Star Wars: The Price of Resistance

[MsFicwriter]

TATOOINE - MOS EISLEY CANTINA

 

"You don't have to tell ME twice," murmured Enobaria as she walked quickly toward the doors of the cantina. Since she had no blood, gore, or other ghastly remnants of a lethal fight splattered all over her body, she found it easier to sneak out with the rest of the panicked crowd, humans and aliens alike, than others did. Once she was outside the doors, she ducked behind a trash bin.

 

"Greetings," the trash bin said. "I am L-382. Please deposit your garbage within me, the proper receptacle. I am a licensed and classified disposal droid."

 

"I'm not garbage," Enobaria said, "but can I hide inside you anyway?"

 

"Whatever for?" said the droid. "Very well, madam. Climb in." With that, the former Republic spy clambered into the bin and shut the lid firmly. Outside, she could hear more stormtroopers charging inside the cantina.

[Chevron 7 locke]

Tatooine

Caves of the Dune Sea, Tusken Raider Hideout

 

"Can you understand basic?"

 

Rarakor stared at the Transdoshan for a moment and than narrowed his eyes. "((Yes...I understand Basic. I do not speak it though. Who are you? And why do you ally yourself with these hunters? Most of your kind do not ally themselves with others."))

 

 

 

Tatooine

Mos Eisley Cantina

 

"That was nothing. You should've seen me against these two Iridorians. That was a good one."

 

Daceros chuckled as they left the cantina only to find three heavily armed stormtroopers wating outside checking the IDs of those who were leaving. The chiss frowned. "I'm going to assume that they're looking for either your or me. Or possibly both of us."

 

"I have a ship we could talk freely on. It's in one of the docking bays."

 

Daceros looked over at Enobaria who was currently hiding herself in a waste disposal droid. "Alright. I think the best plan is to split ourselves up and meet at the docking bays. I'll escort Enobaria to the ship. Which docking bay is it located in?"

 

 

 

Tatooine

Dune Sea

 

Varias shook her head as she finally cut a hole in the cockpit and grabbed the human by one of his raised hands and pulled him out. "I have a feeling that you are not imperial and that means you have nothing to fear. But now is not a time to make introductions, now is the time to run."

 

She pointed up at the falling rebel cruiser which was now extremley close to hitting the sand. She grabbed the human's hand just as the ship hit the sand.

 

A large wave of sand erupted from the ground and covered the small ship she had just pulled the human out of nearly instantly. The Jedi concentrated for a moment and a barrier of force energy surrounded the two of them.

 

"Hold on!" She shouted as the sand shifted around them. Varias struggled to keep on her feet. She knew that if she lost her balance and fell she would most likely be covered in an instant.

 

As she struggled to keep her balance she saw what looked like a figure heading for the site where the fighter had been a moment ago but it looked as if he had fallen.

[thelightfang]

Tyler didn't respond, though he allowed her to move him. He was a little surprised to find that this woman was a Cathar, but more surprised when the sand came and somehow didn't bury them. He could almost see her will forcing the sand away from them. He was rather shocked.

Must be the Force. That is amazing..

 

Tyler didn't have much experience with Force-users, of either side. He didn't generally socialize with many others, unless they were asking for help, or there was a crisis. And the Imperial Force-users, well, he was sneaky enough to avoid most encounters with them.

 

Tyler kept his gaze on the Cathar's face, watching the expression shift, if only slightly, as she imposed her will on the sand. Something told him not to interrupt her concentration, and he followed that instinct.

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Once again, I apologize for the long wait.))

 

Tatooine

Dune Sea

 

As the sand continued to shift and threatened to bury the two of them, Varias continued to hold the sand at bay with her force barrier. After a short amount of time, the sand stopped shifting and finally stopped. The former Cathar jedi almost dropped to the ground due to exhaustion but just barely managed to keep on her feet.

 

She looked over at the human and smiled. "I think that was the worst of it. But right now we may have a bigger problem. That was a rebel ship that went down and knowing how much the Imperials hate the rebellion they're most likely going to send out squads to search the wreckage for survivors."

