Private Rann Thress: A Hurikane of Problems

[Rann Thress]

The shrill beeping signaling the ships automatic start of landing procedures emanated throughout the ship.

BEEPBEEP. BEEPBEEP. BEEPBEEP. again and again in the same monotonous tone, piercing into Rann's skull as he lay in his bed staring frustratingly at the ceiling.

"Yes, I hear-BEEPBEEP I hea-BEEPBEEP I GOT IT. THANKS." He yelled angrily as he rolled over and slammed the button for 'Clear All Alarms' before rolling back on his back staring at the ceiling, a single Beeoop playing. After another moment, the ship started to rumble and shake as it began to enter the atmosphere of the planet. At this moment, Rann had wished he hadn't ignored the earlier alarms signalling his exit of hyperspeed in-system and had gotten dressed and secured in the cockpit. Now, with the bouncing and rumbling of the ship as it descended through the atmosphere and came to a slow but still very sudden stop on the ground all Rann could do was wrap himself up in his blankets and groan as he was bounced around on his bed.

As the ship finally-mercifully came to a halt on the ground of the planet, Rann took but another moment to sigh, staring at the ceiling wrapped up in blankets, before he rolled out of bed with a groan and marched into the shower, disconnecting his robotic arm as he stepped into the stream. The water never went hot enough for him, somewhere between lukewarm and Hoth-ice, and did little to brighten his mood as he washed quickly, reattaching his arm as he left. Dressing in one of his more elegant outfits complete with a long grey coat adorned in golden ornamental patterns, he retrieved his Lightsabers and both his Comm-gauntlet and equipment belt, putting them on and moving to his cockpit.

"Genesis." he said sternly upon sitting in the pilot's chair.

Beepwoop? Came the reply as a small 8-bit smiley face appeared on the center console. "Give me all you know about this planet," Rann ordered. The little 8-bit face materialized eyebrows, and looked as if disappointed before a Beepooo? came through the speakers prompting Rann to gesture at the console with a finger, "Yes, again. I forgot, okay? Now show me the karking planet."
The little face rolled it's little eyes and a hologram appeared infront of the console of the planet.

Hurikane. Unaffiliated. Desolate. Native Population known for providing Hurrikane crystals, the display said, with other information swirling around the holographic planet before another quizzical Beep? came from the speakers. "Yeah I know I said I'd tell you when we got here, but I don't know. I don't know why we're here I just had a feeling. That good enough for you?" Rann asked accusatorily, drawing an angry frown from Genesis Beepwoopbeep!.

"Okay!" Rann sighed and buried his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. Alright? I didn't sleep to well. And your driving didn't help!" he said, pointing angrily at the console again. BEEEEEEEEEEP the little face responded, causing Rann to throw his hands up in resignation. "I can't when you're like this." Rann responded, swiveling the chair around and standing, leaving the cockpit amidst the sounds of angry beeps and boops, making his way to the landing ramp and pressing the button, lowering it. Beepwoop came from over the speaker, "I know, I can sense them," Rann responded as the landing ramp lowered all the way to the ground and he descended down it. The rocky canyons surrounding them hid many things, but it couldn't hide the roar of speeder bikes as they tore through the canyons towards Rann's ship. Ten in total, all with different species riding them led by some twi-lek missing an eye.

"Well well." the Twi-lek said as the other nine leveled rifles at Rann, "What do we have here?"

​

 

[Rann Thress]

Slowly and very carefully, Rann raised both his hands above his head, looking at the gang that had approached him as if studying them. He didn't say anything, opting instead to speak when spoken to. Too quickly, the thought of violence crossed his mind only for him to just as quickly dash it away. He didn't know who these people were, or what they were after. And although they immediately gave off hostile intention, Rann wasn't in a hurry to get into a fight. At least, not this early in his morning.

"You're quite a fancy man to be traveling out here in Wild Space, friend." The Twi-lek said, he must have been the leader. "Those nice clothes belong sat in some cushy office back in the Core," he laughed and looked at his friends, before his face turned to stone and his eye fixed back upon Rann as he leveled a blaster pistol in Rann's direction.

