Ask Coruscant In the Dim Light

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia looked back once to confirm Gatz was following then continued. She put the mostly gray mask she'd chosen on and pulled up her gray cloaks hood. The medium armour she had on (from Gatz smuggled supplies) felt odd while she walked. Usually she only wore light armour, it made movement in melee a little easier.

​

Coruscant Underworld, Lower Levels

"Boss lady!" Oso greeted Emilia with a smile, watching her come to a stop near him. He was a human around Gatz age, brown hair, dark brown eyes, although he had a hood on and a cloth covering his lower face. "You're taller than I remember," he added.

Emilia looked at him and said nothing in return, barely being able to stop herself from her own desired comment. Oso had a personality even more loud than most. If she had more options she wouldn't have brought him.

Oso looked at Gatz and gestured a greeting too.

"Are the others in place?" Emilia asked. "Yep, all in place. I've sent you the map of the compound. There is a console. Looks like a big one, too. Of course, it's below ground in the lower floors. Exactly two floors down. It always has to be hard, doesn't it?"

"Where do we get in?" Emilia asked plainly. "It's like talking to a droid sometimes, isn't it?" Oso asked, looking over at Gatz. "Where do we get in," Emilia asked again, allowing herself to frown since no one could see anyway. Oso shrugged, "Right up there, top of the roof. I have a-"

If Gatz didn't pull away, for the second time since they met, Emilia would grab his hand, "Hold on tight," she said to Gatz, bending her knees and calling the Force to flow through her and grant her strength. Within a second the air was rushing around her as she propelled herself upwards to the roof, holding on tightly to Gatz if he'd allowed her to take his hand.

Landing on the roof she let go of Gatz hand. "Hey! How come he gets the free ride?" Oso's voice rang from below. Emilia ignored Oso and looked at what seemed like a big vent on the roof. It had a thick grate over it, of course, so they couldn't just walk in without getting through it. Emilia's lightsaber snapped to her hand from her belt with the Force as she moved towards the grate.

The snap-hiss of her purple lightsaber igniting echoed in the deep vent. Emilia stopped in front of the vent and pressed her lightsaber into the grate. The thick metal whined against her purple blades plasma and she began to carve a way in. "Remember to stay close," Emilia said in her normal stoic voice to Gatz.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Armor was... clunky. Gatz found that he wasn't all that fond of it. Sure, this new gear would protect him, but it was cumbersome and it slowed him down. There would be no tucking and rolling in this get-up, and the smuggler feared that would be the end of him. Oh well. He'd known that the chances of surviving this were slim.

He followed Emilia, as she lead them through the twists and turns of Coruscant's underworld. It was funny, he thought, how the Jedi knew the back alleys better than he did. Gatz wondered if he'd limited himself, by choosing to stay out of the Core Worlds. Wondered how much more money he might have made, if he'd risked coming here more often.

He supposed it didn't matter. He was on a different path now.

Oso seemed a fine enough fellow, especially for someone who strayed around the seedier places of this planet. Gatz gave him a nod in greeting, and let himself smile when the man compared Emilia to a droid. She was nothing like R4, and in fact, he might have called them opposites. But, Gatz supposed that R4 wasn't exactly the stereotypical example of a droid, was he?

Then Emilia was grabbing his hand. Gatz had a smartass remark to make, but never got the chance, because he was flung into the air. Or... dragged into the air? He wasn't sure which was more accurate, because he was focused on keeping himself from blowing chucks. He landed with Emilia, staggering for a few steps. When his legs were firm, and his bile back in his stomach, he turned to look down at Oso, who was voicing his annoyance.

"Because I'm prettier than you are!"

Emilia began to cut away at a grate in front of them, and Gatz waited patiently on her.

"'Stay close?' Emilia, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were coming onto me."

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Oso frowned back up at Gatz. "In your dreams," he answered, though he didn't shout it. He'd just have to show up this newcomer. Well, once he got to the top of the roof, that was. "Kriff..."

