KOTNR - Episode I

[KOTNR ST]

 

 

(CLICK HERE FOR OPENING CRAWL)

 

Consciousness returned slowly, gradually breaking through the mental fog just enough to become aware of the environment. Hard, unrelenting durasteel was cold against the face while a stale, artificially sterile smell hit the nose, which made the bitter taste in the mouth even worse somehow. A steady hum reverberated off of the durasteel walls which almost became maddening in the relative silence of the rest of the room if one focused on it. With pained winces eyes slowly dared to crack open only to be greeted by the harsh light when made them snap shut again until they dared to try and blink open again, if only the slightest bit. The light made the dull throb of a headache flare up into a stabbing pain which faded far more slowly than desired.

The desire to get up off the floor was met with non-compliance as limbs refused commands, or moved barely, if at all. Still though, enduring the pain eyes did open and it was then that they realized they were in small cells, two to a cell, except for Jan and Arcata who was alone in their own cells. The forth wall of each cell was a forcefield separating the cell from the rest of the room and the lone, human male guard within.

The guard rose and walked over to a small intercom. Pressing a button, he leaned closed and spoke,

"They're waking up." he said with an unusual accent.

"Good." replied a much more tinny voice through the speaker.

With tremendous effort, Jan was the first to manage to rise to his feet enough to stagger to the metal slab bench that could only laughably be called a bed. He sat down on it with no grace at all and leaned his head back against the wall, trying to take stock of the situation. In the rest of the cells the others did similar, though many barely crawled to the bench in their cells as their limbs were slow to respond and resisting commands, though gradually control of their limbs was returning.

The outer room door swished open and in walked a well dressed human male, seemingly nobility, along with a woman dressed in red with several cybernetic limbs who stood beside him. Following them two more beings stepped through the door, clad in unmistakable white and black... Imperial Stormtroopers, each one cradling their blaster cabines. They took up positions flanking the pair before them as the man approached the cells.

"You know, I am not sure if I should be impressed with you, or disappointed in my own security, as were it not for my 'friends' here, a reward for continued loyalty to the Empire that you were not expecting, you might have actually managed to collect on that bounty." he sneered as he walked down the hall in front of the cells with his hands behind his back and his posture taut with the air of nobility.

"Now though, instead of you collecting the bounty on my head, I shall be collecting bounties on your own." he taunted and stopped in front of Arcata's cell. "The Empire does not suffer traitors." he sighed, shaking his head as he looked her over with various unsavory thoughts running through his head. "Such a pity." he said with a shrug he continued walking down the line of cells, looking over his younger captives. 

"And you whelps. I am sure they will be quite pleased to have you handed over as well." he commented as he rubbed his chin. "You will be made to serve the Empire, or you will perish, I am sure." he added.

The man shrugged again and pivoted on a heel to walk back along the line of cells as she spoke to his captives. "You were foolish for ever coming after me, and now that error in judgement will cost you dearly." he said, his voice dripping with smugness and scorn.

"I am not totally without mercy though, so I will give you a chance to apologize and beg for your lives." he offers as he backs away from the wall of cells so as to be able to look at any who approach the forcefields.

 

OOC

Spoiler

Right now nobody has any memories of the last several days other then faint wisps. There are other holes in your memories as well. Skills are not forgotten though, but exactly how you got where you are you are unsure of. Most still feel lingering bruises and several have bacta patches over cuts and grazing blaster wounds.

None of you have your weapons or equipment. You can decide who is paired up in cells.

If you have any other questions, as in Discord, PMs or OOC thread.

 

[Arcata Kadir]

"There is no Empire anymore, you colossal imbecile," Arcata gritted as she forced her complaining muscles to haul her into a sitting position. Standing would be better, but she wasn't quite ready to risk the embarrassment of trying and falling down. "You think capturing us qualifies as a victory? We're not remotely the ones you should be concerned with."

"A handful of Star Destroyers and a few military middle-managers squabbling over turf does not an Empire make." Arcata shakes her head. "You should surrender to the Republic while you still have a chance. They're still gathering strength now, they might listen. As more and more worlds join, they'll be less interested in consolidating influence, and more interested in crushing their opposition."

