Fear leads to anger.....

[Mr.Votaw]

Elex Washburne was out after dark on one of the slummiest levels of Coruscant. Level 178, sector seven. Spice dealers, pimps, and various other criminals acted with near impunity as others attempted to live out their lives. Coruscantian Police rarely made their way down to this sector and when they happened by it was often to receive a bribe. Without any real security the citizens of 178 lived in an almost constant state of terror, being almost totally at the mercy of criminal elements. This was were Elex resided with his mother, Tex, and deadbeat stepfather, Lao. This was his reality.

After being moved from an equally slummy corner of Mos Espa, Tatooine, at the behest of his abusive stepfather, Elex had taken to quietly resenting Lao as not to take another bout of emotional abuse. Or watch the man beat his mother. No matter how much Elex tried to stop his stepfather it never helped, but Lao wouldn't lay a hand on Elex. Lao always claimed it was because he could explain away one of them being bruised but not both. Elex believed it was to torture him, as he wished more than anything for the beatings to just once be transferred himself.

It was a maddening existence. He worked for his stepfather as a courier, mostly ferrying personal messages for him since he couldn't afford a holo phone. While he loved the running and exploring involved with taking the messages, he hated the job on principle.

Exploring and Elex's introverted nature were his solace. After "nightfall" he'd always sneak out of his unkept home and wander for hours, only returning just before the "day" began. Since his work didn't begin until Lao awoke, which was normally after noon, Elex had plenty of time to sleep before he had to do anything else.

His dark brown eyes flashes as he darted underneath a street lamp. It brought a grin This was one of his few escapes from his harsh home life. He cherished every moment of it.

 

[AutoFox]

Frex Calix sighed to himself, sitting cross-legged in one of the dark, dripping alleyways he had played in as a kit.
He had failed, and had risked much to come back to the planet.
Since the Imperial invasion of Coruscant, the young rodent slicer had been unable to get into contact with his family living in the Galactic capital, his home-world. Though he had met a few of his old friends, and learned of the unfortunate demise of others in the fighting, his family - mother, father, his brothers and sisters - were nowhere.
According to those he had met, they had survived the invasion, and after things had gotten more or less back to normal under the occupation, had closed the old junk shop and moved away. Nobody was quite sure where they had gone to, and Frex knew from experience that if that was all he had to go on, he could search for an eternity and never find them.
Even the HoloNet, Frex's constant friend and the source of nearly all his knowledge, could tell him nothing.
After all, who would bother to record the comings and goings of a family of Rat People?
Reaching up, Frex touched the socket behind his left ear, running his hand over the coiled fiber-optic cable connecting his cerebral cortex to a disused public scomp link, the first place he had ever connected to the HoloNet, all those years ago.
It was still here, even if those he loved were not.
He considered disconnecting, but decided he would stay a few more minutes at least. He let his mind drift in the HoloNet, passively viewing the flow of information...
It was soothing; Frex had always found it to be so, even before he had gotten the implants and had to surf by hand. With them, he could immerse himself in the data, almost like a hot bath, though he couldn't help but think that there had to be a better metaphor for it.
Through half closed eyes, Frex noticed a flicker of movement, and turned toward it.
There was a small human boy standing in the street, grinning to himself over some personal triumph or other. It proved contagious, and the young rodent found himself smiling as well.
Idly, he waved from the alley, still slightly high on the background flow of information through his implants.
"Out enjoying the night?"

 

[Mr.Votaw]

"Out enjoying the night?"

Elex nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the exceptionally tall rodent who's attention he seemed to have gotten. The young man hadn't noticed the being at all before he'd spoken. As he stood tense, ready to take off if the Rodent moved towards him, he replied quietly.

"Something like that."

He was extremely cautious of everyone on 178, given the amount of traffickers and slavers that were about on any given week.

 

[AutoFox]

Frex shrugged, reaching up and fingering the scomp plug again for a moment, before closing his eyes and pulling it out with a slight wince. The buzz of information gone, he let out a slight sigh of disappointment at having lost the sensation, but decided he had probably best have been moving on soon anyway.
Glancing around the alley, and streets beyond, he couldn't help but give a slight chuckle.
"Something like it... yeah, I guess enjoyment can be kinda subjective in a place like this."
Stretching his wiry limbs, Frex got to his feet, brushing his pants, vest and fur of the alley refuse which had inevitably gotten on them.
He glanced over at the boy.
With the information high over, Frex had regained a little more of his apprehensiveness. Having grown up in the area, he knew that even the young ones weren't always harmless. Even so, the young rodent knew better than to be paranoid all the time.
Useful trait in my business, but it's a tool I think I can live without.
Walking out of the alley, Frex paced a few times, stretching a bit more.
"Sorry, my interface can make me a bit too sociable for my own good if I let it. But, I've had a bad day, so I figured I'd let it happen..."
He smiled.
"Word of advice; leaving yourself that open on a public network is generally a bad idea. That said, I'm a professional."
Frex yawned, leaning against a wall and letting his gaze be drawn up into the vast canyon of duracrete created by the buildings around them. The walls seemed to continue up forever, lit by grimy windows and holosigns, punctuated here and there by another level's bridges and walkways.
"So, what brings you out here tonight? Not exactly the perfect spot for an evening stroll."
As strange as he was, Frex was genuinely friendly, and exuded an air of trust.

