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Star Wars - A New Power Ch. 24 - Departure
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<blockquote data-quote="Angcuru" data-source="post: 2184101" data-attributes="member: 10948"><p><strong>5 - Worse Than Masliths</strong></p><p></p><p>"Concentrate on my movements, Kal, not just my blade." The crackling noise of two lightsaber blades colliding burst through the air. "Remember that in a real fight, your entire body must wield your blade. A simple repositioning of the feet or bending of the knees can grant you a new angle of attack, but your opponent has the same capacity."</p><p></p><p>To reinforce his point, Arias shifted his footing and brought the tip of his lightsaber's white blade within a centimeter of Kal Donoma's eye. "Dead again, my young apprentice." Arias took a step back and brought a single blade of his double lightsaber to a neutral position. "Now we'll work on your attack. Come at me."</p><p></p><p>Kal rushed forward and brought the blade down in an overhead chop that was easily blocked. The blade rose again for another strike, this time to the shoulder. Blocked again.</p><p></p><p>"You're wasting your movements, Kal. Once you strike, do not think about where to strike next, follow your instincts. One attack must become the other; do not allow yourself to pause your assault to seek a weak point." Arias held his blade at the ready, waiting for Kal's next move.</p><p></p><p>Sweat building up in his brow and matting his short hair, Kal fiercely tries to focus his will.</p><p></p><p>With a forward step, he slashes in a horizontal arc, immediately flowing into a vertical cut.</p><p></p><p>Master Arias is like a blur, he evades every swing, but Kal is determined not to lose his concentration, focusing, blocking out the jungle teeming with life and noise, until all he can see is the movement of the two shining blades of his opponent. He blocks one strike and another, trying to look confident. A well placed kick makes him stumble, falling backwards into a small pool of warm mud.</p><p></p><p>Kal grabs the helping hand of his master and springs to his feet, casting down his eyes as he starts to hear another lecture about his concentration..</p><p></p><p>A year of training since earning the honor of being a Sethi learner, and still I am defenseless before my Master. One day I will be as powerful as he is!!</p><p></p><p>"Better, Kal. But don't concern yourself with matching my abilities. Focus on improving your own, bit by bit. If you look to the future, the now will pass you by and you will learn nothing." </p><p></p><p>Arias scratched his beard, looking over his now mud-covered apprentice. He grinned, and clapped Kal on the back. "Ah, but that's enough training for today! Let’s head back home and get something to eat. And maybe get you some clean clothes, too." He headed off towards the settlement, beckoning for Kal to follow.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>"I'll be fine for now, thank you..." he trailed off a moment, idly watching Kia, finding himself more curious than anything. There was much he wanted to know, but just couldn't bring himself to pry when they had a ship to fix, "Guess we should get this thing up and running again, hm?"</p><p></p><p>Underneath his breath mask, Aasan grins and then moves to start making the necessary repairs to get at least the repulsorlifts online and operating.</p><p></p><p>"Getting the ship running is the plan, though I think it'll take awhile, I wish my music files hadn't all been purged, give us something to listen to, not that you'd like them, Gand music is an acquired taste, same with Twi’lek and Sullustun," the girl offers naming species with sensory abilities beyond that of humans.</p><p></p><p>"You've been out wandering the space ways for a long time I guess, since you were talking about before I was born, just exactly how long have you been out here, and how do you know about the Jedi, I mean, in my house, Jedi were always a taboo subject. I kind of figured that I'm related to one, a little distantly, but it’s not the kind of thing you can ask with the Empire's hunters all around." Kia said, working a bolt with a hydro-spanner.</p><p></p><p>At Kia's comment, Aasan paused from checking over the systems for a short moment. After thinking about it, he then went back to work as he spoke through his breath mask, "I fought in the Clone Wars alongside the Jedi. No, before you ask, I'm no Jedi. I was part of the Antarian Rangers...doubt you've heard of them as they were hunted down just like the Jedi were. I ah, was young then...very young. Probably too young. I saw firsthand what the Empire was capable of when the Purge began and Jedi were murdered...a Jedi Master, my partner through the wars...he...he gave his life so that I could escape Coruscant.</p><p></p><p>Since then, just been out in the middle of no where trying to find others that survived. Not had much luck either...to be honest, you're about the only person I've run into in the last thirty years that I don't think is just joking around when you say you're Force Sensitive," he sighed and shrugged, "But its a big galaxy out there."</p><p></p><p>After Aasan and Kia pull up the floor panels to inspect the damage first hand, it becomes apparent that the diagnostic computer was not exaggerating. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Wires that used to be contained in neat, orderly bundles were now all about the compartment. At least two large cracks were seen in braces holding something that looked important, and it looked like a lot of the control circuitry was fried. </p><p></p><p>The damage was repairable, but Aasan estimates that with Kia's help, he could have the repulsorlifts running within eight or ten hours, with another hour or so for the main computer to recalibrate the system and perform an additional diagnostic to be sure. Just as well, because from the look of the light outside, it would be night soon.</p><p></p><p>The Kel Dor suddenly began to feel how tired he really was. He hadn't had any sleep in at least twenty hours, not counting the time he was knocked out. Because really, being unconscious isn't very restful. Although the human girl didn't admit it, she looked like she could use a rest, too.