Private Belazura data heist

[Cartri Keswoll]

​

Location: Belazura
Allies: Daiya Anakin Stormrunner
Objective: Meet with the other operatives before traveling to the contact

As soon as he first stepped on Belazura he knew something was different about this place. The air was clear and lush compared to the ever distasteful quality of Denon, possibly due to the amount of green that covered the planets surface. He had never seen so many plants before due to being stuck in the urban jungle for most of his life, but it was clear this type of environment was far better than the depressing concrete confines. Cartri looked around him in amazement as he walked through the warm city streets, one of which were actually spotless and buzzing with wealthy individuals who wanted to spend their money. None the less, he wasn't here for pleasure. Cartri had a job to do along with his fellow darkwire shadow runners, and that was to obtain plans for the future. He still didn't have an idea who was coming to assist him with the task, but they were told to meet at a certain place before going together to meet up with the contact, which in this case was a small café in the center of the city.

To make sure he wasn't out of place, Cartri wore some smart clothes that helped him fit in with the people. However, his hair colour still made people give him strange looks as if they had never seen such a thing before. Xan was right, whatever planet he went on there was always something that made him stick out from the rest, probably because they didn't appreciate a good head of hair when they saw one.

Cartri ignored their curious stares as he finally reached the small café which seemed to have only just opened for their morning hours. No customers seemed to be inside for now, other than the lonely assistant was wiping the surface with a piece of cloth. The teen slowly made his way inside the café and made his way over to the counter, where he stood in front of the man behind the counter "Can I have the Tea please" he said over to him as the man quickly looked up to him and put away his filthy rag "Sure kid, coming right up" the man replied with a small nod before prepping the tea for Cartri. While he prepared his beverage, Cartri's eyes turned to the window and looked at all the different citizens wondering past, almost in a deep thought about something "You're not from around here are you?" asked the man as he began to stir the tea with a small spoon, his head turning slightly to look at Cartri in the corner of his eye "No... what told you that?" Cartri replied his head turning back to face him "Well, a few things really. Your hair and the accent, both are equally unknown around here. " he answered before turning around and placing the tea on the counter for the teen to pick up. With a small nod in thanks, Cartri picked up the mug handle with one hand and took a sip, his gaze looking back to the assistant "Why doesn't that surprise me... thanks for the tea anyway" said the boy as he slipped him a few more credits than intended and walked to a table, placing himself down to wait for the other two individuals

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

If Cartri had gained subtle stairs and side eyed looks, then the gazes Anakin picked up were more akin to ceaseless gawking. Every eye tracked his movements and caught the glistening of light off his bright blue wings. Curiosity, hostility, the purpose mattered little when each burning gaze brought back memories of wooden bloodied platforms, prices shouted in Huttese as the depurs of the planet auctioned off his nonexistent freedom. Thirty years later and the creaking bloody floor boards and screams of the Amavikkans sold there still haunted him on his worst days.

The cafe was small and relatively empty, but that didn’t keep what eyes there were from drawing to his form. He ordered a water, to remind himself he could, and an earthy tea to savor as he talked.

Bits of painted bone and carved wood jangled as he approached the table. Not for the first time that day his hand found Amarattu, the mothers protection, and rubbed the already worn wood, its edges rubbed smooth by sand and touch. The table, as he soon realized, was a square slab of wood with four high backed chairs around it. Metal scraped against metal as he turned the chair to the side, ignoring the additional looks he got as he settled into the side ways seat, wings and tail positioned comfortably behind him. Kark humans and their subtle racism, he wasn’t going to ruin his feather for something as trivial as social acceptance.

Spice blue eyes flickered to Cartri as he finished his small glass of over priced water. “Cartri, right? Nice to finally meet you face to face.” He smiled, a grin full of sharpened teeth and friendly gesture. “I dunno about you, but these people sure don’t seem used to many strangers.” And what a strange pair they were. Cartri, so obviously odd but trying to fit in. And Anakin, with his pupilless eyes and bright blue wings and black and green clothes embroidered with the twisting patterns and designs of his people. If they would stare one way or another, he might as well give them something to look at. Not to mention, wearing the color of rebellion and freedom and the more intricate designs of his people so freely helped on the worse days, when the eyes reminded him of the auction block and the cold of the planet burrowed into his bones, coating the desert that resided there.

Cartri Keswoll Daiya

 

[Daiya]

Back to Belazura.

