Twiddling Thumbs

[Varien Moxla]

Varien took the first guy down, but to his surprise there had been another one.

And another man after that.

If only he was actually proficient at sensing stuff like that.

Oh well.

The man whose windpipe the Kiffar crushed collapsed onto him, falling straight atop him as if he were a sack of potatoes. But the other had still tried to move in to get to Varien. They hadn't noticed [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] yet, not until she had let that shot off and Varien's was falling backwards with the body atop of him, and there were blasters and stun shots flying around before the woman's manipulation of the Force.

His mind raced as he threw the body off of him. The steps of more of the slavers coming sounding like thunder in his ears as his eyes opened. No, this couldn't be happening.

He wouldn't be back in chains.

"Not much other choice," he said aloud to himself, as he got up to his feet and turned to face the door. "We're gonna have to take a rain check on that date, huh?"

He made sure the heavy blaster was on its stun mode mode as he pointed it down the corridor to the cockpit and fired.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

One of them was going to get hurt. Or both. These slavers were no joke. They were out-gunned and out-numbered.

"Wait!" She yelped to Vairen, hoping she wouldn't be wrong on this. She dropped her blaster and slid past him, hoping he'd have enough reflex and sense to not shoot her in the back. Her shorter form stood in front of the Kiffar, back to him, arms raised. Lips parted to mutter the words she'd thought she'd never say.

"We surrender!" She yelled it clearly to the group of slavers rushing on board.

Then, something only Varien would hear.

"I have a plan."

 

[Varien Moxla]

The first man that had come towards them was downed by the stun, but then [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] got up to stand in front of him. He wasn't listening to words, merely electing to level his blaster pistol over her shoulder as he got to his feet.

Finally, when he did, her last claim at having a plan barely suppressed the surprise, anger and multitude of other emotions as he loosened his grasp on the gun.

"You better." He said as the slavers approached cautiously. "I don't look good in chains."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

"I doubt that," she snorted and eyed Varien before one of the slavers yanked her roughly away. Binders were clipped on her wrists. She was betting on the fact that they hadn't seen what she did with the force. If they had? She'd regret telling Varien to put down his blaster.

"This one'll fetch a pretty price," the slaver leered at Kinsey, dragging her off the shuttle and into the massive hangar bay. The other passengers were already bound and being taken away to the cell-blocks.

Neck craned over her shoulder to see Varien.

"The men get lonely in the outer rim and we can't get enough human girls to meet the demand." His hand flipped through her hair. She stiffened, trying hard to keep her cuffed hands from punching him in the face.

 

[Varien Moxla]

There was barely time for him to register that she too thought he was attractive in some way before she was pulled out of the doorway and had cuffs clapped down around her wrists.

The same happened to Varien and he was being pushed after Kinsey by two men. With cuffed hands in front of him, he decided it'd be best to play the unresponsive slave, that'd take abuse and not react.

That is, until the slaver made his implications.

He closed his eyes and focused, before he swung his leg out to the man on the right, force enhanced kick crippling his knee and dropping him before he swung cuffed hands into the first slaver's face.

The second one barely had time to react before he got a chest full of foot and collapsed on the ground. He was frail, another Varien would've made sure he was still alive, but he wouldn't have cared if his foot went through the second's body.

"That's not happe-"

Before he the final word passed through his lips, he went still, a blue shimmer crossing his body as the stun bolt incapacitated him.

He dropped, heavily.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

"NO!" She yelled as Varien crumpled to the floor. Before she could even push off her feet to his side she felt s tingling sensation at her back that quickly spread the length of her body. By the time her mind registered that it was a stun bolt, she had already collapsed in a heap next to her shuttle buddy.

Sometime later.

Blue-eyes slowly opened to be met with dim lighting of a hold. There was someone pressed against her back. Felt like another body and she could make out a few familiar faces in the gloom from the shuttle. And some extra people too, maybe others the slaver had picked up before them.

"Varien...," she whispered, tugging against whoever she was chained to and trying to get a better view around the room.

 

[Varien Moxla]

Varien woke up sometime before [member="Kinsey Starchaser"].

He had plenty of time to keep with his thoughts. He only reserved his movements for trying to break the chains that restrained him.

Seeing as how he wasn't chained to Kinsey, he was free to struggle against the bonds that held him to the wall, but they must've been reinforced with something for he couldn't pull them out. Numerous times he had tried to look over his shoulders to see what held him to the wall, but he only saw more captured people.

Unknown to him however, the chains were clamped down with reinforced metal, most definitely something stronger than durasteel. He struggled when he heard her speak.

