Private Bingo Night!

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu could hardly believe it - actually, he could, but to say that it was expected would be a lie - the Jedi was talking to his opponents while destroying them in combat. It was not even useful talk as he was merely facing droids. Talking to them was silly! The current battle would soon die down as the droids were destroyed and the one guard had been knocked out. Turning around with his weapon still pointed at the entrance on his side of the room, Mathieu threw a jab at his ally "Better than her. Your tongue is sharper than your blade!" he teased after pointing at the lone guard on the floor.

Giving the Knight's proposal a quick thought, Mathieu nodded. He had been here multiple times before and knew that they would both have to move through a long room before once again meeting up at a larger chamber before finally arriving at Sirod's office. "Stay in touch" he said, pointing at his own comm before smirking "And if your blade won't do it, maybe you can talk them to death" he joked before turning around, now bringing along his chaingun. The Mercenary was well aware of the possibility of reinforcements coming in after them. Once again, he unleashed the full destructive power of his weapon, unleasing a devastating stream of blaster bolts at the two elevator doors which punched a big hole in them and managed to destroy a few of the wires inside, resulting in a complete and total shutdown of the elevators. The two barracks were just one floor up and down, but he couldn't block the entrance without also blocking their only escape route.

Once done, he kept a high pace and moved into the corridor closer to him. With small careful bursts, he destroyed the two turrets which were by the door he needed to pass through. Entering the keycard into it and seeing it swoosh open, the large Morellian let out a relieved sigh as he knew that Sirod could shut them down and effectively locking them out from getting to her. His moment of respite would only last for a short moment as the next long room contained both six droids and three former colleagues. Thankfully, his old colleagues sat by a couch group close to him playing Pazaak, meaning that they were quite unprepared for what was about to happen.

Once again, Mathieu pressed down the trigger of his heavy chaingun, causing it to spew a stream of blaster bolts which made short work of five of the droids with the last one standing too close the sentients for him to risk shooting at it. Both surprised by who the attacker was and the sudden nature of it, the three guards were slower to react than they should have been. Just as the two who used blasters managed to arm themselves, Mathieu threw his chaingun at them. The weapon was heavy and large, too cumbersome for many smaller beings to use efficiently but they would still be able to carry it. But when thrown at an unsuspecting foe, they would have a much harder time handling it. The barrel of the weapon hit the Twi'lek guard, causing him to stagger whilst the bulk of the weapon hit the Ithorian, causing him to stumble and fall back.

While the Devaronian armed with a vibrosword came at him, the droid fired two bolts with its blaster pistol. Mathieu was quick to respond by pulling out his stun baton to meet the vibrosword. The two bolts hit him, one by the chest and the other by the stomach, both causing a fair amount of pain as they were absorbed by the heavy armour. At the same time, he kept pushing against the one armed with the sword until he had enough space to throw a punch at the mans head, knocking him out immediately.

The droid kept firing whilst the Twi'lek just managed to recover. This time, however, Mathieu was quick to move out, causing the droid's shots to miss while he struck the blaster of the alien. Disarmed, the Twi'lek screamed that he surrendered. Trusting in nature, the Mercenary turned to bash his baton at the droid's head, immediately destroying it and thereby disabling the droid. With the only active opponent left being the Ithorian, Mathieu quickly jumped towards the foe who also dropped his weapon and surrendered.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas looked up at Mathieu and smiled, giving him a playful shrug "What can I say? I like to talk." he responded, although Cas didn't tell him - Mathieu's comment was more of a compliment than a jab. The Morellian ended up agreeing with Cas' suggestion, before parting ways the Jedi nodded at Mathieu's comment about staying in touch before grinning at his last remark before flashing him a wink and a cocky grin "You'll be the first to know." however, his expression went serious and so did his tone "Be safe out there." Cas ordered.

After Mathieu had strategically took out the elevators leading to this floor, while it wouldn't stop more reinforcements but it'd definitley slow them down. Cas headed in the opposite direction of the Morellian, drawing the Force around him to increase his attributes for the time being as he sprinted across - rounding a corner, like his ally, he encountered two turrets blocking the door he needed to enter. The Jedi Knight swiftly raised his lightsaber in front of him, swinging it in specific angles to redirect the shots back at the turrets. To an outside viewer, it would seem as if the Kiffar's lightsaber was a yellow blur with how fast he was going. Following Cas redirecting the turrets' blaster bolts back at them and in-turn destroying them, he approached the door and used the keycard he looted off of one of the guards earlier and used it to unlock the door.

