Sky Sailing

[Keter]

"What? Me?!" the blond demanded, shooting the woman an incredulous look. "My contract specified only delaing with security, not wannabe heroes. If you want me to go hunting for some action movie cliche through this ship on my own, we need to renegotiate!" he pointed out. Back pressed against a weapon rack, thankful the blind fire hadn't triggered any frenades, Keter puzzled over the actions. No further shooting came their way. So why had Mr Hero run off? Why had he not continued firing to keep them pinned? Why had he not chosen NOT to attack, simply report their position without giving himself away?

Simple. He was bait.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Re-negotiate!? Zandra did not have time for this. If he raised the alarm before she could get things started, that would be it for them. No jewels, no credits, and probably a few holes through her body when she was finally captured and convicted. She'd get the death sentence for sure out here in this territory.


"seven percent! And you get to keep what eva gem ya like!"

There. That was more than enough. She was being way too generous, but she truly was in a bit of a hurry. Time really was of the essence here.

[member="Keter"]

 

[Usa'ar Obath]

Usa'ar had no idea what he was doing. What do I think I am, some sort of invincible warrior? He had just stirred the hornet's nest by firing into the armory, and judging by the lack of shouts or groans, he didn't think he had hit anybody. So now he waited a couple corridors away, behind some crates, and desperately tried to get a hold of the security teams again. For some reason, the message wasn't going through. Merde, did the first message even send?

He was at a crossroads. Stay here and hope reinforcements were coming, or leave to go fetch them, and possibly let the criminals escape. Both choices were tough. But if these goons had assault rifles and grenades, Usa'ar would need backup. Without a second thought, Usa'ar took off running to the auction room to gather up some guards.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

Keter stroked his chin. He could push for better terms. She was in a hurry, he had the advantage. Still, someitmes it was best not to push too much - it promoted repeat deals after all. Besides, it's not like he needed the money - being the husband of a Queen pretty much kept him secure. "Alright, deal," he said with a nod and a grin before sprinting after their hero. His mind catalgoued the routes he was likely to take. Security room was their best bet. WIth the armoury in their hands, that would be the second most secure position on the ship, barring the bridge. Briefly, the blond wondered how the other members of the team were faring.

Then he shrugged and realised he didn't really care.

Running through the empty corridors, Keter headed for the security room. It was located on the opposite side of the ship, acting as a backup armory, but he could make it.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

While Keter went off to earn his share, Zandra knew she had to get her job done now, double time, and down one person. Kark. She was right to expect things to go wrong. They always did. Everybody had to be a big damn hero. Get in the way. Now Keter was probably gunna kill him. Poor kid.

Zandra picked up the pace, shoving weapons of all shapes and sizes anywhere she could think. Under the large tray, under her cart, even down the front of her bodice... All this while, her crew was in position. A few minor foods in the kitchens, bathrooms and several well places guest rooms had captured the attention of majority of staff. The rest were busy hosting the auction. As a result, the hall were mostly clear by the time Zandra had re-locked the armory with a new pass-code and walked along with her cart of weaponry. As she walked, she spotted crew members wandering, waiting. With a nod, they followed, snatching a weapon of choice off the cart. For her first mate, the large male chiss that went by Gin, she pulled the blaster pistol from her cleavage and handed it to him without a word. He grinned and ran his fingers over it for a second.

"Thanks, Cap. Got it all nice n' warm for me, eh?"

"Just fer you, Gin," she replied, with a wink and a smile as he snatched up a grenade as well.
Of course, he wouldn't be crazy enough to actually set it off. Not out in space like this. He'd get 'em all killed. But it did look mighty threatening. Kept people from doin' anything stupid. That was the goal. As little blood shed as possible. Quick, clean. Nobody need die, if they were smart.

[member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Keter"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="William Kerkov"]

 

[Audren Sykes]

For such a large crowd of people, the gathering for the auction came together fairly well. There was, of course, a fair bit of conversation on the parts of the bidders, friendly greetings and whatnot. Those friendly greetings covered not-so-inconspicuous estimations of the other's worth, guesstimations on what they would bid on, that kind of thing. The one issue that Audren saw - heard, rather - was the calling of a name, like someone had gotten lost. He could only hope it was a parent calling a child; the consequences for an aide losing their boss or vice versa almost made him shudder. After all, he'd seen how people treated the hired help here.

With nothing else out of the ordinary, the auction started. The first gem was some brilliant blue one with a name he didn't catch. Audren mostly tuned out the auctioneer, keeping an ear for any change in the pace of talking, and started concentrating more on the people around him and around the room. The opulently rich he could spot by their wardrobes, most wore clothing to compete with their peers. The ubiquitous aides he could also spot, they were typically the ones hovering around their datapads, whispering at their bosses. Bodyguards tended to be simple too, they were either standing there looking bored or glancing around just like the Sephi was.

Then there was the ships' security ringing the room, with a few making their way through the crowd. For all intents and purposes they were there to keep the peace, even the genteel and wealthy patrons aboard sometimes had a bit too much to drink and snapped to violence. There was something about them though, some postures weren't what he'd expect. More like they were prepping to run out rather than patiently waiting for the auction to be over. There was one walking the crowd near Audren, and his facial muscles were clenched. He was angry for no obviously apparent reason. Quietly, so as not to interrupt the auction, Audren stopped him.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, sir. Please return to where you were."

Something screamed at Audren internally, telling him the human was lying. Maybe it was because his parents said the same thing whenever they were lying. Something was going on, and there was a good chance it affected the ship. Whatever the case may be, it wouldn't do to accuse the man of falsehood. Quietly, the Sephi returned to where he'd been, not even bothering his charge yet. If the glances he'd caught were any indication, the old man had his eye on a brilliant blood-red gem to the exclusion of all others, and that was up next. Distraction wouldn't help, especially if it ended up being unfounded.

