| abstract
| - Dune Sea - Tatooine The Dune Sea consists of sandy dunes stretch out as far as the eye can see. Only the truly brave or totally insane dare to venture out this far without appropriate forms of transportation and protection. The twin suns beat down with their full heated fury for miles about. The inexperienced traveler will surely lose his way as dune after dune flows one into another. There is nothing here but the copious hot sand of Tatooine. The wind makes it hard to hear yourself speak and every time you open your mouth it is filled with sand within a short time. It is best one wears eye protection here as well. The twin suns of Tatoo 1 and Tatoo 2 are just rising, golden glowing orbs that cast their light skirting across the surface of the Dune Sea, hightening and also banishing the purple-blue shadows that are the only coolness in the already heating air. There is a small gathering of beings outside of Mos Espa this darn, all eyes peering into the endless waves of ocher sand that beacons to them. This is it, the first step of a journey into the desert, the unknown, seeking answers to rumors and questions that those rumors arise. It is here, at this place, at this time, that this plot of sand, where some intrepid adventurers meet, with speeders, swoops, and whatever form of transportation was thought to be appropriate. Standing in that spot, is Ti'Ilandria Di-Inaris, a young woman more focused on the technical side of things, not the covert or survivalist. Thus she stands staring out into the dunes, offering a low whistle as she stares off, pulling shaded lenses over her eyes. "This... ain't gonna be fun," she drawls mostly to herself. Sometimes warships have other uses than combat. The Escort Frigate: Talyc Kad is sitting in a geosyncronus orbit above the position where the scans showed even that little minor blip. Coming dwon from said ship is a Lambda Class shuttle that's been loaded with desert survival supplies. Water, more water, still more water, communications gear, foodstuffs and the like. Basically it's geared up to land out in the desert preferably somewhere on hard ground. Not -in- the Dune Sea obviously. Setting down, the wings folding up.. the ship settles into position and seems to almost wilt with the heat... as if any ship could ever express that emotional type reaction of: Gosh it's hot... The ramp lower though and the climate-controlled (and fully recharged) armor shields Carn from the heat the a greater or lesser degree as she steps down the ramp. "Okay, I've got the gear here." she says into her helmet's comlink, connected to the others involved. From the cargo bay, the landspeeder she rented for the duration of this mission is lowered on the barely large enough cargo elevator. "Perhaps we should explore the boundaries and work our way in just in case there's anything weird going on?" "It ain't so bad, love..." The Kuati scoundrel Finn says with a bit of sarcasm...actually make that quite a bit of a heavy dose of sarcasm as he lifts his Duraby off his head to wipe his brow of the sweat gathering. "It ain't so much the heat...it's the humidity that's killer." The Kuati's attentative stare ahead at the nothingness of the Dune Sea is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a whining, loud Lambda shuttle, the wash from it's landing thrusters blowing sand all over the place. "Ah..." Finn watches the shuttle land, and the heavily armored figure step out, placing his Duraby back in its normal place. "Ah...love. We expectin' to hunt Krayt dragons outta here or what?" -- Standing near the group Barrien Thrask watches Ti'Illandria from not far away. With the rest of his crew gathered around he looks to each in turn. "Rena, cover us." He orders the woman with a confident nod before he moves to stand beside the New Republic part of this mission, his obsidian eyes looking back as he uses the force to call Liza to his side as well. "Lets try not to allow oursleves to assume anything Ty. There is not telling what is going to happen, or how this man will react." (speaking in Basic) Liza has been watching from a nearby distance, taking everything in while being fairly nondescript in how she presents herself while in the city - wearing old clothing, she has the only weapon upon her concealed and her armor's a simple blast vest, nothing that would call attention to who or what she is. Upon Barrien's summons, she moves swiftly-yet-unhurriedly, arriving not long after she was called, her expression speaking for her where she keeps verbally silent, her displeasure over being out in the sand impossible to miss.
* "No, just sand, wind and more sand - if we're lucky," Rena replies drily as she steps up beside Finn like a ghost from the sands behind him. Smiling a little impishly, the redhead peers away toward the twin suns briefly, scarcely squinting her dark orbs at all. So many years spent after being born and raised on this writhing dust ball known as Tatooine have left her somewhat immune to heat and the dreadful sun. No wonder she still finds other planets unbearably chilly in comparison. A sidelong glance is afforded the now familiar figure of Carnylla before Rena nods to Thrask. Her much-ridiculed but proven trustworthy Bi-polar carbine is unshouldered slowly and brought into a ready, but relaxed position. Rena's keen senses are already alive to the desert she's known so well for so long and she's ready for whatever may end up coming down the pike this time around. An eyebrow arches, and Ti'Ilandria lets out a long-suffering sigh as she lifts a hand and motions into the sea before her. "I meant the travel, not the situation we will have to deal with once we get to where we are going," notes the Technician with a shake of her head. "Would you have preferred I said: Yay! This is exciting! It's going to be so much fun?" she asks in a near dead-pan. "Don't assume yourself, you are rapidly proving you don't know me, Thrask," she tells the Jedi before turning and striding for one of the speeders. "Let's get loaded up and out of here," she notes. "What were the coordinates of your ping, again, Carnylla?" Pulling two datapads out of her armor's belt pouches, Carn approaches the group and holds them both out. "Here are two GPS synched datapads, coordinates loaded. I already have the same data in my HUD. I figure this way we can coordinate better. Does anyone..." she pauses, glances at Rena and smirks, "Does anyone other than Rena require heavier weapons? I have a couple rifles and pistols on board the shuttle.." she states with a gesture back that way. "Nah...my heavy weapon is this, mate." Finn points to his head, reaching into his coat and quickly drawing out his still relatively brand-new Westar-34 pistol. "I prefer to stay nimble...but the Red Dragon here likes to breath fire for the rest of the group, sort to speak." Finn chuckles as he pats Rena's shoulder. "Amirite, love?" The Kuati continues to tempt fate, and by fate he means tempting Rena. He still has in the back of his head the pain she's going to inflict for making her a bargaining chip to that slimey Twi'lek dealer from earlier. "So what is the plan, really? We gonna dig around in the sand or somethin'?" -- "Ty... I am not going to argue with you or even point out how ridiculous that statment is." Barrien replies in a disappointed and dry voice, his eyes shifting back to look over the crew. His expression a bit pained and saddened. When he does looks back at Ty he nods slowly. "What would you like us to do Ty?" (speaking in Basic)
