Back to basics

[Aurelie Fleury]

Tatooine, Ancorhead. Abandoned abode. Local time: 11:11

There had been quite some time since Hask had, once again, left on the Hellion for a mission. Apparently, it was too dangerous or something of the like for her to come along on and as a result, she remained on Tatooine, a planet which the two had visited several times already. The girl was somewhat concerned about her friend - she had lost the Hellion's long range signals and hadn't heard from the Sith in a little longer than what was expected. Nevertheless, time hadn't gone to waste while he was away.

Whether it was by sheer luck or a thief's instinct, the young woman had found an abandoned abode which contained a badly damaged H4 unit along with multiple blaster marks littering the walls inside the building. Instead of spending the days thieving and doing odd little tasks, she put much effort into getting the droid back to pristine condition and making sure that it would be loyal to her and not the former master whom must have abandoned it. Before loosing contact with Hask, she had been able to inform him of the abode's location.

It had not been long since H4 had begun speaking. Aurelie's use of proverbs and such didn't seem to work all too well with the droid's tendency to interpret things literally, and had already created a few rather awkward situations. Beginning right after she finished her repairs on him. "Common, let's get you cleaned up, Scrappy" she chirped lightheartedly whilst walking towards the side of the room where she kept a bucket of water, some soap and a towel. "Scrappy? Mistress, I am an H4 series battle droid of fine design. I am not, scrappy." he stated with a hint of indignation in the tone, barely noticeable to the girl who had just gotten to know him. She picked up the cleaning equipment and turned to walk back to him with slightly raised eyebrows. "Well, your fine design was just reassembled by me - if you weren't scrappy before, you definitely are now." she countered with a sly grin. The droid just stood there looking at her while processing her behaviour.

"Tell me if I miss a spot, alright?" she asked as she knelt down to clean H4 from bottom to top. "Yes, mistress" the response was cold, hard, just like one would expect from a droid. It didn't take long until it spoke again "You missed a spot, there" it said with a pointed finger, momentarily releasing its rifle. "What? That's nothing!" she responded, thinking that she had been more than thorough enough and that the spot was of the most minuscule magnitude. "You did instruct me to tell you if you missed a spot." he mused, already having picked up a little of her behaviour. She gave him an annoyed stare with a cocked eyebrow, which didn't receive any kind of response from the droid whatsoever. "Alright then, Scrappy." she said, wondering what she'd gotten herself into as she redoubled her efforts. He looked down at her for a few moments as she called him 'Scrappy' again before returning his gaze straight to his front.

After a while, she reached his top, leaving the lower parts of the battle droid sparkling clean. "H4, can you lower yourself a little? I can't clean your head properly if you stand upright. Just make sure to keep an eye on the door. We don't want what happened to you the first time to happen again, do we?" she said making the droid bend down, allowing her to clean his top too.

If anyone would enter the room, H4 would quickly push Aurelie to the ground beside him and immediately point his blaster rifle towards the new guest.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask was on board a simple ED-3 Stargull, carrying passengers from one planet to another. With the crying children and strange smell of the ship, he was missing his baby more and more. Such a simple job, yet somehow he managed to get his most prized possession stolen and now he's been reduced even further to taking public transport. Oh how the mighty Sith have fallen...

The entire flight he never moved a muscle. He sat dead still with his eyes closed as he...meditated? He wasn't sure what came over him to start doing that but so far it has helped him calm down and figure out where to go from where he was now. The only thing it didn't help with, was what he was going to say to Aurie. She would most likely be furious when he breaks the news to her. He was pulled out of his meditation when the Stargull shuddered. They had finally reached the atmosphere of Tatooine and within a few minutes they would arrive at Anchorhead. His gear was completely different from when he first went to Adumar. Instead of the heavy armour and poncho, he was covered in a few shaped pieces of durasteel complemented by phrik gauntlets and covered from head to toe by a dark grey trench coat that covered all his weapons.

The ship docked and the ramp lowered. He had received word of where Aurie was before he was out of range, now all he had to do was find this abandoned building of hers. He slid the helmet on and any trace of what he was disappeared. He wandered through the streets of the small town until he found the building. He opened the door and was immediately taken by surprise.

An H4 battle droid of all things as staring right back at him with a rifle at the ready with Aurie right next to it. It shoved Aurie down to the ground, but before it could fire a shot, Hask reached out with his left hand and shut the droid down with the force. The thing folded up into a ball with its head between its knees and its arms curled around its legs. Hask rushed over to his friend. "Aurie are you alright? What the hell are you doing with this thing?!" he spoke sternly, clearly concerned over her wellbeing.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Suddenly, Aurelie felt H4's mechanical arm connect with her abdomen rather violently as he quickly shoved her to the side while raising up to his full length with the blaster pointed at the man who just opened the door. The thief was just confused for a short moment before she regained her senses an looked up, first at H4, and then at the figure by the door. She didn't recognize the man at all and consequently drew her blaster, fearing that it might be someone responsible for the condition which she found H4 in, but then, she saw a glimmer under the left glove of the man. Before she had the chance to say anything, her new companion shut down, just as the Sith pointed his hand towards it.

