Private Dealing in the dark

[Crosten Feyn]

Well, far as Crosten was concerned he just made himself a new enemy. And his enemy had an enemy too; given the logic the smuggler held himself to, why that made this Jedi a friend, an ally to get the sith who'd just set him up and crossed him. Well, long as he had a change to catch him he was going to seize it.

"Oh, you won't find this on the market. I've, uh, made a few adjustments" He replied with a grin. Something Jator had shown him, and boy did it come in handy sometimes. It was awfully rough on the ship to take off as he did - those repairs were gonna cost him a good chunk of coin. But he'd already lost plenty in setting out for this dud of a job; he was more than wiling to spend more if it meant getting back at that sith lord.

"You a gunner? I got a laser cannon starboard I'm diverting power to it now" Crosten replied in a great rush amidst a flurry of activity in hitting switches and buttons. A dull hum could be heard beneath the floorboards of the ship as the cannon powered up, almost beckoning Jax to the seat and trigger with the audible, bassy drone emitted.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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Jax raised an eyebrow, listening the sound of the accelerator when Crosten increased the speed of his starship it was almost similar to the ones Podracers used when racing on Malastare. "Well if I had to guess," Jax shrugged his ass still rooted on to the seat due to the unexpected speed Crosten was going. "You poached it off from some Podracer and made modifications, Podracer parts are usually made from parts of starships well at least the amateur ones."​

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He could be wrong about this but it was the best guess he had, Jax nodded when Crosten asked if he was a gunner. The Jedi once flew on the back of a Wookie Warship helping the Silvers repel some Tchurr slavers who has taken refuge in the remote of Kayshykk. The turret was powerful but hard to aim thanks to the recoil. "On it!" Jax raced to the gunner's corner strapping himself in while seeing the computer turn on. "Shit," Jax saw that the ship was making the preparations jump to hyperspace.​

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"Crosten we gotta move!" Jax yelled. "That ship is about to jump!" Just then 4 starfighters began pouring out from the large freighters, their sights set on Crosten's ship.​

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"Fighters coming in!" Jax yelled beginning to unleash a volley blaster fire upon them.​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

Crosten raised an eyebrow at the observation. He was right on that; podracer parts are a gold mine for good parts. What might cost a lot of credits from a dealer could be found far cheaper at such a scrap yard. Provided you know where to look, and what to look for; and Jator taught him well in that regard. He was a better engineer than most would take him for, no one tends to expect that out of a rowdy old smuggler

"Yeah, most would be surprised at what you can find there. Hah, not you though." He responded, briefly amused that this Jedi shared that wisdom. It certainty helped reduce the cost of repairs too. Crosten sure put his ship through a lot, he had to admit.

"Well we don't got time for evasives so you better shoot those things right quick!" Crosten shouted, a proper sense of urgency in his voice. The wise thing to do would be to evade; but that sith would get away. And with only so much time to think, 'fight' won out over 'flight' in the smuggler's mind.

"Make sure you hold on tight this time!" he announced as he slammed the heel of his hand down onto a switch; pushed back into his seat from the g-forces of the rapid acceleration

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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"Don't worry I got my seatbelt on!" Jax smirked continuing to fire upon the fighters. "Not like that's gonna help when a starship is going faster than the speed of sound!" But it was better than nothing.​

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Crosten's turret was easier to handle than the Wookie Warship back in Kayshykk but the starfighters were too fast often getting out of the turret's range firing upon the starship's hull. There was a small rumble but the ship remained stable, "damn fighters are coming in too fast!" Jax said looking at the computer. The fighters remained in formation flying in attack pattern delta where the fighters fly in single file firing one at a time before dispersing. It was good for constant firepower and also took advantage of the starfighters speed it was good for the Sith not good for Jax and Crosten.​

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Reaching in the force Jax became calm and allowed the force to control his aim sensing for the right moment to strike. The fighters fired again in the same formation and Jax used the opportunity to returned fire. The lead starfighter took the brunt of the bolts causing it to explode, the remaining fighters scattered out of panic leaving an opening freighter's engines. "Firing on the engines now!" Jax unleashed a flurry of fire as he saw one of the engine's explode causing a flicker of light from the freighter.​

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"Got him!" Jax laughed. "That should slow them down a bit! But I need to be in position to take care of the rest of these nerf herder starfighters."​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

"Damn, that's some good shooting" Crosten had to say, he was mighty impressed. His mind had been racing on how to catch up with the fleeing sith lord; especially given the tricky formation they had been forced to face up against. He needed time and Jax had just provided it, not only destroying the enemy fighters but taking out the engines too.

