Open Take One Alive

[Mariel Deery]

Spoiler: Mission Information

3- Take One Alive

Location: Zeltros
Classification: Open
Supervision: Dice, DD or other-DM
Personnel: Jedi and Indies welcome! @Ezra Thorne @Mariel Deery
Status: ------

The Resistance has identified a pirate band on Zeltros that has been infiltrated by Killik joiners. The FWA and the resistance need the pirates arrested and the joiners contained, but have no way of identifying which pirate is a joiner and which isn’t. The Jedi have been asked to intervene in order to help, Councilor Hera has specifically requested a joiner to be captured alive and brought to Argazdia.

(Same as above, Dice roll or DMing for NPCs. Joiners are notoriously hard to identify, keep this in mind with this thread)

Zeltros

The padawan had spent last several weeks isolating herself in the temple's gardens, she had thought it was the best thing to do, she really didn't want to be interacting with others, being asked if she was feeling okay, or be bothered in general. However, after a lengthy lecture about resuming her training by one of the masters that could have been just a quick five minute command to get back to work, probably would be best to find a distraction. Resuming her training meant getting out of the temple and though the idea of encountering a Joined was terrifying to the girl, she hoped there would be something therapeutic to confronting an enemy who murdered her family and countless more on Commenor and Tanaab.

She wasn't holding her breath though.

Mariel forgone her typical clothing to something that blended in, despite disliking the muted colors, it was comfortable as it was practical. She carried a blaster, but she'd be damned if she tried to use it; she did carry her knife sheathed on the back of her belt, her comm, and a few bacta patches, though she wasn't how sure they would be of use if some Joiner tried to make her drink the juice. She had weaved several braids in her hair, and wore several braided bracelets around her wrists made of different sweet smelling leaves and grasses. She wouldn't be alone on this mission on Zeltros as she was paired with Ezra, another padawan, who had seemed to gain his own fame for being the president's son. She thought that was cool, but hoped it didn't backfire in any way.

Their goal was to get into this pirate group and find the joiner, seemed simple enough, except the part that Master Hera wanted them to capture the joiner. That seemed like a tall order, but first they needed to get into this pirate group, and talk on the street was they were picking up folks for a new job they had. "What should I call you while we're hanging with our new pals?" she asked Ezra.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was always wary of being paired with a padawan he hadn’t met before. He disliked most people on principle, but nothing was worse than being stuck on a mission with a personality clash. He also dressed grungier than usual, but it was still a coordinated outfit. He was toying on his Nalphone when Deery arrived. His gaze flicked up to regard her - well at least she was easy on the eyes.

“Reed,” He said curtly in response to her question, “You?” He could respect her appreciation for discretion. His name was powerful and recognizable and would likely blow the entire op if surfaced. She didn’t bother to do any intros and neither would he. Anyone that looked to him to be the social one would be immediately disappointed.

Truth be told, he didn’t like the premise of this mission at all. How were Jedi any more qualified to tell whether someone was Joined or not? Unless they actively delved into their minds, it would be near impossible. The capture part was a whole other complication.

“I don’t understand why it matters which pirates are Joined or not,” Ezra said as he looked at the datapad, “If they’re pirates, they’d all be arrested and unable to spread the Joining..” He shook his head, deciding there had to be more to this.

“Do we have any leads?”

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

He looked more like a Ridge than a Reed, maybe they should have dirtied up some more too, roll around in some street grime to give themselves more credit to their alter identities for this mission, "Corra." she stated, not missing a beat to his request. They certainly looked a little well-put together. He spoke again, thinking out loud about the purpose of finding out who was Joined and who was not before asking about leads. He made a good point, and she almost wondered if they were just chasing rumors, and if this wasn't just a ploy to pin it on the Jedi if anything went sideways in this mission.

"They tend to frequent a pub called The Pig Hair. They said its where the local smuggler groups like to find jobs." she frowned, the name of the place sounded even worse when spoken than just reading it on the datapad. "Its about a block and a half ahead," she said checking her nalphone, "I was thinking we should talk them into letting us join in for a job, seems to be the easiest for getting our feet into their circle." the padawan suggested, "Hopefully they will be in a hiring mood, you any good at swaying people to be agreeable?" she asked him and then smirked to herself before he could answer.

