Atrivis Sector

[Nim Naja]

Nim was totally overwhelmed by the reaction. She thought maybe one or two might nod or shake a hand, not the entire crowd and the people pouring in from the street!

She shook and congratulated as many as she could but eventually stepped back to address them again. As her eyes scanned the crowd while she spoke they landed on the loudmouth a few times as if trying to persuade him as well.

“Friends, I know you all have suffered long under the Empire and have sacrificed much to be here in this moment. That is why this should be a day of celebration. Please, leave the prisoners to an impartial justice system. Summary judgments and executions should fall with the empire. Let's be better than them, aye? Fair trials for everyone, a standard of a real democracy. This planet is yours now, you can set the standard for the dozen other planets in open rebellion. Show them how to rebuild and make the planet home again, free of imperial influence. Free of tyranny, and full of the hope and dreams you've had all these dark years. And for the love of the Maker, show them how to celebrate!”

[GM Craig]

[OOC: You are killing these persuade rolls...
Result of the throw of dice "5d6 +1" : 5 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 1 = 29. The last one was a 27.]

With these words, the crowd grows silent. They know what they had been witnessing, and you calling it out forces them to confront it. In one's and two's, they turn to look at the folks on the top of the stairs.

Faced with the collective attention of the now sympathetic crowd, the resolve of those near the prisoners wavers. Silence stretches, one moment to the next. Then, one of the reluctant persecutors calls out, "She's right. We do this, we're no better than what came before." He then throws down his weapon. It clatters on the ground and skitters a few steps down. The crowd murmurs agreement. Then two others join their companion an denouncing violence and stepping to the side of the crowd. Momentum builds until the ringleader stands alone. He looks around to the faces of his neighbours and friends, working his jaw.

"But they sold us all out! I was tortured for MONTHS because of people like them!"

The first persecutor to change their mind says, "Do you know it was these people here? Are you certain these people are the ones that gave you up?"

He doesn't answer, but Nim can tell he is wavering - but teetering between extremes though - violence is still a real possibility.

Trax moves surreptitiously around the crowd and moves up the stairs behind the ringleader. [OOC: Not melee range yet, but you're within a move.]

Maris steps up to stand very close on Nim's left side.

[Actions?]

[Trax]

Trax paused a moment after moving up the stairs and looked down at Nim, marvelling at the power the woman could wield. With nothing but words she'd placated an angry mob, and even a few individuals that seemed dead set on killing.  Simply remarkable.

But there was still one possible threat, and though Nim's next words might disarm him as well, he had to be ready.

[OOC: Try to get closer and be ready to stop him if he tried to shoot. If possible, use Brawling: Martial Arts to disarm him or grab his arm/the rifle so he can't target anyone.]

[Nim Naja]

Nim slowly walked through the parted crowd until she stood before the ringleader, her hands at her sides. Her heart pounded with adrenaline from the anxiety and some fear. But with boldness she stood below him and looked up, open and vulnerable and speaking with the voice of a thousand victims of the Empire.

“Brother, your anger is justified.”

“Our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters have all been terrorized by the war machine. All throughout the galaxy so many of us have lost loved ones to its violence. Many of us have lost loved ones to its unjust persecution. So many have died in prison let alone slave camps. So it is natural to want to do the same to others. To punish them in the ways they punished us. To continue the traditions, and do what the Empire taught us to do.”

“But did we not fight to end the tyranny? Did we not fight to end summary judgements and executions, and free people from their unjust persecution? From prisons and slave camps, put there for reasons they were not guilty of, or not even told of at all?”

Her hands raised before her in supplication.

“Again, your anger is justified. It runs through your veins as it does mine, and all of our people. But continuing these imperial traditions means they win in the end. Society will be the same just under a different name.

“And your anger, our anger, we need that fervent energy to rebuild society. Let us put it to better use and help Fest restore itself, or help the Alliance free more victims or stop the machine from claiming more of the galaxy. These people need you - we all need you. Will you help us?”

Nim lowered one hand and raised the other higher, gesturing for him to take it. Her expression was hopeful, pleading but not begging, and honest. No lies, no half-truths. The woman simply said it how it is and how it must be.

Ooc: Nim is fully concentrated on persuasion and nothing else, including anything reactive.

[GM Craig]

As you step forward, you feel Maris close by your side, and can see Trax moving slowly up behind the ringleader.

You hold his attention as you speak, but your words have far more effect on the crowd than they do on the ringleader. He stands there behind the central prisoner, pistol on his hand, breathing heavily. Your placating gesture does not seem to mollify him, but he is clearly torn. When you offer him your hand, you press him to a decision point.