Crosten merely kept the ship moving fast and true amidst the hail of enemy fire. Which might not look as fancy as evasive dodging; but it takes a hell of a lot of nerve to get shot at and not even move. His trust in this Jedi had been well placed for sure.

Of course there was still plenty more; and with the target of value crippled, Crosten sure wasted no time in taking evasives after! The sharp turn tossed him about in his seat as he flew the ship around, dodging enemy fire until the nimble ship had come around for another attack run.

"Got em ahead of us again" Crosten announced; less a statement and more of an anticipatory cheer.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Ship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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"I'm not that good!" Jax chuckled turning his sights upon the remaining four engines on Darth Osmos' Starship. "It's all thanks to my buddy The Force!" Well according to the Living Force, it was less of an entity and more of a transcendent energy field which surrounds people and binds them together. Every living thing is imbued with the force and through the midichlorians the Force speaks its will at least to those who will listen. Jax sensed small disturbance in the force and saw 5 more starfighters launching from the freighter the remaining fighters rallying to their position.​

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"We got more reinforcements!" Jax yelled firing another barrage of bolts. "Can you try to out maneuver them again?!"​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

"Don't matter how it works right now, just do more of it!" he proclaimed in exuberance. He understood most of those words. They sure didn't make a whole lot of sense strung together in that order - but if it killed starships, Crosten wasn't one to argue.

"Can you hold on tight?" He quipped back before slamming the throttle and taking the ship into a wide, banking roll that deftly avoided the laser fire that stormed around the ship. Another sharp turn took them into the squadron, only narrowly avoiding further fire as he piloted the ship clear through before swooping around. Bringing his nimble craft back on target, the enemy fighters were still re-adjusting their formation in response as his ship approached for another attack run.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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"Yeah! Yeah! I'm on it!" Sweat formed around Jax's brow as he continued his volley of fire upon the engines of the Osmos' ship. "You know what?" Jax said as he saw the starfighter lined up in formation ready to unleash more fire upon the ship. "I think we're gonna have to board that vessel as soon as we disable the engines!"​

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Jax was the kind of Jedi that likes crazy every now and then but despite the stereotype that they like danger, Smugglers were among the most cautious people Jax had ever met. He was almost certain that Crosten was no different. "These shit heads are annoying though." Jax said firing at them and taking down one.​

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The Jedi sensed a disturbance and saw Osmos' surface canons beginning to fire upon them. The entire ship violently erupted nearly causing Jax to fall from his seat. "Frack!" Jax said. "With those surface canons and these starfighters we're surrounded! I hope you got another plan in mind!"​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

"We'll be fighting wave after wave until we get in there, yeah" he remarked in agreement. They'd be fighting forever, and besides this Osmos guy he wanted to get a hold of was still on board that ship. Either they board it too, or Osmos gets away, and Crosten was liking the former idea much more than the latter.

"Yeah, and we'll have to be quick about it!" Crosten affirmed as he deftly continued to pilot the ship around the constant enemy fire coming their way. Jax's warning came just in time, and Crosten sharply banked the starfighter to narrowly dodge the violent grazing blast.

"Just keeps getting worse huh?" He remarked. Well, he did have one other weapon system that might come in handy. That would require disabling the engines immediately. Were his gunner of mundane skill and talent, he wouldn't count on it. This Jedi was different though, he could pull through with the plan.

"Alright. Never mind them fighters, just take out the engine. I'll handle the rests" He remarked as he began to prepare the requisite weapon system, pressing a flurry of buttons with one hand while his other kept firm on the navigation controls.

