On Paths Less Travelled

[Bass]

It wasn't the weirdest planet he'd ever been to, but it was definitely up there in the rankings.

He had been on Hast for several weeks, making a small amount of money acting as an enforcer for some local crime boss, when he'd felt their presence approaching. Normally it took longer, normally the nightmares started first and the shadowy figures reaching out at the edge of his vision came later. But there was no escaping them once they started calling, so he'd booked passage on the next ship headed out, a little tramp freighter making call at some backwater world called Midvinter.

The master of the ship, a wiry little Nautolan, spent most of the trip extolling the virtue of Midvinter furs (and the prices they fetched on the colder planets of the galaxy) and was even so generous as to toss Bass a tip that they always had mercenary work somewhere.

Folk were always at their kindest when their pockets were bulging with your credits.

And mercenary work there was, assuming one didn't mind fighting with archaic weapons against people so large and strong that even Bass' cybernetically enhanced frame had a tough time dealing with one particularly rough berserker, to the point where he had to rather unceremoniously shoot the man at point blank range while grappling with him.

Six shots from a blaster. On a human. Or someone close to human at any rate. And of course it was all very dishonorably done according to the locals, so he wasn't getting any more work from that particular tribe.

And that was the story, in brief, of how he had ended up sitting in an open air market, with only the snoring barkeep and withering glares of passerbys for company, trying to figure out how to fix his left arm (which had been damn near ripped from its internal mountings, and was causing a terrific amount of pain and discomfort) on this wretched cold planet stuck in the middle ages.

The weirdest part was that in spite of it all he felt something like, not happiness, but calm, perhaps even content. For it hadn't taken long to realize that the 'Valkyri' had no knowledge of the force, so Bass had relaxed his force concealment, and for the first time in years he could really feel again.



[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

Mysa could not bear the sight of Thainbroek at the moment. The Valkyri Capital was a mess, and only served as a reminder, so instead she had taken to traveling through the icy world to see what other wonders it had to offer. Her eyes remained peeled, ever vigilant for signs of the Vinterbound she had come to despise. She would kill them all if she could.

And that was saying a lot for a girl who swore blindly that she didn't advocate violence.

Travelling across the Northeastern planes, past mountains and villages alike, Mysa had finally reached lands end. At least, she could see the coast in the distance. Before her stood Reykjaa, a village renown for its somewhat warmer climate even now when elsewhere winter was in full swing.

No Vinterbound would dare tread here. At least, that was what she hoped.

Making her way down a sharp incline, barely remaining upright in the process, the young Snowstrider came upon the village which was in full swing. Harvest season had just gone by, and merchants were busy calling their wares. It felt a world away from the City she inhabited, from the grief that was felt at the heart of Midvinter.

What was she doing here? Shouldn't she be back home, consoling her family and fixing her own broken spirits? Or off on the hunt for Vinterbound, like so many others who'd felt the blow of the icy fiends one time too many?

Her strides brought her to the town square, where the scent of fresh bread traveled on the breeze. Stomach rumbling, Mysa made her way to the merchant and traded one of her smaller, less used daggers, for a loaf and some mead, and found herself a seat amidst the patrons of the open air market.

She had never had a drink of mead before, not even on the eve of battle. But she needed something to take the edge off things.

Hopefully her Father wouldn't find out.

[member="Bass Terrik"]

 

[Bass]

His arm still hurt. There was serious risk of permanent damage to the internal mounting if he didn't get it repaired soon, and given the general lack of technology on this planet access to a good cyberdoc seemed doubtful at best. That left him two solutions, neither of which were particularly attractive right now.

It wasn't urgent though, so long as he didn't exert himself. So instead of making any decisions Bass simply leaned back and, with a mug of the local alcohol in hand, tried to relax and remember what it was like to have your sense augmented by the force after so many years.

What did it feel like for the blind who had surgery to be able to see? Every person, every living thing now had a pulse that he could practically reach out and feel. The innkeep behind him, though ignorant of the fabric which bound almost all living creatures to it was still connected, and through him Bass could feel a stern resolve and....

Sadness? That didn't seem right.

He straightened up, suddenly wary. The town remained quiet, the passerby's few and far between. And now that he was looking for something to be off, Bass couldn't help but notice they seemed almost entirely either too old or too young. The environs beyond him, he now realized, had a sense of emptiness, almost like a camp where the army had marched and all that remained were the youth and the injured and infirm.

Midvinter was a planet at war, though with whom it wasn't clear, and the locals didn't seem inclined to say.

Whatever the case it didn't matter. War meant death and sorrow and fear and that brought them. So much for being a safe refuge. It also meant that he needed his arm fixed sooner rather than later, and there was only one easy means to do that.

It was a technique he had developed on his own, out of grim necessity. It wasn't strictly force healing, that required a more fundamental grasp of the advanced manipulation of matter than Bass figured he would ever have. Instead it was basically a variant of telekinesis, focused and concentrated.

He reached out with the force and grasped the metallic end piece of his arm, ever so carefully exerting power only on those parts not covered in circuitry and nervous system connections. Slowly and carefully, he pulled it back into position from within.