"So what you doin out here?" He asked, accusatorily, causing rann to shrug his raised hands. "I don't know. Musta gotten lost." Rann answered.

The Twi-lek raised his eye in feigned surprise and pulled the blaster off Rann, "Oh, well in that case-" He thrust the blaster back in Rann's direction and fired at his feet. Rann didn't move, staying where he was, staring at the leader who replaced his feigned look of surprise with a genuine one, once again pulling the blaster off of Rann. "Well sithspit you're not just some fancypants are ya?" he said, holstering his blaster pistol while his 9 friends kept their weapons trained on Rann. Rann, once again, shrugged, "I guess not," he answered.

"Well look here friend," the leader started, taking steps towards Rann and gesturing with his hands, "Mistake comin here or not, you're here now, yeah? So. How's about you, me, and my friends here take a ride back in this ship of yours to our base. There, we'll see about gettin you outta here safe n sound. How's that?"

Rann, still with his hands raised, smiled at the twi-lek. "Sure. Just a group of friends doin good in the community. Sounds good."

The twi-lek laughed, and slapped a hand on Rann's shoulder, looking back at his gang, "I like this guy. Get the bikes up the ramp and someone get to the cockpit. Jorol, hand me your cuffs." He asked as his gang began to move. Slapping the restraints on Rann, he looked at him. "You understand, don't you?" To which Rann nodded in the affirmative. Of course he understood, as he was led back up into his ship and sat down against a wall, with a rifle aimed at him.

These guys are amateur, he thought to himself, looking down at his belt, and his two lightsabers concealed by his coat. It would be so easy to reach and activate them and tear through this gang, but he thought better of it. Perhaps these guys were part of the reason he was called to this planet, and the more he knew, the better. So he sat, "Genesis." He said, the man watching him tensed his rifle. Beeop? "We have guests, do what they ask." Beepbeep. came the response, the man slacked slightly and chuckled. "You a coward or something?" he asked Rann, scoffing. "One man versus 10? A Coward? No. Not stupid." Rann responded, keeping his eyes locked on the man, whose smile faded, "Well keeping your eyes on me is plenty stupid. Keep lookin and I'll cut em out. How's that?" Rann nodded and lowered his head, not saying anything as the man laughed again to himself. Within a few minutes, the ship lurched to life and began flying in some direction, Rann was unsure which, and after a few minutes began a slow descent, followed by a harder landing then Genesis probably would have liked, but it kept quiet about it's frustration towards their new friends. A few more minutes, and the twi-lek came out wearing one of Rann's outfits and his metal mask. "Fancy mask you got here haha," he said, his voice metallic. "Hope you don't mind. I helped myself. You also had some nice alcohol and food. We're gonna help ourselves to that too," he said with a metallic laugh as he pulled Rann up and pushed him down the loading ramp once it was down.

Looking around, Rann saw more of the same group, about forty or so, milling around setting up camp or cleaning weapons. Over some tents Rann could make out the top of a ship in the near distance. Around were several cages, most empty, but every few or so had a rocky mass that looked a bit like insects, Rann figured those must be the natives, and a bigger tent in the middle of the encampment. As he and the Twi-lek approached the bigger tent, they were stopped by a guard wearing a full helmet, "What are you wearing Asher?" The man asked, "Some mask this guy had. I think it suits me."
"Whatever. Who is he?"
"Tourist."
"Okay. Didja check him for weapons?"
"Yep."
"Oh yeah?" The guard asked, reaching into Rann's coat and pulling out his lightsabers. "What did you think these were then? Flashlights?" The twi-lek, now called Asher, just stared at the guard. The mask hiding his reaction. "Whatever. Good job Asher." the guard said, sarcasm heavy in his voice as he opened the tent flap, pulling Rann in, but pushing Asher out when he tried to follow. "Go secure his ship, idiot." the guard said, following Rann in and pushing him down to his knees. Rann looked around the tent, in the middle was a metal desk, a Duros man sitting behind it looking at him, and behind him a wall filled with trophies of some kind. The Duros and the guard exchanged a quick conversation about who Rann was, and what he was doing there, before the Guard bowed to the Duros and left to go stand back outside. The Duros looked at Rann again, the two lightsabers on the desk as he kicked his feet up and relaxed back in his chair.

