Ask Nar Shaddaa On the Edge

[Thalia Windraider]

She was seeing double and the world was turning in an unnatural manner as she stepped out the door of the club. The music could be barely heard through the ringing in her ears and she feared letting go of the wall in case she fell indefinitely. Thalia did not do spice, she personally despised how it deteriorated the minds of even the nicest people who worked in the mines where she grew up. However, there was a spice in her drink and though she knew there was danger nearby, she couldn't muster the effort to get away and instead fell back against wall. Her thoughts begin to drift into darkness, less curious about her outcome, but more hoping she had not piss anyone off to the point to drugging her drink.

_________________​

When Thalia woke, she did not like her surroundings. It was entirely too windy and her hand was cuffed above her head to a rail, which was connected to one of Nar Shaddaa's sky-scrapping towers, in which she was not alone presently.

"You thought you were pretty clever selling us garbage."

Thalia's head throbbed when he spoke and she winced, turning her head away as though she would be able to quiet his tone. He was speaking probably normally, but for her, it felt like he was screaming into her ears. "You're the garbage. I didn't sell you anything." Thalia groaned and the thug slugged her in the jaw. More pain coursed through her face and jaw and the thug pulled out a box full of glass shards, dumping them onto the ground.

"This is garbage, you claimed you had the necklace, you then sold us trash." he said stomping on the glass pieces. Thalia frowned and mumbled something about how it was pretty though, "Lucky for you, we did find our prize, so if this turns to be legit, then we'll set you free, a token of our boss' kindness. If not, we throw you over." he hissed and then walked back to his posse. Thalia threw her head back and sighed and then looked up at her hand to see the type of binders attached her to the building. She started to search for an exit, but her options were slim at this point and she was certain the token of kindness would be a quick death and not one that took several minutes to kill her on impact.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max had seen Thalia get bundled away by the thugs.

It had been a near thing actually, seeing her being taken away. He had almost convinced himself to walk away from the situation before he decided that he really couldn't do that. But his conscience had prevailed and Max had decided that he just couldn't leave her to be bundled away like that.

So he didn't.

In some impressive displays of both detective skills, tracking and stealth, Max managed to make his way to where they had hidden Thalia away without alerting anyone or attracting any attention. Then he got sucker-punched when he and a patrolling guard had literally walked around a corner into each other.

Hence why he was tied at the wrists and dragged into the same area of the rooftop as Thalia. Hissing in pain, he sat up slightly near the rail as he was handcuffed to the rail. The guard who had brought him up went to report to his boss with Max's stun baton.

Thankfully not his saber but that was because, well, it was currently in three pieces on his belt.

Easiest way to avoid being seen with a lightsaber was to make your lightsaber into something that was almost 'snap to connect' level of reassembly. He glanced to his right at Thalia.

"So what did you do this time?" he asked with a grin that turned into a grimace at the way his split lip split further, "Seems like your new friends didn't appreciate me coming to see how your new business deal was going down."

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia narrowed her eyes as one of the thugs in the group had brought up someone else, dragging the older male to cuff his wrist to the same rail Thalia was sitting beside. She had to do a double take, recognizing the man from an earlier encounter and in all the beings she would see in this galaxy, she never thought she would cross a path with him again. "I know you..." she softly stated as he immediately recognized her and inquired about what she did this time and Thalia could not hold back a look that read seriously?.

With a quirked eyebrow, she eventually gave him a coy smile when he mentioned he was coming to see her business deal, "I was almost going to ask if they were displeased with your empty handed transaction." she turned her attention back to the thugs as they stood in front of the access door waiting for the exchange to begin.

Thalia glanced back at Max, "So uh..." she tried to whisper as loud as she could over the wind, but wanted to make sure they did not take notice of her speaking. "Can you like use your magic to unlock these things?" the girl paused glancing back to the thugs, "I rather not find out how well gravity works when they are done here." Regardless of what they promised, she knew she was going to leave this rooftop alive if she was not willing to find a way to fight back. Though now with the Jedi guy and his magic, she was feeling a bit more optimistic about getting out of this situation.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Ah she remembered him?