Emilia paused for a second when Gatz said... What? She felt her cheeks warm for a reason she couldn't understand, but she was mostly confused about why he'd say that. She was just trying to protect him! Thank the Force for her mask hiding her face.

"You know, I could easily push you off this roof right now," Emilia grunted, even if it was antithetical to the point of Gatz staying close to her. Right after she spoke, Emilia finished cutting a path through the grate for them. She let go of the chunk of metal and it clambered to the floor while she stared at Gatz with a look he wouldn't see.

Maybe he'd feel the look.

"Hrmp," Emilia let out, raising her chin slightly at Gatz before turning and walking through the path she just carved. It didn't take long before there was a steep incline. Emilia deactivated her lightsaber and placed the hilt on her belt. She lowered herself and pretty much slid down the vent, letting out a small 'oof' as she came to a stop at the end. There she spotted another, much thinner, grated opening.

The small Jedi looked through it, spotting no one. Raising her hand, it took only a small amount of Force to pluck the little grate from it's place. After she put her head through the opening to see if anyone was around. When she spotted no one she adjusted her position and slipped through the opening, down into a hallway.

She looked around then pulled out her datapad to see where they were. "Just down this hallway to the left there should be a stairwell. Might need to slice some sort of security panel to get through though," she said softly, unsure if they'd encounter someone anytime soon. Either way, she knew it'd only be a matter of time before they set off some sort of alarm and were swarmed by assassins, or security, or both.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"That wouldn't be very Jedi of you." Gatz smiled at her, and though she probably couldn't hear it, he figured it was apparent in his voice.

Emilia wouldn't push him off the roof anyhow. Well, okay, she might. But she'd catch him. Gatz got the hint that she was all grump and no bite, at least when it came to most things. He was pretty sure he was about to see her bite now, as they took on actual assassins that had tried to kill her/him/them. She had a lightsaber after all. Gatz figured that she knew how to use it.

He found himself following the woman through a vent. It was hardly the first time he'd been forced into an air duct before, but he'd certainly never been enclosed in a place like this with a Jedi. Or a cute girl. It seemed that Emilia had a way of introducing him to new experiences, but he kept his mouth shut. He doubted she would appreciate the comment.

Gatz joined her in the hallway, landing on his feet almost silently. He was no assassin or Jedi Shadow, but he was a scoundrel. He'd picked up a thing or two about treading lightly.

"Stairwell on the left. Gotcha."

Gatz pulled his blaster pistol off of his belt, and slowly crept his way to the corner of the hallway. So far he hadn't seen anyone, or heard anything resembling people approaching them, but they were dealing with assassins here. They could probably walk right under his nose and he'd fail to notice. So, having his gun out was probably a good idea.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Gatz kept bringing up that she was Jedi, but she wondered how long she'd have the title. That was a thought to mull over later, however. Not while in a nest of assassins.

Emilia followed Gatz from behind. She kept her datapad in her hand for the time being. As soon as Gatz looked confident no one was near Emilia went past him and spotted the doorway to the stairwell. It was locked as she suspected and this time Emilia didn't plan to use the Force to open it.

"Keep an eye out," she said to Gatz.

Inputting some commands, Emilia was able to find then slice into the door control panel. With her slicing knowledge she used the panel to figure out what security system the building was using. Because the door was connected to the security system, after all. Luckily, she'd seen the same system before so she had knowledge of it, which would make what she wanted to do next easier.

After a minute soft footsteps caught her attention. Emilia looked back just as Oso rounded the corner. "Hey, thanks for waiting for me guys," Oso said, rolling his eyes.

As per usual, Emilia ignored the comment and went back to work on the security system. A click interrupted Oso as he was about to talk again. "I've disabled the security systems alarms," Emilia said. She knew that the assassins could still coordinate through comms. Disabling the alarms only slowed down their reaction time. Before continuing, she put away her datapad and unclipped her lightsaber hilt from her belt with her right hand.

Oso nodded and opted to wait for Emilia and Gatz to go first. He planned to stay in the rear. At the bottom of the stairwell another door came into view. Two doors close together for security reasons, she guessed. The door slid open this time without needing to be unlocked and three men, clearly very well equipped with pistols, rifles, knives and more, immediately stopped what they were doing. All three men turned around and looked at Emilia, and Emilia reacted.

