Sister Sister

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nar Shadda

The dank warehouse was... not what she had been expecting. After the clubs and houses well Nami was used to certain things... mainly being taken around from one owner to another as needed or as the brothers were being paid. Allowing herself to be moved with the shock collar she was able to feel just barely allowing her to breathe. She had gotten in all of this time good at making shallow breaths when she needed it. Like wearing a corset and trying to look the most slimming the half zeltron was rounded into one fo the small cages with a couple of the others and she could hear the sounds of hutt repulsor chairs coming around them to look at the slaves. She had pleased her last master before he was killed in a fight and the winner sold her back for more profit. Others were looking for ways to see what she could do and an exotic beauty of even a half zeltron was an important thing.

 

[Joza Perl]

Being pregnant didn’t stop Joza Perl from anything. Or at least, she tried to not let it stop her from anything. She couldn’t very well rest her feet when reports of a slaver hold were being fed to her every other day. Movements, meeting times, cargo and such. This was a good opportunity, and information like this was hard to come by.

And so she made her way to Nar Shadda, using an inconspicuous route to avoid being tracked immediately. She knew of a few people who would not approve of her busting a slaver warehouse in her condition, but it was what it was. After a few more weeks, she would likely be too large to move around as swiftly as normal and would have to withdraw from things like this. At the very least she was wearing her dancer’s bodysuit for protection, swathed in a dark cloak to avoid strange looks and hide her protruding stomach. Ivan was right behind her, prepared to enter the fray alongside her. Normally she would have him wait, but she could use the extra muscle.

The pair had wriggled their way into a vent shaft above the storage area. Joza was perched above a grate, looking down at the slaves in their cages. A Hutt had come to inspect the wares for sale, and she licked her lips. Hutts often came with guards, making this more difficult than a usual bust. But if she—they—could manage to pull this off, it would be most satisfying. Silently counting the slaves as well as the security to size up their numbers, Joza and Ivan waited for the opportune moment to commence their attack.

[member="Nami perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nami thought she felt something in the distance, like a ringing in the back of her head while she was standing there and her mass of purple pink hair was the largest thing she had going off into the distance. Wanting to try and work with the others that were in the cage so they wouldn't have to risk the ones who couldn't handle being sold to the hutts. They were dangerous and had problems in a many of the things but she focused her mind watching the hutts who were going through to risk all of them. "Make sure the weaker ones are behind us, we need to ensure everything is safe." She straightened her hair and the minimal clothing she had been able to wear while they were in the cage and one of the hutts was licking a slave.

 

[Joza Perl]

“Oh, gross.” Joza whispered, face curling into a sneer as she witnessed a Hutt lick a slave with his slimy tongue.

“What?” Ivan grumbled from behind her, craning his head to try and see over her shoulder. “What?” He repeated, already exasperated with this mission.

“That Hutt is licking a slave. That’s so gross. I don’t miss that.” Holding back a gag, Joza shivered and shimmied carefully to the other side of the grate so that Ivan could get a look at the layout as well. Said man paused to look up at her, choosing to ignore what she had said for the moment before scooting closer and looking down into the warehouse. “I dart the Hutt, you take care of the guards?” He muttered, eyes flicking up towards Joza for confirmation. “Sure. Works for me.” Her head tilted towards the slave pens. “Push them away from the cages, though. We don’t want to hurt any of the captives. Once our marks are subdued, smoke bomb ‘n free em.”

Joza removed the grate quietly, and Ivan retrieved a rifle from his back. Taking careful aim, he sent a dart tipped with lecepanine towards the Hutt. The paralytic toxin struck the creature in the back of the neck, and the Hutt seized up, large tongue falling away from the frightened slave. As soon as the creature slumped downwards, it was go time. Before the guards could even track where the dark had come from, a pair of darkly swathed figures dropped from the ceiling, drawing their full attention.