"I know I can always help by batting my eyes."

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra remained silent on her question about swaying minds. In truth, he was suspiciously good at that ability. Far better than he should have been. The times he had tried it, his targets displayed outright obedience towards him and it made Ezra uncomfortable. He tilted his head to look at her, “I may give you some competition when it comes to batting eyes,” He said with a lazy grin tugging at his lips. The Thorne silver eyes were infamous.

They made their way over to the Pig Hair, and he actually fell into stride with his new identity. It was in the relaxed gait and the quiet confidence of someone that was comfortable with their surroundings. A lifetime of adapting to being incognito had prepared him to take on any role.

The cantina was a hole in the wall, and it smelled of spice and bad body odor. Ezra grimaced a bit, but he knew better than to let his usual tendencies surface. His fine tune hearing could pick up some dialogue from a few of the patrons. After a moment, Ezra jutted his chin towards two burly Gammorreans.

“Go on then,” He said to Corra, “Bat some lashes,” Ezra said as he casually leaned against the bar to order himself a drink and catch front row seats to the show.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

Mariel raised her eyebrows when he offered competition in the flirt game, "Alright, I'll take that bet." she smiled as they approached the cantina, though when the doors opened, the padawan had to muster all her willpower not to gag at the smell of poor body odor. It reminded her when she had first arrived at the displacement camps, the conditions far from what she was used to back at her home. Regardless, she mustered forward, trying to push her mind back to the task instead of the assault on her own olfactory glands.

She stuck close to Ezra, but the two seemed to be the only human-like individuals present. It never occurred to Mariel that this place was literally catered to gamorreans, though there were some other species such as wermals and chevins that took part in various activities from drinking to darts, a crowded wall listed jobs for patrons to pick up in case they couldn't close out their tabs. Starting to head to the bar counter, she paused as Reed directed her attention to a pair of fairly large gamorreans. She gave Ezra an unamused look and shook her head, but was up for the challenge. As he settled and got himself a drink, Corra approached the two swine who both seemed to stop on cue as the small human sat down at their table.

"Chuba, seel uba heppo jeesh, mah kikyuna saee jee lash doo bu matron nit." she said in Huttese pointing her thumb back to Ezra at the bar. The gamorreans looked at each other and snorted in amusement.

"Uba smadd bo." one snorted and grunted, Mariel gave him a bemused look, though the second gamorrean looked less amused. Jee-jee 'laz getting oom-adee boll, choy bal uba huujah

"Uba sa, jee-jee 'laz bosco beet, jee joot keekah soh jee seel bal anee anee kest." Corra explained, and the gamorreans looked at each other and then waved over her friend and Corra did the same, beckoning for Ezra to come over.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra ordered himself a drink and he didn’t need to use his fake ID. Getting a bit of stubble worked wonders. He took a few sips and could hear Corra speak Huttese with the pigs. His Pops, for some reason, spoke fluent Huttese, and Ezra was able to pick up tidbits. However, he couldn’t speak a single word of it to save his life. In the time it took for Corra to make a pitch about work, Ezra thought up an idea to weed out the Joined from those that weren’t.

When she beckoned him over, Ezra downed the rest of his drink and walked over. Without prompting, he suddenly took out a fat stack of Crowns. The two Gammoreans immediately stared at him wide eyed, “I bet you can suddenly understand and speak Basic, huh?” He asked curtly, the two pigs hanging on his every word.

“I need a crew to do a smuggling job,” He said quietly, “Need to run something from here to the Core. I hear there’s a band of you that’s running jobs, and I need to hire the whole crew. Can you take us to the rest?”

The Gammoreans looked at one another, hesitating a bit. Ezra slapped a few of the Crowns down for them each, and they quickly nabbed it up with their grubby hands.

“Follow,” One of them squealed in broken Basic.

