A Fork in Fate's Path

[Fromikeable]

Vance dragged the back of his hand across his forehead, sweating coating the rest of his face. Damn this moon's inclination toward heat. Maybe it was just the natural climate. Maybe it was the thick smog and the abundance of concrete. Either way, working on this rooftop was the absolute pits.

And they still had another two nodes to go after this one. Ugh.

Refocusing himself, Vance returned to his work. Laying on his back with nothing but some cargo pants, boots, and a white tanktop between him and the hot roof, he slid back under the emitter he was working on. The thing wasn't very big, only the size of a small speeder, but that had proven to work to his detriment. The parts were small, the wires tightly-packed, and the entire thing liked to wobble if a bolt was turned too tight.

Looks like he'd have to tighten the anchoring bolts before they left for the next one.

"I think I got it..." His hydrospanner whirred for a moment as a bolt was torqued into place, restoring the last of the emitter's electronics into its circuit. Wiggling back out from under, Vance grabbed a small rag from the toolbox he'd brought, tossing the hydrospanner into it with a light clank. Looking up at his company, he nodded a bit, wiping some grime from his hands as he spoke.

"Somebody flick the power back on and let's see if it fires up."

[Argetlam]

Looking good. Something that Aiden had prided himself ever since chucking those his drab white and brown robes away on Balosar. He figured that if he were going to be his own person from now on why the hell not look dashing while doing so. Unfortunately Nar Shaddaa’s heat begged to differ.



His clothes clung to his like a needy child and, his hair was almost as depressed as he was as it now seemingly needed to be pushed back into place almost every other minute. Letting out a long sigh he made his way to the stairs.



It had nearly been half a hour actually but for him with the heat and the uncomfortableness of his attire Aiden could have sworn it had been more like an hour or two. Climbing the stairs seemed like a chore at this point and Aiden was annoyed with himself for even taking the job ( this wasn't the first time he'd done so).



Finally reaching the roof he turned the knob and opened the door only to be greeted by another wave of heat. “you'd think with all this tech they'd be able to cool a place down…” he said finally loosening his tie and taking a look around.

[Rugs]

Things were a little better for Io’an. The Sephi had managed to find a spot with some shade, where the shadow of a nearby high-rise offered some shelter from the sweltering sun. But it wouldn’t last more than a few more minutes, if the slow creeping of the shadow’s edge toward him was any indication. That was a shame.

Then he’d be stuck in the heat again like poor Thelonious.

Io’an’s sea-green eyes flicked up from the holographic display for a moment, glancing at one of his partners for the job. Thel was good company, truly. And the tank top he’d chosen for the day’s work?

Nice shoulders, he thought as he went back to his work. Io’an could appreciate a man who dressed practically. He’d done the same after seeing the forecast—a simple t-shirt, some sturdy pants that were hot but at least kept the roof from setting his ass on fire, and some shoes, rather than his usual boots.

“Gimme a sec,” he said as Thel re-emerged from his work under the emitter. The diagnostic tools arrayed the air before him were, quite frankly, a mess. Their efforts so far hadn’t really made any headway into fixing things, either.

Io’an tapped at a dial, his hands covered in gloves designed specifically for the hologram. “Here goes nothin’,” he muttered.

The emitter whirred, whined, started to vibrate, and settled into humming pleasantly enough. Io’an smiled.

“Well there’s one,” he said, just as the nearby door cracked open.

The other fellow working this job emerged. He was wearing a suit. Io’an didn’t know if he should’ve felt bad for the guy or amused.

“You’d think,” he said, offering an agreeing smile as he pushed damp blond hair from his eyes. All things considered, the current company, made the heat a bit more bearable at least.

And both Force sensitives. What were the odds?

“System’s still shot to hell eight different ways, and at the rate we’re going it’ll only take, oh, say ‘til midnight to get it fixed,” Io’an said. He smiled, offering a rare moment of sarcasm. “But at least we’ve got the first one done without getting attacked.”

He looked at the new arrival. “I’m Io’an, by the way.”

