First Reply Trouble in Lake Country

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

With the door shut and locked behind Katarine, the man approached her with a slimy smile on his face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders—far too familiar a touch for a stranger to initiate, but then, he had slapped her ass—and gestured to his room of slaves and cages with the others. Most of them were far from in a healthy shape, and it seemed that he wanted Katarine to be the newest addition.

"Beautiful aren't they?" He leered, "and all of them mine. Well, for now. They have to be delivered soon, but then I'll get paid for my services. It's a lucrative deal."

He pulled away from Katarine then, clapping his hands together.

"So... what say we slip you into something a little more comfortable, and then you can meet them properly?"

---

Gatz came to a dead end. Or, put more aptly: he came to a wall.

The entrance he'd taken down to the lowest deck was different from the one that Katarine and the slaver had taken. And it didn't lead to the same room—rather, Gatz figured the room Master Ryiah was in was on the other side of the wall. Because all he could see were the acquisitions the raiders had taken from the farms: crops. Probably just meant to feed the men helping attack the people of Naboo.

Gatz figured he could cut through that wall with his lightsaber... but not without giving himself away. If he wanted the element of surprise, he'd have to sneak back up to the middle deck, and find the hatch Katarine had gone down.

Which meant that, for now, the Jedi Master was on her own.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Lower Secret Deck
Objective: Kitty Got Claws
Tags: Gatz Derrevar


It felt like her skin had a thousand eels on them as the man wrapped himself around her. She could feel her entire being trying to crawl away from him but she remained standing, digging her boots into the steel below her feet to stop herself from cringing away. His hands worked their way down her white and black jumpsuit, and then he pulled away and she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"So... what say we slip you into something a little more comfortable, and then you can meet them properly?"

How thick could this idiot get? He finds a random girl aboard his vessel and just assumes she's going to strip and be a slave for him? She wondered for a second if she was being punked. Was there a camera crew waiting just outside to capture her reaction? Sadly she didn't think so. He was just so used to capturing farming villagers that he wasn't prepared for a woman who could fight against him. He probably also kept the females drugged to keep them weaker so they wouldn't try to fight back.

Kat hesitated for a second, wondering if it was time to pull the plug on this coy game, or if she should play along to try and get more information out of him. Her indecisiveness lasted only a moment. As her deep rose colored eyes scanned the cages she caught the timid look of a female Twi'lek who was close to tears. Katarine felt a rush of protective instinct serge through her and knew the gig was up. It was time for aggressive negotiations.

"I have a better idea." Her voice was sultry, and deadly. He was standing behind her, still too close, but she did not turn to face him just yet. She reached behind her with one soft hand, down past his belt, over his pants to the most precious area he had, softly and teasingly. Her other hand trailed down her suit, unclipping the ELG 3A Blaster Pistol from its holster. The next moment she had spun around and shoved the blaster pistol right into his crotch. Her face was mere centimeters from his as she pushed the gun uncomfortably over his pants.

"How about you get me the keys to those cages or my trigger finger might just slip."

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

Gatz made it down to the lowest deck again just in time to catch Master Ryiah threatening a man by pressing a blaster barrel in the one place no man wanted a blaster barrel to go. So, like, Katarine was one of those crazy girls. But hey, with the way the man suddenly froze, afraid to anger her, it seemed to Gatz that her plan was working.

Damn. That's kinda hot. Gatz shook his head, replay this moment in your head later Gatz, you've got shit to do.

Seeing that Master Ryiah had things well in hand, Gatz moved past the cargo room she was in, and found himself creeping into a small cockpit at last. His hand fell to his lightsaber, expecting more trouble. But, much to his surprise, he found only an astromech droid slotted into a socket that seemed to be specifically meant for it.

So that's how they were flying this thing.

---

"Woah, hey, let's not get too hasty here!" The man froze solid, afraid of losing the crown jewels to a mere finger twitch from Kat, "surely we can make a deal here? One that doesn't involve you firing that gun!"

But Katarine had made it very clear what she wanted from the man. So, after a gulp, he spoke again.

"I-I don't have the keys on me, right now. But we can go get them, together. They're in my cabin."

If the man was lying, he gave off no tells. If he was telling the truth, he didn't sound particularly convincing. But, that came with the territory of interrogating someone at gun point: he tell Kat exactly what she wanted to hear to get her to put the gun now, truth or not. And so it was up to her to decided whether to follow the man to his cabin.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Lower Deck
Objective: Free Prisoners
Tags: Gatz Derrevar

"I-I don't have the keys on me, right now. But we can go get them, together. They're in my cabin."

Kat raised her eyebrows at the man. That wasn't the answer she wanted but it would have to do. She could see he was sweating but couldn't tell if he was outright lying. What she did know was that it would be foolish to leave the prisoners alone. Someone could come in here and hurt them, or worse, just to destroy evidence. She'd have to take a look at the locks and see if they could be cut with a lightsaber. If they couldn't she might have no choice but to venture back to the cabin.