* Rena's smile is decidedly sacarine as she turns and slowly regards the Kuati once up... and once down. "No, but," She steps toward him with that widening grin still curving her lips. "One . More . Word . and I will introduce you to a friend of mine. He lives over there." She pauses an points to the west with the barrel of Rusty. "Kind of a funny looking fellah and clumsy... all tentacles." She's probably kidding and would never introduce Finn to the Sarlacc; but one really can never be too sure about Rena. She gives him a 'look' before moving off toward the speeder after Ti'Ilandria to ride shotgun, quite literally. Liza seriously entertains the idea of asking Carn for something a bit stronger, firepower-wise but it's a fleeting notion, an idea that never gets voiced. Reaching behind her, she loosens the training lightsaber she kept hidden at the small of her back, shifting its postion to a place at her hip, somewhere on her person that is a bit easier to reach if it's needed. Ti'Ilandria looks over to Carnylla and shakes her head, pulling a blaster from her jacket. "I'll take care of the droids, if there are any. Everyone else is more equipped for biologicals. Thank you, my friend," she offers with a warm smile. Hazel eyes dart towards Barrien, then towards the woman's left. Her gaze drifts inward and narrows, before she suddenly reaches up to scrub at her hair on the left side of her head. Apparently following Barrien's lead, the woman makes no comment about her own statement or the Quarren's. "The plan is this - we approach the coordinates, and do some recon. We need to know what is going on, defenses, etcetera, before we go barging in. If it /IS/ an entire army, we come back, and I report to Command. If it is not, then we get closer and attain all valuable intel that we can, with as little exposure as possible, or as few casualties to our own as possible. Situation varies on what we find, and the reaction we get," she notes. Again, Ti'Ilandria's hazel eyes look over the group assembled, passing as briefly as possible over Barrien and Liza, as if ignoring their presence all together when she can. "Any other suggestions? This is fluid plan, since we have so little intel going in." "Nah...sounds simple enough. Go in, knock over droid army, profit, then party." Finn shrugs his shoulders as he moves over to the speeder, hopping into the back. "If anythin', we can just throw the Cap'n at em. Just look at him...nobody gonna mess with that juggernaut, aye?" He looks around the rest of the crew, wide grin formed quickly on the Kuati's face. "Oh...one question." Finn raises his hand up to gather Ti's attention. "If it is a droid army...whattawe do?" -- Barrien remains silent and looks to his crew for any recomendations. His arms coming to cross over his chest as he watches. There's a pause and then Liza shakes her head, not sure what to suggest, herself; she's a fighter pilot, not a ground pounder, so she's at a loss as what they might be up against or what do to, tactically.
* "You can't draw up decent plans in the dark," Rena calls back toward Ti'Ilandria and the crew. "We got so little to go on, and we keep poking our sticks into badger holes like this without ever getting anywhere and we're never gonna solve this 'mystery.' I'm all for just forging ahead." That's pretty much the only suggestion anyone could expect from the redhead in a situation like this. She remains perched in the speeder, ready to get a move on if anyone else is so inclined. She and Rusty are ready for action. A nod is given to Rena, then Ti'Ilandria looks back at Finn. "We run like the Hells," she suggests. "Depending on the 'size' of this army, we may not have the strength to counter it. I don't have any Ion Grenades, which would be useful against large numbers. And those two," offers the woman with a thumb over her shoulder, "Can only do so much, and we shouldn't be relying upon them, anyway. We need to be able to do our own dirty work, as much as they can." Inhaling slowly, of the dry heating air, Ti'Ilandria closes her eyes, before looking back at Finn. "If the assessment is we can take them, we do so, without damaging too many of the droids. If they are battle droids, they will need to be studied. Does that answer your question?" she asks in a curious manner, before her gaze following Rena's out into the sands. "Any more? Because I'm with Rena now. We need to move forward, if we are going to learn anything else." Wincing a bit, the sound of a battle droid army doesn't sound too good. Although born well after the Clone Wars, he clearly remembers the story his dad used to tell about the CIS's battle droid army. "That dun sound too good, love. Hopefully it ain't an army...just a sorry collection of rust buckets sittin' under the hot Tatooine suns." Looking between the rest of the crew, he shakes his head. "The lass is right. We should move on." -- Patience is a virtue of the Jedi and within Barrien it shows as he seems rather unphased now by her continued... picking out of the Jedi in a negative fashion. With a look over at his padawan the man just lifts a hand to settle their nerves. Then his gaze travels around the room to see what the rest think of their leaders plan and attitude. It might not bother Barrien but it does Liza who has yet to grow a thick enough skin to let such things slide off of her without effecting her in one way or another. With a slight frown, she looks back over to the Quarren with a shake of her head, her posture tense. She doesn't say anything, just simply stands there, letting Ty direct Finn and Rena in what it is they're needing to do while she listens. Seeing no dissent, Ti'Ilandria moves checks over the instruments in her speeder as she slides into the 'pilot's' seat. She tosses one of the datapads to Finn, then glances at Barrien, and back. "Keep your eyes open, I know you know. Needs to be said. Speak up if you see anything, right now, let's move to a click, or half a click, depending on the terrain, from that point. We'll hold up, and make another assessment, before continuing," she states. Shoving the throttle forward, Ti'Ilandria opens it up, and takes off, expecting the others to be close on her tail in short order. Jundland Wastes - Tatooine Here the rocky cliff walls descend down to a barren desert floor. A feeling of desolation and despair is all around. Bantha tracks mark the recent visit of Sand People. Only the incredibly brave or deeply insane travel through these parts of Tatooine. The slow howling breeze blows by warning the wayfarer to turn back. Somewhere between the surface below and the surface above there is a large crack in the walls. A careful explorer may be able to navigate their climb to investigate what seems to be an unnatural hollow at the crack. Over land, the sands of the Dune Sea shifting beneath the group, they travel Northward, following the coordinates giving by Carnylla. As the suns start to rise higher in the sky, Beggar's Canyon, a rocky groove marring the sublime slow undulations of the Dune Sea unfolds before them as they pass through what some might consider a geological wonder. Through Beggar's Canyon, over a rise in the rocks, the Jundland Wastes unfold for the searching groups. At this point, one group moves to the East, working their way around to the point from the North, rather than approach from the South. In the Jundland Wastes, the steep sides of rugged cliffs rise above utter desolation on the canyon's floor, casting their shadow, even at the zenith of either sun. It is here that the coordinates point to, therefore stopping a click down the canyon, noting the lack of approach, Ti'Ilandria finally slows her speeder, and then turns it off, allowing it to roll to a silent stop. Ignoring the dust on her face, the woman pulls up the shaded lenses which were protecting her eyes, resting them on her forehead, as she rises up in her seat within the speeder. Glancing at the coordinates, and a localized map, Ti'Ilandria then turns to Rena and nods, before slipping out of the speeder to await for the others.
