Travels turned to Pirates

[Giddean Kuat]

Location: Aboard the Democratic Halo, a Nebulon T Transport Frigate
Objective: Transport Refugee Good to Republic Space
Stellar Positioning: Between Nar Shadaa and Nanth'ri along the JTS

The mission was simple, assist with Refugee Relocation of Support Goods. Giddean was not sure how this had to deal with his training, but it was now his job. Walking the halls with another of the Support Crews, "Padawan Kuat, the supplies are secure and the rest of the check list is finished," The women tapped on the Data Tablet, "Why don't you and the other Padawan get some relaxation time, the rest of the trip to the Republic should be smooth sailing."

Giddean nodded as he looked at his tablet. The supplies were more then just refugee goods, it looked like some high greats Medical Equipment was there as well. Maybe Master Cedric should have sent an escort as well. Though Padawans were good enough protection for a simple milk run, though he was not happy about the assignment. He was a Infiltrator and trained killer that was the sword of the Republic Jedi Enclave, not some babysitter for some Republic Logistics Transport.

The women waved her hand in front of Giddean's face, "Padawan Kuat?"

He shuttered back, "Sorry Chief Petty Officer Worric, I would not know what to do with all that time, plus Padawan Yore does not seem to like me, has not said a word to me since we meet."

They continued to walk through the halls and she smiled, "She is young Giddean, she may just not trust you as you do seem pretty Judgy."

He looked at the women, "Judgy?" He had a confused look on his face, "I was raised this way, is there a problem with how I carry myself?"

"No Padawan Kuat, just saying you could Ligh-"

They were interrupted by a sudden jolt, it almost launched the both of them but Giddean was able to use the force to keep them on their feet. Giddean placed his hand on his Blaster Pistol out of instinct but realized it was not there. Instead he tapped his lightsaber, changing from military to Jedi was a little more difficult then he realized. He only thought was to get the [member="Tempest Yore"], the other padawan that was assigned to this mission. "Cheif, get to your position, I need to get to my room and check on Tempest."

The women nodded, they took off in different directions and rushed to their positions. He opened a communication line with Tempest, "Padawan Yore, we had a sudden jolt, I will be by the room shortly."

That was a lie, because as soon as he finished he turned a corner and was greeted by the open arms of a Ancient Boarding Ship, and several other beings armed with blasters. He brought his lightsaber up to a ready posistion and looked at them. This was gonna be a long day.

 

[Tempest Yore]

Tempest brooded in the cabin assigned to the small security team, two Padawans and a few able men. Wether they are enlisted men or vigilantes, she has no clue. She did notice they remain armed to the teeth at all times. Being heavily armed is beneficial, provided one’s aim isn't worthless.

She appreciated the level of trust shown in her growth, though truly she had hoped to spend more time with [member="Cedric Grayson"]. In fact, she thought he was inviting her to do just that, when she learned she was handed over to the crew, along with one other Padawan from the Republic. She bet Master [member="Syn"] would have a bit to say regarding her circumstance now, when he sent her to get over this silly puppy love spell and return to him when she is prepared to learn. Perhaps Syn could see that she would do anything for Grayson. Maybe that is not a good state of mind to have over a man who will never love you back the way that you love him.

”Puppies have REAL feelings!!” Tempest cried out, sprawled across the bunk, tracing her fingers over the Hello Kitty etchings on her lightsabers. Just when she felt the jolt on the hull and heard the voice of @Giddean Kaut over the comm, she felt an uneasiness through the Force. Tempest donned a long pink civilian tunic over her white Jedi robes. She tore out the rubber band from her short ponytail, and threw on her hat. She snapped her three lightsabers together end to end and formed them into one long and thin walking stick. Their brown hilts designed to appear as one continuous branch.

Tempest raided the closet in search of something suitable to conceal the identity of the Jedi Giddean. She left the cabin and went out into the corridor. She would play the young blind girl, insignificant, not threatening in the least. She learned how to restrict her physical gaze, from observing her Master’s demeanor, as he was born without eyes.