Just as her friend rushed towards her, the girl rose to her feet, feeling a little pain where H4's arm had connected with her. She didn't even care for keeping her blaster and simply dropped it at the ground where she allowed it to remain, knowing that her blaster wouldn't be needed when the pureblood was there with her. She looked at him with innocent eyes as he questioned her about H4, remaining silent for a while - she could barely contain her happiness about seeing her friend alive and well and quickly slipped her arms in under his coat for a hug. "Hask!" she exclaimed happily while leaning her head against his upper shoulder. "I'm so glad to see you again!"

She eventually let go of him, looking him deeply in the eyes (or his visor if that was still on) with a soft smile on her lips and then turned to look at the droid. Raising a hand to point towards it, she spoke theatrically, like a parody of what she did when meeting the nobles of Serenno "May I present to you, H4! The cleanest and most well take-care of droid in town!" she said, dropping the theatricality by the second sentence to use an enthusiastic tone whilst presenting her work.

Walking over to the droid, she experimented with one of the panels until it finally turned on again. She put her arms on it's shoulders and stood on her toes, placing herself just a bit below it's head. Once the droid awoke, it tilted its head down to look at her, seemingly confused. "Sorry, H4, that's our friend, Hask Jen. He is never to be harmed, alright?" she said before returning down to her normal level. "Yes, mistress." it said simply. The battle droid once again turned to the Sith, this time with his weapon at a resting position. "Greetings, Hask Jen" it said curtly before going silent. Aurelie looked at the droid with raised eyebrows "Scrappy..." she said, clearly expecting the machine to make a better impression. He looked down at her and then at Hask and then assumed the voice of a standards protocol droid "Greetings, friend. I am H4, a finely designed battle droid, at your service." he said with a stale bow. The girl stood next to the droid and leaned against it with her side with her arms crossed, it was apparent that she was quite satisfied. She smiled jovially "So, whaddaya think?" she asked.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Aurie simply stared back at him, her blaster dropping to the ground. He kept looking her over, making sure she was okay. Figuring that she might not have recognized him with the new outfit he reached up to take off his helmet when she suddenly pulled him into a hug. He froze up for a second before wrapping his arms around her as well. "Hey, Aurie. Missed you too." he said warmly as he held her tight.

After a while she released him and he took the chance to take his helmet off so they could speak face to face. She moved over to the droid, introducing the battle droid. He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, where exactly did you find an H4-series battle droid just lying around?"he asked as she fiddled with its back panel to turn it back on. The droid came back to life and she introduced the droid to the Pureblood. The droid first greeted Hask rather rudely, then after Aurie addressed it by its name, it became a lot more pleasant. Hask chuckled at the name she chose for it. "Pleasure to meet you too, Scrappy." he said, trying to stop laughing.

He looked back at Aurie. "I love it. Could definitely use another hand on board-" he spoke but fell silent, cutting himself off. His face sunk in regret and guilt. "Yeah...about the Hellion." he placed a hand on Aurie's shoulder. "I might have...lost it." he said slowly, trying to sound as confident as possible. "I was gone for like five minutes and by the time I got back, some guy jumped in and took off." he explained himself, his voice getting both sad and angry. "I'm sorry Aurie. I tried to get it back but I wasn't fast enough. We're back to square one." every word he had trouble saying. The embarrassment of confessing all this was hell for him. Were he a human his face wouldn't be that far off from the shade it is now.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Still leaning against the relatively tall battle droid, Aurelie listened as Hask suddenly started struggling to find words. She leaned her head to the side while looking at him curiously. "Yeah...about the Hellion" he said - she weren't sure where he was going with this and stood upright again, the droid didn't seem weathered about supporting her weight at all. "What about the Hellion?" she asked with a somewhat concerned tone. It couldn't be in a worse condition than it was after their last space battle, could it? The pureblood then told her that he'd lost it. Aurelie looked at him for a few moments, she feared that what he said was true but found it hard to believe. "You're kidding" she said with a surprised voice, barely able to contain the concern she felt.

But, Hask continued, confirming her fears. She was disappointed, not at him, but the fact that the ship got stolen, that she wasn't there to keep it safe. Still, she knew how much the ship meant to him and when he picked her up, she didn't have a credit to her name and didn't do much more than simply drifting around. This was a setback, sure, but she was still much better off than she'd ever dared to hope for after her father died.