There was a time when Daiya had been eager to visit the world again. Despite the messy circumstances of her first visit, and the indoor confinement on her second, the resort world always promised an idyllic experience that was waiting just beyond its doors. There were few places that Daiya could visit, due to both geography and money, to find the kind of lush environment that her city-world upbringing had always denied her. Every time the teen spoke to Zenie about her homeworld, the eagerness seemed to increase just a little more. Daiya vowed she would return, and even bring her young friend back along if possible.

Now that she was back, her promise fulfilled felt hollow. The capital city promised warmth, as did the green plains it sat upon, but Daiya knew it was a lie. A trick, constructed to keep the upper of upper class visitors sated while feeding the wealth of Belazura's wonders to the endless hunger of Diviak Manfloon's corporate mining machines. The girl didn't have to imagine it, or simply content herself with the horror of leaks that found their way onto the HoloNet. She had seen it herself, managing to get footage for a holo-vid later played for others to showcase those horrors. And she had been the one to hold Zenie as the young heiress wept for her stolen and violated homeworld. It was a memory that Daiya force on herself every time she felt a sense of awe or wonder at the sights that Belazura had for its visitors.

It was a thin veneer that offered only shallow comforts just to the tourists, the locals were too wise to it now and it took Daiya a while to realize just how differently people behaved here now. Along the well-designed streets, Daiya saw locals trying to hide in plain sight. Their long shadowed faces bore haggard expressions and wary eyes that drifted from corner to corner, offering only leery looks at newcomers and offworlders. They hurried along, aiming to avoid rather than encounter or mingle with anyone on the streets. At first, the girl worried it was her fierce expression and purposeful walk, a habit from Denon only enhanced by her determination here today. She didn't remember this kind of treatment from before, but even she slowed down and tried to blend in, the locals treated her much the same. It wasn't until Daiya spotted other obvious tourists receiving the same reception that it clicked for her, and her heart broke for the planet all over again.

She couldn't fix Belazura, no one could now. Yet Daiya came anyway, for the hope of stopping another Belazura from happening to begin with. It wouldn't happen by Darkwire's naïve hands again, that was for sure, but they had created the monster of Manfloon's success. He could expand with near-impunity now, unless they acted now. Unless she acted. It would take help, but the young shadowrunner wasn't willing to sit around helpless any longer.

"It's like they're afraid of us now." Daiya remarked as she sat down at the table with a whump, propping up her hands on her chin. Her blonde curls rushed forward, an advance guard trying to offer protection she didn't need. The girl eyed her counterparts for the job through her new curtain of hair, Cartri and Anakin may not have been new to her but apparently they were new to each other. She blew at the curls that tried to obscure her vision, a futile effort. "This place is fething depressing. You know how this is supposed to be a resort planet?"

The girl sighed, picking her head back up so she could pull her hair back and tie it off. The long sleeves of her dark jacket rode up, exposing a hint of her armor she had on underneath. It was supposed to be just a precaution, but Belazura was supposed to be just a resort planet. The other parts of her crack team didn't seem so nearly prepared on the surface, yet the girl knew what secret weapons that Cartri had in his fists and Anakin in his wings. She would have to make do with blasters and armor if things got messy again.

"Anyone know this Niuk guy we're supposed to be meeting?" Daiya asked. Of all things, she was suddenly hungry, or she had only just realized it by sitting down at the cafe's table. Maybe they could take their contact out to lunch before taking him offworld. "It is a guy, right? Niuk Azalee? The message just said his name and address. It's supposed to be just a few blocks away from here."

If they stayed at the cafe much longer, Daiya was going to wind up ordering food. And then they would miss the meeting time with their contact.

A contact willing to part with precious data on what the next Belazura was for Manfloon's ambitions, only in exchange for a ride off the planet.

Simple.

Easy.

Right?

Cartri Keswoll Anakin Stormrunner​

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Sipping on his tea it only took moments for another person to turn up, and it wasn't someone who he was expecting. Anakin Stormrunner was a person who he had seen many times but never had the chance to talk too, and nothing was better knowing someone better during a contract "That's me, and you must be Anakin" he said with a friendly smile as the strange shadow runner got closer, mentioning the fact that people were nothing but staring at them from the point they stepped onto the planet "Yea, I don't think they can appreciate good hairstyles and fashion" the teen said jokingly over to his counterpart with a small chuckle. Hopefully that fact wouldn't compromise the mission, because they sure did stick out compared to everyone else on this resort planet.

Cartri picked up his tea and gulped down more of its contents before the final shadow runner made her entrance, it was Daiya, the girl who he had grown fond of as of late. He slowly lowered his cup back onto the table and looked at her with another warm smile, his gaze looking at her face as she approached the table. Daiya had the same thoughts as Anakin when he came in, the citizens were up to there old tricks in staring awkwardly at the new comers to their planet. Sighing slightly, Cartri nodded his head to the place being miserable. The atmosphere was incredible but the people made it as if they were living in a dump, something clearly wasn't right about that "It looks good on the outside, but when you dive deeper it almost seems like a mask to cover up the bad parts " he commented as he took another sip of his beverage.

