Ask [Dantooine] Stop the Source

[The Storyteller]

[fancybox2]

Spoiler: Just a little OOC Music

Dantooine
Morning

Dantooine was a planet of familiarity for some, a home that held host to the peaceful Jedi and protectors of the lightside. Its here that the Jedi unlock their crystals and hone their own strengths and acknowledge their weaknesses.

Here the habitants of Dantooine are no strangers to the Kath Hound, an often-peaceful creature that served well as pets and companions. The habitants only rarely had issues with the occasional aggressive Kath Hound, otherwise they were gentle creatures unless provoked. The lush fields served as a reminder of beauty in the galaxy and of peace. A simple life sprung up around here and the fields yield plenty of supply for those in need.

Down below, the Kath Hounds grazed the fields peacefully with little noise. The hounds peeked their head up every once and while at the stray sound of rustling but would return to their graze. This particular pack of Kath Hounds was far from the civilized portions of the planet, which is what makes them easy targets for the unscrupulous beings that took up camp some distance away from the natural locations.

A blaster bolt shatters the peaceful air followed by several others; and each blast is created by agonizing cries of the herd as the pups cry out for their guardians, some falling lifeless to the ground, leaving the pups vulnerable and afraid as they panic to locate the rest of the heard that had now scattered about. Some of the pups escape but most of them feel the shock as a stun collar is slammed onto their necks – a final cry before silence as they pups fall to the electrical shocks.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a good haul boys!” A gruff voice speaks from the distance, “Round ‘em up.”

* * *

“Dispatch to Ranger Zareen, be advised Sector Rangers are actively engaged in an operation on Onderon and Taanab; we had obtained information regarding kath hounds being rounded up and transported for sport. We don’t have many leads, but we need your attention on Dantooine.” Dispatch reports, “Kath hounds are native. We’ve got other agents attempting to intercept a transport but we suspect there is an operation on the planet. Please confirm receipt of this communication.”

The closet Ranger was that of Sakas Zareen who is requested to attend, although the Ranger will not be alone as the Jedi Knight Ovinci meditates below.

Two protectors of the justice need to act quickly to stop anymore collection and transportation…

[/fancybox2]

@Zigara @Nefieslab

Spoiler: OOC Thread Information

Yeah... I'm writing a note to myself.
As always, no predetermined outcome; it's a blank canvas just have some fun with it. Don't forget the power of the dice to a unique experience!

I will not be interjecting further and this shall be my only Storyteller post. Enjoy!
-Zigara-

 

[Sakas Zareen]

Sakas was already bored.

Dantooine was not the kind of place she spent most of her time and it showed in the way the woman screwed her nose up slightly at the smell of it all. There were certain smells that rural locations just had that citiscapes and the like just didn’t have. When there was the smell of bantha fodder in the city it was a sign that the sewage system had broken down.

Here?

Just meant the fields were being fertilized.

Gross but she wasn’t going to say she didn’t enjoy the food this planet made and shipped across the Galaxy. Proper breadbasket of the sector was Dantooine, even if it was a bit slow for a city girl like her. Listening to the dispatch message, she sighed a little bit before responding.

“Dispatch this is Sakas reading. Can confirm on Dantooine with the Glow-stick boy now.” She confirmed briskly, “Will report upon contact with hostiles or mission completion.”

Ending the connection, she moved over to the speeder bike she had managed to get aboard her ship for the trip. Straddling the bike, she grunted as a call came through on her com unit before she could move along.

“All units, all units, be advised we have reports of shots fired not far from the Karstark homestead. Poachers suspected.”

She slapped the side of her speeder bike.

“OI! GLOWSTICK! We got a hit, pack up your mental peace and lets go!”

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Ovinci was keeping to himself mostly on Dantooine this morning. He had just recently meant a Sector Ranger who called herself Sakas Zareen, they had exchanged formalities and he did provide his name to her, wither or not she cared to remember was up for debate but it didn’t matter to the Jedi Knight. It did not take Ovinci long during their initial meeting for him to realize how much she was not use to rural communities and even considered that she did not like such scene; it was painfully obvious the way she wrinkled her nose at the stench of Bantha fodder – she was clearly a city gal and her reactions had given him some cover amusement. Ovinci on the other hand, he didn’t mind it since there was much more to be offered if you knew what you were looking for.

