Ask Unlikely Heroes

[Nash]

While she was acclimating into the Sith Order, Nash wasn’t going to ever completely cut ties with Hutt space. She was on Gamorr to drop off some spice to a contact. However, her main interest in coming here was a trafficking ring one of her old friends got wrapped up in. Nash was not the hero type by any means, but coming from a twi’lek slave mother meant she had a soft spot for this particular topic. Especially when it involved people she knew.

Her mother had found her freedom years back, but the woman chose to remain in prostitution because she was finally pocketing all the money for herself. While Nash didn’t agree with it, it was still by choice and she would respect that. The friend in question was a Togruta girl that made counterfeit IDs to get into different systems. A few of her works came up bad and she was promptly sold into trafficking.

She found out that the man running the trafficking operation also had a spice mine where the girls were allegedly kept in a subterranean level. Nash dressed casually, keeping her collapsible weapons hidden on her hips. The smuggling handover went smoothly enough, so she found herself in a local cantina contemplating her next move.

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar's recent branch into the field of spice trading was something he still did tentatively. He'd interacted here and there with the underworld, but his own business of actually trading spice was new...

As it turned out, dealing and trading spice wasn't that much different than being a Sith. Granted, the level of people he was working with were usually more "bleh" than the high end, corrupt politicians and businessmen who weren't afraid to work with a Sith if it meant getting ahead.

Instead, this line of work seemed to be filled with street level thugs and general troublemakers. People who he could certainly meet force for force but... eh.

But kriff if it didn't rake in the money.

What it also meant, though, was that he needed to make sure that no one was pushing in on his turf. Or at least that was what he'd been advised by "Big Jimbo" who Kaldar still found to be beyond dubious. In this case, making sure others weren't pressing in on his turf meant going and wrecking some things of the people who were trying. In particular, one of their mines.

Kaldar had never actually blown up a spice mine before, but it couldn't be that hard could it? The places were notoriously dangerous and unreliable so a few boom-sticks should make it happen, shouldn't it?

That was what he was hoping, and he told himself this was just a recon job for now. In his typical street garb with his lightsaber stashed away under his clothes, he just vaguely poked around the area... you know... doing recon things.

It'd have been easier for him if he were a pig, but he wasn't, which made blending in a bit harder, but... well, you had to make due.

First things first, time to get something to drink to walk around without looking suspicious. He tried to find some sort of mainline caf shop but was totally unsuccessful, so after a bit of internal huffing and puffing he decided to see if the local cantina had anything by way of caf.

Imagine his surprise to walk in and spot none other than the cute girl from the party. The Sith party. Ah kriff, are the Tempestians looking at getting in on Gamorr? Hrng, he thought to himself.

He made eye contact and quirked an eyebrow inquisitively. Well, well, fancy bumping into you here. Are we waiting for someone? he asked quietly as he drew closer.

 

[Nash]

Nash wasn’t sure what to expect. She heard that this seedy cantina sometimes acted as a hotspot for ‘business deals’ of various kinds. The man that did the trafficking was likely to be here. Allegedly he was a grumpy Bothan that tortured anyone that acted against him. Nash knew to keep a low profile, but she had to find a way to sniff out his spice mine.

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone addressed her and she almost did a double take. For a moment, she vacantly stared at him in stunned silence, “Whoa..” She mumbled, shocked to find a familiar (cute) face so far from Umbara, “We?” Nash asked, quirking a brow, “Is this you out in the field?” She asked quietly with a smirk so no one else could hear. Nash took a sip from her drink, pondering on how easily he slinked up to her without her even noticing. She knew he had a mysterious air about him back on Zeltros, but it was even more pronounced here.

“Oh you know…just checking out the sights,” Nash said as her gaze panned over the grimy and sketchy patrons milling about, “What about you? This joint doesn’t seem classy enough for your tastes.”

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar smirked. Okay, you, he corrected, standing and hovering momentarily over the chair in front of him.

Yeaaah, something like that, he said with a nod. I've got some... business in the area, he said, not choosing to elaborate around potentially prying ears.

He slid into a seat across from her, glancing casually over to the side of the room. There were just... so many seedy people here. And it smelled like... he didn't know, something foul Body odor and eight week unshowered Gamorrean.

Well, see, I didn't think so either, but then I found a pretty lady like you in here, so now I have to rethink everything, he said with another smirk.

And you? Are you "in the field?" he asked, wondering what she was doing all the way out here and - seemingly - without a Champion or Master along for the ride. He had a feeling she was out here... having a little expedition of her own. She wasn't far enough along for her senior rotations.

 

[Nash]

Nash caught him eyeing the seat and gave a subtle nod to indicate for him to sit down. The compliment drew out a smirk and she remembered that smooth man from Zeltros that had several men and women hovering around him. It was still surreal to have anyone call her pretty or lady, mainly because she posed as a scrawny twi’lek male for most of her childhood and teen years. Vocalized compliments meant more to her than she’d ever admit.

“Nah,” She admitted, “I’m not far enough in my training to be here. But since I’m nowhere near Sith space, I figure you won’t tattle on me,” Nash said with a grin as she looked at him.

“I came here to find someone...that's not meant to be found,” She said with a vague shrug as she took a sip from her drink, “I don’t suppose a fine gentleman like you has any free time to spare in this endeavor?” Nash asked, testing the waters.

 

[Kaldar]

Ah, so she admits her year in school. A fair play, he thought to himself.

Yeah, I'm not really the "tattling" type, he admitted with a snicker. In fact, he wasn't sure if he'd ever tattled on anyone in his life. Sure, he'd taken retribution before, but tattle? No, he didn't think so.

Interesting, he said with a "hm" sound added at the end. You here to kill them? he asked. Of course that was the sith way of thinking about things, but there was always other reasons as well.

I might be persuaded, he said with a shrug, deciding to be equally as elusive and, arguably, insufferable. But he liked to play his games, and she seemed to enjoy them too.

 

[Nash]

Nash almost spat out her drink when he casually asked if she was there to kill. She coughed and recovered quickly enough, casting a surprised glance at him, “I.. okay well. The person I’m looking for I want to save. However, the person that’s in the way… I don’t care what happens to him.”

She quirked a brow when he said he could be convinced, “Well, I’m dirt poor and I’m not about to do anything weird, so tell me how I get your help,” Nash stated flatly. She had a feeling if she invited him on this little adventure, he would quickly end up the one calling the shots since he seemed to know what he was doing. Nash, on the other hand, didn’t even know where to start.

“I’m looking for a Bothan spice mine owner that also happens to run a few trafficking rings,” Nash said, her voice lowered. It was a risk to mention it - for all she knew, Kaldar was in the same circle as the Bothan. Sith always worked with shady people.

 

[Kaldar]

Hm, okay, he said with a casual nod. Yes, that made perfect sense: just here to murder some people. Just Sith things. He was almost surprised that she was so caught off guard by the fact that he would ask if she was here to kill them.

He had to try really hard to suppress a smirk as she said she wasn't doing anything weird, and he wasn't even really sure what that meant. Did that mean she wasn't going to be willing to kill people? No, probably not since she'd said that she was fine with killing whoever was giving her friend trouble.

So nothing kinky then? he asked without actually missing a beat and launching straight on to actual business. Her mention of precisely what she was here for caught his attention, and he saw opportunity.

Seems we have a common enemy. Help me blow up the mine and I'll help you find your friend. Tit for tat, he said.

 

[Nash]

Nash coughed when he blurted out nothing kinky. She quirked a brow, “Your idea of kinky sounds like pain and death so, no,” She said dryly. Otherwise? She wouldn’t be opposed to having some fun with him - he was rather easy on the eyes. However, she had principles since the life her mother led, so she would rather prolong things and drag out the dog and pony show before getting too friendly.

When he mentioned a common enemy, she perked up. A part of her was worried he would prod her with more questions to try and sabotage her plan, but this worked out better than expected. His casual suggestion caused her to raise her palms, “Wait wait, what do you mean blow up?” She asked, quickly looked around, and lowered her voice, “Blow up?” She repeated as a whisper, “My friend could be captive below that mine. Wait, why do you wanna blow up the mine? What the fuck are you gonna use and why did you just pull this idea out of you ass within five seconds of meeting me?!” Her most critical question was saved for last. Did this dude really waltz into a cantina looking for an accomplice to partake in some casual terrorism? You know what, Nash wouldn't even be surprised...

 

[Kaldar]

He held up his fingers about three millimeters apart to indicate "a little bit."

No death, and only a tiny bit of pain. You know, the fun kind, he said with a smirk.

As she asked him what he meant by "blow up" he gave her a face that said "what do you mean what do I mean" and then promptly made an "exploding" gesture with his hands.

You know... with bombs, he said, this statement quieter than the rest since that wasn't really the kind of thing you want to just scream in a cantina.

Well, then we'll find your friend first, he said, making an "obviously" gesture. I pulled it out because I see an opportunity. I'm not the kind of guy who passes up an opportunity. Come on, you're not either, right? You asked me for help five seconds after meeting me too, he pointed out. It was just Sith things.

Come on, let's kick this thing off. Where's your friend at anyway? he asked. Is she in the spice mine? he asked, again quietly.

 

[Nash]

“I asked you for a normal and average, mid-level request,” Nash hissed, “You on the other hand..” She trailed off, deciding it wasn’t worth it. Nash threw her drink back, slapped down some peggats and was ready to go.

“Yeah I think there are dungeons in the lower levels of the mine,” Nash explained, “This is all speculation.. I just know this goat is a real fucking pain and has a lot of henchemen,” The twi’lek despised the thought of having to do an extraction when blowing everyone up really did sound simpler.

They stepped out into the open and had a brief moment of privacy. Nash turned to regard Kaldar, “Why…do you want to blow up the mine anyway?” She ventured to ask, not expecting a response. The guy seemed cryptic and shady as hell. Just like how men had the hot to crazy ratio for women, she had a hot to scary one, and he leaned just a tad further into the scary quadrant to make her not focus as much on the hot.

 

[Kaldar]

Let's be honest, this is not the weirdest thing that two Sith have asked for help with before, he quipped.

Oh wonderful, he commented as she mentioned that the guy they were hunting was apparently flush with thugs. That was always just what you wanted to hear. Hopefully they were the "disposable" type of henchmen and not some actually Grade A competent people.

Of course it's in the lower levels, he said with a throaty groan. It couldn't ever be at the top, easily accessible. Alright, fine, we'll save all the slaves and then blow everything up, he said with a wave of his hand.

Oh, just business, he replied as she asked why he wanted to blow up the mine. Like blowing things up was totally just normal business, right? Not even really worth elaborating on further.

Why do you want to find... he paused a moment and squinted which turned into a frown ...who are we saving actually? he asked. It would probably be good to know, though as he thought about it more he didn't really care. If she died, it wasn't like he was going to finish her mission for her or whatever. Though if he stumbled across the friend when the two of them were separated it might be good to know.

He pushed himself up from the table and started heading for the door as they talked, taking them closer and closer to the henchman flood. Man, they were all going to be Gamorreans, weren't they? Kaldar didn't really like "physical combat"... though if he lost his lightsaber and had to rely on "physical combat" he supposed he had bigger problems.

 

[Nash]

Nash hadn’t actually planned on saving all the slaves, just her friend. She wasn’t a charity, after all. However, if there was a chance to actually save everyone, she wouldn’t turn it down, so she kept her mouth shut. When he asked about who she was saving, Nash decided it made no sense to withhold the information, “She’s a Togruta and she specializes in making counterfeit IDs,” She said, “I’m thinking someone wanted her that couldn’t get her so they tossed her into trafficking to keep her from working.”

She refused to believe the girl screwed up. She was excellent at what she did and her skills allowed countless criminals to venture all around the galaxy. Selfishly, a part of it was Nash wanting her to owe her a favor for busting her out.

“I…don’t know which mine belongs to this goat,” Nash admitted as she looked at Kaldar, “So we can hit them one by one for a clue unless you have more insight,” It sounded like a longshot, but wasn’t Kaldar here longer? What the hell was he even doing hanging out on this planet? Nash almost didn’t want to know.

 

[Kaldar]

Togruta, he made a mental note in his head. So if they got split up he'd ask every Togruta girl he found if they were the one. Name? he asked. As it turned out, he wasn't running a charity either and would happily leave behind 99 Togruta girls who weren't the right one.

Kaldar's face became unhappy as she mentioned that she had no idea where she was going. Was he good at his job? He liked to think so, but he wasn't so good at his job that he wanted to risk his neck time and time again.

No, he said with a shake of his head. I'd rather take my chances by myself in one mine than with you in eight, he said. It was a simple numbers game, though he did pause for a moment after his initial, knee jerk reaction.

Well wait, hold on, he said with a frown. This isn't Kessel or something, it's kriffing Gamorr. There can't be more than like... one spice mine here, he said. It wasn't exactly ripe with the stuff, which meant there weren't a dozen plus mines to hit. Probably one, and that one was inevitably controlled by the same twit whose day KAldar was here to mess up.

He hopped into a speeder and rolled the top down, heading along down the "street" (if you could really call it that) and toward the mine that he was planning to blow up. Hopefully, it was the one her friend was in.

So are you more of a stabby-stabby Sith, a sneaky-sneaky Sith, or a voodooo-nutso Sith? he asked.

 

[Nash]

“She goes by Toni,” Nash said. When Kaldar had his initial quip about taking his chances, Nash rolled her eyes, “Okay whatever asshole,” She said simply, starting to step away from him. She had arrived on the planet to do this job by herself and she would still do that if it meant avoiding a sour personality. She paused, however, when he made his remark about this not being Kessel. She hadn’t considered that angle, but it was a fair guess.

He casually procured a speeder and seemed to be onboard, so Nash pondered for a moment, “Okay, can you give me a warning if you’re going to bail on me at any point during this? I don’t care if you do, just want a heads up,” Nash said flatly. She had worked with enough shady individuals to be inconvenienced by sudden betrayals. She was expecting it with this guy, but even semi last minute notice would be helpful.

Nash got into the speeder as they made their way over. His categorizations of Sith made her actually chuckle, “I’m a punchy punch Sith that’s hoping to become stabby stab,” Nash said, “I don’t have interest in the voodoo stuff,” She said with a shrug. That specialization seemed like it took a lot more passion and brainpower than she had.

Eventually, they arrived near the alleged spice mine and could already see the external perimeter had Gamorreans patrolling around it. Nash sighed at the sight, “This fucker has it looking like a fortress…”

 

[Kaldar]

Alright, don't murder Toni, he said with a nod.

He almost laughed when she asked for a head up before bailing on her. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a bail? he asked, of course not being able to pass up the moment for a sassy answer before providing something at least a little more meaningful.

That's fair, I guess, he added with a shrug. It was a practical approach to the Sith line of work, and he respected it.

Punchy-punchy. Okay, well, he supposed he could work with that. Hopefully they could start out at least a little more subtle, but at least she wasn't going to be useless. A lot of the voodoo-nutso Sith were kind of useless until (or really if) they made Master.

As they came around to the mine he was... surprised how extensive it was. His face scrunched up in disgust before he reached up to vaguely rub both of his eyes. The kriff have you gotten yourself into? he thought to himself, but managed to just barely suppress the groan rising in his throat.

Yeah... he said, the single word said in that quick, unhappy way that one might say to confirm "yeah, I see that sucky fact too."

Well, of all those people we only need one alive, he said, really finding the bright side in things. They could kill everyone else here.

Do you sense your friend here? he asked. They knew each other, and that meant theoretically she should be able to vaguely locate even if not exactly pinpoint her. Nash was also an Acolyte so there was a possibility that he was asking too much. Probably... but you know... worth a shot. If she couldn't he could always use it as excuse to blow the whole thing up :)

@Sreeya

 

[Nash]

“What do you mean? I thought you were the sneaky sneak type,” Nash whispered, “I’m usually the one that charges in and causes chaos. There’s gotta be a smarter way in..” She mused unhappily. Kaldar definitely gave her the shady and assassin type vibes, so she had these visions of him practically teleporting over and slicing necks like some Holomovie ninja while scaling the building like a monkey.

“Sense?” Nash asked, perplexed, “No, I don’t have a Toni radar,” She said with an annoyed expression. Didn’t this guy realize she was new at this Sith thing? Nash rubbed her chin in thought, “Okay okay..Gamorreans get pissed easily. If you make one of them think the other threw something at them, it’ll start a little fight,” She explained. Her use of the Force wasn’t as refined, but she knew his likely was, “Throw a pebble or something. Once they start a scuffle, we can sneak right past them,” It wasn’t like her to actually have a semblance of a plan that didn’t involve just brute forcing her way through, but hanging out around people smarter than her was starting to pay off.

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar's eyes flicked momentarily up in a roll. Yeah, he figured that wasn't going to work, but again... you never know unless you try. He'd done dumber things before he was sure.

He finally shrugged at her suggestion, deciding it was as good an option as any. Sounds fine, he said, eyes sweeping around the area to look for a suitably sized rock.

He found one several moments later and reached out with the Force, focusing on it and the energy that bound it to himself before tugging along the string. The rock sprung from the ground and flew with impressive accuracy to strike one of the Gamorreans at low velocity in the back of the head.

He threw up the hood on his jacket and pulled the medical mask from his pocket to put it over the bottom of his face. It was a trick he had picked up back when he visited an AMS infected world: no one looked twice if they found a medical mask on you and in conjunction with a hood it was almost as good at obscuring your features as a full-head helmet.

There were several grunts and snorts that Kaldar didn't understand but translated in his head to "Hey, why you throw rock at me?!" "What give, I didn't throw rock!" "Yes you did, I felt it!" "You calling me a liar!" Punch, punch, hit, hit, grunt.

Seemed as likely a story as any and the end result either way was a couple of Gamorreans throwing hands and tusks while others gathered around to cheer it on. Barbaric, he judged silently. He was good at that.

Seizing hold of the opportunity, he leapt the fence and smoothly landed on the other side as the Gamorreans were looking the other way, sneaking around one of the large buildings that had all kind of labels about "explosives" on it and Kaldar took delicious note for later.

Beyond that was a foreman's office that - if Kaldar could make out right - had a couple of people inside who looked like they were some sort of humanoid that Kaldar didn't recognize. I bet we can find some uniforms in there, he said, motioning to the building to see if they could find disguises as either some sort of supervisor or - if they were less lucky - as slaves.

@Sreeya

 

[Nash]

Nash watched, genuinely impressed, as he hurled the rock, “Man I wish I could do that,” She muttered. She couldn’t imagine having such refined control with the Force. She could do a basic push, pull and other moves, but to coil it like that around a rock and throw it so perfectly? Not a chance. Nash followed behind him, hoisting herself over the fence and landing with a heavy thud. She wasn’t exactly light on her feet thanks to her bulky build, but she did her best to stay quiet.

She saw him gawking at the explosives signs and gave him a look to contain himself for now. Nash spotted the office and turned to Kaldar again, “I hope you have a quiet way in because my method is kicking doors down,” She said with a grin. Once he got them inside, it was show time.

There were a series of people playing Pazaak inside that were about to have a very bad day. Nash sprang into action, slamming a fist into the face of a Rodian. While he reeled back, she slammed his head into the torso of another man. A third guy tried to take a swing at her and she promptly brought the Rodian in the way to take the hit, leaving her open to slug the third guy in the face. Kaldar could simply stand back and watch as Nash brawled and made short work of the several people in the room with just her sits. Before long, one guy was dead and the rest were knocked out cold and missing teeth and with broken bones. Nash looked giddy like a kid on Life Day.

“Oh sweet, uniforms!” Nash said cheerfully as she undressed some of the idiots. The twi’lek chose a male uniform, stripping off the outer layers of her clothing to put the outfit on. Nash ran her tongue across her sharply filed teeth, knowing she could pass for a dude twi'lek at first glance, but perhaps not when she talked, “You do all the talking if it comes to it,” She told Kaldar.

Nash calmly closed the door behind them as they walked out to give the appearance of everyone still casually playing pazaak inside before walking towards the main spice facility.

 

[Kaldar]

Kaldar smirked as she complimented - or envied - his throw move, but she was quick to restrain him from executing on any of his crazier instincts to try to get into the boom-boom room.

He moved over to the door to try to open it, trying the simplest thing first to just... see if it was unlocked. You'd be surprised, although luck wasn't on his side this time. A pried open panel and a few flicked wires later, and the door slid open to allow Nash to go to work.

Well... she definitely does the punching thing, he thought to himself as she went inside and promptly started slamming people around. He just stood in the background as she did her thing, giving a thumbs up.

Kaldar swapped his clothes out in a hurry with plenty of experience with rapid clothing changes for missions like this. Nash would catch sight of him if she looked over and notice that he was, in fact, an athlete. Perhaps not quite the appearance of a model, but the long distance running he did in his spare time showed through. Lean and trimmed.

When he was changed, he glanced back over at her and frowned.

Then came out the infamous finger circle.

Yeah, I don't know if you think you're passing as a man, but uh... yeah that's not working, he said. Yeah, she probably had passed like a boy in the past, but let's put it this way... not anymore.

He shook his head. Yeah, no, you... you still are hot, he said with a head shake and a shrug. Anyway, just cover up the nametag and I'm sure it'll be fine, he said, heading out toward the mine entrance, "checking" the datapad in his hands as he went and looking real busy.

Wisps of heated steam rose out of the mine and the moment he stepped up to the entrance he felt like he was about to start sweating. The whole place was horrible and he already wanted to leave. They passed a variety of people carrying and pushing heavy objects around, chained together with collars and some of them even with chains around their ankles. They were thin, beaten down, and looked like they were exhausted on the verge of dropping. It was brutality.