Nar Shaddaa - Rebel Alliance Headquarters

[Blest Fate]

Fate didn’t move when she heard Hugglepup’s voice, nor his birds noises. She was just done. She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to continue. She just wanted to sit and do nothing and never move again.  It was easier than to keep trying. Maybe she could just lay down and never get up again. Or maybe she could…

 

Fate’s head shot up as she heard a new noise from the subway tunnels. Clanking and chirping, as metal strode over concrete and durasteel. 

 

Huggle… Fate started to attempt to call out for help, forgetting her vocoder was in pieces somewhere in the tunnel. However, afterwards she was happy she didn't speak, cause she could hear voices coming from the tunnel. 

 

“And so I think we ought to kill the next person we find.”

 

“Shall I do it?” a second voice chimed in. 

 

“No, no, lets not do that…” a third voice started to disagree. Fate stood up and slowly took a step back towards the stairwell She wasn’t sure what was approaching, but it sounded big. The only thing stopping her from dashing off was the fact that there were voices. The fact that anyone else was alive down here was nothing short of a miracle. 

 

“Well what should we do?”  The second voice asked the other two. 

 

“Oh! Would you look at that?” 

 

A red light suddenly blinded Fate as it flicked on from several light sources. 

 

“Quick, shoot it, shoot it good!” The first voice demanded. 

 

“With what? Stunners or blasters?”

 

“How about we be nice to it first?” 

 

“Oh come on, I want to kill something its been too long.” 

 

Fate uncovered her eyes and looked at the ‘thing’ that had approached. Lumbering through the tunnels on four legs, the larger than normal droid was intimidating to say the least. It easily stood 3 meters tall, modified over and over with an assortment of scrap parts. Fate believed it may have had the base of a MI-series security droid, but with how much rework it had, it was difficult to tell. Besides which, the thing had not just one, but three heads, talking amongst themselves. Welded on quite well, the heads were actually able to rotate to face each other. 

 

Fate started to raise a hand to try to get its attention, thinking maybe she could convince the security droid she was a jedi. Perhaps it was just patrolling the tunnels and needed a memory wipe.

 

“Be quiet you” all three voiced at the same time, before speaking to themselves again. 

 

“So are we going to shoot it?” 

 

“Oh shoot your own head off”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“You talk too much”

 

Fate looked the droid over and realized that maybe Hugglepuff had a point in staying aboveground. 

“No he doesn’t”

 

“I thought you were on my side”

 

“I am! Come on guys, lets stop arguing and get a nice oil bath”

 

“Alright, alright, we kill this thing, and then we get an oil bath, and a recharge of our batteries”

“Oh must we?” 

 

“Okay okay, no recharge, but lets kill the thing anyway.”

 

All three heads nodded to each other in agreement and turned to face Fate. 

 

“Uh…where did it go?” one of the heads asked. 

 

Fate was already halfway up the stairwell, nearly crashing into Hugglepuff” She didn’t even stop when she passed the Zabrack. With no way to talk, she hoped that her terrorized energy would be enough to convince him to follow.  

 

However, if her running away wasn’t enough to convince him, the sudden blaster fire from the subway tunnel as the three-headed droid gave chase

“Hey look! Another one!”

 

“Shall we kill that one too?

“Come on, come on! Don’t let up! Shoot them all!”

 

“Right!” the other two heads agreed, as the droid continued to open fire. 

[Hugglepup]

Hugglepup stumbled backwards as he was swept over first by the terrorized aura of his traveling companion and moments later by her physical being as she charged up the stairs. The young naturalist did not have much time to react as a flurry of rounds pinged off the duracrete steps and metal railing.
 

“Gaaah!”

 

He cried out in surprise as his eyes widened in shock. he scrambled backwards on his hands and feet until he was atop the stairwell and rolled to the side out of range, at least temporarily, from the maniacal murderous three-headed bot.

 

”Bird!”
 

he called out as the massive falcon leapt clear from the blaster fire. With a single beat of his massive wings sending plumes of dust into the charged air, Bird was off the ground. The creature knew what Hugglepup was implying even before the Zabrak pointed at the Anomid; a benefit of  bonded minds.

