Yarrum Tower

Yarrum Tower
Date of Scene:	24 March 2024
Location:
Synopsis:	Cayde and Annelia retrieve a stolen relic from the pirate base.
Cast of Characters:	159, Annelia Belask, Cayde Alexis

---

Athena (159) has posed:
The pirate base, Yarrum Tower, is settled squarely in the middle of the island several hundred klicks from the shore of a hazy green lake. The weather today would favor the two Jedi - it's overcast, and there's a slight fog hovering over the water and shore, giving the two of them ample cover.

From their vantage point, they'll be able to espy a few silhouetted figures circling the base of the Tower lazily, casually keeping an eye out for any inbound ships or aquatic vessels.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Call it foolish or reckless, a jedi and a Padawan ride the ferry to the tower- not dressed as jedi, mind, but rather regular merchant folk.

    Standing at the fore of the deck of this thing, Ann frowns slightly, pondering the relative simplicity of this rather fallible plan. It may not surprise an observer to find that, disguise or no, her Saber is hidden in a deep pocket hidden under her outer jacket. "May be leaning on your quieter Persuasion here, 'Alex'. Do be prepared."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde is standing by Ann on the deck, looking out over the water. Like her, he's dressed in the outfit he'd picked out the other day. He nods as she tells him to be prepared...and she probably doesn't mean being prepared for a good time, either.

    he padwan glimpses the lazy figures patrolling the tower in the distance. Would they have to have some kind of appointment to get in?

Athena (159) has posed:
As they draw nearer to the tower, the two Jedi may sense a modicum of tension rising from the figures circling the base of the Tower as well as a hairline change in demeanor.

A couple of the figures branch off, and begin to approach the shore - clearly coming to investigate who's nearing the base.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Gentlemen!" shouts Ann as the ferry draws near. She's not really... disguising her voice to not sound off world. If anything the opposite- leaning into her mixed accent to play the part of an overconfident core world merchant who could probably be bilked for exorbitant prices, by the outer rim's standards.

    As the ferry stops, she's certainly not oblivious to their tension- but she sure is acting like it .

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde disembarks from the ferry with Ann, staying close to her as the guards approach. Or...pirates or whatever they are. He tries entering the minds, just to see what their general disposition toward him and Ann is. Are they suspicious? Or are they falling for the story she's trying to tell with her tone?

Athena (159) has posed:
The pirate patrols approach a bit apprehensively, looking Anne up and down before grunting, and peering into the ferry they'd just arrived in briefly.

"And you're here because...?" one of them asks, arching a brow at her.

Cayde will discover these men aren't particularly inclined towards violence, for the moment, anyway. They're suspicious, but she looks... wealthy, so she has their attention for now.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    In fairness, in a pirate den like this, clean with minimal rips in clothing likely looks wealthy.

    "What else- you have wares, I have credits. Do you never have collectors come visit?" she asks with palms upturned. "I'm told one of the groups here has quite the reliquary."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Well, that's a relief. At least, for now. And it seems they've been successful in giving the impression of being wealthy.

    Cayde watches the conversation, keeping vigilant for any change in the pirates' opinion of them...

Athena (159) has posed:
"No," one of the pirates responds hastily. "We don't do that kind of thing here," he replies guffly. "What's it to you, anyway, hm?" He sizes Anne up, but still, violence does not seem to cross his mind. "Are you looking for a niche kind of something you can't acquire... legally?" he asks.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Can you think of another good reason I would be on *Yarrum*?" asks Ann, brow raising as if it were the most obvious thing in the galaxy. In fairness, it's not exactly untrue, either.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde smirks slightly at Ann's swift and smart reply.

    Although his gaze starts to wander toward the tower itself, searching for anything that might be a stealthy way inside...

Athena (159) has posed:
"How many credits ya got, right now, in your pocket?" the other quickly interjects. "The thing is, there's a lot of things we do and don't do here in the Tower, but if you have credits, that's your ticket in," he replies to Anne. "But watch yourself. We don't like trouble of the kind we can't predict."

