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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Oct 16, 2014 20:47:05 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Oct 16, 2014 20:47:05 GMT -5
Locke sighed against the back of his hand, then readjusted the hood that slumped wetly atop his head. He’d pulled it up — a rare sight — not to complete the air of a wise, mysterious Jedi Knight, but to keep the bit of warm, damp rain that slipped through the forest’s thick upper canopy from soaking him.
Well, soaking him more than oppressive humidity that drew sweat from pores like water from a well already had, anyway.
It was tough going, getting a demoralized, ramshackle crew of survivors from a shipwreck to trust his and Jazen’s judgment as they went trekking off across one of the Galaxy’s least hospitable planets. But the options, as Locke had bluntly put it to those who were hesitant to follow, were to risk the jungle and life, or wait around the ship for their pursuers to find them.
Nothing’s guaranteed here, that’s for damn sure, Locke thought as he shouldered his way through uncooperative vegetation. But at least we’ve got our fate in our own hands.
He glanced back over his shoulder, to where they’d come from. He imagined he’d probably still be able to see the smoke from the wreck, curling lazily like a black rope into the sky, if the forest didn’t block the sky.
“Y’know,” he started to Jazen and Miir, to break the silence, “once we get outta here, we could start up a company. Sell some timeshares to sunny Vendaxa. I think we’d make a killing, eh?”
Miir snorted. Locke sighed. At least he tried…
"Master, we have trouble coming...I've having a problem locating it's exact location through...this whole place feels off. Hostile. Do you have anything more concrete?"
Locke lifted a brow, silly demeanor falling away as he stretched his senses outward to feel the forest life around them. It was difficult, in a world as thick with life as Vendaxa to feel any one thing, but something lurked in the bushes beyond, just out of sight.
“Yes…” he said slowly, “Something’s here.” He didn’t draw his blade, as his student did, but turned, following the creature’s motions through the underbrush. It wasn’t big and lumbering like an Aklay. A nexu, perhaps?
“Draw in,” he said, motioning the group to close in together as he lifted his pistol from within his belt. “We’ll handle this.”
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
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Rocking from the Great White North
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Oct 21, 2014 10:08:22 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Oct 21, 2014 10:08:22 GMT -5
The moment that dark feeling of dread had made its presence known, Jazen's world narrowed and broadened, all in one motion. His physical body changed, ignoring anything that wasn't particularly important to the current matter at hand. The humidity, the fact that he was soaked through, the annoying buzz of hundreds or thousands of little bugs hissing around them, gone. It was not a factor, save for knowing how being soaked would affect his movement.
In the same notion, his world came alive through the Force. He could hear the sounds deep in the forest, feel every bone-soaked pore on his body, feel the energy in the air and the life force of everything around him. The crew, Locke, Miir, the trees, the bugs, the animals in the underbrush...it was if someone had suddenly opened the world to him in spades. The feel and hum of his lightsaber in hand, the familiar cold steel hilt, brought him comfort and balance. And there...somewhere just beyond the edge of normal sight, of their lights, hidden in shadow...the darkness. Whole, violent, aggressive...and more than one. And it was coming closer...multiple sources...from several directions.
"Eyes out. Here they come...whatever they are." Jazen brought his saber up, not enough to block his line of sight but ready to strike out in an instant at anything that came their way. He sensed it coming...closer...closer...it was almost upon them..
And one of the crew members was suddenly gone, his presence and body, his scream sudden, short and cut off in an instant as something tackled him from behind, taking him into the bush before anyone could react. The man next to him had a moment to register his friend's sudden disappearance before he too was gone, nothing but the rain following the sudden blank that was his life. That time Jazen caught a bit of his attacker, a flash of it before it vanished into the beyond.
A Neku. A violent, four legged predator, much like the Acklay. Unlike the Acklay though, the Neku preferred quick strikes to grab its prey, rather than the brute force like approach of the Acklay. And in the dark, the rain and this thick brush, this was their territory. Their advantage.
Good thing Jazen and Locke were the wild card in that fight. "Master, Nekus! Everyone, back to back! They're looking for easy prey; don't expose yourself to an opening. Cover the wounded!" Before the last word had left his mouth, he felt the Neku coming from behind, heard its paws against the muddy floor a second before it jumped. With all the grace a Jedi had to offer, Jazen ducked under the pounce, rolled and brought his saber up against the Neku's belly, its cry of pain cut short before its own momentum took it into the brush. He was to his feet in an instant as blaster fire suddenly drowned out the rain as the crew fired at the others lurking beyond the trees.
