Private Bones and Dust - Tatooine

[Siv Dragr]

G U N S L I N G E R
Tatooine
​

Tag: Kalit D'wari

Siv never knew why Vren Rook was fond of the place. A sun-scorched, waterless rock on the edge of the Outer Rim was a generous definition of Tatooine, yet it seemed that everyone in the galaxy eventually landed in the furthest place from the bright center of the galaxy. A lead he was chasing down had taken him here, and he'd already spent too much time on-world.

The heat on Tatooine had a way of making liars out of distances; a shape on the horizon could be a kilometer off or ten, and there was no telling if you were right. Siv had learned that the hard way, twice, and he wasn't out here to learn it a third time. He'd been walking since before the suns cleared the dunes proper, headed nowhere in particular that couldn't wait, working off a restlessness that had more to do with him than with any destination.

He'd left the speeder behind on purpose, back where he was staying, no engine noise to carry across the flats. There was a valuable wreck that could have great implications for the Iron Covenant -- but value drew in more scavengers than just Mandalorians. Out on the flat Dune Sea, Siv had to be as careful as he could to avoid detection. His beskar'gam absorbed the worst of the heat, although he was wishing he had some water recycling systems just about now. His survival canteen was dry all but for a couple of drops left, and in a rare lapse of judgment, he hadn't brought an emergency moisture vaporator. He'd been in too much of a hurry to get going, and now it was costing him.

He squinted his eyes as a rust-colored smear on the horizon appeared as he crested a dune. His HUD's macrobinoculars zoomed in to reveal the trademark sandcrawler landship of the Jawa scavengers. Not the foes he'd expected, but then again, Jawas were never far behind fresh spoils. Siv paused to take bearing of the situation, wrenching his helmet off his head to reveal dark hair matted by sweat that beaded on his forehead and the back of his neck. He turned and spat grit out of his mouth, which almost instantly dried on the sand under the intense heat of Tatooine's twin suns, while he considered the thing properly. He hadn't been hoping for company. He thought for a couple of moments before making up his mind and began to descend the dune towards the direction of the sandcrawler. Maybe the Jawas would have water.

As he grew near, the typical high-pitched intelligible chatter of the Jawa picked up. The chatter didn't stop as he closed the distance; it climbed, if anything, quick and clipped, though it wasn't hard to read the shift beneath it once the beskar caught the light. Fear had one sound. Opportunity had another. This was both at once, tangled, apprehensive, but eager. Several of the Jawas in the huddle backed deeper into the crawler's shadow as he approached.

Siv drew to a stop ten meters from them and held out his empty canteen, shaking it a little. The last drops rattled metallically inside. "Water?" He hoped they at least understood basic.

 

[Kalit D'wari]

A jawa came down from the Sandcrawler upon seeing that, noticing the visitor was clearly not a local and came looking for a bargain, he'd run back inside the Sandcrawlers entrance, taking out a clean Protocol Droid head, hitting the droid with a fusion cutter 4 times and demanding it translate from Jawa Trade Language to Basic. Using the droid's translation he immediately understood the assignment and ordered an Astromech R5 Unit to operate a moisture vaporator nearby, bringing 3 cups of water. The jawa would take the 3 cups and show them to the visitor. "Water visitor needs? 90 Credits, water not cheap here." While pointing at some credits with hope of a good sell

Siv Dragr

 

[Siv Dragr]

G U N S L I N G E R
Tatooine
​

Tag: Kalit D'wari

Siv, half-perplexed and half-amused, watched the Jawa's antics hijacking water from the nearby moisture vaporator. He hadn't noticed the thing when he'd approached the sandcrawler; he didn't know how to harvest from it either, without probably doing more damage than good. He was also surprised to see that the Jawa spoke Basic, although rudimentary.

"Water visitor needs? 90 Credits, water not cheap here."

Siv stared down at the Jawa, towering over the small creature. He reached towards his belt, where some credits would be... it wasn't there. He felt alongside his utility belt for a familiar pouch but his fingers felt nothing. Where the feth was his credits? He always kept some on him for a situation just like this. "I don't got credits," he said after a bit. "What else do you take?"

 

[Kalit D'wari]

Kalit, seeing the man's desperation for water in a place like this, he'd understand how to make a profit from it, and immediately offer a compromise in order to get something valuable simply out of harvested water from the air by moisture vaporators

"Alright, i understand you. Anything to trade, metal, scrap, droid perhaps? I will listen to whatever you can offer, visitor. A fusion cutter, some droid parts or power converters could be useful if i were to request"

He'd wait, crossing his arms, having placed the water on top of the R5 droid and awaiting a response patiently, hoping for something valuable to earn from this meeting
Siv Dragr

 

[Siv Dragr]

G U N S L I N G E R
Tatooine
​

Tag: Kalit D'wari

"Alright, i understand you. Anything to trade, metal, scrap, droid perhaps? I will listen to whatever you can offer, visitor. A fusion cutter, some droid parts or power converters could be useful if i were to request"

Siv scowled, crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto a back foot. He briefly considered the Jawa's offer, making an inventory of everything he owned. Armor, weapons -- nothing was scrap. He could trade away one of his tools, but if he were to need it later? What then? Apparently, there was no sense of hospitality on the dune sea. The thought that he would have to trade away something precious for water seemed almost ludicrous in every setting except this.

"Listen," he cleared his throat. He jabbed a finger in the air, past the Jawa towards the coordinates he'd originally been heading to. "Just five more klicks and there's a valuable wreck crashed down on that escarpment." The dark rise of a mesa jutted out just on the horizon. "I'll escort you, make sure no one tangles with your Jawa clan. And you can scrap whatever you find." Hopefully, that would be a good enough trade for some water.

 

[Kalit D'wari]

Kalit trusted the man and called out to his brothers. 10 Jawas came out with fusion welders and ran over to the coordinates to scral everything and get it ready for sales.

"Thank you, visitor. If you need more water, hit the droid and demand it to bring more. These clankers work well despite years of weathering."

He pointed to the Astromech unit, which was awaiting orders near a moisture vaporator. Kalit previously placed Droid Restraining bolts onto him, so he couldn't escape no matter what.

"If you wish so, you may stay in our market for a time. Although we move out in some time, we follow Nomadic ways, cannot stay in one spot for too long, a smart jawa merchant knows!"

Kalit pointed again, now towards a small camp made by his jawa brothers, selling scrap and various resources to wanderers
Siv Dragr

 

[Siv Dragr]

G U N S L I N G E R
Tatooine
​

Tag: Kalit D'wari

"If you wish so, you may stay in our market for a time. Although we move out in some time, we follow Nomadic ways, cannot stay in one spot for too long, a smart jawa merchant knows!"

Siv followed the Jawa's pointing hand, then back at the Jawa. "I need to see the wreck myself," he grunted. "There's... something I need to retrieve from it. I'll accompany your scrappers." He thrust his thumbs in between his belt and torso. He was being purposefully obtuse about his reason for being here; there was no need to compromise his mission integrity on behalf of the Jawa. "There'll be other scavengers heading towards the wreck. I wager your clan could use the protection of the Sandcrawler," he suggested, nodding towards the huge vehicle that loomed over both of them.