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[h3][Several Days Earlier][/h3]
The [i]Tuk’ata[/i] settled into the cliff side hanger with a thump, while various readouts flickered in Elam’s eyes as the computers reported a successful landing and shut down. Climbing out of the pilot’s seat he yawned and stretched before stepping into the Captain's Quarters, which were just off the bridge, to retrieve his helmet and cloak.

Gathering up his gear he headed for the stairs down to the main deck, but he wasn’t exactly hurrying. His ‘mission’,  really a bit of slicing and thievery, had gone decently and the payout was going to be pretty good…assuming things went well; Since he’d dropped in system he’d had a nagging feeling that this was all going to go sideways, and he’d learned from a young age to trust that instinct; especially at a time like now when his ‘client’ was one of the Galaxys innumerable wannabe warlords masquerading as a ‘loyal and stalwart leader of the Confederacy’. Locking his helmet in place, he dropped the boarding ramp and walked down to the hanger floor.

Reaching the foot of the ramp, he was greeted by a B1 battle droid. From a distance it looked clean and ready to go, but with his mix of enhanced optics he could see crude welds where it’d been inexpertly repaired and then heavily re-painted to try and hide said repairs.

[code]”His Supreme Magnificence, The Benevolent and Undefeated Grand High Protector Halleto Thi, The restorer of Order and Democracy, Lord Archduke Marshal of the Confederacy, First and Only Grand-Warden of the Asuktal Sea, Liberator and Supreme Administrator of Katarr requires your presence.”[/code]

[colour=e97451][i]Sweet karking krik…must’ve spent the time I was doing the job thinking up new titles for himself.[/i][/colour] Outwardly, he simply nodded to the B1 who simply turned about and headed towards a set of side doors, while inwardly he started to do the math on the chances of this meeting ending badly; the odds seemed to be worsening exponentially. [colour=e97451][i]And here I was thinking this’d be a nice little payday before I took some time to just relax…[/i][/colour]

To less wary observers, the show being put on by Thi was impressive and intimidating as intended. Dozens of [i]Vulture[/i] and [i]Hyena[/i] droid fighters hung from ready racks, a flight of [i]Porax-38[/i] fighters with suited pilots stood by on alert and an immaculate [i]Sheathipede[/i] Type B, guarded by a pair of menacing looking B2s. To Elam however, it was much less daunting. The sensor suite in his helmet was tied  into the passive sensors of his ship, and through them he could tell none of the hanging droid fighters were even on ‘standby’, and some of the racks showed heavy corrosion. While the ‘38s were at least powered most of the ‘alert’ crews were anything but, many showing signs of various types of intoxication; the only legitimately threatening things in the hanger looked to be the B2s and as he looked at them, they seemed to be as patchwork as his B1 guide. Only the shuttle seemed to actually be regularly  maintained. 

Leaving the hanger, the wafer thin veneer of intimidation continued; he’d been through here before down the corridor to the ‘Throne Room’. Last time it’d simply been a tall but well lit utilitarian hallway, indistinguishable for any other CIS facility he’d been into; now every second light had been disabled, probably in an attempt to make things more menacing, and under each light stood another B2. Unlike the two on guard in the hanger, these seemed to have more in common with the fighters he realised as he walked passed. Most showed rough repairs poorly hidden under layers of paint and none of them actually appeared to be working.

Finally reaching the end of the corridor where another B1 stood off to the left of the door, his escort stopped and turned to face him. [code]”The Undefeated Grand High Protector will see you know. Any hostile actions will be met with lethal and overwhelming force, this is your only warning.”[/code] It said before turning and taking up position on the right side of the door. [colour=e97451][i]Give me strength,[/i][/colour] He thought to himself. [colour=e97451][i]I’ve seen more intimidating primary schools.[/i][/colour] Stepping into the throne room, it was exactly what he was expecting. Slovenly thugs who preyed only on those much weaker than themselves lounged about in stupor while a pair of very young and terrified looking twi’leks ‘danced’ to the music from a holo in the corner. At the centre of the room a fat weequay fondled a pantoran woman who looked only slightly older than the twi’leks. Seeing Elam, the weequay pushed the pantoran aside and heaved himself upright in his seat. [colour=00FF7F]“AH! Elam my boy, good to see you! I take it that since you’re here, things went well?”[/colour]

[colour=e97451]”Well enough Grand High Protector Thi,”[/colour] He replied, loathing the fact that he needed to pander to the fat karks ego. The man was everything Elam detested, but it wasn’t his place to take sides. [colour=e97451]”There were a few complications, but nothing that couldn’t be managed.”[/colour] Reaching down, Thi slapped the pantoran in the back of her head and then pointed to Elam. 