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

Everything hurt.  Gavin tried to push himself up but he was content to just lie there.  He didn't need to open his eyes, he could feel the ebb and flow of life in the galaxy all around him.  It was annoying sometimes, to be sure, but there were occasions when his senses extending outward like they did would aid him... now was not one of those times.  He knew how many people were here before he opened his eyes.  Some were similar, most were not... one in particular, it seemed alive but the energy it gave off was like it was only half a person.  Whatever they had hit him with though... it was distracting and making it incredibly difficult to focus on anything but the pain.

Like Jan, Gavin had crawled his way onto the slab bed.  Then Arcata had to go and be all diplomatic.  He sighed and, still without opening his eyes (more out of reflex than intent, they still hurt).  He'd been a slave his whole life, knowing he was about to sold back into bondage didn't rest well with him, but it was nicer than a cell.  "S-she doesn't mean that, sir... she's cranky when she wakes up... well, she's always cranky, actually.  Thank you for having us over."

Taunting him was only going to keep him in here and as long as he was in here they couldn't collect their thoughts and work on getting out of here.

[Shiv]

Jan was silent, his eyes closed as he rested his back against the wall of his cell, breathing deeply and steadily whilst listening to the others berate or placate the (mark) man.  He might even have been mistaken for napping.

"Lotta Imps like to gloat" the Alliance spook had said as he took the Lomin ale with a nod of thanks.  The makeshift bar at Tierfon fighter base was typical of the R&R facilities of the Rebellion - sparse, scrounged from what could be found, and with a bartender droid that would nod cheerfully when you ordered any one of a hundred drinks, then dispense warm Lomin ale.  Jan hated it, but when it was a choice between that and the moonshine some of the engineers cooked up from pressurised coolant fluid, the Lomin ale was at least safer.  "See, most Imps know the Empire is immoral, and they're about on the moral level of Hutts for supporting it.  So you either get the grimly 'I've got a job to do, but I don't have to like it' types, or the 'I'm gonna take the time to gloat, because that will reassure me that I am, in fact, superior.  First type, you can work on, but you've got to be careful.  The second type are losers.  Wait 'em out, or better yet ignore them.  That can force 'em to try and prove their superiority.  That means they'll make a mistake, sooner or later."

"Nothing to say, assassin?" the well-dressed man, whose name Jan couldn't quite recall, peered into his cell.  Jan turned his head and opened his eyes, dark gaze scrutinising the man (mark) with a sweep from bottom to top, ending with his eyes.  The average-seeming prisoner said nothing, just stared at and into the Imperial who, he was sure, was a target.  He marked his manner of dress, the side he wore his blaster on, the faint tabac stain on his fingertips.  And the whole while he remained utterly silent and expressionless, as though looking at a mannequin.  Or a dead man.

[Kel Uno]

Kel struggled to pull himself up using the metal slab bed, taking a few tries before he reached a standing position long enough to seat himself down. For a moment, he tuned out the approaching Imperials trying to remember how he'd gotten here and winced, as his hand brushed a wad of bacta crusted over his ribs. Nor did Kel recognize the red-haired woman sitting across from him.

Well, his memories could get back from their all-expenses paid trip to Coruscant eventually. Kel shifted his gaze to the force fields, the rest of the room, and the guard whom would remain on duty when the posturing Imps left the room.

[Aurora]

Aurora watched the kid struggle to a standing position. She didn't know who he was or if she did she couldn't remember him, or any of the others for that mater, the last... what days maybe were blank and before that there were holes. She must have been on a job, probably a delivery and it must have gone south, she couldn't explain being here with people she didn't know otherwise.

With a grimace and a deep breath she pushed her pain away and rose off the bed. and went up to stand beside the guy she was sharing the cell with.

She ignored him.

"Hey, I don't know what you hit me with but I don't remember anything about any of this," she called out to the noble.  "I don't remember you or any of these people. I'm a courier pilot, not a bounty hunter, me being in here is a mistake. But hey if you want begging I can accommodate just give me something to work with. Who are you and what do you want?"

