It's Complicated, or More Unfinished Business

[Mara]

(((Okay, here's the thread to wrap up things between Ean and Sam, all right.
I'm putting it to start by the secret palace hangar where it seems Ryn and Sam and Vesta are.)))


[...from Tying up Loose Ends]



The bounty hunter's contact had finally come through, and he and his new partner Felze, luckily a Zeltron, were on their way, separately, to the palace near the city; himself by foot, Felze with the Hope. Ean had tracked Sam all the way from Mygeeto to here, with a pit stop on Tatooine where his "friend" Greegar the Hutt had let her get away. He had been so close then, but that was why he found himself here on Zeltros. Running all around like he was following a treasure map, with the woman and her Jedi friend just a step ahead of him, a moving black X. But the trail had been still fresh enough, and he knew couldn't be too far behind.

It had been easy enough to find the Star, the ship the two had landed in. And it had been easy enough, with help from his companion who happened to be an expert slicer, to hack into the ship's computer and dig up information regarding where they could have gone. The holo-message from a Halley woman had led them to a house, or what was left of one. Ean had thought the worst at first, until he had searched the area a bit more, not finding anything linking to Sam or the Jedi.

A bit more digging by the Zeltron located another property listed the same owners of the burned-down house. Upon discovering it was a ship lot and storage yard, Ean had begun to wonder if the two were actually going to return to the Star. Wondering they were splitting up or abandoning the vessel. He knew that there had to be a reason that Sam was looking up her friend on Zeltros who owned a lot full of ships. It couldn't be just a pleasure meeting; she needed to get a ship.

Not wanting to let them get any further ahead, he located an employee of the yard after finding Roth dead and quickly interrogated him. If Sam and the rogue Jedi had gone on here like he thought, hopefully this man would have information as to their whereabouts. Reluctant at first, the man eventually spilled all he knew after a couple thousand credits appeared in Ean's hand. A deal gone wrong. Pirates. Sam captured. Lightsabers. Everything was a jumble as it poured out of the man's mouth, but the Corellian bounty hunter got the gist of it. And he had a new location: the palace.

Thanking the man again with another credichip, Ean had turned to Felze then to come up with a plan. They readily decided that, despite the Zeltron's skills, it would not be an easy feat to break into the palace, especially a hangar. So he decided it would be best to call in a favor or two. Though he didn't have any contacts directly associated with Zeltros or the palace on the planet, it was easy enough for him to go through a couple certain channels and put pressure on a couple certain people who owed him.

Ean and Felze had gone on back to the spaceport so the bounty hunter could gather some extra items from Heleen's Hope. If the pirates were still around, he knew he would need more firepower than just his trusty blaster at his hip. And the Jedi would most certainly be around Sam. Whether or not they had rescued the young woman or not by the time he got there didn't concern Ean. In his eyes, he would do anything to talk to her, whether it was killing some pirates or talking down the tall blind Ryn. Either way, he stashed some extra weapons on his person. Better well-armored or dead, he always said.

And so now Ean found himself skulking around the palace hangar armed with security codes and plenty of other weapons after finalizing his instructions for the Zeltron and his ship. All he had to do was find the pirates and the eventual ship that was stored in the hangar, and the three of them--the man had mentioned that the duo had taken on another being--should be right there. Not only had his contact given him clearance to sneak into the palace, but, though a few chains of command, gotten permission to stall the Talon and keep it from departing until Ean was finished.

Spotting the ship but seeing no one outside of it, he commed Felze the signal for him to bring in the Hope. He was generally a confident man and had the weapons and skills to prove it, but it didn't hurt to have a couple of cannons from his ship primed at the rogue Jedi or pirates in case they tried something. Once his ship and the Zeltron were in place, he would make his move. And get everything settled with Sam, once and for all.



((I know it sucks, but I kind of lost part of my burst of an idea from last week.
The rest of you can post when ready.)).