* Ti'Ilandria's glance and nod are both noted and echoed by Rena after they've finally come to a stop. "The song of the desert. Never thought I'd hear that again." Although the redhead muses this aloud to herself as she departs the parked speeder with due caution and care, her voice is low and thoughtful. As soon as her feet touch the ground, her eyes scan the area all around them, her hands at the ready on her gun as before. This could all be a mountain made out of a mole-hill - but on the other hand, it could mushroom into something terrible. -- "Homecomings are often not what we expect." Next out of the speeder is Barrien, the monsterous quarren towering over the much smaller in their group. Which was everyone. As he looks over at Ty he nods, as if to give her an 'all clear' after he uses the force to sweep the area. His expression is impassive and professional, trained by military and jedi alike Barrien is as solid as the rocks scattered around them here. "Rena... You take point beside Ty. Stick to her like glue unless I say otherwise." He whispers for her alone to hear. Taking one last look over the coordinates, Ti'Ilandria taps a finger to the side of the datapad in thought, before looking up. Glancing towards Rena and Barrien, the woman then tosses the datapad in their direction, allowing either, or neither to catch it, before she scans the cliffs again. "We are sitting shaak down here on the floor of the canyon. That I don't like." Pausing, Ti'Ilandria glances just briefly back at Barrien, before looking down the canyon once more, her lips twisting further into a frown. "Well, I don't want to lug the scanner around, so we're going with your senses, Thrask," she offers before narrowing her eyes so much that her face wrinkles with the effort. "I'd prefer to get off the floor as soon as we can, keep your eyes out for a way up the cliff, or any other troubles, as soon as possible. Objections before we move forward?" -- Nodding toward Ty he takes an extra moment to push his consciousness outward. After a few seconds pass he begins to feel the walls of the canyon and the spaces beyond their sight. Searching for life and preparing his senses for danger. "None. I am ready." As he steps off the speeder completely he begins to move along behind Ty. "Just know that my senses can only clearly feel the life essence of a person at about 30 meters. Beyond that things are more... vague."
* Sometimes, it's strange for Rena to think back on how things have changed since first she met Barrien Thrask. Where once they stubbornly disliked each other and could scarcely abide sharing breathing space, now they work together well. At times, even a single motion or glance is enough to communicate in these tense situations... At any rate, the words Barrien convey to her through a whisper don't cause so much as a flicker of a change in her expression. She just shoots him the 'Yes, sir' glance and moves closer to Ti'Ilandria. "I don't like it, but.." Rena pauses and points toward a fissure in the rocky wall with the barrel of Rusty. "That may be our only way up." Following Rena's gaze, the young techgirl looks upwards, frowning at the fissure, before she nods. "If that is the only way up, it's the only way up," she offers with an almost fatalistic tone to her voice. Inhaling deeply, and letting the breath out in a near-growl, the woman nods. "Okay, let's tread carefully here, and try to avoid anything that /LOOKS/ like an obvious path. Too easy to hide mines and the like in that," she offers with a wave of her hand towards the cliff wall. -- As yes Rena... their was was interesting to say the least. He tried to blow her up with a grenade once. Moving along behind them it seems as if time slows and every detail of the canyon floor comes to be seen. As they reach the fissure Barrien stops them and looks back. "Hold a moment... there is something odd here. The canyon walls are scraped, bits of metal and paint left behind. Hard soled boot tracks lead this way... I think we are only recently behind them. With the winds here foot prints don't last long."
* Mines? Booby-traps? This could get terribly interesting to say the least. With a slight wrinkling of her nose, Rena stifles back a sneeze as a wave of dust passes between herself and the crack in the wall. Little wonder she misses what Barrien catches. Looking back at the Quarren, her brow furrows slightly before she turns again to the rocks and scans what she can see from here a little more closely. "In any case, it's my job to get a closer look." A bit on her dignity with the position of her job and all, she moves deftly to one boulder, hauls herself up and springs lightly to another...and then reaches for the next... The sound of rocks tumbling are all that can be heard as the one gives way under Rena. It breaks into several pieces before finally settling into the dust at the base of the canyon again, leaving Rena a little breathless as she scrambles onto another safe spot. A nice scrape on her arm shows a thin sliver of dark red against the pale skin....dammit. As Rena falls, Ti'Ilandria makes the mistake of trying to scramble after the woman. She starts, and then the realization as to /WHY/ she shouldn't is evident. Stepping carelessly, Ti'Ilandria is only /JUST/ able to grab hold of the cliff, even as her own footing fails, leaving her dangling precariously for a heartbeat, before the TechGirl finds it again. Closing her eyes, the young woman bites back her angered frustration as she takes a deep breath. "Are you all right?" she asks Rena, gritting her teeth as she opens her eyes, looking for a new path to take. Nevermind the fact that silence, and thus surprise is no longer /their/ advantage, likely. -- Watching from the base of the fissure Barrien stands ready to catch whomever should fall. When they both seem to grasp their footing agian he begins to slow, carefully, work his way upward. Once again his senses reaching out as he listens for anyone noticing their climb, and the noise being made. For now he remains quiet and watchful as they group climbs.
