Ask Jakku Hit the Road, Jakku

[Soleil Altan]

It is said, in some circles, that everyone always wants to go back to Jakku for some reason or other. Soleil vehemently disagreed with that entire notion, but here he still was. On the one hand, he was here with Aadya to look for something important, buried treasure, which was stuff he loved! Puzzles and mysteries were he could use the knowledge he absorbed like a sponge were just the best. It was just, well, Sol and desert environs didn't get along well.

So there he was, walking down the ramp of Aadya's ship fully covered in skin-covering desert gear. Not a single bit of skin was exposed, at all, under any circumstances. Up to and including sand goggles and cloth scraps wrapped around his wrists and ankles to keep the sand out. He'd even broken out some well-worn boots instead of a nicer pair to avoid completely fucking them up. Beneath the clothes, he'd covered himself in a high-SPF moisturizer. He hated it here so much.

But the adventure! Even if a not-insignificant portion of his pack was extra water and gel for his gills, he was still excited for whatever lay ahead. A miniature protocol droid was clipped to the front of his clothes for translating sign since there was no way in hell he could communicate with expressions under the layers, borrowed from the academy library. At least it'd be cold at night, right?

Right?

@Logan

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

When Sol had asked Aadya to go to Jakku she couldn't help but think it was a little bit surprising. For what she knew of Wreans, worlds like the arid and relentless Jakku were.. less than ideal, to say the least. Still, for him to be so adamant about wanting to go somewhere so inhospitable, whatever the adventure was must have been oh so worth it.

Aadya herself had never been to Jakku, so she had to do a little research on what kind of clothes would work best. Sunburn seemed like it would be god awful, but she also didn't want to sweat her proverbial balls off. So she opted for something breathable and light but would offer the protection she required.

The ship had landed not too far away from their destination, but to cover the rest of the way Aadya had busted out her 125-Z. As the two Sith exited the ship, Aadya motioned towards the bike and looked at Sol with excited eyes.

<Do you want to drive?> She signed to him, mostly because her mouth was hidden behind the shawl, and also to brag just a little bit that she'd been practicing. <Hop on and I'll slide in behind you.>

Assuming Sol was willing, Aadya would slide onto the bike behind him and grab him around the waist, knowing full well the kind of kickback the 125-Z could punch with with all of its torque.

Hopefully they didn't end up in a heap of broken bones and shattered speeder bike pieces scattered across the dunes.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Sol's expression was undeterminable under all his coverings when Aadya signed at him, although his posture straightened a bit. In rapid succession his right hand went through a motion like an odd salute, right thumb tapping his chest, pointer and middle fingers raising together to his goggles and then motioning toward Aadya. Sol shorthand for 'I see you' meant she could safely assume he was smiling.

<Damn right!> he quickly signed back, trudging over the sand and hopping onto the bike's seat, overbearing heat temporarily forgotten. It started up with a rumble, the whole thing vibrating beneath then. Sol'd never really been on a bike like this before, always using his skimboard. His head tilted slightly sideways as Aadya got situated with him in her grip and then, with only a little hesitation, gave it some gas.

His back pressed into Aadya's front from the initial thrust but, apparently, the dude was a natural. Sol leaned forward into the wind just like his skimboard, legs semi-awkwardly getting used to the very different arrangement for keeping his balance. He pushed the bike faster as he adjusted until the wind was whipping across its riders and the treads were leaving a whirling cloud of sand in their wake. Grinning beneath his layers he took the bike over a dune, getting some air before it landed on the next dune, motoring down its side.

Once they were back on a straight path he shook a shaka sign over his shoulder to Aadya. Surfer boy liked the ride, loud and clear. Off in the distance, they could see the edge of the old starship graveyard, the shine of dust-coated metal obvious against the sandy dunes. Wouldn't take long to get there at their eagerly clipped pace. Overhead, steelpecker birds circled the wreckage.

@Logan

Piloting dice roll: 20/20

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Aadya wasn't sure what to expect when Sol got behind the wheel of the bike, but she sure as hell wasn't expecting him to take to it like a Wrean to water. She couldn't help but have a giant smile behind her face covering and scream in excited enjoyment when they caught some air.

Once they finally slowed down and their destination was in view, Aadya would hop off the bike with Sol and give him a playful punch in the arm.

<Dope as hell but you scared me!> She signed, laughing a bit as she did so. <You're better on that thing than I am. Do you want it?>

The starship graveyard was littered with all manner of old tech from the battle of Jakku, but Aadya and Sol were after one type of ship in particular. It wouldn't be hard to find, likely the largest thing around them, but traversing through it was another matter. As they moved through the dunes, eventually they'd happen upon a massive star destroyer half buried in the sand.

Luckily it was mostly flat, having crash landed on its ventral side, and its side-bay hangers had long ago rusted away and disintegrated by the relentless pounding of wind and sand.

Looking to Sol, Aadya would motion towards the ship.

