Star Wars: Prologue

Ka'den begins considering his options. His chances of survival, let alone getting the job done, are significantly better if he stays with this group--but the boy is now injured, and thus a liability, and the Cerean still hasn't woken up. Maybe one of his brains received a concussion? The Tusken is still useful though, and that's something. If only he could get a good look around from above, things might become clear. He's sure that in this dense gravity, the JT-12 won't lift him high enough too see beyond the trees.

"What's the good of having a jetpack that can't lift you off the ground in anything over standard gravity? I'll have to mod it when I get back to Mandalore. That rock formation to the east stands out eerily against the rest of this jungle. It doesn't seem to fit. It also seems to be the highest point in the area, so if we can get to the top, it might give us an idea of where the other shuttle landed, and we can find our employer. Can't get paid if she's dead..."

Ka'den heads back to the shelter and finds his Tusken companion. "Hey, Lirc. What do you say we find out what's at the top of that mountain?" he says, pointing to the east. "That is, as soon as Brains here wakes up."

Se'ethor Ray lifted his head. He was wounded but not badly.

"I...I'm well enough to travel," he said.

OOC: Sorry for usurping your character (albeit briefly) but I wanted to move the story along.

Lirc began picking through the pod, taking anything that might be useful. Unfortunately, most of the tech was foreign to him, of that "Chiss" design, that he had heard mentioned. As a result, it wasn't compatible with his own tech... but then, maybe the Mandalorian would be able to make it work...

It seemed like his work on a temporary shelter went to waste as soon as Se'ethor woke up, especially since Ka'den seemed dead set on going to the top of the mountain to find the other pod. Oh well... it gave his survival skills a bit of exercise, and perhaps they would come back to this spot later.

Now that they knew where they were going in the short term, and the last of their comrades had regained consciousness, oly one question remained: how would they get the kid up the mountain?

Gathering what he can from the ship--little of use, but some simple tools and supplies--Ka'den fills a small pouch-like sack that he found in the ship, and then fashions a strap from one of the seat restraints, and slings it over his shoulder.

He sizes up Sade. "You look like you weigh less than my M5, Sad'ika," he says, using the Mando'a diminutive suffix on Sade's name. "We'll give you a lift until that ankle feels a bit better." An image of him trying to give Sade a piggy-back up the mountain, with the JT-12 still on his back, suddenly flashes into Ka'den's mind and it's clear they need a better plan. He looks at Lirc, and the shelter he'd constructed alarmingly fast...a part of it could easily be used for a stretcher, from what Ka'den can see.

Eventually, they set off east toward the rock formations, Ka'den and Lirc carrying Sade between them on a stretcher. Se'ethor is given the lightest load of supplies to carry until he is certain he hasn't suffered one or two concussions.

OOC: Thanks for waking up Se'ethor! I was getting worried that he might be in a coma. :-P I figure we can attribute his relative inactivity to the trauma from the crash, at least until Seth gets back on again.

OOC: I figured he hadn't been on for a week and the story needed to move along.

The trek through the jungle isn't easy. The underbrush is thick and gravity weighs heavily upon you. At last you come to some kind of path that runs along a river. It's hard to tell if the path is natural or not. It's not paved, and it could easily have been made by some large creature frequently moving through the area. It could just as easily have been made by sentient hands.

At the end of the path--and the river--you come to a large lake, with the rock formation in the center of the lake. Only now you can see that the "rock formation" is no natural construct but a tall building. A stone bridge leads from the path to the building, and you can see at least two other similar bridges. The building itself is tall and pineapple shaped, decorated with petal-like outcroppings. Statues seem to guard the entrance, but they are too far away to discern. Vines seem to more or less encase most of the structure. It's hard to discern from this distance, but there may also be a stairway that spirals around the outside of the structure. Aside from some birds haunting the area and the murky shadow of what seems to be some sort of cetacean dwelling in the lake, you see no signs of life--none of anything sentient that could have built this structure.

Ka'den lowers the stretcher to the ground. "Sorry ad'ika, you gotta walk now," he says, drawing the Verp in his right hand. Whether the structure in the middle of the lake is abandoned or not, here at least is evidence of sentient presence, and caution is of the essence. Using the macroscan vision, Ka'den zooms in on the figures "guarding" the entrance. He can see more details clearly, and they are definitely in the shape of humanoid beings...however, he cannot tell whether they are indeed statues, or sentient beings. Though utterly still, they are nonetheless unaffected by the vine growth that encases the rest of the structure.

