The episode opened with the Helios Rain cutting across the
skies of Tattoine, barely a week after its last misadventure. Harrsk and Min were there dealing with local
law enforcement and handing in the rogue, explosion loving, protocol droid from
the deep south, R0-G3 for the bounty. After a brief meeting if the mutual
admiration society, the crew reconvened under a bit of a pall.
Ruby and Ae met them on the gangway and explained what
happened on the last job while Trance sulked within the ship and Etzio,
unsurprisingly, in his bunk (probably force choking himself). Ae's explanation
for not killing the slaves didn't seem to make any headway in smoothing things
over. Min was surprised and a little disappointed, immediately trying to
formulate a plan to make things right. Upon hearing the name Guro, Harrsk swore
to see the Hutt dead at his hands and stormed into his quarters to prepare for
the hunt
As the ship left Tattoine, the captain and Trance exchanged
verbal jabs back and forth about the last mission and what should or shouldn’t
have been done. After an off-handed
remarks from Min about it not being the first time she crossed a Hutt, she left
both of them surprised and sent a comm to someone she thought could help.
A quick wipe later found the ship back on Teth landing at a
remote (s)port to meet Min’s contact with Harrsk and Etzio seeming amused that
such a contact would be there. A sleek
cutter was docked nearby and hooded person was there, flanked by
bodyguards. As they approached, it turned
out to be Korso.
Korso was glad to be called but seemed very disappointed in Ruby for the way the last job was handled and
would barely even look at her or Etzio. Min introduced her to Harrsk and Ae and
Korso expressed her admiration for Ae’s murder skills. Most of her ire seemed to be reserved for
Trance, who Korso lit into. When Ruby spoke up for Trance, Korso said that it
would have been better that they had died doing what was right rather than run.
Trance vowed to set things right.
Bearing gifts, Korso gave Harrsk got a suit of armor as a
gift from Min, which was received with appreciation and no small bit of
confusion, and a case of Thermal Detonators went to Trance. Min thanked Korso as she left for coming to
help.
After a brief off-screen planning session, the crew found
themselves outside of Guro’s headquarters.
Trance and Etzio went inside disguised as patrons to give the slaves a
heads-up about their impending freedom and after a masterful use of deception
(and the Force), Etzio got them past the guards with no violence. The two of them managed to start the
organizing of the escape from the inside.
Fiddling around with the slave collars, Trance called Min and said he
needed her in here to disable the collars on the slaves before they could
escape.
Min managed to slice her way into the HQ’s security feeds
but made a misstep when trying to redirect the cameras. Luckily, Ae appeared in the security booth
and was able to usher the two guards to a peaceful rest. Unfortunately, the blood shorted out the
console and the security comms briefly, alerting the guards to something amiss.
Min used this opportunity to set off every alarm in the
place as Harrsk and Ruby assaulted the front.
The guards weren’t expecting a frontal assault and a barrage of blaster
fire blew out any cover they could have had in the front as Harrsk laid down cover for Ruby, who rounded
a bend to come face to face with Guro and his Bothan lieutenant.
Trance and Etzio started leading the slaves out while Ae was
happily murdering her way back to the front of the building. When Trance spotted Guro, he activated a
Thermal Detonator and jumping cinematically onto the Hutt, buried it in one of
Guro’s orifices with a short fuse.
Gunplay ensued with Ae, Ruby, and Trance taking hits. In Guro’s rage, she collapsed a pillar,
causing the walkway above to collapse onto Tyvekka, nearly crushing her
legs. Etzio and Trance worked together
and managed to drag her out.
Harrsk was in full-on berserker mode and mowed down ALL of
Guro’s remaining henchmen singlehandedly giving Min the chance to get in and
deactivate the slave collars, luckily hitting a frequency that opened them all
at once. She then led the slaves out and
back to the Helios Rain. Guro, sensing
her impending doom was determined to take the captain with her to the
grave. In an uncharacteristic display of
selflessness, Ae freed the captain from the grasp of the Hutt and tried to get
them both clear when the detonator blew, nearly killing them both.
Ae managed to get the near-dead captain on board and the
ship took off. Min was freaking out a
little because of the explosion and the fact that no one would tell her what
was going on as she piloted the ship off-planet and into hyperspace, a course
laid in to (we assume) Korso’s stronghold.
After a little drama, Ae managed to stabilize Ruby with
Stimpacks and Bacta while tending to her own wounds. Tyvekka was dying and Trance pulled Min over
to try to help as Etzio attempted (unsuccessfully) to use the force to try and
soothe the wounded Twi’lek. Unable to
help herself, Ae stayed on comm and tried to walk a shaky Min through
performing medical techniques on Tyvekka to save her life. After a grueling hour of stress, they were
successful but it had taken a huge toll on Min, who fled, covered in blood, to
the engine room to collapse and cry.
Harrsk fumed until after everyone received aid, and then
assaulted Trance for stealing his standing with the scorekeeper. Etzio reached out to try to understand and
realized exactly what Trance had done to Harrsk. Ready for blood, Harrsk was set to kill
Trance and regain his honor but Ae stopped him by saying “no hunting ON the
ship”.
As the episode ended, we had jump cuts to the crew in
aftermath.
Ae managed to wind up in her quarters after everything
calmed down and lay in her bunk thinking.
After a moment she pulled out a holo of her daughter who she hadn’t seen
in years. The child in the holo was running toward the camera smiling and
calling for mommy.
Min, tears still wet on her face, rested against the engine,
the gentle hum of the ship failing to soothe her as it normally did. She reached over to the map given them by
Fianna and projected it across the walls, tracing paths with her fingers.
Harrsk swore and continued to break things before finally
deciding to pledge his life to Trance in order to regain his honor and restore
his score.
Ruby, burned and sore, but alive, walked the halls of the
ship before finding Min in the engine room.
She quietly pulled a chair up next to Min and lad her hand gently on her
shoulder as the two watched the map’s holo.
Trance assisted in setting up temporary accommodations for
the slaves and was approached by the angry one who forgave him for his part in
what happened. Trance asked what they
would do now and she replied that she didn’t know, but the choice was now theirs. She then said she was considering joining the
Rebel Alliance.
Tyvekka spoke of the Force with Etzio, reassuring him that
it had brought him where he was needed and thanking him for saving her
life. Returning to his bunk, Etzio
agonized over the terrible choices of the recent days and let his emotions out,
which triggered the holocron. An older
woman looked out at him from the image and smiled, welcoming him to what seemed
to be an active communication connection.
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