Open Tatooine Raiders of the Lost Vault

[Minerva Wren]

Jundland Wastes
​

The wind howled across the rocky wastes. Soon it was followed by the whine of engines blaring. A run down speeder raced through the canyon. “Can this piece of junk go any faster?!” A yellow Twi’lek yelled in frustration at her human boyfriend in the driver’s seat.

“Sweetheart, we'll be there soon. This speeder has never let me down.”

Devin answered with a confident grin as his long brown hair blew in the air. Rari rolled her eyes, annoyed with Devin’s never-ending obsession with his precious vehicle. She‘ve tolerates it as long as they reach their destination without anyone noticing. Word had gotten around that the lost treasure of Jabba the Hutt had been found in the Jundland Wastes. This was supported by credible evidence including leaked footage and photos of the vault’s entrance along with its exact coordinates.

The anonymous source further revealed the location was in a cave in the eastern side and only accessible by speedercraft or on foot. The very thought of the treasure causes Rari to smirk, dreaming of the untold riches that laid in store. Of course briefly she wondered why someone would publicly reveal the vault to begin with and not loot it for themselves.

That is pretty weird but who cares. Treasure here I come.

Just as she thought that a sudden blaster shot struck Devin in the back of the head. Devin’s now lifeless body collapsed sideways, causing the speeder to twist to the left and Rari screamed just as the vehicle crashed into a large rock, killing her instantly. Moments later a dozen swoop bikes flew by as the leader, a Gotal in front, called out to his Zabark partner.

“Nice shot Amon.”

However, the swoop gang weren’t alone. From behind and the other pathways were various speeders, bikes, skiffs and even one sandcrawler, creating a great cloud of dust in their wake. Already blasterfire was being exchanged between those in this deadly race. Among them, Minevra riding on a swoop bike from behind the main column, trying to keep up. Considering the situation the mercenary couldn’t help but think.

The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly.

@Ecclessey @Catbert @Nightfall @Charndley @Celiana Drayven

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow had been on Tatooine checking on a community of former slaves that he'd helped free. He'd been on a relentless pursuit of slavers in recent times, consuming him and bringing him dangerously close to the edge of violence that he'd so hoped to avoid. He felt that he'd properly atoned for his time as a mercenary but it had been violent work and Drow had detested it.

That's why he felt the Force had guided him here. Enjoying a drink in the cantina, Drow had overheard talk of a possible treasure hunt that would be sure to turn bloody. He hoped that his presence would mitigate as much bloodshed as he could. Right now, he was propped up behind a rock, hiding from sight and fire as much as possible. Noticing a lone and brave Dug scavenger approaching, Drow aimed a shot with his stun pistol and knocked him out cold. He'd denied the Dug promise of a treasure but he felt that under the circumstances, the Dug would rather have his life than a blaster bolt to the head. For now, he hunkered down and prepared to do what he could to mitigate the violence.

 

[Takai Wren]

Takai Wren had come to Tattooine seeking solitude. Far out in the Jundland wastes, she had found the perfect butte, a singular skinny hill with just enough room atop it for herself and the swoop that got her there. Sweat beaded down her body as she flowed through a sequence of moves, the twin suns beating down on her, their light illuminating the world even through the back of her eyelids. She had been at it for hours, seeking to break-through into… well anything. The elevated sense of mind that she felt whenever she fought eluded her however.

Flowing through a series of blows and dodges that brought her perilously close to the edge, something buzzed just on the verge of her consciousness. Pivoting to face away from the edge, Takai cartwheeled into a handstand, her fingertips curling around the ledge of the cliff.

The buzzing grew louder, toying at the edge of her conscious thought as she teetered on the edge, her mind fighting the fear that threatened to send her tumbling. She could feel it, a nearly imperceptible whisper in the back of her mi… Her eyes jolted open as blaster fire echoed in the distance.

Yelling in alarm as she tumbled forward into the coarse sand of the hilltop, Takai quickly gained her feet and scanned the horizon. It didn't take her long to spot the dust cloud of a fair few speeders. Grabbing her macrobinocs from her swoop bike, she got herself a close up view of the carnage, a veritable free-for-all, or so it seemed.

