Private Karma

[Sam Sheridan]

Florrum/Pirate Stronghold​

13:02 local time​

To say that Sam was angry was a very big understatement. Not only was she captured but now she was imprisoned in a pirate prison...with her prize and droid still on her ship. That is only if they didn't blow her ship up. She hoped that they didn't.

She had woken up a couple hours ago, and voiced her thoughts on her current situation and her captors quite clearly. The entire cell block was forced to listen to her as she cursed and shouted. Eventually she gave up and resigned to pacing around in her cell. When that started to annoy her, she merely sat on her bunk and sulked. She tried to calm down and figure out how to escape, but her fuming mind wasn't ready to calm down and soon her bunk was flipped over aggressively as well.

She started with the pacing once more which escalated into more shouting and cursing. She kicked at her cell door in a vain attempt at opening it to no avail. "You better hope I don't get out of here you karking skugs, otherwise I'll skin you all alive!" she screamed. Naturally there was no response. She grunted and punched the door...and instantly regretted it as pain shot up her arm. Clutching her fist, she made her way back to her bunk and flipped it upright with her boot, then sat down on it with a heavy thud.

She wasn't happy...

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Maybe he should have been less trusting. Apparently, Mathieu had gone just a little too far on his last job and seriously provoked the wrong people - some aristocrat from Serenno who hadn't learned not to shoot the messenger, or mercenary. There had not been any epic fights or dramatic backstabs which had resulted in his captivity. What got him captured was a scummy Devaronian adding a little extra something to the drink he treated the mercenary to. They had kept him unconscious the entire time, even as they transported him to the pirate stronghold. Apparently, they were going to collect on the bounty which had been put on him. While his armour and weapons had been stripped away from him and put in a storage room, he still wore his body glove.

Sam would soon be able to hear the main door leading into the corridor she was in swooshing open and footsteps from several people creeping closer. The Nautolan appeared at her cell door with an evil looking smile. "We heard you wanted some attention." he said whilst unlocking the door. The Trandoshan was right next to him whilst three people were carrying the stretcher which Mathieu laid upon. The men were clearly struggling with carrying his weight and eagerly pushed into the room following the Trandoshan. The large Morellian was soon dumped upon the other bed in the room, only a meter or so away from Sam's. "You're getting a room mate" the Nautolan said before bringing out a single pair of cuffs "And, as you see, this one has quite the calming presence. I thought he might be a good influence on you." he said as the Trandoshan took hold of her, allowing the boss to link her left arm to Mathieu's right one. Soon, the group left the cell and locked the door "I do love when prisoners can work together to make the environment better for everyone" he said, satisfied that the girl would now have to contend with someone who could put an end to her constant shouting and screaming.

Still unconscious, the Mercenary laid still on his bed. Their arms were linked so close that only a couple decimeters could fit between them. A few rowdy laughs could be heard from the neighbouring cells as well as a few people loudly expressing their joy over the girl finally getting a cell mate. The ones who had seen Mathieu pass by outside their cells whilst being taken to hers goaded her as they thought that she would finally get what she deserved for making them listen to her tantrum for so long.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Sam looked at the door with a glare as she heard footsteps approaching. Sure enough, they came to her cell. Her entire body tensed up to tackle them and escape, but as soon as the door opened she didn't move. The blasters pointed at her kept her perfectly still. "The kark you on about?" she asked, rising to her feet. She watched as they brought in the stranger and dumped him on the bed. Her attention snapped back to the pirates when the Trando grabbed her. She punched and tried to fight back, but it was no use. Not against one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

As the pirate captain made his remark, she tried to charge at him, but was rudely held in place when the prisoner didn't even budge. The laughing was what really got to her. "SHUT UP!" she roared at the rest of the block, but they paid her no mind. If anything, they laughed even louder.

She slowly turned to look at the man. Her mind went through the options. When nothing came up to get her free, she resorted to yanking at his arm and trying to get the binder off his wrist. She contemplated breaking his thumb, but even that wouldn't make his wrist skinny enough...and she had no desire to break her own thumb.