Jax Thio

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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It was said that a Smuggler always had a trick up their sleeve, Jax was hoping for a miracle because right now they were sandwiched between the frieghter and the swarming Sith Starfighters. The ship continued to shake with the Starfighters pelting it with continuous blaster bolts. "The shields must be definitely low by now," Jax muttered.​

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"I hope you got a miracle you can pull out of your ass," Jax said aiming the turret at the remaining active engines and beginning to fire. "Because it seems we're running out of tricks!"​

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What did Crosten have in mind that can pull them out of this mess?​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

"Well wouldn't you know it, those prediction powers at work." He remarked, not quite fully grasping how the Jedi's combat precognition worked. Ah, he could be corrected later. Jax was readying the turret as Crosten got the bomb ready with a high degree of focus. This sort of thing was going to require flawless timing.

Crosten held such timing and ceased his evasive manoeuvres to release the proton bombs right on cue, attracting a hail of gunfire during his moment of slowness. Another hard bank of the ship took them out of the way of enemy gunfire, keeping his ship on track towards the freighter's docking bay while keeping it out of the way of constant laser fire.

A bright flash and explosion could be seen and heard moments after, shaking the ship from the force and scattering the debris of their former pursuers in all directions. That was taken care of, but Jax would need to get those engines down quick; Crosten had placed all his faith in the Jedi by now. It would make the difference between a rough boarding landing and a fatal crash.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: : Jax's regular clothing, , Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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"To be fair it's only functional on Sundays!" Jax chuckled beginning to focus fire on the engines. It was hard to maintain his aim when the starfighers were on their tail combined with Crosten's evasive actions. Years of being pilot, Jax wondered why he didn't throw up due to the constant spins and sharp maneuvers that came along with dogfighting in space. "Spinning is not always a good trick," Jax sighed turning his attention to a starfighter in his sights. A couple of shots and the Sith fighter exploded leaving Jax to continuing firing on the engines.​

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While did so a bright flash appeared all of a sudden accompanied by a large explosion appeared rumbling Crosten's ship. "The frack is that?!" Jax said. "You got an Ion Bomb?! You know that shit is illegal in some systems."​

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Parts of Sith fighters were seen floating in front of Jax mangled up and burning. "Well considering that it saved our asses," Jax shrugged. "I'll let that slide." It's not like he had illegal weapons stored in his apartment anyway.​

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Jax destroyed the remaining engines leaving the ship drifting helplessly above the atmosphere of Vessek. "Ship is disabled!" Jax laughed. "Time to round up nerf herder. He's been a naughty boy!"​

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A very naughty boy indeed.​

 

[Crosten Feyn]

"What, they only give you Jedi one lucky day outta the week?" Crosten joked back; they were storming full speed into possible death and Jax was cracking nonchalant jokes? That was a good sign; honestly. Maybe it was Jedi discipline, or maybe just his own mental fortitude; but that he was calm and collected in the face of death was a boon.

"We're long past that, my bag of 'good tricks' has gone empty. We're dipping into 'dire risks' now" came the retort in straightforward delivery. If Crosten was worried, he wasn't showing it; and the bomb went off right on cue.

"Yeah, and getting killed is illegal in my ship!" came his retort. "I'll risk being judged by twelve over being carried by six anyday!" he explained without shame. Kid was pissed off sure, but the kid also wasn't dead. If Crosten were a law abiding individual, he mused, he wouldn't have lived to see the age of thirty. For the best that Jax saw things the same way. Crosten had to admit he didn't quite fit the image of a Jedi, a paladin of the stars that he had heard in tales. This one seemed more regular and down to earth. Ignoring all the superhuman abilities and blaster-snuffing laser sword.

"You did it kid!" He exclaimed. And just in time too, Crosten was already undetaking a rough landing on the freighter's docks.

"Hold on even tighter now, the landing's gonna be worse than the dodging" Crosten warned, slowing down his ship as much as he could. The warning was apt and the landing was rough; but at least they could walk away from it. 'Survivable' has been the aim here, and that low bar had been met.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Crosten's Starship​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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"Yeah I know! Strange isn't Jax," Jax smirked. "The Force usually rests during Sundays." It was snarking with another person not many Jedi have a sense of humor now and days. The Jedi was a bit annoyed when Crosten called him a kid, he was 30 years old not terribly old but not a fracking child though there were still child like qualities that Jax retained growing up like pulling pranks on people every now and then.​

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The starship lurched forward as Crosten accelerated the open hangar, the surface cannons fired upon the cruiser small puffs of explosions penetrating what little shields the starship got left. Jax aimed his turret towards the firing cannons firing back, his vision was obscured by the numerous flak by the cannons but Jax used the Force to guide his actions. Two cannons were destroyed as a result there were still more left but they weren't enough to successfully penetrate the shields.​

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"We're almost there!" Jax said seeing the ship getting bigger however the shield door immediately begins to slam shut across the hangar opening. "Ah shit!" Jax shook his head. "We're cutting it close!"​

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[Crosten Feyn]

"Good work, good work - Dank ferrik!" his words of hope turned into expletive as he saw the doors close, and his only chances with them.

