Workin' on the Prison Barge (Open/Smugglers)

[RC 212]

Somewhere near Sullust​

Times were good for Morgan, doubly so since he'd added a few tricks up his sleeve to his trusty Washburn Freighter. But alas all was not as well as it could be.

He was gazing up from the cell of a Prison barge, through the bars that dripped moisture from bad O2 scrubbers. The faint whirr as they flicked on and off erratically was what gave them away.

Above foot steps, he guessed booted thudded a steady clomp across the deck. What had been a routine scouting and salvage mission on a derelict ended up with Morgan and Crew down here, separated from their beloved S.S. Liberty by several floors of folks he did not know.

He tried to recall the incident as he jiggled his chains.​

Tanya his Sister was coming too just now.

"What the in the nine hells of the void happened?"

Morgan grunted, fishing through his coat. They'd left his smokes at least, which was a nice boon for him. He sparked one up, chains jingling as he lifted both hand to light it.

"Unsure. Guess we stumbled upon some locals Militia or somethin'"

"Well not like we got anything good we're hauling."

"Yeah and you know whats weird, the First Order is falling apart, so it can't be bounty hunters."

​

Danni glanced up and he mirrored her.​

​

Above them a pair of mandibles clacked......​

 

[Riley Reese]

A small stream of water slowly dripped from the bars above. Each that hit the ground caused a boot to tap in time with its impact. The owner of said foot stared across her dimly lit cell that offered no solutions to the situation she was in. Her hazel eyes turned upwards to the bars above, towards what sounded like guards doing their rounds.

Gida sighed stretched out her arms, the shackles jingling the whole time. A reminder of what she was in. She thought back to the reason as to the why she was here. Quite simple really, she got caught. Wasn't really her fault, honestly, the Rodian she was working with blew their cover. His very first smuggling job and he managed to not only blow his own cover, but got himself killed in the process.

The Twi'lek girl shook the thought from her mind. Standing up, she paced her cell just to stretch her legs. As she drew close to the opposite wall, she heard voices. Gida paused for a moment before pressing her ear against the metal surface. Definitely voices, perhaps other prisoners? She hesitated for a moment before tapping on the wall.

[member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gida Rha"]

Just as he took another puff there was knock on the wall. The puff wafted up through the grate in the garish aliens mandibles and he laughed a deep belly laugh. He'd spent a good deal of time locked away with his sister in a First Order prison. The alien above could do little to rattle his chain. Only rancors really had that effect on him. Big brutish things they were.

Danni glanced his way brushing back a strand of black hair.

"Should we answer?"

"Of course. Let's see if they're folks like us!"

He moved to the wall and tapped back, then tapped a rhythmic code. It was smuggler cant, a kind of shorthand language among spacer that allowed them to communicate via taps, knocks and entire sentences that had other phrases and sentences hidden within them.

"By the way, where the heck is Shades and Torval?"

"Not sure, think we got separated in the scuffle."

She wiped a fleck of blood off her nose, and he only now noticed a nice purple bruise near her eye.

"Hope the other guy got it worse."

"Don't remember. Just remember getting hit by a flash of light, swinging and then it all goes dark...."

 

[Riley Reese]

Gida listened for several silent moments before a response came. A small grin formed on her lips as the knocks came in a familiar in a code she understood, one most smugglers and spacers did.

She thought for a moment before responding. A few short questions, how many with them and where were they. Gida didn't know who was on the other side of that wall, but they must be a whole lot friendlier than the ones who put her in here.

[member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gida Rha"]

Morgan listened with a keen ear and then tapped again, sending a series back

​

2 Right now. 2 More abroad within the ship.​

Just as he did the cells opened, and ten or so Rodians flooded in to grab Danni and him. They'd also flood into the other cells nearby. Morgan growled, trying to choke one out with his shackles before he felt the jolt of a Czerka stun baton sear his flesh. He coughed, dropping to one knee. A collar was clamped into place, just as the shackles fell away.

"High Explosive. Step out of line Human, you're bantha poodoo."

"Great ..... Ungh!"

They were hauled up and thrust into a central corridor, where the prisoners were herded like cattle. He shot a glance around, stub of his cigarette grinding between his teeth. They we moving fast, and down a large atrium like hallway, lined with alcoves. He guessed they were retention for doors.

At the end the old rusty mechanical gears of a door ground open, to reveal a hissing steam, shackled prisoners hard at work on long stretches of conveyor lines. He recognized the smell from Bespin instantly. This was a refinery, turning asteroid ore into molten slag and extracting what trace amounts of Tibbana remained. Across the hall, an even larger blockier tank held what he recognized.

"Starship fuel?"

 

[Riley Reese]

The answer barely came through before her cell door burst open. A group of Rodians charged in wielding stun batons. She managed to land a kick on one of them, only to have her leg grabbed by another then knocked to the ground. One of the Rodians grabbed her right Lekku and painfully pulled her to her knees. They freed her of her shackles, only to slap a collar around her neck.

Gida was forced out into the hallway with the rest of the prisoners. She tried to take in the details of where they were going, how many prisoners and guards there. This proved a difficult task as she was pushed and shoved towards a larger room. She did manage to catch a glimpse of who she guessed was in the cell next to her.

They were herded into what looked like a processing room. She could see conveyor belts carrying ore and slag. Gida wasn't really sure what they were processing, but the man next to her did. Her gaze turned to him when he mentioned starship fuel. "Fuel? Is that what they're making here?"

[member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gida Rha"]

"My guess is yes."

He moved a lil closer as they were funneled to their stations. As luck would have it, their stations were right next to each-other. He watched as the Foreman instructed levers and dials and followed suit.

