After resting and some bonding the Rebels were not idle long. Away from Imperial space they had the freedom to do what they liked.

The local hero Rynn was patted on the back by Corporal Tessus as he finished his report "you did well lad, all credit to you. A lot has changed around here in the last couple of days since Commander Tallon came along. I expect your new friends will shake things up too, stories of their fame is spreading. There's plans for a ceremony of some kind to celebrate in a couple of days. Take a rest until then recruit" he ordered Rynn.

Comfortable with the company of T3 the starship engineer Klyn was searching for the Alabak's Gold checking the inventory and ship rosters he found nothing to indicate the ship was here at all. T3-M8 beeped excitedly to attract Klyn and checking the records T3-M8 had found a report that the Alabak's Gold had been found by a Rebel patrol but repairs or salvage had not yet been scheduled.

They all felt the absence of the Alabak's Gold and returning to the starship would also give them another chance to meet the crystal warriors of planet. Evening saw all four Rebels seated in the cantina discussing their plans for the next day.

Talking with Tera had eased Lyla's dark mood, and she'd enjoyed a long boozy lunch chatting with her friend, rather than a longer, more embarrassing exercise in simply boozing with strangers. Oh, she still wanted to party, but now she could save it for the night where it belonged, and not let these few hours of peace and freedom pass by in a beery blur. After a while, she left Tera to her research and slipped away to explore Neskroff.

Moving beyond the dull, well-defended spaceport and Rebel base areas, Lyla found a flourishing city. It had all been settled by refugees and political exiles of the Empire, so they were pretty open-minded too, though mostly human. They all operated mining, refining, processing, and manufacturing industries that turned minerals into starfighters – most of the Rebel fleet, she'd learned. And in support of all that, it had a very good service trade as well. Great. Lyla needed some pampering, something to erase the icky feeling of the torture chair, to have people work for her comfort and pleasure, not her discomfort and humiliation.

So Lyla whiled away the afternoon at a spa overlooking Neskroff Mesa and the endless dancing rainbows. She enjoyed a luxurious bath with bacta bubbles and eukamint oil that washed away the sand, crystal grit, and blaster grease of the last few days, leaving her bright orange and clean again. She had a manicure and pedicure, smoothing out work-worn nails. She'd told herself she didn't care for this nonsense, but it was part of the service, and had to admit to herself she like feeling like the glamorous, beautiful dancer, not the scruffy nerfherder. And she got an awful lot on credit for being a hero. She even got a massage from a handsome masseur, who eased the kinks and aches from her weary limbs, and stroked her tails from top to tip. After sharing her tale of how she'd saved Isis from obliteration and the people from imprisonment or flight, she'd earned her happy ending...

*

Evening in the cantina, Lyla was radiant and golden, well oiled, and in a much better mood than when she'd started the day. She even had a clean shirt and cargo pants, tight and figure hugging. She was outlining plans for the expedition to the Alabak's Gold and the friendly Gutretee tribe. '...We're gonna need exact coordinates from that patrol, we can't afford to wander. The whole ecology is crystal: plants, animals, people. We can't forage or hunt food, so we have to rely on supplies... The crystal mountains refract light downwards, so it gets hot in the valleys. Remember Tatooine? We'll also need sunshade goggles against glare... We also won't have communications with Neskroff, so we can't get lost...' Lyla realised they'd probably have to take a landspeeder or speeder bikes – but then she lost all interest in the expedition. She wanted to walk, to survive, and to be alone. Simply driving out with all her friends just killed the appeal, took away the challenge.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Sun 05 July 2015.

"We should have some form of commlink with us and tell everyone where we're going so if they don't hear from us they know where to look." Tera looked up from her drin in the cantina, this time alcoholic. She was rather excited to be heading out and meeting the gutretee again, but also to getting to the Gold. She hadn't spent much time on the ship...but it felt more like home than anywhere else she'd been in the last few years.

'Uh, no, it seems the crystals cause interference that disrupt all communications, sensors... It's why they use fibre-optics and fixed com-boxes here.' Lyla had found some time to do a little research too.


OOC: I'm just going by the wiki and what was described in "The Chase" thread.

Klyn was happy to find the rest of the team, mainly because he needed their help to get their ship back. While the others spend their time resting and having fun, he mostly endured the wait.  He did try to get some spare parts for the ship

"I believe we can get some equipment from the base, especially while our good reputation is still fresh."

Rynn showed up from the bar carrying a tray full of drinks, still basking in their celebrity of returning the ship and supplies. "Hey ya'll. Looks like the locals are still showing their gratitude." he said, setting down the drinks and looking around, the smile evident through his voice amplifier even though it couldn't be seen through his bodysuit. "So what's the plan then? You guys going to stick around ISIS? There is talk of a ceremony to celebrate our win."

As they had experienced before all communications on Isis were through fibre optics as the crystals disrupted the transmissions of regular comlinks and also disrupted sensors so that the locating of Alabak's Gold would have to be done from the reports from the Rebel scouts. It was this anomaly in the structure of the planet which made it ideal for the Rebels to hide from the Empire as nothing on the planet could be scanned so the Imperial Survey Corps would have to identify the planet as worthy of further investigation and then send a team to investigate on the planet surface. Something which they had all been personally responsible in preventing from happening any time soon.

At the hangar Klyn is able to requisition a A-A5 speeder truck and scavenges plenty of bit and pieces he calculates he need to get the Alabak's Gold in condition to return it to the base for final repairs and any modifications. The speeder truck had plenty of space for cargo and was durable enough for the harshest conditions the crystal planet could throw at them. Klyn now needed a crew however, to properly drive the speeder they would need three pilots. That left them one short with Klyn and Rynn at the helm.

"Yeah... I know a guy. Ex-Imp, kind of a risk taker but a pretty spot on pilot." Rynn said, when asked about finding another pilot. "I think he'd fit in well here. He's a pretty likable guy. I've flown a bit with him in the past."

'I hope they'll replace everything we lost on the Handree. I had some good gear – it wasn't great, but it was mine.' As a ranger, Lyla owned no more than she could carry, and what she carried represented her life, memories, and heritage. While she'd left some personal effects on the Alabak's Gold, since she'd left in a hurry, the Imperials had confiscated her old Rylothan knife, which she'd lived by since childhood; her favourite entrenching tool; and worst of all, the Girl's Best Friend, her ex–Clone Trooper–issue, army-surplus DC-15A blaster rifle with scope. 'It could be a chance to upgrade, I spose...'



Lyla took her drink with equal gratitude. 'Mmm, I know.' she said with a small grin at her earlier experience of local gratitude, before quickly sipping hers. 'That depends where command sends us next. But it looks like we have some shore leave here for now. They seem to expect us to spend it recovering our ships ourselves – don't forget we gotta dig your starfighter out too.'

'Ooh, a ceremony. Sounds fun. I might even wear a dress for it.' suggested Lyla impishly, for whom clothing was either work-wear or nothing, and as Tera knew she'd shown she was prepared to go with the latter.



'Eh, I dunno – ex-Imperial?' Lyla began reluctantly, before looking apologetically at Tera, whom she rarely thought of as ex-Imperial since finding out. 'No offence, T... But can't you just show us how to drive?'
This message was last edited by the player at 06:52, Tue 07 July 2015.

Tera looked suspiciously at Rynn after frowning at Lylas comment "Do you know where he served? What ship? What unit he served in?" Tera looked at the other apologetically "Some of the people I knew in the Navy were doing it just because it offered the best paycheck and opportunity." she shrugged "I don't know. I guess we'd have to him....and figure out how we're going to pay to get back all of our gear. Frankly I arrived here in an Imperial Navy troopers uniform and I had to borrow clothes to fit in from the med bay."

"If we can't get the gold flying, we could always salvage parts from the imperial ship....between the parts we take out there and the scout vessel. I think we'll find enough between us to get the gold...or something at least flying."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Mon 06 July 2015.

Jason tosses a few more clothes into his backpack before zipping it up, since leaving the empire gathering up his possessions didn't take all that long. Apart from the clothes in his backpack, the rifle set against the wall and the few items stuffed into his utility belt, he didn't own all that much. But then being part of the rebel alliance wasn't something one did to get rich. And really he doesn't need anything else. He's just glad to go out on an assignment that isn't either patrol or guard duty. Those were fine for a while, a short while. But Jason prefers a little more direct action so when he heard Rynn would need another pilot he didn't hesitate to volunteer, it was promising to be far more interesting than staying at the base. And fortunately his superior hadn't given him any trouble or denied his request to help out an old friend. So he throws his backpack over his shoulder, picks up his large blaster rifle and checks to make sure his bunk is empty, then he sets off towards the speeder assigned to this group of 'heroes'. At least everyone around here said they were heroes. He'd see for himself soon enough.

He first heads to the speeder they were supposed to be using, but finding nobody there, he decides the best bet is the cantina. Rynn might be there, and indeed, he spots the man sitting with some others. He tosses the backpack into a corner and places his rifle against it as well, no need to go carrying around a large weapon or war into a rebel cantina. Then he walks over towards Rynn and nods at him and the people he's sitting with.

"Hey Rynn, I spoke with my superior. If you still need a pilot then I'm all yours. He said they can manage without me for a while, and I have to agree, place seems pretty quiet currently"

Then he looks at the others at the table and gives each of them a small respectful nod and making eye contact for a moment before moving on. They seem like pleasant enough beings. But his eyes linger for just a microsecond longer on the Twi'lek woman. Whatever prejudices his father might have tried to drill into him, Jason left those behind along with his rank and imperial service. But his life in an imperial family and with the imperial service has left him with very few experiences interacting for any long periods of time with non-humans. So his interest is merely curiosity.

"So I hear you're all quite the heroes around here. My name is Jason Starflare and it's good to meet you. I understand you're in need of a pilot and if I do say so myself, I'm a pretty good one if you'll have me"

'Oh, the Wanderer.' Lyla remembered. 'That's a Far*Reach IV PQR armed scout-ship. It should have some good gear, maybe even intel for the Alliance. They might even get it going again as an undercover vessel with its Imperial transponder codes.' she suggested, though these ideas covered a lost dream: a scout ship of her own, with which she could explore the galaxy all on her own. She groaned. 'So, that makes three ships we need to salvage and dig out. That's why we need three pilots.'

At the new arrival, she looked up in acknowledgement, and figured his lingering look to be that usually given to Twi'lek women. 'Heroes? Yeah, so everyone tells us. Hi.' she greeted, before realising who he would be. 'Your buddy?' she asked Rynn, a little wary. Being strapped to a chair while too many male Stormtroopers and security guards stood around and watched had only made her less of a fan of Imperials.

"Humm... I didn't think about that one either" said Klyn.
"I'm not sure I have enough parts for the three ships. I didn't really take the time to check the imperial one, maybe it cannot be repaired on site.  In any case, we could transport the X-wing with cables if needed."
His reflexions are interrupted by the arrival of the man mentioned by Rynn.  While the pilot joined their little team 'by accident', and quite literally, Klyn was, like LyLa, a bit unenthusiastic about having another addition.  It took time for him to adapt to new members.

But they needed some recruits once the Gold is fit to fly again. And this mission would serve as a field test... especially for an ex-imperial...

He nodded to welcome the man, a young one apparently. He wondered what happened for him to change his allegiance.

"Not sure what unit he's in..." He was saying to Tera taking a sip of his drink. "But it seems like you can ask him yourself." He said, lifting his glass to be noticed by the pilot that had just walked in.

He nodded to Lyla, "Yep, that's him." He said taking another drink. "Good to see you again, Jason. If you're tired of things being quiet stick with us... always a fair chance of death... and isn't that exciting..." He said draining the rest of his drink.

He turned to Klyn, "I don't think the X-wing was too damaged, just need to unbury it, should be flyable."

Lyla shook her head and tails; she'd had enough excitement and death on the last few missions. 'Nuh-uh. No excitement, no death. Just a road-trip, hiking, salvage, and meeting the Gutretee. And no duels! This is going to be boring.' she insisted flatly. Of course, saying that aloud, it had the air of being a prophecy...

Klyn nodded in agreement: "Yes, and boring is fine at the moment.  Our mission is to save an old and battered friend.   But you might enjoy the scenery."

"I'm sure it will be more interesting than what goes around on this base. I'll take some long walks through the unknown wilderness over guard duty"

It hadn't been the warmest welcome ever, but he couldn't really expect that much from a group of people who he'd only just met. So he sits down at their table and joins them. In truth he's mostly interested in something else he overheard them saying earlier, something that really piqued his interest.

"So.. You have an X-wing too? What happened to it that it needs towing?"

"Not their X-wing, it belongs to the base. I was out flying Grey Nine on patrol when the scout ship appeared and started scanning. I chased it down, they tried to lose me in a canyon. I managed to take them down." He said with a sly grin, "And them." He said indicating the Alabak's Gold crew." His smile got wider. "And myself... it got crazy..."

'I like boring.' Lyla added.

She looked disbelievingly at Jason. 'More interesting? What, you missed the ISC commando assault the other day?' she asked, referring to the recent incident in which the downed Imperial Survey Corps crew had infiltrated the spaceport, planted explosives, and stolen the Handree. Chasing them, retaking the ship, and protecting the colony from the Empire was how these heroes of the Alliance had earned their reps.

'And the canyon.' she reminded after Rynn, grinning in spite of herself. It had gone from catastrophic to ridiculous. 'I had to dig him out with a shovel.'

Jason smirks at Rynn and his story.

"Well at least you got your target, that's what matters, the rest are just details. Well played"

Then he looks at Lyla and shrugs.

"Well sure, but I didn't get to do anything during all that. And word is the imperials shouldn't be returning for a good long time. So I don't want to be on guard duty for all of that, better to be out in the wilderness with all of you"

His thoughts drift back to the stranded X-wing and the possibility of salvaging it.

"And if we can recover that stranded X-wing, all the better. What happened to the astromech, did you manage to save it?"

"Hey, even if we can't restore the Survey ship, we can give the Gold a few upgrades with it. The sensors on that thing have to be top class, not to mention the sheer amount of useful gear we can try to strip from it." Tera suggested "But the Xwing if I remember should be relatively straightforward....unless anythings happened since we've been away."

'And the weapons.' Lyla added thoughtfully.

'So, we need a lot of shovels.'

All the essentials food supplies and shovels were loaded into the speeder truck, it was a cumbersome vehicle but offered everything they would need to survive out in the wilds for a couple of days, or longer if the recovering the Alabak's Gold was going to be a difficult operation.



The team with their new addition of Jason Starflare still had plenty of space onboard. Taking the speeder out of the hangar the crystals surface of Isis glinted in the daylight, the translucent crystal lit up in a rainbow of colours. They soon left the crystal mesa of Neskroff behind. The sunshade goggles that Lyla had requisitioned offered some comfort from the permanent glare of the multi-coloured reflections. For anything but the natural crystalline inhabitants Isis was a harsh and threatening world, yet beautiful.

