Ask Here We Go Again

[Trys Aran]

Hans’ answer to Trys’ question was to speak in foreign tongues as if possessed by the devil like in that one movie. Okay then. Trys said nothing beyond that as she continued to hightail it up the stairs, expecting an infected to magically make an appearance into the cone of light shined from her flashlight.

At the thought of an extraction, Trys had visible surprise on her face. Normally she was far more prepared for things like these, but Nar Shaddaa was on the off limits list for Rangers with how infected it was. Operations on the planet were only for critical things and apparently thwarting Preef Callo was not one.

When the trio showed up, Trys placed a bit more faith in the Jedi this time. The first one toppled over the edge, and she quickly moved in to sweep the legs out from underneath another to send it over as well. This left just one more that was still ambling towards Hans, but she knew he’d have it down easily.

While Trys was in excellent shape, she didn’t have any Jedi powers. She was exhausted. Powered by adrenaline, she kept going, pushing herself to move all the way up till they arrived at the roof door. It was barred from the other side. Instead of bothering to try and kick it open, she stepped aside to let Hans do his magic.

“I’m impressed you have a plan,” She said breathlessly, sweat lining her face.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

The Jedi was a little offended, frowning at the Ranger's shock before remembering, in fairness, he'd first appeared in a vent and his last plan involved a tactical window yeeting when that hadn't worked out. Also that he'd volunteered for the zombie and criminal planet at all of course.

Hannibal also had to hand it to Trys, she'd definitely recovered well from her time in the hospital. She ran up the stairs with the power of adrenaline and what had probably been a particularly stubborn training regiment to get back in shape. When the infected appeared she went right to work to send one of the remaining two over the rails, the last one dispatched by the flash of an igniting lightsaber as Hannibal's arm seemed to move under its own will in a motion he'd practiced over and over, the body collapsing with a smoking cut where the head had once been attached.

And then it was back to running, thundering, stomping footsteps and inhuman roaring serving to spur them onward and upward.

Even the Jedi looked tired by the time they met with the door, droplets running down from the line of his hair and breathing quickened from the effort. Sprinting up skyscraper stairs was a universal thing of absolute suck. Trys stepped away from the door and Hannibal stepped up with Sol's lightsaber in hand.

"I've always got somethin'," he said between breaths, reaching out to give the door a couple of test pulls before his hand swept over it, the bar sliding away from the lock position with a loud clunk. Hannibal opened it and stepped through, trying to even out his breathing and regather some energy. "Just not always before I start movin- Shit!"

More expletives swiftly followed as a roar came in alarmingly close behind them, the crash of something heavily running into a landing wall resounding from the space behind them joined by a mix of other fumbling footsteps. Hannibal whipped around on reflex and stepped forward to the doorway to close and re-lock it once Trys was through, then stepped back with a grimace.

"Extraction's gonna take a bit to get here. Kriffin' scavengers n' shit."

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was entirely displeased at the way Hans casually unlocked the door. As a Ranger, her mind went through all scenarios of idiot padawans and Force users just being able to break and enter into any house. All it took was a subtle wave of the hand and no amount of home alarm systems or those fake signs out in the front yard would help.

Her musings were cut short as the door opened and a loud crash erupted behind them. Trys didn’t waste any time, launching herself through the door and out onto the roof. Hans came out behind her and shut the door, both of them stepping back.

The Ranger stared at the door, listening to the thunderous crashing on the other side. A quick scan told her they were up quite high - definitely too high for a Jedi to simply jump by her guesses. Trys took a few steps back, grimacing at the door.

“How long?”
There was a large amount of heavy handed pounding and she could see the door beginning to dent a little from the other side. The screeching and shrill cries of the infected resounded close beyond that. Trys glanced over around them, spotting no real way out. It was impossible not to feel true fear trickle down her spine.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal pulled the holocomm from his belt, clicking the button and checking the data feed with a frown. He looked around at the features of the roof and how high up they were with an irritated expression, grumbling something or other to himself.

"Another minute or so." Arcene was fast as hell but she also had to come from an inconvenient distance. Better than nothing but this meant they had to essentially hold out where they were. Hannibal felt a shiver travel down his spine and turned to look at Trys, brows furrowing. The door struggled against the force of the infected and whatever massive thing was banging n it, metal screaming in protest as it dented. Whatever horror had chased the two of them up the stairs was far beyond normal for this damned plague.

