Wayward Forces

[Writer]

Tash-Taral​

​

Jaken Spaceport and Market​

​

14:45 Local Time​

Tash-Taral was like a second home to Mira, perhaps even more.

It was a place to escape when things were getting rough, so when she couldn’t be found anywhere else, one only had to look there. There were times where she could be found around the market and sometimes she could be found out in the Eastern Reaches, just before the Great Sea at her old home – AT-AT 1313. Atleast for now, Mira had found herself at the Jaken Market, browsing around at the latest trinkets and black market items for sale. She had always found it interesting how these items made their way to such a place like Jaken – being such a backwater town on a backwater world in the Outer Rim. Maybe the galaxy wasn’t as big as people made it out to be after all. Another thing Mira knew better than was to touch without any intention of buying. She had been accused far too many times of trying to steal and ended up having to steal it or pay for it in some form or fashion.

~Ah the good old days. ~ She thought to herself as she kept looking over the various gems one Rodian vendor was trying to push off to passerby’s. She continued on, heading towards the seedier parts of town. This is where she found Force relics and had once managed to scrounge up the Yoda relic. Of course that had taken some thrifting and even some stealing one might say, but she got the job done. It had turned out that it didn’t contain any real useful knowledge, nothing like the Codex of Tython that her mother had been the keeper of – the same Codex her mother made a copy of. Now the Codex was interesting, weapon schematics aside.

Mira looked down to Pixel and then ahead as they ventured further into the darker part of the spaceport. “Make sure you stay close to me. I would sure hate to have to buy you back again…or worse…”

The droid let off a soft groan, rolling closer to Mira. A series of beeps and tweets caused Mira to smile; she had figured that translated into what worse of a condition that Mira would have found him in. This part of town wasn’t for the faint of heart that was for sure.

[member="Felix Hardy"]

 

[William Bradley]

He had just arrived on Tash-Taral having been traveling weeks going from planet to planet searching black-markets for anything useful, or interesting to him. He wasn't in a particular hurry as he loaded off the shuttle and started making his way into the town and glancing around and reaching out with the force feeling the intentions and the minds of the people around him, he liked to make sure he wouldn't have to fight his way out of this one. He might have looked different from most of the people of this town, yet it seemed that didn't matter to them, even better for him. He looked in the marketplace his eyes glazing over the food and the other useless commodities.

He gave a long sigh as he finally found what he was looking for, a bunch of old relics laid out and the fat grubby man seeming all to smug with his finds. He would glance over them, seeing some "rare" possessions that he had seen a million time and a few unique articles. Nothing seemed to jump out at him, but they didn't need to, he would just need to feel if there was anything special in this pile. He didn't really feel anything of importance but he new impatience and lost concentration could cause him to miss a clue. He just kept feeling out with the force towards the table attempting to find something of use to him.

He closed his eyes in deep calm as he searched but after his searching finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing to find there for him. He gave a slight nod and moved to the next table, it would be a lot of searching today, he thought to himself as he made a note in his mind to check in somewhere before it got to dark.

[member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Writer]

Mira pulled out a well-worn, folded note and examined it for a brief second before unfolding it and reading over the ancient text. She had come a long way to seek out someone to translate it and the only person she knew was on this side of Jaken – as unfortunate as that was. The text had mentioned something of a great being, powerful in the Force. Most of the scholars had chalked it up to nothing more than common Jedi lore, written ages ago. Mira had a feeling it was something more. She didn’t seek riches or relics of untold power – she sought answers. Answers to the problems that plagued her.

Maybe whatever this page spoke of could help her.

She wouldn’t know until she tried.

Worst case scenario, it’d be a wild Bantha chase that made her end up some place like Ilum or Tython – or nowhere at all.

Best case scenario, well, the picture was pretty clear on that.

Mira continued to trek on, the air was becoming thick with the smell of sulfur and Force knew what else. Fires of red and orange illuminated the surrounding area, painting shadows across the darkened inner hull of the former behemoth ship. Mira felt a slight chill, causing her to shiver a bit as she reached the hut of the old woman. She took a quick glance about, slipping inside shortly after.

“Crona?” She called out into the dimly lit hut, blinking softly. Mira admitted that the hut of the old woman was no better than outside, it was nearly as smoky and just as creepy.

[member="Felix Hardy"]

 

[William Bradley]

He continued to look at the tables, nothing really drew interest to him, the smoke that filled the air plagued him and made him want to gag, he held it back, barely, but it still stung his eyes as he wandered around. He had hoped to find something useful here but for right now he saw or felt nothing calling out for him to go and find it, which made him even more agitated that nothing was to come of this adventure.

He stared out at the people. dirty, ragged, these people had gone through a lot he could tell, but he didn't care, or did he, a pang of sympathy ran through his body, he shook his head and attempted to rid himself of the thoughts. He could not, would not let weakness rule over him. He took a deep breath and continued his search for force artifacts, still not sensing anything.

As he continued to walk his ability caught something on the edge of his perception, not a thing, but someone, a presence within the force, he slowly made his way towards the hut that it was coming from but did not enter he just stood by the side looking at a nearby stand but continued to reach out and feel towards it.

[member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Writer]

The old woman crept from the shadows and held a bony finger towards Mira. “You’re late.”

Mira sighed softly and looked down to Pixel, gesturing briefly before her crimson gaze diverted back to the white haired witch. “It’s his fault. He kept wandering off…”

“Excuses! You know what you carry!” She spat, causing Mira to recoil slightly. “Give it to me!” She reached towards Mira, fingers curling inwards as if she were luring unsuspecting prey into the shadows. Mira reached into her satchel and pulled out a loaf of spice bread. Her gaze shifted from bread to woman as she handed it over.

