Living is What's Hard

Living is What's Hard
Date of Scene:	08 May 2024
Location:	Lower City - Coruscant
Synopsis:	Ann gets her padawan out of trouble.
Cast of Characters:	Cayde Alexis, Annelia Belask, 1

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Cayde Alexis has posed:
    A couple of days after the convention delegation returned from Cantonica, Cayde suddenly doesn't show up for his usual sessions with her. Any asking around would reveal he hadn't been in any of his morning classes, either and no one has seen him since the prior evening.

    She's probably heard it said around the Temple though that he sometimes sneaks out to the Lower City at night and goes looking for trouble. It's altogether possible that he'd gotten himself into some kind of predicament that he couldn't get himself out of. Or that he's trying to avoid that -meeting- with the Council everyone is now talking about. Or perhaps it's a combination of, well, everything.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Just a... planet-sized search... of some of the darker parts of coruscant... with no real leads to speak of. Perfect.

    Then again, Ann knows the shuttles down a layer or two fairly well by now- and has some educated guesses as to which ones might take a teenaged padawan without too many questions. So it's there that she starts.

    She's on her third or so now having done a few rounds at each asking if anyone had seen a kid matching Cayde's description (At one point she even likened him to the much more known Gianka). Presently stepping off the shuttle, she scans the quiet station for a few moments with eyes and ears, arms crossed.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    As it is fairly uncommon for Jedi to come down here, Ann would have managed to glean from her various asking around that there is a young Jedi who is seen on a somewhat regular basis at a particular bar in the Lower Uscru District called the Atomica.

    Upon arriving at the station, she'll then hear some murmurs about some 'thing' that had gone down at a bar in the Uscru District...

Annelia Belask has posed:
A roll of the eyes from Ann as she begins walking in that characteristically swift pace. Not hard to find a bar like this, particularly with the wonders of modern technology.

    Off to the Atomica it is, with very little in the way of hesitation or concern. The 'thing' comments don't give her much pause, truth be told- regular folks of a dense city like this can be odd, after all.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The bar isn't too hard to find--it's one of the many generally run-down dive bars that populate the Lower City. Although it's a little bit harder than usual this time, because the sign isn't lit and although there appear to be lights on inside, there is another, less obvious sign on the door that reads:

    SORRY...

    CLOSED FOR REPAIRS COME BACK TOMORROW

However, with her keen ears she'll be able to hear some shuffling about and other activity coming from inside.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    There's barely a pause even at that- Ann is all too happy to simply walk into a place like this. If the front door is locked? Then she'll simply go around the back and find another.

    "Hey young Padawan, you in there?" she calls through one of the doors, rolling her knuckles along it in a pseudo-knock.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    When she knocks, a grumpy-looking Dowutin woman comes to the door. It may seem odd, a Dowutin working a bar. They usually stuck to bounty hunter or mercenary work. And they usually meant trouble. So it may seem an odd sight to see a Dowutin in a kitchen apron.

    "Whaddya want?" she grouses at Ann. "There ain't any padawans in here. Jedi don't come down here anyways, so I dunno why you're lookin' in here."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Okay, forget padawan, what about sandy-haired teenagers, mister barely-fits-into-that-apron?" questions Ann back, brow raised... pretty shamelessly, truth be told. Not like Dowutin can't be jedi, she's met them before.

    "I have it on fairly good authority that he's around here semi-frequently, though it may not be in his robes. Not looking for problems, here. Just the young one, keep him out of trouble."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    "Hmph, that's -misus- to you." The Dowutin female grunts, looking annoyed. She then sighs when Ann starts with the description, rolling her eyes a bit. "Ugh. Don't tell me...bright blue eyes, never talks? But somehow manages to be the biggest troublemaker you've ever seen?"

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "I mean he's mute, so yes," says Ann, shrugging a little. "Force gets away from him sometimes. We're working on it. Hence why I'm trying to find him."

    She crosses her arms absently, leaning her back against the wall of the alley this side door opens out to, head tilting slightly. "Should I take it you, begrudgingly caringly, try to keep him out of harm's way down here in the ever-dangerous lower city?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The woman scoffs. "Me? I ain't no babysitter. Anyone who comes down here must've decided they can handle themselves."