It’s true, the Sector Rangers didn’t hold much authority out in Dantooine as they fall outside of the Free World Alliance, but that didn’t make any difference to the Jedi Order. They were fighting the same values stood for the same things, mostly, so when the Jedi were notified that the Rangers would be conducting an investigation regarding kath hounds, the Jedi were happy to accommodate and offered assistance – the assistance they offered the Rangers was a single Jedi Knight, it just happened to be Ovinci for no particular reason.

The two had met and now were waiting, the Ranger seemed to be a little more antsy then he was, instead Ovinci sat in peaceful ignorance as he sampled the air and felt the world around him. He was bringing himself into a meditation and by all rights he had achieved said meditation, at least that’s what it looked like – he actually was just taking a early morning nap, while sitting.

He heard light chatter from his companion as he communicated with her dispatch, although the chat was brisk it was enough to start waking him up from the nap he had taken as the Ranger concluded her conversation and hopped aboard her speeder, it was the slap that got his attention further, but he still didn’t move faster he was casually getting up and stretching as she shouted at him ‘Glowstick’ that seemed to be her favorite term for him, he didn’t care much about that – he was ‘glowstick’ to her and she was ‘ranger’ to him, he considered referring to her by name only when she decided to call him by his name, it was kind of a game to him.

“Excuse me, it’s not JUST glowstick, it’s deadly glowstick!” Ovinci quipped, “You show me an ordinary glowstick that can slice through flesh with ease and cauterize the cut instantly.” The Mirialan made his way over to the Ranger dusting himself off and checking that his equipment was in order. He was wearing his traditional outfit, a beige robe, although he had his hood down exposing his entire head.

“Is that so, Ranger? Well isn’t that some excitement around here, don’tcha think? Where abouts are we going and why are we going there?” He stepped up to his own speeder bike he’d pulled from the garages.

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

Ugh he was one of those.

Every Order, every Ranger base and every Sith Shite Hole probably had at least one - the guy who thought he was funny enough to quip when he really wasn't. Sakas wasn't going to say that the guy couldn't quip in the sense that he wasn't allowed to quip? But she was already firmly in the camp that he shouldn't be allowed to quip.

Case in point? He was taking the glowstick comment way too hard. She rolled her eyes and her head tendrils coiled closer to her skull as she tapped at the navigational aide on her bike.

"You can use your karking glowstick as a martial aide for all I care - just mount up." she shot back, "Some place called the Karstark Homestead. Locals reporting shots."

As soon as Ovinci had mounted his own bike she was off - leading the way with the navigational data she had. If the Jedi knew of the local area all the better but if not she would be all he needed to follow. Dantooine looked all the bloody same from orbit and being on the planet itself?

Did nothing to change that opinion.

It was nothing but rolling hills and fields... forever. Thankfully she didn't need to be able to tell the subtle difference betwene the local hills because the navigational data was already guiding her in the right direction. As they approached the homestead, Sakas pulled up atop a particularly large hill and slammed on the brakes.

Using the vantage point, she surveyed the surroundings.

"Alright Jedi - you got much local knowledge?" she asked before pointing to a distance cloud of dust, "That look like weather to you or repulsor kick up?"

Simple truth was she didn't know the area well enough to say and she didn't want to go chasing a dust storm if it turned out that they were common around these parts.

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Oh how Ovinci could see the annoyance he brought unto this Ranger. He thought it amusing and he wasn't afraid to keep at it every now and again. He was not here to impress anyone, he was here to do his Jedi duties, in one respect he was in charge of Sakas right now - this was Dantooine, a Jedi planet after all, and outside the Ranger's jurisdiction.

Although she didn't realize it, he didn't take offense at all about the glowstick comment, she wasn't the first person to call it that and it certainly wouldn't be the last one. Ovinci smirked at this thought, but since he was behind her she likely wouldn't have seen it.

Once he hopped on the speeder he merely nodded at her direction and followed her. He knew of the homestead and he knew how to get there without navigation or Force, but she was rearing to go and he decided not to contest her, let her have it, she might need his navigational expertise later on once her reliance on technology was misplaced, he'll see.