</p><p></p><p>Kia yawned and worked her neck around easing out some of the tension that had built up over the hours of lying out fixing things in cramped spaces. She takes another gulp from her drink pouch before discarding it, and then gets back to work on the repairs. She fought of the urge to sleep, it was more important to get the ship up and running, she could sleep later. Idly wishing that she could use the force to rejuvenate herself, Kia sighed and kept on with the repairs</p><p></p><p>Half an hour later, she was ready throw in the towel for the night, she had been trying to tighten the same bolt for the past five minutes, and she kept having to jerk herself back to awake. "I think I'm done for today, I just can't keep awake, and I'd rather fix it then make it worse. I'll make sure the landing ramp is snug, and then I'm turning in, feel free to appropriate any berth or whatever and fill it with your gas, or whatever so you can sleep." Kia says, before slowly and painfully extricating herself from the access tunnels. She is as good as her word in checking up on the ramp before heading into her quarters and securing her door for the night. She barely stops to step out of her boots, shirt, and shorts before crawling into her bunk and falling asleep.</p><p></p><p>At the suggestion of sleeping, Aasan can't really justify disagreeing. So, with a nod, and a comment not to come into the quarters he plans to use before the gas is completely out, Aasan finds a place that he can seal up safely, and then uses one of the gas breather canisters to attach to the ventilation system only within the room. After letting the gas vent into the room, he lets out a sigh and finally removes the mask and goggles, glad to be rid of them for at least a short time before trying to get some sleep.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Looking at the settlement, Jorran followed Miera in through the gate.</p><p></p><p>"This is quite an improvement over my pod.</p><p></p><p>"That is an odd sentiment for someone who just crash landed on an uncharted planet." Miera laughed. "It's a simple way of life. In some ways, I prefer it over the Old Republic. The universe seems so much larger when you are in one place for so long a time. Of course it has its hardships, like contending with the masliths, nightstalkers, and other undesirables, but we get by well enough."</p><p></p><p>Jorran was drawing lots of attention from the villagers, and several were staring openly. He felt a small tug at his pant leg. Looking down, he saw a young bright-eyed Twi'lek girl, oddly red in color. "'Scuse me, mister, but I don' rec'nize you. Wha's your name?"</p><p></p><p>Jorran smiled.</p><p></p><p>"I'm Jorran. Miera and Adrial found me when I fell out of the sky."</p><p></p><p>After sharing a few more words with the girl, he turned back to Miera.</p><p></p><p>"I'm just glad I didn't land in an ocean, and that this planet has anyone on it at all. Just another step on the path, right? This isn't near as bad as hiding in that garbage facility on Nar Shaddaa..." He gets a wistful look in his eye for a moment, then it passes. "So, how can I make myself useful until the people in the other ship arrive?"</p><p></p><p>Miera smiled as the young girl ran off to tell her friends about the strange man from the sky. "It shouldn't be too long until Arias comes back from training Kal. Until then, I'd suggest learning the layout of the camp. I'll see what I can do about finding you a place to stay. If you're hungry at all, Old Orran could use a hand getting tonight's meal together. You can find her by the fire pits at the center of the village. Or, if you're mechanically inclined, you could help Nikana fix our generator. It's been acting up lately, and he thinks it might give out altogether one of these days. He's just south of the fire pits in our crafting area. Now if you don't have any questions I'll go find you somewhere to sleep for the night."</p><p></p><p>Jorran thought to himself for a moment.</p><p></p><p>"I think I'll help cook--I don't think I'd be much help with the generator."</p><p></p><p>Following Miera's directions, Jorran finds an elderly woman along with several children huddled around a long table near two shallow stone-lined pits. On the table are various unfamiliar vegetables and several large hunks of unidentifiable meat still on the bone. At Jorran's approach, the children who were busy cleaning soil off of the vegetables stopped what they were doing. Several elbowed each other and pointed at Jorran, whispering amongst themselves.</p><p></p><p>"Stop gawking and finish cleaning them veggies!" Orran yelled at the kids. They went stiff for a moment before going back to their chores, several of them muttering under their breath. The old woman turned around as Jorran approached. She did not seem in the least bit surprised or shocked to see him.</p><p></p><p>"I suppose you're the 'man from the sky' the kids have all been yapping about. Well, for once they're not just making up some nonsense." She looked him up and down " Well, save the life story for later, there's food to be prepared. Damn arthritis, I can barely hold a knife anymore, and there's no way I'm going to let one of the children do it. Give an old woman a hand and trim those maslith legs for us, will you?"</p><p></p><p>Jorran places his coat and belongings beneath the table and gets to work trimming the meat.</p><p></p><p>Orran notices the lightsaber amongst his possessions, and gives him a strange look before peeling the husk off of an odd-looking fruit.</p><p></p><p>Although it was pitch dark in the wilderness due to the thick foliage blocking out the fading sun, at the settlement it was twilight. With Jorran's help, Orran and the children have prepared a thick stew in a large cauldron. If you could call it a cauldron, as it was actually the crashed transport's sensor dome covered with a sheet metal lid. The villagers had gathered around for their evening meal to eat, socialize, and ogle the "man from the sky".</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, one of the wall sentries, and elderly man holding one of the settlement's few blaster rifles, gave out a cry for silence. "Be quiet for a moment!"</p><p></p><p>From outside the walls, a faint cry was heard. "Close the gates! Close the gates!" The sentry wordlessly fired his blaster rifle into a brazier at his corner of the wall. The oil within ignited into a bright flame, a quick signal to the other sentries to drop the gates. With four quick tugs of rope, the gates fell to earth, blocking off entry to the village.