Every Grain of Sand was Once a Boulder

[Chairdor]

There are somethings one never gets tired of, especially if one is a droid and thus cannot become tired. One of those things for Hiro was the positive feedback acquired when he circled the wall of Bestine, Tatooine's capital. Many planets have capitals that poorly represent their society. They are polished to the point of meaninglessness, but Bestine was one with the desert, its high walls caked in the desert sand, it's many sentential buffeted by its gritty winds, the city as hard as its people, all baked in the sun like clay pots, molded by the sands of time. As Hiro got off his speeder bike, Silver he looked up those high walls, the second sun causing a slight glare to come off his goggles and gave the all clear wave. Slowly the guard above raised a flag and in turn another was raised nearby, and another and another down the line until at last the city declared its security, the ragged flags a sign of a long period of peace.

Slowly Hiro walked alongside his bike, letting it come to a rest at last near the scouting station so that it might be refitted and refueled. As he did he approached the clerk, a cheeky little Jawa older than most of the rusting droids he occasionally serviced and spoke,

"Did the North Wall today, not hide nor hair a the Sand People, or anyone else who looked unfriendly, which is good cause ya got plenty unfriendly folk right in the city,"

In response the Jawa chittered some Jawa chitter and stamped Hiro's document declaring he had down his patrol. Hiro walked over to the small machine and inserted his ticket and with that a clunk of credits fell into the bottom trough. Hiro automatically calculated the sum he was paid by listing the number of clinks he heard noting the value of each by the tone of their contact. Immediately Hiro turned about, not even bothering to collect his due and angrily yelled,

"Now listen here you snake in the grass, that's half what I'm owed, I did the North Wall, the whole North Wall!"

It was too late however as the wily Jawa had already sealed himself in his explosive proof booth, his window tightly sealed in durasteel. Hiro stomped his feet for some time and banged on the booth to no avail until he heard a different noise. The distinctive clink of credits, his credits. Turning about once more the droid spotted two men, a Saurin and a young man quickly stashing the fallen cash in their pockets. Hiro swiftly produced his slug shooter but the pair raced around a corner before he could line up a shot,

"Dag nab it!" The Droid shouted as he gave chase, his leg gyros worn from his three day patrol. Slowed to a quick limp Hiro watched as the two young creatures slipped away, but didnt give up. Turning to an open door beside the boys, Hiro busted in to a suprised Twi'lek's home nearly upending her as she brought some stew to her family, moving past the frightened clan the droid burst through their backdoor nearly upon the young thieves, however their quick reaction saved them as they turned down another alley. Hiro turned the corner and aimed his gun only to be greeted with the slam of a manhole. Walking up to the lid Hiro could only remove his hat, throw it to the ground and stomp on it yelling once more,

"DAGGGGG NAB IT"

 

[T.J]

Taking his hat off briefly Rook whipped the seat from his brow as the twin suns beat upon him from above. Even after living on Tatooine his whole life, the heat still seemed to shoot right through him. Doing odd jobs around the capitol seemed to take some of the heat off, when ones mind was busy other distractions seemed to fade. Rook leaned back against the wall of the establishment he had been sent to cover, his shift was almost up and pretty soon the next group of muscle would show up to take his place. Providing no one tried anything in within that time frame, the last part of his job would be nice and easy.

Such thoughts quickly fled from Rook's mind as a commotion not too far from his post caught his attention. Letting his hand rest on his revolver as it rested in its holster, the young gunslinger quietly stalked towards the alley the sounds were originating from. Deftly turning the corner as he drew his weapon, Rook caught just a glimpse of two vagabonds disappearing into a swear drain. The two young street rats were not what his attention was drawn to however, at the other end of the alley a rather odd looking droid also had a weapon drawn.

" Well Ill be damned... "

Rook had seen a lot in his twenty five years, most of it bad. He had seen good men go bad and the most vile of criminals sacrifice themselves for the good of others, the meek rising against over powering opposition and the ever unforgiving desert swallow entire settlements whole. Out of all of this however, never had he seen what had just played out before him. If he hadn't known any better, he might of thought the droid was human. Judging by his reaction and peculiar drawl it was quite apparent that it wasn't like any droid Rook had seen.