Well that was nice at least.

Clearly still hadn't forgiven him but what else was new? He didn't become a Jedi to earn any kind of forgiveness after all. He chuckled a little bit despite the pain it caused in his stomach area. They really did lay into him with those hits from before... but it was something to ignore and move past for now.

"Yes." he answered her quietly as the joking bled away and he seriously considered the situation, "But we need a plan past the stage of just 'getting free'. They have us outnumbered and the only safe exit covered."

He glanced over the side of the building as he slowly began to unlock Thalia's cuffs with the Force, so that when they opened there wouldn't be a distinctive noise.

"There is, however, the unsafe option." he pointed out, eyes still front, "Pick your poison, dear. Fighting down floors of armed thugs or do you want to bet I can land us in a speeder?"

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

A plan past getting free? Thalia gave him a coy grin as she looked back at the guards who she would more than love to beat until their bones were mush for having her drugged as they did. Her eyes narrowed as her own thoughts wandered to how things would go to get past the guards on the roof. However, feeling her wrist loosen under the grasp of the cuff, she struggled not to grin wide as he explained more options. One was the unsafe option of landing them a speeder.

"Where are you going to get a speeder?" she glanced at the Jedi and then back at the thugs. "I want them to learn a lesson to leave me alone." It was then the door opened as their seller arrived with the item. A rather large trandoshan and his guards towered over the thugs that had them cuffed to the rail. He pointed to them and the thugs looked back and then looked back at their contract. They seemed to return to business.

"On second thought, I wanna see this speeder you're gonna get us." she glanced at the Jedi and back at the group huddled together. She was certain the trandoshan was large enough to snap her over his knee like a twig.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Yeah so she probably wasn't going to like that his plan for hijacking a speeder consisted of throwing the two of them off the building into the traffic below. Even if Nar Shaddaa wasn't quite as busy as the capital, it was still a planet with more stacked up lanes of traffic than slime trails from the Hutts themselves.

"I was hoping someone below might not object too strongly to two unexpected passengers." he admitted as he worked on his own cuffs with the Force before slowly beginning to assemble his lightsaber behind his back using both of his hands and the Force to guide him, "But I'll try and come up with a back-up plan to avoid that kind of thing."

The trandoshan was... big.

Like really big.

"Pretty sure he came in one." he added quietly, "Should we ask to borrow his?"

No that was stupid.

What was not stupid, however, was stealing said speeder. A guy that big and with the ego of someone who thought he was important? No way he walked here. His lightsaber was almost fully assembled.

"I need you to distract him and hold onto the railing." he glanced at her, "For the love of the Force, do NOT let go of the railing."

He really didn't want to explain to the council how he had let a Force Sensitive young woman fall to her death after all.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia thought he was impulsive and not very wise when she first met him, but she was starting think now he was just plain crazy...or well due to age, senile. However, she had nothing to lose, it was either death by being thrown off the ledge by thugs, death by blaster shot to the head, or death by a senile Jedi Knight. His confidence about his plan made the girl a little uneasy, she glanced at him with an eyebrow quirked as he asked if they should address the Trandoshan giant to borrow his. Thalia opened her mouth to say something as she watched them exchange the box with whatever it was they wanted. "Good news, looks like they got what they wanted."

The Trandoshan pointed to them, "Bad news, I think it wants us...though maybe that is good news...for his supper tonight." she said implying it was probably going to eat them as Max explained to her to distract them while hanging onto the railing. "Yeah, distract them, well, they're coming this way..." Thalia tucked her feet under, rising slightly to get a better grasp on the rail.

"Woah, hey now! He gave you the goods, let me go..." she glanced from the thugs back to Max as they pulled their blasters, the lizard following, "Maybe the old man too..." she added to not sound too selfish.

