Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 52

Thread: The Scavengers' Tale [Jakku]

  1. #21
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    Aria was apparently dead set on acting just like the spoiled princess she insisted she had been. And committing suicide, as well, the human didn't look strong enough to do even one pull up. Ndonsa sat impassively, watching the girl move to the side of the chasm and work up the nerve to step out and climb around the edge. It was not her job to mentor anyone, let alone an entitled and rude child who would be better off navigating the sinking sands than - "Stop," she said abruptly, as Aria was just about to trust her life to a precarious grip, leaning out over the edge.

    She stood up and strode over, helping the girl back from the edge before she could overbalance and fall. "No rope?" No flashlight, no rope. Ndonsa adjusted her beige clothing (being naked would be preferable to all these layers, but brushing sand out of her fur for days was not enjoyable) and began pulling out a thin high tensile line from the sand stained stormtrooper utility belt she wore. There was a grappling hook on the end, and apparently it was all strong enough to hold a full grown man in plasteel armor, but she'd never tested it out before.

    The Kufu hesitated, looking at Aria. "The bridge has plenty of salvage for the both of us. We do not need to go further. But..." she looked out over the divide. "If you wish to, we can attempt it."


  2. #22
    Aria
    Guest
    Aria stepped back hesitantly, but secretly relieved that Ndonsa had stopped her. That had been risky even for her. She was light and had hoped the thin edge would hold, but like Ndonsa summarised, Aria didn't have the strength if she slipped, and would have been a goner. And then she made her assumption about the rope, and presented her grappling hook. Aria dropped her bag to the ground, small and light so that she could carry it easily, especially while climbing, but it obviously had some supplies.
    "I have rope." She replied, trying not to sound annoyed about it and a bit gentler since Ndonsa was now trying to help. "But... not that I'd trust to get us across there. There's nothing I could secure it to. I usually use it for hauling salvage out of ships or helping me climb. It's nothing like that." She pointed to the high tensile wire, clearly designed for things like this. But even then, she wasn't sure what it could latch on to. You'd need a good throwing arm. Something Aria, unsurprisingly, didn't have.

    "The bridge stuff is good, but there's lots of control circuits already on the market. What's over there... could be pretty unique. It could be rations for weeks, not days..." Aria pointed out, trying not to sound too excited. It was still a fool's hope, but weapons were practical, they were immediately useful, and they were dangerous. They were worth far more than just some parts from even a bridge. They could buy Aria weeks of not having to scavenge anything. Oh, what she wouldn't give for a rest... Her young and coddled body wasn't used to this amount of work, and she just wanted to sleep for a month.

    "Don't you want a rest from all this?" She asked, seemingly earnestly. "Every day... I risk my life for junk. Over there could be my ticket to just... just some time to rest. Don't you want that?" She asked, and she seemed to be genuine. She wasn't after this just out of greed. The young girl was exhausted. She wanted a break, a rest, a small iota of freedom back in her life. She wondered if Ndonsa would understand.

  3. #23
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    "Then you should rest, child," Ndonsa said, putting her paw on Aria's shoulder. The girl found herself feeling very sleepy...

    The Jedi went to work.

    ...and when Aria woke up an hour later there was a pile of blaster rifles and power cells in the passage next to her, and her rope had been turned into a makeshift bridge across the gap, along with the rope Ndonsa had had in her own pack. The mongoose was in the middle of the ropes, balancing on one while she held onto the other with her paws. There were more blaster rifles slung across her back as she made her way back to where Aria was waking up.

  4. #24
    Aria
    Guest
    Aria hadn't slept like that in a long time. So relaxed, so peaceful. No horrible dreams, no cramp from where her soft body had failed to adapt to the harsh ground, no constant waking in tears, longing to be home. Just peaceful, quiet rest. And yet, she still didn't know what had happened. Truthfully, when beat and exhausted, Aria had slept in the ships she was scavenging a few times. After all, why not, right? Nobody else was around and at least she could do what she wanted when exhausted, which in her skinny and frail state thanks to lack of rations was often. But she had never thought she'd fall asleep while scavenging with somebody else.

    She sat bolt upright, and her face burned red.
    "Oh my god! Did I fall asleep? I'm so sorry!" She gasped, getting to her feet groggily, but trying to shake it off, and take everything in. "I-I don't know what happened. I swear... that's... never happened before." She said, obviously worried and ashamed.

    And then she saw the blasters.

    "Oh my god! You found all of those while I slept!?" She asked, both stunned and horrified, because as far as she was concerned, that meant she had no claim to them. Her great idea to find blasters and she had fallen asleep and slept right through this other scavenger finding them all! How could she be so stupid!? They were worth a fortune on Jakku and she'd wasted her chance!

