A One Way Ticket To Anywhere

[Progflaw99]

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Location: Back Alleys, Thani, Telos IV​

Time: Dawn​

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The first slivers of light had begin coming over the horizon, though you wouldn't know it. From deep inside the city of Thani there was always light somewhere whether it was at the spaceport or from colorful holo-advertisements prominently displayed on the tightly knit structures of the market district. That's where she was now, or at least technically. Lyra brushed aside an errant strand of hair that had found its way into her face. Tucking it behind her ear she once more let her feet take her nimbly down the alleyway she'd just entered. Tents, small fires, even a burn barrel greeted her as she walked among them. The Slums.

The Slums were a run-down part of the Market District, a mess of abandoned storefronts, distribution centers, and even a few warehouses. Nestled against the rear edge of the Market District, some of the buildings were occupied by cheap shops and curio establishments others remained untouched, each one of these marked with a short line of chalk near the door. The average visitor through the streets wouldn't recognize it but the residents knew to stay away from those buildings. Most of the time it was an indication that there was a security droid inside or that there was a security system but Lyra had caught on to the code well enough. She'd marked a few of her own, storing backup canned food, trinkets, and clothes at each of a handful of small shops. The chalk made sure they stayed untouched for the most part.

He booted feet made little noise as the soft leather soles crossed the ground quickly. She was already behind schedule, if she was any slower it would cost her a meal and a bit of information and that was something she couldn't afford to pass up. Lyra had spent months trying to grease the right palms at the spaceport for a chance to get off this rock but so far the port security had chased her away every time. Apparently they didn't like vagabonds snooping about the docks. She'd been persistent though, talking to the street walkers, trading a can of food here and a blanket there for the information she needed and now, she had it. Rumor was there was an Aqualish trader who could pull a few strings and maybe get her a ride off this rock. The one downside is that, she'd have to get to him first. As her feet carried her closer to her destination she mused.

Three cans of beans, a thick coat, and a steak nicked from Halvor's Meat Stand in the Market District proper is what the information had cost her and she hoped it proved solid. Making her way through the streets, keeping her hood pulled up, she kept to the shadows cast by the progressively taller buildings. Ahead, a courtyard opened up, the metal gates across many of the shops still closed. It was too early for many of them to be open but the sweet aroma of food had begun to waft through the streets and into the courtyard. There on the opposite side she could already see the people lining up, bowls in hand.

A soup kitchen. The man in the red cap. It sounded pretty obscure and it had taken a fair amount of threatening and coercion but at the end, she had been convinced the information was solid. Casually peeking out from beneath the hood of the dark sweater she wore she sighed. No one had been wearing a red cap, at least not yet. She bit her lip, gently chewing the corner as she hesitated.

*Well, at least I get a meal out of this...*​

​

Maybe he hadn't shown up yet, the contact. It was entirely likely they wouldn't show up till near closing time. Taking a breath and shuffling into line with the rest of the undesirables she retrieved a small wooden bowl tucked into the folds of her sweater, a metal spoon appearing in her other hand. Carefully she retrieved a small patch of paper, a printed number 15 on its surface. The one other acquisition she'd gotten along with the information about the contact that could put her in the presence of the Aqualish. Using that ticket, she planned to get a meal, then she would worry about finding "The man in the red hat".

 

[Froste]

Market District, Thani, Telos IV.

It wasn't often that Darth Roth visited the slums. But today was a special occasion. He was meeting with a less reputable man regarding a small mission he was planning to undertake. Nothing too serious, but it meant enough to Roth to bring him down into the dirty part of town.

Roth made the executive decision to take his mask off. There was no need to draw any unneeded attention to himself, and that was exactly what the mask would do. He usually only took the mask off around people he trusted, those who had earned his respect and who he saw as an equal. This was, however, a special occasion. Roth did not see this man as even coming close to an equal. He was a simple thief, but quite a talented one at that. He needed him to break into a rival's manor, that was it.

But now Roth was left to stroll around the slums with one of his sergeants. The man had informed the Sith Knight that he was going to be a bit late, but it was not until Roth had not only landed on the planet, but also arrived in the slums. He could turn around and walk around the cleaner, safer, market district. But where was the fun in that? Roth figured it would be better to acquaint himself with the area, anyway. Soon enough, Roth and his sergeant stumbled across what seemed to be a soup kitchen. A smirk crawled across his face, only ever so slightly altered from his years of use of the Dark Side of the force. He thought the idea of eating from a soup kitchen was humbling. Without hesitation, he turned to the sergeant, "Sergeant, grab both of us a bowl of soup, yeah?" The man nodded once and gave his usual "Yes sir." The sergeant got in line while the Sith Knight took a seat at a nearby table. He interlocked his fingers on the table in front of him, and scanned around the crowd.

