Starting Again (On the Wrong Foot)

[Isaac Rennek]

Vanja was in trouble, she knew that much. After a mission that had gone avry, due to some un-Jedilike behaviour on her part the young Twi'lek Padawan had not returned to the Jedi temple. It hadn't been the first temple which she had resided in, but it was looking like it would become her last. Enstrusted with a single task on a diplomatic mission, on her own for the first time, she had completely fallen short. Not only had she failed to create balance and peace, she had made matters worse, and had permitted herself to favour one side over the other, much thanks to certain persuasive voices.

To embarrassed to return, she had taken up with a few smugglers on the planet. At first it had simply been a way for her to get off the planet, but it had developed into something more. She liked the crew, and they seemed to like her. Their carefree life appealed to her, free of restrictions, rules and regulations. Vanja had agreed to aid them on their current task. After that she had sort of stuck around. They were smugglers, and not strictly speaking conducting legal activities... But no one was getting hurt. Vivid descriptions of the people they were outmanoeuvring had Vanja convinced that they had it coming.

Vanja had discarded her brown Jedi robes, though she kept the same outfit she normally wore underneath. It had the same brown tones, though it held more spirit and vitality than those itchy robes ever had. Medium high boots, form-fitting pants and a leathery crop top was her attire summed up. She didn't look like a Jedi anymore, at least from her perceptive. She had even adorned a few silver bracelets on her lekku for ornamental purposes.

Their ship had docked against another. They had been locked together in space for a while now, the boarding process nearing its end now. They had hit up a cargo ship, carrying wares to a company whose name she had forgotten, but their ill deeds still fresh in her memory. Her pilot had explained how they exploited the less fortunate on a planet, having a monopoly on most wares and finding ways to get most of the inhabitants somehow in debt to them. Walking over to their ship, however, there seemed to be a whole lot more people than what she had anticipated for a cargo ship. If she didn't know better, she would've thought that this was some sort of transport ship. She could see the look of terror on their faces, disgust on others. Her hand dropped to where her lightsaber would have been, only to find a blaster pistol in its stead. Of course, she had never made her own lightsaber. If she had she would not so easily part with that. But it had felt wrong to carry on the training saber from the academy, when she had strayed so far from its principles. She was someone else now.

Even so... Something about this didn't feel right. She set out across the deck in search of Vance, or anyone really, who could explain why they were here and what they were doing again.

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

A band of particularly notorious raiders holed up in this sector. Kaili had read about them for a while now and always found herself wondering how it was that nobody had tried to stop them yet. Vigilantism wasn’t a life that mixed all that well with the other life of a CEO, but the girl had to at least try and stop this. Smugglers she had an appreciation for, a very deep and loving one some would argue — mainly Allyson — but as far as Kaili’s appreciation for other aspects of the crime spectrum went she felt little to no compassion at all. Once you stepped down from smuggling and deeper into the mess it would always seem to insinuate that you were in it for yourself. Not that smuggler’s weren’t in it for themselves, but they always had the ability to work for the betterment of others. Pirates very rarely had that option, if at all.

So for this one she had gotten dressed up. She had donned her armor and applied a holographic disguise to appear like little more than a fancier ship guard and then she had remained in vigil. Talked to the people on the ship to pass off as one of them and just waited for the right time to strike. Or rather, this was the ship that Kaili had noted down as the one most likely to get hit. The ship’s take off had been smooth and once they’d gotten out of mass lock it all seemed as if Kaili had been wrong.

That is, until the local equivalent of evening struck, right before the ship would have exited hyperspace.

Engines began to quiet, the ship slowed down. Two loud clangs reverberated around them all as another ship docked. Kaili took a deep breath and readied herself, shifted into the shadows where she could find them and merely observed for now. The doors opened and through it stepped a whole crew. A few men and women with the most noticeable one being a twi’lek. Female, blue skin. Force sensitive. Now that was news. Leader, perhaps? No. That didn’t strike Kaili as possible. She was too apprehensive about this right from the start. New recruit most likely, someone unaware of their sensitivity, perhaps.

Salvageable, also maybe.

The blonde, now disguised as a brunette hung back where she wouldn’t be seen. The others would make the first move, after that she would see how she went about it.

 

[Isaac Rennek]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

There was little subtlety to the smuggler crew's approach. This was a raid. They marched in with weapons raised high, and seeking to gain control over the room with commanding voices and threat. It was dawning on Vanja that 'smuggler crew' might not be an appropriate label, and it was perhaps more of a hobby... She had not expected this. The person standing closest to someone in her group got a heavy punch, a loud cracking noise sounding as his nose gave in. He had stood frozen still, looking at them as they had moved in. Maybe he had tried to stand up to them... But Vanja didn't think so. It seemed more likely that fear paralysed him from action. It was a good power play too, as if to show the passengers that they were serious. So far no one had gotten killed... They hadn't used lethal force... No, regardless of how many times she repeated that to herself that didn't take away her discomfort.

