Jailbirds {Jewel}

[Rugs]

If it wouldn't ruin his hand, Tsubasa would have punched the wall.

Instead, the young Matukai sighed and leaned his head back against the rough wall he was sitting against. This wasn't how this stop at Taris was supposed to go. At all. It was just supposed to be a stop where he picked up some supplies as he made his way to Nar Shadaa, but everything had gone wrong. Someone had found out about his talents, though how, he did not know. He'd gone to meet with a man he did not know after getting a message that someone working for some Hutt was interested in what he could do. True, he did hired work from time to time, but he wasn't interested in what he was being offered, so he refused. They'd pressed harder, and he continued to refuse. Then the door had locked and goons--a number of whom were now dead--were sent after him, and the last thing he could remember was fighting before something knocked him out. When he awoke, he was in the cell, along with some big alien he'd never seen before in his life.

His weapons had been taken, he was imprisoned, and he didn't know where he was. Splendid. All because he made some routine supply stop. Right now, he didn't want anything more than to punch a lot of people in the face. Maybe break some necks along the way. That would be nice and cathartic. But for the time being, he was stuck here, so he could "reconsider" his decision.

The cell was small-ish, though it was made to seem smaller than it was with the big unconscious alien sprawled out on the ground. I wonder what his story is, Tsu thought as his amber eyes swept over the being. As far as Tsu knew, his cellmate had been there when he arrived, or shortly after; he'd been there when Tsu awoke, anyway. He was tempted to wake the thing up, but he decided to leave it be.

He looked around again, though there wasn't much else to look at. The cell was lit well enough, thanks to the soft glow from the energy field that held them in, and there was a pitiful looking cot at the far end that he presumed was for him, since the alien was far too large for it. There was a small toilet and a sink, and that was it. The two long strands of black hair that hung down either side of his head waved gently as he shook his head slightly. He wasn't supposed to be here. Yet here he was. Maybe he could lie and tell the guard he'd decided to take up the offer. From there, he could go about finding away to stab someone in the neck. But, that wouldn't make getting off of Taris any easier...

Instead, Tsu closed his eyes and reached out to the Force as his teacher had taught him to long ago. Meditation always worked when he was angry. Perhaps it would work now. There was only one way to find out.

[Dutch]

Not more than ten minutes into the other man's meditation, the alien stirred. No big motions at first, a shock to the back of the head was enough to knock anyone out. A small growling groan came from the creature, and his antennae perked up off the ground. He lay on his back spread eagle styled with his feet towards the glowing cell shield. The creature was Ruck Vierde, vagrant of the Luch'zoen Fleet, and currently, a slightly roasted Gar. His shocking blue eyes snapped open and his pupils dilated to adjust to the light. The two olfactory tentacles that hung from the middle of his face twisted together slightly and his mandibles clacked. With a slow groan Ruck sat up, is shell ground against the permacrete floor like someone dragged a rock on it. At first he looked to the right, away from the other man and brought a hand to the back of his head where a new scorched-looking scar was added to the menagerie of others that were on his shell.

"Ouch."

Clacked the Gar, his eyes closed for a moment but opened a couple seconds later. His antennae waggled to the left towards the other man, and his blue eyes followed soon afterward. Of course it was another of these humans by the look of him, pink, soft, and wrapped in cloth. The human looked asleep to Ruck, so at first he was ignored. Ruck planted his hands on the permacrete and with surprising grace pushed himself to his feet, but didn't stand at his full near-eight foot height. Instead he crouched down, on all fours, legs tensed and ready. Where was he? How did he get here? Last thing Ruck remembered was killing that bartender... then a sudden pain at the back of his skull.

But why would they hold Ruck for that? The bartender threatened him not the other way around. An annoyed growl sounded from Ruck and his jaw made a loud clack. He shuffled towards the glowing shield wall and looked at it closely. His antennae wagged centimeters from it, trying to examine it better. Ruck's right hand came up and he slammed a fist into the shield, but instantly cried out and shuffled away as sparks flew from it and a dull pain smacked his hand. Ruck was getting angry, very angry. He growled deeply and stood to his full height of nearly eight feet.

"BLARG!"

Roared Ruck at the top of his three lungs. His right leg pulled up and back and Ruck unleashed a mighty kick to the shield. More sparks shot off the shield and it crackled angrily back at the Gar. When he saw that even one of is kicks didn't do anything he stalked over to one of the room's corners and punted the ceramic toilet, which shattered and left it's ruins coated in white dust. Ruck's outburst caught the attention of a couple guards. The peered into the shielded cell, but before they could speak, a well dressed Bothan entered the room. With datapads in hand he approached the cell with the guards. He motioned for the shield to be let down, and all seven guards shouldered their weapons and aimed them into the cell.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. I see your new room mate has awakened, Tsubasa. We don't know his name yet, perhaps you have found it? Anyway, my employer has sent me with an offer."

At the sight of the smaller, furry man, Ruck shifted and moved closer, curious to what he was talking about. The Bothan smiled warmly at the Gar and held a datapad towards him. Ruck plucked it gingerly, and looked down at the various scribbles he didn't understand. He peered at the Bothan quizzically and tilted his head. The furry man must have known the Gar didn't understand, because he smiled and nodded.

"I know, Basic is such a crude language, especially when written. I'll help you, it says if you agree to work for my employer, you'll be free to go."

Ruck understood some of it, and nodded. If he agreed, he'd both get paid and be let free- that sounded good to him. His eyes glanced at the guards and their guns. By his estimate, they were basic blaster rifles, heat oriented weapons, cheap to make, easy to use. Ruck wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he did know weapons.

"How much will pay?"

Clacked Ruck, his question genuine. The Bothan laughed, which made the guards laugh. Ruck's antennae swivled with confusion, and his eyes narrowed. Even he could recognize laughter at him, his childhood had taught him that sound.

"Pay? I'm sorry, we wouldn't be paying you, you're paying us for your freedom, Mr. Tsubasa over there knows. Maybe you two should discuss it?"

He couldn't believe what he heard, these people wanted to enslave him? Make him work for nothing? Ruck glared at the Bothan, how dare he. Ruck rose to his full height and looked down at the Bothan and his guards. His mandibles worked together, a sign not many would ever see- a sign of a Gar in extreme anger.

"Ruck NO slave!"

At the word slave his right leg came up again to launch forward, a massive kick delivered to the Bothan's chest. A wet series of cracks sounded, the Bothan's entire ribcage was shattered and the furry man was sent nearly head of heels away from the cell. The guards shouted in surprise and one shot in panic while another slammed the button to seal the cell. The shot hit Ruck in the chest and made him stumble back a few steps. Most others would have been killed. The guards backed off, and all but two worked to get the now dead Bothan out of the small prison. Ruck slapped his chest with a hand and bellowed at the two guards, he was not afraid, and they now knew it. Ruck cast a glance at his cell mate and gestured toward the Bothan and uttered

"Blarg'ta itou- er... how say... no use tiny-man? No, not sound right... Basic stupid! Why no speak easy language?"

[Rugs]

Calm. Quiet. Serenity.

These were the things that Tsu looked for as he slipped into his meditative state. He walked through the steps with an old familiarity in the way that Barsavi, the old Cerean Matukai that had been his teacher, had taught him to do years ago when he first learned how to touch the Force. First, as he opened himself up to it, he removed himself from any emotions, though that was a bit difficult with his current mood. But he needed to be calm, and serene, like the surface of the lake on Cerea that so much of his training had taken place by. It took a few minutes to get to this state of calm, but he got there. Next, he moved on to focusing on the Force as it flowed through him, feeling its cleansing purity as it swept through his body. Purity of mind and spirit, and purity of body were two things that Barsavi had emphasized a great deal to Tsubasa when he was young. Though, given Tsu's arrogance problem, he might not have been the purist of spirit, but he was quite pure in body. The Force flowed into him, and he could feel it as it filled every inch of his mind, every corner of his body. There. He was almost completely within his meditative trance. Just a little longe-

"BLARG!"