[member="Lyra Naerys"]

 

[Freeosk]

Freeosk moved conspicuously through the dark streets of Telos IV’s market district. He couldn’t help it. Being eight foot two and very heavily muscled, the former gladiatorial slave wasn’t built for stealth. After all, Yuzzem didn’t exactly pass by someone without notice, especially not one who trained his whole life to be bigger, stronger, faster, and better than his competition. Because, if he hadn’t, he would’ve been killed like everyone else.

Freeosk didn’t know much about Telos IV, but he thought he knew something about the lines of chalk near buildings’ entrance’s. It was meant to be a warning, he presumed. But ever since the first time he burst through a door, unknowingly, with white chalk marked at its entrance, and easily dismantled the security droid waiting inside, the white chalk only meant one thing to him – good stuff inside.

The former slave searched for just two things after he freed himself. He perused credits by plying his only skills – muscle and close quarters combat expertise -- and he persuade answers to the strange powers and feelings that had guided him through his terrible, decades long ordeal fighting in the Zygerria gladiator pits.

He had no direction except foreword, wherever that happened to be.

After exiting his latest raid with an unidentifiable hunk of meat in his left hand, tearing off a chunk with the elongated bicuspids common to his species, he continued to stroll through the streets.

He walked by some sort of soup kitchen, a place he never entered. Weakness, laziness, and cowardice were the characters who frequented such places, he thought.

But when passing the kitchen, he felt something. It felt familiar, like all those countless times he’d unexpectedly gown stronger, healed faster, or known what the opponent was going to do before he or she did it.

[SIZE=11pt]It felt strange, more focused, more powerful, and yet, it had the same overall sensation. Without thought or notice, Freeosk began moving toward the entrance. He entered the establishment and sat at an empty table. Looking around, he was confused by what he felt, but also, intrigued.[/SIZE]

[member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="Darth Roth"]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

Honestly, the pity Serenity had for the people of this district, well she could care a lot more to be frank. As she saw the homeless people begging for money, some even touching her she started to get a tad bit annoyed, sometimes even flashing her Minigun at them as a show of force. Many of them cowered away, but small-time robbery wasn't what she was here for, that was the last resort. Collecting taxes from the local soup kitchen was. Taxes for who? Herself.

As she walked in the owner immediately rushed out to her and got on his knees, grabbing her legs. "Please, I beg of you, one more week, my wife will get her payment soon, one more week. Please please!" She would laugh as she kicked the man in the stomach. putting one hand on the strap of Zaps, and placing her foot on his chest. "Back off elephant-face. You said that last week; unless you're going to give me a five star meal, then we know what the deal was. Where's the kid?" Crying in the background could be heard as a small child appeared and Serenity's face lit up. "Oh perfect, honestly my dad's in need of a new slave."

Tears would begin to flood down the child's face as she spoke again, approaching it and kneeling down to its height, she looked closer and discovered it was a girl. "Amelia, it's not my fault your dad doesn't know how to get a proper job. Feeding bums like these aren't gonna pay the bills. Come on, my dad's waiting at the star-port. And besides, we're going to be best-friends. Forever." A creepy smile would come across Serenity's face as she took ahold of the child's hand forcefully and start to wipe away the tears. The father would get up onto his knees, but as she walked past again she would kick him in the stomach and he would collapse again in agony with a shriek of pain. As she was about to exit the door, she had a brilliant idea. "Amelia. Wanna watch me kill your dad?" the child's tears would begin to burst out again as it started to beat against Serenity's stomach with her fists clenched. "Serena please... you said you wouldn't hurt him!" She'd pat the kid on the head. "I know what I SAID I'd do. Do you not feel anger at him for not taking care of you properly? Honestly. Kids like you need to take some lessons from kids like me."

[member="Freeosk "]I [member="Darth Roth"] I [member="Lyra Naerys"]

 

[Progflaw99]

Making her way slowly through the line as the general rabble received their food and filtered into the courtyard where a collection of cheap tables and chairs had been arranged haphazardly. The closer Lyra got to the front of the line the more powerful the smell of food... and not just food, meat. Lyra didn't care what kind of meat it was, eagerly standing to her toes as she tried to catch a glimpse of what was in the pot ahead. Standing behind the small counter was an oddly oversize man, his clothing was nicer than the people he was serving but still the threads of a working man, he would systematically dip a giant ladle into the metal pot, lift it free and fill a bowl.

The line shuffled forward and Lyra matched the footsteps in front of her. Coming even closer to the front of the line she could now see a young boy, maybe only a few years her junior. He was watching the men and women shuffling by with great interest, a surprising intellect about him despite his appearance. She watched him carefully, his dirty fingers grasping each yellowed ticket as the line moved forward. He didn't look happy, he didn't look sad, he just kind of watched the people. Specifically he had his eyes set on a pair of newcomers, their hushed voices too difficult to hear from where she stood in line. One of the pair shuffled over and joined the line a ways back. Something was strange about the man who stayed back, he looked far too well off to be here... not exactly of nobility per se, but he still looked a bit out of place. A thought began to strike her, a familiar...