[Neology]

[googlefont="News Cycle"]

Lidah waited at street level, seated in the burned out ruin of an open-air cafe. These latest flare-ups of violence were terrible on local businesses. Of course, this one hadn’t been doing all that well to begin with. Between the smog, the noise, and the ever-present smell of warm garbage, no one actually enjoyed being outside on this moon. In short, playing lookout in this dingy corner of the Keppler sector was a far cry from working at home, at the Blind Eye. Environmentally controlled – some people complained about even that, the recycled staleness to the air. Almost like being aboard a ship. People would complain about anything. Lidah was dressed for her post nevertheless in a green floral print sundress and a large floppy hat that kept the worst of the sun off. An open satchel rested by her feet, unassuming but filled to the brim with ion grenades. That was the thing about droids. Easy to prepare for but hard to sense coming. Eyes and ears were the best thing with Memento’s system IFF down – maintenance neglect or sabotage? This sector had once belonged to a technologically inclined gang of ruffians – the fleshy components of which were mostly accounted for. Dead years ago. So who was fixing the bots up again? Lidah opened a channel to the rest of the team her commlink. ”Status? It’s all quiet here so far.”

[Fromikeable]

Vance rested his elbows on his knees as he watched Io'an fire up the emitter from the ground, wiping his face off with the rag again. Behind him, the machine whirred as it started, generators and antennae humming to life in a somewhat stuttered cacophony. Vance couldn't help but make a face. He'd done what he could, but they really just needed to get a new emitter for this building. This one would hopefully work until he could order a replacement.

And work it did, causing "Thel" to relax and stand up. Walking over to Io'an, he dabbed the rag at his neck and arms, trading a decent amount of sweat for small wipes of grease. A fair trade, considering he was already a smudged, greasy mess. Any line of response was cut off as the door to the roof swung open, a young, tall man pulling at his tie as he walked out of the stairwell.

The hairs on Vance's neck immediately shot up, the interloper's presence reaching Vance before his body did. It was all he could do to stare a bit, keeping calm despite a sudden look of intensity.

"”Status? It’s all quiet here so far.”

Vance raised a finger to his ear, poking his earpiece. "Hardware's fixed. Io'an just needs to fix the software and we're good." His presence snaked out to hers, tapping in a small supplemental message.

And there's a Force-user up here. The man didn't seem inherent to either alignment. Jedi? Sith? Something else entirely, as Io'an was? Vance couldn't say, and that was a dangerous state to be in on the Smuggler's Moon.

Turning his attention squarely to the man before them, Vance eyed him with a knit brow. "Thel." He offered a slow hand, his other's fingers rolling lightly. He'd put his saber over near his toolbox, so if this man tried to take the first shot...

We really need to start doing Force-sensitivity tests. It felt like he was running into Force-users every week now.

"Didn't catch your name. I thought Aegon was the manager for this building?"

[Argetlam]

Aiden gave a easy smile to Io'an " Midnight? Someone sounds optimistic. Well on the bright side if it does take that long maybe we could all catch a break from this heat." Slowly turning his eyes uneasily to the transmitter he gave it a sideways glance. The way it was whirring and rattled slightly made him subconsciously take a step to the side away from it. Focusing back to the Io'an as he introduced himself Aiden smiled " Nice to finally see my team members, I'm Aiden by the way"


He honestly had no clue about the inner workings of the emitter but those noises definitely sounded a bit off. Oh well it is what it is he thought to himself watching the other who he had guessed had been working on the machine began wiping himself off. A quiet chuckle escaped his lips as he watched the grease leave long marks on the mans face, arms and shoulders. Taking a better look at him he seemed a bit uncomfortable with Aiden's presence. 

Ignoring the com as he watched one of them reply coolly he shot a smile in the way of the one covered in grease 

 " I swear I'm not always this sweaty, well most of the time anyway." still smiling he shot him a thoughtful look as he reached out his hand and took Thel's firmly " Nice to meet you Thel..." Aiden's eyes slowly trailed to his off hand noticing the rolling fingers "Like I told our friend, I'm Aiden. There's no need to be nervous. I don't bite... Unless that's what your into." Aiden winked at him and chuckled at the thought of being a manager " Oh, no I'm no manager I'm apart of this dandy little groups security detail... I've just been hiding down stairs trying to stay cool" 

[Rugs]

Io’an’s earpiece crackled as Ms. Faine asked for a status update. Seemed to be quiet down below, where she was keeping watching. Io’an honestly still couldn't believe he was working with her on a job. She’d been a legend an underworld legend — something everyone knew of, but only chosen few knew — only a few short days ago. Now she was something real, something tangible.