"Lucky for you I like to improvise."

She noticed Gatz moving through the room towards another room, but did not draw attention to him. Instead she removed the gun from the mans crotch and grabbed the binders hanging on the wall. She tossed them to him, her gun now trained at his chest.

"Let's get you into something more comfortable. Put those on."

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

The droid in its pilot socket paid no mind to Gatz. Even as he waved a hand in front of it, its dome still didn't twist in his direction. Still, he had to do something to stop this skiff. He looked around for a moment, considering the best way to do that. But the simplest way to stop the skiff seemed pretty clear: remove the astromech from its socket, and call it a day.

Wrapping both his hands around the astromech, Gatz ripped him free of the astromech socket he was in. The skiff came to a lurching halt, and Gatz stumbled to keep his footing.

---

"Let's get you into something more comfortable. Put those on."

"S-surely we can talk about this?"

With the cuffs now in the man's hands, he slowly attached them to his wrists. Once he was clasped in the same irons he had bound the other women in, he looked down at Katarine with pleading eyes.

"I-I have means, and money!" He started to barter, "I can get you anything you desire! Spice, weapons, explosives, slaves of your own? What about beachfront property, or a nice new ship? I-I can afford you much. You only need to let me go, and continue on with my delivery."

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Secret Deck Below
Objective: Rescue Hostages
Tags: Gatz Derrevar


Once Katarine was sure the binders were secure on her now captive, she pushed him down into a chair and tried to ignore his blubbering. She walked towards the cages, intending to inspect the locks, when suddenly the ship gave a great lurch as it stopped. She stumbled slightly, but caught herself on the edge of a cage. The captive inside screamed.

"Don't panic! I'm here to help."

She tried to send a sense of calming emotions over those in the direct area. She didn't need a bunch of panicking hostages just yet, especially because the crew would have felt the ship suddenly stop. Sure enough she heard pounding on the other side of the door the slime ball had locked earlier.

"Be out in a second!" Katarine yelled and smirked as they stopped pounding in confusion. That wouldn't last long.

With a snaphiss one white blade sprung to life and she attempted to slice through the lock on the cage. Behind her she could hear the men outside regrouping, no doubt getting ready to come through that door.

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

Gatz stepped out of the cockpit, leaving the deactivated astromech on the ground. He'd come to give Master Ryiah a hand, though he already knew she had everything under control: the man she'd been leading on was blubbering in a chair about offering things, and she was cutting through cages with the blade of her lightsaber. All in all, everything seemed in hand.

Until he heard the commotion beyond the door.

Naturally, the rest of the raiders had figured out that their fearless leader was missing, and that their barge had come to a stuttering halt. The element of surprise had suited them, and had allowed them to come this far—but it was lost now, their trespass onto the vessel known.

"If you can handle the cages, I'll see what I can do about our 'friends' here." Gatz offered. "But... keep your lightsaber handy. I don't expect they'll listen to reason."

Even now, after seeing what this man and his crew had been up to, Gatz still was hesitant to end this at the tip of a lightsaber. So he stood firm, hands clasped under his cloak behind his back, and waited patiently for the men to come filing through the door.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Lower Deck
Objective: Rescue Hostages
Tags: Gatz Derrevar


While her blade cut through the metal locks the man in the chair continued to blubber and offer her things.

“All I want from you is quiet. Though the view of you rotting in a prison cell is a close second. “

This shut him up for a moment as Gatz entered. He seemed surprised she had an accomplice.

"But... keep your lightsaber handy. I don't expect they'll listen to reason."

“Will do sir!”

The man in the chair narrowed his eyes at Gatz, now thinking he was the one in charge. Technically he was leading this mission and it suited Kat just fine to be underestimated.

She had slipped through two of the locks and opened the cages.

“Those of you that can walk please help the ones who can’t. Grab anything you can to defend yourselves. We are leaving this place.”

She made quick work of the other cages and was on the last two when finally the men breached the door.

“What’s going on? Who are you? Why are they out of their cages??? Boss???”

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

Master Ryiah was playing at some kind of game, but Gatz didn't have time to guess at what, not with the door about to give way to all the raiders still on the now stopped barge. So, as he had done with the rest of this mission, Gatz chose to simply place his faith in the Jedi Master. Perhaps he was serving her plan by simply doing what he was doing.

Or maybe she was actually crazy. That was fine too.

“What’s going on? Who are you? Why are they out of their cages??? Boss???”

But then the raiders were upon them. They seemed a foolish lot, but Gatz had to try at diplomacy anyways.

"You're done." Gatz started simply, "your barge is stopped, your boss is under arrest, and his slaves will be freed momentarily. There are no credits to be made any longer—not when the man who pays you is going being bars—and your abuses upon the people of Naboo are at an end."

Gatz looked at the half dozen men who'd come through the door. All that was left from the few he and Katarine had silently removed from the equation.

