Trouble on Tatooine (open to ONE Jedi or Sith and their apprentice)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville walked the dusty streets of Mos Eisley, sick of being cooped up in her ship. Beside her trudged her apprentice, dark goggled as always, and miserable in the heat and sunlight of the desert planet.

She'd been here before, as a member of the Empire's infantry. The armour she'd been hidden inside then was temperature controlled to keep the troops from passing out. Her usual dark blue robe would have just soaked in the suns' rays, so she'd opted for an off white ensemble.

Her hair was still shaven. At first she'd intented to grow it out, but for reasons of secrecy (it was harder to recognize her like this) she'd kept her head shorn. It didn't stop recognition, those who knew her personally had no problem placing her. Those who'd only heard about her had to do a double take. A second was all she needed, anyway.

They walked along in silence, and then reached a small, hole in the wall cafe. De'Ville entered, Shaed following her into the cooler, darker interior. Her eyes took a second to adjust, and Shaed found a table for them where they could see the entrances.

"Enjoying Tatooine, Shaed?" Lilaena smiled a little, and ordered water.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

The light was blinding.

The young man - if man he could be called, for he was not connected to the race of humans in any way but through the genes his father had passed on to him - was wearing goggles so thickly tinted that the average wearer would have termed them "opaque", and wonder who had painted them black.

Shaed was not average.

Still, the dual light of this planet's suns was stretching the use of the goggles to its limit. Everything was still as nearly as bright as day to him through them. Which, translated to his brain through his eyes (which he had received from his mother's side of the genetic fence), meant that he was getting a headache from everything being so frelling bright.

Though he was clad in his regular gear - long black (and ornately designed with criss-crossing patterns, though for what purpose few knew) elementproof coat (which was not quite proof against THIS sort of element), black half gloves that covered the backs of his hands but not half of his fingers or his palms (though his hands were always clenched unless in action, so it was difficult to tell if fabric lay beneath his fingers or not), black tunic (short-sleeved this time, which was NOT usual and yet still did NOT help in the heat), black pants, black military boots with curious armoured joints and a digit-separating division set into the toes of each one.

No one usually could see Shaed well enough to describe the details of what he wore. He simply stuck to dark places, or frenetic ones. Or was flat-out hiding.

On the... bright side, the heat of this wretched planet was quite bearable. The Force sloughed excess heat off of his body like fluid from the back of a waterfowl. He was not, for once, masking his use of the Force or himself in any way. It was so unusual for him that he felt as if he had painted a sign on his own back.

He entered a tapcafe with the Master. He was watchful.

A question was asked. Oh, such wit. How droll.

"It is quite lovely, thanks for asking," Shaed said in his habitually soft voice. A bit of smarmyness to reveal his distaste for the setting De'Ville had provided for this latest exercise.

Well, the ends would justify the means. Pain was an ally.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville sipped her water. "There are many different life forms on Tatooine. The most elusive creature on the planet, and perhaps in the galaxy, is the krayt dragon. It is valued for the 'pearls' found inside the gallbladder."

She held up her lightsaber pommel. "This is dragon bone. From one I killed years ago." The bone handle was ornately carved, and didn't need to be reinforced, as the bones of the krayt dragon were incredibly durable. "I got two pearls from that one. Sold one for passage to Nal Hutta and cash. The other I've kept hidden away on Bast." She eyed her apprentice. "In a safe place."

"I came again about three years ago to find another. I got <a href=http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9055>distracted</a> by a nosy Jedi. I intend to finish that hunt. But do not worry. We will travel at night." She drank her water, and looked at her apprentice, weighing his reaction.

[Chase Starwalker]

"No, No I already told you I sold that thing years ago..." Chase came through the door of the bar dressed in his normal Jedi attire, as people began to recongnize him as such. Being a known as a Jedi on other planets, especially one such as Tatooine was starting to be more of a bother than blessing, but one could not have the good without the bad. Besides, this was home.