Her blue eyes looked at his sympathetically as she moved closer to him "Oh, Hask" she said, feeling his pain and frustration over losing his pride and joy. She wrapped her arms around him, this time outside of his coat and hugged him for a short while before letting go. "We'll recover" she said warmly and continued "I'll still l- uh.. like you the same." H4 looked on as his mistress started blushing "Increased adrenaline levels detected. I can assure you that this building is quite safe at the moment, mistress." the droid stated bluntly causing the girl to blush even further. "Scrappy! Shush!" she whispered urgently while throwing the droid an embarrassed look.

She turned back to Hask "We're a team, Hask and Aurie. We'll get by." she said encouragingly. H4 looked on as he noticed how he wasn't included in the team. Scanning them both as he created a little noise by checking the status of his rifle. "And you too, H4..." she said, not wanting to exclude their new companion.

An idea appeared in her mind, making the girl shine up with hope. "I know an arms dealer in Mos Eisely. He's looking for a few people to do a job for him. Perhaps we could get started there? I know of a shuttle which will depart for the city soon" she chirped enthusiastically, prepared to lead the way if Hask approved of the idea.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask thought that she would drop him just like that, or be angry, or something...but instead she just embraced him and gave him kind words of reassurance. In response he returned the hug and he immediately felt at ease. She gave some extra words of reassurance, along with a strange comment that made her cheeks turn bright red. A small smile crept on his mouth that only grew into a chuckle when Scrappy confirmed the nervousness he felt coming off her. "I'm starting to like the droid more and more." he said with a chuckle. "Thanks, Aurie." he said softly as he gave her another hug.

She confirmed their team once again, lifting his spirits. But she quickly added the droid as well when the sound of his blaster priming could be heard. He would not be surprised if the droid actually murdered them over something petty. "Yeah I think it'll be a while before we both get used to the new addition." he said as he looked over to the battle droid. It might help to hook him up to a computer and make sure his safety systems were in place.

Immediately Aurie thought of a solution for their problem as well as a means to get to the guy. "Alright then, lead the way!" he spoke cheerfully and enthusiastically. If they could do a job to earn enough money for a proper ship, he would already be more relieved. He let her lead the way and followed suit, sliding his helmet back on as he walked out into the desert.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

With Hask's approval, they were good to go. The young woman smiled at her friend "Will do!" she chirped jovially. Soon, the three of them were heading down the streets towards the spaceport. The Sith's comment about liking the droid hadn't gone unnoticed. Whilst Aurelie walked to the left of her friend like always, H4 approached her from the other side and leaned down a little. The droid lowered it's volume slightly, enough to be noticeably lower, but far from low enough to not let Hask hear any of it. "I'm starting to like the organic more and more." it stated matter-of-factly. Despite liking the appreciative comment, H4 did take note about being referred to as 'the droid' while he was standing right there. "He's got a name, you know?" she responded, looking at the machine next to her. "So do I" he countered but received a knowing smirk from his mistress "Yeah, it's Scrappy" H4 went silent for a minute before returning to walking in his upright position, processing the exchange he just experienced.

The trio soon boarded a smaller shuttle after the thief had acquired tickets for them, having made full use of her shadier abilities. The ship was only designed to carry 60 people and four staff consisting of two hosts and two pilots. The seats were arranged in 20 rows in three lines with two seats in each column. The girl had made sure get a seat by the window while H4 was directed to the back with the other droids. The unarmed ship soon took off and headed towards Mos Eisely, never leaving the planet's atmosphere. "Now we're just a few hours and a short walk away from the next job." she said, looking to her friend. Despite having lost so much, she somehow felt at peace in the small shuttle, looking at Hask as they climbed higher. A soft smile grew on her lips as she kept her gaze at him while leaning back against the seat feeling quite relaxed.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask followed Aurie along, with her on his left side as always. The droid was walking along her left side and leaned down a little to say something to her. He tried to speak softly but Hask was able to her him loud and clear. He wasn't sure whether the droid's comment was supposed to be a compliment or an insult, but Hask wasn't bothered in the slightest. Aurie went on to defend him and the droid fired straight back. Aurie put the cherry on top, calling the droid by his new name and causing Hask to chuckle at their bickering.

Aurie proceeded to acquire tickets for the shuttle and in no time at all they were seated next to a window. H4 was forced to sit in the back with all the other droids much to his disliking, but that was something they could do nothing about. Plus Hask was rather amused by the fact that a battle droid was forced to sit with protocol and astromech droids, quite a step down for him to be sure. Aurie's optimism was shining as bright as ever and he nodded with a chuckle. He took his helmet off and ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. Aurie's staring caught his eye and he looked back at her, staring for a second or so himself. Finally with a smirk he broke the silence. "You like what you're seeing?" he said in a teasing manner. He sat back in his seat, following Aurie's plan and relaxing as well. The shuttle took off and in an hour or two they would be in Mos Eisley, receiving a job and getting one step closer to a new ship.