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Just as she had fallen asleep, Kia was awoken by a sudden, ear-splitting screech. She sat bolt upright at the sudden sound, but then there was nothing. After a minute or so of listening, Kia rationalized that she must have imagined the sound, and she lay back down to try and fall back to sleep. Not ten seconds had past before there was a banging, scratching noise coming from all around her, as if she were in a metal canister and someone was assaulting it with rocks and sandpaper.</p><p></p><p>"What in the name of the Sith is going on?" Kia yells as she bolts upright, she grabs her blaster pistol and lightsaber as she bolts from the room, not mindful of the fact that she is only wearing her under-garments. She darts off the 8 meters from her door to the cockpit, and throws herself into the pilot chair, looking outside to see if she can see whets causing the racket. She flips a switch on the upper control panel, which should cause the outer hull lights to come on, if they aren't broken.</p><p></p><p>As Kia hit the switch for the external cockpit floodlights, she found the source of the disturbance.</p><p></p><p>There had to be at least fifty of the things out there, throwing themselves bodily against the hull and scratching, biting at it to try and get through. They were obviously canine, reminding her of 'greyhounds' that some Corellian politicians kept as pets, only they were double the size, had razor sharp claws, and solid red eyes. They took no notice of the sudden light that pierced the dark of night, and kept assaulting the hull. Several of them were on top of the Dawnsprinter now around the cockpit, slavering and trying to get at Kia.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Several hundred meters out at the thinning edge of the forest, those who had quickly gathered at the gates could see Arias and Kal sprinting towards the village. The reason for their flight was quickly evident. Not far behind them were dozens of vicious-looking creatures twice the size of masliths and twice as dangerous looking. Their red eyes burned as they chased the Sethi Master and his Apprentice at a relentless pace. One of the forerunners was quickly catching up to Kal, who was having difficulty keeping his wind. </p><p></p><p>It pounced, and would have brought the young man down but for the flash of white light that severed its head, the decapitated body landing heavily on Kal. "Go! Get up the wall!" Arias shouted at Kal as he charged the pack of hellish canines. The white double lightsaber danced all about at blinding speed, with another beast falling as soon as it was within reach of the Sethi Master. "NOW!" Arias shouted at his apprentice, who had only just pushed the fallen creature off of himself.</p><p></p><p>Kal didn't look back as he ran towards the wall. Never before had his master ever sounded so urgent, and he wasn't about to argue. Kal took hold of a rope lowered by a sentry, and was quickly resting atop the wall, regaining his wind.</p><p></p><p>Outside the wall, the beast kept coming and coming. Arias took on five at a time, and with every other slash of his blades, another of the beasts died. There had to be hundreds of them pouring out of the forest, and by the look of things, the lone warrior would soon be surrounded.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Kia involuntarily flinches at a particularly vicious jumping attack by one of the hounds. For once her sarcastic wit seemed to have failed her and she had nothing to say. She didn't have any trouble imagining what those teeth and claws could do to her if she was cut out by them. Shivering, she triggered the ship's inter-com. "Aasan, can you come up her? We're under attack... I don't think they can get in though. I'm gonna see If I can't get the Anti-personnel weapons to work. The Dawnsprinter has a pair of e-webs, it should be enough to put down the creatures."</p><p></p><p>The girl shivers, wearing nothing but underwear, but she doesn't notice it as she flips the switch to charge the ships weapons array. Waiting a few seconds for the guns to charge, she flips another switch, one that was hidden and would lower the two blasters from their concealed positions, and allow the turrets to fully swing in a 360 degree arc. The next thing the girl did was engage the ships fire-control computer, something that would make it much more accurate then she would be, assuming she was big enough to hold the weapon in the first place. But with the fire control, all she had to do was operate the ships computer, something she was very good at, and the fire control subroutines would translate that into accuracy that would make a storm trooper envious.</p><p></p><p>The ship's anti-personnel weapons popped out from their hidden compartments, or at least that's what should have happened. Instead, only one fully extended, while the other was half-buried in the stream and couldn't extend to a proper firing position. Kia set the firing rate to maximum and slammed her fist down onto the firing button. The one functional blaster opened up on the swarm of beasts, firing a mess of red streaks all around them. Shot after shot streaked into them, with one beast falling to the fire every fifteen seconds or so.</p><p></p><p>After several minutes of enduring the continual fire, the pack of creatures had apparently pinpointed the origin of the blaster fire, and tried to move out of its arc of fire, while still keeping up their assault on the cockpit. Eventually they all clambered up into the top of the ship out of the blaster's firing zone, swarming around the cockpit. At least twenty of them had fallen, but that did nothing to dissuade their assault. </p><p></p><p>The horrible scratching pounding noise continued.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Kal desperately watches the creatures’ relentless advance, and his master efforts to keep them at bay.</p><p></p><p>My place is at the side of my master, to help him or die trying! </p><p>he thinks, igniting his lightsaber, and grabbing the rope. But a new idea dawns on him.</p><p>Perhaps there is time to try one trick first..</p><p></p><p>Kal turns off his lightsaber and sits with his legs crossed at the top of the wall. Eyes closed, the young apprentice tries to focus on feeling the force around him. Against the background of life-rich jungle he senses the aura of his master shining like a powerful beacon. Surrounding him Kal senses the auras of the feral monsters, dozens of them. Simple, vicious. Motivated by instincts like hunger..... or fear. What would scare them, make them hesitate enough for his master to reach the walls? Maybe a wall of fire, or a bigger predator...