Ask Here We Go Again

[Trys Aran]

Trys cursed as the boxes were abruptly tossed in front of her. She planted a hand vaulted right over, continuing to give chase. Obstacles being thrown at her was standard for any hot pursuit, and she knew how to deftly work around them. Trys sprang to the side anytime the man turned and attempted to shoot, feeling more concerned about Hans coming up behind her than she did herself.

The man hadn’t been anticipating the food on the ground at all, and he quickly slipped and collided with the ground. Trys spotted this from a distance, mentally thanking the Jedi for making a mess earlier.

The man leveled his blaster initially at Trys, but quickly turned and fired into the terminal in the open room adjacent to the hall. Of course, the man had no idea that Hans had already extracted whatever he could from it.

In addition to that, the running had been a ruse to buy himself time to cook a grenade. Just as Trys landed a shot in his knee to make him buckle, he tossed the cooked grenade directly towards her. He wouldn’t wait to see the effects, quickly turning to hobble away through the door right behind him.

Trys had no choice but to curl herself up and jump backwards, no side rooms for her to duck into. She certainly wasn't skilled enough to shoot a grenade out of the air like in the Holomovies.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal's boots thudded on the duracrete floor as he chased after Trys who was also chasing the other guy. Long legs got him moving quickly and he was catching up but not as quickly as he would like, expression set in focus and determination. The drugs were still running through his system and they were the only thing he could handle with the Force at the moment on top of everything else.

Trys was really showing her experience as a Ranger here, hopping over thrown debris and moving aside throw off the man's aim. Hannibal to his credit barely managed to get out of the way of the first shot, blade igniting again on guard for others that he was, unfortunately, only able to redirect off to the side rather than back at the shooter at the moment, slowing him down.

The man fell and Hannibal sped up again, watching the shot off into the hall and Trys taking out a leg in the process. It looked like they had the advantage here, so what was the feeling he was getting?

The appearance of the grenade in the air sharply answered that question all by itself. Trys jumped backwards and curled up to protect from shrapnel- and Hannibal was still running toward her at the same time. She'd fall into him, twisting himself and pulling her backwards with him to gain some extra distance and help cover her. His saber arm swung out, thumb sliding across a control atop it and switching it to training mode.

The silver blade swung upwards to impact the grenade and send it up and away, they fell to the ground in a mutually curled heap, and the grenade went off in midair farther away than it would have otherwise. Even so it'd been cooked beforehand and they were still in range, struck by both the kinetic blast and shrapnel even if from a not so immediately lethal range.

Hannibal couldn't hear anything after the blast other than a ringing in his ears and the pounding of his heartbeat and adrenaline. A mixed and intense sense of sharp and burning pain across parts of his body mixed with fear struck him next, the former worsening when he breathed. His cybernetic's rudimentary nerves were going haywire, the limb not seeming to move.

He blinked and coughed, still on the ground, and found there were flecks of red on the duracrete. That probably wasn't good.

Meanwhile the man was getting away, but now with a some new wounds from stray shrapnel, dripping blood behind himself through the doorway and further beyond. He wasn't taking his chances here and knew if he could get through the hallways, even if the two pursues had survived the grenade, he should be able to lose them and slip away.

Hannibal was hoping Trys was somewhere north of dying about then because he wasn't sure how well he was doing himself and he had no ability to heal at the moment. He wasn't even all that confident of how well he could administer aid.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys collided against Hans as she backed up, and she was whirled around. That didn’t stop the impact of the explosion from sending them both sailing through the air and clear back the way they came. Trys felt pain shoot through her body, and a high pitch ringing erupted in her ears. She knew she was yelling things, but no sounds came out.

She felt pain in her limbs but she attempted to get up. She screamed about the man getting away, but she couldn’t hear a word. She shoved Hans’ cybernetic arm out of her way so she could try getting him, but she saw some sparks flying and the limb easily fell aside. It was then that Trys turned to look at Hans, her eyes widening.

He would be able to tell she was yelling his name incredulously, her gaze moving from his face and down to his body. She was saying a whole host of things, but there was nothing but the ringing in their ears. There was shrapnel in her leg that was clearly sticking out through the material of her pants.

Trys was focused instead on the Jedi, moving away tattered remnants of his sleeve. She was still silently yelling at him, glancing looking over his torso and reaching for him. When she pulled her hand away, he would see blood there, followed by more yelling.

She looked around frantically before reaching for one of her syringes again, jamming it into him once more. She knew it wasn’t enough, but she hoped it would curb the pain. Trys gently eased herself out from his grasp, forcing herself to get up. There was desperation in her eyes as she half limped towards the room with the collars.

She needed to find a medpack, and she needed it quickly.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal was pretty sure Trys was yelling at him. He couldn't hear it in the grenade-blasted silence but when his eyes looked up her lips were saying his name. The cybernetic was completely unresponsive, power cut from the limb by some bit of shrapnel or other.