They were just about halfway with their flight. Hask actually fell asleep in his seat, the heat of the planet as well as the humming of the engine lulled him into a nap. Suddenly the ship rocked as an explosion went off, throwing Hask out of his seat and to the floor in front of Aurie. "What the hell?!" he called out over the screams of the passengers and sounds of the ship. He got to his feet just as a second explosion went off and the ship dove to the sand below at a sharp decline. He grabbed hold of Aurie's seat, covering and holding her down with his weight. Either this flight didn't have seatbelts or he was blind and didn't check for them behind his seat. Nevertheless his priority was to cover Aurie.

The ship hit the sand and bounced off a dune and skidded along the sand on its belly. Hask was hanging on for dear life until the ship came to a halt and stopped. He let go of Aurie's seat and let out a groan. He cracked his neck and stretched his back, resulting in another few cracks. He looked at Aurie. "You okay?" he asked as he knelt down and looked her over. A spark to his left caught his attention and he lifted his arm up. Out of the forearm stuck a piece of sharp debris. With wide eyes he chuckled in disbelief as his arm sparked a bit again. "Well thank goodness for not having nerves." he said as he pulled the debris from his arm and tossed it aside.

The sounds of ships overhead caught his attention. No way could that be a rescue craft...and no way was this crash an accident. He stood up and looked around. No one, apart from him, H4 and Aurie, were fighters from the looks of it. Hew ran to the back of the ship. The boarding ramp was torn open but provided some cover along with some crates as well. Outside of the ship, he could see a large group approaching from ships. He ran back into the ship and looked out the windows to spot more men and ships all around.

They were surrounded.

He moved back to Aurie. "We're under attack. I would ask you to stay here but we both know the answer to that one. Come on." he said with a small smile and led her to the boarding ramp in the back, drawing both his pistols. They were most likely the only defence against these pirates.

And boy did they have their defence cut out for them.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

After having looked each other in the eyes for a while, he spoke. Hask's question caught the young woman off guard. She did like what she saw, very much so, but she weren't sure of how to best respond to him until she finally let out a small "Yes" shyly. She didn't like how his one simple question seemed to paralyze her like that and quickly tried to recover. In one swift move, she removed her seat belt and leaned over to him, strapping an arm over his shoulder and leaned her head against his "I'm only working for you because of your looks, y'know?" she joked before sitting back down at her own seat.

After having looked out the window for quite some time, Aurelie eventually turned to Hask, but quickly discovered that he was asleep. She looked at him sleeping sweetly, letting her eyes rest on him without the need to fear a potentially awkward situation like the one which happened just a while ago. The good times couldn't last forever it seemed, as suddenly, an orange light lit up outside the windows and just a moment later, the ship rocked violently. While the Sith was thrown out of his seat, the young woman manged to remain in hers by holding on to the armrests tight.

It seemed as if Hask had saved her life. After having taken off the seat belt, there was no doubt in her mind that she would've been thrown out of her seat and risk breaking her neck or something unless Hask had been there to keep her safe. Despite feeling both safe and grateful for her friend keeping her pinned to the seat, the girl was worried that he would risk getting injured himself. When the shuttle finally shut down, he knelt down to check on her, but there was nothing which managed to injure her while she was protected by the Pureblood. He, however, seemed to be a bit worse for wear as she quickly noticed the piece of debris sticking out of his arm "Your arm!" she exclaimed urgently with a voice filled with fear. It did, however, seem to be rather unwarranted as he simply ripped it away from his arm, making him seem invulnerable in the young woman's eyes.

Several people had already died in the crash landing. Others were frozen in fear or screaming out completely panicked. While Hask rushed to the back of the ship, the thief checked on an injured elder at the middle row but looked up as the captain's voice could be heard through the speakers. He started informing them that they were most likely under attack when his voice suddenly went silent. Unbeknownst to the passengers, the pirate leader was approaching from the front and had shot the poor captain. This put a quick end to any attempts at escaping.

Soon, the Sith returned to her from the back, confirming the captain's suspicions. She had known Hask for a rather long time now and was prepared to object to the inevitable suggestion that she stay behind while he defends the ship - but, it seemed like he knew her rather well too, and let her join him. With that, she pulled out her blaster and ran after him to the back of the ship. "H4, come along, we might have a fight on our hands!" she hollered as the ran past him. "Yes, mistress" he responded as he ran along with the sentients.