"So much for the Jundland wastes being the most isolated place in the galaxy." She spat, shaking her head. "I suppose if i can't connect with the Manda outside of a fight..." She muttered to herself as she hurriedly wiped herself down and reached for her clothes.

 

[Marissa Hesse]

Craaaaash

The undercarriage of the speeder thudded into the rocky desert floor, throwing Marissa forward as the speeder chugged up again, its antigrav engines whirring before rushing up and hurling them forward once more in the middle of the frenetic convoy that surged up the desert corridor to the prize,

"This, this was the best one the rental place had?!" she called out of the whip of the wind and the roar of engines, blaster ricocheting between swoops up beyond them.

​

They had been busy. Ever since Coruscant she and Preef were planning their exit from the Syndicates. They'd gotten plenty of credits into their effort, and the haul on that planet had been a perfect start but, well, a dead Hutt's cache was all they could ask for, and get them enough gear that they wouldn't have to worry about reprisals anytime soon.

They needed this, was another way of saying it,

"I can try go round the outer side, avoid the worst of the melee in there" hopefully it damn well worked. While these were all folks out to make a fortune, she wouldn't be surprised if in a scrap like this there weren't a few people just here to blow some heads off. And as the pair closed in with the main column she scanned the motley collection of characters that seemed to populate it: swoop riders, skiffs, even a wobbling walker thundered up the path, overcharged legs stomping the sand.

She kept an eye out for any coming toward them, but it'd be on Preef to keep them at bay. For now she kept her eyes on the road, and on the bouncing datapad they'd fixed to the speeders front to keep the coordinates infront of them.
@Ecclessey

 

[Exeden Croft]

Who knew how many people had heard the rumour. Crofty'd picked it up in a Balmorran cantina after he'd been been off-loading those forged statuettes on some minor-league asshole with a face like a landslide. If it'd reached Balmorra of all places, it must have wrapped half-way around the Galaxy and back.

But hot damn, what a prize if you could get it. Imagine the crap that a Hutt like that had in there.

Enough to give him some serious spending power. Enough to pay off a few of his more lethal debts and then get him some kinda townhouse somewhere. Maybe I can hire a staff to look after me in my old... older age. Me, a big house and pile of cigars the size of a space-station...

He was getting ahead of himself though. Gotta keep your head in the game. At the controls of his hired speeder, he heard the blaster-fire before he could see it. The din of the blasts echoing closer and closer. He piloted round the corner and then saw them. An incredible, dangerous and horrendous mass of bikes, speeders and who knew what else all in a race. Oh and lemme guess, the location is right where they're all going. What a crock.

"How do I get myself into this kinda crap?" he asked himself, shaking his head. He took a long drag on his cigarra before flicking it into the sand. Pulling out one of his blasters, he stretched and tensed and prepared himself.

Time to show these kids the benefit of a little lived experience, Crofty.

He grinned like a maniac as he shot the speeder towards the mess, sand whirring in his wake. Taking potshots at the stragglers as he could, particularly if they noticed him. He ducked to avoid some blaster fire, seeing some laughing Twi'lek idiot staring right down the barrel. He rammed his speeder into his and aimed his blaster, shooting the dumb kid right in his smug face. His body collapsed on the controls, sending the other speeder into an uncontrolled spin, pitching right into the sand.

"Hot DAMN!" Crofty yelled, laughing into the hot desert air. "I still got it!"

 

[Celiana Drayven]

I'd been itching for something to kick start my own enterprises recently and hearing through the holonet about one of Jabba's treasure troves? I couldn't resist the allure, so after having gotten the ship space-worthy and retrofitted I'd decided there was opportunity on Tattooine. My new companion Kel had come with me to break in the new ship and participate in the hunt. I knew it'd be rough terrain, not to mention hot... Sighing I blew a strand of blonde out of my face.

Switching into a pair of formfitting pants I pulled on a charcoal Echani silk top and grabbing a belt with several harness points I clipped my sabers along either hip and slid a knife into holster along my thigh. Grabbing something out of my locker I started securing a piece of alchemized clothing. Helped that it was made of Terantatek leather....was fetching to the eye and functional.

