Open Coruscant Sanguine Paradise

[Darth Invictus]

Ender certainly couldn't have predicted that his life would turn out like this. Just a few years ago, he was a lone wolf bounty hunter, barely making ends meet but surviving. That's when he felt a pull towards a force nexus and happened to meet Talak and it changed his path ever since. Unknown at the time, the man was part of the Eternal Legion and when he discovered Ender's powers he quickly recruited him to the cause of the Sith Eternal. With Talak teaching him to at least have a basic handle on his force powers, he willingly followed and was indoctrinated into the Eternal Legion. He was quickly brought to speed on the code that the Legion lived by and Ender wholeheartedly agreed by it. During his bounty hunting days, he learned rather quickly that survival was achieved by any means necessary. It was all big picture and it was a cause that he could follow, having been wandering for so long and following the direction of the wind.

He was on Coruscant at the moment, waiting for in fact, Talak, to arrive and meet him at the rendezvous location. It was on top of an abandoned building, a skyscraper halfway through construction before abandoned as it clearly lost funding. There were still metal supports throughout the building and over devices left by the company to make sure it wouldn't collapse and become a major catastrophe for nearby residents. The most important part was that it overlooked a spacedock, one where it was rumored that a deal was going down over dark artifacts. That's at least what the Legion managed to intercept before sending the pair on the mission. It wasn't supposed to be any crazy deal but they still couldn't let it slip by once they caught wind of it.

Ender had arrived early to the scene, this being his first mission and taking a note from his bounty hunting days. It was always best to be early and scope out the target before advancing on it. He kept his force signature low and remained concealed, doubting that anyone could see him from the vantage point. So, he spent at least two hours there, spending that time inspecting and observing who they were actually going against and who wanted to buy the artifacts. It would leave only a few minutes until the pair's designated meeting time unless Talak showed up early as he did. He wouldn't be shocked, he knew how the Legionnaire operated and it was prepared for Talak to appear out of nowhere. They still had some time before the deal went down and Ender wanted to move in soon on the warehouse so they can get in position for the deal.

(Just to be clear, this is DD. This is just for us to have fun.)

@Phoenix

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak had never actually been to Coruscant before. The Eternal Legions had been in the Unknown Region for most of his life, and had only begun to stick a toe in the wider galaxy in the last several years. Those interactions had primarily taken place in the Outer Rim, though.

That was nothing compared to where the Legionnaire found himself today.

Coruscant was at the heart of the galaxy. It was perhaps the largest megatropolis in the galaxy, and it dwarfed anywhere else the young darksider had been. When he'd guided his ship in to land his eyes had gone wide and his jaw dropped a bit. Now, with his boots on the ground - or rather on a platform suspended thousands of meters in the air - it was even more amazing.

Speeders zoomed through the air in multilevel skylanes, and a cool, manmade wind blew over the speeder's docking space.

Getting to his meeting location with Ender took him significantly longer than he intended. He had planned to be here early and begin scouting the area, but the truth was that he had gotten lost. As amazing and beautiful as the skyline was, it wasn't easy to navigate and it wasn't very friendly to "tourists."

His planning to be early was the only thing that kept him from being outright late.

Out of habit, he tapped the lightsaber hilt hidden within his robes for assurance - just to make sure it was there - as he arrived at the pre-arranged meeting site. The droid that had driven his cab beeped and whistled, and Talak paid him extra to stay nearby. It was so much easier with people... a wave of the hand, and a tug with the Force, and they were always ready to go to any lengths for him. Not droids and their metallic brains, though.

Talak didn't actually mask his own presence in the Force, and he didn't sense anyone else present, but he knew better than to assume he was alone. Sure enough, there was Ender, ready and waiting where agreed.

Anything unusual? he asked, peering down at the landing platforms below. Most were obscured by a variety of hangars and rooftops, but it was easy enough to see what came and went, even if they couldn't see what was going on inside.

Not that I'm really expecting to find anything, he said. Although they had a lead about an artifact, it seemed slim at best. He found it unlikely that it would actually pan out, but they couldn't take the risk that the tip was real.

 

[Tava Rhys]

Tava was an incredibly nosy padawan. This meant that she only heard fringe details on missions and set off before getting the full picture. This time was no different - the Jedi masters had whispered about some mission involving a warehouse that posed some dangers. She assumed it meant some small time thugs were doing spice deals or trying to capture people for a slave market. She had bolted before she heard the bit about potential ‘dark sider involvement’ and ‘dangerous’.