"Don't worry. We can do this, Trys."

The Jedi took a slow breath and stepped slightly forward toward the door, blade igniting again facing the buckling durasteel that was the only thing keeping the infected from the pair. His face set and steeled and that strange light behind his eyes flashed brighter, those distant stars coming closer to the emerald surface.

"Don't let them get around me. I trust you."

He wasn't going to mention it but he was afraid too, both for himself and the woman with him. If they failed to hold in place there wasn't really a reasonable option for escape up on the roof even if it'd bought them time for the airspeeder to get there. But for the moment he would allow that fear to pass over and through him and, defiant in the face of it, only Hannibal would remain.

There was a loud crack-crunch as the duracrete section that held the bar in place burst outward and the dented door fell from the frame. A large shape stumbled back from the impact and in the gap several ordinary infected went through first, screaming the screams of the dead.

The Jedi Councilor stood still a moment and then, when they were close, became a blur of riotous colour and whipping, flashing silver.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys took one step back and then another, watching the door come apart.

“Hans..” She said, alarm clear as day in her tone. None of his words helped reassure her. Trys then glanced over and could see traces of fear even in him. In many ways that made her feel better. It made him that much more human and alive. It reminded her that he could be afraid, he could despair, he could have a cause to fight for beyond the civil duties imposed by his doctrines. He could fear for his life and fight for survival instead of flinging himself to the Force or whatever. It was just the boost she needed to clear her thoughts and get her head back in the game.

“Right,” She said as she punched in a new power pack and leveled her rifle, positioning herself further away. Trys didn’t care these were infected, she was mentally back to a Ranger raid and the shootouts that generally followed.

The door fell over and the initial infected rushed over. The massive creature came through next, crashing through the frame and roaring. Trys fired off a few bolts at the head of the thing, but it was clear it would take more than a few tries. The bloated beast’s ‘face’ began to fall apart in chunks, slabs of flesh dropping to the ground. It felt no pain as it continued to rush towards Hans.

The floodgates had been opened as the infected behind the blob began to pour out. Trys watched for a space for the gathering group before she reached for a grenade on her belt.

“Incoming!” She shouted to give Hans a brief warning before she activated and tossed the grenade.

There was an explosion as rotting viscera flew everywhere. Many of the infected dropped at once. While it may not have killed them all, it stopped them in their tracks.

Trys switched back to her rifle, peppering shots that were all perfectly aimed for the head. She let Hans focus on the giant beast while she ensured that nothing else got anywhere near him. The grenade had been strategically tossed to ensure that the dropped infected created a giant obstacle pile for any others trying to come up to the roof. Whenever the crowd slowed for a moment, she took a shot at the blob's head again.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

The first few infected to come within the reach of the Jedi's brilliant weapon fell limp to the floor with holes burned through skulls from lightning thrusts or missing heads that rolled smoking along the floor. Hannibal stepped left, right, back, and forward in sequence along a line only he could see and maintained a distance between himself and the infected with precision footwork.

He watched crimson bolts strike the face of the large creature and his face tightened further into a frown. It was damaged but obviously not enough to stop it, rumbling toward the Jedi overtop the crunching corpses of the undead that had followed the sound of its roars. Suddenly Hannibal's stance shifted to bent knees and bouncing on the soles of his feet.

A large and bloated arm swung out to grasp him. Hannibal shifted left and back around it, his weapon whipped with him to sever the limb- and found it only left a smoking line, silver blade meeting resistance. His arm twisted to swing back around and strike and met with the same result on the other. This thing's disgusting outer plating seemed to be energy resistant.

Trys called out and he barked "Copy!" out of sheer habit, shifting back to center so any stray shrapnel struck the monster he faced off against, his weapon leaving a carbonized divot in the thing's waist. The grenade detonation rang out over the rooftop of the otherwise silent city and he was fairly certain quite a few infected just dropped but he didn't really have the spare focus to check. This was reminding him unfortunately of the terentatek.

The Ranger's follow up shot to the monster's face was matched by a shift in the air like the first winds of winter. Hannibal's right hand shot forward and unleashed of burst of sheer cold that supercooled gasses in the air and presented a cone of glittering mist. It struck the monster around the face and upper torso and left behind frosted-coated fissures in the plating from the sudden temperature change that manifested with a sound like cracking bone.

