A One Way Ticket To Anywhere

[ARC-15]

He'd seen the bodies. They were too plentiful to be here by happenstance. That lunatic woman must have been dumping bodies down here, he thought. He'd been surprised to see Mandalorian woman, though not unwelcome, and, so it seemed, the same girl from earlier.

As she ran behind cover, the woman said, "The girl's under my protection, you here?"

Then, she blasted out of cover with her jetpack and threatened to blow the clone trooper sky-high if he didn't lower his weapons. Normally, that wouldn't be something that Viper would do, but this was a bit of a special case. After getting shot at without question today, the actual option to talk it out seemed attractive enough. So he lowered both his blasters and holstered one--he still needed the other just in case things go south.

"Burc'ya ra aru'e?"

It was plain Mando'a: Friend or foe?

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

Satisfied by the trooper's reaction, she slowly went down, her jetpack deactivating as her boots reached the ground. Her blaster was still in hands, albeit slightly lowered.
"Burc'ya", answered the Mandalorian simply, trying not to show her excitement at meeting someone speaking her toungue. She designated the girl with a nod of her head, before speaking in her controlled voice once more. "Do you know that ad'ika's parents?"
She approached the trooper slowly, making sure not to look threatening, her rifle lowering more and more as she did, so that he wouldn't blast her anytime soon. She stopped once they were barely a meter away from each other, and she slightly toned down the power of her headlights, so that she wasn't such a pain to look at. "Where did you find that armor? Nobody but nostalgics wears it anymore. It's outdated."

Clone trooper armor. Phase II. A relic of the past, and obviously familiar to her, her home located on a planet full of remains of the Clone Wars. Seeing such an odd choice of protection was... puzzling, to say the least. She had seen people preferring older suits of armor because of their inferior protection - that way, they learned not to get hit the hard way. She found that way of thinking both brilliant and incredibly foolish.

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

 

[ARC-15]

Viper holstered his pistol and crossed his arms over that old Mando'ade emblem painted over his chest armor. He shook his head at her query regarding the kid's parents.

"Can't say I do," Viper replied, "All I know is she was getting trailed by some loon that's been giving the locals trouble."

As the woman made her way forward, he looked her from head to toe. There was no doubt that she was full-blooded Mandalorian, or at least a legitimate member of the culture. That meant the armor had some significance. It reminded him a lot of the armor of the Nite Owls, the main faction that resisted the Death Watch's rule.

"Where'd you find that armor?" she asked, "Nobody but nostalgics wear it anymore. It's outdated."

"Consider me a nostalgic then," answered Viper, "I guess you could say I inherited it."

[member="Jhiaga Shiwr"] | [member="Freeosk "]| [member="Darth Roth"] | [member="Serenity LoveHeart"]

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

"I hope you aren't house Viszla. They have been active an awful lot, as of late."
She barely resisted the need to circle around the man, knowing it would look too much like a predator circling its prey, which was the exact contrary of what she wanted. Meeting another Mando'a was refreshing, despite the situation she was in. "Inherited? Mandalorians forge their armors. This one looks authentic - I should know, I have plenty of those at my home."

She dearly hoped he wasn't a friend of the Viszla clan - her armor was a testament of her determination to root out any Death Watch sympathizers.

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

 

[Natalie LaForte]

The manhole cover hit Serenity's leg, causing the hail of blaster bolts to stop for a brief second. "Oww... Wait. Where is she?" turning around to find nothing but an open manhole, but as she peered back around to the arc-trooper a cloud of smoke enveloped her and a splutter of coughs followed. "In cahoots with eachother I see... it won't help" as she turned around to the manhole cover before turning to Amelia "If you leave I'll kill your dad, your mom, your grand-.. you get the point. Wait there." As she waded through the sewers of mucky, disgusting water, preferring to stick to the shallow sides she heard the conversation and talking of what seemed to sound like the girl, presumably the clone trooper and a new voice. She didn't recognize the language, but she could tell it was them.

As she turned the corner, she spotted them, barely, through the polluted and corrupted air, but the most clear give away was the lights the two were shining. She had Zaps in two of her hands, lowered and raised him up towards the group. "Bye bye!" The guns rotating blaster whirred up again and shot what-seemed-to-be an infinite amount of ammo in the direction of the few, in particular aiming for the new target, the mandalorian who obviously looked better equipped than the other two.