"You could try your hand at killing Jedi, but keep in mind that the two of us infiltrated your barge, knocked out half your crew, and captured your fearless leader without you knowing." Gatz let that hang in the air for a moment. "Alternatively, you can lay down your arms, and be escorted to the authorities with your leader. You'll be imprisoned, but you'll be alive."

"The choice is yours, but I urge you to consider the consequences of rash action."

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Ship
Objective: Rescue
Tags: Gatz Derrevar

"The choice is yours, but I urge you to consider the consequences of rash action."

Twenty minutes latter Katarine couldn't believe the luck they were having. The men had decided to lay down their arms, clearly frightened by their captains sniveling and the two Jedi who had managed to sneak onto the ship. They had clapped all the crew in binders and had moved them to the cells that once contained the female slaves. The females on the other hand were given whatever garments to wear that Kat could find and were now being given whatever kind of medical care the two Jedi could offer aboard the vessel. It wasn't much but they would get to a hospital soon.

Had they really done it? Had they pulled off this mission without any taking of lives?

"So.. do you think we can get this thing somewhere safe so we can get everybody to the authorities or to the hospital? I'm no pilot."

That much was true. Katarine was bandaging a small wound on one of the girls arms but she certainly could not fly this thing.

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

Gatz couldn't believe they'd actually listened to reason. In his experience, thug muscle tended to get high off their own testosterone, and get themselves shot. Yet, at the same time, no thug wanted to do anything if there weren't credits at the end of the job. Now that they'd be making nothing, maybe they were more susceptible to thinking. Did they really want to die for this man, who couldn't pay them?

Evidently not.

"So.. do you think we can get this thing somewhere safe so we can get everybody to the authorities or to the hospital? I'm no pilot."

"This thing is operated by a droid," Gatz responded, "so... maybe he can get it somewhere? Depends on how loyal he is to his master."

Not to mention that Gatz had pretty much ripped the astromech out of his socket. So, he probably wouldn't want to listen to the guy who'd done that to him. Hell, Gatz knew that if someone ripped him out of the pilot's seat, he certainly wouldn't sit back in it because that same person had asked.

"Probably better if you go ask the little guy to do it. He's mad at me."

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Aboard the Ship
Objective: Call Authorities
Tags: Gatz Derrevar

The droid it turned out was not very cooperative, both because it was annoyed with the rough treatment it received and also because bluntly pulling it out had caused some damage that made it difficult to get the droid back in the slot. Kat decided it wasn’t worth the effort and instead called the local authorities to give their location. She was assured that help was on the way and that medics would come as well.

“Droid is a no go. We just need to sit tight. Help is on the way.”

Her eyes scanned the cages where the crew and the captain were waiting. They did not look like a happy lot but she supposed if she was looking at prison time she wouldn’t be happy either.

She pulled out the drawing of the occult symbol and stared at it again. Why was this here? The organization seemed pretty small time so why was there a dark Sith sigil on board? She supposed getting all the answers was too much to hope for but it just felt off to her.

She put the drawing back in her pocket and returned to helping those in need.

“Is there anybody you want us to call for you? We can have them meet you at the hospital.”

She wasn’t sure how far these women had traveled.

​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Equipment: Outfit | Lightsaber
Tag: Katarine Ryiah

“Droid is a no go. We just need to sit tight. Help is on the way.”

"Got it."

Yeah... Gatz had figured as much, really. Ripping the little astromech droid out of his socket had been the brute force approach to stopping the barge. Perhaps he ought to have tried diplomacy first. He hadn't quite been violent, but trying to resolve things with words first was basically Jedi Way 101. Still, it wasn't like the droid itself was damaged beyond repair, so Gatz decided not to feel too guilty.

He watched as Master Ryiah pulled out some sort of drawing. Gatz waited for her to explain what she'd found... only for her to tuck it back into her pocket. He thought that perhaps he ought to ask after it, but ensuring that the captured women were safe was their first priority.

“Is there anybody you want us to call for you? We can have them meet you at the hospital.”

"My husband," the woman muttered quietly, "we have—had a farm here in Lake Country. They burned it though."

His failure, Gatz knew. He'd taken three nights to stop these men. If he'd figured it out on the first, maybe this woman would never have been captured.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

Location: Aboard Ship
Objective: Help Captives
Tags: Gatz Derrevar

Katarine placed a hand on the womans shoulder and smiled. "We will call him. Don't worry."

She hopped that The Alliance would help these people with the loss of their farms, or that at least insurance would help. She felt bad for them but she could tell it was nowhere near what Gatz felt.

"You did what you could Gatz. Remember that. Nobody can stop every bad thing from ever happening. These women will return to their families today because of you." She now placed a calming hand on his own shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He was growing, even if he didn't think so, and she knew he'd have to learn not to let things like this eat at him. They couldn't be everywhere, and sometimes that felt like a failure, but Kat felt today's work was a good one.

In no time the authorities had arrived and were carting the criminals off for detainment and the hostages off for reuniting with families and medical attention. Katarine had a few words with local police and then they were told they were free to go.

"I think this was quit a success. You did good work today"

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