 

She looked over in the distance at the figure who was laying out in the sand. "I'm going to assume he's a survivor. We need to get to him before the imps do and then we need to get out of here as quickly as we can before the imps show up."

[thelightfang]

Tyler remained largely muted, nodding at the last statement. Then he offered his hand for a handshake.

"My name is Tyler, and I am in your debt."

[MsFicwriter]

Enobaria climbed out of the disposal bin - that is, the droid - and thanked him - er, it. She then walked over to Daceros. "Thanks for the offer of an escort. I daresay that you're far more skilled at the martial arts, while I favor intrigue. Zothressk, my Trandoshan contact, is a perfectly balanced prototype of what a survivalist should be: warrior, engineer and diplomat all in one. I admire him." She then weighed her options about what to tell or conceal from Daceros. "As a weapons specialist for the Republic, he was second to none. I even suspect that he was working on a certain 'special project' that would target the Sith and their ilk. He may not be able to use the Force, but Zothressk certainly knows how it operates. That means against the Empire, he'll be a monster, if I can find him."

[Warlord664]

Tatooine

Caves of the Dune Sea, Tusken Raider Hideout

 

"((Yes...I understand Basic. I do not speak it though. Who are you? And why do you ally yourself with these hunters? Most of your kind do not ally themselves with others."))

 

"My name, is Zothressk, and I am not like most of my kind. I used work with the galactic republic, before the empire took over. Now i'm with the tuskens because it's one of the few places left that I know of thats safe from the empire, and even thats about to change." He explained. Zothressk didn't want to tell everything to a complete stranger, but he was pretty good at spotting when he could make possible allies. If he was going to win this wookie over, he was going to have to show him some trust.

 

"Have a look." Zothressk said, showing him the republic emblem on his vest. "Even though the republic has fallen, I still wear it proudly, as I always will. The empire can kill me, but they can never take away my beliefs, or my honor. I am not afraid of the empire, and I will do anythi-" Zothressk stopped himself, realizing he had accidently gone into a speach.

 

"Forgive me, I think some of my anger towards the empire was starting to surface. I don't know if you cared about the republic, but the empire are scum, mindless drones without honor, and the sith that lead them are pure evil."

 

Zothressk looked at the chains that held the wookie captive, "You didn't come here to get captured by the tuskens, and listen to me I take it? What is a wookie doing all the way out on tatooine? What were you hoping to find amongst the sands of the Dune Sea?"

[Chevron 7 locke]

Tatooine

Dune Sea

 

"My name is Tyler, and I am in your debt."

 

Varias turned and extended her hand and smiled. "My name is Varias. And you have nothing to fear from me. Before Order 66 I was a jedi knight. Now my only enemy is the Empire and those who stand with it."

 

She looked him over for a moment. "If I may ask...are you with the Rebellion by any chance?"

 

 

 

Tatooine

Mos Eisley

 

"Thanks for the offer of an escort. I daresay that you're far more skilled at the martial arts, while I favor intrigue. Zothressk, my Trandoshan contact, is a perfectly balanced prototype of what a survivalist should be: warrior, engineer and diplomat all in one. I admire him."

 

Daceros smiled as he pulled his battle worn helmet off the back of his armor and placed it on his head and shook it slightly as the HUD targeting system activated. "To be honest, back in the cantina that was the first time in a long time that I stood up to the Empire. Most likely would have been the only time as well if you hadn't shown up and asked for help."

 

He looked down at Enobaria and smiled grimly. "At one point I was part of a Mandalorian clan. A clan that valued honor. But the Empire exterminated us for refusing a mission. Now I'm the only one left." He said as he headed towards the stormtroopers.

 

"Halt. Present your ID chip." The lead stormtrooper ordered. Daceros smiled darkly under the helmet as he pulled it out of one of his poches and handed it to the stormtrooper. The stormtrooper looked at the chip and then up at him and quickly raised his blaster rifle. The other two raised their weapons and pointed them at Daceros.

 

"So...it looks as if one of Clan Jikor survived. We'll have to fix that won't we?"

The stormtrooper chuckled. Daceros didn't make a sound and the trooper stopped laughing.