"This isn't a cargo ship... Vance, what's going on?" Vanja had said in a whisper as she walked up close to the side of one of the guys. Vance was the leader of the group. No one had named him such, but no one needed to. He had the charisma and authority that made everyone naturally look towards him when decisions were being made. Though helmeted, she could feel his furious stare upon her. "Don't say my name" he hissed in a metallic sound. Immediately after, as if re-calibrating himself after seeing her expression, he added "We'll talk later"

While she and Vance had fallen a bit behind the others in the group pressed forwards down the wide corridor, shouting for people to get down , warning them what happened to heroes. There were guards. Even louder shouts told them to get down and don't touch their weapons. The pirates' already had theirs up. One guard, instinctively perhaps, had his hand drop onto the holster of his blaster pistol. He didn't draw. He didn't need to. Even before it happened Vanja knew. "Wait!" she shouted, taking a step forwards, arm reaching for a female. She was too far away. A second later the sound of blaster fire sounded as the first shot was released. There was a pause, another second of calm before storm. And then the rest of the group opened fire, on anyone who dared to rise, anyone who looked at them wrong, anyone wearing guard uniform. They were panicking and everything was falling apart quickly.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

Vance. Kaili put the name to memory. Her eyes shifted to the twi’lek and the hesitation that seemed rooted within her. Out of all the people in the group it seemed like the one with the biggest aura in the force was the one to stagger the most in her willingness to carry out her orders. Kaili considered her approach as she played along with the raiders and their orders. Got on her knees and let them cuff her. Her disguise held and she kept herself under control as the captors got to executing their captives to ‘prove a point. ‘

The locking mechanism on Kaili’s wrist cuffs acted up and kept getting themselves unlocked. One of the pirates took note and proceeded to approach her with a raised rifle. He reeked of malignant intentions, like a cancerous growth under the surface of the galaxy. A clog in the bloodlines that connected trade between planets. They were scum and they would get nothing but the treatment they deserved. His trigger finger tensed up and Kaili closed her eyes to count to ten. She had seen these blasters before and she was more than willing to use that to her own benefit. Her mind tore at the trigger mechanism to shape it into something of her own making.

“Go ahead.” Kaili coaxed him. “Pull the fething trigger.”

“My fething pleasure.” The man grinned under his helmet before-

“Gaaaahh!!” The man screamed as a violent explosion tore his fingers from his hand. “My fucking hand!”

Using the element of surprise Kaili got the other cuff off her wrist and sped herself up towards the pirate that was the closest to her with a tackle aided by the force. They both fell to the ground, but the girl emerged victorious. She ripped the blaster pistol from his hand and pulled him off the ground, pressed it tight against the man’s jawline and turned towards Vance and his twi’lek companion.

“Drop your weapons!” Kaili urged them. “Or Fethhead gets it.”

 

[Isaac Rennek]

The slaughter commenced, and Vanja stood as if paralysed as the horror unfolded before her eyes. Her shouts for them to stop were met with silence, only the sound of dying screams and blaster fire filled the vessel. Vanja still had her weapon but it had not fired upon anyone. Kark! What had she gotten herself into now. She didn't understand it. What was going on?

The only thing that snapped her out of the drama was surprise as one of their own screamed. In a flash the man fell to the ground as the seemingly locked up and innocent captive got the better of him.

Now he was a hostage. Yet as far as Vanja was concerned, she was not too worried whether he lived or died. She was still trying to process what had happened... What they had done.

'Drop your weapons! Or Fethhead gets it!' - Well, Vanja didn't care much if Fethhead got it. Yet she didn't feel like dropping her weapon. She didn't want to die. She couldn't die. These people could've turned on her before. This new girl could turn on her still. No, it was too risky. Even if she did drop her weapon she didn't trust Vance. Not anymore.

"If you think for one second that-" "Drop it Vance!" To her surprise, she interrupted Vance. Even more surprising she found that one arm was outstretched in his direction, and at the edge of it her weapon.

Well that wasn't entirely the full picture. Trust was hard to come by and right now all she knew was that she needed to get the kark away from here. Not willing to leave her flank open to an unknown enemy, the other arm, blaster pistol in hand, pointed at Kaili.

It had felt like a smart move at the time, but looking over it... Nope, no time to think. Commit. "How about you both drop it and we talk this through!" Did that sound confident? Yeah, it was probably confident. Good. Okay. Breathe.

