Tarros musters up some courage and corrects Vyr. "Well, Samuels also said the old droid factory was a good place to look. It's probably more dangerous than a museum, though, so I agree we should check the museum first."
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Tarros spends an uncomfortable night, his broken fingers keeping him from sleeping soundly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the morning, he dresses and tosses on his cloak, pulling on his backpack overtop for now.
"Those guys weren't very nice," Tarros mutters to nobody in particular as they walk away.
Tarros stumbles back into consciousness. "Ouch." Looking down, he sees Anders's treatment. "Oh, thanks."
Tarros isn't quite ready for the explosion.
Tarros keeps an eye out for any hostiles coming behind the others, rifle ready.
The pain of the blaster bolt refocuses Tarros. Taking a deep breath, he aims and returns the favour.
Tarros shifts his aim to the one who's getting close, but he presses the trigger before his aim is settled.
Tarros takes a deep breath and lines up a shot.
Tarros carefully lines up a shot, firing with deadly accuracy.
Tarros fires back a shot while looking for cover.
Tarros instantly wakes at the first explosion, fumbling for his missing backpack. He sighs as he remembers where he is, and sits alertly on his bed. When the door is unlocked, he is standing and ready for action.
Tarros raises an eyebrow at the irony, but says nothing.
"Yeah, you looked like you were enjoying yourself." Tarros sighs gently, then stands up and looks around the new cell. "So I guess they believe us. You think they'll let us go? Or do you think they want us to help them out first?"
"They put me in a room with monitors. I was watching you guys. They made it look like you were gonna get jumped and killed, and told me to answer their questions. I told them the truth, and they put me back here." Tarros stares off into nothing. "I wasn't sure they would listen to me. Turns out they couldn't have killed you, so I guess that's nice."
Tarros takes a deep breath, both to steady his nerves and because he's gonna need the air. Once he starts talking he doesn't stop, answering the questions in rapid-fire fashion. "Look, I dunno how to convince you. We represent ourselves, and sorta Clan Revik of Mandalore. We came from Mandalore. We only met last week. We're here because some old guy who froze himself for millenia said he left a droid here and if we find that droid we get into Clan Revik. We didn't know this was your land. We were under the impression that this place was just ruins. I don't know anything about any ship, unless you mean the one we arrived in. I dunno where they went, they had their own mission. There were two of them on board, both from Clan Revik. I don't know who or what the Rat is, and my only guess is it might be those gangers we ran away from. That's all the truth. You gotta believe me." Tarros takes another long breath after he finishes but otherwise sits still, only his eyes flicking from monitor to monitor. "I don't even know who you guys are. We're not your enemies. Please, let us go."
"Tarros, please tell me you kept something." "What? Um, no. I didn't want to get caught. They kinda could shoot us at any time here." Tarros looks around the room. "This sucks."
"Whoa, whoa!" Tarros's eyes grow large, but he does not flinch. "He's telling the truth! We're just here to look for an old droid who get left here thousands of years ago. We found a guy in a stasis chamber and he told us to go here and find it. We don't want any trouble, and those bandits obviously weren't any friends of ours."
Tarros's eyes widen, and he makes sure his hands are far away from his weapons.
"We've got a pretty good lead, and those hills can help us break line of sight. Want to try and lose them? Or we could wait until we reach the ruined city and shake them there."
Tarros takes his time and uses Anders' cable.
"Thanks for the rope," he comments. "I'm not so great at climbing. Keep my feet on the ground most of the time."
Now that Tarros is closer, he is less confident of this plan. "That looks pretty tricky to climb. I dunno... maybe we should just try to take out the guards. There are fewer now, and they're not really paying good attention."
"Yeah. Until dark, at least."
"They're probably a raider gang. Weren't mentioned in the official guide, but if you look in the right places you can find out what really happens on a planet. Been lots of manufacturing here for millenia, so lots of parts lying around."
Tarros goes to find a good spot, some distance away from the bad guys.
"Okay. Wait for night then? Maybe we should get some distance and rest so we're ready to go later."
Tarros relays the information to his team. "We're outnumbered, and they have a big gun. That's a bad idea to attack, right?"
Tarros looks for somewhere to hide and pulls out his electrobinoculars.