While that might help with Trys' shots Hannibal still had the arms to deal with, narrowly avoiding thick and armoured fingers that reached for his head and cutting deep into fingers as he ducked back, swearing loudly.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys kept firing off bolts to drop the infected into a pile and block the path for any others that were coming up. The grenade helped tremendously, but they were still running out of time. She only had one more power pack left before she was out of ammo. Every shot was aimed, and every shot needed her to completely focus.

She glanced over as Hans unleashed the Force in a way she had never seen before. Parts of the blob froze over and she quickly aimed and fired. The result was instant, another large chunk blowing out of the beast. It didn’t have the ability to bite, but it could still lumber around and swing its giant limbs.

The Ranger kept moving back to keep her aim on the other infected. Her gaze flicked back towards the broken door and the small terrace building it was attached to.

“Jump on top of the building and draw it to you!” Trys shouted. Hans could easily leap up there - she had no way up. With luck it would force the giant beast to barrel towards the building and possibly mow through the incoming infected on the way.

Trys was banking on just one more move similar to the ice combo again. Another solid hit would likely down the creature. The bigger problem was the waves of infected attempting to push through the grenade pile. Trys would be completely overwhelmed if they didn’t have an extraction soon.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Their combined efforts were rewarded with a spray of frostbitten flesh and armour shattering off from the impact of Trys' shot, steam and smoke both rising from where a twisted jaw had once been. But of course the thing was still moving around and trying to get a hold of the Jedi biting flitting around in front of it, a mindless mass of flesh and fury. More bolts aimed with practiced precision were taking down other infected but still they were piling through the door and Hannibal knew she'd run out of shot eventually.

Trys shouted out an idea and emeralds flicked over to the building in question. It could draw the monster but would also remove Hannibal from in front of the Ranger. If he was a different man or Jedi he might even have properly hesitated against the conflict the concept set in him but, instead, Hannibal always followed his instincts. He ducked low and cut lower.

"On it!" he called back, stepping to the side and cutting toward it once, twice to draw it's attention off to the side where he was going, kiting around it while he still had room left from Trys' excellent work keeping things on the ground. Once he had the angle he needed he cut low again and jumped back, flipping through the air to land boots-first atop the terrace.

"COME AT ME BRO!" the Jedi yelled impishly down at the wounded monster, his volume even making some of the ordinary infected look around the source. The fingers of his right hand closed as he focused the Force into and through him, the beast gurgling through what was left of its face and getting a string of very crude insults back that, while it couldn't understand, were quite loud.

It went to chase him across the rooftop, heavy armoured footsteps thudding on the duracrete surface as it steadily picked up speed toward its target, saber wounds trailing foul smoke behind it. Hannibal's hand shot out, fingers curled, and then he pulled.

The beast left the ground entirely and served as an excellent and heavy projectile, losing control of its own momentum and slamming into the piles of other infected. In this situation Hannibal figured risking exhaustion was worth more time to get them both out alive and immediately followed up.

A second passed and then from his position another wave of cold was unleashed, a continuous stream that assault the armoured infected and the others nearby while Hannibal's expression was and determined. Frost and layers of ice formed overtop the collection of still and moving bodies, more cracking sounds resounding as armour failed and broke.

The Jedi's commlink beeped three times. He and Trys would be able to hear the thrumming sound of an airspeeder engine fast approaching and a spare glance would see the shine of Arcene rocketing toward them.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Though Trys’s eyebrow rose at Hans shouting at the behemoth as he merrily skipped his way atop the building, she marveled at how effective it was. Not only did the blob charge towards him, but a lot of the other infected were suddenly distracted. This gave her ample opportunity to quickly pick out several of them while their heads were turned away.

The Ranger watched Hans do another wave with his icy magic and she aimed and shot at the beast. There was a crack and a splatter like before, but this time the entire top portion of the beast was mush. The thing took a few wobbly steps before tilting forth and dropping thunderously down atop the horde.

While their immediate problem was solved, the hordes from the bottom levels were still catching up. Many of them pushed and shoved to get out onto the roof where Trys stood. She grimaced as she took a few steps back, hesitant to use up the rest of her ammo.

That was when she could hear the hum of an airspeeder approaching, a quick glance to the side revealing the lights headed their way. Trys quickly fired off a few more shots to keep the initial wave at bay. She turned and ran towards the edge of the roof as the horde pushed through the doorway and began to climb over the dead behemoth and the pile it crushed.

