The True Path Lost(Flint's Ha- Crew)

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Tiam Bai"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Neil Vegas"]

"Have fun Kitt." He said as she left the table and headed to join the pantoran, smirking a bit as the Rodian followed her over. Someone had an admirer. As Cat stood up to get out of the game he tapped her on the shoulder, leaning over to whisper in her ears.

"Keep an eye over there and tell me if there's any trouble." He said to security and got back to his card game, keeping Kitt and Tiam in the corner of his eye. Sure, Kitt could handle herself, but that didn't mean he wasn't gonna keep an eye out. Looking around the table the Transdoshan and Gotal matched his raise without another thought, the rodian taking a bit of time to think before pushing forward some chips. The dealer droid handed out cards, and the trandoshan put out a hissing snarl before laying his cards, 8, 11, and a 7. Busted out. The rodian rose, matched by the gotal. Flint took a moment to look at his cards, adding up to a very nice 22. He waited a moment, looking at his cards as if unsure, before matching the pot and raising it a few chips. The gotal raised and the transdoshan hesitated, before matching as well. Flint put up another five chips into the pot. The transdoshan folded, but the gotal matched and raised by seven chips. Flint put in four chips then figured out he didn't have anymore. Shrugging he pulled the blaster out of his holster and put it down. The gotal raised again, and Flint shrugged, before starting to take off his jacket. The gotal waved his head sideways.

"No-no-no. A gotal has no use for a human jacket." Flint shrugged.

"Can I interest you in a charm from Tash-Taral?" He said, pulling out a bone charm of questionable legitimacy. The Gotal waved his head sideways again.

"The woman said you have a ship. How much is it worth?" He asked, a little desperate in his voice. Furry horned man wanted out of this sandy hellhole. Flint laughed in reply.

"A lot more than this pile of credits." He said. Whether or not it was true was left to interpretation. The Gotal frowned. "Do you have anything else to match the ship?" Flint asked, a bit leadingly. The Gotal shrugged, a bit nervously.

"This amulet leads to a hidden world full of treasures." The gotal said, and Flint looked at him skeptically. "It's true. That's why I want the ship." Flint shrugged a bit, thought, then pulled out a datapad with an access code on it and put it in the pile.

"My ship is in dock 17B." If Catherine or Kitt were listening they'd realize Flint was pulling a fast one. Their ship was in dock 15C. The Gotal put his amulet down, and then his cards. Negative twenty-two. Flint smiled, and put down his hand. In Sabacc a positive number trumped in a tie, and Flint pulled his earnings together, wondering how many of these chips would actually clear. He couldn't have been the only one to bet with stuff that wasn't actually his.

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Tiam Bai"]

The master empath sensed the genuine emotions of Tiam. She frowned for her friend, taking a healthy swig of the ale. "You put up with a lot off-home planet, huh?" She nearly choked at her bunkmate's description of the force. That and the building emotions at the gambling table.

"Sure, that's an accurate point of view. The thing is, don't you think it's people who start wars, whether they're force users or not? But I don't wanna debate that stuff with you." She scooted a little closer. "Have you ever noticed anything different about yourself? Have you ever felt like something was off or you were in danger?" She took a swig of the ale. "Or done something that seemed...physically impossible?"

These conversations always sounded either really cool or really creepy.

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine planted herself in a table in the middle of the two groups. She watched over the proceedings going on at the gambling table as well as the conversation taking place with Kitt and Tiam. They were talking about the force. Being a non-force sensitive, all that force mumbo-jumbo didn't concern her. She also kept a close eye on the lone rodian nearby, watching to see if he was planning anything stupid.

He seemed to keep to himself for the most part, occasionally staring at Kitt, but otherwise harmless. She narrowed her eyes as her gaze landed up on the greasy guy who sat a couple tables back, whose penetrating gaze seemed to be perpetually fixed at Tiam. He looked like trouble.

Diverting her attention to the sabacc table, she couldn't help but grin as Flint casually lied about the ship's location. Her grin widened as she saw Flint clearing his winnings. Clearly some of her luck had rubbed off on him. She was glad.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Neil Vegas"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"]



"Something like that" Tiam dismissed her away-from-homeworld problems easily. No need to get into a tirade on alien rights and the what not. This was the Imperial era anymore. Pale yellow eyes caught Catherine checking out the starer, not in a pleasant 'lets get coffee' manner either. At least Tiam could count on their muscle for some backup in the situation.


But back to Kitt and her weird conversations. Perhaps she had a little too much to drink already.


"Different? I'm blue. Something physically impossible?" Brows knit in concentration, thinking. "No....OH! No...Wait, Wait. Yes. Back a few years ago I managed to do the Stampeding Ronto Taco Challenge and I didn't even vomit. I got a shirt....pretty sure its in my bag back on ship."