Trailing behind him was a impatient alien speaking in a tongue most did not understand. Chase took a seat at a booth nearby to DeVille and Shaed, followed closely by the alien. After a few more minutes of talking, the alien got up and left the bar, in a rather discusted manner to be exact. Sighing, Chase shot a glance to the bartender and mouthed the word "Beer." to him. He lifted a small brown sachel to the table and began to fiddle with a datapad that was pulled from within. He hadn't had contact with the GJO in a few days, and he figured a comlink to Arcan wasn't such a bad idea. He would contact his Master, Leia Solo. He sat in his seat, quietly as before, punching keys on the datapad...but all the while Chase knew something was not right. Something dark was here...he could not place it, but he had a pretty good idea...

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed, sitting across from De'Ville in a booth facing the cantina's small dusty entrance, ignored the comment from his Master about the hidden krayt dragon jewel. The part of his mind that still was honed to bounty hunt immediately started ruminating on where it could be - first off, it was obviously on Bast, in the castle. Noplace more secure in the galaxy, if you didn't count the other live-ins. Second, it would be either in an incredibly obvious or an incredibly inconspicuous place. In betweens would not exist for someone of De'Ville's mind.

Shaed ignored the part of his mind murmering about this, as he had no interest in wealth of any sort. So. A krayt dragon. One of the few animals that were known the galaxy over. And arguably the most valuable and dangerous.

Interesting, indeed. It would be a good experience.

Speaking of which...

...A Jedi walked in the door, walked down into the sunken interior of the tapcafe. Almost time for the show to start, and they hadn't even had to wait long. Too bad, the bar was nice and dark, and sunsdown wouldn't occur for another three hours according to the daily news source in this city.

The traditional attire of the Jedi marked him almost as readily as his Force signature. Shaed had not been disguising his own, yet he had taken the care to taint it to only show off his use of the Light Side. Limiting, but not impossible. The Master remainded just recognizable as a Force sensitive by one carefully attuned to the Force, since she had no skill at disguising herself other than not using the Force at all. So she didn't.

Shaed pleasantly ordered a local brew from the barkeep through an encrusted pad set into the table. It was not long in coming, there was a slight shortage of business at the moment.

He took a calming breath. Sometimes the best place to hide was out in the open.

Admittedly... not often. He smiled, though his goggles obscured the proof that the expression reached any further than his lips.

"Look, Lindy, a Jedi. I haven't seen one of them in years... not since I was REAL young," Shaed said in a loud voice, presumably to be heard over the background noise of the bar. He truly hated acting like a hick, which made it all enjoyable. Ah, pleasant duality. "Go talk to 'im! Buy 'im a drink, I'll pay... it wouldn't be seemly if I offered it m'self, though... YOU know, Lindy." He grinned widely.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville laughed lightly, taking care not to touch the Force. She'd appear dark to anyone other than a Master of the Force. A Master would be able to sense the potential of her Force capibilities, but a Padawan, as this one appeared to be, would only be able to guess. More often than not, he'd guess wrongly.

"Kalvin, are you sure?" She looked over at the Jedi, who was a few years younger than she was. "Okay, fine!!" She picked up her drink, and cautiously made her way over to the table, with several backward glances at her 'brother,' who urged her on from his table.

Reaching the robed Jedi padawan, his braid not quite to his shoulder, 'Lindy' paused. "Hi there...can I buy you a drink?" She pulled her white cloak around her, already dingy from the sand and dirt of Tattooine, and hesitated again. "Is anyone sitting here?" She bit her lip, and her face creased with affected worry.

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase smiled wide, closing the datapad as he hit one last keystroke. The message had been sent. Leia. Come to Tatooine. We have a situation. Chase. He extended his hand to the woman, keeping his smile attractively showing.

"Certaintly not." Chase said to the empty seat that adorned the other side of the table. He kicked the chair slightly as it spun out with incredible accuracy to meet the young woman. He hinted to the thought of a drink.

"And you certaintly may. . . Lindy was it?"

