Ask You're a Little Short for a Stormtrooper

[Kaala]

The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon of the planet, bathing everything-and everyone-in a fierce red-yellow glow. Over one of the smaller towns, Kaala watched the sun through squinted eyes as she circled, waiting for clearance to land. Finally, a tired voice told her she could land at the city's only platform. Acknowledging this, Kaala switched the Tano into landing mode and descended, landing struts whirring into place. The T-6 shuttle touched down with a hiss, and the Togruta switched off the engines. "Vaze, come on!" She called. The little droid sprinted over from his charging station and lept into her outstretched hand. Kaala patted him on the head and placed him on her shoulder, then headed down the ramp, closing it behind her. Although this village was a popular vacation spot, she wasn't here for a break. Quite the opposite, she was making a cargo pickup. Her stormtrooper armor glinted in the light, and for a moment Kaala contemplated putting the helmet on, but decided against it. Instead, she tucked it under her arm and headed down the road. Suddenly, as she was passing a toolstand, she bumped right into a younger boy, causing her to stumble and almost fall. Vaze yelped as he fell right into the human's hands, tiny metal legs flailing.
@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Apparently this out of the way village was quite the tourist attraction. From the moment the planet's sprawling landscape had come into view through the shuttle's viewport that morning, it wasn't hard to see why. The little village was a dot in an ocean of wilderness, right on the edge of an extensive cliff that jutted out over the jungle below. Outside of the simplistic and modern buildings there was nothing but untamed nature as far as the eye could see.

Wandering around the last few hours Shaw had realized that that was totally the appeal of this place. It wasn't the touristy locale for people that wanted to sit on the beach all day with a good book and an even better glass of something cold. This place attracted hikers and campers and the like. People that wanted to get out in nature and be one with it and all that kind of stuff. Decidedly a place that Shaw didn't really fit in. So far nature had gotten the better of him since leaving Coruscant.

So he was sticking to the streets for now, on his way to a place nearby that he heard was a really sweet spot to watch the sunset. He had never really been a watch the sunset kinda guy but it was something to do while he drank his milkshake. He almost spilled it when he collided with someone.

A someone in armor. Old imperial armor to be exact. Wait. Old imperial armor?? Shaw blinked a few times, looking between the little yellow droid that had suddenly appeared in one hand to the armor. "Uhhhh sorry," he stammered, brown eyes finally settling on the droid. It was kinda cute. "This yours?" @Interdictor

 

[Kaala]

Kaala shook her head and steadied herself, then took a look at the person she had ran into. He was younger than her, probably around fifteen or sixteen. He had gentle brown eyes, which made her feel even sorrier for running into him. "Yeah, that's mine," She said quietly, reaching out her hand and letting Vaze hop into it, whistling happily. "He likes you," she told the teenager as she helped the droid onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that. Running into you, I mean. In my line of business, if you're that close it usually you're stabbing them or paying them. Name's Kaala, by the way." She held out her hand a little awkwardly for a handshake. She didn't trust people that often…maybe she could try it with this kid. The Togruta gave a small, awkward smile. Well great, now she felt stupid. Maybe she should just go…
@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

"You think so?" Shaw asked, perking up when she mentioned that the little droid liked him. "He's a cute little fella." He grinned down at the droid and gave it a quick little scratch on the head before it rejoined its master, perched on her shoulder like a pirate's pet bird. He really wasn't sure that droids could feel scratches or that they really cared for them one way or the other, but he figured it couldn't hurt.

The teenager took a big slurp of his milkshake, still eyeing the droid when he realized that the togruta was making introductions. "Shaw!" he replied a few seconds late, shaking her hand. Now she had his full attention, what between the old imperial armor and the comment about stabbing people. He got a feeling she was no tourist.