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Neil Vegas"]

Flint pocketed the amulet and his clearance codes then pulled in chips as he went for his blaster. The moment his hands hit his blaster however, scaley clawed hands found themselves atop his.

"I checked with a friend docked in 17Ssssseee. Nobody's docked in 17B. Doessss thisss blaster even work spacer?" Flint took his other hand and slammed it onto the Transdoshan's wrist. He hissed out in pain and Flint raised his blaster and took a shot, a blaster bolt traveling to the side of the Trandoshan's head. Raking in as many chips as he stuff into his pockets he left the table.

"Cat, time your cash your chips. Le's go!" He yelled, before ducking his head as a couple of blaster bolts soared over him. Cantina-goers from all sides pulled out weapons, some taking aim defensively, others using the chaos as an excuse to blast their least favorite drinking 'buddy'. Flint flipped a table and crouched behind it laying a bit of cover fire, making sure his crew got outta there before he got out himself.

 

[Catherine Romanov]

And just like that, the situation in the cantina turned out into something resembling flies over bantha poo. But Catherine was not unprepared. She had been expecting something like this to happen, she just didn't know when. It was a long time coming, but all it took was a split-second before the whole cantina turned into an uproar, weapons raised and aimed, found each other naturally, bolts travelling through the air. It was no longer clear who was shooting who any longer. The air was filled with a cacophony of shouts, yells and blasters.

Flint yelled at her to cash her chips. She yelled back "To hell with the chips, get to cover!" As he cleverly created cover by overturning a table, she unholstered her heavy blaster, moving over towards Kitt & Tiam, she fired over a few aimed shots towards the offending enemy targets, she yelled to the girls, "That's our cue to leave, lets go! No more lollygaging now!"

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Kitt Solo]

Maybe she was losing her edge at her ripe, old age of mid-twenties and she had it all wrong about Tiam being force sensitive. If force sensitivity was sarcastic wit, her bunk mate would be a master. She grinned.

"You'll have to show me that shirt when we get back on the..," the mechanic was on her feet a second before the first shot was fired as she lunged and went to tackle Tiam off her chair and to the ground. A blaster bolt hit the bottle of ale on the table, sending an explosion of glass and alcohol in the air.

A force shield would've come in handy right now. It took every bit of Kitt's will power to ignore her instincts to defend. She heard Catherine holler and went for her blaster. "Why is security always so gorram bossy?"

Half grin half grimace.

"I'll cover you roomie!"

She fired a few stun bolts and stretched her senses in the force, keeping an eye on the captain and Catherine without them knowing it. A tilt of a blaster to misfire. A sudden feeling of hesitation.

"Cat! I can't make it to the door from here. Need some more cover fire."

All this sneaking around in the force was starting to give her a headache.

[member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Catherine Romanov"]

 

[Catherine Romanov]

In a pickle. That pretty much summed up their situation right now. But fret not, Catherine had just the solutions for this mess. She made her way over to the girls, just as she heard Kit yell over the din. She yelled back "I'll sort this one out right quick!"

Flipping over a table for extra protection, she sheltered the girls before throwing over one of her HEX fragmentation grenades set to medium, which exploded instantaneously, sending a whirl of durasteel fragments into the vicinity. A lump of what used to be a trandoshan flew over the table before hitting the wall with a squish. Now that silenced the room pretty quickly. The room descended into a state of silence as whatever remaining hostiles stayed down fearing another such explosion.

Getting back up after the explosion, she looked over, checking that her crew mates were fine, she then remarked "It's not pretty, but it gets the job done. We should be good now. Let's leave while we can." Sending a wink towards Flint who looked visibly shocked, still crouched safely behind his covered position.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"]


"Cause security is busy saving your lily-white brax. I think she can be a little testy"


Leave it to their glorious leader and Captain to put them in a bind like this. Head was securely ducked down as blaster bolts whizzed about the room. She wasn't quite sure where to go when Kitt said she was covering. The entire establishment and erupted into chaos. Pale eyes looked about for an escape when a loud noise followed by heat, dust and smoke captured her attention. Crazy security lady had an explosive hidden on her body. And she just set it off. The room went deadly silent, most likely in fear of another hidden boob-bomb.