Slipping my modified blaster into place along my right thigh I grabbed a caramel colored cloak and my DC-15m rifle. Locking it on the storage rack of my speeder bike alongside a survival pack I grabbed a few other things then simply pulled a pair of goggles from the bikes controls. Securing them over my eyes I engaged the power and gunned the throttle.

We'd set down a good ways from the location and pulling up to the first dune I sent a Transmission to Kel "Set the ship to recognize our transponder ID's but be able to engage in live fire to defend it. Then I'm up at the first dune." Sending the message I waited for him to join me. The game was afoot....

@Kel Dryden

 

[Talak Rand]

After months of trying to relearn much of what he knew about the Force, Talak had decided that being a Jedi was weird. That was really the most apt word to describe it. He'd had Jedi hunt him down during his vigilante days, and now he was doing almost the same thing as those days with their blessing.

Granted, it was a bit less "slash, slash, stab" and a bit more "attempt to arrest, slash, slash, stab" but still. The results often turned out the same. While his methods and mindset may have been different, he was still struggling to figure out exactly why that was so significant. Weird times.

Take today, for example. He was out here on Tatooine in the middle of nowhere because he'd heard rumors about some treasure, and if he knew anything about this horrid, dry, hot, deserted world it was that it was full of criminals who would likely be scrambling over one another in an attempt to get that treasure.

So he was out here to stop them from killing each other. Possibly by killing them. None of this made sense.

He rubbed his forehead and let out a sigh as he pulled his hood up to shield himself from the sun. Did he mention he hated this planet?

His speeder bike tore over the open dunes and hot air rushed by as he closed with the sand clouds in the distance. He could see the distinctive flashes of blaster fire being exchanged between a variety of speeders, barges, and bikes.

Artee, keep the ship on standby to be brought in, he said into his comlink.

I'm sorry, master, I can barely hear you over that wind. Are you in a dust devil?

Ship! Standby! he yelled to which he received confirmation. He squinted through the dirt streaked goggles he wore and tried to make out some better details about the coming fight with little success. Trouble no matter how you slice it.

 

[Kel Dryden]

"You got it!" Leaving the ship somewhere on Tatooine seemed like a bad idea. Especially with all those unsavoury types running around the Jundland Wastes after the news about Jabba's treasure trove. Kel definitely wouldn't have left his own ship on the ground and unguarded. But Celi's ship had a few remotes on board; not to mention a trap or two. It would be fine.

After setting everything up, the scoundrel put on the last piece of his flight suit: the helmet. Without the bulky life-support box attached to the chest, and without hoses leading to the helmet, Kel now looked almost like a modern third-rate Mandalorian: duraplast instead of beskar, and a helmet that looked akin to those worn by Stormtroopers. At least the armor was light, which made it easy to wear.

On Kel's back was the sheath for the two pieces of his BD-2 electrostaff. The holster on the right hip carried RSKF-44 this time. After some hesitation, Kel also decided to bring along his E-11; however, he wouldn't carry it on his person, but rather put it in the saddlebag-holster of his black-and-orange T-80 speeder bike that he had brought on Celi's ship for this mission.

"Celi, I'm all set and moving out. Race you there?" With that said, the scoundrel gunned it, blasting by Celiana, the first dune, and towards the destination. However, this head start wouldn't make much of a difference. Kel would soon see a giant cloud of sand up ahead, with flashes of blaster fire within it. Of course, it all headed towards their intended destination as well.

Catching up with it would be easy; the people up ahead were probably focused on dodging and shooting. But surviving in there? That was a whole different story. "Actually, scratch that," Kel added with some clear self-irony in his voice. "Stick together and try not to die?"

@Celiana Drayven

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef took a potshot at the nearest speeder and then ducked down behind the mast. "It works doesn't it!?" he shouted back at Marissa through the shrieks of blaster fire and the roar of their rickety speeder. The rodian felt much more comfortable on a frontier world like Tatooine than he ever would on the city-worlds in the Core, but that didn't mean he knew how to get a good speeder at the rental place. Kriff, talking and thinking wasn't his thing.. that's what Marissa was for.