He wasn't sure what to make of it.

“We’re making progress, yea,” he said. “Slower than I’d like.” But progress was still progress. Presently, that progress consisted of watching a circular status indicator slow fill as the software restarted. Hopefully he’d gotten the kinks worked out and they could move on to the next one. Io’an scanned the sky with his eyes. They still had a long way to go.

Still no droids yet. He kept himself from brushing a comforting touch to the ion pistol on his waist. Hopefully no need for that today.

Io’an glanced at Thel, who was watching the new arrival, Aiden, with a hawk-eyed glare. Io’an looked back at the fellow, who seemed to be trying to play off Thel’s scrutiny. The bites remark got a subtle blush from the Sephi, who busied himself looking at his holographic monitor after stealing another Glance at Thel for reaction.

The new guy was a lively one, it seemed.

“Security,” he said. Not really any different than the rest of them. Or Thel and himself, he supposed. Faine could allegedly handle herself though she didn’t seem to be Force sensitive like the rest of the group.

“So what’s your schtick,” Io’an asked, trying to diffuse some of the tension between the other two men. He resisted reaching out to prod Aiden’s presence in the Force; it was already hot enough and he didn't feel like wrestling with the Force right now. “Y’know, in case things go sideways. Never hurts to know what we’re working with, right?”

[Neology]

”Alright.” The software. A vague description for an unenviable task. Digging through Memento’s work, the custom code of an eccentric genius. That Io’an was making progress at all … Well. She’d already known the young man was well and truly entrenched in the infamous slicer’s personal power base. For good reason, seemingly. ’I know. Our people on Balosar suggested he come our way.’ Though that was more or less all that she knew about Mr. Aiden Crest. A rich job like this normally wouldn’t be entrusted to a newbie – but she had full confidence in the rest of the team. After all, with her and Vance both working, she’d only have to produce half the original payout. Blood tests all around, though, just like in Republic space. He wasn’t serious, obviously, but what a thought – and to what ultimate end? If such a thing could be managed, the results would quickly outstrip their ability to hide force adepts within their organization. ’No thank you.’ It was better not to know exactly how much wasted potential washed up on this moon. Galactic powers did so frown on Force dynasties, after all. A high engine whine rose above the ambient sounds of the city. Perhaps nothing but Lidah sat up a little straighter just the same. ”Do you have eyes on that?”

[Fromikeable]

Vance's presence prickled at the response he got. Jokes, huh? That hardly put him at ease. Here before him stood a living, breathing, walking weapon of mass destruction, able to move things with his mind, change thoughts with his whims, and sense people with his mere being, and he wanted to joke about who he was and what he did?

Vance knew that he was being paranoid, but even still, it rubbed him the wrong way.

Lidah's comment was what allowed him to exhale a stressed sigh, accepting the reality begrudgingly. He didn't like scenarios like this. Unchecked Force-users were just as unpredictable as anyone, and when one of them showed up and wouldn't give straight answers, the possible tragedies ran through his head like wildfire. Sith assassins, Jedi shadows, psychotic darks and nebulous greys...

Consider he himself was a Grey, Vance supposed that was a bit hypocritical. Still, he would rather be a bit unnecessarily cold than watch this Aiden stab them all in the back and cripple the Exchange.

"Mmmm. What sort of range do you work with?" Vance's voice was trailing off with the end of the question as a humming rang in his ears. He knew the sound well; sublight engines, and judging by the pitch, decently-sized ones. A gunboat, maybe? No, too big.

”Do you have eyes on that?”

