#kichina | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

araneoluslegacy · 9 years ago

Text

Bait

@saljamka ‘s Saait Reka and @lisjonok ‘s Kichina go on an adventure and just about everything goes wrong.

Word count: 6745

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

The old freighter class ship, the clunky and large Malachite Mynok, made its way across the galaxy to deliver a shipment of supplies to help relieve some of the troubles the Zakuulan refugees were facing in the Outer Rim. Tasked with the job of protecting the shipment were two peculiar Jedi—mostly in hiding—that reached out to assist the crew. As a last minute change, however, Captain Kreesh stepped in to captain the vessel.

Kreesh was a Rodian from Nal Hutta with a pretty spotty reputation. He’d been a smuggler, a mercenary, and even a bounty hunter all in the past few decades. A supply ship on a good-will run wasn’t the usual deal for him, but he decided just this once that it was lucrative enough and interesting enough to take on.

“Attention, crew,” the Rodian captain’s voice booms over the intercom, “we’re goin’ into red alert… A hostile ship’s been spotted in the vicinity. It’s likely nothin’ but—heh—it’s never bad to be a li’l careful, eh?”

“I was beginning to wonder when something interesting would happen,” Saati said, lifting his head up towards the intercom. He’d been silently pacing around their crew quarters for the past fifteen minutes. He’d hardly stopped moving since they got onto the ship, occupying himself by checking and rechecking the cargo, quietly performing his practice forms, and generally bothering his friend.

It wasn’t worry that caused his restlessness, but the nervous energy he was capable of building up was too much to allow him to sit for too long a period of time. He stepped over and clapped Kichina roughly on the shoulder.

“What do you think, time to pay a visit to our dauntless captain?”

The Chiss opened one of her eyes and looked up at Saati, and sighed, and opened her other eye before pushing herself off the cot. Unlike her friend, Kichina had been meditating nearly the entire time of their voyage thus far.

It was, likely, very frustrating for him, though. The already quiet Kichina with her inadequacies in conversation made her in a meditative state seem almost like a statue. Thankfully, she did react to the hand on her shoulder and—subsequently—the message over the intercom.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” she said with a nod of the head. Kichina reached for her helmet and slipped it over her fluffy black hair. “We can see what the problem is and how to alleviate him of it, yes.”

By the time Kichina had picked up her helmet, Saati was already striding towards the door. His lengthy gait meaning he arrived at it in just a few steps. He looked back towards her, having good enough manners to at least wait for his former apprentice, although the bouncing he was doing in place proved that it was no easy task.

Kichina picked both her trusty vibroblades up, stowing them at her back, and followed Saati as quickly as she were able. She shook her head to herself and thought, He never has any patience.

As the Jedi moved towards the bridge a number of other crewmen passed them by as well; some going towards the cargo hold, others from the bridge, and others yet to other corridors, likely to take control of the turrets should they need to defend themselves.

Surprisingly—or not, depending on how intuitive the pair were—the Captain met them at the entryway to the ship. His demeanor was bizarrely casual despite the situation they were in.

“Well, now!” The Rodian held a hand up and he leant against the doorway, blocking passage to the bridge. “What’s all the rush? Wouldn’t it be better if you two went back to the crew’s quarters, hmm? We’ve got everythin’—and I mean everythin’—under control here.”

“I’m more than sure you think you do, friend.” The Togruta said before sucking in a breath through his teeth, and slowly moving one hand towards the captain’s shoulder with the intent to gently move him out of the way.

“However I get a little, hmm, let’s go with antsy when I’m kept out of the loop. You understand, right? Just a little look-see and I’ll be out of your antennae in no time.”

“You’ll be more than antsy soon, my friend.” Captain Kreesh took his blaster out from its holster and pointed it at the Togruta before him, scowling slightly. “I’m givin’ ‘em pirates safe passage onto the ship, and there’s no way I’m gonna let either of you Jedi scumruin it.”

He gestured with his blaster for the two to move away before continuing, “I was offered a lot of credits to turn you in, and I don’t think you have anythin’ worth my while.”