She gave his bunk a hard kick then seated herself on the bed against the wall. Her head started to lightly bang the wall with a steady rhythm until she got a headache. She looked back at him and decided to pad him down in hopes of finding something to pick the locks with. Sadly he had nothing...not surprising, given his outfit. "Just great." she grumbled as she pulled her legs up to her chest and pressed her forehead against her knees.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

What a good night it had been. Rarely, had he slept as well as he did this time. Starting to regain his senses, Mathieu felt a soft hand going down his body, causing a smile to appear on his lips, remembering that girl who had caught his eyes last night. As by instinct, his left hand took hold of her wrist and guided her closer until he could finally wrap his arm around her, something which would be tricky for her to get away from considering the sheer weight of his limb and the little added extra force he put into it as he moved. Ignoring the roaring laughter and goading shouts from outside, the Morellian kept her in his embrace for several moments until he became more and more aware of his surroundings.

"This ain't right" he thought as he slowly opened his eyes and saw her dark hair. "You're not" he said, his voice soft but clearly surprised "You're not..." he said again, eyes opening widely. Finally, he fully realised that things weren't as they should and consequently scurried off of the bed and down onto the floor "Who are you?!" he asked, right before his eyes went down to the cuffs. A creeped out gaze returned up to her "What...? What the.." he said, wondering what person he had gotten himself involved with. "Where are we? I want you to remove these immediately" he demanded whilst holding up his right arm.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Sam froze up for a moment as her new companion was waking up. To her dismay, he started to pull her closer to him. She tried to fight against the pulling, but against this oaf she didn't have a chance.

After a few seconds he pulled her into a hug that really fired ger up. "Let go!" she ordered with a muffled voice as he held her close. She made an attempt at punching him, but at her angle she didn't have any power. He finally woke up and realized that he was not where he thought he was. "Hey, wait a-" she couldn't finish her sentence as he fell off the bed, pulling her along. She crashed into his lap, but quickly scurried off him. "I would love to, jackass! I would if I could!" she shouted at him, giving the cuff a yank.

"Now stop freaking out an get your head straight, otherwise I'll kick it straight." she threatened as she sat back on the bed. She looked him over then the rest of the cell. "What the hell did they catch you for?" she asked in a much calmer voice, figuring some small talk wouldn't hurt.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

His eyes narrowed as she said that she couldn't get the cuffs off. Confusion spread across his face for a moment "What do you mean 'you can't'?" he asked "You're the one who-.." he continued, before being interrupted. An amused eyebrow raised upon hearing her threat "Oh?" he said, looking at her with a sly eye "I'd like yo see you try!" he continued, yanking his arm to the side a little, pulling her along - not forcefully enough to topple her or cause overly much pain, but more than enough for her to notice that she was in fact still bound.

The crowds outside were growing less and less noisy until one of them let out a "I shouldda' brought popcorn" which caused the roaring laughter to commence again. Letting out an unamused sigh, Mathieu was coming to terms with where they were as she asked her question. There were only so many places where they could plausibly be where they'd be in a locked room, cuffed to each other and with plenty of rough people to laugh at them from outside. "We're in...?" he said, waiting for her confirmation which ultimately wouldn't be needed as someone else filled in the blank.

Mathieu sighed again and shrugged. Now speaking with a low voice in order to give them some privacy, he said "I don't know" in a defeated tone. "Last think I remember was chatting with this beautiful girl at the cantina last night. What about you?" he said whilst leaning his side toward his bed. One of the neighbours jokingly heckled them to speak louder as their entertainment steadily seemed to be dying out but was told to hush by another as, apparently, the two of them were having their intimate time. "For how long have you had to live with these people?" he asked, already tired of their attitude.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

The yank of his arm really wasn't appreciated, mirrored quite clearly by the lethal glare she gave him. Luckily he moved on and started to explain what he remembered. She scoffed at the mention of a pretty girl, which was kind of hypocritical of her given how she would act from time to time after having one too many drinks. At least he kept his voice low which helped them to maintain some form of privacy. "These karking scumbags boarded my ship and took me captive. Seems like their captain recognized me from somewhere." she explained, keeping her voice lowered as well to keep the other prisoners quiet.