[colour=00FF7F]“I take it then you have something for me.”[/colour] [colour=e97451]”I do,”[/colour] He replied much more calmly than he felt, slowly reaching under his cloak and retrieving a datadisc and handing it to the slave girl before she turned it over to her master. [colour=00FF7F]”So,”[/colour] Thi said, twisting the datadisc back and forth in the light over his seat. [colour=00FF7F]”This is all of it?”[/colour] [colour=e97451]”Yes Grand High Protector Thi,”[/colour] Elam replied. [colour=e97451]”A full map of Burras the Hutts smuggling network as well as access to three of their major accounts.”[/colour]

[colour=00FF7F]”Excellent, excellent!”[/colour] Thi exclaimed, while several of his more lucid ‘retainers’ laughed and congratulated their boss. [colour=00FF7F]”Now, grab yourself a drink and a girl. We’ll load up the gunship in an hour and go claim what is mine.”[/colour] Elam sighed to himself. [colour=e97451][i]I knew he was greedy and stupid…but not this bad…kark it, here we go.[/i][/colour] A murmur rippled through the room; he’d been dismissed by the Grand High Portector, but he was still standing in front of him. [colour=e97451]”I don’t think so.”[/colour] The room went still, the only noise from holo recording, and the mood rapidly turning foul; at the edge of his perception he saw the two dancers scurry for cover under a table while the pantoran got behind the throne. [colour=00FF7F]”What was that?”[/colour] Thi growled. [colour=e97451]”I thought it was clear. I’m not one of your jumped up gutter scrapping, and my ship is not yours. Now pay me so I can leave and scrub the filth of this cesspit off.”[/colour] Rage flared in Thi’s eyes as Elam smiled behind his featureless faceplate.

[colour=00FF7F][i][b]”KILL HI-”[/b][/i][/colour]

A message floated in the corner of Elam’s vision.
[quote][b]Protocol [colour=green]GREEN[/colour]: [i]ACTIVE[/i][/b][/quote]

Elam hit Thi with a Force throw that launched him out of his seat before he could finish his order. Launching himself away from where he was standing, Elam drew his pistol as he rolled, opening fire as he came to his feet and blasting two of the vaguely more with it thugs before Thi had even hit the wall. The explosion of violence actually managed to rouse the most comatose ones, which did leave him out numbered about eight to one…if one were to ignore the fact that they were [i]vastly[/i] out classed.

The room itself wasn’t overly large, and being conscious that there were in fact non-combatants in there as well, he dropped his blaster as he dodged the first wild return fire, losing his cape as well in the process. Pulling the two wickedly curved fighting knives from his belt he let his emotions flow while focusing his connection to the Force into his blade. All of this happened in the span of a few heartbeats, before he launched into a true attack. Between his Force powers and augmentation he was faster than the third rate muscle could comprehend and his blades tore through durasteel with minimal effort. This was a more one-sided fight than a nexu versus a pack of sleeping bark rats.

None of them had time to run…most didn’t even have time to [i]scream[/i] before he was tearing into them, a Force augmented blade ripping through armour, muscle and bone with ease, leaving behind nothing more than so many kilos of rapidly cooling meat. As the last mad died the main door finally opened as the pair of B1 ‘door guards’ finally reacted. While they [i]were[/i] across the room, giving them the range advantage, especially considering his knives would be all but useless for deflecting blaster fire; but he had plenty of other tricks up his sleeve. Raising his right hand, he let the knife in that hand dangle off his index finger, before closing said hand in a tight fist while selecting one of the droids.

The droid in question managed a surprised [i]squwak[/i] before it was compacted into a mass roughly the size of a humanoid's head in a shower of sparks and smoke. The second droid actually jumped at the sight, distracting it just long enough for Elam to pull its crushed companion to him before launching it back fast enough to smash the second droid to ruin. Like that the fight was over; somewhere in the confusion the holo emitters were damaged and the band silenced, the only sounds now the occasional sparking from said emitters and the terrified sobs of the slaves.

Sheathing his knives, and retrieving his blaster, Elam went to check the hall. As he suspected, the B2s were entirely decorative as none of them had moved…except one that appeared to have fallen over after the crushed B1 slammed into it. With no further signs of threat at the moment, he made his way back to where Halleto Thi was still laying in a dazed pile after getting tossed. Reaching out with the Force he picked up Halleto and slammed him against the wall just hard enough to wake him up. 

[colour=00FF7F][i]”You DA-urrkk”[/i][/colour] His indignation was cut short by Force pressure on his windpipe.

[quote][b]Protocol [colour=green]GREEN[/colour]: [i]INACTIVE[/i][/b][/quote]

[colour=e97451]”Be silent, you disgusting waste of matter.”[/colour] Elam took a deep breath, letting out slowly. [colour=e97451]”Despite my distaste for you, I [i]was[/i] content to leave you be; take my pay and then go about my business…but you just couldn’t keep your greasy karking mitts to yourself.”[/colour]

Holding Halleto with one hand, he pulled his communicator out with the other and placed a call. A few moments later a hutt appeared, who immediately became livid upon seeing Elam. [colour=4682B4][i]<”You have some nerve THIEF! My men WILL find you and you WILL pay for daring to steal from the Great Burras the Hutt!>”[/i][/colour] Once the hutt stopped, Elam bowed his head. [colour=e97451]”Peace Great Burras. I know I wronged you, but I bring you an offering…to at least bring us to neutral ground.”[/colour] Burras glared at him through the holo. [colour=4682b4]<”Peace? Offering? You have the guts to say such things El-Rud, especially after what you did..but speak.”>[/colour] [colour=e97451]”Thank you Great Burras. I offer you the one who hired me, living and whole; as well as what was stolen and how it was done to prevent such matters again.”[/colour]

Silence dragged on while Burras thought, occasionally punctuated by muted gasps and gurgles from one increasingly frantic Halleto Thi. [colour=4682b4]<”Very well,”>[/colour]  Elam’s comm chimed with an incoming message. [colour=4682b4]<”My agent will meet you at those coordinates so you may return what is mine.”>[/colour] The call ended before Elam could reply. Though unable to speak at the moment, Halleto’s eyes pleaded with Elam, he knew what horrors awaited him at the hands of an angry hutt; Elam simply drew his blaster once more, set it to a heavy stun and shot Halleto before letting him crumple to the ground once more.

Sighing, he rolled his neck before turning to face the closest of the slaves, the pantoran woman. He could see she’d been tethered to the throne, and while he’d been dealing with Halleto and Burras, she’d moved once again to put it between him and herself. Reaching up to his helmet he released the seals with a small hiss and ‘pop’ as it disconnected from his suit. Immediately he was struck by just how badly the room stunk, though surprisingly it wasn’t [i]as[/i] bad as he’d expected. Setting his helmet on the floor, he regarded the woman. [colour=e97451]”My name is Elam, Elam El-Rud.”[/colour] She shied away for a moment, or at least as much as she could. [colour=48D1CC]”K-Kele Seki.”[/colour] [colour=e97451]”Okay Kele,”[/colour] He said calmly; understandably she and the two twi’leks were extremely on edge, especially after what he’d done to everyone else in the room. [colour=e97451]”I’d like to come over to you and see if I can get that collar off. Is it okay if I touch you?”[/colour] Kele was still eyeing warily, but after a few moments she nodded. Kneeling beside where Kele was still crouched, he could see marks from the casual brutality of her [i]former[/i] captors, and he had to take a moment to re-center himself. The restraint itself was almost laughably simple, a heavy leather collar that closed over a D-ring and a physical lock that held the collar closed and connected the collar to a length of durasteel cable. No shock compliance regulator, no anti-tamper sensors, none of it; the set up was so simple it was almost baffling. 

[colour=e97451]”Okay Kele, the simplest way is for me to simply cut this.”[/colour] He could sense her heart rate start to rapidly spike. [colour=e97451]”Please Kele,”[/colour] He said softly, deliberately slowing his own breathing. [colour=e97451]”I need you to stay calm. I know you have no real reason to trust me yet, but I will get you all free…okay.”[/colour] It took a bit but eventually after she took a few deep breaths Kele had calmed enough for Elam to work. Drawing one of his knives he carefully hooked the tip under the leather and slid the blade forward, the madog steel alone being more than up to the task. As soon as the collar was cut Kele’s hand went to her neck, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. As he stepped back, Kele stood and immediately went to the two twi’leks who were still huddled behind what was left of the holo emitter.

All three of them hugged each other fiercely. As he got over to them, he could see the twi’leks and realised two things, one from the looks of things they were likely sisters and two he’d probably [i]over[/i]estimated their ages. [colour=48D1CC]”This is Zi’ki and Ozri.”[/colour] Kele said, still holding them tight. [colour=e97451]”Hello Zi’ki, Ozri, my name is Elam. I’m going to do what I did with Kele and get those collars off. Alright?”[/colour] Zi’ki, the older of the two nodded.  [colour=e97451]”Alright, just be a moment.”[/colour] A little bit of knife work later and all three were free.

