Ask Mallrats

Mox · Jan 12, 2024

Mox wasn't usually the type of person you'd find galivanting around one of the high end shopping centers on Ord Cantrell and all things considered, among the glitz and glamor of the general denizens of the planet, she probably stood out like a sore thumb. Her outfit was typical of her personal style of course, but it did occur to Mox that it might have been worth dressing more for the atmosphere than she had.

Oh well. She was used to getting the side eye from people who thought she was weird.

On the bright side, at least she wasn't alone. As luck would have it, another padawan had decided to join her on this little excursion to do.. well, whatever it was they were going to do. Shop, probably. Take in the sights. Sneak some liquor and a cigarra at one of the resort casinos on the strip a few blocks over. She didn't really know Caul all that well, but Mox wasn't against making a.. friend.

She could probably use more of those, all things considered.

So as they walked, she would finally pipe up for the first time since they'd arrived, casting a glance over at the boy walking next to her.

You ever been here before? She asked idly, not being very good at small talk.

If Mox was paying more attention, she might have noticed the gruff looking dudes starting to move through the complex, the faintest glean of blaster hilts poking out from beneath their jackets.

But she wasn't, so for now, she simply waited on Caul's reply if he were gracious enough to give her one.

@Zay

Caul · Jan 12, 2024

Caul didn’t get many opportunities to get out of the Temple. So, when an excursion to a mall on Ord Cantrell came up he jumped on it immediately. It had been months since he’d been able to refresh his comic book stash and all the ones he had were starting to fall apart from his obsessive reading. He’d decided to adopt the more modern Jedi style leaving behind the boring robes and wearing something that followed contemporary style.

To his abundant surprise, only a handful of other Padawan joined up on the excursion. It ultimately boiled down to him and another being chaperoned by the most peevish Jedi Knight he’d ever met. Jedi Steve was as textbook a jedi as possible. It felt like he was ripped right out of some lame fan fic, the depth of his substance was reciting his opinion on the code, which was absolutely something he’d just agreed with on Swik Tok. Normally, it wasn’t something that would have bothered Caul. He believed that anyone who gave themselves to the Order was worth his time of day, but Steve was the worst.

“A Padawan’s should be focused on what they can learn from any situation, not wasting their efforts on idle chatter, remember–” droned Steve, the lamest Jedi in existence. While he was potificating about the importance of vigilance Caul spotted an opportunity. He leaned over to Mox and whispered, “I’ve never been here, but I’d rather be here and lost, than listening to this guy for another second,” he nodded toward an upcoming corner, “Wanna ditch him?”

While he was plotting their possible escape, a gruff looking duro with a nasty scar and stubble on his cheek, ran right into him. “Oof,” said Caul.

“Watch it, you little punk,” growled the Duro. Caul glanced down and spotted the butt of a heavy blaster just before the guy's duster covered it up. Steve stepped in, not to help Caul of course, but to apologize to the Duro. Jedi Steve rounded on Mox and Caul, “Is there anything you’d like to say, Padawan?”

Caul’s jaw was clenched tight as Steve’s attention bore into him. With an effort he said, “Sorry.”

The Duro’s pupilless red eyes fixed him with a murderous gaze, “You better be.”

Steve, apparently dissatisfied with Caul’s response, stepped back in front with a voice of practiced customer service. Caul rolled his eyes and then nudged Mox, freedom was just a turn away, “C’mon, this guy sucks,” he whispered, making a move for the corner.

@Logan

Mox · Jan 12, 2024

Mox couldn't help but let a rare smile crease her lips when Caul mentioned ditching the stuffy Knight that was unfortunately shadowing them. She couldn't have thought of a better idea herself, now all they needed was a good opportunity.

If I didn't know better I'd say you were reading my mind, She said under her breath so that weirdo Steve didn't hear.

Before she could say much more, though, Mox would stop suddenly as Caul ran face first into some gruff looking douche bag with what seemed to be no manners at all. She was just about to give the Duro some appropriate levels of sass when she noticed the blaster on his belt and, in a moment of uncharacteristic restraint, decided to bite her tongue.

When Steve started in with his customer service voice diatribe, Mox grabbed Caul's hand and jerked her head subtly toward the corner, leading him away as sneakily as they possibly could. With Steve fully distracted, the two were able to get away with no one the wiser and when they were just out of sight, Mox would pull Caul along as she picked up the pace so that they could put as much distance between them and Steve as possible.

Oh my god finally, we might actually be able to have some fun now. She said, spotting one of those bubble tea places and getting a sudden craving. Tea time, Caul. No questions.

Heading toward the kiosk, Mox pulled the few credits she had to her name and sighed. Luckily she had enough for this, but not much more. Lame. She gave her order and while she was waiting, turned back to Caul.

