Private Cloak & Dagger

[Talsin Lota]

PRECEDING THE CORUSCANT INVASION

Talsin was enjoying the lounging life. The training at the temple had been hard, but satisfying and just laying on the couch was great. Nobody else was around... which was just as well for Tal. He liked them, yes, but he also enjoyed sitting around alone while listening to music and doing exactly nothing. Well, not nothing. He had a very important job currently. It involved a certain purring mass curled up next to the couch. Amos didn't yet trust him enough to settle on his lap or on his chest, but he allowed him to gently pet his head.

This is exactly what Tal was doing.

The one arm hanging off of the couch was petting the creature sleepily.

Ring-ring-ring.

Ring-ring.

Ring.

ring-RING-RING.

"God- what the-" He pulled out his phone and realized it was Tansu sending him a message. Not him directly... to the group chat, but everyone else was either on red or offline. Except... Talsin sighed. Him. Apparently Tansu had found her way into a salvage yard for the Galactic Alliance military. Which seemed like an insane thing to do, but apparently with the government abandoning Coruscant, security was lax to none existence in these places. She... needed help. "Should I... I don't know, Amos, maybe I should go and help her out?"

Gazing with one eye over the edge of the couch.

The cat licked its paw and rubbed its face into the couch.

"You are of very little help, you know that, right?" Then he sighed and got himself up off the couch. One hour later Tansu would get a ping from her datapad... a proximity ping from the one and only Talsin. That would probably make her very annoyed since Tal assumed she had been hoping for anyone other than him. But here they were. The ping was getting closer... and closer. Yet Tansu didn't see or hear Talsin anywhere.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

It was both the luckiest day, and unluckiest day. Lucky because from her elevated perch poing, she could see the skeletons of not one, but two, X-02 models. Perfect for her and Talin! Vintage, damaged, but probably flyable.

Probably because she hadn't been able to get close enough. And that was the unlucky part of the day. She'd need help with getting deeper into the scrapyard before any of the security droids got ahold of her. Aunty A would be furious if either Tansu or Talin had yet another run-in with the law. Her lack of fortune deepened when her sister didn't respond to her ping, heck, she'd have even taken Dax's help — but Talsin was the one who ended up being the most available. It was his beacon indicator that showed up. A tiny display on her screen with a proximity map and a nickname she'd given him in her contacts floated through the vectors and lines that replicated Coruscant's map.

Pretty Boy was supposed to be...less than 10 meters away. But she couldn't hear or see him.

"Is this thing broken?" She muttered, and gave it a shake.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"No, it just doesn't know how to handle me." He murmurs into her ear from behind. "So, what are we doing?"

As Talsin curiously looked over her shoulder at the scrapyard stretching out in front of them. In the distance he could see a few droids patrolling, definitely a skeleton crew. But if they saw a few there would presumably be much more out there hidden from sight. That could be a pain in the ass. Especially if they were slaved to a bigger security system that could call the guards on them. Then again, who gave a shit about a scrapyard, really.

Especially when there was all the hints of an invasion looming...

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

​

"Ah! Chit!" Tansu jumped from the startle, and bumped unpreparedly into him (why was he so close!), nearly completely fumbling her binocs. "You snake! Howd'ja do that?"

Maybe because she hadn't heard him over the distant hum of machinery creates a constant, droning backdrop.

She touched her chest to steady herself after the sudden scare and held out the binocs to where she supposed his eye-height was. If she guessed right, he'd see a zoomed-in view of the objects she intended to target. Nestled somewhere near the far wall, in line for the compactor.

"Here to lift those vintage kittens. X-02's, from years ago. Lin and I are familiar with the model, and I gotta buncha parts that can outfit 'em to be a force to reckon with.

I wuz originally gonna lift 'em myself, synchronize their flightpaths and ignitions with a neat piece-o' tech Kyric 'n me lifted from Dee-Ee space but, uhh, I don't think I've got the time for that what with that compactor bein' active and all."