Crona snatched it from the grip of Mira, like a carnivore ripping raw meat from bone. The elderly woman began to sniff the bread and rub it against her cheek, enjoying the feel of it.

Mira would allow her a moment with the bread before she interjected. “Crona, I’ve come t-…”

“I know what you’ve come to ask!” The woman snarled at her, snapping at her viciously before she turned and began walking to the back. “I will help you.” She said bluntly as she gripped the bread tightly.

Mira followed closely, quickly fumbling through her pack for the sheet that contained what she needed translated. “I need you to tell me what this says…” She pulled it out and opened it up, showing the ancient text to the old woman who glanced at it briefly before setting down her bread next to a closed pot.

Crona sneered. “It won’t lead you to the Netherworld child.”

Mira hesitated briefly but pressed onward. “Then I must know…”

The old witch let out a hearty chuckle, breaking the bread as she opened the pot and began to serve herself some stew which she had made. “You seek that which is gone…” Crona inhaled the steam from the stew, ohing and ahing. “The sword resting in the mists…” Her milky eyes narrowed as she slammed the pot shut hard, turning to Mira abruptly. “But you must know that the sword cannot be disturbed, the time for it is long gone.” A bony finger jabbed at the air between them.

Mira sighed roughly and looked around her, trying to find a seat before finally just sitting down in a huff. “Then explain to me what it is I’m to find?” She looked at the sheet and then to Crona. “This obviously leads to something that is meant to help me, does it not? If it doesn’t lead to her then what does it lead to?”

The witch let out a delightful cackle before turning back to the food which she had made. She murmured as she began to feed herself, cooing at the food.
“Atollon…”

“Atollon? Is that a planet? A city? A person?” Mira grumbled as she watched the old woman soothe herself with the food. She muttered and talked to herself for a moment, leaving Mira to wonder exactly what she was talking about. With nothing further of value to gain from conversing with the old woman – Mira left. She had more questions now than she did to start with. She flung open the opening to the tent with a huff, arms crossing over her chest as she made her way out into the open.

The sound of a soft beep caught her attention, her gaze diverting down to her right side.

“Eh? I’m just frustrated.” She muttered. “Now, we have to find out what she was talking about…”

And she was in the perfect place to figure it out.

[member="Felix Hardy"]

 

[William Bradley]

He listened intently to the conversation, she was looking for something... a sword perhaps? He wasn't really sure he kept his ear close as their conversation progressed, it seemed that she could never reach it even if she tried, but all the old lady had told her was something about Allon, and that's all she would tell the girl. He tried to figure out what was happening in his brain but nothing seemed to come to him, he didn't know the context, the words, or the situation so he was left clueless, but he did know that there was a presence within the force inside the tent.


When he spotted her he immediately knew that this was the presence that he had felt. Shrinking away to the shadows of the side of the tent he watched her as she moved out with a huff. She took a glance towards his direction but he was in the shadows already and was hiding well, he watched her and waited for her next move.

[member="Mira Rekali"]

 

[Writer]

Mira let off a sigh and moved away from Crona’s hut and towards the many paths that led to otherside of Jaken. A lingering sensation caused her to stop for a moment and glance behind her, vermilion orbs looking around. She attempted to pierce the darkness with her vision, wishing she could see whatever that was lying in wait for her in the shadows beyond – but apparently there was nothing there. With a shrug, Mira turned her attention forward and off she went. She had better things to do than worry about ghosts and goblins in the darkness. Without the Force and without being able to be felt, she was of little concern to anyone as it were. Her enemies wouldn’t recognize her and her friends wouldn’t know she had come back to this place – so why worry?

~Because your fear has gotten the best of you as of late.~ She quipped to herself as she pushed through the barricades, humming softly. She’d occasionally jump at a yell from a drunken patron or a shout from two aliens fighting over a gambling debt until Mira got to the point where she pointed to Pixel. “You need go ahead of me. Something jumps out – you sacrifice your metal body for me. I’ll rebuild you.” She chuckled softly. Pixel on the other hand, didn’t find it amusing. The droid let out a flat, loud tone as he rolled ahead of his Master, very slowly. If he was going to get chopped up – he was going to ensure that Mira got taken with him as well.

[member="Felix Hardy"]

 

[William Bradley]

She had looked right at him, but the darkness gave him the perfect disguise and she did not see the true darkness within.He waited for her to move off a ways before finally getting up and trailing her. He kept a good distance away not wanting to spook her, as seen by all the drunks that were scaring her it was easier then he would've liked it to be. As he walked past the drunks he silenced them with a wave of his hands as they passed out, apparently due to the drinks they had in their hands, but truly it was a simple work of the force, to shut their accursed moans up, it made him think of times that didn't want to be remembered.

He kept a good pace away and kept his time glancing around as if he was interested in something, anything in the small dinky town of Jaken. He did know a few things about the town from being in it. It was a poor town, and it absolutely reeked, some days it was good to be able to smell good, some days it seemed to be a curse. His eyes scanned her back as well looking for signs of any weapons or armor, but she didn't seem to have any. She seemed to have a very athletic appearance form what he could see from the back. He shook his head as he cleared the thoughts and continued to make sure he didn't get to close to the girl, wanting to just follow her to her destination.

[member="Mira Rekali"]