Brother, Is That You?

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She rubbed her arms as she sat on the container, trying to overhear the conversation in the other room. She couldn't make too much out, but something about a child and leaving her be. That was probably a good sign. She doubted they would exactly like each other, but hopefully they could tolerate each other in silence.

Maybe she'd get lucky and the same would apply to Milo, too. He had been a bit nicer to her after his prodigy almost killed her, but that was probably because it wasn't exactly great for business.

She saw Milo come out of the room and she stood up, trying to adjust to the relatively tight clothes. She really wished she'd brought a change of clothes before she met with him. She nodded, and gave him a small smile in return. Sure, she totally didn't believe the no quarrel part, but at least maybe they could fly in silence with each other.

"I think we will. We better get to it."

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo nodded, striding to the cockpit to fly them to the salve camp. Eventually, Freya emerged from her room, eyeing Cass suspiciously before joining her father. She didn't tell the woman anything, though, so that was a plus.

"Cass, come here!"

Milo called out from the cockpit to his client, trying to get her attention. Before them were the outskirts of the raider camp, and even from up high, they could pick out defense features, amount of people, and terrain.

"How do you want to do this? Loud or quiet?"

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Cassiopeia eyed Freya suspiciously in return to her looks. She stayed quiet, and did her best to look away. She really didn't want to get into another fight with Freya. She didn't have the patience or time to do it. She had a mission, after all. So, she sat back down and simply waited for them to get to the slave camp. Maybe he would be here. Maybe he would have been sold off by now.

She could only hope they find out.

She perked a brow as her name was called out. She was a bit surprised that he called her Cass, considering it was more of her nickname. She stepped into the cockpit. Wow, that was fast. She thought for a moment, "We can do it quietly at first, but I kinda want to make sure they're all dead." She hated them for the misery they put on people, but she wanted to make sure they wouldn't hurt the other slaves.

 

[Milo Ren]

"Kill them all. I like it."

Milo gave a slightly bloodthirsty smile as he turned the gunboat around, landing just a few miles away from the camp. It was enough to allow the group to attempt a silent infiltration.

"Same drill as before. Listen to me at all times. We'll find Jacob."

At that last part, Freya rolled her eyes, then unholstered her pistol in preparation. Milo grasped his lightsaber, giving a look towards his client.

"Ready to go?"

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She nodded her agreement although his smile did give her a slight shiver. They had a bit of a hike towards the camp, but it wouldn't take no more than a couple hours. Plenty of time to avoid them and think about her near death experience. Technically, that was her second time of being nearly killed by Freya. Interesting.

She grabbed her blaster pistol, reloaded its cell pack, and reloaded on her knives. All in all, she was ready for some more combat. She wasn't usually one to be ready to fight this much in a day, but she was running on some adrenaline at this point anyways.

She ignored Freya and nodded. "Let's do it." As the ship's landing thing went down, she exited and took in a moment before beginning to walk towards the slavers.

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo quickly caught up to Cass, walking next to her while Freya trailed behind them a good distance, giving the woman a glare so strong it could burn a hole in the back of her head the entire time. Milo unclasped a flask from his belt and took a quick swig before handing it to his client. A whiff would tell the woman that it was an alcoholic beverage. Corellian whiskey.

"Liquid courage. If you want."

Freya, from behind the two, procured her own flask and took a gulp. Milo wasn't the best parent in the galaxy.

"What do you know about this camp? Can we act like customers, or is this a transport point?"

Milo's green eyes locked on Cass with a hard look, formulating a strategy in his head.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She mainly stayed quiet and looking ahead. She could feel the gaze from behind her, from Freya. Part of her just hoped he was alive so she could throw it in her stupid face. But, she had decided to completely ignore Freya unless something happened in combat.

She was pretty sure Freya might try to get her indirectly killed in the line of fire, too, so she had mentally decided to stay relatively far away from her once they were in the camp.

