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26/1/17 18:48Back on the slaver's ship, Sabine weighted her options. Most of the other slaves were young, cowed, and poorly feed. They wouldn't put up much of a fight and likely couldn't take the shock required to overload the collars being used to keep them in line. She couldn't blame them, even if it did make her job harder. The Empire already did most of the slavers work for them.
Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way. "Look beyond your expectations," Kanan was fond of saying. Worth a shot, Sabine thought.
OK, stop looking at them as warriors or fighters, she told herself. It was the only way she knew how to look at things and so logically, it was the best place to find expectations. The rodians there were a family and while they never put up a fight, the father always put himself in the path of any punishment the slavers dealt. A natural urge to protect his family but also a clue that he could take more punishment than he seemed.
And the human woman over there. She'd taken two kids who were likely orphans and was giving them her food and water. Again, signs of more resilience than it would seem. In fact the more she looked at their actions rather than their appearance, the more she realized each of them was much more than they seemed.
She could use that. If she could convince them she know how to break the collars.
Voice pitched low and near to the engine noise, she said, "I think I know how we can break out of these collars."
No response. Well, a twi'lek blinked and the rodian might have rolled his eyes.
"I said..."
"We heard you," the rodian hissed. "We just don't believe you or want to invite more trouble."
"Fair enough. You don't know who I am. But look, the collars are simple and brutal. I've seen the schematics. Thing is, in being simple, there's no way to stop a electrical surge from frying the circuits."
"Oh that's great. We just need the guards to shock us to break free. Why didn't anyone think of that?"
Sabine sighed. "No. The charge needs to come from outside the system. One of those whips they use or a power coupling will do the trick."
The rodian shook his head. "Prove it or be quiet."
Fine, Sabine thought and went to work on the panel nearest her. She worked as quietly as she could but dropping a screw, which rattled away. To her surprise, the twi'lek coughed and some of the humans shifted around to hide the noise. Biting back her smile, she went back to work and soon had a power cable exposed. Reaching in carefully, she pulled it out, looked to the twi'lek, who was nearest, and said, "I'll try not to scream but it is going to hurt. Can you cover or pull the cable away if I screw up?"
Nodding, the twi'lek scooted closer. All eyes on her, Sabine touched the cable to her collar and gritted her teeth.
Caught completely by surprise, the slavers didn't put up much of a fight. All ended up fighting to the death however and all lost. The now freed slaves held a conference and most decided to see what fortunes they could find in the new freed ship. Sabine asked for a ride back to Lothal and suggested, as payment, that Hera might be able to reprogram the ship's transmitter to give it a new signature.
Kanan and the Ghost crew were eager to help, though quite put out that Sabine had acted on her own without checking in with them first; Hera especially. Kanan seemed to understand that timing was short and Zeb just wanted to hear the story again.
When she finally made it back to her bunk aboard the Ghost, Sabine couldn't help thinking of Ketsu, nor how good it had felt to free those people. Even if she didn't get paid.
Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way. "Look beyond your expectations," Kanan was fond of saying. Worth a shot, Sabine thought.
OK, stop looking at them as warriors or fighters, she told herself. It was the only way she knew how to look at things and so logically, it was the best place to find expectations. The rodians there were a family and while they never put up a fight, the father always put himself in the path of any punishment the slavers dealt. A natural urge to protect his family but also a clue that he could take more punishment than he seemed.
And the human woman over there. She'd taken two kids who were likely orphans and was giving them her food and water. Again, signs of more resilience than it would seem. In fact the more she looked at their actions rather than their appearance, the more she realized each of them was much more than they seemed.
She could use that. If she could convince them she know how to break the collars.
Voice pitched low and near to the engine noise, she said, "I think I know how we can break out of these collars."
No response. Well, a twi'lek blinked and the rodian might have rolled his eyes.
"I said..."
"We heard you," the rodian hissed. "We just don't believe you or want to invite more trouble."
"Fair enough. You don't know who I am. But look, the collars are simple and brutal. I've seen the schematics. Thing is, in being simple, there's no way to stop a electrical surge from frying the circuits."
"Oh that's great. We just need the guards to shock us to break free. Why didn't anyone think of that?"
Sabine sighed. "No. The charge needs to come from outside the system. One of those whips they use or a power coupling will do the trick."
The rodian shook his head. "Prove it or be quiet."
Fine, Sabine thought and went to work on the panel nearest her. She worked as quietly as she could but dropping a screw, which rattled away. To her surprise, the twi'lek coughed and some of the humans shifted around to hide the noise. Biting back her smile, she went back to work and soon had a power cable exposed. Reaching in carefully, she pulled it out, looked to the twi'lek, who was nearest, and said, "I'll try not to scream but it is going to hurt. Can you cover or pull the cable away if I screw up?"
Nodding, the twi'lek scooted closer. All eyes on her, Sabine touched the cable to her collar and gritted her teeth.
Caught completely by surprise, the slavers didn't put up much of a fight. All ended up fighting to the death however and all lost. The now freed slaves held a conference and most decided to see what fortunes they could find in the new freed ship. Sabine asked for a ride back to Lothal and suggested, as payment, that Hera might be able to reprogram the ship's transmitter to give it a new signature.
Kanan and the Ghost crew were eager to help, though quite put out that Sabine had acted on her own without checking in with them first; Hera especially. Kanan seemed to understand that timing was short and Zeb just wanted to hear the story again.
When she finally made it back to her bunk aboard the Ghost, Sabine couldn't help thinking of Ketsu, nor how good it had felt to free those people. Even if she didn't get paid.
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