Noon on N'ildwab

[Toni Nova]

[SIZE=11pt]Blood. That’s what these mountains of red sandstone reminded Toni of, waves and piles of endless blood. The sun high over head beat down on them with a furry that threatened to make the flaming pain of this desert world even worse. The stone cropping overhead didn’t offer much protection from the heat, just from a sunburn.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She hated this planet, officially. Toni had been here for three weeks and there was nothing but sand, sand, sand, and more sand. Some third party who had only identified themselves as “The Regulator” had hired Toni along with some other free lance guns to steal a shipment from a few meager archeologists. Their guards hadn’t stood a chance against the ambush, things were going well--until someone got reckless and the planetary government got wind of their presence. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Toni squinted. Just beyond the dune she knew the soldiers were there, marshalling. It was a standoff. The way she figured, they were probably amassing a force large enough to crush what was left of the ten or so guns with her. Toni kicked a rock out into the opening. Or they could just wait for them to starve out, it’s not like they had much longer to wait for that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She sighed, sitting on the rough stone under her, laying her concussion rifle across her lap. Toni had given up on brushing the sand out. It was everywhere now, even where she didn’t know sand could go. Dying surrounded by sand. At least it makes for a cheap burial.[/SIZE]

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Spoiler

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[SIZE=11pt]The basic idea of this thread is a classic bandit-sheriff stand off. You can either join the planetary forces if that makes sense or join the merry band of ten or so bandits. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Keep in mind, combat is almost guaranteed so please be polite and don’t be salty here. Alternately, you could join as part of the mysterious Regulator’s forces--perhaps a follow up force he brought to make sure that his precious artifact is. Of course we all wonder, what could be worth so much trouble and so many lives?[/SIZE]
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