    Another heavy sigh, and she looks this way and that as if making sure no one was eavesdropping. "Alright look if you're lookin' for him, you'd better come in and have a seat." she tells Ann, then turns and heads inside.

    If Ann follows, she'll see that -something- must have truly gone down here. There are a couple of piles of broken furniture, and fresh-looking scorch marks on the walls and floor. And some even on the ceiling.

    The Dowutin goes over to the bar and sits down, waiting for Ann to join her.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Guessing this was one of those episodes or something?" Ann questions, eyebrow raising as she slides onto one of the stools.

    Her elbow rests on the bartop, hand supporting her chin as she looks around the room. "He had a... pretty bad day, the other day. Imagine it's been eating at him until something set him off. Was too mentally lined up with some rabble-rouser or something."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The woman shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not but I'm willing to bet it had more to do with the Marksmen that came after 'im than anything else. I know I said he's a troublemaker, but not like -this-." she says, gesturing toward the damage.

    "Hell if I know what they wanted 'im for, but they must've wanted it enough to make a mess." She then lowers her voice, leaning in a bit. "Those gangsters are nothin' but trouble, if you ask me. But I just happen to know about one of their hole-ups." Then she scrawls an address onto a napkin and slides over to Ann. "All I'm asking is if you find 'em, give 'em hell. They deserve it."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann pauses, frowning a little. Marksmen, huh. "Hm. You figure fifty-fifty or so that it was some minor slight versus someone hiring them to get rid of him after some... recent events?" she muses aloud, not necessarily a question but certainly framed as one.

    "What is it these Marksmen do? I mean, don't misunderstand me, I have large amounts of hard-earned skill with a lightsaber to do something about this with... but I'm not familiar with the gang."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The woman shrugs. "I've no idea, to be honest. Sure, yeah, someone could've hired them. But if that was the case I doubt it was for a kill. They dragged 'im off, so they wanted 'im -alive-."

    "They're a bunch of honorless cowards, if ya ask me. One of the big syndicates down here in the Lower City, especially around these parts. Them and the Lightwell Keepers. They claim to keep order on the streets where the CSF can't, of course by threatening anyone who dares oppose 'em."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "And levying their own taxes and whatnot, then," Ann finishes, shaking her head a little. "I've... dealt with similar, in the past."

    She shrugs, standing up and taking the piece of paper for the moment. "Thank you for the help. Anything else I should know? Otherwise I'm going to go prevent and-slash-or cause a mid-sized political schism."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    "Just...don't hold back." The Dowutin tells Ann. "And good luck. They're a nasty bunch." She then gets up, seeing the Jedi to the door.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    A shrug from Ann- no promises either way, clearly. But she offers a friendly nod and steps out the door, into the dark of the dark of the lower city, opening the paper to check and follow the directions to the hideout in question.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The address would lead Ann to some docking platforms near a large channel that connects the planet's many tiers. There is a large atmospheric freighter docked there, along with several armed gangsters patrolling around it. She could probably take them, but no doubt not without bloodshed. And there are probably more inside.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann pauses a ways away, leaned against a wall with arms crossed as she sizes up the group. Not much for stealth, not much for trickery...

    She shrugs, and pushes off the wall, walking directly for the patrolling mobsters.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," she calls as she draws near. "Hoping you can do me a favour and keep this a quiet night for me- and return a certain sandy-haired teenager to my guidance."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    When Ann just waltzes up, she certainly gets their attention. They actually...chuckle at her.

    The guard nearest her smirks. "A sandy-haired teenager, huh? Well I'm afraid you're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that miss, since we got more than a few of those around." he says, even as his hand goes to a blaster clipped to his belt.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Okay, how about this," says Ann, frowning and drawing to a stop, hands going to her hips- conveniently near her lightsaber, notably.

    "How about you bring me the one you were hired to grab through three or four different proxies that I'm sure you've guessed by now lead back to some higher-end politician who clearly isn't on the proverbial up-and-up."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    "Heh," There's an ominous pause, as the gangster keeps his hand on his blaster. "I'm sorry, but I've no idea what you're talking about. This is Marksmen territory. We play by our own rules, and we don't work for any 'higher-end politicians'..."

