Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private Pirates, Lions, and Whales

Several Weeks Before the Events of Stormwall...

“C’mon Kujo,” Thalia said to her tall KJ droid companion as the cargo hauler she’d stowed away on rumbled to a halt. She could hear the airlock engaging somewhere on the ship and knew she was about to miss her chance. She stood from her makeshift seat, a box labeled ‘Bound for Bastion’ with a New Imperial Logo on the side, and pulled her hood over her head. Skimming and smuggling New Imperial supplies wasn't her problem. She turned to look at the gangly droid and frowned.

“Kujo?”
The droid’s eyes flashed back to life, flickered for a moment, and then returned full white. It tilted its head at Thalia quizzically.

“Padawan Senn, my apologies, I attempted to connect to the local holonet but it appears there is no connection nearby. It has been several days since my last check-in with the order and I cannot update them on your wellbeing without the holonet.” Thalia sucked her teeth. He was still trying to ping the Prosperity? She’d removed his holonet uplink days ago when she realized on Corellia that he was pinging her location.

“Don’t worry about it,” she muttered, shouldering her pack and fishing in her pocket for a protein ration bar. All she found was an empty wrapper and she sighed, her stomach growling. They had landed in Hyne, a city that was a good few-hour flight or a multi-day sail away. With it being the start of the Weeping on Hyne though there was no way any ships would be going out. She'd be lucky if she found a pilot heading back that way to begin with. When she managed to sneak out of the spaceport it was clear there would be no boats, no matter how much she wanted to get her hands around a hallyard and just do something, anything, to get her mind off of the Jedi. She'd have to find a local to fly her out.

The rain and hail were coming down in force. The wind wasn't as bad as back home which was nice, it meant her hood stayed up without her having to keep her hands up. She'd heard that Hyne could be a rough place at night. The city was famous but she'd never been there and she couldn't remember a time where either of her parents ever even flew to Hyne when she was a child. Some of her school friends had though, only one or two of them, and they had filled her mind with all kinds of notions of city-folk. A speagull screeched, piercing the sound of the rain and she moved forward, heading towards the water and the docks. That was when she spotted him. Another Jedi. He was easy to identify. He was wearing his lightsaber brazenly on his hip and a Jedi rain smock. He seemed to be talking to a tall and stately-looking Chagrian and a mercenary-type in black armor. The merc noticed her first and watched her watching them.

"These damnable pirates are terrorists! The local militias won't do anything about it and since the OPA collapsed I can't get into contact with anyone that won't charge exorbitant prices. The Jedi are my only hope of ridding this city of such filth. They are harming the peace of this fine city and my company, so I am glad you came to deal with this in person Master Jedi." The Chagrian bowed respectfully. The merc tapped the Chagrian's shoulder and pointed at Thalia.

"That's probably one of them there come to kill me!" The Chagrian wailed. "Go Jedi! Get her!"

"Emperor's black bones," Thalia muttered. "C'mon Kujo!" She didn't wait. She ran into the city, her strange brown cloaked droid following behind.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
Dagon Kaze could've sworn he had read a pamphlet flaunting the impeccable safety of the southern systems somewhere on Atrisia not long ago. Alas, if that truly had been the case he wouldn't be here pounded by the heavy rain and hail. Pamarthe was the furthest world the Jedi had ever stepped on in his life and the furthest by far. The edge of the galaxy; excitement, driven by his innate curiosity and love to explore, wavered under the battering of the nasty weather and the pleas of the Chagrian public official.

"That's probably one of them there come to kill me!" The Chagrian wailed. "Go Jedi! Get her!"

The Jedi snapped his head at the pointed finger's direction - a short hooded figure froze for a fraction of a second, only to turn heel and flee without a word. Another tall silhouette with a brown cloak emerged from the darkness dashing beside her.

Dagon gave chase.

Patience, would've been the words of his master, Asmundr Varobalder Asmundr Varobalder , but the padawan had none. He had tempered his connection to the Force after the events of Ziost out of fear of unleashing the ghosts within again.

"Hey! Stop!" he would shout out from behind her as he gave pursuit. The game of cat and mouse led them through the passages lining up around the canals, passing strings of bars and old shops, crossing honking trolleys and stepping, nearly capsizing, a dozen of small boats carelessly floating about.