“Let's get the kriff out!” Trys called out behind her as the airspeeder came up parallel to the edge of the roof. She didn’t even bother properly getting on, running straight at the lip of the roof. Trys planted a hand and vaulted herself right over, landing in a heap in the back of the airspeeder.

She didn’t stop there, rising up and leveling her rifle to aim and take out any infected that would chase Hans on his way over.

“Move back from the edge,” Trys commanded the droid, “He can make the jump. Don’t need any infected climbing in here.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal's right hand pulled back and the waves of cold ceased just after the armoured monster's upper body was blasted to pieces by another well aimed and well timed shot from Trys. He shook it out as he felt a residual numbness in the limb, gritting his teeth at the tingles and the drop in energy reserves, but the chill had done its job. Arcene was coming in quick and he almost sighed with relief, but the work wasn't done just yet.

Without hesitation he jumped forward and off the roof, landing on duracrete to roll forward over his shoulder, and then back to his feet to run after the Ranger.

"Yup, leaving!" he earnestly agreed, boots thumping along as he took his long-legged strides forward, avoiding corpses along the line. A hint of nervousness ran through him as Trys vaulted over and then vanished again when she flopped into the speeder, pushing himself to speed up as bolts flew past him to delay the undead chasing him.

The astromech began to warble a complaint and, "You heard the lady!" stopped it preemptively, the airspeeder drifting several lengths farther from the edge as ordered. Hannibal approached the edge, slapped his deactivated lightsaber back on his belt, estimated his target, and launched himself through the air straight over the edge of the roof.

The Jedi came down again with a forward flip to reorient himself and landed on the back, slipping down into the back seats. "Go!"

Lee whistled and gunned the engine to shoot them forward and away from the rooftop, a couple overzealous infected climbing right over the lip and falling to the dead city below in their single-minded haste to reach their escaping prey.

Hannibal let out a deep sigh and sank into his seat, repeatedly flexing the subtly shaking fingers of his right hand.

"Good shit, Trys. Ten out of ten, would almost die with you again," he joked in the middle of trying to catch his breath, a field keeping the wind of the airspeeder's passage from blasting them in the face.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. She ran her fingers through her short hair, coating them in sweat. Both of them were sweating profusely from the marathon run up the stairs. The air was refreshing and cool against her skin and she eased back into her seat. She checked for her last remaining power pack when Hans spoke, glancing down at the one remaining grenade she had.

“You’ll get the chance,” Trys stated after a moment, “We’re still going to that warehouse in the 18th district,” An encounter with infected didn’t mean she would abort the mission. A glance over her shoulder revealed that many of the infected were going over the edge of the roof from where they left. It was a grotesque stream of undead spilling over the edge as they vacantly kept walking towards the last sighting of a meal. The fall was high and they would splatter into nothing at the bottom, which ultimately helped with the problem.

Fortunately this area in particular was quieter, though Trys still insisted the drop off being further away. A zooming speeder was bound to catch the attention of any nearby infected.

After landing, the journey towards the warehouse was uneventful. Trys checked her datapad to ensure it was the correct location before she came closer. Already she could see something was off. One of the windows had been smashed and it was suspiciously quiet.

Trys kept her rifle close, creeping closer to the building. Her eyes narrowed in confusion, “This is supposed to be an active location,” She said quietly, “A spice operation. Think it was overrun?”

There were no immediate signs that there had been infected here. Trys glanced over at Hans, “Give me a boost, would ya?” She would wait till he helped her up to climb in through the window.

She landed in a crouch on the other side and lit her flashlight, looking around. While she didn’t spot anyone or infected, there was a desk nearby that appeared to have what looked like slave collars stacked on it.

“What the hell?”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal felt just a tad like he would appreciate a nice shower about then but as Trys pointed out the two of them still had work the do. The wind running over sweat-coated skin and hair was almost pleasant after running up the stuffy stairs and soaking in the smells of rot and death even if was chilly up here in the air. For a while he closed his eyes and worked on his breathing pattern, ignoring for the moment the disarray of his dark hair.

"Yeah, probably," the Jedi agreed after a couple silent seconds, metal fingers idly tapping along the top of his living hand during the journey. He didn't seem terribly talkative for most of the trip toward the new drop point as if concentrating on something or other but came back to life as the airspeeder descended.

Lee was ordered to stay somewhere nearby and out of sight until called for.

On approach to the building Hannibal's eyes looked over the different features, brows furrowing. A broken window? He checked the ground and the wall around, emeralds briefly sweeping over what would be to an ordinary person just simple air.