"Shut it, looks like we're in luck, you're part of the payment." sneered the thug looking oddly at Max as he tried to figure out what was off about his prisoner.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well the Trandoshan was at least talking to them, that was a plus. He had honestly had the idea of the Trandoshan just shooting them both dead right there as his worst case scenario. Not being shot was probably going to make this next bit quite a bit easier but it was still going to be tricky.

Taking a deep breath as Thalia spoke, Max focused inwards rather than reacting to what was going on around him. He reached deep inside of his for that thread, that connection, that tethered him to every other living thing in the Galaxy. Opening himself up to it completely, Max let out a slow and measured breath.

He was one with the Force and the Force was with him.

Thalia was gripping the bar tightly.

And his lightsaber was fully re-assembled behind his back.

Standing himself, he gripped the bar tightly with one hand before he set his 'plan' into motion and activated his lightsaber behind his back. The ignited blade instantly cut through the connection points to the rooftop that held the bar in place and with a slight upwards tilt it cut through the bar itself slightly to Thalia's side.

Thankfully the Force had guided his blade to avoid her fingers.

Already extinguishing his blade, he pushed with both his legs and the Force, pushing both himself and Thalia backwards, away from their enemies and out into the abyss over the edge of the rooftop. The bar sagged under their combined weight and they sank further off the edge of the roof as the thugs began trying to grab them. As far as they had seen, a bright light had cut through the bar and now their prey was dangling over the side of the building.

Grabbing hold of Thalia with the Force, he nodded towards the floor below them. It didn't have a window but it had the wide open space where a window was supposed to go.

"JUMP FOR THE WINDOW."

He had to practically scream it over the wind rushing past them but he held her in the Force, ready to help her with her leap with a push. It might leave him exposed but she would make the jump.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

There was a feeling from the senile Jedi next to her that she could not quite place an accurate word too, however, the best she could find was a calm in the chaos that was about to unfold. His ignition of his lightsaber startled everyone including Thalia, but she grasped the rail tightly as the saber cut it free from the building. Over they went and the thugs yelled in surprise, as did Thalia as she now gripped the rail with both hands, feeling immediate regret as the bar snagged over the ledge. Her first thoughts was they were truly going to die, but she heard Max yell for her to jump to the window.

Thalia nodded and when the rail swung back to the opening, the girl jumped, feeling herself being propelled into the opening. She landed successfully inside and didn't mind the pain of the landing. Jumping back to her feet she reached for her blaster but remembered she was without a weapon. Cursing she called for Max, but paused seeing a young Rodian pointing his weapon at her. Thalia raised her hands, focusing on the potential threat rather than the Jedi for the moment, "Hey, just go..." she told him; even with his wide eyes, she could tell he was frightened, perhaps his first confrontation, but he didn't seem to mind to run to get help.

However, help was certainly on the way as she heard shouting and thumping in the halls. "Max, I need a blaster..." she frowned.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well Thalia landed alright so he was already about to call this something of a win. Of course he had to get himself down there as well and that was going to be tricky since the thugs up top seemed to finally be getting some idea as to what the hell they were actually doing. He grunted and launched himself after Thalia, landing just inside the window and, thankfully, landing steadily on his feet.

If he had wobbled he had little doubt he would have gone careening to the ground out of the vacant window.

Once he was secure in his footing he took in the situation in an instant and reached out with the Force, pulling the shocked young Rodian's blaster clean from his hand before tossing it to Thalia.

"Catch." he told her after the fact as he approached the Rodian, "Sorry about this but it'll make them go easy on you."

He didn't need to explain; he grabbed the Rodian by the shoulders and rammed his right knee hard into the young sentient's gut. The Rodian wheezed in pain and Max actually flinched at that. He didn't relish hurting the kid but his 'friends' wouldn't appreciate him being disarmed without some kind of a fight.

Max tightened his grip on his lightsaber.

"Making a door." he ignited it, quickly cutting a hole through the wall into another, empty, room, "Keep moving away without using the corridors and it'll confuse them. The speeder has to be closeby - there would be no point parking it too low down."

