Private Damsel in Distress

[Riona Dajaal]

Attire: xxx
Tag: Judah Lesan Jr.

"You're going to pay for this!" Riona said, spitting on her captor's shoe.

"No, no, princess," he said, sneering. "We're going to get paid for this."

His rather large companion grinned. "A fat lot of credits too."

They shoved her into a cell-like holding area within their ship's cargo bay. Riona hit the metal floor hard, her hands being quite useless as they were bound together behind her back. She could hear their echoing laughter travel the ship's corridors. But soon, their footsteps grew distant and an unsettling quiet filled the cargo bay -- until the engines kicked on. Riona jolted at the sound and sat up.

This ship was really leaving.

These men really were taking her... somewhere. Riona had hoped it was all some kind of cruel game, a ruse, perhaps -- they'd demand ransom credits from her father. He would pay them. And she would be free again. That's how it went in her mind. However, now she was beginning to see that this was not going to work out the way she wanted. Their greedy hands had stolen the jewelry right off her body, and the sleeve of her dress had nearly been ripped off during her capture. To think, a simple ride through the countryside on her horse would have turned out like this.

She'd normally be gone half the day. It'd be hours before her family even realized something was amiss. Riona didn't have a clue where she would even be then. As the ship rattled through the atmosphere, she felt her lip begin to quiver. And though, she told herself she was too proud to cry... she sobbed.

***​

Much later, she was pulled from the cell -- and the lightest sleep she'd ever had -- and marched down the ramp of the ship.

The sting of the sun and dry air met her eyes. "C'mon," said the big man, and grabbed her by the arm to escort her to... "Where are you taking me?" Riona demanded.

"To the market," he answered.

But Riona only blinked at him, she didn't understand.

"Slave market, princess," the other man clarified.

 

[Judah Lesan Jr.]

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Riona Dajaal

Slavers. They were as annoying as Nal Hutta cockroaches in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant. It did not matter how many of them one eliminated, several more popped up in their place. Judah knew it was a seemingly fruitless endeavor, but all he could think was that whatever he could do would make that part of the galaxy safer.

He tried to blend in, but that was difficult. JJ was not the shado his father was. He was quicker to action and would prefer the fight direct rather than sneaking around. This time he did not have much of a choice as he was alone. Did he intend to fight? Probably, but he needed to know his surroundings first.

It was that which gave him the opportunity to overhear a conversation that he was not supposed to hear. There was a princess going up for auction. She would pull a hefty price no doubt, and one Judah could not afford to pay up. His mind was more than made up. Despite not being a shadow, Judah was going to have to sneak in and get her out. He hated the idea that he would likely not rescue all the slaves up for auction, but this news changed what he had intended…

…unless…

Judah had to take out the slavers before making an attempt at freeing the “cargo.”

He walked around the area, getting a good layout of where every one of the guards were. One by one he took them out with relative easy, leaving the direct slavers to deal with. It seemed they were not going to leave their prize unguarded. That was fine. With the guards out of the way, Judah could easily handle two brutes. It was not like they were expecting a Jedi to show up right in front of them brandishing a green bladed lightsaber.

The familiar snap-hiss was music to Judah’s ears. Naturally the slavers stuttered a bit while the reached for their blasters.

The Rodian shot first.

“Greedo… you’re just going to make him mad!”

“Actually we don’t really get made… more like annoyed.”

Judah deflected the blaster bolt as he stepped closer.

“You see… no matter how many times we deal with the likes of you, you don’t seem to get the picture that slavery is bad, and kidnapping princesses is even worse. Now if I were you, I would drop the keys and run along before I put the pointy end through the fleshy bits of the bad guys.”

They nodded, dropped the keys and ran off.

Judah chuckled to himself as he opened the cell door.

“Anyone looking to get out of here? Gotta hurry, they always go get friends.”​

 

[Riona Dajaal]

​

Attire: xxx
Tag: Judah Lesan Jr.

Riona sat cross-legged on the... dirty ground of her cell.

She'd attempted to reason with her captor's and even to bargain with them, but they'd just laughed rudely in her face. Now, she was beginning to resign to her fate. The noblewoman imagined what it might be like to be shoved onto the auction block and what sort of unsavory characters shopped these horrid markets. The thought of being bought by some awful man...

Her shoulders shook as she shuddered, soul-deep.

But, nearby commotion drew her attention. Riona's head snapped in the direction of the yells and sounds of fighting. Her blood ran cold. This could be good... or it could be even worse. She knew what kind of people came to the slave market to buy, but what of the people that raided the markets? Were they looking for... free wares?

When a man wielding a light-saber appeared, she could only watch as the confrontation unfolded. Until one of her captor's fired his blaster, then Riona squeezed her eyes shut and didn't open them again until an unfamiliar voice addressed her. She looked up at the man, the one with the saber. He didn't have the same... slimy quality that her captors had. But Riona also knew that looks could be deceiving.

"W-who are you?" she asked as she got to her feet.

Her eyes shifted in the direction that the other men had gone. So, this newcomer was definitely not on their side. That was a relief. She was wary, but she had no other choice it seemed. Trust this stranger? She turned slightly to let him see her hands bound behind her back. "Cut me free," she said, moving her wrists against the ropes to punctuate her point.

If he indeed cut her free... then she'd feel better about leaving here with him. And if he did not... she would know his intentions.

 

[Judah Lesan Jr.]

Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Tag: Riona Dajaal

Who are you?

That was not quite the greeting Judah was expecting. JJ was carrying a lightsaber after all, and he did get rid of the slavers, for now at least. Either the woman sitting on the dirt floor did not know what a Jedi was, or she was being overly cautious. Either way, there was not a lot of time to explain himself. At least she offered a way for him to show he was trustworthy.

A quick slash of his blade and the bonds were cut free. He motioned toward the door with a cant of his head.

“Name is Judah, my ship is that way, and those guys will be back with reinforcements if we don’t go now.”

He looked at her, waiting to see if she would actually go with him. Unfortunately the slavers did not have to go far to find help. Whoever was running the auction, or sponsoring it, had sent a decent amount of back up. Looks like his dad’s way only kind of worked. There would be no sneaking back to his ship now.

A blaster bolt flew above his head and hit the wall behind the princess. Reaching for her hand, JJ helped her up to her feet.

“Alright, no time to wait. We gotta go.”

He made sure she was behind him as he stepped out and deflected a volley of blaster fire. Most of the shots were redirected to the ground or a nearby wall, while a couple of them returned to the heads of those firing them. It would be a small window to find cover, but it was all they would need. Judah led them to the next wall which kept them hidden from the direction of the blaster fire.

“You good with a blaster, cuz I’m gonna need you to help. Pick up the one from that dead guy there and when I tell you to just start to shoot it out toward the bad guys okay?”​