Look Down (open)

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

Circumstances have a way of making fools out of us. Making our choices worthless or useless. There's a rumble, far up above, and something shifts in the Force. I don't like it. Whatever it is, it's more important than another shank, another day's grudge. Maybe Akona will follow me, but I'm heading out and up. The Gassers will wait. They stay low, deep, out of the way of the big stuff. Whatever this turns out to be, my guy says big fits the bill.

I head up a crevasse, into a chamber where traffic's fairly heavy, in a few directions. This time around, though, the main flow in is coming from all one direction, and it's people moving faster than they should. Skulls break on rock.

Behind them come guards, a lot of them, and they stink of fear. I snatch one into a side passage, dangle him over the crevasse, ask him what's up.

Turns out the solar system is getting repossessed by some jokers called the Lords of the Fringe.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

I followed the guy towards the action, not against it. Had no clue whatsoever what was going to happen, but I knew one simple thing, I wouldn’t be getting out of here by sticking to the deepest crevices. Lords of the Fringe, that was the name on everyone’s lips here and it bothered me. Hell it worried me. They were efficient, ruthless and self-serving in every right. Not all that different from a simple inmate and the fact that they were boldly heading so deep north?

Meant that they were deciding on expanding. Wouldn’t stop here though, never did. Only question that was on my mind as I watched Seren interrogate the chump was if I really cared. Took me a few seconds when I realized that the worry wasn’t for the Republic, it was for my own hide.

Another bother to add to the ever growing list.

Point was… this was an opportunity to get out or die in the progress. Because one thing was for sure, if the Fringe took control? We wouldn’t be getting out. They would either process us and put us to work, kill all of us to minimize their costs or simply take over.

‘In or out, Ordavo.’

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

"Hm?"

I drop the guard.

"Out. If they've landed where I think they've landed, I've got a way up. Two escape tunnels ago. Guards won't be there, not now, not on the run."

The guard hits the bottom of the crevasse. I head straight for the blocked-off tunnel I used; it's in Gasser territory, the top part, so it'll be just a joy to get there. I don't bother heading for my nook. Nothing there I need to keep, nothing worth delaying a shot at clear skies.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

No clear reputation meant that you kept everything important on your body, which would be tiring to say the least, so it was a good thing I wasn’t much of a hoarder mentalist. That was the Jedi Order for you, say what ya want but they taught you not to really care much about personal belongings and the crap. I had my shiv, necklace and a spare ration bar.

Everything a man needed during an escape attempt, probably.

I followed Ordavo, trusted in him knowing where to go and where… not to go. Gasser territory, no wonder the guy had been shifty about my relationship with ‘em. Didn’t really matter right now though, all previous slates were cleared with the arrival of the Fringe.

How convenient.

Didn’t talk, just followed. If he needed to say something he would do so on his own schedule.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

Sometimes you make your opportunity, sometimes it lands on your lap. I'm antsy about this one, part because it seems too convenient -- downright Rhandite -- and part because I was in the mood to visit one of the Gasser girls who just isn't around when Akona and I reach the rockfall that used to be my old tunnel. I get moving, nothing ceremonial about it, just TK rock chunks away to bounce down bloody cave walls. It wasn't this end of the tunnel that was the problem.

Inside, it's a vertical shaft four feet wide, with a helix handhold carved all the way up. Pitch black.

"Did all of this with pyro," I say as I start climbing. "Heat the rock, cool the rock, move the rubble. Wash, rinse, repeat."

When I get out of here, I'm getting a sonic shower and a girl. Wonder if the Fringe has any.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

Couldn’t help but whistle through my teeth. This was some- it wasn’t quality work, but it showed fething dedication. That being said, when you were in jail all you got was time, still. Most pups in this place were only busy with karking, killing or defenestrating people into the crevices.

Everyone their own hobbies I guess.

‘Nice work.’ breathing in I started climbing after Ordavo, taking my time to make sure footing was alright. Only met the guy a few days ago. Doesn’t matter how impressive it looks, it can get us killed either way.

When I get outta here… good question. Never really was one for relationships, the Order wasn’t exactly a breeding ground for wicked morals, or maybe I had been hanging with the wrong crew. Anyway, might be time to catch up on time lost.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

The compliment doesn't require a response, so I grunt while climbing and let that suffice. The shaft's narrow and rough enough that I can straight-arm it, hold myself up by just my hands or feet if I need to brace. The helix handhold is about three inches deep and two inches tall, just enough for hands or feet. I don't have boots; sometimes I get a pair out of a reprocessor. Amazing what you can make with enough tech and scalps.

"There's a guardpost and a welded plate about two hundred metres up. Guardpost is probably empty. You going to be able to make the climb?"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

Breath took hold and I felt stronger, faster… you know the drill. I had always been tall, lanky, but the vongshaping had fethed with me in more ways than one. I was still figuring out new things about me I hadn’t known the day before, more stamina for one, strength and with the breath raging through my veins?