" Lose something pardner? "

All the while he kept his gun drawn but pointed low just in case the droid went errant and tried something.

 

[©razy Man]

Butch watched as two young Saurin had stole something from a droid, a droid that seemed almost human like. Great not this again. The droid got out a slugthrower almost lining up the shot until they reached the corner of the street. Those damn kids are going to kill themselves one of these days. He watched as the droid went chasing after them. They'd probably reach the drain before anyone caught them but he should probably help.

"Take care of the rest of this Rick. I've got to go help." He sat down the crate he was carrying onto their ship as Rick nodded toward him in understanding. He ran behind the droid and drew his sword. He wasn't exactly scared of the droid shooting him but just in case he decided to he'd be prepared. He hid behind a corner as he saw another man walk toward the droid. He saw the face of the man and noticed him from the bar. Was him name Rick too? Or something to that extent. He knew it started with a R.

"It seems the thieves are at again." He put his sword up and nodded toward the man. As he continued walking he saw the droid had his gun raised. Getting his wrist blaster ready he went toward the man. "No need to get violent pardner. We're here to help." He looked through the drain and couldn't think of a way to get in and get the money back. "How much did they steal? I might have enough for cover for em. But fair warning always keep a hand on your money and the other one on your gun, 'specially on Tatooine."

 

[Chairdor]

The cowboy outer-persona of Hiro continued his fruitless hat dance while the inner-logic struggled with some way of requiring its lost funds. Battered and bruised from his journey the droid knew he could not suffer a similar trial and his time on this planet was less than profitable due to thieves like these young boys. Hiro knew he would become an unworkable husk if he didn't get those credits back, but as he began to formulate a possible solution to his woes, two variables presented themselves to the calculating cowboy.

Hiro looked to the gruff man at his back pointing a gun at the ground he stood on. The man's caution made sense as droids displaying this behavior usually had a malfunction of some kind and Hiro had not let that particular theory completely out to pasture just yet. Hiroleaned down and lput on his hat tipping it to the armed stranger and was about to begin explaining himself when another fellow approached him, this one the droid identified as Kaleesh, fierce warrior species, he looked the part brandishing a fierce blade that looked sharp enough to even pierce Hiro's thick shell. Noting he was outnumbered and the Kaleesh seemed genuine in his desire for non-violence the droid was first to disarm, doing a trick spin with his slug shooter before holstering it tightly to his belt,

"Yes pardner I have lose something...my mind, but just for a moment. I'm real sore for scaring you goodly folks"

Hiro looked down and pressed his metallic hand to his temple, a spark of static shining briefly giving the droid a flash of an image, a blurry cowboy riding into the sunset, the Droid shook his head not wishing to again do pointless minutes of calculation on a shadow of a dream. Ever since he saw that embedded video clip in his central processor on Corelia the bot had been seeing flashes of a past life, maybe his, maybe not but that wasn't important right now, what was important was justice and getting his damn credits back.

"That's mighty generous pilgrim, but I plan to get my credits back from those boys through hell or high water...though high water is unlikely it bein Tatooine,"

As Hiro noted the still steaming sewer cap, the droid leaned down and pulled on it, the rust upon it causing a shrill shriek and then a pop as it came undone. Looking down the droid began searching the local database for schematics to the tunnels but found nothing but a historical article. Apparently the tunnels were an archaeological oddity, a series of water tunnels built by a civilization long lost and had never been fully explored. Clearly these two punks had done their homework or had dumb luck on their side, either way this wasn't going to be easy for the weary droid as he noted his oil reserves were low and he had enough energy to last him a day at most. Within moments the logical introvert and the cowboy extrovert were in accord on what had to be done,

"Now friends I kindly note your concern on my predicament, but I have little time in more ways than one to get my credits back and serve justice to these scruffy little nerf herders, so if y'all will excuse me,"

And with that the Droid leaped into the sewer his limb's automatically tightening across his chassi causing him to form a ball. While lifeforms used this form to cause large splashes to attract mates, the droid merely did it to preserve his body from harm. Upon hitting the steaming waters of the citie's filth he looked up to sewer gate to the men above and called out,

"I'm off to get my credit where credit is due, if I ain't back by supper send a party to collect my body, there'll be money to be made on the parts."