The Rebels had not attempted any terraforming on the surface, content to hide in their mountain base. The Gutretees miracles of crystal waves left no mark of a technically advanced race on the surface. The landspeeder could traverse the seemingly barren world but not at any great speed. It took them a few hours to reach the crash site. Everything was as they had left it. The wreckage of the Wanderer, Grey Nine and the Alabak's Gold were all half buried in crystal shards but on a planet with no organic life as they knew it they had all been left undisturbed.

For Lyla's part, she had organised all the supplies and gear they would need to get by in the wilderness, particularly without communications to guide them. Even a few hour's drive out of Neskroff, a breakdown or getting lost could be a killer. Fortunately, the experienced scout had studied the maps, knew the terrain, and could find their way by the stars and an old-fashioned magnetic compass if need be.

She went into the speeder truck disappointed not to be going hiking as she'd planned, either with Tera or alone. She still just wanted to get away from it all, to search for peace and get her tails on straight. Maybe, once they'd found the ships and work was under way, and she had nothing else in particular to do, she could just take off for a while, and just walk, see what she could explore and discover, even if she found nothing at all. In fact, there'd been a narrow channel on the map, walled by prismatic crystals, that she had an idea would act as a crude laser...

Still, the traveller in her wasn't irritated to be riding a few hours in a truck instead. It was a road trip, time spent with friends going some place and talking about nothing, to watch the scenery fly by. It was easier on the feet too. She was taken back to her childhood and the family caravan on Ryloth, riding along the terminator region between the bright and dark sides. Happy times. For the most part, Lyla sat in quiet contemplation, gazing out the window at the beautiful, rainbow-draped crystal land.

When they finally came to a stop, Lyla jumped out, glad to stretch her legs after so long in the truck, and gazed around at the ships: the Alabak's Gold, with Grey Nine just nearby, and the Wanderer in the next valley over. It was odd to find everything exactly as they'd left it. It seemed so silent and timeless. There were no people or animals as she knew them to disturb things. Of course, in a crystal-based ecosystem, the local flora and fauna could well decide to eat spaceship components. 'Where should we start? I say the Alabak: we could live out of there while we get the others. Besides, I want our ship back.'
This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Sat 25 July 2015.

The speeder truck isn't exactly the kind of vehicle Jason would prefer to drive, but it certainly beats hanging out at the base doing nothing, and his new colleague's seem like a pleasant enough bunch. And the view of the planet is certainly worthwhile, it's an unusual place this planet, like nothing he's ever visited before.

During the trip he can't help but test out the vehicle's ability to accelerate as well as it's maneuverability, of which there isn't much. Still if some kind of trouble did occur, he'd like to know a little bit about the vehicle he's in and what he can do with it. But beyond that he just enjoys the ride towards the crash sites.

When they finally reach their destination he get's out of the truck and stretches with a groan, glad to be able to free his muscles a little and breathe the fresh air.

"Sounds like a good place to start to me. Though I wonder if we can't use the truck to simply pull the X-wing free, if we have strong enough cables. It'd safe us from having to dig that one out at least right?"

Tera enjoyed the trip out sticking to herself while she caught up on the journals she'd been studying. As she watched the ships she wondered if it might be a wrong idea to wrench them out from the crystals. "Why don't we just ask the Gutretee to free the ships from the crystals. If they make starfighter hulls out of the crystal I can't help but feel we might break things by using brute force to try to splinter it."

'Because dealing with the Gutretee will cost us a wallop to the head, and I dunno know about the rest of you, but I can't take any more concussions.' Lyla complained with a wince and a smile. 'But Tera's right, I think yanking it out is likely to snap the wings off. Come on! A little hard work won't kill us.' she tried to rouse them.

"Fair enough.. Guess it's up to us then to do the hard work.."

He grabs one of the shovels and jumps out of the speeder truck to walk over to the ship indicated and experimentally tries to push the shovel into this crystal ground to see how easy it will be to dig out the ship. If it's truly some kind of organic crystal, it might prove difficult to do any digging at all.

As they reached the crash site, klyn couldn't help but to feel sad at the stata of his beloved ship.  He, of course, agreed with the gold beeing first on yhe list.

"Shovels might be hard but I have some hope with vibroblade or sonic tools."

In the speeder truck were plenty of shovels as well as a few laser tool which would speed up the recovery process of the Alabak's Gold. Gathered around the jumpship they started the arduous task of uncovering it. The crystals shards and rumble glittered brightly and without the anti-glare goggles they would have all be dazzled into blindness as they shovelled and dug at the crystal canyon.

"Alabak first will be fine." Rynn nodded as they traveled to the ship. He was feeling bad about being the cause of the wrecks, which set off the series of events that took them down a dark path.


As they stopped, he grabbed a shovel and attacked the ground like he was angry at it. "This shouldn't take us too long... well, maybe a little bit." he said with a chuckle. "Do you guys have room on board for Jason and I inside?"

Tera happily helped the others trying to ship at the crystal surrounding the ships. It was only in the midst of the task that she stopped staring off into the distance. She frowned, unable to see anything in the glare, before turning back to her task. She'd only started her work for a few seconds before she stopped again to look.

"Uh....I think someones coming." she said out loud to the team working on freeing the gold.

Rummaging through her kit, Lyla produced a shiny new Alliance-issue entrenching tool, to replace the one confiscated by the Imperials. She could fold and configure the multipurpose implement as a shovel, pickaxe, or hammer, though, as she'd lamented previously, it had no vibro function. It would handily break through and shift the chunks of crystal, as she'd shown when she'd dug Rynn out of his cockpit not too long ago.

Readying for the hard yakka, Lyla stripped down to tank-top and short shorts, and wore her sturdy hiking boots, protective goggles, and a breath mask. Although the dust had settled since the crash and collapse of the canyon wall, their efforts would likely stir up more, and Lyla rightly feared what sharp crystal flakes could do to their lungs and eyes. She'd already been right about the goggles cutting down on glare and dazzling.

The twi'lek wasn't strong, but she was tough and enduring, and she swung a mean entrenching tool, over and over in graceful arcs and precise strikes. Lyla used the pick to break apart crystals and drag out boulders, and the shovel to dig out the smaller rubble and fling it away. Untiring, unrelenting, she steadily dug out the parts of the ship Klyn needed cleared.

Soon, in her exertions and the heat, Lyla had worked up quite a sweat, her skin flushed a golden orange. She made for an impressive sight: her sleek orange skin glistened in the rainbow light, accentuating her firm muscles and soft lush curves, from her long lithe legs to her bare arms and shoulders, from cleavage to chest and neck and down her long tails. Dusted all over with crystal flakes, she sparkled in the rainbow light. It all put her in mind of her time as a dancer, and the days of stripper glitter.

Finding a neatly cut hunk of crystal, every facet gleaming and diffracting rainbows, Lyla picked it up to have a close look. She took a short breather, pulling down her mask to reveal a tired, pretty face. She scrutinised her find for a time before pocketing it as a souvenir. She answered Rynn 'We've got five quarters, two bunks each. One each for all of us. Any more in the crew, and we're going to have to share.'

She looked to Tera and where Tera was looking. 'What's that, T?' she asked, keenly looking into the distance through the glare.


OOC: Perception 27
10:56, Today: Lyla Rahn rolled 27 using 1d20+8. perception.

Jason can't help but stare briefly at Lyla's far nicer digging tool and then at his own simplistic shovel a little disappointed, but there's nothing for it. So he just sets to work on digging out the ship the best he can. Besides, he doesn't want to be caught staring at Lyla for too long, it keeps bringing up memories about some of the other pilots telling him about Twi'lek exotic dancers they went to see. But at least he can appreciate why they went to see such shows now.

And the fact that Lyla feels comfortable enough to work in little more than a tank tank and some short shorts also means he doesn't need to feel so bad an hour later when he's sweating and hot as hell and decides to take off his own shirt and use it as a towel to wipe off his face.

"Is it just the work or does this place get seriously hot?"

He tosses his shirt into a pile somewhere and continues working, he doesn't really have the strength generally required to do heavy digging, but he does know something about hard work and endurance trials, and he's determined not to stop before the rest of them do. He would hate to be the new guy and the first to take a break as well, that just wouldn't do. If anything he wants to be the very last to still be going.

"Sharing a room isn't a problem for me.. I spend most of my adult life as an imperial pilot, not a lot of privacy in that life.."

He looks up surprised when Tera mentions someone else coming their way and he stops digging to look around, frowning slightly and turning his eyes towards the speeder truck where he left his weapon.

"Do you think I need to grab my weapon?"

Tera shrugged "I don't know. I could be wrong, but I thought.... Maybe it was nothing." she moved back to her weapons picking up her blaster pistol. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I thought I saw something coming towards us."

While the others were buzy outside, Klyn went inside the ship to run a few diagnostics and, if possible, begin some repairs.

The Alabak's Gold was structurally sound as Klyn ran his diagnostics. The starship had been through plenty of adventurers with the Rebels and crashed more than once too. The main concern was getting it out of the avalanche of sparkling crystals. It was for Jason, Lyla and Rynn to get physical with the labour. The work was slow but the planet Isis was peaceful and beautiful it's rainbow of colours and bright crystals. Tera felt more presences than just the others, her labour paused. The presence grew closer.

Finally Tera's feelings became real as the crystal canyon rippled and a wave came down it. On the wave were two individuals. Those who had met the Gutretee before recognised the dull and cracked appearance of Yustavan the shaman as the old humanoid controlled the crystal wave. Beside the Gutretee was a tall human in dark robes. He had a charismatic air despite his youth.

"Ho-noured one. You come to move you wave. Champion Tera and worthy Lyl'arahn I will help" the old shaman greeted them warmly as the wave came to stop shuddering the loose rubble around the Alabak's Gold.

[OCC: Private to GM: Noted; I take it that if I was to do a force sense detect thingy, she would pop up on my radar]

Stepping off the gathered crystal rubble produced by the wave, Bron steps forward looking at the individuals before him. Taking note of their individual characteristics, he eyes Tera for a moment longer than everyone else, almost with an air of familiarity.

After a moment, Bron turns back to Yustavan and bow in his direction whispering so only Yustavan can hear him and turning back towards the group.
With a wide smile he approaches them and says, ”Greetings travelers, the Shaman here tells me that you may be leaving this planet soon and I was hoping that one might be able to accompany you on your journey. I do not need much room, as you can see I live a very simple life without many belongings.”

Looking each individual in the eye as he speaks you see that he is younger than most people traveling alone, but his violet eyes shine bright with great wisdom. Taking a wider glance at him he is wearing dark tan robes and has his blonde hair pulled back behind him underneath the robe’s hood, and he carries a metallic tube at his waist.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:28, Thu 30 July 2015.

'Nothing wrong with paranoia in this line of work, Tera.' Lyla advised, scanning the horizon and the crystal walls of the canyon for signs of movement, ears pricked for danger. Lyla shrugged; she didn't see a thing out of the ordinary, if anything really could be considered ordinary here. She ended her inspection at openly eyeing Jason's lean physique, a small smile playing on her lips. She knew he'd been catching sight of her, but she was well used to such attention, and as Tera had said, she enjoyed it. But that was all it could be.

Finally, she got back to work, long orange legs astride a mound of rubble, swinging her pick in high arcs overhead, metal flashing in the light before shattering through a slab of crystal in a burst of glittering shards. She gotten a few swings in before a Gutretee crystal land-wave came sweeping in. She'd ridden it before, but it was still an awesome sight. Lyla glanced across to Tera, wondering how she'd heard it well before it came. Leaning on her pick, Lyla watched as the wave settled, recognising Yustavan. She'd expected the other to be Iponta, the champion, but was surprised to see a human.

'Wise Yustavan,' she greeted with a bow. 'Thanks for your offer. We were too polite to ask.' And I didn't want to be smacked upside the head again for asking. Lyla started moving away from the Alabak's Gold, waving Jason to clear away from the ship before any crystal land-waves erupted beneath it.

She regarded the robed man, not sure what possessed anyone to walk around in robes like that. Some kind of priest? He looked like a Jedi from the old holos, but what in the Galaxy could possess one to dress up as one of those? 'Very practical,' remarked the ranger, who owned nothing more than she could stuff in a backpack, and now not even that. 'But I don't know about "soon", mate. We've got a lot of work to do. We've got three ships to salvage and repair, and don't have orders to go anywhere yet.'
This message was last edited by the player at 07:41, Sat 01 Aug 2015.

Turning to look the Twi'lek Bran smiles and says, "Certainly, while I am looking to leave this planet. It is of no great importance that it be immediately, I have spent the past few months here. While it is a beautiful planet I do believe my destiny lays elsewhere."

Looking around, he lets his gaze linger on the star-ships buried in the crystal, before returning his gaze to the Twi'lek.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance in your current endeavor. It seems that, what I can only presume to be your star ship, is rather stuck. I would be more than happy to lend a hand in exhuming it from the crystal."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:57, Fri 31 July 2015.

Not about to look a gift dewback in the mouth, Lyla gestured to an assortment of tools. 'Thanks. I'd say "grab a shovel", but I think Grandfather Iponta might have that covered soon.'

'You know, if you wanted a ride, you could've gone to Neskroff Spaceport. You came an awfully long way for a ship that doesn't fly.'

Smiling at the suggestion Bron, looks back towards the ship and says "She might not look like much now, but I have a good feeling about her and her crew. Besides, I do not believe that there are many star ships headed my way leaving from the spaceport."

'You don't know where we're going yet.' Lyla pointed out, amused. 'We don't know where we're going yet.' This guy seemed to be a mystic of some sort, and Lyla was too practically minded to let him go unquestioned. Plus, it was getting weird how all these people suddenly wanted to fly with them. They must be getting famous.

Taking a more serious expression but still being quite charismatic Bron says, "It is not the destination the interests me, but rather the journey. Any star ship can get me anywhere I wish to go, but very few will make the trip worth while. As I have said, I have a good feeling about you and your crew"

His eyes wander amongst the crew, once again lingering on Tera for a few moments longer than anyone else.

Looking up at the sky, he almost seems to meditate for a moment before continuing, "The galaxy is a vast and mysterious place, but every being in it is destined for one thing or another. To travel the stars is a great achievement, and within those light-years are where heroes are born.

Bron slowly brings his gaze back down and looks Lyla directly in the eyes. His Violet eyes almost piercing through Lyla and into her very soul. "You and your companions, have traveled a great distance to be here, on this day, at this hour. However this is not where your adventure ends. It is this adventure of yours that will take me where I need to go."

He sounded like old Ben Kenobi, the crazy hermit out by the Dune Sea back on Tatooine. Lyla met his gaze, her eyes bright and defiant and cocky. She was also too practically minded to be taken in and buttered up by mystical guff, not by Ben's and not by this guy's. It was being famous, she decided. They were attracting all sorts. 'Yeah, alright, grab a shovel.' she said simply. 'The adventure ends at teatime.'

With a nod, Bron throws back the hood of his robe. His long blonde hair set back in a pony-tail disappears into the depths of the robes. Know in the full light of the sun, you can see that he has chiseled hard lines on his face. While not the lines of strength, you can tell by the way he moves and the features you can see that he is quite agile.

