(Flashback, Dantooine)

He awoke on a ragged cot in a dank cell, memory returning slowly as he roused. Einarr had stepped between a guard and his intended victim, a young Twi'lek woman from one of the pirate clans stuck in the camp with him. Seeing the human trying to take advantage of another like that had pushed the wrong buttons with the Mon cal, and without thinking he had stepped forward to intercede with a fist flying into the pale humans chin. The man had fallen, but his friends had been nearby. They were planning to execute him summarily due to his assault on one of the guards but he had an ace in the hole. His cousin would be in system in a day, if he could escape his dank surroundings and survive until then he would have a chance at pleading his case.

The heavy footfalls of the guards boots echoed down the dark hallway as Einarr examined his surroundings looking for a weapon, the heavy durasteel of the cots frame was bolted to the duracrete floor, the matting in tatters. Tossing the matting into the corner in a clump to simulate him hiding, he quickly striped the stained and soiled case from the pillow, wrapping it twice in a loop around his mechanical right hand and stretching it out with his left while coiling it into a make shift garrote. The Mon Cal took position behind the door in the blind spot, waiting as the resounding echos slowly grew closer accompanied to the tune of a jaunty whistle.

The echoing rustle of keys in the mechanical lock filled his cell as the guard wrestled the primitive device open, the door slowly swinging open on rusted hinges. “Here now fishy fishy, what say you come out so we can have some fun with you?”  The guard was drunk, his speech slurred as he shambled into the room, a blunt stun club in one hand waving casually as the man advanced on the lump of the bedding in the far corner. Einarr struck out, his hardened swim fins on his forearms colliding in a hammer fist with the guards dented, dirty helmet. The man collapsed forward as Einarr slipped the pillowcase garrote around his throat, knee planted firmly in the mans back to hold him down the guard had forgotten the club in his struggles the man tried to choke out a squealing scream of fear as his airway was closed off. His drumming feet on the cold floor slowing gradually as his body gave up the strength to fight. Holding the loop for a short count more Einarr then relaxed, rolling the man onto his back before confirming he still breathed. Good, he did not need a dead guard against him when he plead his case, no matter how ill trained and slovenly drunk the human was.

Einarr scooped the club into his right hand as he checked the mans pockets with his left, a short barrel slug thrower, the keys, a pair of ration bars, a small vial of glitterstim, and a short vibroknife were his rewards. Einarr emptied the rounds from the slugthrower, tossing the magazine out into the hall, the glitterstim he pressed against the mans bruised throat, the injector activating and sending the man into a deep blissful drug induced dream. Exiting the cell, Einarr swung the rusted door closed, and with a moments fumbling search found the proper key to lock it. As he turned to exit the sounds of a fellow prisoner in distress reached his ears, Einarr swiftly moved to the cell door from which the sounds originated and peering through the slit watched as another guard was drunkenly abusing a Cathar prisoner. Einarr smiled as he considered his options, he recognized the cat on the ground as one of the local groups second in command, saving the Cathar could provide influence with the felinids clan which would greatly help Einarr while he worked to stay hidden.

The Mon Calamari thumped the door 3 times with the but of the stun club before calling through the slit “Hey you lazy nerf herder, the cap needs us up top, some kinda riot goin down in camp!”

The dull meaty thuds combined with the discharge of ionized air as the club released its charge with each strike stopped, the guards heavy breathing taking up the silence. “Alright, be out in a second.” A few muffled threats to the prisoner later and the guard slowly opened the door before casually shambling out. Einarr struck as the man cleared the door, his stun club whipping out in a midsection slash to connect with the mans padded torso armor. The strike connected with full force doubling the man over but the stun charge did not penetrate the thick padding. The man doubled over, his breath leaving in a rush as he dropped to one knee, Einarr swung the but of the club towards the mans helmet as he crouched there disabled. The human dropped from the blow, rolling stunned on the ground as Einarr advanced on him. Raising the club overhead for a finishing strike Einarr was surprised, the guard swept out with his left leg to connect with the Mon cals chest forcing him back, this gave the Guard time to get to his feet as Einarr's unarmored form bounced off the wall. The guard crouched in a low ready stance, club held low on the right, left out and open to catch any slow attacks or ward off any hard strikes that were ill aimed. Einarr reversed the grip on his club as he swapped it to his own left hand, his right coming forward and across in a defensive posture.

“So we got a squid boy on the loose ey, thought you could take me on unharmed?” The guard's finger came down on the trigger of the stun club causing arc's to skip across the studs along the edge. “You'se got anotha think comin fishy.”