[colour=e97451]”Kele,”[/colour] Elam said, standing and heading back over to the unconscious Halleto; she was the oldest of the three, he figured about ten or so years younger than himself.  [colour=e97451]”Do you know how to fly a ship?”[/colour] [colour=48D1CC]”Y-yes.”[/colour] She said hesitantly. [colour=48D1CC]”I used to crew on a freighter be-befo...”[/colour] She took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped the tears from her eyes, and nodded to Elam. [colour=e97451]”Perfect, there’s a ship out in the hanger and [i]he’s[/i] not going to need it anymore.”[/colour] As he spoke, Elam was rifling through Halleto’s pockets, retrieving the datadisc that started this whole mess, as well as a small controller.

A few button pushes showed that they simply controlled the lights and audio in the room, while the last one he pushed opened a hidden doorway in a corner of the room. As the door opened all three women shuddered. [colour=e97451]”I’ll be back in a moment.”[/colour] He said, pulling his helmet to him and putting it on. Stepping through the door, it was exactly what he’d figured and made his new companions' reactions understandable. Stepping into Halleto’s ‘bedroom’, he used the Force to pull the place apart, eventually exposing the hidden security safe. Another laughably primitive thing, he had it open in moments. Inside he found what he wanted, a master controller that was linked to the [i]Sheathipede[/i] in the hanger. A simple reformatting slice reset the ship’s systems to default and awaiting the authorization of its new owner; as well as that the safe had a sizable stack of credits. Pocketing what Halleto had owed him, he returned to the trio and handed the controller to Kele and told her to add her thumb print. After some reassurances to the sisters they all set off back to the hanger, Halleto slung over his shoulder. Reaching the door he dumped the weequay and then told the others to stay where they were until he called, with that he stepped into the hanger.

Rushing the two functional B2s with his lightsaber, he made short work of them, while simultaneously he remote activated the defences on the [i]Tuk’ata[/i], the beam turrets and laser cannons wiping out the ‘alert’ craft and their crews before they realised they were under attack. Once that was done he gathered up his bounty and the ex-slave and pointed them to the shuttle, handing Kele the rest of the credit. 

[colour=e97451]”The ship is yours, go where you will, though if I may make a recommendation, make for Mandalore. The GRM and the Jedi have good programs in place to help folks like yourself.”[/colour] Kele looked at him for a moment before enveloping him in a hug that was surprisingly strong given the state she was in. [colour=48D1CC]”Thank you.”[/colour] She said quietly as she pressed her face against his chest; moments later both Zi’ki and Ozri latched onto him from either side. [colour=48D1CC]”Will we see you again?”[/colour] [colour=e97451]”Maybe, I come and go from Keldabe City somewhat regularly…we should [i]really[/i] be going.”[/colour] While the sisters let go, Kele actually gave a small chuckle. It was a bit hollow and sad, but a good sign. [colour=48D1CC]”Thank you again Elam.”[/colour]

With that the three ran past the hacked apart B2s and up the ramp of the shuttle, the ship taking flight after a minute or two. Elam had done the same with the [i]Tuk’ata[/i], tossing Halleto into his holding cell as he went. He was airborne right behind the [i]Sheathipede[/i], just on the off chance that there might have been ground fire. With the shuttle jumping to hyper, he did the same, heading to meet with Burras’ agent to turn over the datadisc and one very unfortunate Halleto Thi.[hr]

[h3][Founding Day][/h3]

Dropping out of hyper, Elam almost did a double take at the sensor readings in front of him. [colour=e97451][i]What in the ‘verse is going on here?[/i][/colour] The Mandalore system always had its fair share of traffic, but this was getting a little ridiculous; it almost looked like you could [i]walk[/i] from Concordia to Mandalore with the amount of shipping he was seeing. On top of that his sensors highlighted a few unusual sightings like a whole flotilla of Imps, including one of their Star Destroyers, holding station mid-system and Hapes of all things. He continued to be baffled, right up until he thought to check the local extranet. [colour=e97451][i]Founding Day…of [b]course[/b]...great Keldabe is going to be PACKED…[/i][/colour]

Eventually he connected with astro control and got clearance to land at the private pad he rented. Once down, he did a bit of clean up and had a shower before donning his gear; he took his helmet with him but used a built in carry strap to attach it to his belt. Walking down the ramp, he headed into the city to see what this year's Founding Day had to offer.