Private All the Shiny Things

[Tuchanka]

A L L - T H E - S H I N Y - T H I N G S
P E R I D E A​

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Tuchanka’s preference of bounties primarily consisted of those that involved mangling a living target, but even she was not immune to necessity of credits. She’d expected an easy win against Trajan Fett on Reuss VIII to earn her a few months of living easy, a fat lizard lounging on warm stones somewhere in the Mid Rim. Perhaps Wielu, what with its tropical climate and hidden shores.

But she was too confident, and the Mandalorian got the better of her. Now she was here, aboard the Toxic Xoach with a stranger who sought Dathomiri shinies. As far as bounties go, working with Acier Moonbound was not a negative experience… though he was far less scaly than she preferred her comrades to be. He seemed okay enough.

“Peridea isss close,” Tuchanka hissed as they pulled through hyperspace. The stars rushed by like streaks of white, a dizzying display that she often avoided staring at for too long. Her reptilian gaze shifted to Acier, who was with her in the freighter’s cockpit.

“Tell me more about the shiniesss you ssseek.”

Tags: Acier Moonbound
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[Acier Moonbound]

Acier's connection to the Force was growing stronger by the day - and with it, came new sensations. New instincts. New visions. What began as vague flickers in his dreams had become clearer with each passing night, replaying again and again like echoes from another life. One vision in particular had brought him here. The words carved themselves into his mind, a riddle he couldn't shake:

"The weave is torn, the thread unspun,
A child of night, a wayward son.
Peridea remembers. The forgotten return."

He still didn't know what it meant - no specifics, no clear message - but deep down, he knew. Peridea held the answers.

After putting out feelers, he'd caught wind of something promising: a crime syndicate was setting up an outpost on Peridea, within an ancient Nightsister fortress. With few leads and even fewer allies, Ace turned to the only familiar option - Black Sun. He'd never dealt with them directly, but the jobs he'd done for Tessk back on Bonadan had likely run through their hands. He knew enough to find the right people. He'd grown up in the underworld. He knew how to navigate it.

Now, seated in the cockpit with the white ribbons of hyperspace streaking past, Acier reflected on the deal he'd struck. It had been tense - but fair. He offered them something valuable: intel and slicing access to a rival syndicate's secure cache in exchange for safe passage to Peridea. Risky? Absolutely. But the payoff, for both sides, was worth the gamble.

His eyes shifted toward the Trandoshan beside him - Tuchanka. She'd been assigned as his partner for the job. Just the two of them. He hadn't formed a solid opinion of her yet, but she struck him as capable. Reliable. At the very least, reliable enough to keep them alive.

When she spoke, noting their approach and asking what exactly he was after, Acier didn't answer right away. He watched the stars blur and fade, then finally said,

"Just some Nightsister artifacts." He paused, then added with a shrug, eyes shifting away, "Don't know much else. Just think they might help me figure some stuff out."

It was vague on purpose. Hopefully vague enough. He wasn't about to reveal that the Force had been whispering to him—or that dreams were what brought him here.

He leaned back and gestured loosely. "I did the math. You disorganize a rival, I get my ride to Peridea. Whatever else we find down there is all Black Sun's. Everybody wins… right?"

As the ship emerged from hyperspace, the barren expanse of Peridea unfolded before them - a desolate world steeped in ancient history. The planet's surface was dotted with remnants of the long-lost Witch Kingdom of the Dathmiri, their towering monuments casting elongated shadows over the plains.

The atmosphere was thick with an eerie stillness, broken only by the distant calls of native creatures. Acier felt a subtle pull, an almost imperceptible tug at the edge of his consciousness, guiding him toward an unknown destination.

Tuchanka

 

[Tuchanka]

A L L - T H E - S H I N Y - T H I N G S
P E R I D E A​

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The Trandoshan's reptilian lips curled into a half-smile as she turned slightly to regard Acier with a knowing look.