Got some place in particular you want to go? She asked, once again just trying to make small talk with the boy she didn't really know. It's not like she could just start talking about her own personal interests or something, not when she didn't even know if Caul knew how to read let alone read the.. unique things that she liked.

Ignoring her immediate surroundings and letting her gaze drift up towards the second level of the shopping center, Mox couldn't help but tilt her head in curiousity as she saw a bunch of people like.. running. But not like "omg there's an amazing sale over there" running, and more like "holy shit we have to get the hell out of here" running.

Elbowing Caul lightly in the arm, Mox pointed up toward them before asking -

The fuck is going on up there, you think?

@Zay

Caul · Jan 15, 2024

Mox grabbed his hand as he spoke and Caul felt the tips of his ears go hot. He reeled it in just before she turned around and once she let go of his hand he was embarrassed to notice it was sweaty. Thankfully, she was distracted by a tea shop.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said jokingly, as he followed behind.

Once inside Mox ordered her drink and turned to face him. He kept feeling like something was wrong. He could really put his finger on it, but there was a feeling in his gut that just wouldn’t go away. At first he’d thought it was paranoia from ditching Steve, but he couldn’t have cared less about that…

Mox’s question brought him back to the present and he blurted, “I’m dying to check out the comic store,” without thinking. Great, now she’s gonna know you’re a big nerd, he chastised himself. But as he looked back to her, Mox’s gaze was elevated. At her question his eyes followed hers and his jaw clenched.

Caul felt the panic before he saw it. People were running like their lives depended on it and that meant something really bad was happening.

“Something bad,” as if to punctuate his words, blaster fire went off. Streaks of red super heated plasma shot over the top of the panicking crowd. Instinctively, Caul dropped into a crouch reaching out and tugging Mox down as well.

“Holy shit, we gotta help them, right?” he asked, frozen by the suddenness of the attack.

The level they were on was still in stunned shock as the wave of panic slammed into the shoppers. A blaster bolt went off and all hell broke loose. The chorus of screams sent Caul into a spiral. His hands shook, a cold sweat broke out across him, and his breathing was shallow and harried. He didn’t see a shopping mall beyond the doors of the tea shop, he saw the destruction of Ithor. The screams of Jedi as they dropped to the ground and fell silent. The bodies. All of the bodies everywhere.

He hadn't been apart of the initial attack, but he had been apart of the clean up.

They needed to do something, anything, but he dammit, he couldn't move. He was frozen in place. Fear had it's hands around his throat and was threatening to strangle him. The shame of it was shutting him down, it felt like his thoughts were wading through thick mud.

He felt useless.

The crunch of transparisteel under boots foretold of approaching danger, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

@Logan

Mox · Jan 18, 2024

Of all the things that Mox expected to see today, blaster fire would have been in the absolute basement of the list. The sound of it was unmistakable, and as the streaks of red pierced through the air - above the fleeing shoppers, she was glad to see at least - she couldn't help but let her breath get caught in her throat.

Luckily, Caul was much more in the moment than she was. Following his tugging lead and dropping down into a crouch, Mox decided to cut her losses on the tea she'd just bought and chugged what she could before loosing the cup somewhere on the floor.

No question, she said, feigning confidence in her voice. It wasn't until she took a good look at Caul that Mox realized he wasn't slipping into business mode as much as barely hanging on.

A look of concern swept across Mox's face as grabbed Caul's hand, squeezing it tightly and nodding her head toward him and doing her best to let a smile of comfort press home that they were going to be alright. Not a normal expression for Mox, but it seemed important in the moment.

Time to be Jedi.

Turning her attention from Caul for the moment, Mox saw two approaching thugs both wielding blasters in their hands. Luckily they were just pistols and nothing insane, so when they spotted her she wasn't too afraid. At least, that's what she hoped Caul would think.

With a quick tug of the force, Mox lifted one of the tables in the tea shop off the ground and up into the air, bringing it down on both of the thugs heads with a solid thwump. She fully expected them to get right back up like they did in the holovids, but it seemed luck was on their side for now as both of the dickheads were knocked out cold.

Two down. I wonder if we should find Steve, She thought aloud, biting the inside of her cheek in indecision. Or we could try to help the people up on the second floor. Whatever is going on seemed to start up there.

Mox wasn't going to run headfirst into danger alone, and she certainly wasn't going to leave Caul behind. Whatever step was next, they would make it together.

@Zay

Caul · Jan 18, 2024

The squeeze of Mox’s hand made shame blossom up from his cowardly innards. The emotion etched it’s way across the fear in Caul’s face. He was struggling to stop his hands from trembling, he had to get it together, he had to do something, he had to— THWUMP! Caul snapped out of his spiral, eyes wide as a table crashed into the two goons headed their way.

