A Sluggish Start: Nar Kreeta Part 1 (Order of the Nighthawk)

[Tristram Senan]

Jooru's Palace, Nar Kreeta​

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Nar Kreeta, busy with trade and traditionally a Hutt owned planet. It was a tradition that was not lost currently either. Despite what may have happened with the planet over the years, since the collapse of both the major Hutt Cartel and the Trade Union in the area it had fallen under the control of a young upstart hutt by the name of Jooru. It was finally completely under his control and so he had begun to push for collecting more slaves. He had a grand palace to run after all and many guests to entertain. His activity was not hidden either as who was there to oppose him?

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Tristram found himself in being held in a slave pen along with all of the other new slaves being brought before Jooru. How did he end up here? Well he was caught. A scam was the reason why. There was the offer of work by the Mining Guild of higher pay and a few more benefits to anyone who was willing to go work a supposedly dangerous but lucrative mine. It sounded legit enough to be true so people signed up. Tristram though signed up because he wanted to be caught. An unnamed contact had heard about the scam from someone who had fallen for it and escaped. This was the sort of thing the Order of the Nighthawk got involved in. It was the sort of thing that Tristram couldn't stand.

Looking around, Tristram was trying to get a read of the room. A couple of gamorreans were guarding the pen and keeping an eye out for any trouble. They wanted a fight. He could feel it coming off of them. Most of the people in the pen were the same though even if the gender and species ratio was pretty balanced and spread out. They were all wearing regular, casual clothing. Any weapons or tools they had brought with them was taken away when they were captured. He knew that would happen, but it left those stuck here few options. Everyone was noticeable scared as whispers roared around the area and more than a few had drawn up into themselves as tightly as they could get. It was not a pretty sight.

It had only been a couple of minutes after Tristram had begun to study the pen that a devorian male with both of his horns broken off showed up. He scanned the area then pointed at a twi'lek woman and said, " You, come with me. Jooru wants a new dancer." She began to panic as one of the guards pushed his way into the pen and grabbed her. As she was drug off, the devorian said to her, " Do try to entertain the master. You will be handed over to the men otherwise and the entertainment they will get out of you won't be pleasant." With that she was handed over to another guard and was taken off screaming. The pen was silent soon enough with the same two guards watching and waiting.

[member="Talaya Rade"]

 

[Talaya Rade]

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Days prior, a female by the name of Talaya Rade continued her journey away from home. Without the credits to supply her own means of transportation, she opted to hop aboard whatever shuttle that held space. Within the night, the woman "allowed" herself on a shuttle holding suspicious looking characters. Casting the thought aside, she'd keep to herself until discovering herself on Nar Kreeta. The shuttle met landing but by the time she made exit, she was greeted by guards and a wealthy man with a whip. Each passenger on the shuttle was given chains, and the pilot was payed. It'd seem she'd boarded a slave transporting ship and when the fact sunk in, she'd close her eyes briefly and curse to herself. Clink. Her wrists were chained and shortly enough she was forced to follow the men. By the end of the day, her head was leaned against a cold wall and her eyes looked up to a ceiling in both disbelief and annoyance. <"Not quite the adventure I was hopin' for."> Despite the grim circumstances, Talaya's eyes scrolled from top to bottom of the room. The people, the captors, even the Twi'lek recently tasked with entertaining a hutt. Her secluded lifestyle up 'till now paved way for much curiosity when it came to species she'd only read or heard of. However, for now gettin' the kark out of this place held more priority. Before long, she'd begin to speak to the slaves. Most wouldn't answer, paralyzed by terror or sapped hope. Sooner or later her eyes fell upon [member="Tristram Senan"]. ". .You. Hey." Rattles her chains abit. "Too scared to speak, too? Just what in the hell are these people being chained for? I can think of a million places I'd rather be." She spoke in a feminine, yet hushed tone.

 

[Tristram Senan]

The event with the twi'lek woman had only done more to increase the panic within the room. The silence was now deafening until some random young woman had started talking to folk. This caught Tristram's attention for a moment, but it was soon back on the guards as they shifted around. It was just a comfort thing for them not any indication of a new arrival. They didn't have the keys to the cuffs on them either. Seemed the best bet was to wait for the devorian to show back up and somehow get the keys off of him. How long would it be until he came back? Probably depended on how entertaining that woman was. For her sake he hoped it wasn't for a long time.