“How much?” Saati asked, “No, really, I’m curious about the going rate. It’s been a while since I’ve had a price on my incredibly handsome head.” he leaned forward, brows raised, ignoring the blaster as if their captain-turned-traitor was just waving a piece of fruit at him.

“Oh, and you’re more than welcome to give your compatriots safe passage onto the ship, it’s safe passage out that they’ll be having trouble with.” Saati said with a wink and a smile.

Kichina blinked behind her helmet—first at the Captain, whom she didn’t at all suspect would betray them, and then at her Master, who really ought not surprise her any more these days with his behaviour but there he went and did just that.

“No,” she started, “no, no, no. This isn’t right at all. You’re the captain. You took this on to help people. Why did you… They couldn’t be paying that much—could they?”

Kichina looked almost helplessly between Saati and Kreesh, although her confusion was mostly hiddin behind her helmet’s visor. Were they really so preoccupied with just helping and spreading good will that they could’ve been so blind to a ruffian like this Rodian?

“You’re bluffing.”

Captain Kreesh stood up straight and looked up at the tall woman hiding in the armour, and then back to Saati. “She’s not very bright, is she?”

The Rodian smirked and shook his head, keeping his blaster up.

“They’re payin’ six hundred per head,” he continued, “and an alive Jedi’s worth more. So, be nice and return to your quarters so I don’t have to shoot anybody, hmm?”

“That’s all?” he sighed, Saati couldn’t stop the disappointment reaching his face, but only for a moment. He tilted his head to the side, suddenly smiling widely again at the idea that Kreesh truly believed he himself had the upper hand. Speaking of hands, Saati swiftly flicked one of his own and watched as the blaster flew away from the Rodian’s grip and into his own. He span it on one finger, the show off, shaking his head.

“You know that line everyone spouts about Jedi not being immune to blaster bolts?” He asked, looking from side to side as if he was about to tell the captain a very interesting secret. “You kind of need to have a blaster to test that theory, doncha?”

Captain Kreesh looked dumbfounded for a moment as his blaster was snatched from his hand. He sputtered and then decided that perhaps running would be a better option.

The Rodian, who was already almost a head shorter than the two Jedi, ducked and barrelled through them, attempting to make his escape. This left the bridge open for entry once more. An alert sounded from the bridge, which no-one answered and was too distant to hear from outside, especially with all the other distractions and noises rattling around the ship. It sounded vaguely like “intruders.”

Kichina had taken a moment to reorient herself with the new situation, and as the Captain ran past she threw a hand out him. She pulled the Rodian to a stop with the Force, and then slammed him into the wall of the corridor.

“He’s alive,” she said simply to her Master and then stepped ahead onto the bridge to assess the situation.

There were few people left on the bridge and those who were had been either incapacitated or killed. The armoured woman moved one of the bodies over to look at the computers on the dashboard.

“Damn it!” Kichina hissed and smacked the dash. “He shut the weapons and the shields down. Those pirates will be on us any moment, Saati. They’re docking!”

“Take a breath, Kichina,” Saati said, either funny or infuriating coming from him. There wasn’t many in betweens or middle ground as far as he was concerned. Saati clipped the blaster to his belt then folded his arms, tapping his fingers against his bicep. “Do we have security cams?” he asked, turning his head towards the bridge and Kichina.

”Security cams?” Kichina asked as it took a moment for her to register Saati’s question. “Oh! Yes, I believe so. Let me have a look…” She briskly stepped between a few of the smaller screens and then pointed at one.

“Here, Saati,” she said, “we have a view of a few corridors, the docking port, and the cargo bay; however, we don’t have access to anything. We’ve been locked out.” Kichina stood back up straight and turned to her Master. Even behind her mask she managed to look inquisitive.

“Ah ha!” Saati exclaimed, grinning brightly as he tended to do. “Then we have an advantage all ready.”