As soon as she stepped through her doorway, Tempest was immediately ushered through the corridor with a small portion of the crew and civilians in charge of the cargo, those found to be among this particular area of the ship. The pirates stormed into the security personnel’s room and ransacked their belongings, just as they were drawing out other travelers who had been in their cabins. They raised a ruckus.

She saw pods docked just about everywhere along the corridor. How the pirates got the internal hatches unlocked perplexed her. ’Do they have some robot with them that knows the codes? Is someone in our midst a traitor?’

She passed one of the pirates and he grabbed her tier of lightsabers forming a walking staff. She instantly feigned to cry, while an old woman walking next to her scolded the man. ”What are you afraid of, little girl’s now? What can she possibly do to you? Smack her face repeatedly into the walls and trip you up?” The pirate looked at Tempest’s pale blue eyes and raised his hand to strike her face, but she did not flinch, only continued to look through him while the old woman took hold of her arm to defend her. Tempest oozed serenity. ”What is happening Auntie? Who is this man? What does he want from me?” The pirate thrust her walking stick back at her. The old woman lead Tempest along the corridor.

”Patience, Miss Maddis. I sense a fight on B Deck,” Tempest took hold of Maddis’s hand as a show of support, and whispered. ”There will be much loss should the entire ship break out unprepared. I need to get there unnoticed.”

An audible alert began sounding, and warning lights flashed all over the ship. A selective group among the crew which was on the bridge during the initial boarding entered the panic room and sealed the door, while the remaining crew members stood their posts.

 

[Giddean Kuat]

Slicing through one of the bodies that was the Pirate Scum as he lunged forward with a wide arch of his lightsaber. Those vibro-sword training classes he took in the Academy was really paying off now. He did not shy away from the death he caused when taking the mans life. They crossed his path with the intent to kill, it was not as though he would allow such a thing to happen.

A stinging feeling was felt on the corner of his head and he lifted his weapon out of instinct and deflected a blaster bold from one of the other pirates. This Force thing was really getting in handy, he was able to cause the enemy to panic as they did not expect him. True, he was only a student of the Force, but he was already a trained soldier, and one that did not feel sick at taking a life. He continued to deflect the bolts of light with his own source of light. He was lucky when two of the ships security officer turned the corner behind him and started to shoot at the pirates.

"Inform the Commander that intruders are on Deck B, they are probably here for the Medical Supplies." Giddean knew that these wars with the Sith, such things were in high demand now that the GA lost Thyferra. Prices for such goods were better then rare metals to the likes of the Black Market.

"Understood Sir." One of the guards ducked back into the corridor and radioed it in.

Giddean now had the support and knew his back was secure. He charged the enemy with his lightsaber and concentrated his mind on the firing pattern of the enemy to deflect the shots. Able to dodge many of their spotty aim, deflecting the other bolts, he arrived at the front lines and slicing their weapons as quickly as he could. These amateurs were nothing for his speed and well trained body to maneuver through their ranks. Unfortunately, he was not able to avoid taking a life, as one man attempted to pull a weapon to Giddeans head. He had no choice but to slide the blade of light across the mans hip to hip.

After he got through them all, he deactivated his weapon and turned to face them. Closing his eyes and lifting his hand he concentrated on the force around him. Remembering what his mother had taught him, he focused the air around him into his hands and continued to build the invisible mass into his hands. Within milliseconds, he opened his eyes and released their concentrated air into the bodies before him. The heavy mass of air through all of them, dead and alive, into the air and sliding across the metallic corridor floor.

He looked at the now two guards aiming their weapons at them. He was weak, and could not stand for too long, falling to one knee. He needed to find [member="Tempest Yore"], she was most experienced at this, and he could not do this alone.

 

[Tempest Yore]

Tempest found herself ushered into a room, and everyone ordered to sit along the far side on the floor. She sat with the woman whom she walked with. A few of the crew members' children sat down by her side.

The two guards here were quite young, with guns too big for their ages. She pitied their possible circumstance, and knew they could live tomorrow to make better choices in life. These are not trained killers; that they did not kill their prisoners for sport already proved that to Tempest, and so she showed them the same consideration. She generated an audible Illusion which sparked the attention from the young guards as she planned. They exited the room and sealed the door to the corridor, omitting the option for escape. When one feels secure in their decision such as this, they might even leave their post and their captives alone, unguarded. Tempest is counting on it.

