Ask Coruscant Knockout

[Cigrewie]

That sound, always that same sound...it droned in the girl's ears like there was nothing else she could ever do, it was her eternal torment. Never getting away from the same sound, it was drilled in her heart like there was no tomorrow. What had she done to deserve it? What had she done to deserve that kind of torture?

The girl's thoughts swarmed her head, she could hardly focus on anything else. Only the cool air kept her in touch, it felt like someone was breathing onto her, heavily, quite heavily in her mind. Maybe she was stupid, walking around a city like that, Shockwave was a great friend, just not very helpful when it came to cover or protection. In this place, a Stun Blaster and Blast Vest don't get you very far during an attack, not alive at least.

She shook her head, patting the little droid zooming beside her. The little droid buzzed a bit, it was quite a cheerful buzz though, there was comfort in the sound, after all, it was a sound that had been with her, almost her entire life. Then, it happened, she was broken from her thoughts by a man, throwing her on the ground sending Shockwave into a panicked frenzy as the Twi'lek took out her blaster pointing it straight at the attacker's throat, he began to turn around and face her after knocking down the droid just the same as he had done to her moments before.

@Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Arms crossed and back lazily leaned against the wall, Armand Terrance Crossac watched the busy street whilst waiting for his trusty, albeit commanding, protocol droid 'Pierre' to arrive. Crossac was not the greatest driver and often simply deferred the task to his droid who was always happy to help, thinking about it, Pierre was a rather wonderful friend to have. They had arranged to visit the upper levels of Coruscant today, seeing as the young scoundrel had never truly explored it before, only having passed it by on his way from the outer atmosphere into the shuttle bay in the lower levels. It was indeed great to have a day off from time to time.

All kinds of people could be found at his current location, perhaps he was currently at the very centre of what was usually referred to as the Coruscant melting pot. It was probably an exaggeration, but he could see what appeared like petty thieves lurking in the shadowy corners, elderly men and women browsing the vendors and a rather rich looking and most beautiful Twi'lek walking past him down the street. His eyes followed her for a bit, she seemed so nice, smart and competent despite her young age and lithe build. But then, her presence there, seemingly only with an astromech as company did make him wonder if she wasn't a bit naive too. The scoundrel knew that it could be risky for anyone looking remotely well-off to be walking all by themselves like that, not to mention someone looking more wealthy like her.

Refocusing his attention, deciding that her safety ultimately wasn't his problem, Crossac - as he was often referred to by his friends - started thinking about how great it would be to explore the upper city. Suddenly, commotion could be heard from happen down the street. It was the Twi'lek and her astromech! A shady-looking Zabrak had thrown her to the ground and he was just in the process of doing the same to the droid when Crossac turned to look. Being a rather empathetic young man, he immediately wanted to help the even younger looking alien. It was obvious who the bad guy in this scenario was.

Soon, however, one accomplice appeared behind her and one Selkath joined the Zabrak at his side. Seeing the girl with a blaster pointed at him, the Zabrak seemed surprisingly calm, resting both hands on his hips as he looked onto the girl with a cocky grin. The one behind her hadn't even drawn her blasters and neither had the Zabrak, but the Selkath held a blaster pistol in his hand and had it pointed at the girl "Drop the blaster" said the Selkath, his voice sluggish, yet stern.

"By the stars, they're ganging up three on one, and on someone so small. The scum!" Crossac was furious at what was happening. Approaching the Twi'lek from behind, the scoundrel threw both one and two glances at the scum until he got within a few meters of them. Choosing to avoid escalating the situation by bringing out his own blaster, he quickly and suddenly stormed towards the unsuspecting thug who stood behind the girl with her back turned against him. Crossac's bulk and strength was far superior to hers and she was quickly flung to the side, hitting her head against the wall and falling to the ground. Maintaining his momentum and speed, seemingly unaffected by just having tackled the first thug, the scoundrel continued onto the Selkath. The amphibian alien turned to point at the incoming assailant. He was, however, too slow as Crossac arrived before, tackling the man and following him to the ground with one leg on each side. With the alien pinned beneath him, there was only the Zabrak left on his feet unless reinforcements had arrived. Whilst the Selkath was struggling beneath him, Armand glanced over at the Twi'lek and the Zabrak to see if she was doing alright or if she might need assistance.