She perked a brow as he handed a flask towards Cassiopeia and she perked a brow. She thought for a moment before giving a 'oh hell, why not' kind of look. She took it and took a relatively large gulp and sighed with content as she felt the whiskey burn down her throat. Luckily for her, university had prepared her for the burn of liquor. She barely even made an outward appearance as she handed back the flask to Milo.

She shook her head, "It wasn't something we really knew about. It's both from what I got - people would buy here, if someone wasn't purchased, they'd send them somewhere else." That was a couple years ago, but most likely nothing had changed. She looked at them and perked a brow, "I'm not sure if we'd pass for customers at a slave camp, though."

She accidentally locked her eyes on his before looking away. His eyes were too intense (not to mention in general nice to look at) to look into.

 

[Milo Ren]

"We can do it. Just let me do the talking. If it goes to chit, we start killing. Hell, once we got what we came for, the entire place is going up in flames."

Milo observed Cass as she gulped down a large mouthful of whiskey without so much as even a flinch. Damn. That was almost impressive. The former Ren took the flask back with an upraised eyebrow. Her blue eyes locked onto Milo's for a moment, and his gaze grew slightly wary. He could feel a smattering of emotion behind her. Whatever she thought of Milo, it would probably be best for her to keep those thoughts to herself. But at the same time, the man was tempted to keep his gaze on hers for a while. The heat of battle and dealing with her emotional turmoil had drawn the hardened man closer to Cass, but he was cautious still. She would only be another weakness of Milo, another target of opportunity for those who wanted to hurt him.

Freya, still behind the two, nearly drained her flask in a long, controlled guzzle. It had been a long day for the young woman, and she wanted to prove to both herself and to Milo that her drinking game was just as strong as Cass'. With a large belch, she placed her almost empty container back on her belt and continued to glare at Cass, albeit with a more hazy look.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She nodded, "Sounds like a good plan to me. Especially the kill all of the slavers in there part." After all she would be more than happy to stay quiet, but she was mainly content with burning every single one of those It was something she'd have to deal with though and she knew it would be worth it in the end.

She made no comment or made it seem like she noticed any weird reactions to her drinking the flask. It probably would surprise them, particularly Freya since she thought she was so weak.

Although, she took a deep breath as she looked away from Milo. The feelings that fluttered in her chest caught her by surprise. She didn't feel like they even liked each other even in a friendly, friends way until a little while ago. After everything, she really couldn't imagine actually liking him like that. Could she? Their lives were too different, though. She mentally nodded. No way it could ever happen.

She perked a brow at Freya's loud and rude burp but otherwise, stopped walking as she pointed towards the camp. The sound of crying, the sound of laughter and drunken jerks, and then... The smell of death, burnt flesh from torture, and relatively nasty smells. She lowered her voice, "It's about 15 minutes walk now."

 

[Milo Ren]

"All right. I've got a plan. Throw your bags to the side over there. You too, Freya."

Milo would procure some cord from his own bag while the two women did as instructed. Once they were done, the former Ren cut the cord into two separate pieces, then went behind Freya.

"Hands behind your back."

Freya complied. She was restrained, tied by the wrist. Milo then moved on to Cass. He got close, close enough that she would be able to feel his breath on her neck as he tied her up as well. He worked gently, yet firmly, his rough hands brushing past her soft ones on more than one occasion. He stepped back, job done.

"Perfect. Now, the cords aren't too tight. If you pull your wrists out hard enough, they'll come loose. I'll conceal your weapons for you."

Milo then took Freya's blaster and tucked it away in the folds of her jacket. He then moved on to Cass, taking her knives and blaster and likewise concealing them, which required his hands to be in some slightly personal spaces on her body. Oh well. Milo doubted that Cass would mind.

"All right, you two. Follow me. Look downtrodden and defeated, and let me do the talking."

With that said, the trio moved forward, towards the slave camp.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She nodded and took her backpack and put it on the ground next to Freya's. She carefully covered them up with grass and tree limbs, so they would be unrecognizable.

