Private Some Nights

[Drifter]

[ oh hell] came Drifter's curse echoed as he immediately flattened himself down. The tingling sensation of warning had made the hairs at the nape of his neck stand on end. Perhaps, the same goosebumps sensation Rhea had felt to prompt her to react so quickly.

The blaster bolts flew over his head, before striking the Squib square on the shoulder and head, his fuzzy blue body plopping down unconscious. Peering behind him, Drifter could only give a tilt of his head in acknowledgment.

[ You know -- I ain't the only one who seems to use the Force it seems. ] he told her, getting to his hand and knee again to try and shuffle along with a sense of urgency.

[ You ever get those funny tingles and then something happens? ] he genuinely didn't mean for it to sound like a euphemism but with Drifter it was always hard to tell.

 

[Rhea]

She snorted at the question, turning back over to resume their awkward shuffle away. "Oh come off it. You're solider, of course you'd duck." Her fingers pinched between the gun and floor, the simple pain at the forefront of her thoughts.

They must have crossed into a room with exposed venting, because below them sudden screams occurred.

Thunk. The hallow sound of something striking under her palm echoed up. A shoe?

"Fek They better not have guns."

 

[Drifter]

" You! I see yo sneaky thief thief! " came the high pitched shriek from below. It was a Squib - who thankfully didn't have a tensor weapon but had instead opted for weapons of opportunity.

In this case, an old shoe.

"Git him! Drop him down down!" that's when another green, fuzzy squib with several hoop earrings went waddling out of sight. " Get big gun yes, Pipa, Pipa get. Big gun bring down!" There was suddenly a massive series of chants.

"BIG GUN BIG GUN BIG GUN!"

Behind Rhea, she'd hear Drifter say [ Uh oh. ]

 

[Rhea]

"Oh great, they have guns."

Once again, she ached for her old tech. A grappling hook would be a prime way to zip across the slippery insides of the vent. As it stood, she only had her hands and the childish add-on on the tensor gun to guide their way.

Where ever this big gun was, it certainly wasn't right on hand. The two scrambled their way across the room, disappearing over the concrete wall again. She paused once the noise of the chants faded off, the thick insolation of the fort surrounding them.

"We need. A new plan," she panted, curling her legs up to face him. Sweat dripped down her face as she gingerly rolled out her wrists, the whole ordeal cramp, hot, and utterly disorienting.

"Do you have a map out of these vents?" As she recalled, his were very old and outdated.

But how much did fort structure really change in a decade anyway? ...Would that be something that would even be on hand?

 

[Drifter]

[ Uh, vents were not the priority. ] he admitted but drew his wrist up to pull up the map, casting the pair in pale cerulean light. [ I can get them to start mapping though. ] which might result in losing a drone or two if the Squibs got to them first.

Using the Force, he made his selection. Three small green dots bloomed. With a few more instructions, the drones rose in the map and began to search for vents.

[ Okay, now, we really need to keep moving. Anything that is a big gun with Squibs is not good. ] he gave a nod with his helm. [ better to be moving than standing still. ]

 

[Rhea]

Rhea shoved back her hair, looking grim as she hesitated for just a moment on crawling forward. The gun was doing a doozy on her wrist-- pinching her fingers and all around being a pain to lug when trying to shuffle quickly on your hands and knees. She wanted to pocket it, but the damn starry mobile remained their only light.

"You really need to spruce up that helmet." I mean come on. Lights were pretty basic! She rolled her wrist a final time, then set forward in her crawl, the metal being and creaking in protest over their weight.

"big gun big gun big gun!" The chant returned as they crossed over the hall. "Look! Shinny!" They couldn't hear the putter of fear scattering their way, but Rhea could surely fill in the blank.

Zink! The metal burned under her hand, a blaster shot warming under it. "Fek," she gasped, yanking it back.

Zink Zink--thunk-- Zink.

Big gun? Not even close.

 

[Drifter]

[ I will have you know, this helm has been upgraded several times throughout the years! ] he'd shot back, amused. Of course, getting a shot interrupted his train of thought.