Thrusting her left hand forward, a powerful wave of Force sent all three men flying back into the walls before they could grab their weapons.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

As commanded, Gatz kept his eyes peeled on the hallway. They'd yet to see anyone, and that had Gatz both relieved and worried. Relieved, because they hadn't seemed to set off any alarms yet. Worried, because they were in an assassin's den, and that meant that he couldn't trust his eyes. Maybe not even his ears.

Maybe only the Force.

But that wasn't something that just came to him when he called for it. It cropped up from time to time, like a bad case of acne, and then faded as soon as it came. So he was left with nothing more than his mundane senses, which he knew could fail him. Likely would fail him, because that was how his luck tended to go.

Gatz was patient while Emilia sliced the security system. He had to admit, he was impressed. She was far quicker, and more skilled, at cracking codes than he was. And he was an actual scoundrel. Maybe he ought to ask her for lessons, if they survived this.

Oh, and Oso was there too. Gatz didn't pay him much mind.

When the door at the bottom of the stairs slid open, Gatz was ready. Even so, he simply wasn't fast enough. Even with his blaster drawn, Emilia was swift enough with the Force to toss all three men across the room, before he could even squeeze the trigger. He'd have let out a low whistle at that, if not for the situation they were in.

"On your knees, hands behind your head. Go for a weapon, or move too suddenly, and my trigger finger might get itchy."

Could he gun down three unarmed men, in cold blood? Gatz wasn't sure he wanted to find out. All he could do is hope the assassins weren't disoriented enough to not understand what he'd said. Because if they did try to get up, or reach for something, he was going to have to do something drastic.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia ignited her lightsaber. It's gentle humm filled the room when the purple blade ignited. It also caught the gaze of the three men, though so did Gatz and his warning. One of the assassins muttered something, Odo injected with a "Shut up," and his own threat with his blaster.

The small sephi moved closer to one of the three men, placing her purple, humming blade near his neck. "Disarm and search them," she commanded when she looked back at Oso. Oso once again didn't blink at Emilia's bossiness, he simply started to follow her instructions while the three men were being watched by her and Gatz.

Oso started on the man Emilia had her lightsaber blade near. Well, he started then stopped only after a short time going through the mans weapons. "Hey, boss, isn't this a-" Oso said with a few blinks. He stood up with something clutched in his hand.

The moment Emilia made it out she extended her left hand, using the Force to rip the object out of Oso's hand and bring it to her own. "Yes," Emilia answered even before Oso could finish.

It was a lightsaber hilt. There was something in a language Emilia didn't understand carved into it. That was not her main concern, however. If she had felt darkness when her hand gripped it, maybe she would've been less concerned. Instead, she could feel the calming warmth of the Light Side from it. This was a Jedi's blade, and it made her concerned that an assassin had it. "Where did you get this?" Emilia asked.

The assassin said nothing. Oso responded by hitting the man in the back of the head with his blaster, "The lady asked a question!" the browned haired human barked. The assassin growled softly after getting back up from being hit, "I found it laying around in someone's safe," he answered.

Emilia's purple eyes settled back on the blade, uncomfortable with the idea that she might be holding the blade of a fallen Jedi. Then it hit her. A coldness that made her stomach curl, that set off alarms in all her senses. The Dark Side. But the Jedi turned only in time to feel the painful bite of lightning crawling up the left side of her body.

At the same time, while being distracted, the three other assassins made their move. Oso shot the one he was near in the back before he could get up, only seconds before another assassin sent a bolt towards him. The third assassin made his move, grabbing and aiming his own blaster towards Gatz.

The dark, purple bolts sent a wave of pain through Emilia before she could process anything else at first. It sent the small sephi back against the wall, forcing her to let out a pained scream. Though her gut reaction was to scream and writhe, through the pain she forced herself to ignite the second blade in her left hand. This time a blue blade hissed to life, and through its nature drew the lightning to it, away from Emilia and protecting her long enough to see who had sent it towards her.

