There Is No Peace

[Sreeya]

"Ya know what? Just for that.."

The man promptly punched her on the side of her face. He quickly reached for the knife, aiming to cut down the side of her clothing. He had a maniacal grin on his face.

"Come on, boys, let's sample the goods before we ship 'em off!"

The other men hooted in delight, all stepping even closer around Ebberla. They could do whatever the hell they wanted and no one would help. No one would hear. The music inside the club boomed, the bass rumbling through the ground. The patrons celebrated inside, completely oblivious to the atrocity being committed just outside.

"Aww come on, boys, you don't know where that's been."

The thug on Ebberla quickly looked up. All he saw was a Zabrak leaning against the alley wall. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand and tilted it over sideways to take a swig. The thug simply grimaced.

"**** off. You ain't invited to this party."

With that, he turned right back to what he was doing, which was attempting to cut off Ebberla's clothing. The Zabrak simply sighed, rolling his eyes as he tilted the bottle entirely, emptying it in one giant gulp. With that, he slammed the bottom against the wall, shattering the glass into countless pieces. However, the shards never fell to the ground, collected towards Thaed with the aid of the Force. It was built up energy, coming together in one conglomeration of glass. Without warning, the shards exploded outwards as Thaed applied ballistakinesis, making them fly directly at the thug on Ebberla. Before he even glanced up, the thug had every glass shard piercing his face and down his torso, leaving him in a pool of blood. He slumped forward on top of Ebberla, dead. Thaed found the sight quite amusing.

"You may need a trip to the laundromat."

Without waiting, he sprang into action, whipping out a saber as a blaster bolt headed his way. He angled the saber perfectly so the bolt bounced off the plasma saber and changed its trajectory to careen towards another thug, blasting him in the chest. Thaed darted forth, using the Force to toss everyone far away from Ebberla. He would pick them off one by one, because killing them off at once was far too easy. Thaed spoke out loud as he jumped clear over Ebberla to get to the other side.

"Grab that blaster and make yourself useful, woman!"

 

[GABA]

Ebberla’s vision was abruptly met with spots of color, her mind spun with confusion and her cheek swelled with pain upon the Thug’s quick punch to her face. She stopped struggling as she tried to regain focus, fear begun creeping into her body as she knew what was to come. Her mind desperately searched for the absent Force, but nothing, only void, only cold, only darkness.

She gritted her teeth, forcing the spots to fade, mustering energy to fight back; the men’s voices gave an array of colorful patterns, she closed her eyes tightly again to rid of the color, pulling focus, but then she saw a familiar print of color mixed with the men’s laughter, her brain only then recognizing the voice afterwards. It was the Sith and an abnormal relief as well as confusion swept her body; she would have never imagined she would be happy to see a Sith.

Ebberla rolled her eyes at Thaed’s comment. She tried to lift her head, her side burned with pain and the weight of the Thug still sat atop of her, who then had proceeded to tell Thaed where to go. She heard glass shatter, and then a gurgling. Her own clothes begun to soak with his blood, but she knew he was dead. The dead man’s grip on her wrist was released as his body fell to the effects of gravity, slumping atop of her. She pushed herself up, forcing the body off of herself and leaped to her feet as Thaed had thrown the rest of the thugs away from her. Her side ripped with pain causing her to flinch, but she knew she couldn’t stay still to coddle her wounds.

She swiped up a blaster that had lost its owner from the ground before the pooling blood drowned it. There wasn’t a need to tell her twice what she needed to do. Thaed had leaped over her, his lightsaber in hand, cutting off the men from escaping. Ebb was a dead shot with a blaster, she pulled the trigger, catching a thug in his shooting arm, disabling him and moved on. Her world felt as though it slowed down, the sounds that surrounded them from the bars no longer existed, her vision and mind focused. She felt a blaster bolt burn the air pass her sore cheek. Her attention snapped to its owner: the Slaver.

Ebberla did not hesitate as she pulled the trigger, releasing the plasma bolt square in the middle of his forehead. She watched him fall, dead.

