Under Lock & Keiyara

[Flying Blind]

Planet: Aduba-3, on the edge of Hutt Space

Kannick Stargrave was on another adventure. He had figured that once he could create a faction, his days of doing everything himself would be over. Apparently that meant that he would have to do twice as much work to form said faction. They were so close to creating the DarkNet now, he could almost taste it. But it was one of those 'so close yet so far' scenarios. They had members, they had the goal, but they had no means to reach the goal. They were lacking in one key thing: money. They had no way to support their growing group. Kannick and his brother Jechtral had spent every last credit of life savings and then some to try and get the faction off the ground. Now they were pretty much broke, keeping themselves out of debt by running a few side jobs here and there to meet their daily needs. Thankfully they had met Astra, a new partner and co-leader of the soon to be DarkNet, but even her stashed funds wouldn't get them much farther. Which was why he had come way out of his comfort zone to Aduba-3 on the far edge of Hutt space looking for potential investors. He hated this trip, and honestly, he believed Jechtral was much better suited for the task. A lower level Hutt who ran a smuggling operation off of Aduba-3 was their potential investor, but he didn't like the setting. Kannick was never the one who spoke fluidly, that was his brother. Jechtral had charisma, a talent of tongue. Kannick knew Huttese, but he wasn't the best at convincing people. Even worse, he got skiddish around women. The only reason he had come instead of Jechtral was because his twin was supposed to meet him here after another recruiting trip, but his ship was giving him trouble and couldn't make it to Aduba-3 in time.

Aduba-3 was a desert planet, and Kannick wasn't exactly a fan of the heat. Speaking of which, he could really use a fan right now. Diino the Hutt was waiting for him in his little 'headquarters' but it was really just a smuggling house/harem. Officially though, it was listed on maps as a 'dance hall'. Kannick stood just outside the building, waiting for the bouncer who was a particularly strong looking Rodian, to let him in. "I told you, I'm here to speak with Diino." The Rodian shook his head. "I don't have you on the list for visitors. No one gets in if they're not on the list." Irritated, Kannick decided to take matters into his own hands. The Rodian's list was on a datapads, which Kannick would use to his advantage. "Check again." He said. In the split second that the Rodian took to look up at him, he used the Force to fling a small device towards the datapad and insert it into an electrical port on the side. The small device would input his information regardless of if Diino actually was expecting him or not. The Rodian looked down at his datapad to find Kannick's alias Niklaus Hunter show up on the list. The Rodian gave a grunt of disbelief. "Huh. Would you look at that. Go on in, but don't try any funny business. Diino is not to be messed with." Kannick nodded, only half listening to the Rodian as he entered Diino's Dance Dive.

It took a second for Kannick's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the building. All around him mercenaries, bounty hunters and criminals of all,shapes and sizes surrounded him. Although his brother would probably be at ease amongst them, Kannick stuck out like a sore thumb. His only weapon was a blaster obviously strapped to his thigh. They might not know it, but Kannick was a horrible shot. Of course, hidden from view was his lightsaber, but he rarely used it anymore. He was working on his aim, since he was becoming more dependent on the blaster, but for now it was really more of a decoration than a utility. Kannick made his way to where the slimy Hutt sat or stood or, whatever Hutts do. He couldn't tell what exactly they did with all that fat. Diino was a Hutt with relatively little influence, more of a wannabe crime lord than anything else, but he would certainly get there in a few years. Which was why it was so important to partner up now, before he became too important that he would just shrug off Kannick's offer. He approached the Hutt, who said in Huttese "Who are you? Why do you disturb my peaceful evening?" Kannick gave a small bow of respect. "I am Niklaus Hunter, all mighty Diino. I visit you with the purpose of forming a mutually beneficial 'understanding'." The Hutt laughed. "Ha! You puny. Flattery will get you nowhere, tiny human. I do not have time for you." The Hutt called his guards to take Kannick away. "Wait, I believe you're throwing away a great opportunity to make some good money." Diino called off the guards. "Money?" He seemed to size up Kannick. "No. You are weak. You are a cripple. Diino does not help cripples." Now that angered Kannick. It was then that he noticed Diino had a prosthetic eye. Which meant he could se Kannick's lung implant. Kannick did not like being considered inferior, which was why he got the implant in the first place.

"Enjoy yourself, cripple. But know we will not do business." With that, the guards escorted Kannick a fair distance away from the Hutt. Kannick had dealt with being considered inferior before, but he wasn't well to cope with it. He fully intended to 'enjoy' himself, but not in the way the Hutt probably imagined. Kannick would find a way to get back at the Hutt, but the only question was how. That's when he saw the guards bring in a redhead in chains.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Betrayed. That's the only thing on Keiyara Cole's mind right now. She would murder the first person she could get her hands on. She was sitting in a speeder, a bag over her head. Her wrists were cuffed together and her ankles as well. Not exactly much to stop a dark Jedi; the blaster held to her back would do that. If she wanted to, she could jump from the speeder, break off her cuffs, then hitch a ride on whatever she landed on. But then she wouldn't get paid. Plus, she couldn't leave her sabers behind.

The speeder landed and the hood was taken off her. Weren't the thugs supposed to take it off inside? They couldn't be that thick could they? They marched the redhead into the building. That's when she panicked. Hutts.....of course they worked for the Hutts.

Keiyara Cole had made a lot of enemies in the past. Her old life had killed off a few rather important clients to the Hutts and they weren't the kind to let things slide. These days, Keiyara tried to stay far away from gansters. More importantly, she tried to stay away from the war. The battle between Jedi and Sith was too complicated for her. And to be honest, she had no desire to be caught up in a pointless battle. So long as she got paid, she didn't care who won.