A fourth assassin, holding what looked like a sword. Not a lightsaber like Emilia expected, but not all dark side users were Sith. Emilia had no clue where the woman had come from. The Jedi breathed in sharply as she moved in pain, pouring her focus into her blade as the lightning assault continued. Stepping forward a few steps, Emilia thrust forward, sending the lightning back at her target. It hit. The woman hissed, stumbling back as her stream of lightning came to a halt, and that was when Emilia charged forward.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Emilia's purple lightsaber was mesmerizing, but Gatz didn't allow himself to be drawn to it. He was in a room with three assassins, and couldn't afford to be distracted. Even once they were disarmed, he doubted he'd be at ease. Speaking of which, Emilia ordered the two not-Jedi to search the assassins in question.

Before he could get to it however, Oso produced a lightsaber. The sight startled Gatz, because if these men had lightsabers on them, then they had no real idea what they were capable of. Even having Emilia's second weapon on his belt, and within easy reach, did nothing to calm his anxiety. Because, despite what she'd said, he knew he'd be useless with it.

A chill crawled down his spine. Then the lightning came.

Gatz heard Emilia cry out in pain, and heard the thump she made as she collided with the wall. But he didn't have the time to check on her. The commotion had provided the captured assassins with the opportunity to attempt an escape. One assassin tried to aim a blaster at him, but Gatz had kept his blaster trained on the man the whole time. That probably saved his life.

The assassin went down with a single bolt to the chest.

But Oso had two to deal with, so with his own assassin dead, Gatz turned his pistol to Oso's second assailant, and let off another shot. He wanted to help Emilia with her fight, but knew he was useless to her. He couldn't contend with a trained Force user. All he could do is keep the normies off her back, while she did her Jedi thing.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Oso felt the bolt from the assassin sting his shoulder. He was pushed back onto the ground with a yelp. "Kriff! Kark! Karking bastard!" Oso shouted.

The last male assassin standing didn't stay in one place after taking his shot at Oso. He rolled behind a large container and Gatz bolt dissipated uselessly on the ground near where the assassin had been. Oso bit his bottom lip and lifted himself enough off the ground to start shooting towards the assassin, though his rapid shots only hit the wall and container.

A smaller container came flying at Emilia as she was closing the gap between her and the Dark Side user. The woman had wrapped the Force around it and flung it at the sephi. Emilia used both her lightsabers to cut the container into pieces to keep moving forward. Just as Emilia closed in on the woman, the woman screamed at her and pulled out a second sword.

Then they danced. Emilia's movements were fluid, each one a mixture of instinct and cold, calm calculation. The woman reacted, attempting to match Emilia in speed and skill. Blue and purple and the light that sparked as Emilia's lightsabers met with the two swords coloured the room around them. Emilia was managing to push the woman back more and more, forcing the darksider into a weaker defensive position. Emilia did not play it safe when she fought. She was aggressive. She fought to deliver all the justice the Light Side could bring down.

The assassin pinned behind the create momentarily leaned out to toss a frag grenade into the middle of the room. He'd already pulled the trigger. By this point the Emilia was close to pulling off her strategy, when the woman did something Emilia couldn't predict. The darksider took a risk and sent a wave of lightning towards Gatz. It caused Emilia to flinch and to move as fast as she could to block it with her lightsabers.

While Emilia blocked the dark, crackling bolts of dark side, the woman took the time to back into a nearby door and into the hallway. Emilia followed the woman into the hallway, closing the gap between them, into melee, and continuing to force the woman back. But then another problem came into view in front of Emilia. Two more assassins with rifles walked into the hallway behind the Dark Side user and started firing, forcing Emilia back to deflect the shots.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Well, he'd never exactly been a crack shot.

Gatz's second blaster bolt was useless, as his target threw himself behind some sort of crate or container thing. Oso tried to fire on the man, but it was to no avail. Keeping his blaster trained on the assassin's hiding spot, Gatz began to walk around the cover his assailant had found himself behind. The whole time, his heart was pounding.

