Ask [Makeb] Gotta Catch 'Em All

[Maura Starwalk]

Earlier...
"I need a very specific swokémon. It's on this planet. Can you help me?" "Ah, sure."
-----

Makreb, home of the 'exosui' swokémon, among other things. Maura had been impatient to catch one of them for a while since she'd first set eyes on its sprite online. It was a normal- and ground- type swokémon, neither of which were particularly her favorite (she loved fighting and dragon types), but its sprite was just so cute and it was based off the real-life exoboar. She thought exoboars were adorable in the ugly-cute kind of way too, so it just made her want a exosui even more.

Swokémon Go! was known as a particularly difficult game, not because the mechanics were had or anything, but because the main object, 'catch them all', was nearly impossible unless you were rich enough to be able to travel to planets with exclusive swokémon. If Maura wasn't a Jedi, there was no way she'd be able to have the collection she already had.

"I've got all kinds of swokémon since I got the game! I was on Zeltros recently so I was able to get the fairy-type 'luvfish.' You can only find it there, kinda like you can only find a exosui on Makeb." Maura dropped her feet off the console of the ship and leaned over to show Rahman the swokémon she was talking about. It was just a pink fish shaped like a heart. "I think they've got a gym here too... I wonder if Valor has a good presence here..."

Luckily for Maura, a village on Makeb was having problems with monsters attacking their village, which was a convenient excuse for the knight and padawan to make their way there to investigate. Once they solved the issue, Maura would be able to catch her swokémon.

"We'll be there soon, right?" she asked, looking up at the knight who was, one, tall as hell, and two, really cool looking. She wished she had tusks!

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

Supposedly you're supposed to rest and take time to heal back to normal after traumatic injuries, and to his credit, Rahman had tried. The ISC provided excellent treatment in the wake of Corellia and he was proud of the little part that he had played, but as an avid outdoorsman, he insisted that the best medicine was spending time back in nature.

Rahman sat quietly in the pilot's chair watching the stars zip past during their last hyperspace leg toward Makeb as Maura started speaking in riddles. He wasn't that much older than she was and he'd heard of this swokémon but hadn't actually started playing it himself, a curious glance over the pink fish elicited a smile from the big man.

"Oh, interesting. The name suits it doesn't it?"

Their mission for the day was to investigate a disturbance in a local village, in most cases that Rahman had encountered it was often less a monster and usually a stray animal or bored kid spooking the elderly. Still, it was important to check it out in case it really was a danger to the community, between himself and Maura it would be a good opportunity to study his zoology hobby.

He didn't know what valor was but presumed it to be another of these swokémon she mentioned earlier. "Yes, we should be there soon. Have you everything you need for an away trip just in case?" One of the few things he knew about Maura was that she looooooved her technology about as much as he loved animals.

"Wouldn't hurt to bring some battery packs, you might get to see some interesting lifeforms here and we can stop to take some pictures if you'd like. Once we've helped these villagers of course."

Rahman carefully adjusted the bandage around his left hand, it had healed quite well but was still a little tender to the touch. He'd have to be mindful of it during their little adventure. His day bag was well prepared to deal with whatever they might find on the planet, including a few things to help them track down or avoid being tracked down if the need arose.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

"Yeah, I packed a bag," Maura said offhandedly, not even thinking back to what she'd packed. She always kept a bag ready for travel, so she just grabbed it and went on her way.

"I think I've got one in there," she added as she looked back down at her datapad. The battery was full since she'd been charging it while they'd traveled. As long as she didn't have it out in the sun the whole trip, she figured it should be fine. She would just have to keep herself from opening up Swokémon Go! until they were on their way back since the app was an absolute battery hog.

"You were on Corellia right? When it got attacked?" she asked, looking up from the device again. "Did you fight the Sith?"

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

The big man sat quietly in the even bigger chair as Maura continued to play with her datapad. "That's good, hopefully, you won't need it but it always pays to be prepared." His reply was warm and caring kind of way.

Though when she mentioned Corellia, he instinctively rubbed his free hand against the bandaged one, slowly nodding his head.

"Yes, I was. After the Killik attack there, I felt like I could offer some help with taking care of those who had been hurt or lost someone. The ISC has a vast pool of resources, but I'd like to think I helped do my part in making someone's life just a little bit better after such horrible things happened."