"Lirc, you and me should cross first and approach those figures. Walk a little behind me and watch my resol. Mirshe--can you and the kid cover us from behind?"

(OOC: Ad'ika = Little one. Resol = six. Mirshe = Brains. Pardon my Mando'a. :-P)

"If it weren't for my ankle, I could cover you myself," Sade says, drawing his pistol and grabbing a stick from the path to support himself on.

Lirc followed Ka'den's lead and gave him protection from the back, but there was no danger on the way up to the structure. Upon reaching the structure, Lirc found himself struck with the unique beauty of this woman, but he forced those thoughts away in order to focus on the work of the moment. All that existed at the moment was the mission, at least until he got paid.

Lirc had to decide whether to ask this woman for help or just try and figure out this planet on their own. It was a tough choice, as he liked the challenge of taking on the wild. But, realizing that his companions might not appreciate roughing it as much as he did... Lirc approached the woman very carefully, trying not to touch the potentially dangerous plants. "You speak Basic?"

Ka'den keeps his eye on the other end of the bridge, as well as all the other points on the structure that snipers or marksmen could hide, but once he is assured that no ambush awaits them, he lowers his gun slightly and enters the structure.

The woman is unlike any species Ka'den has ever seen before, or even heard of. At first he watches her motions in an attempt to gauge what sort of a threat she might be, but suddenly he realizes that he's no longer looking at her to assess anything...he snaps out of it just as Lirc says "You speak Basic?"

"It figures that the one who speaks Basic as a second language would ask that first," he thinks, grinning behind his visor. He holsters the Verpine, and motions to Se'ethor and Sade, who have just entered the structure. They all wait for an answer.

"So, we gonna follow her or..." Sade asks.

"I guess so, Ad'ika. Lirc, Mirshe? Got any better ideas?"

"This woman may know something that we don't, but I wouldn't bet everything on it. We should consider splitting up - two of us going with her in case she has found our friend or has goods and supplies to offer us, and the other two go out to search for our friend, the Chiss."

"Good idea," says Ka'den. As much as he hates the thought of splitting with their most competent survivalist, Ka'den knows that Sade and Se'ethor won't be able to make it on their own, with Sade's injured ankle and Se'ethor's possible (multiple) concussion. "Lirc, take Se'ethor here and look for our employer. You're the best survivalist of the group. I'll take the kid and follow this lady here until we can find some information, and then let's rendezvous by tomorrow's nightfall at that point," he says, pointing off into the distance at a mountain peak not too far away. "I figure with this gravity, we'll travel a lot slower than normal, so that's a safe bet on the distance we can travel on foot in a day and a half." Ka'den turns to Sade and sizes him up once more. I think this kid's starting to grow on me, he thinks.

OOC: Is it pronounced "Sah-day" or "Sayd"?

OOC: It's pronounced /seɪd/ "sayd'.

The woman seems mildly surprised by your splitting into two parties, but she makes no object.

OOC: Until the party comes back together, GM information pertaining to Ka'den and Sade will be in indigo and GM information pertaining to Lirc/Se'ethor will be in orange.

Following the woman she leads you along a flagstone paved path that meanders through the jungle, following the course of a narrow stream that apparently leads into the mountains. At last you turn a corner and to your surprise a towering city stands before you. The city is made of bricks of shining white stone, but with no seam or crevice to belie where one brick ends and another begins. The city is surrounded by a thick and massive wall of the same. The towers stretch far into the sky, but with no signs of the technological level implied by such tall buildings. One tower at the center of the city rises far above all the others.

The woman leads you to a gate made of wood, seemingly, but as white as ivory. Flanking the door are two gateguards of the same species as she--at least, you assume they are guards, but they carry no obvious weapons. She speaks to them in her language and they light a signal. A moment later the door creaks open and she leads you inside. As with the woman herself, the citizens of the city--all of the same species as the woman--show little curiosity in you; your presence seems to be a commonplace occurrence.

The woman leads you to the tallest tower. You see that the interior of the tower seems to be a winding staircase all the way to the top. The woman glances with some concern at Sade's ankle and then glances significantly up at the staircase.

Instead of following the woman, you return outside. How would you like to begin your search?

Sade follows the woman, trying to keep up with the two adults as best he can.

When the city appears, he nearly falls off his balance as the city draws his breath away. He sees the towers looming over his head and stares at them in awe. They are anthills compared to the towering hulks of metal on Nar Shaddaa, but the beauty of these towers, the elegance, the simplicity puts them in a class of their own.

Sade follows the woman through the city. The inhabitants may not be curious about him, but he is keenly curious about them. He watches them closely as he passes through.

When the tower is reached and everyone goes inside. He stares up the spiraling staircase.

"Yeah, there's no way I can climb that with my ankle," he says.

Noting that his Cerean friend was still suffering from walking coma, Lirc decided that they should take a break. "So, big brains, what would you recommend for our next steps? You're the planner, I'll help you carry out the plan. And I'm not going anywhere until you snap out of this coma."

And they sat there...

OOC: Seth, we miss you.

Ka'den follows the woman at a slight distance, enough to cover all her movements. He notices Sade walking with a limp, but he doesn't help him now. "If this whole thing starts to go to osik, the kid will need to be able to walk on his own. He can handle himself."

The city is impressive, and Ka'den whistles as his eyes follow the towers straight up. As they get closer however, he starts checking the walls for low points, and escape routes. The guards' lack of weapons sends a shiver up his spine. "Force users?" he wonders, then tries to rid the thought from his mind--in case he's right. As they pass through the streets, Ka'den uses the scanners in his helmet to search for any possible threats in the crowd of people. The lack of weapons, complex or simple, baffles him, especially in a city of this size. Every ally and back street he memorizes as possible routes of escape.

As they approach the tower, the situation suddenly becomes quite clear to Ka'den. He hears Sade remark that he can't climb with his ankle in the state that it's in, and Ka'den turns to their guide. "You people don't happen to have a turbolift built into this thing, do you?" he asks in his best Ryl, hoping that the similarities between these people and Twi'leks went beyond the bright skin hues, and he might have found a way to converse semi-effectively. When the woman doesn't respond at first, he tries again in Taunic, and then gives up. Turning to Sade, he says "How do you feel about a roba-back ride?"

OOC: I miss you too, Seth!

Sade shrugs. "Well, I sure as frak can't walk up," he concedes.

You move up the seemingly endless staircase--you lose count at several hundred. At last, however, you reach the top and it opens out into a spacious room taking up the entirety of the tower. The woman, you note, is not in the slightest winded by the journey up the stairs.

The room is beautiful, solid stone like the exterior. Windows regularly line the wall--no fewer than fifteen windows. The room is undecorated, however, except for a single large desk at the center, made of the same white wood as the gate and polished until it has a mirror-like reflectiveness. Four guards in silvery armor and flowing red capes stand around the room at its cardinal points; if they have weapons, they are not immediately apparent. At the center, behind the desk is a man, tall and robust but--if you can safely judge with your limited knowledge of the species--older in years.

He and the woman hold a brief conversation in their language, which bares no resemblence to Ryl or any other language you are familiar with, not even sounding like the stacatto Chiss language you've heard Yiisha use.

The man then begins to speak with you. He gestures to the woman and utters a variety of words that you don't understand but among which you catch the phrase "Telaanwique," leading you to assume it is her name rather than a greeting. He then placed his hand on his forehead and used a variation of the words with the different phrase "Foroquo."

He continued discoursing in his tongue before gesturing to one of the guards. He makes a gesture that you are to follow the guard.

You wait.

OOC: You might not want to wait too long, Wes; Seth hasn't logged in for two weeks.

Ka'den climbs the stairs behind the woman, only a little winded by the extra weight. "Good thing you don't way much," he says as they reach the top, carefully setting Sade down on the steps.

Once again, Ka'den is unsettled by the guards' lack of weapons, and begins to assume that these people may be force-users. The fact that he has not yet been asked to surrender his weapons also troubles him, since they obviously don't consider them a threat. Listening to the conversation between the woman and the old man, Ka'den cannot pick out any familiar phrases or words, or even structure--the language is completely foreign. They aren't acting hostile, and seem to be quite friendly, but Ka'den isn't entirely convinced. When the old man addresses them, Ka'den nods slightly in response, but has given up verbal communication.

Ka'den decides that he isn't going to follow the guards without attempting to communicate once more, and get some information. He points at Sade's ankle, and gestures wrapping it with his other hand, and then points back at the woman, whom he takes to be some sort of herbalist. The primitive splint that he had made from spare parts on the ship wasn't going to be adequate for much longer, and Sade will need some real medical treatment. Then he points to the ground with one hand and circles the other over his head, hoping that they understand him to mean "where are we?", and waits for some sort of reply.