Private You Had One Job

[Cato Harth]

Ahch-To
Cadere
​

Cato knew defeat when he saw it. He was stubborn, yes, especially in the face of danger, but rejection after rejection from countless would-be dates had given him an idea of when to cut his losses and move on.

And yeah, Voss was cool and all, but he also kind of got stabbed in the gut at Voss. Which, among other injuries, had left Cato in less than mint condition. Never one to waste time doing nothing (this is a lie), he had decided to take on some small-time work for the SJC to make up for his current setbacks. The most recent of which had taken him with a small group of others to Ahch-To, a planet rife with ancient Jedi history. A new cache of artifacts had been recovered during their time there, and were now being readied for transit back to the temple for further study. It would be an easy enough job to get back into things.

“Harth...”

…

“Harth!”

Cato swung around towards the voice, having been distracted for an indeterminate amount of time by his impromptu staring contest with a nearby porg. “What?! Yeah, I’m listening!” He gave a rock a halfhearted kick off the cliffside, meandering at less than a hustle over to the captain of the ship they had taken here.

“We’re about to load the last of this into the cargo hold. The Jedi Master over there told me to assign you to protecting it for the trip back to Commenor.”

“Uh, why me?”

“Cause she says you haven’t really done much else while you’ve been here.”

“That’s not… entirely true.”

“Look, you wanna take it up with her, that’s your business. I’m just the messenger.”

Cato peeked over from behind the man to see the aforementioned master giving him a glare that nearly rivaled his sister’s. “Alright, I get it... Can I take a porg back with me?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, fine.” The knight slumped his shoulders in resignation, understanding yet despondent about his ability to be of much use right now. It wasn’t even as if his injury was inhibiting him from helping out, but his motivation seemed to have been thrown to the wind as well.

The captain, both cognizant of Cato’s sullen look and wholly uncomfortable with reassuring this man he had only just met, offered him an awkward pat on the shoulder, “Don’t think much of it kid. It’ll be easy, trip back is just a bit of a slog. Besides, you’re not the only knight who got stuck on guard duty...”

 

[Cadere]

Normally, Cas was itching at the seams and rearing to go but... this wasn't so bad. Sitting at the edge of the cliffside overlooking the cobalt sea, the Kiffar inhaled deeply through his nose as the fresh air blew through his dreadlocks, currently he was fiddling with his cybernetic arm's wiring and processors. There was... something oddly calming about this - maybe it had something to do with the First Jedi Temple being here, who knows?

Still healing from his injuries, the Jedi Knight was instructed to only take on small-scale assignments which was, begrudgingly, what he was doing right now. Overseeing an excavation of a series of new Jedi artefacts, boring stuff but at least it got him off of Kashyyyk. Holding his hydrospanner in his mouth, Cas used his right arm to close the casing over the arm's wiring before subsequently rolling down his sleeve and putting his leather glove back on.

"Tynen!" a voice called out to him, Cas' hydrospanner fell out of his mouth as his shoulders jolted in surprise - was it a Jedi spirit talking to him? His thoughts were swiftly rationalised when he swivelled around to meet the gaze of a Jedi Master. Eyes still locked on her, the Kiffar felt around him to find the hydrospanner he dropped "Yo, I was... uh, making sure we wouldn't get attacked by any sea monsters." Cas joked, thinking he was going to be chewed out for not doing his job properly.

"I see you haven't been doing much either." she observed, finally grabbing his hydrospanner Cas raised his arms in surrender "Got me. In my defence, this is really boring and who's ballsy enough to try and rob us here?" the Knight admitted shamelessly. The Master let out a disappointed sigh at the Jedi Knight, folding her arms she gave him a stern look "Well, it's your lucky day - you and another Knight will be overseeing the transfer." she instructed him, pursing his lips together and nodding "Alright." Cas agreed. Normally he'd add some pushback but maybe there'd be some excitement found guarding the ship.

Standing up to his feet, Cas flicked the hydrospanner into the air and placed it across his belt before giving the Jedi Master a playful salute as he passed her. Making his way to the transport freighter, Cas saw the Knight he'd be accompanying - the guy looked Human but as far as he was concerned he could be wrong. Nodding and smiling as he approached, Cas greeted his fellow Knight "How goes it, fellow Knight? I believe I am to be accompanying you on this wonderous adventure." in an over-the-top Coruscanti accent.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

After a few careful stretches to limber up, Cato trudged towards the ship to watch the remaining cargo be loaded on board. He hung idly on one of the hydraulic pistons that lowered the entry ramp, looking back to see another individual approaching, who he could only presume to be the other Knight. The exaggerated accent in which he spoke was enough to pull a smirk across Cato’s lips. Without hesitation he joined in, parodying the same voice, “Ahoy! It would seem that way, my good fellow! I would be most glad to have your company this fine day!”