"Ticket please!"​

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The boy's fingers waggled as he looked at Lyra and then beyond towards where the man had found a seat. Raising his eyebrow the boy repeated himself, waiting for the ticket held in Lyra's hand. Shaking her head to clear her mind she put the ticket in the boy's outstretched hand, his fingers closing in on it immediately. She'd turned to have her bowl filled when she felt a bump on her shoulder. Turning her head she saw the boy had reached out and touched her shoulder. Lyra was confused. In a low whisper, the boy spoke to her, narrowing his eyes as he spoke.

"Be wary of that one..."​

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Behind her the man grumbled, a profanity passing through his lips. Hastily she shuffled forward and held out her bowl, a large slop of stew being deposited there by the presumed cook. Bowing her head she took the bowl and shuffled her feet some more, carefully peering out at the courtyard. There were some seats nearby, she recognized a few of the women as streetwalkers, a few of the men as hobos. Most of the nearby seats were taken but she wondered if...

Slowly she made her way towards a small table, empty but just on the edge of the occupied tables. Choosing a chair that would allow her a view of the strange man she'd seen and keep her out in the courtyard so that she could make a hasty escape if anything uncouth were to happen. On occasion some of the homeless would get a bit rowdy, arguing over food and the like. Seating herself she held her spoon in hand, dipping it lightly into the stew and bringing a spoonful to her mouth. Tendrils of steam came from the bowl but it was more due to the cool morning than the actual heat of the stew but boooy was it good. She caught herself a few bites in, forcibly slowing herself to savor the taste. As she sat there, she carefully glanced up from time to time, observing the pair where they sat. She was halfway between bringing the spoon to her mouth when she saw an extremely large creature, nearly eight feet tall, walk towards the soup kitchen. It was an oddity for certain, not that there weren't other species who mingled among the homeless but this creature was a beast to behold. Finishing another bite of her soup and casting a wayward glance towards the pair she was monitoring, her thoughts were interrupted as a...

*Is that a girl with a giant blaster?*​

​

A look of wonder and amazement crossed Lyra's features. However the gal had made it this far into the city toting that around was anybody's guess. Normally weapons like that were what you saw in those action holo-vids. Of course, Lyra never did go to the holo-movies but she had snuck in once or twice as a younger child. Quickly shoveling the last few bites of her soup, she scraped the bowl clean. As the scene played out before her, the knot that had formed in the pit of her stomach grew tenfold. This was not going to end well, for someone... Anyone. Another of the cook's children, a daughter, had appeared from the back of the shop. From where she sat outside in the courtyard she could see almost everything clearly. Her instinct was to run. Hastily shoving the bowl and spoon back into her sweater's pockets, she didn't even bother to push in her chair. Feet moving she began making her way towards a nearby alleyway, there she would be in her element and away from... whatever was happening.

[member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Freeosk "]| [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]​

 

[Froste]

Roth sat straight, glancing around the crowd. A gigantic being had appeared at the soup kitchen, an uncommon sight for sure. To Roth, it didn't appear that he was here for soup. Confirming the Sith's suspicions, the being sat at an empty table with no bowl, simply glancing around as Roth had.

The sight of a man approaching Roth in his peripherals caught his eye, but it was simply his sergeant bringing the soup back. He sent one of the bowls in front of Roth, then seated himself across the table from the Knight. Roth let his bowl go untouched while the soldier wolfed his down. In truth, the man wasn't really hungry, and the situation in this kitchen was proving to be quite interesting. There was another sense on top of everything else. There was a girl here, sitting at a table alone. She didn't seem out of place, but Roth was drawn to her for some reason. He gave her a glance.

It was when he gave the strange girl a glance that another girl entered the premises. This one, however, was a tad bit less conspicuous. She carried a large weapon and was already creating a scene. It seemed to be extortion, to Roth. Things such as this weren't uncommon in the slums, where criminals reigned. When the girl began to talk of killing the man and kidnapping the daughter, Roth whispered to his companion, "Follow me lead, don't shoot anything unless its absolutely karking necessary." With that, Roth stood and brandished his lightsaber. The red blade letting off a soft hymn behind the Sith Knight's words.

"I hope we don't need to have a problem here, Miss. This man is serving the community, he need not be bothered with petty criminals." He reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small handful of credit chips, then tossed them at the floor near the man and the girl with the gun. "That should be more than enough for whatever you're charging him for." Senseless killing was something Roth was very against. Usually he had to deal with it within the Sith hierarchy, foolish Knights who thought murder was the only way to progress.

After he spoke, Roth gave a glance in the direction of the poor girl that had caught his attention before. She had backed off towards an alleyway, which was probably for the best. He was lured to her for some reason, and he wanted to find out why. Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, he gave his attention back to the girl who had started this ruckus.

