Public Jamais Vu

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack was unable to follow over the water, but kept an eye through the scope just as long as he could; they were getting quite a ways away... Was it turning? He rubbed his eyes, then checked again. Yep... just barely. It was turning... and coming back! That was a relief. He was almost out a payday, heh.

Carefully following along the shoreline, he pulled to a stop a few hundred feet from where the freighter was touching down, plenty of room for it to land. He hopped out, walking over to the landing pad before knocking on the door. "Helloooo? Buckwheat noodle delivery."

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill sighed as he walked down the ramp. "How did you get this landspeeder down here so quickly? Don't tell me you jumped it off the cliff..." he said with a threatening edge in his voice. Then he winced. He probably should have said that a bit nicer. It wouldn't do to go back to his master and say that the man he'd hired had run off on him.

"Now, where is the Nautolan? He's gotta be in one of these warehous-"

A blaster bolt whizzed past his head and slammed into the freighter's bulkhead. Shasill whirled to face the incoming enemy... enemies. Twelve security droids, actually built for security this time, came running their way. "Uh oh."

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"Alright, then I won't tell you," he grinned, heading back down the ramp. "Nothing that a couple creds in the shop won't fix, I swear. I try to be gentle with other people's stuff." He looked around, taking a few deep breaths of the salty sea air. "Mm. Almost tranquil, aside from the, y'know. Illegal smuggling operation."

He cocked his head as Shasill asked about the Nautolian, and ducked a fraction of a second later than him, scooting back to the relative safety of the bulkhead after the blaster bolt almost singed his hair. "Ahhh drik. Alright, you want lead on this one, too?" The Sith was the one with the lightsaber, after all. Belatedly, Jack drew the blaster, checking the ammo. Still plenty left for this skirmish, good. "Call it!"

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

"Alright, let's charge them. I'll block their shots, you shoot back. Go!" Shasill said, running towards the security droids, lightsaber weaving in different patterns to deflect the red-hot laser bolts. As he was running towards the enemy, with Jack behind him, Shasill realized how vulnerable he was. How unlike the Sith apprentice to trust someone he'd just met an hour ago. Jack could easily shoot him in the back right now, and he couldn't do anything about it.

But something told him that the green man wouldn't do that. Trust?

Don't be foolish, Shasill. Trust leads to betrayal. Jack isn't smart enough to kill me now, and he wouldn't dare want my master breathing down his neck if he does end me.

Shasill continued on towards the droids. Suddenly, he felt intense heat in his lower left leg. He was shot. "Come on, Jack, take them out quickly! I can't deflect forever!"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Blasters were normally fairly lethal. In the hands of a Force user, blasters were far more lethal. Jack's finger would hesitate just a breath longer on the trigger, before finally squeezing. Each shot was precise, placed, deliberate. Each shot found its home in a droid's face, or eye, or severing its neck. And Jack was careful that each shot had no chance of hitting the Sith. Poor kid had enough on his plate without having to worry about friendly fire.

As the droids thinned, he stepped out, cautious without any real protection of his own. He pushed forward, rushing to hide behind a few stacked crates, before popping back up to take out a droid that was closing in on Shasill. "You're clear back here! Move up on the hangar!"

A telekinetic grab, flick of the wrist, and toss, and a crate launched itself into another droid, severing the torso completely. Jack aimed at another droid and felt, rather than heard, an empty click. "Well. Less ammo than I thought, then." Putting it back into his jacket, he raced forward, trying to flank around the droids to reach the hangar.

"...never enough plant life when you need it," he grumbled, shoving his hand into the grass outside the hangar. The grass sprouted suddenly, wrapping around his arm, and a moment later he withdrew a nasty-looking green scimitar from the dirt. "Alright, round two." The world skewed around him, and he raced forward with a sudden strike, the blade slashing through another droid. "Not a lightsaber," he murmured, "but it'll do."

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill grimaced, waiting for the inevitable pain in his back when Jack would shoot him... but the droids ahead went down one by one, and that pain never came. Perhaps Jack was more trustworthy than the Sith had originally thought.

Now, with his path almost cleared, Shasill raced towards the hangar ahead. The ground beneath him suddenly began to tremble as the massive blast door started to slide open. The Nautolan was trying to escape. No doubt with a lot of his cargo on board.

Determined to not let the criminal escape, Shasill fueled his run with his resolve, picking up speed. The doors were now open to the point where Shasill could see the vessel inside. It seemed to be a heavy freighter that had undergone serious modification. There were pod turrets scattered across the hull, and its armor plating was advanced for a ship that size. This would be difficult.

The spacecraft began to hover out of the hangar, its repulsorlifts on full blast. Shasill almost decided to try and use the Force to bring the ship down, but knew he wasn't that powerful yet. So he approached the underside of the freighter and jumped.

He barely made it over the side of the ship, and immediately began to cut a hole in one of the turrets. Shasill spared a glance to his left, to find Jack slashing away at the other security droids with a blade of grass. Interesting.

