Log:Jedi Order: Fearful Symmetry

Jedi Order: Fearful Symmetry

OOC Date: July 12, 2021
Location: Selonia
Participants: Jedi Order: Rune, Jax Greystorm, Kasia Ashkuri, Aryn Cortess, Qutha Buvu Pah, Zandra naMuriel, Yuun, and Rey Skywalker with Ben Solo

Selonia is an aquatic world, most of the surface covered by vast, deep oceans. Rather than building on the water, the Selonian people expanded underground, digging an enormous network of connected warrens that criss-cross the planet's crust beneath the waves. Even large cities thrive, hive-like, all below the cover of cavernous ceilings.

Zifa had sent the Jedi a transmission, a holomessage in the same flickering blue as every other tinting her normally ashy skin a different hue. "Jedi, your Ben Solo has told me of the deal you brokered with the Hutt for information of my people. Please bring them home to us." Her eyes sharpened. "And make the an'on'gala pay for what they have done to us."

Received on the way in, the Jedi had watched it together after rendezvousing and now it hangs in their minds as they head deep into the underbelly of Selonia's tunnels. The area they are descending into is not like the civilized areas. This is a lawless place where self-respecting Selonians, with their honest morals, are never found. That is not to say there are no Selonians here; some of the tall, streamlined aquatic mammalians do roam the passages, but they are outcasts, the liars, a sin no hive can tolerate.

"So this is where a Hutt's kidnapping business partner likes to loiter," Ben remarks with scant surprise, flat tone indicating his lack of pleasure at finding the Vice Row exactly as seedy and dilapidated as its reputation would suggest. "We're looking for these Acolytes, but I don't imagine they will have left a sign for us. Keep your eyes and ears open."

"That probably would be too much to ask, a sign that says, 'Hello Jedi, we are this way. Please come and find us with haste.'" Rune remarks, clutching his robes around him as they trek through the seedy underbelly of the undersea tunnels. Hazel eyes find some of the planet's residents as they pass, surprised at the unique nature of their appearance. Rune still isn't rather world wise, quite the opposite of it really. He's learning as quickly as he can but still seems to be far behind what should be acceptable for society.

Regardless, the young Jedi peers in the darkened corners as they walk, one hand reassuring himself of the poorly held together cylinder of metal that was precariously attached to his belt. "I have a bad feeling about this." He states after receiving a particularly nasty look from one of the denizens of this realm.

Jax walked with the group. "You know for being from this system, this is my second trip to Selonia." He says as his eyes wonder around the tunnel they walk down eyeing the various signs selling vices in the different dens. "That's probably your common sense speaking to you, Rune." Jax says offering a nod to one of the Anamorphic Ottos that also call the Corellian District home. "Some of us have a history of not listening to it. You should. Things might go better for us. Any word on which establishment has connections to the slave trade?" He asks Ben.

"It would be so nice if they did though, wouldn't it?" Kasia remarks on the matter of the sign as she adjusts the bag that dangles from one shoulder, head turning to regard the space around them suspiciously. "They're rarely that helpful." The area is sketchy and that fact isn't lost on her, taking the strap of her bag and looping it over her head so it is worn across her body and at least marginally harder to steal. "I feel like if you're down here and you don't have a bad feeling, you probably need to ask yourself why, because this place is made up of bad feelings."

The tall feline species, Selonians, occupied Aryn's mind as she recalled one of the vineyard workers on her family's estate staff working the fields. From Aryn's recollection, the raspy speaking, heavily accented, tall fur-babies were an ornery bunch of inherent rebels that saw little to no personal rights in their home system. Liika, the Selonian back on New Alderaan, had been a stowaway, and landed on the cold world to find some place new. Little did Liika know, she'd be brought in as family among the Coles and cherished to her last living years.

Liika's absence in Aryn's life left the blonde with a melancholic expression. Aryn occupies the rear of the group for now, a bit out of her element with regard to rough-and-tumble places like these. Her gloved hands idly picked at each other out of inherent, nervous habit, and she listened to the others as they spoke.

He didn't have to stay on Nal Hutta, he might have learned things; all likely unpleasant. But he was here with them all still, "Suppose I look bumpkin enough to be bait for them as well, should these kidnappers prowl for targets here as well." He is walking with a big pair of goggles on his face to enhance the light so that he isn't stumbling about in the dark lit up like a life-day tree with his glow-rods.

