Into The Sand Storm

[xGhoulz]

Tatooine

After salvaging a ship from Coruscant, Itiki made his way out of Coruscant's orbit, in to space. "Atleast i didn't pick up a junky ship that can't fly." Itiki sat in the cockpit, carefully setting the coordinates for Tatooine, a planet covered in sand, which was also very hot. The ship carefully made its way across space, giving Itiki the beautiful view of space. Itiki let the ship fly in space, the distance to Tatooine wasn't long, he went across the ship, as if he was giving himself a personal tour of his own ship. The ship actually wasn't that bad, for a salvaged one. Itiki made a personal note that he needed to fix the engine up a bit, as it kept making an eery squeaking noise. "That engine keeps making that stupid noise, shut up won't ya?!" Itiki ignored the sound, heading back to the cockpit to check the distance, he was finally in Tatooine's orbit.
Itiki flew the ship down to Tatooine's surface, choosing a random spot. Itiki heard the sound of wild wind, and sand slamming against the ship in a chaotic sand storm. "Great, landed right in the middle of a sand storm, whats a man gotta do to earn good luck 'round here?" Grabbing his helmet, and a flash light, he headed towards the exit of the ship. With the press of a button, the exit ramp started to slowly descend, creating a pathway into the sand storm. Well, so much for a flashlight, it was so dark out in the storm, all Itiki could see with the help of the light, was just sand hurtling by. Itiki made his way through the sand storm, into the comfort of a nearby cave. Near the entrance, sand still surrounded it. Itiki went deep into the back of the cave, where he actually got the full light from the flash light. After the long journey to Tatooine, and a lot of trudging through the sand storm, Itiki finally laid down to rest, and would continue the next day.​

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki woke up, still in the cave. But something wasn't right, he was missing his flashlight and his lightsaber, and his hands were tied behind his back by ropes! Itiki could hear strange sounds coming from outside the cave, he wondered what the sounds were. "God, i go to sleep for a few hours, and wake up all tied up without my stuff!" Itiki was so enraged, he caused lots of chatter outside the cave, then 4 figures flooded into the cave, they were wearing strange clothes, with strange masks on. "I've been captured by tusken raiders..." Itiki sighed, as the raiders grabbed him by his arms, lifting him out into the sun. A raider came up to him, possibly the leader of the pack, and started making strange noises, which seemed to be directed to him. "I'm sorry, but what the hell are you saying?" Itiki thought trying to be funny would help, but obviously it didn't, because the raider pointed a strange spear at his face, and started making threatening noises.

The raider forcefully pulled off Itiki's helmet, making more nasty noises. "I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up, or maybe in another language!" The raider obviously didn't like what Itiki said, because he smacked Itiki's head with a part of the spear. Itiki just decided to shut up, and let the raiders do what they needed to do. Itiki watched the raider's take turned turning his lightsaber on and off. They seemed to be fascinated by the orange blade which emitted from the hilt. They then crowded around Itiki, poking him with their spears, which annoyed him a lot. "Would you stop?" Itiki murmured to himself. A few hours went by, and the raiders became bored of Itiki, they just sat around and watched outside the cave. Itiki started to lose hope, until he spotted some nearby on the ground. "Some stupid raider must've dropped my holocom." Itiki quietly and slowly crawled towards the device, rolling over and grabbing it with his hands. He fiddled with the controls for not so long, and finally got it to send a distress signal to all nearby places, telling them that he was in danger. "Lets hope that works." Now Itiki waits.​

 

[xGhoulz]