[Fetch]

Beside Gavin, Fetch had been staring at the wall listening to the others speak for a bit. A lot of different opinions here, she noted, mostly unfavorable to the Empire. Her head throbbed, and she felt new hurts with every slight nudge of her body. She had difficulty sensing anything, and she felt naked without her gear. They took everything, of course, even the hidden stuff. It was unfortunately one of their greater competencies.

She stirred on the cot, turning over to face Gavin. He seemed to be the more diplomatic sort, head a bit down, bit of a stutter. She wondered to herself how much of it was an act. Fetch's eyes darted to the room beyond the force field. Blurred and distorted, she noted that the only way to disable the force fields would be through the lone guard's console. And if they did get out, it'd be blaster fire they'd be greeting. Not a good plan, that was.

Smiling and wide-eyed, she whispered at Gavin: "Bettin' ya five credits that the well-dressed toff's gonna give us a big name now, three first names at least, he will."

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

"You don't have five credits."  Gavin said flatly.  His eye remained closed and tightened on occasion as the pain he was feeling throbbed behind his eyes.  "They'll break us, most likely.  Use torture and drugs to to break us into pliable, servants of the Empire.  Refugees used to talk, on Nal Hutta.  We're better of dead."

[Fetch]

"Oooh, you're a fun one, you are!" she coo'd with delight under her breath. "Maybe I do have five credits and you just don't know'it. Chin up, people who most thump their own chests 'ave a habit of losin' their prize, they do. Jus' watch!"

So either it was a good act, or this one had some...issues. Nal Hutta? He hadn't come from too far away of her own home. She resumed her quiet a bit, trying to get a read on their captors while the people in the other cells engaged with them.

[Dale Garcia]

Acato rolled on her couch, stopping right before she would have fallen down to the floor. Her head hurt, and the others talking did not make it better at all. She still had her eyes closed, she was better off not worsening the headache.

Imperials, what a luck... At least, they were not Sith, that she could sense. It could've been far worse. Hearing Fetch, she opened her eyes, only to close them with a pained moan. "Imprisoned by Imperials, checked. What the hell are we doing here ?" she softly asked, after a sigh.

[KOTNR ST]

The man shook his head at Fetch's word, if one could even call them that. "I suppose I should not expect any better from likes of Nar Shaddan gutter filth." the man sighed and shook his head in disappointment as he looked her over. "No bother." he added dismissively.

"They truly do not remember, do they?" he asked the woman in red as he turned his head to her for a moment.

"Yes sir. It happens, from time to time." she answered with a nod, her voice silky and seductive. "It has the added advantage of allowing you to see the shock and fear on their faces when their final fates become apparent to them." she explained with a faint, smug smile tugging at the corners of her red painted lips.

"Excellent point." he replied and then turned back to the captives, his gaze drifting from cell to cell as he looked down his nose at the captives with a haughty air of Imperial nobility, his gaze finally stopping to look at Arcata.

"The Emperor might be dead, but the Empire is something greater than even him. It perseveres even as it suffers the traitorous disloyalty of cowards and the greedy. The Rebels' cowardly sneak attack and assassination of the Emperor may have staggered the Empire, and allowed the Rebel scum to take some territory temporarily, but rest assured, the Empire gathers it's might and will reclaim every parsec, system, planet, city and speck of dirt, all while eradicating the rebel scum and rooting out every traitor to be dispensed Imperial justice."

"You should know this quite well, as I am sure some of their friends," he said glancing to the other prisoners for a moment before returning his gaze to Arcata, "...found Imperial justice at the end of your blaster." he taunted.

"You were once a faithful servant of the Empire. One of high birth and education with every advantage..." he said almost sadly, "...and now that you have betrayed it, you will be on the receiving end of the Imperial justice that you once dispensed. I think you will find it to be distinctly less pleasant to be on this side of the law."

He then looked to Aurora and took a step closer to her cell, resting his hands behind his back once more.

"You though." he said as he looked her over from head to toe and back again, "A willingness to beg is good, but I said I valued sincerity. I may be inclined to give you a..,. private audience... to allow you to prove that sincerity to me." he offered.