[member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"] | @Freeosk

 

[Natalie LaForte]

As the lightsaber lit up she would immediately drop it and let out an excited yelp, "Oh I've ALWAYS wanted one of them! Where'd you get it? Where'd you get it? Tell me." She'd grew up around them all her life, especially with her psychotic father who felt the need to make her jealous with it. As he said this, she would try and play it off cool, failing miserably. "Uh I mean. It's fine-... I guess" she'd place her hands on her head, stroking her fringe back out of her face, before casually coming out with. "Listen, taxes are due and this guy has some plan with my father. You probably know him, but anyway. He agreed to pay me 2000 credits for the numerous payments he's missed, last week he said I'd get double that or I could take his child. No takesys backsys!"

A few of the people in the shelter would turn around and look at her, giving her glares as she did it. She'd go up to one of their faces and say "I'm coming to your house next, Marcella. I hope you're not late" She'd blow a kiss to the girl who would be looking very nervous while still eating the soup. She'd turn around and grab ahold of Amelia's hand again, forcefully taking her out the door of the kitchen and walking to the right and then glancing down the alleyway; as she saw a girl in rags and looking tired, she began to walk down it, grinning and licking her lips. "Scared? You should be" As she walked closer to her, brandishing her huge gun, she'd get as close to Lyra's ear as possible and then whisper. "Boo".

[member="Darth Roth"] [member="Lyra Naerys"] @Freeosk

 

[ARC-15]

Viper had only ever been on Coruscant once in his life, during the deployment at the beginning of the Clone Wars. It was a magnificent place, perhaps the most beautiful gem he'd ever seen. He still remembered seeing the sunset over the horizon of the old Senate Building. But he'd heard well enough of Coruscant's seedier, dirty districts. If there was anything that matched its description, Thani did.

As he clanked along the dull, durasteel-glazed district, he saw garbage stuffed into the leftward perimeter. To his right, there was a crusty substance that matched the green on his armor stuck to the wall--perhaps dried slime or blood. Thank the Maker he had his helmet on to spare him from whatever ghastly smells lurked outside of it.

Of course, that old armor didn't exactly help him here beyond the basic protection. The Telos security force, barely funded as it is, wouldn't supply him with his own uniform. Why should they? To them, he was just a hunter cleaning up their mess down here, not a fellow compatriot. It didn't help him be inconspicuous, though, considering the armor he wore, to the uneducated sort, made him look like an Imperial stormtrooper a little too fond of the Mandalorian ways.

Then again, Viper wasn't the only one who stood out. Up ahead, he saw a building, lit up dimly by old, burning canisters the homeless generally use to keep themselves warm, and walking into it was a hulking behemoth of a creature. For a moment, Viper had to wonder if it was even sapient it was so beastly.

Viper followed him in, and found that this was the place he'd been looking for as he saw that long-line to get some grub from an old, chubby Crolute and his ladle. It didn't take long for him to find his target. Silas was right. She was hard to miss. Serenity Loveheart, the woman with azure hair and a skimpy, magenta outfit, was over there kicking the daylights out of some poor homeless man. It made him sick, and he probably would've intervened, had it not been for Darth Roth.

Normally such violence wouldn't hardly cause too much attention, but the Jedi were something of legend. When that Sith brandished his blade, most eyes that weren't too caught up in the bowls of their food turned to him.

"I hope we don't have a problem here, Miss," the Sith Lord declared.

The Sith then took something from his pocket, credit chips, and tossed them in a vain attempt to pay whatever debts the man had. The woman wasn't having it, making it rather clear that wasn't even just a bout of greed but just malice for the sake of it. It made Viper sick; however measly the Telosians were paying, getting the likes of her off the street was its own reward, in a way.

After announcing her next victim to the ground, Loveheart rushed past the clone trooper out the door with the man's daughter in hand. Viper trailed after her, and caught sight of her following another ragged woman behind an alleyway. He clenched his fist. This wouldn't take long. He was confident in that.

Following her down the alleyway, he drew his DC-17.

"I think it's you who should be scared, you little harpy," Viper growled under his breath.

 

[Natalie LaForte]

As the word "Boo" came out her mouth, she heard the voice of a man behind her. Quickly turning round and going "Huh? What's a harpy?" Honestly, these self-entitled republican soldiers always felt the need to interrupt on her fun. She unstrapped Zaps from her shoulder and turned to Amelia, "Unless you want shot. Move 'bestie'. You know, you republicans remind me of my daddy. Always doing stuff that never relate to me!" she would point the gun directly at the Officer as Amelia went behind her, cowering in fear.

