Ask [Corsin] Talk Your Shit

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou had certainly not been expecting Ashla's transmission, but she wasn't unhappy about it. Negotiations ruined by none other than the idiot Zabrak himself, Darth Dragur? It was too good to be true. Since they were both already in the area, Malou had asked Ashla to meet her on Corsin so they could *hang out (*talk shit).

The Miralukan was waiting at the specified spaceport, dressed in inconspicuous clothing. This would be the first time the two had talked since Malou passed her trials and became a Champion. Nothing had really changed about the teen, other than the newfound sense of freedom she had. She could do pretty much whatever she wanted; she was an adult now. It was a tad overwhelming though. Not even three years ago she was constantly under the watching eye of her father.

Sent at 13:34
I'm over by the fountain.

Malou put her datapad back into her pocket and sat down on the cold stone. The air was a bit frosty, but it wasn't all that cold outside. Once Ashla got here, they could run off to find a restaurant or a bar or something to sit and chat.

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla left Ploo II rather pissed, which had resulted in her sending a slew of messages to the few Sith she knew, messages that could very well have been described as "whiny". From what everyone had explained to her, this was a way to vent, to let off some steam. So when Malou responded saying that she was nearby, relatively speaking, Ashla had gladly taken a slight detour to go meet the newly promoted Sith before meandering her way back to..not home, she didn't really have a place she could call home. Back to wherever she was asked to go.

Along the way she had tried another little distressing exercise, working on her ship. Or rather the dingy old freighter she had been assigned as part of her cover while in Free Worlds territory. Working on it gave her a sense of peace, allowed her to forget about all the things she could not control and allow her to focus on something she had complete power over. Something she could fix.

She was so caught up in fixing the atmospheric thruster that it was only when she received Malou's message that she remembered that she had planned to showed and change before heading out. But now that she was running late, all she could do was quickly wash her face, wipe most of the grease and grime from her hands, and rush out the ship. Still dressed in her old and worn out mechanic's outfit, she got more than a few looks as she ran through the spaceport towards the fountain.

It didn't take her long to spot Malou, and came to a stop near her, panting and barely able to string words together. "Hey...Sorry...late...fixing.." She gave up trying to get a coherent sentence out and dropped both hands to her knees as she took deep breaths and momentarily considered wolfing down some of the water in the fountain. But thinking better of it, she ultimately straightened up again, breathing much less ragged as she wiped away the sweat from her face, her solid sleeve leaving a smear of grease on her face.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." She finally greeted Malou with a smile, her breathing getting less and less raged by the second, "Was in a bad mood, so I started fixing the repulser, which them made me spot that the altitude thrusters were not aligned, which of course meant that the atmospheric thrusters needed tuning. It was a whole mess, forget about." She smiled again and shook her head as she realized she was rambling, something that seemed to happen more and more around people she was starting to get familiar with. "So," she said instead, with a mischievous smile on her face, "what's the protocol now that you're not longer one of us? Do I bow? Do I always walk behind you? Call you ma'am? You do look a little older than the last time we met, responsibilities weighing you down already?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

'There she is.' Malou watched as the Togruta ran up then dropped her hands to her knees to catch her breath. She waved her hand at Ashla's apology. Though the Miralukan would have preferred not to have waited so long, she wasn't really upset about it. Malou doubted she would ever tire of people watching. It was extraordinarily easy when people couldn't tell which way you were looking in the first place after all.

"It's no big deal," Malou assured Ashla once the acolyte stopped explaining herself away. A smile crept onto her lips when the Togruta moved on to asking what was "the protocol now." 'Protocol?' Malou couldn't recall ever doing anything Ashla listed to any of the champions she had interacted with when she was an acolyte.

"Last I checked I was still seventeen..." Malou lifted and rotated her palm as if she were checking for the wrinkles of an old woman on her skin. She laughed a moment later and lowered her hand. "I mean, we're the same age so I think it would be weird," was her answer to the question. It might've been asked in humor but Malou seriously didn't want Ashla acting weird around her because she'd passed her trials.

"You wanna go find somewhere to eat?" Malou would ask suddenly, jutting her thumb in the direction of the spaceport town outside. They could find somewhere to sit a bit out of the way so they could have at least a semi-private conversation.

