Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Private The Pillars Of Wisdom


VLEMOTH PORT
EVENING

Rainwater ran off the thin metal rooftops of the buildings running parallel to the street, splashing into small pools that formed due to a lack of proper drainage. Vlemoth Port was, by comparison, a small world. Overall the population sprawled only a few cities and villages. It was a sparsely colonized planet, primarily used as a backwater trade hub for just about anything and everything. And while it wasn't a lawless pirate haven, it also did not have major support from allying worlds or governments, making it rather convenient for black market trade to flourish.

Jamie walked, the hood tightly pulled over her head serving dual purposes: The first to shield her from the elements, the second to obscure her features. Midnight black boots buckled up from ankles to knees, plain civilian clothes of a mixed grey and blue completing her attire. The lightsaber she carried remained hidden away, clipped beneath her vest. Few others wandered the streets at this hour. Shops and vendor stalls were closing up, securing their products for the next day. Legitimate trade was just about past, giving way to what Jamie had truly come to Vlemoth Port for.

An artifact - One that did not belong in the hands of its current proprietor. How this man had come to possess such an item was of equal importance to her. This was not some mundane trinket that simply fell into the wrong hands by accident. Someone, or someones had gone to great length to locate and steal such an item from the ancient Jedi Archives on Tython. She had only discovered its disappearance by the misfortune of seeking its use. Records had been falsified, leaving the caretakers of the library none the wiser. Her search had been months long, leading her to Vlemoth Port on the trail of a ship with forged transponder codes. Though she had discovered the vessel several weeks back, it had been abandoned, with its computer core and databanks wiped before she reached it.

Despite the setback, Jamie could still sense the artifact, thus she was confident that it was still on world. The task now was to recover the device before it slipped through her hands.

Hopefully her objective would also lead to those responsible for its initial abduction.

In her time spent thus far she had managed to get her hands on a forged identity, one of a notorious black market dealer specializing in spice trade out of Ryloth. The rodian she had dealt with was thorough, and expensive at that. Her cover was solid, so long as nobody was actually on Ryloth to check into the details. It was enough of a reputation to earn her an invitation to a secretive meeting within the back room of the Narglatch's Wrath cantina, a legitimate business with less than legitimate secondary dealings. The latter being handled by a nefarious Talz with a penchant for rather violent outbursts when confronted by competition or those who didn't share his opinion for business. This Talz was the defacto leader of the black market on Vlemoth Port. Smuggling operations were filtered through his cartel by anyone not brazen enough to sidestep him.

Jamie hoped to learn whether or not the artifact was in the possession of anyone at this meeting, and/or being sought for sale or trade.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J

Juniper was meant to be in her room studying.

She was also meant to eat her vegetables and stop teasing her younger brother, neither of which she had made much progress on lately. Her mother and father were good people, she knew it through and through! But bad people made it a habit of showing up on their door steps, and Juniper had just about had it with them banging on their door asking for payments that never ended.

It wasn't right.

They needed to be dealt with.

She knew where they did their work. No body talked about it but everyone knew. The town really was pleasant-- Not poor, not affluent, but comfy and rich with an engaging community. Spare the fact that Talz owned damn near everything. He had more than enough money to pay off her family's debt. Rooms filled with hold-- spices in sacks as large as her body! (Who could ever eat that much food anyway?)

She was small enough to heft herself into the air ducts, the soles of her feet disappearing into the ceiling of the tavern bathroom. Small shuffles brought her through the walls, her excited breaths echoing around her. The air grew damp, the vents seeming to drag on foreeeeeeeeeeeeever... until dim noise broke the darkness in the distance.

Her belt buckle scrapped along the metal as she inched like a worm, her fingers reaching to pull her the last of the way. Her hazel eyes lit up as the sight of the forbidden back room pool through the grated duct she smushed up to. Her heart stammered through her chest, finding Talz there, sitting at the head of a table. And Malv-- oh he was a nasty one; he always liked to bang on doors at ungodly hours. No one in the village liked to speak about him. The whole situation was a bit unmentionable, as her mother liked to say.


She hated them all.

She stilled, straining to here the conversation down below. All the while her little fingers poked through the grate and gingerly felt for screws. Can't take anything with the grate in the way. The room was dark, smoke from death sticks leaving the room hazy. She resisted the urge to cough.

