Shipyard Blues

[Austin Wolfe]

theme​

"Greetings, Knights. In our efforts to bring the Order in favour of the shipyard owners on Rakata Prime, there have been several sizeable thefts recently that you will be investigating." Austin Wolfe was getting used to these holocall briefings, equipping the Jedi embarking on assignments with the knowledge they would need to succeed. "Though the Rakatans themselves did not say, I presume that they would be very thankful indeed if you were able to stop these thefts — permanently."

The doctor looked knowingly towards Knight Lucian Volante. "There is even a chance you will have to chase these criminals down via ship — something I am sure one of you would enjoy immensely." Austin smiled as he leaned back in his chair from which he was making the holocall. "May the Force be with you, Lucian and Tynian. And one more thing, keep the collateral damage to a minimal, if you are able." The Jedi Master gave them a nod of approval before the blue image vanished.

@Nastalle @Nefieslab​

 

[Lucian Volante]

Sizeable thefts was a vague outline... but Lucian knew better than most than the theft of even one starfighter could set a company back dozens of thousands of credits. And companies were notoriously tight-fisted when it came to their credits. Stopping these thefts would do wonders to help relations with the company.

Sure, the Rakatans might act like it wasn't a big deal but they would all know differently.

He didn't even try to look innocent at the mention of a ship chase - was Austin still freaked out he had crashed a freighter into a skiff to try and slow the enemy down?

Probably.

It had been pretty memorable.

He paused for a moment before holding a hand out to Tynian,

"I don't think we've actually met before today." he admitted with an easy smile, "Knight Lucian Volante. A pleasure to meet you - ready to go and bag ourselves some thieves?"

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[Tynian]

Tynian listened intently to the mission briefing by Master Wolfe. One thing was playing through his mind...A sizable theft, how could anyone steal a ships that big without getting caught. He had a feeling they would find out the answer to his question sooner rather than later.

As the Knight held out his hand, Tynian took it with a smile. “I am Tynian, it’s nice to meet you as well.”
He got the feeling they were going to get along just fine.
“I most certainly am ready.”

As they headed to the shuttle that would take them to the shipyard, Tynian felt himself actually excited to go on a mission again. This is what he was made for.

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[Lucian Volante]

Looked like the two of them were of one mind - it was time to get to work and when it was time to get to work? That was when the two of them excelled. Nodding to Tynian as the two of them stepped into the shuttle they were going to be flying around in, Lucian made sure to take the passenger seat beside the pilot.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the pilot to fly them well, it was just that... well... he didn't trust the pilot to fly them as well as he knew that he could.

As they were flying, Lucian turned back to Tynian,

"So Tunian - no last name?" he enquired politely, "Let me know if I shouldn't ask about it - I'm a bit of a chatterbox when I'm not the one flying."

But fate had other plans.

A pair of speeder bikes with mounted cannons sped towards them, firing at they did so. Before Lucian could draw his lightsaber to deflect them, the bolts slammed into the side of the shuttle... and straight into the pilot's chest.

"Kark..." Lucian muttered as he pulled the dead pilot out of the seat and took his place to avoid the shuttle nose-diving into a building, "Tynian! They're coming around for another pass - all we've got are blaster pistols so make your shots count!"

He gritted his teeth as he banked right sharply, avoid a collision with another shuttle.

"I'm going to try and get us there in one piece..."

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[Tynian]

The conversation seemed to get off to a good start, but was cut short by a pair of idiots trying to pick a fight... As Lucian took over for the pilot, Tynian went to the lock box and pulled out a blaster pistol.
It wasn’t the greatest weapon for long range combat, especially while flying in a shuttle being chased by speeders. But they would have to make do with what they had.

Lowering the ramp would put a slight drag on the shuttle for flying, but it was the only opening they had. And since they weren’t in space, there was no need of being vacuum squished like a grape. So the Ysanna hung onto the shuttle with one hand and leveled his blaster with the other taking aim.

His first shot sailed harmlessly off to the right as the shuttle hit an air pocket, but that actually was to the Jedi’s benefit.
The closest speeder must’ve thought that Tynian couldn’t hit the broad side of a krayt dragon, so he hit the accelerator and closed the gap between them, making it much easier for Tynian and his blaster to hit anything.
He used a bit of the force to steady his hand as well as aim, and pulled the trigger. The rider’s head snapped back as the blaster bolt hit him square in the forehead.

The second speeder hung back further but kept up the chase and the blaster cannon fire.
“This blaster won’t reach the second one... better figure something else out!” he shouted over the wind at Lucian...

 

[Lucian Volante]

Alright, they weren't doing too badly so far.