"I'm gonna' give you to the count of 3 to duck. One... Time's up!" the gun's tri-blaster would immediately whirr up, sending a volley of 50 blaster bolts immediately in the troopers direction, each multi-coloured and having their own flare as they flew through the air, some thudding into the walls at the side creating mini-burn marks. As the gun was shooting she would start laughing in mania, the shrieks of which could be heard several hundred meters away, although be it faint with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

@ARC-15 @Darth Roth @Freeosk @Lyra Naerys

 

[ARC-15]

As the woman unstrapped her minigun, Viper knew by now to be wary of her. He was right to do so, and even more right to be on edge as she opened fire. Leaping behind an old dumpster, he only barely missed the volley of multi-colored blaster bolts that would've otherwise put a lot of holes in him.

It was a bit surprising to him how well Serenity could handle that weapon. After all, he'd seen fully-grown, fully-trained clone troopers struggle to use those things, including himself--not that he would want to use such a clunky weapon. Course, he supposed here that it was perfect. There was only one way out and if Viper tried to make a break for he, he was going to get shot. He was effectively pinned down.

 

[Freeosk]

Whatever Freeosk felt that pulled him into this soup kitchen, large hunk of meat in hand and all, clearly wasn’t about to let him down. It didn’t take long before a commotion broke out when a scantily clad little woman with a very large blaster started threatening the man serving soup. Having no dog in the fight, and never being one to help others without a chance of payment, since nobody bothered to help him when he was a slave, he looked on with some amusement. His table and chair were comically small for his hulking form, as if he’d taken a seat in a kindergarten class.

The little manic woman was soon approached by a man with a lit lightsaber shining its bright crimson glow on himself and others. A Sith, Freeosk presumed – even he knew a little about them. However, this Sith did not act like the stories he’d heard. He thought the man would cut through the soup man or little woman like butter to end their bickering. But he didn’t. He did something else entirely by tossing credits at them. Freeosk was too far away to tell what they were saying, but it didn’t matter, he couldn’t think of a reason a Sith would toss credits at anyone’s feet. Not if the stories he heard were true.

A street rat girl backed out into the alley at the edge of his peripheral vision.

Then, the little woman made more of a scene before pulling a girl out into the alleyway. A man in green clone-trooper armor that he hadn’t noticed before followed her into the alley. I never knew soup kitchens were so much fun, he thought, I should’ve come in sooner.

With the commotion over, for the moment, Freeosk noticed the feeling again, the one that pulled him into the soup kitchen in the first place. This time, though, it seemed to emanate not from the soup kitchen, but more specifically from the Sith. It drew Freeosk toward him. He had no knowledge of the force, if he had, he would have recognized the sensation he felt as a sign that he was in the presence of someone strong in the force, trained, disciplined, and wise.

He knew none of this. All he knew was that this feeling was pulling him toward this man for reasons that were beyond him. He was motivated by the thought that the Sith had answers to these kinds of feelings. He wanted to understand them, and more than that, he wanted to exploit them for whatever power they could yield, if any.

Freeosk quickly stood up from his doll-sized seating arrangement, knocking the table over as he did. He approached the Sith with the calm of someone who used to stare death in the face every week for decades, unfazed by the threat of the lightsaber or the man wielding it. He tilted his head, admiring the lightsaber, and in a deep bass voice flavored with a hint of raspiness, he did what he always did in difficult and confusing situations, “That’s a perdy stick, mind if I play with it? I''ll trade you my stick” he joked, holding up his half eaten leg of meat.

Sure, his introductions left a lot to be desired, but what’d anyone expect from a guy who grew up on Zygerria fighting in the gladiatorial rings. Proper socialization and cultural adjustment never seemed high on his masters' priorities.

[member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"] | [member="ARC-15"] |

 

[Froste]

Darth Roth stared the girl down as she made her exit. Once she walked out, he sheathed his saber and looked down at the man on the ground. "You keep those credits." It had been the money meant to pay for this thief that he was probably never going to meet, so he had already considered it as lost. Giving it out to some hungry peasants was probably more honorable, anyway. Not that Roth cared too much for honor, despite the scene he created just a few moments ago.

Before the Sith Knight could sit back down, the large behemoth of a beast he had noticed earlier approached him. He hadn't noticed it before, but he felt the same draw, the same lure, to this creature as he had the girl earlier. As the creature ambled over to Roth, he investigated it further. It did not take him long to realize that the behemoth held some sort of force sensitivity.

Along with being Force sensitive, the creature had a great deal of courage. While everybody else was suddenly afraid of Roth, the beast approached him coolly. Even the proprietor hadn't said anything when Roth gave him the credits. The beast gave a rudimentary introduction, saying, "That's a perdy stick, mind if I play with it? I'll trade you my stick." Roth couldn't help but chuckle a bit when he held up the leg of meat. "I'm afraid I can't do that." Wanting to learn more about the creature, he gestured to the table Roth and his sergeant were seated at. "Would you take a seat? I'd like to speak with you." Once all were settled, Roth introduced himself. "I am a man of many names, but I'll introduce myself as Darth Roth. A Knight of the Sith philosophy." Roth paused, allowing the creature to speak.