‘Don’t worry about me.’

We kept climbing, until a thought came to me.

‘Shet’s been too easy. Careful with the post.’

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

All that deserves is a grunt, but he's right. I cut the weld with my finger, more or less, and push the hatch up by half an inch or so, bracing myself in the shaft with both boots and one hand. The guardpost is an abattoir in full operational swing. Guards against what I can only assume are Fringe marines in heavy armor. Slow as I can, I let the hatch down and tell Akona what I saw. I use some detail -- he could hear the fight same as me, whent he hatch was cracked open.

"Wait, or jump in?"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

‘Jump in.’

I hadn’t had a good fight for a while now. Needed this, wanted it even. Besides, I still gotta find that fat fether who broke my nose the first day I came here. This ain’t revenge, pure justice. Probably. Besides, this way we can either prove our tactical worth to the Fringe, or kill a few of them and escape on one of their transports.

Power of positive thinking for ya.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"]

Truth be told, I want it bad too, but this fether's seen what I can do. Think I'll return the favor.

"After you," I say, and swing against the wall so he can get up through the hatch. I say it like I'm in no hurry, and I guess that's true. Some days are less hungry than others. My back slaps against the wall, and I gesture at the hatch above us. The molten metal at the edge is joining up again; it'll take him a good slam to get through. From there, we'll see.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"]

A grunt of acknowledgement, wasn’t a mentalist, but the guy wanted to see what I could do. Which wasn’t all that much. Two handholds and I was at the top, edge was closing again that much I could see, probably would take some force to get it out.

The hatch pressed in just a little bit, miniscule - you wouldn’t be able to see it without the breath. Meant someone was on top of the fething thing, just my luck. Meant I would have to punch even harder, I blinked and time slowed again.

But my fist didn’t, one second before impacting against the hatch I pushed more energy through my sinews. Fist hit hatch, hatch caved in and flew open, guy on top of the hatch flew up in the air and landed somewhere next to the opening.

So much for the subtle approach, I took short pique and jumped out once the opportunity came. Time to bring the pain.

 

[Onith Trill]

[member="Nui Akona"] [member="Seren Ordavo"]

"I don't like that welded plate." I say to one of the heavily armored Fringe Marines around me. "The weld looks like it meant to block something out. Something specific. Structural add-on rather than design." He looks at me with that expressionless helmet of his and puts out some sort of a grunt.

"Droid don't like the plate boys." He says, and I can tell that smug bastard is starting some speech about how I'm a stupid clanker. "I didn't think tin cans felt fear, but here we got a scared battle droid. Good thing we Marines decided to bring one along to scout the prison." He stings, and I can hear the snickers of the rest of the squad in reply. "Oh wait, we didn't." The marine replied.

"Fine. You can curse your lot and guard the plate. I'll guard the rest of this gorram rock for your ungrateful tails." I say to the guy in my overly mechanical voice. I assume it's supposed to be intimidating, but to a Fringe Marine? Just another thing to laugh at. Maybe I'll try and get a vocabulator upgrade that lets me record other people's voices one day. Sounded like a good idea for infiltration and such. Then again what do I know? All I am is some gorram droid.

I head out away from the plate for four minutes, seventeen seconds, and three-hundred fifty-nine milliseconds when I hear what sounds like an armored marine fly in the air and crash down with a thud. Gorram prisoners probably gotten up here. Tal wasn't sure if he was pissed off at the marines for not listening to him or grateful they had gotten what was coming to him.

Either way I suppose it doesn't matter. I pull out my SRR-01 off of back and begin moving back to the marines, looking for hostiles. I'll be damned if I'm going to be shown up by some nature-made species day one on the job.

 

[Harbinger of Vengeance]

I have no qualms with the Fringe. Their continued allegiance to uphold law when they are constructed of the lawless does not escape my criticism, and as such they are pitiful worms underneath my boot. But I do not hate the worm; the worm cannot help its worthlessness. I can step on it, or I can follow it around, but if I spare it, it will guide me to the dirt again one day.

So here I stand, surrounded by Fringe Marines, on this prison planet. So much chaos, I can smell it, and I enjoy it. Yet underneath the chaos there is a lawful order. The only thing keeping me from killing the guards on my own is the acceptance that the Fringe paid me well to come here. They knew of my skills in hunting Jedi, but I made no promises. I might kill them, I might not. I expect to be paid, regardless.

Up ahead of me, I hear gunfire, and my mask reacts accordingly. As Fringe marines rush forwards, muttering grievances I care little for, I enter a stealth position, crouching with my back against the wall. And I listen. My senses matching those of a Padawan, I listen with my better hearing for something different than the gunfire and screaming.

Maybe this prison planet will offer me a surprise.