EDIT: Cleared up some confusion/continuity issues.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

((okay this is a repost of my last one from DoaS...she's kinda...unconscious...right now, but I'm sure someone can wake her up....>_>.....anyone have smelling salts?))



--Oh goddess, I’m gonna die…if the pirate doesn’t kill me the dark jedi will…goddess please help me…--

Grey eyes watched horror struck, as she pressed back against the wall attempting to become one with it, while that menacing growl issued forth and the pirate’s gun was twisted away from her. The sick sound of metal and bone crunching sounded beside her ear and the cry of pain from behind her had her yelping and struggling against her bindings futiley. A blast of (what felt like) air from behind her had the pirate captain tumbling away as the figure in the doorway spoke. Those eyes widened in considerable fear and surprise as she recognized Ryn’s voice. Voicelessly she whimpered as he crushed the lock and flung the door open (how THAT worked she didn’t know). The dark air around him was like a shadow that seemed to cling to him like a cloak and she backed against the wall at the sight of it. It was because of this that when he spoke to her she was so VERY confused.

R-Ryn…Ryn please…please get me out of here. Let’s just leave. Please can we just leave now? Please?!

He didn’t seem to hear her panicked pleadings though. All she wanted to do was get the hell away from these pirates, to just get free of these binders and leave this man to his fate, whatever it might be. She just wanted to get out of there…NOW…but it seemed Ryn would have none of it. He’d turned toward the captain again and the sounds of agony and crushing bone could be heard. It was all she could do not to be sick as she felt herself growing light headed. Now, typically Samantha wasn’t one to be overly queasy, but considering she’d been through a hell of a lot of emotional trauma that evening…well, she was just about at her limit. What happened next just pushed the poor woman over the edge. In a sickening, cracking, crunch blood, brain matter, and all manner of other fluids that might be found in the human head found their way into the air as the pirate’s head imploded under Ryn’s direction. Even as Ryn turned and spoke to her, she felt the world spin around her and her vision blacked out.

Poor Sam had fainted dead away.

[Dire Wolf]

((reposted from DoaS. I would type more, but there isn't much I can do without GMing. So, I shall allow you to ambush the merry duo whenever you please. Have fun, and feel free to get the jump on 'em. Just don't jump at 'em... you'll end up getting attacked. >>))

A grey haze hung over the man's vision as he stooped down to his knees. No small part of the large man wanted to keep his body planted where it was, and simply let his body die of blood loss. Ryn's eyelids grew heavy as he looked down at the fading woman, who was unconscious on the floor infront of him. Suddenly, his weight slumped to the bulkhead and he was left with barely enough energy to breathe. Let alone pick up the weight of another human being. Slowly, he let his weight slip to the deck... which had since grown slippery with blood.

"No, Ryn," his mind whispered. No. He couldn't fall. Two other people's lives depended on his ability to muscle through the pain and exhaustion. He couldn't fail. But... Ryn's flesh protested his mind's orders. "Get up, Ryn. You don't have a choice." "Just... let me die," he mumbled in return to the thought as his head rolled over onto Sam's stomach. "They'll survive without me. Just... Tal is gone. Let me join her," he mumbled into the soft flesh of Sam's stomach. "Get up. You're better than this. If you're gonna die, die on your feet, not laying face down in your friend's belly."

He shook his head slightly. The little voice in Ryn's head was right: he needed to get up. At least to get Sam to safety. With a hefty sigh, the man lifted his head off of the woman, picking her up in the process. "Ugh. Sam... lay off of the donuts. Please," Ryn half mumbled to himself with a small smirk on his face as he struggled up.

With the nigh herculean task of standing accomplished, Ryn set his mind to the door. Each and every step was a struggle, one that even Ryn wasn't sure he'd win. But he did. The man's mind barely registered the affectionate nuzzling of the female bha'lir as he passed through the plane of the door, nor did he notice Vesta. He had one thing on his mind: Get. To. The. Ship.

[sparrow]

Felze Zeng leaned back in the pilot's chair, reached for his canteen, and took another drink. He liked ships. Unlike Ean, Felze wasn't a fighter. Sure, he could shoot a blaster without hurting himself, but he did not make his living on combat. A ship was nice and safe.