And so here she was, entirely unprepared to handle anything more than your usual mook off the street. With her martial arts and mild command of the Force, she could easily overpower the average thug. She had some gauntlets on and simple robes outside of that, always sticking to her rules about no other melee weapons.

She could see the warehouse in the distance, and she wasn’t skilled enough to mask her signature (or let’s face it, careful enough). And so she stood out like a sore thumb to the two dark siders that were milling about, and they could sense her from a mile away.

She had a confident smile on her face, ready to pound some spice thugs into the sand. Tava took up position near a dumpster, gazing at the warehouse where she saw some figures beginning to enter. For a moment, she felt something uneasy - the hairs on the back of her neck standing. She had never come across a dark sider before, so she chalked it up to the nasty smell coming from the dumpster.

Tava would spring into action as soon as she would hear voices coming from inside the building to signal that they were lured into a false sense of security.

@Orbit @Phoenix

 

[Darth Invictus]

Ender was able to sense Talak approached and just offered him a sideways glance before returning his gaze back to the spacedock/warehouse. He was about to answer his partner that nothing came up but that's when he sensed it, a presence that was completely different from their own. This would be the first time that he would be in the presence of a lightsider and the only reason he was able to tell was that it was too clean, too innocent compared to the other two and it made him wonder who this newcomer was. It seemed she didn't know of the two Legionnaires as she went straight for the warehouse connected for the dock.

He would have told Talak to lower suppress his signature but Ender realized by now it would have been too late. The woman would have already sensed Talak's presence and hid her own and possibly chose a less obvious route, at least from their angle. "You could say unusual." He nudged his head towards her direction to let Talak spot her as well. From a simple bust turned to something else with the new dynamic of the force-sensitive girl. Ender pushed off the wall, feeling that he's done enough reconnaissance and that it was time for them to move. Plus with the girl still being an unidentified factor, it hastened their schedule a little bit.

He started to make his way to the stairs as he gave a single pat to Talak's shoulder, "It seems we're not the only ones who know of this party." When they would reach street-level and near the warehouse, the patrols tightened around and for mostly the warehouse, indicating that the deal was about to go down. Ender would look to Talak, indicating silently that he was going to take the high-ground before heading over to the building.

When he reached the wall, Ender would use the force to leap all the way to the roof and land somewhat softly. With the bustling of the dock and the city, the sound would be masked well enough. With his presence still suppressed, Ender made his way to one of the ceiling windows, allowing him to get an inside view of the warehouse and what was transpiring.

There were two groups of thugs, each around four or five with a couple of others patrolling around cat-walks and other sections of the building. Between the two groups was a large metal crate, one side of it cracked slightly but the contents still hidden. The two in charge were in the middle of a discussion, gesticulating heavily as the conversation got more and more heated. Ender touched his comm piece as it linked with Talak's, "The deal is going down right now. No sign of the woman though."

Ender's lightsaber was resting horizontally against his lower back, right above his waist and he quickly slipped a hand back there to pull it free. He didn't activate it yet as it weighed in his hand, waiting for Talak to report in that he was ready and for the right moment to present itself.

 

[Talak Rand]

He reached out with his senses to the warehouse and felt the things he generally expected. Men filled with streaks of emotion, each one swirling in a pool that he recognized as violence and darkness. It was a familiar - albeit not very welcome - feeling to him.

Compared to that, the person radiating Light might have been the sun itself. The beams of light seemed to cut through him like an affront to everything that was supposed to be here.

Of all the things that could have happened tonight, this wasn't even close to being on Talak's radar. It probably should have been, but it wasn't. Was this a Jedi? Or something else?

Talak found himself suddenly far more drawn to this concept than to the artifact that may or may not have been here. His curiosity would probably be his undoing someday, but he was curious. He'd heard stories from a generations ago about the Jedi, but he hadn't ever seen one, let alone talk to one.

Evidently not, he said as he started following after Ender. He watched as the other man leapt up to higher ground, watching how smoothly he did it. It was hard to imagine that not so long ago he hadn't known anything about the Force at all. He had certainly picked it up quickly.

For his own part, Talak followed along the outer wall of the building and away from the doors as much as possible, trying to sense where the woman had gone. He could still feel her presence like an unpleasant and stifling heat, but pinpointing it wasn't so easy.