Beneath their feet, the ground trembled as a heavy-duty compactor mercilessly crushed another forgotten relic into a more manageable size.

Massive cranes, their creaks echoing through the air, swung overhead, moved heaps of scrap from one section to another. The main security wall, separating the scrapyard from the rest of the city, was only the first layer of defence. The second was towering metal piles of rusted starship carcasses, twisted girders, broken droids, and other unwanted debris, creating a faux barrier around the perimeter. Flickering neon lights cast an eerie glow over the wreckage, making the junk shimmer unnaturally and lit the thin layer of rising steam with colourful clouds.

Even operating on a skeleton crew, the scrapyard operated as a frenzied hive of industry.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Utilizing the shadows, stepping into the sounds that occur as they happen." He says calmly as he looks through the binocs and makes sense of what they were after. Talsin wasn't really a starfighter guy, so he didn't know the value of the ships. But clearly Tansu had experience with them, so Tal had to trust her expertise in this matter.

"They look... nice." It was hard to come up with a compliment for scrap in a scrapyard, but Tansu was very enthusiastic about it. "Gonna be tricky... if even one of those droids spot us, they will immediately alert the other ones."

And with everything on high alert... something told Talsin they wouldn't be shooting to disable.

"You sure those 'fighters are worth this?"

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Only Talsin could say ut-tih-lizin' so casually in an explanation and make it sound effortlessly smooth and colloquial.

"Is that why you took so long?" She sounded less impressed, more vaguely irritated. But his half hearted compliment of her find seemed enough to refocus the conversation.

"Right? Thats what I thought! Not mint condition of course, otherwise they wouldn't be in here but the shell looks sturdy 'nuff. And from what I can see, the big pieces are all there." She pointed at the air where she thought the components would be all that ways away. "Engines, thrusters, etheric rudders, exhaust vents, weapons, S-foils, duh of course — it's just the guts I'm none too certain about. But I'm hankerin' to bet on 'em."

A nod acknowledged his concern about the droids and she tapped the zoom function on the outside of the binocs. Two fingers gently nudged the trajectory of the optical enhancers to the direction of the compressor.

"I reckon there're a few ways to do this. One is disabling or stalling that compressor as a distraction to buy some time to outfit the X-Wings for a great liberateshun."

He questioned whether or not it was worth the risk and Tansu nearly felt her gears shift, ready to go on the defensive or even plea if she needed to. She was excited for her find, the idea of taking to the skies, and eager to activate a plan. All these headrush, buzzy emotions came out in a tangle of babble and over-talking.

"This is the only way Lin and I are gonna be able to do any flyin' of use. 'Specially with that countdown feelin' everyone's got goin' on about Coruscant's doomsday. There's no way we can get through the air academy in time to prove our chops, trust me we gottem, AND we can't make credits fast enough for all the charges we gotta cover. Let alone purchase anythin' like this fair and square. There was that one guy's speeder, and your bike, and .. HEY! While we're here, we should maybe keep an eye out for your cayuse huh? Maybe we could drag it out and tune it up if we find it?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Talsin wanted to point out that they weren't the kind of age to go into a starfighter to take the war to anyone.

They were barely out of their teenage years and didn't even have a locked in Jedi Master. It concerned Tal greatly. He liked the group they were in, but sometimes he didn't really think they were realistic about these things.

He would never say this outloud however.

"I... Maybe." He said calmly as he took the binocs in his hand now and peered through it again.

"I see a route for us. We would need to move quickly. It's droids, so we need to hide from their line of sight primarily. With the crusher in operation we don't have to worry about their audio receptors hearing us..."

This was crazy. Tal chewed on his lip as he gave the binocs back.

"I think I can lead us through the yard... Unseen. You would have to follow me with no hesitation or deviation. Can you do that?"

To the compressor controls first and then beyond. It would be a really tricky thing to do, but Tal thought he could manage it.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Evidently Talsin didn't share her enthusiasm for the prize nor the scenario. But Tansu wouldn't deflate. She was born to be a hero. She just needed a ship!