<You first, kid.>

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Sol's shoulders shook like he was laughing, rubbing good-naturedly where Aadya'd punched him. He was quickly remembering how hot it was now the ride was over, but perked up in surprise when the Firrerreo offered to just give him the bike. His goggled gaze turned to look at the bike, then back to Aadya. That Sith military tech was more expensive than anything he owned, including his prized skimboard.

He sharply nodded and gave Aadya a quick hug for his answer, not lasting long because it was hot as shit. <Thank you!> he rapidly signed. Immediately after he pulled a canteen off his belt, lowered his mouth covering, and took several short gulps of water. Good thing he'd brought a bunch extra, but the trip already felt worth the fucking heat.

The silent acolyte trudged forward with a thumbs up, a hand up over his eyes in an effort to reduce glare and direct sunlight. His eyes swept over the rotting ship and the birds pecking at the rusted plating, briefly distracted by Jakku's unique wildlife, before refocusing on the task ahead. Into the yawning durasteel cavern he walked, breathing an audible sigh of relief at the shade. Of course, it was still hotter than a Mustafarian's asshole inside but at least the sun wasn't cooking them.

Boots thumped softly on the sand-and-rust coated floor, his head turning as he looked around. Many of these ships had been picked near-clean by scavengers over the years, but what the two Sith were after shouldn't be one of them. Scavengers shouldn't even know how to get to it, really. Sol lowered his face covering off his mouth and nose again, quietly sniffing at the dry air. He led the way across the hangar and into a debris-filled hallway. Then he abruptly backed out again and turned to face Aadya, hands moving.

<Footprints in sand> Sol signed simply.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

Aadya followed Sol into the carrier, her eyes scanning around with curiosity. It was a little eerie standing in such an empty hanger. She'd been in a star destroyer before, but a fully operational one. It was probably some sort of commentary about mortality or something, how even such a massive technological marvel ended up the same as anything else. Hollow, forgotten, dead.

Noticing Sol take a step into the hallway and suddenly back out brought Aadya's attention back to the present. Footprints? Not entirely out of the ordinary. They weren't the only scavengers looking for something of value in the wastelands of Jakku.

Stepping into the hall, Aadya knelt down so she could inspect the footprints a little more closely. It was hard to tell how old they were, there was no wind inside the destroyer to move the sand. She traced her finger around it. Relatively normal sized, humanoid. Not much more to discern from it.

<Scavengers.> She signed before motioning toward him, indicating it was safe in the hall. <We should follow, for now. Keep your ears up.>

Heading off in the direction that the tracks lead, Aadya did her best to remain quiet. Something Sol, luckily, would have no trouble with at all.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Long fingers hooked around his hood to lower it from around his head, more able to tolerate the dry air without the sun directly on him. Dark, curly hair frizzed to fuck spilled from the cloth, given only a token attempt to finger-comb it back. He still took the lead as instructed, nodding to Aadya and angling his head slightly in the direction they walked down the hall.

It wasn't just his muteness that lead him to quietness, but a habitual way he padded along the sandy floor, almost casual in his body language. The main sign he was paying attention was his right hand sitting near his hip within easy reach of his vibrodagger. As the two Sith stalked along the hall the sound of metal on metal would echo after a little while, random clinkity-clanks that signaled someone rummaging through wreckage.

Sol's head tilted slightly, approaching the hallway corner, then peeked around it. Nothing there, the sound echoing from a little ways down where a doorway was open. As they watched a bit of bent metal was chucked through the doorway, clattering across the sandy floor. This scavenger wasn't much for subtlety. Around the corner he went, approaching the doorway, when a droid's warbling came through.

Metal fell to the floor and there was a shuffling and the clack of weaponry being picked up. A voice shouted, "YEH NOT GETTIN' MY SHIT!" Through the door sprinted a grizzled, middle-aged man wielding an antiquated long rifle. Sweat covered every available surface, soaking into his wife beater. Sol stiffened, but he still did something quickly enough.

His right hand swung left, the Force adding some momentum to the dude's motion to send him skidding across the sand, slamming face-first into the opposite wall with a dull thud. With a gross squeaking he slumped to the ground, groaning.

"Arright, I surrenda," the man mumbled into the wall. Sol gave Aadya a bewildered look.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

The sudden sounds of someone rummaging through scrap did catch Aadya slightly by surprise. Whoever it was clearly didn't think anyone else would be coming by. Normally scavengers at least tried to keep their activities on the downlow, or at least quiet, so that other vultures didn't start circling to take their stuff.

When they rounded the corner, Aadya let Sol pacify the scavenger. She could have done it herself, of course, but it was good for the kid to learn. Though, if she were being honest, Aadya probably would have just killed him. She appreciated Sol's softer touch, at least for now.

Don't worry you moron, we're not after any of your scrap. She said with a judgment filled glare. She looked to Sol for a just a moment to sign him "Good job."

Are you familiar with this place? Aadya asked, hoping that this gross looking weirdo could at least potentially be helpful. We're looking for something specific. If you can help us find it, you can keep everything else we come across.

I know mah way around, ya. The scrapper answered, doing his best to look nonchalant. Aadya could tell the gears were turning behind his greedy little eyes though, thinking about all the scrap he could acquire without having to do nearly as much work as he normally would. Name's Kharl, by the by. What is it that you're lookin' for?