He saluted and slid back down the ramp to meet him, “Cato. Professional cargo spectator, occasional Jedi. Hope you’re ready to stand around and do nothing on a spaceship. for the foreseeable future.” Stepping past his new partner, he gave one more look back at the dig site. “A shame, really. I was having plenty of fun standing around and doing nothing here.”

The ship’s engines began to hum, and the hull rumbled to life as the last of the current haul was loaded in. The captain’s voice called out from further in, “Oi! We’re gettin’ ready for takeoff, lads! Get your butts in here!” Cato looked to Cas and shrugged, once again turning back to the ship and stepping up the ramp. “I’ll be glad to be back, honestly. I’m starving, and good restaurants are sorely lacking on this planet. Got any plans for when we’re back on terra firma?”

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

Cas snickered as the other Jedi played along with his bit - it was always a pleasure to meet a likeminded comedic genius like himself. The Knight came to meet Cas, introducing himself as Cato, folding his arms the Kiffar flashed him a smirk as Cato passed him "Cas Tynen. Part-time Jedi, part-time troublemaker... all around heartthrob, nice to meet you." he quipped as he turned around to find whatever his companion was looking at "At this rate, anything's better than watching a bunch of history geeks dig around for artefacts." he answered smiling.

"Aw, be honest, it's the porgs that you're really gonna miss. Look at that one staring at you, I think she likes you..." he quipped, nudging at Cato while using his other hand to point at a porg. Joking aside, as the ship fired up and the sound of the captain's voice instructing them to get onboard prompting Cas to let out a quick exhale through his nose before following Cato up the ramp. In response to the other Knight's question, Cas ran a hand through his dreads "There aren't? Man, and I wanted to try some fried porg." he said, faking a frown, returning to a normal expression shortly after he continued "In all seriousness - I don't know, man. I guess... I could hound the higher ups for another assignment because... I can't stay on Silver Rest for more than a week." Cas admitted, sighing - Silver Rest was too relaxed for Cas' active nature.

As the ship took off, the Kiffar stretched his shoulders in a forward rotation before making his way to the main hold and sat down in front of a Dejarik table. If Cato was also in the main hold, Cas would lean back and kick his feet on top of the Dejarik board while resting his hands on the back of his head and ask "Tell me if I'm wrong but I get the sense this isn't really your scene. Why're you out here guarding ancient books and other artefacts?"

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

“A pleasure.” Cato nodded to Cas as he introduced himself. “Heh, yeah I spent more than enough time learning this stuff in paddie classes. I wouldn’t exactly call the field work much more engaging.”


He followed Cas’s point over to one of the many porgs that inhabited the island, “You’re not wrong. Captain said I couldn’t take one back with me.” Cato gave an exaggerated frown, before they made their way towards the ship.

“Afraid not. From what I’ve seen anyway. Which has mostly been rocks and ocean, so...” He shrugged, clambering up the ramp and into the ship’s interior. “Ha! I getcha. I haven’t actually been around Silver Rest for a bit. Moved into the new temple on Commenor, so that’s where I’ve been stuck. Still get pretty antsy myself, but the change of scenery at least gives it a different feel than Kashyyyk.”

The ship soon left the atmosphere, and soon after the captain punched in their coordinates. The stars stretched and warped until the only view from the portholes was the mesmerizing vortex of hyperspace. The trip would be long and boring, most likely, but Cato had a fondness for ship travel at least.

Entering the main hold after Cas, he leaned against a nearby wall and crossed his arms. “Nah. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bit of a geek, but this work isn’t my style.” Cato exhaled, wincing slightly at the pain still lingering from his abdomen. “I was with a team back on Voss. Got a little… busted up. Got this to show for it, too,” He smirked as he ran his thumb across the scar that marked his left cheek, wearing it as a badge of sorts. “So, long story short, I haven’t really been cleared for anything more fancy than this, so I’ve just been keeping busy where I can.”

A few moments passed before the Captain trudged from out of the cockpit, looking at both of the Knights, “Alright. We’ll be on this lane for a bit before we have to come out of hyperspace to switch routes again. It’s a bit of a slow trip, seeing as the Unknown Regions ain’t exactly known for being well traveled. Just sit tight, and don’t break nothin’.” Cato smiled and nodded along. He was plenty aware of how boring it was, given the trip to Ahch-To.

The Captain turned back into the cockpit, and Cato resumed his chat with Cas, “Could ask the same about you. You don’t exactly strike me as Cas Tynen, archaeologist extraordinaire.” They would soon be approaching the end of their current hyperspace route to reposition. It made things a little more tedious than a single continuous route, but every so often there were pit stops between them that were worth visiting. Like a road trip.