Lyra Naerys I Freeosk I Darth Roth I ARC-15 I [member="Jhiaga Shiwr"]

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

The unknown man had his back turned to the new menace, but Jhiaga saw her coming a split second before she started talking.
Using her jetpack, she propelled herself and the man away, flying through the air erraticly, before she landed behind the cover formed by the dump, letting go of her friend of misfortune. Obviously, the rotating blaster's high rate of fire made her unable to avoid all of the hits - one had landed onto her chest. Thankfully, the plating of the armor was of good quality, and had absorbed the hit quite well, leaving her with a ragged breath instead of a gapin hole in her stomach. She couldn't say the same for the trooper in Phase-II clone armor if he got it at the same place.
"Is this the maniac you told me about?"
She loaded another cell into her Mando'a assault blaster, preparing to rush out and open fire on the threat. She was sure this one wasn't even worth talking to - the only words she spoke were before opening fire. She would have to do this the hard way. Crouching down to prepare her jump, she was ready to go - but first, she wanted to listen to a possible plan made by this unknown Mando'a. If they both survived the ordeal, there would be talking to be made. But now, her brain was wired in combat mode - everything was irrelevent to her mission. Protecting the girl was still her primary objective - the secondary was to kill this walking danger, or at least incapacitate her... and then roll in the credits after delivering her to the nearest policing forces. Even if they did give her nothing, getting her locked up would be a satisfaction in itself.

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

 

[Freeosk]

A low, deep, growl originated from Freeosk’s gut, not a threatening growl, more a grumble – a sign of unhappiness – once Darth Roth told him he had to call him master if he wanted to be trained. This Sith wasn’t just offering to answer his questions, he was offering to train him.

Training meant power. Power meant freedom. Yet, while Darth Roth offered freedom, he demanded a symbol of slavery.

The cold, oppressing weight of chains, the rough dirt beneath bent knees, and the sting of countless wounds suffered over decades flashed quickly through Freoosk’s mind, triggered by the thought of calling someone master again.

Master…

Master…

Freeosk wasn’t his birth name. He didn't know his birth name. He wasn't even sure he had one. Nor was Freeosk his slave name. In the ring he was simply known as The Colossus, and outside the ring, he was usually called “you” and “slave” among other vague terms. Freeosk was the name he chose after freeing himself. It simply meant freedom in butchered Yuzz. But its meaning was more than simple.

He didn’t have masters, not anymore.

Freedom…

Freedom…

Even now, he couldn’t help but use humor to disguise his trauma and severe discomfort about calling anyone master, “Master doesn’t work for me. Hey, how ‘bout I call you boss? Chief? Supervisor? Professor? Err… Super awesome cool guy? That has a certain ring to it,” he suggested.

Uncomfortable, he held up the half-eaten leg of meat, “You sure you don’t want even a little bite before I finish? The subtle choreography of flavors dancing across my taste buds has changed my whole worldview,” he joked yet again about the ordinary slab of meat he’d recently stolen from a refrigerator.

As for not threatening Sith unless he could defeat them. That he got. While often appearing to have a death-wish, he didn’t. Decades of gladiatorial combat had certainly inflated his sense of combat proficiency and confidence, but he didn't win all his fights. Most gladiatorial matches weren’t to the death, Masters didn’t like to lose their investments so easily, after all, though anything could happen in a fight.

He’d tasted more than his fair share of defeat. The punishment after was usually far worse than the fight itself. Put simply, you didn’t survive for decades in a fighting pit if you didn’t have self preservation.

“I can keep my mouth shut, don’t you worry. I promise, Chief, I won’t embarrass you in front of the other Sith. Oh, and the name's Freeosk.”

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

 

[Progflaw99]

Everything happened so quickly, Lyra barely had time to react before she felt the full weight of the armor clad woman slam into her small frame. Letting out a shout, she voiced her surprise in the form of a loud expletive, at least until she forcibly clamped shut her mouth as they splashed in the muck of the sewer. *Fething hells.* If she hadn't needed a shower before today, she certainly would now. Sputtering and rising to her feet, she stood nearly waist deep in the fetid water. Frowning, she peeled what looked to be a discarded banana from her now soaking wet sweater.

She was about to give the lady a piece of her mind but opening her mouth a fraction too slow the woman had already begin speaking. Frustratedly she listened, internally cursing her luck, cursing fate, whatever it was that had caused her to wake up today. She wasn't truly unhappy to be alive, but it seemed today was throwing everything it could at her. *'Stay put' huh?* As soon as she'd spoken, Lyra heard the loud flare of the woman's jet pack activating and ducked low behind a large piece of collapsed wall that had formed a rather convenient bunker. Under normal circumstances Lyra would have bolted like a bird escaping its cage but she wasn't stupid. In the brief moments before she'd been so unceremoniously thrust into the filth of the sewer she had seen the man was armed and encased in armor.