They rode to their vantage point and he eased on the breaks of his speeder and hopped off casually and walked over to the Ranger at her vantage point and he took up a spot on the hill and looked it over. He held off any answer for a moment as he surveyed it as well. "Well Ranger, of course I do, and no it's not some dust storm. Look around you Ranger, do you see excessive dust? Rain also doesn't look like that. It's fields of plant life." He spoke bluntly, "What you're seeing is artificial, but I'm sure you already knew that and you don't actually want me to answer." He wasn't offended or anything, he was being casual about it.

"By my calculations however, they're far off - but what would I know, I'm just a Jedi and not a mathematician." He paused a moment, "They might be careless and leave things or a trail. The house is over on the left, beyond that are some trails beyond the ranches. It's off, easily missed." He tapped his chin, "Might want to mount if you're eager to intercept, Ranger lady."

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

Sakas smirked ever so slightly beneath her helmet.

"Little from column A, a little from column B." she admitted, "My shtick is urban environments and space. This right here? Dantooine is about as far from my wheelhouse as can be even vaguely expressed."

She shrugged a little bit - no point in letting the green-bean labour under the misconception that she had time to waste giving him little tests like that. Sakas asked because she genuinely didn't know the local soil and earth content well enough to be able to tell if a heavy transport, or a series of smaller repulsor craft, would typically make that much dust on a planet like Dantooine.

Eyeing the dust cloud, she clicked her tongue in mild annoyance.

If they were their rustlers then they had a head start on them, though not one that wasn't manageable. With them positioned atop a hill as they were, chances were that they would be able to get a speed boost by coming down the elevation at a steep angle. Reaching down to the side of her bike, she withdrew a range-finder. Bringing it up to the visor of her helmet, she scowled ever so slightly.

"Dust cloud is at almost a dozen kilometers away." she admitted with a frown, "If those were our poachers we could catch them but I don't like wild-bantha chases. You know these homesteaders well enough to have a conversation that doesn't involve asking for charitable donations to your weirdo religion?"

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

"Of course it is"

Ovinci remained silent for the moment while the Ranger was evaluating the situation, and the frustration although minor. Sakas then explained her thoughts before asking the Jedi for assistance.

The thing is, Ovinci was a relaxed sort and was often seen as uncharacteristic for a Jedi, but it wasn't always jokes and quips with him. On occasion, he'd go into business mode, but you know only on occasion.

"First and foremost, I feel you. You ever wrangle a wild bantha? No easy task. Especially if they're packed up." He pointed over the horizon toward the dust clouds, he said something that didn't really need to be said, "Them poachers, they're actually that, wild banthas packed up."

He looked at the Ranger partially to see if he got any kind of reaction from her. Wouldn't be easy to see, but hey there was nothing stopping him. Keeping his gaze on her he responded to her joking but serious question about the homesteaders. "Conversation? That doesn't result in religion or donations?" He asked pointedly, "That's not important, listen here Ranger have you ever heard of the Force? Well for a low monthly…" He smiled widely showing his teeth for a moment, "Naw. Don't got the time for that - of course I can talk to them for further information."

He turned his attention toward the abode just over the ridge. Ovinci started walking toward the shelter which wasn't too far away, as the Jedi Knight walked he arched his head and nodded toward the residence, the gesture said "come on."

"Just keep it to yourself, it's different here." The Mirialan told the Ranger as he knocked on the door, he stood quietly for a moment. Patience was key.

Soon though, the two were greeted by a human female. She seemed to recognize the Jedi and invited them in, but Ovinci knew time was precious for the Ranger so he shook his head, "This is a Sector Ranger looking for some information, What happened?"

The female replied, "About 4 of them were on speeders and came up, but they also had a larger craft - something for cargo. There's a Kath hound den not far from here - we heard the blasters but didn't think anything of it… population control for some of the native species, common." The female paused before continuing, "But then we heard speeders and we know the sound of most of our neighbour's. These were much louder, definitely not what we use.

"Well that got our attention. We looked out and saw the group, must have needed a break before continuing on - because that den is not right next door." The female continued, looking at both of the guests as she spoke, "Well when we looked out, we saw the group with the cargo - they were all pups!" She finished.

Ovinci nodded but didn't have anything else to say in acknowledgment, the Jedi Knight looked at his partner, "Ask your questions if you got 'em"

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

How was it that in the order of bloody monks she managed to get connected with the one who talked? Weren't monks and shrak supposed to think more and talk less? She supposed it made more sense that the glowstick patrol had more of the opposite kind of problem but whatever - she could deal so long as he proved himself useful.

