Private Just Checking In

[Cato Harth]

“What’s that supposed to mean?” His lip curled in a knowing grin.

The bike launched off with a steady hum, but he heard the request given not long after, “As you wish”, He kicked the engine into high gear, and the hum turned into a high pitched revving as the bike rocketed ahead, far past any speed limits (if Nar Shaddaa had them to begin with).

For a normal driver, it might have been suicidal, but the Force amplified a Jedi’s senses, allowed them to react before things happened. And so Cato felt quite comfortable weaving through traffic with little more than a helmet between him and the pavement. “Good enough for ya?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“It means you’re a scoundrel.”

Inanna crowed as he sped up the bike, laughing against the wind. “Now that’s more like it!”

She saw it before she felt it. The red glow from a hail of blaster bolts fired in front of them, then upon them. There was no time to speak, no time to warn Cato. No time to even react.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

“It means you’re a scoundrel.”

“Damn right.”

Cato sped along through the street ways without a care in the world, feeding off of Inanna’s energy as they found their own way to enjoy Nar Shaddaa’s lax views on Class B misdemeanors.

Then, senses flared. Danger, too much for him to react, certainly not in tandem with the speed of the bike. Blaster bolts in a flurry, however many hit there was hardly time to consider, but the bike fully flipped forward, the repulsion system creating a particularly wide arc that launched them like both like a catapult.

Cato did what he could; He twisted around to pull Inanna into one arm, and held out the other to project a Force Barrier, just hoping it would be enough to save them from being turned into a couple pasty red splatters across the street.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

As the two were launched into the air, Inanna had a similar protective instinct. Clinging to Cato, she reached out in the Force, taking hold of their bodies, slowing their momentum even as the bike spun wildly out of control below them.

They still hit the ground pretty hard, though Inanna cushioning the landing for them both by hardening her flesh helped to absorb the impact. All in all, it could’ve been a lot worse.

And then their mysterious attackers started shooting at them again.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato felt the impact. Hard. Air shot out of his lungs. Pain. But pain meant he was still alive. He blinked and scrambled onto his knees , looking to Inanna with fear for the word already in his mind. "Are you okay?!" He asked, only for more blaster fire to try and interrupt him. He took the Shi'ido by the wrist and ran them both behind the corner of the nearest building.

"When will people learn?" A voice bellowed out some distance away. "It's dangerous to play in the street."

Cato didn't recognize the voice, but he had his suspicions already. He nodded to Inanna, drawing his lightsaber hilt.

"Gotta say I'm surprised you're still moving around, even. That was a nasty wreck. Dunno what kinda freaks you are, but this place'll be just a little cleaner once you're gone."

The knight turned and whispered, "Badges. Leftover law enforcement from when the Concord took over. Don't kid yourself, though, they're just another gang like the rest. Think themselves judge, jury, and executioner around here, real holier-than-thou shit that gives them the right to do whatever they want 'for the cause'." He smirked, and shrugged, "Kinda like what I do, with a healthy dose of bloodthirsty psycho-fascism." Cato didn't extort neighborhoods for protection fees. Cato didn't execute people for speeding. These guys did that and more.

"Find them. They're still around here somewhere."

Cato studied Inanna for some kind of reaction, "How you wanna play this? Maybe take things quiet or… feth around and find out?"

Inanna Harth

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna grimaced in pain as her back hit the pavement. Cato grabbed her arm to drag her away, and she smelled flesh burning. Shi'ido flesh, which had a distinctly acrid odor.

Leaning against the alley wall, she lifted up her shirt and stared down at the charred hole blasted through her middle. Quickly lowering her shirt in what was probably a vain effort to hide it from him, she looked up at Cato owlishly while he explained what the Badges were.

"Slow," she mumbled, growing pale. "Give me a few minutes to regenerate..."

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Okay. Okay." Cato mumbled, doing a double take as he finally registered the gaping wound in Inanna's torso, "We'll just- holy SHIT!" He harshly whispered, barely keeping it inaudible for their approaching hunters.

Immediately his features seemed to sink, and he grabbed her again to pull her into the alley door nearby. Inside they found themselves tucked into the small back room of some long-defunct business. Cato made Inanna sit down, and in turned crouched beside her. He didn't know quite how Shi'ido responded to such a wound, beyond that they evidently did so better than a human would. But he still found it a safe bet to assume that a big hole in one's chest was never all that great no matter who took it. "Are you…?" There was an uncertain fear in his voice, still worried about the possibility of their time coming to such a random, violent, and short end.