It would kind of ruin the point of why he took it in the first place after all.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

The old man arrived, landing rather gracefully through the window when Thalia approached the Rodian, however, he seemed to take the situation into his own hands, she felt something, a feeling that she could not pinpoint until she caught the blaster that had flown to her grasp. The Rodian clearly shocked by the situation was easily overtaken by the Jedi who now went over to the wall, declaring he was going to make a door. Thalia barely heard him as she tried to piece how he was able to move the blaster like that and tried to compare to the times where she was able to make things move. He said something again and Thalia looked back at him as he started to cut an entry into the next room.

"Convenient, why not cut a hole in the floor...since the speeders are down?" she gave him a look before climbing through the new door into the next room. She walked over to the door to hit the keypad, however, the door opened up revealing a thug who was just as surprised as she was. Before he could open his mouth to alert the others, Thalia's own startled reaction resulted in a release of energy from her palm, throwing the thug back sharply into the opposite wall, knocking him out cold.

The door shut and Thalia hit the keypad with her elbow, locking it and glanced at her palm and while seeing nothing there, she shook it as though to rid of whatever it was that was causing these incidents. "C'mon, lets get to the speeder..."

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Why not cut through the floor?

"Twice the thickness." he responded quickly, it being a question he had asked and been asked before himself, "Takes longer to cut through and still only one layer away from pursuit for more effort and time."

Plus the first time he had done it himself he had patted himself on the back for the decision during a training match, only to misjudge the distance to the floor of the floor below and sprain his ankle upon landing. It hadn't been a graceful showing and he was keen to avoid even the chance of a repeat when there were people trying to kill them.

One thing he noticed however was the way the Force flared to life to his left and he whipped round to watch as she thrust her palm out on instinct and suddenly sent a goon flying backwards. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end a little bit at the sight and the way it resonated throughout the Force.

Answered some questions, that.

He agreed to leave it alone for now and led the way to a stairwell, taking small leaps down to avoid having to take the stairs one at a time or anything so mundane. At the base of the stairwell he held up a hand to stop Thalia before opening the door slowly and pushing out with the Force.

Around them an illusion of nothing out of the ordinary began to take shape quickly as he concentrated on keeping it up in a small area around the two of them. It was rather intensive however so he had his eyes closed as he focused on covering their approach to the waiting speeder.

"Guide me?"

He was literally blind while he held up this defensive illusion and he was trusting her to help him to escape as well and not just cut and run.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia followed, feeling her head spin from the sudden exertion of energy moments earlier. However, she couldn't slow down, nor did she want him to think she couldn't handle herself in trying to escape from thugs. He cut another door that eventually lead to the stairwell to the speeder hanger. With a frown, she watched as he jumped down each set of stairs, not bothering to have her keep up with him, she felt a moment of irritation as she quickly climbed down the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet as she reached the bottom where Max had been waiting.

She breathed in deeply, standing next to the old man as signaled for her to wait as he peaked through the door. Her eyes narrowed in thought, she could hear shouts from the levels above as the thugs were checking the rooms for their escaped prisoners. She felt an urgency to get moving again, unaware of the tricks that Max was conducting as he suggested for her to guide him. It was an odd request, but there was something she could feel, but she was uncertain of what it meant or where it came from, though she suspected it came from the old man Jedi.

Thalia nodded and hooked her arm around his own, leading him into the hanger and to the nearest speeder. Their freedom was coming, but she also knew as soon as they took this speeder, the chase would begin and that was an entirely new escape they would need to figure out. She lead Max to the speeder, assuming he knew how to climb inside of one as she got into the driver's side, fiddling with the wires until the engine hummed.

"Hang on..." she whispered to the Jedi and hit the thruster, sending them hurtling out of the hanger.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

He felt bad about jumping ahead but he had honestly thought she would be energetic in her desire to escape this place. It might have had something to do with the use of the Force back there but that was not something he was going to be bringing up at this point. They had other things to worry about.

