Caf and Consequences

[Darth Kravos]

Another day in paradise. The smell of sewage and deathstircks stung at his nose as he made his way down the streets of the under-levels of Coruscant. It really was one of the lowest pits of society where the sun didn't shine and the general mood was one of doom and despair.

Kal could sense the myriad of negative emotions that surrounded him even now and he pushed it out of his mind, closing himself off to the almost entirely negative feelings that surrounded him. Now was not the time to be consumed with everything that went on around him, he had a very specific job down here. Intelligence had pointed to some sort of a slaver's ring that was operating out of these lower levels, kidnapping young women off the streets for things that Kal would really rather not think about. For his part, he was more than willing to hunt down these pieces of trash.

On top of the unpleasantness of being down here, he was also not entirely sold on being paired with a newly Knighted Jedi who he'd never met before. The possibility that she had been put with him for the purpose of being bait for the slavers wasn't lost on him, or perhaps that was just his own mind that went that route. The Jedi wouldn't put her here for that purpose would they? He didn't know, but what he did know was that he needed to find his new partner.

Of course, normally he would have met up in a cantina, but given that he was relatively certain she wasn't old enough to be in a cantina, he had had to reevaluate. Their pre-determined meeting area was instead a small diner where he ordered himself a cup of caf as he waited, pushing the sleeve of his leather jacket up a bit to check the chrono on his datapad.

 

[Andraste]

Of course as a newly minted Knight, Alais was overly eager to prove herself. She knew there was a rendezvous point, but she wanted to be a step ahead and get more information on the slavers instead. She wasn’t told at all that she was to be used as bait, of course. She confidently walked towards the known areas where the kidnappers tended to dwell.

She had the profile of a rodian with a specific tattoo on the side of his face. After roaming through the streets by herself, she spotted said Rodian after a moment. Alais quickly got out her comm and excitedly sent a message over to her would-be partner…someone named…Kale? Like the salad? She shrugged as she sent a message, “Master Kale. This is Knight Alais Drast. I’ve spotted the target in the Lower City right next to a local exotic restaurant called Thai Fighter. Over.”

She began to creep closer when she had a sudden bad feeling at the pit of her stomach. Unable to differentiate between whether it was a trigger in the Force or just bad sushi, she shrugged and kept moving. Within moments, she felt hands grab her from behind. Alais let out a scream as a hand was closed over her mouth and she struggled with all her might.

She managed to kick one of the men in the nads by driving her knee straight up, but her left hand fiddled with trying to get to her saber. Before she could do anything, two other men had pounced on her and took her clear off the street and through an alley. The only thing she could manage to do was click on her comm so her partner would hopefully hear the scuffle and know that they were already off to a great start.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal sat there sipping his caf with a lazy sigh as he checked the time again. His partner still hadn't shown up and his foot was beginning to tap impatiently. A voice suddenly rang out in his ear and he arched an eyebrow as she mentioned that she had spotted their target. Wait, had she just called him Kale or was that a bad connection? He shook his head and rolled his eyes, standing as he tossed some credits on the table to cover his drink.

Copy that, Alais. I'm heading your way, hold up until I'm there, he said even as he checked his datapad for the directions to the "Thai Fighter." It should have been right around the corner which was a plus. He moved at a brisk pace, pushing past the people of the streets until his comm snapped to life again. He squinted as he tried to figure out what he was hearing. The horror of realization settled over him as he realized it was his partner in a fight.

He turned from brisk walk to full sprint, pushing people out of the way as he barreled down on the location marked on his datapad. His heart was pounding the way it did right before a fight, lightsaber hilt in his hand as he pulled to a stop. He didn't know exactly where she was but he reached out with his senses. He was immediately hit once again with the senses of despair and anger around him, but as his mind ran through the people around him, he sensed a greater sense of adrenaline and the smell of a fight.

He charged toward the alleyway, saber flashing to life as he made it but saw no one. Where are you!? he said, hoping she could hear him through the comm still and give him a signal of where she was.