The Torgruta sauntered into the bridge proper swishing behind Kichina to take a look at the screens for himself. Setting one hand on the edge of the panel and the other on Kichina’s shoulder, Saati nodded slowly and mumbled. “Yes, a very fair advantage.”

He hummed to himself and lifted his head from the screens and up towards the ceiling, an action he performed when he actually took the time to think. The hand which was still rested on the panel started tapping in a way that at first seemed random, before he raised it and snapped his fingers. “Fire.” He said, simply, missing out the entirety of the thought process that he took to get there.

“I hope you plan on explaining what ‘fire’ means in this context, Saati.” Kichina sighed behind her visor and braced against the small weight that Saati put on her as he thought. “Do you want to fire at their ship? Because if that’s the case, the turrets are down.”

No, no, fire! Fire!” Saati said, patting her back roughly, already moving off and walking around the bridge, looking for - something. “Keep an eye on that docking cam, Kichina, if they get too close we’ll need to go to plan B.”

Saati ducked down in front of one of the computer stations and tugged a panel off, shook his head, and crab-walked to the one next to it, repeating the process. A crackle and buzz was heard barely a second before he stood up again, holding a still sparking cylinder in both hands. He threw it gently in the air, catching it in one hand, and hopped a step or two before heading to the door and out into the corridor.

He looked up towards the ceiling again, not to think this time but to purposefully place the canister down in a very specific place. Nodding and stepping back in a half-jog, Saati pulled out the blaster and shot the liberated piece of equipment until it was smoking and sparking heavily. He turned back towards the bridge with another wide smile. “Fire!”

Just as Saati had planned, the smoke reached the detectors in the ceiling and the doors along the corridor were shut and sealed to contain the “flames,” whilst the sprinkler heads activated. The corridor was now a soaking mess but at least the doors were sealed. That is to say that they were sealed until a pair of explosions is heard further down.

“I suppose that wasn’t a bad idea,” Kichina said. She jumped when she heard the commotion and spun around to look at the security cameras.

The pirates hadn’t gotten through yet, but they were persistent. Captain Kreesh had also managed to regain consciousness after the Jedi had entered the bridge and—very luckily—before they sealed the doors to water the corridors.

And that blasted Rodian was right there alongside the pirates, but not much more than that was easy to understand from the feed Kichina and Saati had available to them.

“It bought us some time, at least.” Saati wiped the water off of his face with the back of his hand, rejoining Kichina to check the screens. “A shame they know there’s two of us. Thoughts?”

Kichina raised a brow at Saati and said, “So, now you want to plan ahead? What about this ‘plan B’ you had mentioned earlier?

“We could split up but,” she looked at the screens and shook her head, “they’d likely be able to overtake us since they’re not a small group. That Rodian really did play us…”

The Chiss sighed and looked over the cameras and then stood back for a moment, recalling the ship schematics; although she had mainly meditated during the course of their trip, she did manage to get in a bit of time of exploring as well.

“We just need a fast route to the docking port, right?” She pointed at the security feed. “The ventilation shaft? Or do you think we could just bust through the doors?”

“Plan ‘B’ was to improvise.” Saati said, jovial at ever. He reached up and gestured towards his tall and forward-pointing montrals. “Are we sure I’d fit in the shaft?”

Kichina looked up at Saati’s montrals and shrugged her shoulders. “Do you have a better idea?”

The Torgruta stroked his chin and hummed. A gesture that to Kichina would be obvious not as real consideration, but as a stalling tactic. He never stroked his chin when he was really thinking.

“Nope!” He said, finally. “The vents it is!”

The Chiss shook her head and stepped out of the bridge and back into the corridor, her boots splashing the water on the ground. She raised her hands up and pushed the vent open, and then climbed up inside.

There wasn’t much for wiggle room up in the vents but they’d have to manage if they were going to hold onto their ship—or if not the ship, then at least get the supplies. If they did that, then they might at least find a way to deliver them to the refugees.

Kichina turned around and held a hand out for Saati to help him up.

