Ask Natural Affinity

[Max Dram]

Max dismissed the junior officers and sent for two of his best men to accompany him and Celeste. He strode over to the corner of the command shelter and pulled out his armour from his personal locker, taking off his overshirt and slipping the plate on over his military tank top. There was little time for modesty or delay in the field, today in particular.

He holstered his pistol and blastsword, ensuring he had spare energy packs just in case. With any luck, he wouldn't need to draw anything, but after so many years as a soldier he didn't know how to be unprepared.

"I agree, the speeders are best over this ground and will get us there quickly. We can hide them in the brush closer to the Ewok camp and make the final half klick on foot. That should give time for Asha to catch up and we could do with her nose on this".

The sound of booted feet heralded the two riflemen arriving. Max took their salute. "The lady Celeste and I are taking speeders to the Ewok river camp, to open negotiations. The two of you will follow, watch our rear and provide an escort". The both nodded in understanding, heading to ready their own two speeders.

Ready and set, Max headed out into the courtyard toward the speeder bikes. He and Celeste would take on each, with the two soldiers following behind. It wasn't a huge distance to the Ewok camp, but there was relatively dense forest in between, the vast majority unexplored. They would need to be on their guard.

"You have command, Private Yanov" Max told the adjutant "continue our work but maintain at least three fire teams on standby. Should anything go wrong over there, the men better already have their boots on".

He didn't wait for a response, fastening his signature helmet and firing up his speeder. With a roar, he kicked off and headed through the gate, looking for that honey blonde hair beside him.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Celeste followed Max back to the shelter and used the spare moments to let her spirit intertwine with Asha's, so that Celeste would be inside the wolf's mind and vice versa. She needed this strengthened connection for their little journey and so she already ensured that she'd be able to reach her via the distance and that the wolf knew where to go.

"Zyemus panele" she praised the wolf while scratching her under her chin for a moment, the sharp Saber tooth grazing her skin before she got back to her feet, facing Max. She watched him change into his armor, however not saying a word about how delighted the brief view was. Not yet, as this kind of desire had to be contained for now. Still, she hadn't seen him in his full armor yet and was indeed positive surprised.

"Are you reading my mind?" she asked him as a slight smirk crossed her lips as he was just verbalizing what she had thought. "Have you already used the bikes here? As thick as the forest gets, roots and branches can make the path perilous, but I'm sure we'll manange". While she loved experienced actual speed and the thrill it usually entailed, Endor was a dangerous racing track. Also, they couldn't cause too much unnecessary noise in order to avoid raising unwanted attention.

As the two men he had chosen arrived, she greeted them with a curt nod. She was confident that he knew his soldiers well enough to know whom to put in charge and whom to take with him, so she raised no further questions. They wouldn't be far off anyway and so if troubles would come up at the base, they'd be back in no time.

With that, their squad marched towards the speeder bikes, and before Celeste was mounting her own, she already sent Asha off. She already knew it was east, so she could send the wolf ahead as they'd drive past her within a few minutes anyway. Through their bond, she sensed what she sensed and vice versa, so if either of them would end up in trouble, the other would already be alerted.

She kicked off and the engine loudly announced itself with a roar before Celeste already zoomed into the forest, driving alongside Max. This wasn't her first speeder bike ride through the thick forests of the green moon, yet it thrilled her just like it had back then. 'That armor of yours...I like it' she said to them as they sped through the thicket, however choosing telepathy instead of opening the coms of the bikes. Their ride wouldn't be long and after the first few meters they already drove past the sprinting Saber Wolf who dutifully followed the path instead of taking any detours to hunt or explore.

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

They raced through the greenery, tall trees whipping by and a sea of shrubbery below them. Max kept his speeder bike level with Celeste's, parting to skirt around tree trunks and dive over or under obstacles. He had quick reflexes from years of combat, but hers were still a step ahead, informed by a power he barely understood.

Asha set off ahead of them but was soon left behind. Still, she would catch them up before they made the camp and would be a useful asset to have in the team. Max's two handpicked men trailed a little way behind, flying their own bikes with eyes peeled for threats from any direction.