 

[Andraste]

She was still busily putting up a fight as she was dragged away. Alais quickly thought of how to relay the information and began to yell, “How dare you carry me off to a warehouse by Club Zeta! I-“ Before she could say more, Kale’s voice buzzed through the comms and her captors immediately picked up on the noise. Alais sighed, realizing that she was shit out of luck now. One of the men snatched the comm and tossed it aside.

A blindfold was put over her eyes and a gag in her mouth, and she began to focus to rely on the Force alone. However, with all this panic going on, she had a difficult time calming her mind. Alais squirmed and fought, her hands rapidly bound behind her back. She was forced to remain on her feet as the men around her scurried about.

For a moment there was silence as the men were convinced they had bagged her. She had stopped fighting, and she could hear them mutter to one another about how much she would sell for.

“I don’t know.. she’s very scrawny. No curves.”

“Yea but you know how he likes ‘em young. This one will fetch a pretty price.”

Alais tried not to vomit and she called upon the Force to aid her movements. Without warning, she hopped up and looped her arms underneath her legs. Being very tiny and flexible, she had no problem accomplishing this task with the aid of the Force. First she quickly yanked the blindfold and gag off, and that immediately alerted the others.

She kept scurrying backwards as she called the hilt to her joined hands, igniting the blade. Alais glared at one of the men as he began to rush at her, calling upon just enough energy to blast him back with one of her hands. This action immediately spooked the men, and they began to scramble in different directions.

At first, Alais was pleased to see this. However, she remembered that their entire mission had been to apprehend these people. She cursed under her breath, chasing after them with her hands still bound, “Hey! Get back here! You said I’d fetch a pretty price!!”

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal heard her yelling through the comm about her location and his eyes darted around until he caught sight of the sign for Club Zeta, then the warehouse nearby. He dashed for it without hesitation as the door slid open in front of him. He was immediately met by blaster fire from a pair of guards inside and he swung his saber around to send one of the bolts flying into the wall as he ducked behind a pallet of nearby crates.

Moments later, the gunfire stopped and he saw a tattoo-faced Rodian running like the devil was on his heels. Immediately behind him was a girl shouting about... how pretty she was? That was odd, but he didn't question it, leaping out from behind the crate and into the Rodian's path. The green-skinned alien came to a grinding halt with wide eyes as he realized he was stuck between two Jedi.

Kal moved forward, swinging his saber down at the blaster swiveling to fire at him and severing the barrel, leaving glowing metal behind. Even as he was about to bring his saber around to take the Rodian's leg off, a riot control slug round hit him in the kidney. Terrible pain shot through him and stumbled forward from the impact. He hadn't seen the second slaver behind him and no doubt the non-lethal tool was used to keep their captives in line without permanently harming them, but it was still horribly unpleasant. He groaned and looked to the girl, hoping she had had the time to get caught up and that she would be able to avoid a similar shot from the other slaver who had just shown up. Even now, he was swiveling to aim at Alais. Watch out!

 

[Andraste]

As Kale or whoever entered the scene, she thought he was another slaver. However, she spotted his saber at once and realized it was her partner, “About time!” She was outwardly annoyed that he appeared to take his sweet time getting here. As she saw him go to take off the Rodian’s leg, she gasped, “Hey! We shouldn’t be going for such painful attacks!” However, as she spoke, she saw Kale take a slug.

Alais’ eyes went wide at the sight and she moved closer to the man, crouching for a moment to touch her binds against his saber to cut through them. She sprang back up, barely jumping to the side before the slaver fired off another round. She yanked at his legs with the Force, causing the man to topple on his back.

She chased after the Rodian, gaining on him quickly to strike him with her saber. It was set to stun and the hit immediately made him freeze. She swung her foot out to make him drop to the ground on his face, the other slaver getting away. Alais quickly sat down on his back to pin him in place, suddenly hitting the side of his head to knock him out cold, “Phew..”

Alais looked up as she saw the other slaver get away, sighing in dismay. With the Rodian, hopefully they had all they needed to crack down on the ring. She rose to her feet and walked back towards her partner, looking around for his injury, “Are you all right?” Her eyes were wide with surprise and it was clear she hadn’t seen actual combat too often, “Ahem.. the threat has been neutralized, Master Kale! We need to report back to base at once and take him in for questioning!” That was what she was supposed to say, right? That was how she had been trained. She was still giddy at the prospect of being on an actual mission that involved hunting bad guys.

