Queshtions and Answers

Posted on Sat Jul 25th, 2020 @ 12:06pm by Reave & Kalen "Rex" Vickers & Thane & Bomoor Thort & Amare & Mentis
Edited on on Tue Sep 8th, 2020 @ 10:39pm

4,838 words; about a 24 minute read

Chapter: Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Capo's Base, Quesh
Timeline: After "Queshtionable Intent"

OLD

"I see why you might be interested in cargo runners," The Ithorian commented as the group shuffled through the heavy doors, which sealed behind with a definite thud, followed by a pressurised hiss. He undid the two mouthpieces on the right side of his rebreather so half of his airways were now free and he could breath a little easier, "We will try not to deplete your stocks too much while we are here."

As the rest of the crew continued to speak to their new Mon Calamari guide, Capo guided Amare away, although both Thane and Bomoor's gaze stayed upon her until she disappeared from their sight.

Rex remove his rebreather and finally spoke up, having maintained a punctuated silence during their time being escorted, despite his obvious flair and knowledge of the less-reputable quarters of the galaxy. He struck a match and lit up a cigarra. "Nice guys."

NEW

"They've walked us into another gunslinging match," Rex stated from his leaning position, dark eyes watching the nearby Thane and Bomoor as they received a half-hearted tour of the nearby equipment and vehicles, Rex, Reave and Mentis hovering further away, next to an old swoop bike that had been torn apart for spare machinery.

"The tension here. It's... well, it's like Nar Shaddaa." The Human smuggler patted Reave quickly with the back of his hand. "Feels like that old nest in the Ranat Quarter, huh?" Although there was a dismay to his voice, there was a little smile worn on the man's face, as if he was teetering somewhere between amusement and bemusement.

Reave grumbled something in his odd dialect, slightly muffled as it was by his oversized coat, suitable for the Quesh environment, and the thick cigarra hanging out of his concealed mouth. The two bright orbs that were his eyes were flitting around the base quickly, and he was patting the ammunition bandolier that clung to him.

"These folks would probably gun down a Hutt if they thought there was a quick credit in it for them," Rex continued, looking from the near-off stern-eyed Thane back to Mentis. "They ain't Cartel types. Not regulars, anyway."

"You would know the type," Mentis kept his eyes on their guide as he strode ahead of them into an area full of heavy machinery, where several other presumed pirate crewmates were busy working on the exposed wiring, "They're clearly struggling out here, which means they are going to be all the more eager to turn on us should they have the opportunity."

Joraan, Capo Wolph's young and burly Mon Calamari first mate had briefly halted the tour to have a serious technical discussion with one of the pirates under a mask. In fact, all of the others had kept their environmental gear and masks on throughout the facility, almost like they were either hiding their identities, or it was a uniform they agreed to wear.

"Shunt the excess energy to the reserve capacitors," Joraan told his shorter crewman. "We can't afford losing another generator. One more overload, and it's over! Understand?"

The crewman nodded vigorously, gave a hasty and very informal salute, and scurried off through a maintenance door.

Joraan sighed and shook his large head. "I sometimes wonder why we even bother with this junk," he said partly to himself, then turned to his guests as they were in a second floor observation room overlooking two large rust-coloured turbine-like machines that were pulsing in bright green light with liquid tanks visible near the ceiling. "I told Capo we should just drop all of this and go home. We're working with equipment here that's at least four or five centuries old. The risks just aren't worth the payoff. Maybe you guys bringing his lil sis here might help him see things my way. Coda has a good spirit, just like her mother. If she can't change his mind, no one can."

Raising an eye stalk in interest, Bomoor asked the aquatic man, "You're all free men now, is that not so? If it is such a struggle to maintain this livelihood, then why not simply walk away? Unless, there's something we're not seeing here that Capo clearly can?"