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla perked up at Malou's question, and her earlier response. She had assumed that to be the case, but she had also realized that her time among the Cadre had left her more than a little stunted with regards to her social interactions, so it was always good to be sure.

Reaching for her datapad, she was about to bring up the list of restaurants she had looked up for this planet, but realized that she had left it on the ship. "Shoot!" She exclaimed, disappointment evident in her voice. "I had looked up this place, they sold what was supposed to be the best fried porg this side of the Perlemian Trade Route. But I forgot my datapad on my ship!"

Wracking her brain for the name, all she could remember was something to do with Kentucky, or Benlucky, whatever that was. "Never mind, let's just ask on the way, it's that famous I'm sure someone will know how to find it." With that she would start walking, out from the spaceport.

"So," she asked as they crossed the spaceport checkpoint and made it to the town proper, "how's life as a champion treating you? Bet you're not as weighed down by dumb superiors as you were before."

That soured her expression a little, reminding her of the reason why she had been so eager to connect with Malou.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"Fried porg? People eat those things?" There was a bit of genuine surprise in the Miralukan's voice. She wasn't sure if she was more surprised that people ate the beakless bird, or that Ahch-To wasn't the only place you could find the little things.

'I'm sure they taste like every other fowl out there.' Malou had certainly tried her fair share of exotic meats. Her father was a fan of importing animals for his chefs to serve on a platter. It was entirely possible she'd even had porg before, but if that were true, she wasn't told about it.

Malou followed Ashla through the checkpoint without much of another word. It was only when the Togruta asked about her "life as a champion" that the dark-skinned girl decided to speak again. She thought about Ashla's question for a moment first, though. Malou enjoyed the freedom of being a champion, but it was strange to have so much freedom. She chuckled at the last part of the Togruta's words.

"Yeah, it's nice that I don't have to listen to any idiot who managed to pass their trials."

Thankfully, Malou had avoided working directly under anyone she would consider an idiot. A certain zabrak was the closest she could think of, but since "Lord Dragur" was a lord now, he was technically still her superior.

"Plus, I can just do whatever I want. I mean, not anything, but I have a lot of freedom," she added after a pause. Even as an acolyte, she felt like she'd had a nice amount of freedom. Compared to her life before joining the Sith though, anything more than what she'd dealt with would've felt the same.

Before Malou could continue any further, a green-skinned Twi'lek appeared before the two girls. He extended out his arm, presenting the inside of his cape to them. The fabric jingled and clinked with all sorts of handmade jewelry as the fabric beneath them rustled from the movement of his arm.

"Hello ladies, could I interest either of you in a pretty piece to adorn yourselves with?" He gestured to a white and gold necklace of beaded flowers, then looked past Malou and directly at Ashla. "This would look so lovely on your orange skin, my dear!"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

She had wondered what it would be like to be a Champion, and Malou's words definitely highlighted some of the perks of the position. But a part of her wasn't sure if she herself was ready, and she assumed that till that voice of doubt went way she wouldn't be. Unless of course that doubt never went away. Of course she could just ask Malou about that, but something stopped her. That was almost tantamount to admitting weakness, and if there was one thing the Cadre had taught her it was to never show weakness.

That was when the Twi'lek accosted them as only a hungry salesman could, and Ashla's first instinct was to reach for a weapon, assuming that they were being attacked, but she relaxed once she realized he was just trying to show them his wares. "Really?" She asked noncommittally as he commented about the necklace going well with her complexion. Reaching forward with a hand, a hand still partly covered in grease and grime, she grabbed the necklace to let its links glide between her fingers. As she let it slip out of her hands, white petals now covered in grease, she smirked at seeing the Twi'lek's expression. As he frantically reached for something to clean the necklace with, Ashla let out a laugh. "Why don't you sort that out," she said as she sidestepped him, grabbed Malou's arm and started moving away from him, "while we sort this food situation out."