When they weren't in imminent danger they could talk about the powers of the Galaxy.

The illusion was hard to maintain considering it was rather far outside of the ballpark of regular Jedi activities. They were concentration intensive to a degree that most people didn't really bother remembering that they were possible. When they were optical illusions such as the one he was currently holding, the one that allowed the thugs in the hanger to simply look right through them? That was when it became physically draining as well.

Grunting, he half-climbed, half-fell, into the speeder alongside her as the illusion dropped and suddenly Max felt as if he had been holding his breath and was only now able to breathe. He groaned and pulled himself into a seated position as the speeder rocked forwards, the thugs now keenly aware of them.

He had to hold on tightly to the speeder and his lunch.

"Who taught you how to fly?!"

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

The wind whipped her hair around her face as the speeder took off from the hanger. It wouldn't be long before they would get themselves a tail, but Thalia was hoping to get enough of a head start to lose them in the process. The Jedi hollered something out over the wind and the girl took a sharp turn to cut through the flowing strings of traffic that filled the spaces between Nar Shaddaa's structures. "If you don't like out, hop out." she yelled out as turned the speeder downward, her actions dictating where the speeder was going before she could even think about it, letting her instincts dictate the direction they needed to go for safety.

Blaster fire came from behind, most bolts missed as the thugs were catching up on their swoop bikes. They seemed particularly irritated that they were now even further into their escape. Thalia pulled her blaster and handed it to Max, "Here, you shoot, I will get us someplace safe." she ordered as she zipped through another line of traffic, throwing off the course of speeders and leaving a maze for the thugs to navigate.

Thalia trusted Max to keep them safe, he had this long, but a part of her wondered when that trust would end. She pushed away the doubts from her mind and refocused on flying, the speeder cut again through traffic lanes before settling in one that took them through a tunnel.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Oh if there was a hell he was living through it right now. Having put all of his concentration into an illusion that powerful and then being immediately moved at great speeds? Well it was enough to do more than just unsettle his stomach. He did his best to hold it in as the speeder picked up yet more speed.

Gods but he was just waiting for the damn nausea to die down.

When she threw a blaster at him he caught it on instinct, looked down at it before tossing it back onto her lap. He might be nauseated and he might be in a speeder going well above the recommended speed limit but he was not about to start blasting people. He was not about to shoot and kill anyone.

"Head for the spaceport - I've got a ship there!"

Instead he stood up slightly in the speeder, making sure to wedge his legs in with the seats to make it much harder to dislodge him as he faced behind them, lightsaber igniting as he batted at the incoming blaster bolts. Reaching out with the Force he remembered what he knew of the old-style of speeder bikes and squeezed his hand.

One of the speeder bikes was suddenly not going forwards as he activated it's emergency brakes. It still hovered but it didn't move forwards, allowing their speeder and the last speeder bike to go racing on.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

He tossed the blaster back in her lap and she gave him a look suggesting that he had just lost his mind. "What the kriff?" she hissed under her breath as she took the speeder through the tunnel. Max yelled out something about a space port and that was the last place she was going lead them too. They get one look at your ship and its tagged on watch reports across the galaxy, so instead Thalia continued to go her own way. She glanced over her shoulder seeing Max attempt to stand in the speeder, she worked to keep it steady, but the blaster bolts fired by the thugs were not helping things. The Jedi activated his saber, knocking the bolts away and Thalia really wished he sat down so she could fly properly, but she guessed it wasn't going to happen.

Thalia glanced over her shoulder now only seeing one speeder bike on their tail and gave a shrug of indifference, it was better than having two on their trail. She reached up and tugged on Max's shirt, gesturing him to sit down as she hit the accelerator. The speeder bike of course was going to be faster as it caught up next to the two; the thug pulled out their blaster and started firing, but Thalia hit the break sending the bike flying ahead of them and giving them a chance to lose the thug.

