Private Knight for Sale

[Zemira]

The first mission since meeting her new Padawan required a considerable amount of trust and teamwork between the new duo and Zemira was apprehensive to say the least. From what she had learned so far, Fillion was self-preserving above all else but this mission would require him to put others before himself if the situation amounted to it so she was unsure how this mission would go. Hopefully the pair would trust each other more by the end of it and maybe dissipate the tension between them but only time would tell.

The pair were on Anteevy, responding to reports of slavers operating in Jedi space and so between them they had devised a plan to break the slavery ring from the inside and hopefully shut it down from the outside, though it would require a certain amount of acting from them both. Zemira viewed this mission as a good starting point in her relationship with her Padawan where she would be able to see what he acted like in the field and just what his capabilities were.

"Stick to the plan." Zemira told her Padawan. "There's little room for error." She warned as she walked beside him. Neither were dressed in their usual Jedi garb, despite the Jedi being welcome on this planet, as they had to blend in and look believably like the people they were trying to apprehend. "And be careful not to blow our cover." She whispered as they came closer to people. Despite being unarmed, she was unafraid. She was confident, though not arrogant, in her abilities and believed that this situation would not be beyond her.

 

[Fillion Orville]

He was honestly amazed she was okay with this plan. He had done something like this once, but that was to get free drinks at a bar, not destroying a slave ring; though to be honest, he was totally fine with that. He had the phony slave collar in hand, as he had yet to apply it to his master's neck. To some freaks out here, this would be their dream come true, but Fillion knew better. Yea, he'd poke at Zemira some, but he was well aware the danger he was putting her up to; if she wasn't a jedi knight though, he'd have gone in her place. "Hey, listen, I got this. I'm in my element, but you need to lose that firey streak okay? Slaves aren't so defiant, and if they are, they'll beat it out of you okay?" He was basically asking the impossible from her, Hapan women were exceptionally prideful after all.

"Don't want your cover being blown, and I'm not too fond of the idea of someone beating you senseless with a stun rod." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pocket as he kicked at the asphalt under his feet. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, alright?" Which was the honest truth. He would try and take hold of her wrist ever so gently. "Zemira, gonna need you to trust me here alright? We gotta look the part, so whatever I say or do when we get there, just roll with it alright?" The market was getting a tad packed, but the real point of interest was closer towards the shipping lanes. "Listen, when we get close, just slap this collar on okay? It looks real enough to fool those idiots into thinking you're under control." He slide the collar into her hand, as they were nearing in on the start of their objective.


Zemira

 

[Zemira]

In theory, the plan seemed like a good idea. It was certainly dangerous but the best plans often were and since being covert on this mission was vital, it wasn't as though they had many options to entertain. It was relatively safe given that Zemira would be the one pretending to be a slave rather than the less experienced Padawan so it seemed that the small age gap between them was working well in their favour so far as the duo didn't exactly stand out as Master and Apprentice.

"Yeah, I know. I'll just stay quiet." She replied. To think that this was the every day life of some people was heart-breaking but hopefully with the success they planned for today, a few more people would get their freedom and the galaxy would have fewer slavers on the loose. Zemira was surprised when Fillion caught her by the wrist but didn't pull away and only looked at him to see what he had to say. "Okay. I trust you." She nodded. Although the pair didn't know each other particularly well yet, arguably not well enough to trust each other, Zemira thought she would at least give her Padawan the chance to prove his trustworthiness to her and for her to do the same to him.

The Knight was surprised that her Padawan seemed to keen to convince her to trust him but he certainly seemed like he was telling the truth and she returned his sentiments. "I won't let anything happen to you either." She replied. It had never really occurred to her before but he wasn't just her responsibility, they were both each other's responsibilities. Naturally, the Knight would be expected to be more responsible for the less experienced Jedi but they were equally as fallible and so the trust and bond they shared was important.

As they neared the shipping lanes and the crowds began to dwindle slightly, and upon seeing an opportunity, Zemira placed the collar around her neck and gave a nod to Fillion to signal her readiness. From now, things could become unpredictable and learning to work together would prove vital on this mission.


