In search of the next story

[Sorel Crieff]

The ship was a Zygerrian cruiser operated by a band of slavers well-known for attacking remote outposts on less-traveled worlds and kidnapping the citizens they found, commonly pressing their prisoners into work camps or selling them off to the highest bidders.

The ship came in quick, and there was no time for the people of Reestkii to muster any defences - if for no other reason than they had no defences to speak of. Such things had never seemed necessary there, as there were no animal predators in the region and the local pirates and criminals were more likely to use their resources raiding holdings that actually had goods worth stealing.

The slavers descended. The people screamed and panicked and ran as the long-eared catlike Zygerrians disembarked from the ship, laser whips and rifles ready to punish any resistance as they went about their dark business.

There was no resistance to be found. Suitably cowed, the unarmed residents of Reestkii were rounded up and forced into the large town hall building while the slavers pillaged the settlement for any supplies they could steal. There was little of note in the building. It was a functional but unadorned structure - four heavy stone walls with narrow slits for windows. The windows were high above ground level, impossible for any of the beings locked within to reach and peer out. Green and orange paint decorated the interior, but it was chipped and worn with age. There were tables inside and a handful of chairs. Otherwise, nothing.

"What will we do?" asked one of the citizens in a panicked voice. He was a bulb-headed Kitonak. And though his leather-skinned species was well-suited for the desert climate of Jakku, he was nevertheless perspiring.

Another citizen echoed that sentiment: "Slavers," said an amphibious Nautolan, shaking the thick set of dark tentacles that cascaded from his scalp. "What will happen to us? This can't... this can't be possible. The constable..."

A third voice cut in, this one belonging to a Chevin whose massive elephantine head stretched the length of his entire body. "I know their like. They'll take us and force us all into labor camps. I saw it before... back when I was on Vinsoth. We're doomed for sure..."

All the while the children of the village stared nervously and silently, terrified at the strange intrusion into the peaceful and quiet world into which they had been born.

"Listen... " interrupted an old woman at the back, so small and insignificant was she that she took two attempts to be heard. "There is... yet hope. We are merely detained. Our fates... they are not determined."

The crowd stamped their feet back and forth impatiently. "Easy words to say,” said one, "but words will not save us now! Nothing will save us!"

One of the children, a tiny hammer-headed Ottegan, let out a minute sob. With a silencing glance the old woman turned her kindly face to the needs of the scared children.

"Children...listen. You will need...to trust in what I say. Help...is coming, and everything will be...fine."

The children sniffled and fidgeted.

“The Jedi will save us.”

And so it came to pass that two Padawans, keen to explore the historic planet of Jakku heard the distress call from their ship in orbit.


[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was moving around and admiring the new robes, for something or another well they were pretty and she had made them. her mother helped and all of her researchers and artisan's yes but she had gone through the work to get them made touching the hide of the sithspawn they had fought with a nod. it was over the armor and this entire outfit was highly protective while giving them a nice amount of freedom. It even went well with her hair when it wasn't in a tight ponytail and all formal like. For now though a grin spread across her face when she was in the ship with Sorel cause good friends plus they had access to some of the really nice things like her mothers converters so they could work with things.

Oh and a skyfall jeep to drive around and be awesome in, they could charge it with force energy and make it able to resist saber strikes. Or blasters, so crashes... not that they crashed on purpose just it was cool to know they could resist such things when the need arose. For now though she was fixing it up while moving about a little with rapt attention on a few things checking the new stuff her mother had made like the field hypogun. it was made for tasks but best used to handle dangerous patients if you needed it. She had some of her other gear in the compartments of her tensai belt before there was a sound and she was moving. Looking for Sorel as she spoke. "There is a distress signal."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Back on Jakku, the old woman's recounting of the exploits of the Jedi was abruptly interrupted by a loud crash outside. Several of the citizens began crying in fear. The children exchanged anxious whispers while some of the men tried to climb up high enough to see out one of the town hall's windows.

"Are they coming for us now?" asked a young boy, his eyes wide with fright.

"No... " answered the old woman reassuringly. "The Jedi will save us."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Sorel locked onto the coordinates of the distress call. "Fortunately it's not too far, we'll be there in a matter of minutes. I just hope whoever activated it did so with time to spare." As she piloted the ship, she called up whatever information she had on the settlement. "There's not much," she said to her friend, "but it might shed some light on what we might face when we get down there."

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She got that and there was more then enough time. They were jedi, if they couldn't save the people they would damn sure be there to work on stopping hte people that hurt them. "We will get there and help." One way or the other she could work with it and with Sorel as she finished loading up the jeep so they could get out there and into the fray quickly to handle things. "We'll be able to get down there and handle the situation quickly." She didn't know what was happening down there and Jakku well she knew next to nothing about it. Desert planet, way out there, likely smugglers and pirates on it or other things. Really what else could they do with it... But hey maybe they would get lucky and find something cool.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Data on the town was sparse. Not because of a lack of information but rather because it was a tiny settlement. The few buildings were referred to as a town called Reestki i -a word that, apparently, loosely translated into Basic, meant "the leftover." Reestkii was located near the equator of the desert world, and the only settlement on the planet worth noting - Niima Outpost - was over four hundred kilometers away.