YiO3r02.png



Jamie Pyne Jamie Pyne
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Entering the cantina Jamie made her way immediately towards the rear of the establishment. Towards that end, a side door towards the right of the main bar area was guarded by two large, overly eager Trandoshans. Standing several meters tall, and with muscles that dwarved Jamie's own head, they were intimidating to stare up at. At their sides were blasters, though on their back they each had a rather long pike, likely their true choice of weapon. They were well armored, aside from their natural scale like body. It was clear that anyone unwelcome wouldn't be making their way past these two brutes.

Jamie paused as she reached the pair, delving into her pocket to retrieve the ID she had procured earlier. Upon presentation and inspection, the two nodded and stood aside, allowing her passage while returning her identification. The door opened, and inside the smokey haze filled room she could make out a number of figures congregated in a haphazard circle engaging in conversation.

As the blonde entered a few gave pause to the interruption, though most lost interest immediately after noting a lack of anything exciting.

She took a seat at the far corner of the room, awaiting the head cartel members to give sign that they were ready to proceed with the evening's discussions. Several minutes later a half dozen or so more occupants joined the convention, filling the remainder of the seats. It was at that point that the cartel heads took their place at the head of the room and began.

"This meeting will be both brief and direct. We have three items to address this evening. The first is the welcoming of our new spice running lieutenant, Anisa." He pointed towards Jamie, "A well regarded associate based out of one of the largest spice farms on Ryloth." The Jedi remained silent, though eyes glanced about the room to take measure of any potential reactions. "The second item is the matter of debt collection. A number of our debtors have fallen behind on their payments. Interest is piling, and their lack of commitment in paying their obligations stands to reason that we must apply more pressure. Collect the healthiest looking among their family as slaves if necessary to secure payment." The alien looked to his partner and nodded, "And finally, this time tomorrow we will be holding an antiquities auction. A collection of items gathered from the farthest reaches of the known galaxy by our most capable smugglers will be sold off to further finance our cause."

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Juniper didn't really pay attention to the people. She wasn't here for them. With a bit of sloopy twisting and pulling from the force, she managed to get the first screw out and pull it back into the vent with her. Slow and steady. That was what Michael had used to help her get a handle on this Jedi business. She wasn't like, amazing with it, but she could move stuff! Her mother wasn't a fan of it, which is why she only used it for the better good. And what better good was there than helping your family?

She was on the third screw when a set of concerning words reached her.

"The second item is the matter of debt collection. A number of our debtors have fallen behind on their payments. Interest is piling, and their lack of commitment in paying their obligations stands to reason that we must apply more pressure. Collect the healthiest looking among their family as slaves if necessary to secure payment."


Juniper gasped in shock, her attention jolting to the people below her. The screw she had been so tenderly unscrewing slipped from her fingers, falling to the ground and ringing as it bounced about on impact. The blood left Juniper's face, the girl flinching and shying back, hopefully before she could be seen!

30 seconds passed, then a minute. The sound of her heartbeat in her ears all she heard as it pounded like a jackrabbit. She laid braced for a set of grubby hands with unkept nails to appear at the vent-- rip it off-- rip her down! She'd be done for then. But the hands never came and eventually she uncoiled. With a steading breath, she peeked back out, looking to see the table hand been laid out with all the auction items for sale.

She froze up, what she was about to do finally hitting her. And it was scary. Stealing from these thugs-- they were big and old and very dangerous! She might have backed out if given the choice, but that option was gone now. Juniper didn't want to see mother or father in slave chains, but adrenaline told her to stay put in that vent, or she would!

Do it. Now! Her inner voice screamed. The girl didn't think her actions through. Her brows furrowed as she gingerly twirled the grate so it hung downwards and open on its one screw. She reached back into her pocket, her shoulders brushing the grate was as her fingers encircled around the smoke bomb. She took a deep breath in, then pulled the pin and let it fall into the meeting beneath her

Her eyes flashed to the table, drawn to a strangely decorated pyramid amongst the pile of goods expensive enough to be sold. The pocket-sized pyramid called to her. Her hand stretched out, trying to call it right on back-- through the air, and up to her.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jamie had some contingencies planned in case her ID or story was uncovered, even if she were somehow revealed as some former queen from somewhere out in the galaxy. What she hadn't quite planned for was someone else interfering with the meeting for their own agenda. As the items were laid out and conversation sparked, suddenly a soft clank hit the floor, and the room began to fill with a deep, hazy smog. Believing that the meeting was being ambushed, all trust among the party members was lost.

Blasters were drawn, voices called out in anger. A shot or two was loosed erratically. Jamie crouched beside the table where the items were, taking cover from the shots being fired. It was then she felt a pull on the Force, though she couldn't identify the source. What she could see however was the object of her mission as it lofted into the air towards the ceiling.