[ Oh shit! ] he cursed, flinching back. The Squibs were sending potshots through. [ Crap, crap crap, crap! ]

"Pew pew! Shooty shooty! Git dhem! Shoot there! No there! No! There! No here!" the was a smattering of shots, the metal warming underneath Rhea and Drifter. So much so that there was a glow as the Squib went wild.

If there was a vent, Drifter would have done something, but for now, all he could do was give Rhea a shove forward -- unfortunately, that resulted in moving towards a section where the vent shaft suddenly disappeared underneath them, prompting them to fall down.

 

[Rhea]

The world slowed for Rhea as she fell through the air, her body twisting like a cat, core turning as she raised the tenser gun and shot one,

two

three times.

She slammed into the ground, sacrificing the change to break the fall with the change to strike the third squib. Better one less enemy and a bruised side than overwhelming odds and death.

The collision was hard, vent paneling clanking around them. Black spots cropped across her vision, an ache growing over her head. Her lungs strained for air. In the turmoil, her vision cleared to find several barrels pointed expressly at her head.

She froze, slowly raising her hands.

"Theifs!"

 

[Drifter]

[ So... you said you had a plan? ] Drifter's voice sang just at the edge of Rhea's hearing with all the annoyance of a buzzing mosquito by Rhea's ear; only in this case, came from her feet. The tumble resulted in a tangle of arms - err arm- and legs and it took him a bit to untangle himself. Unlike Rhea, he decided to keep himself on the ground and out of sight. There was plenty of salvage around them to do so.

His side hurt, and he managed to knock his head a bit. Stars were barely fading from his eyes, the man trying to get an idea of what was going on.

"You! Thief! Take shinny! Give back! Big Momma mad! You pay! You pay lots!" A Squib shouted out at her, holding her hostage with a tensor weapon pointed at her.

In the background, that chant of "big gun big gun big gun!" grew louder.

[ Oh hell...] Drifter cursed, activating his helm. [ I got a bad feeling about this....]

 

[Rhea]

Rhea slowly raised her weapon, gun still griped in her hand. She hoping the gesture would simply be enough, the solider unwilling to surrender all control just yet. Her eyes flickered to Drifter, her attention brief yet hard as realized he was hidden and leaving her to their sole attention.

She accepted this, resolving at once to keep their focus on her as she scrambled to get her baring's. Just how far where they from the trash dump...

She glimpsed the smokey remains of the courtyard up ahead.

"I... I don't have it?" She reasoned. "Hey, hey- hey. Careful where you're pointing that," she chastised, her voice forced as she loudly and poorly tried to keep their attention on her as one kicked at the venting. How many of them were there? At least half a dozen. Her fingers tightened over the gun, the odds weighed.

"If you shoot me you won't ever find it. That I promise you."

 

[Drifter]

That answer resulted in the clicking of the Squib's tongue, her pointed ears flattening back on her violet furry head. Her lips went pulling back in a snarl, revealing her sharp teeth.

"Dhen we shake it out you!" she snapped back at Rhea, just as around the corner, a small party of Squibs came chanting "big gun big gun big gun!"

Shake? What did they mean shake?

The former soldier would now know what they meant by that. There, in the center of the angry mob of Squibs, all holding an array of weapons crafted together. Some were refurbished blasters. Others were a welded mess of sharpened pipes with a medley of attachments -- cause shiny things was oh so pretty - and a few pitchforks.

Wait -- why did they have pitchforks? From where did they get pitchforks?

Anyways.

Right smack dab in the middle, as the great sea of Squib parted, was a short, stout, bright blue Squib. He had one ear with an earring at the tip and a cool little tattered leather jacket vest -- Rhea would recognize the alliance rants emblazoned across the chest - and toting the largest gun one ever did see. Well, compared to a Squib's height. It was at least three times larger than the squib, outfitted with all the bells and whistles any salvager would be pleased about. How they managed to include a tiny disco ball rotating along its length was up in the air, but it was as if it was straight out of "Pimp my Gun" holo episode.