As it slid open, on the other side there was a Wookiee in front of three rows of four security droids, blasters all drawn and ready. A large grin etched on the Kiffar's bronze and blue face "Am I getting warmer?" he quipped in referral to how close he was to getting to Sirod. Before they could unleash a barrage of fire at him, Cas lifted both arms up before thrusting them forward at the small army waiting for him, channelling as much of the Force he could before expelling it in a powerful push. What resulted was a domino effect, the Wookiee and first row of droids were promptly knocked back into the row behind him, knocking them back as well and so on and so forth.

This gave the Jedi Knight the perfect amount of time to close the gap with a graceful somersault before plunging his lightsaber into a droid from the first row as he landed before propelling himself backward slightly with a small backflip. Cas swiftly took out two more security droids as they stood up, quipping while he did so "All this for me? I'm so honored I could stop fighting. Almost." once the Wookiee had gotten to his feet, he howled and attempted to back hand Cas - swiftly rolling under his arm and stopping in front of the Wookiee, Cas avoided the potentially fatal blow.

Pulling out his bowcaster, the Wookiee aimed it at Cas and began shooting which gave the Jedi an idea. Cas leapt over the wookiee, propelling himself further off the Wookiee's hairy shoulders the Jedi Knight landed on a security droid's head, balancing himself on one foot. He hopped over a series of droid's head and shoulders while the Wookiee, in a blind rage, shot at the security droids trying to get the elusive Cas - before the Wookiee realised what was happening, it was already too late, he had caused the destruction of his backup leaving him alone with the Jedi. Now, at a stand-off Cas and the Wookiee stared each other down and the hairy beast raised his bowcaster again. With a jerk of his arm and fingers, Cas hurled a piece of a destroyed droid at the Wookiee which staggered it, buying him enough to unleash a powerful Force push and send the Wookiee hurtling into the metal door behind him, knocking him out.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Cas took a few deep breaths before joking to himself "I gotta work out more." as he stretched out his arms. Lightsaber still ignited, the Kiffar made his way to the door that was previously blocked off by the Wookiee and the droids, unlocking it with his keycard he stepped through into a large chamber and waited for Mathieu before the next round of guards came about.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

He was far to trusting. While this was true in general, it became particularly clear now. When Mathieu had picked up his weapon, left his two surrendered foes and started to move towards the next door, one of them reached for their comms unit. The Ithorian looked on nervously as his colleague made the call. As soon as Mathieu heard the sound of the comm unit and the voice of the Twi'lek, he turned around and dashed towards the liar.

Tackling the opponent to the floor, Mathieu accidentally landed on one of the Lekku's, causing the smaller enemy below him to scream out in horror as an insurmountable amount of pain coursed through him. By the time the large Mercenary tried to get off of the alien, it was too late, he had already passed out. With that, he looked to the Ithorian, anger and filled his eyes, covering the guilt that was bubbling underneath. "You didn't stop him" he roared despite only being decimetres away from the other mercenary. Squirming, the Ithorian started stating how afraid he was and claiming innocence. Mathieu's stare bore into the man for a few more uncomfortable moments before getting back up on his feet and moving back to the door, apparently trusting the one remaining foe.

Once he reached the door for the second time and inserted the key card, it wouldn't work. Frustrated, he tried again and again, failing repeatedly. Letting out a sigh, he turned to look at the room behind him. The large Morellian wouldn't have to think for long himself, however, as the Ithorian was already making his way over to him and handed him an explosive charge. Letting out a short "Thanks" he then proceeded to plant the explosive and bang on the door a couple of times "Explosive away, stay back" he hollered, hoping that he wouldn't catch someone in the deadly blast.

Exiting the door shortly after the explosion, he saw Cassie and immediately had a smile grow on his lips. Leaning his head to the side, 'pointing' at Cassie's room, he quickly fired off a jab "Did you have a good talk in there?" Instead of pausing to allow for a retort and a small laugh, he continued "One of mine managed to make a call - now the doors are locked and I bet we've got some guys coming from behind too" he said, feeling bad about his own failure.

He knew that, behind the door they stood by now, was a large wide room which would be the most heavily defended before they could get into Sirod's office but staying where they were now would probably be even more dangerous. "See if you can get that door open" he said before grabbing the chaingun. "I'll hold 'em off" he continued confidently. Moving over to Cassie's room, he fired a volley at the door console by the far end of the room. When it was destroyed, the door was sealed because if its emergency measures. The Morellian then did the same thing to the door he stood by before moving over to his own side.