They were also popular hotspots for pirates.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

Cas frowned slightly upon hearing Cato was a resident of Commenor - for quite some time he'd wished to transfer but unfortunately, his responsiblities kept him on Kashyyyk. "Known each other all of five minutes and I'm already jealous of you. I decided to stay on Kashyyyk because of my Padawan, but... trust me, I'll be on Commenor soon." Cas proclaimed, holding a thumbs up.

In the main hold, the Kiffar sat up slightly to make eye contact with Cato "I guess it makes sense, you do have that geek-ish look..." he responded with a serious tone before grinning immediately after "I'm joking.." Noticing Cato's look of discomfort, he sat up a bit more to see what was up before Cato finally explained he was on Voss too. A smile began to form on his face but before he could reply, the Captain came through and explained how long they'd be.

Once turned and left, the conversation resumed "I was on Voss too." Cas revealed... sounding a little too enthusiastic, well, he was happy that they liberated the planet is all "I'm here for the same reasons you are then." he confessed, pointing at his own cheek scar that he received on Voss "Had my back sliced up too, the Temple healers practically forced me to take it easy until I'm 100%. Kriffin' boring." he said, shrugging with the memory of his duel with Darth Insatious bubbling to the surface, leaving a dull look in his eyes.

Snapping himself out of it, he blinked tightly before taking his legs off of the table and leaning forward. Activating the dejarik table, he scanned its contents before moving a few pieces around the board "I hate this game, but it's probably the best way to pass the time."

Some time would pass before the freighter would eventually exit the hyperspace route but before the pilots could chart their next course - Cas sensed a fleeting disturbance before feeling the ship rattle causing the Jedi Knight to stumble forward and cling onto the table for support "I don't think that was turbulence." he reflexively quipped, smirking awkwardly. Sliding out from his seat, Cas darted toward the cockpit and what he would find was the freighter under attack by an armed frigate "It's pirates!" the Captain proclaimed. "Do we have any weapons?" Cas asked, eyes focused on the commotion outside the window.

"Y-yeah! We have a turret, the gunner seats are at the top and bottom!" the Captain answered sounding shaken up, and understandably so. Wordlessly, the Kiffar rushed toward the ladders and climbed his way down to the bottom gunner's seat.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato chuckled, “Makes sense. Well hey, once you are on Commenor, I could show you around. There’s this great pizza place I found in downtown Chasin City, that’s just…” He let a chef’s kiss do the explaining for him.

Cas’s ribbing at Cato’s expense was easily caught on to. He responded with a fake frown, sighing as though recalling an old tragedy, “Yes, I’ve learned to come to terms with it...”

After the captain came through, he turned to Cas, smiling back as they found something else in common. “You can say that again.” Still, he couldn’t exactly complain that the chances of getting shanked in the pancreas were much lower here. Cato joined him at the dejarik table, more than happy to have some way to pass the time, at least.

As the time passed, Cato had gotten a little more invested in the game than Cas apparently, his senses lagging behind that of the Kiffar and only just catching himself from face-planting into the table from the sudden rocking of the ship. “Guess we’re in for a bumpy ride, after all.” Sure enough, the captain confirmed the arrival of pirates, and Cato wasted no time hopping into action. He looked to Cas with a smirk, and nodded before taking off to the opposite gunner’s seat. “Get us on route, Cap’n! We’ll hold ‘em off!”

Once he reached the top gun, Cato looked outside to see the aforementioned raiders. A large frigate, marked and painted with various pirate iconography was on their tail. A few small fighters burst forth, closing the distance and beginning to fire on vital points of their transport. “These guys mean business!” He began firing on the nearest attacker, he flew just past the transport, dropping a hail of laser cannon fire across the hull. “Ten credits says I can bag more than you!” Cato smirked, as he swiveled the gunner seat around to return fire. The pirate fighter flew back around for another run, but as it got too close, Cato found his mark, striking the cockpit dead-on and causing the fighter to spiral out of control and explode into pieces. “That’s already one down!” He cheered, readying himself as the other fighters continued to dance around their ship.

Behind them, the frigate readied a pair of heavy ion cannons.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

"Ten credits? You're on!" Cas proclaimed confidently as his hands clasped around the weapon's systems. Not only did he have to keep this freighter safe - his ten credits were now at stake. On the bright side, this was some action he definitley needed. As he swivelled the weapon's systems around and about, aiming at the swarming fighters he reached out with the Force to sense his adversaries' intentions, giving him an edge over them.