"That's just it," Joraan replied, folding his scaly arms against his broad chest. "I can't see it either. Capo has an endgame, but he's not being very forthcoming. Something happened to him back on Rishi...that's where we took out Vorgunn. Best day of our lives, but it changed the guy. That old Nautolan joy and politeness just went poof! Gone! Just like that. Killing a man the way he did...it taints you. You can't come back from it. Anyways, uhh, where was I? Oh, right! Those two gizmos out there are the primary pump regulators for the adrenal extractors tha--" He was interrupted by a sudden pair of bleeps from a pouch on his belt. "Sorry, it's my foreman on the floor. I gotta take this." He turned and stepped away from the group as he put an earpiece up to his left auditory canal.

Taking the opportunity, Thane and Bomoor turned towards each other, prompting Mentis and Rex to join them in quieter discussion. Reave was close too but clearly more interested in some of the narrow crawlspaces the workers were using to access the pipes; a facility like this would have endless tiny passages and hideaways for the small humanoid to scuttle around in.

"It seems like our Wolph is not the only member of her family to experience some kind of traumatic rebirth," Bomoor commented dryly, "Although I think Amare got the better deal: being pirate king on this acid world seems pretty unappealing from the looks of these fellows. Seems odd that Capo was so high spirited; he didn't have the attitude one might expect after finding their long lost sibling."

"These people are drawn to him," Mentis added, nodding over towards Joraan, "Not the same power as a man like Axion, but that charisma and bravado he exhibited out there is the kind of thing that draws lesser men in and makes them untouchable. At least until the façade breaks."

"Credits and misplaced causes are appealing intoxicants to the feeble-minded and narrow-visioned," Thane stated, offering one of the very few comments he had made since they had parted with Amare. Since his apprentice had split apart from the group to speak with her brother, the young Sith Lord had appeared distracted, or rather, simply focused on something that was not present before them.

His gold-rimmed eyes had been examining the components and equipment that made up the ramshackle facility with wary interest, searching for entry and exit routes and trying to discern the exact scope and objectives of this operation Amare's brother so jealously guarded information about, even from his own followers and leading figures. Thane did not seem satisfied.

The Human offered nothing further to his group, but something drew his attention back to their guide suddenly.

Joraan's shoulders slumped after a moment, sudden nervousness lacing his previously confident and trusting demeanour. "Did he really just--?" Joraan said on his comlink with a heavy sigh, his voice louder and dripping with frustration and fear as he glanced at his guests. "Wait, don't answer that; of course he did. Look, you know what to do. I'll be down on the floor in 'seven strokes of a full lap'. Ready 'valves two and four'. We'll seal in the problem, then flush it out, got it? Hold the pressure steady until I get there." He turned to the visiting crew, "Sorry fellas, but tour's over. I have to go take care of a crisis downstairs. Don't worry, we're not in any danger. Nothing's gonna go boom or anything. Stay put. I'll let Capo know you're here and he'll let you guys out when he and his sis are done floating down the memory river."

Thane eyed Joraan suspiciously and had his balled fists on either side of his hips. His only reply to the thickset Mon Calamari was a small, discontented nod, which preceded the first mate's departure. When the aquatic pirate was sufficiently far away, Thane looked back to his companions.

"I sense a deception," he declared, finally giving voice to the suspicions they were all feeling, and that all but Reave and Rex could likely detect through the Force. Although the Caanan did not act further by preparing his lightsaber, instead seeming to prefer caution and to allow Amare her opportunity with her brother, his posture had stiffed, and a power was gently drawing itself into him.

Rex snorted at Thane's observation, but the younger Human ignored him, as he usually seemed to do, but brought himself a little closer, his manner conspiratorial. The clasp on his blaster had been unclipped at some point prior to him moving nearer to the others, surreptitiously done, but he was fairly confident, in spite of the situation and his usual character.

"I didn't get a clear headcount," he said to them with a small shrug, "but if I were a gambling man - I am, by the way - I'd wager there were around two-dozen of these karkheads pretending to play all nice-like. Might even be a few of them hidden away or nearby. Quesh is still a big place, and who knows what sort of organisation they've got rigged up." The smuggler nodded to the path they had entered by, on the lower level. "A speeder-full of Nikto might ram-raid the door any minute."