Through the smoke she wasn't able to see the would-be thief up in the ventilation shaft, however with her hand as it passed by she would reach out and with a counter, draw on the Force herself in an attempt to snap up the artifact. If she were successful she would make a quick break for the exit, leaving the cartel members to scatter and shoot at one another over false accusations and suspicion.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Juniper was light and small and wearing soft silks for the warmer climate heat. The girl hadn't been braced, already half leaning out in an attempt to snatch the article and run. The downward incline of the vent did the rest, Jamie Pyne Jamie Pyne 's tug on the object pulling her right out. Juniper's nostril's flared in surprise, the girl free-falling into the cloud of smoke. She landed hard on the table, her momentum spilling her into Jamie's lap.

They were a tangle of limbs and bruises, the squeaking girl flipping over on Jamie's legs and staring wildly up at her.

Oh ot-oh. She was in trouble.

The look said it all, the girl scrambling back off the dangerous force-using spice wielder. Oh nu-uh! This was baaaaaad news. Above them, shots rang. Two in particular went right for them, the falling assailant not missed amongst the chaos.

Juniper flinched, curling around the holocron her sticky fingers had managed to secure to her chest. She didn't mean to scream bloody murder. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing. But you try being caught in a shoot out with a bunch of big bads.

S c a r e h .

Her hands pressed to her ears, her body bracing for death.
 
The smoke filled room lit up shades of hazy red and green as bolts fired one after another in just about every direction haphazardly. Nobody within the chaos knew who might be friend or foe, thus anything that moved and could be made out through the smokescreen was a target to be taken. Suddenly, amidst the clamor, something else fell into Jamie's lap, something much larger and heavier than the holocron that had just moments ago been drifting up, up, and away.

With an astounding Oomph, Jamie flinched and curled her body downwards.

Then came the scream, the ear piercing shriek that caused the blonde to flinch in response. The Jedi made out the form of a small girl, the would-be thief she presumed, of the holocron she herself was after. One hand wrapped around Juniper's head and covered her mouth in an attempt to silence the screaming, the other pulling at her chest to draw her close enough to hear Jamie's words over the shooting.

"Quiet down! You're going to get us killed." Jamie had no idea who this girl was, or what she was doing, but there was one thing she was rather convinced of, and it was that she didn't belong there. Whether she was some pawn being used by someone else at this meeting because she had a tiny bit of Force ability to exploit, or just a kid looking to cause some trouble she was clearly not prepared for what was happening.

No matter, Jamie intended to find out just what was going on. That is, after she managed to secure their escape from this now botched plan of hers.

"I am going to get you to safety, but you need to stop screaming, and you need to follow my instructions."

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Juniper gave a wild look up at the woman covering her mouth, her hair messy and tangled with Jamie's hand.

"I am going to get you to safety, but you need to stop screaming, and you need to follow my instructions."

Juniper's hands slowly slipped from her ears, the woman earning a very small, tentative nod. In a room full of crooks, the girl was inclined to trust the motherly one above all else. Not that Jamie looked enough enough to be a mother, it was just sense she go-- Look, there's no time to explain this, alright? Juniper obeyed, gaining control of her facilities and scooting that much closer to the woman who promised aid.

A shoot wizzed over head, met with a strangled cry and a solid thumb to the ground. Goosebumps erupted over her skin.

All at once she regretted doing this, guilt churning in her gut as she realized just how bad this would be for her family if she got caught. Oh, they'd need to sell two things for sure. She coiled tensely under the table, her hand snaking up and feeling blindly for a second object. A blaster shot hit the table a hair's breath from her hand, causing her to recoil with a hiss and nurse the small burn with a furious pout.

"We can't move, they'll turn us into swiss cheese," she protested, cradling the holocron and hand to her. She gave the woman a long, hard look, then said as if a challenge, "Do the force thing again."
 
Jamie's eyes glanced down to Juniper as she spoke over the commotion, mildly groaning at the request to do the Force thing again. If she hadn't interrupted Jamie's plan to begin with, none of this shooting would have occurred. Yet here they were, trapped between a table and blaster fire, surrounded by smoke and burning debris. There wasn't really a lot she could do, besides protect the girl and get them out of there.

So... The force thing it was.

Gesturing with her hand to stay put a moment she turned and stood, igniting her lightsaber in a vibrant hue of yellow, a beacon of light amidst the smokey mess. "Go. Slowly." She called to Juniper, her left hand gracefully swinging the blade from left to right, deflecting wayward shots as volley after volley was fired towards them, her right hand gripping objects she could see, be it a chair, table, or pieces of debris and hurling them with the aide of the Force throughout the room to distract their enemies.