 

[Darth Kravos]

The pain began to slowly subside as his partner came over to cut her binds and was off again. She managed to finish off the slaver in a flash, slightly stunned at her comment about not hurting him so much. Taking his leg off was mild compared to what had happened in battles. The war was brutal and he had to wonder if she'd not seen any of it yet. It would make sense if she hadn't.

He groaned and turned to see the other man running off and Alais cracking the Rodian in the side of the head. His saber hissed and snapped off as he made his way over to an overly boisterous Jedi Knight. He would have smiled were it not for the slight grump that he now had from being shot in the back. He ran his hand over his face as he pulled out a pair of flex cuffs and bound the unconscious man's hands behind his back.

Nice to meet you, Alais, I assume. It's "Kal" actually, he corrected kindly, reaching out a hand. Good work catching this scumball, he added. He thought about what she said about taking him back to base but paused before replying. We could... but, uh, we haven't really cracked this syndicate, right? And I'm sure there are still girls that need to be freed, right?

He glanced down at the unconscious Rodian, thinking about what they could do instead. What say you that we go chase down the remainder? See what we can get out of our... "friend" here and see if we can get these girls some help? I don't think they should have to wait while we report back.

 

[Andraste]

Alais was glad to see Kal didn’t hold her earlier outburst at him against her. She gladly shook his hand, watching as he pulled out the cuffs to bind the man. What a rookie mistake on her behalf! She didn’t even have a way to bind him, and she had relied solely on knocking him out. His comments about going back to base baffled her. Alais looked from him and then down to the datapad she had that had their orders, “But um… the…. Mission was just to.. capture the Rodian..” She was obviously flustered, not at all used to ever stepping out of line.

“I really don’t think it’s appropriate to breach protocol, Master,” She chewed on her lip nervously, not used to talking to a superior like this, “But um..” She couldn’t deny that simply leaving the captive women behind seemed very un-Jedi like. In the end, she sighed, “Well, you’re wiser than I am, so you know what’s best.”

Satisfied with that logic, she nodded to herself and helped with dragging the Rodian away. It was only now that she took in sight of the warehouse. Her heart was still racing from the ordeal and she despised how helpless she felt. She helped drag the man to a side room, crouching down to smack him around a bit till he came to.

At once, he began to shout, but she clasped a hand over his mouth, “Cut it out! We just want information!” The Rodian grimaced and spat on her face right as she removed the hand. Alais gasped and slapped him out of pure instinct. She scurried back and looked at Kal, “Did you see him?! He just spat on my face! He can’t do that!” Exasperation was clear in her voice and the Rodian began to chuckle to himself.

Anger boiled within her, but she reminded herself it was not the Jedi way to get wrapped up in rage. She turned to Kal instead, “Um… why don’t you go ahead with the questioning. I’ll..observe….” She wanted to sink into the walls and become invisible.

 

[Darth Kravos]

It was a bit odd to Kal to have her calling him Master, but then, if she was a fresh Knight, the concept that she was technically his equal now must have been foreign to her. You can just call me Kal. We're both Knights now, right? he said, offering another smile and being as nice about it as he could. It wasn't exceptionally difficult to treat people kindly, so long as they weren't the type that were trying to kill you, and this Alais seemed sweet enough.

It was almost funny as she seemed so flustered about the sudden proposal to change plans. If she was a "follow the rules" type, that could cause some issues since Kal was anything but. Willing, ready, and able to do the right thing, but not always one for protocol. Splendid, he said when she agreed. He wasn't overly eager to leave anyone down here.

He followed her into the other room, helping drag the Rodian along until he came to his senses. He saw the alien spit in the girl's face and could feel the anger rising in her. Not very Jedi-like, though he noted how she quickly brought it under control. He might have smiled were he not annoyed at the disrespect that the Rodian had just shown. So perhaps annoyance wasn't very Jedi either, but he didn't let it effect him too much.