Tempest felt a breeze coming from an air duct located along the wall at the floor by her side. When she listened attentively, she heard the faint echo of plaster fire. She turned to Miss Maddis, "This will lead me to B Deck, I presume?" The old woman nodded, offering that this duct goes all throughout the ship, to the Bridge, and the Escape Pods. Tempest smiled, for her mind was forming a plan.

Tempest realized she already stood out to the guards and her absence among the group might be noticed. She set her hat upon another child and exchanged her pink tunic for their's, before twirling the screws of the air duct with the force, and slipping easily into the air duct. Once within, she bid them guidance through the Light of the Force, and crawled towards the sounds of the fighting, while the prisoners loosely replaced the grill to the duct behind her. Her chosen doppelgänger just so happened to be a young boy, and should he be noticed as her stand-in there could be trouble for the group. Miss Maddis would see to it that everyone would slip out of the room in a hurry and unnoticed just as Tempest had, if the heat became too great. These are innocent and untrained people among mere laborers of the crew. They aren't trained in defensive fighting. Tempest felt terrible leaving them for even a moment. But present gunfire meant someone could be dying, and that took precedent over any threat that was not currently high stakes at the moment. Ms. Maddis felt touched to Tempest, like a laymen Force Sensitive. She had faith the old woman would know when and if to act.

As she rushed through the ductwork, Tempest dismantled her stacked Lightsabers and tucked her third into her usual hiding place in her sash. She would kick out the grill and spring out into the corridor just in front of [member="Giddean Kuat"] as he faced his second round of pirates. Now these, she has no problem schooling in the issues of life. They are bigger, older, and know exactly what kind of lifestyle they chose, and how their intentional actions effect those around them.

Her first assault their way is a Force Thrust which knocked them backwards off their heels. Tempest's style of deflecting their blaster fire, made her appear as nothing more than a kid determined to win the Baseball game…with a little bit of Ballet Dancing between the boundary walls of the corridor.

At one momentary break in the assault, she quickly turned to Giddean and looked at him as he rested upon one knee to catch his breath. She asked, "So, what have YOU been up to?"

 

[Giddean Kuat]

He looked over the Pirates that he had killed and knocked out. They were not really anything special, gear and weapons were more a custom assortment of several other factions. This region had been known for its black market and selling of scavenged goods, so it was not really shocking to see this. One thing he was surprised about was the use of a Gravity Well Generator, that was high end gear for these kinds of guys. Bending over one of the dead bodies he sliced open he picked up one of the weapons and inspected it closer. It looked like an older model used by the Hutt Cartel some years back. The core of the weapon seemed like that, but there were so many modifications it was almost impossible for him to tell.

Blaster in hand he heard a noise from one of the vents, without thinking he pointed this blaster at the person. Within a millisecond, he noticed it was [member="Tempest Yore"], though she was not wearing her flashy clothing he was use to seeing. He lowered the weapon before dropping it back on the body as she asked her question.

What was he up so.... He looked at the two dead bodies and four other pirates being tied up by the two guards. "Dispatching invaders who infiltrated B Deck, seems they are after the supply section of the ship," He looked back at the younger, yet more senior women before him, "Your the most senior Padawan here, what shall we do Padawan Yore?"

 

[Tempest Yore]

Giddean looked to Tempest for guidance. She couldn't say anyone ever did that before. Thanks to Cedric, and his public praising of her once, Giddean had a false impression of Tempest.

"Get these men out of sight, and lock up the survivors. See that they get medical attention," she said to the security crew who had rushed to their aid in the corridor. The superior ranking officer among them directed a number of his men, and the rest looked for a purpose. "Its round-up time, Gentlemen."