Tsu was violently thrown out of his meditation by the enraged screaming of his cellmate, who was obviously quite awake now. His eyes slid open as he growled softly to himself at irritation and his ire came flooding back, and was about to tell the big thing to shut up when he saw the big lout kick at the energy field that held them in. "Hey, that's not a good-" Too late. The big creature found out that kicking the energy field was a bad idea, and that apparently pissed him off. Tsu stood to his feet as the thing stormed over to the corner of the cell and, with another mighty kick, proceeded to destroy the toilet. The fact that Tsu needed that toilet was lost in his amazement as his golden eyes went wide and his mouth worked for something to say. How did he... What is he? Tsu had never seen an alien of the likes of his cellmate, but if he had managed to shatter the toilet so seemingly efforlessly... Tsu made a mental note not to get on his bad side.

And then, Tsu realized, the thing was huge. At least seven feet all, and going on eight, if he guessed correctly. That brought up a spark of annoyance within Tsubasa for a moment. He was an Epicanthix. He should have been tall. But no, he was short. For his species, anyway; he was a little below average height for a human male, and that irritated him from time to time. But here he was, stuck in a cell with some alien that was almost two feet taller than he was. Wonderful.

The voice of a guard pulled him out of his brooding, and he turned to see a Bonthan. Tsu's eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw him. He recognized that Bonthan. He was an ass, really. Tsu would like nothing more than to wrap his hands around that furry throat and strangle the life out of him, but there were too many guards. He couldn't take them all unarmed, even with Force Deflection; or at least, not without getting more banged up than he would like to. Now, if he had his swords, or his wan-shen...

Anyway, he ignored the Bonthan's obviously-mocking friendly tone and watched him with a placid expression. He handed the big alien a datapad with some sort of offer on it; an offer that Tsu assumed was the same as or similar to the one that he himself had bluntly refused. Tsu could see wheels turning within his cellmate's mind after the Bonthan explained--vaguely--the terms of the deal, and was about to tell him the deal would only screw him over when the Bonthan did that himself. Tsu's fists clenched in anger when the Bonthan mentioned him, though he didn't have to do anything.

Apparently, pissing off his cellmate was a bad idea.

With another one of those mighty kicks, the alien lashed out and crushed in the Bonthan's chest, and Tsu jaw dropped. He was far from weak, and even with the Force strengthening him, he didn't think he was that strong. Well, he'd never tried to do that, really. He preferred cutting things to beating them to a pulp, though he was quite capable of the latter.

Tsu regarded the alien with a wary eye once the incident was over. He'd taken a direct hit from a blaster rifle, and it didn't even seem to faze him that much. What is he? the young Matukai wondered with a growing sense of respect. Now there was something very few people got from Tsubasa.

He frowned at when his cellmate tried to talk to him. Obviously, Basic wasn't his primary language, given the way he stumbled over it. That, or he was as dumb as that toilet he just shattered. Tsu was feeling nice, and decided to go with the first. "Um... I don't know..." he said slowly at the alien's question about basic. This'll be interesting. How to communicate to his cellmate without pissing him off? What was his cellmate's name, anyway?

Tsu looked up at the big creature and decided to plow onward. "I'm Tsubasa," he said slowly while pointing at his chest. "Wait," he said as the thought struck him that it might be hard for the other to pronounce, though it wasn't a hard name, "call me Tsu." He kept pointing at himself as he said that before pointing at the alien. "What is your name?"

[Dutch]

Ruck's eyes would narrow at the soft-human. His antennae drooped towards the cell-mate as he spoke. Why did he speak so slow? Ruck remembered some of the scientists on Mustafar did the same- it was Basic's way of implying stupidity. Why did this little man see Ruck as less than intelligent? Ruck was big and strong, it obviously made sense to the Gar that he was smart. He shifted closer to Tsu, and pulled his arm back. A mighty punch was thrown at the man, but would just barely graze by his face. Ruck's fist collided with the duracrete behind Tsu's head, a small cloud of dust puffed around the fist, and Ruck's shell scraped a small dent into the wall. But the Gar wouldn't be done.

Ruck leaned close after the strike, his eyes narrowed at Tsu. Then, with much vigor, his mouth opened surprisingly wide to reveal a long, thin tongue, purple-black gums, and unleashed a massive shriek of a bellow. The bellow would last for a few seconds, and some frothy saliva dripped from Ruck's mouth as his eyes bulged out of his exoskeleton and his olfactory tentacles flailed in between his mandibles that wiggled. If one were to describe the breath of Ruck, it would be a mixture of trash, vomit, rotting food and rubber. Not a pleasant combination for those that had a nose. Ruck finished and pushed off the wall to straighten up. He stalked away from Tsu again and kneed the sink that was next to the remains of the toilet. It also shattered. His foot kicked the shiny metal faucet upwards and he caught it in is hand.

Both three-digit hands wrapped around the faucet and Ruck began to gnaw on the metal. His jaws clinked against the metal and Ruck's eyes seemed to fog up. It wasn't until he had sat there for several moments while the faucet was idly chewed on did he register what Tsu had said. His eyes shifted to look at the humanoid, and one eye narrowed. He pulled the faucet from his mouth and pointed it accusingly at him.

"You dumb? Said was Ruck when break little furry-man. Ruck is Ruck, you is Tsu. Not hard."

What would almost be called a scoff came from Ruck afterward, and he resumed with his work on the faucet. He needed to get out, Ruck knew that much, but beyond punching the shield until it broke, he didn't have a clue how to do so. Ruck cast Tsu another idle gaze. His eyes were bright, but seemed distant, like he was thinking very deeply. A slow, deep breath came from Ruck before it wheezed out quickly. He clacked his jaws on the faucet and spat it out on the floor near the ceramic dust pile left by the toilet and sink.

"You ugly woman, squishy, but not good."

[Rugs]

Yeah, so maybe talking to the alien like he had the toilet he'd smashed for a brain wasn't the best idea Tsu'd ever had. He noticed the look his cellmate gave him, and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. It wasn't his fault the thing spoke broken Basic! If he didn't want to get talked to like he was an idiot, then he shouldn't speak like one. "Hey now, wait a minute," the young Epicanthix said slowly as the large creature moved angrily towards him.

A big fist pulled back to punch, and Tsu's eyes went wide as his hand instinctively went to his side to grab his wan-shen... which wasn't there.Oh yeah... His weapons had been confiscated upon his capture. Well that wasn't good. There was an instant of warning through the Force before that fist slammed into the wall and Tsu moved his head to the side just a fraction; though, from the looks of things, it didn't seem like the punch was meant to hit him anyway. Tsu sighed slightly in relief at that as the thought of an overripe melon being crushed with a sledgehammer came to mind, and he was suddenly very grateful that he hadn't been hit. However, he could feel irritation of his own rising up. It didn't take much to rile Tsu up enough to want to fight; some said it was a weakness of his, though he didn't have a problem with it. One thing was certain, though: he wasn't going to be cowed by some big alien with the vocabulary of a four year old. "Now you just calm the hell do-"

A furious bellow exploded from his cellmate, and Tsu was silenced in his surprise. The whole scene might have been comical, with the bulging eyes and flailing tentacles, were it not for the smell. What does he eat?! It was horrible! It smelled like the thing just spent his days eating garbage, and old garbage at that! Tsu's face contorted into an expression of disgust, and his tanned skin started to pale. Luckily it didn't last long, and his cellmate left him coughing and sputtering as he tried to get the odor out of his nose. Ruck apparently decided that the sink had offended him as well, because he proceeded to break it, much like he had the toilet. Tsu only growled lowly to himself before he started hacking again as Ruck sat down and started gnawing on the metal faucet. Then he had the gall to say that Tsu was the stupid one for not catching his name before he broke the Bonthan.


"Well," Tsu said before pausing to cough again, "I'm sorry that I forgot after you kicked someone's chest in." "Why are you so touchy, anyway," he asked as he leaned back against the wall to watch Ruck gnaw on the faucet. He didn't get an answer. Instead, Ruck proceeded to call Tsu a woman. And an ugly one at that! At first, Tsu was too stunned to have a real reaction. Ruck really was stupid! True, there was a loose sash that hung from his waist around his legs, but the clothing on his upper body was rather tight, for movement purposes, and it was pretty obvious that he wasn't a woman. And if not from his build, then his voice, his face...