Niuk... he was confused himself it was a man or woman himself, none the less they were sure to find out when they met the person at the extraction point "My bet is that it's a woman, but I guess we will see when we finally meet up with him. And yea, we're supposed to meet him not far from here. And Considering everyone is here we better get a move on before the locals come in with pitchforks and torches to come for our heads" the boy joked again as he got to his feet and downed the remaining tea that remained in the cup. With that, he left the cup on the table and began to make his way over to the entrance to begin their journey towards the contact

Daiya Anakin Stormrunner​

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

His water gone, Anakin sipped his tea as the two exchanged pleasantries. His lips twisted, eyes narrowing as he focused on not spitting the tea back out. It was hot, but even the near burning temperature wasn't enough to hide the total lack of flavor. He swallowed, in an attempt to rid himself of the liquid, but the heat and the flavor was enough to keep it from passing into his throat.
"My bet is that it's a woman," Catri's voice drowned out the quiet sound of liquid spilling back into the up, but did nothing for the glare Anakin sent the cheep glassware.

Catri stood up, soon followed by Daiya. Anakin's eyes never left the sight of his tea as he rose, and it was only the chime of the door opening that shifted his concentration back to the moment. He followed after them, catching the door as it swung shut and slipping past. They walked in silence, the ebb and flow of the tourists and distrustful words of the locals the only thing to break the silence. For all of two minutes. "Oh, good, I wasn't the only one to come prepared today. Is that a blaster? It looks super old school." Daiya's voice cut through the silence. Her eyes were caught on his pistol, revealed as his black coat, embroidered this time in the design of orange diamond shaped scales, caught the wind and blew back.

Clawed fingers pulled the fabric back into place, hiding the pistol and other number of knickknacks and gadgets sequestered under it's cloth. "Why wouldn't I come armed?" His voice was tinged with confusion, brows furrowed in an entirely human expression only somewhat ruined by his lightning scarred face and inhuman pupiless eyes. "We're meeting an unknown contact, on an unfamiliar, at least to me, planet. And I'm not entirely sure the contact isn't compromised or worse. Considering all the chit the corpos are pulling to knock us down lately." Perhaps it was just his own status as a freedman and the danger the life style posed, but Anakin rarely went anywhere without a weapon, much less a dangerous mission like this. Silence stretched, this time noticeable more awkward. "Ah... But I don't think it would count as..." He hesitated, a look of confusion once again crossing face as he realized the exact nature of his next words. "old school. Sure the blaster is pretty old, but it doesn't have anything to do with learning." His tail flared out behind him, water blue feathers pushing the coat tails aside as they flexed and twitched. As he spoke, his accent, all glottal stops and stressed first syllables, thickened in the face of his growing confusion.

Daiya blinked beside him, casting her gaze to Carti before pinning them on Anakin. "Uhh, no, I mean 'old school', like it looks as old as my grandparents. You know, outdated? Vintage? Retro? An antique?" He frowned, turning over the words in his head. He understood maybe half of them, and even less of those made sense in context. "So it's like Amuda?" He began in basic, the accented words slipping into uncertain Amatakka. "I don't know Amuda..." Daiya's voice cut in, "Er, it translates to grandmother." But she soon quieted as he began to speak. "Except not exactly. It talks more about experience and wisdom than actual old age. Among a group of adolescent females, the oldest in the slave quarters would be considered the amuda. Since out of the lot, she would have the most knowledge and experience in dealing with an angry master." Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin noticed Daiya twitching and fidgeting, her fingers clenching around the cloth of her jacket in obvious agitation. "Technically it could also be the second or third oldest girl if the first one was recently sold and has no idea how to handle the situation."

The moment he finished speaking, words burst from his companion's mouth like sand on an overstressed sunroof. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, when you were talking about slaves and stuff a while ago, I thought you were just being poetic about it. You know, like people do about the Corpos and stuff?" He words pitched with something no unlike frantic disbelief. "But you meant, like, actual slaves?!" She continued, and he could already picture the fault lines forming in the thin stone slab that made of her view of this galaxy. "That's fethed up. And slaves who are adolescent females? You're talking about teenage girls..." The young woman swallowed, the rings of her trachea bobbing dramatically as her face paled. If he listened closely, he could hear that rock crack. A sound not unlike the breaking of china plates. "...Girls like me."

