Star Wars Chaos : The New Generation

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] @Aella @Aela Darkstar [member="Micah Talith"]

Of course, when weapons were drawn down on younglings... it was difficult for things to really go much further down toward hell than they already had.

Difficult, but not impossible. Mara had strong opinions about guns, courtesy of a Warden's upbringing. She also had a pretty decent track record with telekinetic disarms, and the idea appealed to her the more that revolver got waved around. But she kept that particular card up her sleeve for the moment, because Zeltron telempathy was whispering two things to her. One, this girl was a bit of a blank. Mara could catch her emotions, but not her thoughts. And two, she smelled like crazy. The blonde kid was trying to resolve things, the other boy was asking about the Rebs, a tree was talking now...

And with a jolt, Mara realized that she didn't have to deal with this crap. Absolutely not her problem. Wooden sword flicking the heads off dandelions, she turned and headed for a nearby grove of trees.

 

[Aela Talith]

For a brief few moments she thought about giving a false name,

She had done so multiple times in the past, both when she was on Borleias and when she had been exploring the Senate building on Onderon. It had seemed necessary then, after all the name Talith did invoke some bad memories in certain people.

Yet she was here on Ithor with her mother, Kira Talith.

She was most certainly not using a false name, and if this boy was a Jedi, as his lightsaber suggested, then she would very likely be running in to him sometime again soon. She mulled for a few more seconds, observing him before finally decided that it was safe to use her real name.

“Aela.” Her voice was still that calm neutral tone. “Aela Talith.”

Bright orange watched for his reaction, if any.

 

[Juno Wren]

"Are you completely out of your mind?!"

!​

Go-Go twitched, free hand snapping up towards the sudden voice, a tiny little Verpine shatter gun clenched tight in her fist. She'd forgotten she had it tucked away in her armor, but her body hadn't. Her eyes followed half a breath after, widening almost comically when she saw just what had spoken.

...A tree?!! A talking tree?! A walking tree? She was confused at first, and completely caught off guard...and was it her, or did that tree sound distinctly feminine?

She gave a mental shrug: if there were telepathic trees, surely there were talking ones? Her eyes flickered to the others, to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She had hit her head pretty hard, for all that the pain was gone.

"Put that away," the tree said. Go-Go didn't listen. She didn't talk to trees, even if they did talk back. Better to shoot it first, shoot it later, and ask someone else about talking trees --

"No one here is a Sith," one of the boys said. He was a cutie pie, with chubby little bunny cheeks, shaggy, dark blond hair, and eyes as pretty and blue as Rattataki blood. "You fell out of the speeder. Are you alright?"

Awwwwww, he was so sweet! And his voice was so calming too! "Go-Go is fine little bunny." She smiled wide, giving her .357 a quick spin before she slid it back in its holster. Yep; the balance was still perfect. She'd been half-afraid she might have knocked something loose in the crash. She slid the little shatter gun back into her armor, and dug out a stick of gum before popping the pink, sugary goodness into her mouth. "Say, what's your name, kid?"

The scrawny girl turned and walked away, swiping at weeds with her stick. Maybe she didn't like talking trees? What if,,, what if nobody liked talking trees? What if this tree had been out here all alone with no one to talk to? Go-Go knew loneliness. It was terrible company.

"Hey, tree-lady-thingamajigger; come ere'!" Go-Go waved her over, glad that she hadn't gone with her first, second, and third instinct and pumped the tree full of holes.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] [member="Aella"]

 

[Lina Djo]

It was perfectly viable that a chil with ore knowledge of the galaxy and its workings were more capable than Aella at diffusing such a situation. Only times she'd had to deal with drawn guns, the general response was draw your own. But these weren't pirates nor smugglers. These were children. There was another response required by society.

She raised a bark eyebrow when the cry of 'Tree lady' reached her ears. "What?" she looked down at herself. "Oh!" Her skin warped, shifting at her command. Colour paled and texture smoothed inch by inch, revealing pale skin, clad in spacer gear, supporting a face with bright green eyes and blonde hair.