 

The winged beast lunged forward, two sets of scaly clawed limbs  grasping the woman about the shoulders, the second set extended to keep her from flailing and grabbing anything but his legs. With a beating of his wings, Bird took to the air.

 

Grabbing his staff, he rolled, laying on the packed earth alongside the slotted railings that jutted above the ground. He waited as the strange self-amalgamated three headed robot charged up the stairs in pursuit. By the will of the force, or maybe a little luck, Hugglepup jammed his staff between the slots just as the droid erupted upward out of the stairwell.

 

The staff snapped beneath the robot’s shin. The machine still tumbled forward, crashing into the few remaining stairs and faceplanting. Hugglepup did not stop to see what damage was done. He leapt to his feet and began to run. He broke into a sprint, his muscles burning after days of malnourishment. He ran even so, toward the train station as thunder rumbled, nearer this time. A lightning bolt arced across the sky eightening the landscape in an evil green hue for a mere moment.

 

Bird screamed in the air as he dove toward the station as the rain began to fall. Crashing into the station, Bird pulled up before slamming @Blest Fate into the polished glass covered floors.

 

Hugglepup ran, the force speeding his steps and nourishing his body. The rain began to pitter patter on and around him, quickly turning into a downpour of torrential waters across the packed ground. Thunder rolled across the sky and as if by premonition the Zabrak leapt into a dive just before lightning struck where he was. Tucked into a roll, the Jedi Apprentice rolled and tumbled into the station, the glass crunching beneath him.

[Blest Fate]

Being grabbed and forced to do something suddenly was an experience Fate decided was not pleasant. It was a sudden relinquishment of control of what was happening with your very body. In all of her years of training at Jedi Temples, losing control of a situation was not something she did very well. Meditating was difficult of course, and early combat training brought out the worst in her, but Fate fought every step of the way to maintain control over herself and her actions. 

 

So when Fate was grabbed by ‘Bird’, she at first tried to flail as a reaction, trying to regain control. However, ‘Bird’ had several talons to use, and made sure her flailing wouldn’t be a problem. 

 

You kriffing son of porg! Fate tried to swear. 

 

Still, she couldn’t help but then feel a rush of exhilaration as she took to the air. Looking down and seeing her feet leave the ground and not rapidly return was a new experience. In another time, it would’ve been enjoyable. Only younglings who’s parents would hoist them into the air felt this way. 

 

“Hey, that thing tripped us!” One of the heads bemoaned. 

 

“That little twat!” Another head cursed. The large robotic being struggled to pick itself up. Its design with four legs was never intended to fall over easily, so its makers had never included programming methods to get back up. Still, it tried to find a way, as it pushed against the floor to tip itself upwards. 

 

Fate crashed into the floor with more grace then Hugglepup did. Because of that, she picked herself up quicker than he did and glanced back towards the three headed droid. It was already up, and charging after the group. Acid rain fell on it, sizzling holes into its chassis, but it ignored them. Or at least, one of the heads ignored them. 

 

“See? This is why we should have had an oil bath!” 

 

“Don’t care, I’m gonna crush that horned one’s head!” 

 

“That does sound better then shooting him. Feet or arms?”

 

“Shut up! Feet of course!” 

 

Fate’s mind was working in overdrive. Like with the cultists, she would have gone off instinct. However, unlike the cultists, she was having to protect her comrade, who was in mortal danger of the charging colossus of metal. Before she was fighting for herself. Inside the train station, she was unsure if Bird would be able to get hugglepup out of the way of danger in time. Here, she was fighting to protect someone else. 

 

In spite of this, or maybe because of this, Fate felt her next actions more influenced by the Force than any other time. Her next actions felt so in tune with the Force that she actually felt one with it. 

She ran towards the charging bot, hand reaching for her makeshift hook. With sudden deftness, she dived and slid beneath the droid’s four monstrous legs, one of them stomping right next to where her head was a split second ago. Once on the other side, she threw the hook up and pulled on the Force to guide its throw. The hook flew and wrapped itself around the neck of the central head. As her last action while still completely in tune with the Force, Fate pulled, forcing the droid to stop and nearly fall over backwards. 

 

Hugglepuff! Get up! Fate tried to shout. She got to her feet and pulled the hook tighter . Hopefully the droid would again fall over backwards and without the stairs, be unable to get back up.  