"For Amare's benefit, I won't make any move against them," Thane added.

Instead, the pirates made their own move. The open entrances on both sides of the observation room was almost instantly sealed with thick bulkheads intended to effectively trap the group gathered inside. At the same moment, warbling alarm klaxons sounded along with yellow alert lights blinking at steady intervals.

A static sound was heard over old intercom speakers embedded in the ceiling followed by a short microphone feedback screech before the voice of their host's first mate spoke to everyone in the observation room.

"Gentlemen, this wasn't my idea," Joraan said over the comm. "We may be privateers, but we still respect our captain, and if he thinks you've seen too much, then...well, then you gotta go. I'm really sorry."

Vents around the room started to slowly emit plumes of visible white gas into the room.

"Find a good place to lay down and try to relax," Joraan added casually. "The gas will put you all comfortably to sleep. I promise we'll make your deaths quick. You won't even feel a thing. Oh, and thank you for gifting us your ship. We needed the extra cargo space."

Realising the danger, the trapped party hastily pulled out their respirators again and secured them to their faces.

Mentis’ eyes flashed a fury, “Kark! Just like on Jericho. If we sensed a trap, why didn’t we attack them sooner?”

His mask firmly in place, Thane's lightsaber shot from its concealed location and its brilliant violet blade sprung to life. The earliest particles from the invading gases reflected its eerie glow around the room. To his side, both Rex and Reave had armed themselves, with the small Jawa's facemask actually poking out from the darkness of his facial visage.

“Your apology means nothing, Joraan,” Bomoor loudly addressed the door that had, just moments ago, separated them from the pirate second-in-command, “Don’t hide behind Capo if you don’t agree with him. If you won’t release us, then you will die with him.”

"You are all going to die," Thane stated in addendum, flourishing his lightsaber quite openly for the benefit of their 'hosts', "regardless of our being released." He raised his hand up to the thick doorway nearest to him, which was clearly constructed of a reinforced material a blade of plasma would take far too long to tear through.

Bomoor, connected as he was to his Human friend, felt the rage that Thane had been gathering into himself in the leadup to the open betrayal, now coursing through the nascent Sith's being. Unconcealed flashes of fear for the well-being of Amare, forgotten sensations regarding the loss of his own family members, and a still-fresh rage at the Council's abandonment of Masters Sotah and Thurius, were shared between them. His power mounted, and the thick metal of the hatch began to miraculously ripple, contortions gradually appearing across its metal in a fashion that would be considered usually impossible, and sparks flashed from the machinery struggling to hold the portal in place around it periphery. In a few short moments, the industrial doorway would be a crumpled heap, torn away and leaving their route of escape open.

Indulging the connection with the Human and his fury, Bomoor pressed at the door’s metal also so that it began to strip away like a simple plasteel container exposed to heat. They combined and co-ordinated strength in the Force was dominating. The sturdy door contorted and groaned until eventually the airtight seal of the room was broken and the toxic gas that had been meant for them began to spill out into the exterior.

A siren wailed, indicating the containment breach and the observing individuals outside the room began to panic, attempting to flee. Stepping around where Thane and Bomoor still worked on the door, Mentis wrenched out an ethereal grasp and held Joraan steady behind the door. The Mon Calamari wrestled within his invisible grasp.

“You remain,” the Rattataki growled, though barely audible over the escaping gas and aching metalwork, “You will face this.”

"No!" Joraan shrieked as the telekinetic grip became an inescapable snake-like vice fueled by unseen power. "It's not possib--urrghk!"

The door bent and twisted and relented under the combined influence of Thane and Bomoor's furiously directed willpower. When the heavy deadlock bolts were loosened, the door was essentially trash and pushed aside to reveal Joraan firmly within Mentis' grasp through the Force. The Mon Calamari was gurgling, a slimy squelching emitted from his almost fully obstructed airway.