Her old master had trained her to be a weapon. From the moment her parents gave away their child to what they thought was a noble Jedi, Kait Reese took the young Correlian and trained her in the darker sides of the Force. He was no Sith, but a dark Jedi. His methods taught her to shoot first and ask questions later. Though she didn't use a blaster, she like any other Jedi used lightsabers. Keiyara's weapon of choice were two shoto lightsabers with purple beams. She wielded them like batons or daggers, maximizing the speed she could attack with.

Keiyara was a dangerous foe and a ruthless killer. But she'd been betrayed. Her and Reese met a Sith that was way out of their league. He defeated them and tortured them. It was several years before she was freed from the Sith, but her troubles still followed her. Old contacts still harbored a grudge for her and her master. Plus, it didn't help that she was always talking with her sabers. She had quite a complex and didn't like being taken advantage of.

It was hard for her being alone. She tried to make money and survive on her own, but when you don't have very strong negotiating skills, things usually went south. Today was such an occurrence. She was supposed to meet someone about a smuggling run. But when she showed up for the drop off, she was surrounded by blasters. They stunned her before she could draw her sabers and try anything dangerous.

Betrayed. Again.

Her eyes scanned the place frantically. The Hutts. Why did it have to be the Hutts? She knew what that meant. It would be near imposible to escape. They'd sel her like a slave. Keiyara knew she couldn't live like that. She would fight. She always did. How far would their tolerence go? Men of their kind enjoyed breaking spirits, but it would take a lot to break hers. The most likely solution was termination. How long would it be before the Hutts blasted her into a million pieces.

Keiyara was scared. She truly was. How could she escape? She could probably try to escape. How far would she get? Bindings on her ankles weren't really enough to stop a Jedi. Again. Blasters. She needed her sabers. Her mind raced with options. She didn't even notice the other Force sensitive walk right past her.

One of the guards escorting her inside shoved her forcefully, and she fell to her knees. The main guard kicked her and she grunted painfully and fell to the floor. The second then picked the girl up and gave her another shove. This time, she held her balance but tossed the man a cruel look. He was first. And she was going to enjoy running her blade into him. She then noticed he held two lightsabers in his hand, her lightsabers. How dare he hold her sabers! They were all going pay. One way or another, she would find the way.

 

[Flying Blind]

At first he fully planned to leave the slave to whatever her fate would be. Kannick was determined to retaliate against the Hutt, he just needed to find a way. He decided to try and slice the only terminal in the whole building. With his personally customized datapad, he typed in a few numbers, and the installed programming began to download itself into the terminal. Diino obviously wasn't expecting a slicer to walk into his establishment and slice his computer. Soon enough, Kannick's program gave him complete access to the Hutt's database. He loved it went things were so easy. At this point, his brother would be telling him to stop. That it wasn't worth it. That it was a stupid thing to do over a lousy insult. But Kannick was a bit obsessive and compulsive, like when he became a Padawan in hopes of finding his parents. But Diino himself was being stupid for leaving his bank account unguarded like this with minimal security.

Looking over his shoulder, Kannick made sure no one noticed what he was really doing. Deciding in an instant, with a few taps on his datapad, he got full access to Diino's bank account. It wasn't huge, especially for a supposed crime lord, but it was definitely a fair amount which would help them out for the time being. With a sly grin, Kannick emptied the Hutt's account. Transferring it to a neutral bank account that wouldn't be traceable to Kannick or Jechtral. As a guard went over to see what he was doing that took so long on the terminal, he deleted his program from the terminal, ejected the datapad plug-in and stashed it in the pouch strapped to his leg. "May I help you?" Kannick shook his head. "No, I got everything I needed." With that ironic truth, he brushed past the guard and planned to simply walk out the door like a sneaky boss. The cameras that lined the walls would've captured his identity and busted him, but his face wasn't it's normal self.

A fake nose was plastered over his real nose, making it bigger than it actually was. He wore colored contact lenses that changed his eye color from blue to green. He also wore a wig of brown hair, covering his bleach blonde hair. Even his own twin brother would have a hard time recognizing him. Kannick was feeling a little smug as he began to walk out, but then he noticed the redhead girl was on her knees in front of Diino. She didn't seem that fearful though. Not that Diino was the scariest Hutt anyways. He almost missed it, but he caught it that moment: The Force. It was radiating from her, but she was apparently hiding or shielding it. That peaked his couriosity. She obviously knew she was Force sensitive, or she couldn't have shielded it. He also noticed she had a lean frame, she was a fighter. He could tell by her build. He could also tell, a little sheepishly, that she would make an attractive slave for Diino. She must've pissed someone off to be stuck here.

He began to think in his mind something along the lines of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Plus, her force sensitiveness and fighter look promised she'd make a valuable ally. He made his decision on two key ideas: 1) Anyone who could fight with the Force was someone worth keeping around, especially if they owed you a favor and 2) If he could help, it meant that he should. And Jechtral was around to argue the second one. Making up his mind, he started running through scenarios in his head on how he could free the redhead that the guards were now dragging to one of the various rooms occupied by Diino's slave girls. The guards would leave her alone in the room, and the door wouldn't be sturdy enough to keep Kannick out, but he planned to do this secretively, so brute force wasn't an option, or else everyone in the cantina would have a blaster trained on him. There was a way, but it both disgusted and embarrassed Kannick. But it was the obvious way to not raise suspicion.

With a shaky resolve, he headed back towards where Diino sat on his concrete slab. "Why you come back? Guards!" The guards began to close in on Kannick, but he yelled "Wait!" Only for a moment, the guards hesitated and he used that moment. "I do not seek to continue our previous conversation. Diino waved off the guards, but they stayed very close to Kannick just in case. He didn't know exactly how it worked, but he knew he would have to ask one way or another. "I was interested in the new slave that you just acquired." Diino gave a hearty laugh. "Puny cripple wants girl huh? It is only way cripple will ever get girl!" Kannick held in his anger, trying his best to keep his face neutral. "Yes, you're right. So..." He was beating around the bush, but Diino cut to the chase "She is yet to be broken, so be careful. Remember, 500 credits per half hour. No haggle." Kannick nodded. If all went as planned he wouldn't pay a sing,e credit, and would be out of there in far less than a half hour.