I... think... but the voice in his ear shook his mind back to the present. There was a sigh of frustration that he couldn't seem to locate her and had been pulled from his thoughts, but he responded quickly.

I'm going to keep looking for her, he said. Do we have time? he asked. If they could avoid revealing themselves too quickly that would be better, but he also didn't want to lose the prize they had actually been sent here for in the first place. @Orbit @Sreeya

 

[Tava Rhys]

Her patience was running thin - probably one of the many reasons no master wanted to take her on. She scowled at the warehouse, beginning to hear some shuffling about. Why was she waiting around anyway? She could take these thugs on no problem. Tava was so focused on what was in front of her, that she was entirely oblivious to the two others jumping about and getting into position.

She stepped out from behind the dumpster and rushed towards the main door, blasting them with the Force to fling them open. She saw a metal crate at once, along with a few people gathered around it. Tava felt satisfied in catching them in the act, and she rushed towards them.

At once, two of them leveled their blasters, preparing to shoot. She raised her gauntlets, the bolts doing no damage as she ducked into a roll. Tava didn’t come up entirely from the roll, recovering while she was still low and sweeping the legs from underneath one of the thugs. He promptly fell forward and hit his jaw against the crate as he fell.

Tava moved with the sweep, springing up to her feet as she used the Force to yank the blaster out of one of the thugs’ hands, making it sail through to air to conk another one in the face.

“Our position has been compromised!” She heard one of them speak into a comlink as he rushed backwards. Tava paid him no heed, focusing on the thugs near her. She had just punched someone in the face, a sickening crunch erupting to confirm a broken nose.

That was when a set of doors in the back flew open. Tava felt the Force collide harshly with her core, sending her clear back towards the entrance of the warehouse. She hit the floor, the action having hit her right in the solar plexus. Tava immediately had to roll over and vomit, unable to keep the contents down and feeling blinding pain through her body.

“We leave now,”The Dark sider spoke firmly, coiling the Force around the crate to wheel it towards himself, “You have compromised us,” He hissed as he blasted back several of the thugs, turning to the ones that looked as if they worked for him, “Quick! Take the artifacts and disperse at once!”

@Orbit @Phoenix

 

[Thalia Windraider]

The plan was simple or at least if she told herself repeatedly it would be simple. She had heard along a rather broken grape vine of this deal that was supposed to happen and though she knew she was really taking a chance on this, the credits she could swindle later might be worth the effort. The plan included spying, tracking, thieving and running. Then of course, finding a buyer who could pay even more for what the original price was in asking. She absolutely needed to make some updates to her ship and her optimism motivated her to continue even as she watched the thugs enter the warehouse.

The girl checked her blaster from her holster as she watched from a neighboring alleyway, sitting on a speeder that she was "borrowing" for the short time she would need it this evening. She counted under her breath and then started moving to the warehouse, but paused, watching as it seemed she was not the only one who decided to show to this party. Thalia pulled her blaster but as she watched someone approach the front door, there was something that told her to stop, and this time she listened as the blaster fire and yelling could be heard.

Each shot she could feel her hopes for credits disappearing, "Kriff...nooo..." she groaned kicking herself for banking on such optimism.

@Orbit @Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Darth Invictus]

Talak spoke back through the comm piece, asking if they had the time to find her and that made Ender give a look to the air. He didn't understand why his partner wanted to find the woman so badly and as the deal continued taking place, that window of time was closing. "Time to do wh-" The doors flung open to the warehouse, the woman rushing through at full speed with the force pulsating from her. Two guards quickly reacted to her presence and raised their blasters but it was clear the woman was gifted in combat, rolling underneath their bolts before taking them out efficiently and continuing her spree. "Well, I found her." Ender continued crouched beside the window, watching the skirmish unfold as he didn't mind letting her clear out the opposition.

But the tide of battle quickly changed as another set of doors flew open and the woman was sent through the hair before smacking into the ground harshly as she vomited. With the dark side used to lash out at the force user, Ender's gaze snapped to the Dark sider as it connected the dots on how these thugs managed to find artifacts of his people. The Dark sider used the force to drag the crate towards him as he intended to quickly depart from the warehouse. This mission quickly went up in smoke and was half convinced to just depart but they needed to at least attempt to get the artifacts back.