"What're they doing to him?!" called out one masked man on the industrial floor below as the remaining loyal pirates--some twenty or so men of various humanoid species--watched up at the catwalk leading into the overseer's room where the guests that were supposed to die were escaping from.

"Who cares!" yelled another man. "Take positions. We'll blast 'em when they step out!"

"Getting the 'magnas' online, sir!" another man reported.

"Stay in cov-" Yet another began to declare, but his words were cut short, his large and muscular frame suddenly plucked from the ground, as if he weighed nothing, and crushed into the ceiling above him, his bones audibly cracking from the invisible pressure being exerted on him.

Suddenly, from within the chamber that had held Thane, Bomoor and the others, a spinning beam of purple light flew out from within the still-dissipating, occluding gas escaping the room. It violently smashed through boxes, metal and other structures to slice through several of the readying warriors, limbs, abdomens and guns dissected and scattered, leaving the few remaining in a brief state of panic, only just about quelled by some of their braver surviving comrades.

They loosed a barrage of blaster bolts into the doorway, with several bolts peppering the crippled and planted Joraan, although it was not immediately clear if it ended what little remained of his life just yet. Crimson and viridian blades spun at various angles to deflect the bolts, some redirected into their attackers, whilst others sprayed against the walls and floor, melting metal and splitting seams.

Stepping forth from the fury was Thane, his left hand outstretched the still-plucked burly pirate. The Sith Lord's fist clenched, there was an audible crack - heard over even the din of the firefight - and a stream of blood escaped from his hands and mouth as his body crumpled to the floor in a contorted heap.

Thane's lightsaber deftly returned to his right hand, whilst his offhand remained outstretched. As the last few pirates on the upper level surveyed their advancing foes, with Bomoor, Mentis, Rex and Reave all advancing forward, weapons raised, they took a few more potshots at them, with a couple of the brighter warriors picking directly at Rex and Reave - the only two without superheated beams of plasma arcing from their hands.

Before they could even unleash another barrage, with one even preparing a thermal detonator, a mass of blue-white streaks of lightning leapt from Thane's outstretched fingers, smashing into both the pirates and their flimsy choices of cover. As the electricity crept over their bodies, exposing their skeletal anatomies in a fury of dark power, screaming and chaotic bolts, their flesh began to contort, the life rapidly torn from their bodies.

"By Chaos..." Rex murmured, standing just behind Mentis. Whilst Reave seemed unaffected, the Human lowered his blaster to watch the spectacle unfold with barely-concealed horror. He placed a hand on the Rattataki's shoulder. "You can... you can let go of him now," he said, eyeing the fallen Mon Cal nearby.

Mentis turned his gaze to Rex and, to the Human’s surprise, he had a small grin crossing his scarred cheek, “Of course,” he said, wrenching the limp body across and barrelling over a scrawny-looking young humanoid, who had been edging over towards the group nervously with his blaster raised.

“These pirates really don’t know who they’re messing with, do they?” the Rattataki added.

As he spoke, there was an audible clunk of metal followed by an electrical circuit zapping to life. The group’s heads whipped about to see a bipedal robot, taller than most humanoids, marching towards them holding a doubled ended, and rather unstable-looking, electrostaff brimming with reddish-purple energy. The droid’s chassis was constructed of a dark, tainted-looking metal with an ominous glowing crimson sensory unit at its centre with two smaller equally-menacing photoreceptors set into its head. A stride behind it, came a twin unit that ignited its own weapon at the sight of the party.

“What kind of droids are those?” Bomoor asked, dropping back to cover the left flank of the group as Thane’s barrage of lightning had pushed back those on their right. His precise defensive sweeps reflexively deflecting the shots fired in their direction so that he could divert some attention to the group.

"They're magnas!" Rex shouted as he just managed to duck out of the way of a red blaster bolt smacking into the metallic crate he was hiding behind, before he popped back up and loosed a couple back at their attackers, actually striking one Trandoshan straight in the leg, causing the reptillian warrior to scream in pain, hobble a little, and fall over the nearby railing and onto the lower level, his shout stifled very quickly.