She rubbed at her eyes as he asked his question. Her fingers ended up pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration as she ignored the prisoners as much as possible. "Only just got here today as far as I know. They better not have blown up my ship, otherwise they're in for a bad day..." she looked around a bit. "...Once I get out of here." she finished, looking back at him.

"My best guess of where we are is Florrum. Only stronghold I know about that looks like this. If that is true, though, then I need to get out of here. They already branded me as a Hutt enforcer, which I'm not, so I got a few ideas on what they're planning...and none of them are ones I would like to entertain." she explained as she rose and sat back on the bed. She let her arm dangle not to yank him around with her while her other arm propped her head up on her knee. "So, what are you supposed to be? Soldier or something?" she asked him with a bored tone, glancing at him with an unimpressed look.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Perhaps her death stare was a major contributing factor to him toning down the hostilities a notch? Who knew? In any case, it was way more pleasant to be friendly with the person he was bound to than hostile, that much was certain. While being on bad terms with a mousy and quiet person might have been fine, this one really didn't seem to be someone he wanted to get on the bad side of - at least if he couldn't quickly leave afterwards. "We're both rather new to the block" he said, finding it a pity that this one wouldn't be able to show him the ropes. A slight chuckle escaped him as she moved on to speaking of her escape "You sound fairly sure of yourself. Just remember that whatever you do will affect me." he said, raising a finger as a warning. While he did not know what crazy stuff she'd come up with, systems where people were cuffed together often times punished both subjects. Peer policing. It wasn't a bad idea, really - but in this instance, it wasn't very good for the two of them.

His eyes followed her as she sat up on the bed. "Thanks" he said, noting that she hadn't tried to yank him about. Gently guiding his bound right arm to lay on the bed, he hoped that she would be able to find a slightly more comfortable position. "And what are the horrors you imagine them inflicting? I mean, all of these others almost seem happy in here - what is it that you fear that they don't?" he asked, curious to find out if there was anything there which he'd desperately want to get away from too.

Looking down at himself, Mathieu remembered that he was just wearing his body glove which was probably the cause behind her question. Thanking his lucky stars that it was all black, the Morellian felt his face getting warm as he was close to blushing. "Uhhm, I guess you could say that" he replied, clearly flattered by her guess. "A soldier, wouldn't that be something?" he asked dreamily before shaking his head "But no, not really. I'm a mercenary. But we do soldiery stuff. And you then, if not a Hutt enforcer, what are you?"

While the chat went on, the guard's door to the main corridor swooshed open again and a hoarse voice could be heard screaming 'food'. Small hatches in the doors would be opened as the plates would be inserted. While any concrete plans of escape had yet to form, food was definitely on the Morellians mind as he was used to eating large amounts in his day-to-day life. "So, do you like the grubb?" he asked, apparently having forgotten all about getting away, at least for the time being.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

She glanced at him as he made his comment, raising an eyebrow. "Was that meant to be a pun?" she asked him, not sure whether to laugh or slap him over the head for it. He went on to remind her that they were stuck together, making her grumble under her breath. "Yeah don't remind me. Just don't try and cuddle with me then you're good." she muttered, running a hand over her face and through her hair to push it back against her head.

She was confused for a moment when he thanked her. Until she realized what he mant. "Oh. Sure." she said calmly, shifting further to lie on her stomach with her left side facing him, making his situation a little more comfortable. She froze up, however, at his next question. A clear hint of fear appeared in her eyes as she looked at him, despite her hard exterior. "Bad things. Things I don't want to relive again." she spoke quietly, not wanting the others to hear at all. "Women don't last long in places like this. I'll kill myself before they take a chance with me again." she was deadly serious. The genuinely terrified stare she gave him only confirmed that she wasn't kidding. She blinked and looked away, forcing the memories down and fighting back the fear that was seeping into her.