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

The twi’lek reeked of hesitation and confusion up until the point where she threatened both Kaili and her pack leader. She wasn’t meant to be here, but she went with it anyway. To be honest Kaili was surprised to see it happen before her, impressed almost. Heart in the right place, perhaps? That was to say it was a dumb move regardless of what the twi’lek did next, but it was still certainly impressive.

“Hah. Talk it through.” Kaili perked her brow. “The second I let this man go, your friend there is going to try and shoot me.” She then set her sights on the twi’lek. “... Or you are.”

“But fine.” Her free hand moved to drag itself across the back of her hostage’s head who collapsed in an instant. “As you wish.” She dropped her blaster but remained ready to act against the man ‘in charge.’

“Your choice, Beefcake.” She perked her head in a taunt towards Vance. “Drop the gun or I’ll make you.”

 

[Isaac Rennek]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]​

​

The way the girl simply dismantled her hostage was both terror- and awe-inspiring. So effortlessly he was incapacitated and taken out of action. Definitely a Forcie. Probably. Right? No, yeah, definitely. Confidence is the key.

She dropped her insurance and lowered her weapon. This could all have been a well thought-out ploy by Vanja and Vance, their way of dealing with these situations. Unlikely, and the girl probably knew that Vanja wouldn’t be able to sell it. Her inner turmoil was not feigned, but very real. Still ongoing.

“Force, you’re dumb” Vance sneered. Glaring sideways over at Vanja, he grunted a “I’ll deal with you later” in her direction. Then he turned back to Kaili. “No!” It was hard to determine what came first. Vanja’s shout, the sound of blasters. Maybe they were intertwined. It all happened so fast. But there were definitely shots fired, two of them. A bolt went straight into the neck of Vance, doing its thing. Vance too had fired, but Vanja had shot first. His aim had been thrown up, an aftershock of what the impact made on his own body. It hit the roof, a threat to no one.

Staring at the corpse of her… captain? Friend? No, in the end he had been neither. Even so she couldn’t shake her confusion. It all had happened so fast! In the space of one gig it all had been thrown upside down and once again Vanja felt lost, like she forgot who she was and the mission she was sent to do. The blue Twi’lek stepped backwards. Remembering she was not alone, she threw up her weapon, pointing it in the direction where she last had seen the other girl. Cold durasteel wall met her back. Kark.

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

Okay, so that happened. Kaili blinked for a second, being quite unsure what to do about the scene that had played out before her. Her plans had all built on the twi’lek shooting her instead of her own friend, and now this happened. The man lie dead on the ground and Kaili couldn’t do much but approach him to look at his corpse. An expression of anger, of confusion and bitter hate rested on him as cold and lifeless eyes that peered in Vanja’s general direction. The girl, Kaili, could not help but kneel down next to him to go over his belongings to see who he was. She extended her hand carefully towards the gun whilst seeking eye contact from the twi’lek to make sure she understood that she was not going to do anything stupid.

Fingers wrapped themselves around the gun’s base. Eyes remained focused on Vanja.

The gun was tossed further away. Eyes still remained on Vanja.

“You just shot your friend.” The blonde stated what would most likely be ever so obvious by now. “He is dead because of you.”

“... Why?”

 

[Isaac Rennek]

Vanja still held the weapon that had ended Vance. Her grip was shaking. As Kaili went on doing what she did, the aim shifted towards her. She wasn’t quite sure that one could be trusted. But with the way her hand was shaking a secure aim was far from guaranteed.

The words from Kaili were obvious, but they stung even more when said out loud. She was under attack. She wasn’t, but she might as well have been. “He was gonna kill you!” she said, anger in the voice that was louder than necessary. Why did she care about that again? “He was gonna kill them all! That was not the man I knew” there was a long pause before she concluded it with a “The man I thought I knew…”

“It was never supposed to be like this. This wasn’t what we were about. No one was supposed to be hurt. It’s not the Jedi way” Not that he was a Jedi. And even her had cast away… Oh kark. Karkkarkkark. That was probably not something smart to just give away like that. They’d never let her return now. Or would they? Or would they freeze her down, throw her in a cell and take away the Force?
“You should get out of here. Before I change my mind and kill you too” the shaking hand, the shaking voice, all revealed that it was an empty bluff. Vanja had done enough killing for the day.

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

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[member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"]​

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[member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"][member="Kaili Talith"]​

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[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

Kaili couldn’t help chuckling at that.

“He would have tried, yes.” Kaili continued to look at Vanja to monitor her mood. She was having anger flares while trying to find some excuse for what had happened, talking about how this wasn’t the man that she had known, but to Kaili the man that she had seen was the man she had always known from her stakeouts.