As she stepped away, he moved forward, looking at the Rodian. He gritted his teeth together, not particularly caring whether this man made it out of here alive. That in and of itself he would never speak to other Jedi, but compassion for predators like this one wasn't his strong suit. He hunted men like this and couldn't seem to find any caring for them inside himself. He reached out to the Force, and touched the Rodian. He could feel fear and anger inside him, but also a quiet confidence as if he knew the Jedi wouldn't - or couldn't - kill him.

He extended his hand, asserting his own will over the alien. You will tell us where you have left the prisoners. The Rodian drew his head back. I... will... No I won't! he shouted in defiance. You ain't strong enough to take over my mind, Jedi, he spat the final word with outright contempt.

Kal pursed his lips and drew back to stand, looking at the man and weighing their options. While the objects on the man may give a clue to the location, Kal was wary to use his gift unless he absolutely had to. First, he had another route to go. He wandered over to Alais and glanced down at her. I think together, we can get him to give up the whereabouts, he said. You feeling up to it? he asked.

Before she could respond, a slight beeping reached his ears followed by a thunderous boom. One of the doors blasted open and Kal was nearly thrown from his feet. The Rodian wasn't so lucky and had a large chunk of shrapnel land in his arm. A hail of gunfire flew through the door, aimed at nowhere in particular as it slapped into the walls nearby.

 

[Andraste]

Alais was still angrily wiping spit off her face when she realized that Kal was running into trouble with the Rodian as well. That made her feel slightly better as she wasn’t completely inept. She glared at the man, wanting nothing more than to deck him in the face. As Kal asked for her help, she gazed at him in surprise. Tricks of the mind? She had practiced it in her lessons, but she had never applied it in the real world.

Gulping audibly, she nodded in response, not wanting to seem like a failure. She focused and began to coil Force energy around the Rodian’s mind. She barely had to time to do anything further when the gunfire exploded around them. Alais had been focusing too much to see it coming and she was completely caught off guard. She haphazardly ignited her saber, almost shooting the blade through Kal. She hoped he didn’t notice the near miss as she scrambled backwards.

As blaster bolts shot towards her, she barely managed to deflect them back, “What the hell is going on?!....Oh sorry for cursing Master!” She yelled both sentences at the top of her lungs as she attempted to see through the smoke from the explosion. The Rodian was on the ground howling in pain.

“THE LASER SWORD FREAKS ARE IN THERE!”

“Smoke ‘em out!”

Smoke grenades rolled into the room they were in, quickly releasing thick smoke that would burn their lungs. Alais scrambled back till her body hit the opposite wall, hands fumbling around till she felt a small closet behind her. She opened the door, “In here!” She jumped inside. It was barely enough room to fit her, let alone the two of them.

Alais ignited her saber and lifted it above her to spot an air duct above, “Through there!” She shoved her saber up into vent covering to make it collapse. Hopefully with his help, the process would go quickly. She switched off her saber and called the Force to herself, using it to propel her upwards till she hooked her hands on the lip of the air duct. She quickly climbed in, turning around to help Kal up. They only had mere seconds before their attackers realized the smoke out method wasn’t working and they barged in.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal's lips turned up in a quirk at her apology, almost forgetting his place here and finding the comment oddly amusing despite their surroundings. Shouting pulled him back to the here and now and he was forced to scramble away as he heard the hiss-snap of a smoke canister releasing. It was of little avail, though, as there was no other exit - or so it appeared.

The call of his comrade caused him to turn, eyeing a small closet that certainly wouldn't be large enough for two of them. Nevertheless, the young knight was carving a path through in no time as Kal raised both hands to the rapidly expanding gas. It stung at his eyes and they began to water but he held his breath and reached out to the Force, holding the mist at bay and hoping her plan was quick.

In no time, he heard her calling to him once more and he turned. She had managed to carve a path out through the air vent and he wasted no time following up after her. The space was tight at best, but he was able to make it through, grasping her hand with one hand and the vent with the other as he hoisted himself up.