Slowly, more and more shots could be heard, it seemed as if the attackers didn't want to leave any witnesses as they methodically tried to slaughter the passengers and crew. "Battle it is" she whispered, not at all fond of the idea that their attackers were attacking defenceless innocents. H4 took a rather advanced position along with Hask whilst Aurelie tried to stay behind some crates a few meters behind the two. As soon as they got out, the attackers started firing on them too which eventually resulted in H4 and Aurie firing back. While the girl still had to improve her aim at longer ranges, the droid killed three attackers by firing controlled bursts of two bolts with the rifle, often hitting his target around the heart with both. The machine was programmed and designed to kill efficiently, and right now, it was performing way above the young woman's expectations.

Seeing someone taking aim at the Sith, the girl let out a warning "Hask, look out!" before taking aim at the man, firing several shots, hoping that at least one would hit him, or at least suppress the guy. She was very happy to see that one of the bolts had hit the foe in the gut, making him bend over and eventually fall to the ground in pain.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask took a stand with H4 out in front of Aurie, almost completely outside of the ship. Both him and H4 took cover behind some crates. The fire became more intense, with shots landing all over the place. At least one thing remained consistent...pirates can't aim to save their lives.

He drew his WESTAR-1 and loosed a few bolts at enemies as they got closer, keeping his Quickdraw as a backup. At 50 metres away he was shooting at the maximum range of his pistol, making aiming also a bit harder. He heard the sound of shots hitting the side of the ship from behind as well. Either they were just so thick in the head to know that nothing would happen, or they were actually planning on killing everyone inside by firing until they got through. These guys weren't fooling around.

He fired another three bolts into a guy and took aim at another. Suddenly he heard Aurie call out and a stream of bolts flew past him into a pirate that had gotten a bit close for comfort. He ducked behind his cover and threw her a thumbs-up before standing up and firing again. They were putting up as good a fight as one can with barely any cover and with only pistols to fight back with. He fired a few more rounds when his gun just clicked with its lack of ammo. He ran to Aurie's cover and crouched down next to her. He threw the empty cartridge aside and inserted a new one, his pistol came to life once again with the familiar hiss-and-click. He stood up and fired a few rounds at the pirates before ducking in cover once again to avoid a stream of bolts. "I really didn't want to use the force and just keep a low profile but these guys aren't giving us any other choice." he spoke to her over the clanging of rounds against durasteel around them.

He looked down at her pistol and the empty cartridges at her feet. The fight was drawing out and they were losing ground. He spun his pistol around and gave it to her along with his spare cartridges then drew his Quickdraw. "Alright, these guys are getting close. I'll hold them back while you and H4 move further into the ship. We can use the passages to bottleneck them as they enter the ship. Get ready." he spoke with a serious tone, his golden eyes staring into her blue eyes. He turned to H4 and whistled to get his attention. "H4, get ready to fall back on my mark!" he called out to the droid.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Whilst the firefight raged on by the backside of the ship, the pirate leader had calmly walked to the front of it along with his three bodyguards, consisting of one Gamorrean and two Twi'lek's, all heavily armoured and armed to the teeth. After having the large Gamorrean rip off the door to the pilot's cabin, he and his guards entered the ship and slowly and carefully proceeded towards the end. While he wanted to put an end to the immediate threat to his men, the leader was in no rush to be ambushed by a passenger who happened to be carrying a weapon.

Meanwhile, Aurelie was noticing how the pirates kept getting closer and closer, seemingly relying more on sheer numbers than anything else. Momentarily, she wondered what it was that could possibly motivate them to just rush forth like they did, but this was no time for those kinds of considerations. She heard Hask's plan and prepared to fall back with H4 upon his signal. Once it was finally given, she moved into the ship's left lane while H4 moved through the right lane.

A fair bit into the ship, the young woman and her droid opened a curtain to the passengers section simultaneously. There, they could see the four pirates just fifteen rows away, the gamorrean and pirate leader on her side and the two Twi'leks on the other. H4 fired off two shots, hitting each Twi'lek at their unarmoured throat, killing them both quickly, just like he was designed to do. At the same time, Aurelie fired four shots at the Gamorrean, all hitting his chest plate but the final bolt which hit his leg plate. Smoke was pouring out of the spots where her shots landed, but the alien simply looked at her with a menacing smile. The pig surely had to be in pain, but he was not at all letting it show. "Scrappy, retreat!" she shouted whilst quickly turning to run the other way.