He went full speed towards the doors. They would surely need to slow down in order to attempt any landing that was not a crash. Crosten dipped the ship lower and lower, one hand on the rudder and another on the controls as he just narrowly slipped between the bay's floor and the slamming door above him, scraping all the paint and numerous instruments off the ship that was sandwiched in between. The scraping collision slowed the ship down considerably at least; the most dangerous and resourceful emergency brakes Crosten had or would ever manage to use.

That's not to say that the landing was in any way easy; they bounced off the ceiling before skidding off the floor. The interior of the ship was an awful mess by this point, and they were still sliding fast. The howling scrape of metal precluded a chaotic crash as the ship slid into others, destroying the fragile tie fighters as if they were made of styrofoam. Shoddy Empire engineering has saved their lives; it was more akin to crashing into a safety barrier than any true automobile collision.

Once they came to a stop, Crosten already had his blaster in hand.

"Well, we're deep in it now. We gotta get moving!" he remaked urgently, slamming a fist on the controls to lower the landing ramp with a slam against the frigate's bay floor

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Darth Osmos' Freighter​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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Jax groaned rubbing his sore back. "Well that was some party," he mumbled getting up from the gunner's seat. He almost fell down to his knees feeling a little disoriented. "Well no time to waste!" Jax muttered allowing the force to flow through him regaining his balance. "I got a Dark Lord to capture!"​

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The Jedi followed Crosten down the ramp unclipping his Lightsaber activating it. "Hang on there cowboy!" Jax said. "No need to mindlessly charge in like an Anoatian Pit Beast! You don't know what's-"​

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Jax looked around the hangar he expected Sith Troopers fire upon them but there wasn't anyone in here. "Where the frack is everyone?!" There was no noise only the hum his blade. "I don't like this Crosten," Jax said. "Keep your wits about you, don't relax."​

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"Yes Smuggler," Darth Osmos' voice echoed through the hangar. "Act tense to the point where you die for your insolence!"​

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"Not what I meant jackass!" Jax retorted. "You guys are pretty much stuck so why don't you just lay down your weapon and surrender? You can spare the lives of your crew and I don't have to waste energy killing my way to get to you Osmos!"​

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"You know that's not going to happen Jedi!" Osmos replied with a venomous tone. "You should have let me escape! But now this hangar will be your doom!"​

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"Doom....." Jax shook his head. "You sound like a cartoon villain."​

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There was a noise that came behind them, Jax turned around to see six armored troopers each equipped with stark white armor, twin Vibroblades connected on their elbows along with Kamas. "I'm going to skin you alive Jedi!" One of the Sith Assassins yelled leaping at Jax and Crosten.​

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"No thanks," Jax said dodging his blade. "I'm afraid of sharp objects."​

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[Crosten Feyn]

He rushed through the ship, blaster in hand. He wasn’t reckless enough to charge out immediately; but he sure wasn’t going to stay put in the ship. There was way more danger letting the enemy get the jump on you, the smuggler figured.

“We stay put, we’re gonna get surrounded. We’re sitting ducks in this ship” he remarked as he peered outside and paused, all sense of urgency leaving his body at the sight of nothing. No troops had come at all, no doors were opening. Hurried panic became foreboding tension, with Crosten surveying the empty room from his place of cover. The voice of Osmos would spur him to keep still as he and the Jedi exchanged words.

“Allowing escape is part of my ‘pay for your damned crap’ deal!” he retorted; much more confident now than he was before. Storming a freighter wasn’t something he thought he’d ever do, not that he had given it much thought until he’d done the very thing. But with a Jedi; why this was pretty much a ride along; they do this sorta stuff all the time, don’t they? Far as he was concerned, Crosten had gotten himself a pair of front row tickets to the show. As long as there was a chance of taking this Osmos guy out, he was happy to seize it.

