Log:Knights of Ren: Until Proven Guilty

Until Proven Guilty

OOC Date: September 7, 2020
Location: Tirahnn
Participants: Knights of Ren: Vandred, Lizard Wizard, Jacali, Imani, and Malik Ren as GM

The short story: Malik Ren is innocent until proven guilty. Better get him out of jail before the guilty-proving starts.

The long story:

[Malik Ren]

Intelligence from spies in place on Chandrila (including Bazine Netal), and from Sebek's recent encounter with a pair of Jedi, has confirmed that Malik Ren has been moved out of Chandrilan security and onto a prison ship. There, he is meant to be held securely until the good, righteous, and just Republic can wade through its own bureaucracy to put together a trial. Why they're bothering with a trial is probably a complete mystery to all persons currently associated to the First Order or the Knights of Ren... but that's what makes these two clashing hegemonies different.

The prison ship spends as much time as possible in hyperspace, but it's a huge, resource-hungry vessel, and a heavy consumer of fuel. Intelligence has suggested that the ship will have to make a stop somewhere along the Perlemian Trade Route to refuel, and that the most likely spot is the mercantile world of Tirahnn, currently allied with the New Republic.

Tirahnn is a temperate world known for its massive bazaars and markets, the largest of which stretch for miles. There are so many beings on this bustling world, and so many close to the spaceport, that the Knights stand a better chance of slipping in and out unnoticed here than they would on a more desolate planet. However, the guards of the prison ship fully understand that refueling is their most vulnerable state, and they are wary.

The prison ship currently sits in a docking bay shaped like a well, with the spaceport/bay walls encircling the ship at the bottom of the 'well'. The Knights have an unseen vantage point up here, peering down at the ship, and the three guards patrolling near it, wearing armor and wielding rifles. A pair of security drones buzz around the vicinity, just waiting for some reason to sound the alarm, and spaceport-based droids are engaged in the refueling and maintenance checks of the ship. It is planetary evening, and the light is growing dim.

[Vandred]

The joys of bustling bazaars and the numerous alien species that exist in locations like this. It gives great opportunities for just standing and watching. Normally, that'd make you stand out more, but Vandred has had a lifetime of practice - ten minutes as a plump humanoid with a deep hunch, the robes helping hide armour and markings, half an hour as a stick thin waifish thing struggling to read a datapad - it all adds up.

Over the shared data network, via datapad or HUD, comes a series of notes and map overlays. Icons pop up to display guards and droids, as well as little dotted lines to track general pathing. Blink-clicking with a third eye on his forehead to help scan through the information. A third blink from his left eye as it scoots a data uplink squirt to her datapad, and the middle eye rolls back into his skull as the orb dissipates into his flesh. A little shoulder wriggle of discomfort as it causes his vertigo to spike before fading.

"<Uploaded information. The Mirialan seems to be lead. All of them have security keycards.>"

[Jacali]

The Arkanian doctor that hasn't accompanied anyone anywhere in far too long isn't a fan of getting her hands dirty personally. No. Jacali is, in fact, a member of the Waitansee Tribe of some distant and inhospitable world. This is what she does, perched as she is in this convenient place, casually setting up the e-web that her droid had been ferrying about for her, expertly assembling equipment she has become all too familiar with by now.

She pauses as Vandred's informations are relayed through her HUD, her head tilting by fractions to one side in her consideration of the readout he has provided. She takes in a slow breath through her nose, letting it out in a drawn out sigh as she turns her attentions toward the Seeker droid that has since taken up residence on her shoulders, ending out like some unnerving spider-legged shawl in its sprawling. "Witness," She begins, her tone low, muffled by the mask of her bug-eyed helm. "You will be our distraction. See if you can't draw the droids to your disturbance, scramble their sensors, do... whatever it is you do."

The large cyclopic red eye glows dimly, flickers as though it blinked (or winked?), before Witness lifts off from the good doctor and begins floating its way off on the mission it's been set on. Impreceivable by most, its work begins, the BB droid that has been rolling along behind Jacali providing some plaintiff beeps, boops and whines before it roll-scuttles away.

Sort of.

It's listing to the left.

... It's ... just rolling in a circle.

The Arkanian watches for a few brief moments, but returns to her setup. There's another pause as Sebek speaks, a vague quirk of the corner of her mouth in smirking lost behind the mask, "The result is the same. The method, I leave to you."

[Imani]

Imani is crouched at their perch above the ship, armor and helmet on with her weapon coiled at her side. "Well," she glances at any of the other knights that might be nearby. "I'm glad you all know how to deal with those droids, because my best plan was optimistically well timed violence, and that is always risky." She does take time to study the information shared over the HUD in her helmet, watching the icons for each person and droid appear. "So we wait for the droids to be taken out, and then assault the security?"