Trys kept yelling and speaking. Brows over green eyes furrowed as Hannibal noticed the metal that'd met the woman's leg but a comment on it just resulted in more coughing and more pain. He had to focus. She reached her hands toward him and whatever they found was another place that hurt, coming away red. More yelling.

And the entire time the Jedi could feel the waves of emotion behind it all through the fog of pain. Anger, frustration, fear. He felt them clearly when she noticed the state of his arm and, when her eyes widened and saw colourful robes stained crimson with fresh blood, saw him coughing instead of speaking. She delivered another stim and it helped the Jedi focus through his injuries as much as it could.

Desperation was there too, and panic, as the Ranger forced herself to her feet and dragged herself back toward the office. Hannibal had the gall to be concerned through a subtly forming fog but not the ability to follow her with his injuries. He did make an attempt but anything much still resulted in coughing.

He forced himself to roll over on his working arm and lean partly against a box so at least he wasn't lying directly on the floor and his injuries, gritting his teeth to get it done and leaving red where he'd been and where he was. The Jedi shut his eyes so he would stop looking at things. His vision was a little blurred anyway and he couldn't tell if that was from the dart, blood loss, or some combination. Focus was kept on his body as much as he could just then, breathing shallow breaths with his arm curled over his ribs.

The wounded young Jedi couldn't communicate that he felt the same fear Trys did as he sat there and she moved away, hers and his own. He also knew she would come back. Hannibal hoped she did it soon. Unsteady fingers fumbled to try and find the commlink on his belt.

Back in the office with the collars it was the same mess they'd left it in except now the main console was a smoking ruin from the escaping gunman's blaster shot. On the wall Trys would notice a clip that was obviously meant to hold a medkit but was instead empty, likely taken off to handle whatever had left the blood behind the desk. A little more looking around would find where it'd ended up on the ground in the corner, closed but short at least one usage of its contents.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys could barely walk, grunting in pain as she dragged one of her legs behind her. She leaned against walls as she limped, the ringing in her ears still going strong. Smoke began to clear and the room was partially caved in. The terminal was smoking from the blaster hits, and she could hardly focus.

She spotted a shelf on the wall where a medkit would be, but reaching and feeling around revealed nothing. Desperate, she kept limping around, hissing from the pain in her leg as she knocked over papers and files. Trys rifled through drawers and cabinets, yanking them out to send them crashing to the floor in frustration.

After stumbling around for a while, she found a medkit at last. Shaky hands reached for it before she limped her way back into the hallway. Trys found Hans against a wall, a dazed look on his face. With great pain, she crouched down next to him.

Trys tore away some of his clothing, revealing even more intricate tattoos laced with injury. Her hands worked rapidly to apply the remaining bacta and bandages to help stem the bleeding and dress the wounds.

“Why the kriff do you do this?” She hissed as she worked on his injuries, “Don’t you know how to be anything but a Jedi? God damn it,” Trys gritted her teeth as she reached for more of the bacta patches and realized there weren't any, “You weren’t even supposed to be here. Weren’t supposed to be in any of this.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Through the haze the wounded Jedi could still feel Trys doing what she was doing. A rhythmic pain that folded into the sharp aches and difficult breathing. Desperate flickers and anger and more frustration, a spot of hope. More pain.

Hannibal hadn't immediately noticed when Trys had come back. It was the spike of pain that drew his attention, emeralds blinking open and slowly turning toward her. Clothing was ripped aside drawing a grit-teethed hiss of immense discomfort. He blinked slowly and bore the pain of her quick treatments, grateful she'd applied another stim. Red soaked into the bandages and patches as she worked and the bacta did its thing.

There were also the echoes that came with her actions. Shadows crept at the edges. Yellow and red thrummed in and out of existence at moments across unsteady vision. It was a mix of things that seemed so strong and close but still so hard to read and he couldn't tell if that was from his state or something else. Green eyes flicked down toward his limp machine limb for a moment, having been sure he felt something warm there but seeing nothing.

He heard her voice this time when she spoke and looked up at her again, brows furrowing and trying to concentrate. His ears still rang with the explosion but he could pick up parts at least, watch her lips. Especially the last things she said. He tried to grin through with it mixed success although he didn't know why he bothered.

"You never asked," he got out, "I offered." It took him a moment to refocus, trying to get his shaking, blood-slicked fingers to work hi commlink. The first angry question floated foggily through his brain and he was having some trouble forming words around it, eyes traveling off to stare at some blurry crate in the dark.

"'Cause I can." He paused and took short breaths to keep from coughing again, grin fading and voice obviously strained. "'Cause I care. Want to help. Sorry."

Trys ran out of supplies and was very clearly upset by it. A hand awkwardly pulled the commlink from his belt and tried to plant it in the Ranger's hands that still had more blood and less drugs in them.