​

​

"Here," he said drily. They must've been there for a while, the only person his purple eyes had watched was Kinsey. He could only assume that she had been shot as well...

And it had been his fault.

He grunted.

"I'll... Get us out of here," he promised.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

Shoulders relaxed in relief as she heard Varien. A bit more as she saw him. She tried inching toward him, hearing a grumble from the man she was chained with. "You okay?"

Those Starchaser-blues looked him up and down in the dim lighting. "And don't worry, I said I had a plan, didn't I?" She proffered a roguish grin. "Just...play dead, okay?"

Closing her eyes, the teen began to concentrate. Remember that Sith Lord story? He had trained her in illusions. And she was pretty gorram good at it too.

"Help!!! Help!!! There's something wrong with my friend. Hurry!!!"

The guard outside would hear her calls and come in. She'd motion her head toward Varien, who, hopefully took her advice seriously by now. As the guard came closer he would actually reach out to feel a double, a few inches in front of Varien and he wouldn't feel a pulse. He'd scramble with the keys to actually unlock the real Varien seconds later.

 

[Varien Moxla]

There was a nod from him after she had asked if he was okay.

At least someone has a plan.

He just did as told and closed his eyes, dropping as far as he could to the ground and slumping as he tried to focus his breathing. The shallower it was, the closer he got to that supposed Jedi meditative trance, the closer he was going to seem dead. Right? His breathing slowed, and then she started crying out for help.

The door opened up and in came the guard.

Is this real?

He was unlocked and collapsed to the floor.

He remained there until the guy dropped down to try and flip him onto his back, and once the tattooed Kiffar flipped onto his back there was a grin on his lips and a fist that could've covered half of his face punching him backwards and onto the ground. Getting up to his feet, he walked towards the man and kicked him in the side of the head before he could reach for his blaster pistol. Once he was done, Varien grabbed his keys which happened to have the same lock for everyone else in the room.

He shot a look to [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] and started unlocking her chains.

"Told you I'd get us out of here," he said with a grin and a wink. And then he went about unlocking everyone else in the room.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

"Oh please," she huffed as he came around. She wiggled forward so he could get to the locks. The old man behind her grunted. "You contributed about ten percent." She flashed him a grin as she massaged her wrists once freed. "Everyone, stay together once you're freed and follow closely behind us. I think I can get us out of here."

Pulling the guard's body more into shadow, she tiptoed to the door, tucking dark strands of hair behind her ears. Blue-eyes narrowed as she peaked out of the door slats. The hall was still clear.

"Varien. Don't get any ideas. Okay. But...can I climb onto your back - piggyback style? I can't weave this mental illusion if I'm walking and worrying about running into things..." cheeks blushed in the dark. This was certainly awkward. "Can you lead us back to the hangar?"

 

[Varien Moxla]

There was a grin on his lips as she responded to him and even gave him a grin in return.

He continued to unlock everyone in the room and by the time [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] was turning away from the door, he pocketed the keys and dropped down to the knocked out guard and grabbed the holsters on his waist.

There were two there.

One of them was his, the other was Kinsey's. He must've taken them as trophies, or loot.

He unstrapped them and tied his own blaster to his waist as she called him over.

Climb onto my back?

"Uh," he said as he stood in front of her. "I can," he said. In that dimly lit corner he went for it. A kiss on her lips as he pushed her blaster back into her hand. It was sudden and quick, even if they were on a slaver's ship, he felt as if it were the best moment. What with being the last chance and all.

"Whatever's necessary," he said as he crouched to allow her to mount him.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

And then he kissed her. Pretty bold move because at the same time, he armed her. "Hey," she sputtered and lightly whacked him on the shoulder as he turned his back and knelt down. "That is the opposite of NOT getting any ideas!" The other prisoners were watching. She ignored them. Her lips tingled. She tried not to get distracted.

Arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders and her legs locked around his waist. "Okay, ready," she said next to his ear, dark hair tickling against his skin. "Keep them steady and in a line. Walk us back to the transport and I can handle the rest."

She took a breath and closed her eyes.

"I hope."

If anyone was watching on security feeds or even happened upon the group down the hall, they'd see nothing. Kinsey's mind projected illusions through the force of empty halls and corridors and a still full prison block.

 

[Varien Moxla]

There was chewing on the inside of his cheek as he felt her making gentle contact with his skin. There was a light shiver from him. It was better than shaking her off of him because it tickled he figured, but he rose up to his feet anyway, woman wrapped around him and all. He turned to the rest of the group as he said, "You heard her. Get in a line." There was authority in his voice, no longer the joking tone that he had had throughout their entire time knowing each other.

Opening up the door he started down the corridor.