All bets were off for this one, though. All these speeders all heading for that one cave rumored to have the riches of the great Jabba the Hutt? That would be one gigantic shoot-out, a showdown for the ages in which Preef could further cement his name as the fastest blaster in the Outer Rim. Yes, the rodian could see it already when he closed his eyes..

Craaaash

The speeder's undercarriage crashed into the rocky desert floor again and as it chudded up, Preef forgot all about his daydream and refocused on the present. "We almost there!?"


@Nightfall

 

[Minerva Wren]

The mad dash and free for all continued on without stop. Laser shots and screams filled the air. Gripping tightly the controls of her bike Minerva swerved back and forth while at the rear of the main column. On the left flank a party of four moisture farmers on a large speeder were hollering and shooting in the air and tossing beer bottles like it was a party.

One farmer in the back noted Minevra meters away. Subsequently he called out to the driver. “Hey Larsen let’s ram that bucket head over here.” Noting the target Larsen let out a wild cheer. “Oh yea let’s kill her!”

Minerva had only a moment’s warning when the truck twisted toward her side. Swearing in Mando’a she pulled the brakes back, avoiding a collision. Seeing the drunkerns laughing and dodging potshots from them she realized it had been intentional. Scowling underneath the helmet Minerva increased thrusters before firing into the speeder engines. Seconds later it ignited and caused the speeder to violently overturn to the right side and rolled three times before it crashed, killing and wounding all its passengers.

“Those reckless fools must be drunk.” She muttered angrily. Minerva chased after the makeshift convoy as it pressed on further into the wastes.

@Nightfall @Catbert @Celiana Drayven @Fantasy Liver @Arclight @Phoenix @Ecclessey @Charndley

 

[Celiana Drayven]

Smiling at Kel's challenge I gunned the engine and took off behind him. Though he stopped at the dunes and made a joke I looked over at him. Then said "They're all trying to eliminate each other prior to getting to the destination... I say we head to the destination and set some surprises, eliminate more of them after they've exhausted themselves against each other. Besides Kel, it's been awhile since I've been able to.....experiment."

Illustrating my point I channeled The Force into the desert sands. A cloud of sands rose from the desert and simply floated about us. "Shall we Kel?" My combat instructor with the Jedi had always said that what made a Jedi great wasn't their skill with sabers, rather their skill of mind and The Force. As of now we'd have our own desert camouflage. Engaging the throttle I started ahead keeping the sand draped around us to conceal us from sensor readings. This was how I hunted....

@Kel Dryden ~@Nightfall ~ @ Fantasy Liver~ @Arclight ~ @Phoenix ~ @Charndley ~ @Ecclessey

 

[Drow Venn]

Knowing that he wasn't alone gave Drow Venn some comfort. Talak Rand was a fellow Jedi and though their goal was a lofty one, they'd do their best to try and curtail all of this bloodshed. The two of them had met up and compared notes about this upcoming brawl in the desert and had resolved to join forces. Though he hadn't worked with the man before, Drow thought he seemed a capable man, if a mysterious one.

Whistling sharply and waving his hand at his fellow Jedi, Drow motioned that he needed a pickup with the Talak's speeder bike. Hopefully with Talak piloting and Drow shooting off stun blasts, they'd be able to subdue most people here before things got even bloodier.

@Phoenix

 

[Kel Dryden]

Head to the destination, huh? There's a whole lot of people ramming and shooting each other between us and the destination. How do you suggest we handle that? That's exactly what Kel was about to ask when his Jedi associate... started a small localized sandstorm? Very well, you don't look a gifted sandstorm in the grains. The scoundrel was glad he had put on a helmet for this trip.

Celi's solution didn't come without drawbacks. Although it did protect the Jedi and the scoundrel from rampaging treasure hunters (who'd want to drive into a small artificial sandstorm?), it also meant that Kel didn't see the road up ahead. Hopefully, Celiana didn't have such a problem. Of course she didn't; she was a Jedi, and it seemed like many principles of physics didn't apply to them.

"I'm with you," what the pilot said was not only an affirmative reply, but also stating a fact. He wouldn't be able to see through the sandstorm, so he kept his speeder bike a bit behind Celi's, and slightly sideways. That way he'd be able to swerve in time if the Echani suddenly decided to take a turn.