That he could talk to the locals was a plus that she had to say she hadn't expected. Was that mean of her? Probably but she really wasn't inclined to care all that much so it didn't matter one jot to her. He was a big guy, he didn't need her to be his friend to get through the day, right?

Sakas inclined her head, her helmet off and under her left arm to be respectful of the homeowner. The information volunteered was good but they needed more to go on. Finding out that the poachers had gone past was good but it was always better to have more information. Investigations as a Ranger were all about certainty.

"Good afternoon ma'am, I hope we won't take up too much of your time. I was wondering, could you tell me more about the group?" she asked, taking out her datapad to take notes, "Anything of note about them?"

The homeowner frowned a little bit as she thought about it before nodding slowly.

"The bikers looked to all have one of those old Rebellion rifles each and they kind of stuck out to me - they were all Zabraks."

Well that was both interesting and useful - knowing what kind of weaponry they had and what species they were could help a lot in tracking them down. On a planet like this? Non-humans were probably at a low. She could kind of tell by how the woman seemed entranced by her head tails.

"Did you happen to see the direction they were going in?"

They had a general direction due to the dust cloud but more information would be great. But it wasn't to be - the homeowner shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't recognize any of them or where they were going - I was just happy they wanted away from my land."

Sakas smiled.

"Thank you for all your help Ma'am."

Turning to leave, she would nod for the Jedi to follow her as she left the home and moved back over to her speeder bike. Looking over her notes, she worried at her bottom lip with her teeth for a second or two.

"Not as much information as I'd hoped for - more than I'd feared though." she admitted with a smirk, "Guess we are riding into the dust kind of blindly, unless you know of any towns in that general direction? Might be that they're looking to off-load."

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Ovinci was amused by the ranger in the current moment, so she did know how to be polite and talk to others respectful like; but he did not dwell on that thought much longer than the few seconds he had. When the female wrapped up her answers to the Ranger, Ovinci nodded in agreement with Sakas before they both walked away toward their speeders. Before she had said anything, he knew that she was not 100% completely satisfied with the answers she had received so it was no surprise when she asked him for more local knowledge.

Regrettably he had to shake his head in disagreement, “I’m afraid not, see Dantooine is a odd planet. Doesn’t have a lot of villages or town, a few outposts but mainly just homesteads dotting the landscape.” He tapped his chin as he looked in the direction of the dust cloud, he was trying to think where they might end up or suggest a course of action. “If we go blindly after them we could possibly catch a trail or something and figure out where they might be going but each second they’re getting further away – our little social call also allowed them a greater head start.”

“Options,” he continued, “there is a den nearby and might hold something if they’re foolish enough; but that could also be a problem. You heard the lady, she said they’d stopped, we could just go there. The den isn’t right next door it requires some travel time. But just over yonder is their pitstop.” He pointed in the obvious direction, “Come on.”

Ovinci hopped onto his speeder and didn’t wait a second more for the Ranger and instead made his way to the location the poachers had stopped at. He was working off of a feeling right now, not the Force or anything mystical, just a feeling. Ovinci slipped thought the fields kicking up dust behind him, he moved with a purpose and a familiarity of the location, he didn’t need any navigation but at the same time they weren’t going that much further. Truth I they didn’t know exactly how far away the poachers were but it didn’t matter.

Ovinci changed directions and looped the area a moment and then pointed from his speeder without a word, he suspected Sakas could see where he was pointing, off in the distance was a shadow the size of a speeder among some foliage. Ovinci converged on it and initiated his breaking before hoping off the speeder.

“They needed repairs.”

He would need to defer to his companion on this one. He was not tech-savvy or even really investigational savvy, all he knew was that this bike would likely help them in some way.

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

If the glowstick swinger thought she was going to use her “Trust Me Mr/Mrs Civilian” voice on him now that he had seen that she had it, he was going to be sorely mistaken. She used that voice on Civilians because they often needed the reassuring comfort that came from it. The glowstick swinger didn’t need any of that coddling.

Following said glowstick on her speeder was more a product of not having any better options than choosing to suddenly believe in the Jedi’s intuition. In her experience, the Force was not so much a guide as it was a troublemaker. The Force would direct the Jedi in the direction that would cause the most trouble for them.