"Sir. Th-" the woman in red said, taking a step close to him, only to be cut off by a swift raising of his hand.

"Careful ArIna. You risk ruining my good mood and that would displease me." he said to the woman, wile still looking at Aurora.

The woman froze, and it did not take being sensitive in the Force to pick up on her palpable fear, though the flash of it was strong enough that at such a short distance Gavin, Acato and Fetch could sense it.

"My deepest apologies, sir." she said with a nod as she cautiously she stepped back from him and clasped her mechanical hands together in front of her waist.

"I do suppose you are right though. There will be time enough for this. Other matters require my attention." the man said with a sigh and turned to the woman. "Prepare my yacht while I see to other matters." he commanded to her, causing her to nod and depart.

"The rest of you can enjoy my hospitality for the time being, while you await your fate." he said over his shoulder and then walked out with the two Stromtroopers in tow behind him, leaving just the lone guard, who took a seat after a minute or two.

"I was beginning to think he'd never shut up." came a gruff voice from the back of Acato's cell. She looked and then noticed laying in the relative darkness under the metal slab bench/bed was a small being (under a meter tall) that she had missed before.

 

OOC

Spoiler

 

I forgot about the small alien so the cell assignments are as follows.

Cell #1 - Acato, Unnamed little alien

Cell #2 - Gavin, Fetch

Cell #3 - Arcata

Cell #4 - Aurora, Kel

Cell #5 - Jan

Acato can make a Moderate difficulty Alien Species (Knowledge) to recognize the species.

 

 

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

On 11/23/2019 at 10:46 AM, Fetch said:

"Oooh, you're a fun one, you are!" she coo'd with delight under her breath. "Maybe I do have five credits and you just don't know'it. Chin up, people who most thump their own chests 'ave a habit of losin' their prize, they do. Jus' watch!"

"Please stop talking.  My head feels like I went ten cups of krilliz with the wrong guy on a dare and now I'm waking up to regret it."  Unlike most in the galaxy who were sensitive to the ebbs and flows of the Force, Gavin didn't go through his life oblivious to the fact that he was capable a great many things.  How he was capable, well, he didn't quite get to that part, yet, but he knew he could hear the pulse of the Force in his mind and his body if he just stopped to feel it... and when you're feeling hungover?  That was like... the worst possible thing to be feeling.

"Loss."  He said softly, still not opening his eyes.  "Someone has lost something.  It's caused a wound."  He looked around, his head swiveling in all manner of directions.  "Pride and... ambivalence?"  He looked in the direction of the cells.  where his words seemed to match his thoughts and direction of his shut-eyed glare.  "Useless.  None of these people are motivated to leave... we're doomed."

"Arcata!"  he spoke loudly, despite the guard still present.  "Arcata, I heard you, I know you're in here.  What have you done now?  What have you gotten me into!?"  His head turned in the direction of her cell.  Slowly he braved the light and his eyes peered at their situation and he visibly groaned as he looked at their situation for the first time.  "Oh, seriously?  I seem to recall, 'just going for a drink, to get some work, I'll be one minute.  What could go wrong?'  Gee, Arcata... you tell me.  You tell me what could possibly go wrong?"

"Think about it.  I'll wait."

Spoiler

Since I already refereed to Arcata with familiarity, I'm going down that rabbit hole of those two have some recollection of each other... Force only knows how.

 

[Shiv]

Jan forced himself to stand and stretch, jaw clenched against the pain and disorientation as he leaned this way and that, then paced as much as the small cell would allow, swinging his arms to get the blood moving.  Whatever they'd hit him with, it had caused some manner of neural shock beyond what a blaster set to stun would normally inflict.  He'd heard horror stories when in the Alliance about some of the interrogation chemicals the Imps had cooked up, and like many in his unit had vowed to press the stud on a thermal detonator rather than get taken alive.

But there was no more Alliance, now.  Now they were the Republic again, and he had not been part of their covert forces for years.  If he had been interrogated, he doubted there had been anything of use to his captors locked away in his brain.  So there was no sense worrying about that - he had to figure out a way out of this cell.  Forcefield containment was not standard for Imperial detention blocks, which were the same whether on a planetary garrison, a Star Destroyer, or a custom's frigate.  Heavy blast doors that would remain shut in the event of a power outage were the preferred manner of cell door.  The forcefield indicated that these cells were as much for viewing as for containment.

Hmm.  Forcefields were unreliable without a dedicated generator, and prone to ion interference.  None of which was a blasted bit of use right now, since he couldn't see a generator and had no way of causing any sort of ionic interference.  He dropped prone, catching himself on his hands and pushing himself through a quick twenty push-ups, then sat back on his heels and became still, closing his eyes and breathing deeply a few times, then opening them once more, fixing them on the solitary guard.  He had no weapons, no equipment, and no way of defeating a forcefield.  Unless someone outside the field did something stupid, all he could do was wait.

Patience was among the more cultivated of his talents, fortunately.  Whether waiting under a bush in freezing cold rain for an enemy soldier to wander close to answer a call of nature, or waiting several days in one spot to ambush a patrol, the war had taught Jan that waiting was just extra preparation time.  Time to get ready for when his enemy made a mistake.

[Dale Garcia]

Acato's eyes were getting used to the light, but the headache still remained, making any elaborate thought a hard task. She sighed once more. "What do we have here... You got a name buddy ?"

"Buddy? Heh" he chuckled. "My name's Lohkimian Pamut. Most of you aliens are lazy and shorten it to some nonsense. It's not a hill to die on, even figuratively. That will be one of my own choice, thankyouverymuch. So I gave up trying try to fight it decades ago." he responded in his gruff voice and with a shrug.

Acato nodded, repeating the name once to make sure she got it right."Lohkimian Pamut. Well, you are a rather discreet one." She pondered, unsure of how to ask her question. "Would you happen to know why I'm here ? I can't remember anything from the last days..." She gave in a short grin.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, not really. I guess sorta, maybe?" he shrugged. "I'm not sure on specifics, but I think the lot of you tried to collect the New Republic bounty on Chell Kremanu. Sounds like you were doin' pretty good til his Stormtrooper detail crashed your party and then it all went to hell." he explained as he slipped out from beneath the bench/bed and, with some difficulty, rose to stand as his full 0.8 meter height.

"I guess I shouldn't feel so bad then, as I almost had'em myself. 'There's hardly a problem that can't e solved with well placed explosives' is what my dad used to say." the small alien recited, thinking back to his parents for a moment before shrugging. "He was a miner. Anyway, I took that advice to heart and it's served me pretty well throughout the galaxy."

[Dale Garcia]

Acato pinched her lips for a while. "Alright, thank you Pam." How she ended up hunting a bounty, she had no idea, as for now, all her mind was asking was for the headache to stop. But still, it left her perplex.

She approached the forcefield, staring at the lone guard for a while, her stomach grumbling. She shaked her head, then raised her voice, calling out to the other prisoners.

"Any of you would have an idea of why I'd decide to become a seasoned bounty hunter ? I'm clueless..." The sarcastic emphasis on 'seasoned' sounded weird in the rather jovial tone of her question.

[Arcata Kadir]

"Is that what you recall?" Arcata replied dryly. "You're omitting the 'watch our flanks to make sure no one surprises us' part...which is, somewhat ironically, no surprise at all."

Her head had mostly cleared by then, and she stood up in her cell to get a better look around. The force field barriers did imply that this might not be an Imperial facility. Perhaps something captured, or repurposed? The bedraggled corpse of the Empire sometimes had to settle for what it could get. It might not be to Imperial standards of security then.

She shut her eyes and focused on the sounds in this detention block. In particular, if she could hear the thrumming of engines underneath the various people speaking. Knowing if this was a spacecraft early on would be important for when they escaped the cells. It would determine their next step, and there wouldn't be time to dither about it then and there.

As for how to escape the cells...she was working on that. In an ideal world, they could coordinate, and Gavin or someone else who could use the Force could manipulate the controls at a distance. Then they'd rush the guard and knock him out before he could react. That was very unlikely to be the world she lived in though. Coordinating that maneuver without the guard realizing it...not easy.