With no one coming to help him, Itiki decided to just save himself. He got up to his feet, and ran down the cave, outside. The raiders tried attacking him, Itiki force pushed one raider out of the way, and headbutted another, which really hurt his head. But the other raiders all came at him, beating him to the ground. Itiki didn't wanted it to end this way, so, he controlled the force, and since there were 2 raiders left, he force pushed them away. Seeing his lightsaber, he took a chance and dove for it, grabbing it. Standing up, he held the lightsaber above the ropes, hoping this would work, he clicked on the saber, and felt it. The ropes fell fell, untying his hands. as the raiders began to get up, he got ready to fight.
As they all charged at him, he got into stance, and fought them one by one. The first one he cut its spear in half, and force pushed him a distance. He then force lifted another raider, then tryed to throw him into the others, but failed when trying to throw him, all he did was push him back a bit. "Why can't i just end this?" Itiki ran at the raiders, performing a move that successfully went as planned, he grabbed a raider's throat, throwing him into his fellow raiders, knocking them all down. Itiki dashed towards his gear, throwing it on, and then running away. Itiki was far out of sight now, and had successfully gotten away from the raiders. Heck, he'll never go to sleep in a cave again, especially on Tatooine.​

 

[Kaane]

Ah. Tatooine. What an awful place.

The suns were unbearably hot and the air was too arid even for Slars' resilient scales. He positively dreaded leaving his yacht, though he knew he needed to; there was a lot of work to be done getting these moisture farmers on his side. Most of them were already somewhat sympathetic to his particular cause, whether it be for the resistance or the radical philosophy Anti-Forcism, as both his enemies and himself had taken to calling it. But he knew very well people needed constant grooming, attention, and public love to cement their support eternally.

Fortunately, doing just that was his specialty.

"MaaAAAzzster NununununthreEk. UniDENteeeefyed objekkkkt commmming up underRr. Life senzorz rEEEEEAdddd pozzzzztive."

He desperately needed to get that piloting droid fixed.

With a quiet sigh, he left the company of his trusted Herglic bodyguard, with whom he was playing a few rounds of two-player sabacc. At the bridge, he looked downwards through the frontal viewport of his yacht, entirely surprised to see what he found.

Whoever this guy was, he was entirely unprepared for the harsh environment of Tatooine. He didn't even have the right clothes to protect himself from the heat and UV radiation, much less a mount, vehicle, food, water, literally anything most desert nomads on Tatooine had.

Part of the Trandoshan wanted to just move on, just live and let die. But he had a few hours before his designated appointment talking to the planetary natives, and he was an all too magnanimous lizard for his own good.

"Bring it down," he said after a few moments of contemplation, flipping one of the few switches he knew how to work on his own yacht to begin opening the yacht's side loading ramp. He hadn't notified Grissz about it but he doubted this roaming vagabond would be that much of a threat. Not to mention this could be good PR: "Political Maverick Saves Dying Wanderer on Tatooine." Indeed, he could see the headlines on the blasted mainstream media already...if they even covered it, which they were always rather reluctant to when it came to Slars. Oh. And there was sentient decency too, that was an obviously extremely important motive. Or something.

Regardless, he'd don his silken, vermilion travelling cloak made for this weather as he'd walk towards the open hatch, beckoning to the lone figure as the bird touched down. He would wave as he yelled over the hot desert wind currently whipping through the area, "O'er here mate!"

Hopefully he didn't get half his shit stolen after this.

 

[xGhoulz]

Upon hearing someones voice, Itiki turned to the sound, staring at the figure, "Hmph, hopefully this isn't another trap." Itiki returned his call by walking over to the figure. Itiki was lucky that he wasn't tired yet. much less dying. He was lucky to find this place, as if he had gone any longer he would've been passed out on the hot sand, or dead! "I wonder what these guys are planning to do." Itiki was very curious bet didn't plan to ask too many questions. Once in the comfort of their "base" Itiki waited by a wall, so he could be told everything about what they're doing here.

Hopefully, this was the answer to his call, after a long journey on the dreadfully hot Tatooine, Itiki finally found comfort in this strangers place.​

 

[Kaane]

At closer inspection of the figure's gait, weathered but still strong, it seemed that while he was somewhat tired, he wasn't anywhere near death. Better that he picked him up sooner rather than later, he guessed.

"Welcome aboard," said Slars cordially as the young human walked directly into the back of the spacious cockpit. There was a wary, protective look about him...obviously he'd been through some serious shit.

"I gotta ask, what the hell are you doing out there mate, we're right on the edge of Tusken territory! Right good hunters they are...you should be a corpse by now..."