 

[Velok the Younger]

Prison planet Hellgotha
Near surface
Close by: [member="Nui Akona"], [member="Tal"]
Farther: [member="Harbinger of Vengeance"]

A crash percolates down through the hatch, and I get a grip on one of the cold edges. The hatch cover, the welded plate, is on its way down onto my fingers. I catch it with my mind -- I don't have a free hand -- and keep it up long enough to pull myself over the lip. I roll into the hall, across a fallen Fringe marine. It's as dark as I like it; no need to adjust my eyes. The guardpost fight is over, but there are other Fringers passing down the nearby tunnel, and the only other ways out of here are through the ventilation shaft -- I melted the inner security grates to slag last year; maybe they've replaced them -- and down the tunnel we just came out of. I grab a couple of what look like taser knives from the downed Fringers and get to work prying open the shaft in case we need a quick exit. The shaft leads up, splits -- clearly visible; the internal security grates are still gone.

"Done playing around, Sardun?"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"] | [member="Tal"] | [member="Harbinger of Vengeance"]

Blood splattered across the skin, chunks of tissue across his limp body. Justice had been due and paid in full, perhaps it was vengeance but I didn’t care. This guy had been a bully. Had been worthless in his own way and tried to repay that by kicking at those at his mercy. Justice long due, if you asked me. Never had liked them bullies.

Took the wrench and used it as an artificial spear, blunt object stabbing right below the sternum. Celiac plexus. Enhanced strength plus leverage. Not a good way to go.

‘Jup.’ I replied, wiping but only smearing the blood out more.

 

[Onith Trill]

Even in the dark my sensorscope is unimpeded. Sure, typical droids only had vision about as good as the typical human, but the guys at Cestus, or Hegemonic now, were smart enough to give me things like heat and motion detectors. As soon I get back over to where that welded plate was I can see that the other marines are no more, or at least they all took a good drop in body temperature and stopped moving. Serves them kriffing right. If that was it I'd just call it in, but it isn't. There's two more bodies rummaging about, ones I don't recognize. Both of them decently but not overly tall, with frames wider than most nature's I get to see. Even with the combination of my sensors I can't tell how built they are, but based on the dead marines, likelyhood of them being prisoners, and approximate estimations on what prison life would do to a nature I assume with an eighty-two-point-seven-five chance that they're rather well built. Ninety-eight-point-six-nine chance they killed those marines too.

Not bad people in my my photoreceptor, but I'm a Fringer and a soldier, and so were they. Just because they were jack-wagons doesn't mean I don't need to do my job. Though maybe I can be a little easier on them. I raise my SRR-01 and fire a warning shot. Unless they're trying to get hit they won't, but they'll know I'm there.

"Halt and state your business." I command in my still excessively mechanical voice. If they had taken down some members of the Iron Battallion I'd have probably just shot them. But I'm feeling generous. Maybe they can talk their way out of this. Or maybe they'll bolt. Or maybe they'll try to kill me. Whatever they chose I gave them a chance. Nature's can say whatever they want, but I have a heart.

Now to see if they take advantage of it.


[member="Seren Ordavo"] [member="Nui Akona"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Nui Akona"] [member="Tal"]

Seren bit back a curse as the warning shot snapped past. He hadn't felt lethal intent -- ahh. A droid with an unfamiliar but serious double-barreled assault rifle. Certainly affiliated with one of the two factions whose bodies lined the floor, and he'd have known if the guards had that kind of hardware. He raised his empty hands, the gesture coinciding with his mind closing around the open hatch beside him. If the droid fired again, he was fairly sure he could get out of the way now that he knew it was here. The hatch would be his countermove.

"Easy there. All we're after is a way off this rock. We'll fight for whoever gets us clear."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Seren Ordavo"] [member="Tal"]

‘Aye.’ I just replied, echoing Seren’s sentiment. Didn’t have a clue those guys were fringe marines, for some reason I had expected them to be a little bit more… tough? Was thinking they were just simple jailers, this might complicate things, or it might not. Didn’t have a clue, but what I did know was that this droid was dangerous.

Simply because the Force wouldn’t be of help if it tried to shoot ‘em in the back.

So I took in the breath, while waiting for the things response. Skin would be as thick as durasteel, first bullets wouldn’t go through and let me get outta the way if necessary.

 

[Onith Trill]

[member="Seren Ordavo"] [member="Nui Akona"]

Funny how guys aren't so tough after a warning shot when you're holding a gun too 'em. They haven't attacked, that's good, and my motion sensors aren't picking up any funny business. I want to believe these guys but I'm not an interrogator droid. I don't pick up on tones and intents or anything like that, just body movement that might prelude an attack, and while they're not doing anything yet that doesn't mean they won't shoot me up when my photoreceptor is turned.

"I want to trust you guys. I do. But I didn't come off the assembly line yesterday. I work for the Fringe and we don't care much about outlaws running around, long as they don't treat us wrong. Probably a good fit for half the poor sods stuck here. The half that ain't crazy. If y'all can tell me y'all ain't crazy or tryna pull somethin" There was a pause. Point-six-four seconds. "We'll work something out."