Then a hand came up. Gatz shot it, burning the flesh and muscle to a crisp and earning a cry of pain from the man, but not before a grenade thunked to the ground in front of him. In a panic, Gatz threw his foot out in an angled kick, and sent the grenade soaring out the door. It exploded a second later, shaking the room.

A trickle down his spine. Hairs on the back of his neck rising-

Gatz spun his head, to find Sith lightning arcing its way to him. There was nothing he could do, no way for him to dodge or block. He had to take lightning head on, and hope that he could-

But then Emilia was there, holding the lightning at bay with the lightsabers in her hand. Gatz let out a shaky breath, only now noticing the raw fear that coursed through his veins. What was he doing here? He wasn't some hero, or some Jedi. He was a no good smuggler, who had a stupid penchant for getting himself mixed up in trouble he didn't need.

Even so, he followed Emilia out into the hallway, trusting Oso to take care of the last assassin with the ruined hand.

Two more enemies turned the corner, blasters aimed at Emilia. He couldn't do anything to stop their guns from firing. He could, however, fire a shot into each of them while they were focused on the Jedi. The one on the right went down before Emilia could even deflect his shot back at him. The second one, however, caught Gatz's blaster bolt to the shoulder instead of the chest. But it didn't matter, because his own shot was deflected by the Jedi as well, and caught him in the neck.

Gatz breathed easy.

Then a new figure appeared, draped in a black robe, with a vibrosword at their side. Gatz chanced a look over his shoulder at Emilia, but she was clearly preoccupied with her opponent. Great. That meant that he got to deal with this newcomer, and Gatz wasn't confident in his ability to not get killed.

Even so, he stepped into the center of the hallway.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Oso got up after Gatz shot the other assassin. He might've had a heart attack if Gatz hadn't kicked the grenade out of the room. Instead of heart failure, Oso aimed at the assassin reeling in pain and shot him in the chest. Though Oso fell to his knee after saw the shot land, and cursed under his breath. He started to pull out a medpac from his belt because his shoulder was in an exceptional amount of pain.

When Gatz shots flew past Emilia she felt bolstered and continued to block the shots from the other men. As they fell to Gatz shots, Emilia took the opening to close the distance between her and the darksider again. But, something at the sides of Emilia's senses pulled at her mind. Emilia tired to keep up her focus but felt the darksider taking advantage of the moment.

The sephi started to take steps back. She knew what she sensed, as she had been around Gatz long enough to become sensitive to his emotions. Sometimes, it happened with Force Users. Fear clung to him, and Emilia took a few moments as she went on defence to speak to him in the only safe way, "You can do this, Gatz, I believe in you," softly he'd hear her words in his mind. There would be a calmness to them that he may be able to feel.

"Just let go, allow the Force to guide you," her voice continued with more conviction. Emilia then felt an elbow on the side of her face which sent her stumbling to the side. The darksider had taken advantage of an opening, and the Jedi had to focus everything on the woman again in order to survive.

The new black robed figure looked over Gatz's should for a moment, "Master!" he shouted. With a growl he reached out with his free hand and wrapped the Force around Gatz's blaster. His hand swung to the side, attempting to rip Gatz's blaster from his grip. However, the robed man was not even half as powerful as his master, so if he couldn't rip the gun out of the mans hand he'd at least try to point it away from him and keep it faced that way.

While he attempted to pull the blaster from Gatz hand, he started to run towards the smuggler to cut him in half with his sword.

Emilia's fight with the female assassin lead her almost to the very end of the hallway while Gatz took on his challenge. The Jedi's blade was caught by the assassins at the top. The assassin pushed down on Emilia's blade, however the Jedi saw the opening. Her blade was pointed directly at the woman's chest, so the young Jedi took advantage of the modifications she made to her lightsaber. She pressed a second button on the hilt and it switched the blade into dual-phase. The blade extended twice its size, directly into the assassins chest. There was a pause as the assassin looked down, staring at the blade in her chest before collapsing.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

So Emilia believed in him. That filled him with what little courage existed in his being. It wasn't much, but it would have to suffice.