He caught himself, realizing this probably wasn't the best way to greet someone who'd obviously cheated death very hard today. "But anyways, lemme see if we can't get you some water or something...Ceeba, get this bird off the ground and continue our course towards Anchorhead."

The pilot droid's processors whirred for a moment before he successfully complied, the bay door closing behind Itiki as the ship took off, while Slars walked over to what appeared to be a minibar in the antechamber between the cockpit and a lavishly-furnished, and thankfully air-conditioned, lounge covered in furs from Slars' numerous hunting expeditions. At least one of the carpets would appear to be Wookie pelt to the young man's eyes, if he had the knowledge to tell. In the back, he'd notice the hulking cetacean bodyguard Grissz sitting at a sabacc table, paying him some mind; after all, protecting Slars was what he was paid for, and the two went way back.

Slars would beckon Itiki to sit in one of the outrageously comfy chaises near the room's center, surrounding a fancy holoprojector system, before returning with a cup of ice water and some dried jerky snacks for the young human. He'd then sit across from him in a reclined position, scarlet cloak draping over a spotted sofa made from the fur of some strange beast he'd tracked down on Kashyyyk. "So, what's your story...I confess Im a bit curious how you ended up in the middle of the bloody desert."

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki was glad to finally have someone who could do something for him. "Well, i ended up on this planet because i flew here looking for something." Itiki looked around the ship, wanting to know where they were headed. Itiki walked around, finding himself a spot to sit, and told this stranger more. "I was looking for a group called GALAF, working against the empire, you see i grew up when all hell broke loose on Coruscant. I ran into a sign which talked about this group, and i decided to head to a planet where i knew i'd get some information, and which wasn't controlled by the empire." Itiki relaxed himself, taking off his helmet, and setting his lightsaber down. "And since you asked...I fought off those raiders with the help of the force and my saber." Itiki wasn't too annoyed by this, as atleast he wasn't beaten to death or brutally tortured by the raiders.
Itiki studied the Trandoshan stranger, and decided that this bunch might be able to get him some answers to what he was looking for.​

 

[Kaane]

Slars was initially surprised when the man said he was looking for GALAF. But then he went and set his lightsaber on the table.

The Herglic in the back got up with a rush, pushing the sabacc table aside with his sheer mass as he aimed a pistol straight for Itiki's head. He wasn't about to fire, but the action was reflex. Slars had almost been assassinated while giving a talk in Mandalorian space, and Grissz knew full well that this guy might be a killer too.

Meanwhile the Trandoshan was frozen with fear, despite having a giant bodyguard backing him up. He knew that gut instinct of his was right, telling him not to pick this jerk up. Terror pulsed through his veins quite obviously to Itiki, even without him sensing it.

Perhaps it was him taking off his helmet that helped Slars realize he perhaps wasn't dealing with some kind of monster enslaved to the Force, but he still didn't draw his own weapons despite fearing for his life. He let the pistol in his breast pocket rest there as he leaned back in the sofa somewhat, recoiling for his own protection.

"Who do you work for, and what do you want with me," Slars said quietly, his voice hoarse and measured, trying to hold back his internal screaming. The Force and the midichlorians that came with it were his greatest fear; it had taken him years to get over the fact that he possessed midichlorian colonies of his own infesting his body, however ineffectual they were to him. And coming face-to-face with a Force user was something he was utterly unprepared for right now. All he saw right now was a walking collective of bacteria, a veritable invasion force right in his own ship, not a human being.

Still, he would try to remain reasonable, even if his paranoid mind and misty past were clawing at his rationality.