Guards were already pouring through. Letting his main weapon fall to hang by his side via a leather band, he brought out hist blaster pistol and fired multiple shots at the foes who were being funneled through the narrow door at the other end of the room. Naturally, his blaster was set to stun which meant that the likelihood of anyone dying was low.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

The explosion from the other side of the room caused Cas to instinctively shield his eyes with both of his arms. However, he didn't sense any danger. Lowering his arms, he saw Mathieu and grinned at his little joke before listening intently to what he had to say next. The Jedi frowned at the news "Did your soft spot for your pals allow that to happen?" he quipped with an unimpressed look on his face. Whatever, it was what it was, no point in making him feel bad about it.

Without hesitation to Mathieu's direction, Cas raised his lightsaber before thrusting its tip into the door's left hinge. As the lightsaber burned through the door, Cas thrust it further in before carefully manoeuvring his lightsaber across the rest of the door's hinges. However, before reaching completion Cas stopped in his tracks before realising something - he wasn't going to leave Mathieu to fend for himself. The Jedi Knight pulled his lightsaber out of the charred door hinge, he'd have to finish that later.

Turning round, he rushed toward the room Mathieu was currently in and stopped next to him. Deflecting incoming blaster fire, his head remained forward but his eyes glanced at the Morellian with his eyes, grinning "Gotta make sure you don't screw this one up too, plus Sam would kill me if you died." he quipped. Masking it as a jab, the Jedi Knight was there to make sure the big guy was okay. Fighting alongside the Morellian, the Kiffar continued deflecting and redirecting blaster bolts while Mathieu stunned them into oblivion - with the blaster bolts that Cas redirected, he made sure they'd only hit non-lethal parts of the body or would return to their blasters, destroying them.

"You'd think they'd get a clue by now, huh?" the Jedi quipped again, as he casually redirected a blaster bolt into a security droid's head. Truth be told, this seemed like an endless wave of reinforcements and he wasn't sure how he was going to handle it in a non-lethal way. For now, he'd have to stick with keeping the heat of Mathieu while he did the grunt work of taking them out.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

A feeling of shame and embarrassment swept over him as Cas figured out how Mathieu's slip-up had happened. With a quiet voice, Mathieu let out a small "Yeah" but instead of letting it bring him down, he quickly retorted "My soft spot for my pals might save your neck someday, buddy" before starting to take out the door controls to shut them down.

***​

For every old comrade he took down, two new seemed to appear and while the heavy armour along with his movement to the side kept him safe against a few volleys, it was clearly not going to hold for long which forced him to try to return out into the smaller area Cassie was in. The blue-ish blade the lighsabre produced would, however, prevent him from committing to the move as it guaranteed that help was on its way. And sure enough, his friend soon stepped into the fray, blocking bolts and taking out security droids.

"Cassie!" he hollered, ignoring the comment about Sammy in favour of surviving. "Can you take out the ones who's go it already?" he asked and upon a confirmatory answer, Mathieu would continue instructing the Jedi to use the force to clear the door opening. Once it was done, the large Mercenary brought out his chaingun and immediately filled the entrance with bolts. Nobody was there to be hit by them but nobody was foolish enough to step into the opening either.

Advancing at a rapid pace, Mathieu started closing the distance towards the opening to the corridor where they had initially entered, taking both one and two shots from the foes inside the room as he did. In an effort to conserve energy, he started firing in bursts, rather than at full auto, ensuring that they knew what was coming for them if they entered while still not being quite as wasteful. Once he arrived by the door he started to scream at the ones who were just around the corner "If you don't make yourselves scares, I'll flip this around and you know that I can clear out a corridor if I have to!" His voice was clear, and could easily be heard over the blaster fire as he flexed his powerful voice cords.

Silence ensued at which point the large Morellian started moving to the side, allowing the chaingun's blaster fire to slowly creep closer to the crew standing on the other side "Guys, it's Brion, you know I can wipe y'all out" he roared, this time with more emotion before biting down hard on his lip, strongly doubting if he would be able to follow through on the threat or not. Fortunately, his old work mates didn't know about his soft spot for them. After a while, he could hear blasters going off from the other side - but there were no agonising creams in pain - instead, it was droids that were being destroyed. Realising what was happening, he continued "I'm gonna booby trap this room. Go into the stairwell, and I won't come after" his demands were clear and it seemed like they were being followed as foot steps could be heard becoming more and more faint. They were working there for coin, not personal belief, Mathieu was well aware of that and his gamble seemed to have paid off.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"You got it, Stretch!" he hollered back, determination etched on his face Cas pressed forward a bit and deflected incoming blaster bolts as he did so. In the short gap he had between deflecting blaster fire, Cas quickly freed his organic hand and used it to clear a path for Mathieu at the door with a powerful gust of telekinesis "That help?!" he called out, returning his attention back to the goons that had already entered.