</p><p></p><p>The boy calls to the light side of the force, and summons his will to manifest the adequate illusion between the monsters and his master, trying to fool their simple minds.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Kia groans as the dog things climb up the ship and get away from the E-web. Everything was sealed up tight, and there was no way they would get through the transparisteel of the cockpit, and even less likely was them getting through the hull plating itself. The girl didn't really think she was in danger, at least for the moment, but she couldn't really relax either. She wanted the dog things off her ship in the worst way, and she came up with a plan to get that to happen. As plans go, it wasn't particularly elegant, but it should work.</p><p></p><p>Kia flips a switch to retract the e-web, and then she shuts down all non-essential systems. Next she connects the power feed directly to the whole, where it should electrify the outside of the ship, sort of like those predator deterrents that scientists used when they were in the field.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>As she watches the beasts attack, Adrial turns to Miera. "Master Pannar! Can we not help Master Falm?"</p><p></p><p>"No, Adrial. Arias may be outnumbered, but that doesn't mean that he's outmatched." Miera watched the horde of beasts continuing to assault her lover.</p><p></p><p>Arias' voice entered her mind. Is Kal safe?</p><p></p><p>Yes, he's on the wall now. She replied telepathically.</p><p></p><p>Good. Arias executed a blindingly rapid series of strikes all about him, killing those beasts closest to him. Before he could be engaged by additional creatures, Arias pushed out with the force and flew back thirty five meters away from the pack and towards the wall. As he landed and began to sprint back to the village, he felt an odd twinge in the force. Looking back he saw a wall of fire spring up out of the ground between himself and the pack of beasts. It deterred the beasts for but a moment, before they collectively rushed through the flames towards Arias. The gap wasn't much, but it was enough. Kal's master rushed head on towards the wall, and just as he was about the crash face first into the wooden barrier, he shot up into the sky and landed on the wall right next to Kal. Those around the wall heard the pack crash into it, with the sound of more than a few broken bones.</p><p></p><p>"That was a nice diversion, Kal." Arias said, clapping Kal on the back. "I would have gone with a gigantic Nightstalker myself, but the fire did the trick."</p><p></p><p>After running back to the cooking area to arm himself, Jorran saw upon returning to the crown that Arias was already to safety. </p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>Kia touched the power line to one of the cockpit struts, and for a moment there was a faint feeling of electricity through the ship. A moment later, Kia saw an unmoving body fall past the cockpit to the ground with a satisfying *thud*.</p><p></p><p>Nodding at the thud, Kia simply kept the power line attached to the strut. With all of them climbing on top of the ship, they would all have nowhere to escape except for a leap from the top of the space craft to the ground, at least a 15 meter drop. She kept the charge up for 30 seconds before disengaging it, judging that that amount of voltage could have handled a rancor, or at least disabled it. Against creatures more human sized, well except for the environmental seals, she almost expected to smell smoke rising off of them.</p><p></p><p>Kia sighs and watches out in the dark for any of them that had not died. They should certainly avoid the ship from now on, they were chased from beneath by the e-web, and were blasted off the top by the electricity. Hopefully that buys us a wide-berth to fix the repulsor lifts and get out of here, the girl thought to herself. Convinced that she couldn't do anything more about it tonight, she locked down the systems and retreated back to her quarters. Keying in the comm, she wished Aasan a goodnight, and told him that the issue should be dealt with until morning.</p><p></p><p>Aasan finds Kia later than he'd meant to, but having to get the normally noxious gas safely vented back to the small canisters for his breath mask so that Kia didn't die took time.</p><p></p><p>After finding out that the problem had been dealt with, he sighed but decided it was pointless to try to deal with all of that again. </p><p></p><p>After working with the repulsorlift systems for several hours, Aasan has finished welding the cracks whole again. All that was left to do was to repair the wiring and do a systems check. Aasan found that he needed sleep, badly. If he went any further without rest, he guessed that he would fall asleep while splicing power feeds and electrocute himself. Kia could easily handle the finishing touches on her own, as he had taken care of the more critical, complicated components. If all went well, the repulsorlifts could be up and running with only a few more hours of repair work.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">***</p><p></p><p>"I'm fine, Miera." Arias said as she fussed over some scraps and cuts he had gained during his earlier fight. "It'll take more than a bunch of witless beasts to bring me down." He took a gulp of vegetable juice, which next to water was their only beverage.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe, but that was still very reckless of you." She looked down at Kal, who was busy answering questions about his encounter to a very inquisitive Adrial. "It's a good thing that Kal had good enough sense not to stop and fight those things. He wouldn't have lasted three seconds against even one of them."</p><p></p><p>"True enough, but his skills are improving. He reminds me of myself when I was his age. But still, he shouldn't have had to face those things. It's very unusual for them to come this far south." Arias looked down the length of the community meal table at Jorran, who was being plagued by questions from small children. "Do you think the new arrivals have anything to do with that?"</p><p></p><p>"Unlikely though it may be, that is a possibility."</p><p></p><p>"Have you asked him about the state of the galaxy?"</p><p></p><p>"No, he volunteered to tell me, but I said it would be best if you were with me when we heard the news."</p><p></p><p>"Hmm. The meat seems a little undercooked. Is Orran getting rusty?" Arias held up a strip of maslith meat that wasn't thoroughly cooked.