Max was a little surprised to hear her voice in his head, though only a little. It was probably a small trick for her Sith of her pedigree. He tipped his helmeted head in reply, pleased she liked the look of him on the front line as well as behind closed doors. He hadn't missed her watching back in the command shelter. If they succeeded today, perhaps there would be time to celebrate later.

They covered the three and half klicks quickly and with virtually no difficulty. One of the soldiers clipped his speeder on a branch, giving it a slow fuel tank leak, but they otherwise made good time. He would have the man disciplined later to ensure there were no repeats.

Pulling up half a klick from the river camp, Max slipped down off his bike and took his helmet off for a moment, breathing in the fresh forest air.

"They're not far off now" he said to Celeste, looking almost regal still up on her bike "I suggest we approach on foot but I leave the rest to you. If you know these...critters...you probably know best how to play this".

He told the two men to keep in weapons range, but otherwise keep low and give them some space.

"So when does an up and coming Sith find time to learn Ewokese?" he asked as they crept forward through the long grass.

Rolled 18/20 for ease of forest passage.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Just like Max had predicted, the spot wasn't far away. They slowly pulled the bikes to a halt and Celeste was relieved to see that the whole squad had made it rather unscathed. She always found a good speeder ride thrilling, however it wasn't just the speed that thrilled her right now. It was the prospect of getting started on the forest moon, too and she could already feel the buzzing Force all around them and flowing right through her.

Max and Celeste reached the little clearing first before the soldiers pulled over. She turned the engine off and immediately faced Max, reaching out with the Force to scan their surroundings for living presences, but so far, there was nothing close by. "Yes. We'll park the bikes here and start marching. I can already hear the river, so they're truly close". With that, she gracefully climbed off the bike and took a deep breath.

She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on that strong bond she had with Asha and reached into the sprinting Saber wolf's mind. Through her eyes, she saw how she sped through the forest, hopping over branches with ease or dashing through the thicket without difficulties or focusing on distractions. She was still a little behind and would need a few more minutes to catch up, yet the predator was fast and they still had to walk.

Celeste snapped back into her own surroundings as Max adressed her, asking a question that immediately caused her to freeze up. Without knowing why or how, he brought up the very thing that triggered a set of memories that immediately chilled her whole surroundings. The golden flecks in her eyes almost mystically glowed, their intensity amplified by he dark memories of all that. "Someone taught me" she replied, her tone lacking any warmth and her expressions having changed to completely cold as well. It was rather obvious that she was not to keen on elaborating though, not wanting to snap entirely just now.

He was dead. Yet it still made her furious. Actually, it was a good thing that Max had involuntarily triggered such a reaction as she could easily draw from them. However, with her focusing on the darkness inside her, she wasn't sure how diplomatic she would still manange to be. It didn't matter for now as they still didn't know how many exactly there were and whether or not they'd comply so easily. She pulled out her datapad and quickly studied the map, jutting her chin into the appropriate direction then.

"You're all set?" her gaze flicked to the two soldiers, waiting for a nod before she glanced back up to Max. "We'll move in slowly, they'll probably have scouts and alert the whole settlement before we'll manage to talk to the leader. We'll remain calm and refrain from pulling out any weapons for as long as they don't threaten us. They won't be amused to see us walking up, but I'm confident they'll let us state our request". Celeste swallowed, trying to contain her emotions for now and started walking then. They'd cover the distance within a few minutes and soon figure out with what exactly they were dealing here.

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

Celeste's answer was surprisingly cagey. She was pretty candid with him most of the time, so it was unusual for her to be so clipped. There was a coldness in her tone that was new too. Far from being put off, Max was only more intrigued. He almost joked that she'd perhaps had an Ewok schoolmaster, but something in the air warned him against it. Never forget what she is his conscience seemed to warn.

"I'm ready if you are" he said, trying to be reassuring. It killed him to keep his blastsword and pistol holstered, but he knew it was necessary. You didn't walk up to parley tooled up to the nines. Even with teddies.

"You two stay back here" he said to their rearguard "keep a visual on us, but don't scare the things. If they go for us, you go for them faster". Both men nodded vigorously, though he could tell from their faces they were not yet persuaded creatures like the Ewoks could be dangerous. Max was determined to beat such complacency out of his forces here. It was a weakness they could not afford.