[member="Nami perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

There was something there in the back of her mind. For a moment as she was feeling it but then when she tried to focus on it the sensation was gone with the hutt coming around. There were some others who were looking at the girls and Nami stood there tall at the ready. Her mass of hair was there and rather unruly with some spikes to the ends of it. Not many got ot see it while the cage doors opened and she was being led out. Looking towards the man. "Come on now, time for your touch ups." Nami heard him as he grabbed her arm and was taking her from the cage. One of the hutts that was there stopping for a moment when it was moving to lick her and then there was something happening. THe hutt seemed to dip and go away when Nami started wiping at the saliva from his tongue. She wasn't certain what was happening but all thoughts and instincts were telling her to duck down and get out of the way as Nami fell towards the floor letting the actions happen.

 

[Joza Perl]

Subduing the guards was an easy enough task for the well-armed pair, and after a few minutes silence crept through the warehouse. Catching her breath, Joza was bent on one knee before a trio of slavers covered with spraynet to bind their movement. They’d been knocked unconscious at one point or another, and the Zeltron was debating taking them with her for information extraction or executing them here. Decisions, decisions.

“You alright?” Ivan grunted, brushing some debris from his jacket before shouldering his rifle. “Mm.” Joza exhaled sharply, pushing herself upright before finally taking a look at what they’d come here for. There were several slave cages situated at the far corner of the warehouse, though a handful of slaves were out in the open for observation. “I know what just happened was scary, and I know that you’ve all been thought a lot, but I ask you to please remain as calms as you can. We’re going to help you.” The exhaustion in her voice was evident, but she was sincere. Being pregnant really took a toll on her energy.

Figuring it was high time they got out of here lest the slavers had nosy friends, Joza approached the nearest body towards her. Carefully, she knelt down to the young woman and placed a hand on her own, noting the pink skin. Another Zeltron, of course. Their kind was all too common in this trade. “Can you stand?”

[member="Nami perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nami had a ringing in her ears, something had happened but she wasn't certain about it while she was moving on the ground... and then it was over while she stood there prepared. Looking it all over to give herself some of the information for a moment. She needed time... time to adjust, time to see if the others were alright and... there was a zeltron looking down at her as Nami raised her head looking up to see her. The massive purple pink hair was there while she nodded her head. Thinking about it when she finally spoke with a smile. "Yes I am think you." She wasn't certain about what they were going to be doing or going to try but the slaver was ready for all of it. To stick around and give them a far better as she started to rise up. Wanting to check on the others before she pushed her hair out of her face. "The others, are they alright?" She was thinking about it and the masters would be angry if any of them were left here. LIkely try and take it out on them before she breathed deeply prepared to move or wince from pain. She dind't know if this was some rival gang wanting to take over or just another group but it was a dangerous life to not cooperate.

 

[Joza Perl]

“I think so. They’ll be alright.” Helping the girl up, she spot-checked her for signs of abuse. Ivan was busy helping herd the others, frightened as they may be, out of the warehouse and into their ship. Joza had to smile at that. He was getting better at this.

Sucking in a breath, she faced the younger Zeltron with a smile. “You don’t need to worry. We’re going to help you all get out of here and stay out of bondage. But we need to hurry.” Ushering the girl towards the exit, she looked around, wary of her surroundings. Who knows if the gang who had them holed up in here had friends. No doubt word would get back to whoever the boss was. With that in mind, their exit needed to be as swift as possible. “What’s your name?” She attempted idle conversation, trying to take the girl’s mind off of what was going on.

[member="Nami perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

She was looking at it and well the woman didn't seem like another slaver who might be taking them... though she could also be the bait. Come in, show they are being polite and then switch with the slavers. She didn't know the machinations that many of them did but anything could come from it while the woman walked outside thinking about how to answer about her name. "Nami... my name is Nami Perl." She said it while looked at some of the others when the outside area was a nice mixture of industry as well as a place that they would be able to have privacy in the city. Nami wanted to work on many of the things that they had here as she moved to see the others who were being herded outside. Checking on them with a nod of her head. "You alright?"

 

[Joza Perl]

Ivan was helping heard the slaves onto the ship and into the cargo hold. There wasn’t much there save for a few boxes and blankets, but they hadn’t had much time to prepare, nor did they realize that there’d be this many slaves. He wasn’t a particularly happy man and was less gentle in demeanor than Joza, but he got the job done.