Lowering his goggles over his eyes, plugged a thin wire coming off of the left lens into the ship computer. Immediately the small screens on each lens flickered to life, displaying constantly updated information on the ship's various systems. Certainly beat having to look down at the displays. Felze had built the little contraption some years ago. It hadn't taken very long for him to adapt it to this new ship. Most of the electronics stuff on these vessel was pretty standard.

He punched in the coordinates that Ean had provided into the Hope's computer, and the ship sped off towards its destination. The palace. Somehow Ean's quarry had made their way there, and somehow Ean had gotten permission to land there as well. Impressive.

"Keep 'er in a hover," he spoke into his headset, and the ship stopped just outside the palace hangar. His hands reached for the controls for the weapons systems. Ean wanted him here to stop his prey from leaving. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use the cannons, but he kept them aimed and ready.

[Mara]

(((I am assuming by door, you mean the ship's hatch and not an inner door within the pirate ship?)))


Crouched beside a couple of storage bins, a couple of fancy yachts between him and the pirates's ship, the Talon, Ean counted to himself. He wanted to give Felze enough time to get his message and fly his ship over to the palace before he made his move. If he just up and went right away, things could go bad fast. And if he didn't have any backup, it would go from bad to worse. Another glance at his chrono told him that he had waited long enough. The bounty hunter decided to make his move.

Still bent over and hiding behind what available cover he had, the Corellian made his way to the back of the hangar, hoping to come in behind the pirate's ship instead of up front to the main hatch and ramp. It was an odd move for him, for Ean usually preferred to meet situations head on. But this was a unique situation, and he wanted to take all the precautions he could. Hence Felze waiting outside the large hangar door with Heleen's Hope. Hence arming himself to the teeth.

Despite the fact that he was armed with about a dozen weapons, there was an unmistakable absence in his hip holster. The blaster that he wore almost like a second skin was not there. Ean hated not having it with him, if only for personal reasons and not any sense of real security. The weapon was a part of it. But he also knew that if he had any chance at being able to get back the crazy Jedi to speak to Sam he needed to present an innocence unarmed front. At least briefly. Hopefully in the time it took the rogue Ryn to realize that he was heavily harmed with other items Ean would have gotten to Sam. Hopefully.

He came around the back of the yacht sitting closest to the Talon.. Ean didn't see any guards around it. Either the pirates were stupid or arrogant or both. Even being in a secure private hangar wouldn't make Ean feel safe. Going closer, he gently laid a hand on the hull of the ship belonging to the pirates that had captured Sam and led her misbegotten new friends on a chase to the palace. It was cold. That was odd; he was sure that the pirates would have left as quickly as they could. Whoever had hired them to get Sam would have obviously wanted her back as soon as possible. And it was most certain that if they had access to the hangar they would have complete access to leave when they pleased. So why hadn't they?

Ean decided to edge his way closer. It was a longshot but maybe the pirates had been waylaid and somehow he had reached the secret hangar before they had. Almost impossibly not but Ean had known stranger things to happen. Around midships he stopped and listened. Some faint talking but that was about it. This situation was puzzling him even further. The man from the shipyard had seemed certain that the tall Jedi and the woman had gone after Sam. If that were so... shouldn't there be an argument of some kind inside? Unless...

Another thought came to Ean. Perhaps instead of arriving too early before the pirates and their pursuers had gotten there, perhaps he had gotten there too late. Maybe the crazy Jedi had already rescued Sam from the pirates, and they had left, meaning the voices he heard were the pirates licking the wounds they most definitely would have gotten from Ryn.

Ean set his jaw. Before he came to the conclusion that he was about to embark on yet another tracking of Sam, he wanted to be certain. Standing up, he slowly walked towards the front of the ship belonging to the pirates, his hands at his sides. Then, movement up near the hatch of the Talon and Ean stopped in his tracks, ready to hide. He had no business with the pirates and had no reason to announce himself to them.