After biding his time, the Jedi Knight positioned the bottom cannon and lined up his shot as two fighters passed each other. Timing it right, Cas shot off a laser bolt that pierced through both fighters during their passing "Yes! Two in one!" he exclaimed when he saw the fruit's of his efforts. Unbeknownst to the Jedi Knight as he was busy with the fighters, the pirates' frigate began to warm its heavy ion cannons and subsequently felt the freighter tilt as the shot went off in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack.

Unfortunately, the ion cannon's shot managed to hit the transport's hyperdrive - causing the freighter to tumble. Following that, the Captain's panicked voice yelled through the comms "This is the Captain! They've hit our hyperdrive, we're trapped!" the Kiffar felt dread wash over his body "Kriff..." he muttered under his breath. Then he realised, the smaller fighter's were a distraction - to divert their attention away while the frigate deactivated the hyperdrive.

Then the grappling harpoons came, when it impacted with the freighter's hull it rumbled once more. "They're reeling us in, Cato." Cas stated getting out of the gunner's seat and beginning his ascent up the ladders. They'd messed up. Badly. The least Cas could do right now is try and defend the ship against the pirates that were about to board, igniting his lightsaber the Kiffar rushed to the outer airlock and readied himself for the pirate's to come through. They weren't getting anything on this ship, that was for sure.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato pulled the trigger as another fighter flew alongside the transport, the line of cannon fire trailing behind before it caught the fighter’s engines, causing it to spiral out of control before blowing up. He heard Cas call out his own hit, to which Cato half-jokingly replied, “That still only counts as one!”

He readied another shot, only to find that his turret had stopped working, and just after, the transport began to lurch before slowing to a drift. The auxiliary systems booted back up for the ship’s internal workings, but as the Captain confirmed over the restarted comms, the hyperdrive was fried. “Oh. Wonderful.” Cato muttered as he slid down the latter.

The frigate’s harpoons began to pull them ever closer, and he joined Cas in the airlock as they prepared for the boarding party. Igniting his lightsaber in tandem, the silence of the room was filled only with the hums of their weapons as they awaited the next move. Cato shifted in place, unable to help himself from asking out of the corner of his mouth, “So, how many did you actually get?”

Not long after, the security on the airlock sparked, before disabling from the other side. A pregnant pause hung in the air, until the door flew open and a group of pirates poured in. Most of the initial vanguard wielded melee weapons, and the small room quickly became cramped as the two Knights had to fight to keep their space. Cato quickly took out the first one, disarming his vibrosword and throwing him back into the crowd of oncoming raiders. One of them, a large Gamorrean, barreled through, slamming Cato into a wall and disarming him in turn. He fought through the pain that erupted in his still-injured abdomen, grimacing as the brutish figure and recoiled, “Jeeeez, you ever hear of a toothbrush, pal?” Still more pushed in, overwhelming the two Knights even further.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

Cas gritted his teeth, dreading the inevitable question from Cato "So, how many did you actually get?" and without missing a beat nor allowing a single pause between the question, the Jedi Knight quickly flipped it around "You first." with wide-eyes but they quickly relaxed as he fell into a smirk. The smirk then faded when the airlock door sparked before being bust open.

"Surprise!" Cas yelled as he leapt at the first pirate, a weequay, and over them simeultenously spinning himself around and gripping the back of the weequay's head with the FF-CAR1 and promptly pulling him onto the floor, slamming him into its cold, hard surface "Sleep on i--" he couldn't even finish his quip as he was promptly tackled from behind and into a wall by a Devaronian, causing his back scar to flare up. Pinned against it, he tried to push himself off but the Devaronian's superior strength was causing issues.

For an Ataru practioneer like Cas, this was the worst situation to be in. Relying on erratic and acrobatic movements to overwhelm his opponents, it was practcially impossible to do in this area. Still straining to push himself off of the wall with the Devaronian's forearm pressed onto his back, Cas let out a pressured chuckle at Cato's comment before quickly glancing at his new friend's predicament. Unable to resist, he had to chime in "What... did... you expect! His teeth... are...yellower than my lightsaber!" the Kiffar retorted in between his straining.

Enhancing his strength with the Force coupled with the added strength of his cybernetic arm, Cas managed to create enough space between the wall and himself where he could plant the sole of his boots upon the metallic wall "Hey, before you get this up close and personal with someone... buy them a drink first!" he grunted as he kicked off the wall, causing himself and the Devaronian to hit the floor. Quickly spinning around, he jumped on the horn-headed creature and promptly sliced off their hand with his lightsaber before colliding his boot with their face, knocking them out.