"Run!" She exclaimed as they neared the exit. Jamie slipped her weapon back into her vest and, with both hands, thrust forward to repel those who began to chase after.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
"Are we running or going slowly?!" Juniper called back, scrambling to her feet and bursting forward in a burst of speed.

As if creeping was a thing she had the nerves to do. No. She ran, her short legs pumping like she was about to get a beating. Which she was. A very. Fatal. Beating.

She looked back in time to whiteness the woman throw out her hands, the men flying back into the chaotic smoke of the room. Whoa. She scrambled to a stop, not wanting to leave the jedi to a bad fate. A quick glance around spotted her a round trashcan, which she quickly knocked over and shoved rolling down the hall.

"Jump!"

See, helping!
 
Perhaps her instructions were mildly confusing, though she had intended Juniper to stick close until she had secured their escape. Now though was the time to run. The lightsaber was anything but subtle, and surely would ruin any chance of maintaining her cover now. Fact of the matter was Juniper had the holocron she was after, and that was all that really mattered now.

"Yes, quite!" She reassured, "Now keep going!" -- A few times she turned back, checking to see if they were being followed. One or two pursued, though after taking a shot or two at the girls and Jamie deflecting them with ease, they made better of their decision to continue after the pair. Problem was, gangsters like that rarely just let people go. There would be follow-up, she was certain, or a hunt of some kind. That holocron was worth a small fortune on the black market, and more-so to anyone who knew its true value.

As the two made free of the building Jamie directed the girl across the street and towards a small speeder. "Get in, we need to leave, now." There was no time for debate or questions, not if they didn't want to both end up wearing a lovely pair of bracelets and being hauled off to who knows where for a very unpleasant vacation.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Juniper obeyed, her young features set in a bout of fiery determination. The chaos of the chase brought no fear to mind. There was no scampering or jittering as the stranger pulled out a saber a real live saber and deflected more shots coming at their back. Juniper stayed collected, knocking over another trash can and leaving it to scatter across the front of the establishment as the night air hit her face.

We need to leave now!

No need to tell her that twice!

She jumped lithely onto the speeder, eyes wild as they turned towards the door. They burst open, two disheveled men falling through.

"It's the Lieh girl. Get them!" Bellowed one, pointing their way.

Oh cookies.

Oh cookies.

Whether or not Jamie was ready, Juniper reached out, twisting the throttle.
 
Jamie was, in fact, not ready. As the speeder roared and bucked forward the blonde Jedi visibly jolted, feeling as though she might nearly be thrown from the vehicle as Juniper cranked the vehicle full speed ahead. "Wo--oooah!" She shouted as the two men began firing wildly at the pair just as they sped off and down the road.

With how quickly the girl tore engines away from the building the shots would be nothing but smoldering smoke against the building beside where the two used to be. The woman settled herself as she adjusted to the break-neck speed they were going, gently setting Juniper's hand off the throttle and dialing it back some to a more reasonable pace that wouldn't have the skin on her face pulled back.

"Okay, easy." She said, turning down several streets and making her way towards where she had been calling home for the past several days. "I've got a place not too far away. We'll go there for now..." Jamie had questions. Juniper likely had a great many of her own. If they were going to sort this mess out, Jamie knew they had to do it somewhere not in the open.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
It was only once her fingers were eased off the throttle that the first bit of panic kicked it. Her stomach twisted, her body feeling so cold as adrenaline ran through her stronger than she had ever felt it before.

"They recognized me. They recognized me." Terror coated the words, her eyes wide and unseeing as it took her a long moment to process what that would mean. ... Talz never let anything go. Never. In this town small enough to be called a family, there was one thing that was absolutely certain. Who knew who she was.

And he knew where to find her.

She snapped back to life, head whipping as they zipped past an intersection.

"Where are you going? No! We need to turn back!" And to help, she reached out for the handles again, yanking on it in an attempt to direct them to take a hard right. But they had already passed the rode...

She didn't know how to drive, okay?
 
"Hey! Hey hey hey hey!" She shouted as they nearly collided with a building before Jamie pulled back on the controls and gave a wide-eyed, confused and mildly irritated look to Juniper. "Careful!" She barked, turning her attention back in front of her. "Are you crazy? Turn back? Were we just in the same place a moment ago? Did you see what you caused? We can't go back."

Did she suddenly have a death wish? Or did she think maybe they would be interested in talking this whole thing out.