[Jedi Master Leia Solo]

<font color=lime green>INCOMING TRANSMISSION.............
Leia Come to Tatooine we have a situation at hand, Chase
.....END OF TRANSMISSION</font>

::Noting the urgency, The Jedi Master did not hesitate notifying the hangar at Avalon to ready her ship for Tatooine. Leia gathered her belongings quickly and in under a half an hour was on her craft headed for Tatooine::

Sometime later

::The Jedi's craft landed quietly on the outskirts of Mos Eisley as per Chase's directions. The petite Jedi Master disembarked her ship and started her trek to the streets of Mos Eisley. Leia pulled up her hood to conceal her identity as a Jedi while protecting herself from the dust and heat of Tatooine. She checked her datapad once more, to see if she recieved another communication from Chase. Unfortunately she did not. Leia turned off the datapad and put it back underneath her robe while pulling out a commlink, hoping to get in touch with her padawan::

Chase..this is Leia do you copy

::There was no reply::

Drat! He must have his commlink off. I suppose once again, I am on my own to figure out where he is. *sigh*

::With that Leia continued her tedious journey to Mos Eisley::

[Lilaena De'Ville]

ooc: We have 1/2 an hour plus however long your transit time was getting here, Leia, to be alone with Chase. He's ours!! >D Oh, and don't worry, we won't hurt him...much ;) /ic:

'Lindy' sat down timidly in the chair, what was left of her courage left behind with her loud brother. "I, well, that is to say, we....my brother and I, we had a request for you. We need the help of a Jedi." She bit her lip, and looked over her shoulder helplessly at 'Kalvin.

"What I mean is," she lowered her voice dramatically, and looked around to make sure no one was listening. No one was. "We've found the location of a krayt dragon nest, out in the Dune Sea. But we can't over take the dragon, not by ourselves. But we need the money...for...well..." She trailed off, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Chase could sense a darkness about her, but couldn't quite grasp her force ability. "Kalvin" was also tinged dark, but he was masking himself as a half trained Force user: someone trained enough to not harm himself, but not enough to harm anyone else.

The drink for the Jedi arrived, and Lindy beckoned to her brother to join them. He might be able to convince the Jedi to help.

[Chase Starwalker]

ooc: :p ic:/

Chase gave a slight eyebrow raise that hinted her last statement. She looks familiar... was all he had time to think before she started her conversation. He knew he had seen her face before...but where? Time could only tell as much.

He gave a slight raise of the head as his beer arrived. He turned his attention back to 'Lindy' as soon as the barkeeper had left eyeshot range.

"For what might I ask?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed grinned, mouth open wide with pleasure, when Lindy beckoned him over. No. Kalvin did, right. Right. Of course he would come over...

...And come over he did, with style to spare. He practically jumped from his seat as he grabbed his mug - untasted yet, as the sight of a real live Jedi had obviously made him forget his drink. Crashing rather unceremoniously into the booth on the other side of the Jedi, he fumbled for the man's hand and shook it with lines of delight crinkling all over his face.

The hand was warm, dry, and a bit tense. Wary. The Jedi was wary. Naturally so? Who could tell. Shaed kicked De'Ville under the table in warning, noiselessly.

Kalvin leaned in, close to the man's ear.

"Such a matter is... not one to discuss lightly, in a place like this. You understand..."

Kalvin nodded conspiratorally as he continued. His eyes were still shielded by his goggles; doubtless the Jedi wondered why.

"Our youngest sister was kidnapped, years ago, and sold into slavery. We are... well... we survive, we aren't too poor, but we don't have the means to either win her freedom back from those kreffing monsters OR buy it, which would easily be the easiest way to do it."

Despite numerous universal government changes throughout the years, no one had ever managed to rid Tatooine - or many other planets, for that matter - of the blight of slavery.

"I... I once knew a man who could use the Force." Kalvin's voice lowered further. "He taught me some things, how to feel it... how to let it lead me. He vanished after just a year, I never found out what had happened to him. But I know he was a Jedi. And I feel... the Force says that I can trust you. That you can help us... but you must tell us now whether you will or not, before we can reveal any more of what our plan is or how we came about it. I am sorry, Master Jedi... but we must be sure. You must know how valuable a krayt dragon is - on ANY planet!"


Kalvin's eyes were wide and his expression sincere. He reached out with his meager talents in the Force, touching on the Jedi's sense and asertaining the man's goodness.

