Kushiban Moru (Tionne/Etyk)

[H3xle]

​

Yinchorr​

​

Etyk found nothing more despicable than people attempting to utilize force to impose their rule over those who were weaker. People had been doing it to Kushiban for centuries, even at the Jedi Academy on Ossus, he was often assumed to be an exotic pet rather than an actual Padawan. How completely the galaxy had forgotten one of ancient Master Yoda's most important students, Ikrit! No, it was now up to Etyk to prove the worth of the diminutive lagoporphic race he was born into, and first on his current list of priorities was to find and rescue a dozen Kushiban who had been taken as slaves from a space port on Kashyyk.

Etyk had tracked the slavers to the border world of Yinchorr. He identified them as Trandoshans, an entire people who were stereotyped as slavers, and these guys wanted to perpetuate the stereotype. Yinchorr was a desert planet. Desert, as in sand, dunes, more sand and some random people who liked sand...not dessert as in delicious carrot cake brownies. Yinchorr was known for it's rather brutal history, the Galactic Empire had had a very strong hold on the world and used it as a training center for gladiatorial types. The Squall was said to have seen almost as much blood spilled into it's pits as was spilled in the destruction of Alderaan by the original Death Star. Etyk found that unlikely, if for no other reason than rapid ionization of a planets atmosphere would boil the blood to mist and then vaporize it into it's component atoms, no spill.

Etyk slipped from roof to roof, he moved fast when able to go on all fours and the mimetic fur his race was gifted with allowed him to ensure he blended in to the dun colored sandstone (yeah, stone made of sand. As if they didn't have enough sand) almost as well as if he had an active camouflage system built in. He couldn't just walk into the cantina after the Trandoshans like other Padawans, Knights and Masters could. The slavers would know what he was instantly and try to capture him and every one else would be clamoring to pet him. No, Etyk had to handle this like a sniper or spy, or a shadow. He had to follow them to their camp, then he had to wait for his chance and free the captives. He had an old corellian freighter lined up to take them all back to Onderon, where Etyk would have to make a report before he went back to Ossus. Come to think of it...calling a corellian freighter old was kinda repetitive...now that there was no corellia really...

Etyk shrugged the thought away and pulled out a monocle and strapped it around his head. It gave him an accurate range to a target and offered a magnified view. The cantina had one entrance on the ground and another on the roof, but no others so far as he could see, so he waited in a position that watched both.

[member="tionne thanewulf"]

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.​

- Jedi Master Yoda​

​

Tionne Thanewulf never took a student. Several reasons she often cited in front of the Council; missions she conducted were too delicate and there was little time for teaching, a padawan unskilled in Force cloak would draw too much attention and ultimately - the Coruscanti Jedi was not really ready to such a liability. Taking care of oneself was something she excelled in, but taking care of another - her confidence was low. It was with great reluctance she took upon the task of training a padawan, after the Order specifically stated all Knights should teach.

With number of Jedi dwindling in war against One Sith, every able master was expected to take on a student. Having spent several days reviewing records of aspiring Jedi padawans, Thanewulf came across a seemingly perfect candidate. Etyk the Kushiban was still without a Master. The Jedi probably deemed him too small to become a fighter, but diminutive size was more often an advantage rather than not. Tionne knew all about this, her own short stature and Hapan genaology the reason why she became a proficient mentalist. Not all battles were fought with sabers ignited.

Just as she was ready to contact Etyk and arrange a meeting somewhere in the forests of Ossus, the Kushiban slipped through her fingers. He took upon himself to leave the Jedi homeworld and save his fellow kin from slave traders. Kushiban were treasured as status symbol pets, despite them being everything but pets. They had an advanced culture, were quite tech savy, brave and righteous race. Yet they were adorable balls of fuzz with softest fur one could possible imagine. Also, he was easy to follow, despite his mimicry.

Atop one of the roofs stood Tionne, clad in sand-colored leather jacket and a pair of cargo pants in the same hue, her face wrapped in cloth to shield her from the sun. With arms crossed over chest, she eyed the sprinting Kushiban, only calling his name when he was nearing the roof opening of cantina.
"And where do you think you are going, Etyk, scourge of Kushiban?"

[member="Etyk"]

 

[H3xle]

"And where do you think you are going, Etyk, scourge of Kushiban?"

Etyk hadn't expected anyone else to be up on the roof, and he was moving at a very fast clip. Kushiban were very fast when on all furs, even without the force. The surprise of [member="tionne thanewulf"]'s speaking had him twist his head around to see who or what had spoken. The sudden turn of his head, when moving at such a fast rate, made him miss a step with his front paws. He rolled over in a mix of shoulder and forward roll, coming to a stop a mere meter away from Tionne, looking up into her face.

He took a moment to twitch his whiskers back into order, brushing his front paws over his face a bit and blinking up at the woman standing over him. He quirked his head to the side, continuing to blink for a moment before speaking.

"Watching that cantina..." He could feel the presence of the light side bleeding from the woman, though she wore no open indication of allegiance. He figured that he could trust the woman, or else she'd not feel so light. "...slavers have some Kushiban nearby. I'm shadowing them to find out where they are being kept..." He trailed off, leaving unstated his intent to go in and rescue them. This woman felt more powerful than he, so he figured the less he insisted on bending the rules of padawans taking on dangerous missions, the less likely she would be to turn him over to the council and have him in trouble.

