First Reply Locusts of Naboo

[Tasia Palpatine]

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Tasia walked purposefully through the ruined grove of trees deep in the forests of Naboo, they should have been heavy with thick fruits this time of year but instead they had been stripped bare by a swarm of insects that had come from the swamps to the south. Hundreds of the six inch long locust like creatures littered the floor having gorged themselves to death. There was something driving them to madness, these were native species, the ecosystem had handled their presence for millennia. She continued walking in the direction that the gungans had pointed her. A week ago there had been a starfall in this area and the best guess was that there was something there that was causing the insects to behave like this.

Palpatine reached down and picked up one of the insects and played with it in her hand. Her eyes glazed over and she saw visions from its perspective. The insect had little understanding of its environment so the psychometry was very abstract but she could feel a hunger more strong than anything she had ever experienced and. The women channeled the force to look backwards in the life of the creature, more hunger, anger, fire. She felt the warmth build up around her like she was at the centre of an inferno and then the vision was gone. She sighed to herself and placed the remains of the insect back on the floor, more of the same as she had sensed previously.

With her Kiffar blade she continued to hack through the vines of the undergrowth in search of the starfall.

 

[Michael Angellus]

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Journal Entry:
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Okay, this is interesting. I decided to go for a walk, just to clear my head and to get ready for the day. I wasn’t thinking about much at all, but had heard about some astro-event that happened nearby about a week ago. So I decided to check it out, now that the inevitable fallout seemed to be done and gone. As I walked, I noticed a strange glow in the distance. Curiosity piqued, I followed it, discovering a small crater with an unusual, shimmering substance at its center. Could this be a remnant of the recent astro-event?

Nope, that was a bunch of Gungans having a cook-out.

The thing is, there are a bunch of dead locusts on the ground. This is weird. I want to let someone know, but I don’t know the extent of it, and I know whoever I tell is going to ask.

A mystery is afoot! Yes. I just said that out loud. WHY did I just say that out loud?


Tasia Palpatine

 

[Tasia Palpatine]

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Tasia breached the undergrowth to the edge of a small crater in the earth where it looked like an ancient tree had ripped itself from the ground, but there was no tree. A man stood in the centre and she held her blade tight in her hand to watch his actions. "Quite" she said to herself as the man examined the glowing remnants of something that lay at the bottom. She could sense darkness in the air but it didn't appear to be coming from the silhouetted man. She stepped forward, "What do you think? she walked from behind him, crunching on yet more dead bugs. "The Gungans said that the fall was a couple of clicks north of here, but they arent always great with directions on land." she laughed a little and looked around them, still puzzled about what was occuring to the bugs. "I take it that is what you are all the way out here for?" she asked.

Michael Angellus

 

[Michael Angellus]

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Journal Entry:
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"What do you think?

WHOAH!! She scared the crap out of me! I ended up up my rear end! That was embarrassing, but as I got up I realized she was looking at this too as she w.. Is she Kiffar? Or Kiffu? I can never get those titles right… YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!

I really don't know what she is talking about, but I’m not going to come off like an idiot about it. Any more than I normally do anyway. I’m just out taking a walk. My name’s Michael.


Tasia Palpatine

 

[Tasia Palpatine]

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She laughed as the man panicked at her presence but she held up a hand to try to calm him. "Sorry, Tasia Palpatine at your service." the tattooed woman said in a friendly tone.

She looked around then, they were in the middle of nowhere. "Where have you walked from? We are pretty isolated?" she shrugged. The force worked in strange ways and the man could have walked for days following it's call into the wilderness for all she knew.

Michael Angellus

 

[Michael Angellus]

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Journal Entry:
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Okay, she seems nice enough. I don’t mind the laughter, as I probably would have as well. So that’s okay. Maybe she knows about the…

Wait.. Palpatine? Where do I know that name? Research for later.

Isolated? Really? I just went on a walk? I guess I walked a little longer than I thought. I walked from the Sanctuary. You know about that?


Tasia Palpatine

 

[Tasia Palpatine]

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"The Sanctuary of Shiraya? You have had a walk haven't you?" it didn't matter, it wasn't really her business if he liked to hike, she would walk for days from her village on a hunt or just following the force.

She squatted down and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. "So anyway. I got word from my friends that something has been driving the local wildlife a bit cuckoo, these locusts have been stripping basically everything from the trees. Bossman Bignook thinks it's this starfall." she held her hand over the smouldering remnants and felt into the force with her inner eye, trying to find answers.

She felt something gnawing at her, like she hadn't eaten for a couple of days but she knew that to be patently untrue. She looked at Michael "I'm hungry, how about you?" there was something in her tone that she wasn't offering food but was investigating a theory.

Michael Angellus

 

[Michael Angellus]

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Journal Entry:
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How far did I go on my walk? I guess I really needed to clear my head. Oh well, at least I know my cardio is good, not to mention my legs. So these “locusts” are weird, hungry little buggers. Wait? She mentioned a Gungan? Is she friends with Gungans? That’s cool… too each is own I guess, right?

”Hungry”? I couldn’t help but laugh. Lady… I’m a teenager… I can eat. Self deprecating humor can be annoying to some, but it keeps you humble.


Tasia Palpatine

 

[Tasia Palpatine]

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She laughed again, the young guy was amusing. "That, I don't doubt. I shouldn't be hungry now, but I am. I suspect it might be the same problem that the insects are having. Damn." her stomach was twisting to encourage her to feed. Tasia breathed out a long breath and recentered herself in the force, the worst of the urge passed and she focused on the task at hand.

"Come here, look at this." she pointed at shards of something that looked like volcanic glass, clearly having come off of the item as it had landed, there seemed to be etchings in it and she couldn't work out if it was mechanical or natural but it felt unnerving. "What do you think?"

Michael Angellus