Thankfully the conversation moved on as he explained what he was. She looked back to him, her gaze softening slightly as he mentioned being a merc as well. Thankfully someone she could relate to at least, even if just a little. He asked her and she shrugged. "Same as you. I'm a merc, though I work a lot with the Hutts on their jobs for the most part. Though I tend to do the more 'hitman-ish' stuff for them." she explained, choosing to use his own way of describing her work.

A few moments later their food arrived. She rose with him to get the food then sat back down next to him. "No, but I'm not picky." she said plainly before taking a bit of whatever they put in her plate. It tasted horrible, but she didn't even flinch or gag. She simply kept on eating bite after bite. In no time at all she was finished and tossed her tray against the door like a frisbee. But her attention was locked onto it.

For a few moments she stared at it, then suddenly brought up her wrist to inspect the cuffs. She twisted both their arms in all kinds of awkward angles as she analysed the cuffs with eagle eyes. "Quick, gimme your tray." she ordered, snapping her free hand's fingers impatiently to hurry him along.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

A cheesy smile was about to appear on his lips, but Mathieu desperately suppressed it. In fear of bursting out in laughter upon opening his mouth, he simply remained quiet. Soon, he looked away, allowing his mouth to open with a bright smile and maintained his turned head as she told him not to cuddle with her. Trying to regain his composure, he nodded and let out a "Sorry, yeah". Finally, he looked back, swallowing the last amount of laughter he had left and with his deeper tone returning, he let out another "Yeah, no cuddles."

Seeing her speak of the bad things caused his forehead to furrow. The large Morellian felt bad for her - he did not know exactly what she had gone through, but had a good idea of what it was and definitely felt sorry for her. "Hey" he said with a soft tone and tugged lightly on their cuffs "As long as we've still got these on, I won't let no one do that to you" His words genuine and sincere, he looked at her with kind eyes and a slight smile, hoping that she would cheer up a little. The girl seemed to handle her emotions well, all things considered, and would probably not need that much pep-talk from him, a stranger, at the moment. But he hoped that she'd find comfort in knowing that he'd have her back.

Beaming a bright smile, he raised his right arm "Heyy, a fellow merc! Hig-..." he said happily until he noticed that he had pulled her left arm along "Oh, sorry" he continued, feeling bad for forgetting about it. His face remained still, displaying only mild surprise as she talked about doing assassinations. "I didn't take you for a hitman. I hope you've caught a bunch of bad guys" he said, hoping to ignore the potential innocents she might have killed already.

Once the food arrived, the two of them quickly started eating. Just as her, he didn't care much for the taste, as long as he got the energy in it. Left thoroughly disappointed by the small amount of food, Mathieu handed her the tray upon request. "Man are they cheap here? Can't even afford a proper meal" he said, obviously not taking his own rather high intake into account. "What are you planning to do? Eat the cuffs?" he asked skeptically, not quite sure what she had in mind. "If they know what they're doing, I doubt that they'd give you an escape manual under the tray"

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

It was a nice gesture from the man. And deep down she appreciated what he said. But her mind wasn't wired like a sensible person's at all, and her immediate reaction was her standard go-to defense mechanism. She frowned and gave a hard tug back. "I can take care of myself. I don't need some knight in shining armour to look out for me." she spoke rather harshly. There was some comfort in his words, though. Despite making sure he couldn't see it, she was sort of grateful.

The mention of being a mercenary seemed to have excited him quite a bit, however his attempt at a high five only received an unamused look from Sam. "Bad guys, good guys, scumbags, average Joe's. Don't matter who the target is, as long as I get paid." she explained dismissively as she laid her head back down.

At least he was a quick eater as well and quickly handed her his tray. "Tried that once, got a chipped tooth to prove it." she quipped as she inspected it, though her little joke might not be received as such with her tone. She found a spot and tore the tray apart with great effort. She could have asked him to do it, but her stubbornness wouldn't allow it. She finally had a part of the tray in her hand which she flattened and smoothed out as much as possible on the course duracrete walls. "Let's hope this works..." she muttered as she tried to slide it into a small gap on the binders, meant to unlock it. But even with her efforts, it was too thick. Regardless, she kept trying until she threw the other part of the tray at the wall in frustration. "Karking dammit!" she shouted in frustration.