Saati reached up and clasped her hand, ducking his head down cautiously until he too was squeezed uncomfortably into the small duct. Gradually, he lifted his head until there was a light donk, dropping it back down a little just after. He nodded towards Kichina as to go on ahead. There wasn’t much choice considering she was in front.

“Ah hah, now I remember,” He said, voice lowered. “I never did like vents cramped, echoey places.”

“Sorry, Saati,” Kichina said. She flicked on a small light on her helmet and started crawling down the shaft, periodically peeking down through the vents to see what corridors looked familiar.

Though soon the sound of the pirates breaking their way into the ship grew loud enough that the Jedi would be able to simply follow the ruckus. They weren’t anywhere near the cargo bay—not yet, at least—but it couldn’t be certain that the traitorous captain wasn’t going to point them in the right direction.

Kichina stopped as she reached an area nearby all the commotion and looked back to Saati, and asked, “I’m going to assume that your plan involves jumping down blindly and immediately leaping into action?”

“You do know me well, Kichina.” He grinned, though his expression was mixed with a touch of unease. Saati closed his eyes and took some deep, slow breaths before continuing. “However I am open to suggestions.”

Kichina peered down through the vents to see where everyone was and if there were any way to contain the hostile intruders. “Saati, do you see an access panel anywhere?” She asked. “When we attack to drive them back off the ship, one of us can shut another door. Then at least they might not get to the bridge or to the cargo bay.”

Saati opened his eyes and stared down through the slats of the closest vent cover, focusing on the task and not the surroundings. He craned and tilted his head slowly, like a large bird of prey.

“There,” he said, “I’ve got one. Your right.”

He lifted his hands quickly, holding onto the wall of the vent, kicking both feet out in front of him and sending the cover flying and himself out with it before Kichina would have time enough to react. He landed lightly and made for the panel, offering the barest of cursory glances around him as he did so. Act quickly, deal with the consequences. Always easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

Kichina followed suit although her Master had acted faster than she anticipated—the plan was still in effect. She jumped down from the vent just as Saati had made for the panel, whipping her vibroblades out as her feet landed on the floor.

By this point, the pirates had noticed the two Jedi’s very unsubtle entrance. Kichina whipped a hand out at the lot and pushed them back a few feet with the Force, making a couple fall over and another few stumble.

“Ugh, the captain’s escaping!” She shouted to Saati upon catching a glimpse of the Rodian making a run for it.

“Damn it!” Saati quickly looked between the pirate group and the fleeing Captain, taking half a step one way and then the other. “We’ll deal with him soon enough!” He said, offering a literal helping hand to Kichina, throwing more of the pirates back onto one another like awkward piratey skittles. Saati lifted his head up towards the ceiling. Think fast, this is what you’re good at.He thought to himself.

His eyes lit up. His grin placed firmly back onto his face as he pulled out the captain’s blaster again. “I just need ten seconds, Kichina, maybe twenty, I believe in you!” He said, hurriedly rummaging in his pocket for a small tool while looking over the blaster.

Saati worked as quickly as he could, tinkering with the captain’s weapon until he heard a click and a hum. He allowed himself a breath before tossing the blaster, it’s humming growing louder by the second. The blaster slid right past Kichina’s feet and into the crowd of pirates.

“Kichina, move!” He shouted, but didn’t give her the time to react. He lifted both hands and pulled her back with the Force abruptly and without much care. There wasn’t time to have much care. He grabbed her and shielded them both, turning his head away as the blaster exploded at the pirate’s feet.

Kichina had just managed to stay upright and instinctively threw an arm up to protect her eyes from the blast. She hopped back to her feet and trotted up to her Master, her swords at her side though she was still ready for a fight. Though the blast had stopped this group of pirates, the captain had managed to escape. For now, at least.

“Thank the Force you think on your toes, Saati,” she said, gathering her thoughts once more. “You wouldn’t have a plan brewing up there on how to stop Kreesh, do you? My only thought is to just chase him down and hope he hasn’t stowed everything away into a personal shuttle by the time we catch up.”