She perked a brow as she watched Milo tie Freya up. She knew exactly what was coming and she really wasn't sure if she was ready for it. What if he actually ended up selling her? Freya would be happy - and they'd have some extra credits. She knew that was crazy thinking, though. "I believe it's kind of like the other one - the leaders are near the middle of the camp."

She took a breath and let him tie her wrists and her skin danced feeling his breath dancing along her neck, his hands rubbing along hers. She cleared her throat and did her best to avoid eye contact with Milo. She felt very exposed and a little nervous about the whole situation. Or was she just nervous because he basically tucked away weapons and got really close to some personal spots? A part of her felt like he was doing the slight touches, the hands in almost inappropriate places, on purpose. "You better not actually sell me," she semi-joked.

She nodded and immediately went into character. It wasn't hard to do, considering the few days she had been having. Just being back on Chroma Zed was enough to make her feel defeated.

With that, though, they began towards the slave camp. About 15 minutes later, they walked through the gates to the expansive camp. Cassiopeia shook her head as she tried to block out some of the sites, particularly of the kids who were starving, beaten, and all sorts of horrible things.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Milo shook his head at Cass' attempt at a joke. Sell her? He would never sell another person, no matter what the crime they committed. He knew how horrible life was as someone's property.

15 minutes later, the three were in the slave camp. Cass and Freya did a good job at their parts, looking in general depressed and defeated. Good. Milo acted hardened and aloof to the suffering around him. However, his eyes did rest a moment too long in the children's section, and a great rage flickered on his face for a moment.

"Oi, you there! Who the kark are you? And whaddaya got?"

The harsh string of words came from one of the raiders. It seemed he was one of the entry guards. Milo gave him a cold, hard look before responding.

"Got some prime females to sell. You got a problem with that, chuba-face?"

The guard gave the trio a wary glance before allowing them to pass.

"Next time, bring actual restraint cuffs. That cord ya got them in there is too easy for the worms to snap out of."

The disgusting man ran a hand across Freya's face. Milo could literally feel the rage nearly exploding from her, but to her credit, the young woman stayed in character. The three continued on into the slave camp, heading to the heart of it, where there would most likely be some sort of ledger. Meanwhile, the two women were gawked at by various species of buyers and sellers in the camp, some of which made their observations vocal.

"How much for the two dames?"

"Quite a catch, eh?"

"One with the short hair looks like she'll kill me in my sleep, but I'll take the blonde!"

Milo made sure that none of the spectators did anything more than spectate as he marched them forward.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

It was a bad joke. But it was only half a joke - part of her was looking for some type of reassurance. It wasn't the typical type of reassurance, but the shake of his head and the general cold response made her relax. He wasn't going to and she could tell. She should have known he wouldn't either, but she had to be cautious. She didn't know them well. Sure, she may have weird tingly feelings for Milo, but he was still a mercenary kinda guy and Freya is just itching to kill her.

She closed her eyes for a moment as they passed the kids. They had to get them out of their. Lots of them were natives to the planet. It nearly broke her heart seeing so many slaves... People in the camp. Had it gotten worse?

She winced as a guy yelled towards them. She kept her head to the ground, letting a couple fake tears fall for good measure. She used the side of her eyes to watch him, particularly as he rubbed his hand against Freya's face. She was enraged by the action - sure, they had a mutual hatred of each other, but no one deserved to be touched by someone like that.

The comments from passerby's ate away at her, but she her facade going.

After a few more minutes of walking, they would finally reach a very large tent with people coming in and out. It seemed to be the center of the operations. It looked like it might operate as some type of registration area, based off how people were dragging their slaves out of the tent and putting them into a pen next to the tent. She could see somewhat who was in there through the entrances - several really fat people, at least 6-8 guards, lots of blasters. It would be a tight spot to try to get get information but it would most likely be where they needed to get to.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

"Stay close to me."

Milo would move forward, his two slaves in tow. The registration tent was a hive of activity. Good thing about that was that it would be easy to blend in. The former Ren dragged the two women to a book keeper, who looked somewhat bored and ready to go home. He hardly glanced up from his ledger as he spoke.

