A Day at the Beach

[Isaac Rennek]

The shadowport known as Tanquilla Beach was the perfect place for smugglers and pirates. It was certainly no place for a Jedi. Or perhaps precisely because it was a place with smugglers and pirates, it was a place for Jedi. Their services were needed. Fitting or not, the young Twi'lek Jedi Padawan Vanja Del'Vaan found herself on the asteroid-turned-spaceport. She had never been to the Kathol sector before. 'The Beach' had been easy enough to spot, with vast amount of light hitting the station from all directions from the nebulae. Vanja had thought getting in would be the hardest part. It wasn't. Everything that came next would be.

Ever since a very young child she had been with the Jedi. Her youngling days were long passed, and she felt as if this might be her last year as a Padawan. It surely would be about time. She was eighteen, after all. She was ready. And finally it appeared the Council had taken note as well, sending her on this mission. A test perhaps? If so it was a test with dire consequences should she fail. This was perhaps true for every mission, but especially this, considering her heritage combined with the fact that she was hunting slavers. Vanja had a special relationship with slavers. Safe to say, she was not a fan. Part of the test, no doubt.

The empty caverns of 'The Beach' was filled with buildings and living quarters to support the businesses and personnel that made it a viable community. The face of the asteroid was covered in metal and plastic, in some places reaching as far as ten meters above the original surface of the asteroid. The place had fifteen levels worth of trading space. Bazaars and stores sold a multitude of goods, ranging from droids, illegal ship parts and weapons, food, clothing and other items. Bars and gambling halls were in good supply, and slices, technicians and cyberdocs sold their services. Only one of those levels had any interest to Vanja. Level Twelve. It was also known as the "meat market". It was a place avoided by many spacers. It was the Slaver's Market.

Vanja's outfit didn't scream Jedi. There were no brown robes or beige tunics. However, a lightsaber hilt hung from her belt on her right hip. There weren't really any wide sleeves or hidden spaces to hide it in. She hoped it wouldn't be an issue. For all they know she could be some bounty hunter who had bagged a Jedi. She could be dark. She could be Sith. It was also likely that whatever she was, they would not care. The rest of her outfit was a dark brown; pants hugging her legs tightly with a fabric that appeared slightly elastic in nature, and a sleeved crop top seemingly made up of leather straps.

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

"Woah there, skipper, watch the goods, ya?"
"Shut the kark up."
"No, but seriously, guys. We can talk about this, right?"

See, Gabriel Lethe was a lot of things. He was pretty intelligent on the usual day. Genes, you see. He had them and they were exceptional genes. But there was just something disturbing about him. Just the way how he managed to keep completely relaxed, amused and entirely unperturbed even in the face of consistent adversity.

Or in this situation a literal punch to the face.

His head swung back by the momentum, but the body stayed in between the two burly Gamorrean guards slash slavers currently dragging him into the dark, unclean alleyway towards their outpost.

"I said quiet."

They switched into Gamorrean next.

Probably thinking that their current prey was completely clueless when it came to their cultural heritage and language… which was a completely fair assessment, because Gabey’s eyes immediately glassed over when he realized he had no idea what they were talking about.

If only he still had his walkman, but even that they took away from him. Currently dangling on the belt of the right slaver, even. Inconceivable.

A moment later he was thrown into an unoccupied cell. The one left of him had two older twi’leks - males - and the right had a single Cathar. Scarred eye, muzzled face, seemed like a warrior.

But what did Gabey know?

"I dooooon’t belooooong heeeeeereeee." One of the other occupients wailed while the door closed behind the retreating Gamorreans.

"No one ever does, Jim… no one ever does."

Gabe mumbled while looking over his cell and wondering if there was an easy way to get out.

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

 

[Isaac Rennek]

Vanja had no idea what she was doing. Right about now she felt like this was when she ought to have planned something ahead. Oh well. Lesson learned, eh? It was her first mission on her own after all. Surely she would be permitted to a little learning curve.

The blue-skinned Twi'lek made her way through the asteroid base, heading in the direction of the meat market. She felt a new pair of eyes from scum and villains crawl her way with every step she took. Not used to free Twi'leks maybe? For now the lightsaber hilt had them clear a path away from her, mind their own business. Perhaps they were worried she was here to arrest one of them. Or maybe they were just appreciating the curves.

Vanja found her way into some kind of elevator shuttle thing. The doors were starting to close when she heard a voice of someone approaching quickly. "Hold the door!" Kark. She stood in one the front right corner. There was definitely plenty of space. Behind her back her right was clicking furiously on the 'doors close' button.

"Hold the door!"

Another time the Rodian called out for her. The doors were sliding shut. Closer... Closer... There! Until a green arm was caught between the two doors. She half expected it to carve it off, but apparently this was the one shadowport with all safety protocols all in order. The doors slid back open to allow the Rodian to walk in. Kark. She didn't know why it annoyed her, it just did. And manners would dictate...