"Even if Black Sssun loses... it winsss," she said, just as the ship dropped out of hyperspace.

The Xoach lurched as old plating and worn mechanical parts shifted under the stress of the jump. It continued to do so as they pierced Peridea's atmosphere, but Tuchanka showed little concern for the groans of her old freighter. She simply tapped at the controls, adjusting landing parameters as the surface of the ancient Witch Kingdom's fallen crown world came quickly into view. A long moment later, and they were safely on the ground. Only the hiss of the ship's landing gear could be heard, a far more soothing sound than the rattling of screws and metal plating.

"Nightsissster artifactssss..." Tuchanka hissed thoughtfully. "Rare. Powerful. Dangerousss. What you don't take will certainly sssell for a good price, yesss. Enough to upgrade my ship." Her tone betrayed her sense of humor, which was only apparent from the sharp teeth she flashed with a predatory grin as she considered the various repairs and modifications she could afford after the job was done and the relics were pawned.

She regarded Acier with a curious look, then. Uncertain about placing so much stock in one so young, but committed to completing the work nonetheless. "Thisss is your contract," she told him. "Where shall we begin?"

Tags: Acier Moonbound
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[Acier Moonbound]

Ace patted his hand on the cockpit's ceiling, chuckling dryly at Tuchanka's comment regarding needing repairs for her freighter. A delicate clang reverberated through the cockpit as his palm connected.

"She got us this far. Give her some credit." he gave the ship's worn interior a lookover "Y'know, I'm not a bad mechanic. You need any help with repairs..." Ace pointed a thumb toward himself.

The Trandoshan handed Acier the reins of the job. Not unexpected since this was all his idea, but still nonetheless surprising. Despite all his experience, he was still only seventeen, and was more used to following than leading. But, he knew how to adapt - and, he had the Force. He was confident in their odds of success.

"Okay. Well, follow me." he said, slinging a pack over his shoulder.

He led the way to the loading ramp, descending into the grey mist as it hissed open. Now, finally on the surface of Peridea - the ancient homeworld of the Dathomiri Nightsisters. The moment his boots touched the floor, he could feel something. A strange sense of... familiarility. It wasn't the usual touch of the Force, like the warmth of sunlight kissing his skin. This felt like, muscle memory from a dream he didn't remember having... but that didn't make any sense, right?

Then, he felt that pull again - the one from earlier. The freckle faced youth had had enough experience and misadventures to know this was the Force guiding him toward his goal. Ace turned to face Tuchanka, flashing her a feux confident smirk and pulling out a datapad from his pack.

"Intel says the outpost's coordinates are this way." he lied, there was no intel on its whereabouts. But he wasn't advertising that he was Force-sensitive either.

They moved through the haze in silence, he liked that about Tuchanka. She seemed to be strictly about business. The terrain shifed with every step. From dry, cracked soil to uneven stone half-swallowed by creeping moss. Eventually, the trees thinned, revealing jagged silhouettes ahead. Crumbled spires jutted from the earth like broken teeth, half-buried under centuries of rot and overgrowth. The outskirts of the ruin had no formal entrance, just remnants of a forgotten path, flanked by weather-worn statues whose faces had long since faded. But Ace could feel it: they were getting closer.

But then he heard something, something that made him perk up. A low, gutteral growl in the air. From the fog ahead, a pair of glowing eyes blinked into view, then two more alongside it.

Three Howlers crept out from the mist, their lanky, predatory frames hunched low to the ground. Their matted fur twitched with anticipation, claws clicking softly against stone as they fanned out. They weren't attacking. Not yet at least.

Ace slowly reached for the blaster at his hip, pulse quickening as one of the creatures let out a warbling growl that echoed through the ruins like a warning.