The sound grew in volume, its direction becoming apparent. Moving over to the edge of the roof, Vance spotted it; a beat-up, dusty, graffiti'd personnel carrier, utilitarian and rugged, coming up from one of the side streets. Its engines pulsed the air below, ruining the day of the pedestrians it flew above.

"I do." Watching the ship zip toward the building, Vance squinted a bit. As the ship drew nearer, its engines only seemed to pitch up, their throttle opening more and more. As it came upon one of the main approaches to the building, it began to pitch up, arcing from the road toward the roof.

"Rammer!" Vance barely had the time to say as much, leaping away from the edge as ship bounced off of it, shooting up into the sky. Wobbling as it attempted to level out, its sides opened, figures taking up positions as it came to hover mere meters above the roof. As the figures jumped down, they all landed with loud, metallic clanks.

Each was a droid, some cobbled together with different parts and models, others without a scratch. All of them were coated with dust and cobwebs, sporting a small insignia on their chests, and drawing blast rifles.

Vance's saber zipped to his hand, snapping to life as the shootout began. "Droids on the roof!"

[Argetlam]

Rubbing a bit of sweat from his brow Aiden tilted his head " I'd like to think of myself as a jack-of-all-trades" Then looking at the semi fixed transmitter he corrected himself " Unless it's tech... I'm at a loss there." He rubbed his neck and stretched out taking a glance at the discomfort on Vance's face. Maybe the remarks where a little too forward but it was in the past now nothing that he could do to change it now. Though it seemed like the annoyance and discomfort seemed to be coming from more than just the remarks he'd had made. Aiden sighed to himself maybe he'd need to tone back his "charm" as he'd call it. He would need to work with all of them for at least a few more hours if they where lucky. 

I'd rather not have to deal with anyone being annoyed with me for the rest of the mission. Even if that meant have less fun than he was used to but, everyone had to make sacrifices in one way or the other. 

" Well..." He finished hearing the hum of engines. There had not been any speeders passing by to Aiden's knowledge so maybe this finally meant some action? Peaking over the ledge of the roof he caught a look at the origin of the noise a fairly well sized shuttle moving in their direction.

Aiden's ear piece crackled to life " Do you have eyes on that?"

His hand moved to his waist where his lightsaber was waiting. " Yea, I have eyes on." Watching the shuttle it slowly gained speed and was angling to the roof. He frowned, well great just another thing that they needed to worry about. Getting lost in his thought he barely noticed as the shuttle slammed into the roof nicking a good portion off and leaving it to fall to the street below. Aiden rolled away to gain some ground as the shuttle leveled itself a few feet above the roof. Grabbing his saber from his belt he ignited it, the silver blade crackling to life. Soon after a motley crew of droids began jumping from the ship each one sporting a blaster rifle. "... So much for a boring day..."

[Rugs]

“Well lucky for you two, I’m here,” Io’an said, feeling rarely smug. Someone had to handle the tech side of things, and Ms. Faine was apparently well aware of his talents. The work itself was, so far, pretty easy. Just slow. Oh, so slow.

Io’an’s ears perked up at the sound of something rumbling in their direction. It was something heavier than the ordinary speeders always zipping this way and that through Nar Shaddaa’s skies. Whatever it was it was getting louder. Closer.

”Do you have eyes on that?”

Unfortunately, he did.

The ship came hurtling toward them and slammed into the side of the roof. It bounced off, knocking some siding loose in the process, and elevated into the air.

“Watch out, Ms. Faine,” Io’an called through his comm. “Debris falling!”

The ship dropped droids out onto the roof with them. Io’an groaned as Thel and Aiden light their sabers. He nearly grabbed his own, but opted for the gun instead. He’d have to call the Force it came to fighting with a lightsaber, and he really didn’t want to do that. What if something went wrong?

“Shit it’s not done yet,” he muttered. The software’s reboot was still dragging along, and Io’an would be damned if he got up to fight some rust buckets when his work wasn’t done. “Cover me!” he yelled as took a shot at one of the droid. A blue bolt slammed into its torso and set it to convulsing violently as sparks danced around it and smoke poured from its joints. Bringing the ion pistol was a good call today.

He dragged his equipment around the corner, yelping as a blaster bolt signed the edge of his sleeve. “Just need a minute to get this finished!”