“Well Nami, you seem to have a kind heart.” Joza smiled at seeing how the other Zeltron handled the other captives, seemingly taking on a more big-sister role. “They seem to trust you, and in time I hope that—wait, what did you say?” Her head was being pulled in many directions at once. The unconscious slavers, the freed captives being herded into the ship, covering their tracks and making it to the safe house. She’d never known another Perl she was not related to. “Your name is…you know what, let’s get you onto the ship and get out of here first.”

Seeming shocked, Joza simply shook her head and attempted to usher Nami onto the ship. Once all were aboard, Ivan would return to the helm and activate the ship’s stealth features.

[member="Nami Perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nami was being guided into the ship and getting a small look of confusion mostly with how the womanw as reacting to her name or maybe the situation. She was not exactly certain but she would do it and they were going along so she waited until it was time. Tryingt o get all of the others inot the ship and safety itself when she shook her head getting a little faintness of buzzing behind the ear. "Are you alright?" She wondered and was worried, if the woman got distracted it could be dangerous or they might not cover everything and endanger a lot more if something was distracting. "You seemed upset or surprised to hear my name? Is there something wrong with it? I have no idea if it is important just what the was on my ID."

 

[Joza Perl]

As much as she didn’t want to, Joza ignored Nami for the time being when she expressed her concern. She didn’t quite know how to tactfully approach the subject. Just broke out of slavery and need a shoulder to cry on? She could do that. Falling to the Dark side and confused? Here, have a tissue and an open ear. Granted, sometimes those situations didn’t always turn out good, but she tried. Joza thrived off of emotional situations, though not in a predatory way. They made her think, encouraging her to try and get to know another person’s pain.

But this was a different beast entirely.

Once the now ex-slaves were settled in, Joza motioned for Nami to follow her. She led the younger woman to a storage closet where blankets and medkits had been prepared, crouching down to dig for supplies. “Nami,” She began slowly, exhaling through her teeth. “My name is Joza.” She handed the other Zeltron a stack of towels before rising and looking her in the eyes. “Joza Perl.”

[member="Nami Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Oops double post

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nami was spending the time she had working with them on all of it. She had a few areas where she could be presented with information from them but going to thr storage closet she could see a lot of the things that they might need. Then she paused looking at her, seeing the woman's face though she stood there and was trying to think about what she could really say about it. "That is.... I don't really know what to say." She was looking at the other zeltron with a look on her face when they were there. "I have seen a lot of zeltrons but haven't been on zeltros since I was born, my mother gave me away to people and then the slavers took us and that has been all I have known since then."

 

[Joza Perl]

The more Nami spoke, the more Joza’s internal panic rose. As far as she knew, she was an only child, but there was a time in her life, when she was fairly young that she looked back on with concern. The memories were still fuzzy, but she had to have been…two? Maybe three. Her mother’s stomach and expanded slowly over the months to the point where Joza had been fearful that she’d explode. Even still, her mother—Yulenka Perl—still maintained the sort of gentle love and demeanor she’d always had. But behind her kind eyes and soft smile was a worry that even her toddler daughter, a natural Zeltron empath could pick up on. Empathy took time and practice to control, and in young children it could fluctuate rapidly. One day Yula had left, returning a short time later looking exhausted and gaunt, with no new child. Joza had been confused, but her questions were deflected easily and the mind of a toddler was easily distracted.

As an adult, she chalked it up to the wild imagination of a child or her own addled brain embellishing the past. Or perhaps a vivid dream.

And now, here was that vivid dream standing before her, with Yula’s gentle face and eyes. Joza had taken after her mother in skintone, but her more aggressive demeanor came from her Mandalorian heritage. “I…” Was this how Zef had felt when a ghost from the past cropped up over twenty years later? “I…remember. My mom, when I was very young, she was pregnant. I think. I didn’t quite comprehend it at the time, I thought she was sick, but now that I think about it…” Slouching against the wall, Joza slid to the floor, staring at Nami the entire time. “I’m an only child.” She muttered. “Nami, how old are you?”

[member="Nami Perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

She was looking at her and a range of emotions seemed to be there with a look on her empathy. "I am twenty five." She said it while looking at Joza with a small look on her face though when she stood up a little straighter. Her purple pink hair in a curtain down her back framing her before she seemed to be thinking about what Joza was saying and that seemed like a very strange coincidence. She wasn't exactly certain what was happening or how but if this was a sister or family member then really what was she going to be able to do about it... Nami tapped her head internally... thinking about it. Of course she was going to get to bunk on her couch. Prepared to find a way that they would be able to work with this she spoke. "So I have no idea what to say to that or how to handle this situation."