"So. What are you? Some kinda Jedi?" he asked, and Rann shook his head. "Sith?" Rann shook his head again. "Well, whatever you are, I don't care. What are you really doing here, Tourist?"

"I don't know. Just came here, I suppose. What about you? I imagine uh.." He shrugged and looked on the desk, spotting a small pile of purple crystals that he had missed on first glance, "rock collecting?"

The Duros laughed softly, "Yeah, of a kind. What's it to you?"

"Just making conversation."

"Well don't. Look. You have these lightsabers that means one of two things. Ya took em, or ya made em. So if ya took em, you're serious business, or ya just found em. But if ya made em? That means you're even more of an issue, so which is it? Took em? Or made em?"

"I made them."

"Well, that's a problem."

 

[Rann Thress]

The Duros man looked at Rann, his hands held over the lightsabers that lay on the desk.

"If you made them, that means you're some type of Jedi. Or Sith, or whatever. And that's not good for business," He said, pressing a button on his desk. A few moments later, several armed men, including the guard stationed outside the tent, walked in with their weapons raised at Rann, ready to fire. The Duros looked at Rann, then back at the lightsabers, then back at Rann.

"Tell me. Were you in my position, what would you do with you?" He asked, his eyes never leaving Rann's.

"I'd probably kill me." Rann replied with a shrug. "But I don't think you'll do that. At least, not as simply as just shooting me here."

"Oh? And why wouldn't I do that?"

"Because you would have done it already, for starters. And secondly you're not sure what to think of me. You're trying to decide if I could be useful or not." Rann, again, responded. His eyes kept locked on the duros even as several blasters were aimed at his head. The Duros pursed his lips together and nodded. "Perhaps." He said quietly, his fingers running over the lightsabers again. "Well, let's just ask then. Could you be useful?" He asked, at last.

"For you and your operation? No. As a ransom? Sure. I'm Darth Metus ' son." Rann said, somewhat proudly. He had grown to become a bit attached to his lineage, and his Father. It was only luck and chance that had him be his father's son, but it was still a point of pride for the man.

"Who?" Came the reply, which caused Rann's heart to fall just a little bit. "...doesn't matter,' he said, finally, "I'm a valuable prisoner."

The Duros thought for a minute, then finally, nodded. "Take him away," he said with a dismissive flick of his hand. Rann was then led to a cage near the outskirts of the camp. Several other cages littered the away, some full with the rocky natives of this world, but most were yet empty. After he was thrown in to the cell, Rann raised his gauntlet up to his head, "Genesis," he said as quietly as he could. The display on his gauntlet lit up, and the smiley face appeared. Beep? it asked quizzically. "Try to hack into their systems. I want to know why they're here. Exactly. It has to do with the natives and their crystals. Probably as simple as poaching. But I need to know for sure." He said, and cast a quick glance around the camp, spying a banner displaying an insignia. He drew a quick, rudimentary drawing of it on the face of his gauntlet, "and find out who these people are, what this means."

The face shifted into an annoyed, straightface look. Beewoop...? "I'm not a karking artist, alright? I did my best. Now do yours. Please?" He asked, lowering his gauntlet as the guard walked by, and raised it as he left. "I'll take drawing class after we get out of here. Promise." The face responded with a short beep beep beep that Rann always associated with laughing, then another Boopweep to acknowlege the order and begin investigating. With that taken care of, Rann decided to shift from sitting on his behind to meditating on his knees. Genesis would get him the information he asked for. After that? Rann would go to work.

 

[Rann Thress]

After several minutes of waiting, contemplating why exactly he had allowed himself to be taken captive, disarmed and thrown in a cell, the screen on Rann's gauntlet lit up and he opened his eyes.