However, one of the shooters managed to get a lucky hit in at Cas' cybernetic limb, blasting a whole in the middle of his glove and through the circuitry of his prosthetic. Luckily, it didn't hit any vital components and his arm was still functional - however, due to the neural interface he felt every bit of pain from the shot causing him to yell out.

Slightly pissed off, the jokes had stopped and he turned serious. Channelling more of the Force to boost his valor, Cas pressed his assault further instead of remaining mobile and redirecting any blaster fire near him. Fuelled by the Light side of the Force, the Jedi Knight quickly destroyed and dismantled any of the droids that stood in his path, using his acrobatics to avoid any shots in his direction, stretching his arm out in the direction of a nearby metal table - Cas reached out with the Force and hurled it at his organic enemies, clearing waves of enemies with the table's trajectory.

Eventually, Cas had managed to clear out the stragglers while Mathieu dealt with the ones incoming. When he was finished, he waited for Mathieu to do whatever it was he was doing before making their way back into the previous room. Approaching the door he had nearly cut open, Cas used his yellow blade to thrust it back into the door once more and finish unlocking it. The Jedi removed and deactivated his lightsaber before kicking the door down creating a loud thud as it hit the ground.

Turning to Mathieu, he motioned for him to enter "After you." he said in a lighthearted manner before wincing in pain, drawing attention to his smoking cybernetic hand "Ow." he muttered.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Their approach to combat situations stood in stark difference to each other. While Mathieu waded through the incoming fire whilst unleashing an awesome stream of laser bolts destroying anything in their paths, Cassie danced around the room with grace, both deflecting bolts and avoiding them until he struck. It was great as he noticed how much of the local fire power was drawn to the Jedi instead of him and the ones who did still fire on him sometimes shot at unexpected angles, seemingly predicting that he would be making acrobatic moves just like the Knight.

With both of them having been successful in their part of the defence, they soon reconvened by the door into the main hall where all the most powerful defences were. Still, Cassie stopped for a moment before going in, showing Mathieu his wound. The large Morellian looked down at his friend with a concerned expression on his face "By the stars" he said, clearly worried before realising that the hand was cybernetic. While a wave of relief washed over him, Mathieu grabbed the Knight by the elbow, accidentally feeling flesh meet machine - he didn't stop there however but continued to pull his ally's arm up, giving him a clear look of the cybernetic limb. Throwing an awkward glance at Cassie, he let out an equally awkward "Sorry" before letting him go.

While Mathieu was preparing his chaingun, he looked down at Cas and spoke with a serious tone Just lean on me if you need to Hopefully, the Jedi wouldn't take it too literally. Moving into the large room, he quickly let loose a hail of bolts which promptly destroyed the four blaster turrets. Only two more opponents remained - a couple of stolen and hacked Jedi Sabre-Technique Training Droids, equipped with vibroswords, jetpacks, strong energy shields and a strong fan, capable of producing gusts similar to that of a force push. While Mathieu already knew that his blasters wouldn't be effective against them, he fired a few shots towards them, letting their shields cause his fire to bounce away from them. The large mercenary made himself considerably lighter by dropping his chaingun before bringing out a vibrosword, ready to engage them in melee with his ally.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas glanced at Mathieu with a teasing expression as the Morellian examined the Jedi Knight's damaged prosthetic. When he was done and had apologised, a smirk bloomed on the Kiffar's face "It's all good." he assured, albeit teasingly "It's cool right?" he asked rhetorically regarding his arm. The Knight appreciated Mathieu's concern but he was fine, which he displayed when he smiled but shook his head at his larger ally.

Quickly re-igniting his lightsaber to handle the turrets, but luckily, Mathieu quickly took care of it with his chaingun. Flashing the Morellian a smile "Isn't your arm tired yet?" Cas quipped shortly after, but before the two could get into a lighthearted exchange - Cas was caught off guard when one of the recommissioned training droids used its fans to blast Cas into a wall.