Sighing silently she pressed her back up against the crumbled wall, a thin layer of moss gently galavanting across its surface. Quickly casting a glance upward she could still see the small hole which cast a narrow beam of light straight down to the muck below. Next the armor clad woman, now airborne and weaving as she heard the two speak - and then a word stuck out to her - it sounded foreign. Even more surprised was she when the armored figure now airborne replied and descended back to the grime of the sewer. As they exchanged words, Lyra peeked her head out from behind the bulk of collapsed wall, narrowing her eyes at the pair.

Listening to their voices she swatted past her ear, a high pitched buzzing filling the air. Straining to hear the words between the two the noise increased to a loud whine, about to swat at the air again she suddenly realized what was happening. Her stomach turned and everything seemed to slow down. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled, her fingertips following suit as they brushed against the slimy moss of the subterranean tunnel. She could hear her lungs expand as she breathed in, the soft splashing of water now clearly audible. Eyes still locked on the pair in front of her she wanted to shout out - but no words came. They didn't hear it. How could they not hear it? It was a thunderous splash now, a raging rapids, a thundering waterfall.

"Bye bye!"​

​

More instinct than thought, Lyra flung herself over the rubble, hands gripping the moss and rock as she vaulted the obstruction. Splashing down on the other side she now heard a torrential hail of blaster fire. It had been that strange feeling, the tickle at the edge of her consciousness that had saved her life, the spot he had occupied not a moment before now scorched and blasted with pock marks. The familiar rush of adrenaline filled her small frame, her mind focusing in on the smallest of details. She knew where the armor clad figures stood and she would later swear she could see straight through the barrier that had saved her life, able to see the features of the mini-gun wielding woman as if she was a foot away.

It had only been a moment but had felt like an age - everything sped up, the blaster bolts flying past at an alarming rate. She almost felt her breath catch in her chest, as if the world was closing in around her.. and then she fought it. *The man in the red hat.* That's how this little misadventure had all started. Then there had been the strange duo, there was something about them that spoke danger - and power. After that it had been the large beast - followed by this... this... mini-gun toting baddie. She could feel her frustration building up inside, like a small ember suddenly given a burst of oxygen. A flame given fuel to burn. Lyra's skin began to itch, a bead of perspiration forming along her brow, masked by the wet hair that lay matted to her cheek. This maniac had been the sole reason she would likely miss her chance to get off this planet, to finally break free of the streets that had held her here for so long.

*No.*​

​

A fading sense of control seemed to slip away from her just then, a captive viewer of her actions. Almost as if viewing from a holo-viewer Lyra could see herself, tiny frame huddled behind the corner of a large chunk of granite nearly two or three times her size. She could feel the strength coiling in her legs, in her arms... and that tickle again at the edge of her consciousness but this time it wasn't a mere tickle. What felt like the power of several large cargo speeders rushing by at full speed suddenly vaulted the large chunk of duracrete forward, hurtling directly at where the new arrival stood firing her blaster. Feeling her body move Lyra saw herself duck low behind another block of duracrete before collapsing halfway into the murky filth.

Breaths ragged, eyes fluttering, Lyra shivered. Whatever it was that she'd just done had robbed her of strength. Not only mentally but physically as well - making a small splash as she propped her back up against a block of duracrete she tried in vain to catch her breath. Sitting half in, half out of the water she didn't even look to see if she'd hit the woman, there was little chance she'd missed but the universe had strange ways of doing things, if today was anything to measure by. Head spinning, she hoped she would yet be able to escape.

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

 

[Froste]

Roth watched as something changed in the creature's composure as he said the word master. His posture changed, and Roth could also tell he became uncomfortable through the force. Darth Roth was completely unaware of the being's past, left with only assumptions as to why he stiffened up at the word "master."

Then, Freeosk spoke of how the word master "didn't work for him." It made no real difference to Roth, all he wanted was to turn the creature into a dangerous machine. With his size he was already a formidable foe, the Sith Knight could not even imagine how powerful he could become once Freeosk could take control of the force.

Along with being a powerful ally, Roth enjoyed the joking nature of the giant.

"Chief or whatever you want to call me is fine. My master insisted on calling him as such, but it makes no difference to me."

Roth glanced outside, "It appears that the fighting has subsided for now. Perhaps we should depart? You, ah, may need to enter my ship through the cargo hold." He gave an awkward smile.