Admittedly, Lucian was having a few issues with the cargo door being open but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle. He was good enough of a pilot to compensate for the drag. He grunted a little bit as he banked harder to the right in an attempt to shake off the speeders following them.

Or rather, speeder, singular.

Seemed Tynian had done well.

"Great shot kid!" He called back through the ship, "Don't get cocky!"

One thing he wasn't good enough to 'shake off'? A shot to the engines.

]The shuttle was going down and nothing he could do was going to change that now. All he could do was control the landing to make it less bumpy than it was otherwise going to be.
[/B]
"Tynian!" He called out to his ally, "We're going down - I'm going to try and guide her in!"

The shuttle skidded violently along the makeshift runway... but it was fine, the ship held it's integrity and they were now back on solid ground again.

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[Tynian]

Tynian didn’t have time to shut the ramp to the shuttle before it hit the ground... Luckily he was able to brace himself for the impact. Which was relatively easy because of Lucian’s skill as a pilot.

As the shuttle cane to a stop, Tynian picked himself off the floor and looked up at the cockpit. “You ok up there?”

Outside they could hear the speeder’s engine coming closer... Tynian scrambled to his feet and went to the open exit. He looked around and found the blaster pistol and picked it up. As he did, the speeder opened fire, making him duck back into the shuttle.

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[Lucian Volante]

Was he okay?

"Well I'm not hurt - my pride as a pilot had taken something of a hit though." he admitted with a grumble, "I swear I should have been able to land this..."

It was annoying but annoying was liveable.

To be annoyed meant that you were alive and there wasn't actually anything wrong with you. Pulling himself up to his feet, he wandered out of the shuttle with his lightsaber in his right hand and his own blaster pistol in his left. His lightsaber ignited and he raised it in time to neatly block the blasts from the advancing speeder, though he failed to reflect them back as he had intended.

His own attack was to grab a nearby rock and throw it at the speeder pilot - the rock clipped the man and broke his concentration. It wasn't enough to end the threat but it was enough to give Tynian the opening he would need.

@Nastalle @Tynian

 

[Tynian]

Tynian came out from the shuttle and took aim. As the rock from Lucian hit the rider in the shoulder, Tynian fired the blaster. The bolt hit the rider in the leg, going right through it and hitting the engine under the seat. It caused the ability to hover to go "haywire" and the speeder fell and crashed into the ground, resulting in it exploding upon impact.

Tynian tucked the blaster into his cloak and looked at Lucian. "Well that was close." He gave a quick smile, "Nice landing by the way. It could've been a lot worse." He took a few steps away from the shuttle and looked toward their destination. "Well, we will either have to hoof it from here, or find another form of transportation." As he was thinking, he looked back at Lucian. "So we were attacked in just coming here... It seems our arrival wasn't a secret."

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[Lucian Volante]

Tynian was right.

It appeared that their enemies knew they were coming and he really didn't like that. That made him have all kinds of questions about just who had been told about this mission... but there wasn't anything they could do about it now. They were just going to have to get a move on.

The actual location of their mission wasn't too far away but on foot it would be a karker to get there in a timely manner.

"We're going to need to hitch a ride."

Looking over the edge of the ledge, he tutted as he saw their ride.

"That's our ride Tynian - it's a barge but it's heading for the shipyard and we need to get there."

Reaching out with the Force, he would wrap it around himself and Tynian before jumping, guiding both himself and Tynian down until they landed atop the barge. As they neared the shipyard, Lucian looked down and swore loudly at the sight that greeted them.

A group of six thieves were in the middle of attempting to break through the door to access one of the brand new ships.

"Ready to go Tynian?" he asked his companion, "Looks like we might get to ask some questions!"

@Nastalle @Tynian

 

[Tynian]

Using the barge was a great idea... it allowed the two Jedi to approach the shipyard without being seen, as well as it gave them a "bird's eye view" of the ships below.

As they rode the barge, Lucian peered over the side and spotted a group of thieves breaking into another ship. Upon the discovery, Tynian looked over the edge as well. "I don't see any real defining markings on their clothing... so yes, we do need to ask them some questions." he said with a sly grin.

Just as the barge hovered over the ship's position, the two Jedi used the force to jump down into the middle of the group... As they landed, the thieves jumped back in surprise, as they were not at all looking for anyone to jump down from above them.

Tynian landed and pulled his lightsaber in one fluid motion. "Hello there." he said.

@Nefieslab @Lucian Volante

 

[Lucian Volante]

Apparently the thieves thought that they were going to get away with this whole thing without any opposition because when they turned around and saw himself and Tynian stood there, they froze for a moment as one. Lucian smiled as Tynian greeted them and Lucian ignited his lightsaber in a defensive stance.