"Press five times." Emeralds turned to find Trys again and he found some comfort in the worried blue of her eyes even if she was mad at him for doing something foolish again. It was familiar and trustworthy. Strange light still shone behind the Jedi's eyes but there was fear and uncertainty there too, as much his own as a reflection of hers.

"He hit me with something. Can't focus to heal."

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was furious when she couldn’t fix something, and this was one of those things. She pointedly avoided meeting his gaze as she patched him up best she could. Trys could tell he was fading, and he still forced a grin and attempted to talk. She scowled as he said the same words he had before, focusing back on trying to wipe the blood off him.

Her hands were covered in his blood. When he shakily reached for the comlink, she followed his line of sight and quickly grabbed it. Trys clicked five times immediately, glancing up at him with the scowl still on her face.

“Stop with this care shit, you do it because it’s your job and you don’t know when to quit,” Trys all but hissed at him as she pressed against an open wound to staunch the bleeding. She had to actively hold it, and she could see he was getting pale.

She kept glancing over at the chrono and then his comlink, wondering when the help would arrive. Trys glanced up at his emerald eyes, fear coursing through her as soon as she did. Because she saw fear there. She had always considered Hans practically immortal, as did most other Rangers. He had taken on Sith Lords during the prison attack, he had fought and survived against the Eternal, he had helped take down Vyrassu. He was invincible.

And yet here he was slowly bleeding out and visibly terrified. Trys forgot about her own pain, feeling a tremendous amount of guilt for ever dragging him into this. For ever returning his comms message. She had known she was getting into something ugly and she dragged him into her mess.

Trys glanced down and exhaled, “I never should’ve gotten you into this,” She said quietly while still pressing against the wound with bandages that were dark red, “This is a fight I’ve fought before and it’s merciless. Talak and I barely made it out alive last time and this...this seems worse.”

She could hear the whirring of an airspeeder on its way. Trys slowly looked up at Hans again, “I’m not going back with you. I have to chase this.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Trys was saying a lot of things. Her words sounded far away and right next to him at the same time. It was hard to focus on them with everything else but he tried anyway.

He tried because she was feeling a lot of things too. Hannibal didn't have the spare strength to properly filter it all. So much fury and panic, reds and yellow dancing before vision that steadily blurred as he grew dizzier. There was something else there too that he couldn't quite grasp, just out of reach.

"You have it backwards."

Green eyes stayed on the Ranger's face, finding blue whenever they looked toward them. As he paled his gaze was increasingly unsteady. But even now that strange and distant still glimmered somewhere behind them as he looked at Trys, bleeding into bandage and over pressed fingers as she tried to keep him alive enough to be picked up.

"It's my job because I care."

Hannibal wasn't going to try and say he didn't know when to quit. He knew when he should, he just didn't want to. Just too damned stubborn. In the face of fear he was always and forever defiant. Right now he was terrified, and Trys was with him which didn't hep. He still couldn't help the annoyed concern that joined it when the guilt weighed heavy on the air and pressed down on his shoulders like a coiling python.

Shaking fingers moved to close overtop the hands that pressed against a bleeding wound, still for a time. His jaw tightened and his eyes seemed to temporarily find new focus as they bored into Trys.

"I chose to come," he said as firmly as he was able, "And I will again." Hannibal's gaze shifted between her two for a moment, taking in the features of her face. He was already fading again and he blinked, leaning back against a wall he'd stained red himself.

"You can't chase shit with that leg. Don't go." He took a moment to take shallow breaths, eyes closing as keeping them open became uncomfortable.

"Stick together. Can't get that hug if one of us drops, right?"

The wounded Jedi coughed again at the end of his joke at which point he stopped talking. The sound of the airspeeder rapidly approached closer and the commlink warbled a binary confirmation as Lee found a spot to touch down nearest Hans and Trys. Out of sheer stubborn habit he almost tried to get up on his own but of course that didn't work for a number of reason. He grit his teeth from both pain and irritation.

"Gonna need your help."

However they got to the airspeeder it would immediately launch off toward where Hannibal's ship lay in wait. While there was a medkit in the speeder it was the ship that had the real stuff.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was focused on staunching the bleeding, and she barely took heed of what he was saying. However, she paused when she felt his hand over hers. The Ranger looked up and the normal scowl was replaced with slightly wider eyes. She had never looked at him this close before, and there were many things simmering beneath the emeralds that she had no way of deciphering.

She was no Jedi, she couldn’t control her thoughts or emotions. There was a sharp pang of fear when she looked at him, followed by a whirlwind of many different emotions that all caused her heartbeats to quicken. He would know the fear and dread was directed at him, not at anything around them. It was caused by him. From the way he looked at her.

Externally, her face reverted back to the stubborn scowl as she quickly looked away. She knew he would never quit. She knew he would always keep fighting. But his words ran through her mind, and she wouldn’t forget the vibrant emeralds glinting in ways they never had before.

“Stop talking,” She whispered quietly as she pressed into his wound, “You need your strength,” He would know she didn’t believe a word of what she said. Trys exhaled slowly, gaze flicking to the wall behind him that was red with his blood.