After a comment about proper societal structure and tea, he grabs a shovel and sets in. If you watch him for a while, even in his robes he is not sweating and he is working just as hard as anyone else.

Bron does not complain at all, and does not say much while working in general. However, when he does say something it is almost in a riddle, or philosophical manor.

Though he jumps aside when so directed by Lyla, Jason can't help but stare at the strange crystalline wave the shaman seemed to generate or control and he struggles to understand how it works and if there's some trick to it that he simply hasn't figured out. So he ends up poking the crystal with his shovel experimentally. But as that offers no results, he simply returns to digging while following the conversation. There's really no reason he can't dig and talk at the same time.

The exchange between Lyla and the man is rather amusing, the man doesn't seem to be lacking in words, but at the same time he's not very definite on anything. The idea of travelling the galaxy for the sake of travelling seems rather vague to him. He's used to following orders, to have a specific goal and work towards it. This man sounds more like a philosopher than anything else.

He's a little surprised when Lyla simply accepts the man. Not that Jason has anything against him, he seems harmless enough. But they're not exactly running a pleasure cruise here. They're members of the rebel alliance. Certainly they should at least measure the man's love for the empire and his feelings for the rebellion before simply taking him along.

"So, you just decide to throw in your destiny with a group of random strangers because you have a good feeling about them? I'm just saying, for all you know, we might be crazy. Or traitors, a part of the rebellion against the empire. Who knows what kind of terrible things we might be up to.."

He looks briefly at Lyla, hoping he isn't overstepping his bounds, he has only just joined the crew himself after all. But it just makes sense to him to at least see how the man feels about rebels and the empire. No harm in that right?

With a glance towards Jason, without stopping his digging Bron says "We are all parts of the same organism, you may not be able to feel it, but the universe is alive. For all the good in the universe, there is an equal and opposite bad in the universe. One must take the good with the bad, and vise versa. You and your companions here, are striving to survive and based on the ships we are unearthing it would be my surmise that you are not of the empire.

Bron waves his hand towards the Gutretee shaman and says "Also you have gained the trust of this wise and honorable holy man. Not an easy task around here, if he is willing to give you his trust than so am I."

"Rather than waste time trying to dig it out..." Tera bowed towards the shaman "We have great respect for the Gutretee and their ways. We know the Gutretee are the great crystal shapers of Isis. Would it be possible for you to free the ships from the crystals and set them on top that we might concentrate more on repairing them?" Tera requested of the shaman, not entirely sure if he'd agree.

She watched the man warily, unsure what to make of him, knowing only his answers were as evasive as anything she might expect to hear from a denizen of Mos Eisley. The only saving grace that was aside from being a little eccentric, he didn't seem directly threatening.

Jason stops digging and waves away the newcomer's comments as if they were an irksome fly.

"I don't believe that at all. If the universe were in perfect balance, nothing we do would ever matter. Every act of kindness I take, would immediately be balanced out by an act of cruelty. We might as well sit around doing nothing. I like to think that our actions matter, that when I do something good, I make the galaxy just a tiny bit better.."

He glances towards Tera and leans on the handle of his shovel. If this shaman could free the ship so easily he's done a lot of digging for no reason. Still, he's curious to see if the man can. It would mean he can get to work on the X-wing. Which of course holds his main interest even if he's willing to work on the larger ship first as a group effort.

Smiling as he continues his work, Bron says "Do not misunderstand me, the universe is not always in balance. Every little good act you do does help the over all health of the universe. The bee cannot exist without the flower, just as the flower cannot exist without the bee. Yes this is a rather simplistic example, but a most apt example as well.

The old and dull Gutretee had already offered to help and whilst the Rebels began their introduction with Bron the old shaman nodded slowly to the further requests he received. He raised his hands as the others laid down their shovels "strong am I, not qu-ick am I" he intoned as the crystal shards around the Alabak's Gold began to slowly shift. The crystals became like liquid and ran like molten metal, slowly and meanderingly from the hull of the starcraft. As the multi-coloured liquid crystal touched the bare ground it soaked in like rain on sand. The excavation was truly amazing but it would take the old shaman a long time to move such a large amount of debris so that the transport could be flown away.

Inside the jumpship Klyn felt it judder and shake as the crystals encasing it dripped away and the Alabak's Gold creaked in relief as it began to escape its crystalline prison.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:13, Sun 02 Aug 2015.

Stepping back as the shaman begins unearthing the ship, Bron takes a look around. Picking up a couple small shards and assorted sized crystal pebbles he smiles as he picks out what to anyone else seem like ordinary chucks of crystal. But to him he see's perfect training and meditation tools.

After glancing around he sees Tera, and picks up a couple more samples.

Tera bowed gratefully to the shaman. "We thank you for your help. If there is anything we can help the gutretee or you with to thank you for helping us, please let us know. There are some other craft we might need your assistance with." Tera glanced back at the new arrival wondering why he was making her skin crawl. It felt like he was watching her.

As Jason looked expectantly to her, Lyla was struck by her position in this group. A lot of people had come and gone since they'd stolen the transponder codes for Polmanar: Willmar, Mallox, Zerrek, and now Oglo, all those names disappeared or reassigned. Only she and Klyn remained from those early days, and they weren't even that long ago. And Klyn, as the engineer, spent most of his time with the ship, if he could help it. Lyla realised she was now the veteran, the leader of this small band of rebels. And she'd never felt like a leader before, always a follower, or a loner. It seemed a strange contradiction. She'd been the one least for the Rebellion, but she'd stuck with it the longest, had been willing to die for it back in that torture chamber. She liked to be alone, yet was at the heart of this group. She was the one who believed that all things changed, even herself, yet she was the one constant here. Her, and the ship.

'Keep in mind no one's got a ticket flying anywhere yet. It's not even up to us. Command will decide where we go and who tags along.' she warned, before they all started moving in and nesting. 'And this is Isis: everyone non-Gutretee here's with the Alliance and been checked out. So I assume you're all on side.' she said to Jason and the robed guy. Maybe Jason had forgotten which side he was on?

She attacked a pile of rubble again, not wanting to look like she was slacking off while Old Yustavan took care of the heavy lifting. 'There's no balance in nature. It's a myth. One more surviving gutkurr chick in a season will decimate the rycrit population, then the shriffle-shrooms grow out of control. Then, once everyone's got it worked out, someone goes and evolves again. It's chaos. There is no balance, only change.' Scooping away a shovelful of crystals, she added 'So we either go along with it, or we make the change we want to see in the galaxy.' Maybe it did make sense for her to be a part of the Rebellion, not to restore the crusty old Republic, but to bring down the Empire change the Galaxy for the better.

Her words were twi'lek philosophy and rustic wisdom. The robed guy had gotten her feeling philosophical, the kind she felt when she was bored out hiking... That was who he reminded her of – Oglo Obwatt! She wondered if it was too late to tell him to clear off. 'What's your name, anyway?' she asked the robed guy, as he'd said a lot of words, but not his name. If he turned out to be an Ithorian in disguise, there'd be trouble.

Lyla stopped work when Yustavan started his crystal-moving show, putting down her shovel to watch. It was an awesome sight, to see all that earth change and flow away, to see the great ship rise out of its grave, the kind of miracle that refreshed her faith. Lyla touched her tails in prayer to the Goddess, then coiled them for the Great Bantha too, just to be sure.

'Thanks so much, great one. We have a starfighter too, over there, if it's not too much trouble, but we can probably do that ourselves.' she added after Tera, both asking and not asking. It seemed greedy to ask for miracles. 'The other only crash-landed on top of the ground, so it doesn't need excavating.'
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Sun 02 Aug 2015.

"I am Bron Tolgo, as was my father before me and his father before him. Mention my master's name Johdor Tombreek to your council if you need further confirmation about who I am and who I side with. But you are correct young miss, everyone granted leave to come and go here on Isis is of the Alliance. Or at the very least seeking to join their ranks.

Thinking to himself "These are good people."

"Well.. nobody who isn't with the alliance that we know of.. I'm just saying, if the empire located the planet anyone else could have too, if only by sheer chance. There isn't a place in the galaxy some unlucky fool can't stumble into. Still, since our only other option seems to be to leave him here stranded, I totally agree we should offer him a ride, I was just playing the devil's advocate"

When she expands upon her views of the galaxy he listens along, he isn't sure the galaxy follows the rule of chaos anymore than the rule of balance. To his mind, the galaxy just is, and isn't bound by a single law, though that might be chaos in itself.

"Guess I feel that the galaxy just is.. It's how we see it that changes, just like how we see ourselves might change. One day you might think yourself defending the honor and integrity of a grand institution, the next day.. you find yourself trapped in a corrupt totalitarian society build around oppression and elitism. But the truth is nothing has changed except your own perception.."

Clearly these words mean a lot more to him than a mere philosophical debate and he falls quiet for a moment after speaking them. Then he turns his attention to the X-wing and then looks at Lyla. It looks like this shaman is doing a lot more work than they were doing with the shovels. And it seems like they can't really help much while he's controlling the crystal, however the hells he's doing that.

"Good idea, we should get started on the X-wing? If our eh.. friend here is working to free this ship. Not sure how much shoveling I can do while the crystals are moving on their own anyway.."

He heads over to the X-wing and starts helping Lyla with the digging, glad to have something to do again, some physical labor to focus his attention on.

Pocketing the crystals, Bron joins Jason and Lyla in digging out the x-wing. After a while, Bron looks up from his shovel and says "You know, Isis is fairly remote and well hidden. How did you end up here crashed into the crystal formations?"

In all the heat, and buried beneath his robes, Bron has still not broken a sweat. He continues to make progress as he comments on the situation.

Lyla just stared at Bron Tolgo, half-smiling, her expression somewhere been amused and stunned. 'Young miss?' Of all the patronising... Especially since he can't have been that much older than herself, all up. She felt the guy was overdoing the mysterious mystic act, and something about it just rubbed her up the wrong way. She would let it go. 'I ain't been a "young miss" since I was nine, old man.' she commented, turning and marching toward the buried starfighter, shovel over her shoulder.

She dug some more rock crystal away from the buried X-wing, continuing the work she'd done to free Rynn only the other day. She talked as she worked, saying simply 'We were coming into Neskroff after a mission when we got involved in a dogfight. Rynn over there had intercepted an Imperial Survey Corps ship that had stumbled on Isis. We couldn't let them escape and report back the base's location. The fight came down to this canyon. Lasers brought down the cliff-face, and we came down in the avalanche.'
This message was last edited by the player at 05:08, Sun 02 Aug 2015.

Looking at Lyla, Bron says "I mean no offense, while I may not be very old myself. My elders always taught me to be kind to others, and I am fairly new to the traveling the galaxy thing. This is the first place I have come after leaving my home several months ago, so I do not know much about the different species in the universe. I have lived a very secluded and almost solitary life. You are actually the first of your species I have met."

Bron looks away as if to hide an emotion before continuing "My... Old master, he always said there were great and wondrous people out here. Always treat the people you meet with the utmost respect he used to say..."

Bron's words trail off as he slows his pace for the first time since picking up a shovel. Nodding once to himself after a few moments, he puts down his shovel and looks at Lyla saying "My apologies Lyla, for any misgivings I may have shown you. You and your crew are doing me a great kindness in allowing me safe passage with you. If there is anything I can do, you need but name it."

Now maybe she was meeting the ordinary person underneath. Though she was surprised she was the first twi'lek he'd seen; they were pretty common in the Galaxy, with more of them seemingly living off Ryloth than could actually live on it. Then again, Lyla hadn't crossed paths with her own people too often herself, since leaving. Lyla softened, shrugged it off, sharing a crooked smile. 'Don't worry about it. Just less of the staring and young-misses, okay?'

Nodding again, Bron says "Of course"

Staring, was he really staring if he was he had not meant to. Bron presumed that it was Tera that she was taking about being stared at, she intrigued him more than anything. There was something about her, something he had not completely expected. Bron had felt something on his journey to this place, was it her he felt? Or was there someone else, something else?

This planet had provided Bron with an excellent hiding hole from those who would wish him harm, the crystals made an excellent shield for him. Bron closed his eyes and spent a moment concentrating, reaching out with his senses he felt the area.

(OCC: 00:01, Today: Bron Tolgo rolled 16 using 1d20+13. Use the Force: Sense Force.)

Left to continue his work Yustavan's progress was slow. The crystals as if living slid away from the hull of the Alabak's Gold. The excavation would take time but no further damage would be caused to the starship and it would likely be quicker than digging.

The combined efforts of everyone at unearthing the X-wing were quick also. The X-wing looked to have suffered some damage, firstly the cockpit had been forced open and unchecked damage may have occurred to the external and internal systems.

During the work the team talked except a moment when Bron stood silently and with a look of concentration on his face as he scanned the horizon.

By this time the Alabak's Gold was revealed and Klyn had checked his earlier repairs. He was confident that the starship was in sufficient shape to make the flight to Neskroff for more lasting maintenance.

After digging away the last of the rubble obscuring the X-wing's lower engines, it seemed safe enough to work on and lift out of its tomb. Job done, Lyla stepped back, put her entrenching tool down, and stretched out her aching limbs in all directions, loosening herself up. She whirled her head and flicked her tails. Golden, glowing, and glittering, the flexing twi'lek woman was a sight to behold. She took a healthy swig of water from her flask and splashed it over head and face. She peeled a sweat-soaked tank-top away from her body, and ruffled it to get some air inside,

Her arms felt nearly dead from all the hard yakka, and she was exhausted and worn, but she felt good, satisfied at the proverbial job well done and an honest day's work like they'd said back home. And no one had been shot or killed. 'Good job, folks.' she congratulated the team. She regarded the X-wing that had risen phoenix-like out of the rubble. 'See, we don't need magic powers to get a job done.'

"I'd call the ability to make crystals melt and flow like water pretty magical... if you disagree I'd like to see magic on your world." Over a life-time of wearing his skin suit he was used to not being able to wipe away sweat, instead it simply soaked into the fabric. He looked over at Bron. "So you've been alone for a long time?" He asked. The man talked funny and that would explain it. "And you said if theres anything you can do... what kind of stuff do you do?"

Looking at the man talking to him Bron smiles and says,"I have much to still learn, and my master only had a short number of years to train me. Unfortunately most of this time has been spent in solitude, but I am quick in everything I do."

Looking around at each of them, Bron felt as though he were being put on trial. But his feelings never lied and they told him these were good people, maybe...

"My master always taught me to be weary of strangers, but you are all good people, and Master Yustavan trusts you so..."

As he trails off, Bron waves his hand in a direction near but not directly at Rynn, Bron lifts a small 5kg shard of crystal from the ground next to Rynn, hovering it in front of the man.


(OCC:21:02, Today: Bron Tolgo rolled 32 using 1d20+13. Use the Force: Move Light Object.)

Tera bowed deferentially to the shaman. She'd remembered things from the memories she'd won from Iponta, but she wondered if the crystal shaping he'd done could be done by others. She looked curiously at the shaman "Honoured one, is it possible to teach someone the miracles of the Gutretee, to speak or sing to the crystals and have them respond, or is it only those who are gutretee that can do this?"

