Tangerine Skies

[Chuck Owens]

Tangrene
Dawn
@Deviant @Bigfatpenn​

The fire burned low, each ember squeezing out its last dregs of heat. Deen Jacmin sat on a rounded boulder off to one side, struggling to keep his eyes open. The sun began to crawl into view over the grainy horizon, setting the sky ablaze with tangerine fire. He hadn't slept a wink. Every time he tried to lay down and shut his eyes, he was disturbed by a sound, or maybe just a feeling, and he was immediately awake again. It must have been the altitude: Deen wasn't a huge fan of heights and up here in the mountains you were only ever a few feet away from a sheer drop. People lived here, this was their home. Just thinking about spending anymore time up here made him feel queasy. Although they had set up camp on a sheltered plateau, a good deal of their journey so far had been on narrow, slippery paths and rocky outcrops where one wrong foot meant a broken neck.

Deen had arrived on Tangrene three days prior, responding to a call for aid high in the mountains. This planet was on the verge of Sith space and Deen was uneasy at first, but the mission details were straight forward and non confrontational. Deen and his partner Chel Letto had made contact with the nomad tribe in the area and supplied much needed medical equipment and support materials: water filtration systems, quick and easy shelter solutions and high energy nutrition bars (also what they had been living off for the last three days. Deen doubted the locals would be too pleased with the bitter sludge). They had a day or two's hike ahead of them, depending on the weather, to reach the starport and return to the Jedi Temple.

Deen gazed out over the valley below. The view was breathtaking and terrifying, a sea of wastes stretching out further than the eye could see, completely and utterly desolate. It was hard to imagine life thriving here, let alone any functioning society. Deen tried to imagine himself as one of the nomads, constantly moving from place to place, never resting, never staying still for more than a few days. In some ways, their lives weren't so different from his.

The sun edged ever further over the horizon, first just a sliver, then a wedge, and finally a glorious sunrise. Whatever you might say about the people or the quality of life, the views were simply breathtaking.

 

[Chel Letto]

(What it looks like without the sunrise?)
Theme

​

As Deen awoke and darted up the mountain Letto quickly followed not far behind, his duffel bag and utility belt jingling as they walked, Letto hadn’t excepted this to mission to have this much walking vertical, he regretted bring all this equipment including his Tanzoh, it always seemed as if every time he went on a mission the shuttle never landed close enough it’s either, “Oh sorry Letto we can’t land any closer, trees!” or “Letto I can’t land any closer, private property!” Gah! The little things sometimes, they infuriated Letto. He walked up next to Deen to inquire a question wandering in his mind the past half an hour. “Hey, huh Deen, how much farther it is? My datapad only gave an arbitrary number do you know if it’s that much more?” Besides walking in high altitude Letto had enjoyed this mission thus far Letto really enjoyed Deems company thus far this mission and the last one, so he was excited.

The journey thus far had been very pleasant, gruelling at times but pleasant, no one or no thing tried to kill them which was a plus, yet today felt oddly different, the air was thicker and the wind blew slower, Letto figured it was altitude, although as they’d gone up the scenery had slowly but surely began to remind him of his mission Bardotta all those years ago with his old master Alex, as he thought he couldn’t help but think of the rotting bodies of the monks mutilated by Olhm, it made him shiver. Looking back on it that felt like so long ago yes it had been almost two years but it felt like a lifetime.
@Deviant

 

[Deviant]

Reconnaissance proceeded as anticipated. As the moon dipped out of the sky, giving way to an emerging dawn, Eryn sauntered through the many aisles of the mountain. His boots gnawed into cadaverous snow, muffled and stifled in the high altitude of the peak. The break of day wrought astonishment, and the empty expression strewn across his face gradually lit up in awe at the sunrise. Though the huger to take a mere break christened for him, he knew time was not in his favor. If Eryn would ever come to escape the bitter and lackluster atmosphere of the summit, he'd have to continue his hike further down the elevation.

The metal of his saber lance ached against the crisp draft. Carving intricately into derelict sleet, it had evolved into his own personal hiking cane in the preceding days. Though explicit combat had yet to reach him, Eryn knew full well that conflict could just be around the corner.

Slipping farther down the slope, he poised himself behind the purview of several jagged rocks. Before he was to continue, brittle voices echoed up the inclination. He was quick to peer scrupulously between the crack of rocks down to the livid silhouettes of two strangers. Nomads? Unlikely. Explorers? Doubtful. Tangrene was a world barren of any offer for outsiders: unless it was of far-reaching necessities, like that of his own scout assignment. Either these two adolescents were awkwardly probing the mountain as simple vagabonds, or they were distinctive threats. If Jedi, at worst, he knew he'd have no choice but to dispatch them. None could know of his bearings— nobody.

