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| - "It's gonna go down this way," Batemus said with a grin. "We're gonna pull you out of hyperspace. After we land, you are all going to cooperate or..." "Or what?" Shal asked. "Or you'll die a terrible death," the Amani hissed. Shal shrugged. Batemus just grinned again. "Aye. Now tie them up, and remember the protocol." Lirah bit her lip as a Zabrak that made Zhed look small reached around her and fixed the cuffs around her wrists. They seemed normal to her, but when she moved to get more comfortable her arms went dead for a moment. "Shock cuffs," she muttered. Kriffing smart pirates. Shock cuffs were responsive to any stimulus. If the prisoner would move in the slightest they caused the arm (or arm equivalent) to go completely immobile. No wonder Nou had warned her against fighting back--if she had been slightly perceived as a threat, the setting would be much higher. She could tell by the look of pain and meditation on most of the others' faces that they had gotten a much worse setting, especially Zhed and the Twins. Shal was surprisingly stoic. "Let's go," the Zabrak growled in her ear and practically picked her up off the ground as he pushed her forward. "Easy," Zhed murmured a few feet away. "She's the last one of us you want to mess with." The Zabrak loosed a belly laugh and shoved the Amani. "You hear that? This little tyke is the most dangerous one of them." Zhed winked at her and Lirah realized the big guy was actually doing her a favor and making her less of a threat to the pirates. You know what to do, Lirah heard in her mind. A rough mental voice that she could only guess belonged to Master Shal. All pirates are overly confident. When we get where we're going, I'll give more instructions. The mental connection was broken. Lirah sighed and tilted her head down like she was disappointed and cowed. The Zabrak pushed her through the airlock and into the pirates' ship. It was large--almost as large as their freighter--and incredibly clean. The pirates themselves were unwashed and looked unprofessional, but as she was forced toward what she assumed was the cargo hold she realized they were actually very well trained and coordinated. Their blasters, too, were dingy and not clean, but they were supercharged and had larger-than-normal gas canisters. The entire place seemed like a contradiction. Batemus lead them into the cargo hold, which had been repurposed to hold prisoners. "Welcome to your home for the next month or so until we complete our tour. I'm sure some of you still have comlinks and transceivers. However, I'm letting you keep them." He grinned as the pirates forced their prisoners into massive group cells. "You were planning on joining your sworn enemies. You were trying to get their attention. There's no way any of you would be stupid enough to call for help. So keep your comlinks with the knowledge they won't do you any good." Lirah was shoved onto her knees in the middle of the cell and the Zabrak let out a hearty guffaw. The shock cuffs deactivated themselves as the cell doors snapped shut and an energy barrier burst into place. Humming around the entire cell--walls, roof, and door--was a plasma field so thick Lirah could barely see the pirates exit the room. She glanced around. Zhed and the Twins were the only others in the small cell. "Not exactly VIP quarters," Cor joked halfheartedly. He rapped the reinforced durasteel floor with his hand. "This may interrupt my beauty sleep." Zhed frowned and glanced at the plasma. "Don't touch that," he said with a frown. "Military grade plasma. Blocks most mental communication, all but the best comms..." he sighed. "One of the only things I know I guess." With a shrug of his shoulders he broke the thin metal link between his cuffs. Lirah caught her breath. "Would this make it through?" She twisted her hands over her head and with some difficulty succeeded in pulling out Nou's holocom. Cor glanced at his brother, who was curled in a ball apparently trying to meditate, then at the holocom. "It might. But that looks like a one-way special hyperspace communication holo. Where in the galaxy did you get that?" Lirah glanced at it. "Nou'torn. He gave it to me before we left." Cor glanced at the plasma field. "Try it."
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)