Her head sank into a hand as she rubbed her head. "A cigarette would have been a blessing right now." she muttered as she turned her head to the door. Her mouth opened to make some other useless remark, but she fell silent as she fell into deep thought. She looked back at the piece of tray in her hand then back to the door. "Wait a sec..." she said as she jumped up and made for the door, dragging him along without remorse.

She pressed herself into the doorframe and shoved her arm through one of the gaps closest to where the lock would be. It was a tight fit, but at least she didn't have much fat on her. Her arm scraped and scratched against the door, leaving several marks as she felt around for the lock. "Yeah it should work..." she said with a wicked smile as she took hold of the piece of tray and shoved her arm through again.

A few moments later the door unlocked and slid open...catching Sam's arm against the frame in the process. "Ow Shit!" she grunted as she tried yanking her right arm free of the sliding cell door. A crippling pain coursed through her upper arm into her shoulder and forearm. "Get off you piece of crap!" she shouted as she frantically tried to punch the door with her left hand. "Help me dammit!" she growled at her companion, whether he was already helping her or not.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu didn't think much of her tantrum-like response to his show of good will. Awkwardly, he looked at her with apologetic eyes and shrugged "Well, they took my armour" as if to prove that he was indeed no knight. But the conversation soon moved onto more positive fields as she mentioned herself being a mercenary. Of course, the girl maintained her grumpy demeanour even then, but it wouldn't deter the large Morellian who rarely had trouble keeping a positive view on things.

His eyes went to the cuffs and then to her mouth. What kind of crazy had he gotten himself involved with? While he had not seen her chipped tooth, he believed that she would be wild enough to pull something like that off. The fact that she hadn't tried to chop his hand off was a miracle. Therefore, it was not surprising that she tried to break the tray apart "What are you doing, exactly?" he asked, watching her struggle with something which he could have done without breaking a sweat. Not about to intervene, he simply looked at her with an amused tilt to the head and sending her an impressed nod as she finally succeeded. Once he realised what she was trying to do, he immediately leaned forth "That's not too bright, is it? Once they come in and see us without cuffs, then what?" he asked whilst watching her work. While he wanted to intervene, her rather fierce personality gave him cold feet.

"Oh well" he said simply upon seeing her fail. Instinctively, his hand reached down to where his picked would have been as he usually kept a couple of cigarettes for his rather forgetful friend. Instead of reaching into a pocket, the hand simply fell against his own thigh. Before he got a chance to speak, however, she rushed off towards the door, towing the much larger Mercenary behind, "Easy, easy" he said whilst following in her tracks. Once again, he stood idly as she made her plans and muttered "You're gonna get us into so much trouble. I should really just stop you right here" he said as he watched.

To his amazement, the girl managed to get the door open "Wow, well done" he said before noticing that she seemed to struggle, trying to pull her arm out as it began to open. Quickly, Mathieu put his left hand in the spring up top and summoned tremendous strength to keep it from closing. While the door still kept pushing to close, it was much slower now and came to a complete halt as his elbow hit the wall. With his right arm which was still bound to her, he grabbed her stuck arm and started pulling, trying to be as gentle as possible as to not hurt her. Still, his strong grip was bound to make quite the impression.

Instead of heading straight out in a hunt for freedom, the Mercenary turned around once she had gotten away from the door. "Are you alright?" he asked, obviously concerned for her as he bowed down a little to examine her limb. "If you're serious about escaping, we should probably move soon." he said as he inspected her for potential injuries.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

He managed to pry the door open just enough to get the pressure off her arm, allowing him to yank her free before the door could do more damage. The door opened completely and allowed them to escape. But Sam was in too much pain to think about that immediately. She clutched her arm and clenched her jaw against the pain. Already her arm was swelling up slightly. "Do I bloody look alright?" she muttered through clenched teeth and tightly shut eyes, holding onto her arm.