"What's the matter with you?"

There was no going back.

"It's not safe back there. I'm taking you to my place, if they recognized you, they will be looking for you. And if they're looking for you, you can't go anywhere they might find you. Understand?"

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Pure fright grew across her features, the woman's warnings only serving to validate an irrational response to a possible concern. "But my parents! They don't know--" Naturally, she was barely a teen. What type of parent would condone her theiving behavior? It was the middle of the night. They would be fast asleep.

And unaware.

And unprepared.

"They'll go for my house next!" Her fingers clenched tight around the holocron, her palms clammy as the girl was left to finally ask the rational question of just what was she thinking? Her fingers ran nervously over the stolen artifact, stroking it in a self-soothing motion.

"We can't leave them Tav's men, please." No. Instead, what she was suggesting was to utterly uproot and hide a entire household. With no money, no emergency plan. Everything-- lost in a single night in an attempt to pay off a family debt.

Oh she had messed up. She had messed up big time. There was an undo button, right?
 
...Your parents? She hadn't considered it before, mostly because there wasn't exactly time to calculate this girl's age, or whether or not she had family to look after her. Probably because most children with family and a home weren't out in the blackness of night robbing cartels of their holocrons and other possessions.

"Kriff." She said quietly as her hand slowly let off the throttle and she looked over to the distraught girl.

Her thumb and index finger pinched the bridge of her nose and she essentially confirmed Juniper's own words. "If they know where you live, your family is in danger." Jamie turned on the controls, and as the speeder made a turnabout she twisted the throttle back until it would go no farther. The engines roared and the speeder tore through the streets they had just left behind. "Direct me, we'll save them." Hopefully. Warning the girl that they might not make it in time would do nothing to calm her fears or help the situation so she remained determined to say they would do something instead of maybe.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Relief. It overflowed her as she wordlessly jabbed out a finger, sending Jamie back the way she had already come. She hadn't had much concern over her own welfare when she had found herself in the middle of a shoot out, but the thought of her parents being up to bat for her actions...

She had just wanted to help them.

There were no words to say, the girl leaning forward in the speeder as she solemnly watched the house zip by. They were backtracking by a lot, the house had been so close to the bar she had walked there herself. It would be of little surprise to see the headlights scattered haphazardly down the final street. Her modest family home sat dark, spare the light pouring around the figure standing at the front door.

"Daddy," she whispered, clutching tightly at herself.

Several men stood expectantly before him. Whatever was said, they were too far to know. After a moment Juniper's father opened the door, and the party pooled into the dark face of her family home. The front door closed, blocking the rest out from sight.

Juniper's insides melted, her back stiffening as they stared.

"Do you got another glowy stick?" She gritty through her teeth.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
She killed the engines of the speeder as they came within distance, slowing down just outside the home Juniper had directed her to. She saw what the other girl saw, the men enter the home. Jamie only hoped they weren't too hasty with their trigger fingers. There wasn't time to formulate any kind of plan. No time to consider sneaking in and taking them by surprise. Whatever they were going to do would have to be deliberate, loud, and now.

Jamie laid her hand across Juniper's chest. She could sense the fear emanating from her. "I don't. And you need to stay here."

Without waiting for an answer to her demand Jamie climbed out of the speeder swiftly and made her way toward the home. She had counted four men entering. Approaching the front door, hand reached for saber tucked away within her vest, held downwards towards the ground while right hand grabbed hold of the handle and began to twist, pushing her way inside.

Juniper
 

Juniper

Guest
J
Like hell she would!

See Juniper was a practiced sneak. Years of sneaking and mucking about made her well versed at the art of sneaking. Her area of expertise? Fooling adults. Her body remained stiff in the speeder, the girl smart enough to not utter a word of protest as Jamie order her to stay put.

She watched the blond slip out, a flash of hope filling her as she realized a jedi was going to save her family. So they'd be fine, of course. But Juniper? Oh, she'd help.

She rustled through what little compartments she could find, no glowy stick found as Jamie approached her how. Darnit! She leaned forward, watching with baited breath as Jamie snuck through her front doooooooooooor.................. Her tense muscles exploded in a flurry of motion, the girl jumping off the speeder and running with all her might towards her family's doors. Her steps were loud in her ear, the front door abandoned as hopeless. Instead she crept for the bathroom window. It was dark. She pressed her ears to it and listen.

"Pull everyone into the living room. Now. Where's the girl-- where's the child!"

Juniper had gone to bed with a mother, a father, and a brother. The girl gave a reverent prayer, hoping she'd have them come morning.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom