As the explosion hangs in the air "5" turns to B'ura B'an, Yes our last couple of cycles have been VERY dynamic... The droid looks down at the astromech, Are you all right?
Tok's eyes have yet to blink. "Holy shit, Val. That was badass."
R5 lets out a long, slow whistle.
Back with the team and admiring the handiwork of the large armament she just had the pleasure of discharging, Valkyr's cheek fur bristles somewhat as her teammates praise her. It might be the Selonian equivalent of blushing.
That's really very kind of you
she shows a mouthful of needle sharp fangs as a smile.
We still have that meeting to get to, shall we move on? That speeder over there looks in slightly better condition that the one we were previously travelling in...
A quick search of the bounty hunter's speeder nets you two stimpaks, a medpac, and an emergency repair kit. The speeder itself is ready, all it needs is a pilot and a destination.
B'ura B'an climbs aboard. "Let's get to New Meen, shall we?
XJ7-511 "pockets" the emergency repair kit settling himself down into the speeder, I would be most pleased to leave this place...
Valkyr herds the others in to the speeder
We have somewhere to be and no time to sightsee!
she pauses briefly to crouch down by a nearby rockpile, picking up what looks to be a Lylek tooth, before vaulting in to the speeder and tapping 5 on the shoulder.
we're all loaded, let's move!
Rae points to the driver's seat. "Tok, perhaps you'd better." She offers. "Your track record is far better than mine right now." Rae helps B'ura B'an in and then hops in the back herself, thinking of how lucky they are. 'Maybe I won't die on this rock after all.' She thinks with a grin.
The 'new' speeder is not fast, but is a more stable model than your last one. No other issues arrive to disturb your trip as you spend the last few hours of the day travelling across the hot wastes of Ryloth. The sun is just beginning to set as you arrive in New Meen.
New Meen looks set to redefine the word "hardscrabble." The settlement is little more than a shanty town nestled into the base of the cliffs that tower above it. A great pile of soil and rock has been raised up by machines and piled around the south side of the settlement. A few of the buildings look to be permanent (if ramshackle) structures, though most of the residents seem to make their home in tents. You guide the speeder through its dirt track streets, weaving to avoid piles of detritus and vapor
condensers. This place wouldn’t even support a cantina. No one seems eager to greet you on arrival, though the frightened faces of Twi’leks peer out from behind the canvas flaps of their rude dwellings.
The residents of New Meen are cautious and suspicious of you at first. However, once B’ura B’an is spotted, the atmosphere changes quickly.
“B’ura B’an! B’ura B’an is back!” and similar cries are raised throughout the town. Soon the residents of New Meen, twenty adult Twi’leks and a handful of their children, gather about the speeder. They gleefully hail the return of their leader (though some of them regard his maimed lekku with looks of pain and despair).
"5" does his best impression of raising -eyebrows- at the warm welcome, I do not think I have ever been party to such a warm impression...well a genuine one...not at all like Teemo's "celebrations".
We are drawing a large amount of attention, and our arrival here was expected, as evidenced by the welcoming committee we fell afoul of out in the wastes
Valkyr gestures back the way they've come with her blaster.
We should attend to our business here quickly then be away, for both our sakes and these people too...
B'ura B'an answers the many questions about what happened to him, and where he's been, describing in detail your efforts to aid him. The Twi'leks of New Meen take to you all immediately, hailing you as heroes and offering you food and shelter for the night.
Hearing Valkyr's words, B'ura B'an speaks: "You should stay here tonite at least. Night is no time to be wandering the wastes, predators are out, lyleks especially. And I'm sure you don't want to meet any more of those."
Once the commotion dies down, B'ura B'an and few of the settlement's leaders sit down by a large fire. They invite you to sit, and pass around what meager foodstuffs they have. After a short time to eat, B'ura B'an asks: "So, how does the situation with the development stand?" The mood immediately becomes somber. One of the leaders says it one word:"Bad."
"What exactly is the problem. You all are seem like good folk. And your food is super tasty!"
The Twi'leks look at Tok, then down at their basic ration packs, and back at Tok. Then they shrug.
As they each take it turn to speak, the story of the plight of New Meen comes to light.
A few months ago, a human contractor named Angu Drombb purchased a tract of land from one of Ryloth’s Feudal Oligarchs claiming that he
was going to build a desert oasis leisure complex there. It soon became something of an open secret among the Rylothan underworld that Drombb
planned to do nothing of the sort and was merely attempting to muscle in on the ryll trade.
No one seems to know who Drombb is; he seems to have no past. Despite this, he is throwing credits around. People suspect that he may be a front man for a wealthy individual who wishes to remain anonymous.
At first, Drombb’s presence was regarded as a blessing by the Twi’leks of New Meen, as his arrival coincided with the disappearance of a gang
of Aqualish thugs who had been extorting credit and favor from ryll miners in the area.
Within a short space of time, Drombb’s men began to make life difficult for the residents of New Meen. The pile of dirt surrounding the town was placed there by the developers and a number of power supplies have been “accidentally” damaged in the process of erecting the mound. Several minor acts of arson and larceny are also laid at the feet of the developers.
The Twi’leks have complained to the feudal oligarchs who sold the land, but they have clearly been bought by whoever backs Drombb.
"5" casts a glance at Rae to see how his friend is taking the story. After a moment the droid turns back to the group. "With no government aid what do you think you should do about this human?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
This is a sad story, and one of many variants of the same story told over and over by those oppressed by those with power over them.
Valkyr sighs and looks at the team.
We have our own issues though, Teemo is looking for us, we just barely survived a 'discussion' with his bounty hunters. Our very presence here brings huge risk to you and your families beyond even that which you are currently experiencing. I fail to see how we can help, or even what you are proposing, why you brought us here for this meeting
she looks at B'ura B'an, then Rae
Has some deal been struck that I'm unaware of?..
Rae remains quiet during the story, and even at Valkyr's question, she only shakes her head. All the while she's thinking that she owes them nothing, this planet that denounced her name, her family's name. She helped rescue B'ura B'an, and certainly that should be the end of it. But she wonders if it truly is.
Finally, she speaks, slowly, choosing her words carefully. "If Drombb is indeed being backed by someone else, someone offworld, what is there to do? Even if he is killed, surely that will just send someone else."
B'ura B'an looks at each of you as you speak in turn. His face is a mask of serenity, but the slight quaver in his voice betrays his disappointment.
"I understand. What indeed, can you do against all of this? No government backing, a huge risk, and surely there will always be 'someone else'. May as well give up, there isn't much point is there?" He says sadly. "Already some here want to just give up, move back to Nabat where it is 'safe'. I begin to think they are right."
He stands up, and looks out into the night sky of Ryloth. "Silly of me to think that there might something worth fighting for...a better life for these people...ah well." The old Twi'lek turns back to you. "Rest tonight my friends. It is the least we can offer you for bringing me here." He starts to walk back towards his dwelling, when he turns back again.
"I wonder though. It seems to me that those bounty hunters were a bit well-armed to try and capture one old, maimed Twi'lek." He smiles. The look of a concerned grandfather who knows his wayward children are in trouble. "I'm sure now that they are dealt with, their benefactor won't 'just send someone else'. No. I'm quite sure you are free to go about your business now. Good night."
As the old Twi'lek walks away, Rae looks towards 5, and then Valkyr, with an expression of embarrassment. "I-I didn't mean that they shouldn't try, you know that, right? I just meant that it might not be quick or easy. And without a plan..." She sighs, and shakes her head. "These haven't been my people in a long time, but that doesn't mean that I don't still want to help. I just don't know what I can do. I won't kill for them. Not again."
"I will. This feudal shit is barely a step above slavery. Everyone has the right to make their own way. Folks, I'll do what I can."
We could always attempt to ascertain who is the guiding hand of this Drombb fellow. Perhaps if his benefactor is exposed that will make it impossible to operate on the planet?
Tok nods. "Smarter. Better. Lots of ways we could go about this. Ain't like I got pressing business elsewhere."
Sleep that night is difficult to come by, with the events of the last two weeks keeping you awake. When you finally drift off (or shut down for the self-repair diagnostics to start)...
The sound of a metal-on-metal collision brings you straight to waking. Soon, loud voices raised in anger can be heard from outside your shelter.
Geniunely puzzled as to why B'ura B'an would want the trouble following the ex-employees of Teemo to further complicate his people's lives, Valkyr retires with troubled thoughts.
Waking in the middle of the night she concludes he must be desperate to attempt enlisting their help, and as the others seemed in favor of helping the Twileks, she resolves to do so as well. With that decided, she drifts off in to a more peaceful sleep, only to be rudely awoken again by a crash.
Rolling to her feet and scooping up her rifle, she hastily drags on her working suit and heads out to investigate, weapon held pointing at the floor, but ready to bring up in a heartbeat.
