Public GUTTER FIST

[Tansu Treicolt]

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"Ohmigod so cute! Gettim little guy!" Tansu was briefly dazzled by the bravery of the tiny fox with the equally tiny lightsabre. But the chaos of the entire situation rattled her from staring after the fluffy Jedi for too long. "I didn't know they made sabres that tiny. I love it." She said briefly, nearly conspiratorially to Talsin, lest he call her offensive again. So she was a little backwater from time to time, didn't mean she was totally xenophobic.

Talsin rejected her idea climb to gangway, insisting influence would be more effective from within the crowd itself. This was probably the one and only situation where an argument wasn't fast to find her tongue, especially since the action gave no room for pause. She ducked instinctively as a bolt sizzled past — its heat kissing her cheek.

Behind her, Talsin swayed—his hand clutching her wrist, jaw tight, eyes distant in that way he got when his head left the room before his body followed. She'd seen him do it before, stretching that big ol' heart of his over a crowd like a warm blanket and comforting people to calm. He'd done it on that station outpost once upon a time, but this time was different. He hissed, a sound sharp and real, and then—just like that—he was back in himself.

Her nostrils flared and she made a huff sound because she hated the look in his eyes — the same he often found frustration with when she gleamed similarly —the look that always came before he did something dangerous and noble and stupid.

Her hand found his bicep and squeezed. "Alright. You go huntin' the bad guys and I'll go corrallin' up our people. I got Talin and company on my radar. She's with an old friend over thattaway."

Tansu moved with heat in her heels, pushing through overturned chairs and stampeding patrons. Her boot caught the edge of a downed table and she vaulted it, landing hard, one hand flinging forward to send a Force push that toppled two armed thugs into a drink stand. The bottle of something blue and flammable went up in a puff of smoke and sparks.

"TALIN!" she barked, loud enough to hopefully draw blaster attention away from her sister's cover. "Y'ALRIGHT?"

And just as she surged forward to join the cluster of Morrow, Jon and Talin a Dowutin barreled out of the smoke. Easily nine feet tall, thick-shouldered and tusked, he looked like a walking boulder with a grudge.

"YOU!" he roared, voice like cracking mountain face. "I LOST EVERY CREDIT I HAD TONIGHT! THE BOY AGAINST MIRILIAN, AND I BET ON THE DAMN ITHORIAN!!! Jerec Asyr WAS MEANT TO WIN!!!! A HUMAN? HOW'S Rel Ahn-Dross A HUMAN WIN? ONLY BECAUSE OF YOU. I LOST IT ALL!!!" Apparently a grudge was all he had — and his mean streak made up for his lack of a winning streak.

Tansu didn't have time to dodge. He caught her mid-step and slammed her bodily into a wall panel, her ribs lighting up with fire on impact.
"I'll kill you cheatin' scum! This is all your fault! All of it!" he bellowed.

Before she could argue she wasn't even the one takin' bets that night, a wild bolt from elsewhere in the room found its way to her side—searing a line just beneath her ribs. Her breath vanished. She didn't even feel herself fall, just the jolt of floor against her back and the warm stickiness that followed.

She gasped, eyes brightening with with tears that she wouldn't let fall. While she tried to inhale, the room exploded in haze. Powder and smoke blasted outward in a dry, chalky wave. Her wound flared, lungs stinging as the powder burned its way in with every breath. Shapes blurred. Light dissolved. Tansu blinked hard, vision swimming. She pulled the collar of her shirt up over her mouth, blood soaking into the fabric, and forced herself upright just in time to squint and see an unmistakeable shape move through the haze — fast, low, and glowing with the connection that made it definitely Talin.

One stagger, a step too shallow, and then she forcibly leaned toward her sister, arm hooking around her neck, jaw tight against a cry.

"Kriff—there you are." Her voice was low, more air than sound, but her grip didn't loosen, stubborn and hot with adrenaline. "Took you long enough."

Blood smeared down her side, already soaking the hem of her shirt and staining Talin's sleeve as she leaned in. She'd taken a hit that was going to slow her down and she hated that and it also hurt way more than any of the training blasts she'd ever had and it felt like a storm she couldn't see. She didn't wanna look.