The Sith attack was another thing entirely, seemingly coming out of nowhere, he had no warning as to their approach. Though it seemed the ISC didn't see it coming either. The battle had been short but violent, with many casualties but with the heroic effort, the Sith had been pushed back, this time at least.

"I got a little beat up too." He said, alluding to the cuts and bruises he took to his chest and side. "But by trusting in the force, my training, and remaining calm, I was able to overcome my opponent. Say, did I hear right that you've also fought a Sith before? How did that affect you, if you don't mind me asking?"

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

"Uhhhh..." What was his name? Wo... dan... naz? (@Braden) "Yeah, on Onderon," she confirmed, leaning back in her seat while she thought back to the Sith who'd tried to turn her into a padawan-kebab. "I guess I should've been kind of freaked out since I hadn't planned on fighting anyone, but when it came down to it, I was... pretty... focused."

She was high-energy and restless nine times out of ten, but when things got stressful, she got focused. It was like her brain was wired for high-pressure situations that required her to keep track of a hundred things at once.

"I almost cut his legs off, so I took him to a hospital and we spoke briefly. I don't think he was really feeling all that friendly 'cause he told me he was Sith 'cause he liked the color red," she went on, snorting out a laugh at the end. "He also told me that hurting others made him feel better, which is so stupid."

"So... that didn't really affect me that much, but I did take his lightsaber and Grandmaster Voran helped me purify it," she continued. "That was... really difficult. I don't think I could've don't it if she hadn't been there to help."

Soon after Maura finished talking, the navigation trilled, announcing they'd be dropping out of hyperspace soon. A sky streaked with blue became black and prin-pricked with stars, and Makreb stretched out before them in the void. It wouldn't be long before they landed now.

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

Rahman listened quietly as Maura spoke about her adventures on Onderon. The battle must have been an awful sight for the young padawan, but in a way had become part of who she was. Though it was a serious conversation, he was not above breaking the tension with a little bit of humor. After she finished, he smiled and added a question himself.

"You almost de-feeted him?" a hearty chuckle burst from the Orcolan at his own joke before he continued. "Sorry, but I'm glad to hear it, by all accounts you did well in both the battle and the aftermath." The exciting battle conversations would have to wait as their approach to the planet began shortly after exiting hyperspace.

The Orcolan had never been to Makeb before but at the very least they had a starting location, as he set course for the small village that had originally requested their aid. Sure enough, an elderly Chagrian was awaiting their arrival near the landing pad. She'd clearly been sitting there for some time as she'd fallen asleep in a small chair only to be startled by their sudden appearance.

With some excitement, she rose to greet the Jedi. "Welcome to Makeb, to our home. I hope your journey was not too long." Her smile was as sincere as the wrinkles on her face, looking between the pair she continued. "Please come to my home, you look hungry, I must feed you. I'm Maava, and you are?"

She didn't seem like the type to cause any trouble and Rahman was certainly feeling a little famished, introducing himself in short order. "Nice to meet you Maava, I'm Rahman and we would be delighted to." After Maura spoke, the small group would make their way toward her small accommodation. He wandered to himself what kind of monster they might be dealing with, but no doubt Maava would be in the know.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

De-feeted. That got a giggle out of the teen.

Once the two of them landed, they were greeted by a Chagrin woman named Maava who immediately offered food and thus immediately got on Maura's good side. She never declined an invitation to eat. She was basically always hungry anyways. "Maura!" she chimed in after Rahman, hurrying to join the two of them as she introduced herself.

The woman didn't live too far from where they'd landed. They approached the village, and her lodgings were right on the edge. Her house was a cute little cottage with a cute little garden in the bad that, upon closer inspection, had been ransacked recently. Maura assumed it was the result of the 'monster' attacking the village and didn't point it out quite yet. Normally, she would, but she didn't want to run the chance of Maava getting distracted from feeding them.

"Sit down here. Pull up a chair! Any allergies?" Maura shook her head no as she plopped herself down at the lady's table. "Nope! I can eat anything!" she assured her. "Wonderful! I'll put on some tea. It'll be just a few minutes."

