"Hmm.." Valem surveys his fellow escapees. Unless there is a pilot amongst us, it may be wise to befriend this little droid.

Approaching the astromech, he crouches down. "If you are as anxious to get off this ship as we are, perhaps you might lead us to the hangar?" I hope it can understand me? I certainly don't comprehend binary. "I am afraid we are the only remaining detainees here, if you are looking for someone?"

While cautious at first, the astromech sat quietly while Valem spoke. It replied in Binary and waved it's little utensil arms around. It reconized Valem couldn't understand it and proceeded to follow Valem back to the others still near the it open crates. The droid raised a very small sensor antenna and began to scan each prisoner with only low toned boops of disappointment.

Before finishing it's scans, it's little sensor antenna locked onto the bulkhead opposite of the entry. A squeal of excitement came from the droid as it raced over to the bulkhead interface and stuck his scomp link into the control panel. It spun it's arm furiously in a desperate attempt to get it open.

Kilimar turns at the cacophony of beeps and squeals that heralded the droid's awakening. He turns to watch as the droid works furious to open the bulkhead, and he walks over to it with curiosity. He really wanted to get out of here, but if there was someone else held captive...well, he'd rather not leave anyone to the Imperials if he could help it. Nothing they touched survived unscathed.

"Does this machine belong to one of you?" Asa asked, unsure. "What is it doing?"

"It seems to be more interested in whatever lies beyond that bulkhead."

Valem approaches the bulkhead that has so aroused the little droid's excitement. "Quiet, friend." Lifting away his earpiece, he presses against the closed hatch, in hopes that his keen hearing may pick something up from the other side.

Reesh would watch the droids behaviour before shaking his head in exasperation. Reesh had never had much experience with droids, and had never had made much time for them. All he knew was this was not the time to start.

'Unless the machine can find a way out of here through that bulkhead, it is time to go. This Gand doesn't want to die for some wires in a metal shell'. He would watch the Pau'an for a moment as well, squinting with suspicion. 'This Gand is not even sure if the tall one should come. Shouting for the guard is not something this Gand trusts.'

Valem would hear just a light hum of a machine as he pressed his ear up against the bulkhead. As others gathered to watch the small droid in curiosity, it would complete it's task. DING! Went the control interface and the astromech retracted its arm.

A slow rumble began as the thick bulkhead rose up from the ground, receding into the wall above. As soon as the bulkhead was high enough the astromech raced through. A blue glow expanded into the holding cell block as the door opened.

Within this room was only a single machine on the floor, it cast a blue light upwards that contained an old dark skinned woman in a prisoners outfit. She was suspended midair above the machine and was motionless even as the captives from the holding cell meet eyes with her.

The astromech had already approached the machine and was preparing his shock arm. Normally used to jump start electronics, the shock arm had overloaded machines in the past. The crackle of electricity was ignited and the astromech touched it to the machines transformer. ZZZZZTT! It managed to short circuit the machine but the resulting shock knocked the droid on its back, "AAAAAA-WWWWEEEEE!"

The woman fell the short distance to the ground and without hesitation raced to the droid. She knelt down to upright it back onto its wheels before embracing with both arms. The astromech signed with beeps of relief.

The woman, after reuniting with her droid, turned to the captives who were watching the scene within the bulkhead. She bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, in such dire times I am glad to see my old friend, R5-K4, or Raker. My name Ryz Occa. I see you are readying an escape? Do you care if I join? I can be quite helpful."

Kilimar freezes in place when he sees the woman, head tilted to the side. He remembered the image of her, and what she was wielding, and all the pains of his youth came flooding back to him. The last time he'd seen an ignited blade, his best friend died to let him escape. He was conflicted about how he felt of this woman, though he understood why she was in that cell. "It's pretty much a group effort." He says to her question, trying to regain his composure. "If you can help us get out of this before it's too late, I have no objections." He was pretty certain she could indeed help them get out, if she was even remotely skilled in the Arts. He looks around, clearly ready to leave.

The Pau-an cringes, shaking his head in discomfort at the dinging droid. Replacing the earcap, he observes as the bulkhead slides upward, revealing the suspended woman.

"Valem Sabir, Mistress Occa, pleasure. Time is of the essence, but perhaps your possessions are in the room where we just found ours?" Extending a long arm, he gestures from whence they had come.

