Sandpeople Don't Give Up - FLASHBACK

[SirNoodles]

(OOC: This is a flashback RP explaining how Amerath's mother was killed set 31 years before the current RP. Also anyone can join within reason - keep in mind that this isn't a place someone from the Republic would go)

In the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine lies a small village of peaceful people. The village itself is located in the middle of the long, seemingly never-ending desert of Tatooine. As peaceful as the village's inhabitants are, they are at a "mini" war. For years a gang of Tusken Raiders have been attempting to steal and kill from the whole village. However, tonight their work will finally pay off.

Bastilla Candroon was sat right outside of her small, cozy hut. She was gazing up into the night sky, admiring the stars, with her little 6-month Amerath.
"Some day you'll travel the stars", she says softly to Amerath. "Whether I'm there with you or not. You are my gift to the Galaxy and I promise you that you will one day be free from this forsaken planet."
She then looks down at Amerath who is fast asleep. She has been alone looking after him ever since he was born as Amerath's father was killed fighting the Tusken Raiders,

It was then Bastilla jumps to the sound of the beginning siren. This familiar siren meant that the Tusken Raiders were returning...
Bastilla stands up, Amerath still in her arms, and watchs as some soldiers run outside of the village. In the distance the faint yell of the Tusken Raiders can be heard. Fearing for her son, Bastilla turns and runs towards where most people are - to the shelters.

@Sammothy

 

[Cailst]

Colby Rahman woke to the screaming siren. The first one he'd heard since he got there. And sure not welcome. He'd been told that this was going to just be a chance for him to finally use his archaeology degree. Sure, the position was as a bodyguard for this archaeologist but he was told that it wasn't so bad and that he'd pick up some real experience out in the field.

Well, that wasn't the case. And he was sure hoping he'd survive, after all, his wife and son on Ruan weren't doing so well and this would really brought in some money. But now he was headed off the site. The other bodyguards would be waiting there. They weren't a part of the town so they just had the duty to protect the site.

Quickly, Colby ran through the loud and bustling village. His night vision goggles were on allowing him to see and dodge much of the crowd headed to the shelter, a spot placed rather close to the site. However, he did not notice one woman that he unceremoniously bumped into.

 

[SirNoodles]

Bastilla is still walking at a quick pace over to the shelters. However, one bodyguard bumps into her. This move wakes up Amerath who then begins crying.
Bastilla then starts hushing him. After finally reaching the shelters, everyone is given a helmet apart from Amerath as he is too small. Three soldiers are defending the shelters and one walks in front of the entire crowd.
"I know we're all familiar with the safety regulations but it appears for some", he explains and gives Amerath a brief look, "This is the first raid they've experienced. At no point will any of you have the excuse to leave this shelter. If you need the toilet... Shit or piss your pants for all I care. I'm sure you'd rather have dirty clothes than be tortured by our friends. Second of all if we - highly unlikely - lose this battle the Sandpeople will come over here. There are escape pods round the back only to be used when given order. Ladies and children go first. If there are any men left behind they will be given an weapon to defend themselves. Do I make myself clear?"
No one says anything, they just nod and then the bodyguard runs back over to the village.

 

[Cailst]

After running into the woman, Colby winced a little as the baby started crying. Sure, it was unlikely that the crying baby would attract attention anymore than the rest of the bustle in the area but it still irked him just a bit. Adjusting his helmet a bit, he headed down to the site. Gingerly shuffling down the makeshift stairs, he saw some of the other bodyguards and the professor. An expression of pure glee shone about the professor. He must have found something.

"Guys, we just found the earliest sign of human presence on the planet!" He said with radiant grin.

"That's great and awesome but we've got to get out of here." Another bodyguard said.

Descending to the level of the professor, Colby was glancing constantly at the lip of the dig.

"So we find the greatest find of the past three millennia and you want to leave just because of there's a few sandpeople out there?" the professor retorted.

"The whole of the village defense system is out there, there must be a lot of sandpeople." Colby replied.

"But, it's just so important. Enlightening the galaxy, it's the greatest thing we can do."