The Jedi grunted as he collided with the wall, ripples cracking into it as he did. Dropping to a single knee, he took a deep breath before quickly air cartwheeling out of the way of a leaping vibrosword attack. After landing, Cas quickly followed up with a downward strike which the droid blocked, creating a blinding spark as the two blades collided - retreating his blade, the Kiffar launched another attack but this time with a yellow flash of speed, combined with his strength.

Having the droid on the back foot, Cas was in control of the tide of the battle. The droid, analysing Cas' fighting pattern, attempted to throw a wrench in the duel with a surprise attack which quickly caused Cas to throw his head back, narrowly avoiding a decapitation. However, this surprise allowed the droid to gain the upper hand and in an attempt to block another attack, Cas was swiftly disarmed, his lightsaber tumbling further and further away from him. The security droid, ready to deal the killing blow, raised its vibrosword in order to swipe it down onto Cas' head and as it did so - the Jedi Knight met the droid's attack by gripping it's wrists with all his strength, halting it from killing him.

Gritting his teeth, a look of determination befell his face as he glared into the droid's photoreceptors. Tightening his grip, Cas used the mighty strength of his cybernetic arm to crush the wrist of the droid's weapon arm, static escaping the droid's metal casing as he did so. Losing function in its grip, the droid dropped its vibrosword allowing Cas to kick the killing machine away from him and as it staggered backward, Cas threw his arm out and curled his fingers in the direction of the droid's torso, using the Force he crushed its internal components causing it to malfunction and deactivate. Summoning his lightsaber into his hand with the Force, he headed over to help Mathieu if he needed it. They were close now, close to detaining Sirod for good.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Both hands held onto the vibrosword with a steady grip. Mathieu had seen the droids in action first-hand and knew how dangerous they could be. Still, he looked at his foe with confidence as they slowly approached each other. Going on the offence, he took a final quick step forth whilst making a sideways sweep at the droid, aiming for its waist. Quickly, the machine threw its blade up to ward from the attack and created a blade-lock. Pushing on, trying to leverage his bodyweight in the push, the large Mercenary saw how the machine's arms were starting to fold with its motors unable to withstand the power he put in the push.

Naturally, this was not the end of the fight as the inventive and quick machine made use of elegant footwork to remove their body from harm's way. With that, it suddenly stopped trying to withstand the push and instead used the momentum to swing the blade around, almost in a full circle to attack Mathieu from the opposite side. Fortunately, he managed take a few more steps forth as the blade-lock was broken and manage to tackle the droid in the last second, putting his physicality to efficient use.

The Jedi training droid was no human being - it was programmed to counter the lightsabre forms and switch seamlessly between them but with its heuristic learning process, it had still not yet learned how to properly counter the more physical style which Mathieu sported - it could take care of the common thug with ease, but the large Morellian seemed to provide a new challenge for it. Still, it tried to get out of the situation by switching to a more aggressive Ataru style, focusing more on offence and evasion rather than what could traditionally be found on the streets.

What ensued was a series of attacks with quick swings, thrusts and kicks. Mathieu defended valiantly, blocking the attacks with tight and direct sword movements whilst using careful footwork to slowly back away from it, creating a little space behind which the droid could follow. Soon, however, he saw an opening that allowed him to throw a left-handed jab at the machine, knocking it back a step. The punch would have knocked out any human but this was clearly different. Utilising his temporary momentum, Mathieu kicked it from the side with his left leg, practically sending it flying into the nearby wall. This was also a move which was bound to have crushed it but it managed to activate its jetpack in the last minute, just barely avoiding being destroyed from the powerful impact.

As the droid took flight, the Mercenary managed to get in a hit on it, removing its lower left arm from its body but unlike a human, the droid felt no pain. Soon, it fell back into its old Ataru attack whilst slowly but surely learning how the Mercenary fought, making it increasingly difficult to keep it off of him despite his rather impressive defence.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

The Jedi rushed over to aid his ally, with the droid focused solely on the Morellian - Cas had the perfect opportunity to catch it off guard. Sprinting behind it, his lightsaber hummed before making a swift an aggressive deep hiss as Cas flickered his lightsaber when he stretched his arm out to his left. Sliding beside the droid, the Jedi Knight slashed the droid's right leg off "Bring it home, Stretch!" he called out as the droid fell to one remaining knee.

Rolling to his feet, Cas hoped he had bought Mathieu enough time to finish the job. With both of their 'problems' dealt with, Cas patted his larger ally's shoulder, a broad and childlike smile etched on his face "Nice teamwork." he said, complimenting the mercenary. However, during these past few skirmishes the two had gotten themselves into, Cas believed that his suspicions were indeed correct - the Morellian had a hint of Force-sensitivity within him as the giant of a man, moved only the way someone touched by the Force could.

