Shifting Sands

[Iona Starchaser]

Tatooine | Dawn, Local Standard Time | Somewhere near the Arceneau Compound



Twin suns began to peak over the horizon. It wasn't even past the standard hour for morning meal and it was already blazing hot. Sands swirled listlessly at his feet, continuing their journey across the barren landscape. Tobiah had landed The Wandering Rose not far from where he was standing but it now felt like an eternity. Honey-brown eyes narrowed at the landscape. He had to be close by to the location.


A glint of shiny metal in the brief distance. Perhaps that was it.


Booted feet started to carry him across the sands once more. Toby wondered why exactly he had gotten himself in this position. His legs had never been on the ground long. Part of his brain was still yelling at him for dropping out of the skies and kissing the dirt. Was it an impulsive decision? Maybe he was better off in the Rose, alone and slinking through the hyperlanes. The other, more sane, part of his brain was telling him it was time to grow up and stop running. Time would tell which would turn out to be the better option.


Sweat starting to break out across his brow, Tobiah wiped it off. The glinting metal was in sight. Exactly what he was looking for. A piece of experimental Salacia Consolidated green technology. Desert energy collection. Purely experimental in design and progress right now his little cousin had mentioned. Something had stopped working but no one knew what that something was.


Dropping his toolkit onto the blowing sands, Tobiah popped off the access panel, immediately shocking himself. Either someone had been messing with this or the design was incredibly shoddy. Eyes scanned the sandy landscape. They didn't detect anything but the winds and sand tended to cover up a lot in places like this.


The faster he got to work, the faster he could get back in the skies.



[member="Danger Arceneau"]

 

[Fiera]

Tatooine | Dawn, Local Standard Time | The Arceneau Compound


Tatooine ain't much for the typical spacer. Most see it as this backwater dustball, and despite the ample amount of economy growth with the Southern Systems Bazaar and Arceneau Trade, it was still considered to be a hive of scum and villainy.

But to Danger Arceneau, this was home. The desert to her had a certain beauty to it, one that few would admire. That was just fine to her. It meant that people would leave Tatooine alone and in her hands.

Which brought the reason as to why Salacia Consolidated and Arceneau Trade were working on conjunction on a program for desert energy collection. Green energy along with sustainable solutions for the everyday sapient.

It was because of this that ATC security would patrol the sector. Tusken Raiders were always some manner of trouble. While Arceneau got along with some of the tribes, there were others who were still more than willing to make raids for supplies or slaves.

Unfortunately for [member="Tobiah Dashiell"], that was exactly whom would appear along the nearby duneline. A wandering raider party looking to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them.

Tobiah Dashiell was about to have his very first Tatooine welcoming party.

 

[Iona Starchaser]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]



Elbows deep in the desert energy collector, Tobiah was digging around in the experimental collector. Something certainly had been messing around with the unit. A bit more digging and searching. A fist-full of wires were pulled out and Toby looked at them. Some looked important. Nothing he could do about it now.


Another reach and something slightly furry. He grasped hard and yanked. Out came a dead womp rat, fried from the electrical systems. Stiff as a board, Toby pulled it out into the sunlight and chuckled a little. Was this a common issue? Judah didn't mention anything to him. Perhaps he would have to track back to the Rose and see if he had any caulking or quick-gap material on board, seal up the collector tight.


Tossing the crispy womp rat into the sands, he bent down to pick up a few tools. Stopping to look, an uneasy feeling settled into his stomach. Probably from being on the ground in the middle of no where. Not exactly inviting or welcoming in his eyes.


Turning his back on the dunes, Toby got back to work.

 

[Fiera]

[member="Tobiah Dashiell"]

The shuffle of bantha feet would shift sand into the air. A gesture from a heavily wrapped arm in Tusken Raider robes would point down to the small solar generator and the man with the crispy womprat.

Well, that would be about the time a volley of blaster fire went pounding the area just shy of two meters from Tobiah.

A merry welcome to Tatooine!

