Look How She Lights Up the Sky

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: FELUCIA
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
CURRENT MOOD: PENSIVE

Felucia was a wild planet, to say the least, even in the dead of night. The jungle wildlife was untamed, and almost untouched. Tall fungal structures, segmented trees, enormous vines, and colorful ferns dotted the landscape. Perhaps more noticeable than the flora is the fauna. The jungles of Felucia held many a beast. A peaceful jog through the woods could turn into a fight for your life at the tip of a hat. One said beast was crouched on top of a rather large mushroom. At least, Ghorua liked to think he was a beast.

The genetically modified Herglic lied on his stomach, macrobinoculars held to his deep black eyes. A few hundred feet away, a good-sized compound lit up the cool night. On it's walls, easily visible, men of various species patrolled the perimeter. The Shark smiled, his pearly white teeth glinting sharply. This was one of his easier bounties, surprisingly. He'd stormed Republic millitary bases, kidnapped a senator/Jedi, and held his own against various Force-Users. All of this was partly why he was here.

Ghorua stood up, to his full height of 10'5''. He wore his Koodan-Class battle armor, a second skin of matte-black durasteel plastering his body. His bandolier hung tightly around his massive waist, carrying various baubles and tools of mass mayhem. At his side, a mass of spikes and slobber rolled on it's back, expecting a belly-rub. Bones, Ghorua the Shark's pet Massiff, would be useful in this situation. Her nose had saved him on more than one occasion.

He took this particular bounty or a reason. In all of his other jobs, he was the 'bad guy'. The big, clunking monster that only cared for his own monetary gain, the one that everyone ran away from in fear. Sure, it was nice sometimes, but recently, Ghorua had been wanting... more. He wanted his life to impact others in a positive way. These thoughts were new to the Herglic, and he didn't know what to think of them yet. Perhaps it was guilt for all of the lives he's taken? He wasn't sure.

Ghorua kept his helmet off. His deep black eyes hung over the ground, seemingly humorless. Ebony skin lain slickly over his face. He was doing something good for once. Eliminating these thugs would be beneficial to innocent people. Somehow, Ghorua found solace in this.

- [member="Evangeline Cross"] -

 

[Evangeline Cross]

It had to be Felucia. Hot, humid, and steamy. The stuff of nightmares for naturally curly hair. Evangeline Cross was scowling—pouting, really—as she crouched low in the dense, twisted undergrowth of the sprawling rainforest, working her small fingers through the crowning glory of her long, dark curls. They were quite tangled.

That was it.

The girl dropped her arms to her sides. Exasperated and sweating, she rolled her eyes heavenward and puffed a deep sigh. It was there that she paused—gaze suddenly locked on the soaring cathedral of trees above her head.

Breathtaking.

Evangeline slowly rose, like a small doe from a thicket, the dreamy Felucian moonlight bathing her gamine features in a pleasant glow. Felucia, for what it lacked in temperateness, certainly compensated for in curb appeal.

“Cross—do you read?”

The girl blinked. Her eyes, large and almost violet in their darkness, seemed to suddenly return to the comlink strapped to her waist as if from a long trip elsewhere.

The cultured intonations of her voice rang clear as a bell. “I’m here, Master Senoku,” She replied, pressing the com nearly flush against the soft bow of her lips.

“Good. Remember your objective: eliminate the hostiles. The Council will be watching you closely—show them you’re ready for Knighthood.”

“Yes, Master Senoku.”

“And Cross—please be careful.”

Evangeline did not need the injunction. She was more of a brain than a fighter—both a thinker and a feeler more than anything. Her head ruled in combat. Her heart ruled everything else. It was because of this that she felt the surge of adrenaline rise in her chest—butterflies, as she might have called it when she was a child—as she examined the thugs patrolling the perimeter of the compound in the distance. They were easily two to three times her size, but who was counting? It was not difficult to out-muscle Evangeline. Standing a scant two inches over five feet tall, the girl was a kitten compared to most of the foes she encountered. But she was smart—smart as a whip, and highly attuned to her intuition.

And so it was with all the stealth of a jungle feline that the girl approached, moving low in the undergrowth, visible to all except for the thugs themselves, as the moonlight rippled off the lithe muscles in her slender back as she poised herself for attack. But first, she threw a rock.