[Vox]

Entering out of Hyperspace was sudden yet there was no feeling of joy with the sight they were faced with. Nar Shaddaa, for however long her conflict was over, was burning and ruined. Despite the victory of the Alliance, the Sith had dealt their damage and Vox didn't need the Force the feel the deaths of thousands of not several million from the cityscape orb. What happened here? Were his kin alright,  how long have they been gone for? 

 

"God's below..." Romulus says, he had stopped the finishing touches of the equipment he repaired and was now gazing at the planet, "You can see areas that are still burning... Vox, we need to get back to the others, if there was a war here we gotta make sure they're okay!" 

 

The Nudono Jedi nodded and turned his head to the pilot, he gave them the exact coordinates of the shuttle station or refugee camp his remnant tribe was settled... He could feel that they were alive and well thanks to that tinge of the Force that lingered, he refused to worry about their wellbeing. Even before their dropout from Hyperspace he had stopped the practice of his saber as there was a tich of death, cold and malicious,  however the perpetrators had long since left it felt... But knowing the scale of war himself, Vox now started to think about the remaining soldiers that were left over. For right now, his own soldiers. 

 

As they lowered into the atmosphere the damage became more clear,  there were still fires around the military infrastructure and compounds, fuel and repair stations burned as there hadn't necessarily been a way to put them out quite yet no thanks to the now-ignited fuel cells and whatever else. However there were clearer signs that the Alliance and the Imperials were rebuilding, various camps and recovery areas were built for the wounded and lost. Portions of the city weren't as damaged and families and friends, even strangers were becoming more communal and helping one another out. And of course there were those who were simply scavenging and out for themselves.  

 

As they passed over the ruins of a train station Vox felt a sudden pinch in his arm. Something or someone in trouble? He tapped into a small fraction of the Force to root it out but instead of immediately seeing where they were he felt the heartbeat of one individual. They were running and fighting, they were in desperation of an action to happen, and his head turned to where they would be just about. He was a bit urgent about his people however this would take pressing matters, he readied himself and slid the saber hilt into a ringed pouch and fastened the weapon. 

 

"Lower the ship... Here." Vox said to Alcemène, and when it was at a reasonable height he said before leaving the cockpit, "I want to thank you for what you have done for me. If you are in need of help, I will be there as soon as I can. Please drop Romulus off at the refugee camp." 

 

"But Vox-" 

 

"You will join the others. I will not have protest over this." Vox said to his smaller engineer in a stern tone. He would love to bring the smaller Trandoshan with him however this matter only required one. From there, Vox had moved to the cargo hold and once the vessel had lowered he dropped from the catwalk. He landed a littke less gracefully through the hole of a ruined building, regardless he was still on his feet as the dust from the the landing settled slowly and despite the light that was present the interior was still dark save for the open doorway which light poured through. He still had the Mauler he kept just before leaving the planet to becoming a Jedi, granted he preferred the Spiker Carbine it was better than nothing. 

 

And so the Trandoshan moved through the rubble and out of the building he was in. There were noises nearby but they were still meters out of the way, and in that same direction he could feel the heartbeat race. Tuning into the Force Vox allowed his vision to become enhanced, as before when he first used these powers all else was dark gray with white outlines, anything still living was represented by a unique coloration via its life force. When he confirmed that only a spare avian or rodent were the only things around he deactivated the vision until he could see regularly, and then he moved quietly with haste. Being born in thick jungles with massive beasts the ruins were almost lime that, so Vox moved with superb agility and found the rubble easier to trek through. 

 

The noises got louder and moved onward, a bit closer to his position after minutes of traversing the area, Vox disconnected the energies coming to him as to focus more. From here on the rooftop of a train station he peered through the cracks and crevices of the roof, readying his lightsaber. There he saw it, an automota attacking an individual, she used what looked to be a makeshift hook in hopes of tripping up one of the many legs of the machine. He didn't move yet, no, it was a matter of patience, Vox would know when next to take action, for now he watched as the two struggled and remained hidden. He starts to creep on the metal top and slowly tracked the duo preparing for his next course of action. 

[Blest Fate]

Fate Felt her hands start to bleed as the chain on her makeshift hook dug into her palms. As strong as she was, the droid was heavy, big, and balanced. Her plan to pull the thing over and leave it stuck was failing as the three headed droid began to regain it’s balance. 