[Malik Ren]

Jacali's BB-droid isn't the only machine affected by whatever her Seeker is currently up to! All the droids in the process of refueling the prison transport suddenly also stop. Some just freeze in place, and some beep confusedly or perform erratic, repetitive movements, but in any event, they are no longer completing their maintenance. The Security Drones seem likewise affected. One drops straight out of the sky, landing on a ledge like a sad overturned beetle, and the other bumps gently into the side of the docking well, over and over. Bump. Bump.

The guards down below don't seem to have noticed that their own droids are acting up, because they're too distracted by the actions of the spaceport droids. "Hey, what the shik," the Mirialan complains, walking over to straight up boot one. Thunk! It metallic-clangs against his boot. "We're running out of time, our fuel and service window doesn't last forever! Get to it! What's wrong with you?"

The Mirialan just seems annoyed, and the human seems like a dull sort, but the Zabrak seems a little twitchy, starting to look around for something else that might be wrong. "I don't really like this," he hedges.

The E-Web is able to be assembled up there on the well ledge at the Knights' hidden perch, and in the dark, the guards haven't spotted it, or the Knights accompanying it.

[Vandred]

"<I'm going to make my way inside. At your own leisure, please. Thank you!>"

With that, Vandred slowly begins to saunter. It's an idle swagger, with a flick of the feet, a flick of the hands. The sort of movement that someone about to do some gymnastics would do, limbering themselves up. As he reaches an appropriate vent, out comes the E-11. THUMP. THUNK. WHUNK.

As soon as there's a gap wide enough for him to fit his helmet in, he pushes it in as he lets the E-11 slip back against his side. His shoulders pop, and bones slip out of joints as he lets his right shoulder hook against a small bump inside the vent, and he uses it to begin pulling himself in - the flesh rolling as it shifts muscles to help him move along. A clink as his heel thumps, and he yanks his heel inside his flesh - toes clicking as he drags the offending limb inside. He goes nice and loose as his body starts to move down into the vent fully, slipping down towards the well with shifts and twists of his frame, pulling himself through the vent with a combination of limbs pushed out at all sides, skittering his way down.

"<Doctor - if you would be so kind as to perhaps kill the Mirialan first?">

[Sebek]

The problem with lizardlike climbing is that it's not so good when you have shoes on. When you're dressed like a barbarian and all ready for some rip and tear goodness, then yes, you get toeholds because shoes are for the weak. In full armour with a battle cassock that gets in the way, a helmet that is slightly vision obscuring, and BOOTS, well...

Sebek hit the ground with a thud, in a pile of robes and frustration, sending up dust that was caught by the air filters in his mask and left a lovely film over the eye lenses. Great. Just great.

[Jacali]

<"I do hope you are all prepared."> Jacali's voice comes through on whatever secured line they might all be sharing, a slightly metallic tinge that hits the ear wrong -- unnatural and strange, though whether her vocaliser does this on purpose or not is largely left to question. Her movements, unlike Vandred's, are methodical. Her pace will not have her breaking any records for time, but one can be assured that whatever it is she's doing, she's doing it well and proper.

Her e-web is set up, and she slinks her way behind the controls and finishes the calibrations necessary, to some standard that she -hopes- will assure her hits scored on those that're still lingering about, kicking droids or whatever passes for fun these days. She spares only a moment to watch the Hunter Sebek begin on his climb, only to then land with that cartoonish poff of cloth and dust, her brows furrowing, her judgmental glaring nearly palpable even as her attentions slither back toward her upcoming task.

She should not be so judgmental.

Perhaps what comes next is karma.

It if it karma, however, she's more than happy to find a way to bend it to her advantage. <"Incoming."> It's the only warning anyone gets as that trigger is squeezed and a streak of angry, shrieking red burns through the air in the direction of the collected guards. The damage it leaves, cratering the ground where impact was made, suggests that should she be able to make contact when next she tries the result would be catastrophic. It hits none, but it does provide some much needed chaos to the still monotany of established markets ship refueling as people go scattering.

[Imani]

Imani's descent down to the lower level where the ship is docked is slower than Sebek, both before and after his fall, making her way down carefully until her booted feet hit the ground with a thump. "You still alive there?" she asks Sebek over the comms, assuming that since he's a sassy space wizard lizard, he survived the unexpected drop without a problem. The weapon on her hip is pulled loose, and with a snap of her wrist the segmented blades take on the rigid, more sword-like form. The warning of incoming fire is appreciated, both braced for the sound, keeping her distance from the line of fire while watching the guards for which directions they scatter in.