The clenching of his fists told him that he was angry at Ruck, and were Ruck a normal person, Tsu would have proceeded to lay into him; he didn't need his weapons to kick someone's ass, after all. But Ruck would most definitely not be an ordinary foe, and to be honest, Tsu didn't want to risk a fight with him; he wasn't certain it was a fight he could win without his weapons. He'd have to settle for something else, though he refused to show that Ruck was unsettling him.

"Well, Ruck," he said, putting on a smirk and speaking in a way that implied smugness, "you ain't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen before, either. In fact, you're probably the ugliest." He snorted lightly as he stood up from the wall and swaggered over to the big alien. "And your breath," his face scrunched to give the image of smelling something horrid. "Man, what do you eat?" Tsu clicked his tongue in disappointment.

It was then that an idea formed in Tsu's mind. Ruck had gotten him with the punch to the wall and the barrage of bad breath and the whole 'woman' thing that Tsu refused to think about, but other than calling Ruck ugly and saying he smelled bad, Tsu hadn't done much to retaliate. That had to change. And it was as he observed Ruck gnawing on the faucet that a grin broke out across his face and he acted. The Force was suddenly flowing through him, and focused for a moment before he reached out and grabbed the faucet from Ruck's grip and brought it to his waiting hand. Ugh, it's got slobber on it! He wasn't very skilled in telekinesis; in fact, what he'd just done was about the limit of his ability, but it was enough.

"Now, I think we've gotten off to a bad start here," he said as he held the saliva-covered piece of metal in plain view. "You can have this back if you act like you have some sense of dignity, and I'll do the same. Deal?"

[Dutch]

Ruck blinked up at Tsu as he strode over to him and spoke. What a ridiculous statement. He shifted his position and leaned his antennae forward towards Tsu. It was obvious the man was upset, he tasted of it. A deep cough sounded from Ruck followed by a reverberated series of chuckles.

"Tsu wrong, Ruck have long antennae and strong odor- females want Ruck. Tsu wrong."

He shook his head and waved his antennae to the left, a shrug for the Gar. Once again, this Tsu's logic didn't make a lick of sense. But what happened next, Ruck did not only not expect, but would change his view on Tsubasa Arus. Without getting close, the faucet that Ruck had been gnawing on suddenly flew from his mouth into Tsu's awaiting hand. There was only one reason this could possibly be. And it all made sense, Tsu was obviously female, physically weak, but had powers... it added up to one thing...

"WITCH!"

Ruck bellowed with more vigor than even his previous one to intimidate Tsu. In an instant Ruck was on his hands and feet and he scurried away from Tsu towards the shield. Eyes bulged wider than ever and Ruck's antennae flailed wildly in panic. He scuttled away so fast that he ran into the shield and it crackled angrily, which only further spurred Ruck's fear. He cried out again and flailed on the ground, arms and legs launched out in panic until he gained enough grip to propel himself to his feet.

Those big blue orbs looked at Tsu again, and Ruck was quiet for a moment. He stared, unmoving and unblinking at Tsu- almost as if someone had pressed pause on Ruck. Tsu was terror and dread, power and might, and it was all Ruck could do not to soil the ground on which he stood. Luckily, that was more of a physical behavior than a mental one, or it would be very messy at this point.

His eyes bulged suddenly once again as it dawned to Ruck that not only was Tsu a witch, but one he was trapped with. Ruck's mouth opened wide and another bellow sounded from him and those antennae flailed about. Once more the giant was on the move, he turned and beat frantically on the shield, sparks and crackles shot off it, and that only made Ruck panic even further.

"RUCKOUTRUCKOUTRUCKOUT!"

Cried the desperate Gar, his hearts slammed in his shell as he repeated his mantra for freedom. The guards tried to ignore the chaos, to the point that they made makeshift ear plugs that seemed to work. Once Ruck saw that the guards wouldn't help him, he scurried to the wall furthest from Tsu, and pressed his back against it, eyes still wide as he stared at his cell mate in absolute terror.

"Ruck... be good, Tsu-witch no use giema on Ruck. Is good?"

He sure hoped Tsu would agree, Ruck was strong, and handsome, but even he couldn't go up against giema- magic in Basic tongues. And so here Ruck was, pinned back by a woman- and not the way he liked it. Oh what irony.

[Meira]

Tro Bona's plan had been executed beautifully. He had captured the twi'lek Palas and her accomplice Lash, as well as the Nui's Jewel and its crew and cargo. Indeed, it seemed Bona had gained a bit of a bonus through his work. The three that had still been on the ship might prove useful, the young female if not the other two at least. The ship itself was hardly useful. He'd likely have it scrapped for spare parts. But the spice! Yes, he'd made a nice little profit off of that, and none would be the wiser.

For the time being, Tro Bona had the ship transferred to his private docks. The cargo was left on board, to be unloaded when needed. Tro Bona ordered that the five prisoners be taken to the prison cell where they'd be held until the bounty was collected. Such a shame. That Palas had beautiful skin. If Greegar chose to kill her, it'd be a waste.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, you ready on the button?

Yeah.

OK, you three drag 'em in, we'll cover, and if that bug moves you close that barrier, got it?

Yeah, get on with it already!

The guards positioned themselves, ready to transfer the unconscious prisoners into the cell which already held a giant alien and another human-like being. It would be crowded, but there was nothing else for it. As soon as the one guard lowered the barrier, the others moved quickly. The Jewel crew was in the cell and the barrier raised without much incident.

Palas was one of the first dragged into the cell, and so was also the closest to the two original occupants. She'd been left on her side, one arm stretched out above her head, the one she'd been dragged by, while the other laid limp on the ground. Her lekku were slightly spread out on the duracrete floor, and half her face was flat against that surface. Her breathing was shallow, but steady. Though she'd experienced great pain when her lekku were grabbed in the cantina, she was unharmed.

[Otterling]

When Doc finally awoke, it was to a world of pain. The electricity that had coursed through him had effectively hit his big internal reset button but it didn’t keep him down for too terribly long, a fact he greatly regretted as soon as he woke up. His head hadn’t hurt that bad since that night on Tattooine when he’d gotten far too drunk in Ketsly’s Bar and had the whole lap dance thing going on with two twi’leks, a pa’lowick and a balosar. A grin curved one corner of Doc’s mouth at the memory. Oh yeah, that had been good times but this wasn’t quite the same situation. He hadn’t had as much fun getting this headache though on the bright side it did mean he wouldn’t have to do any testing for random venereal diseases later. Or at least he hoped. He risked the pain of turning his head to look up at the guards on either side of him. They were hauling him down a long hallway with a hand under each of his arms and if he could have convinced the rest of his body to cooperate at that point, he’d have come up with some brilliant plan for kicking them both in the teeth. Sadly he couldn’t even feel his left leg and that would make kicking anyone a little difficult.

Ahead of him, Doc could see other guards and the sight of what they were carrying made his stomach sour and his heart boil. Palas was being dragged by one arm at the lead of the pack and the sight of her limp body made something in Doc rage more than he’d felt in a long time. He looked at the face of the man carrying her and made a note to memorize it. That one he was going to kill personally. Lash was there too, as was the little slave girl and the bothan. Apparently whatever had happened, the bothan wasn’t a part of it since he was being dragged right along with the rest of them. Doc watched his shipmates being dragged one by one into a holding cell but something about the stance of the guards bothered him. They were wary…scared even. They were training their guns on the door to the cell as if it already held someone they were more scared of than the prisoners they were carting. That fact bothered Doc greatly. The last thing he needed was for this situation to get any worse.

He was the last one to be dragged into the cell, perhaps because it was taking two men to drag him, what with him being the largest of the ship’s crew, and when he came up level with the man who had been dragging Palas, he used his good leg to jerk himself to a halt. The sudden movement surprised his guards enough to make them pause and Doc took the opportunity to look up at the man he wanted to wrap his hands around and strangle. “You. Boy. Look me in the eye. I want you to know I’m telling you the truth,” Doc growled in a low voice that held every inch of menace he was feeling, “I’ve spent years of my life studying anatomy. I know where every nerve in your body is and how to activate them and when I get out of here…I’m going to find you and I’m going to kill you in ways that will scare Sith.”