Amidst the chaos, he saw Cato's lightsaber on the ground and summoned it toward him with the extension of his right arm. Igniting its white blade and crossguard, he smiled "Never held a crossguard before. Cool" Cas wouldn't be able to marvel at it for long as four pirates came at him. Extending both weapons outward and in a 360 spin before finishing off in a crouched position, Cas had bisected two and severed the legs of the other two - quickly, the Kiffar rushed to Cato and the Gamorrean before plunging Cato's lightsaber into the piece of bacon's abdomen, with its tips mere inches from its owners. As it dropped to the floor and its deathly wound smouldered, Cas quickly handed Cato his lightsaber before leaping back into the thick of it "The smell of smoking Gamorrean is weirdly making me hungry! What does that make me?" he rhetorically asked aloud "WhoamIkidding, I've heard the stories about pirate delicacies. Not impressed, guys!" Cas continued, fighting off as many as he could.

Although... he could feel himself growing overwhelmed by the pirate's forces, as much as the reckless Knight hated to admit it.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato had to consider for a moment how to negotiate his way out of admitting his count first, but before he could the pirates were already on them.

He stifled a chuckle at Cas’s comment, “S-stop! If I laugh I’m gonna have to breathe it in!” The knight grimaced as he tried to turn himself away from the Gamorrean’s unfortunate halitosis. Cato reached into his coat with his free hand, whipping out his blaster pistol to try and get a quick shot on the brute. The shot reverberated throughout the room, striking the pirate in the arm but not doing enough to take him down. He now wrenched Cato against the wall by both arms, even lifting him off the ground a few inches. It left the man in an awkward situation that he wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to, “Uh… I mean I’m not usually the one in this position…”

The sound of another lightsaber igniting made Cato crane his head around the pirate to see the action, “Ey! Careful with that!” He called to Cas as he saw him take both weapons in hand. His fellow knight made quick work of the incoming pirates, which even Cato couldn’t help but express his impression by whistling. His own blade plunged through the Gamorrean, just shy of Cato’s chest, “I swear if you end up stabbing me…” He gave a nervous laugh before taking the weapon back, nodding as he composed himself.

Taking his pistol back, Cato fired several rounds at the raiders rushing in before joining Cas in the fray. “I was already pretty hungry when we started, so…” He paused, jerking back to see a few pirates pushing past the scuffle and towards the door, attempting to reach the ship’s interior, “Ooooooops!” He fired a shot at one, hitting their hand, “That’s not yours! You should at least please fir-” Mid-quip Cato was socked in the face by a stray fist, making him stumble backward. One would think he was used to that happening by now. A few of the pirates made it inside, and he found himself caught between them, and the others still engaging them.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

"You have a blaster?!" Cas exclaimed between swings, cutting through the pirates that were overwhelming him. From his periphrial, the Kiffar noticed some of the pirates manage to sneak through - with a pirate grabbing the wrist that held his lightsaber, Cas threw his free arm forward and blasted the pirate away and into a few others with a Force push.

"Cato, go! I got this!" the Jedi advised before getting punched in jaw seconds after. Nearly falling to his feet, Cas recovered as quickly as he stumbled twisting his body around and striking the various pirates that surrounded him with his lightsaber. It was getting too crowded. Cas leapt upward and landed on one of the pirate's shoulders "Sorry boys, you were getting a little too close for comfort and your 'odors' don't help either." he quipped widely swinging at a few more pirates, cutting their blasters in half.

Then, out of nowhere, a stray blaster bolt scraped passed his shoulder "Dammit!" he exclaimed, clutching at his injured shoulder with his free arm as the force of the bolt knocked him off the pirate's shoulder. Falling hard onto the ground, he heard a gruff voice exclaim "I got him! I got the Jedi!" as the Jedi Knight tried to get back up, his vision went hazy when he felt a hard boot connect with his chin.

Cas slumped to the floor, eyesight darkening and sounds muffling - with the last words he heard being "First one's down, boys! Get the next one!" before finally passing out.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

“You should try one! They’re pretty handy!” Cato responded as he fired another shot. He gave Cas a doubtful look, but relented and ran towards the door. If those pirates got a hold of the artifacts, or destroyed them, then it would all be for nothing.

He managed to push his way through several more pirates, breaking into a sprint for the door, only to receive an immediate lariat to the face. Cato flew flat onto his back, looking at the world upside down as he saw Cas being overwhelmed. “Uhhh, you’re not supposed to get knocked out! That’s my job!” He rolled over and tried to stand up, only for the same pirate who struck him to plant a heavy boot on his spine, slamming him back to the floor. Several others rushed in and joined in on the beatdown, before Cato too fell to unconsciousness.

The Knight awoke to the sound of clinking chains, his vision returning to give him a view of the holding cell he was placed in. His arms were tired and strained, and he pulled his gaze upwards, to see that his wrists were chained up, dangling from the ceiling. Next to him, Cas had been similarly chained up. “Cas! Hey, psst!” He gave a harsh whisper, cutting himself off as a pair of their captors passed by the door to the cell, chatting amongst themselves,

“Looks like we really hit the jackpot with this haul.”