He then steps aside, allowing Cayde and Anne passage into the tower itself.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "In my pocket? You count that?" questions Ann, blinking. Still, they've stepped aside, so she moves to take the offered path all the same.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde was in the middle of searching for a possible more clandestine way in when the pirates just go ahead and allow them inside. He follows close on Ann's heels as she enters.

Athena (159) has posed:
The two pirates watch Anne and Cayde as they make their way into the tower, still a little bit apprehensive. But they shrug and decide the two of them are no longer their problem once they enter the Tower and go up the lift.

Cayde and Anne will find themselves in the middle of a colorful bazaar of illegal goods and their respective vendors upon exiting the lift. If the missing relic is anywhere -- it would certainly be here. It's now just a matter of finding it...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    For the moment, Ann is happy enough to not be accosted- free enough to move around somewhat. Still, in a crowd like this, she keeps a hand on Cayde's sleeve lest he wander off.

    For her part, she makes a point to weave close-ish to various crowds in turn- its a noisy place, but she has a good ear, especially for mentions of temples and artifacts and the like.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde tries to focus on the task at hand, although with the amount of people here, it's a bit difficult. Still it's not an open street market so it's not as bad...anyway he tries to open his mind and search for anyone who might have seen an artifact from Jedha or heard about it or otherwise know about it...

Athena (159) has posed:
As Annelia is making her way through the crowd, lingering here and there to see if she can pick up on any useful conversations, she'll overhear a couple of pirates discussing the latest from the rumor mill near a small cantina tucked in an alcove to her left.

They seem to have heard that one of the less reputable pirate gangs have picked up what they're claiming is a gauntlet with mystical powers. The two of them seem to be having a good laugh over it, but... perhaps it's exactly what Annelia had been hoping to overhear.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Tightening her grip on the padawan's sleeve, Annelia makes her way nearer the chatty gang to listen in further, taking up place just outside the alcove and out of eyesight for the moment

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Unfortunately, Cayde's attempts to scan the minds of people in the vicinity for information about the relic doesn't quite go as planned. These people just aren't like the ones back home on Coruscant...and he's bitten off more than he can chew.

    He stumbles after Ann as she pulls him along, starting to feel nauseated as his head pounds as if there were a sledgehammer inside of it. Suddenly, the contents of his stomach begin to travel up his throat, and before he can swallow it again it is ejected out of his mouth and right onto the front of a shirt on a random passerby...

Athena (159) has posed:
Sadly, Annelia and Cayde are apparently just not cut out for sneaking, stealth, or anything that requires not drawing attention to oneself. Cayde barfs on an unsuspecting passerby, and Annelia fails to be discreet about moving nearer to the pirates discussing the Jedi's item of interest.

The two pirates immediately assume a defensive posture upon noticing Annelia, but when the young padawan accompanying her projectile vomits onto the nearest person, they very nearly forget about her and start cackling."Haha!! Told ya that idiot from Bestoon was eventually gonna get what was coming to him!!"

The alien Cayde has just vomited on, despite being fully suited up in red, black, and offwhite armor, looks incredibly offended. He reaches over to grab Cayde by the collar of his shirt and shake him. "What the kriff is wrong with you, kid?!" He snarls.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "He must have been overwhelmed by the stench of pirate, I guess," says Ann in unfailingly polite tones- as she proves rather stronger than one might expect from the average merchant as she- doesn't really attack so much as place herself solidly between the two to assist Cayde's escape.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde quickly twists away from the armored pirate before he can shake him too many times, although his head is still spinning and throbbing. Thankfully, Ann comes to his rescue, and the young padawan tries to hide behind her.

Athena (159) has posed:
Anne's comment seems to further inflame the alien Cayde has just puked on. "How... dare you!" he fumes, clenching a fist and pulling out a laughably small dagger with the other. "I'll make you gag on your on insult, you--"

But he never gets to finish his sentence, as his attention is suddenly diverted towards some movement in the back of this place.

The two Jedi will immediately be made aware of a large freight container being brought in on a hovercart and transported towards a booth a few hundred yards from the small cantina Annelia had been lingering near prior.

"It's your lucky day," he sneers at Annelia. "where the foolish see illusions and tricks of the paltry sort, I see -power-!" He turns on his heel with a dramatic cape swish, and starts towards the booth with the large freight container.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Mine, is it?" Ann muses under her breath, glancing back at Cayde a moment with brow raised. As he recovers, she inclines her head towards the hovering freight container to draw his attention as his senses come back about him.

    "Well, if ever I have seen an indication from the Force, that might well be it. Shall we go stick our noses where they certainly don't belong?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Hmm...Cayde's attention is drawn over toward the container as the pirate very blatantly broadcasts to everyone that he thinks they're missing out on an opportunity that he plans to take advantage of.

    He nods, but waits for Ann before he starts making his way toward it. Although he does try reaching out with the Force, to see if he can detect if there is indeed some kind of Force relic inside the container.

Athena (159) has posed:
There is indeed a Force relic inside the container. And it reeks of the dark side...

The armored fellow, and the other pirates, are obviously completely unaware. Either that, or they couldn't care less.

But as the two Jedi make their way towards the booth, the armored fellow marches straight up to the pirate gang escorting the container and plants himself directly in front of them. "Open it!" he says. "There's something in there that I want."

The pirates exchange befuddled looks for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Only thing we'll be opening is your innards... bantha brains..."

While the pirates are distracted by the idiot, Anne and Cayde may have their chance to sneak around to the front of the container, which is, for the moment, unmonitored...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    There's an entire silent exchange here as Ann watches the man cause a scene of his own, pauses, looks at Cayde, and rolls her eyes.

    And then more or less with no thought to subtlety or care, she starts making her way to the unobserved section.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde notices that there's no one hanging around the front of the container, and starts following Ann. But he's even more obvious than she is, accidentally sideswiping into several people on his way there. He tries to reach into the mind of the pirate controlling the hovercraft and cause him to fall asleep, although this distracts him and he unwittingly steps on someone's long cape as they walk by.

Athena (159) has posed:
Once again, Annelia and Cayde do not escape the notice of the pirates, despite the armored idiot causing a distraction.

"Hey! What do you think --!" But the pirate never gets to finish his sentence, as Cayde accidentally makes the pirate controlling the hovercart slump asleep right in his seat. His arm accidentally knocks the yoke sideways, causing the hovercart to careen wildly... Annelia and Cayde had better watch out.

Seeing his chance, the armored idiot tries to chase the container as the hovercart swerves, but coincidentally gets in Cayde's way while trying to do so, and the young padawan's heel will snag his cape. "AGh!" he yelps, faceplanting.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann leaps backwards as the cart begins to swerve, getting herself well clear of the line of smashing as she works to get her feet under her. Well. No driver, no more concerns from the front- she returns to making her way from the less-trafficked side of this thing. Surely this will start causing some kind of riot- all else fails she can cut her way in and escape with the padawan- assuming she doesn't also need to rescue him from an armoured alien.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde quickly jumps out of the way of the cart as it veers out of control. That had worked... a little too well.

    Okay he hadn't exactly thought that one through. He ignores the armored man who faceplants, and tries to jump onto the cart and hijack it.

Athena (159) has posed:
Annelia will find that there's actually no need to cut the container open, as the careening hovercart paired with Cayde's abysmal driving skills has caused the container to just topple off of the hovercart completely and bust open. Apparently the pirates hadn't bothered to bolt it very securely.

As soon as the container is on the floor and accessible, the armored man darts inside...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann manages somehow to bump herself into a passing pirate as she first attempts to avoid the falling of the machine- and rather than try again the same way, she simply dives forward to head straight into the container.

    Now, mostly she's trying to keep these things safe and non-escalated. But here, with this particular alien, and the sight of her obscured from the crowd in the dark of the container... there's a chance this armoured alien might turn around to see an unignited saber in her hand to make her seriousness about taking this one particular item- once identified- with her quite clear.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Driving a hovercart...it can't be that hard now, can it? Except, somehow it is. The controls aren't like anything Cayde has seen in the Core Worlds, and he struggles to gain control of it even after the container just tumbles off.

