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Callum simply smiles and moves alongside his companions as they all follow the Twi'lek to the "banquet hall". However, he is far from complacent as he uses the Force to get a better sense of his surroundings and any persons that may be keeping themselves out of sight. It would not be particularly good to simply walk into a trap with armed people waiting for them.
"Well, it would hardly be unlike a Hutt to deal with all sides involved, Imperials included," Callum remarks with a shrug. "Just business, I am sure, but their reputation as basically having no morals is well earned."
Callum takes a deep breath as he looks around, taking in both the surroundings and the people within, Darga especially. Knowing Huttese, he does not need the protocol droid to understand what the Hutt is saying, but he does find it amusing to hear the differences in what Darga actually says and how the droid translates it to sound... well, quite a bit more diplomatic. With Colvin doing a fine job as their representative, the Corellian moves closer to Scuttle. "So, there will be tales then? Songs maybe? Dare I even say... sagas?" His tone is not so much mocking as it is teasing and friendly.
"Well, that all went decidedly less violently than I expected," Callum quips with a smile as he boards the hoversled alongside the rest of his friends. "Not that I am complaining mind you," he adds with a wink.
"Well, one thousand credits certainly sounds like a nice amount to me," Callum offers to Galatea, his tone one of approval and agreement. "It does, after all, appear to have at the very least the requisite number of zeroes. And in their proper place no less."
"The promise of credits maybe? Preferably a considerable amount, I would assume," Callum whispers to Galatea, though he does glance at his blaster pistol. "Otherwise, blaster fire it is, I suppose..."
'Here goes nothing,' Callum thinks briefly before smiling and starting to speak, taking care to at least keep some cover between himself and the thugs if at all possible. "Hello there. I suppose it is best if I get to the point sooner rather than later," the Corellian calls out, opting for a direct approach and hoping Colvin and Sebbik are ready if things get ugly. "Could I perhaps speak with a Devaronian gentleman by the name of Rannick Warden? As for the reason... maybe call it a business opportunity?" He shrugs as he glances at Galatea, aiming for his more diplomatically inclined friend to take it from here. At least as long as blaster fire does not come their way.
Not particularly wanting to be left behind, Callum shrugs and follows Galatea, blaster pistol at the ready.
"Not seeing anything," Callum replies as he takes his blaster out of its holster. "Does not necessarily mean there is nothing there though, does it?"
AS Callum falls he manages to reach out to the Force to sustain him, if barely.
Taking a moment to steady himself and focus on the fight rather than his injuries, Callum proceeds to fire his blaster pistol at one of the gang members, using the Force to better center himself.
Attack of Opportunity:
"And here I was trying to be a gentleman," Callum manages to quip through clenched teeth as his leg begins to throb and beads of sweat form on his forehead. A mere moment later his blaster is in his hand and he wastes no time with any more words before firing at the one who attacked him.
Attack of Opportunity:
"You know, it might actually be the latter, yes," Callum quips at the droid before turning his attention towards the so-called Vipers. And as he does so, his right hand moves ever so slightly closer to the blaster pistol holstered at his hip. "I am sure we can have a nice civilized discussion about this matter," the Corellian says in an attempt to buy some time and perhaps help Galatea making her case. "After all, the Imperial Officer we just talked would know of any fees owed, yes? And she did not mention anything." "Surely we can come to an understanding? Maybe over a drink or two," he adds then, addressing the purple-haired woman specifically rather than the group in general.
"You know," Callum remarks off-handedly after keeping mostly quiet, thinking, "I think that Neimoidian officer is not all that happy here. Maybe we should give her a ride off this place when we do leave?" SCT-L3's comments about Devaronians do get his attention though. "Well, that is... That is interesting. Interesting and... disturbing, given that little bit about dying. Why... why would you even mention that? Is that not the norm for most... sexually dimorphic species?"
"It is more or less how my friend here tells it," Callum lends his own voice to the Duros'. "And you would expect that with the majority of us actually being pilots and mechanics, we would be pretty happy there. But as you have probably heard yourself, if there is one thing that is almost a trademark of us Corellians? Even more so perhaps than our aforementioned skills?" He pauses for a moment and smiles, almost grinning. "Now that is our wanderlust, my dear officer!"
Earlier, with Sebbik and Galatea:
"I... umm... I am not entirely sure I can explain this ghost... err... occurrence," Callum admits with at least a little embarrassment, "but I would say that what you are describing? I would certainly attribute it to your connection with the Force."
He smiles, turning to the Duros. "Well, the Force does flow through all of us, not just those the Jedi. Or what is left of them..." "Yes, what he just said," Callum quips, patting the droid and then pausing briefly. "Wait... Is it "he"?" "Besides, when was the last time a Corellian did anything foolish?"
Earlier, with Sebbik and Galatea: "Call it... a feeling," Callum quips with a smile. "Have there ever been... how to put it... strange occurences? Say, knowing something you could not possibly know? Have a hunch or a premonition or a feeling that came true? Felt you knew what was the right or at least better course of action? Things like that?"