“No kiddin’. Lotta folks out there that’ll pay big time for a Jedi.”

Once he was sure they were out of earshot, Cato resumed his attempts. As expected, most everything had been confiscated by the pirates, except his scramble key. He had taken special care to keep it hidden, just in case of situations like this. “Thank you, coat, for all of your secret pockets.” He whispered to himself before pulling it out with the Force. He started by flinging it at Cas’s face to wake him up. If it worked, he'd pull the key back to his hand and try to get Cas's attention, “Yo! Don't scream! Also, keep an eye out for guards!” Promptly swinging himself up so that he hung upside down, he wrapped the chains around his wrist to pull himself up. Then he could begin trying to unlock his restraints. The tech was crude, he deduced it wouldn’t take long. “Tsk tsk tsk. So uncivilized.”

Once he had finished, he would offer the key to Cas. Or if the Kiffar wasn’t inclined, he would do it himself.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

Images flashed, bouncing around in Cas' mind, images of him and Cato fighting more pirates. The sound of blaster fire and lightsabers echoed. Followed by the cackling of an electro-staff. The final image that flashed in the Kiffar's mind was a large Dowutin, twirling an electro-staff and standing opposed to the Jedi Knight while Cato was wounded in front of the Dowutin.

Cas was brought out of his vision when he felt something small and cold hit his head, his eyes shot open and he murmured "I'm up, I'm up..." while glancing around the area. They were in a holding cell but the surroundings were different, were they on the pirate's frigate? Hearing a chain rattle, Cas glanced upward to see he was tied up "What the--?" but then he remembered Cato, immediately drawing concern onto him before turning to see his fellow Knight... upside down on his chains. With a puzzled look, Cas whispered "That's not good for your brain, y'know."

Once Cato freed himself of his binds, only then did the Kiffar realise what he was doing in the first place. Accepting the scramble key from Cato, Cas used the Force to levitate it from the Knight's hand and elevate it to the keyhole in his chain cuffs, unlocking them. Lowering his arms, Cas rubbed his wrists and complained "The cuffs were unnecessarily tight." with an eyeroll.

However, before they could do anything, Cas only felt it was right to inform Cato on the vision he had while unconscious. Halting him by placing his hand against the Knight's chest, he began to explain "Listen, I had a vision - the captain, I think he's a Dowutin. We fought him but he managed to wound you..." with a look of concern, Cas bit his lip slightly "What I'm trying to say is, when we face him. Be careful. Don't do anything I would do." implying to not be reckless or foolhardy like the Kiffar.

With the warning out of the way, they needed a plan of escape. With their lightsabers seized they would need to play it smart instead of gung-ho. Noticing an electrical panel in the wall opposite of their cell, Cas lifted his fingers slightly to tear the panel from the wall as quietly as possible - exposing its wiring "You wouldn't happen to be good at slicing by any chance would you? Some fancy Force-enhanced slicing?" Cas passingly asked as he stared at the exposed wires, knowing that if he tried anything it'd make things 10 times worse.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato shrugged, “Neither is repeat concussive trauma. Buuut it’s part of the job description.” He flipped down from the chains once he was freed, and began watching for more guards while Cas broke himself out.

With the job done, he prepared to move forward before Cas stopped him. He regarded the Kiffar with a raised brow, “Me getting hurt? Sounds just like any other mission.” Cato joked, ready to brush off the warning until he saw the genuine concern Cas gave him. “...I’ll play it safe. You don’t have to worry about me.” He trusted the other knight well enough, so he would go along with it for now.

Now ready to get a move on, Cato watched as Cas ripped off the panelling, and given the look on his face seemed to enter a state of pure bliss at Cas’s question. “Ohhhh, thought you’d never ask.” He rubbed his hands together before getting to work. He moved his scramble key over towards the panel, and manipulated both the tool and the wires using the Force. “Careful now, just one little snip-” He jolted as if expecting something terrible to happen as soon as he cut the wire, but instead the light on the panel switched green, and the door to their cell had unlocked. “Man, I’m good.”

Cato ushered Cas out into the hall, and began to creep through the corridor. “Wonder where they’re keeping our stuff. Think the Captain has ‘em? Maybe they-” He cut off his train of thought, and threw himself to the side of the large doorway in front of them. Two pairs of footsteps rounded the corner and were making their way in the Knights’ direction. The same pirates who had just passed earlier. He gave Cas a look, using vague hand gestures to try and communicate what they should do next.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

Cas' concerned expression evolved into a pleased smile once Cato heeded the Kiffar's warnings, Cas was certain Cato was a formidable Knight who could handle himself but still wanted his ally to be safe. With that, he felt more at ease about the oncoming fight with the pirates. They've got this.

