Ask Into the Woods

[Zaia Krodas]

Endor.

It was a beautiful place, in Zaia’s opinion. Even more so in person. She’d always dreamt of going to the lush forest moon when she was younger. It wasn’t saying much given the fact that she’d been stuck inside a ship for much of her life and yearned to visit anywhere but. Still, Endor had been near the top of her list, and she was finally here. If only it were under better circumstances.

After her escapade with her Ranger friend on Lothal, Zaia realized that she’d gotten herself into something she didn’t want to be involved in, and that the only way to get out of it was to eliminate any of the unfriendlies who’d seen her there. They did, after all, feel the same way about her. It was only a matter of who would get what they wanted first, and Zaia intended for it to be her.

Recently, she’d received a tip that the thugs were currently based on Endor. As far as she knew, if she could knock those men out, she’d be free. Now she only had to find a way to get inside their little hideout.

It was an abandoned imperial outpost, the entrance being on the side of a hill close to the one she was on. Not much of it was visible aboveground, but the metal door and the frequent comings and goings of the thugs made it all too easy to find the way in. However, due to the constant traffic, not to mention the two guards situated right outside the entrance, it would be difficult to get inside undetected. And if she was all by herself facing off against a group of thugs in their own base, it was better to be careful.

Zaia turned off her scout HUD and went back down the slope, trying to think of the best way to attack. Deep in thought, she was only drawn back to what was in front of her when a loud SNAP! sounded from beneath her foot. A broken branch. She cursed softly before quickly attempting to make her way out of the area, hoping that no one had heard.

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

Invaders! Narpoo had been performing his usual rounds on the planet he called his home when he had first spotted the tell-tale suppressions of boot marks in a loamy soil. They had been here for some time now, he had been on their tail from the moment he had picked it up, monitoring their movements and trying to suss out just why they were even here. Maybe this newcomer was one of the bands of thugs that had been spotted just south of his Tribes territory?

Narpoo did not know - but he would do his uttermost to find out the answer. So far the thugs had left Sharp Stone Village alone, most likely entirely unaware of its presence, but Narpoo had a deep feeling in his gut that such a trend would not last.

As Zaia turned off her HUD, and moved back down the slope, beneath the canopy in which Narpoo was hiding, the Ewok hunter ran his tongue over his teeth and glared at her. His fist tightened on his spear, as he made himself ready. In a simple fluid gesture, he could drop down from his branch, and punch the deadly weapon into her neck, down directly into her lungs - removing one more interloper from the sanctuary of Endor.

But he stopped himself.

Something was bugging him. Why was she scouting out the thugs? Surely if she was one of tier number the human female would just make her presence known? He had to find out, so he stowed his spear on his back, took out his bow and knocked an arrow, and fired one at her feet - before shouting ”Steepa!”, hopefully bringing her attention toward him.

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Before she knew it, an arrow landed in front of her feet, kicking up pieces of dirt and leaves. Jumping back in a manner rather unbefitting of a Mandalorian, she nearly fell down on her back. She was glad that she hadn’t taken that additional step forward, though the way the arrow had hit the ground directly in front of her made it feel that it was no accident.

A shout came from above, and she jerked her head up to see a face looking down at her. The Ewok was armed with a spear and a bow. She raised her hands, taking a step back to hopefully let him know that she meant no harm.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, though it was ironic considering the Ewok probably had the advantage at this point in time. Did he understand Basic? As her heartbeat slowed and she regained some composure, she wondered why he had attacked her. The obvious answer came to her before her mind had even formed the question. She was the invader, and it was likely that the locals knew about the Daggers here long before she did. Maybe he thought she was one of them? He would have shot her, then. No, he probably saw that she wasn’t. All the thoughts flitted through her mind in a matter of seconds, and she took off her helmet to look at the Ewok in the tree.

“I’m not one of them.” She pointed in the direction of the outpost, then crossed her arms in the form of an X in front of her chest. If the Ewok understand Basic, great, if not, hopefully he would get it from her gestures.

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

Narpoo had quite literally no idea what this offworlder was saying, a constant stream of nonsense pouring from her mouth in a language he simply did not understand. That being said she did have her hands up, clearly surrendering to his superior combat skills, before bloodletting could commence. Sniffing the air, the Ewoks heightened sense of smell could not detect anything abnormal, so he pointed his speed at her as she moved her arms into an X shape.

Maybe this was some sort of weird attempt to threaten him?

Or perhaps she was trying to say she wasn't part of the thugs operation?

That was more likely. However, Narpoo was not going to take any risks, so he pointed at her weapon with his spear, and then again at the floor, indicating she should disarm herself, just so the little Ewok could feel a little less like he had to grip his spear quite so firmly.