Now he just has big goggles on his face to allow him to see in the gloom without stumbling about blind as a stone. Despite his jest he fixes up his face some, straying further from the others and looking particularly vulnerable and uncitified. Nothing odd here, just Qutha out Quthaing.

Eyes and ears open. So - par for the course. Zandra takes a breath, running a quiet and quick meditation exercise to keep herself calm. She grins at the interactions between the others, but stays quiet, intent on reaching out to maybe see what direction might be good. Or if she can spot something shiny out of place. She does glance at Aryn, and matches her steps to the doctor's, giving Aryn a nod, making sure that they don't leave anyone alone, if she can manage it. Her hands are at her waist, keeping a hopefully inobtrusive hold on the cylindrical tube that is her lightsaber, beneath her cloak. And then she turns to watch Qutha, opening her mouth and then closing it. Just not sure what to say at this point.

Yuun hasn't been to Selonia before so this was pretty new and exciting for him. Who says Jedi don't crave excit.....oh yeah Master Yoda. Still there is a bit of a childish smile to his face. Walking down the ramp after the others, remembering the details of the mission at hand, he stuffs his hands into his short pockets. "Well regardless of signs, and what was just asked, do we know where the slave trade establishments are?" he asks.

As Yuun asks, his eyes begin scanning their surroundings, he takes in a calming breath and relaxes as he too, attempts to watch their surroundings.

Rey is wearing a dark blue warp around her shoulders with a hood sewn in to it. The hood is up over her head, her hair tied in to a braided ponytail that she drapes over her right shoulder to lay down her chest and the dark blue fabric covering her white clothing. Her hands are on the strap of her satchel, clutching the strap clsoe to her stomach where it clips to the bag itself.

She walks with the others, her eyes roaming around the denizens of this place. It's a ... bad place, one doesn't need the Force to sense that.

She looks to those within their group who are speaking, but otherwise stays quiet herself. She does glance toward a group of children, and actually considers for a second that growing up here is probably worse than what she survived...

Maybe!

Who is to say whether it's better to grow up abandoned but self-reliant in the desert or on the mean streets of a criminal underworld? The children under Rey's glance catch her looking and quickly scamper off to plot how to rob her most effectively from the nearest alley.

"All of them, probably," Ben answers Jax with a sour look down the row.

The children are not alone in noticing the Jedi. Robes and cowls of such a simple yet stately design are not the norm here, and nor are such upright postures as the group carry themselves in. Many eyes follow them as they move in a clump down what passes for a street here in this main tunnel. Alleys veer off to the left and the right, many branching pathways they could follow. But how to know they're heading in the right direction to find anything?

"Reach out with your senses. Trust your intuition. The Force has a way of guiding things together, even if the way it happens isn't always... convenient."

Rune steps quicker to keep up with the rest, a comfort felt being with a group as reliable and capable as this one. But the advice given, bolstered by Ben's recommendation, emboldens the man and he concentrates on that instinct, tapping into the Force to reach out and feel about him. Even if he hadn't had a successful scry, the gloom and grime of this place permeates everything and a shudder slips up and down his spine.

Rune's eyes slide shut and he reaches out to concentrate on their surroundings. This time the Force is with him and the Ysannan feels a faint pull from the alley on the right. Hazel eyes slip open and he finds himself staring that direction, a hand lifts and he motions off down the tunnel. "I believe they are this way." He remarks, confident and turning to stride in the direction indicated.

As the group tarvel following Rune as a guide. THen Jax takes over as they come up on the left, "We need to go down that way to the left. It's the pull of the force." He frowns, "And It wouldn't be proper to shut them all down but I would consider it." He says in consideration of them all being slave operations.

"I think this place might actually be worse to grow up in than Nar Shaddaa," Kasia remarks, nose crinkling as she shoots a look down an alley where some of those plotting children ran off to. "All the crime, and grime, and not even the illusion of open sky. Maybe that is just my dislike of enclosed spaces like this talking though." Suspicious eyes turn upward to the ceiling overhead as though fearing that it might crash in on them at any moment, and the ocean along with it. "There is a lot of slave trade her. Hex and I had a few dealings here when helping people, though not so much that it'll be much help to us here today. But there is a lot of traffic that comes through here."

