North of Thyferra

[Jsc]

​

TH.1004 - The Planet of Keith

North of Thyferra there lay the distant system of Kei. Home to a young blue star and her many planets. Inside the habitable zone of this small distant system lay the ever-changing world of Keith. A volcano world. The perfect setting for another adventure.

Much like the landscape of Sullust, Keith's surface was a mix black sludge, orange rivers, blue hot springs, vast oceans, and dark grey concrete plateaus. A no-man's land of bleak dull skies and sulfuric tasting air. Far from pretty and far, far from home. Yet somehow. Life found a way. Blame the shield-settlers from Kiffu or the organic transplants found in the vast coral reefs. Her sea life was plentiful, if alien, and somehow this small planet's atmosphere remained vivid and strong.

Given another few millions of years and a species of dinosaur or two. Keith might just be a nice place to visit. Well. Or. Maybe.

...

"...Or not? Ugh. Tsk tsk. Just look at that mess down there R2. What a barren place to visit. Let's set her down near the coastline. I don't want to scratch the new paint just yet."

~ Dweet dop! ~

Karen's little droid agreed. This was going to be some hike. Sheesh. Together they soared over the planet in their X-Wing El Cid. Getting ready for the start of another brilliant, volcano-filling day. It was time to find a good place to land.

_____

*ooc: plot hooks are available by PM. otherwise, drop in and enjoy!
[member="HK-36"] [member="Veino Garn"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"], [member="Veino Garn"],

Keith,
Surface,

The Force had it HK was already on the surface of the planet, his stealth-transport from that weird undead invasion a while back was somewhere in the planet's orbit, invisible, undetectable, piloted by the droid's own copies, beings he trusted the most in this Galaxy, since they were him in the end. Either way, he was standing on some black, charred rock among the miserable landscape, his silvery Phrik armor concealed underneath his dark, large chameleon cloak, letting him blend in against the volcanic stones even without activating its stealth field. A pair of macrobinoculars was placed to his photoreceptors, the device focused on the X-Wing whooshing across the red sky,

"Company."

The machine muttered to himself, deciding to investigate and probably ambush and rob them, that was a nice ship after all! Little did he knew it was Karen, who he knew well. Either way, he wrapped the cloak tightly around himself with a spin and disappeared as the material shimmered and rendered him invisible, bent on closing in on the position where the X-Wing was going to land.

But what brought him to the planet? Well search for unique and valuable crystals the planet was known for, at least according to the rumors he heard, while the machine recognized the price they could fetch on the black market, he was more interested in using the crystals to construct a new lightsaber for himself. Of course finding a lightsaber crystal proved difficult when one could not sense the Force and the whole planet seemed to glow.

 

[Jsc]

The Coast

Karen's X-Wing came to land on the dry black sand of Keith's oceanic coastline. Many miles from the nearest large volcano. She extended her ladder and dismounted the craft. Reminding R2 to look after the ship while she was away.

She wore a red flight suit in the standardized GA pilot patterns. Complete with a rebreather attachment to her helmet. A clumsy necessity with all the smoke and ash about. Though it did little to quench that annoying sulfur smell. Ugh. Gross.

Karen holstered her sabers and her gun. Withdrawing her phone and checking her GPS and wireless link back to her ship's computer. Okay. That's fine. Very little interference here. She should be good to go. Explore away.

"Okay R2. Everything looks green so we should be good for now. I'll check back in an hour or so. Stay with the ship, yeah."

~ Donk donk. ~

The little astromech acknowledged and wished her well. Sounding somewhat glad that he didn't have to get his feet wet.

"Welp. Here we go."

Karen trudged off into the squishy black sands of the coastline. Checking her phone often for clues about the surrounding landscape. Slowly veering south along the water's edge. Completely unaware that a very deviant [member="HK-36"] was probably sitting inside her X-Wing's cockpit right about now.

Poor R2.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"], [member="Veino Garn"],

By the time HK found the landing site of the X-Wing Karen was long gone, which was very unfortunate to the poor R2 unit stuck in the ship because if the droid saw its Mistress, then he would not have marked it as a target. But with Karen enjoying a nice romantic walk on charred sand, there was nothing stopping the sneaky droid.