[Malik Ren]

INCOMING! E-web blaster fire sprays down like the wrath of an angry goddess! One of the refueling droids is hit and nearly vaporized with a shrieky electronic wail! Although the guards weren't hit by the spray, that powerful, devastating cover fire has them in complete disarray. They scramble to shoot back, with the Zabrak even taking a guess at where that fire came from -- but they're confused, disoriented, and startled, and they don't manage to do more than spray plasma bolts all over the walls.

"Fire! FIRE, we are UNDER ATTACK," the Mirialan is hollering over the noise. Duh, buddy. Dimly, distantly, he may be wondering why the drones didn't alert to anything, but it's too late for all that now.

The Zabrak has the presence of mind to run for the ship, frantically trying to swipe his card to get in, but it makes him an easy target...

[Vandred]

Slither.. Sli--Wait a second. Vandred's helmet pushes up against an opening in the vent he's slithering through, and he gets a good view on the action. The first bolts from the E-Web that sets everyone as targets. He withdraws his right arm from the vents wall as he bends at the waist, shifting his legs so his knees push evently into the walls and keep himself supported. The left arm brings up the E-11 and pushes the tip of the weapon against the vent. Its shifted until it finds an even point, and his HUD and the E-11's scope link together. His eye tracks it as his hand turns, pointing the weapon towards the Mirialan.

Squeeze. Pause. Squeeze.

The bolts impact at a staggered pace, accomodating the force of the modified E-11's high powered bolts to ensure it hits. He draws the weapon away from the sizzling grate that it rests upon, the backwash of the weapon having partially melted where the bolts had to come through. He begins to adjust to keep moving.

[Sebek]

Picking himself up off the floor, Sebek of the Desert issued a masked glower to She Who Slaughters before literally leaping into the fray. Tei Tenga erupted into furious life in the gap between the human's elbow and torso, an excellent demonstration of pinpoint accuracy that absolutely failed to do anything meaningful.

Kinda like Sebek.

The awkwardness didn't last long, because rectifying this embarrassment was as simple as pulling the saber to the left. VWROOOM. One became two, and two fell to the floor. "Ahai!" Nevermind that the battle cry was a bit late, Sebek had killed someone today, and his mood had improved immeasurably. Never let it be said that you can't be joyful while steeped in the Dark Side. His next slash was blind, and tore a chunk out of the prison transport next to where the Zabrak was standing. Never let it also be said that the Dark Side is a good substitute for using your /actual eyes/.

[Jacali]

Jacali is a straightforward creature.

Unless you actually know her, then this statement is laughable.

As the Zabrak goes for the door and others scramble to get control of the situation, she comes to the rational conclusion that it's highly unlikely she'll be able to score and accurate shot on any of the remaining individuals. Besides, her comrades seem to have them well in hand. With this in mind, she decides that she'll set about on a course of action that will keep this ship -here-, no matter what is awaiting them on the inside. She turns her attention to the engines, recalibrating the e-web before squeezing the trigger once again.

That screaming bolt is heard once again, searing the space between Jacali and her target with a flash, ending in an impact that devestates the engines that might've let them escape the coming retribution.

Explosions. Flames. Chaos.

This seems to be the theme of choice where the good doctor is concerned. <"Engines disabled. Repositioning."> She reports.

[Imani]

Imani's face cannot be seen due to the mask, but Sebek might be able to feel the power of the smile radiating out from within the dark head covering. "Good. I would have hated to see otherwise!" She sounds very sincere as she says it, and with a pep in her step, she charges right at the Zabrak. The poor guy, the smartest of the group, he is battered from behind with the heavy blade, THWAK right into the back of his skull. Another two blows follow in quick succession, and then she goes still. When she's reasonably assured that the man is at the very least so seriously hurt he's not likely to get back up again, she leans down to pluck the keycard from his fingers.

[Malik Ren]

These guards weren't total chumps! They did manage to survive a first round of e-web fire, which is no joke, and against normal assailants, they'd probably have managed to defend their ship and their lives very competently. But there is a stars-damned lightsaber here, a chain-whip, an e-web! Crafty droids... and A MAN WHO CAN SLITHER. His slither game is on point. It shouldn't be thought of alone at night, it's too upsetting.

The Knights of Ren are not normal assailants.

A series of popping, tearing, booming noises accompanies Jacali's assault on the engines, and fire has bloomed bright in the now-dark of planetary night fall. It sheds some light on the dead Zabrak's hand, and the key-card he's still holding. Between the fact that it never got refueled and serviced, and the enormous structural damage, this ship is not going anywhere, regardless of what forces still remain inside.