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed was a whirlwind of motions. He ran up the side alley wall, spinning around with both sabers out in a blur of red. As he moved through the men, blood splattered everywhere, raining in a crimson river that doused the alley street. Thaed was unconcerned by this, moving almost as a dancer as he flipped and landed on the opposite side of the wall, bouncing off to pierce his saber through another man. It took mere moments for him to destroy the remaining men.

He finally landed on the ground, switching off the sabers and twirling them in his hand before they found their rightful place back on his belt. He quirked an eyebrow at Ebberla, who finally had the guts to shoot the slaver. Thaed pulled out a cigarra and lit it. He was probably at his second pack by now.

"Lesson one: When someone pisses you off and you're disadvantaged, kill them first chance you get and book it. Don't wait for his friends to show up."

A grin followed the statement, the same grin Ebberla had grown to hate. He could only wonder how much rage was whirling inside her right now, and he found it all the more amusing.

 

[GABA]

The Corellian’s world seemed to speed back up as soon as the dead slaver hit the ground. She lowered her arm, in slight disbelief to what she had just done. But she couldn’t have thought of another way, not today, maybe if things were different, if she had the Force, if she had…

Ebberla shook her head of such thoughts and tucked the blaster back into her holster on her belt. A curious thought to where her original blaster could be did cross her mind briefly, but nevertheless she had a new one. She watched the Sith take out another Cigarra and then he spoke. Her eyes narrowed with annoyance.

“You know those things will kill you quicker than any one’s blade.” she started, “Besides I wasn’t excepting his goons to show up so quickly. I had this.” she said agitated seeing his grin, “And could have handled it all if I had a hand and had the FORCE. Would have been no problem!” she yelled pointing to her missing hand, “But no, now I’m in this silly mess! This silly mess that shouldn’t have even started to begin with, we should have left Ossus alone. Nothing good comes from that planet, it always ends in tragedy.” Ebberla huffed, ranting to the Sith. She walked in a circle, collecting her thoughts, she tried to remember what had been discussed that day, but her memories was distorted, she couldn’t even distinguish faces; she rubbed her palm against her forehead, shutting her eyes tightly.

“Always does! With you and your posse showing up, then meeting your beloved Empress. Nothing good!” she yelled angrily, “Cannot catch a break-“ she paused catching a whiff of something foul, she pulled her jacket to her noise, blood had soaked nearly entirely through it and her undershirt as well as pants, “And this smells terrible.” she calmly spoke and then looked at the bodies on the ground.

“Lesson one, should we book it before more of them show up?” she asked suddenly feeling her body tire.

 

[Sreeya]

As Ebberla went off on a rant, Thaed absentmindedly prodded a dead body with his foot, marveling at the squishyness. How had such a portly man managed to get into the business of snatching up slaves? The Sith Lord bent down and reached into the man's pocket to pull out the wallet, happy to see a fair amount of credits. He did the same to the other bodies, collecting a small fortune all while Ebberla continued harping away. At last, Thaed groaned out loud.

"Oh would you just shut up, you insufferable princess! No one told you to go skipping through Ossus in the first place. If you didn't want to end up in the war, you should have stayed in the council chambers, sitting on your ass and doing jack. That's what the Jedi excel at anyhow."

Realizing that she was still huffing and puffing, he reached into the folds of his robes and tossed her a flask. It had some of the finest whiskey in the galaxy in it, and she would be able to tell that just from a sniff.

"You'll thank me later. For now, yes, we ought to book it."

Thaed added the last words as more commotion erupted around them. He could sense others rushing in their direction. A look of disgust marked his realization that Ebberla would be delightfully oblivious to the impending danger.

"Keep up. And keep that blaster handy. I recommend not shooting me in the back as you'll be left even more helpless and useless than you already are."

With that, he darted down the alley, disappearing around the corner. The idea was to blend into the crowds and out of sight.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla paid no attention to the Sith as he rummaged through the bodies for their credits, her mind was centered on her frustration and it only provoked more frustration to his comment of her being a princess.

“I can go skipping through anywhere I want!” she snapped, “The Council Chambers is a stuffy place, I can’t stay in there too long! And we don’t sit around, we do stuff! So don’t-“ Ebberla stopped as Thaed had pulled out a flask and tossed it to her. She caught it clumsily with her left hand and curiously looked at him then the flask. Ebb opened the lid and took in its aroma; she smiled then took a swig.