"Jack! I need some help here!" the teenager cried. He didn't know if the green man would be able to hear him over the roar of the engines, but it was worth a try. This metal that he was carving through was extremely dense and strong. It would take the apprentice minutes to cut through it. Minutes the duo didn't have. Already, the sublight drives were warming up for a fast escape to orbit.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

As the droid fell in mostly equal halves, Jack was brought back into awareness of his surroundings. The freighter was taking off - the Nautolian's freighter, this time. Racing back along the tarmac, he eyed the first ship that Shasill arrived in, and reached out.

The ship was parked but rumbled in place, before one wing suddenly jerked into the air, slamming upwards with Jack's Force Push. Metal squealed against metal as the freighters slammed into each other, one wing ripping into the other. Jack leapt from crate to crate, using the Force to enhance his movement, before one last jump sent him hurtling up into the Nautolian's freighter. "I'm heading inside," he called out to Shasill, before scrambling over the hull to the damaged wing. The blade in his hand shifted as he moved, and he hopped into the cracked corridors, a bo staff now stretching from palm to palm. The engines shuddered and whined, and he fired a Force blast into a nearby console.

Firing off steady blasts into the corridor walls, he was hoping to hit something vital. The few security droids that had found him were quickly dealt with by his staff, with crunched torsos and dislodged heads littering the path behind him as he worked his way to the cockpit.

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill barely had time to brace himself as he saw the other freighter crash into the Nautolan's. The hull banged into his chest, knocking the air out of him, but the Sith held on, gripping the turret's frame for dear life.

"I'm heading inside,"

The apprentice didn't answer, trying to get his breath back. But he couldn't let Jack have all the fun. When the freighter stabilized itself, Shasill got back on his feet. Filled with determination, he shoved his lightsaber into the frame, driving it all the way around. Once it was loose enough, he reached out with the Force. With a squeal of metal, the turret was pried off the hull and clattered to the ground below. Underneath the weapon was a Nikto, eyes wide in fear.

Shasill hopped in the hole, stabbing the Nikto in the chest before starting off towards the cockpit. Resistance was nonexiste-

Nope. Three security driods and a Nautolan with a sniper converged on him. After a quick identity check, Shasill knew that the green alien was not the arms dealer. Just a crony. So the apprentice dashed forth, cutting through the leftmost two security droids. A sniper blast came at him, but he used the Force to redirect the shot into the remaining droid's back. Shasill now fed on the fear in the Nautolan's eyes. The man tried to run, but Shasill grabbed at him from afar. The alien began clutching at his throat. After a few seconds of flailing, Shasill squeezed his fist tight, and the alien dropped to the ground, windpipe crushed.

Now to find the only Nautolan that actually mattered.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack stalked through the corridors, working his way up to the cockpit. He heard the sound of other blaster fire and crashing from within the ship, and assumed Shasill had made his way inside as well. He grinned, moving a little faster. What a good way to secure a bonus than securing the target first.

He rapped on the cockpit door, before calling out, "Room service!" and with a massive Force pull, wrenched the door to the side to allow him access.

A blaster bolt met him between the eyes, and he crumpled to the floor.

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill rounded the corner at breakneck speed...then froze in his tracks, almost skidding across the durasteel floor comically. The green man was on the floor, and a red Twi'lek stood over him, grinning. The Sith quickly regained his composure, extending a hand towards the Twi'lek. The woman's blaster flew into the apprentice's outstretched hand, and she gasped in surprise.

The teenager fired three shots, but the woman pivoted to hide behind the bulkhead. This angle terrible for Shasill. By the time he got a better angle by walking forward, the woman would have had enough time to get another weapon or something. But he needed to get to Jack...

No he didn't.

Jack could come to him. The Sith backed around the corner again, only exposing his right eye and arm around the bulkhead, and reached out with the Force. The green man began to slide towards him, slowly but surely. Time to see what damage the Twi'lek did to him.

"Jack, can you hear me?" Shasill shouted.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Thump-thump-thump went Jack's head against the floor. As Shasill pulled his body around the corner, he laid still for a moment. Then...

Slowly he sat up, wincing as he touched his forehead. Golden sap oozed out of a hole just above his eyes, and he winced again. "....Well. That was remarkably rude." Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off, cracking his jaw and flexing slowly. "You said you just needed the Nautolian's head, right?" he muttered, all amusement and lightheartedness gone for the moment.

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill reflexively took a step back as Jack got up and acted like nothing had happened. But he covered it up like he was tying his shoe. The act was not convincing.

"....Well. That was remarkably rude." Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off, cracking his jaw and flexing slowly. "You said you just needed the Nautolian's head, right?"

"The head will be good for proof of death, but I'd also like some answers from him. And I want to make sure that he is not in a guild of arms dealers, so another person can simply cover for him and continue supplying the rebels with weapons. Those questions will be answered, don't worry. I learned quite a few techniques to...persuade people," Shasill said, rising from his fake shoe-tying and leaning around the corner.

His head was nearly blown off by a well-aimed shot. The Twi'lek did have another weapon. The were arms smugglers after all. Shasill ignited his lightsaber and stepped around the corner again, deflecting two shots into the walls to either side of him. The woman's eyes widened and she dug into her pocket...a small sphere was thrown to his feet. A thermal detonator.