"I'm not a tree."

@SorJan Xantha [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Aela Darkstar"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] @Aella @Aela Darkstar [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Well things just went straight down the trash compactor then. Annoyance would flare over Micah's face, and it was a good thing that the other kid decided to go help the girl. He wasn't too keen on having a blaster pointed left and right, and while the alarm was there, it was mostly due to the rather careless manner she had waved it around.

Now there was a talking tree -- who said it wasn't a talking tree. Instead it turned into a girl.
More girls?

It was starting to feel as if he was back home again. His fingers would pinch at the bridge of his nose then he gave a sigh. His father would tell him that when he grew older, he'd change his mind.

Yeah, no.

"Great." he'd mutter, shaking his head. In that moment, he'd scan his surroundings. So where was the nearest exit?

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Letting out a breath that he hadn't even known he'd been holding, the small Jedi just seemed to deflate as he sighed in relief at the guns being put away. Not that he was really feeling all that much safer. The pink haired gunslinger was volatile, and that meant that the situation could change in a moment. Which, the girl with the wooden sword was demonstrating her high level of intellect, seeing a bad situation and distancing herself from it.

"Great."

The young Corellian heard that, and the way in which his eyebrows rose slightly would indicate his concurrence with the sentiment behind the solitary word. Drawing in a breath, the tow-headed boy straightened back up as he was asked for his name. "Sor-Jan," he answered simply. In these situations, it was always best to speak like a child. It tended to confuse people when they realized that he was a child... just not a human one. And, as a consequence of the different physiology, a little older than he otherwise appeared.

More mature? Not necessarily. That depended on how much sugar he'd had.

"...but everyone calls me SJ," the boy remarked, tacking that onto the introduction.

As the pink-haired girl addressed the tree, the small Anzat turned to look back at the boy with the orange eyes. Stretching out with his mind, the Corellian attempted to send a brief message to the other lad.

If you're going to go, you should follow the girl with the stick.​

It would be dangerous to stay.

...so how the feth was he getting out of this?

The tree-woman-not-a-tree had rushed to their aid, so Sor-Jan couldn't well abandon her to her fate with the teenage spitfire. Turning back to look between the two women, the boy watched as the woman altered her form. "You're a Shi'ido, aren't you?" the boy noted, with admiration clear in his voice.

That kind of physiological adaption had to take some skill, and no small amount of effort. Either of which was impressive by itself. Seeing it, seeing her, was truly remarkable.

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Aella"] [member="Aela Darkstar"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]​

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

“Aela.” The girl said in a calm tone. “Aela Talith.”

"Talith. Talith. Aela Talith." He murmered. "Oh..."
Then, he realized where he'd heard the name before: Back on Yavin IV. He leaned a bit on his walking stick.
"Are you Master Kira Talith's daughter?"
[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Juno Wren]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Aella"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

One of the little bunnies mumbled something under his breath, something that Go-Go suspected might have been derogatory in regards to her. Her trigger fingers itched, almost throbbing at the thought, but she managed, just barely, to restrain her urge to shoot his face off.

"Well put er' there, SJ!" Go-Go held out a hand for Sor-Jan to shake, all smiles, now. "Call Go-Go, Go-Go, though sometimes Go-Go might be Aela, or Nono. If Go-Go is Nono, run." Her whole demeanor shifted, sadness falling across her face. "Nono likes her cute little bunnies dead."

The tree transformed into a pretty, fair skinned girl with green eyes and blond hair. Go-Go smiled -- she liked her; their eyes were just about the same color! Besides, she was a pretty darn good shape-shifter -- shape-shifters made great hunters, and there wasn't much Go-Go liked more than hunting. To say she was impressed was an understatement.

"I'm not a tree," the former tree said. No, Go-Go thought, but you were a tree.