The silence was deafening. Or it would have been if Anakin had not resolutely talked over the dramatic moment. "Of course I meant actual slaves. What else would you consider all the poor people on Denon and other corporate worlds? They can barely afford to live, much less escape their situation. Wage slavery is still a form of slavery. Much like black mail and toxic relationships are. Slavery isn't defined by chains and a shock collar, or by a bomb hidden beneath your skin." He glanced At Daiya, the motion hidden by his pupiless eyes. With all the realizations and emotions flying around, none could blame him for forgetting the courtesy of tilting his head and letting her know he was looking at her.

Perhaps that wasn't the best approach. It obviously wasn't what was bothering her. "I mean, it's not just girls, there are plenty of boys too. Girls are just more stereotypical. For some reason the galaxy doesn't seem to think women can be willing slave holders." His wrist burned from the mark that master had given him. A curved reminder of what he had been through, and the spot that he now rubbed with the palm of his right hand and hid partly with his left wing. He was lucky that it was there he learned to disappear, as it meant that depur's enforcers were unable to find him when she wanted him. The punishments for that had been preferable.

He risked a glance down to Daiya and started when the look on her face was not any calmer. In fact, it appeared to have become more emotional. "Er- If you want, I can introduce you to some contacts of mine back on Denon. You can help free them. Although I do need to warn you that it can be pretty dangerous." Anakin pinned Daiya with his gaze. His face was hard, devoid of his usual smile. It's absence only highlighted his serious tone of voice. "And not just you're average Darkwire versus Corpo type of danger either. The depurs don't hesitate to send professionals to kill you. Any bounty on your head will sky rocket once you start. I think mine is somewhere around thirty, forty thousand depending on if they can take me in alive." The wild smile that crossed his face, all sharpened teeth and determined predatory intent informed her that the likelihood of that happening was next to zero. However, the smile was quick to fade. His next thought spurring instead a pained wince, wings and shoulders inching towards his head. "And if you happen to qualify as one of their targets, the danger is doubled. Plenty of masters will pay to be the one to break the spirit of a freed slave in that way. Especially if they're young and beautiful." Frowning, Anakin continued to speak. The volume of his voice dropping until it was little more than a loud mumble, spoken more for his benefit than his companions. "Although, the practice does seem much more common on Denon. Back on Tatooine, you were usually whipped for the trouble, or killed if you put up too much of a fight."

Much thanks to Daiya for help with the dialogue
Daiya Cartri Keswoll

 

[Daiya]

The sobering thoughts that Daiya entertained were more than enough, before their winged companion decided to drop even more weight onto her young soul. The girl stopped dead in her tracks, her mind empty now of their need to reach their contact's apartment, or even cognizant of others moving on the street around her. Her eyes were fixated on the ground in front of her, but they weren't really looking to see. Instead, her mind was busy trying to make sense of everything Anakin had just told her.

"I'm...not a slave," the girl managed after a moment. Her voice was soft and barely perceptible at first. Her eyes were damp, but her cheeks were dry. Stepping foot on Belazura had already primed Daiya for empathy, though hearing about the plight of enslaved beings, actually living in bondage, made her heart tumble out of her chest. She, too, wanted to escape the knowledge she had just learned. And the implication that Anakin had made of her, of all of Darkwire, of nearly everyone on Denon and other Authority worlds.

"I'm not a slave," she said again, more forcefully this time. Daiya looked up, her eyes searching out Anakin again. She couldn't focus them, they cast over his scarred, brown skin, his irridescent blue eyes, his wild, black hair, wending in circles before she blinked them a few times. Squinting to focus helped, and then she could see past her own confusion to settle on him again.

"I know you're not," the man was saying, and tried to continue with, "I'm just—"

Daiya shook her head at the words, not hearing anything else. Her brow furrowed behind her squinting eyes, and her mouth twisted into a frown. All the frustration and despair she felt upon her return to Zenie's homeworld, a planet hiding its changing truth from itself, crashed down on top of Anakin's words, drawing anger and ire forth from her confusion. Her tongue became her weapon as she lashed out, and even if the man wasn't a Corpo or her enemy, his words were an easy proxy for what they represented. "You can't just call people slaves, Anakin. Oh my stars! It's just...you can't...no! Don't you get it? If you—"

"Owww!" Daiya cried, turning quickly to lean against the nearest wall with an outstretched hand. The girl hadn't felt this one coming until it was upon her, the sharp pain behind her forehead exploding into her vision. She saw stars, then white, before shutting her eyes against it all. It didn't matter, there was nothing the girl could do to stop it, no more than any of the countless times before. When her visions came, all that Daiya could do was watch.