Once help arrived, she helped him as best she could, allowing him to lean against her for support.

---​

Hans had to be sedated for treatment of his injuries, and it even took a dip in a bacta tank to help with the torso wounds. In total, he had to be under for about three days before he was able to become mobile and simply bandaged up.

By the time he was awake, there was a hastily written note written near him.

I’m sorry. I have to do this.

Trys was nowhere to be found.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal felt confusion float across the forming fuzziness in his mind and present on his face. Fear from Trys wasn't new to him, he'd been getting it this entire time as she helped him. Got it earlier on the rooftop when they faced the horde and its armoured monster. She had been afraid but she faced it head on every time all the same.

Fear was wasn't new, but this wasn't one he knew. It was like the quickened pace of footsteps, doors that slammed shut. A sensation of distance and things just barely out of sight. There was a weight to it, and a heavy thing tied together in strings, and a strange flightiness along with it he didn't expect.

Her eyes widened and his did too as realized why this was different. It was directed suddenly toward Hannibal, from something about himself, he didn't understand why.

He opened his mouth to speak again and shut it when she asked him to. Eyes blinked and brows furrowed at her insincere words. That wasn't something he expected from her either but he didn't have the focus to pick them or what he felt from her apart. It felt so complicated and Hannibal was growing tired.

So he just nodded along, eyelids drooping and his hand over hers relaxing. The speeder came and Trys helped him up and out, the Jedi struggling with blood loss and injured limbs as he leaned against her, blood dripping down to the duracrete floor in their path. There in the back seat as they flew off toward his ship he flopped into place, eyes closed.

"Don't go," he repeated, almost a whisper, and then an all too familiar blackness took him.

-------
​

Then he woke up. Just as if he'd been simply asleep he came back to life, groggily and still in pain beneath fresh bandages, but awake. He blinked his eyes several time to focus on the medbay ceiling above him. An attempt to get up was made that failed at first as he realized his cybernetic had been removed. The second try was more successful even if he had to be careful around his injuries. Emeralds looked around the room, concerned.

"Ego!" he strained out from a throat that hadn't seen use in three days, "Where is-?" He paused, eyes finding a bit of scrawled on paper at his bedside. It floated off and into the air to find Hannibal's hand and he looked down at it, expression blank.

His eyes widened and he felt his heartbeat quicken from the sharp pang of fear. A whirlwind of many things rushed through his head and his body started moving on its own, turning to dangle his legs over the side of the bed and hissing at the pain the motion brought.

"Trys!" He hoped she might've come back already but of course, there was no response. Hannibal used his arm to help himself to his feet with gritted teeth while a medical droid in the corner complained about it. It got shushed, he jabbed himself with a stim from a drawer, and Hannibal stumbled stiffly to the turbolift with an abundance of very creative swearing and headed up to his armoury. He was absolutely going to be stupidly stubborn about this and started gathering his gear and arm.

"Damn it! Lee!" A warble over the intercom. "Ping Trys Aran's comm, scan around or something."

The astromech followed his instructions and Trys' comm, if it was working, would get a message from the ship as the Jedi's speeder was prepared to head out. He'd just go back to the warehouse if there was no response and start there.

Where are you? -Hannibal

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

“I’m tellin you boss, we need to clear this-”

“I’m not going to move my entire operation because of one Ranger bitch,” The voice cut in smoothly. The man it belonged to turned to regard the man with the limp who barely escaped with his life.

“It was her and a jeedai, boss.”

“Shut up,” The man sneered, “I grow tired of your incessant mewling.”

Within a few moments, a series of beeps erupted and a voice came in through a comms system, “Boss, there’s been a breach.”

“What? Where?”

“Don’t know from where but we found a few of our men dead. Trying to identify th-” The words ended in choked sputtering and a thud.

The boss’s jaw tightened as the wine glass in his hand shattered.

“See boss! I told you-”

The man slowly turned to look at him, “You’ve led the bitch straight here,” He said through gritted teeth.

After a few moments, the man pulled back and adjusted his cuffs and collar, adjusting his tie. He had to replace the suit jacket as it had flecks of blood on it, and he calmly wiped some off his chrono. He fixed up a few errant strands of his hair before stepping over the dead body and leaning in towards the comms unit, “Lock down the facility. Make sure every asset is secure. If an asset escapes, terminate it.”

The facility in question was underground and with very specific entrances. It had been a military bunker at one point and then briefly served as a quarantine facility. It was all but abandoned until the boss and his men took over it to operate a trafficking ring.

The entire time Hans would have no response to his calls or messages.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal flew like the wind from the ship, expression set in determination and a few other things he couldn't account for. His heartbeat raced along with him even as he tried to calm it and his breathing. He assumed it was just the stims for the pain and nothing more.