As all of this planning and scheming was going through Tristram's head, he heard someone say something to him. He turned his attention to the speaker as they began to rattle their chains. More was said and they seemed to think he was scared like the rest of the others. That was far from the truth, but it might be fun to chat with the talkative girl while he waited for something new to happen. With a friendly smile on his face he said, " Me scared? Nope. This is a real nice resort we are in. The help though could use more training. They are acting like we are slaves or something." He gave her a little wink. His cheery words seemed to catch attention from the others around them. For the most part they were confused and didn't know if he was joking or just crazy. It was probably a bit of both though.

Tristram kept up the smile as he looked at the young woman. She didn't really fit in with this crowd at all. From the way she cared herself he imagined she was from a better off family and some level of privileged upbringing. What was she doing here then? Had they broadened their target range or did she run into a bit of trouble that got her here? Plenty of questions but it wasn't the time or place to worry about it too much. " They call me Nighthawk. Who might you be? My guess is Ms. Beautiful Eyes." He gave her another wink. The other slaves were beginning to lose some of their panic slowly at his unusual behavior. It was as if he was sitting in a bar rather than in a slave pen. Good. At least he was able to work on that right now until the devorian came back.

[member="Talaya Rade"]

 

[Talaya Rade]

A compliment. It's been awhile. The woman's lips curled into a brief smile before fully turning to the male. "Cute. But I'm afraid not. It's uh . ." Huff. "Talaya." Feeling the mention of her last name was unnecessary, she'd instinctively offer a hand to shake but ultimately found it a bit difficulty with chains. "We'll uh. .have to save some formalities for later. Still. A girl's curious. What nets you a name like . .Nighthawk? Personally..I'd choose somethin' like Big Dragon or. ." Looks around. "Or. ." Her eyes turned to a returning captor with a rattling pair of keys at the hip. "Jail Breaker." Inside the female felt a pit of nervousness, but if she was to mature and live to see the world, it'd have to be cast aside for now. So she looked to [member="Tristram Senan"] and nodded. "Oh. .but where are my manners. I've uh. .never been the greedy type. I'd certainly share such a ...intimidating title if someone were to help me earn it."

 

[Tristram Senan]

Talaya was her name it seemed. From the way she spoke, Tristram could tell he was right about her upbringing. She also seemed to be faring better under these circumstances than the others. That became especially true as the jingling of keys happened and she brought up the idea of breaking out. Not a bad idea and was what he was thinking. But from the way she spoke he guessed she didn't have much of a plan in mind. She didn't though since he had a plan of his own. He just kept on smiling to her as she spoke. Once she was done though he decided to get on it and get some teasing in to see how she reacted on top of it.

With his grin becoming a little impish, Tristram said to her, " Well how about a little reward once we get out if I earn us that title Ms. Beautiful Eyes? Something very personal too." He gave her another wink as he smirked. She would hopefully get his point. " Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to see about upgrading our room." He was up on his feet in one quick, smooth motion heading towards the guards. As he came up to them he called out, " Sir. Sir! I have something you will want to hear! It's very important and could make you very wealthy!" The pair of guards got alert and looked ready to start swinging at him, but they were stopped by the key guy in the hallway. It wasn't the devorian from before. Instead it was a Weequay man with one blind eye. The same side as their keys were on too. He might be in luck.

As the Weequay walked up, he said, " 'old up boys. Let's 'ear 'im out." Oh a not so smart one from the way he spoke. Tristram kept up a friendly smile. He held up his hands so they were in plain view as he said, " Thank you. It is always nice to meet clever folk." He began to move his hands around a bit as he went on, " Now I want to make a deal with ya. I know of a place with a lot of treasure on this very planet. I tell you where it is and maybe I and some pretty thing get to walk free eh?" The Weequay chuckled at Tristram's words. His interest was fully on what was being said while the Gamorreans were distracted by his hands. None of them noticed as the keys slowly and silently were lifting themselves off of the slaver's belt and beginning to drift down towards the top of Tristram's boot. The slaver said with a cocky grin, " Not a bad deal. 'ere dis treasure be den?"

