A productive excursion to Cloud City

[Frannykins87]

ALisha sat in silence as the Captain told his story. When she finished her mug, she put it down near the stove and looked on. Listening to his story, Alisha felt a huge amount of respect and sympathy both for the man. It takes a strong person to go through all of that, and still have the courage to fight more.

She gave Eli a warm half smile when he puffed up a little bit, showing his pride for his speech. Alisha also understood why he almost felt sorry for the pirates, so nodded at his words.A corrupt system leads to desperate people. She saw that every day on her planet. When the man finished his story with the need for violence, Alisha nodded slowly.

"Yes well.. I would also liked to be somewhere where violence isn't necessary but..I know better.."

Alisha looked down at the camp remained silent for a brief moment after, and then turned to Eli with a little sadness and a whole lot of compassion depicted on her face.

"You've done a lot of impressive things..and I am sorry for your losses.." she paused, but then sat a little straighter as she addressed him again.
"I am not sure what value I could bring, but I am more than willing to help out with any mission you are planning, especially against the empire..If you need any help"

She then gave him another warm smile. She only met him earlier, but after hearing his background, Alisha was convinced deep down that not only was he a good man, but a great leader. She felt compelled to help him out, and follow him, as much as she was able.

 

[Elijah Hardin]

Eli returned her smile in earnest, finished his stew, stood and bowed.

"Alas, it is time for me to retreat to dreams. We have a busy day tomorrow and I suggest you get some shut-eye. You're welcome to stay up with Dan and keep watch, but when he enters sentry mode, he's really not all that much fun to talk to."

The Morellian entered the large covered area where their bedrolls were all laid about. The shelter was modest and in an enclosed space such as the corridor they were inhabiting presently, it didn't do much more than provide privacy and not even from each other. Eli knelt down, removing his boots and hat, rolled his jacket up into a tight cylinder and used it as a pillow resting soundly on one of the bedrolls Dan had set up for them. Almost as if on command, the Morellian enforcer went to sleep.

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha nodded at the man. She also felt the pull of tiredness and was glad that there was a little camp to lay her head on. Alisha wasn't exactly used to sleeping in camps, but she certainly wasn't used to luxury. A bed roll would do nicely. She watched Eli seemingly falling asleep on cue, which she almost envied him for it. She wasn't one to just start sleeping like that, but she went to the unoccupied roll and laid herself down on her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms. She looked around a little, thinking of her father for a little. She wondered if he was ok, and how the workshop was doing.

"Go to sleep, you silly girl, or I will hit you on the head with the hydrospanner!" she imagined her father would say to her, with a wide grin on his face. Alisha giggled softly, then with a barely audible sigh, turned to her side in a fetal position. As her eyes slowly closed, she wondered what embarrassments she'd have to face the following day.

Alisha's sleep did not start well, however. As she relived the moment her friend was taken by slavers on Tatooine in her dreams, Alisha twisted and turned in her bedroll, frowning and softly whimpering. With a sudden shiver, Alisha opened her eyes and sat up straight, breathing heavily. She wiped the sweat off her brow with her elbow, and took a few moments to regain her breath. She looked around, and was relieved to see that the captain was still sleeping. She heard Dan walking around, the sound of his step faintly echoing across the corridor. Wiping away the few tears she felt on her cheeks, she lays back down, turning her back to the captain. Although that dream shook her, she was determined to still try and sleep as much as she could. It wasn't the first time she'd had that dream either. She made a mental note to do something about it after her training was complete. Slowly, her eyes started to close once more, until sleep finally took over her.

 

[Elijah Hardin]

Eli awoke with a start. Dan had emitted a loud klaxon to rouse them just before the droid loosed a rocket. The subsequent explosion made the floor shake. Shots rang out from the YVH's carbine as he shouted back to the tent. His vocoder's volume increased but he was not panicked.

"Red Sun scouts. To arms."

A YVH was a challenge for your standard Jedi or Sith to defeat. It was unlikely that Dan really needed any help, however it would be foolish and costly if the droid to refused assistance if it were literally sleeping right next to him. The droid had emptied the magazine of his carbine. The rocket had forced the scouts to cover and he was keeping them pinned with the carbine fire. At least until he had emptied the cartridge.

Hatless, bootless and without his jacket Eli emerged from the tent with the closest weapon he could find. The bow. Eli rounded the corner that Dan had ducked behind to reload and drew back the string, a fresh arrow nocked. The scouts were emerging from the cover and advancing, one speaking into a wrist mounted communicator. If word got out, there would be reinforcements, or a heavier strike later. The Red Sun wasn't a group of thugs and idiots. They were well coordinated and lethal. Eli loosed his arrow and it went through the forearm of the scout, the communicator and his mouth. Eli tucked back behind the corner and smiled, pleased with himself. Dan had finished reloading and popped back out putting more fire down range. Eli nocked another arrow...

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha woke up instantly at the sound of Dan firing, and got up quickly, and in an agile manner, when the floor shook. Her hair was messed up from rolling and twisting on the floor, and she didn't have shoes on, although she didn't take off her jacket before sleeping, but that didn't matter now.

