Cossacks are Alsakans!

[Coffeeccubus]

[member="Terra Harkin"]

The vast valleys of Alsakan had one good hidden secret still left within its mighty cities. The grazing fine lands that are surrounded by large pathways inside to its grand mountains, is home to the mostly untouched hosts of Cossacks. Even if their weapons are up to par and such, they still graze horses and ride them, even into battle. The Cossacks themselves depended on what wealth they would usually get from trading, or something lime that. The clans wealth depends on how they manage to gain more of it. Some hosts legalized gambling and have casinos where revenue goes to their host, or some do it through trading. Either or, they were all fearsome horsemen too.

The Sipacs were among the more prominent Cossacks. Anna Shevchenka was a freedom loving Cossack whom had been training herself to ensure that someday, her planet will be liberated. The Sipacs had been under constant watch of the local authorities as of late. This has made her feel... Worried. She heard some tales that some Cossacks were being oppressed by having rights and their culture being taken away, having their children being sent into the army. These rumors started to make her sick. How dare they?! First, shooting Alsakans in demonstrations, now they want to take away the Cossack rights to exist?! How dare they...

Grazing to her horse, she begun to groom her gorse, which was an Alsakan horse. It's nice, brown and lovely looking. Tending to her horse usually calms her down, as it takes her mind off of things.

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

As the speeder rounded the turn, Terra looked over the documents that General Tethis had sent out. Several resistance cells had been mobilized to begin meeting various clans of the valley folk or horse riders as they were sometimes referred to as. It was hard to recruit in the cities when the Sith were taking up residence in the old military bases in them, and the planet was mostly that, just large connected cityscapes. The population that stayed up in the mountains was watched as well, but they weren't as considerable a threat given their lack of unity and low amount of technology at their disposal. No heavy blaster cannons, high grade explosives, or armored vehicles that could put up a real fight if they did rise up anyway as well. However, they did have bodies and that was what the former Special Operations General and now Alsakan Resistance Leader desired.

And so the various cells operating in cities near the mountains the horse people were quietly living in had sent out people to try and make contact. Terra showing up herself with just a small escort of two other resistance fighters. A man and woman each sporting armorweave armor beneath plainclothes and carrying a light repeating blaster each in the event things turned. . . .violent. Not that Terra expected or wanted them to as she could see the spread out village in the grassy valley below as the speeder made the turn around the mountain road.

 

[Coffeeccubus]

[member="Terra Harkin"]

Her horse softly whined and begun to whine loudly at the sound of a noise it heard as she grasped the harness and patted it's head. "Shh" she said to it and held it as she glanced over to the speeder sound noticing a few people, notably the way they wore their clothing. They didn't seem to be imperial troops but saw she had guards. She had her hand on the casing of her sword and glared at the three. She then saw that they were indeed not imperials and relaxed her hands as they got closer without weapons withdrawn. She patted her horse glancing over at the people that were flying towards their way.

She walked towards them as they stopped their speeders and smiled softly glancing at the woman. She looked pretty important. "Hello there. You seem to be a long way from the city." She said to them assuming that they came from the city. "Hopefully you aren't Sith Soldiers."

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

Just barely over the whine of the speeder's engine, Terra could hear the whinnies of the horses in the village as the resistance fighters' vehicle neared the hidden away home of the valley dwellers. It wasn't long after that that the group could detect the rest of a typical village's bustling noises. As they grew closer it appeared as if a woman toward the edge of the village was moving to intercept them, whether in welcome or to warn them was left unknown for now as the former naval officer began to slow the speeder down to a stop near the woman, her companions shuffling as they readied themselves to exit the speeder in haste if needed. "Well we are about as far from Sith as can be on Alsakan I suppose. By the way, while It's a nice day out I hope this isn't a bother, but could we speak further within the safety of the village. No need to let any drones that pass overhead see a speeder all the way out here am I right?" Smiling at the rather. . . .cute specimen for a horse woman, Terra hoped she didn't seem rude trying to speed things along. It was just a precaution she wanted to get out of the way.