"Name, species, and gender."

"You will allow me to look at the ledger."

Milo projected his will upon the mentally weak raider, twisting his opinion and making it his.

"I will allow you to look at the ledger."

The book keeper stepped back, and Milo went to work, tearing through the pages with speed. It was paramount that he located Jacob's whereabouts before anyone spotted him. Good thing the books were in alphabetical order. He made his way to the J's, then kept going down from there.

"Jacob C. Human, male. Sold several months ago. Destination: Nar Shaddaa. Vendor: Hssksk. Trandoshan. He's the only Jacob C. on the list. It's got to be him"

Milo relayed this all quietly to Cass in a whisper, which was slightly hard to do with all the clamor.

"Let's try it out, see where it goes."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

He didn't have to tell her twice. Who knew how this would go once they were inside the tents - there was no order, no rules, nothing that could ensure this wouldn't end badly. The sooner they could get out of the camp, the better.

In either case, she stopped in front of a book keeper and she perked a brow as he asked for the name, species, and gender. Sheesh, they really didn't try to keep detailed records. She knew better than to say anything as she looked directly at the book.

Although, a few seconds later Milo had done his Jedi tricks on the guy. It seemed too easy, honestly. It was, however, very interesting to watch. She had some force sensitivity but had no real way of knowing how to use it. She continued to look like a slave, though, while Milo searched. Although, she did have her eyes skimming the pages as he flipped through. How'd she tell him if she saw him first, she had no idea.

Luckily, though, he found him. It was the only Jacob C. Cassiopeia's face almost brightened before it became dark quickly. She couldn't break her character right now, but she nodded as Milo spoke quietly and quickly to her. It was hard to hear with all the people around them but she got enough of it. Nar Shadda. A few months ago. Trandoshan. The species that bought him made her heart sink. That wouldn't be good.

She nodded quickly. To Nar Shaddaa aka Smuggler's Moon they had to go. It would be pretty damn hard to find Jacob on that ecumenopolis, but she believed they could. They had too.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

"What the kark are you doing near the books?"

An angry raider stepped towards Milo, grabbing him by his leather jacket. Busted. Milo leaned forward, his face almost centimeters away from the human's, and spoke in a low tone.

"I was locating someone. Your book keeper said it was ok if I check the books."

The book keeper snapped out of his Force-induced haze and shook his head vigorously.

"I never said that!"

The raider turned back to Milo, but before he could do anything, the former Ren had his slugthrower aimed at his gut. Milo pulled the trigger. A thunderous rain of death sprayed out, turning the raider's midsection into paste, sending him flying across the large tent.

"Let's go!"

Milo holstered his weapon and procured his lightsaber from the folds of his jacket, activating it. The blade sprung to life with a hiss, the pure white blade contrasting with the dirty interior of the tent. He choose his first target, a sluggish Gamorrian, and neatly lopped off his head.

"Freya, Cass! Free as many slaves as you can! Go!"

Freya snapped out of her bounds and grabbed her concealed blaster, downing another raider who was about to attack Milo. Most of the slavers and their wares who were in the tent took cover, careful not to become part of the brawl that was about to ensue.

Freya turned to Cass and called out to her.

"My dad can handle the muscle. We should focus on freeing slaves."

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Crap, crap, crap. They were busted. They were so busted. Cassiopeia's mind fluttered with several possible scenarios about what to do next -to make sure not only her, but Freya and Milo would make it out okay. Although, really, she figured they could handle themselves. At least better than her.

Cassiopeia was already loosening her bounds. Not enough to be noticed, but enough that she had a head start if stuff hit the fan. It was only seconds later that, yes, indeed, poodoo hit the fan.

She easily slipped out of the bounds, grabbed her blaster & her knives, and were ready. She nodded towards Milo, figuring he would be okay. Most of the hut'uun ducked & hid. They weren't here to get killed, even though they did deserve to die.

