A Scoundrel, a Rebel, a Thief, and a Wanderer
She had a dream of stars. That dream led to curiosity. Curiosity led her to stow away on a ship. That ship led her to an eventual life on Coruscant. It wasn't much of a life, to most but it was far more than what she would've been given if she'd stayed at home.
It was still a habit for her despite all the stormtroopers around. To be a thief, one had to have a keen eye. To study for easy targets. Would they notice her slip her fingers into their pockets feeling for credits? Would she need to actually start a conversation with them? Could she get away with them not knowing her face at all? Most imperial citizens were pretty tame in the big cities as far as reaction goes. They would only shout for the nearest stormtrooper to give a description that was usually useless. But today was different. The air was thick with tension. She couldn't point out why...so she studied potential targets. She learned how to tell if they had a weapon tucked away or if their wallet and credits were in an unusual place...
Her blaster pistol was tucked away in her bag. She had a dark gray hood scarf that ran down almost to her waist. It cupped her head in a way that looked cute to some. A weapon she used against people who tried to flirt with her. She had blue thermal gear, a brown vest, combat pants and boots. This was her outfit for the market. She was there for food today. She had no intention of stealing anything today. But she still couldn't resist picking out easy targets in the crowd.
She handed the seller a few credits and put her small bag of fruit away into her sack. She swung it around back onto her shoulder smiling her thanks. She pressed on through the crowd. Coruscant used to be the center of the galaxy. Housed a massive galactic senate, was the capital of the republic...but then the clone wars ended, the empire was born. And then the endless city was left behind...
The Galaxy moved on with time. But the sprawling city had fallen from grace even with the empire's occupation of "maintaining the peace." The occupation was mainly on the surface. The deeper you went into the slums of the planet, the more unlawful things became. Even slave trafficking was starting to boom again. When you empower one moron, you give them all power. They treated every race as if they were lesser.
The girl paused several times getting some things for the week. She would take them back to the shack of her home. She paused at the last tent of the market. They specialized in sweets that melt in your mouth and just imagining something buttery and sugary sitting on her tongue for a fleeting second was too tempting of an offer to refuse. She almost cursed herself when she counted the credits she had left. But she forked the ones needed over all the same.
She was then walking away with the small sweet cake in cupped in her worn fingerless-gloved hand. Her boots clicking against the rusted metal floor. A stormtrooper squad brushed past her as they aimed to patrol the market. No doubt they were there because someone made a claim on a shop owner. Perhaps it was someone who was slighted. Or maybe it was someone looking to thin the competition. Whether it was right or wrong, it didn't matter. They would get the attention of an imperial squad. She tried to look as uninteresting as possible as the rest of them passed her.
She took a small bite of her sweet cake smiling a bit as she did. It was the simple pleasure in life she looked forward to. It was sadly all she had to look forward to...
Her mouth twitched when she swallowed. She intended on saving it, but gave in, eating the rest of it as she took a shuttle bus back to her district. Her home was on the third floor above a cantina. She accended the dark stairway pressing her fingers to the door latch so it slid open. Her home had a heater that didn't work in the winter. An air conditioner that didn't work in the summer. She took her groceries out of her bag and tossed the bag onto her couch and walked over to her kitchen to put her groceries away.
She pushed open the fridge hearing a creak. She paused keeping completely still. After hearing nothing for several seconds she continued for another moment only to stop abruptly on purpose. She heard it again, this time it was quieter, whoever it was they were good. She curled her fingers into a fist. Someone was in here with her. They were in her home...
She debated her options, imperials would've just busted her upon entering. No this...this was someone who had a vendetta. They were going to kill her and attempt it quietly. One of her victims might've have recognized her and hired someone to get her. It didn't matter...she had some unwanted attention now. She put the last of her groceries away and slammed the fridge closed.
Her blaster pistol was in tucked away in the bag she'd tossed to the couch. Her home was deathly silent now whoever they were, they must've realized that she was on to them.
She had a staircase and a hallway on her left. They could be in either one. What was worse they were essentially between her and her weapon, and they might have one of their own. She glanced towards her couch again. She huffed quietly as she weighed her options. Both her hallway and the staircase to the floor above where she slept would both lead her to another weapon she could use. But she had no way of knowing that if someone was there until it was too late. Her blaster pistol in her bag would have to do, but someone was in her way.
She remained silent as she shifted herself to a better position to bolt straight for the couch. She heard breathing that wasn't her own. It was quiet and subtle. She made her move. Her boot hitting the floor beneath her harshly. She'd have to fight her way through them if they got in her way.