Averting his gaze, Cas gently bit his lip. It was best to drop something this life-changing on a person when they were free to react and sit in on this information, right now definitely wasn't the time as right now, what separated them and Sirod was a thick layer of duracrete. Jerking his head in the direction of the door to the Gran's office, he made his way over to the door first before connecting his knuckles with the metallic surface "Yo, boss! It's us, we've dealt with the intruders!" he yelled out, putting on his best thuggish voice and accent as best as possible - a kind of one you'd hear in the old holofilms.

The Jedi flipped his lightsaber hilt into the air before letting it land into his palm, igniting the blade he plunged it through the door's locks. As he did so, he reverted back to his normal but teasing voice "Just kidding, it's us! Pretty sure the lightsaber gave it away though, huh?" he was feeling pretty damn confident right now, they just faced a small army and lived and now they were about to reap the reward of their hardwork.

Finally cutting the door down, Cas used the Force to swipe it off to the side but what happened next completely caught him off guard. There Sirod was, standing on the top of her desk in her well-decorated office with a large rotary cannon aimed directly at them - Cas' eyes widened in how utterly ridiculous she looked. Without a word spoken between the three, he saw the barrel begin to rotate - any other day, Cas could have dodged his way toward her but this time he had Mathieu to worry about. Thinking fast, Cas raised his arm and used the Force once more to summon the discarded metal door, hovering it directly in front of them as a shield from the blaster fire - Sirod roared "You'll never take me alive! Brion, I'm going to shred you you damn traitor!"

Right now, Cas could throw the door at her but it was risky in this small space - he turned to Mathieu, asking him if he had any ideas with his body language.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Suddenly, the droid fell. It was Cassie, of course. Mathieu took the chance and created a blade lock before taking a few steps forth to crush its head under his foot. With a sight of relief, he smiled "Thanks, Cassie" he said whilst recovering. It was not until the Knight patted him on the back that he thought of the new nickname his mate had come up with. Mathieu rested his arms on his hips whilst matching the other's childish smile with one of his own "This is why height restrictions in amusement parks are silly. You shortlings can obviously fight too" he joked.

Cassie was fooling around. Arriving just a little late because he went to pick up his chaingun, the Mercenary let out an amused laugh as he saw what was going on. Pretending to be serious and assuming a stern face, he took a firm hold of the Jedi's shoulder "That's not how we do things here" he said before knocking on the door himself. Doing what he could to distort his voice and not make Sirod think it was for real, seeing as he had just worked for her, he spoke "Yeah boss! But one of'em is still alive, they wanna beg for mercy" A mischievous smile spread across his lips as he looked down to his new friend.

They both knew that the time for joking around would be short lived. Assuming a more serious expression whilst taking a steady grip of his weapon after having sheathed the vibrosword, Mathieu looked on as the door was being broken through. The following events happened quickly.

Mathieu knew Sirod - she could be a bit eccentric at times but this was a new record, even for her. "I've obeyed both the contract and the code, Sirod. Besides, I'm not the one here to take you anyways!" His voice was almost drowned out from all the blasterfire that was hitting the door. It was not a secret that the force was a finite resource in the sense that usage of it could tire the Jedi out. With this in mind, Mathieu grabbed the door and looked down at his ally "Let me"

Soon, the two could advance in through the corridor to the room as Mathieu pushed the door in front of him. They were lucky that Sirod had invested heavily in security and had a door sturdier than most walker plates. Whilst slowly backing away into a corner, Sirod kept swearing at them. Mathieu threw a glance back at Cassie, nodding to the Knight and then to the left before looking down at himself and then nodding to the right before soundlessly mouthing the word "Ready" If the Kiffar was indeed ready, Mathieu would dash to the right to draw Sirod's fire, hopefully leaving an opening to Cassie to take her out.

AfroBandit20

 

[Cadere]

Cas had grown to appreciate Mathieu's ability to join him in his banter, in fact, he was quite fond of it - most people he worked with were too serious to find the fun in these missions. If he were to become a Jedi, Cas would welcome more adventures with him.

As the door violently shook in the air from the rapid fire of blaster bolts, Cas began to struggle to keep it stable with telekinesis but luckily, the Morellian was willing to take over. The Kiffar kept the door steadily hovering until Mathieu had gotten his hands on it, when he did Cas retreated next to him and matched his speed as they advanced further into Sirod's office. Advancing into a corner with the mercenary, he caught the Jedi's attention with a nod resulting in Cas following Mathieu's eye line to both - he knew what he had to do.