It was only after that bout of adrenaline mellowed that he finally noticed his own injury. A blaster burn in his left shoulder, leaving a seared mark on the jacket. Further down, another in his waist. He offered a reassuring, if strained smile.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Even for a Shi’ido, a wound like that was a death sentence without immediate medical attention. Inanna was still able to stand only because of the Star around her neck, and even that began to deteriorate as Cato dragged her into the building and plopped her down.

He was wounded too, she saw. A shot had grazed his shoulder, and another his waist. She couldn’t see how severe they were, but he didn’t seem to be in too bad a shape. At least he didn't have a hole in him.

"Are you…?"

“Dying?” She mirrored his strained smile. “Not yet, so long as you help me.”

She pulled the pendant out from underneath her shirt, took his hand and pressed it against the gem. “It wants to heal, but you’ve got to guide it.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Dying.

The word alone was enough to form a pit in his stomach. There was little more time to even dwell on it before she wrapped his hand around a pendant. She had a chance, but Cato couldn't help but still be afraid, "I… I'm not a healer, Inanna…" The reassuring smile on his face turned more confused, distressed. He glanced towards the door, paranoid that a few thugs might bust in at any moment.

"Dammit…" He shut his eyes, and made an effort to channel the Force into healing energy. Cato was by no means specialized, but he had at least a few classes on the ability. He would just have to hope it was enough.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna kept her hand, smeared with her black blood, fastened over Cato’s as if the physical contact would reassure him.

“You’re better at it than I am, I guarantee it,” she murmured. She felt exhausted. Wanted to sleep… “This thing was given to me years ago, but I barely know how to use it. The passive healing effect is too slow…” She’d be dead in minutes, not hours.

The Star did the heavy lifting. It only needed to be given direction, something specific to concentrate upon. Inanna’s grip tightened as the healing began to take effect. To avoid crushing Cato’s hand she moved to clutching the edges of his jacket, her expression contorting and back arching off the floor.

It wasn’t so much the magnitude of the hurt as it was the type—a kind of exquisite, itching, almost torturous pain that made her want to squirm away. She had a feeling it was due to Cato's clumsiness. Ah well, at least it was working. She bit her lip to stifle any noises or curses she might have uttered, but it was impossible to lie still.

Her wound began to close, the burnt flesh rapidly regenerating and sealing shut. Yet the sounds of stomping boots and blaster fire drew nearer. Their pursuers were closing in.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato kept hold of the gem, his other hand on Inanna's shoulder as a lifeline for himself as much as her. His brow furrowed in worry as she writhed against the sensation brought about by the process. It took a moment before he registered the approach sound of thugs. They drew nearer, and he looked to her before reaching out into his jacket to draw a blaster pistol.

'"C'mon…" Cato aimed the weapon at the door, constalty flicking his line of sight between Inanna and encroaching noise, when finally one of the searching thugs got lucky (or unlucky, rather). They opened the door with a scattergun in hand, but before they could register that their prey had been found, Cato fired twice, hitting them in the chest twice and causing them to fall backwards to the ground, dead. There was an uproar as the remaining criminals all refocused on hunting down the source, no doubt converging on their area. He picked Inanna up again, and pulled her through the next door, bringing them into what was once some sort of restaurant kitchen. With the force he toppled over a heavy metal fridge in front of the door. "We're out of time."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“You have a gun?” Inanna blurted as soon as Cato pulled his blaster, watching in admiration as he vaped one of the Badges. “You really are the best Jedi.”

She wasn’t fully healed when he suddenly picked her up and carried her into the remains of what had once been a kitchen. There he pinned a fridge over the door to slow the progress of the gang following them. Cato sounded a bit cynical about their situation.

“Wha—out of time? I’m not going to die in this chithole at the hands of a bunch of thugs! Not after I just got laid for the first time in three years!” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pointed toward another door at the opposite end of the kitchen. “As long as you don’t drop me, I think I can cover our tracks. Just get us the feth out of here, baby.”

The door behind them rattled, but the fridge held… for now. They might wise up and head around to the front to block them in, unless they moved faster.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato couldn't help but smirk, "Guns are very useful, despite what some purists might have you think." So uncivilized, they said. It had saved his hide plenty of times.

Inanna found Cato's assessment unsatisfying, and he blinked in surprise at her mini-rant. Another smirk, "Well, I was just hoping to get that wound healed by now, but I appreciate the feistiness." They wouldn't die here, they agreed on that. It was too lame of a way to go out, anyways.

He followed her gaze ahead and nodded, before offering up the blaster pistol in his hand, "I'm on it. Hold this for me, darling?" Better that at least one of them stay armed. Cato then scooped her up in his arms and ran for the opposite door. They entered a decrepit dining area, but he paid the furniture little mind as he put all his focus into running. Out the kitchen, out the dining room, out into the streets once more. One thug had the bright idea to catch them at the restaurant entrance, only to receive a leaping boot to the face for his efforts. A loud but muffled crash came from inside the kitchen. They had broken through that way. "Just do your thing."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Oh. Well, I still don’t want to die.” Her eyes lit up when he handed her the blaster. “Darling? Hell yes.”

