Treasure Trove of Junk

[Lief]

Omega Territory​

Several Years Prior​

Denon, a sprawling mass of urban living, deadlocked in a polluted atmosphere of grime. Hidden underneath the city-world lay treasures unseen to the general eye, heaps of trash and junkyards reminiscent of days and conflicts long since passed. To the girl who roamed its underworld this planet and its worthless, discarded items was a mini utopia. That which they toss to one side will not be missed, and that is their mistake, their loss. Today she had specific parts in mind to find, with the hopes of refurbishing a pair of blaster pistols. She already had their names in mind, which made her already attached to the weapons... And that in itself only made her all the more determined to fix them up and make them work again.

A disused junkyard lay up ahead, and the sight of it made her eyes light up in expectation. There was a fence around it, with a gate on the other side... There was a lot of Denon to explore, and not that much time left before the vessel she had been travelling upon left. The crew were impatient. Instead of wasting time she climbed the wire fencing and dropped onto the other side, into a thick layer of gunk. Yuck. The young girl stepped from it and shook off her foot, hoping to get most of the disgusting substance from her boots. "Way to go, Kai..." A frown settled upon her lips. This yard was larger than expected.

@[member='Tamara'] @[member='Connor Harrison']

 

[Connor Harrison]

A place away from others.

A place away from life itself.

The sprawling junkyard on Denon was perfect for Connor, allowing him to tighten and develop his connection with the Force. His E-Wing ship was docked by a small burning pile of droids, deactivated and broken down none-the-less, and the surroundings bore enough material for him to work with.

CRASSSSH

A large pipe slammed through the side of a pile of speeders.


PHIZZZ

Masses of electrical goods belched flame, sparked and imploded in smoke.


SCHOOOOM

A swoop bike catapulted through the air, upwards, over the other side of the yard.


Watching his work, Connor lowered his arms; his fists clenched tight as his eyes focused on his targets. Junk, maybe, but this was the perfect place to harness his power without the interference of others. No warnings, no criticism, no lecture. He had been subject to that once before and it had nearly killed him on Rhen Var. This was a new chapter for him, the Exile, and so would take it upon himself to build his power and his strength and seek out those in the galaxy who could offer him a path to follow.

Pushing back his long black greatcoat, he kicked up some loose stones beneath his boots as he slowly walked around on himself, taking in the awesome, eerie sight of the junkyard for his next target.


[member="Kyra Sol"] [member="Tamara"]

 

[Lief]

CRASH, PHIZ, SCHOOM!

Somewhere, further into the junkyard, a series of loud noises could be heard. Odd, considering all signs pointed towards disuse and abandonment. Raising her gaze she clutched at the rusted barrel she had just picked up and stared off across the durasteel ocean. The part was a little dented, but reworkable. She figured it would be a good back-up if nothing else, thus she slipped it into one of the many pouches on her belt and continued on, toward the sound of disruption.

Her hand slipped down to the back of her boot, slowly unsheathing a durasteel throwing knife. It had begun life as a twisted man's flaying knife, and under the watchful gaze of Thran it had been repurposed. The weight was lower, the balance almost perfected. It felt like an extension of her hand, and to hear it sing through the air... Well, that was something all together mystifying and wonderful. Music to her ears. With a heavy sigh she realised how much she missed her old mentor.

Shaking her head she continued on, keeping her eye out for more useful components for the blasters while ensuring her steps were careful and measured to avoid detection. Whoever was here, she wanted to see them before they saw her. It wasn't really paranoia so much as preservation: she was all she had in this world, with just fifteen years of 'life experience' on her shoulders. It wouldn't be wise to simply run in, guns blazing... Not least because she'd left her back-up pistol on the transport vessel.

@[member='Connor Harrison'] @[member='Tamara']

 

[Connor Harrison]

He didn't see the figure, but he felt a presence approaching him. His Force sensitivity was thankfully well attuned to his surroundings, and with no other beings around him, this sudden appearance was a definite threat to be aware of.

A threat? Maybe, maybe not, but he wasn't going to take his chance. He turned his head, trying to see the figure and listen for any sounds in the junkyard in the eerie silence. Nothing. Metal clanged on metal in the soft breeze and small rodents scurried around the garbage.

Looking to his right, a tall pile of machinery was the perfect point to get to a high ground. Enhancing a jump, he pushed himself up to a secure outcrop, reaching out to hold onto some piping to get his balance. It was good enough to be off the ground. Kneeling down, he held the pipe with one hand and watched below for a sign.

And there...there she was.

A young girl.

A small smile crept over his face.

Already he could tell she wasn't anything to worry about, carrying what looked like a blade in her hand. Dressed in what looked like greaser clothes, she was obviously a scavenger looking for junk to either sell on or steal.