[Fromikeable]

By the time the shuttle doors were finally closing, there must have been at least thirty droids between their roof and the two adjoining roofs. The droids, for their part, were doing a decent job; a small contingent was laying down fire right in front of the three Force-users while their allies on the other roofs tried to flank, attacking from different angles. It was enough to make Vance scowl a bit in annoyance, falling back to cover Io'an as shots filled the air like relativistic mosquitoes.

"Aiden!" Lowering himself into a center Soresu stance, Vance seemed to settle in. His green saber didn't swing so much as it curved and twitched, the smallest movements combating every blaster bolt that dared to near the hacker or himself. That wouldn't do, of course; if the droids managed to get around them somehow, all the defense in the world would be for naught. "See if you can get to one of those other roofs!" The fewer angles of attack, the easier the droids would be to deal with.

Below in the street, startled screams could be heard from people running from debris and the sudden sounds of fighting. Above in the sky, the shuttle seemed to be coming about, its engines pitching up again as its nose pitched downward, lined up with the roof once more.

It was all Vance could do to stick out his hand for a second, jerking it upward. On cue, the screeching shuttle bounced off some seemingly invisible wall in the air, zipping over the roof in an arc rather than smashing on down. A nice dent reflected the force it had just been subjected to, the underside of its nose indeed bearing the mark of a collision.

"Io'an, the minute you're done, shut that shuttle off!" Vance didn't sense anyone inside, so it must have been just as automated as these droids. As one came close, Vance punished it with a quick forward step, slashing it down the middle. As it fell to pieces, he backed up again, continuing his coverage of Io'an. His eyes couldn't help but steal a glance downward at the insignia of the fallen robot, furrowing in confusion.

"These are the Farad's droids!" He was interrupted by a few blocked bolts. "Who's turning on the Farad's old droids?!"

[Argetlam]

Cursing under his breath Aiden watched as to more droids dropped on to buildings parallel to their own. His lightsabers blade deflected a few blaster bolt that rang out from one of the other roof tops as he glance back at Io'an and Vance. Watching as the droids on their own roof began to advance Aiden jumped behind cover blocking the view of the droids on the opposite roof. Sighing to himself, he looked around at their current predicament. Well the heat wasn't the only thing that they were going to need to worry about today. 

Turning his face to look at Vance he nodded " As long as you take care of Io'an I'll take care of those hunks of metal!" Aiden poked his head around his cover looking for a way to one of the other buildings. He had it, but he didn't like the idea of leaving the two of them by themselves. Although leaving all of them stuck in the kill box that the droids were making for them left him with an even worse taste in his mouth. 

After a few deep breaths Aiden smirked and looked in Vance's direction. " Don't miss me too much you two!" Swinging around from the wall that he was using as cover he ran towards on of the buildings and leaped from the ledge of their own. Using the force to help propel himself forwards and his now deactivated saber at his side. Unfortunately he miscalculated the jump and found himself flying towards a window a floor below the roof. Gesturing his hand forwards the window shattered inwards as Aiden found himself tumbling into the building. Standing up he shook off the glass shards that had made their way onto his person and look around for the stairwell. Finding it, he ran towards the door and burst into the stairwell and began hauling ass towards the roof. 

[Rugs]

Io’an hunched by the wall, trying to make himself as small a target as possible as blaster fire zipped through the air. His gloved fingers zipped across the holographic display as he mentally urged the stupid Force-damned software to reboot faster.

He yelped and ducked lower as a stray shot — the droids were attempting to surround them now, rendering some of his cover moot — hit the wall above his head.

Update installation 97 percent complete

“Come on,” he groaned. He wanted to kick the damn thing, but there wasn’t anything to kick, being a holograph. The actual hardware was out on the roof. Where all the shooting was. Io’an tried not to think about what would happen if the damn thing got busted again.

“It’s done!” he shouted as the circle completed and the display dimmed, then flickered back to life. The generator hummed much more pleasantly in the distance, but Io’an didn’t have time to appreciate his work.