 

"There's a reason I survived where the rest of my clan died." He said quietly as he pulled out a blaster pistol and shot the first trooper directly in the center of his helmet. "I knew when I was outmatched."

 

He quickly turned to look at Enobaria and motioned for her to get down as the other two began firing their blasters at him. He ducked the first few shots, grabbed one the troopers and threw him at the other one. While both of them were on the ground he quickly shot them both in the head.

 

 

"As a weapons specialist for the Republic, he was second to none. I even suspect that he was working on a certain 'special project' that would target the Sith and their ilk. He may not be able to use the Force, but Zothressk certainly knows how it operates. That means against the Empire, he'll be a monster, if I can find him."

 

Daceros looked down at the dead troopers and back at Enobaria. "If what you say is true...the Empire would be in serious danger. Unfortunatly that also means that they may be looking for him as well. We need to find him first."

 

An alarm began to sound and Daceros could hear the sound of heavy bootsteps heading in their direction. He looked at the Twi'lek and at Darasuum. "We really need to leave now before they begin locking down the hanger bays."

 

 

 

Tatooine

Caves of the Dune Sea, Tusken Raider Hideout

 

"You didn't come here to get captured by the tuskens, and listen to me I take it? What is a wookie doing all the way out on tatooine? What were you hoping to find amongst the sands of the Dune Sea?"

 

((I have fought against the Empire since it formed.")) Rarakor grunted. (("If you are an enemy of the Empire than you may fear nothing from me."))

 

(("I am not on this planet by choice. I am the Avenger of Kashyyyk and I am searching for a certain Imperial squad that was responsible for the death of my Wife Chalurra and my son Arribecca. They were killed when the Empire attacked our village and now I hunt them across the stars. My ship crashed here due to damage from a previous battle.))

[thelightfang]

He shook her hand.

"There is no emotion, there is peace."

Instantly he began cloaking his own thoughts with slicing techniques to hide his thoughts from this force-user. He didn't want her to know that he had once sliced a Jedi Holocron, though he had lost it during an Imp raid..

 

He had read (from one of the Imperial data archives) that keeping the mind full and occupied prevented it from being easily read.

 

The words had left Tyler's lips before he thought about them, but he continued after them with his mind on full alert,

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be much calmer than to name a whole group their enemy. I am 'with' no one, though I support most of those who oppose the Empire. You may be Jedi, or you may not. However, so long as you do not side with the Empire, I will pay my debt to you."

 

Tyler released her hand and began walking towards the distant figure she had indicated before.

[MsFicwriter]

TATOOINE-HANGAR BAYS

 

"I agree," Enobaria replied, "but just in case, I have these." She unsheathed her two highly-advanced vibroblades. "They may not cut through Stormtrooper chest plates, but if I can get one near the helmet of one of these Sith-supporting scum, that'll be the end of them. I don't carry lethal weapons only so I can hobnob at parties." With a wink at Daceros, she threw one of her blades at an alarm control box nearby. After a shower of sparks and sizzle of electricity, the former Republic spy picked it up by the hilt. "Which ship is ours, exactly?"

[Chevron 7 locke]

Tatooine

Dune Sea

 

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be much calmer than to name a whole group their enemy. I am 'with' no one, though I support most of those who oppose the Empire. You may be Jedi, or you may not. However, so long as you do not side with the Empire, I will pay my debt to you."

 

Varias couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in confusion as Tyler began walking towards the figure who was out in the sand. Not the reaction I usually get...still, as long as he's not with the Empire he has nothing to fear.

 

She shrugged and started heading towards the figure, she soon found herself walking side by side with Tyler and they soon reached the figure. She knelt down next to the figure who appeared to be a human male but she couldn't be sure as he was still wearing armor and had a vibrosword strapped to his back.

 

She was about to remove the helmet when she suddenly felt something: A disturbance in the force. She reached out and felt...something that made her fur stand on edge.

 

"Keep alert. I can sense...something. Some sort of danger near by." She whispered to Tyler.

[LDR]

"Which ship is ours, exactly?"