[member="Freeosk "]| [member="ARC-15"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"] | [member="Lyra Naerys"]

 

[Progflaw99]

As Lyra began moving off towards an alley she felt a sudden urge to disappear, a frown of irritation at her present situation crossing her features. The man in the red hat she hadn't even gotten a glimpse of before things had started going south. Pondering what it could mean, her mind fell first on the pair of men who didn't look like they belonged and the cook's boy had warned her about - or had he truly said anything at all? Was her mind playing tricks on her?

No. The boy had suggested she be wary - that wasn't it. While out of place, they didn't seem to fit the type. With a frustrated sigh she resigned her mind to the reality that she had missed her shot, at least the one she'd lined up. Her footsteps carried her farther away from the small soup kitchen, her mind filled with doubt. Frustration turned to anger, as she plodded along, annoyed at herself for...

"Boo!"​

​

*Kriff!* Flinching she quickly spun around, nearly tripping as she did so. Frantically her feet shuffled trying to catch her balance while backing away from the woman who'd managed to come up behind her. Overwhelming fear flowed through her, realizing that she'd let her guard down, allowing the woman the opportunity to surprise her. Just as she was about to regain her balance a loose cobblestone leapt up and caught her heel as she backpedaled. Her stomach did a flip as she fell backwards, her arms instinctively falling back to catch herself.

"Oof!"​

​

Rather ungracefully Lyra's rear end hit the ground, her hands scraping the rough stones of the small alleyway, he exclamation followed by a near cry of pain as she scrambled backwards on her hands and feet. Eyes watering at the sudden abrasions on her palms Lyra's attention was drawn past the woman who'd accosted her, a man clad head to toe in armor had seemed to have drawn her attention away from the young girl, enough that she might actually be able to get out of this situation yet unscathed. Almost as if to answer her silent prayer to the cosmos the woman had turned, drawing the giant blaster to bear on the armor clad man. This was it, her chance.

Frantically searching the alleyway for a means of escape she noticed a small manhole cover in the center of the alleyway, slightly knocked loose from its well. Not taking even a second to think about it she fought through the pain, scrambling over to it and wrapping her hands around the exposed edge of the cover. Gripping it with all her might she pushed as hard as she could. *Drat.* The cover had moved nearly an inch, not even close to what she'd need to scramble down into the relative safety of the subsystem below the streets. It was a place she was loathe to go, there were rumors about strange beasts and warped minds who wandered the tunnels. Lyra didn't have the luxury of choice. Taking a deep breath she shoved again, this time making the cover move a few inches further. She was growing frantic, she needed to get out of the alley before the woman's attention was drawn back to her. With a final desperate shove - the manhole cover flew. Seemingly ripped from its mooring in the well, it shot towards the woman's back as she unleashed a flurry of bolts at the armored man from her oversize mini-gun styled blaster.

Somewhat in a state of shock and driven by necessity, Lyra didn't even look to see if the woman had been hit by the manhole cover. She didn't even know how she'd done it, the manhole cover weighed nearly half of her own weight, Lyra's tawny frame born of a life on the streets. Slipping her feet over the edge of the now open hole, she pushed off with her hands and let herself drop into the dark abyss below.

​

[member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Freeosk "]| [member="ARC-15"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]​

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

Jhiaga was advancing through the lower parts of Thani, Mandalorian automatic blaster rifle raised, gazing down at the body of one of her targets she had just shot down. It was a disgusting, wretched place, where the only sources of light were made by the people who wanted to see - and, sadly for her, the environment was so messy and the pollution fog so thick her visor couldn't even help her light up details and so, she had to rely on her two helmet-mounted lights. Seeing the thug still moving, she shot him once more, this time in the head.
She sighed as she lowered her weapon slightly. It was the last one of the group, all the others dead - she had made sure of that. The bounty hunter was just about to use her jetpack and leave the place, when she heard a loud crashing noise nearby. Immediatly turning toward the base of the sound, she saw someone had fallen from above - thankfully for this person, on a rather good spot, the wreckage accumulated by the pirates, thus stopping down the force of her fall.
As her lights revealed the identity of the person, she slung her weapon on her back, magnetically attaching it there, while taking a blaster pistol in one hand, the other directed toward the unknown girl, trying to seem less threatening - which was hard, considering she wore a full Mandalorian attire and her victims laid died all across the place.
Approaching with her weapon still raised, Jhiaga spoke in a clear, calming voice.

"Who are you?"

[member="Lyra Naerys"] I [member="Freeosk "]I [member="Darth Roth"] I [member="ARC-15"] I [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]

 

[Progflaw99]

Despite Lyra's fall, she was silent - at least until she hit the ground below. With a light crash and a splash of fetid water she landed amidst a collection of trash and discarded waste. The first thing that hit her was the smell. Putrid waste water and sewage filling the air with a stench so powerful it caused her to nearly choke as she breathed it in. Quickly bringing her hand up to cover her mouth and nose with the edge of her sweater, a blinding beam, or rather two beams, seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Choking back a gasp, she held her left hand up to blot out the light while holding her sweater over her mouth with her right. Curse the fates.