It's an easy task to use the key card to open the ship's hatch. Once the team does this, what greets them inside are sleek white corridors, left and right. The lights have dimmed to red alert lights, and some fire-suppressant foam is hissing down from the ceiling in a few places.

It's not really clear where to go, but no one is shooting at them, so there's that. No one is shooting YET anyway.

[Vandred]

Out comes Vandred from the vent. It's probably awful to watch as he shoves his head out after kicking out the vent, his neck too flexible to be comfortable as he slops his head off to the side, his body sagging as his shoulder moves to allow him to basically yard half of his upper torso out. What follows is a man unraveling himself from the small vent entrance until he begins to pick himself up as he starts jogging.

He goes from a slovenly slouch to an upright trot in a matter of moments, his form solidifying as he kneels down beside one of the guards. Pat pat, pull pull.. Credit chip tossed aside as he roots around and produces a datapad. A cursory glance at the filthy screen, and he taps the main smudge a few times as the lock lights up, and then he's accessing the pad. "<Starboard-Aft wing is where he is located, although it appears they've got him unconscious for another twenty four hours, approximately. Doctor, I believe your presence inside will be required.>"

[Sebek]

"So the fleshbag says. Then there we must proceed." Fleshbag. A stand-in, until the bone-breaking shifter got a name. It'd do for now. Sebek stalked through the corridors like a lothcat on the hunt, slowly, cautiously and yet with confidence. Tei Tenga, ignited, furious, hung limply by his side, biding its time until the slaughter resumed. As he stalked, he searched. Cameras. Speakers. This was a prison ship, clearly they would be watching. And they were, for there was the orb of vision in the corner, turning to observe its doom. Sebek stopped, stood quietly, and then spoke.

"COWARDS OF THE REPUBLIC!" he decreed, his voice erupting through the corridors of the vessel now that he knew he was being watched. "You have invited doom into your home! You stand as chaff in the wind on our path to our goal!" He raised his left gloved hand and clenched it. "You may pray to your god for salvation, but you are warned," he now reached the hand forward and invisibly gripped the camera, "/I/ will not be listening."

CRUNCHSPARKNOISES. The camera imploded on itself, crushed by pride and ego made manifest.

[Jacali]

<"Disassemble and relocate."> Jacali speaks, though it's not likely to the other members of the Knights. After all, that would sound like an order, and that's so very unlike her.

cough.

It's not long before Witness is hovering his way back up to her location, using the chaos as cover, as intended. No longer needing to scramble the droids, her BB stops its listing circular meandering to assist in whatever fashion its capable of. The doctor waits patiently for the e-web to be taken apart and hoisted by Witness. She makes her way to the edge of her perch, and stands triumphantly observing the havoc that has been laid down in this field of battle. Silently, she smiles to herself some self-satisfied, undoubtedly super smug smile even as the limbs of her droid have reached out to grip on to her armour by anchors built into her custom design.

She is lifted, hovered toward her compatriots, and very neatly set on the ground where Witness then disengages and floats forward with her steady pace bringing Jacali along behind it.

<"There's little chance that those left within have not been well and truly alerted to our presence, so proceed with caution."> She speaks as she walks, going silent as she listens to Vandred speak, before returning, <"I had assumed. A standard precaution, especially when one is dealing with one with his ..."> A momentary hiss of dead airspace before she continues, <"... Afflictions."> She informs evenly as she prepares to board, Witness coming to perch atop her shoulders once again, his limbs creeping over her collarbones in his 'resting', that singular oculus casting a haunting crimson glow against the pitch of her armour.

Sebek's antics are a vague annoyance and little more to the good doctor, her pace slowing as he goes about his issued challenge, waiting for more sturdy individuals to take up the working front and soak aggression in the hopes that she will not have to. <"If you're quite finished, we must press on. The prey can no longer flee, but it can lash out in desperation. With every passing moment, our task grows more difficult.">

[Imani]

Swipe goes the keycard, and in they go. Imani keeps the key-card in one hand, and her weapon in the other, turning her head both left and right as the pathways before them are considered. It's only when Vandred says where their fearless, unconscious Ren is that she turns toward the right corridor, only pausing to look back at Sebek. "I'm sure they are rightly terrified now," she assures him with that relentless cheer of hers. "I know I would be if I were witnessing that. So, wait... Malik is asleep? Do we have something to wake him up, or is this going to be shoulder carry him out like a sack of tubers?"

[Malik Ren]

It isn't clear exactly why Malik Ren is (supposedly) unconscious - the datapad Vandred found doesn't say. All it indicates is that they did expect they had a little space of time in which he wouldn't be conscious enough to cause havoc. He has mentioned to Jacali in the past that his kind of mutant sorcerous freaks are not immune to drugs or poisons, and perhaps that has something to do with it?

The interior of the ship smells like acrid smoke, but there are no live flames... perhaps because many patches of the corridors are covered in slippery fire-retardant foam. It could be slippery to the point of being hazardous, but the Knights are sure-footed, and no one suffers a fall. Their helmets and masks protect them from the worst of the burning-engines smell that plagues the ship.

As they travel, tiny viewports in the ultra-secure cell doors reveal occupants within -- in some sections, two to a cell, in others, just one. There are male and female and Other beings here, humans and near-humans, Bothans and Quarrens and every description of Alien. No Malik Ren, not yet, but the prisoners are all beating at the doors, their mouths or mouth-parts moving. They want to be let out, but their cries to that effect cannot be heard.

The starboard-aft section is festooned with more cameras, ominous places that look like turret guns may appear... and in the main entrance, a foreboding security droid stands ready for trouble, one red eye glowing dimly. No organics have been found - maybe they all locked themselves somewhere else so they don't run into Sebek. But the droid is unimpressed.

"Please provide the code phrase," the droid instructs, in a pleasant female voice. "Failure to provide correct code phrase will result in immediate termination."

[Vandred]

"<This is why we have the Doctor. She will know when she gets there what we need to do. Worry about what you have to do. You have to get the Doctor to the target.>" Vandred's sage wisdom is probably aimed towards himself rather than anyone else, and he brings up his E-11.

He starts in a gentle jog, moving his way through the foam as best he can to keep up a decent pace. Those that he goes past are skimmed - checked for faces from recent bounties - before he slows himself down so that as they start to reach the starboard aft section, he's moving far more conservatively, and the E-11 is raised.

[Sebek]

Code phrase? Two plus two in Sebek's head finally resulted in four, and in lieu of just cutting down this impudent droid where he stood, he thought, no, that would just result in turrets popping out and killing everyone but him. Not that he really cared, but...

"She Who Instructs," he began, turning to face the... Sebek wasn't entirely sure what species She Who Instructs was, she physically looked like nothing he'd ever seen, but in the end it wasn't important. "Please," Sebek should never be polite, it sounded too oily, "have your droid provide the... code phrase."

[Jacali]

... Curious ...

From inside their cells, several on the way to their destination will see Jacali's emotionless mask appear in their view, tilting to one side, and then back to the other. Her head bows slightly as she looks downward toward the mechanisms that keep the doors shut. There's the soft sound of her lips smacking once over comms, before she issues an order in tinny tone. <"... Release them."> She intructs of the rolly little menace, whom then issues forth a very soft, pitchy 'wooOOoo'. Whether it likes this idea or not is left to question, but the Arkanian doesn't seem to care.

She leaves the BB droid to its appointed task as it rolls from point to point, releasing the locking mechanisms on each even as Jacali turns on her heel and begins to stride after the others, <"Remember who freed you."> She speaks, as even as ever, as cool and calculated as one might come to expect of her.

When Sebek speaks to her, her head once more bows vaguely in his direction, <"Witness,"> She begins, <"Locate generated passcode necessary for passage."> She concludes. It takes a few moments, but the Seeker carries out its task with the same gusto as the BB that is only now rolling up behind her before stopping against her ankle with a 'wheep, weeoo', presumably informing her of its successes.

"... I've found something." The seeker's vocoder provides. "But there is a conflict."

Jacali takes in a quick breath through her nose, <"... Go on.">

"Well," Witness's little grabbers click together with soft metallic chiming. "There's more than one... but it isn't clear which is correct. Hawkbat down, and Nightscowl incoming." It goes on, "Do you wish for more information as to the recovery of this information?" One can practically see the flashing _ after the y/n option.

Her head turns toward the others, as though wanting their opinions before she continues.

[Imani]

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared for the possibility that we might have to carry him," Imani remarks to Vandred in an easy going way as she looks around, moving to one of the doors they pass so she can peer into the viewport. When Jacali reaches the door she's at, she retreats a few steps to watch the door slide open. "Your best bet is to just go straight out," she advises the prisoners that have been let loose. The question from Jacali inspires a shrug from the cheerful knight. "I guess we just try one and see if it works? Unless you have some way of figuring out the right one."

[Malik Ren]

The cell doors of the main wing open, and all of a sudden, all the noise and screaming that was hidden behind the soundproof doors... it is released, and it is deafening. Prisoners begin to pour out of their cells! Some run for the exit, some immediately look for that one being that they've been dying to try their home-made shiv on. Fights break out immediately, caused by grievances or by the simple act that they're running into each other and tripping each other and that kind of disrespect can't be tolerated. So far, Sebek's scary lightsaber is enough to give them pause /for now/ not to accost the knights, but they may not hold forever. You know how much you can sell a lightsaber for? A lot!