Her conversations stopped as her jaw dropped open as she saw Bron make the rock hover, before closing her jaw rather rapidly.

'Hokey religions and ancient machines are no match for a good shovel at your side.' Lyla said with a grin. 'And there's probably some explanation in crystallography and piezoelectrics for the Gutretee and Yustavan's powers.'

Lyla watched the rock float into the air, smiling at the sight of it. Then she clapped. 'Nice trick. I can't even see the string. You should go on stage.'

Seeing Tara's reaction, Bron leaving the crystal hovering there walks over to her smiles and says to her, "Tera, I feel owe you an apology most of all. If I at all made you uncomfortable, it was not my intent."

With a smile and a nod to Tera, Bron turns back to the rest of the group, but as he does he whispers to her

Bron looks towards Lyla and says, "There is no string"



(OCC: 22:03, Today: Bron Tolgo rolled 33 using 1d20+13. Use the Force: Telepathy => Lyla. (Nat 20))

OCC: Edit: I couldn't do what I wanted to do by the rules anyways so I fixed it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:42, Mon 03 Aug 2015.

'Antigravs or repulsors then.' Lyla shrugged; a magician would never reveal his secrets, of course.


OOC: And I was just going to call it ventriloquism. :p

Happy with his checks and the general state of his ship, Klyn went out to tell the others the Gold was still fly worthy... at least to go back to the port.  Getting out of the planet now was not something he would advice.

He noticed with surprise how much work had been done : they now had plenty of time to work on the third vessel. Probably a gold mine, even if it couldn't fly again.

The presence of the elder native added a bit more surprise, tainted with a hint of suspicion at the sight of the unknown human.

But before he could ask Lyla for more information, he noticed the flying rock.

His first reaction was to turn to the elder shaman, wondering what other kinds of powers they had on those crystals, but said shaman didn't look like he was doing anything.

"What the heck?" he finally said, a good summary off all his questions.

"Hon-oured one" the shaman returned Tera's bow "cry-stal sp-eaks to cry-stal. Pow-ers you have" he pointed his bastaka, at this time it looked like a spear, at Tera then toward Bron "I sense the vi-bra-tions of the cry-stals in you" his dull crystal skin seemed to brighten and as the light of the fading sun struck his body he was for a moment much brighter and full of radiance, green, blue and golden. Then the light flickered and it vanished, his skin once more cracked and lustreless. The old creature then shook his head "not this pow-er. The cry-stals will only listen to Gutretee".

Jason tries to keep his attention on the conversation going on around him, he really does, and at first he's quite successful, merely digging along with the others to free the X-wing while listening in to the conversation. But when Lyla starts pouring water over her head and body he finds he finds it hard to concentrate at both the conversation as well as the work he's performing, and soon enough his shovel lands on his own foot, fortunately his boots prove to be pretty sturdy or he might have actually dug into the flesh, but he's lucky to be left with only a small bruise. That doesn't stop him from letting out a cry of annoyance though.

"OWWW! Damn.. Eh.. Sorry.. My thoughts were.. elsewhere.. hit my own foot.."

Limping around briefly he realizes they've done a pretty good job excavating the X-wing, and the starfighter is one thing that doesn't have any difficulty holding his attention. He starts by walking around it and doing an inventory of the damage. So far things don't look too bad, of course there could always be internal damage, but with some luck they should be able to patch it up right here. And any additional repairs could be done back at the base. If need be, he could even fly the ship without a canopy, as long as he doesn't go too fast and doesn't leave the atmosphere, that shouldn't be a problem.

Even though the majority of his attention is on the starfighter in front of him, he glances back at the others and notices the floating rock. Like Lyla he doesn't really believe in magic. Just because he doesn't understand something, doesn't mean there isn't a perfectly normal explanation.

"Nice trick, but people will believe what they want to believe. I once had this wingmate who thought if he left his right boot's laces untied he was lucky. It worked great, right up to the day where it didn't.. I'm sure there's some trick to this.."


OOC:
10:59, Today: Jason Starflare rolled 13 using 1d20+6. Mechanics check.

'What, did he trip up?' Lyla chipped in, coming over to inspect the floating rock more closely. She didn't touch it though, only watch it from afar. A twi'lek wasn't one to poke and interfere. 'Of course there is. It could also be done with force-fields...'

'Or it could be a purely natural phenomena. I saw something like this in the Floating Rock Gardens back on Ryloth when I was a girl. Whole clouds of them. Something to do with wind and magnetic ores.'


OOC:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki...ck_Gardens_of_Ryloth

With a flick of his wrist Bron sends the small fragment flying off into the distance.

Looking at Lyla he says, "I do believe it was high time we were leaving this place. Unless I am mistaken, there is still much work to be done on the star ships and your council probably has more important tasks for you."

Bron looks back towards the horizon, and for a moment there is a glimmer of worry in his eyes. As quickly as it appeared it was gone, and Bron looked off in the direction that he flicked the crystal shard wondering if he had done too much. Could the presence notice something that small from so far away, surely the crystals around them would dampen any echos.

Looking back to the group he states, "If it is quite alright with the rest of you, I would like to spend the trip back alone. I feel there is much I must contemplate."

Lyla frowned at Bron's eagerness to get going, especially since he'd seemed in no rush when he'd arrived. She shook her head. 'Nope. We were planning to spend a few days out here. We've got three ships to salvage, and Tera and I were going to go exploring while you boys work – not because we're girls, but because we're not mechanics.' She looked over to Tera for confirmation, hoping she'd not changed her mind now Yustavan had come here instead. 'We should set out tomorrow morning.'

Looking between Lyla and Tera, Bron says "As you wish, but allow me to accompany you on this jaunt through the wilderness. I have no skill with mechanical things, and I have a bad feeling about what is coming."

Looking back at the horizon, Bron has many thoughts running through his head. "I hope I am wrong, but that feeling, that hate..."

Tera raised an eyebrow "You know how limited space is on the ship right? I don't think there's that much space on it to be left alone. Well, that hydroponics bay...maybe, but I'm pretty sure everything in it is dead...so it might be a little funky." she looked back towards the ship sighing heavily. "There might be a lot of good salvage off that Imperial ship, but we won't find out until the mechanics can scour it for things we can use on the gold. Lyla and I were just going to have a look around and explore. We'd love to have Yustavan join us and show us the wonders of this world...but it's open to anyone that wants to come along."

"The hydroponics bay will be fine, thank you."

Looking towards the imperial ship, Bron gives it a hard stare for a moment before saying "There is much on there that I am sure could be quite valuable, just as there is probably much that could be hazardous if we are found with it. I advise much caution in dealing with anything found on that ship."

Jason keeps his attention on the conversation this time. He had gotten the impression that Lyla was rather planning for this to be a girls only thing. But Tera doesn't seem to mind the extra company, and besides, that's something for all of them to figure out. He knows where he should be.

"I'd better stay here, I know a little bit about repairs and should be able to help out with restoring primary systems. You should at least bring along something to warn us if you're in trouble though, maybe some kind of flare or something along those lines.."

He glances towards the surrounding area's as if to make sure no dangerous predators are stalking around and then shrugs. The planet seems peaceful enough, as long as they don't get lost or run out of supplies, they should all be fine.

"Just be careful out there.."

As the flying rock didn't raise much more talk from his companions, Klyn simply shrugged.  That was not his field and he had enough on his plate already.

Since Lyla and Terra were talking with the new man, he simply registered him as not dangerous. He did, however joined the talk when the third ship was mentioned.

"Do not worry, I know my way inside a ship and I won't put myself into danger... unless the prize really is worth the risk.  We need some spare parts, just in case.


And likewise, I trust Lyla's skill about anything regarding wandering outside."

Letting the rock fall, Bron looks to Jason and says "Letting you know that there is danger will not be a problem. I fully intend to be aware of our surroundings. There is something... off and I do not like it. I may be the new guy but I do not want these two wandering off alone."

As he finishes, Bron's eyes glaze over briefly.



(OCC: 13:08, Today: Bron Tolgo rolled 29 using 1d20+13. Use the Force: Telepathy => Jason.)

(OCC: If target is willing DC is 15, other wise I need to beat their Will Defense; Either way, I am fairly sure I succeeded)

This message was last edited by the player at 22:05, Tue 04 Aug 2015.

Rynn had no skill in fixing ships either, but he could at least figure out what was wrong with the ships. He waved to the group that was going to be setting off to explore. "You guys be careful." He said, looking at Lyla specifically. He didn't trust this new comer, anyone who can make rocks float Rynn didn't trust... as a rule. He did however trust Lyla to be able to take care of her self.

He moved his way to the X-wing, and climbed through to the cockpit, starting it up and doing a systems check to figure out what was wrong.

Lyla sighed as the new guy Bron invited himself along, then again as Tera approved and invited Yustavan too. She didn't get the sudden concern for their safety and for wandering off alone, especially since wandering off alone had been her entire aim in the first place. 'Who's the scout here? We'll be fine; I've studied the Alliance surveys and I'll talk to Yustavan. We accounted for all the Imperials, and the crystalline animals here can't even register us as food.'

She started heading back into the Gold through the recovered entrance. 'Now come on,  let's wash up and have dinner. We probably have some things in the fridge that need eating.'

Tera snorted at the others statements "You do know we fought our way off a Star Destroyer....and Lyla is the best shot ever with a blaster rifle. Somehow I think we'll be perfectly safe out here. Not to mention the way we've fought our way through bounty hunters...oh yeah and managed to evade Imperial Intelligence for months while hiding on Tattoine." Tera paused a moment to let that sink in. "I think we'll be fine on a rebel held world where the local fauna is unlikely to be able to digest us. For the things that do take an interest...we can run away...or they can pray we don't use our blasters. Worry less about us exploring and more about fitting the nice junk we can from the imperial ship into the Gold."

She glanced at Bron "And don't get too comfortable in the hydroponics labs...I have plans to convert one into a more fitting medbay...including a bacta tank."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 15:57, Sun 09 Aug 2015.

Still looking out upon the horizon, Bron responds to Tera saying, "I will accept what ever space can be afforded to me, as I said I do not need much."

Returning to his own thoughts as he watched the sun set, These seem like experienced individuals, am I over reacting? They say they have faced imperials and other dangers, but I wonder if they have even known the danger that the Dark Side can bring...

Bron's thoughts trailed off, but he continued to stand there and take in the feeling of peace around him. His mind blank, he began to meditate on what he felt earlier.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Thu 06 Aug 2015.

Jason can't help but grin slightly at the response of the two women and rolls his bare shoulder in a shrug.

"I didn't say you were a bunch of bumbling fools, bouncing off the walls. But this is still an alien planet. You can't predict everything that might happen. And it never hurts to be cautious, just in case the unexpected happens.."

With that, he returns to the task of checking the X-wing's problems and wondering if they could get at least one of the ships operational before the others return from their trip.

The Alabak's Gold liberated from its crystal prison and in the sure hands of Klyn the spaceship wasn't going to win any record on the Kessel Run but it was considered home for most of the Rebels in the canyon as the sun began to set and the sky filled with rainbows. Inside the starship the chaos of the crash was cleaned up and the communal area was big enough to fit the six of them comfortably. Yustavan offered to return at before dawn to go 'walkabout' with Lyla, Tera and Bron. The jumpship had five berths, each with a bunk and two beds. Plenty beds for the six Rebels, but not enough for a single berth each.

---

When the next day came the task of salvaging the X-wing was foremost of some of their minds. Rynn took it upon himself to try and pilot the starfighter whilst Jason and Klyn checked the state of its engines and infrastructure. There was little either Rynn or Jason could identify except to say that the fighter had been badly damaged by the crash and needed some serious work. Klyn was more astute and pragmatic. The engineers evaluated the damage to the hull and cockpit, without repairs to both the ships was worthless as a fighter but could be flown back to Neskroff with a little carefully flying. More immediately the engine needed some derilium, it was a rescource Klyn could refine from the crystal deposits on Isis but he'd need somewhere to complete the process. The ISV Wanderer had a maintenance and repair bay which as long as it was reasonably equipped Klyn guessed would do the trick.

---

Dawn on Isis was as splendid as the sunsets. Multi-coloured rays of light shone through the sky and reflected in sprays of light which lit up the morning sky. Yustavan arrived on a rolling wave of sparkling crystals. He chanted as he rode the planet, his bastaka held like reins. Warmly the old shaman welcomed the Rebels and the crystals lifted the three of them into the air and took them above the edges of the canyon. The planet of Isis in darkness was a barren and desolate place but in the light of the sun it shone full of light. Yustavan chanted so was not able to speak with his passengers as he took them away from the Alabak's Gold but a sense of peace and tranquility touched them all. When the wave came to rest the ground continued to tremble beneath them. It took a while to realise that they stood on was the slow moving rocks of a crystal river. Flashes of red, purple and green shot through the river, more crystal life-forms that inhabited the extraordinary planet. When their attention turned back to Yustavan he pointed to a dome like rock, that rested near to what must be the bank of the crystal river. It flickered faintly.

"Life of Isis" the shaman spoke quietly, the crystal flickered as the reverberations of Yustavan's voice reflected from it and into it.

Bron turns and bows respectively to Master Yustavan saying quietly and respectfully, "You honor us greatly with this gift of allowing us to see this place. As you say 'Life of Isis' must be a holy place for you. Wise one, might I take a closer look?"

Straitening up he looks around briefly before returning his attention to the Shaman. Bron's thoughts were of learning more about Isis and this living crystal. The secrets that this must hold, there must be a treasure trove of information hiding away in there. The way it vibrates and shifts with the inflection of Yustavan's voice, simply amazing.

As the afternoon wound down, Lyla bustled about the kitchen, cleaning up, binning what had spoiled, and cooking up a meal for the newly expanded crew. The fare wasn't fancy, and she was only an average chef, but it was nourishing and filling enough after the day of hard work. Lyla was determined to do this, after twi'janii, the old Twi'lek code of hospitality. Though she probably wouldn't get any presents in return.

Seeing the amazingly beautiful sunset outside, Lyla had a mind to take off and go for a wander, almost in defiance of the other's concerns, to walk through the fissured valleys under the rainbows as they gave way to stars and the crystals took on new hues in the twilight. Ever since her imprisonment and interrogation, she'd been off-centre, always wanting to escape and get away. Well, of course she did. But now, her legs were aching and her feet were sore and she was tired. Tomorrow, then. She showered, scraping off the dirt and crystal flakes, and finally hit her old bed, ready for the next day's journey. Whatever her plans had been, it ought to still be interesting.

*

In spite of herself, Lyla had enjoyed the ride on Yustavan's crystal wave, watching with keen interest all the sights they passed, learning all she could about how this world worked. With a major Rebel based parked on this world, the scout had to know all about it, but it was for her enlightenment as well. She was amazed to see the slow creeping crystal river, and the creatures that swum within it. Isis was harsh but beautiful and wondrous, at least to her eyes. She supposed crystalline eyes saw something very different, though given Yustavan's close shamanic connection, no less beautiful and wondrous.

Lyla watched the dome-like structure, nodding at Yustavan's words, but having no words of her own. She didn't want to make assumptions, only to observe and understand. It looked like a stone hut, perhaps a temple, but it could even be a huge egg. Either way, it was in some way alive.

Rynn slapped the mechanic on the back. "Glad you are around Kyln, I'm going to have to learn a few things from you if you don't mind teaching me." Rynn said as he watched the him work. "I don't know anything about what you're doing there." He said through the amplifier on his suit.

He looked over at Jason. "Guess piloting isn't everything is it?"

Jason smirks at Rynn's comment and glances at the crashed X-wing.

"It is for me.. But without mechanics.. I'd never get off the ground. So are we going to check out that imperial ship, see if we can get some fuel for this old bucket? We'd best all go together I think. It might have security measures.."

He glances towards the imperial ship which looks like it had a rather hard landing as well. And then sets off to retrieve his blaster, it's best to be ready. And it isn't unthinkable that the imperials might have had some kind of security droid or other trap in their ship. Not likely, but not impossible.

"We should probably take the speeder truck with us.. There might be a lot of useful stuff on board and we can load up the truck and bring it to the Alabak's gold"

Tera travelled with Yustavan with the biggest smile. the memories she'd won from Iponta, left Isis feeling almost like home in a certain way. Her inherited memories made this place feel like home. Her eyes widened in recognition as the shaman brought them to the crystal. Her voice could never carry the inflections like Iponta could, but Tera tried her best, asking in Gutretee "May we be permitted to see the Life of Isis?"

As the 'holiday trip' team moved away on the still strange and yet beautiful cristal wave Klyn looked at 'his' work crew.

He din't see Rynn's gesture coming and got a bit surprised by it.  Not really used to it... and kind of missed T3...

"Well, we have a lot of work ahead of us." he said.
"Those two will be able to fly a bit, but not much more. So we will get to the imperial ship and salvage any component that could be used for repairs... current or future."

He nodded his agreement with Jason.
"Indeed.  At first I thought about landing the Gold newt to it, but with the speeder, it will be easier and safer.

And you are right about being careful inside. The team we took down was a bunch of really gifted and dangerous people. I doubt we will find valuable information and they most certainly put some traps."

Checking his gear and blaster he moved to the speeder.
"Let's go. It's time to prove yourself, newbie."

"Well let's not wait around then.. Time to get to business"

He slings his large blaster rifle over his shoulder and starts walking towards the imperial ship.

"Let's keep our eyes open and our wits about us.. well.. what little wits we have anyway.."

He chuckles, and despite the potential danger, he seems to be in a good mood.

At the reverent words of the off worlders the crystal shaman nodded his head. A great feeling of peace filled them all, it was strong enough even for Lyla to feel the serenity of this holy place. Within the crystal was a great source of knowledge and would live as long as the planet itself. Together was amassed the knowledge of the tribes of Gutretees, as each shaman came here to share their lives with it. Here was peace, knowledge, serenity and life.

As Bron and Tera went forth to commune with it the rock tingled beneath their touch. The sensation rushed through their bodies. Images known to them, of their own lives, some forgotten even to themselves were intermingled with images of the planet and the tribal Gutretees. The images are so fast and so intense that little could be absorbed but flowed through them, leaving them at peace with the planet. Except a slight itch. Something niggled at the back of their minds. A spot of darkness, a stain on the planet. Where all the planet was bright with multi-coloured light an absence of light lingered in one place. Realisation of where this was came a bolt of shock. The stain was at Neskroff!

---

Taking the speeder over to the crash site of the Wanderer was a simple task. The three Rebels reached the starship in only a few minutes drive. The ship was resting at an angle on some boulders. No signs of any disturbance or life were nearby. The entrance bay and the Skiff hangar were both open to the elements.

Jason studies the ship before them and considers their options, they can enter through regular entrance, or the hangar bay, or cut an entirely new opening. After taking a moment to consider it, he looks towards the Skiff hangar and to the others next.

"Well I'd say we enter through the hangar, it's less likely to have any standard traps. People aren't generally expected to walk in through a hangar bay. Anybody got any objections?"

He does sling his rifle from his back into his hands so that he's ready for anything if trouble arrives in the form of a trap, an aggressive droid, or remaining imperials.

"No objection" said Klyn.
"Just keep your eyes open. The hangar was the last part of the ship they used before leaving, so they might have put something there while the rest of the team got the skiff ready."

Lyla didn't know what this Life of Isis was, but that hardly mattered. She could feel the peace and calm of this place, she understood its importance and the reverence the Gutretee had for it. She recalled what "life" had meant to them in the duel, how Tera had won Iponta's memories, and guess that such life was kept here too. It was like a big natural computer, and that was even more amazing.

She took some time to luxuriate in the serenity, walking all around the big egg-like structure. The peaceful aura seemed to chase away her lingering doubts and fears, the darkness she'd felt since escaping the Imperials, since her interrogation. When she came back around, she was as centred and balanced as she'd been in a long time.

She found Tera and Bron touching the crystal wall, seemingly in some kind of trance. She expected that kind of thing from Bron, but to find Tera doing it surprised her. She'd hadn't known her all that long, but she seemed to be getting worryingly mystical herself recently. Watching quietly, she thought she observed a growing tension in the pair, a discomfort, and began to be concerned. Was this communing thing dangerous? 'Are you alright?' she asked.

Tera looked back towards Lyla her eyes filled with peace and a tinge of worry. "Well no one has shot at me today, so I guess I'm doing better than average." she glanced at Bron knowing he'd seen the wonders that she had. She wondered if he felt the same connection to this world.

Tera stood up dusting off her pants before bowing towards the shaman. "Thank you for showing us the gift of this world, Honoured one. I have some questions though. Has that darkness always been at Neskroff? Is it caused by us existing on this planet and sharing it with you or is it new?"

Feeling Tera stand up, Bron opens his eyes and blinks a few times. As he catches the last few words she says he has a small twinge at her mention of the darkness. Looking the dome for a moment longer he stands up and turns to Yustavan and says, "Wise an honored one, thank you. What can I do to help alleviate this mark upon your planet."

As he speaks Bron fingers the lip of his lightsaber, Is this the same darkness I felt on my own?

"Guess we'll find out.."

Jason keeps his eyes open, his rifle ready, and then leads the way into the hangar, one careful step after the other.

"Is it stable at this angle or should we use some cables and pull it onto more stable ground?" Rynn asked as the group started edging toward the ship. "I don't want our weight shifting around in there to be what makes the whole thing take a tumble." He explained. "If you think it's good then let's head on in, just trying to be cautious."

Once the three Rebels had felt the presence of the Life of Isis then Yustavan nodded his head, the multi-coloured light from the crystal dome only reflecting dully off the shaman's head. He gazed at Tera and Bron "st-ain is new to I-sis" he said with sadness. Bron can tell that the darkness is the same as he had felt before.

---

Wary the other Rebels approached the downed Imperial ship. As they entered the hangar the ship juddered as its balance readjusted to the movement. Keeping low the three kept their footing and looked around. A few tools were scattered about the hangar and the bay was empty of the skiff. To the fore was a door to the Bridge and to the aft would the Repair bay and the equipment Klyn would need to process the derilium crystals .

Tera smiled "Thank you for sharing this gift and your world with us." Tera glanced back towards Lyla "We.. we'll see what can be done about the stain on this world. I'd only ask that if we ever come this way again, that you permit us to once again share the stories of this world."

Tera looked at both Bron and Lyla inviting them towards her for an impromptu conference "Whatever is going on here, it could sour relationships between the rebellion and the Gutretee. We need to get the commander of Neskroff on board with this really quickly and find out what's going on."

Looking at Tera, Bron nods in agreement. "I agree, I fear this scar is not as simple as it may seem. I felt this... darkness yesterday soon after I met you. I had hoped I was wrong, but it is also why I asked to come along. You may be very capable fighters, but if this corruption is what I think it is... then I would be amiss if I had not come along and something had happened."

With a nod Bron turns back towards the darkness, and prepares himself for what is about to come. I only hope I am strong enough, Master I wish you were here with me I need your guidance

'It's not noon yet.' Lyla commented with a wry grin.

But she was puzzled by the talk of darkness or a stain at Neskroff, not least because she had no idea why Tera and Bron thought there was any such thing. She'd touched the dome herself, and got a tingle down her tails, but not much else. Frowning, she asked 'What darkness? Is it environmental damage, the tunnelling into the plateau? Or chemicals from the plants? We could ask the city authorities to stop or cut back or do something.' That was what she thought. She'd seen it before, the waste and work of civilisation ruining the natural world. Okay, Lyla liked the natural world and wilderness, but she was a big fan of civilisation too, and rather liked having the two in balance. And for the sake of the base and the Rebellion, and for the Gutretree and the Life of Isis, they'd need a good balance here.

As the ship moved, Klyn looked back at Rynn.
"That might be a good idea... but it most certainly will be complicated."
He thought about it for a moment.

As they explore, Klyn will also look around to see how bad it is damaged. Mainly to see if it could fly again, at least until the port.

"It's ummmm....hard to explain. This world is crystal and radiant and beautiful. There's a connection between every living thing and it all glows in harmony. Except at Neskroff, where something is staining the glow, turning the radiance into shadow." Tera appealed to Lyla with her eyes "It's very evident using the crystal thing. You should try it."

Jason glances around and his eyes fix on the door to the bridge and the back to the others.

"Think we can afford to split up? I'll check out the bridge while you get what we need to fix the X-wing.. Then we can see what else we can get from this ship here.."

Unless either of them objects, he'll head towards the bridge to check out it's condition and see if he can bring up a status or damage report.

Letting Tera finish her explanation Bron attempts to expand upon it "In every thing there is light and dark, this planet is an exemplary example of light, but in this one spot there is a mass of darkness. It is not just the life of the crystal that is dark in this instance, there is a corruption of life it self there and it is not native to this world."

Looking to Tera, he continued "Before we go meet this evil, I believe there is something I have that is meant for you. Come find me in the hydroponics lab after we return."

'That's not how nature works.' Lyla corrected Bron. 'Okay, this planet is based on the transmission of light, with lenses and rainbows and stuff, I get that. And something at Neskroff is blotting it out? The city itself could do that.' Lyla was bewildered by the others' weird insistence on putting it in metaphorical terms, but put her hand to the round surface of the crystal egg, first fingers then palm. She hadn't wanted to touch it too much earlier, not wanting to interfere or give offence, but she pressed her hand to it now.


OOC: I don't know if it would work on a non-Force-sensitive or not.

At her touch Lyla felt something. The stone was alive, she knew it. It made her dizzy. The brilliance of the many reflections in the organic crystal mound were too bright and too fast for Lyla to follow but if she was willing to trust in the words of her companions they were like a holofilm recording, it was just that she never seemed to be at the right angle to comprehend what they were except flashes of lightbeams.

Bron's and Tera's word gained nods from the aged shaman. Yustavan looked pleased with himself, his cracked face smiled "trust in your-selves and your new know-ledge. Bring pe-ace".

---

At the Bridge Jason finds a mess. The many instruments on the Bridge are shattered and most of the metal is scorched. A dead body is seated at the control panel.

Outside Klyn secures the Imperial ship and prevents it sliding about with a syntherope. The next time the engineer enters the ship it does not move a fraction, offering him and his companions a firm footing for the remainder of their explorations.

Lyla fell back, head dizzy and tails aching, eyes blinking away the afterimages on afterimages that the quickfire flashes had left in her eyes. She thought she saw dim outlines and frozen moments of Gutretee and rocks and crystals, but it was all too compressed, disjointed, and chaotic to make any kind of sense of. She could tell the stone contained life, or rather memory, which to the Gutretee were much the same thing, but she couldn't read any of it herself. 'Wow, that's... a sight. Like a nightclub laser show. But I can't follow any of it, sorry.'

Jason frowns at the body, he briefly considers leaving it but that doesn't really seem like an option. Even though there aren't any predators on this world likely to eat the body, that won't keep it from  decomposing and soon enough this whole ship will stink of rotting flesh, if it doesn't already.

So he swings his rifle back onto his shoulder and picks up the body, throwing it over his shoulder and starting to carry it back towards their transport, while calling out to the others and explaining what he's doing.

"Found a body of one of the crew. We should really take it along.. or at least bury it, though i'm not sure how well that would work on this particular planet.. In any case, we can't leave it in the bridge stinking up the place. Besides, even our enemies deserve some kind of burial"

Tera looked at Bron suspiciously "You know how creepy that sounds? Can I bring someone with me?" Tera glanced towards Lyla for support, seeing she'd just touched the crystal. As she came out from its influence she looked with some sympathy to her friend "I'm sorry, for me it was clear. I know you didn't see what I saw, but I'm sure you caught some of it. The interlinking, the brightness and colour....there's something wrong at Neskroff, and it's not the rebel presence there....it might be something we just started doing there, but whatever it is, it runs the risk of changing this world."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:16, Sat 22 Aug 2015.

"If you wish, make sure it is someone you trust implicitly."

Looking at Lyla as she touches the dome, he watches her reaction. Wondering if there is any way to help her sort out the images.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:22, Sat 22 Aug 2015.

Her reaction to the Life of Isis was clearly different from what Bron and Tera had sensed. Neither knew of any quick way that Lyla could be taught to perceive the knowledge of the planet and its inhabitants. Study and meditation had given the two Jedi the intuition which the Twi'lek lacked. It would be path that if Lyla chose would require great dedication and time.

"Eh, just doing their jobs. We could always cremate em." He suggested.  "I'm sure we can harvest some fuel from one of the ships to burn a body." He was grateful that his suit was airtight and his mask filter out smells. "It's been there a while, probably a breeding ground for all sorts of diseases, I wouldn't want to be around it longer than we need to."

Hypnotised by the crystal, Lyla had been unaware of Bron's request of Tera, and her involvement.

'Maybe I need human eyes.' Lyla shrugged, shoulders and tails going up and down. 'Well, I'll take your word for it.' she said to Tera, specifically, not knowing Bron well enough yet. But she'd come to trust Tera, after going through hell together. 'But it could be anything disrupting the light: tunnelling, chemicals, a factory, some experiment... We'll ask around about it when we get back to Neskroff.' she decided. She looked to Yustavan, asking 'Is this darkness thing urgent? How long do we have? And what will happen if it spreads?'

The ISV Wanderer secured by Klyn, remained stable as Jason dragged the corpse from the Bridge. The name tag on the Imperial uniform read Brektate. The pilot's skin was scorched and burnt. The wounds were free of maggots or from signs of decomposition that would be expected on a planet of organic flora and fauna, here the crystals had begun to claim the body. The open wounds glittered faintly and crystallised. When Jason laid Brektate out on the rocky ground the dead man's skin sparkled in the sunshine.