She felt the liquor’s burn, giving her lips and mouth a tingly numbness; she quietly pocketed the flask as the Sith agreed they should leave.

“I wouldn't shoot you in the back yet.” she said following him but paused before going into the street, “Wait!” she whispered loudly to him, “I can’t go out looking like I do, someone would surely stop the lady covered in blood.”

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed continued moving, but skidded to a halt when he realized the idiot woman wasn't following him. With an exasperated sigh, he turned to her, scowling.

"What now, woman?"

After she relayed her problem to him, he took in sight of her attire, her entire torso drenched in blood.

"Why don't you play dead then?"

He mentally kicked himself for killing the man on top of her. This could all have been avoided. Thaed simply stood around, mentally wondering what would happen if he simply left her behind. Every possible scenario ended with her death, which suited him just fine. However, he knew the Empress wouldn't be pleased. That was another infuriating woman he had to worry about. The Zabrak's jaw tightened as he ground his teeth in frustration.

"I'm just hoping you have some sort of accident so your death can't be pinned on me."

With that, he stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her waist. He fully expected her to attempt to slap him, always having a short fuse and all. However, he would ignore it, staring straight ahead.

"If you slip and fall, that's on you."

Without warning, he darted forward. He began by tilting his body and running up sideways against the alley wall. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed onto a lightpost, flipping over it to land on the roof of a building. However, he did not stop there, the area far too conspicuous even on the roof. He continued dashing forward, aided by tremendous speed. He was a mere blur of motion, jumping clear off the edge of the roof to land onto another. He continued this several times till he was a fair distance from the city, grasping a hold of a pipe and sliding down to gracefully land on his feet. He set Ebberla down, scowling at her.

"You stink."

With that, he turned away and began to walk towards a row of ships, searching for one to steal and get off the planet. He rarely traveled in one he owned, preferring to allow himself to be untraceable. This side of the town was fairly quiet, almost eerily so.

 

[GABA]

Ebberla may have not had the Force to read Thaed, but she certainly could tell he was slightly annoyed when she pointed out their dilemma. She scowled at him as he made his remarks and crossed her arms waiting for the solution in order to get out of the area. She glanced over her shoulder hearing the familiar sound of swoop bikes approaching and then unexpectedly he wrapped his arm around her waist. Ebberla cringed, it was a bit too close for comfort as well as the pressure that was put on her side to her injured rib made it all the more unbearable.

If you slip and fall, that's on you.

The Corellian took a handful of the Zabrak’s robe and held on as he took off. She was amazed by how fast he moved and the feats he accomplished, now an outsider looking in, she could see why those who looked to Jedi and Sith held them with admiration and fear.

They moved quickly until they were safe outside the core of the city, well as safe as one could be on Nar Shaddaa. Ebberla didn’t recognize their location as they entered a docking bay. She was positive this wasn’t the one they landed in when they first arrived. The Sith released her and she was more than happy to get a few feet away from him. Thaed made another remark about how she smelled and she frowned.

“Haven’t noticed.” She replied sarcastically and followed Thaed as he passed several ships, “I know my memory is bad, but positive this wasn’t where you landed when we arrived.”

 

[Sreeya]

Thaed didn't offer a comment in return, simply walking down the row of ships. Most of them were abandoned, but some were still functioning. He walked about till he came across a small transport. It was a piece of junk, but it would get the job done. He eased himself into the cockpit, fiddling with the ignition. Piloting and hacking were two skills he never advertised. Others he knew broadcasted their slicing abilities, and more often than not it landed them in trouble. By keeping a low profile, Thaed was able to put the skills to good use when needed.

Within seconds, the navicomputer hummed to life, the ship's engine revving. By now, he could sense life forms around them. There was no doubt that one of these ships coming to life abruptly was enough to catch the attention of anyone in the area. He looked ahead, mapping in the coordinates for the next destination. Within moments, the ship had lifted into the atmosphere, leaving the smog covered cities below.