"I understand your apprehension," he continues with a shrug, "and I can only do so much to convince you myself. But there may be a way to convince yourself, so to speak. Through meditation and trying to connect to the this Force you do not believe you can use."
[oocEarlier, with Sebbik and Galatea[/ooc] "Even if you have nothing to do with the Jedi, that does not change the fact that you can use the Force," Callum retorts with a shrug. "And given that simple fact, it would be... advisable if you trained in using it." He pauses for a moment. "I could maybe help with that, but I am... well... hardly a teacher myself. But I could give you a few... ahem... pointers, I think."
"Make that three on the Huttese language thing," the Corellian quips with a smile as the meeting appears to be winding down.
”I am not a Jedi,” Callum begins, choosing to more or less speak directly and plainly. ”And I do not mean that in the sense that the Jedi Order is all but obliterated nowadays,” he adds. ”I mean, I was initiated into the Order as a child, that much is true, but as for becoming a Jedi...” Then a pause as he clears his throat. ”So, there is this thing called the Jedi Initiate Trials? Or there was anyway. They are a number of tests that determine whether one moves on to become a Padawan and train under a full-fledged Jedi or... well... one does not?” He sighs then before continuing. ”You see, I fall under the latter category. I failed. Or so I was told. I have to admit though, to this day I am still not quite sure what it was that I did wrong...” The Corellian trails off as he reminisces for a moment before returning to the present. ”I have to say, I was surprised. Surprised and... ahem... a few other choice adjectives. But, regardless, that was it for me.” He shrugs as nonchalantly as possible. ”But I did find other... ventures to busy myself with. A bit of piloting, a bit of engineering, a bit of... scoundreling, if I do say so myself.” A smile. ”Met a girl.” The smile turns into a grin briefly. ”That was fun.” ”But the point is, I never got to be an actual Jedi per se. I did not even get to be a Padawan for that matter,” he seems to conclude. ”Not sure if 'per se' applies here too, but one can never have too many 'per se'... sss?” ”Still though, the connection to the Force is still there, as strong as ever. And from what I was told back then? Strong is an accurate description.” There is pride in his words, but then his expression turns a little sheepish. ”Strong yes, but also out of practice. Like, more than a little. But things are coming back to me. Like riding a bike maybe? I find meditation helps.” ”Meditation might also help you,” he says then more than a little abruptly as he addresses Galatea.”You said something about being grateful that you are not a Jedi? Well, about that...” He waits for a moment before continuing, looking at the woman's expression. ”A Jedi you may not be, but Force sensitive? Now that is another story entirely.”
”I am Callum,” the Corellian introduces himself as well. ”Callum Vorn.” He smiles warmly, his tone friendly. ”I have also done a little of this and a little of that. Perhaps we should unionize?”
"A Jedi," Callum repeats the words softly just as soon as Sebbik utter them. "Eh.. Not quite? It is... complicated," he manages to stammer as the Force trance starts taking effect. The Corellian feels that he barely managed to do it, but cannot help himself feeling a bit of pride at his accomplishment, especially seeing how he had never done it before. "We will probably talk later, I suppose." "All of us," he adds in the end pointedly as he looks at Galatea, her comment about her not being a Jedi prompting his remark.
Callum takes a moment to look at the Duros' injuries before taking a deep breath. 'No time like the present, I suppose,' he thinks to himself for a moment before finally deciding and moving to approach Sebbik. "So," he begins, his tone as casual as ever, "you seem to have gotten yourself pretty banged up." Another deep breath. "I think I may be able to help with that at least a little, though the way may be a little... unusual." He turns to the others. "And hopefully none of you will be turning me over to the Empire any time soon. Though I do indeed believe you will not." "It is a sort of a deep sleep or a coma," he concludes as he turns back to Sebbik. "A... Force trance if you will." "It would be best if you lay down, I think," he adds as he glances from one face to the next for their reaction.
Callum looks back, an expression of sadness on his face for a moment as he recalls Jek's demise, before turning to the matter at hand. "Could you perhaps elaborate on the basic part of your medical facilities? I am a little... ahem... singed, so whatever you can provide should be enough, but Sebbik here might need a bit more," the Corellian remarks as he considers his options. He does not particularly want to reveal his Force sensitivity just yet on the one hand, but on the other he is not about to let that keep him from providing much needed aid to a wounded friend.
"Are you quite certain you do not want to, you know, surrender? You do appear to be spectacularly outnumbered here," Callum calls out as he fires a shot and promptly misses. "Well, maybe not spectacularly," he then mutters correcting himself somewhat.
As Callum fires his pistol at the remaining stormtrooper, he realizes with more than a little surprise that his shot strikes true. And then some, in fact. The Corellian sighs. He would still prefer a more civilized weapon, as the saying goes, but at least this time the less civilized one he uses does not prove as unreliable as it did before and more than once for that matter.