Jason studies the effect of what seems to be happening to the body. Looks like this planet has it's own method of reclaiming the dead, he briefly wonders how that came to be since there aren't any natural organic beings that he knows of. But it doesn't matter, it means it should be safe to bury the man and let the planet reclaim him.

"Looks like this planet is already reclaiming him.. So I'll just bury him.. This seems like as good a planet as any to spend his afterlife.."

With that he sets to work digging a grave for the man, though he takes any identifiers the man has with him to give to rebel command later on, they might be able to identify him more fully and learn something about the crew and their mission. Or at the very least make a note that he's perished.

The man's pockets are empty. All that identifies him is the name-tag. Jason's pockets it and is able to grab a shovel from the Wanderer's repair bay and dig a shallow grave in the loose crystals that came down into the canyon after the ship crashed here.

When he's finished digging the grave, Jason places the man's body inside it and looks down at it. He feels like something profound should be said, but he can't think of anything, all that comes to mind is something he once heard on the holonet in some drama.

"I hope in death you can find the peace you didn't find in life.."

It doesn't really feel profound enough, or personal enough. But it's all he's got, and he didn't know the man at all. So he starts filling the grave with crystal again and hopes the sentiment at least is worth something.

Turning to fully face Lyla he takes a few half-hearted steps away from the dome, before looking to Lyla, and says

"I am sorry that the images were not clear to you, but I fear this is much more than some idle threat to the planet. It is very much alive and full of fear."

With a sideways glance at Tara, he continues "I fear we may not have much time to waste, I think we may wish to cut this sojourn short for the time being and see about getting back to base"


If this Tera, is strong in the force... I suppose...

Bron's thoughts trail off as he begins to enter quasi-meditative state. Aware and able to respond aptly, Bron clears his mind as he contemplates the current situation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:10, Sun 23 Aug 2015.

"We may well indeed have to cut the strip short, but until the Gold can take off we'll be stuck here. I don't precisely wish to tell the commander of the base that he might have to stop doing something because of the harm it's doing to the planet." Tera responded. She glanced back towards Lyla "I think our expedition has drawn to a close"

'We've still got three ships to salvage and at least one to get flying. We can't abandon that.' Lyla watched bewildered as Bron just zoned out. Okay... This new guy was making everything weird, and seemed to be infected Tera with it. Couldn't this have been simple? She'd wanted simple. Focusing on Tera, she replied 'We can't go to base commanders with a— a shadow. They won't accept it, and can't do anything about it. Not until you know something more precise. Can you learn anything more here?' She looked across to Yustavan, who'd been silent.

"I am not saying to abandon the efforts going on here, but we should get them done as quickly as possible. Maybe if I focus on that spot I can learn more"

Looking to Yustavan for guidance, Bron steps back to the dome and places his hand upon it once again. This time he concentrates on the darkness, attempting to pull any information he could about it.

I hope this works

Klyn didn't take the body into account, already aware of it.
Anyways, he already had enough on his plate.

Working diligently, he checked the core functions of the ship and it's integrity to see if it could make the trip.

The engine room of the ISV Wanderer was a scorched mess. Parts of the hyperdrive engine were a mass of metal fused together. The Imperial Scout ship had taken heavy fire from the X-wing Grey Nine even before it got trapped in the avalanche of crystal rocks. It would need a replacement engine to fly anywhere. It would be a major project for any engineer. Elsewhere the ship had suffered less. The repair bay was functioning and missing only a few tools. The Bridge had suffered some minor damage, more likely sabotage by the Imperial before they abandoned the vehicle. Spare parts could be scrounged from it with a little time and work. The scout ship had only basic armaments,  a small shield generator and four laser cannons that might also be salvageable in a working state.

---

At the crystal Life of Isis the Jedi Bron bound together the powers of the crystals with the Force and let his mind enter into the living holocron, he saw again the stain that shadowed the radiance of the crystalline planet. The darkness still lingered and Bron sensed that their actions would be decisive in the handling of this nameless danger.

Having buried the body to the best of his abilities Jason heads back inside to help Klyn the best he can.

"Looks like there is plenty of stuff intact that can be salvaged.. It's a shame we can't tow the entire thing back to the base.. Plenty of stuff here that could be used, if the raw materials"

He knocks on the nearest wall to indicate the sturdy metal.

"Could do all kinds of things with it.."

Stepping back from the Crystal Life, Bron shakes his head unable to obtain any new information. He looks from Yustavan to Tera before saying "I am afraid I was unable to gain any new useful information, however I do feel that this task and how we handle it will have a decisive outcome."

Turning to Yustavon he says "Thank you wise and honorable one, I offer you and yours my support in anyway I can provide it. I only hope we can solve this blight upon your world quickly and effectively"

"Yep, your are right" said Klyn, a bit disappointed by the fact they couldn't claim the ship itself. The task would have been a nice challenge ... in true repair bay. In this desolated land, it was impossible.

"Let's begin the harvest.  I will start working on the parts we need for the Gold while you do the first round."

"On it"

With that Jason get's to work and starts checking for the best parts to scavenge from this ship and get started on taking it apart.

Rynn admired his handywork, amazed he hadn't already downed the ship when it crashed. "How much would a replacement engine run?" Rynn asked Klyn. "We can always get above the crystals and radio back for a tow."

As they got started he worked to strip whatever he could of value from the vehicle.

"More than it would be worth to bother with all the repairs." answered Klyn.
"But there is more than enough left to make our little trip worthy.  The weapons will be hard to move, but the Gold could certainly use a bit more fire power. Especially now that we have enough people to man all posts."

Walking toward the repair bay he added:
"You can either help me or help Jason do his shopping. We will need all hands to move the shield generator and the canons, anyways."

After that he will begin his work on the needed parts.

Gathering up the crystal deposits Klyn began the process of refining the derilium. The delirium and a few components scavenged from the ISV Wanderer would have the Alabak's Gold shipworthy enough for the short hop to Neskroff. Then a couple of days in a workshop and she'd be as good as new or even better. Not even Klyn's expertise would ever make the ship as it had been when it left the factory in Mon Calamari, not that the ship engineer wanted to. The Alabak's Gold had been heavily modified to suit Klyn and the Rebel crew.

Rynn and Jason helped where they could with the hauling of the crystal deposits and the dismantling of the ship shields and lasers. Their only limitation was how much tech they could fit into the speeder truck.

---

When Bron gave his word to the Gutretee shaman the old being nodded his head and Yustavan summoned the powers of the crystals. The shaman's bastaska wormed out of the solid ground and tethered him to the ground as it began to shake, ready to carry the Rebels back to their starship. The old Gutretee looked to the three offworlders and waited for an indication that they were all ready to go.

Looking back at the wise man Bron nods and says "I am ready when you are wise one"

Bron looks to both Tera and Lyla to confirm.

Jason crams another piece of equipment into the speeder truck and wipes his brow, looking back at the imperial ship.

"We might need to make several trips.. But let's get the important stuff done first, want to head back to the other two ships and get those running first? Then we can decide how much cargo from this scavenger hunt we want to carry along.."

Tera nodded, moving towards the shaman and Bron. "I'm ready" Tera was looking forward to travelling by crystal wave again.

It's with an obvious regret that Klyn has to agree with Jason.

"Yep... no use overloading the speeder.  After all, we are in no hurry. That was a good first harvest, you did well." he added.

"Now comes the funnier part: getting all this on the Gold. She's going to be even deadlier my beauty."

Lyla looked longingly around the landscape one last time. After all this talk of darkness, she figured that, once again, she would probably miss out on her much-needed hike. Briefly, she thought about suggesting she walk back, but after travelling by crystal wave, she realised she had little idea exactly how far away she was from the Gold, or in what direction. She moved up to Yustavan and others. 'Okay.'

A flourish of his crystal hands and the wave beneath them rippled. The rocks came alive and carried the trio of explorers back to the Alabak's Gold. The journey took them through many canyons and passed crystalline caves. When they reached their starship the speedertruck had also returned.

The others were unloading the refined delirium crystals and the scavenged tech. With the crystals they could fly back to Neskroff. They would also have some very valuable extra which they could modify their ship with.

Once the crystal wave had come to a slow stop Yustavan then said his farewells and prepared to return to his people.

Tera waved to the others as they stepped off the crystal wave "Uhhh....guys...how long will it take to get the Gold ready enough to go to Neskroff? We kinda need to get there quick." she asked quizzically before showing respect to the shaman in the way the Gutretee did.

"Tera is correct, we must leave as soon as possible." Bron says as he steps off the rubble and heads for the ship.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 10:36, Sun 13 Sept 2015.

Lyla hopped down off the crystal wave, and repeated Tera's gesture to the old shaman. She shook out her long legs; it was a fast and impressive way to travel, but standing up and trying to maintain her balance all that time wasn't half murder on her feet.

'Well, that's debatable,' Lyla interjected after Tera's and Bron's calls for urgency, 'For a problem we don't know the what, where, or when of.'

Jason glances back at Klyn as he's the one who can best answer that question, of course there are options.

"If it's 'that' important, can drive you back in our truck. It won't be quick but you won't have to wait for repairs to be complete.. What did you find out? Is the empire back?"

He certainly hopes not, because if they are, they're probably going to go straight to their crashed vehicle, which is rather nearby.

Klyn's good mood took a deep dive when Tera and the newcomer told him they had to leave.

Thankfully, Lyla added some temperance to the urgency.

"I finised the parts we needed, so she is flyworthy... kinda...  But what's the urgency?
There is still plenty of goods to grab from that imperial ship."

Clearly he wasn't going to move unless they had proof.  And with him, proof meant something material... mechanical ideally.

'Maybe you could take the speedertruck or Yustavan's crystal wave back to Neskroff and get started, and we'll join you later?' Lyla said, turning to Tera. But she felt guilty for being a damper on her friend's big emergency, and bailing on helping her out. 'Sorry. I just don't know what we could do about this shadow thing. It's all kind of... nebulous.' she said, waving her hands. The practical scout dealt in the basics of survival, and this just smelled of airy mysticism. It had all started when that weird Bron guy showed up, too... 'But if you want me to tag along for, y'know, company, I will.' she offered quietly, inclining her head meaningfully toward Bron, in a woman's offer of banding together against creepy men.

Looking around Bron speaks up "Get the speeder unloaded and get a good nights sleep. Being exhausted when we first meet this darkness will help no one."

Looking at Lyla as she says that Bron nods along, and looks to Tera and says "Come find me at your earliest convenience, I must meditate on the current situation"

With that Bron heads off to find the Hydroponics bay.

Tera looked at Lyla after Bron left, mouthing the words "meditate on the situation" looking as though though he might be a little odd. "Look, I know you're a little hesitant in coming along with us, but trust me. There's something there and it's dangerous, so of course I'd prefer to have you along. I know that me saying it's dangerous and you're perception of its danger are at odds, but there's something there and we need to deal with it."

"We can probably handle things here if you want to go with them"

Jason suggests to Lyla, he get's the impression Tera really wants her friend to come along and truth be told, he'd probably get more work done if Lyla isn't around looking all distracting. And most of all, what he said is true, they should be able to handle things here.

Unloading the speedertruck was light work with everyone gathered together. Inside the Alabak’s Gold was cosy but comfortable. There was space for ten to sleep. Exploring the cargo bays Bron found a unique set up. Instead of crates and boxes he found a thriving mass of vines and creepers. Discrete apparatus housed beds and sprinklers filled with nutrient rich hydroponics fluids. Bron sensed an abundance of life. Things had a looked of being cluttered and overgrown, where paths may have once been foliage had begun to overrun and tools lay discarded and unused.

In the engine room further checks on the refined delirium crystals gave Klyn confidence that he would have the Alabak's Gold skyworthy very soon. He also found room to store the scavenged tech until he had such time to begin further modifications to the jumpship.

In the morning Bron and Tera were alone for the first time since their meeting. The two took the speedertruck and began their journey back to Neskroff. The other Rebels began the process of replacing the depleted delirium cells from the engines with the new cells Klyn had refined from the planet's crust.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:21, Sun 20 Sept 2015.

Lyla was torn between duty to a friend and to her own need, between trust and doubt. She rubbed a head-tail anxiously, scuffing a boot against the crystal-rock, not sure what to do. 'I only wanted to hike up to a box canyon a few klicks east of here, observe the ruby wildebeest on the plain. After that prison, I just need to get away, get lost and find myself. This has all got a bit... busy.' she admitted, waving at the recovery operations around them. It was clear she was still disturbed over her interrogation, her torture. She had to lose that pain out there.

Bron kneels down beneath the overgrown forest that once was the hydroponics bay. Closing his eyes he begins his mantras as his master taught him to empty his mind and find his inner peace.

The abundance of life calls to him, soothes him and calms him. Bron quickly finds his center and begins to meditate on the problems at hand.

Klyn nodded his assent with the decision and quickly began working on unloading the speedertuck.

During one of his trips, he spotted Bron in the hydroponic bay.
"So, you found Oglo's den.  Apparently it fared well despite our absence.  At first I was opposed to the change he suggested: that jungle is less practical and too much water or humidity around... I feared for the electronics.

But in the end it worked well. I must admit even I like to wander here from time to time when we travel..."

He said, then left not waiting for an answer, and looking a bit sad.

He worked most of the night on small details, whistling happily as he did so.

On the morning he instructed the rest of the team how to manipulate the cells.
"Those are just patches, so a bit fragile. And you don't want to spill all the content on you."

Jason studies one of the power cells Klyn is holding and glances back at the X-wing. They already determined that it should be able to fly back to the base if they are able to restore power.

"Will these power cells work on the X-wing as well? The sooner we can get that back to the base the sooner they can begin repairs.. It's not as big a priority as the Alabak's Gold perhaps, but the rebellion needs every starfighter they can get.."

While the large transport will undoubtedly prove to be their main form of transportation, he's rather hoping rebel command will allow them to use the X-wing if they manage to bring it back, and that could be a huge aid to whatever mission they go on in the future.

Tera sympathised with her friend. While she thought they would need the Twi'lek she knew how much she needed to get out there. "I understand, Lyla. We'll be waiting for whenever you come back. Hopefully it's something Bron and I can handle on our own."

'Thanks.' Lyla said gratefully, patting the side of Tera's head; it was a twi'lek gesture of thanks and closeness, though Tera didn't have head-tails. 'Well, you've got to look for it first, and I don't think even I can hunt down a shadow. I don't know what that Bron thinks he's seeing, but I trust you know what you're doing. I'll catch you up soon as we get back. You sure you'll be alright?' she promised.

She looked to Bron had disappeared into the ship, recalling he'd wanted to talk with Tera and Tera had invited her to come with. 'Come on, I think your new friend wants to talk.' she beckoned, starting to walk back into the Alabak's Gold. 'Gods, we lose Oglo and then we get this guy...'

Tera shrugged, smiling at her friend at the gesture which she recognised as Twi'lek affection. "I'll be fine. I'm sure by the time you're ready to come back to Neskroff, we'll have some kind of idea of where the threat lies. I don't know about Bron myself...he seems odd, and as you're insinuating...odder than Oglo, but he saw the same thing I did. I can't help but feel that that means he'll turn out okay. I am glad I'm going though I hate to find out what trouble he could get himself into without me being there." Tera followed Lyla back towards the Gold "Just take the time you need. I'll be here when you feel up to fighting the Imperials again."