Ender stood up to his full height, "Not on my watch." He flicked his wrist to shatter the glass with the force before taking a step and falling through the newly formed hole. He landed on his feet as small glass shards fell around him, the force wrapping around him to dampen his fall and prevent any damage from shards. The thugs and Dark sider stared at him momentarily, wondering who this person now was and momentarily losing their focus and giving enough time for him to act. Ender whipped out the force and wrapped it around the crate, pulling it back with his strength and starting a tug of war with the Dark sider.

The Dark sider stared at the crate and then at him before flicking his wrist and sending the metal lid flying towards his chest. He immediately activated one of the blades of his lightsaber, a red blade snapping to life as it was called to command. It was slashed in a vertical line and split the lid in half as both pieces went around each side and clattered with a metallic sound. "Talak..." Ender's voice strained slightly as he continued wresting with the other Dark sider and waited for another incoming strike and needed the reinforcement.

The Dark sider shouted at the others around him, "Shoot him!" They raised their rifles to aim at Ender before letting off a burst of bolts toward him. Instead of pulling, Ender whipped his hand to the left, sliding the crate between two containers and out of sight. He managed to deflect one of the bolts away in time but with pushing the crate away, one of the bolts slipped in and grazed his right arm and burned through the fabric. He dove into nearby cover to avoid the other shots as he rolled his arm and felt a painful flare shoot up it. It hurt but it still worked.

The thugs had a superior position compared to the two of them and that's why he waited for Talak to decide to join in and even the odds.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak could sense the flash of frustration from Ender, but he knew that his partner would get over it. The two had at least a good enough working relationship that he'd probably get an annoyed comment later before they both moved on. In this case it was worth it.

He was making his way further around the building when everything started going to pieces in a hurry. He heard gunfire and Ender telling him he'd found the woman. The sounds of a fight, and then the characteristic swell and rush of the Force. But this time it had a much darker undertone to it. It wasn't the woman, and he didn't think it was Ender, who was still closing in.

Kriff, he muttered as he took off running. There shouldn't have been anyone else out here, which meant whoever this was likely wasn't a friend to the cause. More competition.

He came around to the edge of the building and found a handhold along a small generator likely meant for environmental control and hoisted himself up. Finding another handhold and with the aid of the Force, he managed to hoist himself up, nearly falling down before managing to climb into an upper window.

He dropped to the ground and spotted the first guard He had the drop on the thug, but he didn't want to pull his lightsaber out and tip everyone off, so he decided to strangle him...

It turned out that Devaronians are a lot stronger than they look. And they have big horns. The choke out wasn't going nearly as quickly as he hoped, and the chokehold quickly turned into a wrestling match that Talak wasn't winning.

By now, Ender had his saber out anyway, but Talak couldn't actually get a grip on his own while trying to keep both the Devaronian's hands at bay. At least this thug wouldn't be shooting at anyone else for the moment. Of course, now the second guard had noticed and his rifle was already turning, looking for a clean shot on the young darksider.

Suddenly the answers to his questions seemed much less important as he fought not to be shot, and hoped that perhaps someone would lend assistance. @Orbit @Sreeya @GABA

 

[Tava Rhys]

Tava recovered quickly, looking up to see another Force user crash in. Unfortunately, she could sense enough to know that they were all dark siders. The darkness radiated off them like a sick stench, and she found it almost overwhelming. Tava closed the distance again as she saw two Force users beginning to duke it out - and she noted that they both were fixated on the crate.

Before the man with the saber could launch it out of sight, she coiled the Force around it and tipped it over. With the lid missing, all of its contents spilled onto the floor, and she was shocked to spot what looked like ancient blades and other datacrons that looked like they had most certainly not been intended for the people fighting over it.

Thankfully, they were all engaged in active combat and blaster bolts were going in all directions. Tava focused on the artifacts, using the Force to draw everything to herself.

“NOO! GET THOSE ITEMS!” The dark sider that burst in through the doors screeched at the top of his lungs. His thugs rushed towards towards her. The dark sider switched his attention fully to the man with the saber, now igniting his own and seeing him as the bigger threat, “Come out you little shit!” He growled as he coiled the Force around the cover Ender was behind and tossed it to the side.

The Devaronian at this point managed to try and pin Talak to the ground. He attempted to get up to get the upper hand and promptly slipped, falling atop the man with his full weight. However, the second guard gave up on taking a shot at Talak and focused his attention on Tava instead.

Tava promptly coiled the Force around one of the guards and yanked him in the way, the bolts from another guard peppering him. She scooped up the datacron and artifacts, shuffling backwards in an attempt to get out.

