Strangers at the bar (Valiens Nantaris)

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

(OCC: Due to school starting back up I might be more inconstant when I post, just a heads up!)

Groowrl was way too close to growl...which was amusing considering the sounds Wookies made to communicate and made Sinya grin a bit.

"Going mad does no concern me too much but thanks for the warning," she said to Myr. "I might have already started down the path!"

She couldn't remember the last time she had a dinner surrounded by people that...probably...didn't want to kill her or own her for an evening. It was a nice change of pace, to say the least.

Sinya spoke to the table in general, "So I'm sure someone has a better story than killing a Hutt to remove ones self from slavery....any interesting stories on joining this crew?"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
(No problems! Thanks for the heads up.)

“Well, we’re a band of misfits from around the galaxy. Many of us came from bad situations, rescued by my magnificence,” Nantaris said with a grin.
Myrtirae let out a snort, earning her a hurt look from Nantaris.
“It was slavers for me, but not Hutt ones,” Myr said after the laughter had died down. “I was a pilot and I had the bad luck to fall in with a man named Trant who decided he’d sweeten his profits by seizing my ship. Nanny gave me a little help.”
“Pfft, I see we have differing memories!” Nantaris commented. “And then we have Scindia. Him and me go way back to being paddies in the Jedi Order. He teamed up with me when he realised the Jedi and Republic couldn’t tell their ass from their elbow.”
Scindia nodded. “The Order is not what it once was. I found the only way to make a difference was outside of their control.”
“D43 I picked up in a scrapheap on Nar Shaddaa. He’s been a worthwhile salvage.”
“Master never misses an opportunity to mention his benevolence,” the droid said snidely.
“And Alicia here,” Nantaris said, ignoring the droid, “got in with the wrong crowd and was working as a slicer there. She does the same thing for us, but we’re the good guys.”
Alicia looked down at her lap awkwardly, clearly unsure how to react. She didn’t seem the talking type.
“The rest of this rogues gallery I hired from the Republic, Sanctum, Silvers, Protectorate…anyone who wants adventure and to kick slavers and Sith in the tailpipe.”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

She listened to everyone tell or have their tale explained. Different backgrounds was always a good thing she thought.

"Why do we Twi'leks always seem to end up as slaves long our roads?" she asked Myr half jokingly, "I can't tell you the number I saw come and go and Atruda was small time for a Hutt."

Hearing D43's remark made her snicker, "This bot really has it out for you Nantaris."

Hearing that the Scindia and Nantaris went way back seemed like a good sign so she nodded at that.

"So does Alicia always given new comers the silent treatment or is this something I shouldn't pry at? Is it me being red maybe, bad past experience?"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
Alicia fidgeted nervously, looked down at her lap. “It’s…I mean…I…it’s…” she mumbled.
Nantaris put a hand on her shoulder. “Alicia’s not good with people. She likes dealing with machines. They’re less likely to talk back. Don’t worry.”

Hoping to lighten things up, Myr grinned. “It’s because we’re the finest ladies in the galaxy, SInya. And because guys like him will do anything for a lekku,” she said, indicating Nantaris.
She gently offered him one of her lekku.

Nantaris looked like he would resist, but finally gave in and gently stroked it. Myr took it back with a smirk.

“But I always ask. I don’t enslave people,” Nantaris said seriously. “That’s the difference.”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

"Not enslaving is a trait in your favor for sure," she said, "Though my lekku have been petted out for the moment I'm sure you can sneak a feel from time to time."

She looked around the table again and took a drink. It was as good a time as any to share at least a short version of her life.

"Since everyone else shared I'll give a shorten history of myself, feel free to ask question if you want more."

She took a deep breath to gather herself and then went into it, "I grew up on Ryloth for the first half of my life. The Olan house did alright so I never wanted for much. My parents were a little less traditional, my father was a miner but my mother was training to be a Jedi when they meet. One thing lead to another and she left her training to have me and marry."

Sinya took another drink, her least favorite parts always dried her throat, "Things were well for a bit, my mother even sensed the Force in myself and started to train me a bit, more for defense than anything. At the time I didn't know about my father's...addictions to spice and drink." She cleared her throat, clenching her fist under the table, "This lead to him...hurting...my mother and eventually he..."

She shook once, a mix of rage at her father and sadness about the memory, "He killed her and sold me off when I was ten, he was in debt I assume. I don't know why he did what he did to my mother. She never used her training against him, I guess to show me that power should only be used in the right situations."

"Since then I've been dancing, stealing, and killing to earn money and a living as a slave until about...well whenever you all showed up," she smiled weakly. "It's been a long road for sure."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
Myr laid a comforting hand on her spiritual sister’s shoulder.

Nantaris nodded understandingly. “I’m sorry, Sinya, I truly am. I know that sounds trite, especially for a former Jedi to say, but if you ever want to talk more about it, I’m good at listening.”
He seemed so earnest. Even Myr didn’t make a joke, just nodded reflectively.