Fillion Orville

 

[Fillion Orville]

She was still giving off too much attitude, and he was concerned this wouldn't work. He'd have to embellish, pawn her off or find a way to explain the confidence she walked with. It was rather disturbing to himself as he picked up the flags of why Zem made a terrible slave, but that wasn't the point, most of these idiots would be too busy looking at how pretty she was rather than the fact she could crush them with her mind magic stuff; he knew the name, but mind magic was just more amusing to say. Looking her in the eyes, he could at least feel she was taking this seriously, which was good because so was he. "Alright, good. Now let me do the talking, and um...I might slap you once to sell the scene, but I'll make sure it's light. Okay?" Yea, she wasn't going to be happy about that, but he'd be gentle; probably because she'd beat him senseless once they were back on board, Hapan women were crazy.

He found it rather amusing that she was promising to protect him, while she was going to be the one most at risk. "You're the one who'll be the most at risk Zemmie, but I'm flattered that you care so much about little old me." He grinned, knowing he was going to catch flak for that. He knew it was the whole 'padawan master' bondage thing or whatever, but he saw it differently; she was part of his crew, and he was going to make sure she got out of there, even if it put his life in danger. Seeing that she slapped on the collar, he lead her through the crowds, following the one closest to the wall of the spaceport, as he sadly knew just how this whole operation was to be going down. As the pair moved through, there was a man dressed in the garb of the planetary defense corps sitting in at a security booth, though he didn't seem to observant at current. Leading Zem towards the man, Fill knocked against the glass, startling the man from whatever he might have been reading, as he gave the man a rather disgruntled look. "You better have a good reason for disturbing me son." The guards eyes followed to Zemira, and after eyeing her up, he looked back to Fill. "Listen boss, this young lady lost her way, and I'm just trying to make sure she gets home. Hopefully there's a finders fee included?" He asked, feeling disgusted with himself at even flirting with the idea of the slave trade, but this was for the greater good here. The guard looked amused, laughing as he got up. "Why does she have a collar on?" Fill shot back a quick response. "Well that's a stupid question, so she doesn't run away of course." The sooner they busted these nerfherders the better. Still, the guard seemed to buy it, as he stepped out of his booth and waved the pair on, moving towards an employee entrance built into the wall, and lead them inside. "Risky business letting your product wear that collar so openly. First time on world?" The guard asked. "Something like that, just trying to make a quick score and leave." That wasn't a complete lie, he really did want to just leave, after they knocked this whole place down. It seemed the pair were in an abandoned cargo portion of the spaceport. The floors made a metallic clang as they stepped, and the hall was rather narrow and poorly lit, but the guard continued on, leading them onto a turbolift that went further down. When the trio stepped off, it was like they stepped into a processing center. There was a clerk and a rather large pile of credits sited at a desk, as well as several moderately armed guards. A Quarren seemed to be handling the desk work, as he eyed the two once they walked in, his squid like features twitched at the new arrivals. "Oh, another slave girl for sale? This one looks strangely intact." The squid spouted off in rough basic, before waving the jedi's escort off. "Bring your woman closer, I wish to inspect her closer." The Quarren demanded, as Fill would lead Zemira closer to the alien. So far so good, all they had to do was pass inspection.

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

The pair walked together with Zemira allowing Fillion to take the lead, or at least allow him to seem as though he was taking the lead for the benefit of those around them. The plan was risky and though it was a good idea, it needed to go smoothly for them to be given any credit for it. "Okay..." She agreed when he mentioned being the one to do all the talking, she had expected that much. "Wait, what?!" Her eyebrows furrowed together into a frown as she searched Fillion's eyes to see if he was joking or not but didn't push the matter as they had little time left. Surely he was joking. She thought.

"I beg to differ. I'm the most trained, I'm prepared to be surrounded by hostiles. You, on the other hand... if they find out you aren't who you say you are then you could be in the most trouble so be careful." She reiterated before the time for talking was over. Now was the time for carefully calculating a plan, observing to see how best to make use of what was around her and to avoid as many casualties as possible. The very thought of what they were about to enter made her feel sick to her stomach. Treating people as property was beyond barbaric and she wanted to ensure they could help as many people as possible today.

Zemira stayed silent for the remainder of their journey, living a painful reminder of the way some people were treated as property. The lack of eye contact made her feel as though she wasn't there but was just another commodity to be processed. Anger was building up inside of her, though she remained calm on the outside, as she had to. Fillion was playing his part well and she had to play hers if they were going to succeed and now was more vital than ever as there was no going back. Once reaching the ground, Zemira took a deep breath and prepared herself for the mission that lay ahead. She was uneasy at the prospect of not being readily available to protect her Padawan but if he could keep up his appearance for long enough then he should be safe.