The guard froze for a moment at the sheer hate in Doc’s voice but the fact that he had other guards around him allowed him to shore up his own confidence. He smirked and jerked his head toward the cell, a sign to the ones holding Doc. They chucked the man into the cell none too gently and Doc rolled a short way before finally coming to rest on his back. The shield on the door hummed back to life as soon as he was in. Doc lay still for a moment with his eyes shut, willing down the pain that was shooting up his leg as the nerves attached to the prosthetic woke up finally. “This….this sucks,” he growled before sitting up slowly. As soon as his head stopped pounding enough to let him see straight, he crawled over to Palas, dragging his useless leg behind him. Appearances be damned. He just needed to make sure she was ok. He couldn’t lose her, couldn’t see her die. Not like…

Doc brushed careful fingers over the woman’s brow in a move that could only be described as tender, something he never showed to anyone, and then did a cursory check to make sure she hadn’t been badly injured. Once satisfied that she was ok, he took a moment to look around the room before moving on to the others. His eyes fell on the stranger holding a faucet in his hand that looked like it had been dipped in mucous and he quirked an eyebrow. Ok. That was new. The toilet in their cell had been shattered, as had the sink and Doc sighed. Great, we’re stuck in here with a psycho who hates bathroom fixtures. He scanned the rest of the room until his eyes fell on something he wasn’t quite sure what to make of. What looked like the biggest space roach he’d ever seen was curled up in a corner looking terrified. Doc blinked a few times…closed his eyes and rubbed his temples and then slowly opened them again. Yup. Big roach is still there. Well, at least he wasn’t hallucinating, whatever comfort THAT might bring. Of course, this also meant that the toilet assassin behind him wasn’t the greatest of his worries at that point.

“#^@&!^& great. You’d think in an establishment this nice, they’d spray for this kind of thing,” he said sarcastically.

[.:Falcon:.]

Kess was frightened, more so than she had ever been. She had thought she had left the captivity thing behind, vetted it into space with her implant...but here she was, once again a captive. And this time it was worse. The men hadn't bothered stunning her. She was so little, they apparently didn't think she would, or could, put up a fight. They were probably right.

Kess stumbled along next to her captor, one thick hand in a vise-grip around her upper arm. Kess winced as the hand tightened momentarily. She longed to catch just a glimpse of the others that would show her they were alright. Or did she? She couldn't think straight. Her mind was settled on the fact that she was, once again, a prisoner. And she couldn't help it. They reached a cell, and Kess was shoved in with little regard for her body or much anything else. She felt something scrape the palms other hands, but she didn't give muchthought to it, just got out of the way so she didn't get hit by the rest of the bodies coming in.

Her eyes were vacant and staring, her dark hair wild about her face. Scrunching herself as tight as she could into the corner, her tiny frame inconspicous, she drew her knees up to her chest and locked her arms about them. Hiding her face in knees, she silently prayed they wouldn't find her, they'd forget about her, they wouldn't make her go back...

[Mara]

[... from Are You In?]


Fortunately for Trevil, his slight frame had allowed the stun blast hours earlier back on the Jewel to wipe him out completely. Fortunately because he didn't feel himself being dragged from the ship along with Kess and Doc. And then dragged to a waiting speeder and then dragged to some old building and down a dark and dirty hallway. And fortunate for the brown-furred Bothan that he didn't feel his body being dropped rather ungracefully on the cold and hard duracrete floor of a cell. No, he was sleeping a dreamless sleep throughout the whole process.

He had ended up in a heap against the far end of the cell with his shipmates sprawled between him and the cell's previous two occupants, slouched sideways with his back against the wall, one leg bent underneath his body, arms hanging limp. And he was snoring. Very lightly but he was snoring, a throaty Bothan snore intermingled with his regular breathing.

A particularly loud snort startled Trevil so much that his violet eyes snapped open. Immediately he felt an intense pain in his back and leg. He blinked a few times to gather in his surroundings. Obviously he was no longer on the Jewel but now found himself in some little duracrete room. When his eyes came into focus he noticed the energy shield that was glowing just inches from his head. It looked suspiciously like the type of barrier used in jail cells to keep prisoners. A small gasp escaped his lips as he stared at the glow, unable to move any part of his body except his eyes, for the pain. Had the Bothan authorities finally caught up to him? Did they trace him back from the bank?

Panic filled his mind then, panic that rushed more adrenaline through his veins and allowed him to right himself to a better position on the hard floor. He untangled his leg, allowing it to splay out in front of him. A spasm shot up his back as he tried to straighten it up into some semblance of good posture. How long had he been laying like that? His back hurt like hell. Trevil ran a hand over his face and then rubbed the shoulder that had been jammed against the wall. Taking a mental inventory, he discovered that, besides a feel ill-used muscles and some obviously bruising, he was okay. Well, okay, except for the fact that he was in a jail cell.

But his current circumstances did allow him some time to take in the other occupants of the cell. He saw Palas laying in the middle with Doc bending over her. The girl Kess sat curled in the other corner looking scared beyond belief, with obvious reason, Trevil thought. Near the front of the cell was Lash. So... perhaps this had nothing to do with his bank job, then. Otherwise the Bothan authorities would have no reason to capture all five of them. Or would they?

Thoughts of the spice deal and the uneasiness he had felt about the whole thing began flooding his mind. His eyes flickered back to Palas then. He should have mentioned something to her about his misgivings, but it had been too late. Everything had been put into motion. With a sigh, his eyes left the prone Twi'lek and happened upon a huge surprise. They were not alone in the cell.

Trevil had to blink to make sure he was seeing things right. There was a giant.... thing and another that looked to be human or close staring back at all of them, seemingly surprised to be joined by five more companions. What had they gotten themselves into now?

[Rugs]

Tsubasa scowled as Ruck looked up at him with those big bug eyes of his. Of course, the scowl was replaced by a look of amazement when his cellmate spoke, and not a good kind of amazement. No, he was amazed at Ruck's reasoning. "Right," he said as the amazement gave way to amused chuckles, "long antennae and a strong odor." The Matukai made an overly-obvious sniffing noise and expression before grimacing and looking at Ruck with a cocky grin. "Yeah, I'm sure the ladies love you, big boy. I wish I could be like you." There was no denying the amount of sarcasm that dripped from Tsu's voice, but then again, Ruck was as dumb as they got, so who knew if he'd catch it?

Then Tsu proceeded to pull the faucet away from Ruck and everything went crazy. Or, rather, Ruck went crazy. Absolutely crazy. There was a moment where Ruck just stared at him, and Tsubasa almost feared that he'd pissed off the big bug. But no, instead, he'd apparently scared the piss out of him, because in an instant Ruck was moving all around the cell, screaming that Tsu was a witch. The only thing Tsu could do was watch with his mouth slightly agape at the whole scene. Ruck really was incredibly stupid, and seemed to keep finding ways to reinforce this point. Really, had Tsubasa not been so stunned by the suddenness of it all, he'd probably be near to tears from laughing at Ruck. Instead, he just stood there and watched, faucet forgotten in his hand, and his cellmate made an absolute fool of himself.

A laugh did get out of Tsu once it was all said and done, a warm and youthful one, much like his voice. "Oh yeah, Ruck I'm sure the ladies love a big brave man like you, right?" He would have gone on, but a commotion outside the cell caught his attention. Apparently they were going to have company. Some more guards arrived, dragging in a number of people, with a Twi'lek, a Bonthan, some woman, a man, and another man with tattoos on his face that might have marked him as a Kiffar, though Tsu couldn't be sure; after all, he himself had received tattoos on his face when he completed his Matukai training, but he wasn't a Kiffar. The older man was feisty, as he grumbled something to one of the guards, though Tsu couldn't be sure what it was he was saying. His tone gave a good indication that it wasn't pleasant, thought. Whatever it was must have amused or angered--or both--the guards, because a moment later, they threw the man into the cell and he ended up on his back.

Company indeed. Tsubasa was suddenly aware of how much smaller the already small cell seemed, now that so many people were in it.Wonder what all these people did to get th- He jumped a bit at the older man's sudden outburst and chuckled a bit at the man's tone. A creeping suspicion said that the old man was talking about Ruck, but Tsu wasn't sure. He tossed the spit-covered faucet back to Ruck absentmindedly as he took in the rest of the group. Some of them seemed to be in better condition than others, and the old man seemed to be better than the rest, or was talking the most, at least, so Tsu directed his attention to that man. "Welcome to our humble abode," he said, not even trying to hide his disdain for the place. "So what did you fine folks do to get yourselves thrown in here?"