A small way down the streets, with the vendor behind them, Ashla leaned in to begin talking in a whisper. "You know this one time I had to kill a lady who operated an intelligence network made up entirely of beggars and street vendors. Had to pose as one myself to get in," she shook her head as she thought back on the time, visibly disturbed, "the places their hands went and how often they touched their goods. And they never washed their hands, never. "

She stopped and stared at her hands as she realized she herself had just handled that necklace, not to mention the grease and grime already on them.

"I should probably wash my hands before we eat."

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Malou tried not to take too much pleasure in the man's expression as Ashla handed the now-greasy necklace back to him. She had been a tiny little bit offended that he'd focused on her friend rather than herself though, so she was amused by it regardless. 'I mean, come on. She's all greasy. I clearly look like I have money.' The Miralukan assessed herself and her outfit for a second as she followed alongside Ashla. 'My sweater is probably worth more than his whole stock.'

Malou's lips tightened in disgust as Ashla told her story. The grossest thing Malou had done was wade through a swamp with Darth Veles, though he had been a marauder at the time. That still sounded more appealing than what Ashla had described.

"Ew," was her single-worded response. "Yes, definitely," was her two-worded response to Ashla's statement. Her Sight expanded out to survey the signs of nearby buildings, looking for restaurants that specifically sold fried porg. 'No... no... yes?' There was a place about three walking minutes away with a big sign advertising their wide range of options. That was a good place to try, Malou decided.

"Come on, I found a place." The Miralukan set off quickly in a straight path to the restaurant. Once they arrived, they would both be able to see that it was the sort of "seat yourself" place popular in busy spaceports. Malou was immediately sketched out by it, but she caught sight of fried porg on the menu, so she decided to suck it up.

"The bathroom is over there," Malou informed her Togruta friend with a hand gesture in said direction. She then began to look through the menu, which was double-sided and printed in Basic. A lot of the food was fried. A lot of the food was pretty cheap, too. Though she was hesitant, she figured she might as well try the fried porg. Once the waiter made his way over and took their orders, Malou would calmly fold her hands in her lap then turn her attention to Ashla.

"So," she began, "What all happened on Ploo?"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

After hitting the refresher to clean up, Ashla joined Malou at the table, quickly glancing through the menu to order what were likely the most greasy and items on the menu. She was trying to follow a faux-vegan menu based on the more conventionally vegan diet that was suggested on the Emryc Thorne Vlog, given Togruta weren't really built for a plant based diet, but given the occasion and the popularity of the fried dishes here she just had to skip the diet for a day.

"Not much really," she replied to Malou's question once the waiter was gone after collecting their order, "and that's the problem. I was supposed to be buying a Senate vote for the Sith, discretely backing the would be Senator. But before I could do much Darth Horns poked his way into the affairs and forgot all about discretion. Killed the meeting before it began," she picked up some of the bread that the waiter had brought over while taking the order and started tearing it apart, "and worst of all he blew my cover. Not much chance of going back there without broadcasting I'm a Sith, now that the bloody Senator knows my name and profession."

Leaving the massacred slice of bread alone, scattered all over her plate, she looked around for something else to distract herself with, giving up when she couldn't find much to keep her hands occupied. "I wonder if there's some of drop box where I can drop off complaints," she mumbled as she folded her hands and sat back in her seat with a grumpy huff, "hold people accountable for shit like this. Seems like only acolytes ever get punished for anything."

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

"Darth Horns?" That certainly got a chuckle out of the champion. "That must've been so frustrating. I'm sorry he came in and ruined everything for you." Malou thought the situation was absolutely hilarious. She felt bad for Ashla, yes, but the idea that such an egotistical zabrak such as Dragur could have this dangled above his head delighted her. The Miralukan certainly held a grudge against him, and she would jump at the chance to speak poorly on his behalf. "If he had not of fucked things up, I'm sure you would've had that in the bag too."

Ashla was right though. The lords seemed as if they could do whatever they wanted as long as it didn't personally offend the Empress. How much freedom did the lords have? Why were they never punished for royal screwups like Dragur's intrusion on Ploo? That could've been another planet under the Sith flag.

"You are one hundred percent right. He shouldn't be able to just get away with stuff like that. You could've gotten the Sith another planet."

Their food came out then. It was set, no, plopped down in front of them. The waiter disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Malou looked down at the fried porg dish she had ordered and tried not to turn her nose up at the greasy, fried animal. It smelled pretty good though.