 

[Coffeeccubus]

The looks do not deceive her. They apparently were dressed in something other than Imperial junk that the others would be wearing in the capital. Observing the more interesting looking people, Anna stood her ground. She didn't knew if they came to attack and raid or they came here in peace... maybe even help them against their struggle against the tyranny of the Sith. She heard the woman speak a bit more about the situation and nodded as she listened. She heard that she would wish to speak further within the village. She didn't seem to have any ill intentions, as they haven't open fired nor drew their weapons. With the mention that drones might pass overhead and such, she came to trust the woman a bit more, as they clearly were not their enemy. "Sure thing. But don't try anything or launch a surprise raid." she warned. "Sure, you may not look like you are from the capitol, but still. Anyone could be a possible spy. Besides, we Cossacks, especially us Sipac, wish no trouble around here." she grabbed the lead and bough her horse gesturing the three to come with her.

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

The Cossack woman seemed highly suspicious, but then Terra didn't doubt that the Sith had made rounds to the horse people by this time. However, they clearly hadn't been watching them too closely, and quite obviously because of the isolated villages low level of technology compared to the cities. The Mountains of Alsakan were expansive, but few, so there weren't that many cossacks, however, what numbers there were had taken to living more simply in the quite difficult to shape mountain ranges and the valleys within. It wasn't as if it was easy to mold the mountains into foundations for more cities so for the most part the rest of the planet had left them alone.

Now though, with the Sith occupation still present, the resistance on Alsakan sought to use them to bolster their numbers, and Terra would not leave empty handed. "Lead the way then. You're only half right though, we're not from the capital, but we are from Rucapar. We don't come to cause trouble, but I can't promise that the matter we wish to discuss won't result in some risk for your people. Ah, and to correct you not everyone in the capital is with the Sith. I do agree it is harder to invest a cell in the region given the sith's primary force, but given its size you can't be surprised that a majority of anti-sith elements are there as well. Still, I believe Rucapar is a more stable place for us, though I know the mountains even you Cossacks avoid is a considerable hiding spot."

 

[Coffeeccubus]

Glancing at the supposed Alsakan rebel, she nodded as she begun to lead the two into more interior of the host's territory. The Sipacs were more or less the more advanced Cossacks. They had a bit more advancements in their technologies than some of the other hosts, possibly due to their progression in the region in general. As they near more inside of the Sipac territory, Anna kept looking back at the Alsakans as she was still weary of their presence. She hears they are from Rucapar and the fact not everyone in the capitol was with the Sith. She hardly doubted this, but there was some hope. She heard about the mountains and nodded. "The mountains are fierce, deadly and scary." She said softly. "No one would dare venture to them unless they are madmen or resistance fighters. Us Sipac are neutral to the Sith but not me. I openly hate them." She said.

[member="Terra Harkin"]

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

While Terra had some difficulty following what the Sipac villager was saying because of her accent, at least it was High Galactic and not a dialect variant she had been told some of the. . . .less sophisticated valley dwellers were apparently known to rely on. High Galactic and Galactic Basic were the only languages Terra believed she needed, considering their viability across many worlds. In that regard she did look down on the cossacks up in the mountains. At the very least they should hone their communication skills so they could interact if necessary. "I'm a little surprised that your people are tolerating things, but I suppose given your isolation in the mountains, how Alsakan interacts with the rest of the galaxy isn't much o a concern since your a minority and those who visit the world come for our cities. All the same, the Sith are untrustworthy, they could easily decide to try and militarize things out here, or convert them into the hellish landscapes for their pet monsters. So I hope you don't mind if I ask why most of your people are content with waiting for the Sith to see them as a threat or obstruction to their control of the planet?"

 

[Coffeeccubus]

[member="Terra Harkin"]

Anna's accent was indeed sort of hard to follow along, as it had the Cossack sound to her words. However, she was indeed speaking in clear High Galactic, for she had been studying the language as she was with her family in Xenvaer trading off their wares and such they bought from the village. She glanced up and still had her hand at ready just incase if they really were trying to spy on her and her people to launch some sort of attack. She glanced back at them and heard that. Indeed, a minority, but still. She was skeptical. She glanced forward and closed her eyes. "It's that of fear. We don't know what tomorrow might bring us." she said to Terra. "We might be mighty warriors, but the Empire has far better technology and more soldiers than we have here with us. We're on horses, while they have mostly more advanced technology. Sure, we have speeders, but we primarily are a horse riding people. What else should we use other than our own things that we have here? To them, we're just mere peasant peoples ripe for the taking and easy to make us fall under their thumb." Of course, she knew her people were a hardy bunch, stubborn to be ruled by tyranny. The thing only is, they have no ideas how they can just stand up.