"You"re a Shi'ido, aren't you?" SJ said, more sure than questioning. Ooh, a Shi'Ido? That made perfect sense. No other species was so talented at changing shapes.

"What else can you change into?" Go-Go asked, not bothering to hide her curiosity. She reached out to poke the girl, to test her consistency.

 

[Lina Djo]

Wrong account

 

[Lina Djo]

Aella nodded once to confirm her species to Sor-Jan, with a slight smile on her face. It alway made her swell with pride at the regard her species was sometimes held in. Other times, more often than not, she was met with suspicion. There was little trust for a face that could change into anyone; friend, lover or foe.

She was less pleased with the poke she received from Go-Go. She took a small step backwards, just enough to take her out of reach. She scowled down at the girls hand. "Almost anything" she responded. " not so good at things that are larger than me though, such skill comes with age." She ran her eyes over the crazy one before shifting again, reflecting what she saw, down to the gun resting in its holster.

"I could be anyone." She shifted back, "most do not like this."

[member="Aela Darkstar"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Eun]

In the nearby grove of trees a girl leaned with incredible nonchalance against the glassy-blue trunk of a young Bafforr tree. She looked young, perhaps six or seventeen, with a bit of baby fat still visible on cheeks that were steadily turning into sharp, pale planes. Her long brunette hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though several strands had escaped and hung in annoying wisps. She blew one out of her eye with a quick puff, too lazy to use her hands, which were comfortably crossed under her chest.

Pale eyes the color of an arctic pond stared at the group of kids beyond with a hint of mischief. She wore a self-lauding smirk to go with it. As if somehow by right of distance from the squabbling she held the tenuous moral high ground of adult-y-ness. Whatever that was. Which was ironic, considering they weren't much younger than herself. In fact, one or two actually looked older. Like twenty-something. And they definitely didn't look like chaperones.

Wait, what? Ugh. Is he-... ugh. What a creep. Well, anything's creepy when a Shi'ido is involved. Not that I'm speciesist or anything but come on. Half my crew are obsessed with Draclau Industries and their "I can be whatever you want me to be" garbage. Ugh.

A lone figure wandered toward the grove, bearing what looked like a wooden stick. Except it had a cross hilt.

Well, somebody is old-fashioned.

Kate didn't spare a glance for the QQ-83n or the Vor'cha stun stick that hung with a comfortable and familiar weight on her hips. She was just wearing a flight suit and felt somehow bare without her armor, though obviously she wouldn't show it. Duh. Somewhere off in the grove members of her crew were busy haggling with the Ithorians about how many Bafforr trees they could take off planet.

Shorn contented herself with being lazy, watching the kiddies play, and feeling superior for no good reason.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Micah Talith"] | @Aera Talith | [member="Aella"] | [member="Aela Darkstar"] | [member="Mark Sage"]

 

[Aela Talith]

She nodded her head.

It was a good thing she hadn't lied then, this boy did indeed know who her mother was. That could have earned her a reprimand if it had been found out, not something that would have been pleasant.

For a few seconds her eyes lingered on the boy, then moved to his walking stick. She shook her head slightly, smiled, then turned back to regard the animals. He hadn't turned out to be a complete bore, but she was growing tired of simply sitting here. Calm and peace were all well and good, but even she needed something to do every now and again.

With a smooth liquid fall she dropped herself down from the rock, landing on her feet with a muffled thud.

She turned, looking back at the boy for a second as if she was checking to see if he was going to follow or not. Perhaps she would go and find Micah. He was no doubt getting himself into trouble. Perhaps this new boy could teach him how to behave.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Aela hopped from her perch. Perhaps Mark was actually making a friend on his own. He didn't do that much. Most of the time, he'd keep to himself. But, then again, perhaps she'd just grown bored. He did have a question before she left though.
"Uh, one other thing." he said. "I assume you're not here on your own, given who your mom is. I remember she was very nice back at the academy, but assertive. You look a bit like her, but anyways, that's not the point. Don't you have a few siblings? Where are they at?"
[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Juno Wren]

The girl shuffled out of reach after Go-Go poked her. Go-Go took that as a sign that the girl didn't like to be touched. She pouted, overly saddened by her reaction, and contemplated, for the briefest of moments, shooting her, to see if the girl would let herself be poked then. I bet Shi'ido blood is pretty.