"Might as well," Callum says mostly to himself as he takes the frag grenade in his hand, arms it and proceeds to throw it at he nearest stormtrooper. "I feel like I should have said something witty," he adds with a shrug and a smile. "Maybe batter up? Feels oddly appropriate..."
With two of the smugglers down and the very dangerous Felucian within breathing distance of Jek, Callum attempts to center himself. He takes a single deep breath, turning to glance at the very important man they are trying to rescue, preferably alive and in one piece. Then he glances at his companions, quite possibly his friends. And then at the Felucian, who cannot help itself, who is barely in control of its own actions. "I truly am sorry," he says, uncharacteristically serious, as he reaches deep within himself and the Force and fires a single shot.
Callum does not hesitate in the slightest and joins the firefight in earnest. Blaster pistol already in his grip, he quickly lets off a shot at the heavily injured Felucian, looking to take the creature out of the battle before it gets a chance to put its own formidable weapons to use.
"Should be enough," Callum remarks with a nod. "Well, it better be anyway. I do believe we have far outstayed our welcome."
After stretching a little, having taken off the stormtrooper armor as well, Callum joins Jek, blaster pistol in hand. "So, command centre and then straight to the roof via cargo lift, I am assuming," he comments. "It sounds straightforward enough. Barring any unexpected blaster fire on the way, that is..."
"Well, I have done my share of ship repairs and such," Callum offers in reply to Galatea's question. "But I would need a security kit to actually try and bypass those locks. We do not happen to have one lying around now, do we?"
"From the looks of things, I would say that we need to pay the prison's Command Area a visit," Callum offers after a moment's thought. "It does not seem that we will be able to gain access to the cells or open them otherwise." The Corellian sighs audibly. "Who knows, perhaps we will get luckier this time and it will not end with a fire fight again..."
Callum nods, motioning for Jek to hurry as well and join them as he moves towards the detention area. As he is doing so he cannot help but find the coincidence of the test subjects causing a much needed diversion as quite the fortuitous coincidence. And then he remembers something and smiles. Sometimes what appears to be a coincidence is merely the Force.
"Yes, they are," Callum replies as he fires at the "fake" stormtroopers. "Quickly now. I am sure that with your support we can take them down. Do not hesitate! Shoot to kill!" He then turns to Jek. "You, help the man out," he calls out in his best impression of a fellow soldier, by "the man" of course meaning Sebbik.
"Well, this just keeps getting better and better," the Corellian remarks drily as he finds himself having no choice but to join the fight, firing his blaster at one of the stormtroopers.
"Guide my aim," Callum mutters softly as he uses both his eyes and the Force to fire at one of the remaining Imperials.
Like Sebbik, Callum switches off his pistol's stun setting. No point in being civil when your opponent clearly is not, especially when your own life depends on it.
"I freely admit this may not have been the best of ideas," Callum says to the others as he tries to take cover behind one of the desks and then fires at a comm officer, his blaster shot missing its mark entirely.
"Alright then," is all Callum says before taking his pistol out of its holster and quickly opening the door, firing at the officer inside, should there be one. To stun, of course. He finds that after re-establishing his connection to the Force he is a bit more wary of killing someone. Well, not in self defense anyway.
"Really now? It more or less feels like being in a very tiny cell for me," Callum responds in a whisper. "I do not think they made these things with comfort in mind."
"Well, I will admit it is nice not having to worry of getting beaten to death by someone you just rescued," Callum quips as Sebbit provides a solution to releasing the mutated creatures. "Now, shall we continue going about our business of rescuing people and sabotaging buildings?"
"A command sent from that computer over there next to the bacta tanks should release the restraints," Callum points out, looking mostly at Sebbik. "But are we sure we want to release them? I must say, the look they are giving me? Let us just say I am not feeling all that much love and gratitude..."
"Well, this went sideways faster than I thought," Callum quips as he starts to check the locks themselves for any weak spots he could use to disable them.
'Well, that did not go quite as planned,' Callum thinks to himself as Winter is taken from them and they are directed to medical. 'At least the deception still holds.' As he ponders how they should go from here there is a sensation interrupting his thoughts. A familiar one. He turns to look at Galatea. 'There she goes again. Perhaps a talk once we get out of here?' He sighs softly and corrects himself. 'If we get out of here...'
"Who knew I would one day actually be all dressed up as a proud soldier of the Empire,"| Callum says as he begins stripping one of the now dead Imperial soldiers of their trademark armor. Though his words are supposed to be a jest, one cannot help but note the bitterness that finds its way into his tone.
"Actually trained, no," Callum replies as he looks at his new unconscious friends with more than a little concern."But I have used a medpac before and it more or less does most of the work for you. When it comes to just first aid anyway."
Although quite thankful that the trooper shooting at him missed, Callum cannot help but wince as Jek falls, hopefully not permanently. Keeping his head in the fight the Corellian fires his blaster at whoever tried to shoot him in an attempt to return the favor.
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