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
Kaska Arden Kaska Arden
 
Despite it being evening and a storm rolling through, the streets of Hyne were quite lively. Bars were open and couples were out on a stroll, sea trolleies rang their bells and ferried passengers along their slow lumbering path. Far up above she even heard a rail car or two scream through the sky. She had always wondered what it would be like to live through a Weeping without having to batten down the hatches everytime the sky darkened and the clouds rumbled overhead. Thalia guessed this was it, and why Hyne had always been such a big city on Pamarthe.

She was surprised how in tune with the city she felt as she jumped over walls and leaped onto buildings attempting to evade her pursuer. Her carelessness though was her downfall.

The hard tiles of the roof were slick with rain from the storm and she felt her boots slip in her rush to escape. "Crick!" The curse escaped her lips so quickly she didn't have time to self-regulate, not that it mattered anymore, she wasn't a Jedi...Was she? A metallic hand gripped her by the collar of her robes, holing her tightly above what looked to be a four-meter drop. She swallowed hard and looked up to find Kujo's two white photoreceptors staring back at her. He cocked his head and lifted her up.

"That was incredibly dangerous Padawan Senn. Why are you running so quickly? I believe that was Padawan Kaze."

"Padawan, knight, master...Doesn't matter. Can't let them get to me. After what I did..." The regret started building up and she felt like she was going to vomit remembering the gash she left on Quill.

"What you did, Padawan Senn?" The droid cocked its head again the other way, confused. Thalia could see the Padawan now, just one building away. She cursed again and jumped from the other side of the building which had a much shorter fall over the water way trolley. She caught one of the street lamps and swung herself into the air, using the Force to propel her further before landing on the roof of the trolley as it took off form the station. She gave the other Padawan a rude gesture salute and plopped down on the trolley as it headed towards the docks.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
Dagon squinted hard as he closed in on the distance between him and the fugitives. An odd air of familiarity washing over him the nearer he drew. One of the fugitives nearly fell from the building up ahead only for the other to catch her by the collar with surprising ease. Their shadowy silhouettes grew more comprehensible and the Jedi depicted one of the two as a droid. Explains the strength of the grip.

He nearly slipped when he landed on the same building the two fugitives were on, wobbled to regain his footing, then looked up to see the two figures flinging off the building, swinging on one of the hanging lamps and landing with envious precision on one of the passing trolleys. That leap...cybernetics?

The Jedi rolled his eyes at the obscene gesture from one of the fugitives before a flash of lightning illuminated the fugitive's identity.

Thalia?!

He blinked twice frozen from surprise.

She's a pirate now?!

That's an...interesting career choice after her outburst. The same outburst which had invited Ryv, Aelys and Aaran to the Jakku Enclave. Dagon had been there already for a completely different reason when it all went down. He drew out an exhausted sigh - he really didn't want to be the first to find her after that.

No time to overthink.

Dagon took a few steps back, then dashed and with a Force enhanced jump landed with a heavy thud on another trolley on the tail of Thalia's. His landing far less gracious due to the distance of his leap nearly capsized the boat. A series of curses rolled out from the tongues of passengers and operators. He stood back up on his feet and yelled out at the fugitive Jedi, "THALIA!"

"GET OFF ON THE NEXT STATION!"

The padawan measured the distance from his trolley to her's. Yeah, that's...not gonna happen, is it.

"I AM NOT HERE FOR YOU."

Might as well be. Pirates were a problem to solve, sure, but a fugitive, untrained Jedi with a temper?

Things 've just been getting from bad to worse lately.


Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
Not for her? Well...If he wasn't here for her she would make sure that none of the others figured out where she was either. Like he asked she got off at the next station, falling from the roof like some panther startling the would-be riders.

"Sorry," she said and clapped her hands together and smiled in an apologetic gesture. She didn't wait for the fare droid to yell at her to pay. The young Padawan and the droid were off into the streets. By the time Dagon's ferry arrived the pair were back, waiting. Thalia had her lightsaber in hand and Kujo just stood there, its eyes glowing and cloak billowing in the wind.

"Spill," she shot quickly.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
Dagon stepped onto the next station with a soaked boot. He had just noticed his caped cloak had fallen off his shoulders when he had recklessly leapt the distance from the roof to the trolley. His leather jacket and the rest of his attire were drenched in rain, the raven hair was no longer messy but fully straight dropping over his brow.