Three of the thugs stopped in their tracks, their bawdy laughter from some crude joke dying off as they looked in the direction of where the rock fell. One of them nudged the other, and the trio—not overly burdened with intelligence, so it seemed—made off to investigate the source of the noise. Once they were out of sight, Evangeline rose.

“That was pleasant,” She murmured quietly to herself, but alas—she spoke too soon!

Whizz! Whoosh! Hiss!—blaster fire.

In an instant, the sleek hum of her lightsaber illuminated her face like an azure halo. Evangeline, though small and alone, was ready.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua the Shark kept low, observing the guard's watch patterns. He wanted as much information on the situation as possible before he engaged. Impatience is the death of so many hunters. Ghorua would've kept that way for hours, simply watching. He could've stayed that way forever it seemed.

Then, a shift in the watch. The thugs were distracted by something. The Hunter figured it was a forest beast. Rancors were often spotted in this area. Then they started firing. This caught the Herglic's attention. He spotted the familiar glow of a lightsaber, and couldn't decide whether to smile or groan. He had a very... difficult relationship with Jedi. Tedious.

Ghorua rushed to put on his helmet, and used his binoculars to see the new player. A small woman, barely poking above the tall grasses, standing defiantly against the onslaught of laser fire coming her way. From his vantage point above, he could spot five more goons rushing forward, to see what the commotion was. Oh dear.

A whislte. Bones stood up at attention, growling slightly. Ghorua debated letting the Jedi die to weaken their defenses. "Hold up, Balin," he said to himself, barely a whisper. "Doin' this for more than results. Good guy, good guy." The Shark ran to the side of his fungal platform, lifted his Massiff into his arms, and jumped. The ground was twenty feet below, but it didn't faze the goliath. The hunter landed with a loud thud, performing a roll as he came up. Bones flew out of his arms, growling. They were a ways away from the Jedi, but that didn't mean he couldn't help.

Ghorua pulled his rotating blaster cannon, the Spinster, from his back, and began to rev the tines. A cascade of red blaster bolts collided with a few of the brigands. They seemed shell-shocked from the dual-assault, not expecting a fight. Ghorua began to charge forward, keeping a steady stream of covering fire to help his new ally. At least, he hoped she was an ally.

- [member="Evangeline Cross"] -

 

[Evangeline Cross]

One, two, three. One, two, three. Evangeline kept pace with the onslaught of blaster fire as if it were a dance. Combat was not her forte, to be sure, but dancing…that was quite a different story. Even so, she would not be able to hold the thugs off for long, not on her own. A swift calculation between rounds of blaster fire told her that much. But what more could she do than put up a good fight—a good dance?

Thud. Crash!

Evangeline froze. Those sounds were never good.

The azure of her lightsaber hummed a deep cadence as, whirling around in a fan of dark curls and billowing white robes, the girl turned to face the source of those sounds. Dusky eyes widened beneath thick lashes, taking the shape of almonds. What she saw was almost enough to knock her back a pace.

The…thing was huge. Monstrous. The thing was a monster, in fact, the likes of which Evangeline had never seen in her brief nineteen years. Taut black hide stretched over thousands of pounds of muscle. Enormous head was bejeweled with big obsidian eyes. Massive hands gripped a cannon, poised to kill. Made to kill.

Evangeline’s breath caught in her throat, beauty regarding the beast. She wondered if she was about to die.

But there was no time to think. Cannon fire rang out into the night—hitting each target except for her. As if returning from a brief warp in time, Evangeline plunged back into the melee, silently accepting the aid of the beast for the time being as they fell into a mutual rhythm of combat.

One down. Two down. Three down. Four. The battle was almost won, or so it seemed—Hiss! Sizzle! An errant stream of blaster fire singed past the girl’s right side, drawing blood from the curve of her shoulder.

Evangeline groaned—whimpered, really—but kept on. The skirmish wouldn’t be much longer, not with the help of her new ally.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua surged forward, blaster cannon at his hip, releasing a wall of death into the fortress. Most of the border patrol were dead by now, but some had lived long enough to alert the rest of the bandits. A dull alarm began to sound from somewhere inside the base. Now they all knew they were under attack. Yay.

The Shark gunned down the final patrol-man, stopped his charge a few feet away from the girl and looked down. His breath caught slightly. He was easily twice her height, and his mass was enormous compared to her. Yet, there was something about her dark eyes, frizzled hair, and pursed lips that took his breath away. He studied her, again confused by her presence. He probably looked like a monster to her. To be fair, he was.