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki was surprised when the guard came rushing through, aiming the blaster at him. With his eyes wide open, he held his hands up in the air, as if being arrested. "Woah! Whats going on? What did i do?" Itiki really didn't know what he had done wrong, and he was started to doubt getting on this ship. "I don't work for anyone! I'm just looking for GALAF, i don't want any trouble ok?" Itiki lowered his arms and reached down for his saber, as he did he realized why the bunch went in to shock. Oh, they think that since i'm a force user that i'm going to harm them. Itiki left his lightsaber there and told Slars everything.
"I was only laying down my lightsaber because i wanted to show you how i got rid of those raiders, and just because i'm a force user, doesn't mean i've come to kill you." Itiki hoped that everyone would return to normal, because the guard was really starting to scare the crap out of him. "And could your guard please lower his gun? I really feel threatened, and so do you." Itiki tried to beg for their forgiveness, hoping that they could get along.
Itiki did also wonder where they were going, and forgot to ask, so he thought he might as well ask now. "Hey, if you don't mind, where are you bunch taking me? And i forgot my ship back there! Well, i guess it doesn't matter now, some junkies probably took already." Itiki decided just to forget it, and try and make peace with them.​

 

[Kaane]

Silence reigned for a few long moments. Grissz wasn't backing down until Slars told him to, and was about to fire as he reached for his lightsaber. But thankfully he seemed to realize trying to fight was a bad idea, even though he'd probably handily win.

He still kept saying he was looking for GALAF, and after another few moments, he seemed like he was willing to tell exactly what had happened to him.

He'd suffered quite a bit and had to fight his way out of a pretty bad situation, that was for sure. Grissz's face was unmoving, but Slars' expression of fear began to soften with empathy.

But surely that was the midichlorians telling him to be nice to this guy, it wasn't his own thoughts, was it, it was the bacteria thinking for him again, their thoughts intruding into his like some parasitic brainworm. He couldn't believe his own feelings, half the time.

He lifted his arm, hand opened. A single gesture could determine the course of this unexpected meeting in an instant.

His fingers wavered as the war within himself raged on. Could he trust this guy? He wanted to work for GALAF, but what if he was a spy? What if he really was a freedom fighter like Slars? What if...what if...

His hand twitched. Then, he lowered it.

"Grissz...safeguard this bloody lightsaber for our guest."

The Herglic looked at Slars curiously, completely surprised by his decision not to have this threat eliminated. But temporarily confiscating the dangerous weapon that could easily kill them both in seconds was a welcome compromise. He took the lightsaber quickly, gripping it tightly in his free hand to prevent it from being pulled back to Itiki's side, before lowering his weapon at Slars' approval.

The Trandoshan pondered his next words carefully, or at least tried to; his paranoia and heartstopping rush of adrenaline earlier had utterly exhausted him. The look in this guy's eyes seemed genuine enough, and his story didn't seem to have any holes in it, for how detailed it was. He sighed, sitting up straight in his chair. "If you're looking for GALAF, you've found it. A part of it, anyway. A part of it that doesn't appreciate clandestine folk meddling in its affairs," he said with a slight edge to it: a veiled threat, if he really was dealing with someone that wanted to tear the resistance movement apart. "I'm Slars Nnthryk. Pleasure to make what I hope is your acquaintance."

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Del awoke to the sounds of shouting right outside his quarters. Shaking the grogginess from his mind, he sat up. Was it an attack? Was the flagship somehow infiltrated by Imperial SpecOps?
He opened the door, to see a small group of soldiers, with one of them pointing a blaster rifle at another's head.
"Wha-?" The men seemed to be out of uniform, and the room wasn't the corridor he was expecting. Did they move him to a shuttle while he was sleeping? He straightened up and addressed the one that seemed to be in charge of the rest of them,
"Status report, soldier. What's going on here. Why are we not on the flagship?"

Without pausing, he once again scanned the room, and spotted the lightsaber resting in front of a young-ish man. He didn't seem particularly evil, so Del assumed that he wasn't a Sith.
"A Jedi!" Perhaps that was why they weren't with the fleet. They were negotiating with the Jedi. Yes, that must be it. "What are you doing here? Why haven't you been responding to our communiques?"

He turned back to the soldier he had addressed right before, without giving him a chance to respond, and his anger flared,
"Where's that status report, soldier? I wanted it an hour ago!"