With a raised arm, the remaining bodyguard threw a hand-axe at the girl, which she skillfully managed to evade utilising her quick reflexes [level 2] and relatively small frame. Without any intentions to wait around, she kept running scurrying in behind the curtain to make her way to the Sith. "Ha-" she exclaimed, but got cut off before even finishing the first word. A hard cased traveling bag had hit her in the back, tearing down the curtain. Apparently, the Gamorrean didn't give up after the first miss and borrowed a larger object from one of the passengers to use as his next projectile.

H4 returned to Hask, shooting down a few nearby pirates, making full use of his combat programming, quickly providing the Pureblood with aid and relief. "I believe the mistress is in need of aid." it stated, perfectly calmly as it gunned down another pirate.

The thief was quickly recovering and had just begun crawling her way up into a spring. What she didn't see was that the Gamorrean behind her, who had slowly been walking towards her with the pirate leader, was preparing to throw another bag at her. Behind the bodyguard was the leader, who had a wicked grin on his face, obviously enjoying seeing his follower toying with their prey.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask called upon the force and stepped out of his cover. He thrusted both hands out towards the pirates, launching a powerful force push to knock the closest ones back and throw off the aim of the others. With the window open Aurie and H4 could retreat safely into the ship. He moved back into cover and slowly moved back, squeezing off a few shots at the pirates, hitting one square in the chest with 4 bolts. He had to admit, this gun was a treat to use.

He moved into the left hallway, covering their rear as the pirates were getting closer and closer. They were overwhelming them more and more and he wouldn't be able to take them all on. Not by a long shot. A bunch of shots rang out behind him, but he figured Aurie was firing through the broken windows at the pirates. One pirate charged into the ship and Hask dropped him with his last two bolts. He flicked his pistol and the empty cartridge flew out. He slapped the fresh cartridge in and the gun powered back up. Two more pirates got into the ship and Hask peeked out around the hallway's corner, dropping both with 2 bolts in their centre mass. Another was getting close and Hask sprayed him down with 6 bolts.

H4 came out of nowhere and sprayed down a bunch of pirates with his rifle, providing some relief for Hask. He spoke in an oddly calm manner that Aurie needed help. Hask scrammed back into the ship. Aurie was struggling to her feet with a Gamorrean lifting a large suitcase over its head, ready to slam it down onto Aurie. Hask emptied his pistol into the green pig and threw it aside. He drew his lightsabre into his left hand with the force and sliced both the bag in half and the Gamorrean over the chest, making sure he was dead. He helped Aurie onto her feet and pulled her in behind him as he held his lightsabre up defensively. "Keep smiling chum, and I'll use your body to go dune surfing." he fired at the smiling captain angrily.

They were surrounded. Even if Hask took this guy down, no way would they be able to escape alive. He didn't care. His priority was to keep Aurie safe behind him. "Why did you attack? This is a passenger shuttle, not a cargo freighter." he spoke less harshly, but still ever so stern.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

It all happened very quickly. Just as the young woman was getting back up on her feet in a hurry, Hask rushed up into the corridor and fired off his gun. She looked back and saw the blast marks in the Gamorrean behind her, standing with both his arms raised, previously prepared to throw another bag at her. The sight didn't last very long, however, as the Sith soon ignited his lightsaber, slashing through both the bag and the pig. She weren't aware of the impending danger but was happy that he had saved her from it and quickly accepted his hand to get back up on her feet. Whilst he stepped up in front of her, she pressed her back against his rather softly while taking aim at the back of the ship, having full confidence that he'd be able to handle the captain.

The pirate leader, who had at first furiously raised his rifle, pointing it towards Hask as he shot the bodyguard soon dropped it. A devious smile grew on his lips as he saw the lightsaber ignite and how skilled the Pureblood was in handling it. He did keep smiling "I will, mister" he said with a cool voice, appearing to have enough charm to pacify a rancor. Just as a two armed pirates appeared in each isle behind him.

Right after Hask questioned their intents on attacking the shuttle, a blaster shot went off behind Hask as Aurelie fired at an pirate charging at them from behind with a vibrosword. The captain looked at his dead follower coldly, but his gaze soon turned to the right corridor where H4 quickly rushed into the cabin with a hail of bolts following right behind. The four new people quickly pointed their rifles at the droid who didn't hesitate to level his own weapon against them.

The captain raised his arm, signaling his men to stand down and opened the comms "Let's cool down, boys" he said, causing the four new people to stand down. "Scrappy, let's not kill our chances at peace" Aurelie said, knowing that the pirates coming from behind could still be quite dangerous, not to mention the ones already there. "Scrappy?" the pirate chuckled, obviously amused by the nickname. The droid's head quickly turned to the leader, just as it would if he intended to kill a target, but, soon he put his rifle in a resting position, following the commands of his owner. "Mistress, please let me kill the organic." H4 pleaded, showing a scent of distaste upon saying the last word.