The battle cry of the Tusken Raiders would carry with the wind, riding down their bantha's towards Tobiah's location. Off in the distance, just south of Tobiah's location, another lone party would give a frown behind the tinted orange goggles and the thick scarf wrapped round the breathing mask.

"Gorram it!."

 

[Iona Starchaser]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]


Back to the Raiders, work continued within the energy collector, several muttered curses echoing out from the hollowed durasteel. Engrossed in his work, Toby had zero idea of visitors until a blaster-bolt landed not too far from his location. Startled, he immediately lifted up his head -- only to hit on the durasteel inside the collector. He had briefly forgot about his entire 'head inside a collector' thing for a moment once the shot hit nearby.


Head smarting, Toby managed to quickly extricate himself and look about. Eyes struggled to focus on the landscape. Another bolt landed even closer. Things were slowly starting to clear in his field of vision. Some large, hairy beasts lumbered about. Another shot rang out from near the beasts. Someone was using them for cover or for mounts. His untrained eye couldn't tell.


Grabbing the tool bag, Tobiah started to move away from the location as quickly as possible. By doing so, this caused him to turn his back on the attackers in order to focus on struggling back up the dunes to the Rose. It was going to be a hell of a climb. Sweat poured down his face, down his back with the effort of escape. Heart races wildly. Struggling up the mountainous dune, searing pain ripped through his left knee, dropping him down.


He was shot. The bastards had shot him in the knee like some game animal.


"Fething bastards!!" Amongst other choice curses left his lips. The blaster bolt had done its work, slowing him down immensely. If they got closer, his only hope would be an electrical charge in several of the hand tools he carried.

 

[Fiera]

Things never go quite as well as one would wish.

Or in this instance, the 'Verse has a way of biting you in the ass and laughing at you while your kicked down.

Now Tatooine has its fair measure of beauty. 'Fiera' as she was known, knew this well. In fact, the arid landscape held a rather fond spot in her heart. From the Wound down to the Waste, from the Western Dune Sea out to the canyon riddled hills of Mos Eisley, there was a beauty to the desert few would ever truly appreciate.

Only thing is that much like a rose, the desert had some thorns. In this instance, some of the more raid happy Tusken Tribes made their presence known.

More often than not it ended bloody and violently.

Macrobinoculars a hue reminiscent to bantha dung would zoom in at the horizon. What she saw there made the woman curse anew. By all intents and purposes, she was dressed in desert gear. Loose fitting and a sand hue so as to not soak up the hot rays of the sun. A metal breathing mask was clasped tightly under wide polarized goggles, with a full gaiter covering her neck and head, her scarf wrapped tight enough to make her appear more like a man.

Wide tanned belt, sturdy desert boots, and a heavy blaster at her hip would complete the ensemble. Let's not forget the scattered shivs tucked here and there. She was clothed to blend into the desert much like the Sand People were.
The only difference being that she didn't have it out for the gorram fool who got clipped on the leg.

The raiding party was a smaller one; thank Inari for small favors. Looks like ten, what with their banthas and all. Another curse and she would toss the macrobinoculars over to her speeder. She traded it for the PharmaTech sniper rifle instead. With smarttranq's that would knock out a full grown Wookiee... this was no ordinary bad boy.

It might not be lethal -- kinda, maybe... we'll gloss over the dangers of overdosing and size differences between a Tusken and a Wookiee -- but it should do the trick.

At the very least to distract the gorram Tuskens for minute or two. At this distance, she could very well start sniping them off one by one.

She slid home the first tranq dart, locked it in, then brought the sniper rifle up to check sight picture and alignment.

The first dart went soaring with uncanny accuracy to tag one of the Bantha's on the neck. SmarTranq works quick like, with it metabolizing automatically based on species.

And the bigger they are -- as that Bantha would start to stumble right on its large feet -- the harder they karking fall.

[member="Tobiah Dashiell"]

 

[Iona Starchaser]

[member="Fiera"]


By now, Toby had abandoned hope of crawling up the dune with any real success. Between the knee that felt like it was on fire and the shifting sands, any sort of measurable speed was laughable at this point. Yet behind him he heard a great rumbling. Were this desert folks bringing out the big guns? Turning to look over his shoulder, Tobiah spotted the large beast tripping and stumbling. A bit of drool oozed out of its mouth to grace the sands.


