"
Right on," Ryv said.
He followed her to the bike and threw a leg over the side. His first instinct was to jump up, grab the handlebars, and get to work, but he beat that down. He put his trust in Ripley. She knew the way. So, the kiffar hopped up behind her and positioned himself as comfortably as he could. Both hands went back to grip the seat in preparation for their journey. When she kicked the speeder-bike into gear and shot forward, he immediately lurched forward and slipped his arms around her sides. No matter how much he didn't want to come off as a creep, he definitely wanted to stay on the speeder more. One trip from a moving vehicle was enough for him.
As they raced after their target, he tightened his grip around the woman and laid his head across her shoulder. The bumpy ride didn't much help the pain that circulated through his body. So, caught between falling from the speeder and a beautiful woman, Ryv said nothing and made the best of the ride. It might've been a tad easier had Ripley's hair not whipped him across the face the entire time they crossed through the city. Even then, he still couldn't complain. The girl had it going on, after all.
When she hit the brakes and ground the speeder to a halt, he pulled back and hopped off without missing a beat. He winked her way as soon as he recognized that hint of concern.
"
Sorry, beautiful, they threw me from a damn speeder. Gotta get some payback for that one," he slipped Resolve free from his belt and limped after her. He imagined the sight of the zeltron might've intimidated them had her companion not looked like a Krayt Dragon chewed him up and spit him back out. Between the blood-stained pants, dirt-caked wounds, and bruised flesh, Ryv looked nothing like the force of nature he was known to be. His viridescent saber exploded from the silvery hilt nonetheless. "T
his isn't a... Take prisoners, kinda job. So long as the droid in charge isn't destroyed, I can get all the information we need, so go nuts."
Several shuttles rested just ahead of them. Men, women, and children stood huddled together as they awaited their turn to be herded inside them. Bodies lined a nearby alleyway, likely those who didn't comply with their captor's demands.
Slavers lifted their blasters and opened fire as they grew closer. Some dove for cover beforehand, likely aware of what little a chance they had against the two of them out in the open. Others didn't seem to care, likely reliant on their numbers advantage to take down the two Jedi Knights. Red-hot plasma screeched through the air, aimed for the two of them.
Resolve met one bolt head-on and batted it away into another of them. The victim fell to the ground with a fist-sized crater in the middle of his pudgy, green face. Ryv continued forward, his weapon a blur as he expertly parried aside each shot launched his way. The smart thugs fell back and moved towards the numerous shuttles. Assuming the worst, the Sword reached out and lifted one and pulled him through the air. As the body soared closer, Ryv sliced out and cut the scruffy human in two. As his body thudded into the dirt behind the Jedi, he fell upon another who hadn't retreated. His saber made quick work of the ill-prepared slaver. His scorched corpse fell limp as Ryv passed.
One of them thought to take the fight to him directly. The gamorrean lifted a two-handed vibroblade and swung it like a club towards Ryv's skull. He ducked beneath it, slashed up with his verdant blade, and severed both arms before he slashed back out and sent the pig-like head rolling half a dozen feet away.
When the droid marked for capture sprinted from one shuttle to the other, Ryv thrust his hand forward and caught it by the leg. He pulled its feet out from beneath it and watched as it crashed to the ground. It clawed at the dirt in an attempt to escape the Jedi Knight, who kept it pinned with the Force.
There was no ceremony to its defeat as Ryv stepped up beside it. Resolve lashed out and separated its head from the rest of the chromium body.
"
Well, that was easy," he looked back to Ripley with a smile. Before he knew it, he collapsed to one knee and barely managed to keep his balance. "
I think we need to call this in, get some pilots who can repurpose these shuttles for the evacuation. Lemme just..."
He lifted a hand to his commlink. "
Senator Tithe, this is Ryv checking in. Sorry for the scare, but I stumbled upon a bit of a, well, uh, slave-ring type thing. Threats have been neutralized with Ripley's help. We could use, like, five pilots on our position? My beacon is active, so finding us shouldn't be an issue. If you need anything else, lemme know."
He deactivated the device and clumsily pressed himself against one of the ships. A grin crossed his face as he looked towards Ripley.
"
Busy day, huh?"
Hal Vaiken