[Dutch]

Ruck's fear subsided into curiosity as the cell door opened. He spun around and almost leaped into a flurry of attacks, when he saw others being dragged into the cells. And despite Ruck's extreme will to get out of that cell with the Witch in it, it wasn't in him to hurt women- Tsu included. Instead his big blue eyes watched the group that now decided to crowd the cell. Humans he recognized well enough, but the purple one, and the small furry one he didn't too well. The furry one. Ruck's eyes narrowed and he crept forward slightly, his antennae waggled furiously towards him until he clacked in approval.

"Furry one not ghost."

He nodded sagely, for a minute there Ruck had thought the Bothan he had crushed had come back to life to ruin Ruck's rugged features. But his thoughts were derailed as the older human spoke. This man fascinated Ruck, he smelt of happy juice, adrenaline, and tasted of slight fear. Ruck nodded at the man's words and peered over to Tsu.

"Tsu-Witch is ugly lady, not good for fancyplace."

It made Ruck happy to realize he wasn't alone in thinking Tsu was quite unpleasant to the eye- he still had a good eye for beauty. His eyes glanced down at the purple person that the old man hovered over. Ruck's antennae turned slightly towards her, but he didn't act on his urge to fully investigate them. Unless he was mistaken, she was female- she smelt right, and her body type made Ruck want to spawn voraciously. But, they were neither alone nor did Ruck collect enough shiny trinkets to impress her.

Instead, he almost purred and shifted away from the old man and the purple female. That was when the other male caught Ruck's eye. He crawled towards the wall where he lay slumped, and sidled closer and closer until Ruck's antennae could wave about his face. The man lay there, unmoving, and his boots smelt good. Ruck made what could be called a loud bark to see if he would respond. He didn't. In a swift move Ruck pulled back from the man, and his hands snatched his right boot right off his foot. The Gar hopped backwards into the same corner between the shield and the wall, and proceeded to gnaw on the sole of it.

When Tsu tossed the faucet back to Ruck the Gar made a harsh hissing sound and shifted away from the tainted metal. Ruck flat out refused to touch anything the Witch did at that moment, he didn't want to be turned into a female like Tsu. He grunted and shifted away from the group to chew on his newly attained item- it tasted good.

[Meira]

Palas had known injury before. She'd broken her wrist when she still lived on Ryloth with her parents. She'd been kicked hard enough to crack a rib. She'd known countless cuts and bruises in her line of work. But this was the first time her lekku had been targeted. The pain had been immense. It wasn't hard to figure out that such an area might be very sensitive. In fact, it was a wonder that the lekku weren't targeted more often. Then again, if one was too rough with the lekku, they risked causing brain damage. Not exactly the best business practice if one wanted good money for a slave.

mmmmmuuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh.... ootay...?

As consciousness returned to the violet skinned woman, it did so to the beat of her blood thumping in her skull. Everything hurt. from the tips of her lekku to the tips of her toes, she could feel each pulse as it throbbed. Only one eye would flutter open, as the other was pressed against the cold floor. The one eye would quickly close as her mind tried to adjust to the disorientation of seeing the world sideways. When she was conscious enough to understand her orientation to the ground, she tried again.

At first, everything was blurry. She could barely make out the colors of things within the room. Sound was not yet working well for her, as her pulse was so loud it drowned out everything else. She blinked a few times, each one bringing her world more into focus, until finally, the dizziness and fog faded away. What was left was a clear view of the biggest insect Palas had ever seen in her life.

To Palas' credit. There were few tangible things that truly frightened her. She'd squared off against strong foes, stared down a number of blaster barrels, had faced a few attempts by others to enslave her. She'd grown thick skin against the galaxy and was stronger for it. She wasn't squeamish around blood or other bodily fluids. She had a durasteel stomach. But Palas Did. Not. Do. Bugs.

AAAAAGHGHGHGHGHHHHHHAAAAAAGGHGHGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! XIANN! XIAN!!!

All pain was forgotten as the adrenalin her fear produced coursed through her blood. With no regard to anything else that might be around her, Palas launched herself from her place on the floor, scrambling quickly back from the creature. She stumbled over Doc's prosthetic and past the others that had been brought here with her. So blind was she in her panic that she didn't see the shield door. Her whole back collided against the shield, sending a painful shock up and down her spine. This shock was double in her lekku and Palas nearly fainted again from the pain. The edges of her vision darkened, but the fear kept her mind sharp and focused on what she was sure to be a deadly, disgusting creature.

As she continued to scramble randomly, she did not see the debris on the floor from what she would later know to be a destroyed toilet. As she stepped on the broken pieces, they gave way under her weight, sliding across the smooth floor and causing the woman to pitch forward. On instinct, her body moved to counter the motion, but in her wild failings, she countered too much and began to fall backwards. This momentum could not be countered, no matter how the woman tried. And so, as if in slow motion, Palas watched as the world around her began to sway off kilter until she landed, with a painful thud, on the ground. She only managed to keep her head from continuing along the downward tragectory by grabbing on to the nearest object, which happened to be Lash Venedray.

Palas had fallen right into the man's lap... well.. her rump actually hit the hard floor in the space between where his legs laid slightly spread apart. But Palas knew no shame in her fear and she clung to the man like a child who doesn't know how to swim might cling to her mother. After a moment, part of her mind realized that Lash was not awake. This part of her mind quickly became frustrated and she shook the man and pounded her fist against his chest.

Schutta Lash! XIANN!!! Narsu, Lash, Narsu!!



((Translations: Ootay- where, Xiann- spider[bug], Schutta- a curse word, Narsu- a pleading word, like please.))

[Otterling]

Doc looked up as the man behind him spoke, turning his damaged eye in the stranger’s direction. He couldn’t really SEE the person talking but it seemed far more important at that moment to keep the overly large bug in the periphery of his good eye than to get a full look at their other roommate. “We were trusting idiots,” he growled in response to the question the stranger posed and he turned to glare pointedly at Trevil before turning back to the large roach in front of him. It was then that the thing did the unexpected…it spoke. Sort of. Doc’s eyebrow inched up his forehead at the sudden rough words that came from the creature. The words made no sense to him what so ever though. What was a 'Tsu-witch'? Doc hadn’t seen any other females in the room with them aside from Kess and Palas and he glanced around uncertainly for a moment to see if he’d somehow missed someone on his first inspection but, finding no other women in the room, he simply shrugged it off as the creature having a lack of basic language skills. After all, how many roach schools were there really?

Doc watched the strange giant insect with wary eyes as it made a purring noise and then shifted away from them. When it inched forward, he reached instinctively for the blaster normally strapped to his hip only to have his fingers close over empty air. Doc sighed and shifted to a more protective stance over Palas’s prone form. He couldn’t do a whole lot to protect her what with his leg still spasming and the servos refusing to respond to his will to move them. The shock to his system must have fried them pretty good and he’d need to get to a medical bay to do a full reset on the forsaken limb just to get it re-synched with his body’s natural electrical signals. Till then, he would have to deal with an unreliable leg. Doc watched the creature scoot across the cell to where Lash was laying and he opened his mouth to shoo the thing off when it barked at the kid but it became fairly evident that the thing didn’t intend to do him harm as it yanked off one of Lash’s boots and sidled away to gnaw happily on it in a corner. Great…now he was apparently stuck in a cell with a man who hated porcelain and a giant roach with all the intellect of a retarded puppy. Doc groaned. Could this day possibly get worse?

And then…it did. Palas woke below him with a groan and Doc turned a concerned eye down on her. He hadn’t seen any signs of permanent damage but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurting bad. He watched her with a bit of worry as she blinked back into consciousness and even put a comforting if uncertain hand on her shoulder. “You ok, girl? How’re you fee….” Doc never got to finish the question as Palas erupted into sudden high pitched screams of terror and bolted upright. The man winced as the loud sound cut through his already formidable headache and rallied it once more to full blast. He opened his mouth to tell her to calm down, or at least he’d intended to, but instead his words turned into a cry of pain as Palas stumbled over his injured leg sending waves of white hot pain shooting up into his hip. He gritted his teeth and groaned heavily, his fingers curling into the pants wrapped around that leg, and he took a few slow deep breaths to will down the shards of pain that were flaring along his skin. When he finally opened his eyes again, it was to glare at Palas where she sat huddled against Lash’s unconscious form. “You….are SO lucky I don’t hate you,” he growled.

