Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

That was even better.

There was a spark in Kira's eyes, the kind that said she was sold on the idea and was about to go twenty-five parsecs a second in this plan. A clap of her hands and a curt nod of agreement followed suit.

"Okay then..." Kira gave another pan of her searching gaze at the area. Her tongue poked at the inside of her cheek in contemplation. "We'll need to figure out how to fake it..."

And fast.

"Unless you can snap your fingers and do it out of the blue," unlikely, she thought with notable amusement, "We'll first need to figure out what sort of signal there is to fake." She began to walk around him, her brow scrunching forward.

"Let me go see what I can find," blue eyes shot back at Soliael. "You can start piling everything up, get things ready." the corner of her mouth twitched as she scanned him from head to toe.

"I'm better at sneaking anyways."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I just need the transceiver." Soliael called after her as Kira made her way deeper into the cave.

Nothing about the plan was all too complex, all he needed was a communications transceiver and from there he'd be able to reach almost everyone who used the Pirate's communications systems. It was all rather easy, though of course it would take some technomancy trickery, not that such a thing would pose a problem.

As Kira ran off, Soliael turned to the crates.

"Of course." He said rolling his eyes and observing the stacks of metal boxes. "I get the hard job."

A sigh escaped the lips of the former False God, the old man turning on his heels and he began to use the force to open the boxes, pluck out the Seismic charges inside, and then throw them into a pile on the floor. He did so gently of course, not wanting anything to explode prematurely. His fingers shifted and fiddled slightly, each of the charges placed upon one another until a neat stack began to form in front of him.

Soliael half turned to one of the pirates, making sure that neither of them were waking up.

A gun battle surrounding the charges would be...unfortunate.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Some things were relatively simple.

All that was required was a transceiver. However, Kira was a bit too scatterbrained to realize that. Thankfully, her husband had managed to remind her of it prior to her departure.

“Transceiver… transceiver…” the chant fell from her lips to keep her focused. A wrap of the Force enveloped the former Master of Shadows, bending the light to make her invisible to the naked eye. The shouts of pirates and cries of alarms were still echoing down from the entrance. Yeah, she told herself, I have to move fast.

Quick steps had her moving back towards the main chamber, where a collection of data terminals and a holo array had been set against the far right cavern wall. Pressing herself against the threshold, the Lorrdian would scan the area.

There, patrolling the entrance by the data terminal, was a tall Nikto. Bony spikes jutted off of his jawline and forehead. He was a mountain of a man, and certainly likely not on Kira would be able to simply tackle down. No, she had to think this through.

Maybe if I can sneak up behind him…

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael finished stacking the last of the explosives, the small, or actually rather large pyramid of Seismic Charges having come together rather nicely. He let out a half silent whistle as he looked at the work in front of him, shaking his head slightly at how odd the situation was.

There were something like fifty seven of the charges all together.

That amount was enough to level a good bit of Coruscant, much less a regular city. If you layered the charges correctly and placed them at certain intervals throughout the city, including spacing them correctly so that there was no overlap in the explosions, then one could take out entire swaths of territory. There would be mass damage, a hell of a lot of loss of life. He mused for a second, then looked down at the pirates. Was a city really their target?

He didn't think so.

Upon further considering the idea Soliael found that didn't make much sense.

Why go after a city? Piracy generally depended on looting ships, mostly trade caravans, but Seismic charges weren't really good for stopping ships, just destroying them. Perhaps they wanted bigger targets then the usual trade routes. Were they going after capital ships? Military vessels? Soliael frowned slightly, slowly wandering towards one of the pirates.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Okay, just have to ---

Darting behind the Nikto, the tiny Lorrdian female carefully set herself into place. All she had to do was reach out and touch him. Not in that way, but for her to be able to stun him through the Force. Roots and stuns were her go to method whenever the Jedi Master had to use her powers. Honestly, she wasn’t too keen on using the Force unless she had to, but right now, they were on limited time.

The zap wasn’t too difficult. One second the tall, muscular Nikto was standing guard. The next, he suddenly seized, jerking and twitching as he fell to the floor.

“Sorry!” she whispered, hoping over him to search for a transceiver. There had to be one around here. Adrenaline would pump through her veins, and the tiny blonde’s hands frantically found nothing of the sort. Dangit!

Turning back to the paralyzed Nikto, she considered an idea. In the next moment, she knelt right next to the male, and began to search the many pockets of his belt. One thick, black brick of a transceiver was hooked along his right side.
“There we go!” she whispered in victory.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

It made sense that they would go for military targets.