Asa lowered his hand from from his quiver, where it had flown just a few seconds earlier.

21 minutes ago, KungFuFerret said:

"It's pretty much a group effort." He says to her question, trying to regain his composure. "If you can help us get out of this before it's too late, I have no objections."

"Seconded," he said in reply to Kilimar's statement. He wasn't so confident about the old woman's capability, but he had taken an oath to help the helpless.

Turning towards Valem, Ryz replied to his statement about possessions, "I didn't have anything with me at the time, except for this droid. I was betrayed and then captured aboard the starship we were traveling on."

Ryz would look around at the holding cell block for a moment before replying to Asa and Kilimar, "Exit is locked tight? Do you know how to get it open? What happened to all the guards?"

Kilimar holds up a hand, and starts ticking off fingers. "Not sure about the exit, I think one of the others unlocked it...." He folds down a finger, "...no I don't know how to get it open, aside from kicking the terminal, or lucking out with access codes....." he folds down a second one, "....we only had one guard, and we tied him up back there." He folds down the last finger, making a fist. He then juts out his thumb and gestures in the general direction of where the Imp was stashed.

"Indeed. There was but a single, fairly incompetent guard. I am still not entirely convinced this is not a test, a ploy to suss out our capabilities..."

Valem shrugs.

"It hardly matters. We are scheduled for imminent execution, so any chance at freedom- or even the illusion of freedom, is most welcome."

"We have the key to unlock the exit," Asa said in reply to the newcomer. "I'll go and see about unlocking it."

He ran to the computer terminal, keying up the command to unlock the exit and clumsily datapad to see if he could find a suitable voice recording of the guard's.

Unable to find a voice recording that would unlock the bulkhead, Asa came back to tell the others. "Interesting, we should head to the source on the matter at hand. I believe my skills will be off use, already.", Ryz said. "I have kept a secret for far too many years. Just like all of you, I too was detained for my Force sensitivity. Long ago I was trained as a Jedi Knight." Ryz motioned for Raker, the droid, to come over to her.

"I had given up on the Force after the purge of the Jedi. It wasn't until I had a Force vision of my old apprentice b eing captured by the Empire that I began to commune willingly again. I sense it in all of you, a strength you may not fully understand and a power with great potential." Raker had moved close to Ryz and opened a secret compartment revealing small metallic parts inside.

She closed her eyes and the metal pieces floated out of the droid and above her hand. These pieces assembled midair and formed a handle. She opened her eyes and ignited the lightsaber. A bright green blade illuminated the woman. Ryz would give a test swing, the saber making a "Wooooonnn" sound. She disengaged the blade and slid it into her outfit.

"I've held onto this old symbol of the Jedi for many years, not knowing when I would need to use it again. I feel its time has come. Although we are in the belly of the beast, remember it is always darkest before dawn."

Ryz gave a wrinklely smile at her own words of confidence before continuing "The Jedi Masters tought all kinds of uses for the Force, including channeling it to heal wounds. Follow me and shall give you a display."

Ryz entered the cell Lt. McTanen was in. She knelt down beside him and put her hands on him. Over the course of a few minutes McTanen's scratches on his face healed without scars, and he awoke with a large cough of blood onto the floor. He sat up dazed on the slab in the cell, barely able to compose himself. Ryz stood and left the cell, closing the force field behind her.

"It is done." She stumbled for a moment, catching herself on Raker. "I'll need a bit to rest, see if you can get the information from him with hurting him more. Come on Raker let's see about coming up with a plan."

Kilimar retreats from the lightsaber as she ignites it, clearly not wanting anything to do with it. While she moves about the cell taking actions, his anxiety begins to gnaw at him. He begins to mutter to himself. "Actually it's quite bright before the dawn." He says, voice low. "Solar mechanics on every planet create a pre-dawn glow that makes it very easy to move about before actual dawn." He says this as he moves about, looking down the hallway to make sure no other Imperials are approaching. He begins to pace, drumming the fingers of his left hand along his left horn.