And the mention of ‘jedi way’ made Kaili perk her brow. There was no question about that.

“No.” She offered a simple response to a hollow threat. “I am here to see this through, if anyone should run it should be you.”

“I am going to assume that you used to be with the Jedi. The mention of their ‘ways’ would imply that. To top that off I am also going to assume that you aren’t quite aware of how deep this vein of smuggling and piracy along the hyperlanes go.” Kaili poked through the man’s belongings, seemingly ignoring the blaster pointed at her when in reality it was the one thing she actually kept her mind on. If the girl decided to pull that trigger she would have to be ready to deflect, and if she pulled that trigger she had to be ready to smash her face in.

It wasn’t what she wanted to do, but she knew damn well it was what she ran the risk of having to do.

This twi’lek wasn’t any different from other misguided fools, force sensitive or not.

With some luck Kaili would hope that the other girl went home to rethink her life choices.

“Do you even know what your people was actually smuggling last week?”

“Were you let in on those secrets as well or were they sheltering you from that until you were ‘ready’?”

“Drop the blaster and go back to your temple. You’re not safe out here.”

 

[Isaac Rennek]

"See what through? What's your mission here?" she was starting to feel like this was more than a fortunately skilled passenger on a random ship.

Vanja grew silent as Kaili started talking about the Jedi. She had given herself away, foolishly. But it would seem Kaili was no enemy to the Jedi and she did not seem like she wanted to be Vanja's enemy. Prepared to be one, to be sure, but not unless Vanja struck first. Maybe it was a gamble, maybe it was a game, but Vanja was tired of games. She never wanted anyone to get hurt in the first place.

Vanja lowered her weapon. "No... You're right. They only picked me up recently. I mean I figured the smuggling wasn't strictly speaking legal, but I really thought they were helping people and not murderers." naive, maybe, but honest. They had come across her at a disturbing and troubling time for her, her mind wasn't clear. Her old masters and mentors would've been disappointed in her.

"I was told it was food, and weapons. Arming an oppressed people that couldn't defend itself. First Order territory. But I didn't see it" their cause had seemed just enough. The noble rebels using sketchy means to fight for freedom and the rights of sentient. Putting it like that... Hell yeah, she had been naive. "I haven't killed for them. This was the first time it got like this. I'm... I'm sorry" it didn't mean much, it wasn't to Kaili she should apologise, but even so, Vanja felt it had to be said.

"Where's anyone safe these days?" Vanja tried to chuckle, but it died halfway. "No, I won't go back to the temple. After this... I just can't." the Jedi would condemn her, maybe jail her, maybe strip her of the Force. "But you won't have to worry about me doing something like this again. "

"What will you do?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

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[Kaili Talith]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

There was no answer. The twi’lek didn’t need to know Kaili’s mission.

“Try deathsticks, Aufero Vis, spice and a various assortment of drugs.” Kaili shook her head at Vanja. “Sure, they did smuggle actual necessities as well, but did it ever occur to you who they sold those supplies to? You are just part of a longer chain, and by my assumption you’re not even aware of what chain that is.”

She couldn’t blame her, life outside the jedi temple was most likely difficult to adapt to for whatever reason had caused the blue woman to leave.

“Sorry is a good start,” Kaili said and looked at the others that Vanja had come with. “If you won’t go back to the temple, which I can’t force you to do, then that is just about all that you can be.”

“As for myself, I will get that man,” She pointed at the man with no fingers. “Wrapped in bandages and then cuffs.” She then pointed at the man she had incapacitated right as the twi’lek had shot her leader. “Probably cuff that guy too, just to be safe.”

The idea of this twi’lek not going back to her temple did bother Kaili. She seemed naive and to a degree new to the world. The Jedi weren’t perfect, but they were safe for people like her, even if they would be likely to punish her in some way that went beyond a mere reprimand for poor behavior.

It was fair to assume perhaps that was the real reason the twi’lek wasn’t going back.

“If you insist on staying away from the Jedi, let me give you a tip.” Kaili knelt down by the man without any fingers. “You have the force, so trust your instinct. If something sounds like it’s a bad idea made by bad people, it most likely is.”

“If you think that all your friends are going to be trustworthy, think again.” The blonde said and withdrew a small canister of bacta. “Always think twice, and always keep your wits about you.”

“Always ask yourself why, and who.” She withdrew a portion of the goo and proceeded to smear it around the man’s missing fingers.

The blonde stopped her treatment to glower at Vanja. “Because if I see you in a situation such as this ever again, along my hyperlanes, I will make you regret the day you were born.”