Luckily for them, that usually meant facing against enemies and these poachers might count.

Pulling up on her speeder bike close to the area he had pointed out, she dismounted and drew her blaster pistol in her left hand. She didn’t think there were any poachers left around here with what was quickly becoming apparent to be a broken speeder bike, but she wanted to be absolutely certain.

Pushing through the foliage, she checked her corners before lowering her blaster, holstering it only as she reached the speeder bike. She looked it over, noting the dents in the front struts that would have made the speeder unwieldy even at low speeds. At higher speeds, using the bike would have been a death sentence.

“KV Series Swoop Bike.” She told the Jedi, “Straight outa Kuat…”

Her neck of the woods and something she was familiar with. Powering up the bike, she didn’t make a move to ride it, instead pulling up the navigation computer that was integrated into the controls of the bike. She grinned as the thing opened without need for any passwords – who thought to lock up their sat-nav after all?

“Got their navigational data.” She revealed, “I got the location they saved as ‘home’, the idiots. Sending to you now, see if you recognize where it is in the local area. Looks to be near a cliff but I don’t know if there are any around here.”

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Ovinci observed the Ranger take the lead from his direction, he would pull up behind her as she pulled the navigational system from the swoop. He didn’t say a word and instead waited patiently for her to do her Ranger thing. His speeder chimed in unison as Sakas transmitted the data, he looked down and scanned it over.

“Of course they didn’t lock it out and set it as home – it must be like a bad guy code… do stupid things.” Ovinci mused before he continued "Caves and cliffs exist here. This area is near a body of water. It’s indigenous territory – or at least I thought it was. Dantari tribes, to be exact. They’re not violent but they’re primitive and don’t communicate well. Harsh people, they’re not responsible for this though.” He shook his head as he thought for a moment. Did these poachers make relationships with the tribes? Did they wipe the village out? There were too many questions.

He pointed over the horizon, “Ranger that’s about an hour to an hour and half a way by speeder.” He did a few calculations of the coordinates to determine if they were indeed correct, he looked at the route and was thinking to himself that they would break the route somewhere along the way to offer some form of shelter, maybe a hidden base afterall?

“Pop quiz Ranger. Our speeders vs their speeders, top speed. Who’s faster?” The question was genuine he was trying to think if there was a spot, they could cut them off if they were faster or if they just go straight after them. Now he knew, they probably wouldn’t be travelling at top speed because they had a larger skiff type vehicle for their cargo so that would result in a slight reduction of speed he supposed.

The Jedi Knight waved his hand at Sakas asking her to come over to his speeder. Ovinci wanted to show the map on his console, “If we can… here, here, and here are spots we can meet them. If we’re not they’ll likely stop around this area and if we hurry now we can probably get them before they pack up. They’ve got some lead on us for sure – but I don’t think this’ll take the entire hour trip.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

In her experience, people tended to give criminal minds too much credit. Most criminals didn’t evade capture because they were smart so much as law enforcement wasn’t able to dedicate their time to catching them. Lots of small time, low impact, crooks went years without being tracked down and imprisoned because, by and large, what was the point?

On their own, rustling some dogs to sell to collectors would be illegal but it wouldn’t have enough of an impact to bring down the Rangers onto them, let alone get them working with the Jedi to nab them. But selling them to gangs and dog fighting rings made them part of a much bigger problem, one with a bigger, wider, impact.

And the nail that stands out? Gets hammered down.

“Right so we might need to be prepared to add genocide of locals to their charge worst case scenario.” She noted with a firmer frown, “I hope that they’re not dumb enough to have done that but they were also dumb enough not to lock their sat nav so anything is possible.”

Which speeder was faster?

Sakas snorted in amusement.

“You think they give us the good stuff on this backwater, glowstick? Our top speed is a good 100kmph slower than theirs – we’re better off trying to cut off any corners and head for those co-ordinates and even then we gotta assume they’ll get there first.”

Gunning the engines of her speeder bike, Sakas would ride silently as they sped in the direction of the “home” co-ordinates they had been given. Veering off course slightly as they neared the location, she parked her bike up further from the cliff-face. It seemed that the caves had, indeed, been used by the indigenous tribes as part of an encampment.