Shaed thought it all very amusing.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lindy winced as her 'brother' kicked her shin, and knew he was warning her about something. She didn't attempt to reach out with the Force, padawan or not, the Jedi would have known right away. Instead she listened eagerly to 'Kalvin,' nodding mournfully at the mention of her enslaved sister.

"We'd be willing to split the profit with you, thirty/seventy... " she gulped, "Its just we haven't got much time. Dragons move on so quickly, we're just lucky we found one nesting. But I couldn't tell how long it'd been there already. So I don't know how much longer it'll be there...waiting for its eggs to hatch."

She snapped her mouth shut, a guilty look on her face. Krayt dragon eggs were virtually unheard of. Any collector or zoo getting its hands on a krayt dragon egg would be willing to pay its weight in life crystals. Or twice its weight!

Kalvin frowned at her, and she shrugged apologetically.

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase listened to the two put on thier show. Sighing in deep he took in the dry sandy air of the bar. Still tainted with the memory of this woman's face, he could not place it, but he was sure he'd seen it before. He hoped Leia had gotten his transmission, for these two were not what they seemed to be, but it was too early to judge such things yet.

"Krayt dragons are very dangerous creatures, not a sideshow animal to take lightly. It is disapointing to hear of your situation, however I cannot let you venture such a task, for both your lives would be put in extreme danger."

The unpleasent tension between the masquerading had lead to a stalemate between the two 'locals' and himself.

"Perhaps however there is another way to save your si..."

Chase stopped mid-sentance. His eyes obviously had life behind them, as if someone had called his name. Leia was here. He felt her, although faintly, she was on the planet. He gathered himself once more..."Save your sister. A bargain with the slave owner perhaps?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

ooc
No, Leia is still in transit. Try reading our spoken lines out loud. Does it take you half of an hour?
/ooc

Kalvin's mouth drooped.

"I tried to reason, to bargain, with him, once."

His face turned away.

"Now I'm all but blind," he said quietly, but without bitterness. "And the least bit of light that hits my eyes make them burn again, just like they did when they dumped that chemical in them."

He looked back at the Jedi.

"He is a dangerous man. Even for you. But the dragon, we don't have to kill it or even confront it - just steal the eggs... unless you really want to try it your way... I don't know."

He trailed off, dubiously.

"All I know is that you're here just in time. Our sister is going to be shipped off-planet tonight! We have to move now, whatever it is you choose, Master Jedi."

He extended his hand again.

"My name is Kalvin Drysede, and this is my elder sister, Lindy. We NEED you to help us... but if you will not, we will leave and do this ourselves."

[Chase Starwalker]

ooc:/ well here's an idea Shaed, let's pretend I said she is on her way, instead of on the planet...because I miss-read LD's post. If that is ok with you of course ?

ic:/

Chase sighed. Options were thinning rapidly. Perhaps such a task was possible. He leaned into the table, drawing the two closer.

"Alright. I can't promise anything, but it's obvious something must be done. Do you have a plan on how to steal these eggs?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

"Well... you recall that I said we needed a Jedi's help? I was thinking that you could put it to sleep, distract it, something... I can sneak into the den and grab 'em - the eggs - because I'm pretty good at things like that. I... I don't think I'm very good at the Force... but I can use it to be quiet pretty okay, I think. Lindy," he said with an amused glance at his sister, "will be waiting nearby with the get-away-fast speeder - we've already put special silencer mods on the engines, so we should be able to sneak up on the lair in it for most of the way..."

Kalvin awaited his sister's input, hardly daring to hope that the Jedi was actually agreeing to help them.

Shaed was a little miffed that the Jedi didn't want to go rescue slaves. But, then, that was why the two of them were here. Either he would change his mindset about such things, or he would be deemed completely useless for their purposes and... well, one step at a time.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lindy nodded earnestly, "I don't know how all that stuff works, the Jedi tricks an' all, but surely its possible!" Her voice was enriched by a Tattooine accent, the ordinarily crisp Coruscantian tones gone from her Basic. "You can keep one of the eggs for yourself, even, we don't mind."