Tuchanka

 

[Tuchanka]

A L L - T H E - S H I N Y - T H I N G S
P E R I D E A​

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The ground crunched beneath Tuchanka’s talons, giving way as she moved a half-step behind the young human. Normally, she’d have never let such a small, fleshy creature guide the way. Between her naturally enhanced vision and predatory sense of smell, she could easily lead them anywhere they needed to go. But here, on Peridea, she might as well have been blind.

Everything smelled the same. An intoxicating smell of earth and decay taxed her senses. The only thing that stood out was the salty-sweet stench of human, and the warm fluids that ran through the Xoach’s pipes and tubing. Everything else was a miasma of podzol and stone.

Tuchanka nodded when Acier told her the direction of the site, trusting his navigation skills but watching him with unwavering interest all the way. She didn’t suspect he would turn on her, but Tuchanka never took chances. She kept quiet as they walked, contributing only the soft crunch of shale to the soundscape that enveloped them. Only when they reached the outskirts of a temple complex did she speak.

“Witch fortresssss,” she hissed lowly. “Dangerousss.”

She felt a small urge to tell Acier to be careful, but she was quickly reminded herself she was not responsible for his death if the Scorekeeper found it suitable to claim him in the ruins. The encouragement not to die would have been very handy, she realized, when she sensed the click-clack of a pebble skittering across cracked stone. Not a moment later, a pack of howlers were upon them, circling like vultures around carrion.

“Muttsss,” Tuchanka growled. “They do not like blastersss.” She slung hers over her back then, likely confusing the young man beside her. In its place, she withdrew a blaster-sized flamethrower of Mandalorian make - a gift from a friend long-dead but never forgotten.

“They do not like fire, either.”

As if on cue, the first of the howlers leapt at Tuchanka with claws protracted and teeth bared. The Trandoshan landed a perfectly-timed kick to his chest, busting the creature’s sternum with a sharp crack. It yelped, writhing on the ground, but only for a brief moment; Tuchanka was upon it quickly, engulfing it in flames as the rest of the pack closed in…

Tags: Acier Moonbound
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[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Peridea

Equipment:
Standard Outfit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27

"Can work with that." Ace said in response to Tuchanka's comment about Howlers and blasters.

He drew his blaster only to see the Trandoshan holster hers. His lips parted, ready to ask her what she was doing. Then his eyes widened as he watched her pull out a flamethrower. A wide grin crept on his freckled face. Oh, he liked her.

Ace's attention returned to the Howlers, to one that had pounced toward them. Raising his blaster, Ace prepared to fire but Tuchanka was already several steps ahead. A swift kick to its abdomen, followed by the usage of her flame thrower. He quickly understood why she was on the Black Sun's payroll.

The other Howlers closed in, one went for Ace while the other went for Tuchanka. More in tune with the Force than he'd ever been, Ace lunged and rolled out of the way of the incoming snap of a Howler's jaw. Halting in a crouched position, Ace spun on his heel and aimed his blaster as the Howler pounced at him again.

This time, he managed to get a shot off - shooting it clean in its shoulder before diving out of the way of its frame. The Howler let out a sharp, pained snarl, staggering to the side before steadying itself. Blood, dark and sticky, oozed from the scorched wound on its shoulder, but it wasn't retreating. If anything, it looked more determined.

Ace wasn't trained, but he knew how to scrap - how to survive. The white-haired boy, carefully, thrust his arm forward and with it came an invisible shove that knocked the Howler off balance. Seconds before it could attack again. Ace didn't wait, he aimed the blaster at its rib and fired. The blast hit hard, sending the Howler skidding across the stone, legs scrambling for purchase. It didn't get up right away. Just lay there for a moment, growling low, panting, eyes locked on Ace.

Its muscles tensedm not for another lunge, but for retreat. With a final snarl, the creature turned tail and bolted into the mist, limping but fast. A breath later, the sound of its claws faded into silence. Ace lowered his blaster slowly, exhaling through his nose.

He then cast a glance toward Tuchanka to check her status, half-expecting to see a pile of scorched fur at her feet.

Tuchanka​