</p><p></p><p>"Actually, Jorran helped out with the cooking. He wanted to do something to help out around the village, and I sent him to help out Orran."</p><p></p><p>"Apparently he wasn't properly trained as a chef." He held two strips of meat next to each other, one triple the thickness of the other.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Several places down the table, Jorran could hardly eat for all the questions that were being thrown at him.</p><p></p><p>"What was your spaceship like?"</p><p>"How old are you?"</p><p>"Where did you come from?"</p><p>"You smell funny."</p><p>"Can I have your shoes?"</p><p>"What's your name?"</p><p>"Your cloak is soft, can I have it?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Angcuru, post: 2184101, member: 10948"] [b]5 - Worse Than Masliths[/b] "Concentrate on my movements, Kal, not just my blade." The crackling noise of two lightsaber blades colliding burst through the air. "Remember that in a real fight, your entire body must wield your blade. A simple repositioning of the feet or bending of the knees can grant you a new angle of attack, but your opponent has the same capacity." To reinforce his point, Arias shifted his footing and brought the tip of his lightsaber's white blade within a centimeter of Kal Donoma's eye. "Dead again, my young apprentice." Arias took a step back and brought a single blade of his double lightsaber to a neutral position. "Now we'll work on your attack. Come at me." Kal rushed forward and brought the blade down in an overhead chop that was easily blocked. The blade rose again for another strike, this time to the shoulder. Blocked again. "You're wasting your movements, Kal. Once you strike, do not think about where to strike next, follow your instincts. One attack must become the other; do not allow yourself to pause your assault to seek a weak point." Arias held his blade at the ready, waiting for Kal's next move. Sweat building up in his brow and matting his short hair, Kal fiercely tries to focus his will. With a forward step, he slashes in a horizontal arc, immediately flowing into a vertical cut. Master Arias is like a blur, he evades every swing, but Kal is determined not to lose his concentration, focusing, blocking out the jungle teeming with life and noise, until all he can see is the movement of the two shining blades of his opponent. He blocks one strike and another, trying to look confident. A well placed kick makes him stumble, falling backwards into a small pool of warm mud. Kal grabs the helping hand of his master and springs to his feet, casting down his eyes as he starts to hear another lecture about his concentration.. A year of training since earning the honor of being a Sethi learner, and still I am defenseless before my Master. One day I will be as powerful as he is!! "Better, Kal. But don't concern yourself with matching my abilities. Focus on improving your own, bit by bit. If you look to the future, the now will pass you by and you will learn nothing." Arias scratched his beard, looking over his now mud-covered apprentice. He grinned, and clapped Kal on the back. "Ah, but that's enough training for today! Let’s head back home and get something to eat. And maybe get you some clean clothes, too." He headed off towards the settlement, beckoning for Kal to follow. [center]***[/center] "I'll be fine for now, thank you..." he trailed off a moment, idly watching Kia, finding himself more curious than anything. There was much he wanted to know, but just couldn't bring himself to pry when they had a ship to fix, "Guess we should get this thing up and running again, hm?" Underneath his breath mask, Aasan grins and then moves to start making the necessary repairs to get at least the repulsorlifts online and operating. "Getting the ship running is the plan, though I think it'll take awhile, I wish my music files hadn't all been purged, give us something to listen to, not that you'd like them, Gand music is an acquired taste, same with Twi’lek and Sullustun," the girl offers naming species with sensory abilities beyond that of humans. "You've been out wandering the space ways for a long time I guess, since you were talking about before I was born, just exactly how long have you been out here, and how do you know about the Jedi, I mean, in my house, Jedi were always a taboo subject. I kind of figured that I'm related to one, a little distantly, but it’s not the kind of thing you can ask with the Empire's hunters all around." Kia said, working a bolt with a hydro-spanner. At Kia's comment, Aasan paused from checking over the systems for a short moment. After thinking about it, he then went back to work as he spoke through his breath mask, "I fought in the Clone Wars alongside the Jedi. No, before you ask, I'm no Jedi. I was part of the Antarian Rangers...doubt you've heard of them as they were hunted down just like the Jedi were. I ah, was young then...very young. Probably too young. I saw firsthand what the Empire was capable of when the Purge began and Jedi were murdered...a Jedi Master, my partner through the wars...he...he gave his life so that I could escape Coruscant. Since then, just been out in the middle of no where trying to find others that survived. Not had much luck either...to be honest, you're about the only person I've run into in the last thirty years that I don't think is just joking around when you say you're Force Sensitive," he sighed and shrugged, "But its a big galaxy out there." After Aasan and Kia pull up the floor panels to inspect the damage first hand, it becomes apparent that the diagnostic computer was not exaggerating. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Wires that used to be contained in neat, orderly bundles were now all about the compartment. At least two large cracks were seen in braces holding something that looked important, and it looked like a lot of the control circuitry was fried. The damage was repairable, but Aasan estimates that with Kia's help, he could have the repulsorlifts running within eight or ten hours, with another hour or so for the main computer to recalibrate the system and perform an additional diagnostic to be sure. Just as well, because from the look of the light outside, it would be night soon. The Kel Dor suddenly began to feel how tired he really was. He hadn't had any sleep in at least twenty hours, not counting the time he was knocked out. Because really, being unconscious isn't very restful. Although the human girl didn't admit it, she looked like she could use a rest, too. Kia yawned and worked her neck around easing out some of the tension that had built up over the hours of lying out fixing things in cramped spaces. She takes another gulp from her drink pouch before discarding it, and then gets back to work on the repairs. She fought of the urge to sleep, it was more important to get the ship up and running, she could sleep later. Idly wishing that she could use the force to rejuvenate herself, Kia sighed and kept on with the repairs Half an hour later, she was ready throw in the towel for the night, she had been trying to tighten the same bolt for the past five minutes, and she kept having to jerk herself back to awake. "I think I'm done for today, I just can't keep awake, and I'd rather fix it then make it worse. I'll make sure the landing ramp is snug, and then I'm turning in, feel free to appropriate any berth or whatever and fill it with your gas, or whatever so you can sleep." Kia says, before slowly and painfully extricating herself from the access tunnels. She is as good as her word in checking up on the ramp before heading into her quarters and securing her door for the night. She barely stops to step out of her boots, shirt, and shorts before crawling into her bunk and falling asleep. At the suggestion of sleeping, Aasan can't really justify disagreeing. So, with a nod, and a comment not to come into the quarters he plans to use before the gas is completely out, Aasan finds a place that he can seal up safely, and then uses one of the gas breather canisters to attach to the ventilation system only within the room. After letting the gas vent into the room, he lets out a sigh and finally removes the mask and goggles, glad to be rid of them for at least a short time before trying to get some sleep. [center]***[/center] Looking at the settlement, Jorran followed Miera in through the gate. "This is quite an improvement over my pod. "That is an odd sentiment for someone who just crash landed on an uncharted planet." Miera laughed. "It's a simple way of life. In some ways, I prefer it over the Old Republic. The universe seems so much larger when you are in one place for so long a time. Of course it has its hardships, like contending with the masliths, nightstalkers, and other undesirables, but we get by well enough." Jorran was drawing lots of attention from the villagers, and several were staring openly. He felt a small tug at his pant leg. Looking down, he saw a young bright-eyed Twi'lek girl, oddly red in color. "'Scuse me, mister, but I don' rec'nize you. Wha's your name?" Jorran smiled. "I'm Jorran. Miera and Adrial found me when I fell out of the sky." After sharing a few more words with the girl, he turned back to Miera. "I'm just glad I didn't land in an ocean, and that this planet has anyone on it at all. Just another step on the path, right? This isn't near as bad as hiding in that garbage facility on Nar Shaddaa..." He gets a wistful look in his eye for a moment, then it passes. "So, how can I make myself useful until the people in the other ship arrive?" Miera smiled as the young girl ran off to tell her friends about the strange man from the sky. "It shouldn't be too long until Arias comes back from training Kal. Until then, I'd suggest learning the layout of the camp. I'll see what I can do about finding you a place to stay. If you're hungry at all, Old Orran could use a hand getting tonight's meal together. You can find her by the fire pits at the center of the village. Or, if you're mechanically inclined, you could help Nikana fix our generator. It's been acting up lately, and he thinks it might give out altogether one of these days. He's just south of the fire pits in our crafting area. Now if you don't have any questions I'll go find you somewhere to sleep for the night." Jorran thought to himself for a moment. "I think I'll help cook--I don't think I'd be much help with the generator." Following Miera's directions, Jorran finds an elderly woman along with several children huddled around a long table near two shallow stone-lined pits. On the table are various unfamiliar vegetables and several large hunks of unidentifiable meat still on the bone. At Jorran's approach, the children who were busy cleaning soil off of the vegetables stopped what they were doing. Several elbowed each other and pointed at Jorran, whispering amongst themselves. "Stop gawking and finish cleaning them veggies!" Orran yelled at the kids. They went stiff for a moment before going back to their chores, several of them muttering under their breath. The old woman turned around as Jorran approached. She did not seem in the least bit surprised or shocked to see him. "I suppose you're the 'man from the sky' the kids have all been yapping about. Well, for once they're not just making up some nonsense." She looked him up and down " Well, save the life story for later, there's food to be prepared. Damn arthritis, I can barely hold a knife anymore, and there's no way I'm going to let one of the children do it. Give an old woman a hand and trim those maslith legs for us, will you?" Jorran places his coat and belongings beneath the table and gets to work trimming the meat. Orran notices the lightsaber amongst his possessions, and gives him a strange look before peeling the husk off of an odd-looking fruit. Although it was pitch dark in the wilderness due to the thick foliage blocking out the fading sun, at the settlement it was twilight. With Jorran's help, Orran and the children have prepared a thick stew in a large cauldron. If you could call it a cauldron, as it was actually the crashed transport's sensor dome covered with a sheet metal lid. The villagers had gathered around for their evening meal to eat, socialize, and ogle the "man from the sky". Suddenly, one of the wall sentries, and elderly man holding one of the settlement's few blaster rifles, gave out a cry for silence. "Be quiet for a moment!" From outside the walls, a faint cry was heard. "Close the gates! Close the gates!" The sentry wordlessly fired his blaster rifle into a brazier at his corner of the wall. The oil within ignited into a bright flame, a quick signal to the other sentries to drop the gates. With four quick tugs of rope, the gates fell to earth, blocking off entry to the village. [center]***[/center] Just as she had fallen asleep, Kia was awoken by a sudden, ear-splitting screech. She sat bolt upright at the sudden sound, but then there was nothing. After a minute or so of listening, Kia