Kannick walked off towards the room that held then redhead. He realized how awkward the whole thing would be, but he intended to be in and out without a trace. Hopefully she would be smart enough to accept his offer. Getting the ok from the guard, he walked into the room and shut the door. The redhead was looking defiant as ever, ready to chop his head off if she were released. "Don't worry, I'm not here to, err, you know..." Again, he was not off to a great start. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to bust you out. I'm Niklaus Hunter, and if we're gonna get out of here we have to act fast."

 

[EmilyHuene]

The two guards pushed the young redhead through the crowd and over the Diino's throne slab. She was forced onto her knees and she felt a blaster dig further into her back. She scowled at them and fiddled with the chains around her wrist. The guards had a small conversation with the crime boss and a few laughs were had at her expense. They handed over her sabers to one of the droids who worked for Dinno which she shouted to the droid, "You'd better take good care of those or I swear to God-" but she was cut off before she could finish since the guard kicked her again. A few more words were shared then they began to escort her to the cells.

Opening the door they shoved her one last time; this time, much for forcefully. She fell to the floor and scuffed her leg. She swore at them using several choice curse words in various languages. She had quite a mouth on that one.

Lastly, in common, " getting really tired of you two shoving me. I swear... It won't happen again."

They laughed at her and shut the door. But it would be her who gets the last laugh. Keiyara pulled herself upright and then knelt on her knees. Closing her eyes and focusing the power at her disposal, the locks on the bindings came undone. She threw them aside and stretched her arms and legs. Before she could complete next step in her plan, the door opened again and a brown-haired man came in.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to, err, you know...I'm not here for that. I'm here to bust you out. I'm Niklaus Hunter, and if we're gonna get out of here we have to act fast."

"Niklaus Hunter" she repeated. "Never heard of you."

She looked him over, but all she saw was the blaster at his side. Her eyes darted to the chains on the floor. She made a jump for it.

Keiyara darted to the side and rolled back to her feet. As she did, she grabbed the bindings and wrapped one of the short chains around. She could dodge a blaster or two. She'd strangle him before he could have the chance to strike. "We'll see if he's 'not here for that', " She thought to herself.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick wasn't wrong in his estimation of her skills, in the blink of an eye she was holding the chains that had previously held her captive. Her intent was clear enough. Before she could go in for the kill though, he threw his blaster to the ground in front of her to show he was unarmed. "Wait!" He yelled, showing his now empty hands. "Don't! Seriously, I'm Trying to help you." He had to find a way to prove it. He certainly dressed the part of a down on his luck smuggler, which he was neither. Well, maybe the down on his luck part. But Kannick hated smugglers. Then again, he did smuggle information, but that was more like stealing than smuggling. Then he remembered she was Force Sensitive. Duh! He thought. Calculating his options, he figured it was the fastest way. He used the Force to take the lightsaber from his hidden pocket, igniting its purple blade with a snap-hiss. He gave a small grin and through the Force, he said in her mind "I'm like you. Don't worry. I'm not a Jedi or a Sith. I'm me. Now, if you'll trust me, we can both get out of here and Diino will never know where he went."

Kannick, happy to avoid being choked to death especially since lack of breathing ability was one of his biggest fears since the incident on Ruusan, started to scan the room to look for a way out. Apparently Diino had so,e brains, and pretty much sealed off any escape for a slave. But Kannick wasn't a slave. Thankfully, for the privacy of the clients, there were no cameras in the room. Using his lightsaber, he carved a hole in the ceiling, making his own exit point. Making sure the redhead followed him, he found himself in the office above the 'dance hall'. This was where the information was. Records and documents and camera footage. A slicer's paradise no doubt, but he didn't have time right now. He made his way through the office, making it to the exit that lead to the roof, but not before dropping by the inventory room to recover the redhead girl's weapons.

Once on the roof, Kannick spotted his rented landspeeder, and signaled to the girl a three second count down. On three, they both Force leaped into the speeder and drove off. It had gone off without a hitch, which for Kannick was extremely rare. Enjoying the fact he'd just stolen a nice stack of credits and a would-be slave girl, he was feeling pretty good about himself. He looked over at the redhead girl and realized he still didn't know her name. "Excuse me, but I don't believe I caught your name?"
______________________________________________
Meanwhile, back at Diino's building the Hutt was furious. The guard heard the sound of cutting and when he worked up the nerve to open the door his fears were confirmed as he saw the empty room. No smuggler. No slave girl. He had rushed to tell his boss, and now at this moment was when Diino realized the cripple wasn't incompetent as he believed. Just to add insult to injury, he was informed now that he was broke. This was a bad day for the Hutt so he yelled to his right hand man "Jeri, I want them both dead! Find them, kill them. And bring me their heads!" Jeri nodded and rushed off with a few bounty hunters and lackeys to find the escaping duo.

 

[EmilyHuene]

With a sudden clatter the thug-looking man threw down his gun at her feet. "Wait!" he yelled, showing his now empty hands. "Don't! Seriously, I'm Trying to help you."

Ok. Now she was confused. Her hands loosened their grip on the chains. Her mind raced with questions, "What was he thinking? What am I thinking? Should I pick up the gun?"

He then started to move again and she tightened the grip on the chains just in case he had some secret weapon hidden away. And oh...what a weapon it was. A lightsaber. Her eyes then lit up as the purple hue of the beam reflected off her brown eyes.

"Oh," she thought to herself. "Purple. My favorite color." Something about his choice of crystals spoke to her and she knew he wasn't a threat. There was something very different about this would-be smuggler slash Jedi. Keiyara then dropped the chains and kicked them away from her. She could still go after his blaster, but even she knew one blaster would do little against a trained Jedi and his/her lightsaber.

She then felt his presence sneak up on her in her mind and she heard his voice inside her head, "I'm like you. Don't worry. I'm not a Jedi or a Sith. I'm me. Now, if you'll trust me, we can both get out of here and Diino will never know where he went."

Even though she was surprised at what he was saying, all her mind could think of was how cool that trick was. Telepathic communication. She would have to try that one herself. No idea who she could use it with since she always traveled alone, but maybe she could use it to scare the crap out of some people. It would certainly make her seem more threatening if she could torment her clients with her mind. Her inner demons were laughing at the idea.

He then moved to the middle of the room and started to make a hole in the ceiling. Leaning on her hip and watching him work, she couldn't look past the form his body made all stretched out. Running her teeth along her lower lip she smirked some pretty naughty things. She watched him climb his way out of the cell, really watching the point where she saw him from behind. She then, with some help of the Force, jumped out through the hole as well.

They now found themselves in Diino's office and she started to walk around. He was already making his way out and heading for the exit in the hallway. She quickly caught up and grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait...Not without my sabers."

Making a slight detour, trying not to get caught, they found the inventory room where the translator droid was just now placing her sabers into one of the shelves. With much excitement for what was to come, she snuck into the room and scoped out the area. Seeing no one but the one droid, she moved as close as she could between the shelving walls and used the Force to pull her sabers to her. Confused at what was happening, the droid turned around only to find a now-armed and very pissed off Keiyara.

Before he could call for help she ignited her sabers and slashed the droid to pieces. "Told you so," she said with a laugh. Kannick would see that her two shotos were both the same color purple as his were. She winked at him and set her sabers back to her hilt for safe keeping, after deactivating the blades of course.

With a quick escape to the roof and one long-leaped jump off the building they were sailing away in his speeder. She laughed and kicked up her feet onto his dashboard; the wind blew her red hair all over her face. Keiyara brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked at the man who rescued her. Something she would have to address by the way. Keiyara hated owing favors. How could she get out of this one?

"Excuse me, but I don't believe I caught your name?"

Keiyara held out her hand in greeting and responded, "Keiyara Cole. Jedi killer." That would make a good first impression she thought. See what he has to say about that.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick was uncomfortably aware of Keiyara's gaze, not sure what she was watching him for. Sure, he had sized her up as well to determine if she was a fighter or not, but that was it. Thankfully he had a hole above him to leap through and out of Keiyara's sight, if only for a moment. He was never one with women, that was his brother. They made their way through the office no problem, and the poor droid never stood a chance against Keiyara. He also noted the color of her lightsabers, they were purple like his. He had chosen purple because he had ties to both sides, and held a grudge against both as well. He wondered if she just picked it because she liked the color, or if for a serious reason like his own.

Now they were in the speeder, and Kannick realized he didn't exactly have a plan. It struck him that his main priority was getting out fast, now he realized he hadn't thought about what would happen after he got out. Oh well, he would think of something. Thinking in the moment was one of his many skills. He asked for her name, and she held out her hand and as he shook it, she said her name was Keiyara Cole the Jedi Killer. Instead of freezing with fear, or looking shocked, or looking like a lost little bantha, he said "Hmm. Interesting." He looked at her now, trying to see her as a Jedi Killer. Jedi were hard to kill, and although she looked like a fighter, he hadn't seen her wield a lightsaber against a real opponent yet.

"So is that title like, what, self-imposed? Whenever someone says hi they say Hi Jedi Killer! Just curious." Anyone could give themselves a cool nickname, but it only meant something if you earned it. Kannick called himself Wraith by code name. He used it because he used the Force to his advantage when undercover and such. He wasn't sure how his brother got the name Helios, but he was sure it came from something he did or said. He gave a small laugh, not sure if Keiyara would smack him for not taking her seriously, so he played it off, making sure she saw that he was joking. No need to kill her savior. Which Kannick was proud of. It had been easy, now he had a cool Landspeeder, a hot redhead, and enough money to last months just sitting in his pocket. Seemed perfect, but he didn't dare voice his thoughts.

He still hadn't quite gotten a read on who Keiyara was exactly, so he would have to be careful, but since they had both revealed they could wield lightsabers, he doubted she would pick a fight with him.
_________________________________________________________
Jeri was a former slaver who had run out of luck when he was victim of a coordinated slave revolt in which he lost he arm. Instead of the normal Trandoshan arm that would be there, there was a cheap robotic arm, looking ancient as ever. Together with five of Diino's best clients, Jeri tailed their speeder from a safe distance. He would bide his time until they came to a resting place, and he would make sure it was their final resting place.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Is that title like, what, self-imposed?" he asked her. She would laugh and respond, " You better believe it is." She then did a large motion with her arm over her attire. "You don't wear leather like this unless you mean business. "

Now, truthfully, her name was more of an oxymoron. The term Jedi killer would sound better as The Killer Jedi, meaning she was powerful. But more specifically, it was meant to be the Jedi who killed people. Which is why the term was more ironic and backwards. Jedi weren't meant to kill. It kind of went against their entire code. But Keiyara Cole was no ordinary Jedi.

"Does my name scare you? You're not afraid of little old me are you?"

It would be pretty hard for anyone to be scared of Keiyara given her height and gender. Maybe a little intimidated from the outfit and such, but certainly not scared. At most, her lightsabers did that for her. Her name added a little more to the equation for she had quite the reputation for stabing those who crossed her without a second glance. She was quick to get angry and was the epitome of fiery red-head.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick laughed mentally when she mentioned the leather she wore. Yep, because leather automatically made you official. But he didn't say it. He just nodded his head for her to continue. She seemed to be a bit of the joking type, but still with a tile like Jedi Killer, he wondered if she had yet to kill a jedi.

Then she asked if he was scared of her. True, she was small, but Kannick didn't write people off so easily. He knew better than most the best stuff was always hidden. Including combative potential. But when she asked, he said simply "No. You don't scare me." When she turned to him, before she could prove herself dangerous, he told her "I'll give you the two reasons I'm not scared of you. 1) you seem to be a proffessional, and since you're a pro you recognize the fact I just saved you and your lightsabers which means you owe me. Secondly. Your name might be the Jedi Killer, but I know you won't kill me. We're too alike."

He let his comment settle fo a bit. It was true, they were alike in many ways. For Kannick, if you could relate to someone, if you were just like someone else, it makes it all the harder to kill them. It's like killing yourself to a certain extent.

After Keiyara responded, they made their way to the spaceport which was closed for the night. So, since Kannick was feeling lazy after the adrenaline had drained from his system, he just pulled out a nap sack and laid it on a public bench to sleep on. Little uncomfortable, but he managed to find sleep easily.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Hey now let's get something straight!" she started to say before he interjected and said, "Secondly. Your name might be the Jedi Killer, but I know you won't kill me. We're too alike." She paused what she was saying and let her mouth hang open for a second. Too alike? What could he possibly mean by that? It stunned her so bad she sat back in her chair and pondered that for a moment. How were they alike? Ok, they had the same saber color. That didn't mean anything.

They were silent for a long time until they arrived at the space sport which, for whatever reason, was closed. Keiyara, in annoyance, gestured at the gates and with a sarcastic tone said, "Dang ran," which meant something along the lines of 'Of course'. She sat up straight now as they found a place to set the speeder down. She hopped out of her seat and looked around, wondering what was the cause of their delay. She then saw Kannick move over to a bench and lay out his own personal blanket.

"What in suǒyǒu de dōu shìdāng are you doing?" which translated to 'all that's proper.' "You can't just fall asleep? What if those Hutts come after us? We need to get into this spacesport and get to my ship. Get your butt off this bench this instant."

 

[Flying Blind]

"Eh, forget you." He said. "I'm tired, and I'm gonna fall asleep on this bench. If you want you stay awake, but I'm taking at least a nap or something." With that he rested his head on the bench, forcing himself to fall asleep despite Keiyara's protests. As he dozed off, he began to dream of the DarkNet, seeing their base completed and neat stacks of credits lining their rooms. It seemed so real to him, like he could reach out and touch the credits. If only he could take these dream credits into the real world and he'd be rich right now. Unfortunately he couldn't. But the dream perverted itself into a nightmare as the sky turned to a blazing fire, raining down on them. He watched as his credits burned in front of him whole he fought several creepy looking shadow faces. He had to wake himself up but couldn't. Eventually, everything started to melt and fall apart, and Kannick felt himself short of breath. His instinct was to reach to his implant on his chest, but he couldn't feel anything. He panicked thrashing about, even more panicked as he heard blaster fire. Then he woke up.

"What the--?" He awoke to see several of Diino's henchmen engaged in combat with Keiyara, who was wielding her to lightsabers with ease. He was right in his estimation of her combative skill. It was a good thing she was on his side. Using the Force without hesitation, he drew his own lightsaber from the pouch that rested near the bench, igniting the amethyst blade and lunging to the nearest henchmen all in a split second of action. Hopefully these goons were just as incompetent as before, or else they could be in trouble.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Eh, forget you." He said. "I'm tired, and I'm gonna fall asleep on this bench. If you want you stay awake, but I'm taking at least a nap or something."

Keiyara groaned in frustration and swore several unladylike things, "Mei Yong Ma Duh Tse Gu Yong!" She then stormed off and clear her head. How could he be so frustrating?! This is why she didn't have company and always traveled alone. Maybe she should just leave him there and her own way. That would show him!

She walked away from the bench and their speeder and toward the gates of the space port. She walked along one of the tall walls and ran her hand across it. Looking up she thought to herself, "I could jump that no problem." Then where would she go? She needed money. This job was her last chance at some gold. And it turned out to be nothing but trouble. She had to do something about it.

Groaning again, she cursed herself for feeling like this. She would hate herself later, but she decided to go back for Kannick. She quickened her pace back to where he left the speeder and then stopped dead in her tracks. Several men were over by the speeder, looking around for loot most likely. How could she be so stupid! Thugs. Of course they'd try to loot from someone sleeping on the bench. Well she'd show them.

She started to run over, but stopped a second time. Two of the men were heading over to Kannick now, blasters in their hands. They weren't trying to steal from him, they were trying to kill him. A normal crook would take the gold and go; they must have been working for the Diino. It was the only explanation. She was right after all. Someone had followed her.

Leaving no chance to plan, she started again towards them, this time...with her sabers in hand. Igniting her purple blades she jumped over a hedge and into the street. The men heard her as she landed and turned to see what the sound was.

"That's her!" One of them shouted. They all reached for their guns and took positions around the speeder for defense.

Keiyara smirked as they drew their blasters. Suddenly one of them shot at her and then they all began to fire at her. She blocked the first shot and then she leapt into the air. Spinning around, she deflected one of the lasers back at them, hitting the man in the leg. He cried out and fell to the ground, clutching his wound. The others did not let her stop them and continued to fire. Using her aggressive style of Ataru, she blocked and spun her blades around in quick succession. It allowed her to get the most maneuverability about of her swings.

Since there were so many of them, she could not seem to get closer to them. It took all she had to block the blasters; these men knew what the were doing. She tried her best to deflect the beams back at them, but she couldn't get the angles right to hit them beyond the speeder. Most of her attempts ended up leaving a nice burn mark in the side. She almost thought about blowing the whole thing up....

Luckily she didn't get the chance as the other two who had broken off turned their attention to her now and began to fire. She was flanked between them now. She swore to herself loudly and began to move around with more spinning motions to block all the lasers. She was trapped and couldn't get any leverage to run or escape. It took everything she had now to just avoid the beams.

Finally, Kannick woke and came into the fight. It was a huge relief because he'd be able to take out the two behind her and she could once again focus on the five in front of her.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick used his purple blade to deflect the several blaster bolts that were sent in his direction. Waving the beam back and forth, it was almost like a dance for him, everything flowed. He was very much on the defensive right now, but that wasn't his style. For about a few seconds, he took in the scene of the fight. Keiyara was trapped between the six thugs in total, two of which were now focused on Kannick. He also recognized one of the ones Keiyara faced as Diino's second in command who was present when he tried to bargain with the Hutt. He didn't know the man's name, but figured he'd get it later. He wielded his lightsaber with ease, and he could read the disgust on the thugs' faces. It must be very unlucky for them to be up against not one but two combatants armed with lightsabers.

The two thugs closed in on him, both held a vibroshivs in one arm and a blaster in the other. They were trying to keep him on the defensive until they were in range, but failed. Using the Force, he leapt over them with ease and landed in a crouch, which helped him deflect the ensuing bolts of blaster fire upwards and knocking one man's blaster out of his hand. Using the opening, he let loose everything. He lashed out repeatedly, stopping his movements mid strike to add a factor of randomness to his attack, when in truth it was anything but. Any force sensitive would've probably picked up on his pattern, but these were barely above the common thug, which eased the process. The one who still had his blaster didn't have it for long, since he used the Force to pluck it from his hand, simultaneously raising his amethyst blade to slice the blaster in mid-air.

Now armed with only vibrioswords, the two thugs lunged clumsily to try and land a hit. Even a glancing blow from one of the swords could cause a gaping wound which meant Kannick had to keep his distance. He had to divide and conquer, so he swiped the blade across one's sword and backflip per away, leaving one disoriented for long enough to sever the other's arm holding the sword. The man cried out in pain, but not wasting a moment he flung the crippled man towards the other. His comrade was foolish enough to raise his weapon in self defense, which ended up killing the one-armed man. Temporarily blinded, Kannick used the opening to grab the sword from the severed arm and send it whirling in the remaining thug's direction "This is for waking me up, slime ball!" The remaining thug managed to smack the vibrosword away with his own. But it left his torso exposed, which gave Kannick more than ample room to impale him with his lightsaber.

Kannick looked over to Keiyara, seeing three dead thugs around her. Unfortunately for both of them, Diino's right hand man had gotten away during the fight. Coward. Kannick thought to himself. He walked over to Keiyara, with a smile on his face to try and lighten the mood, after all it could've been much worse. "Go ahead and say it, 'I told you so'. I've been hearing it all my life, wouldn't hurt to add another one to the pile." Kannick usually heard those words from his brother, especially after Ruusan. "It seems we just killed any leads we might've had. Any ideas, sweetheart?"

 

[EmilyHuene]

With Kannick in the fight now, she could focus her attention on the other five. She began to make some distance closer to them, and continued to deflect the beams. Finally, she got a lucky shot. One of the lasers was pitched just right and she shot it back toward one of the engines on the speeder. With a loud boom the entire thing shot up in flames. The men scattered and one of them made a break for it. The others would not be so lucky, least of all when she was done with them.

Keiyara bolted for the burning speeder using her Force speed. She slashed one of the men as he was trying to grab his blaster which he dropped, but she didn't stop her momentum. She dashed behind the vehicle and did a spinning jump at the next one. By now he'd given up on his gun and stuck to the vibro-sword at his hip. He tried to defend against her, but with only three swings both the sword and the arm attached to it were at his feet. With a fourth she took the life from his body and moved to the next.

Now, realizing they made a grave mistake by trying to take her on, the remaining two tried to team up and pull their resources. But Keiyara was too good for that. She blocked their swords just as easily as she had with the beams. Fighting a duel-user was difficult for anyone to overcome. With one arm she blocked each of their blades and spun to counter. She had such speed and agility it was difficult to keep up with her. And, since she chose short-beamed sabers, she had to get in close to her targets. The men were more used to longer ranged fighting and could not hold her back. Plus, she'd been trained with those swords since the beginning. There was never really a fight here.

She finally got a clear opening with one of the men and stabbed him through with her blade. She then turned her attention to the other and began to toy with him. She was having fun now. She's attack with basic strikes and swings that he'd easily be able to block; this humorously made him think he was actually surviving the battle. She continued to swing and swing at him until she started to get more clever and just barely singe him with her blades. He'd cry out from the sudden burn and suddenly he realized he should have died a long time ago. His eyes wide with fear he began to beg for mercy. Now it wasn't just funny, it was pathetic. With a twist and a slight of hand she spun her saber around and chopped his wrist off. She then kicked him with her leg and he fell to the ground. Screaming for her to let him live she moved on top of him and stabbed both blades into his chest. Then it was quiet.

Keiyara stood up and saw Kannick returning to her. She kept her blades active for the moment as he approached. "Go ahead and say it, 'I told you so'. I've been hearing it all my life, wouldn't hurt to add another one to the pile." She laughed at his words and sheathed her sabers by returning them to her belt.

"Alright. I told you so."

He would then respond, "It seems we just killed any leads we might've had. Any ideas, sweetheart?"

She didn't quite like being called sweetheart, but she was used to it. Men who thought they had some connection with her or chance of getting in her pants would say the same things. That's how it all started. He was lucky he was cute.

"I'm not really interested in Diino's thugs. I just want to get to my ship and leave this system."

 

[Flying Blind]

He laughed, glad she wasn't the over serious type, those people were usually fun killers, which Kannick hated. Apparently she wasn't as driven as himself though, since she didn't want to leave. Normally, he'd go back at set Diino straight, and the first thing that came into mind was lazy, but he didn't voice it. She was probably tired from the combination of near-slavery, lack of sleep, and the sword fight that had just ensued. Oddly enough, no one had taken notice, which was a pleasant surprise. He turned to her now and said "Well then I guess this is it, then." He gave her a fri, handshake and a smile and went the opposite direction to let her go to her ship.

It felt odd to just leave after their little adventure, but Kannick thought it was best. She seemed to be a bit overly independent, plus he wanted to hunt down Diino, which she didn't seem keen on doing. Oh well. He started to look for a speeder bike to 'borrow' to head back to Diino's when he got a warning from the Force. Quickly, he backtracked to the last place he saw Keiyara. He heard the roar of swoop bikes and saw what was no doubt Keiyara's ship. He figured she had just escaped an ambush when he saw the redhead still very much in the spaceport and definitely not on her ship. There didn't seem to be many thugs down there, not like last time anyways. It seemed there were just two sent by Diino to ensure success, and when they realized the failure at least one of them stole Keiyara's ship. She was probably pissed, and he didn't even have time to try and help out since she killed them even easier than the ones before. These had only brought blasters. Noobs.

Despite wanting desperately to just leave her with her problems, after all he had helped her more than enough, he still was a good person and decided he had to see it through. He walked over to Keiyara and trying to calm her down a bit he said "Hey, long time no see right? Well, um, I guess the next course of action would be track down your ship. Do you have a tracker on it?" He figured she did, since she seemed like an intelligent person. Hopefully, it would just be one more task and he could be out of there. He didn't hate Keiyara or anything, but a combination of her mysterious nature and shielded thoughts made him uncomfortable, since he figured all thoughts should be open. It was frustrating not being able to slice humans and other beings, computers were so much simpler.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Well then I guess this is it, then," he said to her as he extended his hand. She shook it with a saddened expression, but maybe it was time to separate.

"I guess so," she replied. She thanked him once again for rescuing her and went back to sneak into the hangers. That's when she saw them. A small group of them entering her ship. Someone they'd gotten past her security and where laughing to one another by the ramp.

"My ship!" she shouted. The ones by the ramp turned and began to fire at her. They shouted something to the one's inside and the ship roared to life. Cursing in rage she grabbed her sabers and ran at them. The ramp began to close and the men outside made a break for their bikes. Catching up to a few of them she managed to cut them down before they could reach their escape bikes; the rest were long gone and there was no way she'd be able to catch up to them now. She screamed in frustration and a pulse of dark energy exploded out from her. Several canisters and crates around her began to fold in on themselves and implode. She needed something to kill. She could then sense Kannick returning to her and when she turned her seemed....almost cheerful at what had transpired.

"Hey, long time no see right? Well, um, I guess the next course of action would be track down your ship. Do you have a tracker on it?"

"No I don't have a gorram tracker on my ship!" she screamed at him.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick flinched a bit at Keiyara's snap, but he figured it was probably just the cherry on the sundae to have your ship stolen after such a long day. He had just assumed she had a tracker on the ship, he did. Apparently it was the first time her ship had been stolen. He offered a small smile, meant to be more reassuring than cheery. He looked a bit uselessly out into space where her ship had disappeared to who knows where. Lucky for Keiyara, she had Kannick Stargrave, expert slicer to help her. He wasn't usually cocky, but any chance to practice his slicing skills were always welcome. He said to her "Don't worry, Keiyara, we'll get your ship back." Je wondered what the first step was. He gave himself a whiff, realizing his long day had given him a foul stench in the pits. Forgot to wear deodorant again. He thought to himself.

He led Keiyara away from the spaceport, which was now drawing on-lookers. He went over to his own rental ship, which was nameless, and boarded it, thankful Diino's thugs hadn't been smart enough to steal both ships. He had rented a particularly luxurious ship this time, part of the act to impress Diino, which obviously hadn't worked. "Alright, well, there's a spare room over to your left, you can sleep there. I'll be in the cockpit, I've got some work to do." He left Keiyara there to do whatever it was she was going to do. He first however hit the refresher to cleanse himself of the stink he had gathered throughout the day. He finished quickly and dried himself of, putting on a new set of clothes in the form of a plain grey a-shirt and jeans. He didn't bother with shoes, ignoring the cold metal under his bare feet. He made his way to the cockpit and sat himself in the pilot's seat, pulling out his datapad. He didn't have a way to tap into the spaceport's logs without a direct connection, but satellites would've caught the surveillance footage, and that could be done digitally. He ran the security footage through the datapad, catching a glimpse of the man who stole the ship.

He set up a facial recognition software on the datapad and left it to charge since it was almost dead from the effort. He wrapped himself in the blankets to fall asleep, which he found easily after being disrupted before. Thankfully, this time it was just fine. No thugs to wake him up. When he woke up, they were in the middle of space, no planets in sight, just the way he liked it. He liked the void of space. It was oddly comforting due to the lack of activity. He went over and knocked on the closed door that led to the room Keiyara slept in. "Hey, sleeping beauty, you up yet? My software probably picked up the tief by now, it's time to get moving."

 

[EmilyHuene]

He said to her "Don't worry, Keiyara, we'll get your ship back." She would then respond with another snap while pointing her finger at him, "Yes you'd better! This is all your fault!"

She then followed after him fuming in her anger; he would be rise to stay silent. She said nothing else to him and when they got to his ship she entered without a moment's hesitation.

"Alright, well, there's a spare room over to your left, you can sleep there. I'll be in the cockpit, I've got some work to do."

She moved right over to the room and shut the door. Keiyara sat in the bed and began to massage her temples. This was becoming a very stressful day. It then dawned on her that she had no change of clothes, nor any of her belongings. She sighed sadly and began to undress; she wasn't about to sleep in her leather jumpsuit.

As she tried to sleep, her thoughts took her back through her crazy day. She was double crossed and kidnapped, held prisoner only to be rescued by a strange Jedi, attacked by thugs, and now her ship was stolen. Then she remembered how she blew up at Kannick and she felt bad. She really should at least try to make it up to him.

She got out of bed and left her room. She didn't bother putting on her armor again, so all she had to her right then was her underwear. That might ease some tension between them. But when she got to the cockpit she found he was already asleep in the chair so she sighed. So much for that idea. Keiyara then went to explore the rest of the ship, quietly of course. After finding herself some food, rummaging through his closet for clothes for herself, then returning back to her room, she was finally able to sleep.