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

"I was watching our flanks!  They hit us from behind."  He yelled across the way, then held his head.  "Ow.  Hurts to argue with you."

"Then don't."  She said with a stern tone of finality.

"Hey."  He snapped.  "I was trying to help, okay?  Geez, no wonder no one likes you're a complete pain, and ungrateful.  I can't stop everyone who wants to shoot you in the back, you know.  Which you still owe me for, by the way."

"Owe you?  Owe you?  You didn't stop anything, kid."  Her head peered around the corner of the archway of the field, looking down at Gavin's cell.  "You tripped and fell into an assassin who I already knew was tailing me!"

"See?"  He shook his head.  "Ungrateful."

Spoiler

Goal here is to irritate the guard.  Get him moving around so his equipment can be assessed and gander about for a logical means of shutting down the force fields before 0.8 meter tall plot device has a chance to do it.

 

[KOTNR ST]

The more Jan moved his muscles and got his blood pumping, the better he felt. The stiffness and ache in his muscled began to fade and even the headache was beginning to subside faster than before. The small size of the cell was limiting his movements though, as it was not much bigger than a closet and clearly not meant for any long term confinement.

The lone guard glanced over at Jan as he began exercising, but did not seem concerned, and instead turned back the some card game he was playing alone. Jan could see in the middle of the wall opposite of the cells and next to the table, a small control panel which seemed to have the intercom they all heard him use before, as well as other controls. It was not missed by Arcata either, as it was almost directly in front of her cell, taunting her with its proximity.

While Arcata intentionally listened for the sound of engines, for Aurora it was second nature. Neither heard such sounds, nor did Aurora feel even the faintest motion which meant that they are planetside. As far as what planet, they could not be sure with their memory impacted as it was.

"You don't shorten surnames. That's insulting every member of the family, living or dead." the diminutive being stated firmly as he poked, or more like stabbed, Acato in the thigh with a finger. Despite his small size, the fellow had quite a forceful personality and could be strangely intimidating. "So you can address me as 'Lohkimian', or 'Sir' even." He looked up at her, his large eyes narrowing to a near predatory gaze. "Or are you going to be a problem?"

The guard chuckled as he heard the exchange between Acato and her cellmate, but did not look up from his cards. That changed though as Gavin and Arcata starting going back and forth, causing him to set down his cards and look toward their cells.

"Shut the hell up!. All of you!" he ordered as he rose and walked down the line of cells, glaring at the captives with his hand resting on the blaster pistol on his hip.

[Shiv]

"Yeah, cut the cut-rate Stormie a break."  Jan called out, putting every bit of scorn he could into his tone.  "It's not his fault he washed out of maintenance technician training and ended up here guarding a bunch of losers."

"You're one of those losers, buddy!"  Gavin yelled back.

"You amateurs probably karked-up my stalk.  I bet none of you are even licensed hunters."  Jan sneered.  He thought he recognised the kid's voice, and the women - the pilot as well as the ex-Imp.  But it was hazy, and he wasn't sure how he recognised them.  He was pretty sure he wasn't hunting partners with an Imp, even a reformed one - if that was even a thing.  Plenty of Imps had tossed aside their uniforms when the Emperor had gone bye-bye at Endor, and they weren't worth Bantha spit.  Ones that went Rebel before the war turned, now, they could be respected somewhat.  "You kriffing asshats fouled up so bad even this vape-bait here could have caught you.  Am I right, vape-bait?"

[Dale Garcia]

Acato burst out in loud laughter, the chime of her voice crossing the whole cell array, and hitting the guard's ears as another annoying sound. Hearing him asking for silence, she lowered her voice. She then looked at her cellmate with a large grin, revealing her sharp canines. "Alright, my apologies, Lohkimian. My name is Acato Seros."

Somewhat satisfied that she decided not to butcher his surname anymore, Lohkimian crossed his arms. "That's more like it..."

The exchange between Jan and the guard caught Acato's attention. The other prisoners' voices began to sound familiar now, but she couldn't quite put a face on them. At Jan's last wry line, her jaw dropped, and she went for another round of pealing laughter.