Her gut knotting up in tension, she took out a pair of viewfinders before checking it out. After a few seconds she breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Looks like the tribes people just moved on – I can see their baggage train moving out.” She told the Jedi with a small scowl, “Rustlers aren’t too dumb to live at least.”

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Ovinci simply shrugged at the comment Sakas made about the speeders; soon the Ranger was off at full speed and the Jedi was close behind her. They had a bit of a trip ahead of them, but both were people of results and the Jedi Knight had no issue with that; the trip would likely be a quiet one. He merely used that to his advantage of trying to prepare himself for the coming interaction.

As they approached, speeds dropped and Ovinci started bringing himself into the zone. The locals were moving on and it was just going to be them vs the rustlers. This was what he was hoping for and what he was expecting. This meant minimal casualties. He hopped parked his bike as well and approached her side, “So then Ranger, what can you see or are you willing to just give me your equipment and I’ll take a look see?”

His eyes could not adjust to what they had stumbled upon. One thing was certain though, they didn’t have much time. Ovinci was no tactician, and he wasn’t quite sure how to address this situation. He doubted they’d talk to either of them and just roll over and say sure, but it didn’t stop him from at least making a small joke. “So, what do you think? Walk up to them and ask them to be nice?” The Jedi Knight let out a small chuckle over his joke, one thing was certain if you laughed at your own joke it probably wasn’t actually a funny joke at all.

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

From what Sakas could see using her viewfinders, the rustlers didn't seem to really have any kind of concept of op-sec. They were all just kind of milling around the caves, openly wandering between the caves and calling out to each other in animated conversation. She watched as a pair dragged a small cage filled with puppies deeper into the cave system with a grunt before handing the viewfinders over to the Jedi.

"Spotted fourteen." she admitted with a shake of her head, "They don't look like they're expecting any kind of trouble. See if you can spot any perimeter defenses or alarms with that super special sixth sense of yours."

The Force was, by and large, bullshit after all.

Thankfully this time the Force was bullshit in her direction so she didn't quite care all that much but she was going to abuse the hell out of it if she had the chance. And oh, look, a chance to do just that! Time to see if the Jedi were as good as everyone thought of if they just had good hype. As the Jedi was doing that, she left him to it as she took her blaster rifle off from where it was holstered against her speeder bike, checking to make sure it was in stun position.

"Yep, you are." she responded with a crooked smirk, "As a cover for me getting into an elevated position so I can shoot them in the back from on high while they're trying to light you up."

It was not 'honorable' but Sakas was a Ranger, not some kind of noble. She didn't give a shrak how the job got done so long as it got done legally and, hopefully, without bloodshed.

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

Ovinci took the viewfinder and surveyed the area. Fourteen alright "It doesn't work that way. We're not some fortune tellers or psychics who can see into the future or see things just because… if it did, sheesh, it'd get me in all kinds of places and such"

He returned the equipment. Of course he was going in first, everyone who didn't deal with the Force just assumed Jedi and Sith were invincible, they were not. Oh well, he wasn't about to disappoint. "Sure sure, let the green guy wander in with his glowstick because he's a God. Sure Sure." The Mirialan shrugged his shoulders and started to make his decent to meet the group head on as instructed.

Ovinci thought about the best distraction he could muster. Should be simple enough, he started to stumble once he threw his hood up, lightsaber hidden away, he got closer and put his acting boots on.

"Child! Child! Oh Child!" Ovinci greeted his opponents, "Have you heard the truth? The truth is freeing! The stars, they burn they burn and the rocks they fly they fly. For it is upon us children! The final rebuke. Set you free, listen to me. The crystals of the dragon will protect us, a dragon on the inside."

Yep. He was a crazy hermit.

The two crooks he approached tilted their head in confusion without a word, as he continued his mad ravings, three more approached him.

He waved his hands in the air, palms visible. "Can you hear the call? It calls to us!" He was buying his partner some time. He had a few moments of thought where he thought to mimic the sound of a beast far away...

As he acted a fool, he was channeling the Force to his side so he could act quickly should they no longer buy his crazy act. Problem was, lightsaber had one mode, bloodshed though it could be non-life threatening injuries.

Another tactic was scare them, negotiate, or place them in stasis - not an easy task for the Knight.