“Well, get some sleep, Sinya. By the time you wake up, we’ll be orbiting Arkas. You can come down and have a look if you want, or you can stay up here.”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]
(OOC: I"ll be away until Tuesday evening EST, enjoy your weekend!)

Sinya gently touched Myr's haand, small comforts where sometimes the best.

"Hopefully I didn't ruin the rest of your dinner," she said quietly "And yes rest sounds good, wake me when we arrive I would like to see it."

She gave an uncharacteristically soft soft to everyone and left the room, heading down the hall to find her quarters again. She wondered if it was a little forward to just spill a summary of herself on them but better to know who you're fighting with she thought.

She wondered about for a few minutes before returning to her room. The ship really was a lot nicer once she had a chance to look at the interior more. She laid her head down on a pillow but rest didn't come quickly and she always tossed and turned. But at least when she awoke she would be someplace she'd never been before.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
“Not at all, dear,” Nantaris said with a smile. “We’ve all got our stories, and I’m glad you could share yours with us.”

When indeed Sinya awoke they would be orbiting the planet Arkas. It looked like a tropical paradise from orbit. As ever, looks could be deceptive.
Scindia came and knocked on her cabin door.
“Ms Sinya? Valiens sent me. He wanted to know if you wanted to go down to the surface with us.”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

She had been up for a little while before Scindia came knocking, she was use to running on little sleep.

" I'd love to come down, give me a moment to get ready and I'll follow you out."

She grabbed her blades and pulled them out, making sure she had cleaned them well enough before sleeping. They shimmered in the cabins light, what she wouldn't do for a second lightsaber and some more training though!

She exited her cabin and fell in next to former Jedi and thought to break the silence with everyone's least favorite thing...small talk!

"So what is this place like? I mean the surface can't be worse than Ryloth...unless we have more giant slugs down here."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
"No slugs, no," Scindia confirmed. "It it what some people call a 'tropical paradise'. Until very recently it was inhabited by pirates and slavers until we drove them out."

Nantaris meanwhile was in the hanger directing traffic. Basically, he was yelling at people to move and getting more frustrated as time went on.

"Our gallant leader, not perhaps the greatest logothete," Scindia said quietly in amusement.

Nantaris looked up from his argument with one of his dropship pilots. "Ah, Sinya, there you are. All set?"

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

"I feel sorry for those he is currently trying to lead," she joked to Scindia under her breath before responding "Yes I am excited to see this place, I hear only good things, though that might be one sided considering I have spoken to exactly one person about it."

She followed the old Jedi out the hanger, passing along some small talk to her former co-workers of sorts.

The planet itself looked like what a tropical land might look like, it was certainly more green than any planet Sinya could recall seeing. And the warmth was second only to Ryloth, though she had never been on the real surface or she would have been a cooked Twi'lek!

"I must say from my experience with slavers I'm a little surprised they haven't come back here to reclaim this planet," she said a little awed. "I mean I don't know location but this seems just inconspicuous, who would think twice about this place?"

She took it all in as they walked with the group, it had been a long time since she had seen a decent looking sky. It had been a while since she had the freedom to enjoy anything really.

"And no slugs..." she mumbled, that was t he best part!

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
"Who's to say they've not tried," Nantaris said. Pointing out the hanger bay they could see the distant, arrow-like shape of a Coalition cruiser in orbit, other escorts around.
"But we've got this place under careful control, as much as possible. There's a plant on the surface which can be manufactured into a drug, so we've also got to stop people carrying it off world too!"

The flight down to the surface was fairly calm, and as they came to a rest they found themselves on a landing pad in an open field. Above them were frowning hills where some heavy guns were located, also blocking the pass between the hills.
"Come this way, lass," Nantaris said, holding out a hand to lead her down from the ship.

Through the pass, about 220 metres from the ship, the settlement of Freetown was spread below on the bay.
"We've done our best for the people we free, but it's not easy," Nantaris said with a sigh.

(Sorry for the delay, holiday makes posting time hard!)

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

She took his hand and exited the ship. She looked off at the settlement that was spread out below.

"An island, now that is pretty awesome." Considering sand and heat had been what most of her homes have been this was certainly welcome.

Sinya noted a what seemed to be a harbor and a dome like structure among the various other buildings in the settlement. Certainly there were defenses, she either didn't pick them out or was looking in the wrong places.

"You take care of all these people? That's quite a cause and you seem to be successful at it," she paused for a moment, scanning the settlement again, "And....from recent personal experience...giving freedom to someone is already the best you can do for them, giving them something else to strive for is an added bonus,"

She started to walk off toward the settlement, eager to get in and learn what she could. "The trip isn't too long but tell me a little more about this place."

(If all good, no worries!)

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
(Back from holiday!)

Nantaris shrugged modestly. “Well, I’m not the only one of course. The Coalition as well as some charities and societies help us with the upkeep. We want to eventually make Freetown run itself without outside interference. That’s the plan, we’ll see if that works out that way.”

“See, we didn’t want to just free people and then give them nothing to do. They’d end up worse than before. So we give them land to farm, things to do. Those with the will and desire to make a new life can do so. Those without…well…we cannot force people to be successful.”