By the time her other boot hit the ground she could hear rapid movement. The figure stepped out from the staircase a Boltcaster bow in hand. She sprinted as fast as she could intent on knocking them down long enough to get her own weapon. But she didn't expect the intruder to be a Trandoshen. They were big and this one was strong enough to take her charge in stride. She ran into them only to be peeled off with one arm and thrown back into the kitchen knocking over some of the glass jars and many of her utensils over as she tumbled over her counter top sliding back into her fridge. The jars she hit shattered as they impacted the ground, her utensils clattering around her.
She grabbed her side applying pressure to see if there were any major injuries. Thankfully there none. She looked quickly back up as she heard them taking rapid steps towards her. The counter would've normally hidden her, but Trandoshans had a sort of inferred vision. She looked to the side where it would be coming for her and clambered onto her counter grabbing a knife from that had been knocked free from its container and jumped over at the Trandoshan.
The Trandoshan had lost its chance for silence and aimed down the sites of its weapon. But it had to readjust its aim, it was expecting her to attack from the front the kitchen's exit, not from over the counter. As it readjusted it fired narrowly missing her side. It raised its arm and swatted her away again onto the floor beside him.
Her gray hood scarf had fallen off her dark hair a bit disheveled due to the fight. She groaned twisting herself around, kicking the tip of his bolt caster away. She could hear it blast the ground beside her chest. The heat from the discharge rippled near her skin. She tucked her head kicked herself off rolling forward she kept that knife in hand as she stood up again. The Boltcaster was leveled towards her stomach again. Out of options, she latched onto it, taking care not be in its way when it discharged twice.
It's yellow eyes narrowed as it angrily swatted at her across the face its claws extended.
She felt her skin rip and held onto the weapon for dear life. She retaliated by sticking the knife into the wrist of the hand that was holding his gun. She pulled the knife back as quickly as possible.
The pain forced the Trandoshan to drop its gun. It growled, grabbed her, and threw her off this time with real strength behind it. Her side smashed the wall above her couch chipping the concrete and left a spot of blood. She tumbled down onto the couch tumbling onto the floor. She reached desperately for her bag fumbling for her weapon. The handle of her blaster came into her grip and she ripped it out of the bag leveling it at the Trandoshan.
It weighed its options too, by the time it reached for its Boltcaster she would have fired. It sprinted for her as fast as its legs could carry.
She managed to fire once impacting embedding a burn on the Trandoshan shoulder. But it tackled her back, smashing its grooved head into her chest as it ran them both into the wall.
She could taste blood in her mouth. But now she had both hands full with weapons while the Trandoshan had only its claws. Before the Trandoshan could slash her throat she drove the knife into its shoulder cutting through the thick fabric of its outfit. She used every ounce of strength she had in her legs to push the Trandoshan off, only for the briefest of seconds.
It reeled back grabbing at the knife she'd shoved into its shoulder.
She fell to the ground rolling away and leveled her blaster.
The Trandoshan pulled the knife out looking for her only to see that she was out of reach.
Her finger squeezed the trigger and held it in place. It fired several times as the Trandoshan tried to react. But the green creature never felt the floor.
The silence of her home fell once again and she slumped against the wall grabbing her side. A groan of pain escaped her lips sitting in the dark of her house. She didn't know how long she sat there for but it was nearly evening when she finally had the strength to move. She dragged herself across the floor, broken glass biting into her hands. She finally found the strength stand, leaning herself against the wall as she clambered down the dark hall towards her medical supplies.
But luck wasn't on her side tonight. She heard someone kicking down her front door exclaiming over the dead Trandoshan. She was too tired now. Too exhausted she felt herself consciousness slip away into sleep on her floor, pain wracking every inch of her body. She heard the figures walking towards her.
She was cold. She continued to blink her eyes into focus. Metal bars came into focus in front of her. She groaned sitting up and looking around getting a sinking feeling as she did so. A metal cage she concluded. Her clothes had some blood stained on them, however, her wounds had been treated. She scanned the darkened room for anything else that was familiar. She could see a crate with her weapons on it. Her blaster pistol and cycle rifle. On her rifle she could see her sort of spray paint markings on it, it was hanging on what looked to be a weapons rack.
She moved to try and change her angle of sight but heard metal dragging and felt a weighted pressure on her limbs. Her hands were cuffed together and her legs chained to the cage. "Shit." She huffed to herself as she fully realized her predicament. Her palms and wrists were covered in bandages. Her fingertips were cold on her face, but she could feel the bandages in place.