Gatz had figured that this new assassin would be a problem. Hell, he hadn't expected to be able to kill the man with a blaster. But he didn't even get the chance to try. His pistol was ripped from his hand, by a phantom strength. The Force. So, his new enemy was a trained Force-Sensitive? Great. He could totally fight one of those.

The man rushed him, sword held high. With his gun laying on the ground, ten feet away, Gatz was without a weapon he could properly use. So he had to take a risk: as the man approached, Gatz charged him, as if to tackle or strike him. The man swung his sword at Gatz, who instead tucked into a roll. The vibroblade cut through the space he'd just occupied, but missed him entirely.

Gatz hit the ground and somersaulted, coming to a stop next to his blaster. He scrambled to pick it up, and took a shot at the assassin. His aim was true, and the blaster bolt caught the man in the abdomen.

But the man didn't go down.

Instead, he let out an enraged cry, and swung his blade furiously. Gatz tried to dive out of the way, and was almost successful, but the blade caught him across the back. The force of the blow slammed him to the ground in a sprawl, and he felt the blade cut through his armor, and into his flesh. It burned, and he let out a gasp, but rolled over and aimed his blaster again.

With a flick of his sword, the Assassin disarmed him for a second time. His blaster was knocked from his hand, clattering to the ground, and spinning away from him. His assailant raised his sword, and prepared to plunge it into Gatz's chest. With his gun lost to him yet again, there was only one other thing he could rely on to protect himself.

The sword came down. Gatz whipped Emilia's second lightsaber off of his belt, ignited it, and did his best to parry. He knocked the sword off course, and instead of impaling his abdomen, it sunk into the empty space above his shoulder. Gatz kept the lightsaber's blade locked with the man's sword, using all the strength in his left arm to keep it there.

With his right, he reached out for his blaster.

It had been a long time since he'd used the Force willingly. After leaving the Order, he'd still regularly meditated, and practiced the few lessons that had been imparted to him. But when he chose to leave Naboo, and live this life of crime... he'd chosen to distance himself from the Force. Because the energy that bound the galaxy together shouldn't be used for ill gains.

But even after years of disuse, it still answered his plea for help. His blaster skipped across the metal flooring, like a lopsided bantha trying to walk, but it found its way into his hand. Gatz brought his trusty gun up, and rapid fired three shots from it. At this range, with the assassin looming over him, it was impossible to miss.

The sword clattered to the ground beside him, and the Dark Jedi's apprentice fell to the ground.

"Shit," Gatz let out a heavy breath, "that sucked."

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

When she extinguished her lightsaber, the small sephi's eyes finally flicked over to Gatz. All she saw at first was him laying on the ground and it made her heart beat faster. She filled with worry. The Jedi knew she should suppress the emotion. It was attachment, but she ignored that part of her brain. Emilia moved down the hall towards him, scanning for assassins or cameras while she did, of course.

When she made it to Gatz she took off her mask and tossed it to the side, allowing it to slide along the floor a few inches until it came to a stop. Since there were no cameras in this hall it didn't matter if her face was showing, and without the mask it'd be easier to check him for injuries.

"Gatz?" the small sephi said as she came to her knees beside him. While she was beside him like this, she became acutely aware of just how different they were in frame and size. Gatz was so much bigger than her, built like a criminal usually was. She was much smaller with her lithe sephi frame. "Are you okay?"

Free of her mask, Emilia's purple eyes scanned the man for injuries right when she went to her knees. Some of her platinum hair fell to the sides of her pale face, framing it while she ran her hand carefully around his chest. She pushed aside his robe to see if she was missing anything, but she found nothing on the man and did not know about the slash wound on his back.

"Why are you laying here like this?!" Emilia asked with her voice raised a little louder than usual. Without really thinking, or understanding herself, she rolled up her hand into a fist and hit him in the chest with some of her natural strength. "You scared me," she grunted and looked away from him briefly.