Waiting until she passed underneath him, her careful steps full of trepidation and caution, it was only right to introduce himself. He let go of the pipe and pushed himself off, down to the dirt below.

Landing with a heavy crunch on the stone, kneeling to absorb the small fall, he stood and readied a blast to knock her back should she react hysterically.

"Don't. Move."


[member="Kyra Sol"] [member=Tamara]

 

[Lief]

[SIZE=10pt]The noises halted, much to her confusion. They had been so loud that she felt certain they would ring on for an eternity, but apparently not. Either they have halted their juvenile behaviour or they too are aware they are not alone. This would not be strange, considering the fact that she was just average – apart from the accidents – so if she could sense out another then others definitely could.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Her caution intensified, movements slowing to a halt, as this realisation sank into her mind. And then it hit her, the hairs on the back of her neck receptive and prickling against her skin. You are being watched, Kai… But the discernment came too late, and before she could act upon it a man stood before her. “Don’t move” he had said, but that wasn’t her style. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Rather than complying with this complete stranger she instead stepped to one side and turned her body swiftly to the side, giving herself optimal coverage without actually hiding; the width of her body now consisted of her side, as opposed to her exposed torso and the breadth of her shoulders. No weapon was loosed, she simply stood there.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“You would be a fool to try” she observed, unaware of his talents in the Force yet confident in her own abilities to handle a situation such as this one. The blade in her hand softly swept to and fro, rocking between her index finger and thumb. She perked a single brow, wondering who this hostile individual was and why he felt so self-important in that he would expect her to do as he commanded.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Kyra had been born free of a pre-determined purpose in life. She defined her own being… And no one would take that free will away from her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Connor Harrison"][/SIZE]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Well, she certainly was full of fire and spirit. That was admirable. She knew her defence, turning her body from him to reduce the target zone, and funny that was her first thought. Defence.

She even spoke with a fire and slight self-assurance. Again, admirable, but laughable.

Connor simply scoffed at her, and suddenly brought his left hand up in an underarm motion, palm spread, emitting a Force push directed at her body with the intention of knocking the girl of her feet and out backwards onto the ground below.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

[SIZE=10pt]She felt the shifting sensations around her body a moment too late, and the bracing of her body did little to really support her against the push. Instead Kyra found herself shot backwards a few feet, until she dug in her heels and caught in the junk around them. Oh, so he was a Force User, that explained a lot. A kriffin’ lot. She narrowed her eyes at the hostility he showed, and suddenly pushed forward. This was just a slight, however, as the moment she made it seem as though her body would be the threat she loosed the knife in her hand toward him. She knew the right spots, but rather than aim for anything life-threatening it circled in the air towards his knee instead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Not taking any chances she shifted her footing and leapt behind the old cockpit of a ruined ship, breathing heavy. Right now she could have done with one of those incidents… Focus, Kai, maybe it will happen… Then again, it was highly unlikely. With a grunt of pain from her abdomen she began to focus intently on her surroundings, but it wasn’t good enough. It rarely was when she tried to force it. The little spikes which appeared, the chinks in metal, in armour… Even in people, as she had learnt the hard way… They only ever happened when they wanted to. She was powerless to force it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Connor Harrison"][/SIZE]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Her resistance was good, a nice challenge for him, but the minute her blade came into view, he felt her aggression through the Force and a brief, surprising connection between them both as he reacted to her stance. He couldn't identify her connection, but....something was there.

The blade moved through the air, curling for a low hit, and Connor had to let the Force control his action and without thinking he span around 360 to his right, moving out of the path of the blade and spinning around like a fluid wheel to face her again.

But she had hidden herself, and it wasn't very difficult to guess where.

Time to have more fun with this little brat.

He gently raised his hands towards the old cockpit where he assumed she was, and gently began to apply pressure to both sides, making it groan and creak under the pressure he applied with the Force as his weapon. This should force her hand.

His concentration was totally on his own actions on the cockpit and cut himself off from everything else for a moment.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Her breathing was calm and quiet, ensuring that she was not so easily detectable for specific location. But soon the walls of the cockpit came crushing in on themselves, slowly yet surely, and she was clearly trapped in amongst the scrap. KRIFF. She backed away towards the adjacent entrance, where the junk rose up around her. Why do they always ruin the peace? All I was doing was trying to find a kriffin' power cell.

In amongst her anger and her annoyance she found a determination and focus unakin to any other. Her eyes narrowed and suddenly she could see it, the shining chink in the metal which made up the cockpit. She acted on instinct, knowing it would be gone if she left it for even a heartbeat. The Force flowed through every fibre of her being and out into the weakspot. The shatterpoint.