"What did you get?" she asked of the Togruta across from her. Before Ashla had the chance to answer though, the Togruta would feel a tugging at her pant leg as a Rodian child tried to not-so-sneakily fish around in her pant pocket. Malou watched this unfold with an amused look on the lower half of her face as she waited for Ashla's reaction.

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

"That's sweet of you to say," Ashla replied to Malou's comment about her getting the Sith another planet, not as sure of that result as her friend, "but what can you do, we play with the cards dealt to us." Having heard that line in a holodrama she had seen recently, she was pleased that she was able to find a way to use the phrase in conversation. She was starting to get better at that, using phrases in the manner in which they were meant to be used.

She was about to answer Malou's question about her meal when she felt that hand at her side. Glancing down from the corner of her eyes, she didn't react as the hand reached into her pocket, and just acted oblivious. The Rodian pulled out a credchip from her pocket, and scuttled off as Ashla was describing her meal to Malou. "Fried platter," she said, rotating the oversized plate in front of her to get a look at the spread from all sides and listing items off as she spotted them, "porg, bantha, tarantula, and I'm not sure what these three are. Fish of some sort I think."

She was about to say more, when she felt another tug on her jumpsuit's pocket. This time it was a young human girl, probably having heard of the Rodian's success and rushed to try her luck. It surprised her that they were going for her and not Malou, given her blindfold. But she also wondered if Malou actually carried any cash on her person, she was rich, the sort of rich that probably never really worried about money to actually have any on them. So maybe the beggars just got lucky, but as Ashla tried her best to keep a straight face and act like she didn't notice the second thief, she felt something. A gentle tug from the girl who was trying to rob her. Acting on an instinct, Ashla picked up a pair of chopsticks and went to pick up a tarantula as she let out a whisper. "Other pocket." She noticed the girl freeze, and stare up at her, at which point she was greeted by a wink from the Togruta acolyte, who continued eating her food. The girl, probably a little surprised by the reaction, used to being threatened or worse when caught, froze for a moment or two. But when Ashla continued eating, effectively ignoring the thief, the girl decided to take action. Her hand went for another pocket on Ashla's jumpsuit, only for another whisper to stop her. "Not that one, the one below!"

As the girl scooped out another credchip from Ashla's pocket, and vanished into the surrounding crowd, Ashla finally turned her head to follow her through the crowd, before returning her attention to Malou. "Was I imagining things or was that girl using the Force?" Turning back to watch the girl vanish down an alley, taking note of where she went, she felt something that drew her towards the girl. A connection she could not make sense off.

"As a champion recruitment is within your purview, right? I've..I've got a feeling about this..."

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

The amused look on Malou's face disappeared when Ashla let the Rodian child disappear off with her credits without much of a reaction. She didn't say anything though, figuring that if Ashla didn't care then she didn't much care either.

It was unfortunate for Ashla that Malou was blindfolded because her eyes would've been the size of saucers at the size of Ashla's overflowing plate. The Togruta was able to name and point out each item, which was good because Malou couldn't tell the difference between the fried platter of food in front of her friend. With the amount of fried batter surrounding the food, it all looked the same. At the mention of tarantula, she piped up to comment. "On Serenno, we use a certain species' spider legs in a similar fashion to caviar!" Granted, spider legs weren't incredibly popular. She wasn't sure why a whole fried spider would be more palatable to the public than just a bit of crunchy, tasty legs.

When yet another child wandered up to try and pick Ashla's pockets, Malou just watched the interaction between the two with more curiosity. How is she going to react to round two? That thought came with an amused smile. As the little human girl finally slipped her fingers into the right pocket, Malou's smile slowly faded after the Miralukan felt the tiniest pulse in the Force. Oh? It seemed Ashla noticed it too.

"When she reached into your last pocket? Yes, I felt it too." Malou's Sight followed after the girl as she ducked and weaved her way out into the street and quickly away from the two. "You want to go after her?" Malou said this with a bit of surprise. She would not have thought Ashla would care, but she wasn't opposed to it. And yeah, it was in her preview, wasn't it? "Do you want to eat first?" Regardless of whether they finished eating first or left right away, Malou recalled the direction she'd run off in. They would at least be able to search off in the right direction.