  5. #25
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    She wavered on the ropes a little, recovered her balance and continued on, finally stepping off onto the deck as the girl came fully around and started to freak out. Predictably. Ndonsa shook her head, holding her paws out in a 'calm down' gesture. "I used your rope. These are half yours. Or, as much as you can carry?"

    The mongoose knelt down, putting the weapons into two roughly equal piles. "If we cannot bring them all out at once we will have to keep this a secret. Others will come."

  6. #26
    Aria
    Guest
    "It's half mine... because you used my rope?" Aria repeated quizzically, before giggling a little. She tried to stifle it, and just giggled more. She burst in to a giggling fit, which seemed probably extremely strange given the situation but she couldn't help it. She just giggled and giggled and then she smiled at Ndonsa. "You care!" She giggled to herself. "You act all grumpy and mean but you actually care!" Any other scavenger would have run off with find. Abandoned Aria or thrown her in the pit or something for something as clumsy as falling asleep. Not given her half of such valuable loot.

    She was actually so relieved she hadn't lost her loot, so relieved that somebody had shown her an act of kindness, the first she'd seen on Jakku, so relieved that grumpy act was just that, an act, that she grabbed and hugged Ndonsa before she could do anything about it, before releasing her and smiling brightly.

    "Let's get to work!" She beamed, unravelling from her bag a big piece of cloth, and piling the weapons up on it. She'd wrap the cloth around them and tie it with her rope, and then carry it on her back. That was the plan, at least. She didn't actually know how many she'd be able to carry.

  7. #27
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    "You will never keep this a secret if you keep smiling," Ndonsa pointed out, choosing to ignore the hug completely. She turned and pulled on the ropes, giving them a good shake and using the Force to discretely release them from where they were tied on the other side. A few moments later the ropes were reeled in, and she dropped Aria's by her pile.

    Her own share of the weapons she split into pistols and rifles, and shoved the pistols and extra power cells into her net bag. The power cells were all drained, of course, none of these weapons could be fired, but they were still worth rations. Or credits, if you could make the trek to the right broker. The bag she could carry on her back, it was designed for that, and she tied the blaster rifles by their straps to her rope and dragged it behind her down the passage back to the bridge.

  8. #28
    Aria
    Guest
    "And you'll never stop being grumpy if you don't start smiling." Aria pointed out proudly, still pleased and on a high of actually having somebody care about her. Even if she was trying her very best not to show it. But, well, there wasn't much more needling she could do to get Ndonsa to smile, not for a moment, and so she started packing up guns. She put in her small load in her cloth, deciding it was much as she could carry, and looked over at Ndonsa, who was hauling easily four times that much.

    Aria blushed a little, and decided she couldn't be that humiliated, so grabbed even more guns, and piled them on to the cloth. She finished the amount she definitely couldn't carry and looked over at Ndonsa, who still easily had double her load. She blushed in irritation, but knew better than to overload herself anymore. She wrapped up her cloth bundle, and heaved it. She tried to lift it on to her back like she planned, but couldn't budge the load off of the durasteel. Instead, she decided to pull the ropes, hauling it like Ndonsa had. She heaved and she pulled, but she could barely move it, her skinny arms unable to manage the strength, and her legs, without much power, not able to help.

    She moved it, inch by inch, but it took her five minutes to get less than half a meter. In the meantime, Ndonsa had disappeared back to the bridge. She stopped, panting, and wiped sweat from her brow. God, this was difficult...

  9. #29
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    Ndonsa did her best to ignore the foolish girl's struggles, pushing her blaster rifle bundle out of the viewport through the side that had broken. Half of the transparisteel was still intact, the vibration she'd sent with the Force only taking out a portion of it. Still, the ship would be exposed to the sand now, and the bridge components, once untouched, would be ruined in time.

    She braced her footpaws against the inside lip of the viewport and began to lower the bundle, the blaster rifles scraping against the hull.

  10. #30
    Aria
    Guest
    Aria heaved and pulled and strained, but as she got more exhausted, her load seemed to get heavier. Soon, it wasn't moving at all. Giving up with aching arms, she decided all she could do was cheat. She opened up her pack, and pulled out several blasters, hiding them quickly in a side room. Ndonsa, she hoped, wouldn't notice her pack had gotten smaller, and she began to heave it again, this time able to move it (even if she still struggled somewhat).

    Of course, she was only cheating herself out of a bigger score, but, well, she could only carry what she could carry.

    It was still slow going though, as the package was still nearly too much for her...

  11. #31
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    It took a few minutes to lower the weapons down to the sand. Ndonsa finally felt the slack that meant she'd reached the dunes, and was thankful she'd had enough rope to make it. She tied her end securely inside the bridge of the cruiser, giving herself an easy way off the ship, and turned as Aria finally managed to trudge into room.