Kark manners. The Rodian took a step into the elevator, a mix of confused anger on his face. "Why didn't you-" She stepped forwards and with a gentle push against his chest he stumbled backwards, past the doors that were on their way to close again.

"No!" but it was already too late. "Holdor!" was the last panicked phrase she heard before the doors finally shut and she was granted her privacy as the elevator started making its way down to level twelve. Vanja breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the wall.


[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

It took him close to fifteen minutes to realize that there wasn’t any obvious routes out of his prison cell.

“Coulda told ya that myself, laddy.” The scarred Cathar managed to mumble out through his muzzle. This did little to inspire Gabriel with confidence, but he was a stubborn lad and kept on trucking with his attempts to find anything that could help him.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?”
“Not a lot of amusement around these parts.”

Now that got a snort out of Gabey. A man with humor was a man he could get along with no matter the situation at hand.

“Gabriel Lethe.” Not that it stopped him from trying to find a way out, though. The cells were darkened with only a few lights flickering in the distance, which gave them intervals of bathing darkness and blinding light. During the periods of light he could just about register the Cathar and the male - silent and brooding - twi’leks to the left. The other cells seemed to be mostly empty… except for the one in front of him, actually.

Gabey blinked.

“Vasjan Dlago.” It came out slurred and sounded more like Vsjnn Rlaoo, but that was alright, the lad got the gist of it.

“What’s that, Vee?” A finger was pointed towards the cell directly across of his. Which was empty, except for a table with a box on top of it.

A little box the size of a small holocron, actually. It moved every once in awhile.

“The twins and me got a bet going.” Dlago slurred out. “I say it’s a bomb and they say it’s treasure.”

Lethe cocked his head in curiousity.

Interesting.

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

 

[Isaac Rennek]

For a moment she felt a little bad for the Rodian. The moment passed quickly. Vanja never held the door. But she fully supported people's right to pursue their dreams so that one day they might hold their own doors.

The blue Twi'lek hummed a merry tune to herself while the lift descended. It stopped at around level 7, at which point two large Gamorreans stepped inside of the lift. They smelled bad, but she gave them a big smile in any case. They looked at her, snorted, then turned their backs to her. Oh well. No pleasant chit chat on their way down. Fair enough.

It seemed they too were headed for level 12, as this was the next place where the lift stopped and everyone walked out. Vanja stopped to look around, looking very out of place. A moment too long, someone walked over her, waving their fist in frustration. It was a short Trandoshan with a crooked back. "What do you think you're doing? Get back to-oh" he stopped suddenly, his anger fading as his eyes looked her over one last time. Ah. He had thought she was a slave, but alas, she was not. A slave didn't carry lightsabers, and there were no chains on her. "What a shame" the man muttered, before turning his back and walking away before Vanja could really get to say anything back. She only looked upon him in confusion. Bizarre.

Vanja walked across the little market, seeing slavers trying to pull her in to their auctions, seeing the desperate and hopeless eyes for those already in chains. Some were on display, men fighting each other, beautiful females dancing, all to show their skills and attract interest. It all disgusted her. No one should own people. Freedom was at the very core of life. Take that away and there was nothing left.

The Twi'lek Jedi managed to spot a location where she definitely wasn't supposed to be. It looked like some kind of office, elevated in a tower that overlooked the entire level. She made her way to the entry, which was guarded by two tall, muscular humans.

"Hi!" Vanja said with an excited grin. They gave her dismissive glances. "You should let me in." She sounded very sure of herself. They disagreed. "You have no business here, girl" Rude. "Let me in!" she was stil smiling, but her body tensed up in preparation or a fight. "Ask me again and I'll-" he never got to tell her what he'd do. She could take a guess and figure out it wouldn't be pleasant. With a quick chop to his throat, a spinning kick to the face of the other she had them both tumbling against the wall and falling down. She finished them both off with an aggressive knee to the face. They should've just worked with her.

Once inside the Jedi made her way upwards, realising time was now working against her. At the very top she discovered the office, two guards and a number of technicians seated in front of computer panels. Vanja stepped out looking over it all. They looked at her, utterly confused. "Oh, I was sent here. To uh... To uh..." nope. She couldn't think of anything. Oh! Right.

"You will release all the slaves on this level and let them leave." Vanja waved a hand in front of them, as she channelled the Force. She reached out beyond her own presence to touch their minds, encourage them to do her bidding. "You will release all the slaves on this level and let them leave." Mind Trick was completely ethical, right? "You will release all the slaves on this level and let them leave."

They stared at her. One of them, another Rodian, had his jaw drop slightly. In the next moment the butt of a rifle rammed hard against the back of her head and she fell to her knees. She felt dizzy. What had just happened? In the next moment another struck at her and all went black.

The next thing she saw were cell doors opening, before two guards tossed her in. The girl landed roughly on the cold floor, groaning in pain as it came throbbing back, reminding her of the blows she had suffered to her head. "Ok... Bad plan" she muttered to herself, no yet noticing her cell mate [member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

“Nah, probably too small to be a real treasure.”
“You ever seen a nova crystal the size of your fist, pokah?” One of the Twi’leks laughed out while studying the box as well. The alien had a point, of course. In this galaxy, if you were lucky, you could buy an entire star system with some things that were literally only the size of your own damn fist.