"Don't think so? Doesn't feel right." He crouched down and put his hands together for her to step up with, lifting her up and through the window with brows slightly raising for a moment. After a brief re-check of the area around them he hopped up and climbed through himself, metal hand click-clacking softly on the window's edge followed by boots quietly thumping down.

His eyes followed the beam of Trys' flashlight to the desk. Hannibal walked on over to it and checked behind the desk, frowned, and then looked at the pile of collars.

"Well, shit. Blood here." He gestured behind the desk where there was a fallen chair, it and the floor behind it marked by the aged spray. Hannibal grimaced darkly at the collars then gingerly plucked one from the pile with his metal hand, turning it around with droid-like motion.

"Not broken s'far as I can tell. Revolt maybe?" Emeralds flicked over to the desk console and he replaced the collar where he found it, getting behind it to see what he could get into. "Gonna see if I can find anythin' helpful."

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys grimaced at the sight of the blood, the collars giving her a sick sense at the pit of her stomach. She didn’t respond to Hans immediately, letting him fiddle with the console as she walked around to investigate further. There were pieces of paper with what looked like hand written inventory.

“Preef has always sought to shut down slavery,” Trys said quietly, “Why would anything connected to him have evidence of it?” Supposedly this warehouse had been the thread to link to Shere who was a close confidant of Preef Callo. Why, then, would that thread have evidence of slaving operations?

Trys walked back around to see what Hans had found, glancing at the screen. Her blood ran cold and there was a sharp intake of breath. Hans would be able to feel it immediately, her eyes suddenly wide as she looked at an insignia on the screen.

“I know that brand,” She said, her voice almost hoarse, “It was the brand of Vargo the Hutt, a slaver I hunted a few years ago with….” There was a lump in her throat, “With Talak. He ran a wide operation and we closed down the ones we knew of. This is impossible…” She said as she stepped forward and looked at the logo.

“If this warehouse worked as an underground slaving ring, it means the slaves were moved when the infections began,” Trys grimaced, “Which means it’s still active.”

She began to walk away from the console and deeper into the warehouse. The rage building in her was almost tangible, and it would be very clearly felt by the empath. Trys was determined to unearth more clues.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal didn't let the feelings from Trys get to him even as they matched with his own. Slavery was an abhorrent thing all on its own and with the Jedi's inherent connection to other life it gave him a perspective he would not otherwise possess. But it wasn't something he could dwell on and he kept tip-tapping away at the console instead with a deep frown on his face.

"Boss can't be everywhere at once," he said as a reasonable guess. Criminal syndicates weren't exactly known for running a type ship and it wouldn't surprise him to learn whoever ran this place was doing some side business for himself, especially given the very recent and violent upheaval.

His head turned to look concernedly toward Trys as she spoke, then sorrow as she mentioned Talak's name. Remembering him still ached and he could pick up how it felt for her as well as he looked again at the screen with a complicated expression.

"I'm sorry, Trys." He said quietly, one of the few who knew how close the two actually were. She kept going and he grimaced. If even one of those places managed to avoid detection or ran back to Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa they could pop back up. Hutts were tenacious slugs.

"Like rotten apples," he muttered darkly, then unceremoniously disconnected powe and pried open the console's face with metal fingers to pull out the data core which he stored in a belt pouch. Hannibal then walked after Trys, staring for a couple seconds into her back as they explored further into the complex.

The warehouse was still powered to some degree, basic lighting shining down on a collection of different crates and cells. A few corpses lay stacked in one cell obviously hit by mass blaster fire and Hannibal paused at the sight before moving on, face set and steeled.

Without much warning beside a change in his footsteps he wandered left toward one of the few crates still around, frowning at it and walking around the metal box. He checked the label on the side that said, in Huttese-

"'Bubba the Hutt's Holo Dinners?' Really?" He sighed and stood up straight to open the crate and peer inside. Sure enough, preservative-packed sub-par ration dinners. Hannibal turned to look at Trys.

"Ever heard of this crap before? One of the other places maybe?"

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys said nothing in response to Hans' attempts at comforting words. While she knew he meant well, it was hard to shake off that mixture of dread and pain that swirled in her. The warehouse was dimly lit, but it was enough for her to put her flashlight away.