 

No no no no! Fate wanted to shout. She knew the cost of what would happen if this thing regained control of the fight. She had only survived this far out of luck and skill, and if she did not continue to capitilize on the thing’s unbalance, she would be under its metal feet, dead and worthless. 

 

“Come on, kill that stupid thing!” The droid’s left head shouted, completely rotated to look at Fate. 

 

“I’m trying, I’m trying! Why don’t you do something useful?” The middle head groaned. The entire body groaned as the back legs continued to hold the thing down. Its front legs were flailing in the air, but barely off the ground.

 

“Oooh, why didn’t I think of this? Should I shoot her?” the third head chimed in, rotating its arm towards the Anomid.

 

Fate’s eyes widened at the situation and changed tactics. Instead of pulling the thing back, she ran and jumped towards the droid, pulling at the force once more like a taught rope. 

 

“Ack, its on us! Get it off, get it off!” The middle head began to complain as the entire body began to flail wildly. Both of its arms began to open fire randomly in every direction.  Many of the shots were aimed upwards towards the ceiling, but thanks to Fate’s position on the droid’s shoulders, the shots missed. 

 

Choke on this you stupid fragging son of a scrap heap! Fate tried to curse through her broken vocoder as she wrapped the chain around the three heads and pulled tight. She felt like one of those renowned Reek Wranglers from the holovids, trying to tame a wild beast. If this was one of those Reeks, she felt like she could choke it to death. However, Reeks were biological and could feel their necks. Here, wrapping the chain slammed all three metal heads together, giving them more to complain about.

 

“Get off me! Give me some space!” The middle head screamed, the entire body still spinning around and stomping wildly. 

 

“I can’t! Can’t you do something?” The left head griped, firing its blaster erratically into the environment. 

 

“How about we slam into a wall?” The right head chimed in. 

 

“No, more blaster fire! More blaster fire!” The middle head commanded. 

 

“Right!” The other heads agreed simultaneously. 

 

Amidst the flurry of blaster fire lighting the train station like a rave party, Fate held on tighter than ever. She could already feel the bruises form on her legs and her bleeding hands, despite the adrenaline pumping through her body. But she pulled the chain tighter and tighter, and held on for dear life, unable to think of anything else. Perhaps if she kept pulling tighter, she would break a wire, bend a frame, something that might give her an advantage. Or maybe the thing’s blaster fire would bring the entire roof down on the two and end them both. 

 

I WILL NOT LOSE YOU STUPID CLANKER!

[Vox]

Vox was impressed that the individual handled the machine quite well, a change in tactics happened as the machine tried blasting its way to victory. The girl, as Vox determined her to be, was agile and quick and wasted no time improvising her situation.  Almost as if to strangulation the machine thr girl swiftly clung to its back and used the chains to wrap three heads together, in turn causing it to rampage a flurry of Blaster bolts. As enjoyable the show was Vox took notice that the energy shots struck the ceiling and even through the roof. 

 

The sporadic firing was sure to cause a cave-in which Vox would be top of, his objective was still to save this tiny soul however the means to do was changing on him. He needed it to be an ambush, he wanted it to be swift and without much harm but he didn't know if that would be optional. What options could he exhaust? Quickly the Knight had moved with haste on the hole riddled rooftop to get better positioned for his drop, and just as he did he reactivated his connection to the Force for a bit of guidance and to catch his fall. Already he could tell the metallic roof was groaning as more bolts met its ruined state, his weight maybe not helping but it wasn't too much an ordeal. 

 

Within moments Vox unsheathed his oddly long saber hilt and waited further until the machine spun once again. There. Now! Vox dropped through a sizable hole in the roof and used the Force to wrap around his legs and feet, reinforcing the stability of when he would land. The saber was activated, and a much longer-than-usual energy blade sprung from the hilt. Just as fast as he dropped the Jedi aimed for the machines left legs as it twirled in frustration, the controlled beam slicing through its joints amd into the ground. Without hesitation he slashed diagonally with precision to slice an arm off while still avoiding to hit the girl. 