"Heh, stage's all yours." the Kiffar said grinning mischeviously at Cato gesturing toward the open panel. Cas began to skip in anticipation as he waited for Cato to slice their way out of the holding cell, when that was over the Kiffar raised an eyebrow and smiled at his fellow Knight "You had everything all under control... right?" he asked teasingly as he folded his arms. With that, he followed Cato into the hall way all stealth like, the tawny-eyed Knight was almost finished with a question when he quickly cut himself off and simeultenously threw himself to the side opposite Cato.

Acknowledging Cato's hand gesture, Cas grinned devilishly at and held his hand out - making a gesture to 'wait'. Finally as the two pirates rounded the corner Cas throat punched one of the pirates with his metallic fist, stopping him from alerting anyone else, before using the same arm to low punch his stomach to wind him. As the pirate bent over, attempting to gasp for air Cas grabbed him by the shoulders and threw the pirate behind him, forcing him to land on his front side. Stepping over him to crouch down, the Kiffar proceeded to grip his arm in a wing lock.

"And that was just a taster of what I'll do to you if you don't tell us where our lightsabers are. Now spill?" the Jedi whispered in a half-quippy and half-threatening tone. Gasping for air still, the pirate responded in a raspy pained voice "Th-they're... they're kaff they're with the captain..." assuming Cato had apprehended the other pirate, Cas glanced over at Cato for a brief second before looking down back at the pirate. In the blink of an eye, Cas' arm connected with the pirate's face and his body slumped, unconscious, "Thank you."

Standing up to his feet, he turned his body to face Cato "Welp, you were right." he sighed "Looks like we'll have to rely on the Force until we get to the Dowutin captain." Cas stated, sounding disappointed slightly. They also had to find him too, that was another issue in of itself.

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

As Cas took down the other guard, Cato grabbed the other, putting him in a chokehold and pulling him behind the wall. He laid the pirate against the floor as he finally stopped struggling and fell into unconsciousness.

Cato crouched beside Cas, letting the interrogation unfold as he watched. He returned the glance and gave a shrug, both of them reaching the same conclusion. The guard was knocked out, and they were left to deliberate amongst themselves. “D'aw, they look so cute when they’re asleep.”

He stood up and began to glance around the hall for any signs for their next step, “Guess we’ll need to start looking,” Cato hummed with a smirk, “We probably shoulda asked him where the captain actually is.” The knight continued down their original path, “If we find a proper access panel, I should be able to connect into their system, and get the layout for the ship…” Cato reached into his coat, only to pause as a confused look grew on his face. He patted down his coat pockets before the confused look turned into a pout, “...Right. They took my datapad.”

He stood there for a few long moments of silence, finally sighting and clapping his hands together, “Not to worry. We’re smart guys, we can figure it out. Uhhhh....” He said with a hint of sarcastic self-deprecation.

“Hey! Okay! Well we know we were just in the brig. So if I had to guess security is probably pretty close to here right? We just gotta find it, take out whatever suckers are in there, and then we have access to everything inside!” Cato began sneaking around, cautiously trying each door they came across until hitting one that was locked from inside.

“Good a guess as any.” He said as he pulled out his scrambler key once again, making quick work of the lock. The door slid open, revealing a few pirates inside acting as security, two of them sitting at a table and playing a game, with the other lounging in a chair as he lazily watched the cameras. "...Sup." Cato stood in the door awkwardly for a few moments, before flinging the table up and into the face of one of the card players with a casual flick of his wrist. The two remaining guards sprang up, and Cato tackled the other one at the table to the ground. Meanwhile, the other began to reach for the alarm.

Cadere​

 

[Cadere]

"They do, don't they?" Cas lightheartedly replied, arms folded as he looked down at the unconscious pirates. Cas gritted his teeth in embarassment once he realised he should have probably asked where the captain was, scratching at his temple with his index finger, Cas kept his gaze on the pirates "Yeeeeeah, in hindsight that wouldda made sense." he agreed in shame. Listening and nodding along to Cato's plan, it was a sound one, he followed behind the Jedi Knight when Cato had concluded.

Stealthily making their way to security, Cato unlocked the door with his scrambler and surprised the pirates guarding the room with the Force. "Hey, was wondering if you could tell us where the bathroom was?." Cas quipped as he watched one of the pirate's reach for the alarm, quickly, Cas threw his arm out and summoned upon the Force to freeze him in his tracks "Now don't get so handsy! I was just asking a question!" he proclaimed in a lighthearted tone while pulling his arm back and subsequently haul the pirate away from the alarm.