Oh no. Nono was leaking through. Go-Go bit her lip, alarmed but utterly unable to do anything. If Nono came...Nono came. There was no stopping her.

The girl briefly turned into Go-Go, all the way down to her guns. Go-Go was impressed. "Oooooooh!" Go-Go exclaimed, bouncing on her tiptoes, clapping excitedly, her worries forgotten just that fast. "Go-Go sure would like to cut you open and see how you work!"


[member="Aella"], [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

Ithor.

What a boring mess of a planet. Nothing but plants and plants and hammerheads thrumming in their weird hammerhead language. Daria had been hoping to get someplace a little more exciting - like Zeltros or Nar Shadda - but stowing away was always a bit of a risky business, and not everyone in the Galaxy felt terribly inclined to fall for the 'lost kid' routine. Not that Daria was so pathetic as to pull off such a lame ruse, no sir. Luckily, Ithorians liked plants more than pretty much anything else - and Daria knew a few things about plants and junk, so maybe she'd get lucky and be able to make a couple credits here. Maybe not.

Adjusting the straps on her bookbag, Daria stretched her arms out languidly and helped herself to a long, loud yawn. It was nice to be breathing proper air again, at least.

Carefully removing a small pill bottle from her coat pocket, Daria retrieved a toothpick from within and gave a passing Ithorian an imperious glare for daring to look in her direction. Maybe it hadn't been. It was hard to tell. Better safe than sorry. Hammerhead jerks. Checking her credstick for slush funds, Daria decided to kill a couple hours bt slipping into a bookstore to browse. It was a nice way to waste a few hours indoors for free, and she might learn something new or interesting.

 

[Alnice D'Lessio]

Ithor.

What an awesome mess of a planet! It was amazing to see such a vibrant ecosystem, and watching the natives in harmony with the perfect arboreal biosphere they'd painstakingly crafted for millennia was a rare treat. Alnice had couldn't have hoped for a better place to meet the relay shuttle that would take her her uncle-in-law's place, and maybe she could stop here to rest for a couple of days and drop a line to Jorus and Auntie Alna to announce her arrival.

Fiddling with the strap on her courier bag, Alnice stretched her arms out wide and breathed in the sheer scent of life and peace. It was lovely to be breathing Ithorian air again.

Pulling her datapad out of her backpack, Alnice pulled up her local GPS and found the nearest bookstore. Not far! They tended to have a free holonet relay, and she could always use a new translator program for her datapad to help translate the natives' language while she was here. On her way, she gave a quick smile and a wave to a few of the Ithorians she passed by. They were all so awesome! And the gorgeous musical language they spoke...whoops. Distracted. Into the book stacks!

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Alnice D'Lessio"]

Even lost as she was in the bookshelves, Daria couldn't quite shake the feeling of being watched. Or maybe not? it was a mildly uncomfortable, antsy sort of feeling that was preventing her from really digging into Miraluka Physiology: Abridged Edition, Vol. 2 the way she earnestly wanted to. History books were best enjoyed in the queit, although having other people around had the added benefit of knowing that you were smart and sophisticated enough to be reading history books in your free time. That as a plus, and one she didn't even need, as they were just enjoyable to read, anyway, Daria was sorely tempted to spend her limited funds to use by buying the book, but decided against it. She'd come here to sit down and read, and she wasn't about to let a crowd full of morons interrupt that plan. No sir.