She approached the Quarren, as led by Fillion, and tried to avoid his gaze as she knew she would be expected to. He circled the Knight slowly, checking her posture, the state of her hands and raising her arms horizontally to feel them as well as inspect the overall condition of her. "Seems strong..." He thought aloud before standing in front of the pair again, seemingly satisfied. "Ok, everything seems fine." He concluded as he scribbled something down on a datapad before waving the pair on. As much as Zemira wanted to share a reassuring look with Fillion, they were both in roles now and had to commit to them for now.


Fillion Orville

 

[Fillion Orville]

Aw, was she getting concerned about him? Cute. She didn't know his array of skills, clearly. He had this covered, it was no contest. "Zemmie, this is my element. You do your job, I'll do mine." Least that's what he wanted to tell her, sadly they were out of time to chat. They were probably more concerned for the other, after all, they weren't that well acquainted on each others skill sets. This would be like a game of twenty one Sabaac shuffle, except that game was legal and Fill wouldn't have his cheat deck on hand. Yea, alot of things could go wrong, but why fret? Everything was fine for right now.

He kept an eye on the Quarren, any unnecessary touching and Fill would drop an elbow on the alien; after all, slavers had the right to defend their goods, not to mention he fully intended to watch out for her. The Quarren seemed to be pleased with the inspect, as he jotted his notes into the holopad and motioned the two on, which Fillion agreed to do. Taking her gently by the arm, he moved through the door that opened before them, and moved on into the pricing room. Two of the guards trailed in behind them, a Gamorrean and a Trandoshan to be exact. Seemed they were worried people might be after the goods within this place. Going through the narrow hall, they would arrive into another reception room, though this time instead of a squid, there was a well dressed Twi'lek man with an entourage. The Twi'lek's face lit up at seeing the two, as he pulled his feet off the desk and pointed towards them. "What a score you've brought in for me today. That a Hapan girl? I know that figure anywhere, oh man. Hard to come by those girls now a days." He remarked, getting up behind the desk and moving to meet the pair half way, as the armed escorts took to standing by the door. The Twi'lek offered his hand towards Fillion, but his eyes never left Zemira. "Names Quid, and I just have to ask, how'd you manage to pull this off?" Quid asked, his head tail twitching as it coiled around his neck. Fill, needless to say, was not impressed, as he took the mans hand and shook it. "You know how women are, you make them fall for you, give them a couple of drinks, offer her a necklace later that night, and revel it's a slave collar in the morning. Sixty-five percent of the time it works every time." Yea, that didn't make sense, but the one slaver Fill had met never shut up about it. "Ah, yea, that's a solid bit of advice. Seems you got some talent my friend." Fillion raised a hand, pointing at the slime ball. His tone was direct and firm. "Easy now, we aren't friends. I got your product, and you got my payment. So how about we move this on along." Quid only laughed, moving back towards his desk as he began to lay out some credits, and pulled out a bottle of some strange grey substance. "Ha, I think I like you. Straight to business, like a real man." He sat down, and motioned for the Trandoshan. "Be a dear and take our new girl down to the holding cells. Me and her master are going to haggle out a price." Fill glanced to Zemira, trying his best not to betray his concern, but could only trust she could handle herself; after all she was a jedi. The Trandoshan came forward, his clawed appendage taking hold of Zemira's shoulder, as he attempted to move her off to a side room. With reluctance, Fill moved towards Quid, taking a seat before the man, as Zemira was lead away. He battled against the unsettling feeling he had in his gut, and fought it with the reminder that he had a job to do. "Better not mark up that girl, she wasn't easy to get ahold of." "Oh, I'm sure. Now, price? How much were you wanting for her?" Sadly, this is where Fillion's knowledge on slaving came to an end. How can you put a price on human life? Well, you start high and go down from there. "I'm thinking three thousand sounds like a good starting point." Apparently that wasn't the right answer. "Three thousand?" Quid gawked, looking over to one of his assistants. "He wants three thousand for that broad, you believe that?" He repeated, clearly trying to mock the man. "Well what would you say she's worth?" Fill asked, as Quid began to pour out two drinks. "Well, she's not worth three thousand. I can tell you that." He suppressed a sigh, as he took the drink and sipped it; it wasn't good liquor either, confirming there was nothing redeeming about this man.