* "It's never fun 'till you see a little blood - as an old ... friend of mine used to say," Rena cringes as she brushes the oozing red from her arm. It's really nothing serious - it just looks bad for the moment. "It's only a flesh wound," she adds through a forced smile. Painfully aware that the element of surprise is no longer in their favor (and that it's her fault) she sighs and begins moving steadily up the way again, glancing furtively now and then at the marks left on the stone around them. Very slowly, very methodically, Ti'Ilandria is making her way up the cliff-face, silently cursing her lack of ability with each step, each grasp, each push, each pull. With frustration mounting, and self-loathing and depression as well, Ti'Ilandria makes a desperate reach, pushing herself too far, extending, but under-estimating the distance. Fingertips manage to brush the hold the woman was aiming for, only to pull away as her weight comes to bare, setting the woman to falling down the side of the cliff. -- Barrien watches as the women climb slowly, and even as they do he can feel the contact of others. Beings within the rock of the canyon and all around. Fading as they move outward. He tries to focus on them but in that moment is shocked to see Ty falling. Lifting out his hand Barrien attempts to focus his control of the force to grasp her mid air. His attempt is successful and her decent halts, however as he does this he feels her mind and her surface emotions. Her negativity and anger lashes out against him and his his mind like a speeder. Barrien shakes and grits his teeth to remain focused... As you enter into the cave, thanks to Ti'Ilandria not yelling, and Barrien's silence outside, you aren't distracted by it. Ahead of you, you hear whispering, and movement against rock. "Think they'll see us?" "Does it matter? Ovin's agreed to work for us, deal's a deal. These are ours." "We may have to fight." "Then we fight." >>SCRAPE<< "What was that?" "Must be them."'
* When the fall occurs, Rena has already made the last jump that landed her ungracefully, but successfully in the opening of what now seems to be not the end of the tunnel but the begining. Her mind is like a steel trap now, every sense alive to her darkened surroundings. Carefully regulating her breath to stay quiet, she inches her way forward a little with feline silence and then pauses, her eyes fixed on what appears to be a gleam of light ahead. Slowly lowering herself into a crouch, her body tenses as she listens and gazes more keenly into the darkness. Towards the back of the cave, that's where you heard the whispers, the noises. Moving in that direction, your eyes adjust to the light, a dulled chromium hull is seen, along with some storage boxes right in front of you. As you peer into the darkness, you see shapes moving, likely those belonging to the voices you heard. But you see something else, a flicker, a flicker of cold electric eyes - one activated droid in rows upon rows of deactivated droids. An arm lifts up ... There is a brief moment of panic that runs through Ti'Ilandria, as she falls, and as she -stops- falling. Seeing no one holding her, there is only one explanation, and Ti'Ilandria doesn't know whether to feel anger, fear, or relief, thus all three run through her simultaneously. "Solid ... ground ... would be nice," she suggests to Barrien in a very weak voice, her eyes darting around trying to find Rena. -- Without another word Barrien begins to move Ty through the air toward the entrance where Rena is, his muscles straining as he holds himself in place and as he focuses withing the force. Finally she is settled down again and Barrien is able to let out a weary breath before he to continues to climb toward the cave entrance. "Keep an eye out... we aren't alone." He calls ahead quietly. (speaking in Basic)
* There are moments in life that Rena does sometimes regret her forge-ahead, always first on the spot at the first sign of trouble attitude. This is definitely one of them. Swallowing down any hints of fear as she sights the unmistakable flicker of droid eyes glowing in the pitch-black ahead of her, she prepares to go into crisis-mode. Meaning of course - there's no saying Die till the job is /done/. Here she crouches alone in a cave... here she sees the arm of one lift up. Ducking behind the boxes for cover, such as they are, the redhead draws one steadying breath. Somehow, it's a comfort to her that even if she can't warn the others of what's probably about to happen, she'll be the first in the way of any fire. Still - she's got a bad feeling about this. There is darkness, there is a breath of silence, there is peace, before all the Hells Break loose. The sound of a joint in need of oil is heard, before metal is clanging, thumping and scraping. A flicker of light, then it is gone. Startled shouts are heard from further back in the cavern, "Hells, what was that?" "GET OUT!" "WE'LL GET YOU!" "WE MEAN IT!" There is just a moment, to react, to find cover, before things get worse, as eyes adjust and see row, after row of stiff deactivated droids topple, and a pair of men in the back flailing their blasters about, looking for a target. The plan was to split up, one group traveling North to circle back down through the canyon of the Jundland Wastes for that direction. The other group came more directly from the South, and arrived first. Finding the speeder that the others have left behind, encountering no difficulties in their journey, it seems the only direction to go is up, up into a large craggy cavern in the side of the cliff-face. With slow progress, Liza and Finn make their way up, just catching a glimpse of movement from the cavern entrance. It certainly looked like the large Quarren stepping inside. At least the pair are not too far behind. It seems the group is gathering back together up into the dark. Making the difficult and slowly careful accent, for the rocks are sharp and jagged, both Liza and Finn manage to pull themselves, or each other to the ledge of the cavern without any significant damage to themselves. Thus, half in the Light, have in the Darkness, the pair are about to be assailed by the chaos within. "I really gotta quit smokin'..." After much struggle, the Kuati manages to pull himself up the rock face, a bit battered and bruised from the jagged rock but nothing too severe, or permanent, except for the nice sized rip on his coat jacket's elbow. Expecting the damage, Finn let's out a sigh, sticking his finger into the hole. "Ah blast it..." The Kuati gripes, looking down at the cliffs face to spy on the Captain's padawan, kneeling down to extend a hand to her. "Needa hand, love?" Finn grins broadly, however the grin disappears as he looks down on the floor around him, noticing several tracks, some humanoid and some with droid characteristics. "Oh boy..." The Kuati grumbles a bit, darting back towards the cave, apparently hearing some shouting in the distance. "Ya hear that?" The offer of a hand up is taken, Liza needing all the aid she can get as this is not something she's used to - yes, piloting a fighter requires a lot of physical endurance but darn it all, this is more than she is used to. "Thanks..." she manages to pant out once she's securely up by where Finn is but she's otherwise silent, trying to listen as well as look around at their new surroundings. When she's asked if she hears something she looks over to the man and shakes her head, not sure what it is he means. "What is it?"