The town had no resources to mine, barely enough agriculture for the locals to survive, and not enough combined wealth to get passage on a ship to anywhere worth seeing - not that there were any ships other than the occasional bleak husk of something long before burned out. It was easy to see why the pirates targeted it. There were a few settlements of this sort - generally unknown or forgotten by the rest of the bleak world they were situated on.

Looking up from the data - that included a simple arial shot of the terrain, Sorel spoke to her friend. "Do you have a plan?"

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking at her and took out the canteen she had getting a sip as she knew there would be more water filling it up down on the planet. As for a plan of attack or something they could do while she rolled her tongue over in her mouth. "If we can see where they are we might be able to get around and work on some of the larger things. The places we can look at aren't that big so anyone hostile should be bunched up. Some of the beamers will be able to stun them and thanks to some improvements they don't use entechment anymore to power them. Just ion power cells to knock out and stun a wookiee or cragmaloid for several hours." She could see some things like burned out, crashed star destroyers and those massive hulls. "If we need to move people we can try getting them over by these hulls for cover as well as a place to hide the ship. We have the ground transport for handling these sorts of situations."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened to her friend as she seemed so assured at coming up with a plan. Sorel tended to act on instinct and faced with any scenario would typically improvise her way out of it. But going in cold?Strategising? This was some way outside of her comfort zone.

“Should we stick together or split up? Do we go in with stealth or announce our arrival?” She was aware she was full of questions. “Sorry,” she added, a little sheepishly. “I’m just not used to having to plan in this way. Feel free to tell me to shut up.”

As she talked, she made sure she was wearing her armour and had her sabers clipped to her belt.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

GO in loud or stealthy... oh it would be a hard thing to come away with either way while she was thinking about it. All of her attention went to the plan and what they could do before she was ready to handle some of the things. "We should try for stealth but be ready when the time comes for fighting. It is all about some of the things they could do while she nodded her head. "No it is good, plans are a hard thing but you have to be careful either way. We'll likely end up making things up as we go along anyways." She knew both the force and the gods of irony would always find a way to throw in some surprises for them to deal with." She could get down there and ready for the really cool things in the jeep and stuff to have parts of it. "lets go and get it on."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was quiet. Clearly the ability to plan this type of rescue was something a Master would take in their stride, and a Knight would be expected to accomplish with relative ease. It proved she still had much to learn.

“So, stealth is the starting point but we can make it up as we go along.” She smiled. This was the sort of plan she liked and could work with. The bare bones of an idea and beyond that she was free to improvise. Perhaps planning was overrated?

“What are we waiting for then…after you.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She gave a nod of her head and was geared up ready to go, the blade of the rose on her hip while the jedi padawan stretched going towards the jeep so it could be deployed as soon as they were ready to go. "Alright set it down and we'll open it up with all of the things ready to go." She looked at the turret and it was a magnetic caltrop launcher for handling vehicles and starships but also great for buckshot to set traps or handle people in armor like slavers. The powerful magnets small and ready to be used while she could switch it for when they were under attack. The lightweight jeep would also serve nicely for going in quiet with its frame not weighing nearly as much. "Lets go."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel brought the ship in as stealthily as she could - flying in low to avoid any radar, and using the terrain to negate any spotters. Judging she couldn’t get any closer without risking detection, she set the ship down.

“OK, ready,” she said. She’d been keen to try out the jeep, especially on the terrain ahead of them, but hadn’t anticipated it would been these circumstances. “Those slavers picked a bad day to land here.”

———————— ———————— ————————​

Meanwhile the pirates were turning over the small settlement for anything worth stealing, before turning their attention on the inhabitants. But finally they had taken what little of value was with having and started to converge on the small town hall.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

There was a look on her face when they set down with the hip while she got the cargo bay doors opened with a nod of her head. "Oh yes they will." She was ready for anything seeing the doors open with the sun shining in her face before she shielded her eyes before she was moving. Some of her attention on the different things before she started moving and taking the jeep out for them to get there. It was a nice sound almost like a grinder over a large speeder while she moved it over a ridge and could see the settlement they were heading to off in the distance. All of the work they might need to do but nothing beat the chance they had to test their skills without a master or team on the ground. "We should be there soon enough, keep an eye on the scanner and you should be able to detect any life signs."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

The sun was low in the sky. The dry desert landscape of Jakku stretched around the pair for kilometres. To an outside observer, they might as well have been the only two entities on the planet. But Sorel knew the settlement was close.