The girl had scrambled off to the North, away from the spaceport the two had met at and further towards the inner city. That made sense. Spaceports were probably the best place to pick pockets. Not only were there hundreds to thousands of people walking around, but they were more likely to be passerby's that wouldn't know the city well enough to follow. Fortunately for Ashla and Malou, the Force made following little thieves a bit easier.

Malou led Ashla through the dense crowds. Her Sight extended ahead, weaving and ducking much like the child, as she searched for the urchin. Truth be told, Malou had never used her Sight to try and single out a specific person in such a dense crowd. Though her furrowed brow was concealed, Ashla would easily be able to see the level of concentration this required the Miralukan. While Malou usually moved about crowds gracefully, her body came in contact with more than just a few inattentive pedestrians. Most of them shrugged it off—stuff like that happened in a crowd. But there was one man in particular who refused to move out of her way at all and collided right with the Miralukan.

"Hey, I'm walking here!" His voice was gruff and lightly slurred, and when he spoke he threw his arms around a lot. Malou promptly ignored him, slipped around him, and continued on her way. It was an understatement to say she didn't care, and that seemed to piss the man off more. "What? No sorry? Get your ass back here and apologize!"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

"Oh?" Ashla paused at Malou's mention of the Serennian spider caviar, and immediately made a note in her datapad. "You have to get me some one of these days, that sounds delicious." That was when the escapade with the thieves began, and she was about give chase when Malou asked whether she wanted to eat first. That made her remember how hungry she was. "Yeah, let's eat first." What followed was likely a sight that might not surprise Malou as much given her experience with seeing Ashla eat during the few sleepover she had been invited to, but would definitely catch the other patrons in the restaurant by surprise as she wolfed down her platter in record speed. Sipping contently on her drink as she waited for Malou to finish, she noticed some of the patrons and servers stare at her, and locked eyes with a few and practiced her Raze-glare on them. She hadn't really ever seen her master without a mask or his helmet, but she had still seen him silence a room with a look, and she was just trying her best to replicate those results.

Once they were both done with their meals they would head out, Malou taking the lead, guiding them with such surety that Ashla felt a pang of jealousy about her sight, for not the first time. It was a pretty cool ability, and all she had were monorails and her "bat-sense". That was when the big guy that Malou had navigated across shouted out to them. Ashla slowed down and stopped before she could cross his hulking frame. Wile his attention was on shouting at Malou, Ashla had a sudden spark of inspiration and walked right into him.

"God dammit!" He snarled and whipped around to glare at her, noticing her dirty and messy attire and nose wrinkling in disgust. But before he could say anything Ashla pulled back in a flustered manner and started bowing, apparently too scared to speak. "Blind, filthy, and disrespectful. What is this planet coming to?" He let out a grunt and walked off, and behind his retreating form Ashla straightened with a smile on her lips. Stepping up to Malou, she put a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small purse, seemingly filled with credchips from the weight she felt as she bounced it in her palm.

"Looks like I had lost some credits earlier, this should cover that." She had spent months living on the streets while tracking the beggar lady, and had picked up a few skills along the way. Swiping the big guy's purse had been a piece of case. That was when a shout went up from behind them, the voice very familiar to both of them. "Guess someone's caught on, shall we?" With that she started moving in the direction where Malou had been leading them earlier, letting Malou take the lead once more as she looked back to see the big guy's head bobbing over the crowd, headed their way.

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

There was no way Malou was going to apologize to some asshole that seemed to think he was all that. Malou was so concentrated on tracking the girl that she didn't notice Ashla had run into him as well until his gruff voice cut through the air again. She expected her friend to blow him off as well, so when Ashla bowed and presumably apologized to him, Malou was nothing short of surprised—suspicious, even. What motive did the acolyte have to do that?

It wasn't long before Malou found out the answer. The sound of credits clanking around in the bag was unmistakable, as was her friend's mischievous expression. "Serves him right," she chuckled. When the man's angry voice appeared over the sound of the crowd again and Ashla acknowledge it, Malou nodded and continued forward at a quicker pace. She drifted over to the left where a group of tourists was bumbling their way through the city. The group's average height was well over six feet. Their height allowed Malou and Ashla to break from the man's line of sight, and she used that as an opportunity to duck into a nearby alley.