Quietly, with a building fury he says, "I will not help free these TRAITORS!" He starts to wring the gun around towards you, and Trax lowers his head and breaks into a sprint towards him. You stand there, committed to passivity, as he raises his blaster to point it to you. Trax is closing, but he cannot get there in time. You tense, waiting for the burning pain, as you see his finger tense on the firing stud. Then, somehow, the pistol is just gone. One instant it was in his hand, the next it is not there.

Trax collides with the man, catching him off-guard, and carries him quickly to the floor. Before the man can react, Trax has both the man's hands behind him and is kneeling on his neck.

You catch a flash of movement from Maris beside you, and the ringleader's pistol skitters over the ground, coming to a stop close to, but out of reach of the ringleader.

The crowd pauses, unsure what to do next, but they are clearly shocked at what happened. As you try and absorb what took place, three of the former prosecutors move to the prisoners and start to untie them.

[Actions?]

Trax has the man grappled and restrained.

[Trax]

Trax was angry with himself for deciding not to shoot the bastard, but he was thankful his error in judgement was minimized by Maris.

"Not all prisons have bars, and not all torture is physical in nature." Trax growled at the man, pressing his knee hard into his neck. It was taking a lot for him not to kill this man who had just tried to shoot Nim.

[Nim Naja]

Nim breathed deeply for a moment to calm her nerves. Clearly she very nearly did stand there and take a blaster bolt. Thing is, she would have if it meant Maris wouldn't expose herself to those searching for her, assuming she had performed some sort if Force feat to wrench the pistol away. Nim was afraid of the impact that single action would have. Even so, she thanked her quietly via her internal comm, as well as Trax, although added a 'be nice' in there somewhere. Roughing up the ringleader would have an adverse effect on the crowd.

"It is unfortunate, but he is neither the first nor the last that cannot accept what has happened and move forward. But let us not blame him, it is a very, very difficult thing to achieve. Please help me get these people out of the cold and detained somewhere safe from others."

She turned back to the crowd to comfort them in some way after having witnessed an attempted murder before their eyes.

In some way at least they would know now what it would have looked and felt like had the prisoners all been shot.

[Trax]

"Be nice..." Trax grumbled to himself out loud.

"The woman you tried to kill just saved your life.  I suggest you take some time to think about that." He growled to the man before not so gently hauling him up onto his feet.

[GM Craig]

The man beneath Trax struggled uselessly. His anger is fierce enough to prevent coherent speech.

The main doors to the building open, and a dozen armed and uniformed people emerge, along with a woman with an eye patch and a scarred face. They come forward, and the woman looks over the situation. With a nod to the man on the ground she says, "Take him into custody." She then waves to the former prisoners. "Them too, but be gentle and make sure they get a hot meal."

The uniformed folks take custody of the ringleader and the former prisoners, leading them into the building before you.

The woman, dressed in a long blue coat with a white fur trim and high black boots, looks Nim over. "Alliance, hmm? What brings you to Fest?"

[Nim Naja]

Ooc: Can I get a read on the woman? I'm looking to identify her from our Intel and also see how best to speak with her.

[GM Craig]

She's pretty cagey, and masks her emotions well. You don't think she's senior leadership, and she doesn't match any of the dossiers you were provided. But the way she holds herself... the shifting eyes. She might be intelligence. Not back office - she's from the field, though maybe senior.

[Nim Naja]

"Intel..field," Nim very softly murmured into her implant comlink after eyeballing the woman for a quick moment. It really didn't matter if she knew Nim was intel a this point. She relaxed into a loose parade rest and addressed her.

"Greetings. We heard of the liberation and wish to discuss bringing Fest into the fold."

[GM Craig]

She looks Nim over, glancing at Maris and Trax.

"So you're some sort of negotiation team then? Kinda heavily armed for that sort of work, hey?"

[Nim Naja]

Nim glanced at Trax nearby the woman. “Trax always dresses that way. Never know when you need to quell someone else’s mob.”

[Trax]

It was hard for Trax to keep his mouth shut.

Nim was right, she just stopped an execution that they couldn't, or wouldn't.  And nearly died in the process.  It was much less likely for him to show his current level of restraint the next time.  This situation alone called for them to be geared up and prepared, not to mention fact that they were representing a group that openly declared war on the Empire.  Fest may have just kicked the Imperials off the planet, but there still going to be remnants of Imperial presence, such as the bunkers and station in orbit, as well as forces scattered about.