@Phoenix @Orbit @GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia picked up an additional blaster that was removed from one of the thugs from the cold duracrete as she rushed to get inside to where the artifacts were being held. The place was a mad house and Thalia couldn't help but to enjoy the thrill it brought to see the chaos that was transpiring around her. She fired several shots at the thugs that had taken their focus of the tall guy (@Ender Halcyn) with the saber, her focus though were still on the items and they were still positioned to block her own path to her gains. A few turned swiftly to return fire at her position and Thalia ducked down. The air was sharp with the smell of ion as the blaster fire continued, most of it looking to just to hit whoever in order to get the artifacts out safely.

The clatter of the container holding the artifacts seemed to give just a split second distraction, causing a few heads to turn in addition to extra yelling. Her eyes narrowed as her mind tried to put together a new plan to get the artifacts and bail, however another, a woman (@Tava Rhys) had scooped up the artifacts and now was trying to shuffle out backwards from the warehouse

"Kriff no." she aimed her pistol at her and began to fire, the other thugs seemed to catch on to who their new target would be too.

 

[Talak Rand]

OOC: Orbit isn't feeling well, so he said to keep going.

This wasn't going great. The Devaronian nearly had him pinned down, and this guy was strong. Talak tried to focus the Force into his body in order to hold the man back, but honestly, he was almost in a panic trying to hold back the man and having too much trouble to focus.

It seemed that having horns on your head was an advantage, though. He whipped the horn around and left a nasty gash across Talak's nose and cheek, which started bleeding immediately. Angry rose and hatred with it. It coiled in the Force like a striking snake and burst outward from his whole body. The Devaronian flew into the air and onto the ground, but by the time he had recovered from the surprise, Talak's lightsaber was out and buried deeply in his chest.

His mind fell into another mode entirely. The anger and hatred was flowing through him, and with it the clarity of death. He knew Ender and he was curious about the Jedi woman. Everyone else was wielding a blaster, and that made them an enemy.

The dead Devaronian's blaster leapt into Talak's hand and he raised it firing. Now Talak wasn't a marksman. Not even close, so of the two shots he fired, only one actually grazed the dark sider fighting ender, but it would be enough to give Ender the upper hand.

The pistol swiveled around until it found the next target. Some woman (@GABA). He squeezed the trigger. The shot - at this distance with Talak's aim - wasn't likely to hit her, but it would be enough to send her ducking into cover as the shots splashed around her on each side. All creatures felt fear, and in the open, there was always the chance she would be hit. @Sreeya @Orbit

 

[Tava Rhys]

This was too much going on even for a Force user. She hadn’t even noticed that someone had entered from behind her, or that they had fired shots. She was too focused on trying to push back the thugs that came at her head on. Tava clutched the artifacts to her chest and quickly began to dart away.

However, that was when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She was too slow to make sense of it, and was promptly shot moments later. Not wearing any armor, she took the blaster hit from the woman (@GABA) entirely to the core. The force sent her tumbling to the ground, sending the artifacts clattering to the floor.

Excruciating pain took over her, as she gritted her teeth in pain. She was severely outmatched here, a sideways glance revealing that the second man that had been wrestling the devaronian was also a Force user. Tava slowly dragged herself towards a nearby box for cover, groaning from the unbearable pain.

The noises around her began to blur and all thoughts of why she was here went out the window.

Meanwhile, the thugs that had been going after Tava leveled their guns and shot at the woman that newly joined the party. The dark sider that had engaged Ender was momentarily distracted by the shot that grazed him, giving his opponent the smallest chance to take advantage of it. However, it would be a small window as he attempted to shoot lightning at Ender almost immediately.

@Orbit @Phoenix

 

[Thalia Windraider]

At first she was stunned she even hit someone, her lip started to curl into a smile as she watched the woman get knocked off her feet, the artifacts flew from her grasp, scattering onto the floor. Thalia was thinking the odds were looking just a little more improved for her, but snap of blaster fire from the darksider (@Talak Rand) brought her back to her senses and the attention turned the other thugs to her position. She quickly scrambled for cover again behind a storage crate, firing back with her borrowed blaster until it ran dry. She cursed as she sat with her back against the crate, feeling the power behind the bolts reverberate through the storage object.