Bit dangerous to have random folks operating random machinery.

"How long you been here?" He asked a passerby. They simply looked at him, and tilted their head down, speeding up their walk.

Another voice chimed in, a woman operating a station nearer them.

"Six months by my reckoning. We keep jumping and scooping up more bodies to replace the others."

He raised an eyebrow and went through the motions of the machine over and over.

"Replace?"

"Yea, they usually lose half of each haul in the first week. They die, try to escape, it always ends the same way. We ain't allowed much food and we ain;t allowed to talk. Wanna communicate, you send a note."

"Hmpphh."

So we're on a slaver ship....​

Hours passed and they were funneled again, this time to cramped compact open bays. Bunks lined every conceivable inch, as another shift awoke and was forced out.

"Finally some shut eye."

He glanced at Danni. She was holding up well. When the lights went out he snuck a few paces towards the Twi'lek girls bed.

"Who are ya anyhow?" He whispered.

"My names Morgan."

 

[Riley Reese]

Gida stepped up to the conveyor belt next to Morgan. She had seen operations like this before when she was still with the Hutts. The poor and dangerous work conditions, combined with the fact that they seemed to replace people quickly was all to familiar to her. These poor folks were slaves, and she was one now also....again.

The woman Moragn was speaking with said that she had been here six months. That was pretty impressive given the situation. She was unsurprised that they weren't allowed to talk, but at least they found a way to communicate regardless.

Several hours later, she was herded with everyone else into a different room than before. This room wasn't much better then the cell, but at least it had a bed. She laid down and stared up towards the dark ceiling. It wasn't so much her body hurting as it was her head, although her fingers were kinda sore. Everything about this was just to familiar and brought with it old pains.

Gida stiffened momentarily when Morgan spoke to her. Her mind had drifted off enough she hadn't heard him approach. He introduced himself as Morgan. "Names Gida."

[member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[Causstik Rahn]

Causstik Rahn observed the asteroid belt uninterestedly. He and crew had come to sell slaves to the Rodian whelps that inhabited the place. He brought with him a hundred wookiee slaves that he had acquired from Kashyyk itself. They mulled about in ancient cages of iron bar make that were built into the deck of the ship. Great chains like meat hooks hung from the ceiling and wookiee pelts adorned their taloned grasp, fluids still dripping from the hides. The pelts kept the Wookiees in line, striking fear into their hearts and reminding them who was master. Blood mingled with other foul liquids that pooled at the floors. Neither wookiee nor Trandoshan needed light to see, so the place was dark and dimly lit. Causstik turned from the viewport and stared out at his slaves aboard the Irrlicht. They would fetch a nice price and if they didn't he would simply strongarm the Rodians into paying more.

He could not simply take the belt from the Rodians. He hadn't the manpower to man the whole thing. But, rodians were cowardly creatures. Thus he knew they would pay whatever price he demanded.

He approached a cage and grabbed hold of the rusted iron bars. Peering inwards he spied a wookiee mother cowering in the corner. She held a cub to her bossom tightly and Causstik knew the cub to be a silverback. Prized among the Trandoshans for their rare pelts. It was strange that he would make it this far without being spotted. Causstik pointed to the pair and barked something in T'dosch. A pair of guards came running forth and hopped within the cage. They beat the mother till she relented. Her price could not compare to the pelt of the cub. He was fished out of the cage and thrown into another. The Rodians would have to pay extra for that one.

Causstik smiled as he felt the jolt of the ships docking. He still stared down at the mother's broken form, her moans of agony and growls of pain let him know she would not survive. He simply shook his head, she at the very least make a nice meal for the crew and her cub if he was not sold would prove to be worth many jagannath points in the hunting grounds of Wassakah. Causstik marched to the docking bay and waited for the hatch to open.

[member="Gida Rha"] [member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gida Rha"] [member="Causstik Rahn"]

"Gidha huh? Well tell ya what Ghida i'm working an angle to bust out of here tonight. Will you lend a hand?

As he was talking his eyes were roving the dark room for anything they could use as weapons. The slavers didn't have much in the way or armor. All his and Danni's gear was stashed somewhere aboard the ship. Their own ship he was less sure of, but judging from the size of the vessel they were on he guessed it was in a berth somewhere.

​

Ain't gonna keep this ol dog down. Been a prisoner before, never again....​

"I'm thinking bout starting a riot, maybe blowing up a fuel cell. Then I gotta find the rest of my team and blow this joint. We gotta ship. Could use another crewmate."

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Sullust she had been here a few times it wasn't exactly a paradise, though when the alliance was here she had considered opening a bar. It would have been fun maybe. What was she doing here now?

A bit of snooping really there was the hint of a job here she hadn't had one in months but ya know to keep her skills honed she needed to well....keep up with things.

Using an old code and an old id beacon she was able to land her old freighter a few credits and she was able to make her way into old familiar tunnels. Was there anything left...was there anyone left that wanted out?

She took a breath it was bad...my god...like dead bantha rotting for weeks she thought. She tried not to turn green, just walking along....heading to what remained of the armory.

 

[Riley Reese]

"A break out?" Gida sat up on her bed. She could just barely make out Morgan in the dark room. "I'm good with that. So do you have a plan for setting off one of those fuel cells?"

[member="Morgan Daniel"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gida Rha"] [member="Rekha Kaarde"]

Morgan chuckled.

"That'd be a no lil lady. Hoped you could help me with that."

He glanced around in the dark. Far off he could catch the sight of Danni his co-pilot sawing a piece of metal into a shank.

 

[Riley Reese]

Gida eyed Morgan for a second before giving a nod. "All right. What do you need me to do?"

[member="Morgan Daniel"]