Ezra gave Corra a faint grin before he walked after the two. Joined would not be motivated by personal greed, so it was as simple as seeing which members of the band suddenly refused the job for no reason.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

At the very least, Mariel was thoroughly impress, it was a good idea, she had no clue that he was even carrying that many crowns, and it was hard for her to imagine parting with any crowns she may earn in her lifetime. She assumed it must have been one of the perks of being a Thorne, one that she gladly welcomed if it meant finding what they needed for this seemingly impossible task. Her blue eyes followed the crowns as the Gamorreans quickly snatched them up, following orders and Ezra grinned. The padawan gave him a nod of approval and that she was impressed with the quick thinking.

Mariel walked beside Ezra as they followed behind, she didn't realize it took her nearly twice the step to match his single step as she did her best to keep up. The Gamorreans seemed to be moving at an usually fast past for swine like them, but the influence of crowns must of put a fire in their step as they took the padawan pair to their crew. Mariel naturally pulled on her instincts, she hoped it wasn't a trap, she heard the Killiks and their Joiners were sly and secretive, thus making them nearly undefeated so far.

Quietly, they reached the dock where the rest of the crew were waiting. Several members were in and around the ship, loading crates, repairing pieces of the hull that looked like they were being held together with tape. Mariel and Ezra would both be hit with another variant of body odor, perhaps more putrid than the bar they just left. Their attention would be brought to the captain: a single tooth snagged over his bottom lip, nose bulbous and red, and had more hair on the warts covering his face and neck than actually on his head. His gaze lingered on Mariel for a bit too long before turning his attention to Ezra after the Gamorreans grunted quietly to the old man.

The girl's eyes flickered to Ezra, seeing if he was picking up on anything they were saying, but the old man would turn back to them, addressing Ezra-

"The names Grubler, I hear you're hiring, but first whatta we moving?"

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Shit. Ezra hadn’t exactly thought ahead this far. He had no idea what they were smuggling. There was a temporary moment of pause. He couldn’t think beyond the nasty smell that emanated from them. Couldn’t they crack a window? He worried he would gag the second he opened his mouth. Ezra’s mind raced and the man began to look suspicious.

“Her,” Ezra said suddenly, pointing to Corra. He gave her a brief glance that was a silent plea for her to play along, “She is a talented slicer that we need to get to Coruscant. No other questions and no paper trail. That’s the deal.”

The man looked over at Corra and stroked his chin in thought, “Hmmm. You need the whole crew for that?”

“Yes, we need guards because she’s a high value target. And I need to look over the men to make sure they’re up to standard.”

“Yer askin’ a lot.”

“And I will pay for it,” Ezra said sternly, “If my crowns are no good here, I’ll find else-”

“Oh hold onto yer panties, I’ll bring ‘em out,” He said gruffly, bringing out his crew. They were a variety of races, all poor and run down in appearance.

“Listen up!” Grubler called out, “We’re gonna cancel the job we had planned. We’re gonna transport this chick to the Core. Hotshot here is gonna give us half the cash now and half after the job.”

“That goes against directive,” One of the pirates, a twi’lek, said in a monotone voice. There were one or two others that murmured in agreement. Their eyes were slightly glazed over. Ezra cast a sideways glance at Corra.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

It took Mariel a moment to process what Ezra just said, or at least implied when Grubler asked what their cargo would include. She glanced up at Ezra, eyebrow quirked as he gave her a pleading look. He continued, explaining further, and Corra turned her attention back to the pirates, nodding in agreement with Ezra, playing a more serious look herself as she eyed the captain who then referred her as "that" and the girl's eyes narrowed, "It's Corra." she corrected before Ezra continued, explaining why their demand was so high.

For a moment, it didn't seem like they were going to take it, but it was a great lesson in how much crowns can sway minds without the use of the Force.

As Grubler called out for the rest of the crew to arrive, Corra glanced again at Ezra, trying not to necessarily breath in too deeply since it seems like with them all grouped together, the smell was a horrendous combination. She hoped this could keep up, though as the captain explained their change of plans, few others seemed to be in disagreement. Mariel looked at Reed, knowing he was thinking the same thing as their eyes and monotone expression seemed to draw eyerolls from the crewmates standing beside them.

"Ey, I am in charge, it's my directive Gella, what's wrong with you." Grubler said pointing his chubby finger into the Twi'lek's chest and shook his head. He looked at Ezra, "Don't mind Gella, he's always this grumpy, but he's one of our muscle when we need it." he said then pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "This is all of us, we to your standard?