[Blest Fate]

Fate wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on this tightly. As powerful as adrenaline could be, her stamina was hitting her limit. The days of survival on the hellish world, filled with radioactive cityscapes, marauding raiders and mad cultists, corrupted droids and acidic rains, had taken a toll on the Anomid. It was a wonder she was surviving this well for this long. Many others would have been, and probably were, dead by now. To stay on top of a rampaging droid that felt no exhaustion, no fear, and three separate brains to come up with ideas, would be impossible to perform indefinitely. She needed to do something else fast. Or she would be…

 

Her gut seized itself as the Force tightened nearby. But this time it wasn’t her doing. Something else in the area had used the Force, and her training, limited as it had been, was enough to detect it. 

 

Kriff, not now, not them! Fate panicked as a blur fell in her peripheral. Those cultists, who demanded a plant from her, promised pain beyond death, and she knew their threats were not idle ones. Strategies needed to change immediately. 

 

She heard an energy noise somewhere, but was unable to focus on it. The droid was suddenly tipping over. 

 

“It cut us! Something cut us!” One of the heads shrieked.

 

“No fair! No fair!” Another one cried. 

 

As the droid fell to one side, the blade of the newcomer sliced an arm off. The droid’s screamed as they died mid-fall. Fate saw her chance and seized it, letting go of the hook and chain to push and jump away from the collapsing automaton.  She became a purple blur in the air, flying and crashing into the ground

 

If she could’ve stopped to think, she would’ve realized that anyone wielding a lightsaber was a Jedi and not a cultist. But she was rolling on the floor, dust flying upwards from both her roll and the droid’s fall. She was not in her right mind. Adrenaline was still moving her completely, and fear that the cultists of this world caught up to her made her stay in fighting mode. 

 

You aren’t taking me yet! Fate wanted to shout at the stranger as rolled onto all fours, her vocoder producing nothing but static. One hand grabbed a piece of debris, a large chunk of broken concrete. Through the dust, she spotted the silhouette figure, picked herself up, and hurled the piece with all her might. The Force around her went taut as she did, her emotions and focus on the sole task of striking down the possible cultist. The piece of concrete, now empowered,  flew like a ballistic missile at the target. 

 

Wait…kriff! No! No no no! Fate suddenly screamed internally as she actually recognised what the blade signified. But it was too late to stop the throw. She could only loosen her spirit, and in that moment, all the stress of the battle and debt of energy rushed back to her, forcing her to collapse. Her hands, bleeding as they were, barely caught her from hitting the ground entirely. The liberal usage of the Force from the untrained Anomid left her barely able to hold up her head to see if her target deflected her impromptu projectile. 

[Vox]

The landing was stuck and quickly did Vox roll away from the collapsing automata, the machine shrieked as it seemingly deactivated mid-fall. Regaining his composure rather quickly yet easily did the Trandoshan sigh and disignite his deep green saber. Then it cane as fast as he reactivated his blade, the Force pulled unto him an immediate warning or perhaps itbwas instinct, he swings the weapon once against a sliced the broken piece of concrete into pieces. While some of the many pieces did pelt his torso most of the larger chunks, there was slight pain but nothing like a knife digging into his scales, more similar to hardened strikes of a fist. 

 

Yet again Vox deactivated his saber and holstered the elongated hilt into an armored pouch, he still had much of his heavy plated armor on save for torso, which the shattered and whole pieces Romulus took with him. His arms and waist down were still very much covered in protection, afterall, if the saber didn't provide all of the protection he needed a little something to compensate, yes? The attention was tore to the smaller figure which collapsed in a heap of exhaustion.  The Trandoshan started to walk toward the individual, easing his thoughts and contemplating what to say, the best option was to assess the damage that was dealt. 

 

The Jedi's approach was soft despite the hard crunching of armored boot, as he stepped more into the light it was quite evident that he was indeed amongst the renowned or infamous Trandoshans. His form was albeit different, given his slightly longer snout and maw and his masculine build- Not the lanky bodies of his reptilian cousins. He only hoped he would not scare the small creature. 

 

When upon the being, Vox's approach slowed until he was just feet away from her. His gaze seemed cold at first but softened, he kneeled in front of the girl and spoke in his soft, but deep tone, "You handled yourself like a true fighter. Are you well?"