He would.

Then again not all pirates were as smart as him, in fact, most weren't even close. There was also a quesiton of which military targets and why. It was pretty clear that these guys were well supplied, furthermore it was clear that their ambitions didn't necessarily pertain to this sector of space either. Soliael had already guessed that they would be headed into the Rishi Maze, that was really the only reason to base themselves here, so the quesiton was now, why the Seismic charges?

As far as he was aware there were no major cities in the Rishi Maze, no military convoys, nothing of the sort. That was what made all of this very...suspicious. He frowned slightly and bent over one of the guards, slowly going through his pockets and searching for any and all information that he could find.

The key to his mystery was likely on one of these degenerates.

He just had to find it.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

With her prize in her hand, Kira tucked it alongside her belt. Now for the Nikto. She couldn't simply having hanging around for anyone to find. On second thought, she also took his comm. Hooking that alongside the transceiver. the Lorrdian gave the unconscious male a slight glower. A flick of her blue eyes up towards a small darkened area behind some crates gave her an idea. With a small grunt, the tiny Jedi Master bent down and hooked her arms under and over the Niktos.

This would take an extra second, but she didn't want anyone to discover them so quickly. She could tuck him off on the side and then comm someone to come get him and the other two unconscious guards. Dirt and pebbles scattered as his feet left two lines on the floor, Kira grunting and huffing as she went moving along.

Just a little bit more.... Her arms were hurting by the time she managed to tuck the large brute by the crates. A brush of the back of her hand over her sweaty forehead shoved her bangs away from her face. Oh heck, he was a big one to be sure.

Swallowing hard, the Jedi gave a final survey. Okay, time to head back to Sol.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He reached over towards the Gamorrean, the strange pig like Alien had the more fancy uniform of the two pirates and Soliael assumed that would mean he was a higher rank. Mostly because generally the creatures weren't allowed fancy things, they usually ruined them.

"This will only hurt a little bit." Soliael said as he tapped the Alien on the head.

Ripping memories from someone, even if it was a Gamorrean wasn't always a pleasant thing, in fact it never was. There were varying degrees of it however, and when the creature being effected was of weaker will and mind it was quite a bit easier. Of course with Gamorreans, both of those things were true, and thus this would be a piece of cake. Soliael closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment before slowly the ebb and flow of the force came to him.

Reading someones thoughts, or rather, taking someones thoughts was always an interesting experience. Everyone had their own way of thinking, of going about things, when you used the force to touch someones mind, you received a piece of that viewpoint. It was eye opening, though for certain alien species it was also very...disturbing. Soliael suddenly snapped back, his hand closing into a fist and his eyes shutting for a moment as she shook his head.

"Ugh." He patted the creatures face. "Thanks buddy."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira came in just as she saw him pull back from the Gamorrean. "Got it!" she told him, her voice a hint to her location before she suddenly seemed to melt into existence beside the former False God. She was grimy of face and her hair was a mess. Short of breath, she would extend the transceiver over to her husband.

"Here." a gust of hot air from her lips blew her bangs away from her face. Bright blue eyes would pan over to the unconscious Gamorrean. A single brow rose, but she said nothing.

Turning towards the exit, she heard the rush of footsteps. "We don't have much time." her head went swiveling back to Soliael.

"Well this was an interesting vacation detour." the corner of her mouth quirked, and she gave him a quick brief kiss for good luck.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael took the transceiver from Kira, an odd expression on her face. "They're conquering worlds in the Maze."

The Gamorrean hadn't known much, but he'd at least told him that.

"This is a supply post." Soliael explained as he took the transceiver and popped open the side of it with a simple press of his thumb. "They're using Rishi as a way to resupply themselves with advanced technology supplied by the Techno Union. They're then using the tech to conquer cvilizations in the Rishi Maze who are either a little behind, or still in their development phases. I suspect they're trying to build some sort of Empire, but he didn't know much about it."

Soliael nudged the pig-like Alien with his foot.

The plan of course already made sense to him. Soliael was no stranger to conquering uncivilized worlds, having done it himself.

The Moross Crusade however had been quite a bit kinder. They had not destroyed or razed planets, instead they had brought them peacefully into the fold. Oh they had lied to them, tricked them, but in general the people of Moross had been happy, perhaps even ecstatic. What the pirates were doing was a tad different.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

“What?!” okay, now Kira was peeved. A glower was sent over to the unconscious pirate. If she could kick him in the leg, odds were she would. However, there were bigger things to consider. Like if there were other supply outposts.