Up ahead, Thane had used the Force to yank two weapons away from a couple of younger marauders, but was relying more on his lightsaber now, slicing away at both blaster bolts and limbs to close the distance between him and the two advancing, menacing droids, which also drew them closer to their means to reach the lower level. Based on the shouting, along with some shots being fired upwards, it was clear there were more of Capo's men awaiting them below.

"They're GW-built," Rex managed to hiss to Mentis and Bomoor after some of the fighting subsided a little. "Those staffs-" he returned fire at some new opponents and only narrowly avoided being hit, although more attention was now seemingly being paid to Thane, given his proximity to them. "Their staffs," the Human continued, "can resist lightsabers. A lot of 'em were used in the Conflict. A lot of leftovers, from both the First and Second Conflicts!"

Bomoor took a step towards them before calling back, “Mentis, they should be no match for you quick blade. Let’s take them together.”

With a nod and a brief glance back towards Rex, Mentis summoned his lightsaber to his right hand and ignited it. The two Magna guard droids now stood together, mechanical shoulder to mechanical shoulder, barring the group from progressing. They held up their weapons defensively, awaiting engagement, which made them at least slightly smarter than most droids. The viridian blade, now joined by the Rattataki’s crimson one, drew closer until the Force willed the moment to strike and a violent clash of plasma against electrical energy signalled the start of their fight.

After an initial strike, Bomoor allowed the droid to attack with a powerful downward blow. The former Jedi had no trouble in absorbing the attack with his own blade before sending a strong Force push against the droid’s glowing red chassis, sending it skidding backwards and having to catch itself to avoid falling down the stairwell. Beside him, Mentis submitted strike after strike against his own droid in classical Makashi fashion. Initially, the droid’s wide weapon manoeuvred just quickly enough to hold off the attacks but them Mentis dropped back, keeping his body at an angle. The droid swung wide to attack, but Mentis brought his blade down through the staff, cutting it in two, before delivering a second deep slash across the droid’s body. The droid convulsed and collapsed over the side, where it fell to the level below. By this time, Bomoor had pushed forward to where his own opponent struggled to regain its balance. It was too late, however, as Bomoor severed the droid’s arms before delivering a final push down the stairs and into a couple of Capo’s crew who were attempting to ascend.

“The way’s clear now,” the Ithorian called back, “Now let’s keep up the attack on the lower level until we find Capo and Amare.”

Thane, lightsaber held low in a Niman ready posture, only gave a brief nod and led the way down the stairwell. He effortlessly spun his weapon to knock away blaster bolts as a few more of the stragglers on the lower level decided to continue pressing the attack against their former guests, despite the heavy casualties they and their droids had already taken. Remarkably, the awesome display of dark power exhibited by the Red Raptor crew had not dulled their enthusiasm for mayhem - although a few had already begun to turn tail, scurrying to the back of the base. Some received blaster bolts to their backs for their lack of bravery.

"Reave," Rex hissed as he reached the top of the stairs, the lightsaber-toting members of the group already ahead of him and batting back the laser fire, his head turned back to the mess of the upper level.

Further back, the Jawa had his foot planted firmly on the head of one of the dissected magna droid as he tugged at the damaged chassis it was attached to. Quickly realising his strength was not quite going to be enough, he pulled out a vibrodagger and shoved it into the robot's neck area, wiggling it around with surprisingly accurate dexterity. A few seconds later, he had separated the bulk from the head and had retrieved some small chips from within, which he held up in a triumphant posture.

"Gods dammit, Reeve," Rex said with an eyeroll, stomping up the dimunitive warrior before he started launching himself into another pile of droid remains. It was only as Reave half-mockingly waved the blade in the Human's direction that he backed off, hands raised. "You want to stick around here tearin' apart droids, be my guest," he said, shaking his head and turning to join the others, spinning his blaster at the same time. "You'll be sorry you missed out on the action."