Prodded to powering up by the soft whine of R5, Xj7-511 rises from his seat, I understand you heard a loud crash R5 but how am I supposed to know what is going on... The droid pokes his head out the nearest portal to see if he can make out what happened...
Outside on the street, you see a large construction vehicle with the words 'Drombb Construction' emblazoned on the side. The machine is partially buried in the debris from a small dwelling and what's left of an evaporator. Several Twi'leks stand around the machine and its occupants, four rather large and rough-looking figures.
Voices drift over to you from the crowd. "Where will we live now? And what will we drink?" In response, the four merely shove their way through the crowd, stopping near your shelter to look at your speeder. Now that they are closer, you can see there are 3 Aqualish and a human, all dressed in dirty work overalls. They smell like they've been drinking...a lot.
The human looks at you and growls "Hey! We need to requisition your speeder." He climbs into the driver's seat. "I knew you'd understand," he laughs as he settles in.
Quickly assessing the situation and realising that a strong response is called for in order to break the worker's perceived self-dominance of the situation, Valkyr moves to the side of the speeder and raises her blaster, standing a meter or so away and pointing it directly at the worker's groin
You may find it difficult to requisition anything ever again if your hand moves so much as a muscle towards the control console for that vehicle...
she assesses the state of the group again, wrinkling her nose at the stench of cheap liquor wafting from them, and decides to make things clearer
Get out of the speeder, slowly, or I *will* shoot you
Val's demeanour is matter of fact and honest, she genuinely will injure the human if he does not get out in the next few seconds.
5....4....3....
[/smaller]"[/b] Our troubles continue...[b]" "5" deploys his sun blaster but stays hidden waiting to see how the people respond to the count down...
[smaller]-Posted with Wayfinder
Tok readies his blaster at one of the Aqualish. "I'd listen to her. She loves that speeder."
The thug sitting in the speeder is more than a little surprised to see Valkyr emerge and raise her blaster. For a moment, all of the thugs are stunned to find not simple miners, but armed and ready rogues with real threat in their voice.
Thugs aren't smart.
The four go for their blasters, the three aqualish diving behind the speeder, while the human tries to tumble away from Val's blaster rifle.
Valkyr fires as soon as she sees the human drawing a blaster.
With a clear shot and limited room to maneuver, the unprepared human didn't stand much chance against the trained assassin. Two concentrated bursts of automatic blaster fire stitch across the human's back as he dives for cover .
Valkyr assesses her options and whilst she is hesitant to put the speeder at risk, decides it's the best cover around for now, so ducks down behind it.
Still unsure of himself in any sort of "fire fight" situation the droid looks around to see if there are any flood lights or work style light on the outside of any of the buildings...
Blank/Triumph v 2 Failures
"5" does not see any kind of lighting system but something else does catch his eye...
Tok fires as the Aqualish dive, but the shots go wide. However, one of them falls on another, making their response more difficult.
If any of the Twi'leks are around outside, Rae will try to get them to safety, or at least out of Harm's way, as she knows that Valkyr and Tok won't hesitate to kill thieves.
If there aren't, then Rae is going to crack open a Glowstick and throw it into the Speeder, illuminating the villains.
Two small Twi'lek children are stuck in the street, wide-eyed and unable to move from fear...
Val downs the human thug as he tries to bail out of the speeder. The others fire their blaster pistols wildy, trying to stay out of the Selonian's line of sight. Their shots light the sky of New Meen, but not much more than that.
No good in a fight "5" rushes to the children either to aid Rae or to get them out of the way if she is otherwise preoccupied...
Thinking that a prolonged firefight from cover would cause large collateral damage, let alone be tactically unsound, Valkyr decides to try something else.
Letting her training come to mind, she picks the moment when 5 moves out towards the children as a distraction, and dives in to a roll towards a nearby alley between two houses, bursting back to her feet unseen and sprinting around the house, determined to catch the aqualish in a cross-fire if she can just get the right angle and surprise them from the side.
She moves unseen, but skids on some loose scree behind the house and loses precious seconds recovering her balance. Swearing under her breath she brings her rifle up and jogs around the corner.
"Your boss, who I'm guessing was kind of a dick to you, is toast now, fellas. You still going to die for a dead a!+~!$$?"
Rae rushes out into the street with 5, each of them scooping up one of the children.
The thugs are drunk beyond reason, and pay no heed to Tok's blathering.
One fires at '5' as he runs after the children, catching him in the leg and knocking him prone. The others miss as they try to fire at shadows.