“Any idea if there are more outposts out there besides Rishi? Any already in the Rishi Maze?” her mind was already ticking. They… might end up getting a bit more involved than originally intended by the growing contemplative expression settling upon the Lorrdian Jedi Master’s face.

This was supposed to be a vacation right?

A lick of her lips and she set her hands upon her hips. “Or if there are any more scattered around Rishi itself…”

Now that was a thought.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I would assume this is more of a staging ground, honey." Soliael said as he slowly pulled a wire from the inside of the transceiver and quickly guided it to an external port, creating an odd sort of loop before soldering the wire in place with a half a second spark of lightning. He frowned slightly then began to move other wires around, his concentration half on Kira and half on creating the type of device that he was actually looking for. His eyes caught her's for a moment as he spoke. "I doubt there's more in this galaxy."

That was simply logistics.

"They probably have a forward operating base in the Rishi Maze." Likely a major fortress world now.

"From there they would gather all the supplies transported from here, and spread them out to their forces." He shifted slightly and slid the black case of the transceiver back into place, three wires now connected at odd points around the device. "They have an entire fleet, sweetheart. Not just a few pirate corsairs."

That was an important point to make. The Freya was designed to combat larger capital ships, but it was most certainly not designed to take on entire fleets on it's own, especially with only a skeleton crew of only droids and two humans, they simply didn't have the manpower to fight an entire anti-pirate Empire campaign. Which was of course exactly what Kira was thinking about.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Oh..."

A bit of the wind was taken from her solar sails then. That they couldn't do more was certainly a bit upsetting, but Kira wasn't stupid nor was she that reckless. Not with Sol's life nor hers. They could only do enough within their means. Taking out this outpost? Sure. Fighting an entire fleet?

Not so much.

A bite of her lower lip and she took a deep breath. The years had mellowed her, so she would be satisfied in that. At least, as long as they could some how manage to do a little bit more. "Well.." she began, glancing up at the towering figure that was her husband. Watching him do whatever he was doing with the transceiver was rather striking. He was such a talented individual. Actually, seeing him just take charge and do what he was doing to get the pirates out and knock this place down with as little casualties was quite... simulating.

"Well... ahh.." where was her thought? Oh, beans! Yes! "If we are going to be traveling the Rishi Maze... it isn't like we can't warn those worlds we visit." Certainly something within their power. If they didn't choose to take the warning, then there was only so much they could do.

But it was something.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

The transceiver let out a bit of static as Soliael half depressed the small button on the side. He knew that his wife would ultimately want to do more then just warn people, even if she and Soliael weren't really in any place to do so. That was simply an inevitability of where they were and what they were capable of as individuals. Eventually they would run into some random world or far out space colony that was about to be attacked, Kira would see some family, and then Soliael would end up having to teleport aboard a pirate flagship and have to dispatch, but not kill, everyone on board.

He was already preparing himself for it. "We'll try."

Soliael told her, already knowing that they would do far more then that when it actually came to it.

"Let's get done here first." Soliael stressed. "Then we can worry about everything else."

In truth, Soliael already knew that they wouldn't be going to Raider's Cove after this, mostly because all of his energy had already been sapped. By now he just wanted to get back to The Freya and relax for a bit, head into hyperspace and not worry about something for a little while before eventually going after an entire Pirate Armada.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

That Kira could agree with.

The lingering vestiges of resignation came trickling through the bond of Soliael’s ring. For a moment, the Lorrdian Jedi Master was quiet. She at least gave a small sheepish expression, understanding that she could be rather, well, do-gooder in that regard. It was just who she was, and if families and children were involved, then one could bet Kira would try to do something to help.

Really, help those in need that she could.

It was this desire to ensure that the pirates here at least were neutralized without their deaths that had started their odd courtships decades ago. Well, wasn’t much of a courtship as Kira and Soliael meeting on Metalorn and fighting it out. Her insistence at protecting the then Sith Apprentice and bring him into custody came from her desire to not harm others.

Needless death was not something she promoted. There were other ways; granted they may take a little bit more thinking and time, but at least then it was bound to make a difference later right?

It had certainly struck a cord within Devin then at least.

“We can go back to the Freya after this,” she suggested, echoing the former false god’s thoughts. “Give you a massage? Maybe wash your back?” water refreshers were rare, but they had that luxury on their ship.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael perked an eyebrow. "You think you're getting off that easy?"

He let out a scoff.