"You do?" She perked up and refastened the binocs to the strap that stretched across her torso.

"I.. what?" Unarguably following his steps? Blind faith? She frowned. He was a sneaky sonofaschutta, that much had been proven with the dejarik, his sudden appearance here but.. enough for her to just agree to not argue whatsoever?

"Can you point out an overview at least or somethin' first?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

It was a bit much to ask blind faith from her when only a few weeks ago they were ready to kill each other. Even he realized that. He nodded and extended his hand, gesturing a path forward softly. "There is a rhythm to their stride. One, two, three turn. One two three, turn." He murmurs as his attention stayed on them.

"Then it changes every third turn. If you follow behind me, I can walk us right past them without them ever noticing us. Do you see?"

And... perhaps she couldn't see. Talsin had always been good at this. First at dancing, finding the rhythm of everyone around them and slipping into it himself without skipping a beat. And then later during his wilder years when he was getting into trouble.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Tansu tried her mightiest to see what in the dickens Talsin was talking about. She squinted, stretched and shook her head.

"No." Came as a flat admission, although she seemed undeterred by the lack of mutual comprehension. "But worth a shot."

Both hands tugged on either side of her hat's brim to settle it lower on her head and lessen the chance for it to become windswept. It was her wordless way to communicate readiness.

"Count us down, snakey. Guess I'm followin' your lead."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Sure thing, cowgirl." He muttered as he focused intently and then began to count.

One, two, three, -turn-

And he slid down against the slope of garbage. Making it look almost easy as he faded into a shadow right on the perfect count.

And he assumed Tansu was right behind him.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Amidst the clamor, the scrapyard's security system broadcasts regular announcements, crackling through ancient speakers mounted on rusted poles — Attention: The use of unauthorized power tools is prohibited. Ensure all equipment is approved and registered with scrapyard administration.

It was part of the background noise Talsin seemed to be in beat with. Tansu tried to perceive his count, and found her concentration rewarded with the faint mouthing of numbers he was making.

"I'll try'n make this easier for ya. My sister 'n I meld all the time, haven't so much with others yet but.." She ballooned herself out in The Force, making herself something to find and link with. Most of the personnel on staff were droids, and thus wouldn't be alerted to her machinations. And she didn't suspect any Sith to be around, and alerted of their presence. If there were, that'd be a much bigger problem.

She poked a toe after him, then let herself scale down the first slope of garbage. A few loose pieces tumbled after her, and tinked their way down the hill of junk.

Slightly wide-eyed, she looked to Talsin to see if that threw off any of the counting. Then she looked around them to make sure nobody was suddenly converging on their position.

All seemed well. She gave a thumbs up.

Notice: All hazardous materials must be disposed of in designated containers. Failure to comply will result in fines and possible expulsion from the scrapyard.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

He saw her thumbs up and nodded. All serene and grace. Not because Talsin was trying to impress her, but because being tapped into the Force made you one with your surroundings.

It was hard to be angry with someone when you felt so close to them.

He moved again right when turn was breathed. They slipped between two droids right as one turned clock wise and the other counter clockwise, allowing them to perfectly slide between the two with no visual contact made.

They continued for a moment as he kept counting. Until something happened, Tal knew it was discord in the harmony.

His hand raised in the air in a fist, the universal army gesture of freeze and wait.

Except maybe Tansu was too busy looking at her surroundings to realize he had frozen up right in front of her...

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Step after step was like the barnyard dances on Friday nights. A whole group of people, strangers and friends alike, moving as one to a shared beat. That's how Tansu moved now, feeling the rhythm shared from Talsin as they stepped and slipped across bent up bars, pipes, beams and other shapes that jut from the heaps of throwaway metal.

Safety alert: A malfunctioning droid has been reported in Sector 3. Exercise caution and report any sightings to security immediately.

They'd seemed to have moved so deeply into the compound that Tansu couldn't immediately place which sector they were traipsing through. Was it three? Where had they started? Where were they now? Four? Five? TEN??

