting hard to keep all the stuffing inside. Malora looked at bitter Kim. She looked at her shorter-than-average height. She looked at her long black hair, at the white robe on her body, the blue sash wrapped tightly about her waist. The smuggler couldn't say exactly what it was that triggered her violent, instinctive response, but the shift from irritated, worried spacer-buddy to reckless, aggressive bully was sudden. Her fingers were around Kim's throat in an instant, grip unforgiving, shoving her back against the bulkhead and holding her there with one hand. Her other was perched on the blaster at her hip, ready to draw. And there was a dark kind of fire in her gaze, a distrustful note in her words as she got in Kim's face. "I don't know you," Mal growled, "I don't know why you're here or why you're so interested in my friend, but let's get something straight, Kimmy." There it was again. That…surge of power that wasn't hers, bursting from her cells, flooding her body. It would've scared the shit outta her, had she not been so caught up in this sweeping unstable, unfamiliar rage. Malora squeezed the woman's tender flesh, sliding her up the wall until her feet dangled uselessly. "You're on our ship, you're obviously a wanted woman, I'm running the show here, and in my book, you're guilty until proven innocent, so you're gonna pack up the sassy inquisition act and let me do the asking. You got all that?" A pause, and she let Kim slide just enough for her toes to touch the ground, loosening her grip the slightest to allow for words. Malora's blaster was in her hand, primed and pressed to Kim's side. "You've got ten seconds to tell me why you're so damn interested in Liya Tawaza, because I assure you, she's very much alive." |
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Daniel Logan
Member
Posts: 74
Affiliation: The Fel Crew and the Galactic Museum on Coruscant
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Daniel Logan on Mar 6, 2017 23:11:34 GMT -8
From the moment Karana burst onto the scene Daniel had been at a loss for words, not only was her entire rant complete news to him he didn't even know she was back from looking for Wade. He hadn't seen her in so long that he honestly wasn't sure if she was ever coming back, of course he always seemed to be out of the loop when it came to matters with the crew since he had only been a passenger up to this point, albeit an extended stay passenger. What she had said was a lot of useful information that he would have to store away for later, for example Daniel had been under the impression that Karana and the Captain were together but having revealed just now that that Wade left her in bed with a note only led Daniel to assume that this was not the case and that Wade and Karana were something. Like a daytime holodrama if he had ever seen one...which he had. And, though he knew it shouldn't, it did take some weight off his shoulders learning that Wade didn't want to come back since the doctor partially blamed himself for chunks of the crew missing.
It wasn't until Karana came over to him and slapped him on the back, which actually stung, she was pretty strong for such a slender woman, anyway it wasn't until she slapped him on the back that Daniel snapped out of his speechlessness and opened his mouth to answer both Kim and Karana but Kim interjected before he could say anything thing so he exhaled, closed his mouth and waited for his next opening. Which came surrounding a question about a brawl that Daniel had no knowledge of so the three of them just stood there staring at each other.
Daniel stared at Kim, then at Karana.
Karana stared at Daniel, then at Kim.
Kim stared at Karana, the at Daniel.
Until finally Wrench broke the awkward silence. And boy was it awkward. But not nearly as awkward as the next bit where Karana beat on Liya's door to find her room vacant and then blocked the exit for Daniel and Kim as though they had done something wrong. And when she asked what happened the only response that Daniel had was to shrug nervously with his mouth gaping open trying to speak as she shook his head. And then the droid saved the silence again by broadcasting the HoloNet News, though ironically the answers they were looking for only sent the two women at each other's throats, literally, while Daniel stood back not sure what to do. When Karana lunged it was like the person he knew wasn't there anymore, she had so much rage and hate, not at all like the person he had met two years ago.
He looked back and forth between them and knew that he was probably going to regret this decision but did what he had to before Karana killed this woman. He reached out and cupped Karana's shoulder just as she had loosened her grip on Kim. "Let her go, Karana." He spoke gently but firmly, making sure that she knew it was more than just a request but he knew that there was something strange going on with her, like she had this unnatural strength and aggression from something. "Please, this isn't you." His tone was softer this time and he placed his free hand on the blaster in an attempt to get Karana to lower it as he pleaded with her to let go of the woman. He turned to Kim as he tried to calm Karana, "I don't know the Liya you're referring to, but like she said, our Liya is very much alive and we're not leaving her behind." He turned to Karana, "We're not leaving anyone else behind." He started to push down on the blaster, hoping that she would give in and let him move the barrel from Kim's side.
"Karana." He tried to get her to turn her attention to him. "Karana. Look at me." His tone was still calm and gentle as he tried to defuse the situation. "We're going to get Liya back." He looks at Kim, "Our friend is not the person you knew, and even if she was, that was three years ago. A lot can happen in three years."