As he moved his lightsaber pike in a manner of affront, Eryn prepared for the worst while the two strangers advanced ever closer.

Spoiler: OOC

You thought I forgot, didn't you? Well, you're right.
So, here's a post. <3

 

[Chuck Owens]

Deen didn't know how much time he spent staring into the Tangerine skies, but he was captured by its magnificent glory for perhaps too long. When Letto approached him from behind, he was so engrossed he almost jumped clean out of his skin. He breathed a sigh of relief, which quickly turned to irritation, when he realised the sudden noise was just his Kyuzo companion.

"Hey! Don't sneak up on me like that! I almost fell off the mountain." He wasn't actually angry, just startled. "Sorry, I'm not entirely sure. If we hadn't taken that 'shortcut' yesterday we'd probably be there by now. Just keep trudging on, if we make good progress today, we should get to the port by nightfall. But only if those little legs can keep up."
​

Deen's voice rang out across the empty sierra. Now the mission was complete, the Padawan was getting impatient and rash, no longer covering tracks, smothering campsites or bothering to keep his voice low. He packed up his equipment and set off on the track again, the large rucksack weighing down his shoulders. There was no vital equipment in there, just the bare essentials: sleeping mat, tent, food rations etc. Deen's most important equipment was fastened to his belt, which was hidden by thick robes and furs. There hung his lightsaber, water flask and, perhaps most important of all, his datapad, without which he would be lost on top of this desolate summit armed with only a rudimentary understanding of navigation and knowledge of the stars. Tangrene was a perilous place for the unprepared.

The snow made the journey long and tough and Deen was just starting to falter. They were only a half hour into their fourth day of trek, but the lack of sleep the night prior was starting to affect Deen both mentally and physically. His feet and shoulders were sore, his fingers were seizing up in the brisk chill and he dreamed of a warm fire. Closing his eyes, he smiled in anticipation of what he would do as soon as he got back to the temple. A long bath, with incense, bubbles. A massage, to free up his knotted back. Or maybe he would-

Deen's feet gave way suddenly and he fell, sharply ricocheting off a gnarled root, tumbling quicker down the snowy path, his rucksack thrown from his shoulders and his lightsaber digging painfully at every turn, landing with a resounding thump in a patch of snow. Lucky. Groaning half in pain and half in embarrassment, he got to his feet and looked up towards his partner, confirming he escaped the worst of the injuries he might have sustained. But, there was something else here. He felt it, a dark presence, similar to the feeling he had last night. His eyes widened and he pulled the saber from his belt. Something was very wrong.

 

[Chel Letto]

Deen’s jump when Letto had spoken to him ironically made him jump as well, “S… Sorry sorta zoning in and out of consciousness whilst walking hahah, yeah that shortcut wasn’t very helpful especially not the part with the gundark, nightfall you say? I could do that., easy peezy.” As Letto finished he reached into his bag grabbing his cantina and taking a long swig, he felt quite dehydrated. “Hey huh Deen. I was wondering back on Ankus, what lightsaber form do you use?” Letto said curiously he’d always been fascinated on others opinion on the forms.

The sun continued to creep up the mountain side in orange bliss still hurting Letto's eyes whenever he turned thankfully he could use his hat to cover it, as a Kyuzo let to had always had a problem with bright lights, it drove him crazy, not to mention being at such high altitudes wasn't helping his breathing.

 

[Deviant]

His ears strained in the bitter current of the ridge. As disparate voices grew even closer, as did his impeding anxiety, tormenting him with thoughts of affliction. He would dare not bring himself to murder mere children, but at the same time his rationale screamed to cast them aside. Pressing an open hand against the temple of his head, he fastened his eyes to a profound close. It was in the crepuscule of his mind, that he found the solution. Or at least, what he hoped as one.

Still behind the tremendous screen of a boulder, Eryn indulged in a burgeoning stretch of the force. Muted and soft, a breath slipped between his chilled jowl. In the spur of a moment, he raised his staff to an explicit angle, and thrusted it down to the corner of the jagged rock in which he masked himself. With a tremendous clout of the force, the boulder cracked and riled itself to a slant, before collapsing entirely down the slope of the mountain. Along with it would come several other wedges of stone, all of which would come barreling down to the unsuspecting interlopers.

Hopefully, they'd be buried in the pithy avalanche, or at least disappear in his precipitous attack. At least he could say he was not the one to take their lives, necessarily. However, if the two Jedi were to survive, then he'd certainly have no choice but to dispatch the duo.

OOC: Meh post with a meh attitude.
@Chuck Owens