As the Seeker says the first phrase, the security droid lights up a green light. "Correct," it congratulates, then the second follows... and the light turns red again. "Incorrect," the security droid now scolds, and with a whir, two arms with big rifles appear! "ACCESS DENIED."

Plasma begins to fire out, BOOM BOOM BOOM, not unlike the e-web, but the droid is confused, and aiming at escaped prisoners. They might be able to dart past it, if they're fast... The prisoners are screaming and falling to its weapons, but it might figure this out eventually, that there are other targets, shifty black targets.

[Vandred]

Who's got two thumbs and is currently scrambling around desperately to try and get away from the obvious awful danger that is going to be coming his way? This guy.

It takes nothing for Vandred to start moving - survival instinct kicking in - but he's scrambling and lurching rather than anything steady. Rolling and coming back up on to his feet, he turns to look behind him before he starts to come around.

Up comes the E-11, braced as he lowers himself down to one knee. Breath. Squeeze, pause. Squeeze. Both bolts absorbed by the thick ablative armour of the Droid.

[Sebek]

Run? Past a security droid? Oh no, it was time to MAKE SOME SPARKS.

"Foul creature! You are fat! A blight upon your programmer!" VWROOOM! Tei Tenga lashed out at the security droid, Sebek failing to consider that the droid itself was unrestrained by such things as mobility and joints and could turn every which-a-way. "I spit on your circuits!" He may have literally! There was a lot of saliva there. VWROOOM. That was over its head. "And thus you fall to oblivion!" And thus the droid didn't fall because Sebek missed AGAIN! This might have something to do with that constant ache in his stomachial region. Thanks, He Who Brags.

[Jacali]

Ah, splendid. Access gra--well, shavit.

Jacali is momentarily pleased. This should have been her first clue that something bad was coming, but it wasn't. No. Her first clue is the re-reddening of the droid's eye. Her shoulders sag ever so slightly, her head tilts back just a touch as her lips press to a thin and defeated line beyond the protection of her helm.

<"Mmm, yes, this seems..."> She would finish, but it's about that time that the carnage begins. All those poor prisoners. Surely some will get free to cause havoc anew once they get out the door. ... Someone must have gotten out. Either way, it's not her problem. The doctor watches everyone but Sebek try to get past the droid, and she does her level best to scamper on by herself. She almost does it!

... but, we all know what almost counts for.

Though dextrous, the doctor is not accustomed to rigorous physical activity. Not anymore, anyway. She's moving to dart past the cybernetic guardian whilst it's distracted by other things, but her boots are still somewhat slimed by the foam that plagued the hallway she took too long getting through and she skirts forward, slides with a comical squeak of wet shoes on slick surface, rides it with some windmilling of her limbs before impacting against the wall with a dull thud and staggering back a few steps.

Of course, Sebek's ... intimidation ... is the backdrop.

Her hand comes up to tap against the side of her helmet in a soft knock, her head giving a shake as she turns to look toward Sebek and his flailing. They're twins today. All that flailing. All that failure. She feels connected to him on a spiritual level.

Jk. She's Jac. She feels nothing.

She will, in fact, be doing her best to get to Malik once again just as soon as she can.

[Malik Ren]

The droid is a tough opponent, surprisingly not where you might think it should be, surprisingly tough when you shoot it. It is taking a DIM VIEW of Sebek's MEAN WORDS regarding its illogical programming... that's like the worst thing you can say to a droid, man, is to blight its programmer! However, its combat programming works fine, and it fiercely fires at the Falleen!

This is all good news for Jacali, who is able to scamper up and get away before the droid takes advantage of her trip n' stumble. Many of the high-security cells are unoccupied, a few have prowling, frightening looking people within...

And about halfway down the corridor, there it is, the right cell. She can peep through the little window and spot him, one M. Ren, stashed within. Divested of his dark robes, he is wearing white prison clothes, and has been bound into something that looks like a straight jacket. Maybe someone's hoping he can't do woo woo force stuff if he can't make woo woo force gestures with his hands. A purple lesai mark is visible at the hollow of his throat, and it seems a likely explanation for why he is not currently among the awake and active population of the galaxy.

He looks a lot nicer when he's asleep. Like a normal guy, and not a 75% insane Force apostate trying to dismantle civilization as everyone knows it.

Lesai: [1]

[Vandred]

Vandred doesn't even offer words of praise or 'you got this' to Imani and Sebek. Instead, he promptly gets up and begins jogging away from the pair - leaving them to fight the armed and armoured security droid while he moves to keep up with Jacali.