 

"Follow me!", Elyshar said, Force shoving a group of Imperials out of his way. Darasuum followed suite, pulling out his slugthrower just in case. The twi'lek made his way to Docking Bay 57-C, and locked down the doors to slow down the Imperials. "The ship is the medium-sized freighter over there."

 

He lowered the boarding ramp and entered the ship, walking toward the main hold.

 

"We can discuss freely here. You have no fear of me or my ship.", the Gray Jedi said, assuring the others to stay at ease.

[thelightfang]

Tyler nodded and took cover behind some nearby rocks. They were flat, beaten by the wind, so he had to go to a prone position in order to get adequate cover. With most of his body now hidden, he watched the Cathar interact with the seemingly unconscious individual they had come across.

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Once again, I apologize for the wait.))

 

"We can discuss freely here. You have no fear of me or my ship.",

 

Daceros looked around just to be safe as he made sure that Enobaria was safetly aboard the ship before boarding. His senses were warning him that something was wrong here but he couldn't figure out what it was. He knew that jedi had the ability to sense when danger was nearby but as far as he knew he had no force sensativity to speak of.

 

He made sure that his blaster pistol was set to stun before turning to face the force user, He was sure this mysterious force user was not a sith since he wasn't dead yet or being force choked...to be honest, he wasn't sure this one was a jedi.

 

"I think it's time for introductions." He said. "I am Daceros, I was a Mandalorian warrior before the Empire destroyed my clan.

 

 

Dune Sea

 

Varias was about to try and wake the armored individual when she suddenly whipped around just in time to block a gaffi stick that would have most likely bashed in her head.

 

Tusken Raiders! Where did they come from?!

 

She extended one of her hands and sent the raider flying through the air only to see seven more of them running over the edge of one of the sand dunes towards her and Tyler who was still hopefully hidden.

 

She raised her lightsaber in a defensive stance and began deflecting blaster bolts back at the few raiders that were firing at her while the rest began to close the gap between the raiders and herself.

[thelightfang]

Tyler took out a couple of knives and jumped up to a crouching position once the Sand People were about three strides from Varias. Two found knives in their throats, and Tyler had another pair in his hands.

 

Another of the Sand people appeared moved to fire on Varias. He rounded the dune, and he would have been in a good position to flank, had he not come across a group of low lying rocks. He was quickly dispatched, and now lay in the position Tyler had hidden himself in. Tyler saw five still moving in from the direction where his knives had dropped a pair.

 

I'm surprised they didn't send more to flank, considering...

 

Another trio rounded the dune,They have blasters! and Tyler threw the knives he held at the two who weren't using gaffi sticks, and charged the one with the gaffi stick with a low tackle taking him to the ground. The raider was more worried about keeping Tyler off of him than hitting him, using the gaffi stick and both hands to press him back. Tyler drew one of his three remaining knives and slipped it in from below the rib cage and up, diving into the heart. He removed his blade and turned to see how the Cathar had fared.

[Warlord664]

Tatooine

Caves of the Dune Sea, Tusken Raider Hideout

 

((I have fought against the Empire since it formed.")) Rarakor grunted. (("If you are an enemy of the Empire than you may fear nothing from me."))

 

"Very few are brave enough to stand up against the empire." Zothressk stated "If you have the courage to fight them, or die trying, in my eyes, you are an honorable warrior."

 

(("I am not on this planet by choice. I am the Avenger of Kashyyyk and I am searching for a certain Imperial squad that was responsible for the death of my Wife Chalurra and my son Arribecca. They were killed when the Empire attacked our village and now I hunt them across the stars. My ship crashed here due to damage from a previous battle.))

 

Zothressk let out a short sigh. The empire has to be stopped, but hunting down one insignificant imperial squad won't really change anything. "I'm sorry for your loss, and I understand how you must feel, the empire is very good at taking the things you love the most from you."

 

Zothressk placed his clawed hands onto the bars of the holding pen and looked into the wookie's eyes, "I can't promise you that we'll find the imperials who killed your family, however if you let me aid you, I can guarantee you that you'll have a good opportunity to strike a great blow against the empire itself."