Almost immediately her eyes tracked the person standing there - another armor clad figure, blaster pistol in hand. What was it with the Market District and everyone wielding blasters today? Apparently the fates had doomed her, the cosmic balance playing some cruel joke. Lyra took in short breaths, her heart rapidly beating in her chest. Through the choking ichor of the sewer tunnel she could smell the heated plasma. Living in the streets ensured you were witness to just about any sort of devious act conducted under the shadow of the night and the smell of recently fired blaster was certainly among them.

Fear gripped at her, her normally quick responses dulled both in part to the intoxicating air as well as the severely limited options she was now presented with. Lyra's eyes darted around the interior of the tunnel but to her dismay there didn't appear to be a readily accessible exit to this stage, it looked like she would have to figure another way out of this one. She let her eyes focus on the blaster, nervously watching the gaping maw of its barrel. Holding up both of her hands, the smell of the sewer temporarily forgotten she spoke, pleadingly.

"Please! Don't shoot!" Nervously her eyes looked upwards, the small hole where she'd dropped from casting down a beam of light on her. Stepping briefly to the side, she looked back to the armor clad figure, now at least out of sight from above. "I don't have any money!"

The fear was genuine but already her brain was working, crafting plans and suggesting ideas on how to escape this possibly deadly situation. Keeping her hands where the armor clad figure could see them, she stepped gingerly to the side once more, nearer to the tunnel wall. Whatever happened here, she didn't want to be anywhere she could be seen from above, she had come into the tunnels to escape the streets after-all.

"M..My n-name is Lyra."​

​

[member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Freeosk "]| [member="ARC-15"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"] | [member="Jhiaga Shiwr"]​

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

Jhiaga slowly lowered her blaster. Obviously, the young girl was terrified, and she felt bad for her. In a way, she reminded the bounty hunter of herself... lonely, stumbling blindly in places to avoid trouble. Deciding to lower her guard, at least for now, she took one of the masks hanging by her hip and gently applied it to the girl's face.
"There", said the young Zabrak as reassuringly as she could. "Without eye protection, you'd grow blind quickly around here."
She attached her hand weapon back to her belt, both hands visible to the young girl, as not to scare her once more. "I'm Jhiaga", continued the Mandalorian in her calme voice.
"What are you doing around the sub-levels? This isn't really a place for you. Bad stuff happens here."
Obviously, she completely glossed over the fact said bad stuff had been done by her minutes ago, as she silenced the remaining members of the gang holed up in this particular spot of the city. The pay wasn't amazing, but it would suffice. Or at least, she hoped - right now, her altruism took command. Once more, she asserted the situation from a strategic point of view, as she often did in combat; her mission was to get this girl to safety... or not. Did this girl run from danger? In this case, she might need more informations, and at the same time, she didn't want to sound harsh to the child - because yes, despite the fact she looked almost like a young adult, her stance and her terror made her look younger. Shaking her head, she placed a hand onto her shoulder.
"Do you need any help?"

[member="Lyra Naerys"] I [member="Freeosk "]I [member="Darth Roth"] I [member="ARC-15"] I [member="Serenity LoveHeart"] I

 

[Freeosk]

“I’m afraid I can’t do that” the Sith said, then gestured to a table. “Your loss, this leg has eleven secret herbs and spices, I bet your stick doesn’t have that,” he said as he lumbered toward the designated table. After Freeosk took a seat on the too small chair, the Sith introduced himself as Darth Roth. A knight of the Sith philosophy.

Freeosk didn’t know what to say. Talking wasn’t his strong suite, and he wasn’t sure what he was and wasn’t supposed to say to a Sith knight, hell, he didn’t even know exactly what he was searching for besides answers to a few vague feelings. Heavy blaster fire echoed in the alley outside, “Sounds like they’ve moved the fun outdoors. Too bad we’re missing it.”

He'd already come this far, he thought. Might as well finish it.

Taking a deep breath, he looked Darth Roth in the face and just came out with it, “Look buddy, something tells me you might know about certain... feelings and abilities I’ve had most of my life. And being a Sith, maybe you know a thing or two about training these abilities, making them stronger, more reliable?”

He leaned against his tiny chair, the back cracked then snapped off. “If all of this just sounds crazy, you can tell me to go pound durasteel and I promise I’ll give you fair warning before I knock you out,” he said with a toothy smirk.

[member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Lyra Naerys"] |[member="ARC-15"] |[member="Serenity LoveHeart"] | [member="Jhiaga Shiwr"] |

 

[Froste]

Darth Roth gave a smirk at the giant's jest, and it seemed humor was another evident trait of the creature. Roth appreciated that, most of his colleagues never let their guard down. It seemed that they were born to be Sith or soldier, to Roth.

