Private A Call For Help

[Kiana Ti]

"Hey, Juniper..."

It had been a while since the two had met for the first time, but Kiana couldn't think of anyone else to contact in the situation she found herself in. Thinking the gig would be just like any other, she had gleefully accepted when the band of pirates asked to hire her. Pirates had a lot of wealth, after all. Who knew things would go wrong when dealing with pirates?

As she cowered away in a cupboard she sent her coordinates through to the sorceress, a plea for assistance from the only badass she knew. It wouldn't take long for the pirates to find her hiding place and she would be dragged off to one of their holding cells, but in the meantime she had a chance to call for help.

"I'm in a bit of a situation here... Do you think you could lend a girl a hand?"

As she finished the call over her comlink, the cupboard door flung open and one of the pirates hands reached in to grab her by the arm. She let out a shriek as the pirate pulled her out of the cupboard and to her feet. Snickering he hollered to the other pirates, "I found her!"

The pirates searched her to find all her valuable possessions to claim for themselves, including her gold headpiece and the necklace Juniper had stolen for her. Both of which meant a lot to Kiana, she couldn't stop the stream of tears as she was separated from her precious items. They also found the comlink and tossed it to the side, stepping on it with the heel of their boot to destroy it.

Then she was dragged away to a holding cell, waiting for her rescue that she prayed would come soon.

Juniper Le Fey

 

[Juniper Le Fey]

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The frantic message had found Juniper over a glass of whiskey, sitting at a bar by herself, wondering if she should try to salvage the rest of her night. The comm startled her, taking her out of her self pitty depressive spiral. Kiana Ti was in trouble, and Juniper was not going to let something happen to her. The little Songbird was far too pretty to know how to defend herself. She was an easy target for the pirates...it was always pirates.

Finishing her cigarette and pitching the the butt, Juniper rose from her seat and made way back to her ship. She had already started trying to trace the frequency to see if she could pick up any information. But without being on her ship she was limited to the scans she could do. She still had the location, however, and that was enough for now. Le Fey was going to go and rescue her friend.

As she boarded the ship, Misch greeted her by rubbing against her leg, a subtle way of him asking for a snack. She patted him lovingly but firmly, he was able to understand her speech, an inherent trait of the Noctua species. She told him what was going on and he understood, he chuffed as he curled up next to Juniper in the cockpit. He'd wait till they got there.

While endless hyperspace flashed by the windows, Juniper prepared. She had fought pirates before, killed many of them in her lifetime. They were more nuisance than threat, chaotic, unpredictable, quick to kill each other if treasure was in sight. Collateral damage was always on the table. Hostages usually weren't.

Juniper went over the schematics that her slicer squeezed from the transmission from Kiana. She had a way into the building, but she'd have to fight her way through.

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She armed herself carefully. Pathbreaker in hand, multiple bandoliers of Hexfangs crisscrossed her chest, each row promising a different effect. Juniper slipped toward Kiana's last known location with Misch skittering off into the airducts above, wings silent. He would fight if pressed, but for now he was her eyes in the walls.

Approaching the building, one of the pirates spoke up, nearing Juniper. "What are you doing he-" He was immediately cut off by a twist of her hand, his neck snapping quickly and quietly. She tossed his body effortlessly to the side with the Force and was off before it even had time to slump down. She ducked into a doorway and weaseled herself into the building. Now she just needed to find Kiana.

In the distance she could hear a faint chirp from Misch in the vents, letting her know the coast was clear.

 

[Kiana Ti]

Kiana was midway through telling the pirate her whole "Do you know who I am?" spiel when they rudely walked away from her, covering their ears as they did so. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not done talking to you!" But they were already gone. "You will regret this!" She continued into the empty prison block. "My friend is on her way and she will make you pay!"

She let out a sigh. It was useless to continue, they weren't going to listen to her. So she retreated to the back of the cell to take up seat on the cot in there. Placing her elbows on her knees, she sunk her head into her hands and sulked. Kiana had never been in this kind of trouble before. She also wasn't sure Juniper would respond to her call for help, after all they'd only met once before. But the sorceress was her only hope.

