The lives that I take

[Brooke Waters]

The transport wasn’t really going anywhere she cared to know, so long as it put Nar Shaddaa behind her. Headphones were playing some form of hard guitar riffs in her ears as she was laying back in the seat. Sav had no care to learn to fly, all she had a care to do was survive. And right now, there was really nowhere for her to go. Nar Shaddaa was… well, it was a shit hole. Anywhere else would be better, right?

Maybe. There were so many places to go, to try to start over. The Techno Union… That had a bit of potential, but really, how would that look for her? A gutter trash woman coming to the place where champagne flowed like water? Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for her.

The ship was heading to the Core Worlds, which could be nice. Somewhere where there were populations and she could just… find herself. That was until the transport fell out of hyperspace. The blonde haired street urchin looked up and looked around. She could feel that power that had found her body so many times before coursing through her veins. That electric feel. That pure energy.

The announcement came over the intercom and was shortly cut that the shuttle was under… something.

“Frak.”

 

[Brooke Waters]

The shuttle was under the control of pirates. That was something that wasn’t always good. She looked out the viewport, what system was that? It wasn’t like Sav would know, anyway. She knew Coruscant, Tatooine and Nar Shaddaa, the places she lived and the places her parents dropped her during travels so that they could sell spice, or their bodies, or whatever it was they did to make money to support her existence.

Regret.

That was the word she had heard too many times when her parents thought she wasn’t looking. That was why she left. Why she wasn’t in touch with the memories anymore. Why she was out here, and using her skills to hoodwink people, and to fight those she couldn’t trick.

“Welcome aboard the newly re-christened Slaver One. I’m your captain, Rzzk, and we’re taking this ship and all its passengers to the world Amar, on the boarder of Sith Space. If you resist, you will be killed. If you don’t, well, we might sell you to the people you want to be sold to.”

There was laughter as the intercom cut out and the ship started to enter the atmosphere. Sav was looking around at the others, clutching their belongings.

Weak.

The ship would soon touch down on a landing pad, and for the first time in her life, Sav could feel someone before she saw them. What was that?

 

[Trin Gravois]

Trin Gravois was in a very bad mood. After Rakata Prime, the Anzat hybrid reluctantly slunk back to the Core with her tail between her legs. She'd almost nabbed a male member of the Underground right out of their base and bewitched him all the way to her ship, but somehow when she wasn't looking, he escaped. She could almost hear her brother's barbs echoing through her damaged mind. Facing Lucas with the stench of failure all over her? Not gonna happen. Trin would be avoiding Coruscant and Lucas for the time being. It wasn't like she knew where he was anyway or who he was skinning alive this time.

To make matters worse, she was starting to get hungry. She'd lost her plaything and her meal in one shot. Amar was as good a place as any to hunt. It was a bit too close to Republic space for her liking, but at least she knew she wouldn't chance running into her sibling. Her veins tingling with need, she branched out with the Force to find some warm blooded bodies. There was a whole ship full of them on a landing pad not too far from where she was. Elbowing pedestrians roughly out of the way, the trenchcoat clad Anzat hybrid made her way to the nearest turbolift and pressed the top floor with an onyx-lacquered fingernail.

[member="Sav Elko"]

 

[Ariadne Van'Shelaq]

//Account transmission confirmed: 15,000 credits transferred to Loas holdings: Coruscant.//

The message whirred quietly across the faded holo, a lilting chime confirming the transfer before the green haze faded into nothingness. The simple grey transmitter, clutched in the manicured hands of a porcelain skinned young woman, softly hummed for several seconds before it finally went into standby mode, no doubt whisking the payment confirmation several hundred thousand leagues away into the waiting accounts of the Loas company on Coruscant. It was nothing especially noteworthy, a bi-monthly chore which involved an extensive one day trip to the famed planet, feigned interest in the most mundane of conversations and a visit to a very modest little establishment off the fringe of the capitol city. It was simple, boring and an utterly necessary chore for the the young woman nestled in the most remote room on the cruiser, away from all the noise and nuisance of the civilians swamping its main deck.

It was a trip she had to endure several times a year, a 'business venture' which often left her feeling all the more sour and conflicted whenever she found her way back home in the Undercity. She never boarded her transport under her real name, never assumed any major identity nor took control of the luxury rooms even if it were in her power to do so. She was no longer Ariadne Van Shelaq, Baroness of the Butcher district, on these rare trips. It was always a different mask, another character to play for the sake of the one she needed to visit all the way in Coruscant, someone who demanded she remain a nobody until arrival. Today it was 'Aya Skye', a travelling accountant who managed to score herself a cozy room towards the nose of the transport. Did Ariadne care for accounting? Not at all and that's what made the identity perfect.

She'll be just as boring and unassuming as every other accountant.