The newcomer had left off to one of the other buildings to deal with the droids there. Ballsy, but he must have figured he could handle himself. Now for the shuttle.

Io’an’s mind raced. He couldn’t feel any living attackers, which likely meant everything was automated. If that shuttle was, he could slice into it. But how long would that take? Slicing it remotely on the fly would be challenging, but not impossible.

Doing so under fire, though...

He ducked a shot and returned fire with his ion pistol, knocking a droid near Vance to the ground in a heap of metal and blue-tinged smoke.

Gotta find the signal. With his work on the generator done, Io’an scooped his equipment up and ducked around another corner to buy a moment’s respite. He kneeled at his display, turning it from a wired connection to search for nearby signals.

There was so much damned noise on Nar Shaddaa too. Finding the right one would b-

“There it is,” he muttered. Something about it seemed weird, but he could look at that later. He keyed some instructions into the panel and let it get to work. It needed time to break into the signal stream and override security with Io’an’s commands. He frowned, wiping the sweat from his brow with an annoyed frown.

So be it. He re-emerged from cover, blasting at two droids and wincing as a shot grazed his thigh. “I’m working on hijacking that shuttle!” he called, laying down more fire. Io’an took specific aim at the droids that targeted Vance. “Once it’s done, I’ll have full control over it.”

And once that was the case, well, there were some droids clumped together on the other roofs.

[Neology]

It wasn’t nothing. Shit. Lidah looped the satchel of ion grenades under her arm and jogged away from the ruined cafe. Peering up toward the roof, she hesitated for half a moment. The truth was plain: she was not well placed or well armed to counter an aerial assault. And the very last thing she wanted to do was damage the semi-irreplaceable hardware. Falling debris and Io’an’s timely warning left her little time to consider her next actions any further. Lidah reacted quite instinctively, batting duracrete and sheet metal aside with the Force. Smaller particles dusted her hair, and the arm that she’d thrust protectively over her head. Availed of her full senses, she could track the others with a thought. And the reverse, which was something to worry about later. A shape passed the gap between two roofs – the others were splitting up, then? She ducked into the second building and took that stairs at a loping run, two steps at a time. Bystanders were sharp points of confusion and fear, felt instead of seen. Lidah gave those minds a bit of a push, ungentle but encouraging flight. It didn’t take much to play on instinct. And though far from the most dangerous sector on Nar Shaddaa, this was not the safest, either. People knew when and where to hide. Interminable stairs. At the final landing, Lidah discarded her satchel and forced the door off its tracks with a telekinetic burst. The chunk of plasteel hovered indecisively before she flung it at the clump of droids. Coming out onto the roof after it with an active lightsaber humming in each hand, Lidah patiently deflected some of the scattered fire that had begun to come her way. Up close, she recognized Farad’s rusty old junkbots well enough. Oft repaired, slow, poorly suited for melee … But numerous, with no sense of self preservation. ”Nothing ever stays dead, eh Thel?” Then she charged among them.

[Fromikeable]

Vance could only spare the corner of his vision to watch Aiden jump for the other roof, missing his mark and landing in the floor below instead. He was just happy the guy hadn't missed entirely; assuming that they lived through this, he'd hate to be the one scraping Aiden's corpse off the pavement below.

Granted, that would probably be one of the Jolly Janitors instead of him, but still.

The droids were all pressing closer. On the flanking roofs, firing lines were setting up, inching closer toward the main roof. Before him and Io'an, the bulk of the force fired in tandem as they advanced. Vance's only saving graces were their relative inaccuracy and their limited firing angles. Neither of those would last for long if they got to spread out much further.

At the very least, they were shooting at him and not the hardware.

Io'an yelling that the field generator had been restored was likewise good news. Without the threat of new reinforcements, all they had to focus on was the situation at hand, dire as it was. As a droid neared, Vance sliced through his chest with a flick of his wrist, his swing less an attack and more a simple detour his saber took to block another shot. Kicking the droid's limp carcass back, he retreated a few steps himself, his back against Io'an's table.