 

[Zaia Krodas]

The Ewok pointed at her with his spear, then at the ground. Zaia stared blankly at him for a moment before she realized that he was gesturing toward her blasters. His hand was gripped tightly around his spear, and she recognized that he was probably just as wary of her as she was of him. I see.

She slowly lowered her hands and took out her weapons, placing them on the ground in front of her as she took a step back and held out her arms to show that she didn’t have any more.

“We’re good?” She gave him a smile, not knowing what else to do. Then she heard voices coming from behind her, followed by the sound of branches cracking and foliage being brushed aside. Uh-oh.

“You sure ya din’ imagine it?”

Zaia couldn’t hear the response, but she did know that they were getting closer with every step they took. Her gaze flitted back to the Ewok, and she put a finger in front of her lips. Then she turned in the direction where the voices were coming from and crouched down behind the tree trunk next to her, perfectly visible to the Ewok but just out of sight of the two men.

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

They where, indeed, good.

Narpoo allowed himself a slight chirp of delight as he had successfully disarmed the offworlder, cementing that she was not the thread. Despite all the commotion, and his own lack of trust for offworlders, finally Narpoo decided to let his guard down and show Zaia the same faith she had afforded him.

“You sure ya din’ imagine it?”

Zaia gestured for him to be quiet, and despite the language barrier that existed between them, even Narpoo knew her hand gesture meant 'don't make a sound'. He dropped to a crouch, and stepped back into the foliage, his natural camouflage concealing him as he did so. Slowly, two heavy-set aliens stepped into their line of sight, armed with metallic items Narpo knew to be 'guns'.

He had never cared for them but had seen first hand what they could do to an unarmoured Ewok.

He scurried further back into the foliage, if Zaia looked around, it would appear as though the diminutive alien had simply abandoned her. Narpoo had not, he had merely ducked into the foliage, scooted up behind a tree out of sight, and climbed a vine to the branches of the tree, to give himself a height advantage. There, Narpoo would wait for the thugs to encounter Zaia, and thereafter leap into action himself.

 

[Zaia Krodas]

When Zaia turned back again, the Ewok had disappeared. And I thought we were just starting to be friends. She bit the inside of her cheek, then looked over at her blasters laying on the ground. She’d been counting on him to be her backup, but now it looked like he’d left her alone with the two blaster-carrying men. If she was discovered, she couldn’t have them going back to tell the others. The security would increase tenfold, and that she couldn’t afford.

Holding her breath as they came closer, she waited until one was standing right beside the tree she was hiding behind. The one that was farther away turned his head away from his companion to look in the opposite direction. Just what she needed.

“See, I told you! There’s nothin’-” Zaia reached around the tree trunk and cupped a gloved hand around the man’s mouth, using her other arm to yank him backwards. She flicked her wrist to activate the hidden blade in her gauntlet, then slit his throat just as he took in a deep breath to yell for his companion. As the other man turned around, she quietly moved to lower his body to the ground, hoping his friend hadn’t noticed.

“Greg? Where’d you go?” The man turned to look around the tree trunk, his eyes widening as he saw Zaia standing over the body with a bloodied knife. Whoops.

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

Just as Zaia moved to make her attack, Narpoo took his change and struck the remaining thug. Unfortunately, Ewok tradition made the rules of war very clear - a silent approach was fine, a silent attack was, when the Sun was up, dishonourable. And, Narpoo was many things, but dishonourable was not one of them. As such, as he lept from his tree branch, his spear above his head, ready to be brought down in a killing strike, he shouted "Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehbaaaa!"

The remaining thug moved his widened-eyed gaze from Zaia, upwards.

Narpoo piled down into him, his feet striking the thugs stomach even as he brought the spear down into the nape of the man's neck, thumping the weapon down with the combined force of his own strength, and a good amount of momentum. The speed jutted down into the man's collar, through his lung and heart.

The thug didn't even make a noise.

Well, not one of his own making. The noise of air rasping from the wound and bubbling through blood was all that was heard as Narpoo rolled off the down targets body, and with a sickening squelch yanked his spear from the thug's body. "Yub nub?" he looked at Zaia as the body twitched slightly in a rapidly expanding red pool.

 

[Zaia Krodas]

Just as Zaia was about to turn the knife on the other man, a furry flash of brown and black flew down from the tree. The Ewok plunged his spear into the man’s neck, and needless to say, he was dead pretty soon afterwards.

“Yub nub,” Zaia responded, unable to keep the surprise out of her tone as her gaze drifted from the man to the Ewok and his spear. She shook her head in astonishment. That had been an impressive attack, and she was certain now that she would have been dead had the Ewok wanted it to be that way when they first met. “I’m sure glad that wasn’t me.” She muttered it half to herself. Picking up her helmet and her blasters, she peered over the slope to see if the others had noticed.