The room is dark, making it hard to spot many details. It seems empty but for a single table, and the man lying slumped half over the table there. A single light illuminates his drab, winkled clothing and the shaggy, red hair atop his head. There is a sound like a thump from nearby, and a pair of antennapalps on his head twitch in response.​

Her head throbbed as the girl felt herself back among her surroundings once more. The vision clung to her, a persistent needle pricking at her mind. A hand scrambled for the datapad in her satchel, before she remembered the others there with her. Anakin and Cartri were no doubt watching her, wondering about her strange behavior. Daiya's breath caught in her throat, and she wiped at her damp cheeks, trying to fight through the incessant demands of her mind.

Instinct said she needed to draw out the scene right then and there, yet there was no way the young shadowrunner could do that. She needed privacy and time, two things she did not have right now. Nor could she ask the others for it, so instead the teen started walking forward at a brisk pace.

"Come on," Daiya told them, ignoring their inevitable stares. Restlessness had become impatience, and the girl turned around to walk backwards as she beckoned to them, raising her voice to call back. "We need to get to our contact's place, like, now!" She turned back around, but made one more remark at a normal volume. "I've got a bad feeling about what we're going to find there."

Cartri Keswoll Anakin Stormrunner​

(With dialogue provided by Anakin Stormrunner )

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

With the group ready to go, they all set out of the cafe one by one back onto the busy Belazura streets. It seemed busier than before as they weaved in and out of the preoccupied tourists that were too busy gazing at the exotic items for sale. Some unfriendly eyes still gazed at them when they walked past, but at this point who cared, the three of them were used to it now. Silently, they pressed on through the crowd until they reached an opening where the gathering of people wasn't so dense. None the less they still kept up[ the small talk until Daiya mentioned the old gun that Anakin Stormrunner was holstering.

Cartri came unarmed like usual, choosing to keep weapons and armor to a minimum on missions and assignments. A normal person would call him mad for doing such a thing, but it had yet to cause him any problem from the assignments he had been on so far. Insane luck could be a good guess that he hadn't been hurt, even so, it seemed to be around for a long time yet. Keeping to himself, he decided to listen closely to what the other pair had to say about the unique gun he had acquired. All seemed well at first until the topic was dramatically turned on its head.

The boy turned his head slightly to the mention of slavery as he continued to go straight ahead. It was clear the topic didn't sit well with Daiya when Anakin explained the premise of the whole thing, something of which made Cartri uncomfortable. Slavery was evil, no doubt about it. All they did was work them until they broke, at that point they were cast away and replaced by a fresh life to waste. When he was on Garos, there were instances of slavery but on a smaller scale yet horrifying to witness. That was one of the few reasons the orphanage was good, without them he probably would have been picked by slavers and worked for the rest of his miserable life.

He knew some people actually chose it because they had no other place to turn, but when kids are forced into the trade that's when things get messed up. They still had a future, a choice on what they wanted to do, not a life of pain and hardship. That's why Cartri wouldn't hesitate in helping them, and actually aid them in starting a real-life that's worthwhile. It almost angered him when Anakin began reading out the backlash you could get from doing such a thing, who cared? even if they were more dangerous than the corpos any person in the right mind would help a group of vulnerable people in need. And if they did one day catch him, at least he did meaningful in a galaxy full of heartless people.

At this point, Catri came to a stop and turned around to the pair. All he could do was fold his arms keep silent while the argument got more heated. The sound of Daiya's voice became more venomous when it lashed back at Anakin, who didn't seem to understand what the girl was putting across. Cartri shot a look at the man and slowly began to open his mouth to voice his thoughts, only to be cut off by a pained sound from the left.

Daiya had fallen to the ground with a hand to her head, almost as if her head had been rattled. Without hesitation, Cartri came to her side and knelt down "Hey, you alright there?" he asked in a concerned tone, while his hand came up to her shoulder in reassurance. It was unusual to see Daiya like this, was it because of the stressful arguing? or possibly something else that she hadn't told him yet... but that didn't matter right now, her safety was the main focus. Suddenly, she insisted that they double-timed it to the contacts meeting place as if there was something wrong. Cartri looked up to Anakin with a confused look as Daiya got up and began to run with speed in the direction of the destination. Cartri slowly shook his head and followed along, soon catching up with the girl as they grew closer and closer "What was that all about Daiya?" he shouted after her before almost clattering into a bystander "Hey! watch it!" Cartri grunted back to the bystander, before regaining his speed next to Daiya "You've got to tell us what's going on here"