@Duh? @Cigrewie

 

[Cigrewie]

Fear...fear, it was an overwhelming emotion when it came onto a person, right? She looked up at her assaulter, just in time to see another arrive and a shadow cross over her. It felt they were twice the girl's size, they obviously weren't scared of her and she didn't have much of a chance to get too far.

"Drop the blaster," one of the thug's spoke up, he pulled out a blaster of his own in the meantime. Reluctantly the girl dropped it, trying to pull herself up, there was no telling what they could do to her, and how she wouldn't be able to scream for help. Though a sound dragged her out of her misery, the assailant who was looming over her moments before had been flung into the wall. It looked like it hurt, the girl felt glad it wasn't her, seconds later she watched as the man threw himself onto the Selkath, she didn't feel as safe and rescued as she should have though. Once again this man was about twice her size, no telling why he was beating up the thugs, he didn't look like a bad person but she had learned from a young age, the worst...don't.

The girl staggered to her feet, both of the remaining thugs were occupied with the new arrival on the scene. However, as soon as the amphibian was pinned, the Zabrak rushed her, charging at full speed, she felt terrified but barely managed to dodge him. He had knocked the blaster out of her hand but seemed like he was out of breath, taking her chance when she saw it the girl swiped up the gun. The poor thing would come to learn that she should've been more worried about surroundings rather than the current attack, just as the Zabrak was stunned his reinforcements arrived. There were at least four of them, weapons readied, and the thugs didn't seem like the happiest of people. She turned to look back at the man, trying to get his attention, at this point he was really her only hope, she couldn't take out but one and he seemed that he could easily knock all four down within a few minutes.

@Pyrenees @Armand T Crossac

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Upon throwing a glance her way, he saw the Zabrak commence a charge against her. His eyes fell upon her innocent yet determined face - for a moment, he forgot that he had an armed thug pinned beneath him. Pulling himself back to reality, he turned back to look down at the Selkath who had finally figured out that struggling against the scoundrel was a rather futile task with the young man being both stronger and having a better position. "Hold on" he screamed as he raised a fist and struck at the alien's head, quickly knocking him out with a powerful blow. Getting back up to his feet, Armand could both see the winded Zabrak and the incoming reinforcements.

He was no stranger to making a run for it, quickly disappearing from a compromising scene. This looked like a rather ugly situation, and if they found him sitting on top of their mate, the thugs would probably quickly recognise him as a foe. His instinct told him to run - it was the sensible option in the situation, but then he looked at the Twi'lek. She was armed by now, but in his eyes, she still seemed to be rather small and defenceless against the approaching threat. Quickly sprinting towards her, he brought out his blaster and fired a few shots in the direction of the reinforcements. He was lucky and hit one of them at the side of their leg.

Crossac continued sprinting when he eventually reached the Twi'lek. Stretching out his left arm, he planned on shoving her in the same direction as he ran, but if her feet didn't move fast enough, he wouldn't waste any time hesitating but instead pick her up by the waist and continue the run. They stood little chance against four - maybe five if she didn't shoot the Zabrak - armed thugs out in the open. The two soon arrived at a nearby store selling exclusive mats and cloths. The fabrics and mats could be found in thick rolls on the shelves, laid out on display and in many cases, hanging from the roof. It was a perfect place to hide. After getting a fair bit into the store, he stopped, either by stopping to shove her forth, or by setting her down. The two stood between two thick mats hanging from the ceiling with one shelf filled with cloths on each side.