Kilimar sighs and walks over to the barrier between him and McTanen. "Not as fun when you're on the other side of the cage is it?" He says, no malice in his tone, just simply pointing out the situation. "Look, McTanen right? None of us asked to be here, none of us even wanted anything to do with the Empire. We just wanted to be left alone. But then your goon squad showed up and literally snatched us off the streets, and decided to convict us for being who we are." He squats down, to put himself at eye level with the guard still recovering from his injury. "We just want to go home. To see our families, just like you want to see yours. But if we don't get out of here, we will die, all because of your Empire, and it's need to crush anything and anyone it doesn't like. Please. Help us. What is the password?" Kilimar keeps his tone calm and empathetic, despite his desire to leave right now.

Asa had watched in wonder as the old woman had formed the ancient weapon with the power of her mind. This kind of prestige was something to which he had aspired when he was still a Paladin. Sunfire swords were incredibly rare on Weik.

He approached Ryz with much curiosity, but thought better of asking her about it just yet. "Do you know anything of the path between here and the hangar? Any kind of plan we should be making?"

The shstivastan prowled around the detention block like a wolf in a slightly larger cage.

"Rest if you must, but we are pressed for time. I am no Jedi; but I, too, spent time at the Temple. Could that saber not cut us free of this chamber, without further ado?"

Asa's eyes grew wide. "Yes, I had heard that sunfire swords were capable of cutting through hard fortifications. I assumed it was just a fable, an exaggeration to scare enemies. I never saw one in action...is that truly possible?"

Reesh would feel most uneasy about the old woman who had emerged from the bulkhead. As far as he knew, all of the prisoners here, why had she been kept separate from them? The presentation of the lightsaber did not make him feel any easier. Though he had never seen one on Gand, he had heard tales of the Jedi and their weapons. His grip would tighten on his stick as he watches the woman closely.

Seeing Kilimar approach the guard to question him, Reesh would go to follow. He would jab at the energy field sullenly with his stick, glowering across at the guard. 'If the human cannot cut through the door, then beating this one might provide an escape' he would chitter, looking up at Kilimar. 'You said there was little time, so time should not be wasted being polite to this one'.

McTanen slowly raised his eyes off the floor and met Kilimar's, "You speak of family? My Alrea... (His voice quivers) I will never see her again because of what you have done. You think if you leave here the Empire will not come looking for you and your families? No one leaves here alive. The Inquisitor who captured you all is still aboard the ship and he won't lose his latest prize for Darth Vader." (Advantages)

McTanen spat another clot of blood, this time at the Force field locking himself in the cell, "I wasn't always the only guard assigned to this cell block. My superior was releaved of duty after our last prison transfer."

"There was a young girl among the new arrivals. The troopers said she never spoke a word during their integrations. Not a scream, not a cry. A cold stare was all she offered in return. When she arrived, my superior was furious at her screams within her cell, but I heard just silence. It drove him mad and decided to make her be quiet. He beat her until the screaming in his head stopped. She did not survive."

"Darth Vader had come to pick up the prisoners and had no tolerance for his behavior. Vader snapped his neck with a thought and promoted me, warning me I was responsible for further complications. I processed his paperwork for dismissal from the Imperial Navy and saw Talking himself had sentenced his wife and sons to the spice mines to pay back the 'lost assest'."

McTanen slumped back, his head looking back to the floor of the cell, "You need my help? You leave me with no choice, I will do it on one condition. You must kill me afterwards. Hopefully they will spare my sweet Alrea." (Despair)

After her healing session with McTanen, Ryz had made her way into the supply closet but listened to the others speaking with her and the conversation going on with the guard. Raker had clumsily made his way up the exterior stairs, to the terminal in the watch tower.

After McTanen's long winded story and odd request Ryz emerged from the closet wearing a mismatched suit of Stormtrooper armour. "Troubling news indeed."

She turned to look at Asa and Valem, "My lightsaber may cut through that bulkhead but it would delay us further. Hanger would be the best idea, I doubt we could take this Star Destroyer ourselves. Hopefully Raker with have something for us in a moment."

Ryz now addresses all of the prisoners in the cell block, "This man is trying to make a noble sacrifice, I don't have the will to take an unarmed prisoners life. Will one of you have the courage to help with this request or will we spare him now and hope it doesn't really cause such pain and suffering later?"

Asa patted his swordhilt. "I will honor his request. It will be quick."