The sound of the lightsaber igniting was what did then thieves in.

As one, five of the six thieves turned and bolted, running as quickly as possible, leaving their leader just rooted to the ground as Lucian held him in place with the Force.

"Seems your friends have gone and left us alone." he commented brightly before nodding to Tynian, "Go ahead Tynian - see if he can tell us anything about where his gang operates from."

Best to get to the bottom of this whole ring and put a stop to it that way.

@Nastalle @Tynian

 

[Tynian]

Tynian stepped up to the thief. “I will not hurt you.” the Jedi waved a hand in front of his face using the force to bring the answer out of the thief easier... “You will tell us where your operation is based... and who is behind all of this.”

The thief’s face looked like he was having a struggle in his mind. He was a bit more resilient to the force than Tynian expected. No wonder he was their leader and not just a thug.

The Jedi could’ve pressed harsher into the mind of the thief, but that could have lasting results and not all good ones... And Tynian was a Jedi, not a Sith. So he pulled the force back and allowed the thief to catch his breath.
“Please tell us where the location of your operation is. Like I said before, we do not want to hurt you.”

@Nefieslab @Lucian Volante

 

[Lucian Volante]

Lucian watched as Tynian encouraged the thieves leader to actually tell them the information that they wanted to know. It took a moment but, after a while, it was all fine. The leader's face went slightly slack as he stopped resisting and finally they could get to the bottom of this.

"We work out of a warehouse nearby - the front of the operation is that we do customer paintjobs on ships and stuff." the leader admitted before swallowing thickly, "But... I can't tell you about our boss..."

Hmm?

Interesting.

"Why can't you tell us about your boss?"

The leader looked scared again for a long moment before he whispered the answer.

"Because if I do, I have to bite my own tongue off."

Ah.

Lucian used the Force to put the man to sleep before gesturing for Tynian to follow him as he led the two of them off towards the location of the warehouse where the remaining men would be hiding.

"It's an operation round by a big shot crime boss - known as The Tongue. His men bite off their own tongues upon capture." he grimaced a little bit, "We're going to need to make sure we capture the rest of them carefully or they'll do the same."

@Nastalle @Tynian

 

[Tynian]

Tynian followed Lucian toward the warehouse. To think that someone would be “mad” enough to make his own men bite their own tongues off for punishment was very disturbing to the Jedi.

“Is there a rule against making this guy stop breathing?” he asked Lucian with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. As for protecting the other thieves, that was going to take a bit of work and thought about how to go about keeping them from becoming mutes.


@Nefieslab @Lucian Volante

 

[Lucian Volante]

Lucian didn't want to admit it but he agreed with Tynian a little bit. Sure, it was mostly said in jest but there was still the intent there and he couldn't help but admit that he had thought about it. He chuckled a little bit and shook his head,

"Come on Knight Tynian, you know that's not the Jedi way." he joked lightly before shrugging, "Now come on - let's get there and get this done."

As they approached the warehouse in question, Lucian raised a hand for Tynian to keep quiet before pushing onwards towards the warehouse. His lightsaber was in hand but not ignited because he didn't exactly want to announce that he was out here doing Jedi-things after all!

Reaching the back door, Lucian nodded and pushed on in... and found that apparently the Force was working overtime for them today. It seemed that the 'home team' had gotten the message that the others had spoken. And they'd gone ahead and bitten their own tongues off already, choking on them and dying one and all.

Half a dozen sentients were dead because they refused to give up the information they might have on The Tongue. Lucian just stared at them for a long moment, looking around at the workshop that was, clearly, trashed and parts of it torched. There were no more thieves here because the entire operation had cut itself off to avoid the chance of betraying their mysterious boss.

"Let's go." he declared bluntly to Tynian, marching from the warehouse, "I've had enough of this planet."

Their mission was complete - the thefts would stop.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

@Nastalle @Tynian

 

[Tynian]

Tynian looked around the workshop with a bit of pity in his heart. "It is sad that they felt there was no other recourse than killing themselves." The Jedi didn't want to leave without a quick "look around", so he walked through the workshop and checked the burnt consoles and tools. He even checked the bodies. It wasn't the most fun thing to do, but he felt that it wouldn't be good to leave without looking into everything he could...
Yet nothing was left intact, or salvageable. It clearly had all been destroyed.
He turned to Lucian, "I agree. It is time to leave this fate-forsaken place." He followed Lucian out of the workshop and back to find a way home.


{end thread}