The datacore proved at least a little useful in pointing him somewhere other than just the same warehouse, but when he arrived in what he thought was the right area it just seemed like another block of rotting city. Where exactly he was supposed go must have been something those two thugs had known and he found himself even more frustrated that Trys hadn't included instructions in the note.

Frustration started turning into something else in the pit of his stomach when he heard small, rapid footsteps and a stumbling down an alley, a spike of fear. He turned down it and was met with the sight of a ragged group, a small boy who'd fallen to the ground at the sight of the Jedi, and a middle-aged Twi'lek woman holding an old blaster with shaking hands and wide eyes.

Maybe it was desperation or just the look on Hannibal's face that convinced the woman to lower her gun at least a little. Hannibal handed over some basic rations and medical supplies from his belt and was told they were escapees hiding from patrols. Some disturbance had delayed their arrival at a different facility in the area and some slaves had made a run for it, although not all had survived. Meant he was in the right area, but he needed to know where exactly.

Hannibal must have been making a particularly unhappy face because one of them came forward and tentatively told the Jedi about the checkpoint they'd run from and that he'd be willing to show him if Hans could get them off world. Green eyes lit up and he just about hugged the young man as he eagerly agreed. Another escaped slave, fire still in their eyes, volunteered to go as well if it would help free others.

With instructions to stay close together and for the others to remain hidden until they got back, Hannibal and the two others hurried back out into the city toward the checkpoint.

​

Within the facility proper lockdown procedures were underway. Doors would begin to shut and boots were run across duracrete, having been alerted to an intruder they didn't know the location of. Guards found places to be and routes to patrol, around doorways and where the 'assets' were kept, making things difficult for anyone sneaking around.

Someone finding their location and killing a bunch of their men was alarming and the wrath of their boss even moreso. The recent news, traveling on commlinks and spoken of by guards along with word of the intruder and the breach, did nothing to calm the chaotic buzz.

A group that had been redirected toward the complex had suddenly stopped responding. The last message had only been single, panicked word.

"Jedi!"

​

​

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

The Ranger moved like a shadow, light on her feet as much as she could be with an injured leg. Currently she was at the corner of a hallway, having found a helmet to protect her head. She also didn’t need others to know it was Trys Aran here.

She could hear shuffling and voices coming down the corridor and pulled a recently acquired smoke grenade from her hip. Trys peeked over to confirm that they were only slavers and henchmen and no 'assets'. Within moments, the smoke grenade was primed and tossed, exploding within the hallway and resulting in panic.

Trys didn’t hesitate before she dropped to the ground, rolled into the hallway and began to rapidly spray bolts into the group. All of them in their blindness assumed the shots came from higher up and didn’t think to shoot at the floor, incoming bolts flying right above her head.

The Ranger didn’t ease off, shooting until the screams stopped and she heard thuds. There was nothing but silence as she rolled to the other side of the hallway and waited for the smoke to clear.

Trys winced as she rose to her feet and quickly made her way through the hall, pausing to pick up anything useful she could find that included swapping out armor and helmet. She grabbed a comlink that was connected to the main channels and some ID badges for different clearances and levels.

She glanced down and could see her leg was bleeding a bit again. Cursing under her breath, she tore off parts of a dead man’s clothing and firmly bandaged herself up. Trys switched into the radio to eavesdrop as she made her way down the corridor.

She froze when she heard the reports of Jedi down in one of the levels. Trys was dressed just like one of the henchmen here and fell into step with two others that went down to investigate the suspected location while other groups worked to lock down the assets.

She remained quiet as she walked with the two burly men to the hallway in question. Trys kept her gaze trained ahead, hearing quite a bit of commotion at the opposite end. The men next to her picked up their pace and so did she, rounding the corner to come across their destination.

“Kriffing Jedi!” One of the men next to her growled and it would be enough to get Hans’ attention. Hans would then see the shorter henchmen standing in between the two men abruptly grabbed the spare blasters from each of their hips, level them against their heads and fire. Both men slammed into opposites sides of the walls on either side of her before sliding to the floor in a bloody heap. Those same guns leveled and shot two other dumbfounded men standing near the Jedi.

Trys placed both blasters on her hips before reaching for some ID keycards and tossing them to Hans and the others with him.

“Get the girls out,” She said simply before she turned and walked back towards the way she came.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

If Hannibal's new friends hadn't entirely believed he was a Jedi before they certainly after they passed through the first checkpoint to follow its patrol to the complex. Those various henchmen barely got any time to respond to their arrival before they started falling to the ground from vertigo, flipped through the air, or simply freezing in place where they stood. Once inside the two ex-slaves decided to stay somewhere behind the man with magic and a laser sword.

Now on the lower levels his arrival seemed to draw some attention. His head whipped to his left as a man growled out, a hand raising, expression icily set with a sense of determination. The air began to shift and-

The middle thug dropped the two at its sides with their own sidearms before taking out the second pair facing his lightsaber, both having had the rare sense not to just start shooting wildly at him and instead moving in with melee weapons. Hannibal stared at the figure mid-movement and caught the thrown ID, the man and woman with him looking utterly flabbergasted and in shock from this whole situation.