 

[Joza Perl]

Twenty-five…that would make sense, given the time, the math, the...everything. The more Joza thought about it, the more this seemed to fit. The Jedi don’t believe in coincides, but Joza didn’t know how to feel about their meeting being fated. Hell, she didn’t know how to feel at all. She was excited, yes, but it was buried beneath the weight of her disbelief, anxiety and fear. Her mind was swimming.

A small, almost hallow chuckle slipped past her lips. “That about sums it up, doesn’t it?” Joza felt as if the rug had been pulled out beneath her. She had no words, no proper way to express what she felt in this moment because it was just one big mess of confusion. “I’m sure we’ll…figure it out.” There was always the option of asking Yula, sure, but who knew if she would tell the truth and Joza was loathe to worm her way into her own mother’s mind. Genetic testing was a choice too, and Vhysis had such capabilities, but it worked as a process of narrowing down rather than perfect matching. Either way, there wasn’t a Perl on Zeltros that she wasn’t related to.

“Nami, how long have you been a slave for?”

[member="Nami Perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

She tapped her chin looking at Joza for a moment. "Ehhh maybe since I was nine or ten. The ship I was on got raided and the crew killed. I was the captains servant and he liked too." She didn't finish it, there was a fine line and all slaves dealt with things. you learned how best to cope with it and if you were young enough well. "The slavers just didn't pretend we weren't being sold to people. Don't know which ones were worse." She said it standing there and didn't know what to do. There was a part of her that took comfort like some people from contact. Moving to give her newly discovered sister a hug she mostly just stood there trying to figure things out as her mind was racing and she could feel everything here. Old memories coming up when she spoke. "We'll figure it out though, like I tell the others you got to distract yourself and think about something positive otherwise you really will be in a pit."

 

[Joza Perl]

The captain’s servant. Joza caught herself before she shivered, shaking her head in suspended disbelief. She knew full well what a life in chains could do to someone, how it affected them. While she’d spent a short while of her own time as a slave, the Zeltron worked with many of those who’d been enslaved all their lives. She was lucky in that regard; after she’d broken free, there were safe places for her to go and people to support her. For some escaped slaves, freedom was a liability and maybe just as terrifying as being a captive. This was the sort of problem Joza had tried to eliminate, or at least help with. Hence why they set course to Igor’s Tapani Palace, a shoddy restaurant on Nar Shaddaa that doubled as an underground safe house.

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, voice coming out a bit softer and shaking more than she’d have liked as Nami hugged her. Physical contact wasn’t a deterrent for Joza, but she couldn’t find the strength to hug the girl back in the moment. She felt…guilty. Guilty that one of her own had been suffering for so long. Shaking her head, she blew out a short breath from between her teeth and wrapped her arms around Nami, pulling the other Zeltron in for a tight hug and burying her face into her shoulder. She stayed like that for a few moments before pulling away with a heavy intake of breath, still emotional on the surface but looking more composed. “I don’t know if we’re…or rather how we’re related, but there are ways to figure it out. For now, we need to get you and the others settled.” Her hands ran along Nami’s shoulders, squeezing softly. “We’re going to a safe place. It’s not permanent, but you and the others will receive the medical care and support you may need."

A pause, and she looked at Nami earnestly. “I’m won’t let anyone hurt you, Nami. I promise.”

[member="Nami Perl"]

 

[Nami Perl]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Nami hugged her back and there was something there, something different and strange. She wasn't certain but it wasn't a familiar feeling. More like something that you could feel because someone was speaking and you knew of everything they meant it. A confidence as it were there before she moved over to see some fo the things. "That sounds very nice." She was all for it and stepped back strightening herself up as she stood there ready for anything. "I'll help with what I can, most of them know me and we have been working to keep each other safe around there. You have no idea what the hutts do with some fo the special girls. A few others have been through worse but I don't know if their medical treatments will be able to continue or if they will want to stop them."