Zemira on the other hand, was lead onto a cargo lift, and lead down into what once might have been a holding cell for cargo, but was now being used as a holding pin for slaves. Dozens of massive storage rooms lined this poor light floor, with a dozen armed guards at the ready. The faint sounds of whimpering could be heard as she was lead towards the back. Towards the back was what might have been a security room, with consoles and monitors overseeing the slave pins pushed off towards the right most side of the room, and a door that lead off to the left. A handful of guards were lounging here, as they all eyed up the new comer and assuredly made crude remarks in what might have been Huttese towards her. The Trandoshan didn't respond, moving his prisoner towards the left door, which opened to reveal several ray shield cages. There was another woman in the room, and she looked rather beat up, though she kept to cowering in her cage. The Trandoshan shoved Zemira into one of the open cages, and it switched on once she was inside. His job done, he would leave the two women alone. Fillion had his job to do now, and Zemira now had hers.

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

For people who appeared to seamlessly manage a large corporation, they weren't very intelligent, or were at least very gullible. Unfortunately for them, they would soon learn that this would be their downfall. They would never expect Jedi to infiltrate their operation as they were doing now, after all, the Jedi had the appearance of being honourable and undeceiving but sometimes you had to fight dishonour with dishonour and these people had made the mistake of underestimating the Silver Jedi Order yet had the audacity to set up camp on one of their allied worlds.

Zemira was disgusted by the way she was talked about as though she wasn't there but noticed that Fillion was particularly quick-thinking as he soon fabricated a story which was apparently believable. Being quick-thinking was a valuable skill to have so she could only hope it extended into combat and not just for deceptive purposes. However, her mind soon drew from the conversation and focused on scanning the room, making a note of any threats they would have to contend with. There were an abundance of people dotted around who were armed and while she wasn't armed herself, she was confident in her ability to handle herself and her Padawan.

She allowed herself to be led to the holding cell by a guard and after witnessing what she just had, she was confident that Fill would be alright so she could focus on her own task. Her Padawan seemed to be in his element and she wasn't sure if it should be worrying or pleasing. Once in the holding pin, she could feel the overwhelming sense of fear, hopelessness and desperation from those who were in there and it made her feel sad and then angry and then... determined. She would do all she could within her power to free these people from their captors and stop the slavers from ever enslaving others again.

After being shoved inside a cage, Zemira whipped around to glare at the Trandoshan but he had already turned away from her. How could so many people lack basic compassion? She wondered. With a sigh, her attention turned to the woman she shared the cage with and her expression saddened to sympathy. She slowly walked over to the woman who was sitting on the ground and knelt down in front of her. "Don't be afraid. We're going to get you out of here." She whispered to which the woman looked in her eyes with a look of hope. "What are you going to do?" She asked with a newfound confidence. "I'll figure something-" She started before an unexpected raised voice made her jump. "Hey! Stop talking." A Trandoshan shouted at the pair, sparking an idea in Zemira.

If she irritated them enough then they would open the shield to teach her a lesson but she knew she had to be careful how she went about it because she didn't want the other woman with her to get into any more danger because of her. She sat on the floor and crossed her legs, thinking about the best way to approach the situation. After a few minutes, Zemira didn't look at the woman as she spoke to her in an attempt to keep her uninvolved. "Don't be afraid of what I'm about to do, I'm a Jedi Knight, I'm here to protect you." She said in a hushed voice which wasn't caught by the guards that time.

Zemira pushed herself back onto her feet and stood at the ray shield with her arms folded, staring at the guards. "What are you looking at?" One of them called towards her to which the Knight shrugged in response and casually leaned against the wall. This alone wouldn't be enough to bring them over, that she knew, but in time they would get irritated and no doubt overreact. At least this way, the focus would be on her and not her cellmate. "When we get out of here, stick with me." She turned her head to speak to the woman. "We told you to stop talking!" A man shouted before storming over to the cell and glaring at the Knight within who returned his glare defiantly.