Boowee. Genesis reported, to which Rann nodded. "So just some Pirates gathering crystals? Damn. I really was hoping for something a bit more.....consequential."

Boopweeoop. Beeeooee, the shrill sounds said, the face on the screen manifesting eyebrows and a disappointed visage.

"No I know. They're in trouble, so we'll help them I'm not upset to be helping. I guess I expected these guys to be...Big time. But... given the state of their camp. And how they handle captives.... I guess I shouldn't be surprised." He sighed.

"Oh well," he said, closing his eyes again.

Bee...Beepwoo? Genesis asked, confused, and without opening his eyes Rann responded. "Sun's still up. Guards still nearby. If I try to break out now, I'll be spotted and killed pretty easily. Might as well relax, Genesis. We'll be here 'till late. When it darkens, we go." Hopefully, by then his ship will have made it to camp, so that escaping would be available if necessary, and hopefully alot of these Pirates would forget Rann was here, and would drink and make merry while he retrieved his equipment.

raising his hands up and squeezing them tight, as if gripping something. The door to his metal cage in front of him began to whine as it started to bend and give way before finally, with a sudden movement as if ripping a poster off the wall, Rann pulled the door free from the cage with a loud clang.

"Someone will have heard that," he muttered silently, and stepped forward out of the cage. He listened for any sounds of approaching footsteps or conversation, anything to give away which direction would be safer to go, but any sounds were drowned out by general pirate merrymaking. Songs about pirate heroes of old or inebriated naval men and what to do with them. "Or....no one will have heard." he shrugged, and moved forward, keeping to the outskirts of the camp as much as possible while trying to make his way back to the leader's tent. As he made his way, he could hear the sounds of the natives of the world as pirates poked and prodded at them, trying to remove their crystals. He cursed himself for doing it this way, allowing himself to be at such a disadvantage. He had learned next to nothing. The pirates were no one, this wasn't some galaxy spanning conspiracy, and he had wasted so much time.

With an annoyed exhale, and a frown on his face, Rann turned into the space between two tents and bumped into someone. A twi-lek, wearing his mask about to undo his bottoms to relieve himself.

Rann stared, incredulous, at the man whose facial features were unreadable thanks to his mask, Yet Rann could sense his bewilderment that quickly turned to fear as he inhaled, preparing to scream. Too quickly though, Rann had reached out with his robotic right hand, seizing upon the man's throat and squeezing while the man tried to break the grip and push Rann away. In the ensuing struggle, Rann dropped around, behind the man and wrapped his arm around the man's neck, squeezing as hard as he could until, finally, the man went limp. Checking for a pulse and finding none, Rann dropped the man to the ground with a heft thump, catching his breath for a moment and allowing the moment to sink in.

He could feel the Dark Side itching inside his mind. The rush of emotions he had felt, the exhilaration. It was almost too much to bear, to resist and withstand. He looked down at the head of the man, and reached down to pull the mask off of him. He held it in front of him after freeing it from the cold corpse he had just made. He stared into the black visor that called him, promised him success... and wordlessly hung it from his belt, hidden from sight behind his coatand hopefully from his mind as well. Looking back down at the corpse, he spied an armband that bore the insignia. Strange I missed this before he thought, bending down and removing it from the dead twi-lek before placing it on his own arm.

Having recovered one stolen piece of his equipment, Rann quietly moved forward. Trying to inconspicuously walk forward towards the command tent, past a bonfire surrounded by drunk Pirates who gave him either a cursory glance or none at all, too absorbed in their party to recognize that they didn't recognize him.

As he approached the tent, the guard outside, not the same one as this morning, had also decided to partake in drink, and put up only a token resistance to Rann as he pushed passed the inebriated man inside the tent, expecting to find the commander there, but finding it empty after a quick glance

Upon the table, however, he spotted one of his lightsabers, seemingly untouched from when it had been placed there earlier. He must have the other, Rann thought, as he approached the table and re-armed himself. "One's better than nothing," he decided, hanging it on his belt and turning around, heading back outside the tent, intent on finding the leader of this not so merry band.