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

That was... wasn't that exactly what the Force was? The ability to see the future, say "kark you" to the natural laws of the Galaxy and use the two combined to block blaster bolts and toss things around? Kinda felt like they were the exact same thing but whatever, she wasn't about to choose that as her hill to die on in an argument with the big green giant of the Temple.

Sakas just raised an eyebrow.

"... god complex amongst Forcies isn't a joke; noted." she drawled, "I meant because you're big, green and karking obvious, dipshit."

Honestly.

She didn't wait to hear whatever retort he came up with because she needed to get into position. There was no use in him getting into the thick of things if she wasn't there to give him the support he'd need to take them down. Watching as he wandered up to the camp, she waited until all eyes were on him before moving up. Thankfully there was a lot of cover along the edge of a cliff face so she set up slightly behind the advance group who had greeted him.

Laying down to reduce her visible profile, she brought her rifle sights up to her helmet. Making sure that it was in stun mode, she kept her blaster trained on the centre-most person in the group. She tapped the side of her helmet to use her com unit.

"Give them a warning and chance to surrender now." she instructed the Jedi, "I've got the middle guy sighted with a stun rifle. They either give up or we start knocking them down."

Procedure was clear that they would be informed that their illegal activities had been noticed, that they had one chance to surrender before force was used.

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

“Listen you moron. You’re trespassing in areas that aren’t quite relevant to you, quit peddling your wears – we know you ain’t some nut job.” The Zabrak gripped his gun but didn’t raise it, “Who are you, I’ll give you 5 seconds before I start shooting.”

“No? You can’t hear the call? That’s okay, it was never real.” The Mirialan shrugged his shoulders, “You left me no choice then. All you need to know is that I’m a Jedi and the Sector Rangers got you in their sight as I speak. You’ve got one chance and only one chance to drop and surrender before things do not go in your favor.”

“Boss, I don’t think he’s messing with us” A bothan suggested.

“He’s bluffing, he ain’t got nothin! Them Jedi don’t come wandering beyond their temples.” A Human responded.

The Jedi Knight smirked at the second comment before he took a single step back allowing his clothing to expose the previously concealed lightsaber hilt on his hip. He saw the crooks turn their eyes to the hilt, a hesitation obvious on their faces as they considered if the threat was real or not. Perhaps this green guy just stole the hilt? That belief was quickly dismissed when he used the Force to summon the hilt to his hand but did not ignite the blade. That was all the convincing they needed. “What do you think now?” Ovinci stated with his comm active so that Sakas could hear the conversation.

“Listen pal, we don’t have an issue with you or the Rangers. We were just contracted to take a few pups that is – we want nothing more, they ain’t given us enough creds for me to put my life on the line and face off against a Jedi.” The Zabrak quickly spoke up as he lowered his blaster and put his hands up to ‘calm’ the Jedi and to show that he had no more weapons. “They told us it would be simple, get some pups and send ‘em off. The boys and I just enjoyed the hunt.” The leader swallowed hard.

The Jedi Knight listened to the plea of his opponent. The Jedi were not killers unless necessary and they cherished all life above all else, didn’t matter if you were Sith, criminal or innocent. The Knight had a slight dilemma but nothing that would keep him up for any amount of time or give hesitation. These crooks had wiped out a family of Kath Hounds, running the risk of endangerment and this was not the first time Kath Hounds would face that challenge over the centuries, without complete data, Ovinci couldn’t tell if they were teetering that way or not yet again, though right now that wasn’t the main concern. “Lay the weapons down and bring yourselves to the ground. Do not get up until ordered to do so.”

Ovinci looked up and beyond the group he had before him, the others hadn’t quite noticed the situation and didn’t engage it appeared. “Tell them all… ” Ovinci started, “… to stand down.” He was hoping the boss man would agree to that and relay the message and hope none would defy their boss’ order. It was hard to say considering it was ultimately 14 vs 2 and he only managed to subdue 5 for now. Ovinci’s lightsaber at the ready incase someone decided to play sillybugger and engage them, all it would take is a quick flick and the blade would flair alive. The Knight was now relaying on that ‘sixth sense’ to counter anything his way.

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

Sakas couldn’t hear a single word they were all talking about.

What she could see was that the Jedi had taken his saber out even if he hadn’t ignited it. Without sound to back it up, she had to make a judgement call and her judgement was to fire a warning shot. With the Jedi holding their attention, delivering some kind of speech that got them all kind of twitchy, it seemed like the right time.