[member=Freeosk]

 

[Natalie LaForte]

As she said this, she noticed the three, in particular the girl had all but dodged her shots before they were even fired. She spoke into herself 'forcies... huh' and she laughed a bit, but as she said this a lump of concrete came barreling towards her, as she almost rapidly aimed the gun upwards blasting the thing into particles, shattering onto the dirty water below. "Now you've got me interested." as she lowers Zaps, moving closer to the group. But a sudden urge came into her mind as she did this, 'Power...' "Zaps, was that you? You know I don't like you scarin-.." It spoke again 'Power... give me the girl' she looked around her as she tried to discover where the voice was coming from, but there was nobody but her and the group infront of her. "I.. I.. I know you're messing with my head so get out of it!"

The frustration that Serenity felt was nothing she felt before. Usually she could kill those who messed with her in an instant, but this girl was giving her trouble. And she didn't like it. And as this frustration over-came her the child-like smile on her face dropped immediately, followed by the gun being lowered and the girl's face turning blank, staring down towards the end of the corridor.

Darth Roth | Jhiaga Shiwr | ARC-15 | @Freeosk | [member="Lyra Naerys"]

 

[ARC-15]

"Bye, bye!"

He had heard it, but too late. Had it not been for his Mandalorian companion, he'd be dead where he stood. But thanks to her, he only took a graze on his left side, just below his ribs, which tore through his armor like paper and smacked the woman in the stomach. Fortunately for her, her armor was tougher than the plastoid garbage that the clone trooper was wearing.

Viper grunted, and knelt down as he felt his injury, then looked at the ashy flakes on his hands. It wasn't serious, and only barely stung.

"Is this the maniac you told me about?"

"Do you gotta ask?" snipped Viper.

He looked up as he saw a piece of durasteel fly toward the crazed attacker. When Viper looked to the source, he just barely saw the young girl from earlier with her arms up before she collapsed into the mucky water. Unslinging his carbine, which had been up until now magnetically attached to his back, he opened fire on Loveheart without any particular aim in an attempt to draw some attention away from the young girl.

"You got any explosives?" Viper asked the Mandalorian.

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

As soon as the man next to her opened fire on the lunatic, she herself raised her Mandalorian blaster and laid down a suppresive fire, the automatic nature of the weapon allowing her to put the pressure up while she checked her back-mounted rocket's systems. After a few seconds, she sighed in relief when all lights turned green.
"The rocket is ready", said the woman as she held her side with one hand, holding her blaster in the other, her back against the cover as she panted. "Ready to fire on your signal."

As she laid there, trying to kick out the pain from her mind, her sight fell onto Lyra. The girl had just hurled a fraking chunk of durasteel toward the attacker - and the implications were frightening. Now, she could feel it just well - the pang in her chest almost made her choke in realization. She despised it, but the Bounty Hunter felt what was going on. The Force. It was strong around the girl - but she had used it in anger, in fear. While Jhiaga was no friend of the Jedi, she could also see the dangers of this powerful girl falling into the hands of a Sith - which would prove problematic. Her mission of extraction had just changed in parameters drastically, and she had no idea what she could do. She gave a nudge to the man to her right with her elbow, poiting to the girl with her free arm.
"We can't let that girl slip away. She got the Force, and she's mighty dangerous."
Of course, the clone-looking stranger had little reasons to believe her. They were two strangers, potential rivals turned allies due to the situation - and the Force wasn't a belief everyone held. But she trusted him so far, as he only scored good points in her book - Mandalorian, smart enough to talk rather than shoot when outgunned, quite combat-ready judging by his stance...
"What's your plan?"

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

 

[ARC-15]

No kidding, Viper thought as the Mandalorian noted Lyra's Force-sensitivity. He never saw a Jedi too often, but when he did, he saw what supernatural things they were capable of. That girl certainly didn't chuck that hunk of durasteel on her own. That only left the Force, as they called it, as the explanation.

"What's your plan?"

Quickly he looked around. There was a pillar just left of Loveheart. It was a bit of a ballsy idea, but if they blasted it, then it would almost certainly bring the roof down on her.

"Over there! Blast it!" Viper cried, pointing over to the pillar in question.

 

[Freeosk]

Darth Roth ignored Freeosk’s latest uncomfortable joke about his meat stick… Probably one time too many, he thought. Use the same joke too much and it stops being funny, then again, if you use it enough after that, it started to be funny again. Hmmm...

It didn’t matter anyway, what mattered was what Darth Roth said next. If Freeosk were already trained in the force, he might have felt Darth Roth probing his feelings. Since he wasn’t, he had no idea. But, he did sense understanding coming from the Sith, he couldn’t tell if it was through the force, or just body language, but it was there and somewhat unexpected.