    She was not going to offer her any more help - if anything she had already helped her too much. Those who were weak, died. It was the way of the galaxy. That the self-proclaimed spoiled child had survived so long already was a testament to how strong she really way - or perhaps she just had not spoken to anyone else on Jakku. Ndonsa couldn't imagine any other scavenger putting up with the girl's self entitled rants.

    The Kufu settled her bag on her back, tying it securely across her chest, and took hold of her rope, readying for the rappel down.

  12. #32
    Aria
    Guest
    Aria finally made it to where Ndonsa was stood, and although she was clearly exhausted from the effort, set up her rope as a similar pulley to Ndonsa's with a practised ease. It was obvious that here, at least, Aria knew what she was doing. All scavengers did. Self-entitled rants might put you in danger, but nothing would get you killed quicker than not knowing how to get your bounty back to the ground. She made sure her rope was secured firmly, although she was lagging behind Ndonsa a bit, and then followed suit, even if she found herself worrying about the weight of her pack on her ordinary rope.

    She needn't of worried it turned out, Aria's small size and light body weight meant that the weight of the pack was easily supported, and although she'd let Ndonsa go on ahead (uh, by which, she meant 'couldn't stop her') she was soon rappelling down the front of the ship as well...

  13. #33
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    Her footpaws touched the sand, and Ndonsa gave the rope a quick tug and stepped backward, letting the tether fall down from the height of the ship into a haphazard pile. She could see the girl slowly making her way down, and was considering calling up to her, but a sound - falling sand - made her turn around. Five cloaked and armed scavengers, all wearing metallic coolie hats, were crouched around the bundle of rifles she'd dropped to the dunes.

    As she turned to look at them they sprang into action, two leaping toward her as the other three tried to grab all the blaster rifles they could carry. "No!" Ndonsa shouted, holding out her paw to the side. Her metal staff flicked through the air, slamming into her palm from where she'd left it in the shade, and she spun it forcefully, knocking the two attackers off their feet.

  14. #34
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    A third scavenger spun around, flinging a poorly made net at the Kufu, who ducked and rolled to the side. A blast of telekinetic energy made sure the net missed its mark, and then she was charging at the three thieves while the first two still struggled to regain their feet in the sand.

    She shouted a challenge at them, and they grabbed up what weapons they had and the fight began in earnest.

  15. #35
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    In the confusion the girl, Aria, made it to the ground safely. "Run!" shouted Ndonsa, and the human thankfully listened. She gathered what rifles she could carry and took off, slipping and sliding down a dune and out of sight. One of the Kyuzo attackers turned to follow her, and the Kufu yanked his feet out from under him with the Force. Here, deep in the deserts of Jakku with only these thieves as witnesses, she was not worried about being outed as a Force user.

    Ndonsa spun her staff, knocking one Kyuzo out with a solid blow while she kicked out behind her with her footpaw, catching another in the soft belly. Both attackers fell to the ground, one to sleep, the other to gasp for air. Two of the scavenger-thieves were dragging rifles away until sand whirled up in the air around them, a sandstorm in miniature that caused them to drop what they were carrying to reposition their protective goggles and scarves. She'd lost sight of the fifth Kyuzo, and cast about with the Force to locate it when she felt danger from above. The Kufu ducked and rolled in the sand to the side, the thief crashing to the ground where she'd been, burying a large blade deep into the sand.

    She kicked out her arms and legs from where she lay on her back, springing up to her footpaws and slamming her metal staff down on the center of the Kyuzo's back. He cried out and collapsed next to his blade. Ndonsa reached out and flicked her fingers, the two thieves who'd protected themselves from the sand she'd thrown at them hit their metal hats together with enough force they both fell down. She took a moment to catch her breath, and then dug through their packs to find their rope.

    There was a promising looking turbolaser barrel sticking out of the sand, and she dragged the unconscious bodies of the thieves with the Force until they were sitting around the sturdy metal pole. She wrapped them with their own rope, tying it tightly. She left their packs in the sand just out of reach, but put their canteens nearby. They would be able to release themselves before they died of exposure. It would give her enough time to get back to the outpost to sell these weapons, and the location of the cache to another scavenger. Then she would make her away across the shifting sand toward the next outpost.

    It was time to move on.

  16. #36
    * * *

    Ergel's Bar, Cratertown




    "OI! Gimme anutha one, eh?!"

    From his seat in the back booth of Ergel's Bar, the man waved his ceramic mug at the waitress as she passed. She at least nodded before heading off to refill his drink. Cratertown sure wasn't much, but it had Ergel's, and the folk here tolerated him. Which was more than any of the other places here on Jakku. Hells, even Niima Outpost was just too stringent for him. Well, it was really more the constable than anything else. All James wanted to do was to be left alone with his drink and the people here obliged him.