    "But maybe, if you tell us who gave you that heap of lies so we can set the record straight, we could work something out about your little blond friend."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann chuckles herself, looking down and shaking her head for a moment before looking sidelong back up at the apparent spokesman of the gangsters.

    "Not sure what I expected. Deny it, then in the next breath all but admit to it. Suppose I should thank you for confirming my suspicions. So... no quiet night after all, I should take it?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    "Now I didn't say -that-." the man chuckles. "I said, maybe if you told us who gave you that information, we could work something out with this blond-haired friend you're looking for. Might be here, might not. But ain't nothin' free down here, you know that right?"

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Oh, I do know that," says Ann, beginning to slowly step forward again, face going rather more drawn and dour as she does so.

    "Which is why you don't get -my padawan- and get away free and clean, ganger."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    At the mention of 'my padawan', the man seems to lose his cool for the first time. Wait, this was a Jedi they were talking to? They never thought the Order would come down here...

    "Now...now no need to be like that missy....uh...if you'll just give me a moment, I'll have to get the boss since that ain't my decision..."

    Of course he's just stalling, trying to take her off guard, because a second later they all just open fire on her.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    As the blaster fire comes in, Ann turns sidelong and gets an arm up in the way of more vital areas- taking a burning graze across one cheek and a bolt through her voluminous sleeve, the injury therein hard to tell from a distance but does elicit some kind of a wince on her face...

    Though honestly, even for grazes, most people react more strongly to blaster fire than this particularly resolute Jedi.

    Speaking of Jedi- it's confirmed when the crackling hum of a lightsaber igniting and a bright blue glow illuminating her right side- the one she kept more protected.

    "One last chance, Marksmen- before I start actually defending myself and seeing where the shots land from there."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    When she barely even winces at such an onslaught of blaster fire, the guards hesitate. There's a tense moment of silence after she calls out, giving them one last chance before she starts hurting them.

    Then they start to back away slowly, and upon reaching a certain distance away, they turn and fall back to the freighter, rushing up the gangway and starting to close it behind them...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    The moment they start retreating, Ann starts advancing- she knows tactics well enough to know what a gangster might think to do, presumably.

    Breaking into a run, she runs and leaps up the way to the freighter, swinging her saber not at a person- but rather to the mechanism withdrawing the gangplank to keep herself from being locked out.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    Ann's lightsaber strikes true, taking out the mechanism before the gangway can be fully closed. With a loud groan, it falls back open.

    Yet more of the gangsters are upon her as soon as she enters the landing bay. This time, some of them come at her with electro-staffs, trying to throw her off of the vessel.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    It's a tough time, landing in a freighter to immediately fight. Thankfully, Annelia tends to thrive in melee proper, even if she's a little off-balance at first.

    Grunting annoyedly as a shot manages to graze her lower leg, she nonetheless keeps her feet and deflects the electro-staff assaults working to push her off the ship...

    And then apparently her patience is ended, because she begins showing off her skills in Djem So style melee combat, responding to each strike with a swift and potent counter-strike... perhaps moreso to cut electrostaves in half, but who knows what will happen in the thick of melee.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    Once Ann gets into the thick of it, her lightsaber skills really pay off. The electro-staves are sliced in half, and in some cases so are the arms and hands holding them. Blaster bolts are deflected back to their sources, making quick work of the shooters. Soon enough, the Jedi finds herself the only one left standing in the landing bay.

    And she can feel Cayde's presence...he's definitely here. Whether he's reaching out to her intentionally or not remains to be seen, but it is surely felt.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Any other nerf-herding so-called 'Marksmen' want to make this a bigger deal than it had to be?" Ann asks loudly into the ship at large, glancing around the room a moment.

    Making a snap decision based on that sensation, she picks an exit from the landing bay and begins walking in search of where in this freighter they might hold a prisoner.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    It doesn't look like there's anyone else around at least in the immediate vicinity to hear her question. And as she makes her way out of the landing bay, the place seems oddly deserted. Had they given up so easily?