@Phoenix, @Nightfall, @Arclight, @Ecclessey, @Charndley, @Minuteman75, @Fantasy Liver, @Urb4nGlitch

 

[Takai Wren]

By the time Takai Wren had managed to get herself dressed and armored, the battle royale convoy had moved past her. With a quick swipe of war paint across her brow and down to her chin, she donned her flight suit's helmet and straddled her swoop. Its engine roared to life and the Mandalorian soared into the air, quickly catching up to the cloud of dust and blasters but staying well above the crowd.

It was difficult to make out exactly what was going on down there, the rising dust storm obscuring her vision a bit. But something else kept drawing her eye. A part of the dust cloud that didn't seem to move naturally or rise up into the air the same way the rest of the dust did.

The engine of her swoop roared again as she steered over the crowd to keep pace behind and above the mini sandstorm, well above it. Things looked interesting down there in the chaos, but she didn't know the stakes and wasn't willing to throw herself into the dangerous free for all over nothing. For now she was content to watch the chaos and bide her time as she tried to figure out what in blazes everyone was so excited about.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak didn't know Drow very well, but that wasn't saying much. He didn't know many Jedi and even fewer padawans. He still wasn't particularly comfortable around other Jedi - particularly in large groups - and the Jedi seemed to manage to keep the younger members of the Order away from him. Seemed that was lightening up now.

Talak slammed the brake into position on the handle of the bike and brought the bike into a skidding halt. This was all fine and dandy in the action holovids, but the movement almost sent Talak flying off the bike. Still, it didn't and he had achieved the desired effect. That was good enough for him.

Get on! Quick! he said, waiting for the other Jedi to climb on. He barely waited until he would have a hold before gunning the throttle and tearing off over the open sands again. They had to play catch up, though on a lighter vehicle that should be possible. Theoretically.

Can you deflect and shoot at the same time? he asked. He wasn't hopeful. It would have meant having no hands to hold on with plus it was quite the demanding activity. You never knew, sometimes he got lucky. Or at least you would think that someday he would get lucky.

 

[Marissa Hesse]

"Ummm...." Marissa looked at the flickering little dot on her nav-beacon that bounced up and down with the road, but taking her eyes off the road for a second was a lot more kriffing dangerous right now than it was driving around the skyways on Nar Shaddaa, and that soon proved true,

"Kriff!"

Shooting her eyes back up the flaming remnants of a speeder bike that had been taken out up ahead of them dropped out of the sky in front of them, forcing her to swerve hard as the burning wreckage bounced across the stone and exploded finally in their rear view. But it had made her spin the damn vehicle out, whipping round the outside she had to fight to get it back on track with the rest of the convoy, whipping round shard-like rock formations that sprung up sporadically across the plain.

It shot their vehicle a bit of a distance from the group initially, dancing them off to the side and into a short ravine that seemed to narrowing as they drew closer and closer to its end, with only one way she saw to not get trapped between the stone

"Strap yourself in!"

​

Her heart was beating out her chest by the time they were the right way up again. But their little detour threw them out toward the front of the pack,

"You could say we're close now!"

@Ecclessey

 

[Drow Venn]

"I can sure as hell try!" Drow said, trying to sound chipper although truthfully he had his doubts. Shooting one-handed was no bother for him - he'd spent years as a mercenary and it was practically second nature to him at this point. But deflecting with the saber at the same time was a bit more challenging. He was a decent swordsman but his saber skills were best used on opponents up close and personal, not so much deflecting bolts back. Still, if he opened himself up to the Force, he was sure he'd managed.

He hopped onto Talak's speeder bike and drew his stunner and saber. Fortunately, his time as a mercenary had made him comfortable riding on the back of a speeder bike with two weapons in hand and no hands holding on so maybe this wouldn't be too hard. He'd start sending stun blasts at anybody within range if they passed them.

 

[The Storyteller]

The sudden sandstorm caused further chaos, as many vehicles overturned, collided and crashed. However, one thing that Celina and Kal failed to take into factor is that a number of the combatants were prepared or were experienced with sandstorms. A Hutt owned barge crew using radar to pinpoint targets, many of whom were now driving blind now.