Corra looked at Ezra, "So what do you think, you think they can hold up?" she asked Reed softly, then glanced at Gella, "He looks like he can snap trandoshans in half, Reed."

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Following Corra’s cue, Ezra nodded, “I agree, we want Gella.”

“Negative,” Gella responded. Grubler was getting angry, glaring at the twi’lek that kept speaking up.

“I’ll double the crowns,” Ezra piped up.

“Negative.”

“What the hell is wrong with ya, Gella? You’ll do as I say!” Grubler began to reach for his blaster, but Gella and a few others were quicker on the draw. Gella aimed and fired a blaster, but Ezra was able to react enough to pivot his arm so the bolt only lightly grazed Grubler’s arm. A full on fight broke out and the two padawans were caught in the middle of it.

Ezra ducked behind a crate to avoid getting sprayed by bolts. At one point, he popped up and unleashed the Force to collectively throw back four of the joined pirates against the wall. Grubler’s eyes widened as he turned the blaster on him.

“We’re on the same side! They’re Joined!” Ezra called out, pointing to the Joined pirates groaning as they began to try and gather their weapons.

“Keep them down!” He called out to Corra, his own gaze fixed on Grubler. He also had to make sure these pirates didn’t run away as well since technically the mission was to hand them all to the authorities. Honestly, he didn’t agree with the mission - what if the Joined had been influencing all their activities? He had a crazy idea to let the pirates go, but he needed to see how much of a stick Corra had up her ass first.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

The girl's eyes widened some as Gella immediately opposed to the request, though she wasn't surprised, only confirming their suspicions that this was a Joined. Grubler seemed to grow more irritated as Gella disagreed and her blue eyes caught the subtle movement of palms reaching for their blasters. She felt her body relax, ready to move on a credit's edge and in good timing too as the Joined all pulled their blasters in unison, fuck...

Blaster bolts begun flying, crisscrossing through the dock, buzzing overhead of the padawan, who seemed to clear most hazardous space when she crouched low to the ground. Leaping behind an adjacent crate from Reed, she pulled her own blaster and heard him yell about being on the same side when he revealed his Force ability. Corra stood up, seeing Gubler pointing his blaster at Ezra. She did turned her attention to the Joined, her palm raised to pull a blaster with the Force out of the reach of one of the Joined; Gella also tried to be quick and the girl fired a stun shot into the twi'lek, "Don't fucking share ideas." she hissed switching her blaster to the lethal setting.

The girl looked over her shoulder, seeing the stand-off between them, the Joined, and the remaining pirate crew. She wasn't sure what Ezra was waiting for as she looked back at the Joined. They were outnumbered if they tried to take them all into custody, "Reed, we just need the Joiners." she said, "Gluber and his crew did a fine job helping us find them."

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was puzzled over what to do when Corra spoke up. To his surprise and relief, she was on the same page. The look of relief on his face was unmistakable, and he focused solely on the Joined and used the Force once again to slam them back. His command of the Force was far beyond an average Padawan’s, and it manifested in how easily he wielded it. The push was powerful enough to knock them out and they lay unconscious on the ground.

Grubler was still shaken up and several of his crew members were sporting injuries. In the distance, Ezra’s fine tuned hearing could pick sirens approaching. He glanced over at Grubler, “Get out of here,” He commanded, tossing over the crowns he promised, “Set up something legal in the Outer Rim and we won’t come knocking again.”

Grubler stared in shock, looking from him to Corra and then back to him. He didn’t need to be told twice, however, and he gathered up his men and bolted.

For a moment, it was nothing but silence with the two Jedi and the unconscious Joined. Authorities would be arriving in a few minutes. Ezra looked over at Corra, managing a faint grin, “You know we technically only get half credit for this mission,” He said quietly, glancing at the Joined, “But we did the right thing.”

Or at least hoped so.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

The air seemed heavy as her words held, she could see the surprise on Ezra's face to her implied suggestion and quickly she turned her attention back to the Joined, feeling the Force fluctuating as the rest were knocked unconscious. A quiet whisper of awe trickled from her lips; she was struggling to just focus her attention and this padawan was already flinging full grown beings like ragdolls.