"Lovely weather this side of the galaxy." the Jedi muttered as he brushed away the stands of hair off his eyes and looked up Thalia, "Pirates."

"And I think I need help." he lied but he was not really into another game of cat and mouse.

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
"Pirates? On Pamarthe?" That was like saying there were storms on Pamarthe. The planet was rife with pirates. Without sophisticated satellites and a very splintered and decentralized militia, it was one of the easiest ways to make money on the high seas of the water world. Thalia wrinkled her nose at him incredulously.

"What about them? Did you want to see some or something?" She really didn't want to play tour guide but if it would get him off her back she could play tourist for a while. She'd never been to this island before though.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
"Get rid off them." Dagon replied, his eyes drooping with a stupid look. Had she hit her head? "No one's been dealing with the problem so they reached out all the way to Core for help." the Confeds had really shut the doors locked with their new mandate.

"You know this place better than me and the more intel I can gather, the quicker I can get this job done."

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
Thalia scrunched her face up at Dagon incredulously and shrugged. These storming Core Jedi sometimes felt like they'd never spent a day on the Rim. To be fair, she admonished herself silently, you haven't spent much time in the cities either so fair was fair. Despite thinking that she still couldn't help saying,

"You airsick Dagon? This is Pamarthe. There's pirates EVERYWHERE." She shrugged. "I've never been to this city before but I've heard rumors. C'mon." Thalia led the older Jedi and her robot chaperone through the narrow walkways of Pamarthe through the rain. If this is what storms were like on Hyne she wondered why her father hadn't moved up here. Probably way easier to live when storms didn't threaten to blow half your livestock away. Probably why they invested so heavily in
errey and rock hens.

"Listen," she started as they approached a street with glowing neon lights. There was a thick mist in the air and in the darkness, the lights gave the mists an eerie glow.
"Let me do the talking once we're in one of these pubs. Sailors like these? They'll pick you out for some Off-World wannabe the minute you open your karkin' mouth. Crash?"

"Oh dear. I do not like the sound of this Padawan Senn. I must-" The droid raised its finger in protest.

"Kujo? Can it." The droid lowered its finger and hung its head, defeated by a mere teenager.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
A silent laughter escaped his sealed lips as he followed her lead. Thalia reminded him a lot of Kaska, just...far more crass. And while recalling his companion brought amusement at first, it was quickly drowned under the weight of the events over Ziost. Things became really, really complicated after he'd tripped to the dark side. Even if he'd done it with the good intention of saving her life.

"Crash." Dagon confirmed, sarcasm dripping off his mouth, then casually shrugged, "I'm not too worried though, I have the best shockboxer this side of the galaxy has to offer."

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
"Best shock-?" She paused, hand on the ironwood door. "You know what, nevermind," she said and huffed a lock of wet hair out of her face. The inside of the pub was warm and filled with a sweet-smelling smoke, probably spice. She cringed but suffered through anyways. In the corner there was a quartet of very drunk-looking singers belting out a shanty. Thalia cringed away from someone who nearly spilled their ale on her and somehow made it to the bar.

"Ain't ye a wee bit smol to be waltzin' round 'ere like ye own the place lass?" The bartender was a large human-looking man...save for his size and four arms. He had a thick head of brown hair and golden yellow eyes with teeth that probably should have been replaced three years prior. Thalia slapped a few credits down on the bar.

"Work don't know no age," she shot back. "One Corellian, one sprite. Sharp if ye got it. Aaaaand," she looked over her shoulder at the lumbering and awkward KJ droid as he attempted to meander through the crowd. "I guess a bucket 'o oil for the droid." The barkeep snorted and started to turn but Thalia relented and reached over the counter, slipping another credit, her last one, into the man's pocket.

"And see if you got any patrons needin' good fighters."

"You crazy or just airsick lassie? Weepin's upon us. Ain't no sailor worth 'is salt sailin' in them storms."

"I didn't say nothin' about sailors, savvy?" The barkeep raised a brow. As his other two arms worked he rubbed his chin with his free hand. A Corellian ale hit the bar for Dagon, a green and yellow circular orb for her.

"I have to go out back for the oil," the barkeep said loudly before lumbering off, whispering to some sultry fellow's ear on his way out. Thalia took her seat and turned to Dagon, arms spread out as if ready to receive praise.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
Dagon turned the New Jedi smock inside out so the the symbol would be undistinguishable and concealed the lightsaber hilt inside. The more the war with the Sith had progressed, and the subsequent propaganda/scandals grew, so did the mistrust of Jedi followed. Especially on non-Allied worlds. Besides, he'd always been convinced that having the element of surprise on his side was far more advantageous.