Jazen's landing had brought him close to the woman and her bodyguard, his saber coming up defensively as the man fired the large blaster he had with him; he was the only one of the crew that had a personal weapon stored away in his luggage in various pieces. It was an interesting development but one that would matter later. For now, survival was first. "Stay close. You." He pointed to the man. "30 degrees to your left...wait for it...now!" The man's weapon boomed and there was a screech of pain from the forest as a Neku came sliding into view, the man's shot having drilled it in the head. Damn. That was a good one.
Nodding in approval to Jazen, the man turned back to covering the woman, who was...well, there was terror in her eyes. But she was holding firm, firing a small little blaster whenever the man fired at something, an iron will in her stance. Very interesting indeed. Glancing over to where Locke was fighting, Jazen stepped forward and cut down another Neku that tried to dart out by surprise, his blade cleaving its head in one strike. "Hey...they're running."
And indeed they were...the pulses of life from the remaining Neku were pulling back, retreating into the deep dark of the woods until Jazen couldn't feel them anymore. Panting, Jazen stayed still for a moment, waiting for more, waiting for any more surprises. After a minute, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding before lowering his blade. Taking a look to the others, he stepped towards Locke, who was next to their cilent and Miir, inspecting a wound on the man's shoulder.
"They're gone. For now, at least." Something bugged at Jazen, a little voice of question that he'd learned to listen to from a young age, the instinct tapered by the Force. "Master...those Neku. They were...that was almost too perfect a strike. Did it feel...did it feel like they were being guided to you? Because...no, it's probably nothing. But that felt much too organized for simple animal instinct."
None of them knew. None of them felt. And none of them noticed the small pair of eyes deep in the dark that were watching them. Watching Locke and Jazen, specifically...and knowing the time was soon.
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Jan 5, 2015 20:34:15 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Jan 5, 2015 20:34:15 GMT -5
“It’s possible,” Locke said, sliding his saber’s hilt back into his coat pocket as the sunset-orange blade died away. He stepped aside, over the head of one of the fallen beasts, which now lay a few feet away from the body it was once attached to. A thin, sinuous finger of steam snaked away from the cauterized neck, swirling as it died amidst the jungle rain.
“I’ll believe just about anything is possible after the day we’ve had,” he grumbled. He was fine, as were the few crewmen he’d taken to protecting when the beasts attacked. A tree, roughly 15 feet away from the party, groaned and cracked as its thin trunk, dented and broken, gave into the pressure of holding up its canopy after Locke sent one of the cats hurtling into it.
“For one, I don’t know that attack in a pack is really the way Nexus typically operate,” he said, rejoining his student and taking general stock of their group. The loss of the two men, dragged away before anyone knew what was happening, burned in his heart. Nothing we can do for them, he told himself, as if that’d dull the ache, the memory of feeling their lives wink out in the Force. At least it was quick. We can only hope it was painless.
“Now, however is not the time to try to put it all together, and here sure as hell isn’t the place.” Locke’s voice was grim, his brows drawn deeply together as he looked over his shoulder in the direction they’d been moving. “If we’re being hunted, we need to keep moving. We can take time to mourn the lost when we reach safety. Mourn them, and do what we can to make sure no one else joins them.”
A few minutes passed, as the party checked its nicks and bumps, then resumed moving. Locke led the way for a time, then allowed Miir to take the lead while he fell back to talk to Jazen.
“You’re right,” he muttered, keeping his voice low for his student’s ears alone. “Someone is hunting us. Our friends from orbit, undoubtedly. Nexu aren’t native to Vendaxa. So were they brought here for us alone, or was this all happy coincidence?”
Locke fell quiet, ignoring the rhythmic squish, squosh of the mud sucking on his boots with every labored step. “And if the former’s true, what does that say about all of this?” He made a broad motion around them. “Was the landing luck, or did they want us down here all along?”
