Sic transit gloria mundi
Kashyyyk. A jade green orb on the rim, home to countless beasts, vast forests with trees that seemed to have no end and Wookiees. What they might lack in language skills and finesse they more than made up in brute strength. As the saying went, sometimes it was best to let the Wookiee win before he ripped your arm off.
Alas, more often than not this planet had found itself encroached upon by intruders with less than benign intent, despite its isolation. Czerka had come to exploit its resources and acquire Wookiees as slaves, which made little economic sense considering that the furries were notoriously aggressive and droid labour was more efficient. Revan had come to seek an ancient star map left behind by the Rakatan. Trandoshan raiders regularly came to blows with Wookiee tribes, who often warred against themselves. Imperials had enslaved the natives to help in constructing a colossal superweapon that had been destroyed by a single missile.
Siobhan was not a history buff, but an Omega mercenary could certainly not complain about never having the chance to see exciting places. A thick, misty fog had enveloped Kashyyyk and from afar only the tips of the great Wroshyr Trees could be seen, rising into the sky like natural Towers of Bable. Some of them were rumoured to be four hundred metres high.
"You take me to such nice places, Boss," Siobhan muttered, smirking at Tegs. She kept an eye on the black-furred Wookiees, armed with swords, bowcasters and obviously their claws. Having the Force and a lightsabre might give her an advantage, but still she was not eager to face a horde of angry walking carpets, especially in such close quarters. They happened upon animal cadavres and corpses of dead Wookiees, some of them had been mauled, others showed scorch marks that indicated blaster wounds. As usual, they had been fighting between the clans, which incidentally made it easier for off-worlders to make a killing by pitting them against one another. She and Tegaea had come here to seal a deal with one of the more prominent Wookiee chieftains, who sought weapons and assistance against the Trandoshan pirates that were such a blight on this world. Given their history, Wookiees were distrustful off off-worlders, something even this more 'progressive' chieftain could not go against, so they had come virtually alone.
She did not need to invade their minds with the Force, something that only really worked on the weak-minded anyway and for which she lacked the subtlety, to sense the distrust the Wookies felt for them. "Off-worlders have only brought us harm and come to take our pups as slaves," one Wookiee she passed muttered, he was busy skinning a Kinrath.
"We must use them as they use us. It is the way of the world," another said, agreeing with the sentiment if not the conclusion. "They're foreign devils, but they have weapons. Otherwise they join their blades to that of the Trandoshan scum and it will be our undoing."
"And how much longer before they're not content with simple trade deals? We must be self-reliant and stand firm against their intrusions. I am loyal to the clan, but maybe Chieftain Grazkghul is right. He's the eldest, before the split he led us into battle against the lizard devils."
"Grazkghul is a Madclaw, the Shadowlands have taken his mind. If he had honour, he would stand with our tribe instead of slaying his own kind," he grunted angrily.
This fascinating conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of opening up to a larger Galaxy stopped when Tegs and Siobhan, along with their Wookiee escort moved past them, though the suspicious looks remained. For her part Siobhan looked nonchalant, sauntering, though she had picked up enough of their words to get the gist of it. The vast forests of Kashyyyk, the infamous Shadowlands, hungered, one wrong step might send them tumbling to a painful death. Her senses were more acute through her connection to the Force and she felt the raw, primal hunger, as if it was a being in itself and spread across countless predators, both nonsentient and sentient.
"Grazkghul will be finished once we've defeated the Trandoshans," their Wookiee guide assured them. "Then the tribes will flock to the banner of our Chieftain. The Madclaw talks like he is Bacca reborn, but at heart he is a coward." As usual internecine dispute had ensured that the tribes were almost as often at each other's throats as they were fighting the Trandoshans. Grazkghul - poor bastard, with a name like that! - was the elder brother of the Chieftain who had solicited their aid, some said he was the rightful chief of chiefs but had been cruelly tricked. Of course, his detractors said he was power-hungry. Siobhan was not very interested in it either way.
"And if this deal goes well, our big guns will help a lot in that direction," Siobhan quipped. The furry sounded a bit dramatic to her, but each to their own. Quite a profit could be made from harvesting wroshyr trees for timber, Woookiee fighters could make good recruits as well.
"Yes, but do not think our people simple. If you are honest, we will take your weapons, but never again shall we be serfs. Anyone who tries to oppress will be torn apart," he grunted.