Tristram gave the Weequay a big smile as the keys dropped into his boot and disappeared within. He said, " Right up yer bum you bantha karker." The pair of Gamorreans began to laugh at the joke. The slaver sneered and punched Tristram right in the face then yelled out, " Shut up de lot of ya! Rough 'im up a bit den throw 'im back into de pen to rot!" The slaver stormed off as the two guards began to beat Tristram. They got their fill of the fun in as Tristram just took it while protecting his head and groin. Once they were done they threw Tristram back in and went back to the guard duty. Tristram was already beginning to bruise up as he got himself back over by [member="Talaya Rade"] and sat down. He fished out the keys from his boot and gave her a smirk. " Here you are Ms. Beautiful Eyes. As promised." He whispered to her in a voice low enough only she could hear him. The keys were placed into her hands with a wink. They were free to break out of the cuffs any time, but now they needed to deal with the pair of dummies guarding the exit.

 

[Talaya Rade]

The woman's head cocked abit in intrigue as the male spoke and managed his way into retrieving the keys and placing them into her hands. "You can take a punch. I like that." After unlocking her chains enough to be attached, but loose, she rose a chained hand to his face, rubbing abit at his cheek before cocking her fists to the side and smacking them, cuffs n' all, against the male's cheek. Pulled back enough to not warrant unconsciousness, convincing enough to leave a bruise. And so, the woman would get atop the nighthawk, offer a brief wink and begin to curse while hitting at him. Before long she was seized by a captor, yanked off by the collar with a stun rod aimed to jab her by a second captor to the right. Talaya, by no means, was an experienced combatant. But she knew how to use her body, and swiftly at that. Cursing herself briefly for what was about to come, she lashed outward and offered a head butt towards the first captor, allowing her right shoulder to fall back and loosely evade the second captor's stun rod. The woman followed by twisting on her left foot to later raise a stiffened leg aimed to smack against the second captor's jaw with the acquired force. In that moment the stun rod dropped, and two men lashed toward her in anger.

Making herself limp, she cursed as she purposely fell onto her back, grabbed the stun rod and slammed the good end directly at the first captor's manhood. He seized with shock before collapsing, and just as swiftly she was kicked in the stomach and sent tumbling. With the rod loosely in hand, she held her stomach and watched him near. Huffing. He'd descend a vibroblade upon Talaya, which was later clashed with the stun rod. He held more strength, and it showed as her arms wobbled. Before long, she whipped a leg outward to sweep the male off his feet to later hop onto her feet in a similar motion displayed by [member="Tristram Senan"] earlier and drive the stun rod against the captor's chest until he refused to move and fell limp. Afterward, she huffed with a reddened face of pumping adrenaline. Walk abit limp, she looked over to Tristram with a rather innocent smirk. "Who knows..if you're lucky and we escape alive..you just might get that reward." She'd finally release herself from the chains and toss the vibroblade to Tristram.

 

[Tristram Senan]

The young woman could throw a decent punch. At least that was what Tristram thought as she smacked him in the face. Her plan was already clear from that but he wasn't actually expecting her to get on top of him. He had to keep a straight face instead of grinning as she began to keep on smacking him while cursing. A clever plan to lure the guards into a place they didn't want to be. The only problem was that the two gamorreans were the ones still guarding the place and those pig men were as hard to deal with in a close quarters fight as a wookie. Actually they might even be harder. Thankfully though she had some luck as two regular humans showed up right as she started the trouble. They said something to the gamorreans about "a problem" and "hurry over to the arena." The two boars seemed to be pleased to hear that and took off heading away from the pens.

The new guards waded through the pen as some space was cleared around them and the play fight. Their focus was on the girl, but she seemed ready to pick a fight. She struggled against them and he had to admit there was some potential. The movements were a little clunky but it was nothing some training and experience wouldn't fix. A couple times he thought about getting involved himself, but decided it would be better to let her handle it herself and only step in if it took a hard turn south. She might make a good new recruit to that Order he was thinking of starting up, and there was no better trial than seeing how she did on them getting out. She had dropped the keys though so he got his own cuffs off as she finished up her little tussle with the guards. Seems she won in the end. Good for her.