(OOC: Del is a very confused man, sometimes)

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki was glad that Slars had come to terms with him, and that he didn't have a blaster aimed at his head anymore. He was fine with his saber being taken away, as he didn't want use it to hurt anyone anyways. "Nice to meet you, Slars...I'm Itiki Kirame, and i'm hoping you can lead me to the main GALAF base?" Itiki said this, just as another person came out of a room. More people, and who is this one??? Itiki was confused when adressed as a Jedi, as he wasn't affiliated with the Jedi in any way, and was dumbfounded when this stranger asked him why he hadn't been responding to their communiques. "Excuse me, maybe Jedi wouldn't be the best title for me, i'm more of a rogue, looking to join into your ranks within GALAF." Itiki hoped this man wouldn't get on his nerves, because he didn't like being annoyed, yet he would try to stay calm if things escalated into a bad situation.
Itiki got up, then sat down, just to make sure he didn't alarm anybody and put them into attack mode. But for now, it was unknown where they would be taking Itiki, or what they would do with him.

​

 

[Kaane]

Itiki Karame, huh. Sounded like one of those regional names, he'd certainly knew no humans on Coruscant that had a name like that while it was still in the Republic. And he was positively adamant about joining GALAF. A little too insistent, perhaps...Bria'd have to have a talk with this guy, definitely, though at the moment he seemed rather harmless. Unless he was hiding some kind of awesome prowess with the Force, as most great masters of the art could. Yet he looked so young, unless it was a mask or something...

Thankfully descending into another downward spiral of worry and doubt was broken by Rear Admiral Crackerjacks screaming in everyone's face again, specifically looking at Slars for answers of all things.

The Trandoshan immediately stood up at full height and looked directly into the man's eye, his sandy dress-tunic and brilliant red cape touched by the breeze of him standing up. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but as far as he was concerned he needed this to get him through the psychological trauma he'd just suffered...not to mention screwing with him was all too fun.

"YOU, mate, are addressing the Senator of Trandosha and the Generalissimo of the Dosh Royal Armed Forces, you WILL stand down, soldier!"

Everytime he pulled something like this he made it more ridiculous; hopefully the fact Trandosha didn't operate under a monarchy would be lost on him this time around. Or that the Republic didn't exist anymore, as per usual.

Fortunately for the poor guy Grissz wasn't so easily caught up in the throes of blatant bullshit. The Herglic patted Del's back gently and in the calmest tones he could possibly manage explained the situation, trying his best to bring the admirable Admiral back to reality, after shooting Slars a dirty look offhand. He was a gentle giant indeed; probably it was why he was able to stick around Slars for so long without getting spooked off by his antics.

The lizard in the room, meanwhile, sighed; Grissz always knew how to make him feel bad for acting like an idiot. "Alright, I'm sorry mate...the truth is we found this kid just walking around in the desert and picked him up. He got captured by Tuskens and fought his way out of their little hellhole, and all he keeps saying is he wants to join GALAF. I can't ruddy tell if he's a spy or not but I think we should err on the side of caution 'ere. What's your say Commander?"

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki watched the bunch talking to eachother in the middle of the ship, he stayed quiet the whole time, just watching. But then that guard asked the "Commander" whether Itiki should be allowed into GALAF. Seeing that this Commander guy thought he was a Jedi, chances of him getting into GALAF were looking a lot higher than before. Itiki couldn't stand this any longer, he wanted to know where they were going. "Hey! I want to know where you guys are taking me, right now!" Itiki didn't mean to be rude, but he was getting very impatient. And the moment he said that, he knew that guard was probably gonna point some blaster at his darned head, and then they'd be right back in the situation they were in before.
​

 

[RED-1]

A person in CZ-34 scout armor stands up in the back of the room he had been sitting their saying nothing. The tone of his voice was confident and he spoke with a sigh “If we tell you where we are taking you. and you don't check out, we have to kill you." He pulls off his helmet a older human looks at the newcomer. "The less you know the longer you live. It was a mistake bringing you here and why tell this man who we are?” He look over the people in the room. “We will not last long if we keep this type of mistakes.”

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

"I- err. What?"
Senator of Trandosha? Generalissimo of the Dosh Royal Armed Forces? What the heck was he talking about?

Then the hand came, and the memories came flooding back. Oh, right. There was no Republic anymore. Sudden fatigue replaced the rampant fear and he slumped against a wall.
"Dammit Slars. You got my hopes up again."

Turning towards the new kid, he was about to speak up when the gruff voice of an older man spoke up behind him. Narrowing his eyes at the accusatory tone and words, he glared at the newcomer, a sergeant from the looks of his insignia. Once again, anger flared up in his system. The Republic may have fallen, but that didn't mean that a mere sergeant could treat his superiors with such disdain. He straightened up once more and summoned remaining scraps of authority and rank he once had, and in his most authoritative voice, addressed the sergeant,
"Soldier, there are two officers on deck. Where's that salute?"

Ignoring any responses, he once again turned back to the child in question, "So, kid. You want to join GALAF, huh?" He walked up to him, putting his face an inch away from the younger man's nose, and stared into his eyes.
"Tell me. Why is it you wanna join up? How can you prove yourself to us? How do we know you're not a spy?"

He backed off, "You gotta tell us these things before we simply fly you to our base, kiddo."


@Kaane (It's his turn, please no skipping order)

 

[Kaane]

Slars had sat back down again as he felt about as deflated as the commander. Screwing with him was obviously wearing thin on them both...eh. He could always find someway else to get his jollies. Moments like these kept him sane, as far as he was concerned.

And then came along Rowan Vane...he'd been a shade pretty much the entire trip to Tatooine, but he guessed when it came to the security of GALAF he finally awoke from his slumber to give his say so. He'd probably be an extraordinarily fun guy at parties. Meanwhile the Admiral was already on his ass about speaking out of term...maybe that's why he didn't speak, he was scared Valorous would pop out of nowhere and tell him to shut the hell up.

At any rate, Slars would at least validate him slightly.

"Pff, as much as I'd love to simply throw this guy off myself due to his....eh....peculiarity, he's still pretty adamant about the revolution. I don't know where the hell he found out about us, but we only give out information to places where it'll end up in good hands, so this guy could very well be one pair of these bloody good hands. Plus as long as he's not a Jedi or a Sith I can tolerate him...so, Itiki, mate, do what Commander Valorous says. You either prove yourself true, or we drop you off in Anchorhead for good. Simple as that."

 

[xGhoulz]

Itiki, sitting there in the back, now had to explain himself to these men, he took a deep breath, sighing. He then began explaining himself. "I'm only looking to join GALAF because i want to fight against the empire, i want to make a difference. Now, couldn't i have just joined the Jedi? I didn't, because i felt that the Jedi were focused on other things, and not directly on fighting the empire. And i am not a spy, and i can prove myself. Your blasters and vibroswords may seem useful, yet the force can do much more, i will prove as a benefit to GALAF, i want to change the galaxy! I want to exterminate the empire!" By this point, Itiki had literally started screaming, trying to make his point, he was actually raising his fist in the air, when he realized what he was doing, he lowered his hand, and decided to let these guys handle him, as he was now in the hands of them, and couldn't do anything about it. Itiki had clearly made his point, but was it enough to persuade these guys to let him join GALAF?​

 

[RED-1]

He stood there with aggravated look on his face then it just faded a way. "Kid, it is up to the officers here as they said, if you stay or go." he paused as if to get some answer from the officers. "What I want to know is who is going to baby siting him and training him, Sir?" He says looking at the others then back at the new guy "O ya that guy call him, SIR!"

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

Del listened, considering his options. After the boy and the sergeant finished speaking, he continued to think, with silence flooding the room. The only noise was the hum of the engines and the tapping of Del's boot against the hard metal floor.

Eventually he came to a conclusion.
"Alright kiddo, you're in. Either I or Slar's here will let Bria know that we've a new addition to the team."

He turned to to the sergeant, whose name was Rowan Vane, if he remembered correctly, and spoke to him.
"Since you seem so invested in him, you can get him up to speed on what's going on in GALAF," he glanced towards the lightsaber, "although i'm not sure he'll need any training."

He reached his hand out to shake the newcomer's hand,
"Welcome aboard."


(Thread End)