The resulting noise was deafening, throwing metallic shreds aside as the cockpit shattered outwards. Large shards made their way over to Connor but others still went in each direction away from her. "Will you just let me be? For kriff sake! What the feth did I do to you?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He grinned as he used the Force to crush the edges of the cockpit, thinking of her panicking; the look on her face.

Well, she dare show a front to him, it served her right.

"Come out, come out wherever you-"

It jolted him upwards, and catapulted his Force push back on himself. The crack and explosion of the cockpit screamed through his skull and the force of the blast mixed with his own rebuffed power sent Connor back a good few yards, arms splayed out wide. He fell with a hard crunch on the stone floor, kicking up dust and grit as small metal debris flew up and over him from the cockpit.

He laid there, a dull ache in his back and winded from the Force that pushed him back mixed with whatever had happened.

The girl...whoever she was...was she dead? Had he destroyed the cockpit with a Force greater than he dare imagine?

Well why did it explode outwards if he did it.

He closed his eyes and turned slightly onto his side, his hands and leg peppered with faint specks of blood that he thought was his own, at least he hoped the blood was his own. Getting his breath, he looked over at the dusty mound where the cockpit was, and there she was standing tall.

Holy hell.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

The girl's chest rose and fell in heavy breathing, her eyes narrowed in the direction of the man on the floor. She shook, hands visibly trembling - the Shatterpoint had taken a lot out of her, adrenaline coursed through her veins and her head throbbed unrelentingly. It took all her strength and willpower to remain standing.

Why does it take someone losing their temper in order to be heard?

Stumbling backwards she made a move to turn around and leave. The man was okay, she could see as much, but the same could not be said for the junkyard. Take what you have and leave, Kyra.

Thus she began to sprint away, still trembling, her breathing ragged. Tears streamed down her face, although she wasn't crying... Simply angry.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor felt her anger and her rage pulsing outwards, it hit him with the Force she had used to obliterate a good portion of the junkyard. Granted, it didn't look any worse off, but it was visibly shattered; debris, small sparks and smoke rose from the majority of destroyed junk.

He simple rested back on his elbow, watching the girl with great interest and slight worry as she began to bolt, there was nothing he could do.

Picking himself up and wiping the dirt off his greatcoat, Connor looked after her running away. He wasn't a monster, at least not anymore and he was simply testing his own power and control. There was no intent to hurt or destroy the youngster.

A small scoff erupted from him. "I'm sorry, little one."

She wouldn't hear him, but he was.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Still she was shaking, even when she turned a corner in the landfill maze and could no longer see him. In part she had lost her way, and eventually she hit a dead end. But she didn't care. A scream erupted from her in frustration, not particularly loud but angry all the same.

She kicked out at the debris around her feet before slumping down to her knees. She hated what she had been reduced to: Kyra was not one to lose her temper like that but the past few years had taken their toll.

Why had this man decided to target her and act the way he had? All Kyra was aiming to do here was find a few items to finish up her blaster pistol. It's as if he wanted to entice such a reaction, although I doubt he enjoyed the result. Not that she cared.

She sat there for a little while, staring at her bloody palms - she had fallen on some transparisteel when she dropped to her knees, both her hands and knees themselves had suffered for it.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He heard a shout, at it was certainly the young girl. Connor was still young himself, and didn't wish to see her suffer at his idiotic demonstration of the power he understood little of.

Kneeling and rooting his boots to the ground for a second, he pushed upwards to enable the Force to enhance his jump, feeling the air sail around him as he crested a small mound of junk, steaming from her sudden explosion of rage, and he landed with a stumble on the other side.

Looking left and then right, he saw the girl on her knees up ahead in front of a tall wire fence.

As best he could, Connor tried to sooth her with the Force as an extension of his compassion and his sincerity. He held out his hands as he walked slowly towards her, she wouldn't see him at first so he had only his voice to convince her not to demonstrate another of her tempers.

"Young girl, my name is Connor Harrison, and I apologise. I mean you no harm."

He continued walking, wary of what she may do.

"You're hurt. Please let me help you, it's my fault, and I'm sorry once more."

Too heavy on the apologetic tone for sure. He had nothing to lose, so could only try.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Something snapped her from her thoughts again, a voice. It was wary and overly apologetic.

Lifting her gaze she settled it upon the man from earlier, eyes hardening but not narrowing. It was more determination than disdain. She merely settled within herself to resist any further attempts he made at frustrating her. Mind you, he had tried to crush her within the cockpit... So in truth her reaction was warranted. But that was getting into technicalities.