R2 would suddenly found his communications to be jammed, and while the mech was looking away, the assassin droid revealed himself, casting his cloaking-cloak aside with a flourish,

"Hey cutie."

HK knew well about the various armaments an R2 unit could possess and how dangerous to other machines they could be. So he would rather not take any chances. He put his hand on R2's dome, it was covered in an Electro-Cestus,

"What is your name?"

The droid asked as his palm sparked up in blue electric light, to deliver a shock into R2's body and shut him down, just to deactivate him but leave him intact. Karen didn't had to worry, although the droid would indeed slip himself into her X-Wing's cockpit, and her R2 would be disabled, they would both be fine, undamaged.

 

[Jsc]

Karen stopped mid hike to ponder that strange feeling she was having. Hmm.

"R2?"

Her head spun around and looked back towards her ship. She was getting that spider-sense thing again. And that's never good.

"Bother. ...Now what?"

So much for a happy little exploration. Welp. Better go see what's going on. Otherwise the Force just wasn't going to leave her alone today. Sheesh.

...

It took only about ten minutes to return to ship at a hustling pace. The gravity on this planet was lighter than her usual habitat and it made for quick sailing. Even on both feet. So when she finally created that last sand dune on the beach, Karen got a good look at what was going on.

Was that?

"Somebody trying to steal my ship?"

Fascinating. Nobody had attempted that in at least three weeks. She pondered remotely activating the ejection cycle with a smirk. Thinking better of it, she jogged over to the vessel. Wondering how on earth a local could have outsmarted R2. Her unlit Lightsaber ready to go in her right hand. Just in case things got rough.

"Okay! Play times over! Let's see some hands buddy!"

Now, not every pirate spoke Basic. But that angry tone of voice was just about universal.

___

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"],

While Karen was getting her tingly spider sense on, HK was halfway inside the cockpit of her X-wing, going through her glove compartment, his legs dangling in the air.

"That is no place for a burrito."

The droid mused as he went through her stuff,

"Or underwear."

However, his looting spree would not last much longer as soon enough he heard the noise of rustling and footsteps in the distance, an alarm went off in his audioreceptors. He rolled back, taking cover on the opposite side of the starship to hide himself away from the sight of whoever was coming closer, unholstering his two magnetic revolvers just as he heard Karen speak up,

"Okay! Play times over! Let's see some hands buddy!"

He didn't recognized her voice, it was a common text color choice, HK scoffed,

"Big talk for someone who is about to undergo colonoscopy performed by my foot!"

The droid retorted, making sure his pistols were ready to go as he spun up to stand with the guns aimed at whoever was willing to challenge him over the ship,

"Prepare to die, you silly bi-"

It was then that the droid finally recognized Karen, pulling his guns back,

"-Oh hey Karen, what are you doing here?"

 

[Jsc]

Colonoscopy my blue-haired ass, them's were fightin... Oh?

It was just [member="HK-36"] . Huh,

"I'm... Um. Exploring. I guess. So, um. Wait? ...What are YOU doing here!?"

She didn't relent from her battle stance either. It still seemed appropriate for some reason. Maybe because he had been rooting through her cockpit, or disabling her droid ,or stalking her half-way across the galaxy again.

Maybe. Or maybe she was just mad that she wouldn't get to smack around another pirate.

Huh,

"And what did you do to R2!?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"],


HK spun the revolvers on his fingers, putting them back into their holsters with a flourish,

"I was looking for some crystals, I am working on a little project, plus another lightsaber could always be handy since the one I have cannot cut through anything."

At the mention of her droid he would dismiss her worrying and anger with a wave of his hand,

"Your droid is fine, I only used tactic static to disable him. You only need to reactivate him and he will be alright."

The droid looked back to her starfighter,

"You should really consider a better hygiene plan regarding the things you keep in that thing. I think there are some food stuff rotting in the glove compartment."

HK looked back to Karen,

"So you are a space-explorer now? Look at you, all grown up from being a military officer."

He quipped

 

[Jsc]

She snorted with a squint to her loathing eyebrows. Bah. Just like the Old Man to quip about her age. As if there hadn't been a million years between her service record and the strange 'present day' they all found themselves in. Sometimes Karen just couldn't up.