Einarr rushed forward, his club raised defensively to meet the still sparking guards weapon before he dropped low and spun on his right knee, his mechanical fist with its hardened dive fins on his forearms slamming out in a spinning hammer fist to the guards knee. The man slid away taking a glancing blow to the limb in place of the shattering force Einarr had intended. The guard struck out with his open left hand across the body as catching Einarr across the face with a weak left hook. The Guard dropped, his leg numb from the blow, but Einarr rolled to the side, his eyes unfocused from the blow. As  both slowly rose to their feet the guard was taken by surprise, the Cathar struck from his cell in a fit of rage. Claws slashing to tear the armor across the mans midsection  as the Feline struck blindly. The man fell before this onslaught curling into a ball to try to protect his vital spots as he whimpered. Einarr moved forward slowly as the Cathar tired.

“Think this one is out of the fight friend. Care to lock him up so we can get out of here?” Einarr kept his distance from the pirate Cathar as he asked the question, the guard whimpering in a ball.

“Yes, let us free my kin and make our way out of here… My thanks for the help.”

“You were as much help to me as I was to you, if you hadn't come out when you did, he'd have gotten me in the next exchange.”

“We are equal then for this? But I still owe you for the opportunity to  gain freedom from that disgusting cell, and the chance to free my siblings.” The look on the Cathars bruised and battered features brooked no argument. So Einarr just smiled as he nodded, the Cathar quickly looted the whimpering guard of his belongings before dragging the man who protested weekly into his old cell before locking it. The pair split quickly tracking down and releasing other prisoners, before meeting at the end of the hallway. The Guard station was just ahead, and their limited force would not be able to take it without luck and skill on their side. Einarr examined his new found force, 5 Cathar ranging from sleek black furred to a dappled tan and Grey with a bushy mane, 2 Trandoshans in scraps of old armor, and a single white masked Kaleesh. None that would fit in with the mixed guard force of mercenaries. Einarr considered his options, then handed his club off to the Kaleesh man.

“I will draw them out, you guys able to handle the mop up when they come after me?”

The Cathar nodded, the Kaleesh simply stared, and the Trandoshans looked almost eager. Einarr nodded satisfied as he trusted to luck, then stepped around the corner in a stumbling shambling movement. He moved as if drunk taking no effort to conceal the noise of his movements as he stumbled into various things, the pair of guards at the post watching with confused expressions on their faces as they watched the Mon Cal slowly stumble towards them. When Einarr was halfway down the hall towards them the final guard left the Guard post leaving the door open to watch the spectacle. 3/4ths of the way down the corridor Einarr dropped to one knee and pretended to be sick, the guards laughed watching this, then the trio advanced on the seemingly helpless Mon Cal. As the trio surrounded him Einarr lashed out with his cybernetic right fist to smash the one closest to the guard posts door in the groin. The man doubled over in pain as Einarr rolled past him, his right leg slashing out in a sweep kick to trip the on on his right side. The guard to his left lashed out with a solid punch catching Einarr in the back of the head and causing him to slide forward in a roll towards the door of the guard post. While the guards were distracted the escaped prisoners rushed around the corner, the Kaleesh moving like a silent white shadow as he struck out with the stun baton, the weapon caught the standing guard first on the inner elbow, then along the armor over the kidneys and finished with a butt strike to the base of the helmet. The man dropped like a durasteel weight to the floor of the corridor as the trandoshans teamed up on the groin shotted man, their fists pummeling his armored from from both sides into submission. Four of the Cathar handled the final guard who had just struggled to his feet as the group reached him, spreading into a skirmish line they attacked as a unit, the black male striking with a series of fast punches towards the mans face as the human crossed his arms in a series of blocks, next a striped female crouched low as she kicked in and up into the guards undefended chest plate knocking him off balance. Finally a pair of thickly muscled golden maned males came in from either side to force the off balance man to the ground, their claws plucking the weapon from the mans hand.  The final Cathar moved to Einarr's side, aiding the battered Mon Cal to his feet.


“We should be pretty clear from here out, once we are back with the general population we should be able to lay low among them until things cool down.”

“Yes, I assumed the same, but our ID bracelets will be useless for now. I offer you the shelter of my camp and clan as a brother for your deeds here today, you have proven yourself a friend to the Redclaw's.”

“Kindly accepted, let us make our way first to this lesser freedom, then one day soon to greater freedom among the stars brother.” Einarr took the Cathars outstretched hand in his own and gaining his feet the group quickly hurried out and into the darkness of a Dantooine night as they made their way to their various peoples, the The Kaleesh man following in Einarr's shadow even as Einarr followed the Cathar.

OOC:

Word count: 2045