"We need to move. This smoke ain't cover, gotta be a dang curtain and someone's slippin' out behind it. We gotta make 'em pay. They can't get away with this. They're ruinin' us, Lin." The urgency she felt bled through their bond, making speech superfluous when she could fill their minds ripe with suggestion: Even a piece of fabric, or discarded weapon! Then we could read it and hunt 'em down.

Talsin would feel the prickle of her suggestion too, given the weave of their bond. More appropriate direction for him, since he was closer to the bad guys.

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WAS: Talsin Lota | Ren
IS: Talin Treicolt | Jonath Kago | Morrow
WILL BE: Jordi Massad | The Faceless
AROUND: Jerec Asyr | Rel Ahn-Dross
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[Jonath Kago]

It was something of progress to inch a bit closer to one of the few exits available in the Drop albeit slow only to divert their path to find Talin’s sister. There wasn’t a second to protest and Jon followed suit still being sharp with his blaster pistol, appreciating the defense the blonde Jedi provided to him and the stranger. The trio then found a wounded Tansu, her wound critical to be able to perform and keep up at their pace. A quick glance and he could guess they were twins.

The same dowutin that attacked Tansu was still about, focused on the group with violent intentions. He knew that look and his stimuli reacted involuntarily as it reacted on a basis of survival. Without hesitation and remorse he rapidly shot down the alien at center mass. It took more shots than usual due to its thick hide, but the assailant did eventually fall on fours the injuries overwhelming its body.

But it wasn’t enough for Jon. He could’ve ignored the tough alien after its fall, but a killer instinct commanded him to make sure it would stay down. Permanently. A single shot fired at its head, smoke from the bolt rising from its impact. Not a hint of emotion on his face except for a silent glare.

A violent explosion of glass snapped him out from his focus, returning his attention to his band of unique mischiefs. He was putting one and one together trying to find a solid strategy to guarantee a chance of survival.

“They can't get away with this. They're ruinin' us, Lin."

Uh, what?

“Yeaaaah, now is not the time to wanting to get even. We have more important things to take care of,” like getting the hell out of here alive. If Talin was to carry a limping Tansu that limited their “sword and shield” tactic. Again that instinct of survival wanted to take lead causing him to wince. Like something symbiotic wanted to preserve its host.

“I’ve got an idea,” not a pretty one and he wasn’t about to share to avoid a discussion of morals. Jon’s eyes focused on a retreating patron; a weequay bandit. He threw a sucker punch at the unsuspecting weequay and quickly caught and grabbed him using him as a shield. “C’mon! It’s this or a pool of our own blood,” and pressed forward. Blaster bolts struck his body shield and killed the bandit; Jon was hoping Morrow would be at his side to return fire while he held up the corpse upright and the twins following his lead.

Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Morrow | Ren | Talsin Lota | Jordi Massad​

 

[Ren]

Chaos engulfed the area. A mass of panicked, fleeing people, gunfire, and lit lightsabers.

Ren could do little more than smack bolts up and away, and even then he had to be so very careful with his swings. It only took him a few seconds to realize that this would not work. If he kept wielding his saber this way he might accidentally cut an innocent.

Smoke clogged the air, stung his vision. He squinted, blinking through tears, could barely see.

The Jedi heard more shouting from behind him and turned back to see the human girl he bumped into was limping, blood soaking her shirt. Ren could feel her pain. He fell back to that little group, the ones who seemed to have organized these fights, but were also... Jedi?

Ren's green blade cast a glow on his features as he jogged up, ducking blaster bolts, to rejoin them.

Then he saw one of the humans in the group grab what looked like a fleeing weequay. Ren could not see if he had any weapons, but he did see what happened next.

Jon’s eyes focused on a retreating patron; a weequay bandit. He threw a sucker punch at the unsuspecting weequay and quickly caught and grabbed him using him as a shield.

Blaster bolts struck his body shield and killed the bandit;

"What are you doing?" Ren cried out, scrambling over to them, checking the Weequay's pulse. Nothing. He pulled his paw away, soaked in blood. Sad, small black eyes turned toward Jonath, "She is hurt," he pointed toward Tansu, "I will help you escape, but don't do that again."

No jurisdiction here. No time for lectures on morality. Ren didn't want to give any either. He just wanted them to get out alive. All of them. They would find who was responsible, eventually.

He held his lightsaber before him, at a guard stance, prepared to deflect away more blaster bolts.

Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt | Morrow | Talsin Lota | Jordi Massad