Peering over Cato’s shoulder, she used telekinesis to slow the Badges down, then took aim and fired, picking them off one by one.

“This is actually kind of fun,” she remarked, blowing away another Badge. “You should carry me around while I shoot at stuff more often.”

Another Badge caught them by surprise on their way out, jumping out of the darkness and firing at point blank range.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

“Oh. Well, I still don’t want to die.”

"Me neither. So let's just not?"

Cato put all his focus in getting out, trusting that Inanna would be able to keep them covered as she had assured earlier. A strategy which seemed to be working quite well actually. Her comment earned a scoff, "I was hoping you'd be the one to carry me next time."

All quipping was brought to a quick stop, however, when one Badge jumped out with a point-blank shot. Danger senses flared, but even with his abilities time to react was short. So, Cato spun himself around, in an attempt to make the shot more likely to hit him than Inanna. A tactic which was successful, though still not what one would call convenient. It struck him in the right flank, bringing the knight to his knees with a groan. As the Badge readied a second shot, Cato had just enough time to kick a leg out behind him, and cause the thug to topple over himself as the blow came across his knee.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna shot the toppling Badge right in the face, wincing a little at the grotesque results. With Cato’s knees buckling, she braced her legs against the ground. Her torso still had a ragged opening across it, but it was a shallow, bloodless wound that would seal shut soon.

“Well, looks like you’re getting your wish,” she muttered, sprouting a second pair of arms and wrapping them around Cato’s waist. “How about I carry you this time?”

And still shoot these “vigilantes” while she was at it.

“Maybe… we should pay a visit to a safehouse along the way, get you patched up?” she suggested, running and gunning, but mostly trying to hide from the Badges now, letting them pass her by in the shadows. “Do you even have safehouses?...”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Appreciate it," He wheezed as Inanna took out the surprise Badge, having hoped for the quick follow up when he'd made the attack. She was quick to scoop him up as well, and after watching her sprout and extra set of arms just for the occasion he gave her a lopsided grin, "My hero."

Inanna took the reins, taking a few more shots at their pursuers before making an effort to slip past the remainder undetected. Cato touched his wound and winced, "Ugh- Yeah, that sucks." Probably not life threatening, but it sure was going to make it a pain in the ass to do much moving. A few of the Badges ran past, none the wiser to their location.

"I have a safehouse." His apartment. It would have to do. "It's not far, but, might be a slight jaunt." All things considered it was actually decent for a place on Nar Shaddaa. Maybe not the most quality necessities in the galaxy, but his space had two levels two it: one on the main floor, from which he operated a scrapper garage and workshop, and on the basement level, where his actual quarters were. She'd probably have to see it eventually, right? Might as well be now.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Show me where to go,” she said.

truly great literature we have here Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"This way," He pointed them off in the right direction.

---

Some time later they would arrive at a rust colored building, only about three stories tall on the surface. As they walked where Cato directed, he offered a wave to an individual they passed, "Sup Gurt," The 'Gurt' in question, a kitonak man resting in a lawn chair, who offered a lazy wave in return, "That's my landlord."

At the far corner of the building were two doors: one normal sized, and the other a large garage door. Both led to the same area, which Cato revealed by inputting a code on the former. The interior was a workshop, decorated with a few rows of metal shelves, which were themselves decorated with various machine pieces and scrap. The place where Cato did his 'day job'. They weren't here for that though. He pointed toward a set of stairs at the opposite end, leading downward.

That was where Cato's 'home' was. Looking as untidy as a typical young adult male's apartment, and as dingy as most things on Nar Shaddaa. "Ta da." He said dryly. "Just set me on the couch."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Completely out of her element, Inanna let Cato play navigator while she just walked wherever he told her to. They eventually arrived at a tiny apartment complex, where she was fleetingly introduced to the landlord. One benefit of extra arms: she could wave back to Gurt without dropping her charge.

She stood by while Cato punched in the code to open his apartment door, then carried him inside. “I brought you over the threshold bridal style and everything,” she quipped, having a look around the place. “Huh. Are you a mechanic? Is that your real job?”

He had requested she lay him on the couch, but she paused. “Probably shouldn’t lay on your back, considering where you got shot,” she said, before turning him over and gently setting him on his stomach.

Checking to make sure the door was locked, she stripped off the burnt and bloody remains of her shirt, took a last survey of her wound (a nasty looking line of pale, puckered flesh, but no more than that), then turned to him. “Where’s your medkit?”

Cato Harth​