A New Power

[Angcuru]

"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?"

 

[Galethorn]

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?"

 

[Angcuru]

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."

 

[Galethorn]

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."

With that, he walked to the fire pits, looking for Orran.

(OOC: Assuming he finds her, he takes off his coat, piles it with his other stuff (out of the way), rolls up his sleeves, and starts helping)

 

[Angcuru]

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.

 

[P0L]

Sweat building up in hiw brow and matting his short hair, Kal fierecely 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 Kael 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.

Kael 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 padawan, and still I am defenseless before my Master. One day I will be as powerful as he is!!

 

[Angcuru]

"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."

Arais 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! Lets 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.

 

[Angcuru]

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.

 

[Super Girl]

"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 whats causing the racket. She flips a switch on the upper control panel, that should cause the outer hull lights to come on, if they aren't broken.

 

[Angcuru]

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.

***​

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 oggle 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 tuggings of rope, the gates fell to earth, blocking off entry to the village.

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 heaviy 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.