She shuffles along when Rune directs the first branch in their path, shoving aside thoughts of rocks falling and everyone dying to focus on the path ahead instead. Which hopefully doesn't involve any falling rocks. The path veers left and she moves along until it's her turn to get a pull from the fore. "Ah, oh no. We have to go this way." The oh no is likely due to the fact that she has to bend down slightly to even fit into this corridor, the ceiling is so low. "Watch your heads!"

Aryn returned Zandra's nod, taking the gesture as a confirmation of solidarity more than anything else. She stayed by the Jedi Knight's side. After a while of walking, Aryn has put to practice what Ben told them to do. Reach out to the current of the Force, feel its will and trust their feelings deep down on where to go. Aryn was not one to wholly trust something she could not scientifically explain, especially given her aptitude at reading a making maps. However, she experienced a particular clarity that eventually brought them to a hatch in the floor.

It was easy to pass up, truly, but Aryn clicked on her flashlight and shined the cone of light over the hatch. "This be the next direction we take." Already hunched over and in a narrow pass, Aryn pulls the hatch open and holds the light and door there so the others may go ahead of her. "There are rungs for your feet and hands; a ladder into the abyss.." They only need to hear deep bass war drums for this trip to be complete.

Moving like a being more used to strolling down orchard lanes than anything else, Qutha lets his senses expand - and even lifts his goggles only to be met with a chiaroscuro nightmare of no outlines and only shapes cast in the various lights of the tunnels to greet him. Turning a circle and almost tripping over his own feet before the goggles are back in place.

"I think we might just be in the wrong place entirely... Nothing seems a proper path..." lips pursing as he turns about again. "Rune are you sure?" Qutha certainly doesn't sound sure. "Wait wha?" stepping towards Kasia only to have his vision white out when he makes intimate contact with the hunk of wall that blocks his face, turning the rest of what he says into, "Mpphrpble-OW!" stepping back slightly - only for Aryn to begin saying she knows the way.

Unsure of what to decide, what fresh hell awaits him at this point. These people are mad.

Zandra follows along, gaze going from one jedi to the next as they follow each other with a tug. She too reaches for the Force, automatically. As they get to where most have to duck, perhaps the shorter members of the group have an advantage. However, climbing down to the bottom of the ladder that Aryn finds brings Zan to a terrible realization. "It stinks down here," she says. "Are we in the sewer - of course we are. Just wonderful." She takes as light a breath as she can, trying not to smell that terrible stench. She looks around, with whatever light there is, and also the Force, trying to sense directions. The walls are cylindrical and caked in sludge. "Ick." The roof is still low, and the passage stretches out in two directions. Zan looks to the left, then the right, then back to the left. "I think we need to go this way," she says, feeling the tug of the Force now. "To the right, if I follow the pull I've got."

Rey watched the children dart down that dark corner and she remembered doing similar things when she was their age, at Niima Outpost. As the group she's with move onward, she follows after them, but in her wake something drops from her person and lands in the shadows the children had gone, a week's worth of rations packaged in a sealed silver slip.

People used to give Rey things, it was time to pay it forward, or so she hoped.

Aryn's flashlight is what Rey is following now, her eyes scanning around the corridors, reminded of the Star Destroyers she used to pilfer for parts, all manner of unpleasant nostalgia touching her mind here. She nods toward Zandra and to the others. "Keep your senses alert, we're likely disturbing any number of locals who don't think we belong here."

They don't belong here either!

Rey ducks under the low hanging environment, having almost run her head right in to it! That was close!

It appears the Jedi may not actually need a sign left out for them, with their reliance on the Force as a guide. Ben is a large man, and the tight quarters of the path they have chosen is difficult for him to fit himself into. His hair hangs in his eyes as he bends and crouches and otherwise squeezes his lanky frame down to size. The twists and turns lead them progressively deeper into Selonia's dirty secrets, until the sewer tunnel eventually exits out.

The view beyond the lip of the pipe they've come through is impressive, in its way. A miniature city deep deep underground, a shanty-town constructed of left-over parts from the shipyards, and everywhere the cages. The same familiar cages that fell from the back of the black ship as it fled Dathomir. The same cages that hauled away Zifa's friends and family. Some of them are filled, many of them are empty, as collared people of every species and race mill in lines through the little 'streets', nothing more than gaps between the shacks and cages. Among them are the guards, black-clad figures with weapons, herding them to and fro, and in the far distance, a row of generic-looking ships, clearly chosen for their unremarkable features, sits waiting to do what is done with merchandise.