"Red Sun scouts. To arm"

She heard Dan say loudly, and trying hard not to panic, she looks around her quickly. Spotting the carbine that she was using for practice the day before, she runs to it and grabs it just as quickly, then looks up and sees Dan and Eli crouched behind a corner of the corner. Eli was shooting his bow and hit one of the scouts. She sprinted as fast as she could to the other corner and crouched. Before she could get there, she had just enough time to spot another scout pointing his weapon at her. It was fortunate that she did, because she very quickly twisted her body sideways, so the shot brushed past her right arm, but caused no significant damage. Once she was in cover, she took a second to recover her breath, and further trying not to panic.

She looks at her arm, and saw that the leather was bruised, and felt a little sore, but it was not urgent. She had no intention of acting like a coward, she needed to help. Very carefully, but swiftly, she poked her head out of her corner, slightly, immediately retreating after a second. After a few times of this, Alisha took mental note of the position of the remaining scouts that were trying to advance. She checked that the carbine was loaded, which it was, and waited a few seconds after Dan and Eli shot, so that the scouts would be getting up from their cover. She took a step out of cover, inhaled and aimed straight down the corridor to the nearest scout that was just beginning to take aim at Eli's corner. She exhaled as several shots fired out of the carbine, one hitting the nearest scout on his shoulder, and then Alisha immediately took cover again, feeling the hit of a shot from another scout past her head..

"Dam that was close..." Alisha whispered, again trying very hard not to panic, while she regained her breath and listened to the scouts movements. Who were these people, she wondered, but she knew there was no time for that now. She looks over to Dan and Eli briefly to see if they were alright, while checking the scouts with her head a few times.

 

[Elijah Hardin]

Alisha had responded just as fast as Eli and The Captain was impressed. With minuscule training she had adapted, learned, applied, and flourished. She had proved herself an extremely adept individual. Eli shook his admiration from his thought processes. He was going to put this next arrow through someone. With a menacing, smiling snarl he rounded the corner he had been covering behind. The bow thwocked and a bloodcurdling scream could be heard as a scout was felled while he tried to advance, the arrow protruding from the scout's back. Eli stepped out from cover in a brash inflation of bravado. He stood directly in the line of fire and started forward confidently. He counted positions, three left. He walked to the first one arrow nocked. The scout burst from cover to take an aimed shot and Eli's arrow ricocheted off of his rifle and through his shoulder. His closest compatriot fired wildly from cover in Eli's direction, a few bolts coming close to ending Eli. The Morellian calmly nocked another arrow and sent it through the finger guard of the scout's carbine severing his finger. He rolled out from cover and was met with a well aimed shot from Dan behind him, Dan's bolt narrowly missing Eli's thigh as it thudded into the scout screaming on the floor. The last stood up to challenge Eli and roared, throwing his weapon down and charging. Eli hadn't time to nock another arrow before the scout would have reached him. The Morellian dropped his bow and took two large advancing steps to meet him mid charge with a diving head-butt. With a loud crack of bursting cartilage and bone the scout fell backwards fast to the permacrete floor. The Captain broke his fall by slapping his forearms on the ground then pushing himself into a roll on top of the downed scout and with one punch finish and one punch to ensure unconsciousness.

Eli stood up over him and turned back to Alisha and Dan, noting the pained man propped up on the wall applying pressure to his shoulder where the arrow had landed. Eli casually approached him, leaned the man forward and yanked the arrow out through the back of his shoulder, removed his shirt and applied pressure through it to his wound. Eli caught the flask before he had realized Dan had thrown it, lifted his shirt from the wound, poured the whiskey over it and handed the flask to the man, reapplying the pressure from over his shirt. Glancing up at Alisha and Dan Eli asked.

"Everyone else okay?"

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha was still crouching with her weapon raised when she saw Eli knock another arrow. The scream that followed told her one of the scouts was down. She then peeked through the corner again, and was ready to take another shot, when she saw Eli suddenly just step out of cover and advance, straight towards the scout. She raised her eyebrows in surprise at the scene that followed.

"Damn he's.." She didn't have time to finish her thought, when the last scout charged the captain...as the two collided, the noise was quite loud. "Wow.." she whispered.

Alisha, seeing that there was no one left capable of fighting back, broke her cover by standing up and stepping sideways, but not too far just in case new scouts appeared and she'd have to get back to cover again. While Eli roughly dealt with the broken man propped against the wall, Alisha looked around, at the other end of the corridor,and listening for noises indicating the presence of more scouts. Satisfied that for the moment, the coast seemed clear, Alisha stepped forward a little, still holding her carbine on the side of her body. She nodded at Eli's question.

"Ye..all good.." She turned to Dan, but he didn't seem to be touched so she smiled at the droid, before turning her attention back to the injured man. She wasn't sure if Eli was going to interrogate him, so she stepped near Eli and looked carefully at the armor he was wearing. Alisha hadn't seen this particular group before. She stood silent as she regained her breath and calmed herself again, looking around a few times still to be safe.