 

Dune Sea

 

Ruurrhra, the tusken who was leading the party sent to investigate the crash site, roared in disbelief, as the young human managed to take down two of his warriors before they were even able to fire a shot. He was about to give an order to use explosives, but told his men to hold back when he saw more tuskens pouring down from other directions towards the crashed ship.

 

Other tribes must have seen the ship falling from the sky aswell. He thought to himself. "Hold back, let them fight each other first, then we will move in and kill or capture the survivors." Ruurrhra told his group. Tuskens from every angle charged towards the jedi, hoping to overrun her, at the same time the tusken tribes were fighting each other. A tusken sniper positioned up on a sand hill fired at Tyler, barely missing him. He roared in frustration, then took aim again.

[thelightfang]

Tyler saw the sniper as he fired the shot, and thought he was done for. Luck was on his side, as the sniper missed his first shot. Tyler sheathed his held knives and rolled to the duo that he had taken with his thrown knives and plucked the knives from the corpses, returning his knife count to five.

 

There was no time to grab one of their blasters, so he kept moving around the dune, hoping to avoid more sniper fire. However, he ran directly into a group of five wielding gaffi sticks. With the advantage of surprise, he managed to cut one's throat, and push him towards his comrades as he bled out, knocking two down.

 

One of the two left standing quickly tried to retaliate, but Tyler dodged to the right and used the hilt of his knife to crush his opponent's temple. The second of the two took advantage of that moment to hit him in the arm, sending a wave of pain shooting through it. This one found a knife in his chest a second later. The other two were back to their feet and circling.

 

Tyler dove to the ground and tried to hide under one of the corpses as the pair, at first confused, were hit with blaster bolts, adding their number to the corpses.

 

Strange, I thought they had smaller parties than this..And what is with those weapons? That ship might have brought a larger group than normal, I suppose, but something is off.

[MsFicwriter]

"I'm Enobaria, a former Republic operative." She put a hand on her right hip. "My words and my vibroblades are equally lethal. Both are to be used against the Empire, and to find my contact, Zothressk."

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Sorry for the wait.))

 

Tusken Raider Hideout

 

"I can't promise you that we'll find the imperials who killed your family, however if you let me aid you, I can guarantee you that you'll have a good opportunity to strike a great blow against the empire itself."

 

Rarakor thought for a moment. He hated the Empire with a passion and the opportunity to strike a blow against it seemed like a great opportunity. He looked over the Transdoshan and thought for a moment. He had assumed that he wouldn't live very long after completing his quest.

 

Hmph. I am already an outcast on Kashyyyk and don't plan on returning there at any time. Not after what he had done.

 

(("Your offer intrigues me.")) He said as he turned his body so that he show the Transdoshan a small piece of armor on his shoulder. (("I wear a small piece of armor that I took from one of the troopers before I was knocked out back on Kashyyyk. I will assist you but If I finally do meet the squad that took my family from me I will expect you to aid me in killing them."))

 

 

Dune Sea

 

Varias was barely able to hold her own against a few of the Tusken Raiders and she knew she was in trouble as many of them poured over sand dunes. She gathered the force around her and unleashed a massive force wave that sent many of them flying backward but more and more of them just kept coming at her.

 

"We need to fall back!" She shouted at Tyler. "I'll hold them back, you grab the human and head for the wreckage! I'll cover you!"

 

She pulled her second lightsaber it and connect the two of them at the hilt and ignited the other end of the Lightsaber staff.

 

She unleashed another wave of force energy. It was a powerful defensive move but she was quickly weakening.

[thelightfang]

Hearing Varias, Tyler tried to act quickly. He got up from the ground to find that the one who had gunned down the two with gaffi sticks had apparently moved on. He moved back around the dune, but ducked back behind it as the sniper fired another round. Noticing that the Cathar woman was around 20 feet away, with battle raging all around, he shouted:

 

"There are a few problems with that plan, Cathar. We need to get away from the wreck! It must be what they're after. I can't get to you, and that 'human' is too heavy for me to even possibly carry. We have to leave him and run, or we'll be killed here. There are too many! Get over here if you can, but watch the sniper."