Waiting for the Jedi to stop talking, she waited two seconds beyond that before adjusting her aim and firing the rifle. The stun shot flew down to impact the ground to one side of the front group as a clear and ultimately precise warning shot.

Of course they reacted badly because of course they did… curse her rotten luck.

Almost immediately half the group that had come to confront the Jedi tried to run, scattering, while the other half made to pull their blasters on the Jedi. One of them spun round to try and see where Sakas had shot from but she rewarded him with a stun blast to his unarmoured chest, sending him spinning to the ground, unconscious. The others immediately tried to dive for cover rather than opening fire on the Jedi, now aware that she had them sighted.

She tapped the side of her helmet.

“Sorry ‘bout that Jedi – looks like a warning shot wasn’t the best option.”

That was going to look bad on the report but nothing she couldn’t explain to the brass… provided both of them came out of this alive of course.

@Zigara

 

[Ovinci]

The rustlers were getting ready to stand down and lay their weapons down, the leader was just about to communicate to his team that they were beat, the leader had attempted to relay on the mercy of the Jedi, but when the blaster shot rang out and impacted close by, the crew jumped and scrambled fetching their weapons. Some of the opponents were not fans of being shot at, so instinct response would have been to open fire on the Jedi, he wouldn’t give them the opportunity as he quickly summoned his hilt to his hand and ignited it in preparation of defense; fortunately, the Jedi wouldn’t need to actually rely on his weapon though.

A second shot rang out impacted one of the thugs looking to defend, the thug hit the ground hard and fast with the stun bolt and the rest took the warning and dove for cover. The Force now whispering into his ear warning him of the potential dangers that could come his way, Jedi were not gods and were not immortals, they could bleed like anyone else; this was a well-known fact for the Jedi Knight; unfortunately, this Knight had no alternative means of defending himself – he didn’t carry ranged weapons.

“Yep. You try and explain why you fired at unarmed individuals.” Ovinci replied. Ovinci looked for the leader he had been talking to earlier, he was trying to run away from the Jedi, presumably to take cover and have an advantage over him and his partner, the only thought he had for the moment was to take advantage of the confusion and panic of the rustlers and use the Force to pull the leader back to him, or at least trip him so he could close the distance. The tug allowed the Jedi Knight to obtain that advantage and he quickly grabbed his opponent and spoke to him, they were face to face. “The offer still stands, drop the weapons and surrender or this may end very badly for everyone. Believe me, I’ve got more than one person on watch and more than one trick up my exceptionally bulky sleeves, friend. So I recommend you think carefully about the next approach…”

Ovinci was really relying heavily on the fact that he could bluff and that his buddies didn’t want to see him dead or be responsible for killing their leader. For now, the leader considered the proposition. The debate only took the leader a few seconds to think over; turns out the zabrak cared about his life.

“OKAY OKAY! Just let me go!” The Leader exclaimed, before yelling at the top of his lungs “CEASE FIRE! STAND DOWN!”

@Nefieslab

 

[Sakas Zareen]

Sakas blew some air out the side of her mouth as the Jedi tried his hand at lecturing her. Thankfully for her his words carried little in the way of sting because she didn't have to answer to him. Especially since they were "unarmed" only in the sense that they hadn't drawn their weapons yet at the point she made her warning shot. How was she to know they were apparently going to turn themselves in just because some big green guy asked them to?

She couldn't hear their discussion.

"Stun bolts, preachy, stun bolts." she replied lazily as she sighted down another of the poachers, "Also, I can't exactly hear your conversations at this range, Jedi."

Seriously.

Wasn't like she'd gone in guns blazing and shot being to death because they were slow. She fired a single warning shot and stunned a criminal - the 'explanation' would be admitting to not being able to get the whole story and firing to assist an ally prematurely. If the guy was going to be this much of a dick about it, she would gladly avoid working with the Jedi in the future, especially if he was the norm.

As he gave the leader a Force hug or whatever, she fired only once more, over the heads of two poachers in covers to give them something to think about. They kept their heads down long enough that the leader shouted something (she couldn't hear much from the distance) and everyone seemed to freeze up. She touched her com unit.

"Talk to me."

@Zigara