"Okay, I think she went this way." Moving into the alley had jostled her concentration a bit, but the kid had gone in this direction. She was getting the faint sense that the Force had been used here, too. She could see the faint lingering of it on the rocks, which she assumed that maybe the kid had tossed around.

"Alright, this way." Like a bloodhound, Malou began to lead Ashla through the thin mess of alleyways they'd found themselves in. They would walk for a bit longer until the Miralukan stopped at what appeared to be a cellar door of sorts. It was made of a heavy metal—iron, likely—and the door was not quite closed all the way. "I think she's down here?"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla followed after Malou, trusting in her ability to track the girl, and when she pointed out the cellar door Ashla nodded and stepped forward towards it. But before she could open the door she sensed something. A slight smile appeared on her lips, amused at the opportunity to show off her own unique skills so soon.

"I think," Ashla whispered softly so that only Malou could hear her, slowly pushing the door open, "someone's trying to lead us into a trap. Be careful, there's six of them." She stepped into the dimly lit room, and started walking inwards so that Malou could follow. She could sense the moments all around them, identifying the small forms through the radar-like ability of her people. If Malou followed then the moment she would step through the door it slammed shut behind her, accompanied by a bag of some sort crashing down at their feet, spreading smoke throughout the room.

"Who are you?" A voice asked, young but lacking the innocence one would expect to accompany it. "Are you with the bobbies?" Despite the smoke Ashla could spot exactly where the girl was, and she had the feeling that the lack of visibility was likely no inconvenience for Malou either. Confident in their safety, she walked straight for the girl and came to a stop a foot from her. She could sense her jerk, surprised by the Togruta's approach.

"So you're the leader, huh?" The words, along with her unnatural ability to track the girl seemed to spook her, and instead of an answer Ashla got a hand swinging towards her face. Ashla caught the small wrist, and raised her her other hand to snap her fingers. A gust of wind rose at the snap, and the smoke rushed out from the slit like windows and the cracks around the door. The girl's eyes widened, and Ashla noticed the glasses she had on, probably to allow her to spot their thermal signature through the smoke. As she had sensed earlier, there were six children inside the room, crouching on the ground, or perched atop ancient cabinets. All seemed scared, wary of whatever she had done to get rid of the smoke. All but the girl, who stared at her with curiosity.

"How did you do that?"

Ashla smiled, and let go of the girl's hand as she stepped back. She was about to reply when a loud banging came from behind them. The door shook, once, twice, thrice, till it finally snapped right off its hinges and came crashing to the floor. A huge figure stood in the doorway, the glare of the sun behind him keeping him identity hidden, till he spoke up.

"You Twi'lek bitch, where is my money?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

A trap? Malou was looking forward to seeing what sort of "trap" bunch of rugrats had out for them. She followed soon after Ashla, and as her vision flooded the room she was able to pinpoint the location of the hidden children. Another child appeared outside and slammed shut the door and the thump! of a bag being dropped at their feet began to fill the room with some sort of smoke. Malou let out a small cough into her arm.

As she listened, she tried not to laugh at the kids asking if they were with the "bobbies." What is that, another name for rangers? Police? When Ashla finally removed the smoke from the room, the Miralukan took in a nice, deep breath and rolled her shoulders to relax them. Those shoulders immediately tensed up again as the door behind her began to shake and she slid to the side just as it fell from its frame onto the floor with a loud bang!

"You Twi'lek bitch, where is my money?"

Firstly, Malou became frustrated that he had followed them all the way here. Secondly: Twi'lek?

The Mirlukan braced herself with a foot slid back into a stance so that the moment he climbed in further she could sock the man in the jaw. He was taller than her so it was a bit of an awkward angle, but the punch connected regardless. Malou had pulled the Force into the swing, so the impact was enough to send him stumbling over to the side a bit.

"Aagh!" He wasn't expecting to be hit so soon, but he recovered quickly. "You bitch!" His eyes narrowed in on Malou, but he had spotted Ashla across the room in front of the kid. That seemed to anger him even more. "You're in league with these brats?!"