This was silly in Gabey’s opinion, because in his experience bigger was mostly better, so why would you trade away an entire star system for just a fist-sized crystal? But some people were clearly out of their minds.

So what can you do about that?

“Opinions differ if that’s a real treasure, friend.”

Not that he would decline a nova crystal the size of his fist, if he was offered one. That was simply pragmatism at work.

Before the twi’lek named Kral could retort with something they all quieted down in the metaphorical face of footsteps in the distance. It was a completely natural reaction for prisoners to silence themselves to listen if the footsteps were actually coming their way or not, which in this instance was positive.

Soon enough the Gamorrean (the same one who was still holding onto his walkman) trundled in with the crumbled form of a twi’lek tucked under his armpit.

“Hey, bossman. We gonna get some air time anytime soon, ya think?” Loud sighs of bewilderment followed from his cellmates. They could not believe that Gabriel hadn’t learned his lesson yet.

“You… I remember your face, dig? Time comes? Factory for you, little little laddy.”

That big axe at his hip made Gabe second guess his intention to storm him when he opened the cell door and threw Vanja in. That split-second chance was gone in his hesitation and the door closed again.

With that the Gamorrean turned around, waltzing out of the room.

Gabey looked over to the female twi’lek… oh, damn, Gabriel. She is hot, forcedamnit, play it cool, play it cool. Yeah, you are in a cell about to be sold as a slave, but darnit you can’t mess this up.

“...sup, name’s Lethe.” YEAH. You are money. She knows it, Vee knows it and even Kral and his twin know it now. They ain’t sighing out of sadness, that’s the true sound of them being impressed, word.

 

[Isaac Rennek]

Vanja groaned, getting up on her hands and knees slowly while her back was turned towards the cell door. She didn’t see the Gamorrean, and she didn’t have the energy to turn and look either. Gamorreans weren’t all that interesting.

She got up to her knees, moving fast at first, but her movements froze halfway as a dash of pain jolted through her, and her pace slowed. “Ow” blue hands rubbed the side of her hairless scalp.

Vanja felt dizzy still, the images in front of her blurry and duplicating. She was quickly coming to, however. Yet the ringing pain from the blow struck to her head was only fading away very slowly.

“Sup Lethe” she returned without looking at whoever it was that had said that. Her mind just went on repeat. “I’m here to rescue you…” she added. The irony of it all almost had her burst out laughing.

The Twi’lek rose to her feet, glancing over her cell to catch her bearings. So she was locked in here as well. Not good. Her lightsaber was gone. Great. She walked over with slow steps to the bars by the door to their cell, gripping them and trying to get a good look of the hall where the guard had come from. Nothing useful so far.

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

Oh, yeah. Wait what?

Rescue him?

That made him blink once, twice and he didn't even notice she hadn't given him her name in response. Gabey exchanged a few looks with the twin male Twi'leks in the one cell and the muzzled Cathar in the other, they shrugged and weren't sure what to make of it though. She didn't look like much in terms of rescuers- pretty lass, but that was about it, really.

Which didn't always tell the whole story, of course.

Magda wasn't exactly the most intimidating person either, but she could hit like a gorram hungry ox in the season when she wanted to. Her left hooks were famous throughout ... their social circles.

"I uh... thanks?" Lethe tried after a moment, before scratching his head and shrugging as well. "I assume this is all part of your master plan, then?"

It didn't look like she had much of a plan. She seemed even more clueless than he was on an average day.

His attention returned to the box on the table... which started to move and shake around a bit. There were even little, bitty sounds coming out of it and it started to concern Gabriel- at least, until he realized it couldn't be a crystal then.

"Ha! Told you it wasn't a crystal." He smiled at one of the twi'lek brothers.

 

[Isaac Rennek]

[member="Gabriel Lethe"]

Vanja ignored the other blokes in her as well as surrounding cells. She was trying to think, plan her next move... So far it wasn't going too great. She was unarmed and stuck in the cell she was supposed to break these folks out of. If they were so easy to escape from, they would've done it already.

"Don't mention it" she said in return to his 'thanks', while still surveying the hall outside. only when he asked whether or not this was all part of her plan did she tilt her head and look back at him, flashing him a wide grin. "Nope" the response that no doubt filled the guy with relief and freed him of any concern.

"I'm down to brainstorm if you have any ideas" she muttered, though she had no great hopes on receiving a productive response. It was probably up to her. Yikes. These people were in trouble.

It was then he pulled her attention towards a most peculiar box. She eyed it with interest and curiosity alike. Taking a step in its direction, she reached out with the Force, probing it, trying to get it to reveal its secret. "Can we open it?" she asked, glancing for a moment over to Lethe. She didn't know why it was placed there, who had placed it there, and what the guards had already told them about it. Maybe he was sitting on some key information.