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Adrien Draykon
Retired High Councilor 
The Smuggler King
Posts: 720
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Adrien Draykon on Apr 24, 2017 17:08:12 GMT -8
An encrypted holomessage to Karana Malora is received on a holodisc given to her by Adrien Draykon. When she opens it a blue hologram of Adrien will appear with his signature cocky grin.
Unakki! I hope you're misbehaving as much as I am. I wish I could say this was another social call, but it isn't. I'm headed to Mustafar to pick up a shipment and then I'm headed over to the Run to make the drop. I was kinda hoping you could meet me there. I've got a lead on that thing you asked me to help with a while back and since I said I'd help you find this something that's what I'm gonna do. I'm en-route from Naboo, shouldn't take too long get there, get my shipment and be on my way to you.
Who knows, maybe we'll get a minute to make time for another social visit, that is if we can get away from our crews long enough. I'll be at the Red Shift tomorrow, we can meet there. See you soon.
As the message ends he winks at her.
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Liya Tawaza
The Unfair Advantage
Posts: 772
Affiliation: The Unfair Advantage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Liya Tawaza on May 18, 2017 20:29:33 GMT -8
{ Cloud City }
Standing with Crusher among the blackened ruins of what had once been the Syndicate headquarters on Bespin (as the Togorian filled me in on what had happened while I'd been spending the night in police custody), it wasn't until he mentioned Kim Zawadi that the full implications of last night's confrontation with the Syndicate came back to me, and the last cobwebs cleared from my brain. I tensed as the memory came flooding back to me. "My crew... they're in danger." I sputtered.
Crusher knew the look even before I spoke. "Ah, now you remember." He motioned with one furry paw. "Go. Do what must be done."
I hesitated. "Aren't you coming with me? I need you on this."
The Togorian shook his head. "No. Your crew is your problem, not mine. They will only be confused if a strange shows up." He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I have other business to which I must attend. You must do this alone."
It had been a presumptuous request on my part, but I took his refusal in stride as we carefully exited the ruined warehouse. It was useful to know that there were limits to Crusher's friendship. But there was one more thing I needed before we parted; something only Crusher and his contacts could achieve on our timetable. I blurted out the shortest version I could devise.
“The Syndicate is gone, but I have ways to find them again. I need you to get me the jump vectors that each of their ships took when leaving the system.” For a moment, he looked bewildered, but then the behemoth of a Togorian gave a mock salute, turned, and loped off into the depths of Cloud City, leaving unasked the obvious question of how I could possibly find one grain of sand in an ocean of possible locations. Grateful for his trust and his instinct to obey rather than waste time, I checked my kit even as I turned and ran toward the Red Cred. I felt certain Dante would know which vector was relevant.
My walk turned into a sprint, and in seconds I was back at the Red Cred, and hurried up the ramp into the lower cargo hold. There were no signs of life outside the ship or in the lower hold, and so I raised the lower boarding ramp behind me, sealing everyone aboard. With any luck at all, everyone would still be asleep, and I would not be walking into a fight, but what exactly about the last five years of my life screamed lucky? I could feel a sickening dread building in the pit of my stomach as I tried to avoid thinking about what might happen if I was too late.
Tossing my bag down on a packing crate, I unzipped the main pouch, then stopped. What good was a sniper rifle going to do me in the close quarters of the Loronar? It would be more effective as a club than to actually shoot anyone. And then I saw it. One of my DL-44 blaster pistols was lying on another crate nearby, just where I had left it yesterday.
Perfect. Abandoning my kit, I seized the DL-44 and hurried into the lift, punching the button for the upper cargo deck and crew quarters. As the doors closed, and the car began to ascend with a quiet whir (and an occasional wheeze), I stopped to take a quick breath, and prepare myself for anything. I had probably four hours to clean this mess up and get the crew off Bespin, or we were going to be near-permanent residents.
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{ The Red Cred, Crew Quarters }
*The martial artist was taken completely by surprise as Malora suddenly exploded and attacked her. Caught back on her heels, she was easily thrown against the bulkhead, and struggled helplessly for a moment, before the doctor intervened.*
*Given a moment to recover her senses and remember her part in all of this, Skirt suddenly sprung into action, and slashed her right arm from her own right to her left, hard, across the space between herself and Karana, aiming her forearm for the hand that held the blaster. It was a Teras Kasi strike designed to break the wrist and prevent the holder from pulling the trigger, but it was clumsily executed, as would not do any lasting harm if it made contact.*
*The blaster clattered to the deck, bounced once, and went off, providing a nice flash but fortunately not hitting anything except a lighting panel above their heads, which flared, blinked several times, and went dark with a faint pop.*
*The Palawan glared fiery katanas at Malora.* “I trained the real Liya Tawaza, you fool. She was one of my best friends in the galaxy. I’m telling you, she was killed over three years ago. I went to her funeral. She’s very dead. Whoever your friend is, she’s an imposter.” *Her face bright red with combined anger and pain, she gasped for air.* “Your friends Dante and Jace pulled me out of a Syndicate operation last night, supposedly on Tawaza’s orders, and yet, Tawaza has been hiding ever since. So the only question I have is why you're conning me?”