Tera hugged Lyla warmly, before going to see Bron. They needed to arrange heading into Neskroff.

Tera and Bron soon left on their mysterious errand to return to Neskroff.

Lyla returned the hug gratefully, friend to friend. 'Thanks. You stay safe. Go with the wind.' she wished Tera farewell, watching her go off with Bron. She had to wonder who this strange guy was, and why he was having such an effect on Tera. But Tera was a big girl who could take care of herself, and seemed to like this mystical stuff. Lyla had her own spiritual side, of course, but it was one grounded in, well, the ground, nature, and the mother goddess. Lyla had her own spiritual journey planned. Of course they had to go separate ways.

She rejoined Klyn, Rynn, and Jason, helping to unload the speedertruck and make space in the Gold, and to move the sensitive power cells. As much as she wanted to get away, she wasn't one to slack off when there was a job that needed doing. The guys would have some distractions yet. Still, with no training in mechanics, engineering, or computers, there was only so much she could do, and that was lifting and carrying.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:56, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

Eventually, with nothing more she could do around the salvage operations, the moody twi'lek said her goodbyes and slipped away. She'd gathered her things and packed some food to live off, and had marked her intended route on a map for others to follow her if she didn't return after a few days. With comms not working in the interference, she also had some flares in case she ran into trouble; she was thinking of falls and other accidents, rather than dangerous animals. The crystalline creatures of Isis shouldn't register her as food or threat, and ought to leave her alone. She had her new rifle anyway. Lyla had closely examined all the Alliance surveys and Gutretee lore they'd felt to share.

The scout disappeared down a fissure running eastward through the crystal, running fingertips along the faceted planes of an ancient fracture, marvelling at the sunlight that seeped through the walls so there were never any shadows, at the thousand rainbows refracted through natural prisms. She stopped when she cut her finger on a razor-sharp plane of crystal, learning to respect the dangers too. Sucking the blood from her finger and applying a bact-aid, she watched an emerald mouse-like animal become trapped in a monofilament spider-web. The web drew tight and neatly sliced into several chunks, before spindly insect-like things rushed out of hiding to carry them off. Stomach turning, Lyla reflected that Isis was a harsh and dangerous world, in addition to being a beautiful one. But, in her experience, most worlds were. She carefully noted how the monofilament web glinted in the sunlight, and walked much more carefully from there on.

She moved through a network of cracks and out into wider canyons, taking a lot of holopics, for her own recollections and to expand Alliance records about this world. What she discovered could be useful, for the safety of the base and for peace with the Gutetree. After a while, she several klicks away from the ships, Neskroff base, and all organic life. With no comms, no holonet, no other people, she was truly cut-off and alone. Just the way she liked it. As much as a people-person as she was, she needed to get away now and then. Her journey over the Brightlands of Ryloth had been hard, lonely, and terrifying, yet it had been the forge that made her. She would always keep coming back to that old wound.

All along, so far from anything, Lyla's thoughts turned inwards. She turned over and over the events of the last few missions, from Kwenn Space Station to Tatooine, to Isis to Miser, wondering what else she could have done, what she could have done differently. Of course she had doubts and regrets, everyone did, but hers led inexorably to an Imperial prison facility, to an interrogation chamber. Bound to a chair, drugged and interrogated, leered at by Grendreef and the Stormtroopers. It was only luck and pluck that gotten them away. Cruk. A thousand worse possibilities flooded her. That interrogation droid might have disassembled her. She might have spilled everything on the Polmanar blockade run or the secrets of Isis, and have all those deaths on her. They might have executed her. Worse, they might have keep her alive, in some brutal prison for the rest of her dramatically shortened life, as a slave in the Kessel spice mines or as a toy for the Imperials. Lyla had bottled up her fear at the time, buried it deep and covered it with bravado. After, they'd fought and run and brassed their way out on an Imperial shuttle. Then she'd slept off the drugs and exhaustion and terror, then she'd had reports, work, a stolen holiday. She'd not had time for terror and grief for herself.

Feeling her throat tighten and choke, her eyes quiver, her tails ache, that long-held terror came at last. Lyla let it come, sitting hard onto a rock and letting the tears flow like a waterfall onto the dry stone. Now she screamed and cried and thrashed about, pouring out her horror, shouting her anger and fear into the world, now there was no one around to hear. Just the way she liked it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:42, Sat 26 Sept 2015.

But soon she stopped, gritting her teeth and setting her jaw, making herself as hard as stone until she'd stopped crying. The places she'd been, crying was an indulgence, tears a waste of water and salt. Even as a girl, when her parents and the whole of her clan had died in that heatstorm, she'd not cried for weeks, not until she'd found safety and food and water, not she knew for sure she was the only survivor. Weakness was for the strong. Gazing out upon the rainbow-arced crystal plains, Lyla slowly relaxed, finding peace again. It had been cleansing – cathartic, that was the word. She felt her experiences slipping into the past, though they would always be behind her. Now it was time to reflect.

She'd been captured, interrogated, drugged, humiliated, practically tortured, but she'd not broken, not even come close. She'd stayed strong and proud, and she felt stronger for it. Maybe if her captivity had stretched to weeks, it might've turned out differently, but she'd kept her tongue and her head long enough, and who knew how long she could've held out for? She'd not broken, she'd kept the secrets of Isis, had helped save everybody here. She'd been ready to die or do anything else. What did that mean? She'd pondered before the strange contradictions within herself. Only caught up in the Rebellion by chance and bad luck, she'd had the least interest in it, yet she'd stuck with it the longest, had been willing to die for it. After what she'd been through, she should be thinking about quitting, but hadn't even thought of it, but had been working toward their next adventure. She was a wanderer, a lost girl, always moving on, but she was sticking with this. She'd always been a follower, but now she felt like a leader, like the great Hera Syndulla. There were whispers of promotions for the team. She preferred peace, but she was fighting a war. She'd never had a cause before, but now she wanted to bring the Empire down. All things changed, and she was changing too. She'd only tried to survive. She'd gone with the winds as the goddess suggested, and now she was a part of the wind of change across the Galaxy. It all seemed to make sense, somehow.

Sitting on the rock, lost and finding herself, Lyla pulled out her memory-cord, a twi'lek custom for recording stories and memories, like a diary or charm-bracelet. Her clan had been traditional, and being the last, she felt she had to carry on what she remembered. Hers was worn, tied with many different strings, often repurposed, but it was all there. She tied new knots, coded signs showing her pain and strength and triumph. Let the past stay there. She draped the knotted cord around and around her neck, then set off on her journey again.

After another day of hard work under the instruction of Klyn the others were able to complete the needed repairs to the Alabak's Gold. At nightfall the starship was repaired enough to make the flight back to Neskroff. Jason, Klyn and Rynn were able to sit down to a well earned rest in the evening. In the communal area of the ship and enjoy a meal together. The area had a dejarik board and a link to the ship's sensor array so they would be able to monitor anything approaching and notify them upon Lyla's return.

---

The peace and solitude on the alien planet brought many reflections to Lyla, in more than one way as the light streamed through rocks also memories of her adventures reflected through her mind. Her mind was expanded and her knowledge  lengthened by the experience.

OOC Lyla can take a +2 circumstance bonus on any Survival or Knowledge (Galactic Lore and Life Sciences) whenever on Isis or on any subject relating to Isis.

Jason is glad that they have a bit of downtime. He isn't one to complain about hard work and if the repairs had taken all week, he'd have done his job to the best of his ability, but he'd still rather be out there flying. So it's good to be finished with the work and enjoy a well earned break. Of course that doesn't mean there isn't anything else on his mind.

"Do you think we can get the X-wing into the Alabak's gold her cargo bay? Because that would make things a whole lot easier.."

OOC: Cool, thanks!


Lyla continued her hike, her mind now focusing upon the natural environment around her, taking more pictures and notes for the Alliance records and her own interest. She studied the strange crystalline plants and animals. The plants seemed almost normal: narrow and fragile crystals that grew and branched and branched to catch the light, just like trees. The animals were much more unusual; Lyla guessed they harvested an electric charge to generate a reverse piezoelectric effect, using generated internal stresses to move. She saw something like a goat munching on weeds, its long horns sweeping through EM fields, creating a voltage difference between their points to generate a current. It was amazing, the sheer variety of life here formed from very different chemistry and physical principles to the more common carbon-based life. It affirmed to Lyla that life would always find a way.

Strangely, Lyla found herself already understanding more about Isis than she'd read about in the surveys. Perhaps it had been staring into the Life of Isis, or moving her head through the rainbows now. Tera had gained Iponta's memories in her duel. Some of the crystals operated like photonic circuits, and the light carried information – memories, of the Gutretee, and maybe the lifeforms and the planet itself. A planet you learned about just by walking over it. Lyla loved it.

She came to a still pool, the liquid clear as glass and glowing with an inner light from the ground below. It was so beautiful, Lyla just watched it for a time, spying almost transparent crystal fish swimming in it. She conducted some tests, finding it was indeed water, and contained no toxic chemicals, only harmless minerals. Okay. On impulse, Lyla stripped off all her clothes and slipped into the water, finding it cool and tingly on her orange skin. She waded deeper in until her toes no longer touched the floor, then dropped below the surface, diving down into the watery world. The lake bed was faintly translucent, showing a glow from deep within the planet that surface erosion and dust normally concealed. Was it the ever-circling light, or did it go all the way down to the magma? Either way, it was the Heart of Isis.

Lyla swam and bathed for a time, arms and legs and tails waving through the rippling the water. She luxuriated in the cool liquid, so refreshing after the long hike across the warm surface, and felt all her worries and fears, and the dried tears on her cheeks, washing away. After a while, she closed her eyes and drifted, and as the temperature of her skin matched that of the water, it was hard to say where she ended and the water began, and the pool, and the planet. She wasn't Gutretee, she couldn't access the natural photonic circuits, but she had her own way to feel a part of this world.

When fish began to nibble her toes and the tips of her tails, she knew it was time to get out, slopping her way naked and dripping onto the shore. She hadn't brought a towel, she realised. Well. Well, she was far from the ships, the Neskroff folk didn't come out this far, and she hadn't seen any Gutretee in quite a while. Besides, they didn't even wear clothes or have sexual differences, and were made of stone and crystal, so what would they care for a naked female twi'lek? Lyla pulled on her boots and nothing else, stuffed her clothes in her pack, and set off again. Let the sun and wind dry her.

Trying to walk normally whilst stark naked in an exposed valley, Lyla reflected this was becoming a weird habit of hers. She was a naturalist, not a naturist. She had no funny ideas about being skyclad. But she was practical-minded. Orange was good camouflage on Tatooine, and who'd believe a naked woman was spying on them? And if she was going to get soaking wet under rain, or dripping with sweat in a tropical forest, or covered with mud, then why bother ruining her clothes, when she might only take two pairs on an expedition, when she was only person in miles, when she was the only person on the planet? She just lived as one would in the wild, when all alone, though she paid for it with sunburn and bug-bites in strange places.

Tera had been right when she said Lyla enjoyed the attention, showing some skin. Lyla supposed she was a bit of an exhibitionist. She'd been a dancer for a while, to make some money and stop scavenging and being homeless, but she'd come to enjoy it, fortunately. Having been lost, overlooked, forgotten, and unknown as a street-kid and last of her clan, she liked to be seen and remembered, to force attention onto her and affect people, one way or another. It validated her, gave her worth. She'd appreciated it, she felt no shame for it, but had ultimately been unfulfilled by it, hence she'd taken to scouting, becoming one of the few strippers who could field-strip a rifle and strip the skin off a womprat. She'd certainly got used to getting naked and staying naked. Once she'd dried, she left her clothes off. She could get a nice all-over tan, for a healthy shade of orange. On Isis, naked and dancing through the rainbows, she felt like being back in the club. She felt less barriers between herself and the natural world.

At last she found her box canyon, or rather, it found her. She saw the blackened bodies of animals strewn about the valley, making her slow. There was a sudden heat in the air, prickling her bare skin all over. Lyla backed away, fast, until she saw a bright red glow against the cliff-face, a deep cave carved into it. Eagerly, Lyla retreated, going back to a channel she knew would take her out of the cracks and scrambled up the rocky slope and onto the open plain, heedless that a good portion of the planet might now see her. The ruby wildebeest seemed uninterested. She made one concession to dress: a pair of dark sunglasses.

Following the cliffs, Lyla came to the box canyon, narrow, straight, lined with prismatic crystals at both ends. And in the middle was a single, gigantic glowing block of ruby. Light was pumped in one end, reflected countless times between the walls, stimulating the material of the ruby to produce light of a specific wavelength, finally escaping through the crystal wall at the entrance. On the other side of the valley, in the cave, she spied crystal and rock smoking, cracking, even melting. Coherent, collimated, focused. A laser! A gigantic natural laser! It was marvellous, all these natural forces coming together to produce something of such complexity, something that most believed to be wholly artificial.

Lyla watched it for a time. There wasn't much to see, but she was deep in thought. What to report to the Alliance? The ruby would be worth a fortune; though she figured it'd be too impure and imperfect, it could be broken up into small, perfect gems. The laser alone could be a devastating weapon against the Empire, if it could be extracted, intact, and maintained, but it seemed much too fragile.

She would tell them nothing. She couldn't let this planet, this wonder of the universe, be smashed apart to finance a war, nor to fight one. Even if Command agreed with her, there would be others who would seek a fortune at any cost. It would ruin the Gutretee's lands and their culture, the Life of Isis, more than Tera's dark shadow. It would set the Gutretee against Neskroff and start a war. She already knew what weapons the Alliance could bring to bear. And now she new what kinds of weapons the Gutretee might discover. Saying nothing was safest for the Gutretee, and safest for the Alliance.

Satisfied by her decision, trying to forget, Lyla turned away, and through her binoculars she watched the ruby wildebeest, grazing on long, sharp crystal grasses on the plains. They lived like ordinary herd animals, and grew their young in the usual way – hatched from eggs. When one approached the laser, Lyla backed away so as not to startle it, and laughed to see it squirt ruby dung into the canyon. When she saw them fight off a predatory diamond-clawed cat with laser beams from their eyes, she beat a hasty retreat.

Still, she stole a stray hunk of dry ruby dung and a broken emerald plant stalk, just for herself, a collection of interesting souvenirs. Something to retire on.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 04:22, Sun 27 Sept 2015.

Completely focused on his repairs, Klyn stayed oblivious of Lyla's departure for quite some time.
It's made him feel a bit annoyed: he had a tendency to forget some people weren't as involved in his field of expertise as he was.

He was, however, very glad for the help and those two gained quite a few points with him.

To answser Jason's question, he checked a few things first.

"We will be able to carry the X-wing toward the port, but I don't think we will be able to keep it..."

Jason shrugs while chewing on the last bits of his food.