The immediate threat had ended, but it wouldn't be long before the rest of the thugs armed themselves and came out to attack. Ghorua didn't like his odds against so many men in such an open area. A tactical retreat was necessary. He smiled down to Evangeline, opal teeth shining in the dark.

"Hello there!" The Shark's voice was strangely silken and dark, his low bass smooth. "I just saved your life, and now we should run!" With that, Ghorua turned on his heel, and charged back into the forest, Massiff darting behind him, gesturing over his shoulder as he disappeared into the underbrush. Hopefully, the young Jedi would follow. If not, things wouldn't be pretty. Ghorua had seen how many men there were in that building. One Jedi might be able to take 20 soldiers. Maybe even thrity. But fifty-seven might be a little out of reach.

- [member="Evangeline Cross"] -

 

[Evangeline Cross]

“Hello there!”

Evangeline snapped to attention at the rumble of that silken voice, volleying one last round of blaster fire with the long end of her lightsaber before lowering its azure glow. When she turned, the sight of the beast towering above her was enough to catch her already shallow breathing in the snare of her throat.

The beast appeared even larger and more deadly up close. What was worse, he was baring his teeth.

No, Evangeline thought after what seemed like one long, frightened moment. He’s smiling.

“I just saved your life, and now we should run!”

The girl might have immediately heeded his injunction were it not for her large eyes registering on the toothy Massif at his side. It seemed like she’d really won the lottery with this one. She briefly weighed her odds of surviving in the company of the beast and his pet Massif versus staying at the compound and taking her chances alone.

Distant voices, angry and shouting, were starting to well up from inside the compound's walls. Somewhere nearby, a rancor keened a roaring response.

Evangeline suddenly felt very comfortable taking up alongside the beast and his Massif. In fact, she had already started running.

“Right—let’s go!”

The unlikely trio was off!

Evangeline, for what she lacked in stature, was a quick, nimble little thing. Her lissome body had no trouble twisting in and out of the dense undergrowth, racing through the cathedral of trees like an angel in flight. Every few strides, she would glance over her shoulder to ensure that she had not lost her new companions. Not that they were difficult creatures to lose.

“This way!”

The girl was leading them straight to her encampment. It was a bold move, but Evangeline was quick to trust, and there was no time to question the beast’s motives. Not yet. They simply needed to survive—to get themselves hidden, and quick.

“In here!”

Evangeline had set up camp in what appeared to be a secluded grotto; she now stood at the edge of a wall of thick vines, parting them like a curtain and motioning for the beast and his spiny charge to follow.

There were worse places to camp. A small lagoon churned serenely as it consumed the tumbling spray of a baby waterfall from an overhanging rock, the cerulean sheet of water distorting the mouth of a cave that lay behind behind it like a watercolor painting.

The girl was already slowly wading out into the crystal waters, the white skirts of her robes floating to the surface and unfurling around her moving legs like flower petals. The water depth eventually reached her chin, high enough to soak the ends of her long curls but not enough to slow her down. She balanced her supplies and sheathed lightsaber on the crown of her head with one hand. The waters were welcoming and clear.

When she reached the opposite shore, Evangeline beckoned to her companions once more before disappearing behind the waterfall, into the gaping mouth of the cave.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]​

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

"Right behind you!"

Ghorua charged through the underbrush like a rampaging rancor. While Evangeline danced ahead, Ghorua bowled over small trees and shrubs, Bones galloping behind. The foliage seemed to bounce back into place behind him, as if they had adapted against large beasts trampling over them. The sounds of angry men seemed to lessen as they ran. The Shark's mind wandered. Where were they going? The girl seemed to have a destination in mind. The Herglic shouldered another trunk out of his way as they continued.

As they approached the vine curtain, Ghorua felt his suspicions begin to rise. All the Jedi he had ever met had never resorted to trickery, but that didn't mean he didn't have to keep on his toes. He parted the vines for himself, the green coils pushing taut.

The Hunter saw her go into the water, and figured she must be insane. Where is she taking me? When he saw her destination, however, he smiled. Waterfall. Of course.

He waded into the cool pond, letting the sharp cold tingle along his massive body. He let Bones hop up on his shoulder as he waded. The water went up to his midsection, as he walked, each powerful step sending up a cloud of sparkling sand. He made it to the waterfall, and hesitating for but a second, he entered.

- [member="Evangeline Cross"] -