"Uhhh what is your profession?" he dared to ask, looking her armor up and down. "You go to comic cons or something?" Or maybe she was an actor? A historical tour guide or something? @Interdictor

 

[Kaala]

"He really is," Kaala replied. When Shaw gave his name, she gave a slight nod, shaking his hand. When he asked her about her profession, she paused for a moment. Telling him she was a smuggler would probably end very badly. "One of the more illegal ones," she said finally. That was probably the best she could say without getting arrested. When Shaw made a comment about conventions, she smiled. "Ha, nope." Suddenly, as she was about to say something, there was a crashing noise behind her. In an instant she had turned around, looking for the source. There! Five rough-looking humans were trashing a stall while the owner looked on in fear. Pretty much everyone pointedly ignored the thugs, and suddenly the square became much quieter. Immediately, Kaala started inching away. "Shaw, I think we should back off a little." Still, she put on her helmet, just in case. You never knew; things could get messy.
(OOC: Sorry for the suddenness of the conflict, but I wanted to keep the thread going. You can only talk about clothing choices for so long.)
@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

One of the more illegal ones? Shaw raised an eyebrow, still slurping down his milkshake. What exactly did that mean? Was she a criminal or something? That wasn't really something you could just come out and ask someone you just bumped into on the street, so Shaw went a different route. "Isn't it kinda dangerous?" he asked. A lot of worlds still remembered what the empire of old had done. Some of them weren't willing to forgive and forget. "Wearing that old imperial armor around—?"

Shaw's gaze drifted past the mysterious togruta, over her shoulder to the five humans tearing apart a sales stall. The scene reminded him of something he had witnessed just a couple months ago on Keitum. It played out pretty much the same—thugs tearing apart a stall, the stall owner too terrified to do anything, everyone else ignoring the whole situation. How often did this happen? And how often was Shaw going to be around when it did?

Last time had caught him sleeping. He had ended up with a broken arm and let the bandit leader escape. This time would be different. "Don't worry," he told Kaala, stepping forward and slurping down the last of the milkshake. "This isn't my first rodeo." The fact that his last rodeo he'd basically gotten bucked off and crashed and burned didn't matter. That was the past. This was now.

Shaw squared his shoulders and tossed the empty milkshake cup at one of the thugs to get their attention. "Hey!" The human turned to see who had tossed the trash at him but not before Shaw had picked up one of the boards from the dismantled stand and smacked him across the head. A dumb expression passed over the man's face before he toppled over unconscious.

The fight was on! @Interdictor

dice 13/20

 

[Kaala]

Kaala raised an eyebrow at Shaw's unusual fighting tactic. Before she could congratulate the teen, the remaining four had drawn their blasters and started firing. "Down!" Kaala yelled, tackling Shaw as shots whizzed over them. They were behind a cluster of tables which the Togruta had knocked over when she had saved Shaw from the blasts. With a grimace she pulledd out her Glie-44 and popped up over the tables, firing a few times before ducking back down. "They're behind one of those brick walls on the other side of the street," she informed Shaw. Now both sides were pinned down. Not the best situation. "Vaze, cover me!" Suddenly she rose up and sprinted for a parked speeder that sat in the street. The thugs, obviously not expecting such a bold move, and suppressed by Vaze's stun blasts, only managed to clip Kaala's lower leg armor as she dove into the speeder's open top. She winced. That was going to hurt in a few minutes. With a grunt she pulled on her helmet, then fired four shots, this time from her blaster rifle. One of the thugs let out a yelp as the bolts caught him in the shoulder, spinning him around and dropping him. Two down, three to go.
@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw grinned triumphantly over the fallen man. This was already going a lot better than it had on Keitum! Turned out wooden board made a much better bludgeoning tool in a fight than rolled up carpet. Not much a surprise there. "Hahahaha—oof!" The teenager's victory laugh was interrupted suddenly by Kaal unceremoniously tackling him to the ground. They rolled behind some overturned tables just as three red bolts whizzed overhead. Wood splintered and spread as more blaster bolts struck the table.

Without missing a beat, the togruta popped up and started returning fire. Shaw just laid there on his stomach for a few seconds, staring at the ground as blaster bolts flew overhead. What was his life these days??

Since his parents had sent him off to the Jedi Order for "safekeeping" he had been chased by a three headed dog, a rancor, and a mutant bear. He had been shot at by criminals. Taken prisoner. Broken his arm. Now he was caught in the crossfire with a strange woman in old imperial armor fighting at his side. Life was stranger than fiction.