This thing was lit.

"BIG GUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!'

"Yuuuuu..." the tiny, high pitched voice would say, cheeks fluttering, eyes narrowed. "youuuuu witch! you pay!"

 

[Rhea]

Her expression fell, as would any person -- former solider or otherwise-- that saw a gun that big pointed at them.

Shake........... her............. down............?

Fight or flight kicked in, the woman's eyes dilating wildly as she lashed out, her feet clipping the closest over the wrist to disarm him as she backflipped onto her feet. Whew. She still had that in her.

She shot out once- scrambling backwards. Drifter wasn't with her, but Drifter didn't have a big gun pointed at him either. Her wrist tweaked just a little, aiming her barrel at the head of the squib holding big gu-

Zaaaaaaaaaaaap.

The big gun shot out, red light encapsulating her and freezing the tensor bullet mid air. She froze with it, expression contorted in a blaze of determination as her body held still in a graceful twist.

What.

"BIG GUN BIG GUN BIG GUN!"

Came the sudden explosion of celebration.

 

[Drifter]

[ ohh fu--]

The resulting cheers from the Squibs swallowed Drifter's curse, his eyes wide as he saw Rhea's body get caught on the tractor beam. Small blessings that it wasn't tensor technology - her body would have been fried by now.

Shit, shit, shit, Drifter cursed. Mind racing. Okay, what to do. He bit his lower lip, a plan quickly forming. It might not be the best, but it was all he had. With a surge of the Force, Drifter activated a feature of his armor that hadn't been used in a long while. A quick electrical impulse and the armor's coating of photosensitive microscopic crystals activated. All of a sudden, the small crystals began to reflect the ambient colors of its surroundings, essentially, the technological version of bent light. effectively camouflaging him to blend into the surroundings, making it extremely difficult to see.

Meanwhile, Rhea would come to find out first hand what that Squib meant. Frozen in the air, that purple squib suddenly gave a swing upward, dragging the woman into the air, much like a force user would with telekinesis.

With an evil cackle, with the chants of the big gun roaring in the background, the Squib would swing and shake Rhea up in the air.

 

[Rhea]

Shaken like a doll, Rhea was whipped about. Up, down, left, right. It was almost comical, if not for the fact that prolonged rattle took discomfort to a disorienting level.

All the while the heavy gem flew wildly around with her, the small pouch at her side holding the blasted thing in as it smashed two and fro against her leg like an inopportune baseball. A few times she smacked into the surrounding hall, the hallow thud as painful as it sounded.

Suddenly shaken baby syndrome seemed a lot more severe societal problem to her now, than before.

She couldn't move, she could only groan as the strangest torture session came to a pause. Voices chanted and chattered, unregistered as for a moment, she thought she might puke.

"Tell. Shinny thing or shake in bake!"

She let out a groan, struggling to catch sight of her coward companion, but even that-- she spat out a wad of blood. "I told you I don-" Thunk She clunked into the ceiling, her eyes closing as she braced for it again.

"Shake n bake! SHake n bake!"

Were they going to eat her?"

 

[Drifter]

Feth, feth, feth!

Okay, there was only so much time before things escalated. He had to get to the Squib holding the gun or doing something to distract. Otherwise, odds were Rhea was going to get smashed from ceiling to floor.

Moving quickly, the man drew to his feet, moving up and along, using the distraction of the Squibs attention on Rhea to start slinking past towards the crowds. For Rhea, it would appear as if the man had utterly disappeared; perhaps left her to the Squibs whims. A reminder of the taunt she had given him earlier.

It was either get the gun or do something a bit more drastic. Like send a sudden flash of electrical current outward to EMP the gun and send the Squibs scattering.

Of course, Drifter would select the later. Coming right up to the violet Squib, he suddenly shot out his hand, sending a massive surge of electricity through his shock gauntlets that would stun the squib and fizzle the gun.