Fillion Orville

 

[Fillion Orville]

"Absolutely not." "You want three thousand, so you give me that, and I'll do three thousand." "I'm not going to dispose of your dead slaves for three thousand credits." What in the heck was wrong with these people? Seriously? Getting paid extra to dispose of the bodies? Quid finished his first glass, as he started to refill his own glass, and despite Fill's protests, topped off his glass as well. "So where are we now? Five hundred for the girl, yes?" This guy just didn't get it, but then again, the longer Fill kept him talking the more time it gave Zemmy to do her job. "Listen buddy, it took seven hundred to fuel up my ship and pay the docking fee, so you tell me on what world that makes sense." "Not my fault you got ripped off." Quid leaned back, taking a sip from his glass, as he seemed to catch on to the fact that Fill didn't like the drink at all. "Is Zygrian Whiskey not to your liking?" Quid asked, running a finger over the rim of his glass, which made Fill detect that something was wrong. "Not particularly no. I'm more of a girly drinks kinda guy truth be told. This stuff just doesn't do it for me." Quid got a look which was rather concerning, one that indicated that he was a mix of angered, and amused. "Is that so? Well why didn't you say so. I have several other varieties, I'm sure one of these would suit a man of your tastes." This was just great, he was being held hostage by an alcoholic slaver, and Zem was stuck in a slave pen.

"I don't know, I'm a rather hard man to please." Everything seemed to be going somewhat okay up til this point, until Quid winked at him, then Fill felt his soul die. "Well, I do love a good challenge, men are so very difficult to please at times." Quid pulled out another glass and bottle, this one a pinkish color, to which he poured Fill a drink. "Try this on, straight from the tab, Zeltros Honey Rum. It'll hit the spot, I promise." Seeing as how he seemed to being told to drink rather than ask, Fill did just that, finding the drink a little more to his liking. "Yea, this is good. Thanks." He sputtered, trying to keep this idiot happy so this mission could continue on. "So, what was your name? I don't think I've caught it." "Fill." "Fill? That's a nice name for a handsome man like yourself." "Oh, well, thanks." Oh yea, this mission was just going great. Hopefully Zemmy would never find out about this, or he'd probably just risk going to prison rather than listen to her giggling about this.

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

"Or what?" Zemira challenged him, not backing down or adverting her gaze. The man scowled at her before his lips upturned into a smirk and he called back to the order guards. "Shock her." He told them and after a few awkward moments he shouted at them again. "What are you waiting for?! Shock her." He yelled, prompting a nervous response back from another guard. "It's not working!" He replied, causing the man to sink back into his anger. "Fine, I'll do it myself." He muttered as he pressed a button which lifted the ray shield and stormed in with the pair but neither woman moved.

With a quick glance around, Zemira decided now was as good a time as any but she would need a weapon to stand any chance against the others who were armed. The man drew a stun baton and activated it so the Knight leapt into action and held a hand out to pull the weapon from his grasp and into her own, with a little difficulty. She stood in a defensive stance in front of the bewildered guard who was trying to comprehend what had just happened. "Shock her!" He shouted again with more urgency as he backed away from her, this time drawing the attention of the other guards more. "What's going- oh." Another guard responded, rising from his seat.

The Knight swung the stun baton at her opponent who only just dodged it and advanced on him until she was close enough to hit him in the side, knocking him unconscious. The other guards had rushed over and stood in front of her, all armed with blasters or stun batons. "Give it up." One of the guards threatened with his blaster trained on her. Zemira said nothing, only held her hand out and made his blaster malfunction for a second which gave her the chance to hit him with the stun baton and knock him unconscious. She ducked under two stun batons and hit two other guards.

With all immediate guards taken out, she turned back to the woman behind her and ran over to her. She held her hand out to offer her help standing up which the woman apprehensively took. Both of them walked down either side of the room, releasing all the captives from their pins. They wouldn't have long before reinforcements came. "Go, go!" She shouted, pointing towards the entrance they had taken and suddenly people leapt into action and swarmed towards the cargo lift. The door to an adjacent room opened and a handful of guards rushed in just as Zemira slammed the stun baton through the device used to shock the slaves through their collars.

She sprinted towards the cargo lift and once she was almost there she felt a searing pain in her left shoulder but didn't stop. It became apparent that the blasters were set to kill now so stopping would mean certain death. Once on the cargo lift, she wanted to do nothing more than collapse on the floor but adrenaline was preventing her from doing so. This was only half the battle.


Fillion Orville