“Sounds like it’s time for a foot race, to me!” Saati said. It was obvious he was having much too much fun with this. He bounced on his toes and stretched his arms out in front of him, dropping down into a race position. “Ready?”

“What are you—?” Kichina groaned, and clipped her blades back behind her, and darted off. “There’s no time for that!”

“There’s always time!” Saati laughed, catching up with her easily, bare feet padding lightly on the still damp flooring. “You’re lucky I’m around, you get so serious when I’m gone too long!”

“So, you’re doing this on purpose!”

Saati grinned at her, he didn’t need to say a word but it had never stopped him in the past. “Come on, Kichina, how long have you known me!”

Saati ran with her down the corridor towards the cargo bay, while keeping an eye out for the runaway captain. He made no attempt to mask their arrival. Stealth, as may have been apparent by now, wasn’t one of his strong points. He’d always been thankful he never had to hunt for his own food or he would have starved long ago. He shook his head at himself, bringing his focus back to their surroundings.

Captain Kreesh, meanwhile, had managed to evade the pair of Jedi just long enough to barely reach the cargo bay. The Rodian practically slid into the room and then slammed his hand on the panel by the door to shut it. He was going to grab the shipment and rendezvous with the other pirates if he could. Kreesh might not have the Jedi to trade, but the goods they were meant to deliver wouldn’t be that much worse of a bargain.

“Long enough,” Kichina replied to Saati, and then was almost taken aback by the doors shutting before them. “Oh, no you don’t!”

She threw her hand out and “grabbed” the closing doors still a few feet away—not quite stopping them but slowing them down just enough that Saati could possibly make it through, if not both of them.

Saati angled his head forward, building up speed to take advantage of Kichina’s assistance. At the last second, he dropped onto the floor in a skid, sliding through the closing door with a little help from the still pooled water and straight into the Rodian captain, feet first. It wasn’t exactly graceful, but it seemed to do the trick. Saati shook his head a little, rubbing the back of it.

Kichina nodded to herself and let go of the doors so that she, too, could slide in there. The doors shut behind her as she slid into the room and then jumped to her feet quickly. With the captain down—thanks to Saati—Kichina was able to secure him. By “secure” it means that the Chiss grabbed the Rodian, lifted him up, and then slammed him against the wall, holding and pinning him there.

“We can grab the codes off Kreesh,” she said to Saati, “and then lock him up in the brig… Or should we hand him back to the pirates?”

Everything had moved too quickly for Captain Kreesh to even have time to react to and before he knew it he was already pinned against the wall. Unarmed and facing two unhappy Jedi, the Rodian threw his hands up and huffed.

”I surrender!” He groaned and hung his head. Kreesh was more than outmatched and he knew it. “Please… Let me go? I promise I’ll get the ship back on course…”

Saati, who was still on the floor, stood up and tried to dust himself down, which wasn’t easy when you weren��t so much dusty as soggy. He stretched, setting both hands at the base of his spine, leaning back until he heard some small cracks.

“How about a third option?” Saati asked, walking over to them both and folding his arms. “Y’know, this could still work out well for you, my mutinous friend, and all you have to do is help us instead of try to harm us.”

The soggy Jedi smiled genuinely, while trying to wring out the bottom of his shirt. He tilted his head up just a touch. The first thing he’d do after all this was over was take a hot shower. That sounded so good right now. A change of clothes, a warm meal… He hoped the pause for effect he was executing would truly be effective.

“You help us get rid of your pirate friends and finish the delivery as was agreed and we’ll put in a good word for you with some very important people. You’d be the hero who helped in the Jedi the face of adversity.” Saati said, “You might even get a pilot’s gig, good pay, honest work.” He raised his brows at Kreesh, “No jail time.”

Kichina blinked behind her visor and turned her head to look at Saati. No, not look —stare. “Master, he set us up and you want to just let him free? Please, think about this.”

“I’m not letting him go free, Kichina, I’m giving him a chance to change his ways.” He said, suddenly looking more serious. “A chance like we had.” Saati turned his head to the captain. “Of course, if he doesn’t want to take it, or decides to make trouble for us again there’s nothing stopping us from dumping him in the brig.”