She whimpered slightly as he took hold of her arm. "How strong are those damn doors?" she asked while fighting back the pain. It wasn't the first time she broke something, but it certainly didn't make it less painful. He insisted that they move as soon as possible and she nodded. "Yeah let's move." she spoke weakly. She grabbed the sharp piece of the tray out of the lock as they exited, causing the doors to slide shut again. "We need to get our gear and get out of these cuffs." she explained as she started to walk. Her right arm was tucked in tightly against her body while her left pulled him along, the piece of aluminum gripped like a knife in her hand. "Kark, where the hell do we go..." she muttered, glancing around. If they chose the wrong door, they would have a lot of trouble.

She faced him for a moment. "Any idea on where to go?" she asked him, hoping he would have some idea. Naturally, the other prisoners quickly took note of them being free and started shouting, cussing and begging them to let them out. She glanced at them then back at him, contemplating killing them all before moving on.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"No, you don't" he replied, feeling bad about not being able to do anything about her injury "Let's hope we come across a medkit with some kolto on our way out" he said, gently patting her on the back. It was obvious that she was annoyed and frustrated, much like she always were but now, it was more understandable. "Much stronger than your arm, apparently" he said with a quick thought on how he had pried it open just a few moments ago.

Soon, the two of them were on the move. The other prisoners weren't slow to take notice and the Morellian felt rather bad for them. He looked out over the corridor and spoke with determination and idealism "We should release them" figuring that they might be able to help with navigating. His gaze then fell down onto the girl and his look softened considerably as he remembered her fears from earlier and the comments which the others had made "But we don't need to" he continued before looking around again. The two main doors on either side of the corridor didn't seem very safe, but there was also a side door between two of the cells a bit further away. "Let's go there" he said, figuring that the guess was just as good as any other.

Knowing that he could appear as a rather imposing form, Mathieu kept to the side closer to the cells, blocking most of her from the other prisoner's view as well as sending them a rather menacing look. While some kept going regardless, others quieted down which was precisely what he was after. In the hopes of preventing any of them from revealing that he and Sam had gotten free too early, he raised his voice and hollered "We'll let you out through the main controls and unlock the doors. But we can't all be running around like crazed mynocks now!". With that, he opened the side door, introducing them to what looked like a storage room for cleaning supplies. An old man turned around and looked at them in surprise, "W- w- what are you doing h- here?" he stuttered as he reached for a communications device at his side.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Sam glanced at him and shook her head. "No. Not now. They'll only cause trouble for us." she said firmly, giving a quick glance at the cells before looking back at him. He finally decided on a door and she stuck close, glancing behind them. He placed himself between her and the prisoners which she greatly appreciated. It was awkward to walk like that with their hands cuffed, as well as trying to keep him from bumping into her injured arm.

They finally reached a door and entered, but what they found on the other side was a problem. The man reached for his comlink, but before he even got to bring it up to his mouth she plunged the aluminum piece right through his throat. She pushed him down to the ground and withdrew her weapon, letting him drop to the ground with a thud. "Come on, get closer. He might have something useful." she said as she tried to loot the man. The first thing she tried to grab was the comlink he dropped. Thank goodness he didn't open the channel with the rest of the stronghold. Unfortunately he didn't have the keys on him. But he had a simple blaster pistol which would come in handy.

She was tempted to keep it for herself, but with one busted arm and another cuffed to him, she wouldn't do much good with it. She spun it around to take it by the barrel and handed it to him. "Here you go. You're a bit more useful than me right now." she said before looking the corpse over once more. "We almost got made. We need to be more careful." she commented, patting him down one last time.

She looked around the room, smirking to herself. "I swear this is just like that time on level 1313." she commented with a chuckle. "Only I wasn't cuffed to the guy...and the cleaning room needed a cleaning of its own after we were done in there." she quipped, not having a care in the world that she was giving way too much information.