“Chief or whatever you want to call me is fine. My master insisted on calling him as such, but it makes no difference to me” Darth Roth said agreeably.

Freeosk had expected much more of a fight over this sticking point. Not that he wanted one. That was the second-time Darth Roth acted unlike a Sith stereotype. It was as if he were so comfortable with his power that he didn’t need trivial excuses to feel strong – like the pointless butchering of people, or even being called master by an apprentice. That made him appear even more powerful, at least to Freeosk. Granted, he didn’t know much about the Sith, or Jedi, or galactic history, or other governments and religions… or which cantina happened to serve the best Corellian whisky, or even what Corellian whisky tasted like, or where Corellia was or…

So, either the stories about the Sith he’d been told were wrong, or, this Sith was different. He started to think Darth Roth was different. After all, this couldn’t have been the first time he’d come close to a powerful force user. It was, however, the first time he felt such a presence and been compelled to seek it out. Maybe that meant something.

“It appears that the fighting has subsided for now. Perhaps we should depart? You, ah, may need to enter the ship through the cargo hold” Darth Roth said, glancing out the window, then giving Freeosk an awkward smile.

Freeosk grinned and stood up from his newly broken kindergarten seat. “Then through the cargo hold it will be. You small folk make all your doors too little. I’m use to it,” he made an ‘after you’ gesture with his right arm, “Lead the way, boss.”

After some time, Freeosk would ask, “So, where are we going from here?”

[member="Darth Roth"]

 

[Froste]

Roth began to lead Freeosk from the soup kitchen out into the slums, then to the spaceport. When prompted as to what their destination was, the Knight pondered for a moment. He hadn't come to this planet with the expectation of finding a worthy apprentice, and he hadn't thought of what he planned on teaching him first.

Roth walked silently for a few steps longer, then said "We'll head to Anaxes. There I'll teach you the very basics. How to manipulate the force and handle a lightsaber. From there, we'll see what to teach next." The trio drew nearer and nearer to the ship stationed in the spaceport as Roth spoke. Soon enough, they had arrived and Roth waved his sergeant off, commanding him to have the ship leave the port as the Knight lead Freeosk to the entrance of the cargo hold. He wasn't going to allow his new apprentice to sit in the hold alone. While Roth needed to be hard on the apprentice for him to learn, it was still necessary for them to respect each other.

Darth Roth found a seat in the hold, and prepared for the long journey to Anaxes.

@Freeosk

 

[Natalie LaForte]

The shots were indirect, but they still hit her leaving a burn mark on her arm, she looked down towards it before looking back up and a tear dribbled down her face, beneath her breath in a whisper she said, "You're no fun..." the tears would grow from a shallow stream into a flood as she poured down her face, childish screams could be heard coming out of her as she stood up again and started walking towards the group, Zaps in both of her hands. "All I wanted was fun and you meanies aren't letting me have it!" The walk would get faster as she looked directly at the trooper who shot her, his carbine still raised in the air "Say. Sorry." saying this through the sobbing of her voice while still aiming the minigun directly towards him but now at an even closer distance, still walking closer towards her new target.

But as this was happening, she noticed the mandalorian aiming his wrist towards the pillar which was now a good bit away from her, and as he raised it an infernal rage started to grow deep within her as a voice could be heard in his mind, "Stop..." but the voice was much younger than Serenity's, possibly an eight year old or even less.

Lyra Naerys I ARC-15 I [member="Jhiaga Shiwr"]

 

[Jhiaga Shiwr]

Jhiaga nodded and bent over slightly, giving her rocket the angle needed. With nothing more than the pressing of a button, it left her back and almost threw her ont the ground because of the force of the launching, the explosive projectile flying toward the designated pillar straightly. An explosion later, the whole place trembled, shaken in its foundation. The roof cracked and fell... but not only on Loveheart, as several chunks fell near the Mando'a and the clone. Realizing they had grossly underestimated how much the place was counting on that pillar to stay together, the bounty hunter ran to Lyra, taking the weakened girl by her arms, before glancing at the other Mandalorian. The three of them would be too heavy to go far with her jetpack... but she wasn't the type to leave people behind. And so she hoisted the girl on her back, grabbed the man by the arm, and activated her jetpack to full power, having trouble even taking off because of the weight, the device sprouting its maximum capacity, barely controllable. But the white and blue armored Zabrak was experienced in the use of it, and so she managed to avoid the bigger debris as she flew away, toward the promising light of the hole above. As they were but a meter away, an alarm rang in her helmet; the fuel level was dangerously low.
"Come on", grunted the woman in beetween gritted teeth, "just a little bit more!"

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