Kichina listened carefully to Saati and then nodded. ‘A chance like we had,’ were the words that clung to her until she decided that, yes, that was the best thing to do. This time at least. The Rodian might have been deceitful many people act irrationally in desperate situations.

“Fine,” she said and released the captain, letting him fall to his feet. Kichina may have agreed to give him another chance but she wasn’t planning on being very nice about it.

Kreesh grumbled to himself, staring down towards the floor as he rubbed at his neck. There was nothing for it, he was cornered both figuratively and literally. The best he could do for the sake of his own skin was to play along. For the time being, at least. Kreesh looked Kichina up and down, then held his hand out to Saati. He was the safer bet, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t crush it.

“Fine, I take your offer.”

“Good, good!” Saati took the hand and shook it vigorously while leaning in closer. “But any funny business and my friend here will be on you quicker than you can say ‘Corellian Run’.” He said, winking at the captain before letting his hand go. He then placed it on the Rodian’s back and nudged him back towards the door.

Now with the traitorous captain of the ship on their side, the Jedi might stand a chance against the pirates that have invaded the ship. Or not.

From the sounds of shouting outside the cargo bay doors, it seemed that the intruders have recovered and brought out reinforcements. There was an entire ship docked to their freighter, of course.

Kichina took a second to glare at the Rodian behind her visor and then turned to the doors. “That doesn’t sound very good,” she said quietly, being the incredibly observant one. “It’s your fault, Capta in, if they steal the whole freighter.”

Captain Kreesh adjusted his collar and stood up straight, hopeful he would manage to regain some dignity. He turned his head and tried to look down at Kichina, forgetting for a moment just how tall she was compared to him. He huffed and folded his arms, maybe he could stall the two Jedi long enough to think of some way out of this.

“You say that as if that would be a bad outcome for me. After all, they have no idea that you press-ganged me into being your lackey. I could just as easily say nothin’ and deliver you into their waitin’ arms.” He said, waving one hand dismissively.

“Exactly!” Saati said, clapping the captain firmly on the shoulder. “The Captain here has given us the start of a wonderful plan. Time to play pretend, Kichina.”

“Play pretend?” Kichina shook her head and folded her arms. “No. Saati, I’m sorry but you know I’m bad at playing anything. He will just take us straight into a trap.”

“We don’t have time to argue, just put your hands behind your back, stay quiet and follow me.” Saati nodded towards Kreesh and folded both hands behind him as if they’d been tied. “Go on, Captain.” He hung his head slightly but kept his eyes up.

Kreesh stared at them both for a second or two as the sound of the pirates got louder and louder. He ran one hand down his face, slowly, then smacked the panel with his hand to open up the doors. All things considered, he had slightly better odds of surviving a barrage of blaster bolts than a laser sword through the spine.

“Gentlemen!” He shouted down the hallway, “Ah, no need for alarm, I have the Jedi scum subdued!” Holding both hands in the air, to show that he himself was unarmed. You never could tell with pirates, and he more or less was one.

“You— What?!” One of the pirates, a green Twi’lek with a partially missing lek, spun around on her heels to face Kreesh. She stared wide-eyed at the Rodian and marched over to him. “How the hell did you manage that?!”

“Something smells fishy about this, Gida’rhen,” grumbled another of the crew. The Bothan stepped up to the group and pulled a blaster out, pointing it at the two Jedi. “Cuff ‘em! At least that way they won’t be much of a threat.” He growled at the Rodian.

Kichina held her head down and did the best she could pretending that she was “captured,” even with the blaster pointed at her and her Master. For now, she supposed, it was working.

“Friends, friends,” Kreesh kept his hands up, trying to placate the others. “It was easy. The purple one came barrellin’ into the cargo hold like a wild animal, and I just—” he made a clicking sound as he mimed the action, “clocked him on the back of the head.

“By the time the other one came running in, I’d already taken that one hostage,” The captain continued, “She was willin’ to surrender in exchange for me not furnishin’ her friend with a nice, new smoking hole in his head.