He looked over at Mox, “That was awesome.”

Relief flooded his body, the initial shock of the attack was starting to wear off and his training was taking over. He took a deep breath and let it out. He was okay. He was still alive. Still alive. His eyes scanned the area for anything useful and by chance he spotted a directory a few stores down.

Mox laid out a couple of options. Caul’s brow furrowed in concentration as he considered her words. They had to be smart about this, one wrong move and they could end up in serious danger.

“Let’s do both,” he started nodding toward the directory and heading in it’s direction. “That last attack came from here,“ he circled the area on the second floor, “So, we should swing around back the way we came, look for Steve and find the escalators on this side,” he pointed to the entry on the opposite side of the attack, “And hit them from a flank, how’s that sound?”

Once they’d ironed out their idea they were running. Caul’s training saber was in his hand but he kept it off, no need to announce who they were immediately. Any chance at surprise was one he was interested in. They rounded the corner where they’d left Steve and Caul came to a skidding halt.

Steve was face down. Smoke still wafted from his back. He’d been shot to death.

@Logan

Mox · Jan 29, 2024

Sounds good to me, She said in response to Caul's plan. She wasn't particularly knowledgeable about combat approaches, but the word flank she'd heard before. And it was usually a good thing from what she could tell.

So flanking was what they should do.

As they set off, Mox wasn't able to think too far ahead before they found something she didn't even think was a possibility. Steve, laying face down with blaster holes smoking in his back.

Well, fuck. Was all she could manage to come up with.

Mox knelt down next to Steve and put a finger to his throat, looking for a pulse. A pointless gesture all things considered, she couldn't feel the force in the Knight anymore and already knew he was dead. But still, it seemed like she should check anyway. That's what people did, right?

Looking to Steve's belt, Mox noticed that his lightsaber was still there. Which told her that these people weren't looting the dead, they were just killing whoever was in their way. So the area was the target, not necessarily the people. Which didn't really help her understand what was happening, but at least it wasn't just indiscriminate murder. There was a goal here, which means there was something they could do to mess that up, whatever it was.

We need to keep moving. The escalators, right? She said, jutting her head in the direction Caul mentioned going earlier.

The path toward the escalators was thankfully clear, though Mox still went out of her way to at least attempt to sneak. Moving in short bursts and finding whatever cover made sense, at least until they'd reached them. The escalators weren't moving, maybe the bad guys cut the power?

Although, the best thing about broken escalators was they kind of just became stairs. Slowly heading up the steps, Mox would motion for Caul to slow up as they neared the top and she heard several voices chatting back and forth, two guys and what sounded like a woman.

Can you hear what they're saying? She asked, shooting Caul a look. Maybe they could get some info about just what in the hell was going on around here.

@Zay

Caul · Jan 31, 2024

Caul struggled with Steve’s death. It was too familiar, too soon, too much. His pulse was elevating and his hands were getting clammy and the whole time he hated himself for it. He hated himself for the weakness, but couldn’t stop it from affecting him. He was frozen in place. The rules of this engagement had just been laid out in blood. This wasn’t a training exercise, this was a real fight, and he and Mox were the only ones that could help.

Caul bit the inside of his lip until it bled. The sharp warm tang of iron filled his mouth as Mox stepped forward and double checked Steve. A thought that hadn’t even occurred to Caul. He licked his lips, swallowing down his fear, and working through his mental duress.

When Mox spoke, it sounded like her voice was coming from underwater. Caul shook his head and then nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Afraid the sound of his voice would betray the fear he felt in his core. Pragmatism took priority, they needed weapons and all he had was a training saber, so when he noticed they’d left Steve’s lightsaber, he stooped down and picked it up. He didn’t stop to see if Mox was disgusted by his actions, this wasn’t fun anymore. It was war, and he’d be damned before he ended up on the ground with a smoking wound in his back.

Caul wasn’t going to pretend he liked Steve, he didn’t, but the fact that the guy had been killed outright wasn’t a slight he could stand. For too long the Jedi had been the vagabond peacekeepers, it was time for them to make a stand. It was time to fight back.

Their chosen path was clear for the most part, they made their way carefully, moving in and out of cover, each trusting the other to have their back. Funny the way the threat of death can do that. It took two people that didn't know each other in the slightest and made them depend on one another. It was something worth remembering.

As they neared the top of the escalator Mox held up a hand and asked if he could hear the voices up ahead. Initially he could only make out a mottled garble of sound. He closed his eyes and focused on the voices, the garbled mess of auditory information began to refine until he could make out what was being discussed.