 

[Mr.Votaw]

Elex took a couple of steps in the opposite direction as Frex stood. As friendly as the rat man seemed, there was absolutely no way Elex was going to trust any strangers he met on 178. Besides the odd look that the rat man had about him, like he'd just taken spice.

"Going home, I'm expected soon." Elex replied futilely. If this being was going to harm him the excuse he used would probably work in higher levels but not down here.

 

[Canora Sabresong]

178. From what Skyrell had heard from his contact, Sabresong, It was a tough place. He figured he wouldnt draw too much attention though, he came up to nearly hip-height with most other sentients, and he wasnt much of a notable person.

Figuring that jawa robes would be subject to ridicule on coruscant, and that many races considered jawas to be weak and fearfull, the creature had opted for tan cargo-pants, a black tunic, and a bandage wrap that covered the back of his head, his forehead, and everything from the nose downwards but did nothing to disguise the crisscross of scars on the rest of his face.

A female golden massif, as tall as himself at the sholder and above him in total height, bounded at his side. The creature's spikes extended halfway down it's back, as Cajjus'lii was only nine years old. Thkrrwwrkrezz, a bantha, was, sadly, too large to accompany them, although the jawa was unused to going anywhere without the braying beast.

A few yards away, a human nest-child and a rodent that was more than a foot taller than himself were converseing in galactic basic. He found nothing wrong with this, having a great understanding of the language himself, but faked a sneeze when his left eye, the covered one, started to wander along in it's sockets behind the tattooinian glass that for that reason covered it. Sneezing seemed to help some.

 

[AutoFox]

Frex shrugged and threw up his hands, turning to walk away down the darkened street. It was plain the boy didn't want to chat, and Frex supposed he couldn't blame him. Still, a good conversation was the best way to come down after plugging into the HoloNet.
"I'm sorry, you're right, it's not any of my business... well, have a good evening then."
Frex took a few steps, before a thought came to him. Raising a finger in the air, he turned around.
"Actually, one thing. I'm looking for some people and I was wondering if you could help me."
Frex glanced up the street toward an old store-front at the corner. It was dark; apparently the new owner hadn't had much luck, and it was vacant again.
"There used to be a junk shop up on that corner... they closed about a year or two ago. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it? I know the people who ran it left, but I don't know where they went."
Frex didn't get his hopes up that the boy would know anything; after all, stores closed all the time, junk stores especially. Still, it didn't hurt to ask, and Frex doubted there was nobody who knew where his family had moved to.

 

[LankyBannana]

To-Zak had no idea what had compelled him to return to this damn place. But he had felt there were some loose ends to tie up, whatever those ends were. He had felt it, the force had told him and the force was seldom wrong.....He had hidden his lightsaber in an old rucksack he had found. But still, something had felt wrong about returning to coruscant all the people that had perished... He felt sick to the pit of his stomach as he walked down the streets of 178 and had passed the Human and the...other thing that were speaking, he stopped abruptly standing only 4 feet ahead of them attempting to gather any useful information about the goings on...Perhaps this would allow him to discern out what the force was attempting to tell him...

 

[Mr.Votaw]

Elex's demeanor changed slightly, if the Rodent was looking for somebody in particular, the chances of him going out of his way to harm Elex were low. He relaxed a bit and thought back to the former residents of the shop. Fairly reclusive, the same species as the Rodent. He couldn't remember when they'd left.

"I can't remember." Elex replied

 

[AutoFox]

Frex's pointed rodent features fell, his cop-shaped ears drooping slightly in disappointment, and he shrugged. His family hadn't been very good at making friends; of all of them, Frex was probably the most sociable, which honestly wasn't saying much. It was no surprise they weren't terribly well remembered.
"Oh well... that's alright, nobody really paid them much attention I suppose."
Frex was about to move on when he noticed a short figure, hanging back rather obviously a few feet away. Canting his head slightly, he peered at him; Frex knew an eavesdropper when he saw one.
"I'm sorry can I... help you?"