    She'll find herself in a long, dark hallway lined with various doors. The presence is stronger here...if she could follow it, she should be able to find him.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ever the wary one when it comes to potential ambushes, Ann's lightsaber is yet to deactivate as she walks through these hallways. She's been caught by ambushes before- not eager to have it happen again.

    Some way along the way, though she continues following the feeling as best she can, she begins striking the hilt of her saber against the walls as she goes as a form of signal forth.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    Eventually, she'll come upon a series of vaults with heavy bolts on the outside. They could have been used for secure storage, or locking up prisoners.

    It seems one of the doors is open, actually, and she can hear voices coming from within...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Well, one thing for this- a callback to a barely remembered time in her life, before she was brought to the order...

    Ann actually slows down, puts her back to the wall, and waits to listen.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    "...I'm willing to bet you know some things. Useful things...you know about the cache in the Works, don't you?" A harsh male voice is saying. "And they say you've been in the Chancellor's head, hm? You know, I don't like hurtin' ya, so why don't you give us something, huh kid?"
    Another voice, a female one, although somewhat burly sounding. "You sure there ain't somethin' wrong with 'im, Krav?" There's a thudding sound, and rattle of chains. "Look, he don't even squeal."
    "Shut up, don't give him any ideas!"

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "So I'm going to assume that now that I'm here, you're going to stop this, right?" comes the voice from around the corner.

    And indeed, a moment later Ann walks into the sightline of these two supposed interrogators as they presumably turn to see who's on their way. Could be a bait, perhaps- but hey. At this point she's more or less committed to cleaning this place out to one degree or another.

    Oh, yep. That's her lightsaber, still lighting up the room as she comes around.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    Ann would behold the inside of one of those vaults. Cayde's hands are chained to the rear part of the ceiling, looking rather battered and bruised. Krav, the one she'd heard first, appears to be a well-built, middle-aged Nikto man. He immediately jumps into action, grabbing the young padawan around the waist and holding his blaster up against the side of the boy's head.

    The other individual within, a Trandoshan woman, quickly raises a blaster rifle at Ann although she doesn't fire just yet. "Drop the weapon." she demands. "Or he gets it."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Yes. I'm sure the kidnapping of a member of the Order will end with -just me-," says Ann dryly, a decidedly 'are you serious?' expression on her face at this note.

    She begins moving slowly, as though to reach her saber out to the side to drop it... but in the meantime, she's looking at Cayde- and rather meaningfully flicking her eyes to the Nikto.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    Cayde's expression is emotionless, although he looks paler than usual. From the looks of the stains everywhere, it's likely due to blood loss.

    The gangsters don't have a comeback for her sarcastic comment, but watch her closely. She won't need the Force to know that they don't really -want- to kill him, though...

    In that moment of hesitation, the Nikto man suddenly goes limp, letting go of Cayde and falling into an unconscious heap on the floor. Shocked, the Trandoshan woman stares at him, then at Ann. She seems to be at a loss on what to do...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    And that's about the moment the extended-out lightsaber swings in in a measured arc... to split that blaster rifle straight through the barrel and into the body of it.

    "So, I should mention- Cayde can't speak. You really didn't come into this with the right awareness or expectations. What I want you to do next is go out to your cargo bay, see the state of what -was- your guards outside the ship, and go quit this life and take up, I don't know, knitting or something. Sound good to you?" she says to the conscious Trandoshan woman.

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    The Trandoshan stares in bewilderment as Ann just...slices her blaster in half. She curses, throwing her hands up in resignation. "I knew it! I knew there was somethin' wrong with 'im!"

     A shake of her scaly head, and she scoffs. "You Upper City people are so out of touch. You think I have a choice?" She tosses the now-ruined rifle onto the floor. "Those guards you talkin' about got lucky. And you can make me lucky, too. So go on, finish it...for the both of us," she demands, glancing over at Krav. "Before the boss finds out about this..."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Oh, I didn't kill them either for the most part," says Ann, shrugging a little and stepping across the room to do some destructive things to the unconscious nikto's blaster pistol too- followed shortly by severing the chains keeping Cayde bound.