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
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Jan 7, 2015 13:01:43 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Jan 7, 2015 13:01:43 GMT -5
Being attacked by the native wildlife was always a threat no matter what planet you were on, more so on a planet like Vendaxa. Predators such as the Acklay and the Nexu were the top of the food chain here and since there was no known settlements or signs of sentient life, they likely had very little contact with things that could top them. To them, the party was just a new source of food. Hopefully, the damage they'd taken would keep further attacks from happening, at least right away.
But it was more then that. Had it just been a wild wildlife attack, Jazen and Locke could work out a way to prevent, hopefully, as little deaths as possible. But if the attacks were being guided, that meant there was a human factor to consider and that made the game even more dangerous. Especially when they didn't know whose hand was guiding the strings. This whole mission was just getting worse by the second.
"Lovely. We really do draw the worst luck." Jazen glanced down to the smoking head of a fallen Nexu, its body still twitching from after death muscle spasms. With a flick of his hand, the body went rolling into the brush; hopefully any predators that were wandering would enjoy the easy meal and give them more time to move safely. "Yea...everything I've read about them lists them as solitary hunters, unless its a pair of mates. And even then, they tend to hunt alone. But that was at least four or five...very strange."
One of the medics was crying, one of the soldiers being taken her brother. Jazen put a hand to her shoulder as she kneeled, eyes wet and not just from the rain. The look he gave her was one of sympathy but at the same time, he knew there was little time to grieve. The lives of everyone else here, those still breathing, mattered now. They could spare no time nor people to go looking for a body that may well be miles away by now. The woman seemed to come to the conclusion as well and while Jazen could feel how much that hurt her, he could see the resolve return to her eyes.
Nodding, Jazen went with Locke to help shore up the group, repurpose them for further attacks and get back underway. With the threat of further attacks, everyone was set into trio's as best as possible, with the remaining in a cluster around the injured. They would be most likely to be targetted, that or stragglers. They kept it as tight as possible.
It was time to plan. Locke must have come to the same conclusion, as he slipped back from leading the group to Jazen, apart slightly from everyone else. They were already on edge...no need to worry them yet. "Its possible. But then, its not like people come here a lot to see what does and does not live here. Might have ended up here by accident." The chances of that were low but still there. "I'm pretty sure we don't believe in concidence Master. Either way, if they are being controlled, it means we're being tracked...but that also means we might have a way off planet."
Jazen's eyes tracked the forest for a few moments before glancing back to several of the people behind them...two in particular. The woman and her burly comrade, whose rifle was aimed out to the forest, his large eyes peeled. The woman seemed to be struggling with the planet's terrain but the man supported her whenever she stumbled. Interesting.
"I highly doubt it was their plan. But its a good improvisation. But there might also be another explanation..." he said, glancing back and giving a slight nod with his head to the two..."we might only be one of the targets. Those two strike you as strange? Big guy acts like a bodyguard to the lady. We might have two different parties chasing us. And...not to make things worse but if they're controlling Nexu that fluidly, there's only one method that comes to mind.
He paused, almost for dramatic effect but really because he was afraid to say it, before letting the words slip free. "I think we have force users pusuring us." The words hung as heavy in the air as the rain as the group finally left the dense forest behind, the village now within clear sight across a small plain. For reasons Jazen couldn't explain, he felt as if the village was the wrong place to go...but they needed shelter, a chance to rest and just maybe, find a way to get off this rock alive.
And so they made for the darkened village, with shadows and whispers the only thing they knew awaited them.
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Feb 1, 2015 14:03:36 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Feb 1, 2015 14:03:36 GMT -5
“I wouldn’t put that beyond the realm of possibility,” Locke grumbled as they trudged along through the hot, humid forest. “Truth to tell, I’d say that’s more likely than the alternative. Too many signs seem to point that way.” Locke’s mind ran through the day’s events; the abrupt drop from hyperspace, the ambush in orbit, the crash, Aklay, the long, grueling trek through the forest…
“Did we leave a thread untied…?” He wondered aloud, voice barely above a whisper. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He glanced over at the couple Jazen mentioned. The woman moved about as well as the rest of the group, obviously pushing through a bad situation. The big man, who’s name avoided Locke’s memory at the time kept near her, ever watchful like a bee hovering on guard near its hive.
“Maybe,” he said, slowly. She’d come aboard the ship after they left Druckenwell, seeking refuge from the tattered syndicate they left behind. The burly man had come with her, of course. Locke, despite his initial wariness, eventually consented to allow them on as long as they didn’t make trouble. They’d kept to themselves and out of the way for the most part.