“But really, they’re already cuffed. We don’t have to worry about them. And look how outnumbered they are!” Carefully, he slid one hand around the Twi’leks back, gently trying to turn her around. “How about we all stop pointin’ blasters at each other and take a breather, hm?”

“Hmm.” Gida’rhen didn’t fight being turned around and the Bothan took her lead to move along. The Twi’lek said, still looking frustrated, “We got a few wounded from that blast earlier. Why don’t you bring those two to our ship, huh? Or hand them off to Or’Laph.”

“Why not have someone put them in with the rest of the cargo?” Kreesh said, smiling up to Gida’rhen, and sliding his arm down to around her waist to give her a little squeeze. “That way we can just tow the whole ship and not have to worry about Jedi getting loose on your crew again, hmm? Good idea?”

Saati lifted his gaze from the floor without moving his head, fidgeting ever so slightly to hide his hands in his sleeves. If anyone decided to give him more than a cursory glance, he’d at least look more like his hands were bound. From the front. When anyone decided to move behind him, that’s when things would get a little tricky.

Kichina rolled her eyes but, thankfully, being Chiss and hiding behind a helmet, no-one would be able to tell that. She quietly hoped that the vibroblades on her back would hide her hands enough that the pirates wouldn’t see she wasn’t cuffed either.

Gida’rhen raised a brow but—oddly enough—looked more intrigued than annoyed. “You’ve piqued my interest, Captain Kreesh.” She smirked and nodded to the Gotal nearby. “Or’Laph, take the prisoners back to the cargo bay.”

“Aye, Captain.” The shaggy Gotal trudged over to the pair of Jedi, not giving them any extra look over and just grabbed them both by the shoulders, leading them back inside.

“Hmm, you know the holos didn’t do you nearly enough justice,” Kreesh said, still slowly leading her away from the Jedi and their escort. He looked her up and down. “Such a handsome young woman, and so business minded. Please tell me no-one has snapped you up already.” Kreesh asked. “Maybe you can tell me over dinner?”

“Hey, not so rough, we’re going quietly!” Saati grunted, keeping his arms behind his back. “You won’t get away with it, you know.” Saati did his best to keep a straight face. He was having a hard time believing how oblivious some people could be. Of course, right now it wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

Gida’rhen gave a small laugh and, after looking back down the corridor for a moment to see if Or’Laph was having any trouble, turned back to Kreesh and ran a finger along his jaw.

“All right,” she said, “let’s go talk business.”

Or’Laph, meanwhile, closed the doors to the cargo bay and then sat the Jedi down on a crate. He realised a little late that he should see about securing their weapons and went to take Kichina’s swords as they were the most visible and she was obviously the weaker of the two—you know, being a woman and all that nonsense.

“Heh, this’ll only take a moment— Hey, hold on a sec! You aren’t even cuffed!”

“Nice of you to have noticed,” Kichina said and then headbutted the Gotal right in the face. Or’Laph saw stars and before he could react, Kichina leapt back up to her feet and delivered a swift kick to his face, sending him toppling down. “No-one touches my swords.”

“Ouch, bad move.” Saati said, hissing a breath through his teeth as he stood up, freeing his hands from his sleeves. “You never touch a lady’s swords without asking, that’s just manners.”

“Should be something around here to tie him with, and to.” He said, glancing back to Kichina while he shook his head. He tutted at the downed pirate, stepping over him to walk over to the door. Luckily, the panel hadn’t been damaged and he set about locking the doors. It was a very simple locking mechanism, easily adjusted to lock and stay locked unless someone literally took the doors down.

“Vents, Kichina?” Once again, he looked back up towards the ceiling.

“That depends on whether you want to take the whole ship back or just sneak away on a shuttle with the crates.” Kichina looked around and found some cord and took it to tie the Gotal up, and then to a leg of some shelving nearby.

Saati sighed and set his hands on his hips, then folded his arms instead, then curled both hands around his long lekku, all while pacing slowly. He tilted his head up to think, now that he had the luxury to do so. There were pros and cons to both options, Saati thought.