She regretted it.

“It’s those karking Ewoks again! I’d know that screech anywhere!” A crowd of thugs with anger written all over their faces had gathered outside the entrance, looking in their direction. She glanced over at the Ewok again, her expression unreadable behind her helmet.

“You just made this fifty times more difficult for us, my friend.”

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

“You just made this fifty times more difficult for us, my friend.” Narpoo puffed his chest out with pride at the great respect she was affording him. Naturally, he had no idea what she was saying, so merely chose to decide that she was obviously praising his genius combative style. Not one to stop whilst they had the advantage, Narpoo decided to see what they could do to press the advantage they now had. Waving his paw to suggest she should follow him, Narpoo darted down back into the foliage - after all, these interlopers couldn't kill them if they couldn't see them.

He moved quickly, spear in hand as he dashed toward the entrance of the thug's lair - well, the treeline near the entrance.

"Chee lee, mee faa!" he muttered to Zaia, before yelping and hollering as he ran through the undergrowth. Approaching his intended position, he stowed the spear and pulled out a slingshot from his belt, and scanned the entrance to the lair, wondering what would come spilling forth

 

[Zaia Krodas]

The Ewok looked unexpectedly happy at her words, and that was when she realized that he probably didn’t understand a word she was saying. Alright, then. She did know that he was gesturing for her to follow when he waved his hand, though she soon found out it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

When he dashed into the undergrowth, Zaia almost immediately lost sight of him as she attempted to follow. Only the movement of the ferns and leaves told her where he was, and even that was minimal. However, based on his yelling, she could work out that he was heading for the entrance of the outpost, right behind the group of thugs. She tried to follow him there, doing her best to stay hidden in the shadow of the trees in spite of her bright blue armor. As much as she liked the color, in times like this, she wished she’d gone with something duller like brown or green. Even red would probably be less noticeable.

And red she got. A crimson blaster bolt flew right at her helmet, causing her to duck and roll to the side. That one blaster bolt was followed by more, and then she heard shouting as the men turned and pointed. Using a tree as cover, she fired a few shots back before being forced to pull back for a moment. They’d be swarming her position soon, if there wasn’t some kind of distraction.

The good thing was that they had their backs to the Ewok.

@Nor'baal

 

[Narpoo]

Narpoo, it would seem, had forgotten to take note of the colouration of Zaias armour, and her subsequential inability to blend into the undergrowth. As a blaster bolt cut through the air, Narpoo kept running, aware that they were not aiming at him, and continued with the plan. Hoping beyond hope that his newfound friends metal skin would keep her safe, he kept moving until he was positioned behind the people attacking Zaia.

Much like the imperial outposts of old, this one was cut into a ledge, meaning Narpoo could walk over it, and drop down behind the thugs, placing himself between them and the door from which they had emerged.

Spinning his slingshot, he ran forward and released a stone that was sent flying into the unarmoured head of one of the thugs, who swiftly fell to the floor like a chopped tree. He jumped onto the back of another before they had time to turn, and put the slings rope over their neck, before dropping to the floor behind them, rope in hand. The thug fell, and Narpoo yanked the rope around their neck sideways, soliciting a 'thunk' from the thug's neck.

Two down.

Narpoo, now in the midst of the remaining thugs, rolled, keeping himself low and hoping Zaia would start drawing some of their attentions.

 

[Zaia Krodas]

A soft thud and Zaia saw one of the heads drop from the crowd. Then another, clutching at his neck. Thank Kad. A couple men turned their heads around after that, and she took the chance to strike.

At first she shot to disarm, but two thugs quickly caught on to what was happening and charged at her with their daggers. The weapon was familiar to her by now, having seen it multiple times on Lothal, and it only confirmed that these were the criminals that she was looking for. Just before they reached her, Zaia used her jetpack to help her run a little bit up the tree, pushing off of it to kick the two thugs in their heads. They dropped to the ground, and she turned to the rest of the group.

A couple more blaster bolts flew over at her, one striking her right gauntlet. Due to it being made from beskar, it absorbed most of the impact. After shaking the momentary numbness away, it was back to business. She shot one thug in the head, and another in the chest. The group appeared to be evenly split now, about three or four presumably with the Ewok, and the other half close to her. Two men ran back into the outpost, sealing the door behind them. Clearly it hadn’t been planned, because the men who had been shooting at her earlier paused to turn around and yell.

“Hey! How’re we supposed to get insi… oh.” The disappointment in his voice was almost enough to make her feel sorry for him. She would have let him go, but he chose to bravely round up the two other men with him and shoot straight at her as they moved in. Too bad. In a matter of seconds, all three were on the ground, a blaster bolt having gone through each of their chests.

Hopefully her Ewok friend was doing alright.

@Nor'baal