The pub wasn't anything less than what he had expected; the sulfuric smell of saltwater mixed with stale ale and old grease tore through his nostrils like a torrent of fire. He followed her to the bar, trying to make himself look smaller, yet his attempts were hardly successful. The four-armed bartender had given him a long up-and-down stare before his attention had drifted to Thalia.

The raven-haired Jedi let his eyes linger over the wall behind the barkeep, while Thalia made her order, there was numerous fishing awards - mostly bronze - and a lot of different pictures of the barkeeper and others with different fish game hanging from their hands. When the bartender went out back, his gaze turned back to Thalia who wore a triumphant, chit-eating grin.

He glanced briefly at the ale before him but made no move for it; not really a casual drinker, had to maintain strict physique regimes or Oceiros would have his head.

"You know which exact crew we going after?" instead of praise, she received a whispered inquiry. Dagon assumed the pirates the Chagrian statesman was mentioning were the talk of town. Assumptions. Everything about him on Pamarthe was assumptions and he didn't like it one bit.

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
"Nope," she grabbed her sprite and took a sip, wincing at the bite before setting it back down. She shrugged and swung back around on her stool. "Like I said, 'pirates' are a dime a dozen on Pamarthe. And if they're operating right now during the Weeping they're-" A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and spun her around, causing her to drop her sprite. The glass orb shattered on the floor, spilling its contents onto the wooden planks below.

"Oi. You the twerp lookin' for 'Work'?" The Mon Cal's eyes fixed on her face. Kujo's eyes flashed yellow and he made a few angry steps towards them. Thalia raised her hand warding the droid off before looking the fish man right back in his big eyes. She tried not to think of the smell as she swallowed hard.

"Dagon? I don't think they're happy about us looking for work in their waters."

"Damn straight lass-" he didn't finish the sentence. Thalia had snatched the Corellian ale from the bar and crashed the durasteel bug into one of the Mon Cal's bulbous eyes. He screamed, stumbling back with blue blood oozing from the ruptured eye. "No Lightsbares" she mouthed as the Mon Cal's crew closed in around them. The music picked up with the excitement.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 
It happened all too fast. Too fast that even the Force had barely any time to react; Dagon's lips had barely formed into a 'no', only too late. Thalia went all in. The screams of the Mon Cal drowned under the sudden explosion of chaos as the whole pub turned into an arena. Some to settle old scores, others to mug one another, and some just for fun.

No lightsabers.

Dagon hadn't planned on it. Ever since the mistrust of Jedi had grown (wrongfully, according to him) exponentially after the New Jedi went to war against the Sith, the padawan had opted to keep his identity concealed outside Alliance space; just like he did when he was fighting crime in the bowels of Coruscant.

Just like any thug of Coruscant, one of the pirates' produced a shiv and jolted straight for Dagon's neck. It never reached its target, the trajectory twisted in the gruesome shape of a broken arm. Another one came right after - a large Togruta - pinning the Jedi to the bar. He landed one punch before Dagon pulled his knees back and sent his legs into the assailant's abdomen.

Free from immediate altercations he called out at Thalia, "You've got any better ideas this time?!"

Outside on the street, someone sent word to the local militia. Heavy boots hit the paved alleys in a hurry towards the pub.

"Like maybe-- just maybe - stop punching-- everyone who pisses you off!!"

The pirates, drunkards, and different degenerates came at him from all angles. He could fend them off but he couldn't really escape.

Thalia Senn Thalia Senn
 
She grinned at Dagon, showing all of her perfect teeth.

"We're on Pamarthe Dagon!" she shouted over the shouts of the bar fight, her fist connecting with a man's jaw via an uppercut. "And we're Pamarthens. Its what we do! We're good at flying, fighting, and fu-" Her sentence was cut off when she took a full-on boot to the face. It wasn't connected to a foot though, someone had just thrown the thing at her. She laughed and threw it back before readying herself to dive into the fray again.

It was then she felt herself getting lifted off the ground, the four-armed bartender had returned. He locked eyes with Dagon and nodded his head towards the door.

Dagon Kaze Dagon Kaze
 

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