rationalized that she must have imagined the sound, and she lay back down to try and fall back to sleep. Not ten seconds had past before there was a banging, scratching noise coming from all around her, as if she were in a metal canister and someone was assaulting it with rocks and sandpaper. "What in the name of the Sith is going on?" Kia yells as she bolts upright, she grabs her blaster pistol and lightsaber as she bolts from the room, not mindful of the fact that she is only wearing her under-garments. She darts off the 8 meters from her door to the cockpit, and throws herself into the pilot chair, looking outside to see if she can see whets causing the racket. She flips a switch on the upper control panel, which should cause the outer hull lights to come on, if they aren't broken. As Kia hit the switch for the external cockpit floodlights, she found the source of the disturbance. There had to be at least fifty of the things out there, throwing themselves bodily against the hull and scratching, biting at it to try and get through. They were obviously canine, reminding her of 'greyhounds' that some Corellian politicians kept as pets, only they were double the size, had razor sharp claws, and solid red eyes. They took no notice of the sudden light that pierced the dark of night, and kept assaulting the hull. Several of them were on top of the Dawnsprinter now around the cockpit, slavering and trying to get at Kia. [center]***[/center] Several hundred meters out at the thinning edge of the forest, those who had quickly gathered at the gates could see Arias and Kal sprinting towards the village. The reason for their flight was quickly evident. Not far behind them were dozens of vicious-looking creatures twice the size of masliths and twice as dangerous looking. Their red eyes burned as they chased the Sethi Master and his Apprentice at a relentless pace. One of the forerunners was quickly catching up to Kal, who was having difficulty keeping his wind. It pounced, and would have brought the young man down but for the flash of white light that severed its head, the decapitated body landing heavily on Kal. "Go! Get up the wall!" Arias shouted at Kal as he charged the pack of hellish canines. The white double lightsaber danced all about at blinding speed, with another beast falling as soon as it was within reach of the Sethi Master. "NOW!" Arias shouted at his apprentice, who had only just pushed the fallen creature off of himself. Kal didn't look back as he ran towards the wall. Never before had his master ever sounded so urgent, and he wasn't about to argue. Kal took hold of a rope lowered by a sentry, and was quickly resting atop the wall, regaining his wind. Outside the wall, the beast kept coming and coming. Arias took on five at a time, and with every other slash of his blades, another of the beasts died. There had to be hundreds of them pouring out of the forest, and by the look of things, the lone warrior would soon be surrounded. [center]***[/center] Kia involuntarily flinches at a particularly vicious jumping attack by one of the hounds. For once her sarcastic wit seemed to have failed her and she had nothing to say. She didn't have any trouble imagining what those teeth and claws could do to her if she was cut out by them. Shivering, she triggered the ship's inter-com. "Aasan, can you come up her? We're under attack... I don't think they can get in though. I'm gonna see If I can't get the Anti-personnel weapons to work. The Dawnsprinter has a pair of e-webs, it should be enough to put down the creatures." The girl shivers, wearing nothing but underwear, but she doesn't notice it as she flips the switch to charge the ships weapons array. Waiting a few seconds for the guns to charge, she flips another switch, one that was hidden and would lower the two blasters from their concealed positions, and allow the turrets to fully swing in a 360 degree arc. The next thing the girl did was engage the ships fire-control computer, something that would make it much more accurate then she would be, assuming she was big enough to hold the weapon in the first place. But with the fire control, all she had to do was operate the ships computer, something she was very good at, and the fire control subroutines would translate that into accuracy that would make a storm trooper envious. The ship's anti-personnel weapons popped out from their hidden compartments, or at least that's what should have happened. Instead, only one fully extended, while the other was half-buried in the stream and couldn't extend to a proper firing position. Kia set the firing rate to maximum and slammed her fist down onto the firing button. The one functional blaster opened up on the swarm of beasts, firing a mess of red streaks all around them. Shot after shot streaked into them, with one beast falling to the fire every fifteen seconds or so. After several minutes of enduring the continual fire, the pack of creatures had apparently pinpointed the origin of the blaster fire, and tried to move out of its arc of fire, while still keeping up their assault on the cockpit. Eventually they all clambered up into the top of the ship out of the blaster's firing zone, swarming around the cockpit. At least twenty of them had fallen, but that did nothing to dissuade their assault. The horrible scratching pounding noise continued. [center]***[/center] Kal desperately watches the creatures’ relentless advance, and his master efforts to keep them at bay. My place is at the side of my master, to help him or die trying! he thinks, igniting his lightsaber, and grabbing the rope. But a new idea dawns on him. Perhaps there is time to try one trick first.. Kal turns off his lightsaber and sits with his legs crossed at the top of the wall. Eyes closed, the young apprentice tries to focus on feeling the force around him. Against the background of life-rich jungle he senses the aura of his master shining like a powerful beacon. Surrounding him Kal senses the auras of the feral monsters, dozens of them. Simple, vicious. Motivated by instincts like hunger..... or fear. What would scare them, make them hesitate enough for his master to reach the walls? Maybe a wall of fire, or a bigger predator... The boy calls to the light side of the force, and summons his will to manifest the adequate illusion between the monsters and his master, trying to fool their simple minds. [center]***[/center] Kia groans as the dog things climb up the ship and get away from the E-web. Everything was sealed up tight, and there was no way they would get through the transparisteel of the cockpit, and even less likely was them getting through the hull plating itself. The girl didn't really think she was in danger, at least for the moment, but she couldn't really relax either. She wanted the dog things off her ship in the worst way, and she came up with a plan to get that to happen. As plans go, it wasn't particularly elegant, but it should work. Kia flips a switch to retract the e-web, and then she shuts down all non-essential systems. Next she connects the power feed directly to the whole, where it should electrify the outside of the ship, sort of like those predator deterrents that scientists used when they were in the field. [center]***[/center] As she watches the beasts attack, Adrial turns to Miera. "Master Pannar! Can we not help Master Falm?" "No, Adrial. Arias may be outnumbered, but that doesn't mean that he's outmatched." Miera watched the horde of beasts continuing to assault her lover. Arias' voice entered her mind. Is Kal safe? Yes, he's on the wall now. She replied telepathically. Good. Arias executed a blindingly rapid series of strikes all about him, killing those beasts closest to him. Before he could be engaged by additional creatures, Arias pushed out with the force and flew back thirty five meters away from the pack and towards the wall. As he landed and began to sprint back to the village, he felt an odd twinge in the force. Looking back he saw a wall of fire spring up out of the ground between himself and the pack of beasts. It deterred the beasts for but a moment, before they collectively rushed through the flames towards Arias. The gap wasn't much, but it was enough. Kal's master rushed head on towards the wall, and just as he was about the crash face first into the wooden barrier, he shot up into the sky and landed on the wall right next to Kal. Those around the wall heard the pack crash into it, with the sound of more than a few broken bones. "That was a nice diversion, Kal." Arias said, clapping Kal on the back. "I would have gone with a gigantic Nightstalker myself, but the fire did the trick." After running back to the cooking area to arm himself, Jorran saw upon returning to the crown that Arias was already to safety. [center]***[/center] Kia touched the power line to one of the cockpit struts, and for a moment there was a faint feeling of electricity through the ship. A moment later, Kia saw an unmoving body fall past the cockpit to the ground with a satisfying *thud*. Nodding at the thud, Kia simply kept the power line attached to the strut. With all of them climbing on top of the ship, they would all have nowhere to escape except for a leap from the top of the space craft to the ground, at least a 15 meter drop. She kept the charge up for 30 seconds before disengaging it, judging that that amount of voltage could have handled a rancor, or at least disabled it. Against creatures more human sized, well except for the environmental seals, she almost expected to smell smoke rising off of them. Kia sighs and watches out in the dark for any of them that had not died. They should certainly avoid the ship from now on, they were chased from beneath by the e-web, and were blasted off the top by the electricity. Hopefully that buys us a wide-berth to fix the repulsor lifts and get out of here, the girl thought to herself. Convinced that she couldn't do anything more about it tonight, she locked down the systems and retreated back to her quarters. Keying in the comm, she wished Aasan a goodnight, and told him that the issue should be dealt with until morning. Aasan finds Kia later than he'd meant to, but having to get the normally noxious gas safely vented back to the small canisters for his breath mask so that Kia didn't die took time. After finding out that the problem had been dealt with, he sighed but decided it was pointless to try to deal with all of that again. After working with the repulsorlift systems for several hours, Aasan has finished welding the cracks whole again. All that was left to do was to repair the wiring and do a systems check. Aasan found that he needed sleep, badly. If he went any further without rest, he guessed that he would fall asleep while splicing power feeds and electrocute himself. Kia could easily handle the finishing touches on her own, as he had taken care of the more critical, complicated components. If all went well, the repulsorlifts could be up and running with only a few more hours of repair work. [center]***[/center] "I'm fine, Miera." Arias said as she fussed over some scraps and cuts he had gained during his earlier fight. "It'll take more than a bunch of witless beasts to bring me down." He took a gulp of vegetable juice, which next to water was their only beverage. "Maybe, but that was still very reckless of you." She looked down at Kal, who was busy answering questions about his encounter to a very inquisitive Adrial. "It's a good thing that Kal had good enough sense not to stop and fight those things. He wouldn't have lasted three seconds against even one of them." "True enough, but his skills are improving. He reminds me of myself when I was his age. But still, he shouldn't have had to face those things. It's very unusual for them to come this far south." Arias looked down the length of the community meal table at Jorran, who was being plagued by questions from small children. "Do you think the new arrivals have anything to do with that?" "Unlikely though it may be, that is a possibility." "Have you asked him about the state of the galaxy?" "No, he volunteered to tell me, but I said it would be best if you were with me when we heard the news." "Hmm. The meat seems a little undercooked. Is Orran getting rusty?" Arias held up a strip of maslith meat that wasn't thoroughly cooked. "Actually, Jorran helped out with the cooking. He wanted to do something to help out around the village, and I sent him to help out Orran." "Apparently he wasn't properly trained as a chef." He held two strips of meat next to each other, one triple the thickness of the other. Several places down the table, Jorran could hardly eat for all the questions that were being thrown at him. "What was your spaceship like?" "How old are you?" "Where did you come from?" "You smell funny." "Can I have your shoes?" "What's your name?" "Your cloak is soft, can I have it?" [/QUOTE]
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Star Wars - A New Power Ch. 24 - Departure
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