Unfortunately, Rhea was still up in the air when this happened.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea dropped like a sack of potatoes, nothing but a groaning moaning pile of disorientation as squib scattered around her.

Why was that so affective?

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ZIP ZAP GOES BIG GUN. ZIP ZAP." I guess it did look like it was short circuiting ... had they exploded the gun on themselves before?

Rhea was too disoriented to see the cause, the woman's foot grabbed by two squib who gave panicked glanced at the fizzing gun as they tried to drag her away. She felt herself move inch

by

inch

Her vision settled to find herself staring up at the ceiling. Oh she was gonna vomit. She hitched a few gags, each jolting hitch adding... to the... urge.

 

[Drifter]

Awesome! Point Draith, he told himself, the smug expression filling his face. Now that the Squibs were distracted, perhaps he could use this time to --and that, my friends, is when Rhea became a terrible, terrible woman.

See, through no fault of her own, how could Drifter know that she was prone to motion sickness. As soon as she began hacking up that ever distinguishable, sudden, coughing inducing, motion sickness hack -- Drifter froze.

Oh no.

Oh no, nononononononNoNO!

Shit. He could feel it build. Just hearing it was enough. He couldn't help that since he was young, he was a sympathy puker, and just hearing the hacking, body shuddering coughs was enough to prompt the sudden rise of saliva forming in his mouth, the queasiness in his belly.

Oh feth no!

With renewed speed, he had no fucks to waste. Deciding that he had to go all out, he did so. His mother had been a stasis expert. Had trained him to learn the best non-lethal ways to deal with enemies. A life was a life. Equally important.

Rhea would feel it. A sort of electric current in the air. A rush of energy, a summoning of power she likely only felt with the previous master before. Within Drifter's helm, those twin orbs would begin to glow like the setting Tatooine suns, his body but a mere vessel for the summoning he was drawing. He was, after all, a product of two powerful dynasties.

With a powerful yell, he slammed his hand down upon the ground, sending a shockwave of energy that would burst from the man, flowing outward, suddenly freezing every Squib in place to a near-catatonic state.

It seemed when the going went rough, Drifter was desperate enough to use every means to stop him from the ultimate embarrassment --- sympathy puking.

 

[Rhea]

The gagging stopped, Rhea's equilibrium left to settle as the stasis took over her form.

The world twirled and shifted, her gaze frozen open and unseeing as she was left arched on her back. No more tugs came, but there was the trickling sense... the trickling feel... of awareness.. in the force...

 

[Drifter]

His chest would rise and fall with deep, irregular breaths. Around him, his armor seemed to heat up - sizzle. Emotions had fed that use of the Force, within that surge of energy.

Things were different.

Even if Draith would not admit it, the way his armor reacted was a nagging clue.

Wincing at the sudden rush of warm along his hand, Drifter fell back, observing for brief seconds the result of his Force use. Squibs were frozen in different poses and states of action. Near catatonic. It wouldn't last long, but be enough to give them time to get out and leave this shit show.

From Rhea's direction, he felt a noticeable thrum of the Force. A vibration along the spider web. A mental scream.

Getting to his feet, he quickly moved to her direction where she stood frozen in the air. Reaching out with his hand, his modulated voice would murmur, [ Hang on... I got you. ] as his arm went curling around her to pull her towards him.

 

[Rhea]

The fibers of the stasis snapped as he pulled her in, her form crumbling against his as hitched a few disoriented gags. After a few heaving breaths, her dead weight shifted, uneasy degrees of weight being placed on her legs as she stumbled for her footing. "D-drifter," she breathed, sounding weak as her weight wobbled in circles in his arms.

After a moment, even that settled, the foggy disorientation leaving her half hooded gaze.

"Took you- long enough." Her fingers griped at him, her whole body leaning into him for support as she breathed through the waves of disoriented nausea.

There was nothing else she could do. It was that, or fall.

"Feeeeek," she finally whispered, strength seeping into her voice as she grew steady. It was in that moment that she noticed the frozen squib around then. She startled, fingers tightening on him as if he was her gun.

"Are they down?"