She turned to look, a subliminal response to the soundless turn in her head, and saw nothing, but felt something.

A consequence of following suit meant she had more speed at her heels, constantly playing catch up. Thus, when she collided with Talsin, it wasn't a delicate step into his back. It was a full-force impact that tripped her up, and, unluckily, him as well. Big unstoppable force and immovable object energy. And his fist was right at her nose, too!

"Hyoof!"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

The malfunctioning droid stood up right before him. If they paused right here... and waited for two more breaths, he'd continue its broken trajectory and turn the corner around the big pile of scrap. It would be tight, but they'd just about manage-

Something collided with his raised fist indicating for them to stop and with the rest of his body. It was no mere simple bump, this was a full on crash, that send him flying into the malfunctioning droid. He managed to just about avoid smashing his face into the metal, instead shifting his head away from his nose. This time it wouldn't be broken. Instead the whole left side of his face felt like it was on fire, his shoulder too.

The droid's light flashed from malfunctioning yellow to red as it reared around and raised a thick metal contraption to smash the offending collision object.

<< Warning: Object Out Of Bounds. Prepare for- >>

He reacted quickly, igniting his lightsaber and stabbing it right through the eye. Burning through its brain and deactivating it immediately. The droid halted and then fell to the side. "Oh... feth. I think I got it fast enough, the rest of the facility hopefully didn't activate yet." Tal turned around to check with Tansu. "Everything okay? I said to stop- oh sweet Force, your face. Oh that looks awful." Which probably wasn't exactly what Tansu wanted to hear right now.

The alarms started to sound across the facility.

That wasn't what Talsin wanted to hear.

"We need to move fast."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

By the time Talsin activated his saber, stabbed the renegade droid, and assessed the situation, Tansu had done a whole good job of not falling over, and pressing both sides of her nose in to make sure it wasn't broken —it wasn't. Not even out of sorts. But it was bloodied. Talsin had been so steadfast that it had been like walking into a stone incarnate, rather than flesh and muscle.

"I didn't see," she muttered, and dragged the sleeve of her oversized leather jacket across her lip to wipe the blood away. "I'm fine."

Previously ambient scrapyard noise suddenly shifted, abruptly pierced by a jarrring alarm. Harsh, metallic and echoing, the klaxon bellowed urgency, alternating between high-pitched wail and a low, throbbing hum.

"That seems real over the top." Tansu said, and took an involuntary step deeper into the kerfuffle near the spark spattering droid at Talsin's feet.

As the alarm continued blaring, a voice crackled through the crackling PA system, distorted but clear enough to convey a certain amount of gravity to the situation: Alert! Alert! Security droid Alpha-7 has been disabled in Sector 3. All personnel are to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the nearest security terminal. Repeat, security droid Alpha-7 has been disabled in Sector 3. Enhanced security protocols are now in effect.

"That too." But she nodded at Talsin, agreeing with the need for speed. But before taking off, she grabbed at a loose piece of pipe, and shoved it into the eyesocket hole Talsin had created.

"Just in case, throw 'em off the light stick scent for a bit. It was malfunctionin' right? Maybe it tripped." She explained, and pushed after him to start their darting run and clear out of sector 3.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Guess they really fucking value their force-damn scrap." He muttered with slightly widened eyes as he looked all around them. The rhythm was gone. The beat by which he had slid them through the eye of the needle. Now it was a cacophony of sounds, hectic, the vibrations off and Talsin was getting worried. It was clear he was worried by the set of his jaw and the tightness in his shoulders. Thankfully her stabbing of the eye shook him out of the funk.

"That... yeah, good job." Rubbing his brow and starting back into a walk.

It was... difficult to get back into the groove, but Talsin had to trust the Force. It was just difficult to do so when half your face felt like sandpaper and- The Force alarmed him once more and this time he didn't make a fist to stop Tansu.

He wasn't sure her cute little nose would be able to handle it again.