He reached into his pocket. Malou lunged forward to try and stop him, but her reflexes weren't quite enough for the distance. The whine of blaster fire shot through the air and right into Malou's chest. Luckily, the gun was on stun. Malou collapsed to the ground, unable to move, while the man cursed and flipped the mode back to blaster fire. He turned it towards Ashla.

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla saw events unfold as if in slow motion, the blaster getting pulled out, Malou going down, and the blaster turning to aim at her. But taking a shot at Malou meant that their would be assailant and given Ashla time to act. She was already charging towards him and as he fired off towards her she rolled to the side, the stun bolt slamming into the ground where she had been moments earlier. And that was all the opportunity he got, because the next instance the Togruta was on him, dropping low and swinging her leg in a sweeping kick that took his feet out from under him.

She followed up with another kick, this time catching him in the throat as his hulking form came crashing down, and he fell to the floor in a coughing, wheezing mess. She kicked away the blaster that had slipped from his hand, and got to her feet. She ignored him for now, and walked to Malou. "You okay?" She asked, and after making sure she was okay she excused herself for a moment and got to her feet, turning back towards the intruder. Some of the kids caught the look in her eyes, and one who had been about to reach for the stray blaster immediately backed away.

She walked up to the man, and pressed a leg onto his chest, despite the significant disparity in size between them, her foot pressed down with enough force to make him scream in pain. "Strike one, you bumped into us and then had the balls to demand an apology." She punctuated the point with another press of her foot. "Strike two, you call me a Twi'lek." Her foot pressed further, and more screams escaped the man's lips. "And last, and most important, you shot at my friend." What followed was the most pressure the man had felt, and you could almost hear bones cracking as he passed out. It was only then that she relented, relaxing her foot and turned away to return to Malou.

As she dropped to a knee and gently checked her pulse while she tried looking for anything useful in her utility belt, she noticed the children shuffling out. She wasn't surprised, seeing what she had just done had probably convinced them that stealing from them wasn't an option, even if one of them had just been hit with a stun bolt.

That was, all but one. The girl stayed where she was, and as Ashla searched for something to help Malou, she walked up to her. "Here." She said as she handed Ashla a small stim pack. Ashla took it with a nod of thanks, and stabbed the stick into Malou's arm. As she waited for the stimulant to work and help overcome the effects of the stun bolt, the girl spoke up once more.

"Who are you two? Are you Jedi?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

Words could not describe how great Malou felt lying there, unable to move. Great as in not great at all, that was. "A bit stunned," was her sour, but slightly humorous, reply to Ashla's quick check-up. At least she was satisfied to see the man get his ass beaten in t-minus ten seconds.

Malou let out a quiet sound of pain as the stimulant was jabbed into her arm, but it did its job. Within seconds she could feel her body returning to her control, and once she could manage it, the Miralukan rose to her feet and began to stretch out her sore limbs. Her arms, one at a time, extended across her body, then fell down to touch the top of her boots. She'd never actually been hit by a stun bolt before, so she was unprepared for the tightness in her muscles that followed it.

"Jedi?" Malou turned her head to look down at the little girl. There were two ways to answer that question. One was a lie, and the other was best served as a half-truth. This kid, though perhaps young and more than a bit naive, clearly had something the other children here didn't. The Force was one thing, but to band together a bunch of orphans, plan out, and stage an ambush against two adults? Even now, though she seemed a bit wary, she didn't seem scared at all.

"No," Malou began in a casual voice. "If we were Jedi, we would've shooed you off at the café." Step one, paint the people most likely to be seen as the good guys in a less than perfect light. "My name is Malou, and this is my friend Ashla. What's yours?" Step two, be more than just a strange face. Be friendly, and offer information before you ask for it to foster trust.

"How do I know I can trust you?" The girl crossed her arms, though not defiantly so, and looked back and forth between Malou and Ashla.

"What do you have to lose by not?" Malou gestured to the room around them. It was dirty and dusty, much like the girl's own clothes and unkempt hair. The girl scowled and turned her head away for a moment, then sighed.