"Are you kriffing kidding me?" he protested, the ice vanishing from his expression as he heard Trys' voice through the helmet. Mara and Jo'ran, the nervous Twi'lek and young, brash Mirialan man looked awkwardly at one another and went about finding proper weaponry from the fallen thugs instead of staring. Hannibal marched after the Ranger to follow, eyes dropping to the bandaged up leg and placing the ID on his belt.

"That's the plan. Might've been a lot easier to coordinate if you maybe included that in your stupid bullshit note." He was clearly still annoyed by that whole thing, although he was also watching the way she walked on the leg. Not that he could really comment on her stubbornness given he'd tanked an explosion three days prior and really shouldn't be walking around much less exerting himself. Some of his bandages were probably redder than they were before even if he was taking it light on the sabering and he moved stiffly and gingerly, now outside of the focus of having to fight.

"Did you find where they're keeping them?" he asked, suddenly back on subject as if he realized maybe in the middle of an underground criminal base wasn't the best time to be overly complaintive in lieu of everything else. Also the two people with him were starting to mutter under their breath about what the hell was going on and he didn't want to think about what wild theories they were coming up with.

Henchmen had been gathering stray assets and moving to them a single more central location. The intruders, Trys especially, had notably dropped the number of people available to defend that location and there were still groups out looking for them, but it was still more fortified than a corridor or staging area. In fact it used to be one of the quarantine lockdown rooms for the sick, now turned into a guarded cluster of cells and chained down slaves. Now that they had IDs and things getting in wasn't the worst part.

It was getting out again with the all the girls they were keeping in place without getting shot to shit in the process.

"Oh, and for the record-," he started up again and paused as a pair of particularly burly thugs rounded the corner in front of them. They kept going, feet leaving the ground entirely, and slammed with a pair of solid thuds into the wall to collapse onto the ground in a heap. "If you're goin' to do somethin' brave and stupid I'm going with you. Y'know, stick together?"

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys heard the exasperated outburst from Hans and pointedly ignored it. She punched in a new power pack and double checked for the grenades on her hips before she kept walking. Trys was almost out of earshot before she realized the Jedi was still following her. She came to a stop and tilted a helmeted head to regard him.

“Block C level 5,” She repeated what she heard from the radio. Trys looked ahead as the thugs rounded the corner, but Hans already sent them flying back. She stepped forth and crouched down to pick through any weapons or gadgets to use.

“I’m going upstairs to hunt down the boss before he gets away,” She rose to stand again, “I can’t get close to him with you sticking out like a sore thumb in that dress,” The visor tilted down and then back up as she spoke. The boss would be far too locked down and be able to get away easily if they were too obnoxious. Trys needed to get into the inner circle and travel with him to see where he went to prevent another dead end.

She said nothing more on the topic, taking a few more steps before glancing past Hans at his new friends. Trys looked back at the Jedi, “You intend to send them to get the girls alone?”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Oh well, that was good. Trys seemed to have figured out where all the totally-not-slaves were being kept. On the other hand she'd completely stonewalled the Jedi's irritation about the absolutely everything else going on, explaining what her own plan was in lieu of even commenting on the bullshit note. Or coming here by herself.

Mara looked between the two figures with confusion while Jo'ran busied himself also gathering a couple things from the thugs on the ground. Somehow this all just felt very awkward to the Twi'lek woman and she just kind of went "UUuh..?" in the background while the back and forth was going on.

Hannibal clicked his tongue irritably as Trys commented on his outfit. "No bullshit. If I was wearin' their crap you'd come up with somethin' else," he retorted dryly, looking her over in turn. "If you go in there yourself and get caught or killed, guess what? Dead end and dead Trys. Kriff that, keep your damn comm on, and I'll catch up." His face was clearly still very grumpy, sporting frown, but there was concern in his eyes as well as he looked at the helmet. All the pissed-off-ness was doing a rather poor job of hiding the fact he had been worried he wouldn't find Trys at all. The Jedi's frustration was not at all mitigated by the fact Trys made good points. If anything that just made it worse.

"So, no. We're gonna get the girls out while you find the jackass in charge. Then we can get him together. Teamwork would be helpful." Hannibal mumbled something under his breath about courage and slapped a spare stim into Trys' hand. He'd brought a bunch this time around. "If you die," he said, very seriously, "Just, don't, alright?"

Then he went to head off to Block C, level 5, going a different direction from Trys after a little more walking. They'd have to go a little bit but Hannibal was fairly confident he could get there quickly and pull some bullshit.

"Thank you," said Mara said in accented basic as they walked. Jo'ran stepped up to Trys, a determined fire still burning in the eyes of the young man.

"Take me with you," he said, nodding toward one of the thugs, "I'll change quick. I want these people to pay."