The crack of a blaster bolt hitting the wall alerted him that their escape had been discovered, but it was too late. The two Jedi were in a tight space that left little room for maneuvering or rapid escape. Go, we need to get out of here, he said with a hint of urgency in his voice. There was a fork in the vents ahead and he cut his way through, revealing a much longer drop to the warehouse floor below. We need to get out of here before they catch up, he said, and without another moment's hesitation, dropped to the floor below. The Force aided his descent and he landed without a scratch, looking up for his partner.

They had precious few moments to flank their attackers before they realized where they had gone and Kal motioned around the corner, indicating their need to hit their enemies before they had a chance to regroup or set up some new trap. Even now he could hear their shouting about the "freaks with laser swords" and where they had gone.

 

[Andraste]

Alais peered over the edge, glancing down at the drop below and gulped, “Um… I’m afraid of heights..” She chewed on her lip in shame, hesitating and still pausing up on the vent. Anxiety and panic struck her at once, and she knew she was being absolutely pathetic. She kept looking down and reminded herself that she had the Force to cushion her fall. Alais had no problem climbing upwards, but looking down made her queasy.

“I’ll find another place…” She meekly spoke, beginning to draw back into the vent to find another way to drop down. She heard scuffling below them then, realizing that the others were coming in to corner Kal. Could she really abandon him like that? She may not have known him well, but he was still her partner on this mission. It wasn’t very Jedi-like to ditch someone like that!

She could hear blasterfire below and he had several people shooting at him at once. They had missed their window for flanking and it had all been because of her. Hating herself, she saw people pool around below and decided to jump down. She gathered up her wits, dropping suddenly from above with her saber swinging out in an arc. Thankfully, she had the element of surprise as her saber stunned the man directly below her, and she whirled it around to thwack another right in the face.

Alais didn’t stop there, dropping to a crouch and swinging the saber out to stun the legs of yet another man to make him drop. Through it all, she cried out as a bolt grazed her side. She winced through the pain, really hating that she was having to fight. No matter how much training she had been through, nothing ever prepared her for pain.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal looked up, thoroughly uncertain of what she was doing when he heard her muttering about being afraid of heights. His mouth dropped open a little bit and he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Where was she going to go? How was she going to get down? He didn't particularly have any more time to think about it now, though. Their opportunity to outmaneuver their enemy had come to a close and his blade flashed to life once again as he batted one of the bolts away.

He realized quickly that he was going to be on his own and began backing up even as he saw his enemies fanning out in front of him. He batted more rounds away but they seemed to be coming faster and he wasn't going to be able to hold his own for long. Just when he was about to be overwhelmed, he saw Alais drop below, swinging her saber out at one of the slavers. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the barrage lessened.

Alarm flooded him as he saw a bolt graze her. An instinct kicked in and he sprinted toward her, sliding to a stop in front of her and batting another round away. For one reason or another he had a strong instinct to protect her. Perhaps as the elder of the two, he felt it his responsibility to watch over her or maybe it was simply that he had an overactive protective instinct in general.

He glanced back to see if she was safe. Are you okay? he asked quickly, his blade swinging around and slashing across his opponent's chest. Unlike Alais, he had no qualms with killing. Not that he typically sought it out, but he was not above defending himself or his comrades. We need to retreat, he said, a hint of concern in his voice at the seemingly growing numbers of enemies.

A small cylinder rolled into the center of the room near them and Kal could barely register in time what it was. He used the Force to push it away even as it detonated, his body moving between Alais and the detonation. He felt a dull impact in his right side as he was knocked back from the detonation, sprawling on the floor unceremoniously and probably into the younger Jedi. A warm, wet feeling spread very slowly from his side and he recognized it immediately as blood from a fragment of the grenade. It's slow expanse indicated that he wasn't bleeding badly, but their situation was getting worse.

Back... he managed to gasp out as he tried to push himself to his feet, ears still ringing from the noise of the detonation. We need to get back!

 

[Andraste]

Alais felt the stinging pain at her side and she was significantly slower to move as a result. Nevertheless, she kept fighting with her saber, still scared at being in such hostile combat. She glanced up to realize he was actually killing these people, the sight of it causing a pain deep in her chest. She wanted to scream at him to stop, but even she had a hard time focusing on that when she felt in so much danger.