 

[Usa'ar Obath]

"... Yes, we have been infiltrated. I need your team to come with me to the armory, and I need you to radio in a new team to cover the auction." Usa'ar was breathlessly explaining to the captain of the team at the auction hall. Some of the adrenaline was fading, and he realized how tiring that sprint was. I need to get out of the pilot's chair, and back on the ground some more. "Infiltrated? Sir, that's impossible. We've picked up nothing." If Usa'ar could see underneath the man's helmet, he would be sure that he was raising a brow in skepticism.

"For crying out loud, I saw two of guards possibly dead! And there were people in the armory, most likely stealing weapons. Come with me now, and we can corner them in that area," Usa'ar angrily retorted. Without waiting, he turned and exited the auction hall, jogging to enter the maze of white corridors to the armory. Glancing back, he saw four security guards following him, the captain at the lead. Usa'ar smiled. "Good. Hopefully we're not too late." Gripping his pistol, he continued on his way to the armory.

[member="Audren Sykes"][member="Zandra Tal'verda"][member="Keter"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Each door was covered now. The board was set, now to roll the dice.

Zandra and about fifteen men swarmed into the auction hall. She whistled loudly to get attention and fired a single shot up into the ceiling. She wasn;t afraid of puncturing the hull of the ship with a single shot. They built 'em better than that! Still, it was more than enough to get the attention of those gathered.

"Greetings and salutations, good people!" Zandra shouted, snatching her maid cap off her head and throwing it into the crowd as she and her crew walked through, pointing weapons at the frightened audience, "In case you're a little dense, this is a robbery. Now. I'mma ask nicely first, then I'm gunna start shootin' folk. And I don' wanna do that, do I, Gin?"

The large Chiss grinned and shook his head.
"No she don't. Cap'n Z hates violence!"

Someone on her left squirmed and Zandra pointed her blaster.

"On. The. Ground. All of you." Her voice positively dripped with danger. Up ahead, the jewels glittered and glistened in their case. The one in the very front, the giant red one caught her eyes immediately. That would be the very first one she grabbed.

[member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Keter"]

 

[Keter]

"I am so lost..." Keter groaned.

Every corridor in this ship looked identical! Even with his digital map, he was winding up being turned around and doubling back on himself. Bloody cruise ships - built like mazes The crystal lights and soft music were hardly helping his concentration either.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Once majority of the stupidly rich folk were in the napping position and were staring very intently at the floor looking for dust, Zandra stepped up to the podium, grinning with sheer delight at all the sparkle. As she lifted the glass on the red gem, her crew mates guarded the doors, bolting them from the inside and keeping weapons trained on any big damn heroes that might try something stupid. It was true enough. Zandra really didn't wanna shoot anyone if she didn't have to. Hopefully that meant Keter had caught the kid and done his job.

She reached out and curled her long fingers around the giant red jewel like it was an apple. Perfect. This one alone could buy all the repairs for her ship that she could need. She could get Zax a fresh coat of paint as well, while she was at it. The rest? Well, paying her crew took priority, of course. Pirate or not, she did have pride as a captain. Didn't need a mutiny on her hands, after all.

She stuffed the red jewel in her pocket, before moving on to the others. A pretty white stone about as big as a credit chip, a yellow stone in the shape of an oval, a bright multicolored one that shone like a rainbow... Necklaces, rings, bracelets, all went into a sack, heavy, jingling, and worth more all together than half a star destroyer. She even took the tiny ones, shoveling tiny colored gem stones into the sack. One of the tiny ones in particular caught her eye. It was in a case all it's own. Why? It didn't look especially rare. It was just a small opalescent rock. It wasn't even cut.
The pirate shrugged and put it in her right pocket. She'd figure out why later. For now, she had more work to do.

[member="Keter"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"]

 

[Audren Sykes]

Audren's head snapped around as more than a dozen people ran into the auction hall at once. He'd have thought ship's emergency were they all wearing the same livery, but the clothing was a mismatch of this and that. Every other head in the room followed Audren's once the blaster shot went off into the ceiling.

"Greetings and salutations, good people! In case you're a little dense, this is a robbery. Now. I'mma ask nicely first, then I'm gunna start shootin' folk. And I don' wanna do that, do I, Gin?"

"No she don't. Cap'n Z hates violence!"

The way that "Captain Z" pointed the blaster at a squirming person seemed to make that a lie, but who was Audren to point that out? Pretty much everyone in the room - including the Sephi - had maneuvered themselves to the ground when she asked. Some had more difficulty than others: the old, the overly-musclebound, and those who's outfits prevented it. The bodyguards and pseudo-bodyguards had their heads on as subtle a swivel as they could, which for some meant they were held completely still and others were as obvious as a Hutt crossing a traffic lane. Those with eyestalks or wider ranges of vision were the best-suited for the task. Meanwhile, the rich folk were in a myriad of positions, anywhere from cowering on the floor to calmly waiting for the pirates to do what they were going to do.

The old man was a little different. He appeared calm, if not totally relaxed, but his eyes were locked onto one of the jewels towards the end of the line. Without quite knowing why, Audren had the impression that if one of the thieves tried taking the gem the old man wanted the situation would rapidly devolve. His job here wasn't to protect the jewels, it was to protect the old man. If the old man involved himself somehow for that jewel though, the Padawan would have to intervene somehow. And he couldn't count on any of the others helping. One thing that hadn't slipped his attention was that nobody had drawn weapons besides the raiders. He almost had, but stayed his hand at the last minute due to their number and the amount of bystanders. That led him to assume that nobody else was armed; he certainly hadn't been the one to sneak his weapons on, that had been the old man.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]