Doc sighed heavily and dragged himself across to a nearby wall where he proceeded to try and regain his feet. After a few minutes of pulling, he managed at last to stand on his good leg, leaning unsteadily against the wall for support. At least he was upright though and hopefully it would keep anyone else from inadvertently causing him more pain as they came back to consciousness. Palas was the only being in the galaxy Doc wouldn’t kill for what had just happened so, of course, she was the one person to do so. He decided right then and there that fate could kiss both of his cheeks for putting him in this situation. Doc leaned his back against the wall and turned toward the less strange of his two new cellmates. “Let’s just forgo the spiel where we all share sob stories about our innocence and skip straight to the introductions and plans for imminent escape, shall we?” he grumbled roughly, “blasters, I need a drink.”

Doc gestured half heartedly at the cowering form of Palas. “That’s our fearless leader, Palas. The one she's two seconds away from urinating on in her terror would be Lash. You’ll know when he wakes up by the girlish scream. The one hiding in the corner is Kess. Don’t make any sudden movements around that one, she’s more nervous than a wookiee in a room full of barbers. That one is Yunas. He’s part of the reason we’re here and I’ll be shooting him out an airlock later if you want to join me.” Doc gestured to each of his shipmates in turn before tapping a thumb into his own chest. “And I’m the ship’s doctor.” He didn’t bother to elaborate any further than that when it came to himself. He figured anything that needed to be said about him could be pretty well guessed just from the introductions he’d offered and as an extremely private man he didn’t much feel like handing out any further information. He pushed off from the wall and made his way across the room toward Kess limping heavily on his injured leg. It took him a few moments to get to her but fortunately the cell wasn’t very big. He sank down with a groan to kneel next to her, placing himself between the girl and the rest of the cell’s occupants to offer her some small measure of protective comfort while he checked her for signs of injury. His left leg refused to bend all the way and it stuck out behind him at an awkward angle but Doc did his best to ignore it.

Doc didn’t know much about Kess but despite his surly nature he wasn’t completely heartless. It was obvious the girl was terrified beyond reasoning and he couldn’t really blame her. Stars knew what she’d been through before they’d found her, the life of a slave was far from gentle, and he could well imagine that she was probably terrified of finding herself back in captivity once again. Doc leaned on one arm, propped against the back wall behind Kess to keep himself from falling over, but he let the other stay by his side for a moment. “I’m just checking to make sure you’re not hurt,” he whispered softly, “not gonna harm you, girl.” With that, Doc gently reached out and took one of Kess’s arms, gently turning her this way and that for a moment so he could visually look for any signs of her having been harmed. Her clothes were intact and he didn’t see any bruises on her wrists to indicate she’d been held down so it was a safe bet at least that the men hadn’t sexually assaulted her. For that at least Doc was grateful. Once satisfied that she wasn’t injured badly, he leaned back and struggled back to his feet. “You’ll live,” he said gruffly, determined to put back on his face of detachment in front of the others.

[Mara]

Since there seemed to be no immediate danger to himself or the rest of them--the human-looking one was speaking to Doc and the bug one was busy in the corner-- Trevil decided it was as good time as any to take a better inventory of himself. He already had figured out he wasn't hurt too badly, just a few bruises, but what of the rest of his things? And it was a good thing, too, that his attention had turned to himself instead of the rest of them in the cell; he missed the glare he got from Doc's response to the strange humanoid.

Trevil bent over and began to examine himself. His empty holster had been empty to begin with, so no loss there. However, he made a note to equip himself whenever able. Though not an expert by any means, one of his former partners had given him some lessons with firearms, and the Bothan was above average in that skill. More so in rifles than blasters, but his holster was for a blaster, and blasters were easier to come by. But what Trevil was most feared about having lost was his datapad. And his coin purse holding his latest winnings from the Dragon's Back. The Bothan's furry brown stubby fingers quickly felt around his belt. His ruse had worked; the disguised coin purse was still there and still held the correct number of credits. To make sure, he quickly counted them before replacing the small pouch.

The datapad, though, was another story. He couldn't find it anywhere. And it had his pazaak game history from the Jewel that he was-- That he was playing before being captured. Not only that, his datapad was his whole being, his source of everything. Without it, he felt even less than a Bothan than he already was. Trevil sighed and muttered an oath. He felt that he would be able to break them out with it, if he could just hack into the right systems. But now...

His thoughts were fortunately (or unfortunately for his ears) interrupted by Palas coming awake. He had missed her groaning upon originally awaking, but her screams--there was no way any of them could avoid that din. The Bothan reflexively banged himself against the wall where he was sitting and winced in pain, this time not bothering to silence his cursing in his native language as he rubbed his back.

The Bothan watched in amazement then as Palas ran around the small cell, banging into things, tripping over things, and even backing into the energy shield. He had no idea what could have the captain so scared. They were in a cell with strangers, yes, but that was nothing to have a tantrum about. At least, he didn't think so. If the five of them worked together, they should be able to escape even without any slicing help. He hoped. Maybe even those two others would help. Trevil chuckled at the thought.

He almost broke into more laughter as Palas then landed on the still asleep form of Lash and began beating on him. Something about the desperation they found themselves in forced some giggles through his lips. Perhaps he was having a breakdown of some sort. But he didn't care. It was just funny.

The laughter choked down, though, when the Bothan noticed that Doc was speaking again to the human-looking captive who was there before they were tossed in. He had a feeling the man didn't like him much and laughing during his little speech probably wouldn't help things. So he clamped shut and let Doc talk. Swallowing a bit loudly when Doc mentioned his name and his proposed actions against him later. But Trevil knew it would be better to stay quiet for now, instead of standing up for himself and explaining it wasn't his fault. Not his entire fault, at least. He sighed softly to himself, his fur rippling around and his ears drooping forward.

At any rate, Doc seemed to be also thinking of escape. Trevil just wished he had a plan or at least components for a plan. If he could help them get out, perhaps he could get Doc to think of him in a better light. Or, perhaps just not glare blaster bolts at him at any chance he had.

When Doc was done and went to tend to Kess, the Bothan let his thoughts wander a bit again. The bug was big enough to be of some use, though from his limited experience with the thing so far, it didn't seem to be too smart. It was chewing on Lash's boot, for Force's sake. But they all appeared to be relatively unhurt, all seven of them, and if they could come up with something, they might be able to overwhelm the guards. But obviously one of them would have to get outside. Without his datapad, there was no way for him to deactivate the cell shield. If it was even possible. Some kind of ruse was needed. What kind, though, he didn't know. Feeling tired again and altogether exhausted, Trevil pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his legs, his chin resting on his knees. A purely human gesture, but one he had grown to think of useful.

His paw, though, felt something in his pants. Trevil's ears perked up, but otherwise he didn't move. Could it be...?

[.:Falcon:.]

Kess felt roiling fear in the pit of her stomach. Even Palas wasnt doing well, judging by her reactions when she came to. Less scrunched herself tighter into the corner as the Twi'lek fumbled around the cell. Minutes later, Doc came over. He gently checked her over, getting no assistance from Kess, who was still near-catatonic it appeared.

Her mind was filled with images- whips, bruises, cuts, leering faces, groping hands, rough hands, heavy burdens...

Kess winced farther back into the unyielding stone, hoping that by some miracle it would give way and she would fall into a dim, ill-conceived Paradise the likes of which Tatooine-raised Kess envisioned as a place with plenty of water and trees.

She felt the hands leave her arms and the gruff voice fill her ears again. She couldn't comprehend the words; they were nothing but a muted rumble, a dim pitch and fall-rise pattern. Her eyes perceived the old man standing before her, looking gruff as she thought he usually was. She stared at him, dark eyes wide, not responding.