Aadya hadn't really considered that part. Turning to Sol, she raised an eyebrow at him and signed

<Uh, what are we looking for, Sol?>

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Soleil didn't know what to make of Kharl. The acolyte was uncomfortably hot- taking another swig of water from a canteen while the guy disentangled himself from the floor- and was therefore in an uncharacteristically bad mood. He managed a small smile and appreciative 'OK' sign at toward Aadya though, her praise making him feel a little better. Ugh, just looking at how sweaty this guy was made him feel like he was back under the desert sun.

But apparently, he might be useful, Aadya handling the situation and heat much better than Sol was. He went back to trying to pretend he didn't hate it with every fiber of his being and paid attention to Kharl. Kharl was the kind of guy to be suspicious of.

The silent acolyte turned to Aadya and responded with <Command level black box.> His idea was it would have otherwise secret locations stored in it from Palpatine's era. Wouldn't necessarily pan out that way but it wasn't his first adventure where the chance of treasure was a gamble. Still, this particular ship had been commanded by a very important Imperial named Gallus Rex during the dying Galactic Empire's final stand over Jakku. There had to be something.

Once the goal had been communicated somehow or other to Kharl he'd stroke filthy fingers across his greasy mustache, putting up a show thinking to himself, before laying both hands on his hips. "Welp, the bridge's the bet then." In other words, a huge amount of walking and probably climbing from where they were in the hangar. "Those things're useless for scrap though, so uh..."

Then he shrugged, flakes of dandruff floating from his shoulders. Kharl didn't know what to make of these two strangers looking for garbage but hey, he wasn't gonna complain about easy scrap along the way. "Hey uh, you're not gonna just kill me when you leave, are ya?" He sounded nervous. As a matter of principle he tried to avoid the space wizard types for just this reason.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Rasheer]

I don't have that intention right now, no. Aadya answered flatly to Kharl. But we can just see where the day takes us.

Back in the hanger, Aadya looked around to see if there was any easy way for them to head towards the bridge. She wasn't particularly fluent in the layouts of old decrepit star destroyers, but Aadya did know that they likely needed to go up. Probably pretty far up. Unfortunate.

After a few moments, Aadya spotted an old turbolift shaft. Obviously without power the lift wasn't useable, but a little bit of improvisation was always needed on interesting adventures. Confident that she and Sol could make their way up the lift without much effort, Aadya couldn't quite say the same for Kharl. Ugh, this weirdo greasy fuck was already causing issues.

<How strong is your telekinesis?> She signed to Sol as they made their way over to the lift. <You think you can boost tubby over there up the shaft? We will need to go damn near to the top, I think.>

Taking out her lightsaber, Aadya carved an opening into the closed turbolift doors. She had been hoping that the lift was on the bottom floor so they didn't have to deal with it blocking their path somewhere further up, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

<Looks like we won't be able to get him all the way up. Try to shoot him up as far as you can, and we'll have to try to get our bearings on whatever level we're on after that.> She signed before motioning for Sol to go ahead.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Soleil Altan]

Kharl's general, uh, everything kinda skeeved Soleil out. It didn't show on his face, but the smells in particular reminded him unpleasantly of slumlords back on Lorrd. Kharl was equally skeeved out space wizards because he had a gun and space wizards could do things like kill him with their brain. So the man mostly just grumbled to himself and hoped there'd be good loot.

Soleil turned to look at the shaft, then Kharl, then back to Aadya. He flashed a selfsure grin, confident in his Force abilities even if he had to lift in stages. <Can do. I've been practicing.> Sol signed back, then took another drink of water. Walking forward to look up the shaft, tongue stuck out as he judged the distance, he snapped his fingers and waved a hand to beckon Kharl.

"Eh? Watcha lookin' ahhHHHH OH SWEET RANCOR TITS WHAT THE FAWK!!" he yelled as, with an expansive gesture from Sol, the Force abruptly lifted Kharl up. His manipulation wasn't the most precise or quick, but it worked well enough, the extra-greasy man flopping most of the way through a doorway. Kharl scooted the rest of the way in with an unpleasant squeaky sort of sound.

Sol took a couple of seconds to refocus his breathing, the heat contributing to lower stamina than usual. He refused to complain, however. Inhaling through his nose he launched himself next, grabbing a handhold and then launching again. It was more telekinetic than enhancement, but it worked. Once on the same level as Kharl, he repeated the process with less yelling, a longer break, and still no complaint.

In the third pause, he drank more water and looked around where they were now. There was a lot less random sand, but a fresh rush of hot desert wind from a tear in that ran from the outside into the hallway. Carbon scoring still marked the hall where a turbolaser shot had penetrated through. Sol scowled at it and covered his face back up.

<You ever been in a ship battle?> he abruptly signed to Aadya, looking her way. Sol didn't like the idea, personally. Kharl meanwhile got himself back up to his feet and decided to put his foot in his mouth. "What's with the secret hand stuff, huh?" he asked warily. Sol shot him an irate glare.

@Logan