"Please." Soliael rolled his eyes, putting significantly more emphasis on the act then was actually necessary to get the point across. "After all of this, taking out these two chumps."

The former false god waved his hand at the pirates. "And that entire gunship? That's gonna cost you big."

This hadn't really been all that difficult, not for him, for them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't milk it until the end of time. They had been planning to go to Raider's Cove, not to assault a pirate Supply post and then blow up an entire decades worth of Seismic charges. He was putting his own life at risk here! Especially when it would have been easier to just get out and then blow the damn things. These were powerful weapons of war that they were talking about after all.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Out of the both of them, Kira was the one with a flair for dramatics. She had been the one to produce plays for the younglings at the Ossus and the former Coruscant Jedi Temple. She was also the one prone to the cosplay acts. HOwever, that didn’t mean that her husband hadn’t picked up a bit of her mannerisms or that his own dramatic nature would surface in mock emphasis.

Kira gave a blink of her eyes, head tilting back at the towering, cut figure that was her husband. Watching him exaggerate the movements to prepare the seismic charges and the transceiver. It took a bit for the corner of her mouth to not twitch. With a skim of her teeth with the flat of her tongue, she gave a slow understanding nod.

“Of course, you’ve done so much.” she added, and despite the danger they were in, she came reaching over to give him a hug from the side. Her arms went snaking around his torso, feeling the strength there with each flex of his hands.

“How about this,” she added, pressing a kiss to his bicep. “We can do whatever you like for a week?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"A week?" Soliael said as the transceiver finally began to garble. "Try a month."

He was hard balling it a bit there, but that didn't quite matter. He shifted slightly and winked at her, then half turned towards the Seismic charges so that he could get a better spectrum on the threat, or rather, the emergency he was about to send out. A loud sigh escaped his lips, he took in a breath, then cleared his throat. He felt Kira squeeze him gently, though he motioned a finger across his lips so that she would know to stay quiet for at least a few moments.

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" Soliael screamed into the transceiver.

He figured it was the best way to incite panic.

Be panicked himself.

"THEY'VE GOT US SURROUNDED!" He continued to yell, his voice booming. "THEY'RE CRAZY! THEY'RE GONNA SET OFF THE CHARGES, EVERYONE RUN, GET OFF THE ISLAND!"

The signal, or rather the screeching would be broadcast over nearly every network that the pirates controlled, perhaps even some that they didn't, he might have overdone it a bit. Then again, that was probably for the best. Everyone needed to be well clear of this place before they set off the charges, otherwise it wouldn't be pretty.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

That squeeze turned into a release as Kira brought her hands up to cover her ears. She gave a wince and a grimace, nose scrunching up. Well, Sol had some lungs in him when he wanted to be dramatic. This was a version of him that rarely ever displayed itself. Sol didn’t raise his voice. Never had to. Not even to yell.

Most couples would say that they have their fair share of fights. Soliael and Kira did not. Oh they had their disagreements, but that had a tendency to resolve itself simply by discourse. If truly upset, Kira would become quiet, fretting and turning to cleaning what she could to keep busy. In those situations, much like in the aftermath of the Battle of Geonosis, Soliael simply came over and held her.

Odd, perhaps. But it worked. It served their relationship well.

So loud! She went mouthing off silently to Sol, still holding her hands up to her ears. However, it had the exact effect they had desired. Within the base, the high alert had already spread, aided only by the still burning debris of the crashed ship in the sea.

“Two weeks!” she countered, glancing over at the Gamorrean and the Kel-Dor.

Okay.

“Three weeks!” mainly because they had to make sure those two got out.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Three and a half." Soliael responded as he released the button on the transmitter. Almost immediately a dozen messages came through at the same time. There was jumbled screaming, put together mumbling, and of course an eventual order to get the frack off the island. The former False God gave a satisfied smile, pleased with himself at what he had accomplished and just how quickly he had managed to do it. There was an advantage to knowing technology so well, mainly the fact that he could do something so difficult in a heartbeat.

He would have to teach Kaili that trick when they got back.

"Agreed?" He didn't wait for Kira to respond. "Good, let's get these two idiots out of here."

A quick peck on the lips and Soliael slipped from Kira's grasp, maneuvering himself away from her and grasping onto the collar of the Gamorrean. Ge began to drag the large pig like alien over towards his compatriot, quickly grasping the Kel Dor in a similar manner before quickly scooping the other man up. The transceiver was placed on his belt, mostly because he couldn't afford to lose that. "We have about fifteen minutes."

He motioned towards the charges.