Having made all of her pre-arrangements prior to even stepping aboard the grossly decorated ship, Ariadne had quickly found her place on the transport with only the bare necessities. She was packing light, exceptionally light, so much so that she was left with a lingering taste of bitterness on the edge of her tongue during the early hours of the trip. It was a pain being sober, especially when it came to the drama that awaited her on Coruscant.

Alas, the woman was not without her discipline and quickly found herself trawling through the back logs of her smuggler's recent expeditions into the outer rim. The downtime during the trip would be enough to complete some work, or at least save herself from wasting away the hours thinking about whatever issues would greet her during the end of her visit. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have another plan in store for the unamused cartel boss when she heard the static over the intercom and the telltale drawl of a pirate, the air in the cruiser buzzing the muffled cries of the citizens on board.

Of all the days, it had to be this one.

“Welcome aboard the newly re-christened Slaver One. I’m your captain, Rzzk, and we’re taking this ship and all its passengers to the world Amar, on the boarder of Sith Space. If you resist, you will be killed. If you don’t, well, we might sell you to the people you want to be sold to.”

Ariadne sat motionless for a moment, clicking her tongue as she awaited the distant sounds of footsteps that began to flood through the upper floor of the transport. Heavy footfalls echoed through the dimly lit hallways as strange voices hollered commands through the durasteel walls, eliciting the terrified squeals of the sorry flock of innocent travelers. It was just another day in the life of piracy and business, and rather than appreciate the gall of this 'Rzzk' and his risky venture Ariadne felt a twinge of annoyance pick at her consciousness. This was supposed to be a holiday and no amount of petty threats from a little lost pirate was going to dissuade the woman from going anywhere but Coruscant.

Clenching her jaw and pocketing the transmitter, the feline woman released a shallow sigh before strutting over to her door...the nearby banging of the ship's intruders coming closer and closer.

[member="Trin Gravois"] [member="Sav Elko"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Moods didn’t really register with Sav. She just… was. It didn’t bother her that things were happening the way they were. It wasn’t that she had any place to go. The girl was just trying to get away from where she had been. It didn’t make a difference to her who she needed to kill to get somewhere that she was choosing. If it was slavers choosing? Yeah, that wasn’t going to sit well with her.

So much was going on and the girl didn’t want to get in the way of any of it. If she just… stopped doing things, perhaps the slavers would let her be, but… well, she knew that wasn’t the case. Sadly, Sav had spent enough time on Nar Shaddaa to understand just how bad it worked. She knew that she could do something about the slavers, and if a fight broke out, she would, but until then? Booted feet were up on the back of the chair in front of her.

Her… abilities could definitely bend a lot of things and she wasn’t unaware of it. It wasn’t power incontinence, more… Power inconsistency. No formal training, just willing her results and they happened. Still, she watched as the woman got up and started heading to the door. Even Sav could tell there were at least three Trandoshans in the next room.

Probably all with guns.

And a bad case of crankiness.

“I’d leave them be.” She tossed out causally, with other passengers now looking at her, perplexed.

The thing with Sav? She just didn’t really care.

[member="Ariadne Van'Shelaq"]
[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

While Trin was on the turbolift to the landing pad, it made several stops as it rose. Each time it did, more and more security teams got on. At first, she thought that she was going to be arrested. Of course, it was merely paranoia. Trin hadn't done anything illegal. Not yet anyway. The young Anzat shrank to the back of the turbolift and eavesdropped on the officers' open commlinks. Apparently the transport was in the middle of being jacked. That was lucky. Would anyone notice a few extra dead if a firefight broke out? Probably not.

The top floor dinged and the turbolift hissed open, spitting out the Amar security teams who immediately began firing their blasters. Still cowered in the elevator, Trin watched the scene unfold with predatory sharpness, peeping through the forest of soldiers as a Rodian pirate shot open the blast doors to the transport. She called the Force into her body, letting the dark side fill her muscles, preparing them for what she was about to do next.

Trin used Force speed to move in a blur around the crisscrossing stunbolts and return blaster fire, using the power's ability to slow down her perception of time to help her precisely navigate around the energy beams. The Anzat reached the door in a few seconds, and slithered inside, keeping her lightsaber well hidden underneath her Zeyd-cloth cloak.

Sometimes opportunity knocked. Today it was banging down the door.

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Ariadne Van'Shelaq"]

 

[Ariadne Van'Shelaq]

The rapid stutter of the transport's failing engine quaked beneath the durasteel interior of the increasingly panicky lounge, a hushed and terrified murmur settling over the small crowd of travelers as reality began to slither its relentless tendrils down their spines. They were clearly unprepared for the intrusion and the palpable air of fear was enough to leave a bitter taste in the back of Ariadne's mouth, another personal reminder of how much she disliked the wide eyed innocence of the common folk. A resounding tremor echoed into the transport, setting off a wailing alarm as the lumbering ship began to groan and shudder as it was mounted by the pirate vessel.