As [member="Talaya Rade"] got playful back with him, Tristram just smiled and tossed her the keys so she could unlock her own cuffs. " Might and maybe aren't good enough. I will get us out of here alive and I will get that reward Ms. Beautiful Eyes." He smirked and gave her a wink back. They had secured a weapon each and were free of their cuffs. The next best move would be to sort out where they were at and where they needed to be to find some ships to escape in. Knowing the hutts and their gangs, they shouldn't be too far from the hangar as they wouldn't want to go too far on escorting fresh slaves to pens. The main issue was which hallways would take them there. He put the vibroknife under his belt then put his cuffs on one of the knocked out guards. With his hands behind his back he wouldn't be able to cause as many problems when he woke up. He looked to the young woman and said, " Next step pretty lady is to cuff and gag both these guards then free the other slaves. We should be near the hangar, but I can't say for sure if we are. These people can't afford to leave until we know where we are going. You up for some snooping around?"

 

[Talaya Rade]

Couldn't help but look around at those within the pen, the fact ringing in that this operation meant her success, or failure would decide the lives of x amount of others. She briefly bit her lip in frustration before turning to [member="Tristram Senan"] and nodding. Soon enough, she'd chained and gagged the second man in similar fashion and stepped towards the people. She had only a stun rod, and her words. She was no established woman, she hadn't the reputation to inspire courage and hope, but at the moment allowing these men and women, no matter the race, to live their days their own way felt proper. Something she was ready to fight for. One by one, she helped ease the tension felt by the slaves, releasing them of their chains and reassuring them that hope lived. She advised the slaves to stay put, and when the time come she would return. Some complied, others merely shook in a fetal position. Even worse, the last girl made attempts to call out help. Talaya smacked a palm against her mouth, and eased her into unconsciousness however hard it was for her. The woman notably gulped, nearly to the brink of tears, but felt it was necessary. Finally on her feet, and free of chains, she approached Tristram. "I've only just got here. I can remember some of the turns, but I won't chance it. Go on, Mr.Hawk, lets get snoopin'." She looked into his eyes for that moment, deep blue and proof that she placed her entire trust in this stranger. She was too inexperienced to know the true consequences of this all, but she was experienced enough to know she couldn't do this alone. With that, she motioned her head for him to take lead.

 

[Tristram Senan]

While Talaya was going around taking care of the other people in the pen, Tristram had moved to the opening. He peered out to see what was going on for the layout. The pen seemed to sit in a little cove to give it more room with hallways on either side. Larger spaces appeared to be what lay at the end of the regular length paths but outside of that there was no telling. Sounds and glimpses of movement told of the activities being held if you went either way. So they had two options, but which one would be the best? He tried to remember the directions from when he was brought in, but they had taken some measures to confuse and daze people before heading to the pens. That wasn't going to get him anywhere. Then he remembered the twi'lek woman who had been drug off earlier to entertain Jooru. He had seen which hallway she had been taken down even though he didn't note it at the time. Seems he had a direction to go down now.

It was shortly after Tristram had sorted out where to go that [member="Talaya Rade"] approached him again. She was ready to go and seemed to be putting her trust into him. Good, but hopefully she didn't depend on him too much. It was not so much that he didn't want to babysit someone as it was impossible to predict what might happen next. If she relied on him too much then she wouldn't be able to handle unexpected danger on her own if she needed to. Not a cheery thought but one that proved all too true. He gave her a friendly smile and said, " I'm heading left. I suggest you put that stunner away. First thing we need to do is find some cloths. We can't blend in like this and those guards aren't either of our sizes. After that lets see if we can find a map or layout of the palace. Once we have done that we can focus on rescuing them." He pointed back towards the inside of the pen. He waited for her response then headed down the left hallway. He would call this the tricky part as well, but this whole operation was going to be tricky to pull off. The worst part though was going to come when he went to save that twi'lek woman after this.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Without much thought, Talaya stored the stunner away and nodded towards the male heading left. Briefly looking back, she whisper a token of luck to herself and [member="Tristram Senan"]. The aboves knew they would surely need it. The curly-haired woman stood as look-out, peeking left and right and listening to footsteps to ensure Tristram wasn't blindsided. Should the two reach the end of the hallway, they'd find a open box-shaped room, void of guards and much other presence. Along the walls were lockers assigned side by side, and long benches to help the changing process. Beside the hallway the two were in, the room split into two other directions. Another hallway directly forward that hooked into a right turn, and a set of curving stairs. The curious woman couldn't help but peek, ear perking to the sound of numbered footsteps rising from the stairs' location. Huffing a bit to herself, she'd look up to Tristram and emerge from the hallway and into the supposed locker room. It was lengthy, and wide. She'd slink into the back section to obscure herself of view, and begin to silently open each locker in search of appropriate clothing. Admittedly the pit within her stomach resurfaced, but it'd be placed aside as she swiftly took off her shirt and began changing into more appropriate attire.