Tucking the heavy textbook under one arm, Daria fumbled in her pocket for something and produced a pair of old, horn-rimmed glasses which she furtively slipped on as she rounded a shelf on her way to seating - walking headlong into a girl with caramel skin and hair as big as her head. Both girls managed to avoid a head-on collision and only impacted shoulders, but still. It made her drop her book, she she wasn't a fan. "Hey. Watch where you're goin'." Daria grumbled unhappily, crouching down to pick up her own book - and whatever she'd knocked out of Alnice's hands.

 

[Alnice D'Lessio]

Alnice had plenty of pocket money for the moment. Her parents kept her on a strict budget, but that was less of a problem when said parents were pretty independently wealthy. She had a healthy amount of discretionary cash on top of what she'd set aside for rooms, transportation, food...and if she needed to, she could always find a local machine shop and freelance for a day or three to build some more capital. For now, though, she was sitting pretty with a tidy sum...which mean it was time to splurge!

A book on the similarities classical Kel Dor and Ithorian art would easily keep her busy for a couple of days. Learning more about those two great cultures, especially with how they adapted to having such famous Jedi in their ranks, would really help her come to appreciate her own newfound connection to the greater galaxy. She practically skipped up to the sales counter, so unabashedly pleased with her find as to be ignorant to the rest of the-

"Oof!"

Alnice fumbled back a bit, then looked to make sure she hadn't hurt anyone. There were some pretty fragile humanoids in the galaxy! "Sorry about that. Are you okay?" The young Lorrdian stooped down to help with the dropped tomes of ancient galactic lore, then grinned when she saw what her new acquaintance. "Oooh, McSannister's interpretation! I found it a little more complete than the Cohl projection, though there's a bit more jargon in this one." Naturally, it was easier to understand if you'd actually met a Miraluka. And had tea with them.

With a bright grin, Alnice gripped her own book closer and extended a hand in greeting. "Alnice D'Lessio. Pleased to meet you!"
[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Alnice D'Lessio"]

Daria grumbled under her breath and crouched down to pick up her book, noting that the girl she'd run into was both around her age and disgustingly cheerful. She wasn't sure what it was besides the smile - every tiny action and mannerism seemed to indiciate that this Alnice chick was genuinely happy to meet her, for some reason. "Cohl has the advantage of telling it like it is." She replied flatly. "I think McSanniseter relies too much on metaphor and stuff. Jargon. Makes learning anything from him like drinking a milkshake through a caff straw." She explained with an air of knowledge, tucking her book under her arm and standing upright, adjusting her glasses. Yeah, she knew her material, what of it?

Still, she shook the girl's hand, since it was out there. Such an outdated and boring greeting, really, but a staple. "Daria." She replied with an idle glance around. "You should be more careful where you're going. There's all sorts of people that'd take advantage of you skipping around with your head in the clouds - cities like this are full of pickpockets who use that as the oldest trick in the book." Daria advised authoritatively. Because Ithor totally had a ton of pickpockets, as if this were some classical-era novella filled with urchins and thieves.

 

[Alnice D'Lessio]

Daria's intentionally disaffected and cold demeanor was as subtle to Alnice as the mild radiation of a supernova. Of course, that wasn't a problem. Everyone needed to have their own persona to help them decide who they were. Rather than call her on her crap, Alnice made the conscious decision to encourage it, just as she would a foreign culture. One day, if her confidence had built enough, maybe Daria would ease out of it on her own. She didn't need anyone's help getting there.

The young D'Lessio returned the handshake briskly, bouncing just a little on the release. "Well now, that certainly wasn't the first thing on my mind! Glad to have you around to keep me grounded." Each and every movement the Lorrdian made was careful, deliberate. The precise manner in which she shook her hand, moved her body, answered her question, the exact vocal facial constrictions while she spoke...all of it was reflexively engineered to get across Alnice's intent.

And right now, that intent was 'I'm interested in your existence, let's go get lunch and talk.' Of course, body language wasn't proper communication around normal humans...so Alnice supplemented it with actual speech. "Hey, wanna go grab something to eat? I haven't had anyone I could talk to about this kinda stuff since I left home."
[member="Daria Cavill"]