Everything was heating up. Despite her bracelet, she was still feeling the effects of the sun in other ways. All metal, exposed to the sun, burned under her hands already. The sun was that intense.

Despite the distance to the pirates, Sorel spoke quietly. "I'll let you know as soon as I see anything." And before long she did. There was a cluster in a concentrated area, no doubt a single building or maybe a small town square, and surrounding it and closing in were...fifteen other life signs. She counted and re-counted them.

"Fifteen to take care of. Seven each and one to share, eh?"

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Now that was a good plan as the padawan stopped the jeep and touched the one pack opening it. The cuffs they had gotten from the one woman Rave well they didn't break from a lightsaber striking it and were near immune to the force touching them.... and they had gotten several hundred thousands for things like this. Just in case there was someone unexpected or using equipment others didn't. "Sounds like a plan." Oh she was liking the idea while moving out and checking her hair and robes. To keep them secured and safe but also so things didn't jingle while she started moving forward. Seven and a half to deal with before she reached out with her senses to find them as she motioned for Sorel to head out. THe fun was about to begin.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel unclipped one of her sabers but did not activate it. A Jedi always uses the Force for defence, never attack. She recited the Jedi Code as she crept forwards, setting up a pincer movement with her fellow Padawan.

A Jedi saves lives, not take them — but sometimes the two came into conflict and the innocent townsfolk were the priority here. She would not needlessly kill any of the slavers, but she would defend the natives of Jakku using whatever force was necessary. The bare minimum, granted, but whatever was required.

She crept quietly and used whatever cover she could as she approached the slavers from behind. They would have only one chance at surprise, so they had to make it count. She sent a mental message to her fellow Padawan. ‘Ready,’ and hoped it was conveyed as she crouched, ready to pounce.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime stayed moving with the girl in sight while she was moving for some of the attention. She was ready for some sort of work in the things... she didn't want to hurt and attack but slavers endangering people was not going to leave many choices. They were out numbered and would need to convince them there was either more of a team here then two padawans so their self preservation kicked in or they needed to subdue some of them while she snuck up behind one taking out her saber and extending it a little so it was like a club just in case as she set it down for the guard. Letting it shine near him before she crouched down to listen. There was a moment she was worried he wouldn't touch it when he finally did and the sound of the trap hilt shocking him when he fell over and she moved quick;y. This wouldn't work on everyone but she could think of some things setting the cuffs on him and a gag to keep him from making sounds.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel expected they’d be able to defeat the pirates if necessary. But to kill them would be the last resort. So how to convince them to surrender to two Padawans? They would see them as mere girls no doubt and testosterone if not bravado would deter them from simply handing themselves over for capture.

She toyed with the idea of a show of the Force that would scare them into thinking they had no choice but to submit, but she had no obvious ability that would be impressive enough to scare them all — and a Mind Trick on this many was out of the question.

She sneaked up behind two of them, they were a little way behind the rest and she figured she could take them down without alerting the others.

With a wave of her hand, she moved one of their heads swiftly towards the other’s. There was a sickening crack that fortunately didn’t carry far and she surmised they’d both wake up with a sore head in the morning. But for now she bound and gagged them and moved forward to consider the rest. Two down, five and a half to go.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She kept going forward while they were at it now, well into that groove of sneaking around before her full attention shifted to lead the way down. Inot the small crevice as two appeared above her. She hugged the floor while looking up at them before she moved a little to the side with her hands out. She was thinking of a way to stun them and there was a few but the stun technique wasn't really the most long lasting so she needed to get it down to a science while shocking them and she moved. Getting out of the hole and quickly moving while her attention went to some of the larger things there binding them as well as moving them into a covered area so they would be obscured from the others with some of her attention now. She could almost see where they might be holding the people.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel remembered the images provided by their reconnaissance and the central area that housed the most bodies. She could see now it was a large building — most likely some sort of town hall or perhaps church. Either way, it was central because it was, to the people here, the most important of places in the settlement.

Sorel continued to creep up on the unsuspecting pirates, who were in turn closing in on the townsfolk — albeit with far less stealth than Sorel or Orihime. This was all to their advantage of course.

She spotted another pair, split slightly away from the group and who would, in a few moments, pass behind a small building and be hidden from the rest. She had a small but definite window of opportunity.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

The central building came into view as Orihime was moving, surprised to see the other ones there with her attention on some of the ones who were moving to take them. She saw the final four she could get spacing out to go to the different sides and prepared herself for it. Thinking of how best to work with some of the attention. Her hand coming out making a distraction as he looked over and she jumped down to smash him on the head with a crack and he was bleeding but alive while she was binding his hands and trying to pull him out of view. The sound of a weapon cocking as she turned around and looked at two of them for a moment, her hand going to her saber on her hip while he was speaking into the comlink before she was moving quickly. The snap hiss of her blade while she adjusted the power setting lower to not kill them but she was able to knock them around. She was hoping Sorel was working well with her skills.