 

[T.J]

With not nearly as much flare as the droid before him Rook returned his revolver to his holster, making a mental note to keep his hand close to his six gun should it start acting erratic again. The droid's drawl struck an odd tune to the young gunslinger, being as he had never heard any kind of mechanical creature make anywhere near the same tone of voice. It seemed almost... alive. Leaving Rook to conclude it must have been a droid who hadn't had its memory wiped regularly, leaving it with some type rudimentary A.I. of sorts. Not entirely unheard of, and not the weirdest thing Rook had seen. Tatooine was a big empty place, plenty of room for nut jobs and oddities to hide from prying eyes.

He nodded back at the Kaleesh as a welcome of sorts. Rook had seen him around town a couple times, never asked for his name or introduced himself though. He figured that he had his own business and the Kaleesh the same and left it at that. Either way he had thought it odd for such a species to end up on Tatooine, but again he figured it wasn't his place to pry. Everyone had their own reason for coming or going from the sun baked dust ball they all found themselves on, no sense dredging up bad blood.

Rook watched with slight amusement as the droid descended into the sewers below. He never thought a droid could contort in such a way, but there was a first time for everything. Before the droid could disappear from view however, Rook called out to it from his vantage point just outside the edge.

" Now hold on ah second there friend. This ain't none of my business, but I can't rightly let you wander around down there alone. If them sewers are anything like the ones in my home town, I reckon I might be able to help you search. On one condition, you ain't hurtin those kids. I might shoot people for ah livin' but I ain't no child murderer. Sound good pardner? "

 

[©razy Man]

The droid seemed like a reasonable person but the sparks made Butch a little skittish. He'd seen a lot of malfunctioned droids in his time, which wasn't much, and it all ended badly...well most of the time. There were a few successes where he was able to contain the droid but yeah...that was few and far between. As the Droid started talking about giving justice to the kids he knew he had to do something to stop him from doing any damage or possibly even killing the kids.

Butch looked at the droid as he descended thinking of ways on keeping him from hurting those kids when the other man spoke. "I'm goin too. I've been down there a couple times tryin to get my money back from them kids but they've got those tunnels figured out quite well. I've only went through maybe a slight fraction of it but still I can help to an extent. Maybe I can find my money back also?"The Kaleesh smiled as he went down after the droid into the sewers of the city above.

He came down into the sewers and breathed in the stench from the waste of the people above. "Good morning Tatooine!" He walked over to the Droid and looked at him. "Name's Butch by the way, though most people call me Omega. What's your name?" He walked toward the end of the sewer and took a left, hopefully they'd be following also.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro heard the man's concern before he heard the words and the droid noted them, his reaction was a bit harsh as he had less time to calculate an appropriate reaction than he anticipated and the current feedback he was receiving from the uncooperative jawa had left his logic rotors too hot to settle the droid down before he went guns ablazing after the two young thieves. Still punishment was needed, but death wasn't the answer as finality was never a truly good conclusion, especially if the chance of a happy ending can be eked out still, Looking up Hiro called out,

"No siree, I intend to get whats mine and take them to the proper authorities, I don't want any new holes in their heads. I just wanna to remind em of is the ones in their ears so they can learn a thing or two bout stealin"

The droid heard a splash behind him as he turned to head deeper into the sewer and noted the sword-bearing Kaleesh had descended to join him on his quest. He seemed filled with enthusiasm which was welcome to the droid as his good nature was severely lacking at the moment, though it was slowly returning. The kaleesh said his name and began to walk on clearly one who knew where to head in the deep dark of these sewer, Hiro noted he was nearly at the edge of the light and activated a charge in his eyes giving off two searchlights,

"Names Hiro pardner, let's stick together now I hear theres nasty critters down here, even nastier than the ones up there,"

The droid swiftly caught up to Omega a slight click in his speedy gait reminding the droid that his energy and oil levels were both critically low, he needed to find these kids or amongst the wastes of Tatooine he might find his final resting place. Determined that this would not happen, Hiro pressed on.