Carefully, Tiam got out of her makeshift table hiding area. She shuffled through the dim conditions to the door, flipping up the hood on the semi-tattered robe/cloth/garment she had bought in a local stall. Kept the skin from drying out. Some of the sun from beating down. Still, it was incredibly hot and stifling. Tiam moved to the shade of some buildings, preferring not to walk where she would bake to death.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Tiam Bai"]

Flint continued to lay down cover fire, heading down back under the table every few second to take cover. The captain's shots were indiscriminate, not in any direction in particular but just to serve as a distraction, while his cohorts could try to get out. He saw Kitt tackle Tiam, before watching Cat flip a table over as cover before throwing out a grenade. He knew she was a bit excitable about her weapons and all, but dang. Flint's first reaction when he saw the grenade was an old and simple one. Take cover.

But a table made of thin durasteel was not the best of cover. Shrapnel from the grenade pierced through the lower portion of the table and into his back, missing his spine by a couple of inches to the right. Biting his lip he managed to keep himself from screaming, but didn't that hurt like a schutta. Pushing his body off of the table with his arms and shoulders he got out of the shrapnel, leaving a hole in his shirt, jacket, and a bit of blood coming through. He was lucky it hadn't pierced him further, could've punctured an organ or something. Lucky though he might have been, it was past time to get out of here. Spotting Tiam head out the door he followed, heading to a spot where he could see the edge of the door but not be shot by people inside. His blaster was unholstered and aimed at the door, Flint hoping for his crew but preparing for trouble.

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine walked over the aftermath of the explosion to where Flint stood. She noticed a slight limp in his step. That also lead her to discover the blood-soaked hole in his jacket. Tapping his shoulder apologetically, she said "I'm really sorry about that Flint, perhaps I was a little too hasty in throwing that, I had no intention for you to get hurt."

She then perked up as she mentioned "Hold up, I've got a Bacta spray right here, that'll keep you good til we get back to the ship." Holding him firmly, she sprayed the healing ingredient onto the wound before covering it up with a Bacta patch. "All done, you're good to go." Catherine then stood up, her blaster unholstered as she prepared to cover Flint's back as he made his way towards the door leading out of the Cantina.

Sighing she muttered to herself "Way to go Cat, hurting teammates already?"

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

Roomie was out. Captain was out. She grimaced, picking up on his feelings of pain through the force which only added to the onslaught of burnt bodies. Usually she was good at putting up a mental wall, but not this time. And Catherine was out.

Face turned slightly green as the ale she drank earlier threatened to bubble back up her throat with a side of bile.

Picking herself up she trudged to the door, one hand clutched around her stomach. She made it to the doorframe when a sharp tug on her shoulder spun her around. Her rodian admirer.

She reacted fast. Balled-up fist sailed for one of his black eyes in a jab and her elbow spun around for a swipe against the side of his green-head. Knee followed to his stomach.

Clunk. The Rodian hit the messed up floor of the bar pretty hard.

With bloody knuckles, a bruised elbow, and the strong feeling of nausea she finally emerged into the blinding sunlight. Hand raised, trying to orient herself to where her crewmates were.

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Flint Michigan"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"]



Since Tiam was the first one out, she was waiting close by for her fellow crewmates. Catherine and Flint filtered out, both looking a little worse for wear. Eyes struggled to adjust but the Captain had a dark patch on his jacket. Tiam hoped it was anything but blood. It was best she didn't think about it at all. Needless to say,she kept a good berth between the two just in case.


Next her roommate stumbled out, looking confused. Tiam grabbed her hand and pulled the woman into the shady areas, trying to let the others eyes adjust. She wasn't sure what the sun did to human eyes but it sure as heck blinded her. Pulling her hand back, Tiam immediately noticed blood on her own, transferred from Kitt's bloody knuckles.


Tiam suddenly felt hot. Her stomach churned and a dizziness ran through her head. Ears rung loudly, blood rushing through them at a rapid pace. Stupidly, she looked at the blood on her hand once again.


.....and promptly passed out into the sand.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Tiam Bai"]


"I'm fine, I'm fine." Flint protested, but Catherine raised the bottom of his shirt and applied the Bacta all the same. Keeping his eyes on the door he eventually saw Kitt get out, but she was followed. That Rodian who'd asked questions about her, followed her from the table to the bar. He tried to take a shot, but the rodian was too close to the mechanic, He tried for a grab but Kitt was too fast, laying in a punch to the eyes, an elbow to the hand, a knee to the gut, and down he went onto the ground. If he would have gotten up and chased her again, Flint would probably have shot him. But he didn't. He just laid there, whether unable to stop the pain to his gut, or perhaps his pride. She put up a hand when she got out, Tiam rushing over to find her and pull towards the rest of the group.

"Nice work ladies Good to know we can get out of a firefi-" He said as their pantoran box monkey fell to the ground. Flint looked at her a bit confused. "I didn't see her drink. Did any of you? Bah." He shrugged, before squatting down and heaving the woman over his shoulder, and then returning to a standing position.