At the sound of lightsabers hissing to life, he had to stop himself from sighing in relief. When he realized that they didn't belong to Io'an, he had to resist doing a double-take. And when Lidah's voice next to him actually joked about the resiliency of the long dead Farad's equipment, he couldn't stop himself from barking out a surprised, genuine laugh.

"If only they'd gone into business with droids. They would've stuck around longer!" With a second target to shoot at, the droids split their attention, halving the volume of fire flinging at Vance and Io'an. Far less pressed, Vance freed a hand and waved it at the rooftop Aiden hadn't jumped to.

The line of droids there flung up into the air as if struck by an invisible train, flailing with various degrees of flexibility as they all plummeted to the street below.

Vance found no chance to relish his victory. His ears heard the screaming descent of the speeder before his eyes snapped to it, the suicidal vehicle diving down from straight above the roof. Pausing for a second to block another few shots, Vance's free hand shot upward again, fingers grabbing at air. The shuttle tremored, slowing immediately as the sound of its engines pitched up. Sweat appeared on Vance's brow as his hand held true, the shuttle slowing to a barely-moving suspension above the roof.

"How's the shuttle coming?!" The question was growled between grit teeth, the focus needed to suspend the small ship and block at the same time threatening to falter.

[Argetlam]

Running the stairs two at a time he was nearly to the door leading to the roof. Tearing off his jacket a few steps from the door he let it fall to the ground as he burst through the door. Feeling a slight tingle in the back of his mind he shook his head trying to dismiss the presence. The thought however was cut short by the storm of blaster fire he heard ringing out from behind him. Pressing himself to the now closed door he peered around the corner to see the firing line that the droids had made on the edge of the roof.

Stepping from behind his cover with two arms raised he slammed them together. His actions being mimicked by four of the droids as they all simultaneously lifted from the ground and slammed together making a making a mashed ball of sparking wires and tangled metal.

Leaving no time to admire his work the rest of the droids opened fire as they whipped around to assess the new threat before them. With wide eyes Aiden hoped back behind the wall and ignited his saber, peering around the corner he recoiled back as a blaster bolt slammed into the wall.

Assessing the situation he chuckled under his breath and spoke into his comlink  "I have these ones busy with me for the time being.” 

After which Aiden stepped out from his cover, deflecting two blaster bolts as he did so although one passed through unhindered and skitted against his thigh. Gritting his teeth Aiden used his off hand in a semi sweeping motion to knock two of the bots into one another causing both of them to fall. Using this he fluidly deflected another blaster bolt and seized the ground between him and the droid closest to him. In a flash of sparks and silver the droid laid halved at his feet. Settling back into a defensive stance he looked at the rest of the droids standing and fallen before him.

[Rugs]

Shoot. Duck behind cover as blasters burned chunks of permacrete from the side of the building. Glance out to return fire. Repeat the cycle.

Io’an never did like fighting. He disliked even more that he was, compared to most, pretty good at it. But his master had drilled the need for self defense into his skull, so here he was, having a shootout with some droids on a roof.

At least they were droids.

He tried to ignore the panicked, confused swirling of emotion down below as debris fell from atop the building. So too did he try not to notice the presence that suddenly blossomed and began climbing up the building. But his senses were too finely honed, and that presence seemed familiar...

Wait. Io’an froze, back pressed against the wall as he realized why the presence seemed so familiar. The Blind Auction. A second-floor room. Someone’s presence burned like a sun before winking away to nothingness. Ms. Faine and some stranger had emerged from the room.

Ms. Faine was below, keeping watch on the ground. Or she was supposed to be.

Io’an felt a cold sweat on his forehead.

The wall behind him shook as something forced the door open. Io’an glanced from behind his cover to see none other than Lidah Faine, with two lightsabers blazing in her possession. The Force swirled around her powerfully.

Io’an’s head began to throb as he instinctively reached for the Force. It was comforting and horrifying at once. Strengthening, but with a current that threatend to sweep him away if he lost control.

Lidah Faine, the Compeer of the Exchange, was a Force user? The myths about her true nature said many things, but nothing like that.

“How’s the shuttle coming?!”

He didn’t realize he was standing with his eyes closed, back pressed to the wall as if trying to fuse bodily with it and his pistol upright in a white-knuckled grip.