With a great heave forward, the hairy beast started to fall. Honeyed brown eyes went wide. Tobiah scrambled faster,ignoring the pain in his left knee. It was a good thing too, a massive wave of wind reaching him. Sand flew in every direction. As he crested the ridge he could look back, the beast had crashed to the earth and sent the people chasing him scattering about.


Hobbling quickly to the Rose, Toby was soon inside the cool interior. Throwing the bag of tools down, he grabbed an antiquated blaster rifle and immediately made his way back to the open ramp. A warning shot went off in the direction of the scrambling desert wanderers. Toby had no intention of killing the desert dwellers, only to scare them away for a period.

 

[Fiera]

“Gorram it!” came the uttered curse, muffled and metallic against the breathing mask. Yet another bantha would surge forward, but her earlier tranq shot had certainly stirred the right amount of aggro. Now a few of the raiders would slow, sending dust devils up into the air as they would search from where the shot came.

Fiera didn’t give them the time to narrow it down. Another squeeze of the trigger sent one more smarttranq shot downrange, smacking against the thick furred hide of another bantha. A snort and a shuddering groan came after, as did the compact crash of a fully grown bantha onto the desert, it’s big massive body sliding forward with its tongue hanging out.

Yelps and more cries filled the air, gaderffii sticks waved in alarm. Already a few were starting to back up, moving to help their fallen comrades, some already leaving. Squinting her eyes, Fiera shot her attention back at [member="Tobiah Dashiell"], not a hair nor hide of him. Good, he must have gotten some shelter there.

Well until the pot shots starting coming out from the door. There was one or two Raiders who were ambitious. That first pot shot managed to scatter them, looking for cover.

Just had to deal with the lingering bits of riftraft.

 

[Iona Starchaser]

Several of the natives were scrambling about the area after his pot shot. Eye looked down the scope of his blaster rifle, using it more for the magnification then to pick off any of the natives. Toby wasn't exactly a season solider or sharpshooter by far to begin with. He knew enough to bluff his way through dangerous situations. It seemed to be working thus far, with the locals scattering as if he meant to actually harm them.


Who exactly brought down that massive desert beast though? Brow knitted in concentration as he looked and came up empty. Slowly the rifle lowered, the adrenaline wearing off from the situation. Pain from his leg was brought back into his mind.


See what happens when you land idiot.


Using the ramp braces as a lean-to, Toby slowly worked his way down the ramp, taking a look around. Blaster rifle trailed in one hand. Logically he should leave. Yet he wanted to know what felled the beast. Did the locals do it as a distraction? It would be his luck.


[member="Fiera"]

 

[Fiera]

[member="Tobiah Dashiell"] would not have to wait long to discern the origin of that tranq shot.

Rounding up on over the dune, an unfamiliar figure was silhouetted against the stark beige of hot sand and arid heat. In their hand was a long range rifle, dulled and painted to blend in with their surroundings. Had it not been for the movement that followed discerning the hum of a speeder engine, it would have been hard to pinpoint the stranger dressed to blend into the desert with their attire.

The rifle did not dip from the shoulder pocket, instead it would continue to site in. Another near silent crack of a shot went towards the last lingering native. The tranq dart struck right along the meat of his thigh, felling the Tusken Raider against his fellow raider.

With a strong hefty desire to leave the premises, and unaware of just who else might be near, the choice to scatter back into the desert was a mighty strong desire. Yips and calls of retreat would echo, taking with them the last of the raiding party.

Leaving behind the ship and her Captain.

Lips would thin under the breathing mask, and Fiera would finally drop the buttstock of her rifle from the pocket of her shoulder. Polarized goggles would swivel towards movement at the ship. One dark mop of curls and a rather wary figure came into view. He had a blaster in hand, and even from this distance, the slight limp was evident.

Guess this was the part where it would be easy to mistake her for one of the Tusken Raiders in the area. That's what happened when one would dress up similar to the Sand people.

Folk had a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later.