The drop from the pipe to the outskirts of the shanty-cage town is a short one, and the liquid dribbling out puddles under the nearest cages.

"I am sure, Q." Rune responds, moving along in the lead until the sense of direction leaves him. Fortunately Jax pips up and takes over causing Rune to swivel and follow the rest of the group. Little by little they work their way through the maze by committee, the lot stepping through the opened portal that Aryn holds to pass down the ladder. The darkness that arrives is oppressive, especially with the bad feelings that radiate from this area as a feature.

The place they find is even less pleasant, which is a shock, and Rune tries to pinch his nose as they progress. He's not terribly tall but even he has to duck to follow along, peering ahead into the darkness wondering what they'll find next... what's next is by far the worst, the captured folk nearly piled on top of each other in this filth, caged like beasts while being proded from place to place.

Rune steps forward to drop out of the tunnel, landing softly on the ground below. Unfortunately the Ysannan chose the most obvious of places to hide while waiting for the rest of the group to assemble. "What shall we do?" He asks the rest, failing to notice the pairs of eyes that had turned his way with the botched attempt to arrive unseen.

Jax quickly drops down like Rune. Then using the force to pull the shadows around himself concealing him. He takes up a place not far from the young Ysannan. His hand going to his saber and there's a slight frown as the stun saber he's carrying is felt in his hands. He waits for somebody to move toward Rune to try to add the young man to the collected slaves.

Kasia isn't far behind Jax, dropping down with minimal jangle on bracelets -- because she wisely only wore one on each wrist -- and then steps into the shadows. Unlike most of the time, this time she tries to cloak herself in them, surprising herself when she feels it work. Poof, she's gone, just like that. Sticking to the shadows, she begins to move, trying to get a better look around from her skulking vantage point.

Spoken low, Aryn's whispered voice follows over comms. <<"Pff..this thing on?-- Those people, the collared ones being coerced to move, are being led to ships. If we are to have any impact here, we need to find a way to keep the ships here, then deal with.. whoever is in charge..">> Aryn's two credits given, she turns her focus toward those closest to them, and she finds they're just milling about with no sense of purpose or direction. It makes Aryn think that people have to come to select what they want and move them out. For now, she crouches down, not quite a master of the skills the others have at moving shadows around them.

Following Rune's lead, Qutha decides to hunker up some, keep as out of sight as he can be - a curious feat; unused to being without announcement lights showing him off. The cages and the shakes have drawn his features out and turned his skin waxy, yellow green like dying grass really and the goggles shift with the widening of his eyes.

He's all somewhat senseless at the moment, the nightmare conditions and others quite literally wrapping themselves in darkness. That's absolutely nightmarish. Absolutely. What in the force is he looking at. THIS is the fresh hell that awaited him. This. He manages to keep his composure just the same as he looks back into the 'town', unsure of next steps and waiting for others lead. Far and well outside of his wheelhouse.

Fortunately. Still tucked away and hidden, decidedly closer to Aryn who isn't wrapping herself in pure nightmares.

Zan sees Jax and Kasia slink into the shadows, and she grins. Of course she's going to try that too because - well, if she has to hide, it won't be pretty. She hears Aryn and whispers back in the comm, << "I'm heading towards the ships. >> At least they will know what her goal is, even if they don't see her right away. She drops down, reaches for the shadows and hides herself, then starts slowly and carefully making her way towards the ships. << "is there a nice big door we can jam closed so the ships can't get out? >> she adds.

Yuun had been quiet during most of the travel here, he' isn't all that tall but not short either, standing at 5'10 and not all that bulky, he's able to move pretty easily through the sewers. Taking in as much information from the others as he could, Yuun needed to see what was going on, so when they arrive in the under dewelling he moves off to get a abetter vantage point but still keeping out of sight. Taking his time, he sees the number of slavers and he watches the patterns of the patrol. His heart went out to the people in cages, but right now they needed proper recon before they moved.

Upon seein the information, Yuun activates his throat mic, "I see 20 slavers some moving towards the ships and some herding the people in cages." he says as he keeps crouched behind some crates he found. "If we can disable the ships, that stops them from being able to run."

Through the muck and grime Rey trudges along, having learned to wear full boots in to places like this rather than her ankle boots she much prefers for agility purposes... "Lovely." She mutters under her breath shortly before they reach the location with the cages and the ships off beyond them.