“Right,” he said after a shallow gulp of air. “The shuttle.” Pushing his thoughts of whatever the fuck was gonig on now — and the Force with it — he kneeled by his equipment, where he saw he was gaining control of the shuttle.

A few typed commands isolated the signal directing the shuttle--and saved its frequency for later investigation — as he took over the vessel. A control panel materialized in front of him and Io’an, with a steadying breath, turned the ship from its erratic flying on a collision course for a knot of droids atop Aiden’s roof.

“Incoming, Aiden,” he said. “Get away from those droids.”

[Neology]

Hiding had been second nature to Lidah almost her entire life. But there was, admittedly, a time and a place. She had never been one to stick to a blown cover, as irritating charming as it was to pretend uselessness while everyone around her fought. Force adepts that weren’t in on the secret were the absolute worst: they didn’t need to physically see anything at all to notice the fuck up. So, in a way, this was inevitable. Especially if Io’an and the rest of the slicers did end up moving into the Eye. More importantly it was fun to cut loose for a little bit. Other than regular sparring matches with the same handful of people, Lidah had almost no occasion to use her sabers. And fewer still where no one really got hurt. Lightning fast, Lidah rendered Farad’s droids back into scrap one and two at a time. Perhaps she’d have the pieces melted down, this time … A bolt sizzled past her head, a near miss. As she worked her way through the droids on one roof, she gave herself less cover from the others. Nothing for it except force lightning. She quashed that impulse – Sith had much more particular associations than mysterious force adept ever did. No need to startle anyone anymore than she already had. The vehicle's whining thrusters and Io’an’s warning to Aiden made the immediate future pretty clear. Lidah flicked off one of her weapons and pulled back the plasteel door, taking prudent cover behind it.

[Fromikeable]

Vance immediately sighed in relief as the shuttle stopped fighting him, its engines dying for a moment. At the sound of them picking back up, he retained his grip out of paranoia, making sure it wasn't trying to kill them anew. As it tugged upward, its thrusters firing, he finally let go. The freed ship leveled itself and turned slowly, the autopilot clearly trying to fix as much as it could before executing any orders.

That gave Vance a chance to breathe, his saber flicking away another dozen shots. Thanks to Lidah, there were nowhere near as many droids as there used to be.

At Io'an's hollering, however, Vance blinked. Surely enough, the shuttle pointed itself toward the roof Aiden worked upon, its engines screaming anew. As the ship lurched into motion, Vance's eyes danced between it, the roof, and the newly-fixed antenna behind him. Between the impact and the debris, everything they had just set up might be gone in a moment.

An impulse moved Vance, his thoughts too slow to keep up. His saber hissed off as his outreached hand came soaring down to the ground, palm to the roof. As the shuttle made contact with the neighboring roof, the air before him shimmered, solidifying patches at a time. Immediately, the neighboring roof exploded in a puff of dust and the sounds of screaming metal, a few stray blaster bolts being the last sign of the droids. Debris went flying in all directions, sharp pieces of shrapnel pelting the still-forming Force barrier.

Most were stopped. The holes in the imperfect barrier, however, allowed a few to zip through, piercing into Vance's braced arms.

Ears ringing, chest pounding, Vance finally dropped his arms, the barrier disappearing as roughly and quickly as it had formed. Trying to peer through all the dust, the sight of the neighboring roof was a mess. The droids there had been reduced to barely-recognizable pieces, the entirety of the top floor having collapsed. The shuttle was little more than a metal husk, deformed and dead, a small blaze emanating from its engine.

Despite a new layer of dust, however, Vance, Io'an, the antenna, and their equipment proved to still be in single pieces.

"Sorry." Vance glanced back at Io'an with a small frown coughing a bit of dust out. His hands searched his arms for shrapnel, pulling out the small pieces they found. Slowly standing, Vance wiped his face with a hand, inadvertently smearing a bit of the blood and grime there.

"Wasn't sure if that would work. I watched some generalissimo do it once." After another few coughs, Vance waved at the dust, trying to clear it from his face. With a raised voice, he yelled.

"Everybody okay?"