"Let's get back to the ship before trouble follows us." Flint said, and began heading towards the ship, hemophobic pantoran in tow.

 

[Catherine Romanov]

It was all so sudden, from the sight of Kitt displaying her martial prowess, and dispatching her secret admirer, the poor rodian survivor to their very own pantoran box monkey who had collapsed in a heap. "Yikes" was all Catherine managed. Her head traveled from Kitt to Tiam, before moving towards the unconscious pantoran.

Giving her the once over, she announced "She's fine, just passed out is all". Picking up the blue-skinned box monkey in her arms, wheezing, she exclaimed "heaviest monkey ever!"

Following Flint, the group walked on, leaving the mess of the Cantina behind them. It's about time they got back to the ship.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Tiam Bai"] @Kitt Solo

With each step they took away from the bar, the better her head felt. Her nausea also dwindled significantly. "I don't understand. Tiam just looked at my hand and..." Voice trailed off as she looked down at her own bruised and bloodied knuckles.

"Oh."

She could see the hangar up ahead where their ship was still parked, if they were lucky. She fell quietly into step with Catherine. She wasn't too worried about the captain. He was obviously going to be okay with that bacta patch and weight-lifting a chick. She winced when her bruised elbow brushed past Flint's arm but maintained her focus on their security.

"You okay Catherine? You know, you saved our lives in there."

And scared me frackless but we won't talk about that.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Tiam Bai"](Skipping you because you're unconscious. I'm sorry )

With pantoran over shoulder Flint hiked up to his ship, trying to keep the scarlet haired blue-skin out of the sun as much as he could. Would be a horrible thing to wake up de-hydrated after all. He kept a strong pace despite carrying a woman on his shoulder. In the times he'd served he'd learned when adrenaline was pumping, when it gave you the strength to keep going and not feel pain. His back didn't hurt now, and he didn't feel as much of the Pantoran's body as he should have. But in twenty minutes maybe? He wouldn't be so lucky. Might as well get as much mileage as he could have.

"Yeah, that was quick thinking with the grenade." Flint said in response to Kitt's statement to Catherine. "Remind me for a minute, what kind of grenade was that? What was it's lethality and effects? And what's it's legal status in Omegan space?" He asked, curious about it. He had let security be in charge of keeping track of the legal status of all their weapons. He'd need to know if they were going to be dodging security on their way out.

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"]



Distantly she was aware of a moving motion. Swaying. She was moving. The sun and heat was hot on her back, beating down on the fabric she wore in a futile attempt to block the heat. She felt terrible and her stomach was still mildly turning. Eyes were still closed. Tiam briefly thought she should open them. Probably for the best -- make sure someone non-threatening picked her up.


Pale yellow eyes opened. The first thing they saw was the rear end of a man. A rather good looking backside. Brow furrowed slightly, wait who was carrying her? Then it dawned slowly in her haze of a mind.


Well, hello there Captain Tight Pants.


Wait....the Captain?As in Kitts' Captain?Mr.Boy Scout? Nope, nope and nope. That was a backside she wasn't interested in staring at. Well....not for a prolonged period of time anyways.


"Hey, Cap'n" she chimed in weakly, wanting to be set down.

 

[Catherine Romanov]

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

Walking alongside Flint, Catherine said "Oh, that was a HEX Fragmentation Grenade. Manufactured by Czerka Arms."

Strolling along idly, hands resting at her side "There weren't that many of them made, fortunately I managed to come across a batch from an illusive contact I had, from my days in the Republic.
It does have a couple of power settings that can make it quite a lethal weapon to add to ones arsenal."

Dipping her head in regret, she continued "I don't normally use one that often, I just wanted to end the situation early, but I made a bad call I guess. I just got all caught up in the moment, is all. It won't happen again."

Crossing her arms, eyes focused forward she mentioned "Put your mind at ease, you don't need to worry about dodging security. I've seen to it that we'll all clear security customs of any kind without hassle. Our weapons won't be of any issue. Being part of the Mandalorians carries some weight you know?"

Swiveling her head around to face the rest of the crew, her lips widened in a smile

"Now now, enough of the serious stuff, who's up for some pie when we get back to the ship?"

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Catherine Romanov"]


She began to zone out as the spacer and security talked a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Clearance-smearance. And that's exactly why the ex-fringe high councilor wasn't in charge.

A look of relief crossed her face as her roomie stirred. "Nice of you to join the land of the living, sunshine." She jogged up to the ship in the hangar and input the codes to lower the ramp. "And I'll take a coolant pack for my knuckles and elbow with a side of pie."

Too risky to heal with the force and besides, she was never the best at that anyway.

"Flint, you sure you're okay?" Eyes drifted down to the bacta patch over his wound.