Looking intently in her eyes, slightly bent down to be on her same level, he put two heavy hands on her shoulders and made a low "Shhh" sound. Almost inaudibly, he spoke "You'll be alright. Just hide" Soon, heavy footsteps could be heard coming into the store as if in a troop. He glanced at the mat to their side and then back to her. It was them.

@Duh?

 

[Cigrewie]

It happened fast, everything, in the blink of an eye almost. Maybe everything was going fast or the adrenaline just wanted it to be that way.

Just as quickly as they had come, both left. It took merely a few seconds for the man to be by her side, gun-blazing. The girl however...just froze, something didn’t feel right, well nothing was right but...something was off. Her eyes scanned the area but soon as could be the stranger swiftly picked her up and ran off with her, leaving thugs to trail behind them.

She found the two of them in a fabric store...maybe they were here to find...oh...okay. They were hiding which made the girl irritated, plenty of people were openly standing there, possibly willing to help them alert authorities but no! Mr. Hero just has to be heroic! There was nothing helping his case, he just made the girl ticked to wit's end by trying to shush her. It seemed like he was trying to smother her, everything about her was pint-sized and everything about him was half-gallon. Did she say he could just shove his hand in her face, NO! He did it anyway though.

Annoyed, the girl dug through her pockets. Until it dawned on her, they had Shockwave. Then the world seemed to fall, this stupid stranger could be worried all he wanted about them entering the store, she just needed her best friend back, before they do who-knows-what with her droid. Her face fell cold and harsh with fear and anger, seething into her as she slowly pulled out her blaster and turned back towards the man, a few more things came to her realization...has he been...flirting?

@Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

They were safe. They had to be safe. They were safe. Right? Crossac maintained two heavy hands on her shoulders, it felt natural - as if it made him calm down. Usually, his hands would naturally drift towards his blaster or stun baton. Memories of how the one patron of the store ran out as they entered were clear in his mind. If he remembered correctly, the shopkeeper ran into the back office too - at least he remembered the door slamming shut. Now, it was just him, the Twi'lek and four or five thugs.

Listening carefully for boot steps, he heard how they were spreading out. Upon hearing someone approaching their location, he froze, looking the girl deep in the eyes as he did his best not to make a noise. Fortunately, the thug did not inspect their place of hiding and simply walked along side the long mat to their side. The young scoundrel's eyes left hers as he looked at where he expected the thug to be, first on his side, and then at hers. Something else grabbed his attention, a loud dunking noise against the back office door. The shopkeeper probably knew where they were and once these criminals got to him, they would surely be done for.

He had so many questions. Why are they attacking you? Do you have any hired protection? Can you fight? What's your name? Well, maybe he wouldn't have to ask if she could fight or not, but the others were still all valid questions. Now, wasn't the time, however. Wanting her to be safe and at the same time stay close to the thug, the man started to brush past her. Although it was a somewhat awkward process in the limited space they had, he finally got to the other side without touching the mats - in no small part thanks to her petite size. Peeking out, he could see that they were five - the Zabrak was in the room too.

Deciding that it was only a matter of time until they were found, Crossac decided to take the initiative. When it seemed like they were all looking away, either banging at a door or searching for them behind a high shelf, he silently burst out from their cover. Hopefully the girl would think of holding the mat still as he would surely have made it move a little when he left, revealing that it was where they hid.

Once outside, he quickly came up behind the human thug that had walked by their hiding place. Using the sleeve of his shirt, the young scoundrel covered the foes mouth and nose with it and started pressing down in order to prevent any air intake. He then started lying down on his back, wrapping his legs around those of his foe whilst keeping the man on top of him. It all seemed to go perfectly as the thug brought up both of his hands to tear away Armand's right-handed hold of his mouth and nose. With both hands at the same place, the scoundrel used his left hand to take hold of both of the other human's wrists. Being prevented from screaming or floundering with his limbs, the thug soon lost consciousness without a sound. Crossac maintained the position for a few more seconds, wanting to be sure that the guy was truly knocked out.