The pain was excruciating, but he could focus on it and use it to fuel his concentration and his power, as he had learned the hard way years ago. His body protested, attempted to reject the implants, and the pain magnified to the point where all Bass could see was a red blur as he strained to stay conscious. Pain fueled rage, and rage fueled strength and will.

Then with an audible 'thunk' and a jolt of pain so severe it rocked him to the ground, the arm slid back into place against the artificially sheared bone it was normally attached to. There would be more to do, he would have to compel his body to accept the implant again, and there was the ever present risk of infection, but at least he could use his limb without risking it being torn off.

His whole right side was soaked in blood, and a small puddle of it had begun to collect on the ground. Bass could only muster a low growling chuckle. Another day alive, another day of defiance.

He leaned back again, amused by his own thoughts, and as he did so saw to his shock the vibrant glow of another force presence right nearby. Close enough it would have been impossible to miss the energy emanating from the 'healing' he'd just done.

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

 

[Lief]

She sat for a moment simply swirling the contents of her mug and picking at the loaf. Despite the cold which remained ever present even in this region, there was a fire pit burning not too far away. It did little to warm her spirits, but it staved off the harshest parts of the weather and for that she was grateful.

It was quiet here, with the sound of seabirds overhead who had come in from the west and merchants yelling their wares the only real things to break the subdued silence. Even here, so far from Thainbroek, the losses could be felt. Even here men and women sought to take up arms against the Vinterbound. Mysa longed to be among them, but there was no organization to it yet. It was one thing to be determined, and another to rush headlong into something without any thought.

Lifting the mug to her lips Mysa took a long drink of the mead and immediately pulled a face. It was disgusting, but at least it warmed her insides.

A grunt of pain could be heard from nearby and Mysa turned her head to look in the direction of the source. A man, offworlder given the cybernetic implants, was trying to fix his arm. It looked horrifying, she had never seen a cybernetic arm in detail before, and quite put her off her food.

When the man jolted back and ended up on the floor she rose up, intent on helping, only to find her hands clutching at the table while her head swam under the effects of the alcohol. That had gone to her head extremely quickly.

Inhaling through her nose she gave herself a moment to adjust before walking over to where he was, bleeding heavily yet in one piece. She had felt the Force around him and realized she was in the presence of a fellow Force user. The Gods liked to challenge her, it seemed.

"Hail, friend. Are you well?"

From the looks of him he needed a little bit of help. Perhaps there was something she could do to assist.

[member="Bass"]

 

[Bass]

It was a girl, of some close-to-human species and definitely alien to this world. She was also definitely adept in the force, which added to the confusion. To make things worse, the aura surrounding her was assuredly light-side, which to Bass screamed 'Jedi.' Great, because he wanted anything to do with the order that had sent him on a suicide mission.

"Hail, friend. Are you well?"

The question, so innocent, so oblivious, struck Bass as hilarious beyond belief. In spite of the pain and exhaustion, he began to laugh. Uproariously at first, he probably seemed quite insane for a bit before it quieted to a low chuckle. Evidently the black whirling shape of the curse hadn't bothered to show itself. A good sign, it meant he wasn't being pursued yet. That or the girl was simply not using her force sense, or was too polite to point it out. The latter would be just like the damn Jedi.

"Ehehe, am I well? Better now, I guess. One more day alive, you know?"

He sat up, turned to face the girl. With his faceplate and armor off he must have presented a somewhat horrific sight. His face was half cybernetic, and the part that remained flesh was horribly scarred. HIs right side was caked in fresh blood, and where his cybernetic arms met flesh it was puffy and raw with exertion. It was little wonder the locals had been somewhat standoffish, all things considered.

But judging by her eyes and her use of the force, the girl was no local. Too young to be a mercenary, and she didn't fit the image of a merchant, but what other purpose could an offworlder have for this planet? No point in mincing words, he supposed, and anyway maybe she knew what the war going on was about.

"You're no local, not with those eyes. What brings a girl Jedi to this backwater?"

[member="Mysa Snowstrider"]

Spoiler

Sorry for the delay. Been a busy past week and then some.

 

[Lief]

Mysa stared, almost dumbfounded, as the stranger began to laugh hysterically. Sometimes shock could make someone react oddly, not quite themselves, but any fool worth their mettle could see that he wasn't actually in shock. No doubt he was used to pain, after all even Mysa knew that cybernetics were a painful procedure.

So why the laughter?

Was it something she had said? She tried to back track, but came up with nothing out of the ordinary. Standard greeting for these parts. She pursed her lips together and frowned for just a moment, until the laughter died down. Maybe it was because he was so obviously not okay?

"Cut the act. I can see when someone's hurt" she muttered, loud enough that he could hear but not to the point that any of the others around them could. After all, she wasn't about to embarrass anyone.

"Do you actually know what you're doing there?" she nodded to the cybernetics he was trying to fix, "or are you stumbling in the dark? You aren't gonna find anyone in this part of Midvinter able to help you out if you mess up, Ser, but I know some offworlders who could help. If you're not too proud or stupid to ask for it that is."

Even Mysa blinked when she realized how she had spoken to him. Perhaps it was the grief speaking, or maybe she didn't want to see someone else suffer after all that had happened with the Vinterbound. Either way the words were out there now. Nothing she could do about it.

[member="Bass"]