Hands up and arms open wide, he walked up the ridge with Celeste and into view of the camp, two dozen or more squeals of surprise sounding from the river bank.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

In order to avoid getting goo distracted, Celeste started recalling Ewokese vocabularies and their sentence structures, not wanting to let herself get carried away by any upcoming rage as they kept marching through the forest. By reaching out with the Force, she was beginning to sense how the Ewoks were milling about in the distance, with the first two scouts already positioned in little tree houses high up in the trees.

She nodded at Max one last time, sensing how he wasn't too pleased about choosing a subtle, peaceful approach for now before her attention was caught by the incoming Saber Wolf who was catching up right then, panting quite a bit. "Good girl...catch your breath" she softly said to her, ruffling her fur for a moment before she kept walking, throwing Max another glance.

Another approving nod followed as he instituted his man to stay back, however as Celeste looked up with her eyes narrowed, she could already spot the discontent little bears waving around their wodden spears and eying the wolf with a special wariness. "Treek toto thek toto to yekyit. Toto moktok be ehda", she called up to them, trying her best to keep her tone gentle. Her Ewokese was a little rusty and well, also not fully on point, but they seemed to understand as their fluffy ears flicked around before they looked at one another in pure surprise.

"Treek toto thek toto to yekyit goon daa...yeh" she clarified, raising her hands as a peaceful gesture as well. The Ewokse looked rather suspicious and still viciously waved around their weapons, gesturing for them to leave, so that Celeste sighed. "Treek den ehda". As she said those words, she moved her palms a little, now actually applying the force and a simple mind trick to convince the teddies into bringing them to their leader, emphasizing that they meant no harm. "Toma den ehda" the Ewokese repeated, almost in perfect unison before they started to climb down. "See, told you I'm convincing", she turned to Max with a cheeky wink, following the Ewoks with a slightly triumphant smirk. The whole colony was already excitedly running through their camp, some already grabbing weapons and eyeing them cautiously. 'They don't seem to happy, so I might just bent their will' she telepathically added, letting him in on her plan for now.

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

Max kept his hands up as they approached the Ewoks, careful to show them he was not armed and meant no harm. Yet. Asha caught up and followed them towards the camp, but they were otherwise just two people coming in peace. Hopefully the natives would see it that way.

The Ewoks were curious creatures, scrabbling between makeshift huts on the riverbank and up in the trees, grabbing pointy stone-age weapons at the sight of their visitors. Celeste's opener didn't immediately win a warm welcome and Max kept one eye on the closest teddies who looked most confident and keen to defend their brethren.

The Lieutenant watched the exchange with interest. It was strange to hear the funny words coming out of Celeste's composed mouth, but she seemed to have good knowledge of the language. Max wondered again how she had come to learn it. The Ewoks lived here, nowhere else, and Endor was a relative backwater. She must have been here before, but she seemed in no rush to talk about it.

He didn't miss how her hands moved with her final attempt, the one that finally got some compliance from the Ewoks. "I'm not sure breaking their little minds qualifies" Max said quietly as they followed the critters wherever they were leading "but we seem to be getting somewhere. Are they taking us to see King Teddy now?"

Wherever they were heading was deeper into the camp, meaning they would be encircled by Ewoks on all sides. They would need to keep their wits about them.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

The Imperial duo followed the two that lead them, setting foot right in the camp of the Ewoks that eyed them with half curious, half mistrusting, big eyes. While some fled into their huts and only carefully peered out, others stared at them with their makeshift weapons in their furry hands, some even seeming rather confident in what they were doing.

It amused her to see that they had no idea they'd be overpowered within seconds, but kept playing along for now by keeping her hands up and her walk perfectly slow and careful, her posture signaling that they meant no harm. For now, that was.

'Be careful with the Basic, there might be some who pick up a few words' she calmly warmed him, choosing telepathy again so that he'd hear her voice in his own mind. For someone who didn't have experience with it, it must be a little odd, if not even a terrifying, but that was why she kept her inner voice soft this time.