"This. . .this'll have to do," She'd say to herself in a hushed voice.

 

[Tristram Senan]

What was waiting for the two of them at the end of the hallway was a locker room. That was lucky but a little odd. What kind of hutt palace had a locker room in it? He was complaining about a locker room in a hutt palace. What was wrong with him? It didn't matter what they put in their palace because it was their palace. It was just a blessing for disguises so he should just start going through locker and piece himself something together. Where was a room like this though when he was drinking all the time?

It took several lockers but eventually Tristram found everything he needed. He was in leather armor now and looked the part of a brute or a bounty hunter. The only thing he didn't do was switch out his boots. His boots were comfortable enough as it was for him and they functioned fine. After he was set up, he slide the vibroknife into his belt. He also managed to find a spare blaster pistol someone left in their locker. Good luck for them but bad luck for whoever left it.

Tristram began to look around for [member="Talaya Rade"] for a bit, but had to stop. A basic layout of the palace was on the wall. This room was sure getting luckier by the minute. He called out in a voice so Talaya could here him but not so loud it would draw unwanted attention, " Talaya, you should take a look at this." He kept his eyes on the layout as he waited for her to show up. The layout showed how the hangar was down the right hallway from the slave pen and how if they kept going the way they were now then they would end up near the arena. Jooru's luxury box was near the locker room exit as well. This was lucky. They could get the slaves out and he could try to save the twi'lek woman going off of it.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Talaya, in new attire, inwardly wished she had a mirror to see herself. The desire escaped mind however after [member="Tristram Senan"]'s call was heard and she quietly approached to later look at the palace's map. "Well. .what'dya know," She'd almost whisper to herself before leaning forward and placing both hands at the hip. Her fingers traced along their current position, and where they needed to go. "Down the right, eh?" She'd look to Tristram. "So what'dya say, Nighthawk, just us or are we leavin' with all the others?" Talaya briefly sighed, running hands through her hair in thought. "We. .may actually only have one option. Come back later for 'em." Speaking in hushed whispers, her indecisive mind ran over all their potential possibilities. Being brave and completing the operation with a stun rock, and a blaster would certainly make for the best story, but it was one she actually wanted to live to tell. And so, she'd open her mouth to say something else before two guards finished their climb up the steps and turned to see the two. They'd approach with a curious gaze before looking at each other. "You're not-. . ." They began, Talaya suddenly ridden with a pinch of fear at the words to come. "-. .That bad looking. New recruits, eh? Heh. Who knew they let pretty faces do anything around here other than serve, and . .shake." He'd shoulder-bump his partner who both chuckled to themselves. "And you. .? You're with 'er, eh?" He'd pat Tristram's shoulders. "Hey. .My lips . .are sealed," He'd follow with a sealing motion at his lips. "Allright. Alrright. 'nough jibber-jabbering. I need you two at the hangers. New shipment of slaves comin' soon. See to it they get to the pen safely, ya'hear? Let's go." And so, Talaya would look at Tristram as they began their escorted walk towards the hanger.

 

[Tristram Senan]

As Talaya spoke, Tristram was looking over the details of the layout even more closely. The hangar was fairly isolated from what he could tell. It only had two passages connected to it. One led to the slave pens and the other led into the main area of the palace. If they wanted to take a shuttle out of here then they would need to figure out a way to do so secretly. There likely wasn't much in the way of cover and neither passage looked like they could be locked down. This was why he hated dealing with hutt stuff. They always cut the weirdest corners and it always ended up screwing him over during whatever mission he was on. This was no different so far.

Tristram was about ready to respond back to [member="Talaya Rade"] when two guards entered. Not good. As they spoke he was sorting out a plan thinking they had been found out, but then the conversation took a less dangerous turn. He put on a smirk as they mentioned that Talaya had a pretty face. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him. " What can I say? I couldn't resist her nice, firm behind. She sweet talked her way into this job and I couldn't say no to that pretty face." He made a surprised expression as they mentioned the new shipment of slaves coming. " Was that today? I could have sworn they said it would be 2 more days. Lead on. Can't let Jooru's property escape now." As they started to follow the thugs, Tristram gave Talaya a wink and a grin. This might just be the windfall they needed to sort out their hangar problem.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Talaya listened to guard's words, mouth-ready to open before she found her waist-region yanked and pulled to [member="Tristram Senan"]. She'd briefly look to his hand, first instinct being to smack the male all together but hid it behind a short-lived smile. Talaya herself was about as good at verbally lying as a newborn baby, and decided to not speak for the time being. Being led to the hanger, she'd look to the winking Tristram and squint her eyes a bit. She had words, but they'd be saved for later. As for now, the four were now in the hanger room and a shuttle seemed to be being getting clearance and aid to land. Folks seemed to cycle in and out whether it be for engineering purposes, trafficking the crafts that exited and entered or simple patrol. "Alright, you two. Over here," He'd motion towards the aforementioned landing shuttle and approach it with his firearm held firmly.

"You two get in there, make sure all fifteen slaves are in there and make sure the pilot isn't up to any funny business. Can't tell you how many times someone's tried to pull a fast one."

The shuttle lands and the entrance is opened for boarding, or exiting. <"Hmm. .this is it, eh? Here's to hopin' this goes smoothly.">

 

[Tristram Senan]

The young woman's intent to smack him when he wrapped his arm around her waist was not lost on Tristram. It was not the reason he had done it, but the teasing of it made it that much more worth it to him. He didn't remove his arm either as they walked along because he caught the glances from the pair of guards leading them to the hangar. He had to keep up appearances or it might go sideways on them fast. He leaned down and whispered into [member="Talaya Rade"] ear, " Keep an eye open when we get to the hangar. If we can make an opening to run the slaves from the pen into a shuttle we need to take it. Also not sorry about the arm around your waist or this." Immediately after he finished whispering he took a little nip of her ear. Was he digging a deeper hole for himself later? Yup, but it put on a good little show for the pair watching them. As far as they knew he had just been whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

As the hangar came into view, Tristram let his arm slide off of Talaya's waist. The place was busier than he expected and it only had the new shuttle in it. It was bigger than expected. Probably a light freighter of some kind. He noted that it had a laser turret on the top of it though. That looked promising. The guards gave them some orders to go inside of the shuttle, which got an impish grin out of him. " My pleasure. Come on sweet cheeks, we got a job to do." To keep up appearance, definitely not for his own enjoyment, he smacked her rear. Oh how much trouble he was probably in for all of this later. He headed for the shuttle.

Right before they got to the ramp, Tristram said in a voice only low enough for Talaya to hear, " I'm going to deal with the pilot then get into that turret and start shooting. Can you handle freeing the slaves on board and then getting the ones from the pen over here? This might be our only chance to get out of here with everyone." It was a bit of a long shot but it seemed they were feeling too secure with their domination of the planet. Their defenses on the hanger were really lacking so a single turret could be all they needed. He gave her a smile though and hoped she was feeling up to the most important of the tasks. Now was her time to show him exactly what all she had. Outside of a nice butt that was.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Talaya was overcome by a subtle uncomfortable shiver after [member="Tristram Senan"] nipped at her ear. Her surroundings blurred more and more by the second, and her fist tightened. Before she could punch the male, they were in the hangar and met with the sight of the landed shuttle. Calming her nerves, she'd nod towards the guard and ---feeling a disturbance in the force As if by reflex, she'd snatch her hand out and grab the male's wrist before he could perform the smack. In the brief moment, her grip seemed to tighten before she looked to Tristram with a quivering, fake smile. "L-. .Let's. .get the job done, . . . Honey." The woman seemed to crunch on her words, suddenly finding herself listening to Tristram's plan and releasing his wrist afterwards. "I uh. .gotcha. You'd better be on that turret by the time I return though, or this little relationship's over." Despite the hushed anger she felt, she mustered to smile briefly before boarding the ship. She'd perform an inspection before stepping out the shuttle. "All fifteen in there. Safe, n' sound. Keep 'em here for now. I need to run to the slave pens and make sure its clear for these newcomers." In a sudden jog, she'd travel back to the slave pen. Some within the slave pen seemed to gasp that she returned, the others still looked defeated.

"Are we. .leaving?" One would ask.

"Shh. ." -- "Shh. ." She'd respond before crouching down and looking at the entrance and back to the slaves. "Look. We have a shuttle ready for all of you. If you're tired of being locked in chains, working against your will or. .being fed the horrible guck they serve then I'm your best bet, 'kay? No tricks. But I need you all to cooperate, and stay quiet." -- "But! What about the guards?" -- "This hallway leads to a hangar. My friend is currently clearing a way for us. We've got it covered. Now. Let's be quick about this." She'd do a sweep making sure she had the key, and ensuring everyone's chains were free. Once she calmed the crowd, she'd have them form a rough line and lead them back to the hanger. As they got closer, and closer to the hanger, she'd grow more and more anxious. <". .Come on, Nighthawk."> -- <"Tell me you've done it."> And so, both the woman and the slaves turned to enter the hangar bay.

 

[Tristram Senan]

The anger coming from the young woman was noticeable for Tristram. Seemed he pushed things a little too far with his teasing. Good to know she wasn't the kind to get all swept up in her emotions though. As they got into the shuttle, Talaya went to help the slaves while he went for the pilot. Or rather it seemed the pilot and the co-pilot. The two didn't seem surprised to see him enter but what did surprise them was when Tristram used electric judgement on them from his palms like a taser. The two were knocked completely out and dropped to the floor. He found some scrap wiring and used it to tie them up. So far so good. As he was carrying them to the back with the slaves, he heard the young woman tell him everything was accounted for. Excellent. He dropped off his out cold prisoners then walked to the end of the ramp.

As [member="Talaya Rade"] took off at a jog to get the other slaves, the pair of guards who had brought them here looked at her with suspicion. Tristram said to them, " The karkers who own the ship locked themselves up in the cockpit. She went for a plasma torch. Can you two help me out while she does?" They agreed and seemed any doubts they had earlier disappeared. Some thugs and bruisers just didn't have much sense in them it seemed. As the two got onto the ship, he quickly and silently pulled the vibroknife out of his boot. He slit both of their throats so they couldn't yell out the finished them off with a stab to a vital organ. As the two dropped dead, he gave the frightened slaves a friendly smile. Time to move onto the next part of the plan.

After getting into the turret, Tristram began to look at the various targets. The hangar control room was in plain view as was the main entrance and a cluster of people working some crates. A pair of guards was watching the entrance and a taskmaster the workers. Looked like he could deal with this with just the turret. The turret guns were quickly aimed at the control room and shots were fired before anyone knew what was happening. The room exploded and immediately got the attention of the guards. They only had time to take a couple shots each though before turret shots took them out. As the workers freaked out and the taskmaster went about getting them under control, Tristram said over the ship speakers, " If you want to leave come to the ship. If you don't then find cover." He gave it a couple seconds for his words to sink in then took a shot so it only knocked the taskmaster over. Some of the workers looked at each other then ran towards the shuttle as fast as they could.

As Tristram pointed the turret back at the main entrance, Talaya returned with the slaves. He continued to fire at the entrance to prevent anyone from showing up to stop them. A stray rocket flew out from the debris being kicked up by the laser fire. It struck the ceiling above the shuttle and caused dust and small pieces of debris to fall down. He said over the speakers, " Hurry up! This won't hold them off forever!" He just continued to fire as he impatiently waited for them to board. Hopefully the young woman could fly this ship because he wasn't about to get out of the turret if they were bringing out the rockets already.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Talaya, along with the group of groups turned into the hanger to see debris coupled with sounds of laser fire and panic'd voices. Quickly turning to the slaves, she'd speak.

"That's our guy. Into the shuttle. Now!" Notably in a rush, she'd lead the group of slaves towards the shuttle and guide them as they funneled into the aircraft. "Come on. Coome on. Quickly, quickly."

Being last to step into the shuttle, shed look down to see two slit-throats and a frightened pair of slaves. "He's good." She chimed before reaching the cock-pit area.

Placing her bum into the seat, she'd begin to a quick test to make sure all the necessary functions were online, and operable. "Check. .check. .annd. ." Slowly, she give power to the engines and ease the aircraft into a steady lift. "Check." Calling out back, she'd begin to carefully turn the ship. "Nighthawk, just a few more seconds and we're outta here! Hold 'em off, you hear me!?" It was obvious the woman felt tension, and a bit of fear in such a high-stakes mission but completion meant the freedom of herself, the slaves and Tristram. So with a calming breath, she'd steadily pull a lever forward and gave power to the thrusters. The shuttle was now moving, accelerating by the second and being smoothly guided out of the hangar in thanks to Talaya's prior experience with piloting. Before long, the shuttle took an upward angle and was into the sky in departure of Jooru's Palace.

Talaya herself tensed a fist and exhaled in joy. "Good karking shooting, Tristram."

 

[Tristram Senan]

Shot after shot after shot flew from the turret as fast as it was able to. Tristram had no plans on dying here today nor letting the people in the ship to die also. More rockets flew out of the dust and barely missed the shuttle to strike around the hangar. It was starting to get to the point that this was more of a battle than an escape attempt. The ship began to lift off though which threw off his shots for a second, but also managed to let them dodge the last rocket shot. It went through where they were just sitting moments earlier and flew out of the hangar to strike the canyon wall. They lucked out it seemed. Talaya called back to let him know they were almost free, but he was going to save any celebrating for when they were actually in hyperspace.

No ships were launched to catch them. It was hard to say if Jooru didn't value having a few fighters laying or just didn't want to shell out the credits for some. They were just lucky the hutt didn't have any ready to stop them. As the shuttle got clear of the hangar and the tops of the palace became visible shooting out of the rock of the desert planet, Tristram took several shots at it. At first it was just dust but eventually a hole formed as part of the roof began to cave in. A little bit of satisfaction washed over him knowing that he had at least eaten up more of the hutt's credits and resources with the action even if all it did was annoy. He got the turret into a safe position then locked it. His job was over.

Coming into the cockpit, Tristram looked over at [member="Talaya Rade"] sitting in the pilot seat. The young woman had done well today putting up with his teasing and keeping her cool for the most part. She also wasn't half bad at this sort of work. She would be a valuable companion if she agreed to join him. He smiled to her as he patted her shoulder then sat down in the copilot seat. " Nice work today Ms. Beautiful Eyes. You would make a good freedom fighter." He glanced over at her as he paused then added, " And if you want to be one then I know a newly formed group that would take you in. Sound interesting to you?" Now all he could do is wait for her response.

 

[Talaya Rade]

Her eyes seemed to stare out into the stars as they escaped the planet, a sense of relief washing over her before Tristram sat next to her. "Yeeaah. .it's Talaya. Just. .Talaya, Mr.Handsy." She'd turn to [member="Tristram Senan"] with an honest look. "You try to get that touchy with me again and the next shuttle you ride'll straight to hell, got it?" After a momentary, blank stare, she'd crack a smile and playfully push at the male's shoulder. "Jerk." Even if she wouldn't admit it, this was her first intimate experience with a male and underneath the initial frustration a very, minuscule part of her enjoyed it. With all the trouble of escaping home, and finding her place in the galaxy, she'd forgotten about relationships. It was a priority placed below her lowest current one, and would perhaps one day have to be dealt with when she was established and has met the right person.

Until then. .She'd sit back in her seat and think on his proposal. "A . .freedom fighter? You think I like sneakin' around hutt palaces and riskin' my neck to save folks?"
Rustles a hand through her hair. Huff. "Even if I did. .whats this group of . .uh. .what? Freedom fighters?"