But why would someone be after them? he said. Well, for any number of reasons, but why with such force?
“Nothing we can do about it for now though, kid,” he said, with a sigh, feeling more resigned to circumstance than determined. “Best thing we can do now is keep our heads on straight and our eyes open.”
He gave the boy a pat on the back and hastened his pace to rejoin Miir at the group’s fore. The party pressed on like that for some time, moving through the jungle with relative quiet as the sun slowly sank toward the horizon.
The trees thinned after a time, then gave way to a stretch of rolling grasslands with intermittent thickets of woods. A hill, gently sloped, rose above the rest of the immediate area about a half-mile to their west. Smooth, crudely arranged stones formed a winding path up its slope, to a village that perched atop it.
Locke called the party to a stop at the edge of the trees. Flames , like lanterns, twinkled dimly across the distance. “Someone’s there,” he said muttered. “Or has been there recently. Those wouldn’t hold up in this rain without a hand to tend them.”
He fumbled around in his coat for some binoculars, but couldn’t find any. Lost in the crash, probably. Locke sighed an irritated sigh, then pointed to one of the crewman who clutched at a rifle with only slightly less fervor than a drowning man at sea clutched to driftwood. “You,” he pointed up at the village, “take a gander through the scope up there. Tell me what you see.”
The crewman blinked in confusion. Then the light came on his mind and he nodded.
“Umm…” he said, after a few moments spent slowly panning his rifle from point to point. “I can’t really make out much, even with those lights. It’s dark. A few buildings… Kinda look like huts, I guess. Can’t see any people though.” He lowered his rifle and looked at Locke.
Locke, for his part stood with one arm folded and a finger tapping his bearded chin in thought. “I dunno,” he admitted after a time, turning to the party. “We’ve got a decision to make. We don’t have much daylight left. I don’t know what comes out at night on this blasted world, but we don’t need to be out in the open to find out. We can try to find some shelter otherwise… or try this village.”
He paused, letting the group think, before adding more. “I do not know if there’s anyone there, or they’ll be friendly. Nothing’s guaranteed here.”
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
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Feb 4, 2015 12:04:46 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Feb 4, 2015 12:04:46 GMT -5
As if being attacked, shot down and stranded on a planet that they had no way of escaping without rescue wasn't bad enough, now there was the possibility that they were being pursued by people that only Locke and Jazen had the effective means of countering. If their concerns were true, then the group that was chasing them were Sith or at least, Dark Jedi. And company. It wasn't a shock, considering how things were only getting worse, but it was going to be trouble. Very dangerous trouble.
"Joy. Well, hopefully its only one or two and a bunch of cannon fodder. We should be able to handle that. Probably. Possibly. Okay, 50/50." Have to remain optimistic, he thought to himself. Otherwise the creeping despair that was tugging at his back might overwhelm him.
Jazen once again glanced back to the pair among them that seemed odd. This time, he studied the girl, rather then the hulk of humanity that was never more then five feet from her. His stance and mannerisms had told Jazen, or at least his instincts, that the man was a bodyguard. As for the girl...well, first and foremost, she was stunning. Not that Jazen cared about such things, being a Jedi. But she was really easy to look at. Jazen tried not to blush thinking about it and focused on her as a whole.
She seemed out of place, here in the wild. Her whole aura was wrong, considering the garments she wore. They were almost second hand things but the way she walked in them suggested someone who was used to dresses and more fashionable apparel. She carried herself well too; someone who was used to looking her best for all those around her. Someone in power maybe? Or someone belonging to an important family. That would explain the bodyguard but why would she be riding second hand on a rig like the one they'd crashed in?
Questions, questions, not enough answers. Those would come soon enough. Hopefully. For now, they needed a place to shore up, tend properly to the wounded and try and get a call for help out. A place they could regroup and prepare for what whoever was following them threw next. And so they walked in mostly silence till the village came in view.
Jazen was at Locke's side in an instant as the group halted, narrowing his eyes up the path that led to the village above. Not a natural formation, the stone path. It had clearly been made by hand, although what kind of hands was up for debate. Lights flickered above although they appeared to be crude flames rather then any advanced form of lighting. Jazen knew or at least heard of people living on the planet and for a moment, hope swelled in him. But another look at the village above quickly dashed those hopes, as he realized that if this was how their villages looked, they likely didn't have ships.