    Fortunately, he manages not to run anyone over before crashing into a wall, causing the cart to flip over onto its side.

Athena (159) has posed:
The armored alien, somehow, hasn't even noticed that Annelia is inside the container with him. Instead, he's hastiliy upturning every single container and tearing open satchel inside the container, hastily and sloppily searching for the same relic the two Jedi are after.

Somehow, he manages to discover it first - though perhaps Annelia may think of it as having allowed him to do all the hard work. "AHA!" He cries, holding the gauntlet up in awe. "Finally--!"

Cayde may have avoided running anyone over physically, but he has run over the patience and goodwill of the pirates here at the Tower. They charge Cayde, attempting to tackle the blond.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde manages to get himself out from under the flipped cart, only to find a bunch of pirates rushing at him. There's no way he can fight them all off by himself, or make them all fall asleep at once or anything.

    He quickly tries using the Force to lift the broken hovercart and throw it at them, hoping to hinder their charge but not hurt them too badly.

    Well subtlety was out the window a long time ago anyway...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    There's a pause from Ann, and then the crackling hum of a saber igniting, illuminating the cargo container from within for a moment.

    It's a few quick, precise, almost relaxed motions- her shoulder, elbow, and wrist flicking carefully to lash the saber out with a practiced simplicity. And in the aftermath... well, he's not dead. Or even injured. But his armour is falling straight off as she cut through the key strap and cable points, and Ann's hand is upturned to wait for the gauntlet to be placed in it.

Athena (159) has posed:
"AIIEEE!!" The armored man yelps dramatically, having expected fully as soon as Annelia's blade ignites and gets far too near to him for his liking, for him to have been bisected. He drops the gauntlet, and if Annelia is quick enough, she'll be able catch it.

He then stumbles backwards as half his armor falls away from him, and he fumbles helplessly for that laughably small dagger. "You'll... pay for this!!" Time for Annelia to leave.

Meanwhile, the pirates charging Cayde are knocked flat by the hovercart he's flung at them...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Whether she catches or picks up the gauntlet, Ann turns on her heel, saber and gauntlet stowed away under her jacket as she strides back out of the container. Well, didn't go as smoothly as she'd hoped, but then, went a lot faster, so... take the wins where the force hands them to you, she supposes.

    As she leaves the container, relying on the no doubt riotous state of the crowd by now to hide her small scuffle, she darts past the spot where the hovercart *was*, and grabs Cayde by the jacket, lifting him to his feet and nodding to the exit- time to get gone, swim if they have to. Hopefully that ferry is still there.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The hovercart bowls over the pirates, giving Ann the time she needs to get to Cayde. However, he seems to be...lost. Again. He stays standing at least once she grabs him but again he has that telltale vacant expression on his face as if he'd forgotten what he was doing here.

Athena (159) has posed:
The armored man finally finds his weapon, and attempts to chase Annelia.

Muttering curses under his breath, he somehow makes his way over to where Cayde is standing, looking like a lost lamb.

"Ha! You're not -running-?" he shouts at the two of them. He lunges, attempting to stab Cayde with that tiny dagger.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "You -should- be," comes Ann's voice, with something resembling fury in it as she speeds back into the space, lightsaber re-igniting in the open space of the room to swipe fully through the attacker's dagger as she bends down slightly to toss the boy over her shoulder.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde finally snaps out of it when Ann literally just grabs him and starts carrying him over her shoulder.

    Ugh...

    He sort of twists himself around and falls off of her, then hurries after her. Hopefully the pirates aren't getting up any time soon...

Athena (159) has posed:
"...!" The armored fellow stares at his severed dagger in disbelief and anger after Annelia cuts it in half. "You'll regret this!!!" he shouts angrily, clenching his other hand into a fist. However, for some reason, the other pirates have decided that he's the troublemaker worth apprehending, not Anne or Cayde, and begin to dogpile him.

So the two Jedi will thankfully make it out of the tower and safely back the ferry without much trouble.