Open Tatooine My Only Hope

[Juniper]

".... it's been like, years since you found me on Krownest, and I don't even know if this message will get to you..." the crackly recording told her. Displayed there, in a fuzzy hologram, was one Padawan Finla Yallen, a Pantoran girl that Nara had once rescued. "... need some help... not from a Jedi and they told me... you weren't one anymore." Finla looked over her shoulder at something unknown in the background. ".... found something... someone... need help... not supposed to be on my own. Please help.... please." There was a few seconds of static. "... my only hope."

There had been some co-ordinates attached to the message. Garbled ones, shot through with interference like the rest of the message. They lead to somewhere in or near Mos Eisley, however. The reason why it'd been so messy and choppy? Because Padawan Finla had sent it through a public holonet channel. By the time it reached Nara's datapad, it must've pinged off twenty different databases, net sniffers and scanners. No encryption either. Nara always had time for a rule breaker, but she had scant regard for people who lacked basic holonet security.

Just a kid. Just a kid who's going to get a hard lesson at this rate.

By the time she'd arrived in Mos Eisley, Nara couldn't be sure who else'd heard the message. Had it pinged it's way to the Order, with Knights out to check? Had some gang of slavers or thugs picked it up, hoping for a ransom or saber bounty? As much as she hated to admit it, there was a good chance that some Sith had picked it up, looking for an easy kill. Or capture. She didn't know which was worse.

Dressed as casually as she could manage for a scorching desert world, Nara sat in the cantina, quietly conversing with a Rodian. Her holocommunicator was frozen on Finla's picture, showing it to them.

"You're sure it was this girl?"

"Yeah. Not many Pantorans round these parts lately. Specially so young. Looked out of her depth." The Rodian wheezed a little. "Can't quite remember where..."

Nara groaned and flicked a credit chit over to him.

"... seems my memory's getting better. Decommissioned hanger by the spaceport. She's been hanging out there."

Nara grabbed her communicator and stood up instantly. No telling who else might be looking for her. She had to go. Now.

 

[Cayde Isla]

Cayde wasn't quite sure what to think of his home planet. He was brought into the Order at such a very young age that there wasn't much for him to reflect upon on the planet. It marveled the Guardian that this dust ball hadn't changed in over a century. The diversity of both the good, the bad, and the ugly was as rampant as ever and the Force was...almost absent.

The desert city before him was bustling with activity but something quiet amongst the subtle chaos stuck out like sore thumb. Cayde kept his dark brown camo ARF Trooper helm on while he pressed forward through the crowds.

Almost... Cayde reminded himself as something faint kept reappearing like a slight breeze that touched the mind instead of brushing up one's skin. Someone among the crowded streets of Mos Eisley before him was a user of the Force- and experienced one at that. What relieved Cayde was the fact that nothing dark came from it. Not yet anyway. But it was clear- very clear -that she had a lightsaber. In fact, it was her kyber crystal that had caught the Guardian's attention.

He continued through the streets, following the slight call until he found the Force swirling around a woman. She was stressed about something big, but Cayde didn't know what it was. Still, he decided to follow her. Eventually, he was able to pace alongside her, "Through Balance, Pease is restored. Have you found it yet?" He asked, indirectly referring to whatever was causing so much concern.

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow also happened to find himself in the same dingy bar that Nara did and for the same purpose. As First Shadow, it was one of his duties to keep an ear to the world of underground transmissions and net databases, mostly to keep tabs on the Sith and to see which locations would be right for a privateer strike or a Jedi infiltration operation. As leader of the Shadows, he mostly delegated these assignments to other Shadows but this one particular assignment stood out to him as a bit different. The Padawan in question was in trouble and, curiously, she asked for not a Jedi to help her. Drow, through his public exile, technically fit that description although his secret posting as First Shadow might stretch that definition a bit.

"Bit far away from your clinic, aren't you?" he asked Nara as he followed her outside of the bar, having already hit up the Rodian for the same information earlier. He cracked a wry smile underneath the moisture farmer outfit that he'd purchased. Nara was an old Jedi friend and he'd helped her start her clinic way back on Nar Shadaa and she'd helped him start the Yavin Security Force. Of course, that had been a long time ago and both of the former Jedi Knights were in radically different places now. He had a sneaking suspicion she was here for the same reason he was and hoped they'd be able to catch up and collaborate. However, the arrival of a strange man who looked quite a bit like Drow's old Ranger buddy Zad Ruzed came into view and started babbling.