The pirates on top deck using sensor equipment and wearing masks proceed to fire heavy blaster cannons and repeaters at anyone within range. Several landspeeders and swoop bikes fell victim within seconds. Subsequently the barge increased thrusters moving toward the head of the column, blasting and ramming anyone in their way.

Meanwhile Marissa’s speeder stumbles upon another one but with a mounted gun from behind. The gunner who just put on a mask and goggles spotted her and Preef in their ride. Swearing in Huttese he turned the gun around and fired repeating bolts toward their front side.

Elsewhere three Nikto thugs on swoops flew out from the sandstorm. One saw Takai above them and immediately shot his pistol aiming at her bike. The other two bikes then tried to surround her.

As for Talak and Drow a pair of moisture farmers in an landspeeder tried to shoot before a sudden tentacle swapped the latter out of the way into the air. Then the mouth of a sarlacc surfaced and with a sequel opened its large mouth in an attempt to devour the Jedi duo.

@Celiana Drayven @Catbert @Arclight @Nightfall @Ecclessey @Phoenix @Fantasy Liver @Charndley

 

[Marissa Hesse]

With the storm whipping up around them it was hardly the time to get into another blaster fight, let alone be driving a speeder at high speed amidst what might lightly be described as 'heavy traffic'.

And yet, another blaster fight had found them. She really had thought their little detour might have spared them such excitement,

"Oh come on!" she called out, catching sight of the thing coming out in front of them as the blaster turret spun up. In moments bolts were flying, burning into the metal or dinging off of it at strange angles, bouncing into sand and dissipating or ricocheting into other pirates that were unlucky enough to get in the way.

She darted left and right with hard turns, trying to keep its turret unable to get a good shot off, though it wouldn't help them get rid of the kriffing thing either. That Preef was at turns both the duo's best gunner and driver made times like this just that little bit more difficult. She liked to think spending such time with one of the Outer Rim's best blasters ought to have made her a half decent shot these days, but she just didn't have the natural skill her partner did,

"Tell me where you need me, I'll get us there!" she called out to Preef, he'd know where the best shot would be, and he could be sure she'd get them where he asked.

Or, she'd try to as much, anyhow.

@Ecclessey @Minuteman75

 

[Celiana Drayven]

Goggles on I continued through the sandstorm and could see blaster fire coming from an elevated height out on the desert sands. Greaaaat....probably a skiff or barge of some sort. The intensity of the blaster fire looked to be blaster cannons too and they were firing on others. I'd be surprised if they weren't utilizing sensors too, though I wasn't terribly worried about it.

Reaching down as I drove I pulled a canister from by my left thigh and bringing The Force to bear I poured my intent into existence and my right forearm became wreathed in a mix of aqua, indigo, and crimson electricity. Kel likely had some idea what I was planning but I simply poured the mix of lightning into the sands.

As glass shards rose from the desert I simply ripped them up with The Force and brought them along beside me. Crushing the container I'd pulled from my swoop an adhesive substance floated alongside me. As I drove I coated the glass shards in the substance and smiled. If they had sensors odds were they'd picked up my little electrical show. Now though I'd have a small arsenal of glass projectiles coated in adhesive explosive.

Also I had my bow and quiver with multiple surprises inside, they could track blaster fire but simple projectiles? That'd be different altogether. With Kel beside me I reached down with my right hand and pulled a belt of grenades and a double-barreled launcher free. Handing them to Kel I said "Highly compressed air for launching. Magnetic rounds so they'll stick to the closest metal thing they're fired at. There's a variety of rounds, acid misting, fragmentation, gas, incendiary... I like having options."

Smirking I steered towards the barge. Odds were we'd be taking some fire but thing was I could work around that and odds were Ke could too, after all he was my pilot. Plus....if we didn't do something about that barge then we'd have to deal with it at the location. Plus we were faster and more nimble than the barge. All the we'd need to do is disable the thing. The desert would finish the job....

@Kel Dryden ~ @Arclight ~ @Nightfall ~ @Ecclessey ~ @Phoenix ~ @Fantasy Liver ~@Charndley