* Fates aren't very much in Rena's favor today. With the light of the cavern entrance at her back, any move she makes causes her stark silhuette to show plainly. Fortunately she has some meagre cover from boxes she now shrinks behind. Her eyes have become a little adjusted to the lack of light, but what's happening in front of her is clear enough. "Drop your weapons NOW!" She barks in as hard and cold a voice as she can muster, aiming the barrel of Rusty squarely on the men: "Your exit is cut off and you are surrounded. Don't make me blow you away by doing something stupid!" The ferocity of her voice echoes strangely against the rock walls and she narrows her eyes viciously, hoping against hope that they take her for her word and give up. From the middle of the commotion, two read bolts of light ignight the darkness in their eerie luminence. One bolt streaks out, from what appears to be a metallic 'hand', towards the back of the cavern, the light reflecting off of several metallic surfaces. There is a grunt heard, as one of the beings is hit. The other bolt slices through the darkness right at Rena, the one with the largest gun, after all. This, too, finds it's target, striking into the woman, despite the small amount of cover she found, to rock her where she hides, likely brilliant stars are dancing before the red-headed's eyes. Noise of alarm, and fear, are heard from the back of the cavern. "How'd they get one that close. The Hells!" hisses one voice, letting off two blind shots upwards into the ceiling, small rocks and debris falling towards the ground in a dark and hard shower. The other figure, lurches forward, finding another crate to hide behind, hoping to get a better glimpse at this new variable. A yelp comes from Ti'Ilandria, a jolt of fear, and a shivver of excitement running through the technician. Hissing and grumbling under her breath she dives to hide behind a crate, even as a smaller rock falls on her head. "OW!" whimpers the young woman, rubbing the top of her head, as she pulls a blaster from her jacket. "You could put someone's eye out doing that! STOP IT!" she calls over the crate to the figures in the back. -- Within the entrance of the cave Barrien draws out his lightsaber and flicks the activator stud. As if to accept the fury of Rena's commands toward the men a bright blade of firey orange snaps out with a dull crack-hiss. The light behind him from the cave entrance silloettes his massive frame and the glow makes his quarren features all the more ominous. Already he can feel his padawan behind him... When blaster fire erupts he focuses his senses and concentrates hard. Holding his position he defends Finn and Liza from blaster fire as the enter the cave. "Find cover!" He orders the team. It's on! The earshattering explosion of blaster fire echoing from deeper in the cave causes Finn to drop down for cover, throwing a quick glance towards Liza. Gesturing her to get down, Finn reaches into his coat to pull out his blaster pistol, although one blaster bolt near miss causes him to drop it to the ground, as well as he hitting the deck. Grabbing hold of it, he looks back towards Liza, only to shout out. "Aight love...the Bantha fodder just hit the turbine!" "Yeah...I can hear..." Liza winces as she pulls out the sole weapon she has upon her, that being the training lightsaber she receieved upon being brought into the Jedi Order, it most likely being woefully lacking during a time like this but it's what she has and it's what she'll use. When Barrien instructs them to take cover she does just that, ducking behind whatever is closest, her eyes narrowed as she tries to figure out what's coming from where. "Not a good day to have left my other set of armor in my other pants' pocket," she drawls dryly, the joke coming across as flat due to the lack of any emotion in her voice.
* There's something to be said for being first in line and gutsy enough to call off the enemy: . . . That's right. It's insane. The shrill sound of blaster fire rips through the stifled air - and despite her best effort to dodge in these cramped conditions, a bolt finds its mark beside of the base of her neck. Stunned by the shock of pain, Rena falls back against the rock wall and lies there in a blinding haze for a few moments. The scrambling of the others behind her goes completely unnoticed for now. Slowly shaking the cobwebs from her mind, Rena's breath shudders with a weak cough before slinging Rusty back into position. As much as it pains her, she jams her hand onto the Stun lever, wheels it around and fires toward the men who winged her to begin with. If nothing else, she can distract them from her crewmates further down the cavern. "Whoa...hot hot...hot!" The Kuati gingerly makes his way closer to the fight while evading stray blaster bolts, coming up to a rocky outcrop for protection. The distinct high-pitched whine of Rusty is all too familiar for Finn, prompting him to throw a quick gaze over at her direction. "Ey, love! Miss me?!" Finn asks nonchalantly over the defeaning barrage of blaster fire, capped off with a near-insane laugh. "Ain't gonna get away from me that easy!" Peering down the cave, the Kuati brings up his pistol towards the direction of fire, aiming nowhere specifically, praying he clips something. "Ey, boyo! That's my redhead!" Between the glow of the lightsaber, the flash of blaster bolts, Chaos reigns in the cavern. Movement from the middle of the cavern, rather than shots, metal rubbing against metal, then more lights flicker as mechanical voxes whistle out. "Awake, brother. We fight for our freedom." "Internals sycronized. Much time have we slept." "Yes, awake the others as a distraction." Through the flashes of light, the human and the Twi'lek at the end of the cavern can be seen, having huddled behind some crates, periodically popping up to fire shots off at the 'intruders'. One shot is directed towards Rena, and another towards Finn, as the most visible of the combatants without one of those frightening light swords! Poking her head up from behind a crate, still rubbing the top of her head, Ti'Ilandria blinks. "Eh? That was binary!" she says, stating the obvious. Eyes narrow as the woman tries to peer into the darkness, before she turns and starts trying to find her edge to the crates. "Right, droids. This I can deal with, if I can find them. Light... light... light..." she murmurs to herself, trying to stay out of cover. "Ooooh, astromech! No, not a light. Light... Light ... Light..." Not sure what to do, Liza looks to her Master, trying to figure out just what good she's going to be during this fight. "Master, what can I do..." she telepathically sends to the Quarren while she keeps herself otherwise focused, her other senses solely on what's unfolding around them. -- There is nothing he can to as he is disracted by the dark and the commotion, and his status as a newly knighted Jedi is shown as he lets a blaster bolt slip past his guard. Pushing down the frustration and attempting to focus Barrien steps forward and extends his hand to use a force push, aiming directly ahead of his at the droids there. (speaking in Basic) The Quarren Jedi reaches out with the force, pushing aside objects in front of him, specifically the pair of droids that had been hiding in the darkness. One is toppled completely, striking a rock in the uneven ground and damaging a shoulder servo. The other keeps it's footing, a humanoid-sized droid with a squat cylindrical head. As it is pushed back, sparks rise from metal scraping against stone, igniting old papers and parched, ancient wood into a quickly growing fire.