Once he was certain, Crossac gently rolled the man to the side and left him on the floor. Crouched, the scoundrel moved towards the center of the room, hoping to catch another one by surprise.

Bad guy​

 

[Cigrewie]

It was hardening, every moment it got to her more and more. She couldn’t remember a time without that droid, and it was just taken from her, like stealing a piece of food off someone’s plate. The girl was far past just annoyed at this point, fear and adrenaline didn’t help her one bit.

The stranger wasn’t helping either, he just wormed his way out of their hiding place. That awkward moment building too much tension between the two, it was simple in her eyes, he was nothing but a fool. After he left the girl scrambled after him, it was easier for her it seemed, she didn’t have to worry about leaving the mats to shake around. He no doubt had one down already, in a sense the girl felt a bit safer as she crouched down on the floor, she probably could just mosey on her way standing up but it was safer then sorry.

Soon enough she stumbled upon a thug, or well a body would be a better term to describe it. Though the man was still breathing it was a harrowing discovery to make in the least.

Seconds, merely seconds had gone by before she stumbled upon a walking one, frantically searching through mats without prevail. The girl took out her blaster, slowly standing up, the other two must have been across the store, without further thought she lifted up the blaster, it shook on her hand. In a split second she knocked the muzzle into the thug’s neck, she took it by surprise as the fall to the floor lent her enough time to attempt her best at beating up the thug, which turned into her meekly hitting the weapon into the thug’s face with as much force as she could muster, leaving a second one down.

She stood up, blaster now holstered as she gasped for air. It was the first time she had ever been that violent before. The fact that they had stolen Shockwave and gotten away with it. Though that was removed from her mind a few moments as she realized how dangerous it was to take out the thug with her blaster, it wasn’t loud but anything in close earshot would’ve heard that. Defeatedly she pulled out her blaster, she didn’t want to fight again but she knew a large chance stood she would have to. She was ready, but for what?

@Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

One was down, four more to go. Through the corner of his eye, he could see the little Twi'lek scurry along the rows of mats and cloths. To his horror, the young scoundrel saw her encounter a thug. Quickly, he stopped, turning to aid her. It was very fortunate that he stopped as another thug swung with a vibroblade at where he would otherwise have been. Crossac was caught completely by surprise as the new foe seemed to appear out of nowhere. By reflex, he quickly rose to his feet and threw a punch against the assailant's head as she still recovered from the swing. With her being of a considerably smaller size than him, the attack quickly sent her stumbling back several meters as well as knocking her out. Whilst he was glad that he was no longer in any immediate danger, Crossac was still worried about the girl he had come with and quickly turned to head her way.

The female thug did cause some damage, however, as her body knocked down a few rolls of mats, quickly drawing the attention of the two remaining thugs at the other side of the shop. At this moment, however, the young scoundrel didn't care much for it and instead beelined towards the Twi'lek's location. Once he arrived, he saw that she had taken care of the thug. A smirk grew on his lips "Well done" he commented. For a moment, he forgot about the remaining two thugs as he looked at her but then quickly turned. Both carried blasters which they started firing, forcing the two newly met strangers to seek cover.

Looking out through the front entrance of the shop, Crossac could see how the streets had emptied. Few people on this level were willing to get involved in this kind of action - gangs and blasters put the fright into most people, even on Coruscant; granted that this was not the upper levels. Figuring that they wouldn't receive any support, the scoundrel brought out his E-11 blaster rifle. Plopping out from cover, he fired a flurry of bolts, hitting one of the thugs in the arm and the other by the side of his torso. None of them were dead, but both realised that they would have to retreat, especially after noticing that they were the only two left which was a demoralising blow.

Once he was sure that the two remaining thugs wouldn't bother them anymore, the young scoundrel stood up. Although his heavily muscled frame could create a rather imposing image, his friendly face was often enough to cause others not to be too alarmed of him. Armand hoped that the same would be true for the Twi'lek. Reaching out an arm, he offered to give her a hand in standing back up from the crouched position behind cover "You should be safe now" he said, apparently oblivious to her being annoyed. "I'm Armand" he said, introducing himself with a friendly smile.