Instead Tal yanked her with him to the side... into a careful shadowy nook where their bodies were pressed together close and his hand settled over her mouth. He raised a finger to his lips, the universal sign of shut the fuck up. And it became clear why soon enough. As a set of security droids marched their way past them right where they had been a moment ago. The new rhythm was difficult to catch, but Talsin was making headway.

Wow, her face was real soft, huh?

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

A noise of surprise hopped out of Tansu when she was yanked from her trajectory. There was no sure footing in their path; the entire ground was made up of loose bits and bobs that amalgamated and hardened over time, and it was all too easy to slip. And slip she did, making herself easy to shove around. Talsin caught her and yanked her into an alcove that looked poorly suited for two. If he'd consulted her beforehand, it would have been a hard no. But there wasn't time, so all he got was her knee-jerk shock and protest.

"Hey—mmph!" Her mouth tightened behind his palm, initially in anger. Her eyes, narrowed and glaring, softened as she noticed his finger pressed to his lips. Understanding washed over her. He'd feel her face relax beneath his hand, her eyes widening with realization. The threat of discovery hung heavy in the air, amplifying the tension in their cramped hiding place. So much so that it took Tansu an extra handful of seconds to feel the uncomfortable poke of his sabre and the accidental legwork tangle that happened to make small space work. Were her cheeks pink from the pressure of his palm or something else?

No time to worry about all that! Not while heavy metallic footfalls ricocheted through the arc of their tiny nook. She avoided looking directly at Talsin and kept an eye on the opening they'd darted through, watching shadows gather and pass.

Her hands were stuck at her belt, and she worried that if she moved them some random pipe, wire, bracket or other offcut alloy would creak , slip, and give their position away. So, instead of pulling Talsin's hand off her mouth, she poked her tongue out between his fingers and furrowed her brows at him.

"I fnk we're ok." Came out muffled beneath his palm.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

He had been distracted.

By making sure they wouldn't be discovered, of course! Nothing else. Not the softness of her face or the way her jaw- nope.

"Oh." And he pulled his hand off of her mouth quickly. "I... yes. Yes, I think so... too?" Talsin blinked down at her and this was the first time his face didn't have an arrogant or self-confident grin plastered to it. It almost looked like vulnerability for a moment. "Sorry about your nose, it... is really painful, I know." He mutters gently before sliding out of the nook and back into the open. A quick glance around told Talsin that they were in the clear.

For now.

Once Tansu was behind him again he'd resume the path and remarkably the rest of the journey was without incident. The alarms were still raised, but the droids seemed to be looking elsewhere for now.

"Okay. There they are." As the starfighters loomed in front of them. "I will reprogram the crusher, you get these beauties ready?" Did he really just call them beauties? Well, they looked better up close than they had at a distance.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"It's okay." Tansu whispered and watched his hand drop away. Her cheeks were still bright pink. If it weren't for the shadowy concealment of the nook, she'd be exposed. And the longer she looked at his face, so close to hers, she warmer she felt her face get. "I shoulda been lookin' where I was goin'."

She exhaled heavily when he left her in the nook to check if the coast was clear. It felt like a moment of repreieve, where she could catch her breath and make sure all her vitals weren't off the charts. Her hands and stomach were buzzy in a way that didn't feel like anticipation. But didn't feel like anything else she could understand, either.

"Ok, great." Was all she said when she emerged from the little cocoon of closeness and back into the junkyard. Her nose had nearly been shattered but that didn't give her as much of a headrush as those few seconds crunched between scrap metal. Whatever was going on with her would have to be figured later, they had a job to do, and Talsin seemed to find the beat that he'd found earlier up until she'd messed it up.

One foot after the other, the rhythm shared between them until they reached their destination.

"You did it!" Tansu squealed, and gripped Talsin's bicep enthusiastically. She gave it a squeeze and nodded, hurriedly darting off, realizing she was too eager, skidded to a stop, and ran back.

"Okay, in the event one of these ain't into takin' up on the program I'm tryna connect them to, I might needja to fly one of 'em." Her voice was hushed and hurried. "Couldja do that?"

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Talsin Lota
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