 

Getting hit by that sniper wouldn't do anyone any good. I just have to hope she doesn't die...

 

I have to survive too though.

 

As Tyler was thinking two trios came into view, one from the side of the dune with Varias -- armed with blasters and bulges showing more weapons, and possibly explosives under their robes -- and the other were from the direction he had just run from. These were armed with the traditional gaffi sticks. Must be more than one clan...

 

Tyler tried to back up into the dune and stay as still as possible as the gaffi stick group began to charge the blaster group.

[LDR]

Dune SeaCaton stood perched above a tall sand dune, watching the chaos ensue below. He had just recently gone through the ship wreckage and killed what few survivors there were. There is only one last link - the damnable soldier that almost killed him. He laid prone on the sand, having dug himself a small niche in the sand. Instead of shooting at the body, he instead chose to aim at the human who leaning against the sand dune. He aimed at his left kneecap, and fired. He figured that he'd leave the two for the Sand People, and once they entered the ship, he'd go and ensure that the soldier would be dead.

 

Elyshar's Ship

 

"I'm Enobaria, a former Republic operative." She put a hand on her right hip. "My words and my vibroblades are equally lethal. Both are to be used against the Empire, and to find my contact, Zothressk."

 

"Was it wise to just announce your whole mission like that? What if it turns out that one of your companions is an Imperial Spy?", Elyshar said. "You should learn to be more reserved. I'd expect a Republic Spy to know better than to blurt out her entire mission. Do you even know who any of your companions are?"

[thelightfang]

Tyler noticed the light reflecting off of something far off. He started to move just in time, a small cloud of sand popped up next to his leg introducing a large amount of sand to the cut there. Cut!?

 

The projectile had given a decent scratch, and burned off a bit of his suit. He grunted in pain and fell over, giving the appearance of a direct hit. Thinking quickly, he lay still in the sand, hoping to appear dead to any hostiles. Hope I don't need medical care. This desert world isn't exactly known for that kind of thing.

[Warlord664]

Tatooine

Caves of the Dune Sea, Tusken Raider Hideout

 

(("Your offer intrigues me. I wear a small piece of armor that I took from one of the troopers before I was knocked out back on Kashyyyk. I will assist you but If I finally do meet the squad that took my family from me I will expect you to aid me in killing them."))

 

Zothressk nodded. "I give you my word of honor."

 

Pulling away from the bars he looked over at Kelarra, then back at the wookie. "There's a few things I need to prepare, but i'll have you, and the jedi out of here by dawn."

 

Dune Sea

 

The tuskens pulled back for a moment after the jedi's force waves, but that didn't last very long. The tusken sniper saw the human he had been trying to kill fall over and assumed he was dead. He quickly switched targets and took aim. Some of the tuskens on the ground saw Ruurrhra and his group waiting on sand hills and charged towards them, easing the pressure on Varias.

 

Ruurrhra shouted to his men that they had been spotted and ordered them to kill the attackers. They took aim with their blasters and fired, cutting down the frontline of the gaffi stick tuskens. Several grenades were thrown, sending tuskens along with piles of sand into the air. "Don't let them get up the hill!" Ruurrhra bellowed. A few of them made it to the top of the slope, but were killed shortly after by Ruurrhra and his vibroblade. Tusken raider corpses tumbled down the slope and collided into other tuskens, trying to make their way up. They don't stand a chance. Ruurrhra thought, pleased with himself.

[thelightfang]

Tyler lay with his face to the side, watching as sand people slaughtered each other. He hoped that the Cathar would come towards him. If not he intended to lie prone untill the sand people moved on, then determine what they had done with her.

 

Doing anything else would only result in capture or death, but I still owe her...

 

As Tyler struggled with the desire to get up and do something to prevent the death of the female who had saved him, another though struck him.

 

If she is captured, then I'd have to bust her out of a Sand People camp.. There can be no good outcome from this.

 

Tyler slowly started moving again, without checking his leg. It didn't hurt too much as he got up in a low crouch and began moving towards where he last saw the Cather woman. He didn't see her right away, as he looked over the battlefield to note the many corpses. To his surprise, some were already being covered by sand.