As soon as the woman was out of earshoot, Maura leaned over and whispered up at Rahmen, "Did you see her garden? Maybe it was the thing that'd been attacking the village?"

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

It was good fortune that they had arrived when they did, for Maava was quite prepared for their arrival. While she waited on the tea, the gentle lady got busy assembling a number of plates and dishes she would present to her guests.

Rahman leaned over as Maura did to listen closely. "I did, and perhaps you are right! Would you like to ask her about it after we eat? Perhaps she can guide us in the right direction."

At first, Maava brought out a cheese platter, then some bread and meats to go with it. A small bowl of kiwi, grapes and strawberries followed by some tasty pastry treats rounded out the spread. Then she came back with tea cup for each of them, setting one in front of each before taking her seat.

"Please, help yourself!" The three of them would be free to nibble and eat as they pleased for several minutes before their host started the conversation herself. "Thank you so much for coming, you don't know how much it means to us. We're such a small village and well, we didn't know what else to do!"

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura nodded at Rahman's suggestion, but she was far more interested in the platter of pasteries and fruits laid out before her than bombarding the old woman with questions. Fruit was like candy and she was taking piece after piece with childish glee.

"So what all has happened?" Maura eventually asked, making sure to swallow her food before she started talking. "What all do you know about the thing?" she continued, not really giving the woman a chance to answer the first question. "How big is it? Are there more than one? How much damage have they done?"

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

The fun-loving Maave's face lit up as Maura posed her numerous questions, seemingly very much happy that the Jedi had taken such an interest in their little problem.

"Well that's the thing, nobody has ever seen it properly! The kids reckon it's a baby dragon, the adults think it's an oversized rodent. But I think it's something else entirely!" She left the thought lingering for a few seconds.

"Well it's hard to say, but I think there is a pack of them as we often find numerous gardens and yards raided in one night, far too much work for a single being. One of the more grumpy villagers set traps out for them but so far they've been far too smart for him. If you ask me, they're far too intelligent for such brutal methods, but we don't know what else to do! which is why I need your help."

They'd have to somehow track down this group and find out why they had been coming into the village for foraging in order to fix the problem. Rahman wondered if it was a self-inflicted problem but only nodded. Maave offered them a room each for the night, so they could depart first thing and begin their investigation.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

A baby dragon? "So cool!" An oversized rodent...? She really hoped not. She hated rodents or at least rats. She was definitely hoping it was a baby dragon. That was much less scary than a rat.

"Oh, so they come at night?" Maura looked over at Rahman, her eyes lit up like she'd just discovered a very valuable piece of information. "We should go investigate at dusk then! We might be able to spot them in action!"

The girl had no qualms against going out in the dark. Her eyes were well suited for low light environments and her heightened sense of hearing would help listen for the shuffling of feet or other sounds. She thought nothing of how Rahman might fair in a pitch-black Makebian night. She assumed he would be just fine.

She turned back to Maave. "We'll find them and find a way to keep them away from the village!" She grabbed Rahman's wrist and attempted to drag him out of the house with her. "C'mon, let's go see if we can find any tracks!"

It was all go-go-go with the excitable padawan.

tag: @Xorism

 

[Rahman Bahadir]

Rahman was looking forward to a nice long nap in a real bed rather than drifting away quietly in the cockpit. But all that went away when he saw the genuine look of excitement in Maura's eyes, the wanderlust of adventure, and the chance to help another stranger. He simply couldn't deny her the opportunity and to some degree, he also felt a similar excitement.

"Sounds like a plan." was all he would say in response before Maura started to pull him away. He wouldn't have too much difficulty following her in the low light, and with the force's guidance, they would surely succeed.

Maave tried to follow them, although stopping at her door with a typically concerned grandmother look when you leave without eating so much you're completely stuffed. But she'd also be happy for the assistance rendered and hoped to see them return before they left.

There were definitely tracks in the garden outside but they would appear to be a few days old and might not lead anywhere. Rahman was an adept tracker, but he wanted to give her the opportunity to have a little fun too. "Maura, what do you think of this mess?" Clearly, the beasts had been all over the village and may have left some time ago. Whether they'd return that night or not, the Jedi would have to come up with a plan to keep the people safe somehow.

@lizziie