Trying to take back the ship as a whole would be dangerous, they were still locked out of the computers and even though they’d managed so far, they were still very outnumbered. Kreesh hadn’t sold them out, but he was still a variable he couldn’t really account for.

He scratched at the back of his head. The shuttle plan would likely be a lot safer, the cargo would definitely get to where it needed to be, but it just wasn’t going to be as fun.

He looked over to Kichina, he was already mostly sure which choice she would prefer. Logical and steady, that was his Kichina. And to be honest, the more he paced the more tired out he felt. Tired out and still just a little bit damp. He frowned, once again folding his arms.

Playing the hero with the chance to get killed was too much of a risk for the people who were desperately waiting on the cargo they were meant to protect. Better to take the safer path this time and live to continue your work. Saati sighed again deeply and ran one hand between his montrals and left it there.

“Shuttle.”

“Thank you.” Kichina nodded and walked back to the cargo bay doors and listened.

It was quiet in the corridor outside the room they were “held prisoner” in. It seemed that the intruders had gone to inspect other parts of the ship, or were perhaps called away by their captain, Gida’rhen. Trusting Kreesh had saved them and the shipment—for now at least.

The ship was out of their hands now but they still had an available shuttle that they could take. The Jedi would just have to move swiftly.

“What do you think, just make a break for it?” Saati asked quietly, as he too listened by the door. He frowned to himself and sighed, already going over how they could have done things differently.

“I believe that’s our best course of action right now,” Kichina said and nodded. She stepped back over to their cargo and activated the hover module. “If we’re lucky, that Rodian will be able to smooth talk the Pirates out of hunting us down. They do have an entire ship now. That has to be worth more than us.”

“But still, only six hundred each? Someone was definitely ripping off our dear Captain.” Saati smiled, trotting over to the second hover module.

But the pirates did indeed have an entire ship now. Saati hummed under his breath. It wouldn’t be the worst outcome, but it wasn’t a true success by any means. Be better next time. One slightly rough mission didn’t mean you were past your best. Saati moved back with the crates to the doors, stepping to the side to unlock the panel again. “I’m glad I didn’t wreck this mechanism like I almost planned to.” he said, turning to Kichina, “That would have made this a little more difficult.”

“Agreed,” Kichina said. “It would’ve been very difficult to fit the crates into the ventilation shaft.” The Chiss managed to joke quietly.

She brought her set of the cargo just across the corridor, opened the doors, and approached the shuttle. Kichina took another brief look around just in case there were guards, and then opened the shuttle door and pushed the cargo up into its hold.

“Was that a joke I heard?” Saati asked in a whisper, “I’m proud of you, Kichina. I didn’t know you had it in you.” He would have pat her on the back had he not been carting the remaining supplies up after her.

“It was,” Kichina said and then removed her helmet once they were both safely inside the shuttle with their load. “I still have the co-ordinates in my datapad; we should be able to reach it in a couple of hours.”

“Hah, here’s some good news. Even if they tried to shoot at us from here, it wouldn’t work,” Saati said, flopping into a seat to get ready for take off, “The weapons are still out.”

“Still, no reason to stick around long enough for them to get them back online, hm?” Saati stretched both arms up and over his montrals, resting his hands against the back of his head. He pulled a face, hissing a little at the small bruise which was forming. He’d forgetten about that.

Tilting his head back against his shoulders as Kichina went about starting the shuttle and continuing their journey, Saati took stock. They still had the supplies, neither of them had been injured. Well, Saati had bumped the back of his head in that slide, but that was nothing serious. He remembered the crew that they’d been too late to save.

But that was the way of things now, really how they’d been for as long as he could remember. The only way to come out with no casualties was to stay home. He turned his head to look at Kichina, then smiled.

“I hear there’s a mission to Taris that’s no-one’s been up for,” he said, “How about we give it a go?”

#swtor #swtor rp #saati reka #kichina

7 notes · View notes