Luckily, Gluber seemed to go with the exit, gathering his credits, his crew and his ship as they took off before authorities would arrive. The girl holstered her blaster and crouched down, rubbing her face with her palms as she let out a long breath as though she had been holding it for ages. She heard Ezra speak, suggesting they would only get half credit, justifying they were at least doing to the right thing.

"Half credit?" she seemed insulted, "We got four of them when they said just to snag one." she seemed even more insulted. "We better not get half credit, because I will go see the Grandmaster and complain." Internally, she was already rehearsing what she was going to say, how she was going to present their case, but it was interrupted with the authorities arrived, sirens and lights of the Zeltros defense corps. Mariel frowned as they were approached by a Zeltron detective, flashing a badge and looking between the two of them as though they were just as guilty.

"So where is the rest of them?" he asked looking between Ezra and Mariel, though the detective was certain he already knew that answer.

Mariel still disillusioned about not getting full credit waved to the once occupied area that belonged to the pirate, "Not here, but we got all the Joined-" she pointed between herself and Ezra signaling they did well as a padawan team, but the detective let out a groan, his agitation getting the best of him.

"Two years of chasing these guys, and you kids ruined it, obstructing justice." he threw up his hands, "Get them the cruiser, now!"

"Wait no,"

Before they knew it, they were also being arrested.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“What?” Ezra hissed. Arrested? He couldn’t get arrested. He had to have a squeaky clean record to graduate from private school. Nothing he said was getting them out of this, so he huffed as he squeezed into the cruiser with Corra. His hands were cuffed and this was all surreal. This didn’t happen to him. This happened to low lives. Ezra really didn’t want to play the call daddy card, but he was inching closer to that every moment.

“If you did your jobs well, the Joined wouldn’t have infiltrated in the first place,” Ezra hissed. The Ranger up front pointedly ignored him.

“Do you know who my father is?” Ezra asked curtly.

“Some dumbass that shoulda put you in afterschool activities to keep you busy?” The Rangers guffawed among themselves.

“I’m Ezra Thorne, you shit,” He spat as they pulled up at the station, “I will have you all out of jobs if you don’t unhand me now.”

“Unhand you?” The Ranger said as he roughly yanked Ezra out, another man pulling Corra out, “Keep yapping and I’ll unhand you all right,” He threatened maliciously.

Within moments, he and Corra were thrown into a cell. Ezra began to pace back and forth, still in disbelief that this was happening.

“Just wait till I get my one Holocall,” He grumbled. He doubted Pops would actually do anything, but his name was scary enough for most places to release Ezra without a second thought. The trouble was no one here believed he was who he said he was.

@GABA

 

[Mariel Deery]

Mariel was just as floored as Ezra, utter disbelief as the situation went downhill as she felt the cuffs placed on her wrists and being pushed into the cruiser and Ezra beside her, he looked as though he had to strain his neck to even fit in the back. He then tried using the dad card but it seemed like they didn't believe him, "It's true, he is..." she said to the rangers who still didn't care; perhaps they got off on the idea that they had a couple jedi in the back seat.

She was uncertain how this would unfold further and thought about escaping. Closing her eyes, feeling her surroundings, the cold backseat contradicted the warm she could feel deep inside herself and suddenly her cuffs fell off. The girls' blue eyes widened briefly in surprise before nonchalantly folded her hands in her lap. Ezra continued, something about being unhanded, and even Mariel gave him a look suggesting no one says that before she was yanked also out of the cruiser and lead inside.

As Ezra begun to pace in the holding cell, Mariel went to sit on the bench but paused, noticing an unidentified brown mark across the seat. The place certainly had a smell to it, "You should have given the credits to these guys instead." she frowned, deciding to remain standing in the holding cell. "I think this means we got no credit." she said, "I'm going to make a complaint." the blonde determined as she walked up to the energy barrier, seeing the detective through a pile of papers across the room before going into the Lieutenant's' office, muffled yelling could be heard.

Mariel then looked at Ezra with concern, "Are we going to be kicked out of the jedi for this?" she asked.

@Sreeya