 

[Elijah Hardin]

Eli nodded, holding pressure on the Red Sun scout's shoulder. The scout handed back the flask.

"Thank you."

Took the flask and a pull from it, tucking it in the waste-band of his pants. He was still formally undressed from the night before. He stayed knelt over the man. Dan had come over to take over medical duties bringing with him a medkit and supplies. Eli took a step back as the droid took his place. The Captain took a step back and reviewed the corridor and the death that lay there. Looking at the man he queried,

"Was that entirely necessary?"

"We heard firing and assumed you were a danger."

"I'm Elijah Hardin, Captain of the Morellian Enforcers, what's your name? Where are you from?"

"Morellian eh? My name is Korvo Stallic. I'm originally from Cestus, of the old royal family."

Eli stroked his beard and thought to himself, "Why would a nobleman fall in with the Red Sun?" Quickly he realized it wasn't his business. Still, it was an interesting scenario.

"How would you like a job? A meaningful job. One where you can be paid well and feel good about what you're doing?"

Korvo considered for a second, looked at Dan fixing his wounds.

"You show mercy, some see it as a weakness. My family always taught me it was a great strength. I could follow a man like you, under one condition."

The Morellian held his hand out in a gesture to continue.

"Help me free my family from the Imperium."

"No promises, but we can work out those details later. An ally earned is an enemy defeated." Eli turned to Dan, "Get him to Suze, see to his wounds and we'll break camp and meet you there." Looking at Alisha, Eli frowned "Sorry to cut our training short. We can continue in the cargo bay of my ship if you please."

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha slowly approached and watched in silence as the captain tended to the man and conversed with him. The fact that he did all of that, plus on top of that offered him an honest job, was a testament to the man's character. Alisha was in awe, and her mouth slightly open at the surprise. She shut her mouth and looked over at the injured man with empathy when he mentioned he wanted to free his family from the Imperium. Alisha understood having to do things to survive good people wouldn't normally do. She was lucky enough not to have had to do anything drastic back on Tatooine, but many many people around her did. It was good that they didn't kill this man.

"An ally earned is an enemy defeated" Alisha nodded at that statement and smiled. That sentence summarized how lucky she felt at that moment to have met the captain when she did. There were not enough people in the galaxy that thought like that. took a mental note of those words. She'd make sure she'd always remember them, whenever she was in a fight.

Alisha turned to Eli again when he addressed her.

"It's ok, no issues...I will help dismantling the camp and I'll follow." She then turns to the injured man, offering him a friendly smile. Something, she thought, he may not have been accustomed, not for a while at least. Alisha also wasn't one for holding grudges. Yes the man almost shot her, but she never believed in killing people without a good reason, nor continuing the fight beyond what was reasonable. He seemed like a decent man anyhow.

"Alisha, by the way." And with that, she turned around and started to unpack the camp.

 

[Elijah Hardin]

They made their way simply to the ship after breaking camp and passed by Korvo sleeping in the quaint infirmary on Susannah. Eli led Alisha around the ship giving her a brief tour that ended in the cargo hold. Eli took off most of his clothes, leaving just his pants, belt and undershirt. He realized he needed a sanisteam and blushed a little as he was about to engage in hand-to-hand combat instruction and Alisha would most definitely agree with the sentiment. Shrugging it off as a casualty of a firefight and taking solace in the fact that he was a gruff dashingly good looking smellyperson he carried on bravely.

"Warm yourself up, stretch some and pardon me for smelling like a banthas poopshoot. We'll start training in five minutes and continue for an hour or so, then get some grub."

Eli walked over and pressed the communications contact on the wall. "Beata, can you send Torie down here. I need a dummy to demonstrate some wicked-cool teras kasi moves on."

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha liked the inside of Suzannah. It was practical. More than her own ship. After the brief tour, Alisha looked around the cargo hold. It was much bigger than her own ship. Clearly a proper smuggler's ship. Alisha blushed a bit when Eli took stripped to his pants and undershirt. It showed he worked out. He was quite fit..and now that Alisha thought about it, quite good looking... Alisha looked down briefly, and shuffled ever so slightly. She needed to get over this shy business though, she thought, so looked up again immediately. Can't act like this when fighting imps, after all. His comment on his smell though made her feel easier. She chuckled. He is a funny man. It's true that there was a faint odour emanting from him, but it really wasn't that bad. Not for Alisha anyhow. She was used to worse.

"Nah, it's alright. There are worst smells on Tatooine..especially near cantinas.." Alisha said casually, after the captain called for Torie. She smirked, thinking that Torie seemed to have been his favourite punching bag or something, the way he called him, but said nothing about it. She then herself also took off her boots, but since she was only in casual clothing, left everything else on, and started some light stretching, especially her legs. The cool metal of the floor was sort of nice, for Alisha.

"I mean, imagine the smell of bantha fodder, piss and vomit, all together....." Alisha grinned, then shook her head remember that very foul smell.