How long would those dirty pirates keep her locked away? And what exactly did they want from her anyway? They're already taken all her valuables, what more could they take? These were the questions rolling around in her mind as she sunk her back into the cot with a gentle thud. She closed her eyes and scrunched her nose. It smelt so bad in there, and there was something slimy on the walls. The filth, the pirates and the confinement was all to much for poor little Kiana. Her eyes had lost their bright sparkle. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. Then she let them flow.

Juniper Le Fey

 

[Juniper Le Fey]

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Juniper moved through the building like a force to be reckoned with. Her tall frame and deft hands let her glide through the shadows, each step carrying the grace of a dancer. She picked her moments carefully, ducking when she could, killing when she had to. Not that she wanted any of these losers to live. No, every one of them deserved a grave. But she wasn't foolish enough to think she could take on the entire nest at once. Selective violence kept her alive.

The kitchen smelled of old grease and burned oil. She slipped low, skirting past the fryers and making for the walk-in cooler. A sound behind her froze her mid-step, the rattle of boots and a faint hum of someone turning the corner. A pirate.

Whether he was patrolling or scavenging for a midnight snack, Juniper couldn't afford the risk. Her hand slid to her boot, fingers curling around the hilt of a Gravekiss Hexfang tucked against her ankle. The knife gleamed faintly, cruel in its simplicity. She pressed herself against the cooler door, waiting.

He passed within arm's reach. Juniper moved like a wraith, one hand clamping over his mouth, the other driving the blade into his ribs. His body stiffened as the venom set in, paralysis locking him where he stood. His muffled gasp was the only sound he managed before she wrenched him into the walk-in, letting the cold finish what the steel had started.

As she moved on, a crash echoed up ahead, sharp and sudden. Juniper's grip tightened around Pathbreaker as she edged toward it, staff ready to break bone or split skull the moment something moved. When she rounded the corner, she almost cursed. Misch had found a slab of thawing meat left on the counter, shredding the wrapper with claws and beak. The little bastard was halfway through devouring it when he noticed her glare.

"Mischief." Her voice was sharp but low, a whip crack contained to a whisper. "Get your ass back in the vents if you ever want to eat again." The Noctua huffed, wings flicking in irritation before he slunk back into the ductwork. A beat later, another pirate came striding in, his gaze darting from Juniper to the half-eaten meat.

"What the hell…" His comm clicked live. "We've got a stray in the kitchen. Some homeless broad eating raw meat."

Juniper's lips curled into a thin smile. Great, now her cover was blown.

She tightened her grip on Pathbreaker, magick already humming up the length of the staff like static before a storm. Time to stop being subtle.

"Where is Kiana Ti ?"

 

[Kiana Ti]

Commotion. Pirates scrambled past her cell, gathering arms to take to a fight. There was yelling, orders being tossed about from one pirate to another.

"Hey! What's going on?" Kiana demanded. Then it dawned on her. Juniper! Her bright blue eyes lit up as she rushed to the door of her cell, grasping onto the bars so tightly her knuckles went pale. "Oh you boys are in for it now!"

Kiana continued to loudly blab on to the pirates as they ran past her. "I told you so!" And, "You really think you could kidnap the Kiana Ti and get away with it!" Projecting her voice as loud as she could hoping it would help her friend locate her.

Juniper Le Fey

 

[Juniper Le Fey]

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Juniper left death where she went, but it didn't show as carnage. She was far too good at her job for wanton slaughter. She could have painted the hallways red if she wanted, but it wasn't her style. Instead each kill was surgical, precise, necessary. Like a phantom she went room to room, slipping past pirates. If she had to kill she did, but she wasn't looking for bodies. Every death was another hidden corpse to cover, which got tiring after a while. Instead the bounty hunter relied on stealth and cunning.