Jazen pondered, his eyes still on the village as Locke used one of the groups snipers to get an eye on the village, get a report and then explain their situation to the group. Jazen could hear the mutters; half the group seemed to want to make for it(mostly those tending to wounded and the burly bodyguard) and the other half were concerned about what they might find. Jazen himself was doing the pros and cons in his head before deciding for himself.
"We need shelter either way Master. We might as well try it. But perhaps a little bit of recon first?" He gave him a moment to think about it before continuing. "You, me and three others. We go up, scout it out, see if anyones there. Determine if its a good option or we'd be better suited to move on. In and out. We can have the guy with the sniper and a spotter head to that slight incline and give us sniper cover in case of trouble. Rest of them hold up here." He heard some murmurs from the others as they contemplated it. Most seemed to just be eager to do something, rather then move forward randomly.
Two men stepped forward to offer to go with, one a scout and the other more of a marine type. Jazen nodded to them before eying the group. "So you, me, these two(Samuel and Jackson) and..."/ he pointed to the big man by the girl, "and him. In case things get dicey." The man's eyes widened and he looked to the girl, who looked back at him. After a moment, she gave a slight nod and he sighed, stepping forward. Jazen nodded to him as well before nodding to the girl.
"We'll bring him back in one piece miss..." he trailed off.
"Angelique."
"Angelique." He smiled, felt his cheeks color a little at the little one she gave back and quickly turned to Locke. "Well? Shall we?"
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Rugs
The ring-dang-doo, now what is that?
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Feb 17, 2015 15:15:55 GMT -5
Post by Rugs on Feb 17, 2015 15:15:55 GMT -5
Locke found himself agreeing with his student, even if he’d voiced the option for choice to the group as a whole. The truth of the matter was that they needed a place to settle down and catch their breaths. And going on is no guarantee that we’ll find anything better, he thought, looking around the rolling plain spread out around them. He the terrain only allows him to see so far, with the grasses tucking back into the surrounding forests again. The ever-growing darkness didin’t help. If we can find anything at all in this kind of place.
“That’s agreeable,” he said. While Jazen busied himself with selecting the rest of their scouting party, Locke walked over to speak to Miir.
“Listen, I’m leaving you in charge of everyone while we’re split up,” he said.
The Sephi nodded, seeming comfortable with Locke’s decision. “Of course, Nemsee.” He smiled, and the weariness on his face didn’t quite reach his sharp eyes as he gave Locke a pat on the shoulder. “You worry too much. Just focus on getting’ everything nice and comfy for us up there, eh? Don’t worry ‘bout us. We’ll be fine down here.”
Locke smiled back in spite of himself. It was a tired smile, but better than none at all. “Yeah, well, we’ll get the red carpet nice and straight before the rest of you get up there.” He turned to go, but hesitated. “You might wanna find some shelter yourself down here, or somewhere less open, at least. Don’t know where our friends our, but I wouldn’t stay out in the open too long.”
“Consider it done, Chief.” The sephi motioned with his head toward Jazen and the others. “Now go on. You’re holdin’ up the rest of the scouting party.”
It wasn’t a hard trip up the hill, really. Or it wouldn’t have been, if it weren’t for the rain-wet soil sucking on their boots with every step, or the occasional hand-laid stone as the group slowly worked their way up the curving path. These things, along with the warm evening air that seemed to sit on you rather than just exist made the trek far less than pleasant.
I can think of about a thousand other things I’d rather be doing, Locke complained silently, and at least twelve of them involve a Hutt, juma juice and some melted butter. But he kept his complaining to himself, and even kept his silent grumblings minimized, lest he hurt Jazen’s morale through their student-teacher bond.
As they climbed ever higher, reaching the roughly three-fourths mark up the hill, Locke strained ahead with his senses to the village waiting atop the hill crest. Nothing. He furrowed his brow, drawing more of the Force and forcing his sweep further.
It wasn’t that what he felt was strange, or subdued. There was just… nothing. No echoes of presences that’d come and gone, no whispers of even animals; just silent, hollow nothing.
It’d been that way every time he felt. Earlier, Locke suspected it might have been fatigue clouding his mind or limiting the range at which he could feel. But every time he’d tried, he’d found nothing.
And the closer they got, the more troubling that became.