"Yeah. Sorta did this for a living." Tarros mentally debates for a moment, but figures that by this point his companions are unlikely to actually be Hutt agents. "I worked for the Hutts. I'd guide smugglers through rough areas - jungles, swamps, deserts. Y'know, places where you can drop off or pick up some glitterstim without the spaceport authorities knowing. Started off just trying to make some cash on the side, but I got in too deep. Couple weeks ago I walked off the job, right through the rainforest on Phindar." Tarros shrugs. "Hopped a few shuttles till I got to Mandalore. Figured they were one group the Hutts wouldn't touch." Tarros keeps forging a path as they go, ducking branches and stepping over fallen logs. "I got pretty good at this stuff. I mean, I was good when they first recruited me. But practice makes you better, and I've got a couple years of doing this under my belt. Don't walk through those plants." Tarros points without looking back. "They'll give you a rash. Walk where I do."
Tarros takes a quick moment to get his bearings before leading the group towards the ruins.
Tarros seems surprised by Vyr's agreement, secretly pleased at the vote of confidence.
Tarros doesn't mind being dropped in the middle of nowhere. He's confident he can keep them fed and get them where they need to go, but defers to the rest of the group.
Tarros looks up information on Balmorra on the HoloNet, as he usually does before visiting a new planet. He checks for both dangerous and easy-to-find edible flora and fauna, basic planetary geography, standard weather patterns, and other such information vital to survival, in case the worst happens.
Tarros absentmindedly notes the room's content, busy thinking about whether he really wants to do this. However, when Grovan mentions that success will earn them a place in the clan he snaps to attention.
Testing the edge of the knife, Tarros gives a nod. Stashing the equipment in his backpack, he puts on his cloak and runs for the speeder.
"I wouldn't complain, Tarros. We get to go off world on some kind of adventure. I would rather do that then the stuff we have to do here. Is it sad that i would rather be shoot at then clean out a barn? Maybe?" "Um. Yeah? Getting shot at is really low on my list. Dying is even further down. Dying without getting paid for it is right at the bottom."
"Whoa, who put this guy in charge? I guess Clan Revik is taking this seriously." If he gets the chance, Tarros wants to talk to Trask about Koth, to see if the old former Jedi has any thoughts.
Tarros shrugs apologetically, and gets back to work.
"Yeah. I didn't sign up for a crusade. And bantha dung is worse. They're bigger and don't chew as well."
"Took a class on it. 'Jedi Influence in Galactic Government and Leadership.' It's the real deal. Solo didn't end up so bad - married the Chief of State, had Jedi kids. He's basically a Skywalker now." Tarros pushes around a semi-solidified chunk of excrement with his shovel. "I dunno. It sounds pretty wacky, but his stuff seemed really old."
Tarros nods and heads to the barn. He's quiet as he patiently shovels nerf dung, deep in thought.
"Wait, what the hell?" Axel says as Vyr turns to leave. "You wake up some senile old man in a bacta tank and he tells you to go save the galaxy from a threat that ended 4000 years ago, and you just, what, agree? Just like that?" Axel looks dumbfounded. He looks at Vyr, then the man collapsed on the bed, then at Vyr again. "The hell you smokin' bro? For all you know, the guy's brains could be scrambled. I seen people, spend their lives hooked on skooma and sh*t. Come outta that thinkin' they're lookin' straight, but can't make sense o' yesterday or tomorrow. Get your head on straight, man. This ain't right!" "He's talking about Jedi stuff. This kinda stuff happens for real with them." Tarros leans back, looking resigned. "And once you're tangled up with them, you're stuck. Have you heard about Han Solo? They say he started off just by giving a ride to a Jedi. That destiny stuff - we found him. I bet we're already trapped." Tarros pushes himself to his feet. "Come on. We might as well see what Vyr's talking to Ffon about."
"What. This guy is crazy. That's not how real life works. No way this is real. It's gotta be a plant." Tarros takes another moment to think over again what he just heard, and realizes one word came up an awful lot - Jedi. A sudden realization strikes Tarros like a lightning bolt.
Tarros drops to a seat as if stunned, still quietly swearing to himself under his breath.
Tarros blinks. And blinks again. And waits for someone else to break the bad news.
Tarros waits while the others speak, pondering the old man's words.
Tarros follows along, not too upset that Vyr forgot to mention him. At least he didn't get yelled at again.
"Um, yeah. There's an old bunker we found. Got lots of meat off of a ronto too. Were you following us at all? The ronto had blast marks on it."
"Um. Guys? If all that was in the hole was really old stuff, who cut the game trail right beside it? And shot the ronto? Maybe we should hurry."
What. Tarros leaves the others to work out the reprecussions and dashes over to the ladder and looks up.
Tarros doesn't say anything, tired of being yelled at for his ideas. He grips his blaster tighter as Vyr moves up to input the code, glancing back at the door.
Tarros waits, blaster ready. |