She sighed, "Vargo the Hutt is very punctual, so we should get going. If we're late..." Her voice trailed off in despair.

De'Ville was gauging this padawan, through his facial expressions and voice inflections. He seemed willing to help, but he was wary. Trained well, she supposed. I wonder where his master is?

Lindy lurched to her feet, and drained her glass of water. "Lets go, I have the speeder outside!" In reality, she had no speeder outside, but she was sure there was one for the taking. It was a simple matter to hotwire a swoop bike or two, or a landspeeder. She grinned with sudden excitement, "It's gonna to take an hour or so just to get there."

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase raised an eye at the young woman as she rose to her feet. He had felt something was not as it seemed with the pair, but had no real solid evidence to believe otherwise. Perhaps he was just being over-protective. But that accent the woman used...there was something about it. It was native of Tatooine, in fact it was almost perfect. Almost. Chase had been born and raised in Tatooine, and could pick up such things a mile away, with-or-without the force. It made him second guess his decision to help the pair, but he had to be sure. If it could save thier sister, he would help.

Granted he would keep a keen eye, but he would help. Chase rose to his feet, ignoring the beer that had barely moved from it's resting place since arriving on the table.

"Alright, just promise me you'll do as I say, and if anything comes up, you will leave me to take care of the dragon...by myself. I can't risk your lives if it comes down to it. Are we clear?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

"Well... okay, I guess. We're clear."

Not that Kalvin looked too happy at the thought.

"But we wouldn't abandon you."

Shaed nearly laughed at that.

"I mean, how can we? You're the first person to actually care about our plight. There are hundreds of people on this horrible planet with similar problems to ours; more than hundreds maybe. Just, nobody cares anymore."

Lindy asked the obviously well-traveled Jedi if it was true about there being planets in the galaxy that were made entirely out of water.

Shaed noticed they were heading for a speeder that a man almost out of sight at the moment was also possibly heading for. A simple suggestion, planted through the Force, persuaded the man that he'd left his ignition keys in the small diner he was exiting. The Jedi was distracted by Lindy and looking quite the opposite direction - and besides, he was not apt to pick up on the famed "Jedi mind trick" even if he was looking for one.

A little more risky was when Shaed had delved into the subject of keys at the same time, and found that the man secreted one in a magnetic holder on the bottom of the speeder. Still, the Jedi was focusing his wary attentions on Lindy, and unless he was reading the man - the man that he had not seen - the man's mind as well, and at the same time, then no hint had been given. Shaed paid as close attention to the details of such things as anyone, and far more than most.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lindy hopped into the speeder, and felt Kalvin place a key into her hand. She grinned at him, and placed it into the ignition as the Jedi and her brother climbed in after her.

With a cough and a sputter, the speeder growled to life, and she gave it a semi-concerned look. She smiled at the Jedi, "Always does that, don't worry, it handles fine."

She stepped on the accelerator, backed out of the spot and smashed the brake, jarring her passengers. With an excited whoop, Lindy jammed the accelerator again, and the speeder took off down the street.

She was going to get her sister back! Of course she was excited. But inwardly De'Ville was plotting how to deal with this Jedi once they were in the Dune Sea....

[Chase Starwalker]

The wind swirled past him. Miles of dusty terrain wore together in a flash around the speeder.

They headed toward the Dune Sea. Chase remained quiet, saying nothing but keeping his guard about him.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

The facade was, so far, still being successful. The speeder even had a believable amount of fuel - enough to get to the Krayt nest and back, but not much more.

Because, of course, there really was a Krayt Dragon nest that Shaed and his master had found, out in the desert while preparing this whole thing. It was basically a big hole in the side of a gigantic dune, covered with some eons-dead floatbrush and loose sand. It was deceptively hard to notice that there was an actual cave of sorts, hardened by secretions and chiseled out by immense claws, within the dune.

He thought it would be coming up soon, but he couldn't see all that well. And couldn't reach out to sense the creature's Force signature, of course. Kalvin probably didn't know how to do that very well.

Kalvin's face was steadily looking more worried as the time and wind sped by.