“Jazen, I can’t feel a soul up there,” he said quietly. His mind flashed back to the fires they saw from the plain—the ones that the subtle glow coming from atop the hill said were still burning. “It may be that I’ve just exhausted myself, but… reach out, like I’ve taught you. Focus.” He looked at his student, then nearly swore in five languages as one of the pathway stones slipped from underfoot and went bouncing down the hillside.
“Do you feel anything?”
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
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Rocking from the Great White North
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Feb 19, 2015 13:46:46 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Feb 19, 2015 13:46:46 GMT -5
Being a Jedi, at times, was one of the most amazing things in the galaxy.
Firstly, you were part of a greater order, of a whole society with a similiar goal, like minds. In terms of finding a place to fit in, to belong, it was a wonderful feeling. Sure, the goal was to protect the galaxy from evil, which meant plenty of dangerous situations that risked life, but it was all for the greater good. Some people saw about as much adventure in all their life as a Jedi saw in a single day. If Jazen was honest, it was quite a rush. Secondly, one got to meet all kinds of people, from all corners of the galaxy. Different races, species, from planets far away or more close to home, all gathered together under one roof for a singular cause. Differences put aside, cultures respected and learned about; again, a wonderful feeling. The wealth of knowledge at one's fingertips too. And of course, there was the planet's one got to see, to travel too. The exotic beauties, the oceans for miles(water or sand), the elaborate buildings...breathtaking.
But, wherever there was beauty, there was also the opposite of it. And in this case..
"I've come to the conclusion, Master...that this planet sucks."
Normally, a hike up a hill like this would be nothing to a Jedi like Jazen or Locke. But the rain was heavy in the air, soaking their clothes and wearing them down. The incline was slick with water and although there was a path, some of those rocks weren't exactly kind to water logged feet. The soil sucked at them with every step, making the trip even harder. And finally, the humidity weighed on them like a solid creature, crushing them down even farther.
There were in a small formation; Samuel up front, Locke and Jazen behind him, the big guy just behind them and Jackson bringing up the rear.A formation that gave them the chance to react quickly in the event of trouble and kept their biggest weapons together to bring the heat if need be. Samuel, experienced as he was, was already steps ahead, scouting for trouble. He was the first to the top and signalled to the others all clear as he poked ahead.
Locke's words made Jazen pause, thinking. The whole time they'd been here, something had been off about the planet. Jazen had put it aside, trying to focus on the here and now. But now, with nothing to think about but what awaited them, Jazen had noticed the oddity. It was just too...empty. Quiet. Wrong. Everything. It unnerved the crap out of him and apparently, it got to Locke too.
"This entire planet feels wrong, if I'm honest Master. But I'll give it a shot." He sidestepped the rock Locke slipped on and closed his eyes, reaching ahead and around as they came to the top of the climb. The village, still dark save for what the small lights illuminated, was ominous before them, quiet as the dead. Jazen felt the Force swirl around him, expand outwards, touching and seeking for any signs of life...and found nothing. No, not nothing. He felt Locke, himself, the three men with them. Everything else seemed to be in a void.
"No. Nothing but us. But its weird Master. Its not that theres nothing..its like there's just a gap where something should be. Like...like something is hidden just out of sight. I don't know. Still, doesn't seem to be anyone home. Let's check it quick and then get some shelter...before anything goes..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Jazen felt Samuel's sudden distress right before he heard it. The scream. It wasn't just a normal scream. It was filled with pain, anger, despair...and utter fear. It made Jazen miss a step as the scream suddenly died and suddenly, that void wasn't a void anymore. It was alive...and they were surrounded. "Master! Trouble!" Jazen's saber was already snapped to life, illuminating the darkened huts around them...and the horde of darkened figures that had weapons pointed at them. "Oh frell..."
At least they were primitve weapons from the looks of it. A lot of them but nothing really dangerous to a Jedi. It wouldn't take long to sort this out if there was trouble but he was sure Locke would try and talk them down first. He'd leave it to him. And as he heard Locke start so speak, Jazen suddenly saw stars as something smacked the back of his head. Hard.
He didn't collapse. But he faltered. And suddenly that horde was bearing down on them. Screaming and crying and charging. And behind it all, unseen for the moment, stood a man. A man who smiled in the darkness of night. And all hell broke loose.
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