She knew that they were some humans and other sentient beings around, at least she had known one, so she wasn't going to make the mistake of assuming they didn't shared their tongue to some extent. The Ewoks that had heard her Ewokese were honestly startled about seeing the woman speak in their language, but maybe it aided her demeanor in terms of appearing as someone who actually put an honest effort in diplomatic attempts.

She glanced up at Max with a little smirk, wondering how he had managed to read her like this, telepathically replying 'You have no prove for your allegations' before her gaze flicked down to the little Ewok in front of her.

From the sidelines of bystanders she could hear that some were not amused and even outraged by how casually the scouts led them in, whereas others were mostly curious. Thus wasn't just a strategic outpost, but rather a full tribe as she spotted old bears as well as young ones. 'They'll take us to their tribal elders. We gotta ensure they don't surround us' she went on calmly, not worried at all yet, because she could simply blast them away with the Force after all, but considering their numbers, they still had to be careful, especially because dealing with them while protecting Max and Asha would be difficult.

They continued their little walk through the camp and seemingly the whole settlement had stopped whatever they had been doing and watched them for now. The two complying scouts guided them the largest hut right in the middle of the settlement where they were already expected by a rather tall, broader Ewok with grey hairs all around his snout.

"Treek jad, ehda, grek de opra!" He growled at them, not amused by their arrival at all. "He wants us to kneel...hands up" she translated, which made him wave his spear at Max. "Noroway kush thek?!" he continued, as threatening as an Ewok could probably be. "Meechoo thek yehan, den ehda. "Jad!", he roared again, the warrior Ewoks cheering all around and Celeste could already feel her patience fade, yet, she didn't lash out just then.

She glared at him but slowly got down on her knees. "E s'eesht chaa!", he immediately gave the order, which immediately made Celeste jump back up to her knees, shouting, "Den E s'eesht!", now with a dangerous undertone, which funnily enough, made the Ewok laugh.

For a moment, the tension was high and the immediate aura in the vicinity of Celeste shifting. And eerie sphere spread through the clearing as the air seemingly dropped down a few degrees. "He gave the order to kill us..." she explained to Max through gritted teeth, her frustration growing, but then she noticed that the leader had apparently just tried to both, intimidate and kid them at the same time as his amusement just continued to grow.

She didn't assume that the the apperent jester teddy was down to discuss business after receiving them like this and she was actually tired of it already, so with a flick of her hand she sent Asha off and back away to where the other Imperials were waiting and briefly turned to Max insistently urging him to run. 'Try to run to the others, you don't want to be part of this'.

She was hoping he'd just go and heed her advice, yet if he stayed closed, he'd involuntarily get involved. She was inhaling, before she slightly lowered her hands, coiling the Force around her and the leader, same as the Ewok warriors who stood around them. It seemed like most of the combat ready Ewoks were close to them, and so she chose to exploit the weak minds of the little bears that had no idea what was about to hit them.

Drawing from all the darkness within her and around them, she was targeting the deepest parts of her enemies mind while she unleashed Force horror on them. If Max didn't manage to distance himself from her quickly or if he simply refused to leave, he, too, would suddenly be shaken by a subconscious, deep rooted fear that would wreck havoc in his by inflicted a terrible sense of dread and paranoia upon him.

The Dark aura of the Force horror was mercilessly affecting the bystanding group, causing them to cry out in panic and the first to flee while her gaze was still mainly on the leader, planting more fear into his mind my explaining that a whole army was waiting a klick away. The worst memories would be stirred up together with an unfathomable dread "Treek" she then icily verbalized loudly, commanding him to leave with his whole tribe before anything worse would happen to them, amplifying all those haunting dark sided emotions. She herself was fully calm and focused.

Panic broke out, right as a scout was suddenly yelling that he had spied other Imperials amidst the chaos which only aided her purpose. With her concentration still on the mind tricks, she walked a few steps away from the hut, plenty Ewoks rushing passed her in fear while all the children, old and injured frantically grabbed a few belongings after seeing their leader crumble.