Footsteps could be heard from behind them as more pirates were approaching. Looking to the Sith and the thief, the captain said "Come now, we could all stand to gain from working together. I'm Clunt, and me and my boys are planning a raid on the Operus. Look around you, this ship is filled with rich people, at least for being on Tatooine. We could use the money. There's also supposed to be a Duros on here whom I'd like to have a chat with." he said, keeping a friendly tone, barely enough to hide his sinister intents. "Now, I believe that we could work together. So, what say you? Will you help me out with those fancy powers of yours? I'll even let you keep the droid and the girl" he said with a smile while looking Hask in the eyes. The underlying threat of continued violence was rather obvious as his hand which had stayed his followers still floated in the air, ready to command them to attack once more. Soon, more pirates started flocking at the back of the ship, ready to rush into the cabin if called for.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

The arrogance the pirate captain displayed was enraging. Bloody pirates.

Two more pirates emerged from behind him and Hask tensed up further. A few shots fired off from right behind him and he quickly looked to see Aurie who had dropped a very optimistic pirate. A few seconds after that, H4 emerged from his corridor and 4 pirates were close behind, but with all of them cornered he couldn't do much. The droid still raised his gun and the pirates responded by raising their own. The captain ordered his men to stand down and Aurie gave the same order to H4 who was pleading her to let him kill them. "H4 stand down. That's an order." Hask spoke sternly as he looked at the droid.

His gaze turned back to the captain. He heard more pirates approach. How big was this crew? The captain proceeded to introduce himself, explain his predicament and offer them a chance to work for him. He went on to threaten both Aurie and H4. Something Hask never tolerated. He leaned in a bit as if to lunge at the pirate but didn't move beyond that. His eyes were burning with rage, his body was yearning for him to attack, his lightsabre felt restless in his hand. Every fibre in his body was craving for him to lash out and kill the man, then go down in blazing glory.

But he knew better. He drew a deep breath and looked around. There was no chance at survival. Refusing his request would end in disaster for all of them. He felt like a wild animal, cornered. But for Aurie's sake he had to keep a cool head. If he can keep a cool head after having his arm cleaved off, he can keep a cool head here. He looked at Aurie over his shoulder. "Stand down." he said simply to her. He extinguished his lightsabre and stood upright, but still kept the hilt tightly in his left hand. "Fine. You win. What do you want?" he spoke coldly, making clear his hatred to the pirate captain. He took a look around the shuttle then looked back to the captain. "In case you haven't been paying attention, there's no Duros on this flight. So what do you need me for?" he spoke more calmly. He could sense a presence on board that was more terrified than the rest, but the presence wasn't between the passengers.

He was hiding. Hask didn't show that he was feeling the presence. He kept a straight face as he looked the captain in the eye. He doubted the captain was so stupid as the Pureblood let on, but he still had to try at least.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Clunt flinched as the Sith seemed to go for a stab at him. He knew that his attempt at enlisting the force user could be risky, but the rewards were too great to pass up. He'd just have to be a little more careful not to provoke the man too much - he was curious, he usually thought of many Sith as ruthless warriors who didn't care too much for survival. This one, however, seemed to remain calm, knowing his limits and the risks of attacking. Clunt didn't know whether he was lucky or very unlucky to have encountered a smart Sith.

Feeling her friend's heavy breaths as they stood back to back, a wave of relief rushed over the girl as he told her to stand down. Soon, her blaster pistol was back in its holster as she turned her side against Hask, making sure that she could glance over at Clunt while still keeping a watchful eye on their rear. She knew how her friend could become in battle and was grateful that he managed to keep on the peaceful track.

"I want you to neutralize an anti-air defence turret while we're attacking the Operus and help us capture the ship." he said simply before continuing "You'll get a fair cut, don't you worry about that. With me, everyone always gets a fair cut. a few disgruntled faces could be seen among his crew as he talked about everyone getting a fair cut, but the absolute majority seemed to remain supportive of their captain.

Looking around, Clunt saw what the Sith had just said - there was no Duros in sight. "Well, fark! He's the guy with the codes that unlocks that air defence turret. Let's just kill the lot and be off then. We'll catch him in the next shuttle" he said, clearly quite annoyed. Killing the civilians was his plan all along - but having to set up another ambush for another shuttle was not what the captain had hoped that he'd spend his day doing. "Well, you boys know what to do" he said, resulting in the crew readying their weapons to start killing the civilians. Clunt started to turn around but stopped himself to look at Hask "Feel free to join in. I know Scrappy over there was quite anxious to kill earlier, now's the chance." he said, thinking that the Pureblood might enjoy massacring civilians. With that Clunt began walking away slowly.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

Hask listened to the pirate's proposition. It was ambitious to say the least. Those guns were set up to stop the likes of him and his crew. They were pretty well hidden and inside they were decently well guarded by their owners. "Taking down one of those towers, I would expect nothing less than a fair cut...for both of us. Those towers are tough." he spoke civilly to the pirate, folding his arms across his chest and still holding onto the silver lightsabre. He shot a quick glance at Aurie who was standing a bit to the side, still keeping an eye on their rear. I was rather amusing to see the other crew members grunt and groan about his idea of a fair cut. But if he crossed Hask, there would be hell to pay.