Nodding affirmatively at Mathieu's "Ready?" he whipped his head round to the left side before lunging and rolling opposite of Mathieu as the Morellian dashed to his right. Confused, Sirod's three-eyed head darted between the Kiffar and the Morellian but before she could even turn her attention onto Cas, he had leapt toward her with his lightsaber raised above his head, enhancing the speed of his jump with the Force before slicing through her cannon's turret as he landed in front of her.

Sirod, ever so stubborn, attempted to backhand him before throwing a few jabs toward his face which the Jedi Knight dodged with ease, jerking his head away from every hit she threw. Kicking her off of her desk, he dropped down in front of her before directing the tip of her lightsaber inches from her middle-eye, causing her other two to narrow their focus on the lightsaber's tip. Smirking smugly at her "It's over, Sirod. Your goose is well and truly cooked." the Jedi declared in a triumphant tone.

Eyes glancing at Mathieu, Cas would ask "Stretch, a big scary, well-equipped merc like you as bound to have cuffs on hand, right?" lightheartedly. If the Morellian indeed had some, and after the Gran had been cuffed - Cas closed his eyes and raised his index and middle fingers and made a circular gesture in the air, as he did so, the Jedi spoke in a monotonous voice "When we arrive at the nearest precinct, you will confess to all of your crimes." with her eyes glazed over, she repeated back equally monotonous "When we arrive at the nearest precinct, I will confess to all of my crimes."

**********​

The following events proceeded as Cas foretold with the Kiffar, Morellian and Gran arriving at the nearest law enforcement precinct - taking her to the first officer they saw, Sirod confessed to literally everything she ever did which prompted the officer to quickly arrest her on the spot. With Sirod confessing to her crimes, he was certain that with that, the local law enforcement would be able to clear out much of her operations and influence over the area. Outside the precinct, Cas folded his hands into his pockets and let out a deep, satisfying breath "Aw man, nothing more satisfying than giving a crime lord what they deserve." he quickly stated. Turning to look up at his ally, he snickered "Guess I can see what Sam sees in you now, you're not so bad, Stretch."

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"Coming right up" he said after having done a heroic effort to suppress his desire to laugh out loud at the Knight's previously cheesy comment. Walking in behind the woman, he brought her hands back and locked them together with the cuffs. Looking up, he observed the Jedi's finger curiously and listened intently as Cassie spoke. In unison with Sirod, he let out a monotone "When we arrive at the nearest precinct, I will confess to all of my crimes." After a few moments, Mathieu's lips spread into a bright smile "Gotcha!" and laughed heartily, thinking that he managed to trick the Jedi into thinking that he had been affected by the trick too.

Naturally, Sirod would be the only one to confess to any crimes upon reaching the precinct.

Having remained happy, his bright smile grew again. After having worked for Sirod, it was a relief to have ended her operations now that he knew how bad she was and the Jedi's statement was correct Leaning his head to Cassie in a nod, he spoke "Yeah, this was pretty great" his words ended on a somewhat solemn note as his gaze fell "I wish I could do it more often" Another smile - this time softer and sweeter - would soon return to his lips as Sammy was mentioned. "Aww, Cassie. Come 'ere" he said, obviously touched by the kind words. Having failed to notice his friend's dislike of it before, he once again brought an arm around the Knight's neck to rest it on his shoulder for a quick hug. Leaving his arm hanging there, he looked down "That means a lot. Thanks" A few moments passed by "And thanks for, you know, not killing anyone. They were pushing us pretty hard for a while there."

Looking out over the streets outside the precinct for a few moments, Mathieu's attention quickly returned to his new friend Cassie "Come on, I know a good bar around the corner. They have great beer. Sirod hated them for stealing her business. First drink's on me"

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas looked at Mathieu with a frown as the Morellian repeated the phrase of Cas' Mind trick. If the guy was as weak minded as that, he was ready to take back every positive thing he had said about him, but to a welcome surprise, Mat was only kidding. The corners of Cas' lips formed into a broad smile on his bronze face as he pointed a finger at him and started laughing "Ayyyyyyyy, nice!" he complimented. He sure got him.