He led Sinya down the hill into the town. The houses were cheap but tidy, each family having their own little block. It was like someone’s idea of a country home paradise. Some police speeders drove by, and the new arrivals were being taken to the large central building. A few citizens were visible. Most were young, many female, almost all of them looked happy in some way.

“In a few years we hope to establish new settlements nearby, repopulate this planet with the emancipated peoples.”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

They walked into the central building together along with the small train of others from the ship. Inside what Sinya assumed where a mix of workers and citizens...maybe even a few newly freed people...hurried about or were talking at desk and in groups. A few people gave her a sideways glance but she had notice other red Twi'leks outside so she didn't feel quite like the novelty she was normally put up as.

"A planet of freed people, probably the first in galactic history if you pull that off," she said.

It appeared that the new arrivals were being directed to one area of the building, probably to be entered into some type of registration system.

"So do I go over there and sign something in the likes of 'Nanataris' Red Lekku'? she joked, giving a small grin.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
Nantaris laughed. “So snarky, that’s why we get on! And oh no, I’m keeping your pretty lekku near me. I reckon you’d get bored with farming in about two hours and want off Arkas. I mean, if you want to stay and farm you can, but I reckon I can offer more excitement, adventure and lekku massages than you’d ever get here!”

He’d still not gotten his lekku massaging session yet. How terrible!

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]
(apologies, I got super busy and couldn't find time the past few days.)

Sinya laughed, "And I owe you one already...or is it you owe me? I think you get more out of those massages than we do." She stuck out her tongue childishly.

They continued through the building, heading somewhere the Twi'lek could only guess at. While her banter with Nantaris went on a small human girl came up and tugged gently on her hand.

"Miss Sinya, we heard what you did to the Hutt.....we want to thank you." The little girl was maybe ten, all skin and bones but radiant with a big smile on her face. A little bit behind her a small group all nodded and smiled to her.

Sinya didn't know the girl's name off hand, never meet all the slaves, but none the less they endured the same hardship. They were practically sisters because of it.

"I was only given the chance because of this man here, lucky he found me." She gripped the girl's hand lightly, "Your life will start anew here, and better than what it was, I promise."

The girl got back into line and was giggling and talking in awe with her friends, like she had just met some sort of hero.

"Alright so maybe I need to sign up for The Coalition or formally say you're stuck with me," she said, a small tear running down her cheek, a smile on her face, "Because that was....pretty sweet."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
Nantaris watched the sweet scene. Was that the suggest of a tear in his eye? He’d never admit it if asked, instead muttering something about sand.
When Sinya turned back he nodded and patted her on the shoulder.
“Thank you, come, let’s get going. So, aside from swinging those really neat blades around, what are your skills? I’ll also need to start training you in the Force. We can begin tomorrow on board the ship.”
The Jedi Master turned to look back at Freetown. “One day, maybe, I’ll retire here. But eh, I’ll probably be dead before I ever settle down. There’s a freedom to movement, you know?”

 

[Sinya'olan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

"I had a man once tell me that his only freedom was moving among the stars...and I would venture to say I felt freedom while dancing, though we are now talking two different kinds of movement," she laughed lightly.

"My mother focused mostly on form one, two and four during my combat training, which I picked up one pretty easily and the other two I'm...well I wouldn't die right away using them at least. She told me that my size and speed would be my advantage in a fight, being I'm not all that tall or large but am fairly nimble and quick," she said, following the old Jedi.

"As for force, again is was around enhancing my speed up also a little bit about what I call my family inheritance," she chuckled slightly. "I can push, pull and throw objects, not massive ones but my training moved pretty quickly to telepathy...the aforementioned inheritance that my mother could do...and breath control and anyway to enhance my speed, all of which I'm fairly solid at. Sense and sight are a few things that got tossed in but I'm not the best at them, due mostly to focus elsewhere."

She turned back, taking a look at the town before it was out of sight. It wasn't a secret that Sinya wanted to stay on the move and learn all she could, her force powers have always been dormant energy that could now burst through her.

"Not to sound too excited, but let's get off this rock, I'm ready."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Sinya'olan"]
Nantaris beamed. He'd worried for a moment there that Sinya was going to elect to stay, but now she wasn’t…well.
He put an arm around her shoulders, and didn’t even try and cop a feel of her lekku at all!
“As you command, m’lady, we depart at once!”

And so Arkas vanished below them as their shuttle left. Once on board the Liberator again Nantaris took Sinya to the training room. It wasn’t the most impressive dojo ever but on the plus side it did feature a good selection of training weapons, lightsabres and armour.

“Now, I want to see you use a lightsabre, but we’ll use practice ones. I’m not going to boast that it’s just for your safety, but for mine as well!” he said with a smile.

Going to the rack he produced two practice blades, their energies set to sting rather than horribly maim, and tossed Sinya one.

Activating the weapon’s green blade, Nantaris assumed a Soresu defensive stance, the perfect one to evaluate an attacker’s ability.