There was nothing but hate in the eyes of their attackers, and she saw them as if in a different plane of existence. She felt hatred pulsate through them and she could glean that they wanted nothing less than to kill her. The thought struck her harshly and she was thrown into inner turmoil, barely hearing Kal as he asked if she were okay, “N-No…but I’ll live..” She meekly spoke as she kept fighting as much as she could.

She barely caught a glance of the small cylinder and Kal’s subsequent tossing of it. Nevertheless, the explosion went off and he harshly collided against her, sending them both flying back. Alais groaned in pain, stuck between a wall and Kal collapsed against her. As he moved, she glanced down at him in horror, “WE NEED TO GET OUT!” She echoed his words, unable to hear him over the ringing in her ears.

The explosion gave them a small lapse of time to duck into a corridor behind them. Alais thought quickly by closing the door behind them, jamming her saber into the joint to help fuse it shut. It would buy them a little bit of time to make their escape.

After moments, they were finally out of the warehouse and out in an alley. Alais was still wincing in pain, her ears ringing. Kal looked in even worse shape, and she felt guilty for most of it, “Why…why do they hate us so much?” She was still hung up on how she felt their presence and had little flashes into their minds, “I saw fear and so much…so much hate…” Alais was on the verge of tears. This was one of the most horrible experiences she had ever had.

“And…I failed my mission..” She thought back to the Rodian that was still back in the warehouse. They failed to break down the slaver ring and they had to run away with their tails between their legs, “How can I go back to Jedha after this…”

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal wasted no time following her as she ducked into the side hallway, using the detonation as cover for their escape. She fused the door quickly and he nodded to himself as his mind ran through ways to slow their enemy down. Yes, good, very good, his mind told him unproductively. He half-limped, half-ran out of the warehouse as they made it to an alleyway outside.

He looked at her and realized the shock of it all. This wasn't Kal's first battle, but this may well have been hers. He bent down, looking her in the eyes and gripping her arm reassuringly. The words didn't come easy and he knew they weren't safe yet, but he had to say something. It'll be okay. What kind of a reassurance that was, he wasn't sure, but he knew they needed to get out of harm's way before he discussed with her further. No doubt the shock of it all would be severe, but hopefully they could get to safety before the adrenaline wore off and it really hit her - and him - hard.

For now, time was not their friend. He holstered his lightsaber and pulled for her to follow him, making his way down the street and checking his side. There was still a sharp, but not strong pain there and he knew they needed to get off the streets soon.

He pushed his way into a nearby motel - sleazy and primarily built for a single purpose - but at least it would provide them cover. He got a dirty look from the person at the front desk when the man saw who was accompanying the older Knight, but he shrugged and handed over a key as Kal slapped credits on the counter.

He glanced back at Alais and motioned with his head, hurrying in and shutting the door behind them. The room smelled of stale deathsticks and alcohol, but at least it was "safe." He ran a hand through his hair, scratching his head as he plopped down in a chair and pulled out his medpack. You're hurt. Come here, he said curtly, realizing that he probably should take a gentler approach. We haven't failed our mission, he reassured her, remembering what she had said outside the warehouse. We're just regrouping. I don't quit that easily, he said, giving her a reassuring smile. He seemed oddly calm about what had just happened, and the fact that he was - compared to many Jedi - alarmingly unperturbed by violence was a fact that had caused more than a bit of introspection and self-doubt.

How are you feeling? he asked, pausing what he was doing to look her in the eye and try to gauge her, reaching out with the Force to give him that boost of reading people that he typically failed to have on his own.

 

[Andraste]

As they walked into the motel lobby, Alais couldn’t help but grimace at the smell. This place was grimy and disgusting and she had a bad feeling about everything here. A few of the other patrons walking around included fat, disgusting men with women wearing several pounds of makeup. Alais had never been to an area like this and she could only stare in wonder while pinching her nose from the smell.

The man across the desk gave Kal a disgusted look as he looked from him to her. The little gesture only quirked her curiosity, and she looked at Kal who kept a pokerface on. She noticed he had to slap on a few more credits before the man behind the counter would let them proceed. Alais followed him into their temporary shelter, glancing around at the rundown room. She yelped as a cockroach scurried across the floor.