* This is what Rena gets for putting a restraining bolt on her former killing instincts. Her stun bolt does nothing to the enemy but blast away some of her own cover. Huh? His redhead . . . "Finn?!" Rena never was so glad to see the Kuati scoundrel lurch up beside her. However, she has no time before two more blaster bolts sing in unison around her and Finn. "How'd I know we'd wind up getting shot at together someday?" She smirks sidelong before trying to take a better aim at her target this time, leaving aside what little cover she has left, she thrusts herself into the open. "Show me what you got, baby!" she says grimly through her stubbornly set jaw. Still trying to stun -not kill- the redhead is knocked back a little when ol' Rusty fires another blast. "It's fate, love." Finn chuckles, ducking down just in time to avoid any incoming fire, bits of rock and dust flying around. One bit manages to hit him right in the face, causing the Kuati to suddenly let out a stream of Kuati-slanged curses. Peering up as Rena stands up and starts firing wildly, Finn is taken aback, never seeing Rena this bloodlusted and driven. Staring at her for a moment, Finn shakes his head a bit. "I like this Rena!" The Kuati proudly proclaims, getting up back in view, this time able to see his attackers for the first time. Nothing but a collection of rust buckets with blasters. Taunting them a bit, Finn aims his posterior, pointing it with his blaster before popping off a shot. "Ey...tinny! Yer momma was a moisture evaporator!" Getting shot at isn't fun! But the twi'lek and the human were ordered to stand guard over this cash while 'Ovin' was persuaded elsewhere, and enlightened on the Maffi way. Despite the shots in their direction, both men are suddenly grateful they were told to wear armor in the heat of the desert. Dodging and ducking, they decide to concentrate their fire on the woman standing. The droid still standing looks down at it's companion a moment, before looking around. "Halt this unlawful violence," it pronounces in a monotone modulated voice, even as it raises it's own blaster at the Quarren Jedi, before pressing the button of a remote in it's left 'hand'. As the button is depressed, lights and noises sound all over the cavern, as droids suddenly start activating. By the fire's flickering light, however, none are battle droids, but repair droids, servant droids, astromechs and the light. With a thunk, Ti'Ilandria is halted in her searching for a light, even as the fire begins to grow within the cavern. Instead, she bangs her head on a solid metal object. Standing up, rubbing her head yet again, the woman narrows her eyes and blinks. Reaching out, she feels around the slick object then opens a control panel and starts plugging away at it. "Hey, it's not a light ... it's better... " offers Ti'Ilandria as she turns around, only to blink at the burning crates. "What? When did a fire start? GAAAAH! Not good! Not good! Not good!" Inaction is not something that settles well with Liza so she moves, her lightsaber ignited as she rushes forward. With as weak as the weapon is it's left off of stun, Liza relying on the fact that it won't cause as much damage as that of Barrien's would, that aiding her in her decision. "Alright..." she calls out while in mid-run, "Let's do this." She will attempt to deflect blaster bolts if possible while trying to get a feel for what's going on, hoping to see those who are attacking at the same time. The Jundland Wastes of Tatooine - it is here that the situation has taken a turn from mere investigation to outright combat. It is here, also, that several tries of Tusken Raiders make their home. Inside a cavern extending from a large gash in the craggy cliffs of the waste, fires burn, the smoke starting to filter out the upper reaches of the hole, or settling into patches of vaulted ceiling, trapped and unable to escape. In the flickering light, the scene is one of chaos. Crates are erupting in flames, and droids are awakening en masse. In the back of the cavern, two beings, both male, pull back in fear at the sight of two Jedi, fire and the awakening droids, 1 twi'lek, 1 human. Still, those are not the only combatants as what appears to be an Assassin Droid and a Security Droid have decided to make targets out of the men, and those who came investigating. -- As he extends his control of the force outward Barrien steps forward, lifting his firey lightsaber before him and feeling the locations of his crew. All he seems focused on right now is protecting them, Finn, Liza and Ty. However he seems to know full well that Rena is not in need of his help. "Find cover, return fire!" he calls out as he moves to deflect any incoming blaster bolts at himself for his crew.
* Again and again Rena has gritted her teeth and tried to down one or both of the criminals hiding behind their boxes and failed. Now there are droids coming to life everywhere seemingly and a fire blazing away to boot. "Oh for the love of" Frankly, Rena doesn't know who to shoot at now. One of the nastier looking droids has been dropped, and the other remains standing. He's activating other droids and thus a troublemaker. "Eat laser!" she says through gritted teeth as her increasingly hot carbine fires a ball of fury toward the droid. A familar bellow sounds from outside the cave, something Liza manages to catch despite the confusion and noise of blaster fire. "Poodoo..." Turning, she looks over her shoulder even as she reaches over, trying to grab for Barrien's blaster after dismissing the lightsaber she weilds as being useless for right now. "I think we might have some Tuskans coming to join in on the fun, Master." Hopefully they'll join the fight against the droids and their puppet masters instead of those fighting against them. "Give me your blaster! I'll be of more use with it, Master." Blaster fire has her cringing and she crouches down, hand still extended. -- Spinning like a whirlwind of molten fire Barrien arcs his lightsaber in two swift turns before Ti'Illandria's head... and with a flash of explosive energy two blaster bolts headed toward her soar off into the roof of the carvern. In that moment Barrien catches sight of a crome metalic surface off near Ty that she was yelling about. His attention however changes quickly as his senses the two men at the back aim at Finn. Sidestepping and spinning his lightsaber easily bats away the two deadly bolts. In a moment of waiting he catches what Liza says and shakes his head... his blaster is tossed toward her as he looks around and thinks quickly. "Liza, look outside and fire a few shots off at the Tuskans." Looking around he takes stock of where his crew is. "Everyone against the entrance wall!" Backing up himself he moves so that when the Sand People enter it might seem like the droids are firing at them, and not even SEE him and his crew. "TY! GET OVER HERE!" He bellows over the dim of blaster fire and... fire.