"Still, every X-wing counts for the alliance right? Besides, one X-wing used and returned damaged still looks a whole lot better on our collective record than one X-wing used and lost.."

He does occasionally wonder how Lyla is doing. She looked like she was going through something, she also looked like it was something private, and certainly she could take care of herself. Still, he was born on a core world, raised on a core world and then joined the empire. He wasn't used to people being out of com range. Hopefully she'll do what she needs to do and get back soon.

How was Lyla doing?

Fleeing from a stampeding herd of ruby wildebeest firing laser beams from their eyes into her bare orange bum, that's what she was doing.

*

Getting back into the network of cracks, and away from the herd, Lyla circled around back toward the Alabak's Gold. The day was getting late, and though she was ready and willing to camp the night and extend her journey, she knew the others would worry. Maybe she'd had enough time alone now. She'd gone back to her roots, her good ones, gotten lost and found herself. Now maybe she could go on to be someone more.

From a distance, she spotted the speedertruck, and flashes of light beside it. Suddenly worried, she examined the scene through binoculars, and thought she saw Tera fighting that Bron guy with laser swords. Wondering if she could get there in time to intervene, or if she could snipe Bron from this range, she watched until they broke off and rested, talked, went back to it. They seemed to be sparring, training with the laser swords. Laser swords, seriously? She watched for a while, still wondering if she should check up on them, until she felt guilty for spying and not unwilling to break her interrupt her time alone. Something to ask Tera about later.

The sun began to set, the rainbows of Isis fading as twilight spread across the facets of the world. Starlight and moonlight now dappled through the canyons, the crystals glowing white and pale blue and soft pink under night sky, bringing a rich new beauty.

Finding another glowing pool, Lyla bathed away the dust of her travels, enjoying the light show, dark above and light below, and herself in between. Emerging, setting off again, she found crystal flakes clung to her damp skin, reflecting the light and limning every curve. She felt beautiful, divine. This would serve her well if she was in any position to pick up at nightclubs, or go dancing. Oh well.

It was getting dark now, but her twi'lek eyes picked up a lot more light, so she had no troubles finding her way. It was also getting cold, very cold, which got to be particularly noticeable being stark naked. I really ought to get dressed. She'd actually started to forget about it, then she began to feel really silly. And cold. Then, rounding a crystal pillar, she was suddenly back at the Gold – and in full view of everything. Whoops! Quickly, she ducked back behind cover and quickly dressed in shorts and shirt; fortunately, no-one had seemed to be about. She hoped she'd gotten that out of her system too. She'd gotten a good tan and no chafing.

*

Lyla walked into the Alabak's communal area, saying loudly 'Evening!' She dropped her pack and rifle on a couch, then leaned over the table to help herself to some food. Having caught the last bit of conversation, she interjected 'If Command have already written off the X-wing, they might not want it back. You can't undo paperwork.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:48, Fri 02 Oct 2015.

Jason looks up and smiles to see Lyla enter, now once they rejoined the others at the base, they'd all be together again and be able to take on whatever missions lay ahead of them. Her remark causes him to grin slightly.

"Really? I thought we were fighting against paperwork. That's certainly why I joined. I mean the oppression of the galaxy is one thing, but that imperial paperwork, that's the real evil. In any case, it's a shame to leave any ship behind if it can be salvaged, especially an X-wing"

His eyes look Lyla up and down and he finds that she looks good, it's almost like she's standing a little straighter, like a burden has been lifted off her shoulders.

"Find what you were looking for?"

Lyla had been smiling brightly since she stepped in. 'No.' she answered happily. 'If I had, I'd still be out there.' After all, what she'd found was that she was always to keep searching. She nodded to Jason. 'But I feel better.'
This message was last edited by the player at 10:32, Fri 02 Oct 2015.

"Nice to see you back, Lyla" said Klyn, checking on the X-wing now that their ship was - barely - fly worthy."I had begun to think you had changed your mind and followed Bron and Tera.

Anyways, you got back here just in time."

The mood in the Alabak's Gold was upbeat with the return of Lyla. The Rebels were able to enjoy the peace of Isis and the familiar surroundings of the starship. It was a their home and in the morning they would be able to fly it back to the base. If they wanted to take the X-wing with them it would take them an extra couple of hours to rig up a sling to transport it in.

"Glad you feel better, and besides, you know we'd be lost without you.."

Jason grins and gives Lyla a wink, then get's up and takes his dish and cutlery to the cleaning station.

"Well, no rest for the wicked. When we set off back to the base, do you want me to fly or rather do it yourself? She's your ship after all.."

'Just in time for what? Dinner?' Lyla wondered, sitting at the table and helping herself to all that remained. All that time hiking and climbing made a girl hungry, and the twi'lek had three stomachs to fill. And there was a lot of close-to-use-by or close-to-spoiling food to be eaten after the crash. She didn't care what it was. 'Of course you'd be lost – I'm the team guide.' she commented to Jason with a grin, before filling it with food.

Swallowing, she answered 'We don't have an official team pilot right now, not since Mallox bailed on us. Now we've got you and Rynn looking to replace him. So I'll leave it to you two to decide.' she shrugged the matter off, hardly a solid command decision, but she wasn't going to play favourites. They both clearly wanted to join the successful crew; she would see how they played together.

'Hey, Klyn, maybe we should hold auditions?' she called to the engineer, the only one remaining from the original team, half amused, half serious. 'Do either of you know how to fly a Mon Calamari jump freighter? Can you astronavigate?' she began to test the pair.

There was a jar of relish Lyla liked, but found nearly empty. Unscrewing the lid, she dipped her left head-tail in, swirling the writhing orange tip around and into the corners, picking up what was left. Withdrawing the sticky, dripping member, she licked and sucked the relish off with, well, relish. 'Mmm, s'good.' Because why not test under pressure?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Sun 04 Oct 2015.

"I'm afraid astronavigation wasn't something the imperials valued to teach to their tie fighter pilots. But if it's got an engine, i can fly it.. I've been hoping to pick up an astromech droid to help me with astronavigation when needed. Unfortunately tie pilots don't make as much as you'd think.. And being a traitor.. well.. Maybe the alliance has an old astromech i can borrow"

He turns back to look at Lyla curiously more than anything, he wonders what it's like to have head tails for a moment. But then decides it's probably for him to really know what it's like, his brain isn't build for head tails. And he doesn't think he'd look all that good without any hair. Baldness has never run in his family and he'd hate to be the first.

"I don't know about 'auditions'" said Klyn.
"  They both have some knowledge of mechanic, which is very good. And both are hard at work. A simulator challenge would be better suited to correctly estimate their skill." turning to face Rynn he added with a smile." We will forget about our first encounter and the three crashes that followed."

At the mention of an astromech he looked a bit sad.
"We had a very resourceful one. He is currently at the base but I have some doubts about the chances of getting him back.  But there is still hope."

The Alabak's Gold was not the fastest or most beautiful starship in the galaxy. Designed for short journeys and minimal cargo space than your average freighter it made up for it by being smaller and more manoeuvrable. Built by the seafaring Mon Calamari it was also highly versatile, the jump freighter travelled in sea as well as it did in space. Jason and Rynn had their first look over the adaptable jump freighter. The ship had clearly seen many battles and survived worse scrapes than this before.

'But a simulator won't include the talent contest, Klyn.' Lyla protested, joking.

'You were a TIE pilot?' Lyla repeated, mildly shocked. She'd known Jason was ex-Imperial, and a pilot, but hadn't put the two together and into one of those funny-looking pods. TIEs were such a symbol of Imperial might, she was disturbed to hear he flew them. She remembered the dogfight over Tatooine, her shooting the TIEs and blowing them up, forgetting the people inside. Well, that was war. Of course, Rebels came from all corners of the galaxy, some of them not so good. She'd heard was Tera had been involved in, and she'd gotten over that, except they'd had times to be friends first. 'Huh.'

'I was wondering where our little Mate had gotten to.' Lyla was disappointed to hear T3-M8 wasn't with them. She'd expected it was lurking about in the engine rooms while they salvaged the ships. Not being able to speak to it, she'd never gotten familiar with the droid, or gotten the impression of a personality behind it. But she'd miss it now the little guy was gone.

Lyla wiggled her lekku around the jar again, then licked it. 'So, what makes you a traitor?'

"Yup, I was a tie pilot, trained at the academy and flew in my squadron for about six months.."

He considers offering Lyla one of the spoons, but she seems to be doing alright, so why bother, if she wants a spoon she'll surely ask for one, or get one herself. So he just turns to face her and leans back against the wall.

"As for why I betrayed the empire.. I guess.. reality hit.. See my father is an imperial officer, my brother is in the stormtrooper corps.. All I ever heard growing up is how magnificent the empire is, how it replaced a corrupt and decadent republic, how it brought peace and security to all, how it stopped pirate raids and smugglers, and how it put the power back with the people, instead of some strange mystics with funky mind powers.."

He gives a casual shrug but looks a little more serious than he usually does as he watches her.

"Sadly.. Things turned out to be very different from what i expected..  The more missions I flew the more I realized the empire is not here to protect us all from a decadent and corrupt republic. It's oppressive and cares very little for it's citizen's rights or well being. Especially if those citizens happen to not be human"

His gaze seems to slip back into the past as he remembers the events that brought him to the empire.

"So one day, me and my squadron were out having a drink.. And they spotted these two women, they were twi'leks too, and they were very attractive. I guess some of my friends thought so too.. They started.. well.. bothering them I guess is the polite word.. Harassing them is another.. threatening them even.. a few of the bar patrons took offense.. I took offense myself.. and before you knew it.. There was a fight, except I wasn't fighting on the side of my friends.. Everything was a blur but even if they were my friends.. I knew the difference between right and wrong.. we were supposed to defend the people of the galaxy.. Not this.."

He takes a deep breath after all that and takes a moment to bring himself back to the present to smile at Lyla.

"And I got really lucky, because after the fight, someone approached me and said 'if you want to fly for something worthwhile, come with me'. And I did. Not like I had a career left, not after getting into a fight with my squadron mates and commander. And that's how I wound up here.. And this time, I AM flying to protect all the beings of the galaxy, whether they have hair on their heads, or tails.."

Having scraped out the jar – Jason seemed immune to the lekku-lick anyway – Lyla fetched a beer from the fridge, one of her Rylothan fermented fungus ales that no one else should – or would – touch. She sat and drank, not needing her tails for that, and listened to Jason's tale. It seemed they'd heard of very different Empires, she from the fringes where it could still be far enough away to avoid and ignore. Until it wasn't.



'Yeah, I noticed.' Lyla commented, smile as dry as her words. Then her smile fell as the story turned unexpectedly familiar. She grimaced, feeling a familiar fear.

'That was me.' she said when Jason got to the end of his story. 'One of those women, I mean. Not exactly them, I don't think, but I've been there. It's part of why I got out of what I did... Guys like that will only listen to other guys, so we need a good guy to step up and say something, do something... So, on behalf of those women, thanks. You did the good thing.' She raised her bottle in salute.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Tue 06 Oct 2015.

Jason shakes his head slightly.

"I didn't do anything that anyone shouldn't do.. And I don't see you needing anyone to rescue you.. You seem more than capable of handling yourself.. Still, it's disturbing to see how quickly humans fall into dark ways when given just a little bit of power.."

He shakes off those thoughts and looks at her again with a smile, clearly hoping to move on from those topics.

"So what do your people call them? I mean I called them tails but.. I don't know.. is that what you call them too?"

"I'm fine sitting in a gunner's seat or the pilot's chair, as long as we are flying." He said with a smirk that no one could see beneath his mask, but could hear in his voice. "I can handle astrogation, and I don't mind having the crash held against me. I doubt we will be in crystal tunnels on Isis again if we are leaving the planet."

"Of course if we can manage to salvage the X-wing, I might be able to swing it as a reward of sorts for our earlier work." Rynn said, tossing out a possibility. "Having a fighter escort wouldn't hurt right?"

'Especially if we get into another dogfight... Speaking of which, I'm going to need some lessons in the gun turret some day.'



'Well, I am now.' Lyla murmured, recalling her own experiences. Nothing too bad had happened, but she'd had her scares, jerks who thought they had a right to the rest of her.



'That, at least, happens to every species. Maybe we all have a dark side, a beast within we need to yoke.' she philosophised, since it had been the day for it and she was drinking, so it made it okay.



Lyla had a smirky smile, the mixture of amusement, pride, and embarrassment of one describing a particularly personal piece of anatomy that one was nevertheless rather proud of. 'Yeah, "tails" is fine. Technically, they're tentacles, but everyone calls them "tails". Maybe it just sounds better or less creepy. We call 'em lekku, or tchun-tchin – that is, tchun and tchin, left and right.' Lyla flicked her left and right tails respectively.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Jason grins and nods.

"Tchun Tchin.. That's cute. But I think I think i'll stick with 'tails'. Makes a good call sign too if we ever get a squadron together.."

Jason then nods towards Rynn.

"Having an X-wing would certainly improve our odds on whatever mission we get send.. And we might be able to give Lyla some piloting and shooting lessons on the fly.. Though we'd have to do that onboard this ship, sharing the cockpit of an X-wing wouldn't be comfortable.."

"Yes, a fighter would be an huge asset" said Klyn nodding.
"And I have a few ideas about some fine tunings to improve it" he added, his eyes almost sparkling.
"I always wanted to experiment on a X-wing..."

The conversation about the Empire quickly doused his enthusiasm.

"That and the Empire is very good at hiding things it doesn't want to be seen.

And VERY good at showing people how 'good' it would be for your family not to go astray..."

About the 'tails' discussion he pointed
"Well, for me a tails is something coming out of someones, or something's, behind, so I will stick with Lekku, if you don't mind..."

Lyla looked askance at Jason, since his suggestion edged rather close to a racial slur, "tail-head". 'Call sign? That'd be like me calling you Ears or Klyn Hairy. Nuh-uh.' And, given the cultural significance of the lekku, it would be like calling her Boobs. Although she didn't mind showing them, she didn't want to be known by them. 'Nope, if anything, my call-sign should be... Rampaging Lylek. It's kinda like my spirit animal, partly what was I named for.'

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lylek



'Not necessarily...' Lyla muttered, tucking back into her meal. 'But I think I'll stay out of the fighters, thanks.' It was funny; Lyla had wanted to get into piloting, early on, figuring it would be good to just fly away from everything, but couldn't afford the lessons, let alone hope for a ship of her own. She'd since moved onto other things, though she figured she basically did the same now, just ground-based.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:34, Thu 08 Oct 2015.

Jason chuckles and shakes his head.

"You can't be 'Rampaging Lylek' it's way too long, a call sign is supposed to be short!"

He studies Lyla and then shrugs.

"We'll figure it out.. You can still be rampage.. or lylek.. or cutie"

He winks at Lyla and turns to look at Klyn curiously.

"So are we set to go?"

"Well..." he began.
"The Gold is able to fly right now, although I would advise to do it carefully.
But we still need a few hours to attach the X-wing. Once it's done, then we can go.

I will do the true work once we get there."