Fire paused and Thalia glanced around the edge, no longer seeing the other woman she had shot, her thoughts tried to pull on her emotions, shame, possible guilt, but the girl swiftly pushed them away. It was no time to fret over something that was trivial as compared to a shoot out. Inhaling deeply, Thalia glanced up to see the blaster fire scorch the wall in front of her and the girl peeked around the box, trying to figure out where everyone was positioned to first, the artifacts and secondly, the exit. If she could just her hands on just one, she would be satisfied, it would be enough credits for now. She took a quick glance again, firing her weapon to suppress enough fire to for her to get a better look at the artifacts and to find where rest were going.

However, there was an urge that Thalia could not explain, a silent guide that she never liked calling it instinct because it felt like more than that. She could see the datacron as she looked around the crate's edge again, but this time as a thug tried to swoop down to grab it and run, Thalia reached out and the device obeyed, flying into her grasp and now in her possession, leaving the girl dumbfounded.

@Orbit @Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Darth Invictus]

One moment, Ender was behind some cover and was inspecting his fresh graze. The next, the cover was lifted into the air before tossed away with the Dark sider directly calling him out to fight. There wasn't much more of an invitation than that and he stepped out from where he was into the open, lifting his old cover with the force to instead fling it at the Dark sider. Not wanting to give his opponent any moment of reprieve, he immediately launched himself at the Dark sider with the aid of the force, closing the distance rapidly with his blade following behind.

The Dark sider wasn't inexperienced and he dodged around the crate gracefully before bringing his blade up to meet with Ender's in defense right after the first attack. Their blades were pressed together, screeching as sparks ejected out the sides, locked in a tug of war. His blade was quickly drawn back afterward and performed a flurry of strikes, probing the Sith's defenses as the others battled on around them.

When Ender's blade came down once more and locked with the Dark sider's, it kept him in place long that Talak's bolt found its mark, striking the man in the shoulder as he lent out a grunt of pain. His weight against the blade got stronger as he lost his footing and Ender saw his window. He shut off the blade that was connected to the Dark sider's, it sliding back into the initiator as it caused his opponent to stumble forward, not expecting the move and having his weight pressed into his weapon.

Ender spun around the man with the reverse end of his weapon pointed at the Dark sider's spine once he finished the spin. The other blade of his lightsaber erupted out that end, extending out past its normal length to attempt to pierce his heart and end it right there. "Gotcha." Ender murmured to himself but he spoke too early as the Dark sider managed to bend his body enough that it struck his shoulder and severely burned him. He stumbled away as he was preoccupied with his wound and gave Ender time to take in his surroundings.

He was able to catch her use the force to snag one of the artifacts and call it to her palm. "Another one?" Ender asked himself. How many force users knew about this deal? But either way, he wasn't going to let her take what was theirs. He summoned the force to himself and once the datacron touched the woman's hand (@Thalia Windraider Alfdari), it immediately was whipped back into the air and zoomed into Ender's hand. With one of his index fingers raised in the air, he waved it back and forth to the woman before diving behind some cover and letting the thugs continue to shoot at her. "It's getting too hot." He comm'd Talak, the amount of blaster fire liable to draw some type of attention.

 

[Talak Rand]

Ender was right. This whole situation had gotten out of hand.. This had not gone even close to how he had planned tonight.

We should get the artifacts and get out of here, he said, dropping the pistol to the ground and plunging the blade through the handle. He hadn't planned to use his lightsaber at all given the distinctive marks that it left on dead people, but sometimes you had to improvise.

Load them onto the speeder, he said, nodding his head to one of the speeders the thugs had been using. No reason not to use what was provided.

In the meantime, Talak waited. While he would have liked to capture the Jedi, it didn't seem likely, and that was when he saw it....

The first of the flashing red and blue lights were only visible in the reflections of the walls of the building, but he knew that it meant more trouble was coming to find them. And that trouble would be calling for backup soon.

Kriff it, no time, we need to get out of here now, he said, looking for a back door before the CSF arrived in force. @Orbit @Sreeya @GABA

 

[Nick Shaw]

Another investigation had brought him the CSF substation. He was outside smoking a cigarette when the first reports of a shootout came in over the radio. "Receiving multiple reports of blaster shots in sector 765 near an abandoned warehouse." the radio sounded.

He ran to his speeder parked not too far away. "You two with me," he said, pointing at two of the local CSF officers. While he technically didn't have the authority to order them to do anything, he said with enough authority that they didn't question. The speeder fell in behind him as he pushed his speeder bike to the safest possible speed. Red and Blue lights and a siren warned others to get out of their way as they weaved in and out of traffic which worked with varying levels of success.