As Kal harshly ordered her to come to him, Alais winced slightly. Nevertheless, she walked towards him, turning on her side to reveal where the wound from the blaster was. There was a nasty gash on her skin and it was clear this wasn’t a scar that would go away easily. Alais looked at him as he explained that they hadn’t failed the mission, “We can’t take that many people on,” She thought back to all the people in the warehouse, “And… why do they detest us so much? All we want to do is help but so many people want to not only hurt us but…see us dead.”

She recalled how he had no qualms with using his saber, “And why did you have to kill them? It’s because of things like that that people don’t trust Force users,” Her voice was getting slightly heated then, “A lightsaber isn’t a toy you use to cut through living beings like a hot knife through butter! You didn’t care at all that you killed so many!” Alais took the medpacks from him, walking over to tend to her own wounds, “If we behave like that, how are we any better than Ex-” She stopped right there, realizing that she was crossing a line. Not only was she yelling, but she was admonishing someone that was her superior in age and experience. Alais didn’t feel apologetic, however, glaring at him for a moment, “I hope you’re not expecting me to say sorry…because… I won’t!” Her confidence was fading.

 

[Darth Kravos]

We'll figure something out, he said, a quiet confidence in his voice that even he wasn't sure was actually real. He didn't know what they would do yet, but he knew he wasn't going to leave those girls to their fate, even if it meant he had to go back there and kill-- that wasn't a very Jedi line of thought, was it?

The line of thought was not made better by the fact that she was now lecturing him about killing the slavers. The same people that had tried to kidnap her and kill them both. He could feel a spike of anger inside but he gritted his teeth and took deep breaths. That wasn't the Jedi way either. But you'll take my medpack, he bit back, catching himself before saying anything more.

He took his jacket off, wincing at the pain as he did so before looking at the shirt beneath. Blood had stained the fabric, but besides needing new clothes, the damage didn't look too terrible: two small puncture wounds no doubt meant two small pieces of shrapnel. No doubt it would leave a small scar, but it could have been much worse: a grenade like that could have easily killed them both. He debated for a moment whether he should explain to her or simply let the comments stand, but since he couldn't patch himself up yet - as she'd seen fit to walk away with all of her medical supplies - perhaps he could get a few words in.

He paused a moment, measuring his words before speaking again. People don't trust us because they're always afraid of what they don't understand, and on top of that they don't know the difference between us and the Exiles. They see that a war is going on and they think it's just some religious feud. And maybe it was, but Kal had seen enough of the Exiles murderous slaughter to know that ignoring them wasn't the solution. Those guys, the ones I killed, they didn't leave us a lot of choice. It was kill or die, and they definitely aren't innocent. That is what makes me different from an Exile, he said, with a bite in his tone that clearly showed he didn't appreciate being compared to the enemy.

Whatever, think what you want about me, he finally said, opting to not argue anymore but clearly frustrated and perhaps hurt based on the grumpy and passive-aggressive tone. Instead, he occupied himself with his own wound, lifting his shirt up to see his side. He knew there was shrapnel in there and he wasn't sure how to get it out. He gritted his teeth knowing the unpleasant answer. Look, I need your help, he finally said after a full minute of trying to figure out how to do this on his own. He stood and walked over to her. I need you to... pull the shrapnel out, he said. He wasn't sure he could maintain the Force concentration required to do such a thing while in the inevitable pain he would be in.

 

[Andraste]

Alais glared at him as he spoke, “They can’t tell the difference because there isn’t one to see. Remember – even if they’re the bad guys, if we burst in using the same methods that they do to neutralize a threat, we’re no better than them,” She was done patching herself, still feeling the stinging pain from her side. This was certainly not something she was keen on getting used to, “There’s always a choice. Mercy speaks more boldly than forever silencing ever does.”

“Now more than ever we’re seeing the danger of the Dark side,” Alais turned to him, almost pleading with her eyes, “Can’t you see? We have to uphold and perpetuate what we learn. We can’t judge how innocent or guilty someone is and pass out executions! We can’t just..” She winced from the pain, her own argument faltering. She knew she hated those men back then and she wanted nothing more than to erase them from the galaxy. It was a dangerous littler sliver in her mind, and for a moment she felt oddly powerful. It would be so easy to just extinguish them like an errant flame. Alais quickly brushed the thoughts aside, “It’s just….you made it look…so easy..” There was a hint of fear in her voice as she looked at him.