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys stared at Hans as he lectured her, and his empathic abilities would make him keenly aware of just how progressively irritated she was getting. It was incredible just how calmly she stood there while a burning inferno raged inside to the point where Hans would almost feel it on his skin. Her jaw tightened and she was gritting her teeth, but she was still as a statue where she stood.

She glanced down when he shoved the stim in her hand. Her emotions went from rage to defiance and several other things that weren’t entirely clear. Trys shoved it right back in his hand, “No, you need it more than I do,” She said flatly, knowing fully well that he had no business walking around yet, let alone actively doing operations.

“I’ll do my best on the whole not dying thing,” Trys muttered quietly, but she made a point to reach for her comlink and switch it back on to show him that she would keep in touch.

Trys looked over at Jo’ran when he stepped up and volunteered to come with her. She almost opened her mouth to protest, but the determined look in his eye told her she shouldn’t rob him off this opportunity. She simply nodded and stood there while he rapidly changed.

Once he was done, the two split off and made their way towards a set of stairs that would take them to the upper levels.

Meanwhile, Mara walked quietly along with Hans down the corridors, casting curious glances every now and then to the Jedi. After a bit of rapid blinking, she cleared her throat, “So...uh.. You and that woman? Wh-What was that about?”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

It was extremely easy to tell that Trys was becoming more irritated at the Jedi's attitude. Hannibal could almost feel the heated sensation poking him directly in the face with just about every word he said. Despite all that the Ranger just absolutely, utterly refused to actually address what he was complaining about. Unloading at a statue was far from satisfying.

She looked down at the stim, emotions running a rapid gamut with spikes of solid iron and fire, and some other things beneath he couldn't catch hold of. He rolled his eyes as she refused to stim, extra hard since he knew she was still technically correct. Instead he came up with a brilliant comeback.

"Great, you do that," he retorted grumpily. Excellent work, Hannibal, that'll show her. She did also turn her comm back on so... Fair enough, he supposed.Jo'ran went about patching together some gear and armour from his selection of downed guards, follow Trys toward and then up the stairs, bright eyes on high alert. She'd recognize signs he was nervous as well as determined, eyes darting about at their surroundings, but the latter seemed to be winning out so far.

"Anything I should know? Keep an eye out for?'

Hannibal and Mara headed in their own direction, the Jedi's face no less stubbornly grumpy. It was no wonder the Twi'lek kept looking at him.

"What?" he blinked, having been lost in thought. "Oh. Uhhh." Suddenly explaining the whole thing sounded very complicated. "I came to help her out and we were supposed to stick together, see? But then we exploded a bit and I felt bad about it. Then while I was out she left a vague ass note and apparently came here by herself. Worried she'd been killed or some shit." Hannibal turned to look at Mara.

"Bullshit, right?"

She didn't look as if that explained anything at all, and was in fact fairly alarming, but they kept on moving anyway. Hannibal paused at a corner turn, hearing the mutterings of conversation and the more distant sounds of people being "gently encouraged" to get into holding cells. His lips curled into a scowl.

Two guards around the turn guarding the door very suddenly became very tired and then, seemingly of their own accord, flung themselves down the hallway and around the corner. Mara's alarmed expression returned as Hannibal picked up the single flashbang one of them had.

Up the stairs Trys and Jo'ran traveled up was further from the assets and closer to the head of this operation. There were more shut doors up there but luckily they had IDs and disguises. The problem was it made sighting potential hostiles more difficult. Comms chatter regarding the steadily increasing numbers of patrols not reporting in would be picked up as well. The boss was apparently considering "liquidating" assets soon.

@Sreeya

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys glanced over at Jo’ran, noting how he carried himself while wearing the mercenary uniform, “Act like you belong here. Relax your shoulders and don’t act surprised when we come across more of these kriffers. We have to blend in,” She instructed, tilting her helmeted head towards him. She began to wonder if allowing him to tag along was a good idea after all. It was too late to ditch him, so she kept going.

Meanwhile, the boss was having his third cigarra in rapid succession. The cameras set at various points were being taken out and he was operating blind. He looked up at two of his guards, “Is the roof extraction on the way?”

“Yes sir.”

He grinned a sick grin as he exhaled smoke, “Cull half of the assets.”

“But.. sir?”

“A stupid Jedi will rush to the half being wiped out while we get the rest out. Make sure the cull group includes only those above 18.”

The guards nodded and turned to leave.

Trys didn’t hear much chatter on the radio but she knew the boss was up a few levels. She used her key card to get into an upper level and ran right into a group of guards coming down. She sensed Jo’ran stiffening slightly, but he kept it together otherwise.

“We got separated down in Block E,” Trys explained casually, “What’s the extraction plan?”

One of the guards quietly looked from her to Jo’ran, and then back to her. A few agonizing seconds passed before he finally spoke, “Boss is getting extracted from the roof. Go watch the upper levels in case those intruders show up,” He looked over at Jo’ran, “Why are you holding your blaster upside down?”