*Lunging forward like a Hrosma tiger pouncing on it’s prey, Skirt’s hands extended toward Malora’s neck, fingers stiffening to rip at the jugular.*
Bursting from the liftcar into the crew quarters with drawn blaster, I didn’t hesitate. Spotting my target, I fired ... and the circular blue halo of a stun blast enveloped the woman in the white kimono, sending her tumbling to the deck in a heap.
“The real Kim Zawadi would have known that I’m still alive.” I smirked, shoving the DL-44 into my belt. “Fake Kim got everything right except Real Kim's stride, and I'm sure she never expected to meet the one person in the 'verse who would spot that mistake." But then I took on a serious tone. "Throw her in the airlock or something. We have to move. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news or the police chatter yet this morning, but our little stunt at the Black Bantha last night is getting more attention than we’d hoped.”
Only then did I realize who was present. Daniel and … Malora!?
“Oh, hi. What slimy rust-bucket did you fly in on?” I grinned. “I saved the last banana beef ration bar juuust for you.”
Meanwhile, something was happening to the prone Palawan. More specifically, now that she wasn't in control of her body, she wasn't looking very Pawalan anymore. Instead, her face was sinking and shriveling into the reptilian features of a Clawdite. Whoever looked over first would realize that this so-called "Kim" had been a shapeshifter all along. But why?
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Karana Malora
The Unfair Advantage
I don't believe in a no-win scenario.
Posts: 246
Affiliation: The Fel Crew (Unfair Advantage)
Traffic Light: Orange
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Post by Karana Malora on May 21, 2017 22:38:29 GMT -8
"Well aren't you just soooo thoughtful," Malora snarked back as she bent to grasp the Clawdite's limp arms, cracking the first genuinely happy smile she'd put on in months. But there was no time to revel in it. No time to process the last seven minutes, either, because apparently, they were in a hurry here. With a nod, she tugged the unconscious 'Kim' towards the hallway, trying very hard not to make it look easy. Because it WAS easy. In fact, she probably could've lifted the thing one handed above her head and carried it through the ship without breaking a sweat.
And that scared the living shit outta her.
"You'll have to fill me in on the road, Li. Sounds like I missed a fun party. Hey!! Nerd!" The smuggler paused by the doorway, looking rather breathless with effort as she raised her dark eyebrows at Daniel, expression impatiently expectant. "Am I gonna drag this dinosaur-in-a-dress by myself, or you gonna help a gal out? C'mon, Logan, earn your keep, let's go!" She added a smirk so he knew she wasn't just being a dick, but honestly, he was probably used to the grief he'd received from her on a daily basis before the crew had split. Mal was just catching up on lost time now.
Besides, poking fun at him helped reinforce the idea that everything was alright.
She kept up the act until they were out of Liya's sight and halfway to the airlock, where she scooped the Clawdite from the ground with one hand and hefted the creature over her shoulder with no effort. The good-natured jokes dried up, the smile dropped from her expression. A grave silence followed them, thick with tension and unspoken words.
There was too much, far too much to address here and not nearly enough time for any of it.
"Look, Logan," Mal started uncertainly. The scene was on replay in her mind, like an out of control wheel spinning questions like silk. What was wrong with her? What did this mean? How did it happen? WHY was it happening? And why was she suddenly so out of control? She was never not in control, that was her thing, controlling what the world saw of Karana Malora, wearing masks so no one knew her well enough to hurt her. That little display? Not controlled. That was not okay. None of this was okay, she was not okay, but if she admitted that or gave it any further thought, she'd have to answer things she didn't want to realize, face thing she didn't want to face. She didn't have time. Not right now. Need to find Fel first. Need to keep moving forward.
She was scared. Malora was scared.
And Daniel had seen it. In that moment, when he'd managed to reach her, talk her down, he'd seen it. He'd seen a lot of things that Mal wasn't sure she wanted him to see.
First things first, though. "I'm shelving our impending discussion on the shit that went down in the hallway for now, 'cause we don't have time for it yet." She hit the sequence to open the airlock, unceremoniously tossing 'Kim' to the ground, not without a serious thought or two about putting a laser bolt in her shapeshifting skull. "So save your questions for later." With a hiss, the door sealed again, locking the would-be assassin inside, and Malora rounded on Daniel with a chilly expression. "But you're gonna keep what you saw to yourself. No telling Liya, no telling Jace, don't even discuss it with Wrench or Scrappy, are we clear?" she growled, sounding more like a cornered animal than the intimidating Hulk-figure she was going for.
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