She watches the others spread out, some vanishing in to the shadows and the others remaining together, Aryna nd Rune. "They've been seen." Rey mutters, to BEN as she glances over at him. She pushes forward and drops down out of the passage they'd been in, her boots smacking on the ground as she steps toward the two who are out i nthe open.

"Well, this should be interesting..." Rey looks toward the cages and starts foward, her left hand under her satchel now resting on her saber hilt... She's apparently not hiding from the ones who have already potentially spotted them.

Most of the Jedi slip in under the radar. Not Rune. He's above the Rune-dar. He isn't spotted by the guards, not immediately. He's spotted by dozens of captive slaves.

"Help us! Help, save us! You have to get us out of here!" It starts as a solitary cry, but before long it spreads to a few others, and in short order every captive in the vicinity has taken notice and begun calling out for rescue. A few even recognize the robes, and "Jedi!" is yelled here and there, mostly drowned out by the plain shouts for help.

The guards, dressed as they are in familiar black gear, whirl towards this new set of noise: the noise of HOPE. They home in on it, their rifles snapping up, with several taking off towards the ships, the slaves they were herding forgotten for the moment.

The ships themselves begin to hum and whine, prepping for launch, and the guards out among the cages turn their guns away from Rune and towards their prisoners.

"They mean to exterminate them all," Ben mutters from the pipe, dark eyes taing in the scene unfolding below. "It's what I would have done." Stealth abandoned, he hops down the short drop. "Move /now/. There's no time."

As if on cue, the first shot rings out, and all hell breaks loose.

The words that grab his attention are not from his companions who are laying out the plan, instead they're from the folk that spotted his less than stealthy approach. Even as he waves them down, pleading with no words for them to be silent, the noise picks up and regard of the Guards is acquired. "Kriff..." he mutters, tugging the black cylinder from his belt as a bit of the hilt clatters off the floor and bounds into the murk beyond. Fortunately the lightsaber itself doesn't break when the button is depressed, brilliant green energy blazing to life to drive back the gloom.

The only plan given is obeyed and Rune dashes ahead, swinging hard at the nearest guard threatening to end the life of one of their unarmed and helpless prisoners. A savage cut and the guard goes down, subsequent attacks driving back the two nearby as spins and twirls narrowly miss dropping that pair as well. Rune's hazel eyes peer over the ignited blade, watching the despicable folk as they gather to dispose of their 'wares'. "You are the worst...." he informs the next nearest guard, a strong phrase from the youthful savage.

As the sounds of blasters begin to ring through the crowd, Jax appears with his stun saber in his hand. The silver blade extending out as Jax triggers the weapon. "Guess we'll have to see how this works." Jax goes charging as the force carries him to his destination. His stun saber slashing out with a couple of quick strikes to drop the guard. "I'm going to have to get my saber back."

Kasia may have missed those initial set of eyes that spotted Rune, she may have even missed the first few chants. When it begins to grow, however, it's impossible to not hear it. Especially not the occasional call of Jedi. SPOTTED. The time to skulk has come to an end, especially as she ignites the pink saber that gives away her position, casting her in a similar light as she steps forward to slash at one of the slaver guards trying to herd slaves onto the ships. "Don't let them take you. We're here to help, fight back!" she calls out to the slaves, slashing her blade at another of the guards who proves to be a bit more adept at diving out of the way than his buddy.

Aryn moves through the pandemonium and chaos, darting from one side and juking to the next. She even runs right into someone and gets cast back like she's nothing more than a flimsy presence. She gets back up though and presses toward the ships, not willing to let the source of this chaos get away. Observing that the ramps are up, Aryn reaches to the holster stationed at her lower back to pull out an S5. She didn't need a ramp to get into the ship, just needed to reach the cockpit and cut her way through the tranparisteel with her lightsaber. Despite the presence of guards, she triggers her weapon to harpoon mode, and extends her pistol out to deploy the hook (next round.)

Just like that it's mayhem and the lightsabers come out. Head dropping for a moment, Qutha's stun blade is kept at his belt while others go forth. Face drawn and standing, Qutha looks towards Jax, brows knit, "Maybe a more powerful stun saber?" all this butchery. Slavers or no. Always the killing.

Qutha makes the choice and attempts to use guards against guards with a quick sweep of his hand - with the unfortunate effect of looking... like he might need more bran.