Once the door is opened, the shapeshifter does a preliminary scan of the chamber before he prepares to hold the doorway. Presumably to give Jacali the cover to do what she needs to do. He checks the charge on his E-11 in a momentary tilt and glance, before he nestles the weapon into position. "<At your leisure, Doctor.>"

[Sebek]

Sebek of the Desert took the first shot full on in the face. It flared, dissipated, and left behind the angry scowling mask of the Falleen. The second went wide and the third went under his guard and was unloaded straight into his torso. You see, Sebek had been practicing this whole redirecting damage thing. Now it was getting a bit of mileage. The shot to his stomach was blunted by the injury already there, and that just uncapped the well of anger.

Silence fell as Sebek grabbed the droid's gun arm and removed it at the shoulder, then whipping the saber up, around, to bisect its torso from other shoulder to opposing hip. It fell to the floor like scrap on a bad day, a monument to the stupidity of forgetting to terminate your async calls. Seriously, when you accept input and run a function you terminate it! Oy vey! Anyway, Tei Tenga simmered, prisoners rioted, and Sebek ignored them, stalking to follow where the rest of his erstwhile 'team' had gone.

There's no 'I' in 'Team', but you can rearrange the letters and get 'Me'.

[Jacali]

<"... Of course you would use lesai."> Jacali mutters more to herself than anyone as she peers through the window at Sleeping Beauty, a narrowing squint to her eyes.

She could suggest so many better drugs.

The Seeker hovers on over to jab its little ... door unlocky digit into whatever it has to jab it into. Pioneer issues a wolf-whistle in response to the action, a trilling beep suggestive of a quick-tittering giggle.

<"Do grow up."> Jacali scolds.

Soon enough the door slides open, Vandred does his scouting, and Jacali then slinks through the doors. <"Keep watch. We are very likely going to want to move and move quickly."> She provides this to Vandred as she stalks by him toward the normal looking Malik Ren, one of her gloved hands moving toward her medical satchel to retrieve something from within it. There is a quick scan given to the slumbering figure just to be sure everything else is in order otherwise. The hand not rooting about in her bag rather unceremoniously grips his jaw so that she can turn his head to one side in order to open up his sweet, sweet artery to her tender ministrations.

<"I lack the appropriate narcotic to satisfy what is, if his state is any indication, his addiction. However, I should be able to rouse him for a couple of hours,"> She's pulling free a couple of vials, one of which is empty, which she uses to mix something that smells like death and hisses like steam when blended. <"Though this is ... untested. I'm uncertain what his state will be upon waking,"> She admits.

<"... How thrilling. How -fascinating-..."> She speaks breathlessly as she's bringing up the injectable she's just created, quickly jabbing it into that gently pulsing vessel in his neck. "Speak to me..." She murmurs without the aid of whatever vocaliser she's been equipped with, though her eager tone seems less out of concern for her boss, and more out of excitement for just what this might do to him.

[Imani]

When Imani see the lightsaber lift on the other side of the droid, she wastes exactly no time in retreating so she doesn't suffer accidental decapitation due to proximity. She watches just long enough to make sure that the droid is done for, and then she turns to jog after Jacali and Vandred, catching up quickly. "What is Lesai?" Oh sweet summer child. Imani's past may be steeped in violence, but drugs have never been a thing that she's dabbled in all that much, and therefore she is a bit naive in that regard. The news that Jacali is administering an experimental drug has her backing up yet again, you know, just in case.

[Malik Ren]

The security droid is downed, the prisoners are wisely avoiding this wing of the ship, and Jacali is on it, ready to stab Malik back to the world of wakefulness!

The good news is that it works phenomenally well, this little chemical cocktail.

The bad news is that surprising darksiders can have unpredictable consequences.

Malik Ren jolts to consciousness with a visceral sort of scream, something he would definitely NOT be letting out if he were in his right mind, consummate control freak that he is. Wild brown eyes have settled on Jacali as the clear attacker and obvious threat here, and before there is any sort of stopping to assess who this is or what she might be doing, the pain hits like a white-hot stab of fury. It is a lot of pain. There is no clear source for it other than him, no damage to her body, just a confused, panicked force-mutant really not having his best day.

It is excruciating, but it does begin to fade as Malik stumbles up from where he was laid out, suspiciously searching the others here, now. He hasn't said anything, but he looks like he's not entirely sure if they're friend or foe. Shooting him on stun (or not stun) is an option. As is leaving him here!

[Vandred]

There's screaming, there's more screaming, and then there's the sound of awful agony being shared amongst everyone. Which as we all know is primarily screaming. Vandred is struck with a conundrum - how to handle Malik Ren, who looks:

A) Disorientated.

B) Upset.

C) Angry.

D) All of the above.