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

The response she received was not one that Terra was enthusiastic to hear. For one because it mostly avoided the subject and sounded as if the rural isolationists were content so long as they continued to quietly exist as they were. However, more importantly it seemed as if the cossacks were simply too afraid to take action when it ought to be clear they were deluding themselves in regards to believing the Sith would really leave them be. It made the resistance fighter take a deep breathe as she glanced about the village and back to her comrades before continuing the conversation. "That's exactly why your people should be supporting the resistance against the Sith with recruits. The Sith could stroll into the valleys anytime they want and cause great harm to those inhabiting this village and others. Doing nothing might mean the Sith would leave you be, but there's no guarantee of that. I know those of your people up here in the mountains don't particularly get along with the rest of the planet's government, but your people must be aware of the fact that they could at least count on not being attacked by them. The Sith could decide to stroll in anytime by force, demand that the cossack enter imperial service as fodder, or give up their homes for industrialization as impractical as it would be up here. Scared though some may be, wouldn't it be better for them to fight for what they know for certain was a peaceful existence rather than wait to find out if the Sith decide to make a move?" In many ways it was more dangerous for the cossack than the resistance. The resistance could hide among the people in the cities, which the Sith wouldn't just blow away. Out here in the mountains though, they might just obliterate the rural villages with bombing runs or artillery fire if they wanted to take offense to their presence.

 

[Coffeeccubus]

[member="Terra Harkin"] Anna thought about it as she fixed her coat. She hears that it is one of the reasons why her people should join the resistance. Her host mostly did not agree with the main government of the planet and well... Uniting the ccossacks with the rest of the Alsakan society was indeed somewhat of an impossible fest. "This is true. I've seen a few visit this host's village. It only happened rarely, but I've seen some being forced away. The smaller hosts are more of the victim of the Sith. But how are we going to face against an enemy with better technology? All we have is our blasters, horses and whatever local men we can manage to rally up. If you can indeed manage to convince the hosts to join you, then yes, I believe that the other hosts would rally behind you. But I must ask you, what would we Cossacks get in return for helping your cause? My main fear is that the Alsakan government of your resistance might attempt to assimilate us. Remember, though you are not Coruscanti, and thank goodness for that, Alsakanians have their ambitions too." She was quite worried about such a thing. She didn't wanted to see her people oppressed and assimilated... "Because remember. Above all else. Cossacks ARE Alsakans."

 

[Terra Harkin]

[member="Anna Shevchenka"]

Terra couldn't help but bite her lip as their guide brought up a point that left the Alsakan military woman struggling for an answer. In all truthfulness she couldn't give the cassock a clear response. After all, she could say whatever she wanted, she didn't have any way to prove it. It was a valid concern too, as well as a legit question. "To be honest I don't think I can say anything that can set the future. I do believe the General is of the mind to agree to such an accord, but after the fight with the Sith is over, I cannot promise at some point animosity wouldn't arise once again. We can indeed get along, we can fight the sith, develop comradeship, and officially document binding agreements, but I will not pretend to say it would last forever. I can say that with the people right now, fighting the sith is more important than anything. They are more than willing to put aside their differences, and more than willing to get along with the cassocks for a better future for Alsakan. I just can't promise such will last forever like in fairy tales like many hope they do." So long as the Host weren't unreasonable, they could figure something out for the near future, that much Terra hoped.

 

[Coffeeccubus]

[member="Terra Harkin"]

Anna really couldn't help but to just strongly doubt Terra. If she really could attempt to keep to her word, she could trust her. She took out her blade and glanced at it as she saw that the village was getting closer. It wasn't much of a village, more of a town that seems more developed than others. Many people seem to be dressing better than what the other Hosts have. The Sipacs were one of the more advanced hosts. She nodded hearing that and sheathed her sword. "I see. Well, my friend, if you can keep to your word, then I'm sure the Hetman might appreciate to know that there are actual patriots of this home planet. After all, we strive to keep our independence strong, and to ensure that it's kept strong. I know the Imperials do not want us alive, and I can see it within those damned eyes of theirs. If that is the case, consider me apart of this resistance. You might want to talk to the other hosts about this as well. Sure, there might be a few traitors who will side with the Sith, but together, we can overcome them, and ensure our rebellion is stronger. Just be warned, not many in the other hosts speak High Galactic like I do."