@Charles @Charndley

 

[Ori Ardell]

Ori was pretty agnostic on the question of whether there was a creator of the universe. Maybe the Force was all there was or maybe there was something deeper, maybe there was someone behind the curtain of the universe pulling the levers of creation.

However, if there was one thing Ori was certain of at this current moment in his life, it was that whoever the creator of the universe was, they were a mindless idiot. No being smart enough to create a universe would allow for a planet as miserable as Tattooine.

Where this anger towards a hypothetical creator had come from, Ori wasn't sure, but it probably had something to do with his sand-filled boots. Stood outside the cantina, Ori checked his datapad again to see the face of the person he was looking for. Not a Jedi was required and as well as being an excellent courier, Ori was also Not a Jedi.

He tried to avoid sticking his nose where it didn't belong these days but something about the message compelled him. Kid in trouble stuck on a desert planet, childhood memories had come flooding back when he first viewed the message.

Ori entered the cantina and immediately got the attention of the bartender. He put his datapad in front of the bartender with a picture of the girl from the message, besides the datapad, he lay some credits.

"You seen her?" Ori asked. The bartender shrugged, followed by a shake of his head and Ori took his credits back. Now he was stumped, he would definitely find the girl if he searched every building in Mos Eisley but that didn't seem very practical.

As he was about to head for the exit, Ori noticed something. A Rodian and a girl sat at a table, a holo communicator between them displaying the image of the very person he was looking for. He watched the girl hand over some credits and get up to leave shortly afterward.

Bingo, Ori thought. No need to break his back searching every nook and cranny in Mos Eisley. It was just a simple game of 'follow the leader'. He started to follow her out of the door but upon seeing her being approached by two people he stopped short of the doorway and lingered while they spoke.

@Charles @Charndley @Fantasy Liver

 

[Juniper]

Nara was heading to the doorway when she was waylaid by someone. Normally, older men spouting nonsense would get a scowl at best, or a punch at worst. For whatever it was worth, though, he was spouting Jedi nonsense. She gave him a sharp look and shook her head.

"You try finding balance here," she fired off to the man, "and you can keep your mystic bullshit, I've got stuff to..." she started to say, before a familiar voice cut through the din. Her head snapped towards someone she'd assumed was just a moisture farmer. With a bit more of an inquisitive look, she stepped closer and smiled. "Drow?" she asked, reaching back over memories from a more and more distant past. Long before she'd left the Order.

"Not much left of Nar Shaddaa now, 'less you're in with the Syndicates," Nara shared, shrugging. Her clinic had shut up before the AMS had ravaged the Corellian sector, in a fortuitous bit of timing. Speaking of fortuitous timing, Nara had a suspicion why he was here. "Lemme guess, the Jedi picked up a transmission?" she asked him. She'd suspected as much would happen... and at the very least it was Drow who'd turned up. Coulda been way worse.

Looking over her shoulder, she cast her eye carefully over the other patrons. Some young guy nearby, looking like he couldn't grow a beard. The bartender, the Rodian, a bunch of other scum and villainy. She nodded towards the exit.

"We should talk somewhere quieter. Share what we know?"

@Charles @Fantasy Liver @Roentgenium

 

[Cayde Isla]

Cayde was taken aback by her aggressiveness- he almost mistook her for a Sith, but then remembered that he didn't have good days either so he put his hands up to say he meant no harm. "I didn't mean anything by it. You are distressed. I was only asking if there was I way I could help without intruding on your business." He explained himself. "I'm no Jedi, either. Not anymore." He had a feeling that maybe that was why she was so standoffish.

What he said wasn't even related to the Jedi. It was apart of the Guardian's Code- one he followed to it's core as it represented his beliefs almost perfectly. Something was off in the Force today- but not bad, just a little overwhelming a bit. There was a new presence, one much more attuned to the Force than Cayde, and another less attunement. An Ishi Tib joined tham, and from Nara's response, his name was Drow.

Drow must have been the being much more attuned with the Force, so where was the faint one? Could the other two feel it? There was a fourth among them, and it was almost completely silent as if it were meant to be hidden. Why would one hide such a gift? The Force was the greatest ally and companion anyone could ask for- maybe this one needed a bit of help understanding that. Maybe Cayde came back home to find an unliekly apprentice- or maybe just to help Nara and Drow who seemed to already be well acquainted with each other.