As she would go room to room, Misch prowled along. He wasn't there to hunt, though Gods knew he was wanting to. More than once the fumbling goof almost blew her cover. Juniper then having to quickly dispose of the curious guard before they discovered the creature, her Hexfangs making quick work of them. Mostly, he was happy to be off the ship, so he complied without too much trouble.

When she rounded a corner, she heard the feint call of her Songbird. She knew the voice from anywhere. Her eyes lowered and she pressed on toward the voice. In the distance she heard rumbling, they were moving something around. Maybe they were trying to move Kiana Ti . She followed the sound to see a group of pirates standing at the end of a hallway. She ducked down and waited for the next move. If she could avoid it, Juniper wanted to not have to fight off the entire pirate base by herself.

 

[Kiana Ti]

The head pirate unlocked the cell she was contained in and grabbed her by the arm. No words were said to her as she was handed from pirate to pirate until she was in the middle of the group. She wrestled against their grip to no avail as some more orders were shouted amongst them. "Let me go!" She squealed.

Then the lead pirate grabbed her by the chin, looked her in the eye and finally addressed her. "Time to get you to your new master, Togruta." As the group made their way through the hallway toward the hangar, Kiana continued her struggle against them, screaming as loud as she could in hopes that her rescue would come soon.

In the hangar, the pirates set her down on the floor against a crate as they loaded cargo onto their ship. Only one pirate stood guard, making sure she wouldn't try to run away. After all, they didn't think there would be any other trouble looking to find them in their own base of operations. To keep her silent, the pirates had bound her mouth shut. But her muffled screaming continued relentlessly.


Juniper Le Fey

 

[Juniper Le Fey]

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Tiptoeing around like this was always the smarter way, the safer way- but in her heart, Juniper had a preference for the theatrical, the loud entrance. There was something in her that loved attention. Still, she was a professional above all else. That meant no matter how much more fun it would've been to waltz in blazing, she couldn't risk Kiana's life. If she went in guns-hot, they'd either try to kill the Togruta to cut loose ends or use her as a bargaining chip. Either way, Juniper couldn't risk that. No, she'd have to keep to the shadows and whispers a little longer.

For someone who didn't love stealth, the witch was damned good at it. Her magick dulled her footfalls, and her natural dexterity carried her sweep from room to room like a ghost. She even flexed her slicing muscles once or twice to turn off cameras without raising alarms. It wasn't much, but it was what she could do on the go. She was already balancing too much to afford a full-blown hack. As she came up on the final rooms, where they had to be moving Kiana Ti - she slowed her breathing and steadied her grip.

Pathbreaker hummed faintly in her hands, ready for whatever came next. Above her, Misch crept through the ducts, pausing and waiting for her before continuing. The closer they got, the farther back he stayed. He knew he'd blow her cover if he wasn't careful, and the Noctua, fond of the Togruta, didn't want to see her harmed. Still, he was there for backup, and Juniper knew he'd leap without hesitation when the fighting started. Hopefully, that wouldn't be just yet.

She slipped into the room, pressing herself against a stack of crates. She could spring into action at any time, but for now she wanted to see who this "buyer" was. Her stomach turned at the thought. Poor Kiana, terrified and alone, bound and gagged. The girl probably knew Juniper was close, but she needed something more, a sign. Through the Force, Juniper sent a mental nudge to Misch. The Noctua scuttled across the upper catwalk and bumped a few loose crates. They tumbled with a metallic crash below, not enough to give her position away, but enough to make Kiana look up.

That was Juniper's way of saying I'm here. Misch vanished back into the vents just as a few pirates ran over to investigate the noise. "Something's not right," one of them grunted over his comm. "Get the buyer here ASAP. Let's finish the deal before we have more trouble." Juniper stayed still, eyes never leaving Kiana. Her grip on Pathbreaker tightened, her heart pacing itself to the rhythm of her magick.

Just a few more minutes, she told herself.
Just a few more, and she'd tear them apart.