* "Uunh!" Rena's teeth clench in pain as another blaster bolt rips into her, hitting her squarely in the abdomen. She buckles under the pressure of the wound, but keeps a death-grip on Rusty. If ever a girl was inseperable from her gun . . . Staggered back against the rock wall and choking from the ever-increasing smoke, she hears Barrien's order clearly enough through the haze and presses herself against the rock, fortunately close to the Quarren. Dropped to her knees, weakening by degrees under the physical stress. All the same though, fire blazing in her eyes (quite literally) she drags the carbine into position with desperate effort and pulls the trigger again. "Oh no you didn't." The Kuati watches as Rena gets hit by the bolt, but thankfully not doing much damage to her. Amazed at how much punishment this woman can take, given the fact that she is relatively pint-sized. Looking back at the droid, it's arm left behind after its epic roll, causing Finn to let out a barrage of laughter and mockery at the droid. "Ey, boyo! Need a hand?" Hearing the Captain give out orders, Finn does so, looking back towards the cave entrance hearing the distinct howling. "Oh now what?" Looking back at where the two men are holed up, the Kuati shouts over the blaster fire, perhaps his persuasiveness might be of some help since blaster fire isn't really solving anything, except pissing off the droids. "Ey...boyos...how bout we end this? I'll buy ya a pint." Undeterred, the one-armed droid shambles after Ti'Ilandria, ignoring Barrien's deflections. The blaster is raised again, and two more shots are fired at the young TechGirl. Meanwhile, from the back, the Twi'Lek and the Human look at one another, at Finn's offer, then shake their heads. "We'd be dead, 'mate'," offers one of them, leveling their blasters and aiming for the man with the glowy stick. Stepping out briefly from behind the cover of the ship-ramp, Ti'Ilandria seems torn between follow Barrien's orders, and staying - scrambling up into relative safety. However, before she can move one way or the other, the Assassin droid fires, striking Ti'Ilandria in the chest, causing the woman to stagger backwards, knocking her head on the ramp itself. Blaster is dropped, and darkness envelopes Ti'Ilandria as she muffles out a, "Not again ...." before slipping into unconsciousness. The blaster is caught by Liza and is powered up just after her lightsaber's turned off, it taken to the mouth of the cave and aimed down. She's loathed to do this as she's afraid she might accidentally hurt one of the sand people but the hesitation passs quickly, allowing for her to do what it is she needs to do. Several rounds of blasterfire is squeezed off before she ducks back in, hiding just within the cave itself while listening for reaction, all this while not knowing what's happening to the others. -- Moving his saber with expect graces more and more blaster bolts are sent away or back at their attackes, behind him he can hear Liza following his orders as away from the cave mouth he see's Ty go down after being shot. "Ty is down!" He warns the group as he backs up and presses his back to one side of the cave entrance, moving between the group as best he can to protect them from their attackers. "Don't go yet! Stay here and wait, when the Tuskans come in stop shooting and do what you can to hide!" The quarren Jedi Knight and ex-military general barks out his orders.
* Beginning to recover from the initial shock of her second blaster wound somewhat, Rena also sees Ti'Ilandria go down from the fire. She doesn't need to be told twice! Orders or not, she isn't going to leave Ty laying there prone with a monster Assassin droid looming over her. Shoving herself away from her crevice, she dashes to the other side of the cave, frankly point blank with the droid as she pulls the trigger again. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own temperament!" She snarls as the carbine kicks back into her. "Look around ya, boyos." The Kuati whimsically waves his blaster-wielded hand around the cave, pointing out the obvious: broken battle droids, a raging fire beginning to get out of control, a hulking Quarren with a lightsaber. "Ya humps up against the walls. Ya got yerself an angry Quarren with a lightstick, and a redhead who just got shot. I'm the only sane one here." Finn's heavy accent drawls noticeably towards the end of his words. "Take it from me, mate, this ain't necessary. Come, drop ya pieces and i'll buy ya guys a pint. It's hotter than between a Hutt's folds, mate." Finn peeks up a bit to see where the men are. "Savvy?" Droids scatter through the cavern, whistling, bleeping blarting - generally creating quite the ruckus and chaos. One sparking astromech, obviously malfunctioning after all the years of sitting, wheels forward, past Liza and tumbles over the edge of the cliff, wailing about how it cannot steer! Another droid, humanoid in appearance, flails it's arms as it wanders around. "Not the ship! Not the ship! I need to repair the ship!" That is when the Assassin Droid that had been making its way to Ti'Ilandria's unconscious form stops. Red imaging device glowing, the droid turns to look at the panicked repair droid and lifts the barrel of it's blaster. This is when Rena's blast from 'Rusty' strikes the droid, melting it's head no glowing slag that slides down over it's torso. The blaster it held is lifted in a spasm, and fires at the ceiling, knocking a few more rocks free, and pummeling the panicked repair droid, effectively burying it under the weight of the rocks. Pulling back his companion, the Twi'lek looks across towards Finn, before his beady black eyes stare at Barrien in fear. "I'd love to ... 'Mate', but if we don't protect this, then we're as good as dead. You don't understand who wants this stuff. Why don't you just head on out and never speak of this again, so we both manage to stay alive." "Huh...it worked..." Slipping further into the cave, she telepathically conveys the fact that the party is indeed about to be crashed before she barks out a single word to everyone as a whole. "COVER!" Ducking into a shadow, she picks a recessed area that has a few rocky upcroppings to crouch down behind, letting things play out as they will. -- His eyes are blurred by the fire and smoke, the pace of the action and the adrenaline coursing through him. "NO! Stay together!" Barrien calls out. But it is unmistakable to see Rena break from cover and run toward where Ty is laying prone, her bi-polar making short work of a droid about to pounce. Now what? is what he thinks as more blaster bolts are sent hurling back towards their attackers. All they can do is wait now... if they are caught in the middle of the tuskans and the droids there will be little that Barrien can do. "Rena! Pull Ty into the ship!"
* No word escapes Rena's lips, let alone any sign of acknowledgement of Barrien's order. It's what she was aiming to do in the first place - and when it comes down to it, she's just not the kind of person to say 'Sir, yes sir.' Shouldering Rusty at her own paril, considering how the blaster fire is still heavy and heated around them she crouches quickly beside Ti'Ilandria. Sliding her hands under the other's limp shoulders to get a firm hold, she counts mentally to three before dragging her toward the ship as commanded. Once they come to a stop, she places herself in front of Ti'Ilandria in their hiding place just in case the worst happens and they're spotted. Finn looks up to see the Assassin droid get assasinated itself by the fiery redhead, a satisfied smile formed on the Kuati's face. "See what ya did, boyos? Ya pissed her off. Tell ya what, ya stop firing, i'll stop firin', she'll stop being herself and my Quarren friend will stop his daily workout on ya. Last chance, mate, ya dun wanna be part of his workout routine. He's on the juice ya know..." Looking back towards where Rena is dragging Ti off, Finn decides it's time for him to go into hiding as well. He may be able to negotiate with these guys, but that isn't the case with Tusken Raiders. The excited grunt and howls of Tusken Raiders are now heard from just outside the cavern, hands finding purchase on the ledge as it appears a party is about to raise themselves into the chaos. As Rena pulls Ti'Ilandria on board, the computer which the technician had previously activated to open the ramp, also begins illuminating the interior space, lights flickering on down the corridor where Rena stops to huddle. Droids are running scared, right and left, thankfully none have blasters. One small little messenger droid, seeing the ramp opened, scurries up, then rolls past Rena further down the corridor to find a /SAFE/ hiding spot, chittering in electronic fear the entire way. The Twi'lek, the only one conscious of the group pauses to consider Finn's prospect, then lowers his gun. "You keep him away from us, we're done. We all walk away from this," he notes, obviously unaware of the approaching doom that are the Tusken Raiders. Liza closes her eyes and tries to use her projective telepathy on the sandpeople, wanting to give them the impression that the Twi'lek is the one who ordered the blaster fire that rained down upon them from above. It's a craps shoot but she wants to try it, hoping to add fuel to the fire in a controlled manner if possible. -- "Perfect timing..." He replies as he deactives his lightsaber in order to be less noticable as the tuskens make their way inside. "When the Tuskans come in, make a run for the ship." He whispers to Liza and Finn just above the dim of the fire and, his attention going to Rena once again as he sees her pulling TY aboard. "Finn... tell them to get out of here. The Tuskans might be too distracted with the droids."