"Get down!" he yelled to Jack, and he Force pushed to ball away and covered his ears. The explosion was still deafening.

Shasill's ears were ringing, and he crawled back around the corner. "Looks like...this won't...be easy," he said between hacking coughs.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"Mm... that's why you hired additional muscle," Jack murmured, the bo staff leaping back to his hand as he stalked forward again. The sap was no longer dripping down his forehead, and he looked back briefly. "What's the Nautolian's name, again?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead moving forward to the cockpit, brandishing the staff.

The Twi'lek pulled a second blaster out, but Jack's staff was moving fast enough to absorb the energy. It still blackened and almost shattered the staff, but better the staff than his forehead again. "I'll leave him alive," he murmured, and shut the door behind him.

There was a brief pause, then two screams. A quick flurry of blaster fire, muffled by the door, before a loud thwack of wood against skull, and then the unmistakable sound of something that crunched. A pop, a squish, and then another loud crunch, before silence fell in the cockpit. There was a long pause, before the door opened again, showing Jack there, staff almost entirely mulched, with the unconscious body of the Nautolian behind him... and no one else in the cockpit.

Jack wiped a small trickle of red blood from his cheek, eyeing it before wiping it off on his pants. "....cockpit's clear," he called out to Kaarte. "Your arms dealer is still alive."

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill walked over to Jack, and to the Nautolan behind him. "Excellent," the apprentice said, kneeling down by the arms dealer. A smack! resounded throughout the corridor as Shasill woke the alien. All the dealer would see were cruel yellow eyes staring into his soul.

"I will give you one chance to answer my questions. Number one: Are there any other arms dealers that are supplying the rebels?"

The alien stammered a bit before answering, "N-no! Just me!"

"Good. And my last question. Choose a number between one and five," the Sith said, a hint of anticipation in his voice.

"Uh...four," the Nautolan replied, uncertain.

Shasill sighed theatrically. "You're so boring. You chose lightsaber. I was gonna use the Force to behead you, but now I have to do it the old fashioned way."

The apprentice had secured the head in a bag a minute later. "Alright, let's land this hunk of metal. Could you hold the bag, please?" he asked Jack, offering him the lightweight sack. The Nautolan must not have had a big brain...

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack nodded, taking the bag and hefting it experimentally. "I'll go run inventory on whatever's in the hold." With that, he slung the bag over his shoulder and headed down to the freighter's hold, poking around curiously as he felt the ship shudder and attempt to land. Kid was a decent hand at piloting, at least. Especially for a mangled rust bucket like this one.

Poking through the hold, he checked over the contents, nodding to himself. Pretty decent haul, all things considered. Could be quite a profit here.

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Heading back to the cockpit after what felt like 'long enough', Jack knocked politely on the door before calling through it. "Hey, so I need a ship. You cool to take the stuff in the hold and I take the ship?"

He did a quick tally on his fingers, "Looks like there's twelve crates of blaster pistols (plus ammo), two crates of 'nades, one crate of rifles, one crate of accessories, and three crates of basic body armor. Pretty good resale value, I think..."

Shasill Kaarte

 

[Shasill Kaarte]

Shasill had been staring off into the cloudy sky outside, watching the waves crash against the rocky shore, when a knock on the door returned him to the reality of his situation. Shasill flew out of his seat and opened the door to find Jack standing there. "Oh, hey."

"Looks like there's twelve crates of blaster pistols (plus ammo), two crates of 'nades, one crate of rifles, one crate of accessories, and three crates of basic body armor. Pretty good resale value, I think..."

"That's a good sale...yeah, I'll take the stuff in the hold, and you can have this freighter. Sorry about the wait, I guess I...drifted off or something. It was strange. But anyway, it's been a pleasure working with you. In fact, if you ever require my assistance, don't hesitate to call," Shasill offered. Although it was a very un-Sithlike thing for the apprentice to do, he felt that it was necessary. He'd never really worked with a non-Sith before, and the experience was eye-opening. Not to mention another adventure to hopefully gain his Master's favor.

Jack Sandrow

OOC: Sorry!! I forgot about this lol

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"All good," he nodded, offering a hand to shake. "And yeah, if I need to call in a favor, I'll be sure to get in contact with you."

Taking the next hour or so to unload the freighter, Jack patted one extra crate. "Take care of yourself, alright?" he nodded, before hopping back in.

He took a quick inventory of his new freighter. He'd need to probably sell it for one that was properly registered, but this was a good start for his future. Getting to work mopping and sweeping up the rather unhealthy stains on the floor, the freighter now looked.... passable. Decent, at least.

Giving one last good-bye wave to Shasill, he began prepping the freighter for takeoff, engines chugging as the dented ship began to lift into the air. "Cmon... you rusted piece of junk... move." With a pained squeal, the ship began to slog upwards, heading around into town. "Here's hoping I can get something functional..."

And with that, he began to make his way into the future, and a new beginning for himself.

- - - - -

End

- - - - -

OOC: no worries Shasill Kaarte , was a fun story!