@Duh?

 

[Cigrewie]

The girl stumbled, taking all but a moment to breathe. She was expecting another thug to emerge but instead found a large noise came from across the shop, a few of those horribly, eye-irritating rugs and mats rolled out on the floor. Dropping down she crouched behind a rack as the other thugs charged towards the noise. However, that wasn't the girl's greatest as her frantic search began for her droid, there was no time for anything but finding Shockwave. Alas though the girl found that the droid was most likely outside and she had to use all her strength to keep from running out.

Moments later the blonde appeared behind, which she only noted by the "congratulations" the man gave to her. This close to hitting him she just gave him a blank look as she began to realize that the said two thugs she had noticed earlier were still actively wandering around, and moments later shots began to ring out towards their position. The girl quickly ducked back behind the rack attempting to pull the stranger with her, however, her attempt to save him lasted but a moment as he pulled out his blaster and began firing at the thugs.

This...fool. She was readily prepared to fight, to just charge out of her hiding spot, because this man thought it was a good idea to do nothing more than being a hero, unlike her nobody told him that could be a horribly deadly decision which is the type of decision he had been making in this fight. After a bit he stopped firing and turned towards the girl, reaching out his hand.

A few seconds of consideration the girl gripped onto his wrist to pull herself up. He sounded like a book hero speaking to a young child they just rescued, not that that wasn't what this was but those people could use the force and such. This man was nothing more than a brick, and of course, that made her fearful but at the same time, he did look as foolish as his actions were in some ways. You do realize we could've called authorities...right? The girl grumbled, but thanks regardless..I'm...Cigrewie.

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Armand was taken by surprise. He had expected a grateful 'Thank you' from the Twi'lek but only received a snarky question instead. No anger formed on his face - the young scoundrel had a pretty long way to go until he reached that stage. Instead, his eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at her innocently. Soon, his lips would form a smile as he heard her thank him.

Thinking about what she said, Crossac thought it made more and more sense. Of course, in his experience, calling law enforcement on these levels of Coruscant rarely did any good - but there she was, confidently indicating that it would have been the better alternative. The young scoundrel had never been very good at verbal arguments and her presence didn't make things easier. His right hand went up to scratch the back of his head "Yeeeeaah" he said, looking down on her. Glancing to his side where the arm was, Crossac realised that he could probably overpower her with just his right arm and a little momentum - yet there she was, successfully critiquing him for his actions. After making a mental note about having to get better at looking intimidating, the scoundrel spoke "You're probably right" His defeated tone was soon replaced by a happy one as he moved on "But it is nice to meet you, Cigrewie"

Despite having planned on asking her a question, the scoundrel stopped and looked to the entrance. The streets were completely empty by now - at least of most normal civilians. The poorest beggars and thieves still remained and a few more heavily armed thugs had decided to linger too - apparently not associated with those who had just attacked. What made him look out were the mechanic sounds of a droid approaching. Upon seeing it, he remembered that she had been by this droid when he first 'found' her. "Look who's coming now" he said, expecting a happy reuinion.

Taking another glance outside, the young scoundrel decided that the streets weren't safe enough. Most of the nice people had fled the area and he was certain that many of the local criminals would look to do the young female harm if they managed to lay a hand on her. "Hey, Cigrewie, can I accompany you to an elevator or do you have a speeder parked down here which we could go to?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her safety. The girl had a chance to respond, but right after, the faint sound of multiple swoop bikes could be heard coming in the distance. "The cops mostly use landspeeders" he said, allowing her to draw her own conclusions. "I was just being stupid last time, so why don't you call the shots on this one?" he said. Standing by the Twi'lek's side, she now had a heavily armed enforcer more than twice her size to instruct.

@Duh?