"There might not be anymore assassins here, but more could be on the way. We need to get to the console and leave as soon as possible," Emilia said. She looked back at him and waited for a response. If he was injured she'd help him back up, but they really were on a time crunch.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"Yeah, I'm good. The adrenaline is still working, you know? Can't even feel the cut in my back."

Or at least, he couldn't, until Emilia decided to bash his chest open with her fists. He winced a little, pained in both his abdomen and the planes of his back. So maybe that slash wound was a little deeper than he'd first thought. Oh well. This wasn't exactly the time or place to check on it, not when they were within the halls of an actual assassin den.

"I'm laying here because a Dark Jedi assassin laid me flat on my ass, Emilia. You know, the one over yonder, dead on the ground."

Even in life or death situations, Gatz Derrevar was still an ass. So sue him. It was part of his charm. After nearly getting cut in half, several times within the last minute, he'd earned a little bit of snark. Plus a nice long rest, a drink, and a warm body to share his bed. He figured he was getting none of those tonight, so laying on the floor for a few more moments would have to do.

"What? No kiss for the heroic smuggler?"

Gatz picked himself up off of the ground, slowly, wincing once more as his back throbbed.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Gatz snarkiness didn't surprise Emilia, or phase her. She looked at the assassin, letting out a small grunt. She still helped Gatz up.

But she let out a little, "Hrmph," at his last comment, picking up her mask and putting it on before she continued down the hall. "If I promise a kiss, will you stop being so slow?" Emilia asked with her own version of snark, looking back at him for a brief moment before continuing.

She turned a corner and went down a stairwell. No one else seemed to be around, though she kept her hilt in her hand until they reached the console the Jedi had been after the whole time.

The small sephi hooked her hilt back on her belt to take out her datapad, sitting down after. It didn't take her long to crack the console and begin to search it. As expected the console didn't have a ton of information. There wasn't a list of cultists, but there were files with pictures, names, locations of both targets and people who'd hired the assassins.

The small Jedi began downloading the files and flipping through them to find herself or Gatz, then she stopped at a file and felt many thoughts go through her head. It was a file on a target, it looked like it included who had placed the hit, too. But it wasn't the person that placed the hit that concerned Emilia, it was the target: Korre Belasi (@lizziie), the Prime Minister of the Free World Alliance. This was information Emilia needed to get to the Prime Minister and her guards as soon as possible.

A little beep from Emilia's datapad let her know that all the files were downloaded. Emilia's purple eyes came back up to match Gatz's. "We need to go, now. We can look for our records on your ship."

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"Promise me a kiss, and I'd dedicate myself to the Jedi Order again," Gatz winked at her.

That was a blatant lie, of course. He liked his life too much to just give it up and return to meditating all day. Plus, Jedi had to do the hero thing all the time. He'd just barely survived a whole hideout of assassins, and technically, they hadn't made it out just yet. No, Gatz Derrevar was a smuggler, through and through. But maybe he could do the right thing, once in a while.

"In all seriousness, let's get moving. I'm already sick of this place."

His ship sounded like a nice place to be. It was warm, mostly safe, had plenty of amenities, and the best part was that it didn't have any Dark Jedi on board. Plus, he had his pilot's chair, and that was the perfect place to browse through the records Emilia had just swiped. Maybe if he asked nicely, R4 would bring some caf.

Gatz's back still burned, but it didn't seem to be a serious wound. It bled lightly, but so long as they were swift, he could hold off on taking care of it until they returned to The Long March. His quarters could probably be sanitized easier than this stupid assassin base, anyhow. Plus it had his cushy bed.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia didn't take Gatz offer to rejoin the Order as a joke, despite it clearly being one. She wondered what kind of Jedi Gatz might make if he continued his training.

She nodded when he said to get moving. The small Jedi didn't take long to pack up and start on her way out.

Upon turning a corner into the room they first met assassins, Oso gave a smirk and waved. The browned-haired scoundrel had a bandage wrapped around his shot shoulder, and a couple packs full of weapons he'd stole from the dead assassins. He gave Emilia one pack, then the two spoke and parted ways.