Both Freeosk and Roth were seated at the table when the sounds of blaster fire could be heard. Roth let out a quiet sigh, knowing that the foolish girl with the large weapon was definitely apart of the fight. Some people were just bloodthirsty, and the concept of risking yourself just to sate said bloodthirst made little sense to the Knight. The creature commented on the noise, "Sounds like they've moved the fun outdoors. Too bad we're missing it."

Roth shrugged it off. He preferred to only risk his life when the situation demanded it, and there was no reason for him to pick a fight with that girl at this point.

Freeosk paused for a moment, taking in a breath before saying, "Look buddy, something tells me you might know about certain... feelings and abilities I've had most of my life. And being a Sith, maybe you know a thing or two about training these abilities, making them stronger, more reliable?" There was a short pause before the sound of the beast's chair breaking broke the silence, and he spoke again, "If all of this just sounds crazy, you can tell me to go pound durasteel and I promise I'll give you fair warning before I knock you out." A smirk came with the comment, another jest.

Before responding, Roth gave a nod and spoke with a low and slow voice. "From what I can tell, you're force sensitive. This explains the feelings you speak of. I'm not sure how well you know of what the force can do, but yes, I know a thing or two about it." He leaned forward, staring the creature in the eyes as he spoke. "And I can teach you how to use these abilities to your advantage. But there's one thing that needs to be clear. Should I take you under my wing, you're to never call me buddy again. I would be your master, and you'll address me as such. And I understand the threat to knock me out was a joke, but it would be wise to not threaten a Sith. Unless you could defeat them, of course. Most do not take lightly to threats." The Knight leaned back against his chair, placing his hands in his lap. "And you forgot to tell me your name."

[member="Freeosk "]| [member="Jhiaga Shiwr"] | [member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="ARC-15"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]

 

[ARC-15]

"Oh kriff this," Viper muttered.

He figured this was only gonna end one of two ways. Either he was going to get shot or she'd run out of ammo, and he didn't figure she was the type to not pack extra heat. Fortunately for him, he sighted a half-opened manhole just a few meters straight ahead of where he had been standing. All he had to do was reach it without getting shot.

Simple, right?

On his belt, he remembered he might've still had an old smoke grenade, if he hadn't already used it. Here's hoping it wasn't a dud from the years of misuse. He peaked his head out of cover and rolled the red ball toward the crazy woman. As it began to spray smoke, he ducked his head and kicked open the manhole.

"Oof!" he grunted as a bolt hit the end of his shark fin, causing his head to jerk slightly.

Besides that lucky hit, however, he managed to hop down relatively unscathed and land feet-first into the knee-high sewer waters. Unfortunately, the smell was even worse than it was up there, and stench pervaded through the breathing holes of his helmet. Had he a weaker stomach, he might've thrown up.

Flicking on the light on the left side of his helmet, he began wading his way through the water and exploring the old tunnels. Anybody in an adjacent tunnel-way likely would've heard Viper's splashing, caused by his entrance and subsequent running. It clearly was the sound of someone walking down here, and he likely wasn't that far from where Lyra had entered.

This proved to be correct as Viper walked along the corner and flashed his light right on Jhiaga and Lyra. Instinctively, he took out his second sidearm and armed a pistol at each presumed unfriendly. He clearly wasn't taking any chances today.

"Hands where I can see them!"

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

Jhiaga mentally slapped herself. See what happens when you drop your guard?
As soon as she heard the voice coming from the same path she had taken, littered with the bodies of her victims, she rolled to the side, taking the girl with her, the two of them crashing down into the cover of the stinking dump where her targets threw all of the things even they could not bear having near them. Thankful for her helmet saving her the smell, she took her assault blaster rifle from her back and assessed the situation. Unknown attacker, but he couldn't be a member of the gang - one of them wouldn't have made any call to surrender.

"The girl's under my protection, you hear?"
Letting her sentence sink in, she took her decision. She couldn't remain in cover there - her ennemy would have plenty of time figuring out an approach. And so, she turned toward Lyra, nodding to her. "Stay put. Don't run off - this place is a maze. If he wins... then you can book off."
Without more words, she took the sprint, activating her jetpack as soon as she left cover, elevating into the air, so that she could gain the height advantage and dodge any possible upcoming fire. As she faced her opponent, however, she was shocked by the armor design. Of course, a person like her knew what it was like. But seeing someone wearing it, all those years later? Why would someone wear Phase-II clone armor?
"This is the only chance I'll give you - if you don't lower your weapons, I'm going to shoot that huge rocket on my back, and don't count on escaping it!"
Her rifle raised and pointed at the man below, she tried to fly in erratic patterns, so that she'd make a harder target to hit.

[member="Lyra Naerys"] I [member="Freeosk "]I [member="Darth Roth"] I [member="ARC-15"] I [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]