"But if you don't survive to tell them, the galaxy isn't getting enlightened."

"Well then cover the footprints up, if we don't, they'll be lost forever and no one will know."

"Okay, we'll get to the shelter then,"

As the other two bodyguards shoveled dirt over the prints, Colby looked up. The starry night seemed to be the only source of solace as chaos erupted. But even that was disrupted by a silhouette covering a few stars. Looking closer, he saw it was armed and appeared to be a sandperson. Colby fired a shot and it fell into the site.

"Their scouts must be here, we've got to go!"

"I guess it's good enough,"

Colby climbed up the creaking stairs again constantly on the lookout. At the moment it was clear even if he could hear blaster shots in the distance. It was only about 100 yards away across a fairly clear patch of dirt and sand. The others climbed out despite a few stairs falling out of place.

"Let's go!" Colby loudly whispered.

The group ran across the stretch with abandon and a few shots rang out. But fortunately for them, they made it to the doorway of the shelter.

 

[SirNoodles]

(OOC: I think it's worth you reading the first paragraph of my character Amerath Candroon to know how this thread will end)

Bastilla, who is slightly in tears and holding onto Amerath, watches as some soldiers enter the shelters. Terrified and thinking the sandpeople have won, she demands, "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be fighting the enemies?"
She then shoots a quick look towards the emergency exit. If the sandpeople ever enter the room, she knows where she's going - to the escape pods but not to saver herself... but to save Amerath.

 

[Cailst]

ooc: This the father of my current character so he's pretty disposable.

"We're here to protect the professor, he found something pretty important out there," Colby replied to the woman.
"Plus, we already killed one of their scouts."

Colby was a bit frustrated at the impetuous woman. But at the same time, he realized that most villagers had no clue why there were there or what they were doing. Unfortunately, it'd be hard to keep a low profile in this room given that they'd already entered rather armed. But they'd probably be recruited into defending the whole shelter if the sandpeople won.

Suddenly hearing a loud boom in the distance, Colby feared that might be the case.

 

[SirNoodles]

Confused with the whole situation, Bastilla chased after the man. Once she reached him, she nudged him. "What "important discovery"?" she demands, rather angry at his doing. "Listen, sir. Men, women and children are probably going to die. And all you're worried about is just some so-called "important discovery"! What could be more important than lives to be lost?"
Bastilla regrets saying that. She probably had gone a bit over the top. She held on tighter to Amerath and was trembling slightly. She could tell the man disliked her a lot and was going to dislike her even more.

 

[Cailst]

"Woman, if you understood the magnitude of this discovery, you'd understand that this will bring in hordes of archaeologists into this so called town. And they'll discover more than just the first human of Tattooine, they'll find precious metals and a whole lot of outsiders will be coming here to spend their money and a lot more jobs will open up." Colby replied sorta condescendingly.

The stupid woman was just going to muck things up, he could just feel it. Sure, the short term issues were important but she just couldn't see the larger picture. Alas, maybe if he were some provincial nobody, maybe he'd see things that way but he came from the dirt of Ruan to the opulence of Coruscant and the slime of Nal Hutta to some patch of sand out in the middle of nowhere.

In the windows, he saw two red flashes of light and prepared for a resounding boom to follow.

 

[SirNoodles]

Bastilla, still confused about the whole situation, watches as two red flashes of light appear flash behind the window. Worrying about what they might mean, Bastilla looks towards the guard.
"What were those?" she enquires, knowing he will know something about them.
She can tell how much she is bothering this man but is careless of the fact. All she wants is her son to be safe from the threats outside. Bastilla sighs. "Listen", she growls, raising her voice loud enough for pretty much everyone to hear. "Stop worrying for the safety of yourself and your friend bastards. We, too, are people. We are just as scared as you are. Tell us why we must let you go to the escape pods first. There are children here! Would you really let innocent children and... a baby", she looks at Amerath, "Just die?"

 

[Cailst]

"Looks like the red glare of the rockets, maybe some bombs bursting in air if I'm not mistaken," He said with just a hint of hint of melody. As if there were some song about it.