With option D being the only real option to pick, Vandred responds appropriately. His thumb toggles the E-11 to it's nicer - albeit barely so - stun setting, and he levels the barrel of the weapon at Malik's face and promptly shoots him point blank in the face with a stun bolt. He then proceeds to, well. First - Malik, please go down and stay down. Thank you. So sorry. Please. Then he goes to check on Jacali - with his E-11 still being pointed at Malik the whole time. "<Are you okay, Doctor?>"

[Sebek]

Prisoners were going everywhere. Chaos was about. All ignored the angry figure with the VERY angry weapon. Where had they gone? Sebek was following the retreating figure of She Who Slaughters through where he could find, but it was slow going because of the injuries. "Behold, a maze!" Was Sebek lost? Sebek might be lost, guys.

[Jacali]

<"I've little time to explain. I would be happy to inform you once the patient is--"> Oh, okay, it's begun.

When his eyes open, Jacali once again has that smug self-assurance, the knowledge that her brilliance yet persists, despite the plebian company she keeps. Buuuut then the screaming starts, and her eyes grow wide with momentary surprise. She takes in a breath to speak, but it's strangled in her throat, burnt out of her lungs by the maddening agony that tears through her like flame through flesh.

Something itches in the back of her mind. Something she's not accustomed to. Something she doesn't recognise: Confusion. Fear. It is a lack of understanding, drowing in an ocean of anguish. It takes a few seconds, but his screaming is soon joined by the blood-curdling addition of Jacali's own vocaliser-distorted wailing as she jerks back away from him, leaving the syringe still imbedded in the Ren's throat.

Just when it seems as though it's all too much, and her body threatens to surrender to the dark that ever lingers at the periphery of their meetings, Vandred ... shoots Malik in the face.

A breath tears into her lungs, and the screaming begins anew -- one does not soon recover from that kind of assault. More breaths, heaving and ragged as she stumbles backward until her back meets the wall with a thump, muscles twitching in response to the otherwordly trauma that has befallen them.

And here she thought they were friends.

Screw this guy. Jeez.

When Vandred asks after her wellbeing, Jacali's head snaps toward him, <"No, I'M NOT KRIFFING OKAY, YOU GUTLESS COOING LOWBORN!"> Tell us how you really feel. A breath is again sucked in, wheezing through the damage her mindless screaming has done, a noise growled out as her body engages in a vicious shuddering. She slides forward, pushing herself off the wall as she staggers a step toward Vandred, then turns to head toward the exit.

<"Move him. Move him quickly."> She still growls through gritted teeth, fighting to straighten her posture into the unflappable propriety she usually possesses. <"And keep him away from me whilst you're at it.">

With that, her datapad is retrieved from her satchel, and notes begin filling her screen with the sensations still all too fresh in her mind.

[Imani]

When Imani heard that experimental drugs were being used on Malik, she tensed, ready for an attack. That it comes in the form of nothing, and is aimed at Jacali, is startling. She hasn't seen that particular force trick before. While Vandred makes use of his blaster she raises both hands to her helmet to remove her helmet and clip it to her belt. "Malik! Malik it's okay, it's us." She gestures to her face, like 'see, friend! Not foe! Don't attack plz!' He's stunned. Is he out? She isn't sure, but if he isn't totally out she's trying to make it clear that they're not the enemy. "We're here to taken you back ... home? Home. We're here to take you home." Is the base his home? She doesn't actually know, it's the only place she's seen him live so that's the word she settles on. Tentative hands reach out to try and help the man up, not looking to get killed by him, but also not looking to get killed by more security droids that surely are around here somewhere.

[Malik Ren]

Malik Ren got SHOT in the FACE. Straight up SHOT in the FACE!

That's never happened before. It would be fair to say that this might be a cause for his own confusion and fear, but the mysterious cocktail of wakefulness drugs -- maybe that particular mix is a little too strong -- already took care of that. He's confused and upset and disoriented and then suddenly a whole lot more confused and upset and disoriented and then BOOM, right back to the land of nod. It's better this way. What if he started busting out lightning or something next? It'd be really awkward for everyone.

Happily for everyone, he's out and stays out, and remains in a meek lump where he landed on the floor, unable to freak out and attack again. Someone's going to get stuck carrying him, though.

The sounds of the prisoners are growing fainter as more of them escape outside, and the Tirahnn spaceport has been thrown into absolute hellish chaos by their unexpected arrival. It couldn't be more perfect for a chance to escape.

With their unstable boss scooped up and in tow, darkness and violence and chaos to cover them, the Knights are able to slip away with their quarry and disappear back into the galaxy! They did it, they freed him, and rescued him... danger to himself and others, Malik Ren.

Hopefully no one else will come to regret that.