Alais was pulled out of her thoughts when he nonchalantly lifted his shirt up, causing her to avert her gaze. Her face grew hot as she looked the other way, never having seen a boy do that before, let alone a fully grown man. She heard his grumpy voice mentioning that he needed her help and she grimaced. This was a terrible dilemma as they were both hurt, and she knew he truly did need the help.

With a sigh, she turned around and kept her gaze lowered, focusing only where his injuries were. Alais grabbed some of the tools from the pack, leaning in to see the damage, “This…will probably hurt,” She wasn’t very good at offering comforting words. She began to get to work, plucking the shards out and wincing as she watched the process. He was bleeding heavily and she quickly worked to help clean the wound. As she began to understand just how badly he had been injured, she felt a pang of guilt for lecturing him on top of it, “I think you need to rest. This is pretty bad.”

 

[Darth Kravos]

Kal wasn't sure if he should argue with her more, but opted not to. She had the luxury of thinking that way, but he'd seen battles. He'd seen what had happened and he wasn't going to roll over for the murderers of the galaxy. He sighed as he sat down in front of her and she began pulling out the tools to pry free the foreign pieces of metal.

Agonizing pain shot through his side as she dug in. He hissed in pain and gritted his teeth, fists clenched around the bed frame until his knuckles turned white. His eyes began to water and he shut them tight, focusing on the Force and distracting his mind with arbitrary facts about the body and the physiological explanations of pain. It didn't help much, but it was all he had to keep his mind occupied.

After what felt like an eternity, it was finally done and he looked down at the blood that had dripped over the sheets. Oh yes, because that wouldn't imply anything. He was breathing heavily when he looked at her, a faint dizziness taking over. Thanks... he said, his face beginning to turn pale before he unceremoniously passed out face-first onto the bed.

---​

When he woke up, his head was pounding and he felt not great, but with any luck she would have - no doubt awkwardly - cleaned up his injury and applied a bacta bandage. Either that or he would still be bleeding all over the bed.

It took him a moment for him to remember where he was and that there should have been... partner! He forced his eyes open and looked around for Alais, hoping that she was okay and berating himself for passing out. Not that there was much he could have done to prevent that. Alais!? The word came out more hoarse than as an actual call, but the room wasn't that big. If she was here and out of his view, she would still hear him.

 

[Andraste]

Alais began to panic as Kal started to fade away after plopping on the bed. She shook him a few times, “Hey! Come out of it! Can you hear me? Hello?” It was to no avail. She rolled him onto his back and saw his eyes roll to the back of his head as he began to pass out from the pain. Alais was left entirely alone and had to rapidly recall everything she learned about healing and using medpacks. She cleaned up his wounds as best she could, using the bandages to patch him up like how she was shown at the temple. It took significantly longer than she would be afforded out in the field, but in the end, it got the job done.

As he was out cold, Alais looked around for things to do, feeling alone and horribly out of place. After pacing back and forth for a moment, she walked back to look at him. He actually looked very peaceful when he was asleep, and she couldn’t believe that this was the same man that was so easily cutting people down. As she looked at him, she began to wonder whether he had internal struggles of walking the line between light and dark. Was that a struggle that every Jedi went through? Realizing that she had been staring too long, she shuffled out of the room.

---​

She was back a while later just in time for his startled cry, “I’m here,” Alais was carrying some questionable looking sandwiches and bottles of water. She tossed him a sandwich and a water, “I thought I’d get us some snacks to help us feel better,” Alais sat on the edge of the bed and began to unwrap her sandwich, “You know..they kept asking me ‘how much’ when I was out there. I was very confused. Then one creepy man tried to grab my...... anyway, I almost socked him in the face!” She took a bite of the sandwich and grimaced, “Eww…..” Alais put the sandwich down on the nearby desk, turning to face Kal, “Are you feeling better? I’m er… sorry for yelling at you earlier.”