"I see. Well... I'll restart the droid then. And poo-on-you sir, for commenting on a ladies glove compartment. Tsk tsk. You better have not eaten my burrito either."

Actually. He was probably right about that glove compartment. She never cleaned out her car either. Bleh.

Karen returned from her battle stance and approached the ship. Meaning to restart poor R2 and get her com package back online.

"Yes, to your question. I am indeed exploring today. Faction politics has necessitated a return to governing my check book more closely. This very starfighter you so casually hoped to disadvantage is exactly the culprit too. Blast it all. My last repair bill following that damned Superweapon attack has left me nearly twelve thousand credits indebted. ...Ugh. Damn spaceships."

Karen wasn't exactly rich, ya know. While plenty of other Jedi had figured out the key to a more corporate brand of success? Well. Roberts remained less financially savvy. The fact that she flew around a prototype military jet fighter didn't really help her gas bill any either.

So yes. Exploring it was today. Time to make some money.

"And you? Crystals yes. Interesting. Couldn't have asked for a better planet then. This place is crawling with them according to scanners. An excellent pick, to be sure."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"],

((Sorry for the pause- Atrisia))

As Karenica started to talk HK would trot off some, turning to scan over the horizon,

"You better have not eaten my burrito either."

"With what?"

The droid asked before turning around to face her again,

"I have no mouth."

He paused before adding.

"Or stomach."

He stepped back closer to her,

"Say, you need money and I literally own multiple planets, I think we can work out a partnership deal here."

HK motioned back towards the expanses around them with his thumb,

"And yeah this place is teeming with crystals, but the problem is the ones I am looking for to build a lightsaber are pretty blasted hard to find when you cannot use the Force. I could use help from a guide who can help me out, and I will pay handsomely for your time."

He offered his hand out to Karen,

"So what do you say, partners?"

As he did there would be a flash of lightning and clash of thunder behind him to add to dramatic tension, perhaps the Universe was trying to warn her about making deals with the Robot Devil.

 

[Jsc]

Ah yes. Karen was familiar with HK's businesses. Echani Graphite having been used in no small number of her own electronic inventions before. It was true that she was like to be able to con him out of a few thousand credits here or a few thousand credits there. After all. What is cash is to a King? What is bread winning to a droid?

Still. The very age and longevity of 36 was not lost upon her too. Nor, was his rampant ability for mischief. Still?.. Beggers can't be choosers. And Karen very much felt like a poor old begger after seeing this month's phone bill. Sheesh.

"Very well. Mm. I shall be happy to accompany you on your search for a saber crystal. We can discuss price later. For now, give me a moment to get R2 back in ship's shape. I'll need his navigation systems transmitting again."

Karen climbed aboard her vessel and restarted her astromech. Doing her best to calm him when his whistles and warnings started flailing about. Finally. When the poor little droid was usable again. She dismounted and checked her map.

"Alright Old One. I have the location of a coastal stockpile not far from here. It is the first place we should begin looking. Let's go. R2 will keep us attuned of the weather as we travel. Lead on. Lead on."

She tapped her helmet twice and then began shuffling through the black sands of the coast line. Adventure awaited.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Saint Monica"],

"Sure, no problem."

The droid nodded to Karen as she said she needed to go back to R2 and get him transmitting again,

"I will be just over here practicing my moves."

As she went to work on the ship and her other droid companion HK put his hands on his hips, doing a little jig in place, bouncing from foot to foot as he sing-muttered to himself,

"Ya-da-da-da-da-da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-"

This would go on for a while until Karen was done and climbed out of her ship to join up with HK again.


"Oh, great, that was where I was going to go next."

It wasn't, he was going to go in the opposite direction,

"Hey, maybe I am Force-sensitive as well."

He wasn't, although HK was rather strong in the Droid-Force, also knows as "Science"


Shuffling behind Karen the droid would follow her as his cloak whipped and flapped against the wind into the rhythm of his movements, he allowed her to take point, after all she was the one who knew where to go,

"So what are you up to outside of exploring these days? Do you still work with the Pyre or old Protectorate contacts?"

The droid prodded, maybe he would even twist some information out of Karen regarding her dating life, ooh~