"Connor" she murmured, more to herself than to him. Slowly she shuffled away from him, biting her lip to the stinging of her palms and knees. "What do you want?" she asked, he'd done enough already. Part of her just wanted him to disappear already.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

One thing Connor wasn't, was a babysitter. He may only be about 9, 10 years older than her at most, but he didn't need her attitude. From the minute he'd seen her she'd given off some strange aura to him. Sure, he wasn't a Master or even a Jedi, but he didn't have time for attitude. Yes, the use of his Force powers was probably a little harsh, but he was only human. And she did attack him with the knife.

He pointed at her.

"Hey, listen kid I don't want anything, alright? I'm just saying sorry."

Connor brushed his hands and nodded to her.

"Get back to your junk hunt princess. I'm out of here."

He didn't set out for confrontation just as she hadn't, but best leave before things got ugly.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"Then why did you act like you did back there? You could'a killed me!" she said, rising to her feet with a gasp of pain. Her palms were bleeding quite badly, and she could feel her trousers sticking at the knees. "You're gonna be all arsey with me because I tried to defend myself from you?" She shook her head, taking a few pained steps towards him.

"You don't even know who I am, why I'm here, what I'm doing. You just presume that because you're a Forcie you're above me and can order me about, tellin' me not to move? I had my time of bein' someone elses little slave and pawn, I'm not gonna follow your orders just cause you expect me to." He'd clearly hit a nerve with the whole ordeal, but she was calm enough that shatterpoint wasn't going to be another issue here.

"I'm Kyra, okay? I'm a nobody in your damned eyes, damn Jedi thinking themselves above everyone else. Or maybe you're a Sith, they're even worse." She exhaled slowly, physically trembling. She was so small compared to him, compared to the junkyard and everything else. It was times like these that she hated the Aquar and the Crew from stealing her away from her parents as they had.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

She didn't half prattle on, that's for sure. Typical teen. Connor smiled at his own resilience, but shook his head and turned to her, raising his hand to stop her.

"Ok, firstly - shut up."

She was rather irritating. He noticed her crimson palms, and fingered his belt to pull a small vile from the side. He tossed it over to her.

"Second, you owe me 25 credits for that vile. Pour it over your hand wound, but beware because it stings."

He crossed his arms.

"Third. I'm no Jedi or Sith. Both as bad as each other if you ask me. Do this, do that, follow me, follow him. No thanks, I make my own way. I am my own destiny and I do where I want. And I said sorry about the Force thing, but what the hell did YOU do? That was some serious power you have. What are YOU?"

He walked towards her at a lesurey pace, sizing her up.

"Number four is I wasn't trying to hurt, stop or kill you. I was simply stopping you because...I was bored. I'm not going to justify myself, I said sorry already, so drop the high and mighty act, ok? I'm not trying to do anything, nor do I want anything."

He was now a few feet from her.

"Five. I'm Connor Harrison. And it's been a pleasure to meet you Krya."

His hand shot forward, a small smile on his face.


[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She just stared at him; she had nothing else to say to him anyway. She was just about ready for him to feth off and leave her alone... A girl could dream, right? Sighing she dropped her gaze to her feet, but luckily spotted his throwing before she did so. Reaching out she caught the vial, bloodying it immediately. "I don't have any credits on me" she muttered, pouring the vial on first her left and then her right palm all the same. She'd owe him it as he said, didn't mean she had to pay now. She likewise kept the vial.

Kyra flinched when he turned the questions on her and raised his voice. "I'm just Kyra, okay? I've no idea what I did!" Even after all these years she hadn't found an answer to the incidents. When he began to move towards her she instinctively stepped back. Why the kriff had she left her pistol on the transporter again? Ugh. The knife was somewhere lost amidst the debris too. This was not turning into a very good day. Her knees stung as if they'd been crushed by a wompa.

"Nice way of relieving boredom" she muttered, not sold on the whole thing. And then he did something unexpected and introduced himself formally. He must've been being sarcastic about the whole pleasure bit as she doubted it had been anything but. Oddly she did not take his hand, she wasn't one for contact with others, but she did say "Likewise" by way of compromise. Why was he smiling?

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Well so much for trying to build a bridge; this one was a tough as a Gundark but as stubborn as a Bantha. He dropped his hand and gave a small shrug.

"Charming."

It had suddenly gone quiet, or so it felt, in the vast space of junk around them and the high fence leading out towards the planet itself. He rested his hands on his hips, looking around for something to say or do.

But he couldn't.

His eyes darted back to Kyra, another awkward smile flashed on his face.

The mouth opened...nothing came out. He wasn't going to say that. Try again.

"So what you..."

NO. Don't be so obvious.

"You call me a Forcie, but I think you've got something inside you too from what happened back there. It was pretty impressive!"

He nodded slowly, backing up his statement.


[member="Kyra Sol"]