"Let's keep moving." she spoke, waiting on him to leave the room.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"No!" he exclaimed but was too late to pull her back. Her 'knife' was already plunged into his throat and he was suffering a relatively quick death. With a sigh, the Morellian followed his new ally to the elder. Kneeling down to make it easier for her to search, Mathieu simply allowed her to pull his arm along as she went, offering little resistance to her "Why did you have to kill him? He was just some guy, didn't even reach for his blaster" His tone was not one of a person casting blame and still characterised by a, perhaps, naive hopefulness that she would come around and do what was nice instead of just doing what was easier at the moment. He was rather well aware what killing could do to a person's conscience and was of the opinion that it was damaging in the long run.

Soon, she handed him the older man's blaster. A confused look spread across his face "My? uhm, Okay" he said, taking the blaster and looking at it. It was an older model and seemed to be rather well looked after, polished and shiny, more like something which belonged in a collection than anything that would actually be used. Whilst checking the weapon out, he pointed out what was on his mind "You probably need it more than I do. Because, errr, you know, you're small" Once he opened the blaster, Mathieu suddenly stopped everything he was doing as a sense of sadness spread across his face. He looked down at the dead man and spoke, interrupting the girl's talk about level 1313 "Blast it, old buddy" It was now time for her to be pulled along as the Morellian walked towards the corpse and knelt down before putting the blaster on the elder's chest and closing his eyes. After looking at him with sorrowful eyes for a few more moments, he turned to the other "It was empty. The blaster wasn't even charged" he said before getting back up to his feet.

Leading the way, he walked towards the trolley on which most equipment was stored and picked up two metallic brooms and offered one to her "Want one or do you want to keep using that? If we had glue or something, we could probably have made a pike, but there don't seem to be any in here" he said before turning to leave. "If you ever get tired, you could probably ride my back." he said, pausing to let out a chuckle "My gear probably weighs more than you do" His comment was lighthearted as he tried to cheer himself up after having seen the tragic fate of the elder they killed. The offer, however, was sincere, although it seemed unlikely that she would take him up on it. Once they left the room, he asked "I picked door last time. It's on you now."

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

He inspected the weapon before handing it back to her, but his outburst caught her attention. He mentioned the weapon being empty, which caused her to groan. "Karking idiot can't even carry a loaded gun, what's the point?" she said, glaring at the corpse. He left the gun on the man's chest and instead grabbed to brooms. He handed one to her, making her blink in surprise. "You serious?" she asked him, looking at the broom again. If it were wood or a weaker material she would have broken it for a sharper tip. but the metal wouldn't budge from her power alone...and judging by what she just saw, she doubted he would do it for her. She tossed it aside and chose to stick with her improvised knife, figuring it would work better than whacking someone with a stick.

He joked about giving her a piggyback ride, making her scoff. "This has been humiliating enough, thanks. Besides, I can't use this arm to hold on." she said, trying to lift her arm which she immediately regretted. She grimaced and carefully rested the arm against her body again. It was now a stunning array of purple and blue, and quite bigger than her other arm. Something was definitely not right in there.

He placed the choice on her shoulders, earning a sigh from her. "Before we go, what's your name? I'm Sam." she introduced herself as she waited for him to do the same.

With that out of the way, Sam looked back at the doors. "Let's go with left." she said, leading the way to the set of sliding doors on the left. She reached out and pressed the button to open the door, not sure what to expect...

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

While the way she treated him wasn't much of a problem, Mathieu did get annoyed by how little respect she showed the man who had just been killed. Only after he had sent her a piercing stare and then turning back to their victim did he try to turn things onto a more positive note. Although the girl didn't seem to appreciate using the broom, Mathieu was happy to have it. He was confident in his own physical abilities and this provisional weapon would give him reach too.

His joke wasn't very well received, but it was to be expected judging by how she had reacted to them so far. "It isn't that humiliating, is it? Besides, it would make it much easier to get around without having to worry about dragging you along, or dragging me along, depending on perspective." he said, not really in an argumentative tone, but rather just as a way to keep their minds occupied as they worked through the room. A frown appeared as he saw her injured arm and he mumbled something about needing to find some kolto. "Mathieu" he replied smiling "I'm afraid I can't shake your hand" he said, looking down at his cuffed right one.