Then she heard a door slide open and a switch flipped to illuminate the rest of the area. She blinked, there were dozens of others in cages like her.
They were fucking slavers. She pushed her hair behind her ear, the cuffs and chain making what was usually a simple task much harder. By the time she had finished one of them was looking at her.
He was a man who had mixed armors from many different places. Three line scars that ran vertically down his cheek. Half of his hair was shaved off and he had Tattoo on his right eye. He tilted his head looking down at her. "You're the girl who killed our boss."
She tilted her head looking up at them, her eyes narrowed in question.
The man shook his head for a moment. "The Trandoshan."
She sat back leaning against the cage away from him. "Are you expecting an apology? He was trying to kill me." She inquired mockingly. Her eyes glancing around the room at the others in cages watching their interaction with growing curiosity.
He shrugged. "Not really, the guy was a dick." He looked around at the others besides her, his rifle hanging loosely.
She huffed out a chuckle. "Yeah, must be the case with the lot of you."
He tilted his head with a smile. "Got a make a living someway." He scratched his chin. "Besides, you're hardly want to talk thief."
Her eyes narrowed again.
He waved nonchalantly at the unspoken question. "We pick out our potential targets by making sure they're isolated. People that wouldn't be missed, that sort of thing. He wasn't there to kill you, he was there to stun you and drug you."
She laid her head back against the bars. "Charming."
"Stytes, get back up here we're approaching the system."
The man before her shrugged towards her. "You fit that description perfectly." He walked off talking louder. "I'm coming."
When they were out of hearing ranged she leaned over to the closest cage. There was a young man there. He was covered in water that rolled off the ends of his hair, dripping onto the floor. She scanned around one more time. "Where are we going?"
It wasn't the man who answered it was Twilek in the cage above her. "They're taking us to an ice planet named Rhen Var in the outer rim. Since the clone wars, it's become almost like Tatooine. Only colder." She tilted her head looking down. "I'm Kayla."
The thief smiled up at her. "Rayn" She stated simply.
It was less than fifteen minutes the ship shuddered slightly as they landed. An alarm sounded as big doors opened and a ramp extended. Below freezing temperature air rushed in. She tugged her clothes closer to herself wrapping herself as much as she could into her jacket. Her gray scarf was still around her neck but she couldn't reach back to pull its hood up to cover her ears.
The man with scars returned having holstered his weapon onto his back. He waved to someone down the ramp. He looked back and walked towards Rayn's cage. He latched her cage to the Kayla's with a strap. Then did the same connecting to the cage beside her with the young man and then the one above them that was next to Kayla. Others came up from the ramp getting the weapon crates and others. She saw a man in brown coat look at her blaster pistol and then put in the crate.
Another man and woman came out from the cockpit area and helped to push the cages that were latched together. She stared out into the icy world below as they slid the four cages onto a sled. She could see a massive fur animal latched onto it that was currently sitting down in the snow. She saw at least a dozen other figures were moving around. Prepping similar modes of transportation.
Stytes pulled up a cowl to cover his mouth and nose from the cold. He put on a jacket over his armor and walked back up the ramp to slide more of the cages down the boarding ramp.
Rayn looked to her left when she heard shaking. It was the man who's been covered in water. She could see the water starting to form to ice in his hair and his clothes.
She heard Kayla sigh. "He isn't going to make it. It's nearly a two-mile journey from here to the spaceport."
Rayn's mouth twitched and sat back to face him. All she could do was sit and watch him die.
He was a tough kid for sure. He'd survived at least halfway to the spaceport before the cold had finally done him in.
Frost clung to her clothes. She struggled not shiver but as far as she could tell Kayla was in no better condition than herself. The cave above her rattled.
Rayn could feel the metal cuffs on her skin starting to bite and burn because of how cold it was.
It was only the half way point.
She closed her eyes and resided herself to her fate. She was certain her eyes had frozen shut by the time she vaguely heard a large door opening. Eyes and frost clung to her very red skin. The heat from the interior was welcoming to everyone.
Stytes pulled down his cowl wiping away some of the frost he looked over at her with a smile and started to walk over.
Rayn was shivering hugging her limbs to her center as much as she could. It was all she could do at the moment to warm herself.
He leaned on her cage looking down at her. "Don't worry, this place will warm you up in a bit."
She still couldn't bring herself to but she looked over at the boy.
Stytes only shrugged. "He asked for water so we obliged him."
Her eyes met Stytes. It was only now that she had a full understanding of their situation. She never wanted to outright kill someone before. They were far from The Empire now, and the Galaxy was still tearing itself apart.