[Blest Fate]

Kriff he’s big Fate thought when the Jedi approached her. Seeing him block the piece of concrete she threw brought some comfort, but at the same time, now she half-wondered if he was going to help her or eat her. 

 

"You handled yourself like a true fighter. Are you well?"

 

Fate sighed in relief at the question. She wasn’t going to get eaten today. She nodded violently to the question and smiled under her broken mask. She turned and sat on the floor now, giving her hands a break from her weight. 

 

Oh thank the Force you are here, you have no idea how long it has been since i saw anyone… Fate started to attempt to talk, only to remember her vocoder was only giving static noises.

 

Ah, kriffing twist of fate… Fate smacked her head in realization, putting some blood on her slightly translucient forehead. The curse of her species having no vocal cords was annoying. And she highly doubted that the Trandosian knew the six fingered Anomid sign language. Once again she would have to improvise. 

 

Fate held up her hands and imitated binoculars and pretended to look through them, then  pointed at the Trandosian. This was followed by a shrug and spread her arms out, imitating a star fighter.

 

I’ve been looking for you. Or at least a working ship.

 

Fate made some static with her vocoder and pointed at it, followed by pretending like she was snapping something into two. She made a motion to the fallen droid. Afterwards she made a talking motion with her hands while shaking her head. 

 

Vocoder broken by that. Can’t talk.  

 

Fate then felt a pain in her hands. Holding them palms towards her, she realized just how much she was bleeding. That chain she used as her grappling hook had managed to cut deep. Instinctively she wiped the blood on her dirty robes and began wrapping them with the spare pieces of cloth she had gathered. 

 

Not sure what else to say, or at least attempt to communicate, she looked at the Trandosian, waiting for a reply. 

[Vox]

The Jedi watched on as the female seemingly spoke given the slight gestures but nothing besides the faint static escapee the mouthpiece over the mouth. A rebreather? No, something else, perhaps it was a broken something that helped her speak? Whatever the case, the girl starts to make more obvious gestures and hand symbols, they were relatively easy to understand given the circumstance,  but it took Vox a minute to piece together the puzzles he had seen. He was more used to hand signals when hunting or in war, specific ones used to prioritize certain objectes and prey. 

 

With a grunt, the Trandoshan reached out abs grasped the females left shoulder, his scaly hand large enough to crush the limb without struggle. Focused once again on the Force, Vox allowed it to pulsate through his body and channel his thoughts to energy which he transfered to her. He was no expert on these powers, but he had hoped his idea would work and that it would make communication better. Only issue was he had to stay in contact if it did. 

 

"I have a friend that can fix this voice box," Vox's thoughts scrambled to the female, loose but understandable with a heavy accent of his kind, "Come, little one, we will return to our camp. We have food and water." 

 

The Trandoshan's connection was lost as soon as he removed his hand from the females shoulder. What followed was a draining of stamina, a side effect of the communication trick that took a far greater toll than his usual abilities. Practice makes perfect.  He stood and turned to an openening through the metal, the direction he knew the camp was... He prayed to the gods that his brothers and comrades were well and safe, given their attitudes it was likely they survived... Maybe less ideally. Vox walked up the small opening and reactivated his long saber, then he proceeded to cut the hole much bigger so the pair would have to struggle with getting through especially with the reptilian bulky armor. 

[Blest Fate]

Fate at first flinched when the Trandosian reached for her. Despite knowing the Jedi meant no harm, the weeks on Nar Shaddaa had made her much more reactive than trusting. Still, she did not resist when the lizard transferred his thoughts to her. 

 

The experience was unique to say the least. The transfer of thoughts was much different to how Fate usually experienced the Force. Where she used the Force like the stretching and pulling of rope, this experience was much more gaseous. Like a whiff of hot air born from a geyser. Impossible to cling to, but detectable. 

 

I guess i still have much to learn… Fate thought to herself as she pulled herself up, retrieved her makeshift grappling hook from the droid chassis, and began to follow. However, she also stopped to pull a piece of chest plating from the droid’s head, wires and even an eye still attached. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Fate tied the wires around her forearm, creating a makeshift shield. It was small, damaged, and unmistakable unsymmetrical, but it was easy enough to wield in close combat and deceptively light.  