Responding to her next comment.
"No one wants innocents to die. I'm certainly not advocating for that. Right now, I'm assigned to protect this innocent." He said while patting the professor on the shoulder. "Once we get rid of the raiders, this guy will do a lot of good for this town. All those children that we're protecting will have jobs because of him. He's way more brilliant than I am and he can fix this town up right. "

Peering out of the door, he could see some moving silhouettes in the background and heard some bursts of fire. Hopefully, those were the militia guys. If not, he was really pondering just where they left the speeder.

 

[SirNoodles]

"Once you get rid of the raiders?" Bastilla shouts angrily. "Well who's gonna do that? It appears all of you are just protecting this", she looks at the professor, "bastard!"
Bastilla then watches as the soldier peers around the door. Gunfire can then be heard. Bastilla, desperate to see the cause of the sounds, goes over to the door. She sees some soldiers firing at what will probably be the sandpeople. However, one of them is shot but not killed. He falls to the floor and the other runs over to him, ducking. He then begins pulling the injured soldier out of the way but not long after he is shot and, for sure, dead.
Then loads of gunfire starts hitting the shelter. The lights flicker for a moment causing a scream throughout the crowd and for Amerath to begin crying.
"Well it looks like now you've no choice to fight the raiders or not", she says, trembling, to the soldier.

 

[Cailst]

"My mother and father were married when I was conceived I'll have you know!" yelled the professor.

Hearing the continued gunfire, Colby took a few deep breaths, mentally preparing himself for the fight ahead. It had served him so far. The fact that he was still alive was a good sign of that. Very soon, his heart would be pumping with a manic ferocity to provide all of his oxygen needs.

Peering out, he saw a few more silhouettes on the horizon. In this case, they resembled sand people. In a second or so, Colby fired a few shots. The figures fell to the ground.

"Guess so," He said in response.
"How good are you with guns? The professor isn't so good with his pistol and he can carry your baby for you,"

 

[SirNoodles]

Bastilla, shocked at the fact the soldier could even say that, takes a step back and clutches even tighter onto Amerath.
"I'm not letting you take him!" she says. "But", she replies honestly, "I am good with guns. Amerath's father taught me enough on how to use them."
Her eyes are then brought to the window. In the distance, many silhouettes - clearly sandpeople- can be seen running up towards the shelter. The whole clan must have regrouped to lead their final attack. Worried for the safety of not only herself or Amerath, she swears and then places Amerath into the professor's hands.
"If anything happens to him", she growls, staring him right in the eyes, "I swear I'll put a bullet in your head."
She then turns around and snatches a gun off the soldier. She then, with a small amount of confusion of how to do it, loads it up to signal she is ready.

 

[Cailst]

Amerath's father? What a strange way of saying it. Perhaps they weren't super close, a glorified sperm donor? Well, she was taught how to use a gun so it must have been a little closer.

Colby loaded up his gun and reactivated the night vision and began shooting. The sand people went down pretty quick. He wasn't a bad aim, had plenty of practice. Of course, the occasional bullet headed his way. In the night, the sand people weren't the best of shots but compared to everyone without night vision, they were better than most. Every once in a while, he'd hear a few bullets hit the ground or wall nearby. One even hit one of the hinges of the door rendering it somewhat less useful.

As that was happening, Colby suddenly heard a loud echoing boom on the other side of the shelter. Looking over, he didn't see any holes in the wall but it didn't seem as stable as it used to be.

The professor grabbed the baby and pondered just where they put the speeder. It wasn't at the site and it wasn't in the village motor pool. But he just couldn't nail down exactly where he put it. The emergency escape pods would be another good thing to figure out and he didn't see any of them.