They were close, likely the closest units. Radio chatter continued to buzz as more details came in, and more units were mobilized. It would take time, and by the time Nick and the two officers who had followed him arrived, they didn't have time to wait for backup.

The speeder bike came to a stop as Nick jumped off, his blaster was already drawn as the other two officers climbed from the speeder. There were more shots and other noises coming from inside. They slowly started approaching one of the doors.

 

[Tava Rhys]

She was severely wounded and in no position to keep fighting. She had taken a bolt fully to her unprotected back and had already been tiring from fighting multiple enemies. She knew that coming out into the open was a terrible idea with enemies on all sides. By some miracle, she hadn’t died yet, and Tava was questioning her brash behavior. If she got out of this, she would definitely think about getting herself a Master.

Tava began to hear sirens outside, and that was cue enough for her to shuffle to the side till she could see the artifacts. The thugs began to scatter and run in different directions, the Force user in the middle that had engaged Ender gave a quick Force push to throw Ender back as he went for the kill. This gave the man a chance to roll to the side and scramble to his feet and disappear into the shadows.

Tava saw the datacron fly into the other girl’s hand, but she paid it no heed, summoning up energy to do a Force push towards the other artifacts to send them flying in different directions. This would make it difficult for the dark siders to pinpoint and gather them all with the authorities on their tail.

With a sigh, Tava scooched back into cover, not concerned with the authorities showing up as she quietly began to meditate and focus on healing. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to take on three Force users at once on her own. But she made sure she got a good look at them all.

@Orbit @Phoenix @Raydo @GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

As soon as she had it, it was gone, snatched by an invisible grasp as she saw the device leave her palm. The culprit of course mocked her, waving a finger as though a parent scolding their child. Her brow narrowed in annoyance and as she aimed her blaster at him, the blaster fire from others started again as he dove for cover. Thalia shifted back behind the crate and the blaster fire stopped, the sirens of Coruscant's security forces signaled they were on their way and the girl rolled her eyes. She tapped the back of her head against the crate as though she were trying to clear the distractions and figure out her way out.

Her body felt suddenly very heavy as though she were met with a sudden bout of exhaustion which seemed out of the ordinary amidst a shoot out. Then again, her thoughts and gaze fell to the hand that held the datacron, her mind trying to wrap around what she had just done. Or perhaps it was the darksider who stole it back from her, tricking her to think she had done something extraordinary when instead it was him along. The girl sighed and as the thugs scattered, Thalia holstered her blaster and moved from her spot. Keeping crouched low, she started to head to the back of the building, looking for any way to get out without having to deal with cops.

However, a feeling told her getting out of here was not going to be as easy as it were coming inside.

@Orbit @Phoenix @Raydo @Sreeya

 

[Darth Invictus]

The woman fired on him after he caught the artifact but he dove in time to avoid her shot and the Dark sider's force push. Ender was too preoccupied to even give chase after him and needed to evacuate. There were a couple more shots after that as the thugs exchanged with the others once more before dispersing. The thugs scatted and he was able to hear the piercing sound of sirens before spotting the red and blue lights reflecting off a couple of windows.

Talak shouted that it was time to leave and wanted to take a speeder to escape. But when the lights appeared, that meant their vehicles were there and ready to chase after them if they tried to make a dash. With that out of the question and Ender able to see one of the woman bolt for the door while the other huddled in the corner. That's when he noticed the window from which he entered and how it could be the exit they need. "Talak, up high." Ender shut off his lightsaber and hid it away before using the force to summon one of the thug's weapons to his hand. If the police spotted him, he could at least be confused as one of the thugs who was attempting to flee the scene.

The artifacts had been scattered by the first force user and had made the action of retrieving them way too time-consuming. Ender rushed forward before standing underneath the window. When he moved, he scanned around him to make sure no one could make a pop-shot. He built the force underneath his legs before he jumped high enough in the air that he could go a few feet above the window and land safely on the roof. There were no cops on the roof so far and he suspected that their window was limited to leave the area. He trusted that Talak would be right behind and when Ender saw where the speeder was parked, he jumped down from the opposite side.

When he was clear of the building he navigated himself through a couple of alleys, crisscrossing his path to be confusing as possible. He wasn't worried about Talak, he could contact him with his earpiece once things died down and rendezvous with him.