 

Now this would’ve helped earlier… Fate reflected, testing her new shield by swinging it once.  

 

Fate couldn’t help but notice that the Lizard carried himself differently after getting up however. Trained eyes, and her own experiences with the Force, taught her that the Jedi had exerted himself in a way he had not been used to. Chaos around them, her own recent experience of overextending herself against the droid was enough of a lesson in that. But where her exertion was physical, Fate half-wondered if the Jedi’s was more mental than anything. 

 

After Vox cut a hole and started to lead the way, Fate followed. The clouds overhead were turning a cruel shade of green. The incoming storm she had detected earlier was still coming, and with it, the acidic rain that destruction followed. 

 

Still following, Fate held her new shield above her head. Already the acid rain was beginning to fall, and she could hear the sizzling droplets make contact with her shield. Fate did not grumble however, partially to due to lack of vocal cords, but also partially to not being annoyed. If anything, she was happy. The chance of getting off world, with a Jedi no less, outweighed her instincts to run and hide under any kind of cover. 

[Vox]

When the woman followed, Vox could only move forward and collect his thoughts. He had to make haste to the refugee encampment as it was whete the pair could get food and water... Gods only knew what exactly his war clan made up, hoping it wasn't fried bits of the enemy, the last thing he needed was a scarred female in his presence. As he continued he felt a droplet of rain and at first it was welcomed but then he could feel the sizzling feeling of something eating away at his scales. Then there was another, and more followed, and before the Trandoshan could become fully enveloped by the incoming torrent he quickly got into cover under a half hanging sheet metal. 

 

Immediately the Jedi brushed and wiped away the acid rain upon his body, huffing in annoyance that rain on this planet was particularly dangerous... Why?! What caused the water to become this way?! Shaking his head he took a thick piece of metal and started to bend it into am umbrella of sorts, more like a shield but it would serve its purpose. Now holding the large chunk over his frame, he moved out into the danger once more this time with better preparation. 

 

"This world is... Strange..." Vox openly said to himself while leading the way, "Rain is not meant to eat away at flesh, it's blasphemous."

[Blest Fate]

You have no kriffing idea… Fate started to say when she overheard the Jedi’s comment. You haven’t had to deal with the lack of food, the crumbling ruins, the radiation zones, and those cultists that scream their heads off for a dang plant. 

 

The two pushed on until they came upon a deep crevasse. The cityscape of the planet had several crevasses like this one, all built for letting ships and speeders into the lower levels of the world.  Miles wide in diameter, the only way across the impossibly deep pitt was a long narrow bridge, complete with a wider area for a broken turret station in the middle. The bridge was more than just worn down. Its durasteel railings had fallen off long ago, its floor plantings partially melted, and its supports corroded to the point that the thing swayed with its own weight. Under the acidic rain, the entire thing groaned, threatening to break down at any moment. Like a suspension bridge missing its wires, so did this bridge miss its sturdiness

 

Despite the uncertain structural integrity, a single figure stood on the bridge, undeterred by the potential of falling to his death.  Instead, under the raining acid, the figure stood stoically and unmoved, wielding an electrostaff in its hands. Its shoulder plates had been completely melted away, revealing muscle and nerve bundles burning and regenerating under the rain. This  Gen’dai had been forgotten to time, stored in a cage for thousands of years. In its loneliness, it had lost any semblance of sanity. And after the Sith attack, it broke free and found this place. Now, only one thing mattered to it: The Bridge. 

 

After studying the figure for a moment, shield over her head, Fate  looked across the crevasse.  She could see what vaguely looked like a domed enclosure, no doubt the place the Jedi was wanting to get to. She could even see the outline of what looked like a ship. Her one source of hope to escape this wreckage of a world. 

 

YES! Fate shouted in her mind as she rushed forward. She had no idea what the figure wanted, but the possibility of escaping was almost too much to resist. 

 

From his position at the center of the bridge, the Gen’dai raised a hand to halt her and the Jedi. “None shall pass!” his voice boomed over the pouring acidic rain. “Approach further, and die.” 

 

Fate stopped in her tracks. Kriff this stupid piece of... she wanted to swear. She glanced at Vox, unsure what to do. The bridge was the only way across, and with the acid rain, finding another way around would be both exhausting and dangerous.