On her way out of the building, Emilia contacted her other two men, who set off the explosives they'd placed around the building. The building soon crumbled at the bottom and toppled to the side with several large explosions.

When the pair made it into the Long March, Gatz droid zoomed forward and started to beep at Gatz. Emilia pushed the pack of various weapons that Oso had stolen against Gatz chest in an attempt to get the man to take it, then finally pulled out one of the medpacs.

Opening up the pack, she grabbed a cloth covered in bacta. She carefully ran the cloth down Gatz's back, along the very sore looking cut while he was still standing. "You should sit down. I'll deal with your cut."

Gatz droid beeped again. It caught Emilia's attention. "Get him some painkillers, and something to drink," Emilia said to the man's droid. The little droid didn't protest in anyway, oddly enough. It chirped a 'yes ma'am' and went to fulfil the order.

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Back on his freighter, The Long March, Gatz found himself a seat on his bed. Emilia was going to tend to the cut on his back, which he thought was a funny reverse of the situation a day ago, when she'd been laid out with burns up her arm. Well, he supposed this was how the galaxy worked: you gave in a little, and you got back a little. Except most of the time you didn't actually get back anything.

Jedi tended to pay back what was owed, though.

He didn't wince or groan as Emilia ran the bacta pad down his back. Oh, it stung of course, and he'd definitely want a painkiller later. But Gatz had always had something of a higher tolerance to pain. He couldn't explain it; he had no idea why he was so good at taking punishment.

"You know, I think I moved pretty fast back in that building..." Gatz winked, despite the pain in his back.

He'd been promised a reward for being swift, after all.

R4 came wheeling around the corner, a shot glass with whiskey in one manipulator, and painkillers in the other. Ah. His bad. Often, when he told his astromech droid to "get him a drink," he meant something alcoholic. Emilia had meant water. But, well, it would wash down all the same.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia focused on cleaning the cut for the moment. Even when Gatz made the comment of being fast, and how he fulfilled his part of the "promise". The small sephi simply didn't react right away. She stayed stoic on the outside and focused on the smuggler's wound.

The problem was, she felt her cheeks warm with a blush. Emilia hated it. She was suppose to be a Warrior of Light, a person who gave their life to protect others. Not... someone who was shy. Still, she finished wrapping the last bandage around Gatz's chest and then leaned back.

"Fine," the small Jedi gave in, "But, just one kiss."

Her lithe form sat beside Gatz on his bed. It didn't add much weight to it, though the slant of the bed did make her slide closer and press against him. She ignored it, grabbed both sides of Gatz jaw, leaned in and softly placed a kiss on his lips.

Then the small Jedi leaned back, trying not to blush, "Well," she mumbled, "Can we go back to taking care your health now?"

R4 came barging in at that moment, with whiskey in its manipulator. Emilia frowned at the little droid, not exactly excited at the idea of Gatz having alcohol and painkillers together. It made her look back at the smuggler, "Are you really going to drink that?"

@Vicc125

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

All joking aside, Gatz hadn't actually expected Emilia to kiss him. Not her. She was too... Jedi. The Order didn't shun emotional attachments, merely demanded that one exercise control over their passions, he knew that. But Emilia.... As stoic and unmoving as she was, Gatz had thought her more like the Jedi of old.

Not that he was complaining. Her lips were soft and gentle. Not... not at all what he'd expected, honestly. And as she kissed him, her body was pressed against his, however lightly. It was pleasant. Gatz was no stranger to, well, intimate rendezvous, but it had been awhile since he'd been on the receiving end of affection. He let himself smile, as Emilia pulled away.

"Yeah," he smirked, "I suppose we can go back to playing doctor."

Then she asked him if he was really going to take the shot. Admittedly, he had intended to drink it with the painkillers. It wouldn't have been the first time, and these weren't serious drugs he was taking. Gatz knew he'd have been fine, but it was clear to him that his Jedi companion wouldn't approve.

So, naturally, he took advantage of the situation.

"May as well. I'd say we've earned a little celebration, wouldn't you?"

@Lilith