 

[T.J]

Sighing deeply as the Kaleesh followed the droid down into the sewers below, Rook scratched the stubble on his cheek as he looked up to the twin suns that hung in the sky above. A part of him just wanted to let it be, to just walk away and let it sort itself out. He just couldn't though, the nagging feeling he felt in the back of his mind told him to stick it out. Rook just couldn't let his own inaction be the potential cost of another life, and so with a deep inhale to try and savor the last bit of fresh air he might get, he jumped down into the darkness below after the other two.

Touching down with a splash he began to hate his morals. The stink of human waste was practically overwhelming, and the thought of his young self running through sewers much like the one he found himself in with his childhood gang made him wonder just how selective memory really was. Letting out a cough to stifle a gag, Rook pulled his bandanna up over his mouth and nose to try and filter some of the stench. Catching both of his current companions names as he caught up to the two, Rook introduced himself as well.

" The names Rook by the by. If ya'll don't mind me sayin', it smells worse than the backside of ah Bantha down here. "

All the while his hand hovered close to his holster, what Hiro said was quite true. There were plenty of creatures that called the old sewers home, many were quite deadly if dealt with incorrectly.

 

[©razy Man]

"Well pleasure to meet ya both." He continued on unsheathing his sword just in case some creature did happen to come. Especially when he thought about it he had gotten quite lucky the first time he came down here after the kids not even seeing a single thing. "I don't mind at all. Though if you'd ever smelled the backside of a Bantha you'd be taking that back." He looked behind him and smiled at Rook.

Continuing down the sewers he noticed the marking he had made to show his way back from where he came. Spray paint from the second time he came and blood from the first. Not the smartest idea rubbing and open wound against Tatooine's sewer walls. Luckily the infection wasn't enough to cut off his hand. He shook his head at the thought of the pain that was caused from it and the puss and everything oozing out. A hideous sight to see even for someone who's put a bullet in another man's head. He looked at the right to notice another marking meaning he should turn right. Taking a right he looked at the left and right as they came to a stop. "I'd reckon this is the far'est I've been. Anyone got a coin on 'em?" He looked at Hiro and Rook to see if they did.

 

[Chairdor]

The droids metal feet sloshed then clanked as they met the metal at his feet. Hiro looked all around the trio as they ventured deep into the dark, only the occasional crimson of an emergency light ending the pure darkness they traveled in. For some stretches the sewage flowed evenly, heading to the wherever that away was for this refuse. Other times the flow seemed to cease creating swamps of built up waste. At those times the sewage nearly hit Hiro's waist and he was forced to draw his revolvers lest they get wet and malfunction in this dangerous locale.

Omega seemed to know what he was doing, so Hiro made sure to light his way as he went around any dark corners. Meanwhile he listened with some amusement to Rook's complaints about the smell. Sometimes it was advantageous to be a droid. When the Kaleesh stopped Hiro found it was not always advantageous to be a poor droid, but rummaging through his rucksack he finally managed to find a credit, one of three he had left on his person and flipped it to his guide to the sewers. As he did the droid ventured right a bit past the duo at his back, one revolver still drawn as its holster was still wet and had a bit of muck in it.

As Hiro moved into the unfamiliar dark of the pipe he began to hear a chittering, it was deep and it's echo made it sound large and close. Hiro was about to ask what kind of rodents lived down here, but as he turned a horrific roar came from the darkness. The droid turned back quick enough to see a pair of red eyes leap into the air before descending upon the bot. Instantly submerged beneath the muck, Hiro felt for his revolver but stopped as the creatures claws began tearing at his metallic flesh. Pushing up with a heave. He threw the creature back where it scampered into the dark, but not before Hiro got a good look at its body. Leaning down he moved his hand through the sewage to retrieve his fallen gun, innudated with muck it'd be quite useless till he cleaned it. Holstering it, he drew his good one and turned back to the two walking to where they had stopped,

"Welp things just got interessin. We got Ranats boys," Hiro managed to gruffly say before a larger roar came and six pairs of red eyes appeared on the edge of the darkness, shortly before rushing the trio.

 

[T.J]

Chuckling to himself at the Kaleesh's remark, Rook took solace in the fact he was probably right. He had been around Bantha plenty of times, but every time it was out in the open where the stench couldn't cling to a person like it did down in a sewer. Upon reaching the fork in the tunnels, Rook scratched his head as he gazed down either path. Taking a step back and letting out a sigh he spoke.