Siobhan shrugged. "Preaching to the choir," no doubt he would not get the reference. "You don't like off-worlders and I don't blame you for it, so I won't lie with some sappy tale about how we're here because we're do-gooders. We do business, your Chieftain can give us a good deal, so we give you weapons and whatever else the Boss negotiates. We don't wanna rule, we don't wanna 'uplift'. We deliver you pay, beyond that we don't care."
The Wookiee scrutinised her, she could not really make out its expression, but she assumed he approved of her response. Then he grinned, revealing a row of long, sharp fangs, slapping her on the shoulder, so strong that she was lucky to keep her balance. "You do not come here with honeyed words about progress and development," he said gnomically, "not like the others that came before. Good. Our kind likes honesty," he noticed her lightsabre, still unignited. "Jeedai?"
Siobhan chuckled. "Heavens no, too whiny and mainstream! Just a girl with a couple kickarse powers and a laser sword."
"We hear stories of Jeedai that came in the past to aid our people. If that is so, their pack has changed much. We hear rumours that their Chieftain scurried around ruins while a great battle raged on the world they call...Anaxes. Is there truth to this?"
Siobhan could not resist laughing. "Oh, yes! I hear the people of Anaxes appreciated that the Jedi found sightseeing so interesting."
The Wookiee seemed perplexed. Clearly there was a dissonance between his expectations of the Jedi and reality. "On Kashyyyk, the Shadowlands would swallow them. It is the way of the land. But you're...different. You have fought many battles, off-worlder?"
"Yeah, natural selection's kinda in abeyance in their ivory tower," she said, then responded to his question. "A lot, all sorts of scum. We can swap war stories later!" It would give her something to do beyond standing sentinel while Tegs negotiated with the Chieftain.
So far only a few Kinrath Spiders had gotten into their way, easily dispatched with force pushes and a few strikes from her lightsabre. Those that were not ripped apart by Wookiees. They had travelled on the Great Walkaway for almost half and hour and when they finally passed yet another Wroshyr Tree, they happened upon a large wooden gate, guarded by Wookiees. Unlike their kinsmen, these ones were armed with blasters, albeit rather primitive models.
One of the Wookiees stepped forward, speaking in his natural language, which no doubt made the mercenaries grateful for their translators. "The Great Chieftain bids you greetings, off-worlders, and is glad to see you arrived safely. He requests your presence in his lodge so that the business might be concluded. We advise you not to stray from the city until agreement has been reached. Kashyyyk is a dangerous place and the Shadowlands have devoured many a skilled warrior."
Alas, more often than not this planet had found itself encroached upon by intruders with less than benign intent, despite its isolation. Czerka had come to exploit its resources and acquire Wookiees as slaves, which made little economic sense considering that the furries were notoriously aggressive and droid labour was more efficient. Revan had come to seek an ancient star map left behind by the Rakatan. Trandoshan raiders regularly came to blows with Wookiee tribes, who often warred against themselves. Imperials had enslaved the natives to help in constructing a colossal superweapon that had been destroyed by a single missile.
Siobhan was not a history buff, but an Omega mercenary could certainly not complain about never having the chance to see exciting places. A thick, misty fog had enveloped Kashyyyk and from afar only the tips of the great Wroshyr Trees could be seen, rising into the sky like natural Towers of Bable. Some of them were rumoured to be four hundred metres high.
"You take me to such nice places, Boss," Siobhan muttered, smirking at Tegs. She kept an eye on the black-furred Wookiees, armed with swords, bowcasters and obviously their claws. Having the Force and a lightsabre might give her an advantage, but still she was not eager to face a horde of angry walking carpets, especially in such close quarters. They happened upon animal cadavres and corpses of dead Wookiees, some of them had been mauled, others showed scorch marks that indicated blaster wounds. As usual, they had been fighting between the clans, which incidentally made it easier for off-worlders to make a killing by pitting them against one another. She and Tegaea had come here to seal a deal with one of the more prominent Wookiee chieftains, who sought weapons and assistance against the Trandoshan pirates that were such a blight on this world. Given their history, Wookiees were distrustful off off-worlders, something even this more 'progressive' chieftain could not go against, so they had come virtually alone.
She did not need to invade their minds with the Force, something that only really worked on the weak-minded anyway and for which she lacked the subtlety, to sense the distrust the Wookies felt for them. "Off-worlders have only brought us harm and come to take our pups as slaves," one Wookiee she passed muttered, he was busy skinning a Kinrath.
"We must use them as they use us. It is the way of the world," another said, agreeing with the sentiment if not the conclusion. "They're foreign devils, but they have weapons. Otherwise they join their blades to that of the Trandoshan scum and it will be our undoing."