"My name's Heidi." She began to wring her hands behind her back. "How did you find me? I didn't leave a trail, did I?"

"Through the Force," Malou answered. The girl's eyes widened, and she looked back and forth between Malou and Ashla again.

"But I thought you said you weren't Jedi?"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla smiled as Malou responded to the child, Heidi, wondering how she would react to any reveal of them being Sith. But then she hadn't run off like the others after seeing what Ashla had just done. So maybe she was stronger than the others, less scared of bed time stories and rumors.

"We're Sith," she replied, and resisted the urge to smile as she saw the girl's eyes widen, "you've heard of Sith, right?" Heidi nodded, but didn't say anything, though to her credit she didn't run away either. That was good, that meant hunting her down hadn't been a waste of time. At least not yet.

"That you're the bad guys, you hurt people."

Ashla did smile at that, and glanced towards the unconscious man. "I hurt him, do you think that was wrong?" Heidi was quiet, but ultimately she shook her head, eyes looked on her own feet. "A Sith knows that sometimes you have to act, and sometimes that makes us look like the bad guys. But that's better than being a good guy and having to worry about looking like the good guy."

"So.." Heidi paused, before seemingly making up her mind about something and looking up, looking from one Sith to the other. "Why were you chasing me?"

"My friend here is a Champion, that's a pretty important rank among the Sith. Allows her to invite someone to join the Sith, to train to become one. Would you like that?"

@lizziie

 

[Malou D'Amaris]

The girl stood there quietly for several seconds, still fiddling with her hands as she presumably pondered her response to Ashla's question. Malou stood there quietly as well, shifting her weight to one side as she waited for the girl to decide on her answer. She could feel the kid's eyes on her and even see how they kept moving back and forth between her, Ashla, and the floor. It was a pretty big offer. If the girl said yes, her life would literally be turned upside down. No more cold nights on the streets. No more pickpocketing to scrounge up enough money to pay for a little bread and soup.

"Yeah." The girl straightened her posture before she answered, and when she did, spoke with mustered up confidence. Malou smiled at that, then turned her body slightly as if she were going to leave. "Well, c'mon then. Have you ever flown in a spaceship?" The girl shook her head no, but excitement sparked up in her eyes. It wouldn't be much to assume she'd never left this city, much rather been up in space.

"What's a Champion?" she asked of the two, falling in line with them as they ducked out of the cellar and into the light of day. "And why are you wearing a blindfold? Are you blind?"

"A champion is someone in the Sith who has finished their training," Malou would explain as she exited. "And yes, I'm blind. I'm-" Before she could finish, the girl shh'd her and Ashla and pointed down the alley. A group of men dressed in police garb were rounding the corner, and when they spotted the three of them standing there, began to head straight for them.

"You three! Stop right there!"

tag: @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla smiled at the girl's reply, wondering how different her life would be going forward, not just compared to the life she had lived to date, but compared to the life Ashla had lived. Her own experiences among the Sith had not be the best, not for the longest time, but that didn't have to be the case with this girl. She could ensure otherwise, she could ensure she got better.

She was happy to follow as Malou lead them out, to let her deal with Heidi's questions, when they walked right into a trio of guards. Ashla took a step forward, closing the gap between herself and Malou, and gestured with her hands for Heidi to moved. "Get behind us." She said as she turned her attention on the guards. A fight was the last thing they wanted, not with the mess they had left behind in Heidi's little group's hideout. The sooner they got out of this mess and on a ship, the better. So she decided to take alternate action.

She reached out with the Force, and grabbing the three guards legs she yanked downwards. But she wasn't aiming for them, rather their pants. Her intention was to yank their pants down to their feet, buying them a few moments of confuse to slip past them. One moment the cops were walking towards them, then next two of them had their pants around their ankles, while the third had it yanked halfway down.

The two guards who had their pants fully yanked down immediately stumbled, their legs caught around them pants mid stride, their weapons clattering onto the street as they fell to the floor. The third one stumbled, but was able to able to keep himself on is feet, though even he was forced to reach out towards the alley wall to regain his balance. With all three so pre-occupied, Ashla let out a shout of run as she started running.

"Come on, this way!"

@lizziie