" Well I don't reckon they came this far in. Some of that sludge was near chest high, doubt they'd risk swimming through that muck. I think we outta- "

Before he could even finish his sentence their mechanical companion was under attack by some large hairy creature. Swearing under his breathe as Hiro went down into the muck and grime, Rook immediately drew his revolver. He refrained from firing however, with all the commotion and with all the sludge and debris getting thrown off the tussling pair making an accurate shot without hitting the droid was unlikely. It wasn't until Hiro was clear from the creature that the bark of his slug pistol echoed through the dark tunnels of the sewer system. The young gunslinger didn't even wait for the other eyes to appear in the darkness. Having heard stories of Ranat's when he was younger, he knew that if they gave them even an inch they'd take a mile. Seeing the semi-sentient creatures made Rook hope he was right about the thieving children not venturing as far as the trio had into the sewer system, they would have been no match for the crafty creatures who had been known to feast on children in the past.

 

[©razy Man]

"Good point so they'd be goin this way." He turned to the left and started walking, that was until he heard the shots of Rook's slugthrower. He turned around and started running back the sewer water splashing as he hit the ground. He only had a few moments to adjust to what happened. It seemed Hiro turned right and had gotten right in the middle of an ambush. The first one to attack was sinking to the bottom of the muck as Rook shot at the others. Omega got into the muck Hiro was in and pulled him out of the ambush, taking one of the heads off the trio of Ranaks he dragged Hiro out.

He got out his wrist blaster and shot at another Ranak he couldn't see where the other was, possibly escaped or killed by Rook. He turned around to look at the droid's damage. It didn't seem that bad though a few loose wires were out, hopefully none of them were important. "You alright there?"

 

[Chairdor]

As the fire of the trio echoed through the sewers, Hiro shook himself dry of the accumulated filth on his person. Turning he nodded forward to indicate he was a okay, then attempted to use thermal vision in order to preempt anymore Ranat attacks. Unfortunately as he tried to shift what came instead was a small shock then a pain response,

"Ack...maybe not a hundred percent partner, thermal vision is all but bust,"

Switching back to simple lights, Hiro bathed the inky dark of the sewers with two piercing beams and headed the way opposite of the Ranats. As he walked hopefully with his new compadres in tow, he kept his head on a swivel, ensuring to check every corner with a gun then his eyes. As he walked into the deep dark of the Tatooine underground, Hiro wondered what would lead to boys to even use these deadly tunnels as their hideaway,

"Seems kinda desperate don't ya think, for them fellars to rush down here of all places?"

Hiro was about to continue when he heard a splash up ahead, rushing to see what was the cause the droid swiftly beheld the form of a young man, not the one who had stolen his goods, but along the same age. He was horribly mangled, cut up, beaten, his face swollen, noting his pale skin and lack of pulse the droid took off his hat and placed it upon his chest,

"What in tarnation," the droid said with some lament at this horrific sight. Leaning down to investigate further, Hiro noted the boy was clutching a club of some kind with a sharp rock on one end.

 

[T.J]

Seeing that the others had begun moving down the opposite pipe, Rook fired another blind shot before hastily keeping pace with his companions. Turning back towards the shadowed tunnel he was unable to make out any of the hairy creatures due to his eyes having previously adjusted to the light Hiro had casted earlier. His posture was almost as if he was walking backwards, his gun still held tightly in his grip as he stared unendingly behind the trio.

" Just coz we ain't bein' followed now doesn't mean we won't be later. I suggest we keep our collective heads on a swivel. "

Rook knew Ranat's weren't ones to back down from a fight, especially if a prospect of a meal was involved. Most likely they would return and potentially in greater numbers. Briefly taking his eyes off the darkness behind them Rook quickly replenished the ammo in his six gun, not wanting to be caught a bullet short when the time counted. Upon discovering the deceased boy his attention on the Ranat's waned as he knelt beside the corpse. It wasn't something he hadn't seen before. Life in the backwater towns on Tatooine was rough, death was a normal part of every day life.