 

[Canora Sabresong]

Someone else had stopped between Skyrell and the people on which he was eavesdropping. Probably eavesdropping himself. An ewok, the jawa noticed. Almost the exact height of himself. The unhooded jawa had never met an ewok, and thus was very cautious. He looked at the ewok, then at the tall rodent, as if to say 'Which one of us?'.

The golden massif, Cajjus'lii, batted anxiously at what was left of Skyrell's torn right ear.

 

[LankyBannana]

The ewok should have felt the force nudging at him, telling him he had been seen but To-Zak had stopped concentrating. He had only barely heard what the two were talking about before he had lost himself in his own thoughts, what had hapen on Coruscant had become a recurring thought. "I cannot let myself be swallowed by my own thoughts...I will find the solution un due ti-" The ewok had jumped up nearly 30 seconds after he had been spotted. "Guh...Nothing just out for a nice stroll.." That is all he could say, he had become sligthly nervous. You never know what could happen...especially in Coruscant..

 

[Mr.Votaw]

Now this was an odd sight, even for a human child who lived in one of the most diverse areas of Coruscant. An Ewok, Jawa, and Rodent all speaking to one another. All apparently non hostile in the middle of the night. Elex was perplexed by the Ewok as he'd yet to meet one, though this one was very cuddly looking. The Jawa wasn't anything new, since Elex had lived on Tatooine.

"What are you?" He asked curiously, looking intently at the Ewok.

 

[LankyBannana]

To-Zak had taken offense to the child, he clenched his fist/paw and looked at the child. But his expression quickly changed, realizing his emotions had been clouded by anger and desperation. He had shown anger to a mere child...To-Zak shaked his head and said bluntly "I am...Tula. Ewok pilgrim" He had used his old name and a fake identity. Even if he was a Gray Jedi he did not need anyone to recognize him from the sort time he had spent training in Coruscant, he quietly bowed his head to his own chagrin "A jedi...bowing to a child..." he thought to himself,He tried not to think of it much.....

 

[Canora Sabresong]

The jawa, who was a short distance away, chuckled to himself. He could sence tha the ewok was strong in the force. A force sensitive ewok, what are the odds? he thought to himself. The hilarity of it caused the jawa to laugh loudly. This, however, caused the she-massif at his side to leap about in wild circles, barking worriedly at him.

 

[AutoFox]

Frex's leftover rodent instincts prickled as he heard the barking of the large massif nearby, turning to see yet another small being nearly doubled over with laughter nearby.
I picked a weird night to come back. He thought to himself.
Ignoring the other little creature for now, though keeping a wary eye on his pet, Frex turned his attention back to the Ewok. He had never met one before, and found this one... strange.
"Strange place for a pilgrimage if you ask me... unless there's some deity to grime and desperate living I don't know about."
Off the top of his head, Frex could actually think of several he had read about, but doubted they were relevant.

 

[LankyBannana]

To-Zak had had enough of this...He raised his right paw and stared at frex. He glanced around so that no one...dangerous, would see what he was about to do. He waved pis paw and said "Nevermind, you do NOT care,"

 

[Mr.Votaw]

Elex had become extremely confused incredibly quickly. The Jawa had laughed at the Tula, The Rodent had made a joke, and Tula had gotten offended. The Ewok seemed to have a bit of a temper problem. And what was that thing he'd just done with his hand?

Why did Elex get such an odd feeling from it?

 

[Rector_Ras]

Raslekx having seen most of what has happened walked up to the group and told the young boy "You do know you are messing with an ewok and jawa that uses the force and unless im mistaken this ewok is not sith and he is on a sith planet so let me ask you ewok why is a force user who is not sith on a sith planet?". in a very unemotional tone. Raslekx then stands slightly ahead of the boy but to the side of him.

 

[Canora Sabresong]

The jawa watched the arcanian and the ewok, suddenly with great interest. As a jawa, even unhooded he knew to act casual. It was a skill he needed equally on his homeworld tattooine, but as his left eye began to wander he sneezed rather loudly, which seemed to temporarily correct the problem. Perhapse the presence of two other, much more powerfull force users blocked detection of his own ability. As he listened he stared at the human's hair. It was shiny and bright, so this would not seam unusual.

He was, of course behind and to the right of the human, so he figured he could get a few steps closer to hear better and no one would notice. As he did so, he signalled behind his back to his massif, who quietly laid it's head on the ground and rested, knowing the misfortunes disobediance had caused for it's previous master.