*********
​

Mat seemed to appreciate the Kiffar's praise more than he expected as he felt his colossal friend's broad arm reach over his shoulder again, nearly crushing his neck as he pulled him closer. Cas resisted at first, squirming slightly before ultimately relaxing with a slouch of his shoulders, patting the Morellian on the back Cas gave him a playful eye roll "No problem. Now stop getting all mushy on me you big softie." he jokingly retorted before pushing himself off of Mat playfully. During the few moments that had passed, Cas returned his hands to his pockets before returning his attention to his new friend when he began to speak again - shaking his head, Cas would respond in a relaxed tone and revealed "You don't need to thank me. Killing is an absolute last resort, I hate it."

"I'll come with, I don't really drink anymore though - I tend to go overboard." he joked before allowing Mathieu to lead the way to the bar. Upon arrival, surprisingly, the bar was quiet - not a lot of patrons around and the conversations shared between them were quiet. It felt more like a small gathering than an actual bar. However, it was a much welcome change of pace compared to the muffled vibrations of Sirod's club music he felt for the entirety of his time there. Marching up to the bar counter, Cas ordered a simple soda before taking a seat opposite the Morellian at a small, circular table. After taking a sip of his soda and setting the glass down, the Jedi smacked his lips satisfyingly before wiping them with his sleeve.

Staring at the table, Cas was silent for a moment, as he had made up his mind during the walk here that he'd tell Mathieu of his Force-sensitivity. Right now, he was just trying to word it correctly. Clearing his throat, the Kiffar glanced up at the Morellian - his face had a seriousness that Mathieu would have never seen before. Now was the time. Parting his lips slightly, Cas began to speak "When we first met, I sensed something within you, Stretch. Throughout your life have you ever had an innate feeling for things? You've had a gut feeling so strong that when its proven right you have no way of explaining how? Or, maybe, deep down you just knew that there was something different about you, that you could just connect with things without knowing why or how." he asked, all rhetorical. His gaze hardened even more "I think you have the Force within you, Stretch."

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

He just left himself open. It was almost unbelievable, considering how Cassie had been so witty up until this point. Still, when given the chance, Mathieu would not be shy to take it "I see" His voice was sympathetic as the Kiffar joked that he tended to go overboard "Must be hard to work up a good tolerance for someone who is so petite" a mischievous smile spread across his lips, fully expecting the Jedi to retaliate.

It was almost hard to believe - but it seemed like, he had managed to become friends with the Knight. To Mathieu, it was significant. He had always looked up to and admired the Jedi, they were after all childhood heroes of his. And he was getting along rather well with this one. Although he was surprised that Cassie opted for a soda, the Mercenary didn't mind the least. Sodas tasted nice and they were cheaper to boot. Still, he bought one of their brews himself and sat down by a small, circular table which was closer to the side of the room than the center. It didn't matter much now, considering how scarcely populated it was - something which would probably change soon, considering Sirod's fall.

His eyes went round. A jedi. A Jedi?! Cassie was beating around the bush, but Mathieu was quick to make the connection that his friend seemed to be hinting at. It was an insane idea, a ludicrous one for someone like Mathieu. There were so many things which were wrong about him for him to ever hope to become a Jedi. While he always tried his best to be nice and kind, the life of a mercenary didn't always offer much choice. Needless to say, there was much to atone for. And even if he managed to do that, imagining himself as one of them, for real, it was simply not imaginable.

"Wow, Cassie" he said with a serious voice whilst his gaze was fixed at his mug beneath him. "That's, uh, that's quite the news, Jawa-boy" A part of him wanted to ask the guy to take him in right there and then. To go on the adventure of his life and live through some of the naive happiness that so many only had the luxury to feel as a child. But then, there was so much holding him back - how unrealistic it all was, his stable income now, the skills he had built up, his ships and the plants. But most importantly, Sammy. She was way more important than any old dream he still carried.

"The force, huh." he bit his lip hard before looking up, trying to produce a joke but still sounding rather solemn in his delivery "We all have it. Just a pity that is seems to favour shorties like you, isn't it?" This was a rough moment for him - even if he thought that he knew that him becoming a Jedi was utterly unrealistic. Maybe that was what made it so crushing. "Just like space shuttles. I'm telling you, the people who designed those are out to get me, because whenever I step off of one of those, I have a bruised head, hurting knees, a stab wound from by neighbour and I'm also deaf in one ear." He was desperately trying to steer the conversation away and would keep doing so until they were completely off track, discussing anything from starships to Sirod's stupid comments to past experiences. While he may not have been lead down the path of a Jedi, he had certainly made a new friend - and for Mathieu, that was a win in itself.

/End Thread

Cadere