She saw two guys coming up behind Freya as she downed someone who was about to get Milo. Throwing one of her knives, it went through one of their throats, and luckily, went through the other guys too.

She nodded to Freya as they exited the tent. Free the slaves, that was their ultimate goal. Upon exiting the tent, however, the rest of the camp had become chaos. The people who wanted to buy the slaves were fleeing in droves, the guards heading towards the tents, and some of the slaves had begun to fight back if they had the ability too.

Cassi used her blaster to shoot off the guards, vendors, and the purchasers as she immediately began moving towards the children's section - they had to be gotten out first. If all this went to hell, at least they could get the kids safely out.

They were terrified but a couple of the older ones knew this was their chance. Cassiopeia shot at a few of the guards that were trying to protect the "cargo" but they were quickly shot down as bullets and lasers whizzed past her. It was only a couple minutes later that she opened the gate they were being kept in and began rushing them out.

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Freya looked behind her at the two men with throats torn open, then gave a slight nod to Cass. Whatever the case was, whatever feelings the two had between them, she would respect Milo's will and protect Cass. At least for now.

The young woman exited the tent with Cass, and likewise began to lay down a volley of fire from her own blaster at anyone who was taking arms against them. She provided covering fire as Cass freed the children, herding them out. She gave then direction, yelling over the din of battle.

"Get out of the camp! Run to the forest! Go!"

The children heeded her instructions, running to the wilderness beyond the camp. They would, for now, be safe. They would definitely not want to be in the area when the gunship came around.

Milo, in the meantime, was occupied dispatching the camp's security. He wildly hacked away at slavers and raiders alike, choosing wild power over form as he cut down scum after scum, occasionally freeing a slave and giving them the same direction as Freya.

"Run to the trees and stay there!"

In a pause amidst the chaos, the former Ren telepathically reached out to Freya, giving her a message.

'We're out of here in five. Make sure all the kids are safe.'

Freya relayed that to Cass as she took a shot, taking down an angry Quarren who refused to part with his young Zeltron slave.

"We're leaving in five minutes. Make sure we got all the kids out!"

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Well, they had to get along for now at least. In life or death situations like this, they had no choice but to get over their feelings.

She was grateful for the cover as she got all the children out and pointed them towards where they needed to run. She gave a couple of the older ones some of her knives so they would have some type of self-defense if necessary. The fact that she had to give weapons to protect kids tore at Cassiopeia's heart. She couldn't wait to blow this camp sky high.

She got the kids out. They were all exiting the camp by now when she glanced towards Freya. She nodded, "Gotcha." She went back into the small camp to check the corners & possible hiding spots. No one else was there. She ran back out and nodded, "Clear. They're out."

Pulling her gun up, she starting shooting down some of the slavers that trying to run out of the camp. "Can't wait to light this place up," she muttered as she kicked in the head of the Quarren that Freya had just shot down.

Several older slaves were running towards them and she motioned towards the forest as she tried to herd them out of the camp as she waited for further orders. "Get out! This way!"

[member="Milo Ren"]

 

[Milo Ren]

Freya watched as Cass cleared the camp. It looked like all slaves were gone. She sent Milo another telepathic message.

'The camp's clear. Let's get out of here.'

Milo was just pulling his blade out of a slaver when he received the message. Pulling out a comlink, he punched in his coordinates. From where they landed, his gunship's engines fired up. Soon, the corvette would launch, coming down to pick the trio up, the ship's crude autopilot piloting the ship.

'Ship's on the way. Let's meet at then entrance of the camp.'

Freya tapped Cass' shoulder to get her attention.

"The ship's on the way, schutta. Let's go."

With that said, Milo and Freya would move to the entrance. By the time they got there, the ship would be landed, ramp down, ready to rain death down on the camp.

Milo jogged forward through the chaotic remnants of the raider's camp. Besides corpses, it was mostly now empty. It put a slight smirk on his face. He was glad that he had purged a piece of the scourge of the galaxy.

[member="Cassiopeia Caranthyr"]