The pirate immediately ordered the civilians to be executed and Hask's eyes went wide. He held his hands out to stop them. "Hey, whoa! No need for that."
he quickly spoke to stop the pirates. He stood for a few seconds, thinking about how to approach the situation. "If I find the guy for you, you let these people go. Deal?" he spoke sternly. He didn't have much ground to bargain with, but he had to try at least...clearly Aurie's compassion is starting to rub off on him.

He turned to look around the ship then closed his eyes. He reached out with the force and searched out for the frightened being's presence. When he had a rough estimate he motioned for the captain to follow. He made his way back towards the cargo hold. That explains the fear. The guy could have died earlier. "He's in here, hiding. Either in the crates or under the floor boards." Hask told the captain then stood aside along with Aurie and H4 to let the captain search for the Duros.

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

An eyebrow shot up as the captain crossed his arms. He was a little confused, a cut for both of them? After a while, he realized that the Sith wanted his companion to get a cut too, and idea which he found rather amusing. Barely able to contain his laughter he pointed at her "Excuse me, but you want me to give her a cut?" he asked skeptically, wondering whether the Pureblood was joking or not. After calming down he gave the Sith a casual nod. In truth, he was prepared to pay rather well to enlist the force user, and if he agreed to come just by getting a share to the girl too, Clunt certainly wouldn't mind. He thought of it as a rather good deal.

The pirate captain gained an even more surprised face as the Sith called for him to spare the civilians. He had always been quick to identify what he considered to be weaknesses, and Hask's unwillingness to let the innocents come to harm's way was something which Clunt thought about exploiting in the future. His eyes narrowed while looking at the people, all covering in fear "Well, I could let them go eventually. Just gotta complete the raid first." he said in a businesslike manner before once again signalling for his crew to hold. "I'm sorry to disappoint boys, but we're being merciful today, all thanks to our new friend over here" Aurelie let out a silent sigh of relief as Clunt told his crew to let the civilians live. She realised that they were making a deal with the devil, but at the same time, she was confident that Hask and her would be able to get out of most sticky situations eventually.

Soon, they all found themselves at the back by the cargo hold. Hask had given the pirates a good idea of where the Duros was hiding. The pirates started cracking open crates and stomping at various places on the floor, listening to if they could hear the hallow sound of a hidden compartment. The thief who had smuggled good before had already spotted the alien's place of hiding. She didn't want the pirates to find their target, but at the same time, not finding him could mean trouble for Hask, herself and the passengers. With that, she walked towards a large crate which had already been searched. "Common, Scrappy, let's get this over with. Can you help me push that crate aside, please?" she asked, not at all sure why she talked to the droid using 'please' and 'thank you'. After H4 had pushed the crate aside, she opened a hatch revealing the Duros underneath.

Clunt smiled widely as their target was captured. "We'll interrogate him on the ship. I'll get our new friends some transport to head for the AA tower. Sith, I'll send you the codes as soon as I get 'em. And then, we'll take the Operus." he said with a sinister smile as his crew walked the prisoner over to Clunt's ship. Four pirates would stay at the shuttle to make sure that none of the passengers would get any ideas to warn anyone.


@KinkyPrawn

 

[Hask Jen]

The pirates turned the entire cargo hold upside down as they looked for the Duros. The crates were filled with all kinds of stuff but nothing of value. Mostly furniture, personal belongings, clothes and other types of things. Hask watched as they went around and looked for the man. He knew the guy has here but he couldn't figure out where. Eventually Aurie called H4 over and moved to a nearby crate and moved it out of the way. She opened a floorboard and there he was.

Hask wasn't all that fond of handing over the poor guy but torturing one guy to let a couple dozen others live wasn't rocket science. The captain organised a lift directly to the AA tower for the trio and Hask was okay with the plan. The quicker they get the job done the quicker they can get away from the pirate. Hask, Aurie and H4 followed a nearby pirate to their freighter and boarded it. On the way there they would figure out a plan, but Hask was sure their original plan might have flopped with the losses they sustained to get this guy.

"I'll hail you as soon as we have that tower." he spoke as his group walked out of the shuttle. Hopefully they had ammo on their ship...

/End Thread

@Pyrenees