“---And I said, I didn’t fucking sign up to fight Jedi,” barked voice one.
A second voice chimed in, “Randel, peace brother, we don’t fight Jedi, we kill them, can you not see that they die just like the rest?”
Randle wasn’t convinced, “I don’t give a fuck you weedling little shit, I signed on for a smash and grab not some cultist blood fantasy—”
“That’s enough,” said a third voice. It was feminine in nature, but that femininity ended with their tone. There was an underlying power there, one that spoke to her control and power in their position. It was clear to Caul she was the one in charge.

In a whisper he relayed some of what he was hearing to Mox. It wasn't word for word, but she’d there were three up ahead at least, and two of them were at odds, while one was clearly the boss.
The boss started speaking again, so he closed his eyes and started to focus.

“You were hired to kill, that’s what you’re doing. If you’d like to discuss the stipulations of your position further you may do so, once we have FINISHED the job!”

Caul winced. The emphasis placed on the word finished was empowered by the force. There was no mistaking it. Before he could warn Mox he heard one of them say, “Hey, what’s that?”

The Padawan frowned, a little confused, the second voice chimed in, in that strange sing-song cadence, “It seems we have company.”

Caul’s eyes snapped open, fear was plaster across his expression. He looked up and his heart sank. Above them hanging from the ceiling was a mirror. The kind used to see around corners, or down escalators… as their luck would have it.

“It’s now or never!” without any further thought Caul moved, igniting Steve’s saber and charging the trio. He could only hope Mox did the same or came at them from a different angle, either way their little adventure was about to get very exciting.

@Logan

Mox · Feb 19, 2024

The abridged version of what the group was talking about that Caul passed along to Mox gave her just a tinge of hope while at the same time filling her gut with worry. So apparently these guys were trained killers, but they were also concerned that there were Jedi in their midst. Which meant that maybe - just maybe - they stood a fighting chance here.

Not everyone was equipped to handle fighting force users, and the more they worried about it, the more likely they were to commit mistakes. And all things considered, two padawans needed these people to make as many mistakes as possible.

Though, it seemed they wouldn't have much time to formulate any sort of plan of what to do next. An unfortunate mirror placement had made sure of that. As Caul activated the late Steve's lightsaber, Mox figured there was no sense in not following suit.

Her own weapon exploded into life and while Mox wasn't any sort of seasoned warrior by any means, she did have Jedi training and because of that knew multiple angles of attack was probably their best bet. She also knew that just killing these three was the most obvious solution to their current problem, but what they really needed here was information. So if she was able to, she hoped to leave at least one of them alive.

Mox's attention was drawn to the woman, figuring her for the leader given the conversation they'd overheard. Before she could move in close enough to do much, though, the woman fired off two shots from her blaster and screamed straight towards Mox. Lifting her lightsaber, Mox deflected one of the bolts harmlessly into the ceiling but had to nearly dive to the floor to get out of the way of the other one.

Scrambling back to her feet, Mox sent out a thrust of the force to knock the wind out of the woman, slamming straight into her stomach. It wouldn't remove her from the fight for too long - she was a trained killer after all - but hopefully it would let Caul get something done to take care of one of the other guys in the meantime.

@Zay

Caul · Feb 21, 2024

No matter how hard you train, no matter how well you plan, everything goes out the window when you get hit in the face.

Caul’s brave charge was only moderately successful. It wasn’t until after he’d screamed, giving up their surprise, that he realized his error. These goons weren’t simple sleeze balls, they were real mercenaries. The shock of his arrival was met with mild annoyance, the same one would bestow on a barking dog, and then weapons were in hands and everything went to hell.

Steve’s yellow blade spat sparks as Caul deflected the incoming cluster of blaster bolts. Unfortunately for the Padawan, the goon he’d run into earlier that day was ready for him. Randel side stepped Caul’s strike and blaster whipped him. Caul stumbled, then threw himself into a roll coming up in a crouch with his blade ready to fend off incoming attacks.

The weedling little shit was actually a big ass barabel with a sneer as menacing as a red lightsaber. They dashed forward, two nasty looking curved daggers flying at Caul in a fury. The Padawan was on his heels, giving it all to deflect the flurry of incoming attacks. Out of the corner of his eye Caul saw movement. Without thinking he reached out with the force and fired off a blast of force power.

In succession with his blast, the Barabel’s blade bit into his shoulder and Caul cried out. This was bad. He wasn’t strong enough. This guy was gonna kill him. Panic started to rise up in him like the tides as a wave built. His breath was harried, his movements desperate. With gritted teeth he just managed to slam a knee into the barabel’s stomach. The smiling lizard fell back a few steps, the same sneer still on his face.

“This is the end of the line, kid,” said Randel. His blaster was aimed directly at Caul. “Krast, if he tries to move, kill him.”

@Logan

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