[Fetch]

Fetch gathered her thoughts as people she supposedly would know began to initiate their actions. There was familiarity, and yet there was pain and hazy thoughts. She tried to block them out and figure out what she could do to assist in the inevitable escape plan. Unlike what her cellmate asserted, she did not believe anyone would be unwilling to escape, and the moment the higher-ups left would be the right time to start anything.

Two obstacles, force field and guard. Weakness of the field was that it was people-operated. So was the guard's.
A card game, huh? That was something she could work with...

She heard the taunts spoken by the man with the soft, dangerous voice, and decided to wait for after that moment to add her own brand of agitation.

"Don' bother with that one, really. He's playin' cards all by his lonesome, he is. An' even then he has to cheat to win. I saw that, I did. Put a card back in'is deck and then drew another one. Nice upstandin' imperial justice yer representin' - can't even be straight at a game with yerself!"

[KOTNR ST]

"So it is true, eh? You lot really do have no idea what happened or where you are. You're just stabbing in the dark, hoping something lands, to.. what? Pull some amateurish scheme like pissing me of so I step right in there to 'teach you a lesson' or something?" the guard laughed as he shook his head.

He then drew his blaster and pointed it at each cell in turn.

"There's no need for that. Ya see, these forcefields are great great from keeping you in, stopping you from spitting on me and all that." he explained as he tapped the forcefield in front of Arcata and Kel's cell with the barrel of his blaster, causing the the forcefield to flare brighter at the point of impact for an instant. 

"But energy? Like, say, a shot from a blaster, it's a lot less effective at stopping. So keep making a ruckus, and I'll just stun you and then come in there and beat you to bantha fodder." he threatened with a grin that made it seem like he would enjoy beating an unconscious captive just a little too much.

"And I ain't no Imperial." he added, holstering his blaster as he walked back toward the table.

 

OOC

Spoiler

Anybody can make a "Difficult" Law Enforcement (Knowledge) roll to recognize the name Chell Kremanu.

 

[Kel Uno]

Kel tried to dredge up his memories on Chell Kremaru. Unfortunately, the answers seemed to just slip out of reach, until finally the words of some shadowport talk clicked in his mind. Chell Kremaru. Black marketeer dealing in exotic materials: in this case rare compounds, minerals, elements, metals, gasses. Bacta, Tibanna gas and Mandalorian Iron were solid examples. A purported Imperial sympathizer. Clearly more than that with Stormtroopers as bodyguards.

It stood to reason, Kel determined, that Kremaru was doing brisk enough business with the Imperial Remnant that they wanted to protect him. Probably for his Tibanna gas trade, being a power source for the blaster of all types and sizes. "For what it's worth," he told Aurora, "I'm pretty sure this was a big enough bounty that you were willing to get in on it." It made sense for this lot. Ex-Imperials, a bunch of street kids, a cold-gazing bounty hunter, the pilot, and Kel Uno, slicer extraordinare.

It was then that the guard reacted to the others' rackets. Definitely one of Kremaru's people, and unfortunately, someone with basic sense. On the other hand, it occurred to Kel that if someone was able to resist the stunning and play dead... well, he certainly wasn't going to take that gamble. Would the ex-Imp or bounty hunter dare?

[Arcata Kadir]

Arcata listened quietly, weighing the chances. If he stunned someone and entered the cell, he'd have to operate the force field. Which would mean Gavin would see how it was done, and might be able to use one of his 'jedi tricks' to do it again. But only if he wasn't the one getting stunned.

Damnit.

"No, clearly not," Arcata said after the mercenary. "You wouldn't bother with threatening if you were. Coddling prisoners isn't the Imperial way...I wonder why not? Oh yes. Because threats telegraph weakness. Especially ones that aren't followed up on. They put you in the awkward position of having to take the risk of carrying the threat out, or losing all credibility."

She smirked. "Which is it for you, I wonder?"

You'd better be paying attention, Gavin.