She paused when Hans spoke next, glancing over to regard the food. Eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion as she read the label. She shrugged in the end, “Doesn’t ring any bells. But if that’s there, that means this place was only recently cleared. Maybe...maybe not all the girls were cleared out just yet.”

Trys glanced around for any paths, but waited to see if Hans found anything else interesting. She spoke as her gaze took in sight of all the boxes and crates around them.

“The other locations mainly involved me trying to minimize splash damage from Talak,” The pain didn’t come through on her face, but it was definitely there in her mind, “His heart was in the right place, but he was extremely impulsive,” A pang of anger shot through her as she recalled when he had drugged her to make her sleep through him massacring an entire location. He had been attempting to hide his Sith origin, but it was something she hadn’t forgiven even now.

“Rangers don’t like to come out this way,” Trys explained, “I never got a proper Ranger backed raid or the chance to collect evidence. It was Talak, me and a ragtag team of former slaves,” There was a tone of fondness when she said the last bit.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal stared down into the box of pre-prepared foodstuffs for a few seconds after the Ranger's answer. "Maybe. I hope so."

He supposed it probably wouldn't have shown up, that might've been a little to convenient or something. His head looked off into the empty air and then directly at Trys when she spoke about Talak, remembering himself the way the zealous Arcanist had chosen to strike at the Hutts. It seemed like a long time ago now.

"Talak, uh... Yeah, you've got him right." Hannibal's feelings did show up on his face, a vague melancholy as he thought of the past.

"He threw glass at me when we met," he commented with a tone of nostalgic amusement, then frowned and picked up one of the packages of 'food'. Without a word he opened one and dumped the content out on the ground by the crate, a soggy mess of what might be meat if one squinted really hard and some kind of nutrient mash. Other than being on a warehouse floor it looked and smelled more or less normal.

"This crap's supposed to be in cold storage. Can't have been here that long."

Hannibal walked away from the crate and over to Trys, living hand coming up to gently touch the woman's arm. "'Course they don't, it's hostile as hell even without infected. We'll stick together though, right?" After a moment he walked past to check out a different pile of left-behind crates and said "Tell me about this group of yours, huh? Haven't heard this story."

The Jedi stopped leaned down a little, frown deepening as he circled this new stack of boxes, then crouched down by the ground half out of sight behind the pile. "Blood. Not all that old, same as the office." Hannibal turned, spotting a few more droplets leading off further into the warehouse toward a still open door.

"There really might still be someone here." Cautious optimism was clear in his tone as he began to follow the trail, eyes open for any sudden movement or new horrors leaping from the dark.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys wasn’t surprised to hear about Talak throwing glass at Hans. The corners of her lips almost twitched towards a smile. Trys heard him shuffle around and dump the contents of the food out, further confirming what she was both dreading and hoping at the same time.

She was caught slightly off guard when he lightly touched her arm, and she paused her advance. Trys turned to regard him for a moment, rifle still in hand. She blinked a few times before speaking, “You’ve always had my back,” She said after a moment, “In some shape or form...whether I asked for it or not,” Trys rolled her eyes and shook her head, but there was a grin there, “Thanks for always being there. I know I can count on you,” She eyed him curiously for a moment, “Gotta ask...why? Is it just your general Jedi civic duty that you do for everyone?”

A loud shriek erupted from beyond the partially opened door. Trys bolted in that direction at once, the lights flickering on and off. The Ranger rushed towards the noise. She could vaguely make out a young girl that looked terrified. She was furiously shaking her head 'no' at Trys, dread in her eyes.

Trys kept rushing towards her but a weapon came out of nowhere and slammed into her face from the side. She saw nothing but stars, blinding pain erupting as she felt hot blood run down her face.

From behind Hans, someone shot a dart jam packed with drugs that would immediately course through his system and kill his ability to focus.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Trys looked at him and blinked and Hannibal blinked right back at the things she said. She wasn't wrong, although their first actual meeting was an apology that involved handing her a blaster, muffins, and wine. Then of course there was the journey through the mind thing after she'd been put into a coma, the subsequent noodles and favour-owing, and now this as well. His brows furrowed in bemusement at her last question even as he smiled.

"Why? Uh, I guess it's just somethin' I- "

Then there was the scream and the Jedi shot around, pulling Sol's lightsaber from his belt and running on after the Ranger. There in the half light was a small figure that radiated fear like a beacon although Hannibal couldn't tell right away as to why.