" Holdin' some kinda crude weapon looks like. Think them boys actually fight the Ranats down here? You'd think they'd have run off with the body to eat if it had been those hairy bastards. "

 

[©razy Man]

Omega followed behind Hiro as he was talking. "I think it's fine for now. Hopefully, we won't be needin' it." Omega unsheathed his sword just in case they Ranat's came back. They weren't to keen on backing away from a fight. More than likely they were just going to regroup to attack later when the time was right.

As Omega heard a splash he gripped his sword harder and followed Hiro from where it came. Seeing the boy gripping a club and pale, he bent over to check for a pulse. Nothing at all. He noted the makeshift club and wondered if maybe there was something more to this. "Who says they're fightin' the Ranats? This is Tattooine after all." He closed the boy's eyes and looked at the pipe from where he came from. "I'd get your weapons ready." He held his sword ready for anything as he went down the small pipe from where the boy came.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro heard the collective concern of his compadres and every gyro and spark in his being agreed with their assertions, they needed to keep moving or they'd be overwhelmed, but this boy, it didn't seem right that he was down here, not with that weapon, not with those wounds. As he scanned the boy for a moment longer before simply listening to the eerie quiet within the sewer system. Two sets of breathing from his allies reverberated throughout the wide dark passages giving the feel that the trio were in the vast capillary of a giant's heart. Noting the distinctive skitter of a Ranat at their backs the droid began to move in the opposite direction of the sound, past the boy's corpse,

"I'm often one takin time to give last rites to the unknown dead, but something gives me a feelin that if we take the time to dig a grave here, it's only gonna be out own,"

With that he continued walking, the light projecting from his head amplified and concentrated by the goggles on his gas mask. As he continued to swivel, ensuring every bit of the ample darkness was bathed in momentary light, Hiro continued to go over their finding. While Omega suggested the boy might have been killed fighting Ranats, that didn't make much sense, why would Ranat's bother to kill something if they weren't going to eat it. As gruesome as that thought was, it matched securely with Hiro's logic matrix as he delved deeper into the dark and deep of the boggy sewer.

As he continued to walk, deep in calculation and maxed in power from his long patrol and usage of his lighting system the Droid's advanced auditory sensors didn't noticed the fain reverberation. The beat of an almost tribal drum. Not until it grew deep enough the all three of them could surely hear it. Looking back at the two men who had followed him then towards the ever present darkness at their front, Hiro drew his revolver. Ready for anything.

Except what came next.

Out of the darkness a bolt came of almost pure energy, striking the droid directly in his midsections, Hiro's every basic motor function was torn from his control as his motors began to go off without caused or reason causing the droid to appear as if he was completely spastic. After a moment of shaking all at once he came to a stop, his rapid movement turned to paralysis as he simple fell smack dab into murky much of the city's underbelly.

At that point the gas mines cleverly hidden beneath the muck under Rook and Omega's feet began to bubble before releasing noxious fumes of knockout gas all at once. If the duo managed to escape this sudden chemical assaults, they might see the man masked faces emerging from the darkness before being fired upon with blowguns filled with darts poisoned with a powerful sleeping drug.

 

[T.J]

Standing up from his kneeling position and wiping off his pants Rook matched pace with his companions as they continued down the dingy sewer pipe. The further into the darkness they traveled the more uneasy he felt. How far had they gone below the twin suns? Shaking his head some he started to think he probably should have kept his nose out of where it didn't belong. His helpful nature seemed to get him into more trouble than it was worth at times, but he just couldn't bring himself to do otherwise. Just before he was about to speak up about back tracking to search for the thieves when a low drum beat became audible. It vibrated throughout the surface of the pipe around them and made it seem as if the sound was coming from everywhere at once.

Bringing his six gun up, Rook only had time to let out a yell of warning before Hiro was struck with some type of energy bolt. Whatever it had been fried the poor droid, causing what appeared to Rook to be a hard reboot. With a loud splash the metallic man fell into the sludge, and before he even had time to fire a shot some type of gas began pouring out of the muck and grime below their feet. Rook pulled his bandanna up over his mouth and nose, even though he knew such an act was pointless. The gas had already begun to do its work and as Rook's mind began to swim he propped himself up against the side of the sewer pipe, holding onto consciousness just long enough to see masked men approach the trio.

Finally he succumbed to the sleep gas. As he lost consciousness he slowly slid down the side of the sewer pipe, his revolver still clenched tightly in his hand.