[Jenno]

It was a while since Lash had been out cold as badly as this. Usually it came from one of his marathon drinking sessions back on Nar Shaddaa; they would leave him about as unresponsive as he currently was and on one occasion it left him in a similar location as well. His body didn’t register the sounds that floated around him, even the barking from the giant bug, who proceeded to claim one of Lash’s boots in glorious conquest, didn’t wake this resting soul.

The poor pilot was not prepared for the sudden awakening that stumbled towards him. Whilst he was not aware how close Palas had been to landing on his lower body, and making things a lot more painful for him, Lash would soon be welcomed back to the land of consciousness with the rattling of his body and the twi’lek’s pounding of fists. When his senses sparked up again he could feel the painful beats against his bones, but his eyes were too heavy to open just yet and so he turned his head to the side and expending as little energy as he could, waved his arms over his torso in a feeble attempt to stop the hits. Then he heard her voice, he might not have been able to tell exactly what she was saying, but he recognised the language and that familiar sense of anger that was behind it.

His eyes fluttered open, suddenly weightless with realisation. His body jolted up, meeting one of the pounding fists during his ascent. “Ow! Hey! I’m up already!” he yelled out. A few moments after his outburst Lash realised that he was on the floor with Palas, and that she was at an unusual proximity to him. His eyebrow rose as he looked at her. “I see you’ve taken to beating people in their sleep; you know some might question your people skills.” On any other occasion Lash would have likely made some dirty remark but his head was throbbing quite vibrantly. He edged his body away from Palas carefully until he had to raise his hand to his head, as if that would soothe the pain. “Urgh, I must have had a freighter load, I don’t even remember drinking.”

Lash looked up to Palas again, about to ask her what had happened, the question had formed upon his face before he froze. He caught sight of a figure behind Palas; it was a man he didn’t recognise, a man with long black hair. Immediately the question Lash was about to ask shifted to an entirely different one. “Who’s that guy?” He looked around and saw a few familiar faces; Kess, Yunas and Doc were all present and accounted for. But that just brought more questions streaming to the pilot’s brain, as it still had to wake up. “What are all of you guys doing here? Actually, where is ‘here’?” Turning his head a bit further, his body following slightly, he could see the glowing door of imprisonment keeping them locked in the small cell. And after a few moments of contemplation his mouth moved again. “Well, that can’t be good” he said, as much to himself as to anyone else.

Then it came back to him, the exchange on Taris, they’d gone to get rid of the spice on the Jewel when Palas had been knocked out, then those thugs had grabbed him and taken his blaster. He instinctively reached down to the holster where his pistol usually rested, a pang of sorrow flashed over his mind as he felt its absence. He’d want that back before the day was through. But at least now the pain in his head could be explained. As he eased himself forward to stand up, Lash looked at Palas once again. “See, this is why I stay on the ship, less getting beat up by some guy’s bodyguards” he said, armed with hindsight of events in the bar and his protests back on the ship when Palas announced that he was to join her on this mission.

As he got to his feet at last, a sharp chill burst through one of his legs and as he looked down he could see his toes wiggling up to him on the cold floor. This confused him even more. Had he not recalled previous events then a missing shoe would have been an acceptable loss. But seeing as he had been wearing both of his Tatooine-bought boots at the bar, the absence of one was quite bemusing to Lash.

As he looked around their little cell he saw another amongst them, one that he, somehow, hadn’t noticed before. The creature was large, a race he hadn’t encountered in his lifetime, or was even aware of. Normally Lash would have been afraid but the look in the creature’s eyes didn’t really allow fear to enter his mind, not with the confusion and annoyance that was already taking up any available room. He could see the boot, his boot, as the creature held it like it was some sort of treasure. Unable to compose himself like he was so famously known for doing, Lash looked between Palas and this large creature, pointing at it.

“Someone mind telling my why that frakkin’ bug has my boot!?”

[Rugs]

Tsubasa had to try his absolute best not to break out into a fit of laughter when the Twi'lek woke up and saw the oh-so-inconspicuous Ruck. Her reaction wasn't surprising, per se, given that Ruck was, more or less, a giant, sentient space roach, but it was humorous none the less. Fortunately, he was able to contain it to a strained snort and a smirk before pushing his face back to normal. Even still, his amber eyes twinkled with amusement, and he'd a feeling the memory of that would be a lasting one. Ruck seemed to be one for making memories, one way or another.

His attention shifted to the old Kiffar again when he started to speak, introducing each of the other newly-made prisoners in turn. While Tsu didn't know all of the details of what lead up to their imprisonment, he felt it would be safe to assume that they'd been about as lucky as him: which is to say, not very.

"Ah, I see," he said over the sound of Palas as she continued flailing around near Lash. "I'm Tsubasa, though most just call me Tsu. Hopefully we can get out of here before too long." He absentmindedly cracked a few of his knuckles as he shifted his weight, leaning back against the wall. His voice suddenly dropped to a near-whisper. A very dangerous near-whisper. "I plan on crackin' some heads when we do. Once I find my weapons. And my droid- Force, is she still going?!"

He looked to Palas, who was still flailing away at the unconscious man; said unconscious man must have been hit over the head with a giant metal pipe, because he was just now starting to stir. He awoke, groggy and confused as could be expected. Tsu started a countdown in his head until the moment the man, this Lash, saw Ruck.

As far as Tsu's rough timekeeping could make out, from the time the man woke up to the time his eyes came to freeze what could only be Ruck's direction, about thirty seconds passed. Maybe a little longer. Tsu was a Matukai, not a clock.

"I would imagine," Tsu started, amusement in his voice, "that he has your boot because he likes to chew on things and he's dumb enough to make a rock look smart. Though, if you want it back..." He looked to Ruck, who still held the now saliva-slick boot tightly within his grasp, and then back to Lash with a bit of a smirk on his face. "Well, I did see him kick a Bonthan's chest in not too long ago. If the boot's worth that much to you, then go ahead."

[Silas]

”I already told you, this isn’t up for negotiations, I’m not leaving Taris for that long,” The lonely wanderer answered.

Determination snapped in the other man’s eyes for a second, before it became unresponsive once more, “Perhaps you don’t understand my sentiments, Ronan. This isn’t a choice you’re getting to make.”

For a second the Ferroan tilted his head to look at him from a different angle, before he pushed back on the metal chair to stand to his feet. With a slight shake of his head he began to walk around the chair as he responded on his way towards the door, “And I’m not sure you understood me. I’m not doing this, so find yourself someone more interested.”

From behind the man just shook his head, the black hair on his head swayed with the slight movement as the bounty hunter set his decision in stone. This gave him no vision to see the man behind give a signal, a signal to the men who waited quietly by the door. It gave him no chance to respond as they moved forward to take the man by force. For just a second he thought about a struggle, but at the moment he knew it would more likely get him killed then hurt the two burly Chevs by the door.

One stone hand grabbed one of his arms in a grip which might put some Trandoshan’s to shame. The other grabbed his arm to lock it in one of the cuffs, and soon the other followed as the stun cuffs were put on his arms. Once again he’d thought of escape, but he knew it would be to no avail, especially as they took the blaster from the holster at his hip. This deal had been made, the only chance he would have now would be to play along until he found a mistake. Everyone made mistakes, and Ronan would be ready.

“I’m sorry this didn’t turn out more…favourably, Ronan,” Sighed the man as the bounty hunter heard the scrap of a chair behind him. Fine black shoes clicked on the tile beneath his feet as the majordomo made his way out of the room. “You could have had it easy, might even have gotten to see your family.”

With a slight jolt he launched himself at the man as he passed by after the last remark, but was caught be four pairs of hands. A growl escaped his mouth as he looked into the cold eyes of this devil in Zelosian form. All the response the prisoner got was a cold laugh as the man left the room, and assumed the two brutes knew what to do. They probably did this often, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to the bounty hunter if they did. It was all going to be downhill from here if he didn’t figure out a way out soon, he’d need a contingency plan, though…for if he couldn’t. While he didn’t want to prospect that idea, it was a possibility, and if realized without proper preparations the Ferroan would die in an attempt to escape, he was sure.

A second after the man had left the two pushed him forward, but rather than follow the same path he’d taken, the pair led him the opposite way. Away from the cells where he thought he’d be take, away from the life he’d knew, and into a hell of its own kind.