 

[SirNoodles]

Bastilla, who is shooting... or at least doing her best, is fighting alongside the exact soldier who she fell out with earlier. Hating the fact that the men had to get civillians to fight their battle for them annoyed her but she was willing to do whatever it takes for Amerath to be safe.
A loud and echoing boom that could be heard on the other side of the shelter made Bastilla jump. Acting on her instinct's command, she quickly spun around and faced the wall whilst aiming at it. She starts trembling even more and feels a few drops of sweat beginning to emerge on her forehead.
Another boom can be heard and the walls shake, this time the lights have their final flicker and are then destroyed therefore causing a pitch black darkness with the only provider of light the outside.
"Somebody light a candle!" Bastilla commands someone, walking around in hope of finding Amerath.
Not long after, someone near the door lights a candle. The light then shines on the door which is then shaking. The familiar yell of the Tusken Raider can be heard. Not long after, gunshots begin to errupt outside - one of which destroyed the lock. The next thing Bastilla sees is a Tusken Raider kick down the door. She then spots Amerath, sprints towards him, snatches him out of the professor's hands and dives onto the floor to hide. Whilst she is hiding, she can hear the screams of people in sync to gunshots.

 

[Cailst]

Colby continued to fire away at the advancing Tusken raiders. From what he could see, they didn't seem to have overwhelming numbers but they seemed to have enough. In the distance, he spotted some sort of mortar firing off a few more shots. Taking aim, he fired at it and something happened, he wasn't sure what. Meanwhile, the mortar shots definitely hit the shelter knocking out the lights and causing some of the walls to sway a little bit.

While he'd been distracted with the mortar, another one of the sand people approached kicking down the door altogether. He sprayed with a rain of bullets, presumably killing it. But as that happened, he noticed Bastilla bolt towards the professor.

As soon as the Professor lost hold of Amerath, he fell to the floor, knocked down by Bastilla's dive. Surrounded by others, he was kicked and stepped on a bit but managed to squirm away elsewhere in the crowd.

Colby didn't notice just where the professor went but he vanished after Bastilla ran into him. While she didn't seem to like him, he didn't think she'd kill him which she apparently did. Having failed his first mission, he figured he ought to at least get vengeance. He fired at the area where she apparently fell to the ground.

 

[SirNoodles]

Bastilla briefly screams as she feels an agonising pain suddenly hit her back. Definitely a bullet... Finding the pain unbearable, she starts crawling along the floor whilst carrying a crying Amerath. From all the sounds behind her, the sandpeople seem to have been taken care of.
Bastilla reaches up as she opens the emergency exit at the back of the shelter where all the escape pods are. She reckons the soldier will probably follow her. She then manages to get over to the escape pods very stiffly. She skims through them in hope of finding the baby size one. Underneath her, she can feel a cold, thick blood trickling from her back and quickly creating a puddle. She stiffly manages to open the escape pod. But before she can put Amerath in, she fully drops to the floor and looks at her baby.
"I... I'm sorry", she breathes and then her eyes close - never to open again.

 

[Cailst]

With that backstabber down, Colby fired with abandon at oncoming sand people. Most went down but some of the shots that used to barely miss started to hit his armor. His aim was knocked off a bit and he began to spray wildly. Suddenly, his magazine was empty. Filling it back up again, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lungs. He'd been hit, and it went through the body armor.

Staggering for a little bit, he pulled back into the full cover of the shelter. Everyone was gone. A few streaks of blood, trash, and some bodies littered the floor. Some of the candles had tipped over and were starting fires in the shelter. Hopefully, they made it to safety. Looking where he had shot Bastilla, he hoped to see if the Professor was somehow still alive. But all he could see was a trail of blood.

Stumbling, he followed the trail of blood. With short shallow breaths, he crawled through the emergency exit leaving his own trail. He saw a growing puddle of blood and then saw Bastilla with her child right above the escape pod.

"What have I done?" He cried. "How could I do that?"

All she had done was just for her baby, he was the betrayer, not her. How could he cause so much pain? And now, he didn't have any time to make it right. He would be dead within an hour if not sooner and no help would come for either of them.

But there was the baby. Even if they wouldn't make it, at least the baby might. He picked up little Amerath and placed him into the escape pod. There, he would be safe from whatever was coming whether it be more raiders or the slowly growing fire. Closing it, he slumped to the ground.

Laying beside her still breathing body, he cradled her head.

"If you can hear me, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I caused so much pain. But your baby is safe, he's in the escape pod."

Leaning forward a little, he kissed her forehead, and then leaned back. He closed his eyes and they would never open again either.