There were voices around them, he could feel them as they passed through the halls. Other cells, but their ship wasn't big enough for all of them. The best they could do was come back for them right after saving these unlucky few, or to at least alert the Galactic Alliance to their location. If they weren't in hyperspace already. He couldn't remember, if they were he must've missed it when they had entered hyperspace.

Even so, he continued to lead them to the hangar bay as best as he could. Even when one of the pirates passed through the intersection they had to go through, he was silent all the same.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

She didn't need to open her eyes to see how it was going. She felt the subtle shifts in danger through the force. The man in the intersection wouldn't hear a peep from the group crowded just a few feet in front of him. He'd look down one way and just see a cleared hall. Illusions were always easier to maintain if you were working with what someone expected to see.

Blue-eyes peeked open and looked beyond the back of Varien's head. They were in the hangar and their transport was up ahead - right where it had been before. Teeth gritted. Mind dropped deeper into the force as she expanded their illusion.

"Can you start us up, once we get on board?" Voice was a whisper at his ear. "I think I can keep this going but not for much longer. We'll have to hit hypserspace as soon as we clear the ship."

 

[Varien Moxla]

They got into the hangar bay unimpeded.

He led the group up and into the still open ramp of the ship. The passengers were surprisingly quiet save for the random gasps and hushes of anticipation as the plan truly did appear to be working out for them.

And then they got to the cockpit door and the Kiffar dipped so she wouldn't crack her head off of the entrance.

Once inside, he immediately started up the ship with the cockpit door still open behind him.

He lowered to the ground and... reluctantly got her off of his back as he guided her to the co-pilot's chair and he shook his head slowly.

Let's uh... Not crash this thing.

There was no time for a pre-flight checkup anyway, and so he grabbed the yoke with one hand and with the other clicked in the first hyperspace coordinates that came to mind. Who would've guessed what it was?

Kiffu.

And then he shoved the yoke forwards, dragging across the hangar bay floor, an evident screeching was heard and there was the sound of worried voices from the passenger compartment and then they were out.

Plenty of lights were beeping at him, some were talking about targets locked, maybe, he didn't know, others were talking about damage to the ship, but still, he didn't know.

The only thing that he understood was that the pinpricks of lights in the viewport in front of him were turning to long, stretched out white lights and then they were in hyperspace.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

Starchaser-blues immediately popped open as the ship lurched. She rocked back in the co-pilot's seat just managing to secure the crash webbing. Her illusion flickered. She couldn't mask the loud screech. But it didn't matter.

They were away. Like her uncle, she didn't need to open her eyes or use instruments to read their hyperspace travel. She could feel it through the force. Maybe when she got older, she could give Jorus Merrill a run for his credits.

Hands came up to the instrument panel to subtlety correct a few of the flashing lights and warning beacons. But all in all, Varien did a decent job. "We did it," a tired smile flickered across her mouth. "You'll just have to report the others to the Alliance. The ones we couldn't save?"

She bit back a yawn, starting to feel the effort from the escape.

 

[Varien Moxla]

There was a nodding of the Padawan's head as he reclined back into the chair.

"Yes." He said in response to reporting the others to the Alliance. But he figured that by the time they got to where they were going, the slave ship would be long gone, he had no tools for tracking them after all. He'd still have to report his findings of course.

Tilting his head on the headrest to the side to look at [member="Kinsey Starchaser"], he grinned as he opened his mouth.

"So about that date..."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

Dark-brows lofted. She swiveled in her chair to face the Kiffu. Kiffar? "Wait. You're being serious?" Hands pulled through her hair. Blue-eyes studied his face then panned to the viewport and back.

"Why? I mean, you barely know me. You don't even know all the things that I've...done."

The teen shifted uncertainly in the co-pilot's seat.

 

[Varien Moxla]

He blinked at her with a faint smile on his lips as she seemed surprised about the situation.

Well there were plenty of things he could've said, but he decided to stick with something simple. "That's the point of a date isn't it?"

Reclining in the pilot's seat he let out a sigh as he finished with, "Get some rest. Everyone knows you need it."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Varien Moxla"]

"Yeah, I guess so," she smiled her award-winning Kinsey smile - the same one that made droid circuitry overload. She covered another yawn. "I would go on a date with you," she replied sleepily. "But just know that I'm lot looking for fooooooor," another yawn. "Anything serious right now."

Mind-washing sith relationships tended to do that. And then there was Darius. Whatever happened to him? She had jumped in too soon and she didn't want to do that again.

"Wake me up if there's trouble, okay?" Blue-eyes narrowed on Varien to show him that she was being serious. Then, she reclined her seat and stretched out, curling onto her side and quickly fell asleep.