"I don't mean to intrude, but my job is to serve others as best as I can. If you are in need of assistance, please, allow me to assist." He offered genuinely. If the others had questions, he'd answer them honestly for there was no need to leave anything out. Cayde hadn't done anything remotely terrible since he could remember, and if anything he made friends with an orange Twi'lek, a one-eyed Ewok, and pit-fighting Rancor which he released back on Dathomir. Still, if they didn't need his help, he wouldn't trouble them further- there was still that fourth presence he could search after.

@Charndley @Fantasy Liver @Roentgenium

 

[Drow Venn]

"Well, if you used to be a Jedi, that makes three of us, my new friend." Drow said good-naturedly to Cayde. Although technically not true, as Drow was secretly still a part of the Order, the galaxy at large needed to think that he was exiled.


"Got myself kicked out of the Order. Little disagreement with the Council. You know how it is." Drow nodded towards Nara by way of an explanation even if it wasn't the entire truth. The pain of not being completely honest with a woman he considered to be a friend did sting a bit but the Shadows often required sacrifice and compromise from its members, especially its leader. Perhaps if Nara made her back to the fold of the Order, she could one day learn the whole story.

"Name's Drow Venn. Way I see it, anybody that used to be a Jedi and doesn't carry a red saber and call themselves Darth has to be a halfway decent person. So why don't the three of us all combine resources and help find this missing girl? That alright with Nara? I'm sure Mr...sorry I don't know your name, stranger." Drow asked.

@Charndley @Charles @Roentgenium

 

[Cayde Isla]

Cayde took off his Clone Wars era helmet to reveal his warm and friendly smile. This 'Drow' guy seemed to be alright and his point made about the Sith confirmed that these two weren't Dark Siders- not that Cayde would've cared. The Guardian didn't think they were the ultimate enemy of the galaxy, just one side of the Force that operated a little more violently than Cayde would've liked.

Cayde only cared about who was affiliated with who to discern the proper way of handling the situation, and that was it. He couldn't really bring himself to hate anyone, really, but there were a few people he disliked, if that made sense. "I am Cayde Isla. A Guardian of the Whills." Cayde said proudly. Maybe Drow might be interested in his very quiet organization and maybe, just maybe, consider joining Cayde in restoring it to what it once was.

"I didn't get kicked out- but I understand your sentiment...Drow, was it? I chose to leave." He said with just as much confidence as when he gave out his name and occupation. The Force user never truly felt like he belonged with the Jedi and due to a very spiritual experience on Dagobah, he found the perfect path laid to him by past Force users of old- and to Cayde's surprise, some of which were fellow Jedi.

@Charndley @Fantasy Liver @Roentgenium

 

[Juniper]

Curious. A man who spoke bullcrap like the Jedi, but wasn't a Jedi? Nara was a little torn. On the one hand, aside from a liking of ponderous ruminations on the Force, this Cayde didn't seem all that dangerous. Then again, she was always suspicious of anyone new that got themselves involved in other people's business. Although she turned her nose up a little, she nodded her affirmation.

"Yeah well, I left of my own accord too. Did you try swearing at the council? I used to love that," Nara said to Drow, giving him a little smirk. She assumed that people knew why she'd left. What she'd been involved with, how it'd all crashed down around them, how the Order spat out the only parent she'd ever had. "Turns out I'm not suited for the monastic lifestyle."

"Seeing as we're all not in the Order anymore," Nara said quietly, "then there's no need to rush this girl into a shuttle straight back to..." She nearly said the word, but held off. That wouldn't be very clever. "... back to them. I want to hear what she's got to say. And seeing as I'm the one this kid knows..." She gave them both a little shrug.

"I'd appreciate the help. Thanks." Even then, she thought she'd said too much. The cantina was too busy and the last thing Nara wanted was a huddle of scum and bounty hunters following them out there. She nodded towards the exit, pulling her hood up as she left the place, intent on making her way to that old hanger.

@Fantasy Liver @Charles @Roentgenium

 

[Drow Venn]

OOC: Was waiting on @Ori Ardell but I'm just going to post because I like this thread and want to see it through.

"Doesn't matter to me. Far as I see it, the girl can go where she wants to go after this is all said and done. What I want to do is find her. If we got her message, odds are other people have as well." Drow said after Nara spoke. He also left the cantina and debriefed Nara and Cayde on what he knew so far once they'd all assembled in a dirty but abandoned alley. Nevertheless, he shared everything in a hushed tone - one never knew who was watching in a place like Tattooine. Unfortunately, what he knew was limited to local geography from when he'd been there last and the contents of the girl's holobroadcast.

@Charles @Charndley