She dove into a line of traffic, miles below where she last was seen by the thug on the bike and it seemed like they were safe for the moment, losing him as they moved with the regular flow of Nar Shaddaa's traffic. Figuring they would need to get rid of the speeder quickly, she found a hanger to leave it and let out a long sigh of relief as she climbed out of the vehicle.

"C'mon...we have to keep moving for a little bit longer." she said holstering her blaster and extended her hand to help Max out of the speeder.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well...

Max was honestly surprised by the 'ending' to their little ride. Of course he hadn't really been prepared for the sudden move and he had kind of fallen around the seat a bit but he had managed to stay inside rather well. Rather well meaning he likely had a few bruises around his hips and thighs but hadn't been tossed from the speeder completely due to the moves she had done to get them out of that jam with the last speeder bike.

The surprise was actually because they had been evading men trying to kill them and they had managed to avoid killing any of them. Max was beyond relieved and he hoped that kind of luck would hold. Of course when they parked he groaned slightly and accepted the hand out of the speeder.

"Just a sec'..."

He stumbled around to the other side of the speeder and lurched forwards, bending in the middle as he finally lost the battle with his lunch. Groaning again, he took a swig of water from his canteen to wash his mouth out and staggered away from the speeder after Thalia.

"That... that wasn't a comment on the flying." he promised her, "Sometimes when a Jedi uses too much Force power it drains them. The illusion I cast on us to get us to the speeder without anyone noticing? It's powerful, takes a lot of concentration and is quite different from my usual work so it took a lot out of me."

As they were heading down a side alley, away from crowds, he spoke again.

"You did well back there. Your use of the Force to Push that guard was quite accomplished - have you practiced it?"

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia was already on her way when the Jedi got sick on the other side of the speeder, she stopped with the look of disgust on her face as he gave one last spit of stomach bile before rinsing it down. He insisted it was not a comment on how she was driving the speeder through traffic, but more so from the exhaustion it took to uphold some sort of magic Force power to help them escape. Though the more he tried to explain, the more Thalia's face became distorted until she decided she had enough of his story and continued onward.

Out of the hanger and into the alleyways and corridors of the Nar Shaddaa's streets that connected them to another part of the city and away from the thug's location. It took her a moment to recognize where she was at, walking for a bit before she was able to decipher what district she had found refuge in and what that meant to get back to her ship. Max remained quiet, and Thalia thought it was for the best since she did not want him to projectile vomit while speaking to her and it allowed her to focus on where they were going and how to reach their destination safely without alerting any of their enemy's partners. However, it was when Max brought up what she did earlier against the thug and the girl froze in step as though she were caught and determined guilty of an heinous crime.

"Practiced it? What? No!" she said trying to keep her voice quiet, but it squeaked under her panic as she tried to decipher where Max was going to go with this conversation. "You can't tell anyone, no one can know!" she rubbed her hands together and looked at them as though she were afflicted with a physical ailment that she could not remove. She almost had thought he did not see what had happened, clearly ignorant to the feelings one can decipher in the Force, but there was certainly a fear she had either about what she had done or what it was that gave her such power. "Please, promise me." she looked up at the Jedi, eyes wide, begging for his compliance.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Wow.

Yeah Max had seen a lot of reactions to people finding out that they were using the Force but to get this upset and this frantic in the space of seconds? That was kind of new to him honestly. He blinked a few times even as he raised his hands in front of him in a placating gesture purely by instinct at being so abruptly confronted.

For a second he worried she might lash out emotionally with the Force but he could see her in the Force. She wasn't manifesting any control over the Force right now and, if anything, he could feel from her an earnest sense of desperate fear and uncertainty. There were other emotions of course but he didn't want to be more invasive than he already had been by accident.

He looked at her, really looked at her, and held out a hand to her.

"It's okay."

Max smiled a small, warm, smile as he patted his chest with his hand.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, anything." he assured her simply, "What side of yourself you let the Galaxy see is up to you. It's your decision and I'll respect that but just... why are you so afraid of this part of yourself?"

@GABA