"And how much longer before they're not content with simple trade deals? We must be self-reliant and stand firm against their intrusions. I am loyal to the clan, but maybe Chieftain Grazkghul is right. He's the eldest, before the split he led us into battle against the lizard devils."
"Grazkghul is a Madclaw, the Shadowlands have taken his mind. If he had honour, he would stand with our tribe instead of slaying his own kind," he grunted angrily.
This fascinating conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of opening up to a larger Galaxy stopped when Tegs and Siobhan, along with their Wookiee escort moved past them, though the suspicious looks remained. For her part Siobhan looked nonchalant, sauntering, though she had picked up enough of their words to get the gist of it. The vast forests of Kashyyyk, the infamous Shadowlands, hungered, one wrong step might send them tumbling to a painful death. Her senses were more acute through her connection to the Force and she felt the raw, primal hunger, as if it was a being in itself and spread across countless predators, both nonsentient and sentient.
"Grazkghul will be finished once we've defeated the Trandoshans," their Wookiee guide assured them. "Then the tribes will flock to the banner of our Chieftain. The Madclaw talks like he is Bacca reborn, but at heart he is a coward." As usual internecine dispute had ensured that the tribes were almost as often at each other's throats as they were fighting the Trandoshans. Grazkghul - poor bastard, with a name like that! - was the elder brother of the Chieftain who had solicited their aid, some said he was the rightful chief of chiefs but had been cruelly tricked. Of course, his detractors said he was power-hungry. Siobhan was not very interested in it either way.
"And if this deal goes well, our big guns will help a lot in that direction," Siobhan quipped. The furry sounded a bit dramatic to her, but each to their own. Quite a profit could be made from harvesting wroshyr trees for timber, Woookiee fighters could make good recruits as well.
"Yes, but do not think our people simple. If you are honest, we will take your weapons, but never again shall we be serfs. Anyone who tries to oppress will be torn apart," he grunted.
Siobhan shrugged. "Preaching to the choir," no doubt he would not get the reference. "You don't like off-worlders and I don't blame you for it, so I won't lie with some sappy tale about how we're here because we're do-gooders. We do business, your Chieftain can give us a good deal, so we give you weapons and whatever else the Boss negotiates. We don't wanna rule, we don't wanna 'uplift'. We deliver you pay, beyond that we don't care."
The Wookiee scrutinised her, she could not really make out its expression, but she assumed he approved of her response. Then he grinned, revealing a row of long, sharp fangs, slapping her on the shoulder, so strong that she was lucky to keep her balance. "You do not come here with honeyed words about progress and development," he said gnomically, "not like the others that came before. Good. Our kind likes honesty," he noticed her lightsabre, still unignited. "Jeedai?"
Siobhan chuckled. "Heavens no, too whiny and mainstream! Just a girl with a couple kickarse powers and a laser sword."
"We hear stories of Jeedai that came in the past to aid our people. If that is so, their pack has changed much. We hear rumours that their Chieftain scurried around ruins while a great battle raged on the world they call...Anaxes. Is there truth to this?"
Siobhan could not resist laughing. "Oh, yes! I hear the people of Anaxes appreciated that the Jedi found sightseeing so interesting."
The Wookiee seemed perplexed. Clearly there was a dissonance between his expectations of the Jedi and reality. "On Kashyyyk, the Shadowlands would swallow them. It is the way of the land. But you're...different. You have fought many battles, off-worlder?"
"Yeah, natural selection's kinda in abeyance in their ivory tower," she said, then responded to his question. "A lot, all sorts of scum. We can swap war stories later!" It would give her something to do beyond standing sentinel while Tegs negotiated with the Chieftain.
So far only a few Kinrath Spiders had gotten into their way, easily dispatched with force pushes and a few strikes from her lightsabre. Those that were not ripped apart by Wookiees. They had travelled on the Great Walkaway for almost half and hour and when they finally passed yet another Wroshyr Tree, they happened upon a large wooden gate, guarded by Wookiees. Unlike their kinsmen, these ones were armed with blasters, albeit rather primitive models.
One of the Wookiees stepped forward, speaking in his natural language, which no doubt made the mercenaries grateful for their translators. "The Great Chieftain bids you greetings, off-worlders, and is glad to see you arrived safely. He requests your presence in his lodge so that the business might be concluded. We advise you not to stray from the city until agreement has been reached. Kashyyyk is a dangerous place and the Shadowlands have devoured many a skilled warrior."