An expletive in Jawaese heralded Rex's return to the battle, as he loosed a few bolts from his favoured heavy blaster pistol, bulls-eyeing three in quick succession - including one that was about to fire fairly point-blank at Thane. All the Sith Lord got in response from his glare at Rex was a little shrug, and a devil may care grin. It was one of the boldest expressions the smuggeler had offered his fellow Human.

Turning away from Rex, who was offering able cover as he continued to march down the stairs, Thane leapt over one of the pirates, beheading him in the motion, and landed in front of two more, having swept past their cover to face them. They barely had a chance to level their guns at him when he raised his hand, a great gust of Force energy thrusting them backwards and into the spinning turbine of one of the large adrena processor. He was standing sufficiently far back from the pair's final destination to avoid any collateral mess.

The grim fate of the pair had the desired effect on the few still hiding in cover, who began shouting to one another in a mixture of panic and anger. A few more could be seen to be making their way to the furthest reaches of the base, a couple actively pushing and shoving one another to get away more quickly.

Thane readied himself to pursue them, but something suddenly drew his attention away. He raised a hand to his left temple. A few seconds more passed until he realised what he was detecting, and he turned the golden glow of his eyes towards Bomoor.

"Amare is in trouble," he stated simply, now looking to the area where Capo had taken her, not needing to say anything further to his Ithorian friend. "Mentis," Thane then addressed the wayward cultist - a rarity, since the Rattataki had joined them, "take Rex and Reave, and pursue the stragglers. No-one survives to tell this story."

Seemingly immersed in the situation and drawing a heavy satisfaction, Mentis nodded back confidently, "You can count on that. Nobody gets away with crossing us like this."

With that, Mentis swept around and directed Rex, "Along here, I can sense their fear."

The odd trio once again made their way off together into another part of the facility.

"Enough of this madness...ENOUGH!!" blared Capo Wolph's voice over the intercom system from multiple discreet speakers spread around the facility. "Butchering barbarians with your unnatural swords and murder magic! No living soul should possess the evils you carry. Of all the countless places that Jedi would come to visit in all the galaxy, you just happen to come here, and with she who has the gall to call herself my sister. Well, you did good bringing her to me, and, like a gentlemen, I tried to be cordial and give you all the chance to walk away, but no...you chose differently, and you saw too much. And now your little Amare has paid the price. She lays helpless on the floor of my office, a chunk of her a smoking pit of ash. She yet lives, though not for long. I implore you, take your last chance and walk away. This one girl is not worth a drop of all the good and decent blood you've shed here today. She is the murderer of my parents, and they will be avenged, even if I have to bring this whole place down on you to do it."

As he had been speaking, Thane and Bomoor were using the echo Capo left in the Force to determine where his office lay but the Ithorian slowed his pace slightly at the last comment, "What do you think he means by that?" he angled his cranium towards his friend, "Do you think he has rigged the place to explode? He didn't know we were coming until about an hour ago."

Thane did not deign to answer either Capo or Bomoor. Instead, he carried on ahead, his friend only just behind him, as they finally drew up to the doors of that presumably led to their foe's office. Like the chamber they had been previously sealed in, the portal was wrought from thick metal and industrial locks, stylised like the sort of panic room the pair of former Jedi had witnessed other nefarious outlaws use in the past, in their former lives as galactic guardians.

Inside, Capo undoubtedly awaited them, knowing full well they had not elected to leave his facility. The presence of Amare was more prescient now; her life essence, whilst fluctuating and spiking, was still emanating from within, along with the dark and foreboding presence of something more within the Force - that familiar haze that both Thane and Bomoor recognised from years of attunement that told them some act of importance may be about to occur.

Typically, it was the loss of life that the Force was pre-empting, especially of a Force user.

Thane placed his palm against the metal of the door, with Bomoor doing the same just a couple of feet away, and its surface began to twist and ripple unnaturally...

TBC

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