Too much noise.

It wasn't like this was Ariadne's first time dealing with pirates, in fact she was so well acquainted with the occupation that the general buzz of gunfire and hollering would have been exceedingly familiar, probably enjoyable if she weren't preoccupied with the trip at hand. Alas, she was not Ariadne, purveyor of piracy that day, she was boring old Aya the accountant and the thought of breaking her cover dealing with such a lowly brand of misfits was as grating as it was troublesome.

Gritting her teeth, the porcelain skinned woman dug her thumbs into the flesh of her palms as she neared the locked entry, auburn eyes flickering across the feeble flock of onlookers before an impish voice called out over the cacophony of alarms, gunfire and distant screams. It was enough to snap her attention on the pale starveling that was splayed out across two seats, a girl that looked more like the addicts Ariadne dealt with in her Spice dens than a seasoned vacationer. There was an odd lilt to her voice, a nihilistic monotone which raised the cartel boss' finely shaped brow.

What an odd little creature.

"Darling, I was simply checking to see if -" A muted hiss escaped the frame of the door, eliciting more than just one cry of fear from the onlookers that still remained attentive to what was happening. A lithe figure slipped through the crack, a shadow darting away from the maelstrom that blistered the air in the wide corridor outside the room before the door swiftly shut behind her, ddurasteel crumpling as the blaster fire became all the more intense. "-the door was locked." Aya the 'accountant' snarled quietly, eyes narrowing as she leered at the slender brunette who seemingly appeared from out of nowhere.

A pirate? No, she was much too pretty to be freely dealing with the cretins that lurked outside the door, Ariadne knew that much, intimately.

[member="Trin Gravois"][member="Sav Elko"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Sav didn’t really care, but well, she figured it would be part of the thing that got a thread moving to interact. Writing a character that didn’t like people was fun, but sometimes they had to interact with people that they thought beneath them. And Sav was one of those that frankly saw everyone as beneath her, lesser than. Who cared if they dressed in fancy threads or had a shiny ship? The blonde had herself, which was so much more of a compelling story than the alternative.

Her blue eyes looked from the flimsi pamphlet and back up to the woman who was walking forward. Why did she talk? Mainly because she didn’t want the Trandos to come in and start killing people, start killing her. Maybe Sav would do something, about it, but right now? It looked like the coin landed on tails. So the pirates could basically do what they want and she’d let them be all pirate-y.

Arrrgh, matey.

She reached forward and thumbed at a smudge on her boot. “Your funeral.” She shrugged as she went back to the reading. So, the seat cushion was a flotation device?

She could hear the blasterfire outside. The pirates were having a bit of an issue, but feth that, if anyone thought Sav was going to get involved in that disaster zone. Nope, the ship was safe from the Trandos and Rodians.

[member="Ariadne Van'Shelaq"]
[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

Inside the ship, it was like a buffet. All sizes and colors of aliens and near-humans, covered in skin, hair, and scales. All that was missing was a sneeze guard. The Force users were the tastiest morsels. If Trin could hook her probosces into the noses of one of them? She'd be set for a few days. The animal hunger surged within as she locked eyes with a brunette woman who seemed to be sizing her up.

"Outta the way!" shouted a Rodian from behind her. Trin whirled and waved her hand in front of his face, an action that spurned him to turn tail and run in the opposition direction. Two of his cronies looked on, confused.

"You will not enter this transport." she calmly told them, quirking her brow. Just like their leader, the two pirates complied, instead walking right into incoming blaster fire. She let out a chuckle as they fell, then turned back to the passengers. Some were cowering in their seats, but there was one woman walking around as if the whole scene was a boring show that she couldn't wait to leave in the middle of. Maybe she was one of them, too. More intriguingly, the tall stringy blonde, had a Force signature.

Trin put on a worried face and moving like a cat, took a seat next to the blonde.

"You don't look worried, doll. Know something that we don't?"

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Ariadne Van'Shelaq"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Sav just didn’t care. It was whatever people wanted to do. There were enough Trandos that Sav wasn’t going to get up and deal with them, they’d have to come to her. And then she’d frak with them. She could feel the Force being used though, and that got her attention. Force using pirates? Should be a laugh to see. But then again, Sav didn’t know it was the Force, just… someone like her. And with all the craziness in the galaxy, it really shouldn’t surprise her. But Sav was… well she was Sav.

When the dark haired girl, possibly the special one, possibly not, sat next to her, she quirked up an eyebrow. “Somethin’ you don’t? No, I just know that they come in here, we’ve got a better shot at taking them down, rather than going out there, where they’re all… existing.” She shrugged and picked at a finger nail.

[member="Trin Gravois"]