Zan had been headed to the ships, but as they close up, and the guards turn on their prey, she alters her course. She turns on her heel, possibly behind at least one of the guards, and her saber is ignited in a heartbeat. There's the sound of the lightsaber sizzling through the air as Zan attacks. The first guard doesn't even see her, before he hits the ground. She then picks another target, and moves in to attack. As she's moving targets that guard is able to dodge her first swing, but she cuts through, and disables him with her riposte, coming back around to remove the guard's arms. "No more shooting innocent people," she says tightly, as she looks for who to next protect or attack.

Yuun was able to see where all the slavers were in relation to them, the ships and the captured people. Yuun rushes from behind covers, quickly moving towards the cages, his blade is unlit to hide his approach. Once he is within range of a group of three guards, Yuun flips on the activation stud of his lightsaber. The weapon comes alive with the snap-hiss of it's activation. Yuun drops to his knees and slides within the group cutting one of the slavers down, easily shifting and transitioning to his feet, there is no wasted movement as he flicks his wrist out wiht a quick slash to the second slaver, but the attack misses. Following through and spinning to his left, he drags the blade horizontally across the third slaver cutting him down. Leaving only one standing against him.

With the chaos breaking out, Rey is watching it unfold and quickly draws her hands out from under her blue cloak. She raises her hands up and closes her eyes for a moment as she focuses on the Force around them. She can hear the sabers turning on, the blasters being fired, and the sounds of screams from the innocents.

She raises her chin up and opens her eyes. The Force flows through her, around her and extends out from her to create a protective barrier.

"This way!" Rey shouts to the captives. "Come to me for safety! Get behind me to be safe!" She shouts, trying to make her voice heard over the sounds of fighting and general mayhem.

The guards are relentless in their single-minded extermination of the slaves. With cold precision they gun down captive after captive, many of them unable to run as they are locked in cages, many immobilized by the stun collars around their necks, many running wildly in all directions trying to escape being shot. Desperate hands grab for Aryn as she passes, but she has another objective in mind and those prisoners will need to look elsewhere for rescue.

The Jedi quickly make a dent in the guards' extermination force, but the slaves are lightly dressed in little more than rags and every pull of the trigger is devastating. Ben moves in after the others, pushing through the scattering captives until the lightsaber activating in his hand encourages them to move away. Closing in on one of the guards, he lashes out twice and is evaded both times before finally drawing a scorching line across the black-geared man's chest and dropping him to the floor.

Rey's small field of energy attracts a crowd of prisoners too large to fit behind it, packing in around the young woman against the shocks from their collars, latching onto her for protection, arms reaching out to touch her even as a few too far from her are shot down by the guards.

One by one, the ships start to lift off from the ground, scudding forward on repulsorlifts as visible as heatwaves roiling from pavement.

The sound of repulsorlifts activating and starting to thrust their ships skyward draws Rune's attention away from the guards nearby. These bastards have gotten away too many times... too many.... and he tries what seems impossible. His free hand shoots out in front of him, concentrating on the nearest ship that lifts from the ground, calling to the Force to work through him, with him, trying to stall the ship and bring it back down to the ground.

The strain is apparent on his face, beads of sweat immediately appear on his brow, and his eyes crinkle nearly closed with the effort. "NNnnnnnnh!!!!" He cries, the ship wavering a bit in his grasp... before he relinquishes the hold and the ship continues away unhindered. He holds the blade protectively in front of him while he tries to catch his breath, the attempt at bringing the ship down taking a lot from the novice Jedi.

"We can discuss the merits of the stun saber vs the lightsaber another time." Jax says as he continues to strike the captures with the training saber. "Right now we need to find a way to rescue people and I just don' t see to have the umph that a true saber provides."

"Go, go!" Kasia is trying to herd the poor slaves to the relative safety of Rey, eyes sweeping the chaos for the next guard. It's not too hard to find one, and she doesn't hesitate to rush right at the armored man and slash a molten gouge across his front so that he stumbles back. Another guard behind him sees this, but his reaction isn't fast enough to evade what miiiiight be a little bit of wrath on Kasia's part. It's not very jedi like, no, and she'll probably have to reflect on that a lot later. For now, down goes another guard. A third is targeted, but he's already turning away to try and escape the horrible pink death that's pursuing him. There's a slash of said weapon, but he's far enough out of reach that she misses, biting into the metal of one of the cages in the process

Aryn's grapple clamped onto the exterior hull of a ship and before Aryn could be attacked, she was hoisted upward, and crested the edge of its large wing. Recalling the hook, Aryn holstered the Theed-Arms weapon and moved for the cockpit from the /exterior/ of the ship, arriving moments later just as the vessel's VTOL engines adopted a hover. The 'ground' was unsteady and Aryn slipped, landing right in front of the viewport and rolling over to peer inside.