His eyes shot left toward Trys on their own as electric tingles set the hairs of his neck on end and caught her getting a solid crack to the face. Sol's lightsaber ignited in his grip and his face set in steel as he moved to rush forward then just as suddenly twisted in place- but not soon enough to avoid the dart from behind.

"Kriffing nerfshit!" he hissed, already feeling the concentrated mix doing its work even as he reached around to remove the dart from his shoulder. The Jedi could work to keep whatever was in it at bay with the Force but nothing else, especially while he had to fight at the same time. This was going to be rough.

There some meters behind Hannibal was the Nikto who fired the dart at him, seeming surprised at seeing that the Jedi was still actually standing. He half stepped and half stumbled to the side as the assailant followed up with a pistol shot, swinging the silver blade at it and managing to deflect it off somewhere else as he found cover behind some crates.

The one by Trys drew his weapon back and swung again with a vicious snarl, trying to take her down with another blow before she could line her blaster up on him. Nikto dart-guy edged cautiously around the boxes to try and get a bead on Trys without coming into saber range and Hannibal made a quick decision.

He charged out from cover and literally just threw Sol's lightsaber at the guy. Something about the haphazardly spinning plasma blade flying at him made him freak out and duck down, his shot going wide toward the ceiling while the saber barely clipped his shoulder. Hannibal slammed directly into him and they both went tumbling to the ground in a heap, both jockeying for position and control of the blaster pistol.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys felt her eyes water as she stumbled back, quickly bringing her blaster up to see through the tears. She leveled her blaster at her attacker but the man had the advantage here. He swung with his bat again and Trys was forced to duck and defend. At the same time, the man drew out a blaster.

To her horror, he didn’t aim it at her but whirled around to shoot the screaming girl in the face that had been tied to the chair. She had been nothing more than a terrified teen. The impact sent her and the chair toppling backwards.

“NO!” Trys screamed, leveling and firing a bolt at the man but he was already on the move. Blood poured freely from her nose and lips as she gave chase. It was almost impossible to see as the lights dimmed and flickered on and off.

Meanwhile, the Nikto was completely caught off guard by the sudden change of events. He felt the large Jedi barrel him into him and he was immediately knocked to the ground. The Nikto knew the mission was at risk of being compromised as he rolled around on the ground, attempting to reach for the blaster.

At some point he was pinned onto his stomach for less mobility. He managed to grasp a hold of the blaster and had no shot at the Jedi.

He knew the mission had been compromised. No loose ends. That was the deal. That was the only way to ensure his wife and children were safe. That’s what they told him.

“Live with this, Jedi,” He hissed as he brought the blaster to his temple and fired.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal was fully occupied with his chaotic grapple and getting the other man pinned down. He had size and surprise on his side and his metal arm could lock in place. Horror hit him and then Trys screamed, a shot rang out across the room by the Ranger and the screaming stopped with a clatter and a thump. A spike of pain and death washed over the Jedi but he couldn't afford to look even as his face tightened, trying to keep his waning concentration.

Finally he got the pin but with the distraction of both that death and Trys chasing after the other guy, not to mention the drugs, the Nikto acted faster. His cybernetic shot toward the weapon and hit it, but too late and not enough.

"Wait-!"

The blaster's shot still went off and bored through his skull, killing the man instantly. Hannibal fell backward off the now dead Nikto with a strained and complicated expression, breath quickening in his chest as another death hit his senses and all the sheer desperation that had come with it.

"Come on," he muttered through gritted teeth and shook his head, forcing himself up and retrieving Sol's lightsaber from the ground with his cybernetic hand. He didn't want to think about the shaking in living fingers. "Over and through, c'mon, jackass."

Hannibal ran off after Trys and past the tied up girl with the smoking and blasted open face. For him the screaming hadn't stopped.

The man who'd killed her ran through the warehouse with the Ranger right behind him, figure flickering through light and shadow in the uneven illumination. He pulled a box off a stack into her path and fired wildly back behind himself to try and slow her down or throw off her aim, unable to see well himself either. A sudden juke right took him behind more boxes where he had cover- and also slipped on a dumped out pile of poor quality foodstuffs he hadn't seen, falling loudly and flat on his ass with a shout, bat clattering off against the duracrete.

He scrambled to try and get back to his feet, blaster pistol waving toward the boxes. His instructions were the same as the Nikto's and he was stuck between trying to kill Trys and get away or himself and make sure his family stayed safe.

@Sreeya