Giddean has been military trained. She wondered if he is perhaps inexperienced in the way of the Jedi Code. Asking for guidance in this case, did not embarrass her at all. "You will find that not everyone involved is a coldblooded killer, Giddean. Some are just extremely destitute, maybe even forced to be here today. They are selfishly putting their loved ones before all others by robbing from refugees; not our way, but understandable. A little verbal negotiating tactics may be in your near future." He did what he had been taught, and he reacted from instinct. It saved his life here. The pirates seriously outnumbered him and he prevailed! She hopes he is able to further adequately determine who the real devils of this boarding just so happen to be. Someone bigger than these pirates is in charge of their mission. But it is not the kids she saw here her own age wielding guns. Tempest believes in the reformation of most, but not all, lost souls.

"You did well. I would like to refrain from further antagonizing our enemy to fight us to their deaths." She is quite certain that it is the pirates who will die. "Do you know Force Stasis?" The look on [member="Giddean Kuat"]'s face told her that he does not. "You start with a Stun. Make them forget, forget what they are doing, forget you are their enemy, forget their whole mission. Then with Stasis you make them forget they are even awake, snuff their will right out of them. Its temporary, but long enough for us to round them up. Disarm them first. Then, confuse them. Then, to sleep. Are you game to try this with me?"

"Like this," she said, urging Giddean to sense what she is doing, to witness exactly how he should accomplish the skill. Tempest looked down at an ailing wounded man, and she concentrated on him until he slumped over, unconscious and no longer in pain.

They need to get moving.

 

[Giddean Kuat]

Giddean was a soldier, this new way of life, the path of a Jedi was new to him. Protection and preservation of ones life was only if the safety of his mission was without doubts. He listened to [member="Tempest Yore"] as he placed his lightsaber on his hip hook and looked to the dead bodies before them. He closed his eyes and focused on the gravity and air that surrounded the dead bodies. With the call and request of the Force, he was able to levitate the dead bodies a centimeter off the ground and force them to the side of the corridor. They were moved out of the way. After that, he used the force to clear the blood of the dead off the path. His first orders were to make a path for them to continue on their way.

Once he was done and Tempest was done speaking, he spoke up after. "I do what I must to secure the mission that was given to me, taking the extra time to safely secure those who invade this ship would have taken too much time in completing my task."

While looking at the young women, he could see she meant what she was saying, "The way of the Jedi is new to me, but it is my life now," He paused as she began to give him instructions. "A Jedi is a peacekeeper, not and executioner or warrior, I will do my best to preserve the life of those who succumb to the lesser emotions."

Watching her actions was something he studied closely. Giddean was a quick study, and after the first try he felt he got the minor understanding of that skill. Yet before he was up to try it, he looked to Tempest. "Padawan Yore, we still need to find the leader of this raid, and the rest of the passengers we must hurry." He realized something, "Where did you come from anyways that you needed to climb through a vent?"

 

[Tempest Yore]

"You did just fine, Giddean. Don't hesitate to be yourself; I wouldn't want you to find cause to regret not following your instincts! Whoever will miss you might put a price on my head," Tempest declared as she skipped along the corridor.

He had asked where she had come from, to come out of the vent. "These beasts were rounding up the civilians, but luckily they have a means to escape to the ship's panic room. Its near the Bridge. At some point they will believe they have everyone, and will probably steal away to there." She paused for a moment in her speech and her steps, contemplating. "Do you think we should go there, and make sure they get out safely? Maybe the panic room has a system of surveillance cameras, and we can find the head honcho that way!" She cocked her head in thought. "I would if I had a big ship like this."

Tempest looked at [member="Giddean Kuat"] and stole away again into the duct. She felt he would fit just as easily too. When she retraced her steps through the duct to the holding room, she arrived at the tail end of the exodus of the crew and civilians. A tug of war arose between the last member in the duct and one of the pirates in the room. Tempest pulled the civilian into the duct by their feet and shoved them along in the way they should go to follow the others. She plans to catch up with them later!

”You there! You are that girl from earlier!” shouted the pirate, as Tempest allowed the pirate to forcefully draw out of the duct by way of being tugged by her arms.

This would be a perfect time for Giddean to follow through and practice putting his enemy to sleep rather than kill them...after interrogation. Inside the room she was forced to stand. Tempest immediately generated an Illusion about the inside of the room, where it would appear to all others like nothing is happening therein, so much that the grill is not even seen, just the walls and a barren floor. There would be no logical explanation as to where the prisoners had gone.