Instead, he saw something else entirely out of the corner of his eyes. The angle of his position allowed him no view of the hatch itself but he could see part of the ramp hanging down to the hangar floor. And there was a pair of boots coming down it. Familiar boots. Ean's eyes narrowed and he looked upwards, and the brown orbs softened briefly. Sam.

Recovering quickly from the shock of seeing Sam again, his mind went to assess the situation. Ryn was leaving the Talon, his back to Ean. He was carrying Sam, who appeared hurt or perhaps unconscious. For the rogue Jedi's sake, Ean hoped the damage caused to the woman was the fault of the pirate's, not of Ryn's. He had not come all this way not to be able to talk to Sam. And if the Jedi was the cause of taking that away from him...

Swallowing his anger, he washed all emotions on his face, putting on a friendly visage and stopping a few meters from the ramp and the two figures. He cleared his throat and plastered a grin on his face, his arms raised up at his sides showing he meant no harm. Yet. "Well, I didn't expect to see you guys here." Ean was confident enough that none of his hidden arsenal could be spotted through his clothing. And unless this Jedi could sense metal through the Force, he should be left alone. Until the Jedi's good sense theorized that Ean wouldn't come into this hangar alone and unarmed. Even a non-Force user would be able to figure that one out. So Ean knew he had a small window of time in which to work. He would rather not pull out his ace in the hole -- the Hope unless absolutely necessary.

[Mara]

(((Due to new circumstances, I'm gonna reply here again, and change the plot a bit, getting Ean to leave without setting things straight.
And so any subsequent threads will be edited to change any mention of such about Sam to remain consistent.
Thanks.
The rest of you can post whenever, if you feel you need to.)))



That is, until everything went to hell from there. Ean was still waiting for the Jedi to turn around and acknowledge him when his personal comm beeped. Generally he would have just ignored it because he had more important things to do at that particular moment. However, he had set the comm off, leaving only the one on in the Hope. Any urgent messages were to be routed to him. He had planned that this would give him enough time to get things settled with Sam without interruption. Apparently not.

He held back a curse as he also held up a hand, letting the other man know that he would just be a minute while he took care of something. Ean turned around for privacy as he he dug out his commlink, hoping to all that was holy that it was actually a message that demanded his attention immediately. If it wasn't... Well, the being at the other end of the line would be sorry. Despite the side trip to locate Sam, he had put out a few feelers to some contacts to see if he could spot where the major had gone after Mygeeto, but so far had had no luck. Perhaps this was just a contact. A contact with bad timing.

Instead, it was much, much worse. It was one of his brothers with really bad timing. It didn't even cross his mind how his oldest brother Tyrell Stenner had gotten this private frequency. He was too busy wrapping his mind around the message. Ean had to play it over a couple of times before the news set in. His father had passed away, and his brothers were asking that he come to Corellia to help settle their father's affairs and estate. The bounty hunter swore again, this time not holding it in. He would have to just quickly settle things with Sam, grab Felze and his ship and head straight to Corellia.

Ean took a deep breath to focus himself after putting away the commlink. He couldn't mourn now, not yet. But then he turned around, ready to call out to the Jedi Ryn. And there was no one there. He and Sam were gone. Ean turned and slammed a fist into the side of the pirates' ship. Sam was gone again. The Corellian knew he had to first settle things with his father and his brothers. Then it would be time to decide whether to continue on Sam's trail or just give up, take care of the major, and then go after Sam. This was just not his day.

Pulling up Felze on the Hope's comm, he let the Zeltron know of the change of plans. Ean didn't give much details, just got Felze to land the ship so he could get aboard and set coordinates for Corellia. He'd explain to his new partner later, if he felt the other man needed to know. For now, he just needed to get back to his childhood home before his brothers ruined everything. His fists opening and closing as he left the hangar for his own ship, Ean tried to keep his rage checked.

The fates definitely weren't smiling on him today.


[to Bittersweet Homecoming...]