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

"You're shadowing them...." she repeated his words and nearly bursted into laughter. A Kushiban with no Force training whatsoever and underaged by the looks of him, trying to save a bunch of his mates from highly hostile and vastly experienced group of slavers who outnumbered the Kushiban three to one. What a brave fellow, Thanewulf thought to herself and smiled. The rules stipulated he was to be brought back to the Order and properly sanctioned, but that would just be plain wrong. Such gallantry was to be comended, not condemned.

"Can I help you?" Tionne asked and leaned in towards Etyk - "I know a few tricks we can use."
The window opening was a few meters away, with cantina clamor audible even from where they were standing. Tionne recognized Trandoshan and several Outer Rim languages, and dissatisfied groans of a Wookie. Her senses were immaculate.
"But before we get in, we need to get rid of the Wookie. If we anger a Wookie, he will rip us apart. I've seen it happen before." she explained and smiled again - "I'm Tionne. And you?"

[member="Etyk"]

 

[H3xle]

"Can I help you?" Tionne asked and leaned in towards Etyk - "I know a few tricks we can use." The window opening was a few meters away, with cantina clamor audible even from where they were standing. Tionne recognized Trandoshan and several Outer Rim languages, and dissatisfied groans of a Wookie. Her senses were immaculate. "But before we get in, we need to get rid of the Wookie. If we anger a Wookie, he will rip us apart. I've seen it happen before." she explained and smiled again - "I'm Tionne. And you?"

Etyk blinked up at her for a moment or two, then he twisted around and stood up on his hind legs. He offered her his paw to shake. "I'm Etyk. It is a pleasure to meet you Tionne." Etiquette in the face of several dangers, this Kushiban was gutsy, likely having grown up hearing stories of Kushiban Jedi and other heroes of ages past.

Etyk crouched down then and looked at the window. "How do you propose we get rid of a Wookiee? The only thing I can think of is me going in there, slapping him and running off really fast...Wookiees aren't faster than Kushiban, that's a fact." He nodded rather sagely for a moment. "But that also just might cause him to laugh and stay there...and I don't want the slavers to capture me...it'd be very difficult to rescue my kin from inside the cage..."

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

Tionne sat down by the opening, her own body now at Kushiban's level. That way he wouldn't need to look up all the time. Also, they would spend some time up here, as Etyk had a lesson to learn. The redhead leaned in to glance into cantina's interior and asses the situation. Resourceful eyes scanned the perimeter and noticed no guards at the exits, but quite a mixed crowd inside.
"See, they are playing sabbac." she noted with a nod, then looked at Etyk - "Do you know the rules?"

Thanewulf did not expect the Kushiban to be familiar with this kind of entertainment as it was more suitable for the galaxy's underworld. He seemed young enough not to know of gambling, Corellian whiskey and deathstick.
"What we will strive to achieve is...to have them remove the Wookie. All we have to do is rig the game a bit. These people might be scum of the earth, but nobody likes cheaters."

Her gaze drifted between the Kushiban and table beneath them where spacers cursed in a multitude of languages.
"Do you see that stack of cards from which each round is dealt? On Wookie's right side." the Coruscanti asked, making sure her student-to-be understood what was the target - "When I tell you, move it with your mind into stack of Kashyyyk mop. Slide it under, using the Force."
Words of encouragement followed - "Simply will it, just feel the card under your...hand or paw. You can do it. With your midichlorian count, you will be able to do this with a Star Destroyer some day."

[member="Etyk"]

 

[H3xle]

Etyk's eyes brightened. [member="tionne thanewulf"]'s plan was indeed greater than his had been. It didn't mean going in there, possibly failing or getting captured. It, in fact, was quite the scientific plan.

"I see, by relying on mob mentality, we'll be ensuring that the other players shun the Wookiee out of the game and likely the bar. His protestations of innocence would likely incense the others even more!" The Kushiban was nearly buzzing with excitement, and he turned to the window to watch.

Etyk reached out and felt the card that Tionne had indicated through his connection with the force. He might be a young padawan, but he wasn't without the basics. Even if it was just the basics. He waited, neither moving the card nor holding it in place, until Tionne gave the signal. When she did, he smoothly slid the card she had indicated under the other stack, then let go of it with the force gently. He wasn't an extremely powerful practitioner, but he had control akin to a doctor with a laser scalpel.

He truly didn't understand how to play this game, but the plan didn't need him to. The plan called for mischief, which was a Jedi Bunny's greatest weapon.

[member="Tionne Thanewulf"]

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

Etyk's connection to the Force was just as profound as his midichlorian count suggested. The trick was flawlessly executed, much to Tionne's satisfaction. His effort was rewarded by a smile as the redhead leaned in to watch the show they've just staged.
"And here it goes...." whispered Thanewulf as she moved sideways for the Kushiban to take place beside her.

Just as the last hand of cards was drawn, Wookie's paw held one card too many. This card he had not been dealt, so he had to push it into the deck from his sleeve. It took only a second for other players to notice, several guns slinging from their sheaths. The Wookie growled in frustration, insisting he was framed. Trandoshans, on the other side, were known for their lack of patience. With the aid of two guards wielding electric pikes, the hairy monster was escorted out of the cantina. He continued cursing and sauntered towards another shady establishment just across the market square, to try his luck elsewhere.

Tionne then turned to Etyk as she rose to her feet and walked to the edge of the roof, ready to descend into the crowds.
"Why do you think it was essential to remove the Wookie from the equation?" she asked, testing his trail of thought. Obvious answers were usually incorrect ones.

[member="Etyk"]