[Fetch]

Just because your target knows the scheme, doesn't mean it won't work. The familiarity of the taunting and back-and-forth seemed to clear up Fetch's senses a bit. She shook her head and assessed the current setup. Agitate the guard and wait for him to stun them through the force field with the blaster. Then, get his blaster or open the other cells with the console. From the voices, every cell seemed to have people capable of pulling this off individually, if randomly chosen.

Gavin may have some issues to deal with, but his words felt comfortable, like he spoke of things she herself had felt from time to time. Just...through a more negative lens. If their cell was chosen for the guard's stun blaster (to make a  point) she'd be the least likely to resist it. And yet, if the guard was taunted from the other cells, she had to take into account that he would choose one of the other cells to make a point with. She had to be ready.

Spoiler

Gavin has the best chances to use some "galaxy's best dad" mug to boop open the controls; the other cells also have people that are individually dangerous, or can team up to open the fields through slicing, tech or the Force.

I anticipate that the taunting may work to agitate the guard, but that he picks our cells to make an example of at random or because of luck of the draw. If that happens, I want to rush to block the blaster shot meant for Gavin, but make it seem like he got hit.

So probably using Con to push him down and make him look hit while taking blaster shots myself. That will hurt like a Hutt's comedy show, but all good causes demand sacrifice

 

[Aurora]

Aurora motioned Kel away from the forcefield, he gave her a quizzical look but obliged. she moved to the corner of the field.

"Hey Guard!"

The guard looked over at the red head, shifting his weapon toward her.

"Don't listen to them, they're just trying to goad you into doing something stupid," she warned.

His brow furrowed

"Look I told your master the truth, I am not one of them I am a pilot, call him tell him I will cooperate. Tell him I'll do anything he wants."

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

Gavin fumed and rolled his eyes while throwing his hands up in the air.  "Are you serious lady?  Stupid schutta."  He shook his head and walked away from the force field, collapsing onto his slab and lying down.  "Real smooth, lady.  Real smooth.  Now we can all just die in here, because they're not going to let you out.  This doesn't, like you, doesn't care about anyone but himself and he can fetch a decent price and prestige for a few of us, I'm sure."

He rolled over and faced the wall.  "Oh, well.  We tried."

[Arcata Kadir]

Arcata's eyes flicked from the direction she heard Aurora's voice in back to the guard. There was just a second, where he was weighing her words but hadn't made a decision. Just a second where she might be able to undo the damage. She needed a point of leverage.

There. On his left sleeve, a red stripe with a black mark shaped like an arc with sharp projections inward. A styled fanged maw, gaping wide. Somehow, out of somewhere in the back of her head, two words came to her.

Rabid Rancors.

With the words came a slurry of information. Swoop gang. Nar Shadda. Arcata was dimly alarmed that she had no idea why she had such detailed recollections of a minor swoop gang so readily memorized, but in this case it was useful. She remembered they were bitter rivals with the far larger and richer Black Vulkars gang.

"Gavin, pay attention!" she shouted angrily. "I want you to take note of this." She then got near the forcefield and directed her voice in Aurora's direction. "Whoever you are over there, you've made a very bad decision crossing me! One word from me to the rest of the Black Vulkars, and you'll never have safe berth anywhere in this arm of the galaxy! There's no outrunning us!"

Inwardly she tensed, subconsciously trying to prepare for the incoming blaster bolt, even though she knew it wouldn't make a difference. All Operatives were subjected to stun bolts during training and remembered very well how it felt. She also knew from experience that there were a lot of variables. It wasn't impossible that she'd get lucky...

Hopefully Gavin would listen to her and break out of his funk...and if not, hopefully she could fend this ganger off. Thin hopes, but much better than none.

[Gavin Qel-Droma]

"Emperor's ass cheeks!" Gavin flew up from his slab and stomped to the particle screen.  "Some of us are trying to relax before we're collared and sold back into slavery.  But you wouldn't know that because you've never been!"

[Persuasion, 20] He looked at the guard.  "Stun her.  Please?  Just shut her the hell up so I can get some rest.  So we can all get some damn peace and quiet.  Because until you do, she's just going to keep raising hell, I know.  I live with her."