Landing in the middle of the room, Cas b-twisted toward the pirate who was starting to get up and once the Kiffar landed in front of the pirate. It was all over. The Jedi Knight quickly reached down and delivered a knockout punch. Shaking his hand off, Cas turned to face Cato "How's it going, buddy?" he asked with a smirk.

Once that was all over with, Cas approached the security console and scanned over the monitor. Pressing a key, he flicked through the cameras before coming across a live feed of the pirates' captain located on the frigate's bridge while surrounded by a group of his men. "There he is." he stated, backing away from the monitor, placing his hands on his hips as he got a broader view of the monitor. Addressing Cato while looking at the monitor, he confessed "I'm not really one for plans - I just get lucky, and you seem like the same type. So, --" he paused, turning his head to face Cato with a smirk "You ready?"

Cato Harth

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato wrestled with the last pirate, pinning him to the floor before delivering a final knockout punch across the jaw. He stood up and rubbed his knuckles, coming up behind Cas to look at the camera feed and confirm, “How ‘bout that.” The Knight peered closer, grumbling at what he saw “Chit, our captain is in there, too.” Sure enough, surrounded by the Captain and his guards was the pilot of their ship, alive, but no doubt in trouble.

A stupid grin grew across Cato’s face as Cas laid out the game plan, or lack thereof, “You always know just what to say,” He walked back to one of the unconscious security guards, confiscating one of their pistols and regarding Cas with a nod, “Let’s boogie.” No reason to stay, he made his way out of the security room and back into the hall. “Man, if that guy messed with my lightsaber, I’m gonna be sooo pissed." Cato paused, before correcting himself, "I mean, the artifacts are important too, I guess. But my lightsaber..."

They followed the path to the captain’s bridge, and Cato stopped his partner at the corner just shy of the door, “Alright, so if you’re right, this fight may not go so well for me. Wanna lead the charge?” By all means, Cato would gladly charge head first into possible danger, but he opted to heed Cas’s warnings in this case. Just before they could step out, a guard jogged towards the bridge door, nervously sliding in with the door shutting behind him. Cato gestured for them to follow, and he leaned in close to the door to eavesdrop. From within, a few voices could be heard, including the muffled groans of their injured pilot.

“Sir. Report from the lower decks.” The guard mumbled.

“Hmmm… What did I say about interrupting?” came the much lower, and notably irritated voice of what one could only presume to be the pirate ringleader.

“W-well, it’s just that, something happened in the brig…”

The voices continued while Cato pulled back and looked to Cas once more, “Sounds like we’re on the clock,” He gestured to the door, “Will you do the honors?”

Cadere ​

 

[Cadere]

"Oh yeah, he is." Cas replied in surprise to Cato's observation as he hooked his fingers to his chin, he didn't notice the captain at all on the feed. Following Cato into the hall, Cas chuckled at the other Knight's conern over his lightsaber, he felt the same way but kept it to himself "Don't sweat it, Cato. I'll give my life to make sure we get your lightsaber back in one piece." he teased, flashing the human a wink.

Nearly reaching the captain's bridge, Kiffar would turn to face Cato as he was stopped by him, producing a confident but mischevious smirk at his fellow Knight's question. While he didn't answer the smile was enough of an answer. It was for the best anyway, Cas didn't want to risk Cato getting injured as he already had enough guilt weighing on his shoulders from all of his previous failures to defend others.

The sight of the pirate sliding through and onto the bridge, Cas nodded at Cato's instruction and followed behind him, planting his ear toward the bridge's door. Hearing enough of the conversation that transpired beyond the doors, Cas gave Cato an affirmative nod and used the Force to activate the bridge door's security panel. As the door swung open, the Jedi Knight charged through yelling "Surprise!" spreading both arms out and unleashing a powerful Force push. In the split second window he had, Cas spotted his and Cato's lightsabers attached to the pirate captain's belt.

Without giving the pirates any time to react, Cas used the Force to propel himself off of the ground in a wide leap in the direction of the pirate captain. The Jedi handspringed over the large Dowutin's shoulders and landed behind him before yanking off one of the lightsabers on his belt at random. It was Cato's. "Cato! Go long!" he exclaimed before hurling the crossguarded lightsaber over the captain's head and in the direction of his fellow Knight. For now that was all Cas was able to do since the captain growled in anger and backhanded Cas away from him "Jedi scum!" the Dowutin snarled as he unclipped Cas' lightsaber and ignited it.

"Oh, kriff..." Cas groaned as he was regaining his bearings, sitting up from the floor "Uh, you want the Captain or do you want the others?!" he called out to Cato amidst the deafening blaster fire. This... could have gone better. Now they needed to make sure their captain and the pilot weren't injured amongst the chaos he had just caused.

Cato Harth