As they got to the door, he looked down at her "Remember that you're injured, don't go too wild and crazy, let me help you, okay?" he said before putting a hand on the door controls whilst the left hand held the broom tightly. Once the door opened, two guards could be seen at a table in the middle of the room drinking coffee. With a sudden burst, Mathieu lunged forward with a wide swipe, knocking both of them off of their chairs. His right arm lingered behind as best as he could "I'll launch you" he exclaimed. If she gave him her hand, he'd help propel her forwards at tremendous speed towards one of the guards whilst he would try to attack the other.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

He justified why giving her a piggyback ride would be a good idea, which was rather amusing to listen to. "Fine, I'll catch one as soon as I feel like taking a nap." she joked with a small smile in the corner of her mouth. He finally introduced himself, though she couldn't get why he was saying it in a weird way. "It's fine, I'm not much of a hand shaker anyway. Mind if I call you Matt?" she asked, though she didn't care much for his answer. That was his name from now on.

At the door he reminded her of her arm. "Kind of hard to forget. Stop fussing about me, this isn't the first time I've been hurt." she grumbled, getting a little annoyed with him constantly worrying over her like she was some fragile damsel in distress. The door slid open and any thoughts disappeared from her mind as she focused on the two guards sitting around the table. She moved alongside Matt, grabbing hold of his hand as he offered it to be thrown at one of the guards.

She landed with her boots on his chest, slashing his throat open as he went down. Immediately she kicked off him and jumped over the table to stay with him as he took care of the last one. She threw her knife on the ground next to his victim and looked him over. "If these guys don't have loaded pistols I'm gonna strangle the next guy I see." she muttered as she crouched down to the knocked out guard and drew his pistol. Thankfully it was loaded, with an extra magazine on him as well. What's more was the key on his belt. She held the key up for him to take. "Try this. See if it works on the binders." she suggested, still looking the guard over for any useful items.

While Matt checked the binders, Sam reached over and took a cup of coffee off the table. She took a sip and hummed with delight. "Damn, that's good." she sighed and took another sip. Finally she could start thinking straight again.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Wasn't that a sight to see? She smiled! Mathieu smiled in response, very happy that he had now seen her seem more happy. It looked good on her, smiling. "A nap? I would expect you to work, shoot bad guys and pick locks!" he continued before finally waving a bit with his hand - they had to get moving. And they seemed to be bonding already - a nickname! Nodding slightly, he let out a "Sure" but then looked at her mischievously "But only if I can call you Sammy" he said with a big grin.

Peripherally, he saw Sammy work, she was quick and efficient, which was quite fortunate as it would allow them to move onto the other one sooner. Mathieu kept him occupied but smashing against the man's hands with his stick each time he tried to do something. But it didn't have to go on for long as his ally was done with her foe in just a moment, allowing him to move closer. Hopping down on the man and landing with a knee to his stomach, the foe's air was knocked out. In quick succession, the broom was dropped to let a fist be formed. After two hits to the head, the guard was unconscious and with the trauma from all three impacts, Mathieu was sure that he would be quite useless for a long time without proper medical attention.

Looking at her a little nervously, the Morellian made a silent prayer that their blasters would indeed be loaded. Fortunately, they were, allowing both him and the girl to arm themselves. "We worked pretty well together" he said as he tried the key on their cuffs whilst she searched the guards for anything else. After a while, he looked up to her "Nope, seems like this goes somewhere else" he said with a disappointed tone. Figuring that it might still be useful, the mercenary slipped the key into his skin-tight sleeve. It would certainly leave a mark so he sure hoped that it would be worth it.

Almost dumbfounded, Mathieu just stood there looking at her as she drank the guard's coffee. "Are you serious right now? Sammy, we need to escape. Come one, the fire-exit map over there might give us a clue as to where they've stored our stuff" he said, putting a hand by the small of her back to gently push her with him as he walked to it.

Sam Sheridan