She was then pressing the button on her comms, informing the two backup soldiers to catch up and deal with those that were left before calling Asha and summoning her lightsaber back. The horrors were ebbing away, yet after she caught her lightsaber, that had been left back at the speeders, she immediately ignited the blade and analyzed the scene around her, wanting to assess how many Ewoks were still willing to fight and whether Max was doing okay. The latter was her actual first concern, because if he had been hit as well, she'd have to help him first, even if his strong mind might not have been effected as strong as others.

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

Max only half followed what went on when they finally arrived at old Papa Teddy. There was a lot of Ewokese and some getting up and down. He went along with it, following Celeste's cues but he found it irksome how much fun the stupid things seemed to be having at their expense. Fortunately, Celeste's patience seemed to be wearing thin too.

"Run?" he asked uncertainly. Running off and leaving her here in the midst of these creatures was the last thing he would like to do. But then he saw that new look in her eyes, the one that kept appearing with unsettling regularity. The look of a Sith who very much knew what she was doing.

"Ok" he said, trusting her. He didn't like it, but there was no reasonable alternative. He strode off, back towards the rearguard, first walking fast and then breaking into a jog, still unsure what he was running from. Some of the Ewoks were upset by his departure and moved to follow or shouted excitably to their brethren. Then there was a sudden shift in the air behind him and shrieks and cries of terror pierced the night.

Max slowed to a halt turning back just as something unseen washed over him. He felt fear and pain stirred in him for a moment like logs in a river, briefly lifted but not carried. The emotions died down as quickly as they had risen up. It was Celeste he realised, seeing the way the Ewoks were scattering from her like bats out of hell. She had inspired terror in them all.

The Lieutenant stood rooted to the spot, uncertain what to do for the best. Most of the Ewoks were running, but a commotion by the river bank drew his eye. A dozen or so were huddled together, tooling up and strangely focused amid the chaos. Weapons glinted in their hands. They meant to fight.

Max didn't wait for anything. He drew his blastsword from its sheath and stalked towards them, plunging his blade through the nearest one's fur as the others rallied to oppose him.

It felt good to be killing something again.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

As she snapped back out of her focused state, she realized that she had been a little too trigger happy again. Only now did she realize that the elder had reminded her of Wushi, the Ewok she had spent some time with her back then and that was when her temper had gotten the best of her.

There as chaos all around with fleeing Ewok kids and females, but there were also a few that decided to look for the nearest weapons despite their panic. Asha came back rushing to her side, teeth already bared and her predator eyes already focused on the nearest Ewoks, ready to pounce at the first word.

Celeste was briefly scanning the surroundings for Max just as she saw the backup arriving with weapons already drawn. The terror she had inspired thrilled her and it was as if she was a bloodhound that had just gotten its first fresh scent of blood. Without a word, she commanded Asha to deal with the first Ewok to her left, cautioning her to break the spear first though before she dashed over to the next pair of readied Ewoks.

As the crimson blade smoothly cut through the fur, skin and bone, her hunger for more was just growing, the fear and the chaos all around simply feeding her. She was making her way over to Max to keep an eye on him, but he seemed rather fine with his armor as the spears simply couldn't break through.

However, as more and more rather feisty remains of Ewoks moved to surround him, she was already close by, and by reaching out with invisible tendrils, she was hurling a whole bunch of them away, giving him more space to continue his own slashing. They brutally dealt with the rest of them, those that simply weren't clever enough to just run while she could hear could hear a rain of blaster fire in the background, coming from the other two soldiers.

Only as it was all dying down she called Asha back, briefly checking the wolf for injuries, but despite being a little scratched, she seemed fine. The snout was crimson red and blood was dripping down to the forest floor as she squatted down to scratch her chin. She waited for Max to finish up before she turned back to him. He would notice that her demeanor was slightly changed right now, but as she adressed him, her tone was relatively soft. "Are you okay?" she asked him, but he actually seemed rather fine. "So much for negotiations..".

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

It was not really a fight, more of a slaughter. The Ewoks were pathetic, jabbing at him pointlessly with their makeshift spears, sharped slate snapping against his armour plate. Their eyes went wide at the size and power of their foe, but he gave them no quarter. Even those brave few who stood their ground despite knowing it meant death. He gave it to them, slashing viciously with Widowmaker and cutting them down.

There was one moment where the survivors launched at him as one, grabbing his limps and crowding his movement, a few jagged weapons getting a little close to his exposed neck. But suddenly they were torn away, Celeste's powers tearing through their ranks and throwing them wide. He shot her a glance of thanks and wonder.

The Ewoks were in full flight soon enough, with Asha and his two men taking down a few stragglers before they made the treeline. The cretins' cries echoed into the forest as they fled. There would be others out there no doubt and word would travel of what had happened here. With any luck, the Ewoks would be too terrified to ever consider challenging them.

Max keyed the comm, sending a message back to Celeste Ridge to report their success. He gave orders for the engineers and their escort to tool up and get out here. They should secure the site tonight and begin work on the dam as soon as the morning.

He rested on his blastsword for a long moment, almost startled out of his reverie when Celeste drew up beside him.

"I'm fine" he replied, looking at her "better than fine. They teddies make poor adversaries, but they die well enough. I'm glad it came to that in the end, we should only negotiate with the strong. We gave these things too much credit".

"Are you ok? Those were some powers back there, and I feel like they were still just your opener".

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

The Force was flowing right through her. Dark, powerful, enticing. She draw from their fear, only amplified the terrors and slaughtered what remained. What might have looked cruel and frightening for outsiders felt great for her. It was raw power and sheer domination they asserted over the remaining tribal members until all the commotion simply died done.

She realized that her diplomatic touches were fading away, as was her patience. The Dark side corrupted the soul and twisted the humanity until there was no more, and she herself was a little surprised that the little 'joke' had been more than enough for her to snap and switch to more aggressive negotiations.

The river was cleared and the engineers could start working immediately, but this rush she felt was not yet fading. It was the conversation that grounded her a little, the aura around her shifted again and became more bearable for those around. "I'm good", she casually replied, wiping away some Ewok blood on her hand.

It was good to see that Max hadn't hesitated a single second to execute the rest and she had also realized that he was rather capable with his sword. "They shouldn't come back" she stated, confident that she was right about that. They'd run to the next settlement, perhaps inform them and if they were clever enough, they'd run too and they'd have less resitance to deal with then, but who knew. The leader hadn't been clever either.

"I didn't plan on affecting you, but you seemed like you were taking it rather well". Not all Imperial soldiers were as tough, but it was good to see that besides his loyalty, he also didn't seem overly afraid of her. A slight smirk landed on her lips as she approached him for a moment, the corruption vividly showing in her eyes right now. "I hope I didn't scare you like the bears" she teased, a playful wink following before she glanced around for a moment. "We could search their huts but we won't find much that is useful. Perhaps some food. I wouldn't move further forward until tomorrow, or what do you think?". She was indeed curious about his thoughts as he was quite the strategist. So far he had proven what a valuable asset he was and she was confident he'd continue to impress.

@Alhon

 

[Max Dram]

Celeste seemed unharmed, either by the Ewoks or by any effect of wielding her powers. Back when he expected to face Jedi, Max had done enough reading to remember Force users could be tired or drained after doing their stuff. Still, he had a feeling Celeste had barely scratched the surface of what she could do here.

"I did feel it" Max explained "whatever you did. Hit me but I was just on the edge of it - was a good thing you told me to get out of there". He reflected on the strange feelings she had induced in him "I got just a shot, but if the Ewoks got the full dose I don't think they will be back".

He watched their two men scouring the empty camp, already picturing how the site could be cleared and remade to serve their purposes. "The engineers will relieve us pretty soon, then we can head back to The Ridge and organise a second detail to head over and get to work with them tomorrow. They will have the dam in place within the week, maybe two at most".

His hazel eyes scanned the mountain sides, wondering if the trees really held any threats at all. "The Rattataki men you mentioned would help bolster our forces, they can even help with the work if needed, get the plant up and running ahead of time". Celeste had offered to deploy the men earlier and he would take her up on that now. His unit was at the limit of its resources and the soldiers could arrive within days to reinforce them and safeguard the gains they had made today.

"Come, my lady Sith" Max said, affecting professionalism as one of the soldiers drew close. "Let's make ready to head back. I have a flask of a decent vintage back at The Ridge we can celebrate with".

/ END THREAD