She suspects they had not expected to see someone up there, especially someone with a..

SNAP-HISS

..lightsaber.

Aryn plunged the blade into the tranparisteel, forging a hole of molten metal and breaking glass just large enough for her to drop inside. Aryn lands, her cape settling behind her and she raises her hand to attempt to cast the influence of forced reason over the pilot.

"You want to land the ship.." Nothing, well.. maybe he has to hear her?

"YOU WANT TO LAND THE SHIP!"

Nope.. still not landing the ship.

"Land the /damned/ ship!" Aryn wills the force to bash the pilot's head against the bulkhead to render them unconscious. She crosses the distance to pull them from their seat, initiate the landing protocol again, then...looks to the navcomputer to get a picture of the coordinates.

This wasn't Aryn's best work, and frankly she should have helped those in need outside the ships, but she's so tired of showing up only to see their lead get away.

Zandra can hope that her light saber creates mass hysteria in the guards. It ought to with how drastically it cuts through them. She keeps it moving as she heads towards the next set of guards, intending to stop them from killing anyone else. She can feel the Force, sense the changes in life, as there is death and pain. And suffering. Still, she moves, not stopping as that will only get someone else killed. She dodges random bullets and poor slaves, as she slices at another guard, missing her first attack, but that lightsaber energy sizzle might be one of the more intimidating sounds ever, next to the sound of a death star powering up. Zan half turns, and her saber slides back around to sizzle through the guard, and then she swings once more. "We are going to need healers fast as well," she calls out, thinking ahead. Though there are still too many guards, and wait --- Did that ship just land instead of taking off?

The force is flowing through Yuun, he can feel the winking out of life from those captives who weren't able to get to Rey. This only fueled him, "Everyone focus, and form up to protect our captives." he says as he moves to intercept an attack coming to a captive near him.

Yuun focuses his attention on another group of Slavers. He takes down the one he missed the last time, making sure he didn't get away from him. Yuun pushes neegative thoughts from his mind, he had too. 'We can do this.' he lets out a breath as he quickly side steps a slaver and take out another. His movements aren't slow but he missed another attack, so he jumps back to keep himself in front of the nearest group of captured.

As the captives begin to pile up around and behind her, Rey keeps her hands up and extended. Her knuckles turn whiter with every passing moment of the strain of keeping that shield up, especially when blaster fire begins to cllide and splash against its protective barrier!

The hands of those captives that grab hold of her are keeping her on her feet, one hand pulling her hood back and down, trying to push her forward to make more room to get within the barrier.

It's a bit of a mess, to say the least, and the strain is becoming clearly greater with every moment that goes by as the shots keep coming in. "Get, behind me!" Rey says, seeing some of the captives being gunned down outside her range of ability to protect them. She furrows her brows and keeps her fingers splayed as she pushes the barrier outward as far as she's able to with a skill she's rarely ever delved in to using....

As the Jedi strike down the vast majority of the guards, the smoke slowly begins to clear as the few left standing throw down their weapons, apparently unwilling to die like their comrades. It's hard to say how many slaves were killed, but too many of the cages that were full are now still, no one left still alive inside. Four of the five ships escaped, but the casualties would have doubtless been absolute had the rescuers rushed past to stop them instead.

As it is, the massacre was brutal, but not complete, with weeping rescued captives now clinging to any available Jedi's robes, in disbelief at having been saved, in sorrow for those killed, and in relief at having not been one of them.

Now the full scale of what the Jedi have stumbled into is revealed. The Acolytes are not just snatching witches up for their rituals, meant to bring Sith spirits back from the Beyond. They're facilitating a massive slave trade. But where were the slaves going?

On the grounded ship, Aryn has the answer, spelled out on the navcomputer beneath the slumped figure of the pilot who would not listen to her polite suggestion but couldn't quite resist the more forceful one: the Spice Mines of Kessel.