>>>>><<<<<<

Cold filled this cell, it radiated from the cold walls, and it hung from the ceiling. Perhaps it was truly warm, but Ronan could feel none of it. Every moment seemed to slow as he pressed his hands to his head, and tried to think of what was going on at the moment. This wasn’t right, none of it. Had it not been this morning when he’d told his son he’d be back later that day, when he’d told his wife this wouldn’t last long. Now he sat desolate and alone in this cell without a single reason to continue to fight this. They’d threatened his family, his life, and now all he had left was the single prospect that he’d gotten his plan out. Perhaps they’d move on, start a new life, and whilst he was caught in this confusion, they could live as normal as a life as they could. At least his son might be able to, he had never really known his father at all. There was still a chance for him.

No one was in this cell at the moment; it was devoid of life besides the scurry of rats next to him, and the guards which kept watch on him. Each of them eyed him wearily; perhaps they had heard what he had done to the others. Good, perhaps they’d be a bit wearier about how they took care of him. This wasn’t some game they played; this was his life they called themselves tyrant over.

>>>>><<<<<

“Oh, come on, what could it hurt?” The lonely inmate asked to his captors, his request noble in most aspects.

With a sigh the taller one shook his head once more, and continued his tough guy routine. Ronan rested his head against the side of the speeder once more, now in full swing with the backup plan. While no escape attempt had been made, he wasn’t sure where they were taking him nor when the opportunity would present itself. So, with a deep breath he tried to think of other ways to get these hired guns to let him use their commlink. It would just be for a second, and he would let them check the frequency to make sure it wasn’t a cry for help. If anything sounded suspicious they could just yank the thing away from him. Quietly he brooded as he looked at the top of the vehicle.

With an idea his head shot up as he toned in, “You know, I might still have some credits in my pocket… if you are willing to settle for a trade.”

The bounty hunter did have quite a few credits in his pocket for something he intended to buy later that day, but he didn’t seem like he’d need it anyway, and this could just change the sides. With look over at Ronan, the shorter one got a smaller on his face. Bingo, Thought the Ferroan as his eyes moved from one to the other.

“Okay, but quickly,” Responded the other one as he pulled a commlink from his pocket, and held it out to the prisoner. As Ronan went to grab it, he pulled it back slightly, “The credits?”

“Oh, of course,” Responded Ronan as he reached one hand into one of his pockets to pull it out, careful not to bring the two cuffs too far apart for fear of the shock. He handed the shorter of the two the credits and took the commlink from the other man.

Quickly he adjusted it to the right frequency, and hit the call button. For a second he waited before the sweet voice of his wife called over the device, “Hello, this is…”

“Honey, I don’t have much time,” The Ferroan lowered his voice slightly as he spoke into the device, “I’m okay, but you’re going to have to prepare like I told you. Go to my roo…”

“Ronan, wha….” She responded, her voice suddenly frantic.

“No, babe, don’t do this to me right now,” He quickly responded, as he suppressed a slight choke in his voice, “Just get the envelope from my room, and open it. It’ll tell you what to do. Take care of our baby, and….”

All of a sudden the comm was ripped from his hands, and the Ferroan shot the man a dark glare as he considered what would happen if wrapped the cuffs around his head. Would the other man feel it too? Could he use the bigger man like a conduit for the electricity till he broke them off, and was able to make his escape? As much as he would have loved to do that, he knew it would be neigh but impossible to break the kriffing metal on this thing. With a growl he just looked at the man as he held the thing in his hand with a smile.

“What the kriff?” Ronan shouted at the man, “Why in the five Correllian hells would you do a thing like that?”

The other man chuckled as he responded, “You talked too long, your money all ran out.”

Without much thought as to what might happen, Ronan launched himself at the other man. The palm of his hands became a weapon as he struck his chin with enough force to clink it shut, and a crack to follow. Then as one of the Chev’s hands moved up to grab his chin Ronan grabbed one of his arms, and twisted ot around as the bounty hunter simultaneously spun around bringing his hands over, and behind his head, to flip the man over his back. With a grunt the short Chev fell two inches in front of the taller one, which was Ronan’s shortfall. If just a little farther the man would have fallen on the other, and they would both be incapacitated. Unfortunately the taller pulled out a gun, and the bounty hunter passed out within seconds as the waves of the stun beam hit him.

>>>>><<<<<

How long had it been? Maybe a day, maybe two. All the Ferroan really knew was that the number would continue to rise; it would keep growing until it was incomprehensible. From what seemed to be not that far there came the noise of other creatures as they conversed, and the Ferroan wondered how he had ended up by himself. Had he tried to escape too pointedly in all of this wherein they thought it too dangerous to pair him with another individual? Certainly there had been more adamant people than he about an escape. Still, he wasn’t sure how often those people came around, and he had been quite forceful in his techniques. The last woman would probably be angry at him for a while, but he didn’t care. This round he had lost, badly.

One of the guards looked at him with a deadly glare on his face, however the scar over his face made it less menacing in some way. Only a fool would gain such a scar, and while Ronan had a few himself, he’d never allow himself to keep one such as that. Scars weren’t meant to be toted around like some trophy; they showed weakness to your enemy.

“Best get against that wall, there scooter,” The man spoke, “There’s another comin’, and I don’t want none of the crap you’ve been giving people, ya hear?”

Without in indication that he’d heard the man who seemed to be illiterate, Ronan simply continued to sit exactly where he’d been. Lightly upon the floor he sat as he stared up at the man, his legs interwoven as he stared up at the guard. A slight smirk brought up the corners of his lips, but no more. A grunt escaped the man’s mouth as he walked away for a second, a gun toted onto his side. For a second the Ferroan waited to see who it was who would join the man, but it was a while before the man came back, and the shield came down for less than a second.

“Try to be nice there, Turbo,” The man told him, once again making up another name for him he didn’t really need. Still, he didn’t respond to it, he just shifted his gaze foreword. As suddenly as it had all started there were two.

[Meira]

Fear was a funny thing. It had a way of taking a person over completely. This sudden take over had long ago been named the "fight or flight instinct". It was something sentients shared with non-sentient species; an innate will to survive and escape danger. In sentients, however, a degree of control over this instinct was expected. For the most part, Palas lived up to such expectations. She wasn't perfect, and she relied on her instincts more often than not. But in this case, she'd managed to make a complete fool of herself, even if she wasn't immediately aware of doing so.

Palas wouldn't actually come to that conclusion until a bit later. Not until after Lash finally awoke. As the man stirred, her fear still held a tight grip on the violet skinned Twi'lek. Even his snarky comments couldn't rouse a word of response. She stopped hitting him, to be sure, but as he spoke she could do little more than stare back at him, hands shaking slightly.

As Lash stood and addressed the others in the cell, Palas couldn't keep her eyes from watching the giant insect that huddled, much as she did, in the far corner of the cell. A calmer mind might have interpreted the posture and features of the insect as fearful itself, but Palas' brain could not function at such a level at that moment.

Lash stood, leaving Palas where she'd landed on the floor. His exclamation about his lost shoe caused the nervous woman to jolt slightly where she sat. This jolt did two things, it tore her stare from the beast that had stolen Lash's shoe and it brought Palas' conscious mind back into the game. Her fear of the creature still loomed, but she was able to think again.

She looked around the cell, noticing that Doc, Kess, and Yunas had been brought to... wherever they were, the cell. This was not a good thing. A man Palas did not recognize was speaking to Lash now about the bug. She fought the urge to look in the direction of that corner again.

As she forced her head to turn the other way, her eyes landed on Yunas again. Images of the meeting came to mind, right up until everything went black. This had all been at his suggestion, the deal, coming here. Why did she trust him? Her immediate thought was that Yunas planned the whole thing, hoping to get a cut of the bounty on her and Lash's heads. But then, why was he in here too? Was it a scam? Was he trying to trick her? What was the point? She'd been caught, why not just take his cut and run? Maybe this boss guy double crossed him, promised a share and then locked him up too. Well, served him right.

What was it gonna be, huh? She said, jutting her chin out at Yunas. Nice little cut of the pie and you go on your way? What happened, Yunas? Your friends change their minds? Her voice was bitter and cold, her eyes to match, as she stared at the Bothan traitor.