Kaala had taken up position in an empty speeder and was returning fire with a rifle. She struck one of the thugs, and he fell like a bad guy in one of those old cowboy holodrams. Complete with dramatic spin and yell. That only left three! Shaw looked around for something to use. He couldn't run out into the street with just a wooden board! His brown eyes fell on a box of fireworks that had been knocked over in the struggle and an idea struck the teenager. Hopefully Kaala would keep them distracted while he got to work! @Interdictor

 

[Kaala]

Not for the first time in her life, Kaala wished she had a concussion grenade. The remaining thugs were keeping her and Vaze-who was still with Shaw-pinned down with their fire. Kaala was able to return fire, but she couldn't get a good angle. She ducked down and considered her options. Glancing over at Shaw, she saw him…playing with fireworks? Then she realized what the teen was planning and grinned. Now, all she had to do was keep their foes occupied. She popped up and fired, forcing the goons to take cover. One of their return shots struck the speeder's windshield, sending a bunch of shrapnel right into Kaala's armor. She winced as one larger piece, about the size of a nail, struck her unprotected wrist. The pain was nulled a bit by the adrenaline, but she knew that in a bit it woukd start hurting.
@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Blaster bolts continued to whizz overhead, so Shaw just kept his head down and stayed in his lane and gathered the fireworks that looked like they would do the most damage. Of course they all had over the top names like Biggest Boomba or Wrecking Wookie or Jawa's Judgment or something like that. All complete with images of jawas exploding into space and buff wookies in denim jackets and gungans riding rancors and all kinds of nonsense that just made the fireworks look that much more fun. It was too bad Shaw couldn't keep a few of them for himself!

Now that he was loaded up with ammunition, he just need fire power. Literal fire power. What were the odds that the firework stand kept matches lying around in the same box with the fireworks? Pretty low apparently. The teenager sifted through the box and dug around but there were no matches and no lighters to be found.

Well that was an issue... until another idea struck him. He grabbed Biggest Boomba and Wrecking Wookie and made sure their fuses were straight. Then he popped his head over the top of the overturned tables, whistled through his teeth, and ducked. Replacing his head with the firework fuses. Plasma bolts struck the tables, and Shaw thought his plan had failed at first until he heard a fizzzzzzzzzz. The fuses were lit, and he only had precious seconds to throw them!

Banking on Kaas continuing to draw the majority of their fire, Shaw crawled out from behind the tables, took aim at the alleyway, and threw the fireworks as hard as he could. Then he waited for the impending explosions of color—hopefully enough to draw the three remaining thugs out of cover! @Interdictor

 

[Kaala]

Kaala looked over at Shaw just as her held the fireworks over his barricade. Was he crazy? Then the fuses ignited and the projectiles sailed in a lazy, wobbling parabola, cruising towards the target. Kaala ducked down into the speeder right as the two fireworks detonated. The first obviously was more of a sparkler type, and the most damage it caused was to sprinkle the thugs with some golden sparks. The second, though, was a giant firework. It slammed straight into the building behind the men, then exploded in a gigantic blue blast that sent the a good chunk of the wall crashing onto the thugs. Kaala slowly rose, wide-eyed (although her eyes were concealed by her helmet), and surveyed the damage. "By the Force," she whispered. In the distance, she heard the wail of sirens. Looking over the former hiding place of the goons, the Togruta saw that the area was covered in debris. A single form struggled to his feet and started sprinting away. He hadn't gone ten steps when Kaala coldly raised her blaster and shot him in the back. The human fell silently, and before his face hit the ground Kaala was out of the speeder and running towards Shaw. "C'mon, Shaw!" She stopped beside him and, if he hadn't risen already, pull him to his feet. If he had, Kaala would merely point towards the spaceport. "I say we go before the authorities show up. I can make my pickup later." Around them the street had dissolved into chaos as civilians ran for cover or stood awestruck, staring at the fair-sized and colorful fire that by now consumed the building that had been hit on the other side of the street. An Ithorian pulled out a dataphone and pointed the camera at Kaala, but she neatly raised her pistol and blasted the device, frying it. The portly alien yelped and ran like Kaala was a walker instead of a Togruta.
@throwitintothefire (I'll love to see Shaw's reaction to this lol)