Nar Shaddaa

Well, this is the place.

Arali looks around, used to these parts of town by now, but ever concerned, then pulls her pack higher up on her shoulder, then heads into the old, sturdy-looking apartment building, to the room Vatou sent her.

Vatou had to first undue all of the locks on the door. Finally, he swung it open and hurried Arali inside. "You came! Good. Thank you." He rushed over to his bag. "Was there anything you needed before I went?"

Arali quirks a hairless brow. "Oh, Vatou, it's been so long, it's good to see you again, my darling brother," she deadpans, teasing the selkath for his manners, but puts life back into her manner after only a moment.

"We'll be fine. Just be careful, okay?" Of course, Vatou always is. While he never became the big, commanding warrior Garrick hoped he would be, a lack of prudence was never among his vices.

"I'm sorry, I'm just anxious." The Selkath offered a brief hug and then headed for the door. "Please, help yourself to anything in the room. Oh and they should be asleep by now but, well, you know how kids can be."

"So none of them are asleep, and they're all waiting for you to walk out the door to sneak out of bed," she jokes. "Got it. I brought a couple activities just in case."

"Great. I knew I could count on you." Vatou gave Arali a curt bow and headed out of the door, leaving her to the little rascals.

Arali returns the bow, and locks up after Vatou leaves. A rather comically extensive process, but once that's done, she sets down her bow and stretches, expecting this to be an uneventful night.

But first, she creeps up to the bedroom, to check on the kids as quietly as possible.

Roll Stealth at Average Difficulty with One Bonus Die!

((Stealth: 2eA+1eB+2eD 0 successes, 1 advantage
))

Although Arali was unable to sneak up on the children, neither were they able to sneak up on her! The little rodian child charged forward in an attempt to take her off guard! However, the young twi'lek girl simply stared at her. Or, rather, stared past her.

Arali looks from one of the kids to the next.

Anger and heartbreak. Two things she'd learned well around that age, not that she ever got very good at dealing with either.

This is not the moment for words. Instead, she gestures the kids over, and turns to her pack, knowing full well the boy is probably about to knock her down.

The boy did, indeed, try to tackle Arali down, albeit playfully. The girl followed along, if only because she had nothing better to do.

---

Athletics at Easy Difficulty w/ One Boost Die. He is smol xD.

((Athletics: 1eA+1eB+1eD 0 successes
, FAIL!))

She tries to steady herself against the table, but she goes down at the knees with a thud, managing to avoid hitting the furniture.

That went about as expected.

She rolls over, the boy still on her legs, and sits up, offering her most reassuring smile. "And a good evening to you, too. My name is Arali. What are your names?"

The little rodian squealed in excitement over his victory. "Tuuvu!" he exclaimed in Rodian while pointing to himself. "She Draya! She no talk much though."

"It's good to meet you, Tuuvu." It seems the boy is doing as well as can be asked. But the girl...

She looks to Draya. Calm, pleasant. And this time, she addresses her in Ryl. Many twi'lek children are more comfortable that way. Fewer words, and a more comfortably complete form of expression. "And I am happy to meet you, too, Draya." But the name is incomplete, standing out in stark contrast for the lack of the subtle nuances that are conveyed not with sound, but with motion. An outsider's word, meant to get ever so slightly under her skin, to get the proper pronunciation of her name as only another twi'lek can say it.

Go ahead and roll a Charm at Hard Difficulty to get Draya to open up. One Boost Die for the Ryl.

((Charm: 2eA+2eP+1eB+3eD 3 successes, 1 threat
))

The young child complied with Arali's wishes. "Draya." A pause. "You're not like Vatou."

"Draya," Arali repeats, in proper twi'lek fashion this time. Though the comment about Vatou piques her interest.

"How do you mean?"

"He just is," she replied in that typical difficult child way. Still, hearing her name that time elicited a small smile.

---

Roll a Perception Check at Hard Difficulty.

((Perception: 1eA+1eP+3eD 1 success, 1 threat
))

If it were not for the multiple locks, Arali may not have had time to react. At the front door, there was a distinctive 'click' as one of them was undone.

---

Arali takes 1 strain.

The click takes Arali by surprise. Vatou? No, way too early. Unless he forgot something, maybe?

She looks to the door. First lock. There is time. She taps a screen by the door to bring up a display of whoever's trying to get in, her free hand gesturing the children to stay back.

Outside are two men, wearing weapons like any sensible denizen of Nar Shaddaa. All of them are wearing hoodies, scarves, and goggles to hide their appearance. One is working on the door while the other is looking around.

At the sight, Arali's eyes go wide.

Definitely not letting them get to the children. Without hesitation, she grabs a pocket arc generator from her belt, using it to reengage and overload the first lock, turning the internals into inoperable slag.

That should buy time, but they don't have long before they decide to just bash the door in.

"Come with me," she says to the children as she walks to the bedroom, taking her lightsaber in hand. "Quickly, and quietly."

((Mechanics: 3eA+1eP+1eD+1eC 4 successes, 2 threat
))