    "How about instead of killing people pointlessly, you tell me about this Boss and why they want my padawan here, and I and perhaps a few colleagues go handle -them- too?"

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    The Trandoshan...laughs mirthlessly. "You think it's that easy do you? You think that because you have your fancy laser swords and magic powers you think you can just waltz in and 'take care' of things?" she shakes her head. "Tell me, -Jedi-, how often do you come down here, to the Lower City, hm? Not much, I'd gather. Since it seems you have no idea how things work down here. You think you're being merciful by lettin' us live?" she scoffs again, shaking her head. "Trust me, I'd rather die here than live to be punished for failing..."

    Once freed from the chains, Cayde shruggles to his feet. He glances at the Trandoshan woman, his expression mournful. <It's true...>

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Nope, I spend a lot of time in the outer rim fighting much larger gangs that killed my Master," says Ann frankly, shooting the woman an unimpressed sort of look.

    "How much do you spend among my people? I took the blunt approach here, but there's more to the Order than that. And I'll remind you. You're literally on a freighter. Clearly nobody else is manning the helm right now given I haven't been swarmed by remaining workers. Coruscant clearly isn't that well locked down in terms of takeoff. You can hop off-planet -whenever you want-... once you weld one of the loading planks in place a bit. Surely a little crime isn't beneath you at this point? You've already evaded the security forces this long and surely at least one among you knows how to sniff out and disable trackers."

    The lightsaber is turned off as Ann throw's Cayde's arm over her shoulders to prop the boy up- not without -some- amount of wincing at the leg she was grazed on earlier.

    "You're scared of this Boss. Summon up the courage to leave anyways instead of trying to kidnap teenagers."

Andromeda (1) has posed:
    The Trandoshan shakes her head. "Just get out of here, then...I'll do it myself, since you're so afraid of killing." she mutters. With that, she opens a case on a small table against one of the side walls and takes the padawan's lightsaber out of it, before proceeding to ignite the thing into her own chest. She falls, the hilt rolling across the floor toward Ann and Cayde.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann looks at the trandoshan a moment, shaking her head.

    "Funny story, Cayde. Something one of the masters told me in the wake of my master passing. Dying, like that? Quite easy, actually. Taking lives is a surprisingly simple process. Living is what's hard. As is actually doing something about your problems. Lady might have had a hard lot of it... but I can't say I can really conjure any understanding with -that- decision."

    She calls the saber-hilt to her hand and stows it in her belt while Cayde is focusing on staying conscious and moving.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde nods. <I know...>

    Once they're off the freighter though, he seems to resist her a bit. He doesn't want to go home yet...he -really- doesn't want to go to that meeting...

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Kid, I'm taking you to a bacta tank if I have to bodily throw you over my shoulder," says Ann bluntly, head shaking a little. "Whatever problem it is, we'll get it figured out. Get healed up, a proper meal, and some sleep and I'm sure it'll seem less daunting."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <But I hate meetings...> Cayde protests. Not that he doesn't have good reasons to dislike them, as he usually doesn't get much opportunity to contribute to them himself. And this particular one...well...he knows full well what it's going to be about. At least in part, anyway.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "It's not even scheduled yet, Cayde, you have time to at least grab a nap. And after something like today I doubt your brain will even have the energy to dream," Ann retorts, smirking a little with that. "Why not try another tack for it- instead of dreading or running off, put that anxious energy into prepwork for what you want to say. Maybe reserve a datapad with a speech component if you're worried about communications. Think you'll find it more calming in the long run."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <I...don't know the words...> Cayde argues. That seems to be the issue, most of the time. Not even that he doesn't know them, but just doesn't know how to use them right.

    <I'm sorry Master...thank you for coming...>

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "That's why you take the time to prepare, so you're not still in that state come the conversation," reminds Ann with a wry smile, shaking her head.

    "But don't mind it too much. We can talk about what exactly happened later. Like I said, let's get you back to the Temple."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns, thinking about that. Well...maybe, if he did spend some time thinking and researching beforehand, he could come up with something coherent.

    Finally, he nods. <Okay...will you help me>

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Yeah, just get some rest first," says Ann as though it were patently obvious.