Trys looked over and gritted her teeth. She spoke before Jo’ran could say anything, “Dude’s never seen a Jedi in action before. Spooked as shit. I’ll make sure he’s cool.”

The guard eyed her for a moment before they both silently walked right past her. Trys didn’t bother looking at Jo’ran, both of them knowing how close that had been.

---​

Mara was entirely unconvinced by the Jedi’s explanation. In fact, she didn’t realize that ‘explosion’ meant literal explosion. She understood that the two had some sort of spat and that was ongoing. She kept her questions to herself as they made their way down, alarmed by the Jedi’s displays of unnatural power. Like him, she rummaged through the guards and picked up a spare blaster.

Several guards arrived at the asset location and began to separate the crying and sobbing girls. They were forcefully yanked and rounded up with little regard. The guards tied their wrists and had them in a line as they were led down a corridor. Their destination was a large room that was designed to instantly destroy infected in droves. This had been a former AMS facility after all.

Trys’s voice came in on Hans’ comms, “Roof extraction for the boss. Going to chase that down. There’s less chatter on the radio so they’re realizing it may be compromised. Assets are likely in danger so hurry,” There was a bit of a pause, “...And be careful.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

It could be confidently said that this was Jo'ran's first time doing basically any of this, but he was certainly eager to do his best. Trys' advice was helpful and he went through a process of trying to settle his shoulders his face, looking straight ahead. He still didn't look quite confident and his blaster was upside down without him having noticed.

Luckily Trys' quick thinking fit Jo'ran's demeanor well and he immediately turned the weapon around, looking annoyed at himself as well as spooked as she spoke on his behalf. He didn't speak right away, lips pursed and teeth grit after his mistake and the close call it'd caused, silently vowing to do better. The weapon was clenched in his hands with renewed determination as he followed along.

"Thanks. Sorry."

-------​

There was a flow of some feelings or other from Mara that didn't seem to fit what he thought he said. They were pushed to the side at her sense of alarm directed at the Jedi and Emeralds to turned to look at her, having forgotten to actually warn her before just doing things. Oops.

"Alright so, I'm gonna go in and-" Hannibal stopped mid-sentence, head snapping toward the room full of assets. Fear was beginning to build already in the other room, traveling out in waves for him to pick up. The Jedi's eyes widened, then a moment later his face set firm as durasteel. A buzz from his commlink stopped him from moving forward, a hand pulling the device off his belt.

His expression relaxed again without him noticing as Trys gave him an update, nodding to himself at what she said. It made sense and he knew Trys was a professional, she'd find a way to get it to work. Didn't mean he didn't worry, though. "Copy that, double time," he answered automatically, turning to keep walking. Didn't mean he didn't worry, though. Her last words after the pause stopped Hannibal in place for a moment, words catching behind his teeth instead of the quick reply he wanted. He didn't know what face he was making but it felt complicated.

"Yeah, I will. You too." Then he replaced the comm on his belt and looked at Mara, who was giving him a look. "What?" Mara shook her head as Hannibal resumed walking, his face setting back even more determined than it was just a few moments ago. Then his presence, without warning, completely vanished. Mara had to look at him to make sure he was even still next to her.

"Stay close and behind me," Hannibal instructed quietly and peeked around the doorway into the large quarantine room, just enough to take in what was happening. The fear was rapidly growing as new guards had shown up, gathering up the assets to lead them toward another corridor. A sign above the distant doorway told him their destination, as did the horror that filled room. His plan changed. "Find cover."

Hannibal stabbed himself with another stim, ducked down a little, took a deep breath, chucked his concussion grenade into the air, and then seemed to blur into nothing from where Mara was looking just after it went off above the rear guards. She herself scuttled in and ducked behind a bit of machinery, at which point she saw where the Jedi had gone.

In a flash he'd shot across the room to the nearest guard, the man collapsing to the ground missing a weapon and several fingers even as he flew to the next. Panic spread quickly among the partly stunned guards at the sudden appearance of this rapidly-moving shape that cut with silver, flung people aside, and sent more bursts of light into the eyes that saw him. Mara firing shots at people from across the room wasn't helping their cohesion, a loud shout from the Jedi

Maybe he was a stupid Jedi, as the boss was thinking, but he still wasn't going to let these people be murdered or enslaved without a fight. And this time he intended to be wary of any smart-asses with dart guns.

Trys meanwhile would find herself in her own race against time. The boss was gathering guards and about to start heading for the roof. IDs she and Jo'ran carried got them through most doors on their way up and the young man steadfastly kept his stupid mouth shut and did his best to relax as much as the Ranger with him. Once on the upper levels they'd come across a door that lead to the same floor the boss was usually on, guarded by two henchmen who were actually directly checking IDs for once.

The one on the left, a Devaronian woman with a scar across her jaw, stoically held out her hand. Jo'ran looked at her and then the rather average looking Zabrak next to her.

"Cards?"

@Sreeya