Turning around, the smuggler was taken aback at the sudden ambush, drawing his pistol reflexively but missing his first two shots at the leaping assassin who deftly managed to twist and dodge. That wasn’t good, but Jax had a lightsaber and this assassin was in range. Crosten had already seen what he was capable of doing, and so fought his reflex to shoot the assassin before him. Instead, he focused on the others; firing off four more shots with two of them hitting their mark. The remaining assassins began rushing their position immediately.

“Be afraid of the Sith!” the one closest to them remarked back at the Jedi's quip. He turned and took another swipe at the Jedi in a wide swept arc, the kama cutting diagonally through the air and towards his neck in a downward stroke.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Darth Osmos' freighter​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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Two Assassins down, their bodies landed hard on the floor smoke coming out from their chests as they lay motionless. "How can I fear the Sith?!" Jax said contorting his body backwards barely dodging the strike. "When they run at the sight of danger!?" Jax countered by executing a half spin slash which penetrated the Assasin's waist accompanied by his scream.​

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When the Assassin was bent over, Jax finished him off with an overhead slash decapitating the Assassin. "Two more!" Jax yelled at Crosten holding his Lightsaber to see remaining survivors dance around them. "Give it up!" One of the Assassins said. "You're dead!"​

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"Wait a minute?!" Jax said keeping his eyes on the Assassins. "Have you seen your three dead comrades or are you just suicidality overconfident?!"​

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One of the Assassins leapt towards Jax raising both of his Vibroblades over his head, Jax sidestepped holding out his blade to cut the Assassin into bite sized chunks midair. However as he did so the last Assassin made his move towards Crosten. "Watch out!" Jax shouted turning around as soon as he finished slicing up his target.​

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[Crosten Feyn]

Well, damn regretful that the leaping assassin moved a bit to fast, but that he had taken out two of his companions with his quick shooting left them in a situation better than before; and Jax's predicted slaying of the assassin in their midst had taken out yet another. Crosten let loose a few more shots, hardly one to change up a winning strategy. Yet another fell back as the blast punched through his armour, smoke wafting from his now-lifeless body.

Crosten was hardly one to talk as much as Jax. - he heard the Jedi's quips. The man had a lot of bravado, but he also had the force; which Crosten mused might explain it. Seeing what he did with it gave reason for his confidence.

The sudden leap of the final assassin caught him off guard, and after a few errant shots the smuggler threw himself to the side in a clumsy but effective dodge of his attack. All of his blaster shots had failed to hit their mark but one that grazed his helmet; he hadn't managed to actually kill the assassin, but with the front of his helmet demolished he could only stumble about, swinging his weapon in wild, desperate determination.

He had never seen troops fight so hard before. Hell, they were long past the time where he would have written off his pay and taken off if he were in their employ. Whatever motivates men to fight to their deaths like this must be ugly indeed. Or maybe they were just daft as the Jedi mentioned, but Crosten was far too cautious to buy into such assumptions.

 

[Jax Thio]

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Location: Darth Osmos' Freighter​

Equipment: Jax's regular clothing, Jax's Lightsaber​

Tag: Crosten Feyn​

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Crosten unloaded his pistols onto the last Assassin but he remained standing his body swaying back in forth armor full of blaster holes. Jax sighed walking towards the battered and beaten opponent and frowned. "Please die," Jax gave a small push and the Assassin landed flat on his back dying as soon as he hit the ground. "Congratulations you two!" Darth Osmos' voice boomed through out the Hangar Bay. "Those were my best men!"​

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"They were?!" Jax said gripping his Lightsaber. "Well why don't you fracking surrender before you join them?!"​

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"Don't let your arrogance blind you Jedi!" Osmos retorted. "You think that you have the advantage because you've killed my elite soldiers?! The Sith Empire's ranks are endless like a large tsunami consuming an entire city. You have walked into the gates of your own living hell!"​

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"Spare me the fracking cliches." Jax retorted before turning to Crosten. "Come on let's get this done before he spouts even more trite phrasing."​

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