~//~

The next morning, Keiyara would hear a knock at her door. "Hey, sleeping beauty, you up yet? My software probably picked up the tief by now, it's time to get moving."

"Just a minute!" he'd hear her call back. She threw off the covers and pulled on the pants she'd borowed, having already been in the shirt from sleeping in it. It was too big for her, and fell past her waist; which wuld suit her just fine. Coming out of the room now in his clothes she would say to him, "So...what's for breakfast?"

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick waited at the door as he heard her call something out, he was still a little wary of the not-so-stranger on the ship. If only Shiv was there, he would at least have something normal to talk to. But no, he wanted his astromech safe so he left him behind at the soon to be Pit. She finally got out of the room... Wearing his clothes. He eyed her for a second, noticing the shirt and jeans. "Hey! That's my shirt!" He could care less about the jeans, but the shirt he'd had for a year or so now. He got it at a concert a year or so back, which was an awesome concert for... Several reasons and he had kept the shirt almost like a scrapbook you could wear. Apparently Keiyara hadn't slept so soundly as he had thought. He sighed, it wasn't like he could take the shirt off her, although it did cross his mind for a split second. But anything more than a split second was dangerous, so he banished the thought immediately.

He grumbled at her a bit and said "Wait here." He walked back over to his pile of clothes having been rummaged through and left sloppily on the floor. Oh, come on. He said to himself as he went through his clothes quickly, dividing them into two piles: Pile1 were clothes he hadn't washed and stunk and Pile 2 was clothes he would let her wear. He walked back over to Keiyara, who was sitting in the center of the ship now. "Take that off and change into this shirt." Once she had changed he snatched the other shirt away and put it back in his suitcase along with the other clothes. He wondered what else she had done while he was asleep. Nonchalantly, he checked the accounts wired to his datapad, glad to see they hadn't been tampered with. He also had a security camera hidden in the bulkhead, but figured he'd look too suspicious pulling it out from its hidey hole.

He made his way back over to Keiyara now. His datapad had a match. "It's your lucky day Keiyara. Apparently were weren't topped off on fuel, so the culprit stopped in Hutt space to refuel. If we jump now, we'll catch him before he gets too far." Feeling better after a good rest, he punched in the coordinates and they jumped off towards one of the planets close to Aduba-3. He sat in the pilot's chair, still wondering what to make of Keiyara Cole. She was still an unknown to him, and he doubted if he would ever know. Just then, he felt his stomach grumble. It was at that point he realized he still hadn't eaten. He looked in the small footlocker he kept next to the pilot's seat, grabbing a small loaf of bread and some deli meats. Right there on the console he made two simplistic sandwiches ignoring the stains he left on the glass.

He walked back over to Keiyara, sandwiches in hand. He handed one to her and began to eat his own. Between bites he said "We should be there in an hour or so. The other planet's not too far." He gulped down another bite. It wasn't delicious by any means, but he was hungry and had much more pressing matters than getting fresh bread. He finished it off easily and wiped a piece of salami from his lip. "So, why exactly were you on Diino's bad side? I mean, you must've really pissed someone off to become a Hutt's slave." no mater what she said, after she finished he laughed because she had a mustard stain on her chin in the form of a C. The best part was, she was oblivious so he waited to see how long it would take for her to notice.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Keiyara stood in the doorway for a second because he wouldn't get out of the way. "What was he staring at?" she wanted to ask him

"Hey! That's my shirt!"

She giggled and poked him in the chest, "Yeah? Tough. I needed something to sleep in."


He grumbled at her a bit and said "Wait here." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as he strode away. She leaned against the doorframe and picked at her nails. After a minute of this she got bored of waiting and decided to enter further into the ship. She sat down in one of the other rooms and watched him organizing the mess of a room her had. Finally he came back to her and handed a her a second shirt.

"Take that off and change into this shirt."

"Fine," she said, not being very amused at his stubbornness. She stood up and turned her back to him so he would not see her undress. She pulled the shirt over her head and would toss it to him from behind her back. For a second, Kannick would realize two things before her long hair would fall back down. One, she hadn't been wearing a bra. Two, her back was scarred. Several burns and cuts and things were spread all across her back. There was also a large brand over her right shoulder of a mark he hadn't seen before. With her back now covered by her hair, she pulled on the shirt he chose for her and then turned back around.

"Happy now?" she asked and went to the kitchen to go find herself some food.

When he returned he said to her, "It's your lucky day Keiyara. Apparently were weren't topped off on fuel, so the culprit stopped in Hutt space to refuel. If we jump now, we'll catch him before he gets too far."

In a slow and sarcastic tone she would respond, "Yeah? Then maybe we should get going?"

She continued to rummage through his pantry but could not find anything tolerable to eat. "Jeeze doesn't this guy have any food?" she asked herself. A few moments later he returned with a sandwich and she took it begrudgingly. It didn't seem all too appetizing but neither did anything else he had lying around.

"We should be there in an hour or so. The other planet's not too far." She nodded and politely ate her sandwich. "So, why exactly were you on Diino's bad side? I mean, you must've really pissed someone off to become a Hutt's slave."

She sighed and looked down at her sandwich. She decided to tell him the truth. Well....most of it. "I was hired by my client to deliver a shipment of spices. Things were going fine at first until one of the men in the yard realized who I was. My....old master and I got in a lot of trouble when he was still alive. His name was Reese, Kait Reese. He was well....sort of a Jedi. He felt the Order was too passive and didn't have what it took to get the job done. We killed a lot of people tied to the Hutts. We never intentionally went after them, they just....kept getting in our way. So, the bounty hunter turned his men on me and the rest you know.

He then started to laugh and she shot him a glare. "You think this is funny!?" she barked at him. "Tell me what's so funny so I can wipe that smirk off your face! They were going to sell my Pi Gu like a piece of meat, you Wong Ba Duhn."