* As the one droid scurries by, Rena can't help smirking a little. Oh well - nevermind a stow-away or two. The lights come on around them, illuminating the area slowly. If only Ti'Ilandria weren't unconscious. She at least might be able to figure out how to hotwire the thing to get it moving. However, as Barrien orders the others to make for the ship, the redhead keeps her ear on the noise outside while leaning over Ti'Ilandria to try and inspect her wound. She may not have any supplies on hand - or even very much first aid training; but she'd rather satisfy herself that the other's damage wasn't life-threatening. Hopefully the others will get onboard in another minute and leave the Tuskens to finish the skirmish. Another droid comes to the base of the ramp, seeing Finn scurry up in that direction. The droid rolls forward, and doesn't gain quite enough purchase to move forward. Sliding back down, the droid backs up, then rolls ahead at the fastest possible speed its little wheels can take it. Hitting the ramp, the droid skids a little before whirring it's way up past Rena and Ti'Ilandria, behind the Kuati scoundrel, getting away from the fire. Shapes form in the light of the cavern opening, tall, with robes and large weapons. More distinctively they carry the infamous Gadefferi Sticks of the sandpeople. Eyes hidden behind lenses, the apparent leader looks around, before motioning his people forward, pointing out one or two droids in particular. He, nor his kin, seem to have noticed the humanoids yet. This is /NOT/ good. Not good at all. The Twi'lek's eyes widen in even more fear as he sees the sandpeople. Looking at his wounded friend, the Twi'lek starts to pull him, skirting around the flames, behind them, dodging deranged droids, trying to make a break for the ship as well. Timing is everything now so Liza simply waits, letting Barrien take the lead. -- "Now.." He whispers as he begins to usher the group toward the ship. His force senses reaching out in order to gather the sand peoples state of mind. Dodge the fire and using the smoke he does his best to remain stealthy. In his hand he still holds the lightsaber tightly, ready to active the weapon as soon as there is a sight of being noticed.
* The others are on their way - including the bloody Twi'lek and his troublesome human companion. "Dammit!" Rena cusses under her breath tensely. Her examination of Ti'Ilandria's wounds complete, she shakes her head and starts shifting and lifting the prone woman into a seated position. It always works in the holo-vids...Why not for real life? First, Rena tries shaking her a little: "Hey..." Then, she tries taking hold of her hand, patting it somewhat lightly: "Ty, you gotta wake up!" Then, failing that, she pats her cheek - not /quite/ so lightly: "Come on, wake up!" It's all she can do to divide her attention between her crewmates, the oncoming criminals and trying to awaken Ty. Poked, prodded and not quite slapped, Ti'Ilandria groans, then lets out a startled yelp, her eyes snapping wide open. "What?... Where... you're not gone? You didn't turn your back on me? You didn't leave?" she asks in a semi-conscious state as her eyes focus on Rena. "Where... " Then she blinks even more away, her face paling. "OOOOOOOOWWWWWWW! Kark-it all! I got shot... AGAIN!" she whimpers looking down at her shoulder. With the order given, Liza makes a dash for the ship, moving ahead to try and shield the others by being a discraction, a running body shield. The ship is her destination. "Come on..." she mutters towards the Quarren, "Hurry..." -- Indeed he does hurry toward the ship and lucky the group of three makes it to the ramp unseen. Or at least it seems that way. "Come on, get aboard." He tells the group before he looks over at the tuskans and watches for any dangerous activity. "Rena? How is Ty? Is she alright?" His voice slightly worried now as they all go aboard and Barrien punches the command to close the ramp. (speaking in Basic)
* "Of course we didn't leave!" Rena snaps irritably. The very idea of leaving ANYone she considers to be under her protection behind is abominable. Softening slightly, she hurriedly explains: "Look, we're on this old ship and the systems are on. We gotta get the hell out of here." Taking hold of her unwounded shoulder, the redhead tries to urge her on: "Can you crack into this baby and get the ship in the air? Cockpit would be this way!" The urgency in her gaze and voice swell now as she eyes those outside the ship and coming on fast. Glancing up at Barrien, she hurriedly rises to her feet now: "She's gonna be fine. No worse shape than I am." She laughs a bit before turning away to guide Ty on. Rena is a pretty awful sight at this point with two blaster wounds, numerous cuts and bruises, ash and sweat stains all over. All in a day's work. Helped to the bridge, Ti'Ilandria manages to pull out her Handy Dandy Hydrospanner 'Spanny' and lower herself down to work. Asking rena for help, the red-head and the brunette get the shields up, and the engines rearing quickly, despite the minor setback of running into a loose wire. At least Ti'Ilandria's hair is nice and curly, and fully of body after the minor jolt. Nevermind the puffs of smoke. Hissing as she lowers herself into the pilot's seat, the woman looks over the older controls and starts hitting buttons like she knows what she is doing. With a whine and a series of thunks, Ti'Ilandria ignores the blasts and startled cries of the Tusken Raider's as she pushes the ship out of the cavern. "Okay..." she says softly, looking at her shoulder again. "Someone else's turn. It's time for me to pass out again." And that's the only warning she gives before toppling over unconscious, once more.
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