    James. James Karr. A name he'd drunkenly uttered decades ago; it'd stuck, and so he'd kept it. Was better than the alternative.

    The waitress came back with another cup, and he gladly handed over the empty for the full.

    "You be careful now, James," she was a cute little Twi'Lek, "Last time you had too much Knockout Nectar we had t'get Masavi to carry you back to that old vault you call home."

    Taking the refill, James offered the cute little thing a confident smile.

    "S'all good, Ren. Just havin' a few since it's the weekend an' all."

    Ren didn't look entirely convinced, but she let the matter go regardless and pivoted on her heel to move on to other patrons.

    James let his eyes linger, going down her lekku to her backside. A sniff, and he turned back to his drink.

    Just another day in Cratertown.

  17. #37
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    Wrapped from head to footpaw in beige cloth, Ndonsa rode her modified swoop bike into Cratertown, stopping near the edge of the tented main marketplace and hopping down. She pulled her scarf from her muzzle, pushed her goggles up on her forehead, and set to work pulling down the blaster rifles she'd liberated from the wreck.

    Dragging them through the center of the market meant that there were many eyes on her, but it could not be helped. She walked up to the so-called Concession Stand run by Bilbo, a small and very angry Dug. His eyes popped wide as Ndonsa set a blaster rifle heavily down on the counter. "I have sixteen," she said.

    "You do," Bilbo harumphed, picking up the rifle with his feet. "Looks like you dragged them through the entire desert to get them here."

    "They are good condition," she insisted. "Worth half a ration each."

    Bilbo narrowed his eyes and walked back and forth on the counter, inspecting the rifle. "Half a ration, for two," he sneered.

    Ndonsa bristled, putting her paw on the rifle. "I will keep them then," she said, but Bilbo did not let go, the weapon suspended between her paw and his foot. She gave a small tug, and them the Force whispered to her and she released the rifle and put her hand on her metal staff which she'd leaned on the edge of the counter.

    Turning around she knocked a thief in the shoulder as he tried to grab one of the blaster rifles from the pile at her side, then spun her staff and hit a second thief in the face as he fell backwards, her property in his hands. Bilbo was shouting, others were scattering, and she calmly retrieved her belongings and stood at the counter again.

    "I will accept your deal," she said, shoving the rifles into the Stand while Bilbo blustered.

  18. #38
    Back in Ergel's, James was just finishing his last pint of knockout nectar. It was the last one Ren was willing to give him, as the bartender had had cut him off. Oh, he'd had a few loud moments, pounding the table with a fist a bit too... energetically, and his voice had gone slightly over-volume at times, but only enough to have his drinks stopped. Thankfully not enough to have him carted off to the constable's office. Again.

    When he'd risen to his feet, his mug empty, James had made sure to leave a sizable enough tip for Ren along with whatever it was he owed. Maybe if he left her enough money enough times she'd warm up to him. A long shot, but he didn't much care. Course, he could always invite her back home, though she'd more than likely say no, or come up with some excuse to push him off. Eh. Things were better when it was just him, so inviting attention with another body, no matter how fun it might be, was more than likely a bad idea.

    Then again coming to Jakku hadn't exactly been the best of ideas either, so maybe he was fated to constantly make bad decisions?

    Stumbling out the front doorway of Ergen's, James let out a small burp, eyed the main drag, and started off with empty purpose.

    His speeder was in a lot at the edge of Cratertown, and he had a long drive back to the old abandoned Republic-era vault he called home.

  19. #39
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ndonsa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    AKA
    Holly
    Location
    Ossus
    Posts
    509
    Ndonsa headed toward the place known as Ergel's, her rations carefully stowed in her pack and secured to her back. She would find a buyer for the information, and then head out - perhaps to Nima Outpost this time. It had been a year since she had last been there.

    A cold mug of milk was on her mind as she bumped into a male who did not get out of her way. She did not make any polite excuses, but eyed the human under his hood. "Be careful," Ndonsa said, gripping her metal staff with her paw, her tail flicking with impatience.

  20. #40
    Stumbling only a little bit to the side, James let out a grunt as he steadied himself on his feet. That the gods he'd not actually fallen. A look to the one he'd bumped into only elicited a longer than normal stare. His eyes narrowed in the beginning stages of disbelief, or at least incredulous impossibility. A Nehantite? On Jakku? not exactly the strangest thing he'd ever seen. But, this one was a redfur.

    He shook his head, not really trusting his eyes. He'd had enough to drink, after all, to probably make him see a dress-wearing Hutt.

    "Eh," he got out in mild disgust.

    "I'm careful enough," he retorted under a breath while turning to head back down the main drag of Cratertown.

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •