Private We've Been Through The Desert

[Naamino Zuukamano]

Gear
Belt of Strength, Field Com-Scan Link, Irodinian Robes
Well Worn Boots, Model 6 modular backpack w/ provisions

Korriban
Streets of Vardin
​

"Sentimental" wasn't something that most who knew him would accuse Naamino of being. Micah tol Powl had probably learned better by now though. The zabrak refused to call their vehicle Project #7 and he scoffed at the idea of referring to it as the Cat Carrier given how often he was in the driver's seat. So he'd affectionately started referring to it as the Speeder With No Name because he insisted that "one day she'll have a proper name". As best Micah could tell, it was some weird military thing - to assign a pseudomystical sense of personhood to vehicles, even those without any kind of sophisticated AI onboard.

"You remembered to pack everything you need, yeah?" Icy blue eyes were fixed on busy streets within the capital city as he drove, Naami having insisted on the detour for one last great meal before they set out.

"Been really lookin' forward to this!"

The truth of those words was apparent in the dimpled grin on his face and the way he pushed their metal steed to its limits while just barely adhering to local traffic laws. When it was just him and Micah, he seemed to come fully out of the cold spiky armor he wore for so much of his existence. Soon though they broke through the hustle and bustle, skirting along a couple of industrial side roads before breaking out into the desert proper. When they did, Naami punched controls to seamlessly swap out the all season tired for repulsorlift instead.

Micah had of course been entrusted with the sacred duty of roadtrip DJ and Naami really let loose once they properly left society behind them. The teen pocketed the wayfinder back when they'd first made this trek under very different circumstances. The strange artefact now sat perched precariously on the dashboard where Naami occasionally brushed a knuckle over it as if for luck, or perhaps guidance. But his general demeanor was one of ease and confidence, his horned profile standing out brightly against the relatively dark backdrop of the speeder's interior. Sand sprayed out from under them as kilometers disapeared behind them.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

"You remembered to pack everything you need, yeah?"

"Meow," the boy uttered, an autonomous response, as he'd already tuned the Zabrak out as he lost himself in one of the lightsaber technical manuals that he'd brought along for this...

...what did one call this?

Sacred? An outing? A ritual? What they'd done before had been called a pilgrimage, but it had felt more like the standard Sith test that was harder than it needed to be in order to make a point that was usually quite useless in the face of the high bar one had to achieve in order to learn said lesson and live through the experience.

Was this a quest? Because it was also kind of a homework assignment.

Whatever. He wasn't meaning to be rude toward Naamino Zuukamano but he was also three chapters into the focusing lens assembly. Which, was kind of insane that it needed three chapters, but apparently there was a whole thing to determine if one needed a concave or convex assembly.

"If we'd taken the 257 interchange to Tarkin, we'd have saved three minutes. But that's none of my business."

Of course, while the cat might have tuned out the Iridonian, the cat carrier's onboard droid had not.

"Been really lookin' forward to this!"

"Oh, yeah," the boy remarked. No, he wasn't listening. The next chapter was detailing the steps necessary to prevent a feedback loop from forming between the energy discharge cell and the emitter matrix.

He should definitely start taking some notes. Spinning around in his seat, the boy dived into the backpack to pull out his holo-journal before slumping back down again. Setting to work, he began making a rough diagram based on the descriptions in the manual.

It was a rather complex, but otherwise mechanical process. Sure, there was an aspect of the Force to it, but it otherwise followed a logical process of simple physics. Did the place where one constructed such a device really matter?

Of course, some Sith were just particular. Such as Iridonians who disliked calling it a cat carrier.

It got him from point A to point B. Ergo, cat carrier. It was a perfectly apt description for what it was!

...maybe he'd be happier if they called it a part-time Iridonian butt warmer?

The boy suddenly looked up, as if realizing something was missing. "Oh, I'm supposed to be in charge of music, aren't I?" Maybe earlier Naami had been commenting on the lack of musical accompaniment?

"Seven, play Despacito."

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

​

Given how excited and focused on driving that he was, Naami was none the wiser to his companion's distracted autopilot responses. He did however catch the sass from the droid and snorted in response, taking it as a reason to crank their acceleration just that much more. The zabrak cast a sidelong look over at Micah tol Powl when the boy remembered to throw on some music, flashing a grin at him before eyes returned squarely to the open desert. With much practice he was becoming a much better pilot, how wound his way easily between craggy outcrops and slung the speeder in agile, sideways sweeps at daring angles across larger dunes. Naami still had a penchant for going far too fast but through remedial flight classes, helpful pointers from Kivah and with Micah's seemingly endless patience, he was well on his way to being a decent pilot.

Content to race along and faintly tap one foot with the music, Naami lapsed into a rather meditative focus. Which was probably for the best anyway if he was going to successfully keep track of their progress and approaching destination. Suddenly though, maybe thirty minutes into their journey, Naami was belting along to the chorus of Infamous Last Words by My Alchemical Romance and he'd cranked the volume way up.

He didn't have a particularly good voice, more like a midrange bark that threatened to crack once or twice, but his hearts were really in it. Naami never did lose focus on the invisible markers and instinctual pathway he followed but as the song ended he started to decelerate to a stop. They were in a fairly wide open section of desert that looked clear and the boy explained with a somewhat sheepish look about what just transpired.

"Gonna hop out to get my bearings on the ground once more then I think it's a straight shot from here. You're welcome to stretch if you need to."

 

[Micah tol Powl]

The emitter matrix fed into a beam gem lens.

Oh, and it was important to note the poles. Inverting the matrix would cause the lightsaber to explode. That was probably an important detail to try and...

"Gonna hop out to get my bearings on the ground once more then I think it's a straight shot from here. You're welcome to stretch if you need to."

"Uh huh," the boy remarked, making a few notes and then updating his work-in-progress draft architectural diagram with a notation about emitter matrix polarity.

That would require precise calibration of the energy modulation cir-- wait... had the cat carrier stopped?

The boy's head came up, realizing for the first time that Naami wasn't in the driver seat. And that they were parked. Blinking, the cat spied the Iridonian a short distance away.

Were they taking a break?

Did Naami need to pee?

Was this one of those scenes where he propped up one knee and then stared, determinedly, into a binary sunset set to a John William's soundtrack?

Getting out of the speeder, the orange-haired Cathar held up two different datapads as he asked, "Have you looked at focusing lenses yet? I was thinking dragite... but the Ossus lens might be better suited for yours."

Naamino Zuukamano​

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

​

Having just completed a couple of stretches, Naami turned to take a look at the information being proffered by Micah tol Powl , calloused hands taking hold of of the datapads while he considered.

"Oh, right... Y'know I was really hoping to make a dual-phase or even multi-phase saber for this one." His eyes roamed as he continued thinking aloud.

"Think the Ossus lens is the right pick- but hey," sky blue eyes rose to meet amber, "You think you could alter my super basic saber to include dragite? Like- obviously happy to help, but since its such a simple weapon I feel like it could definitely use the extra oomf y'know?"

His faintly tapered ears twitched slightly and his head snapped around, as if he'd sensed something.

"Time to go," he intoned solemnly as he pressed the datapads back into Micah's grasp and ushered him toward the cat carrier.

Naami leapt into the driver's seat and punched a few buttons to hasten their departure, only ensuring his friend was in the vehicle but not waiting to make sure Micah was strapped in. There was a roar of the reawakened thrusters and they were off once more, just in time to see the lumbering form of a wraid lurch out from beneath the sand where it likely had been napping. The enraged beast gave chase, its powerful front legs flinging sand as it went but it was no match for Micah's engineering and Naami's fast action. They zoomed off, making steady progress toward the temple which soon would rise from the sand on the horizon.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

The boy beamed as Naami considered the data.

Not only considered the data, but had already put thought into applications and features for the final product! That was much more concrete than what he'd been expecting.

It was beyond frustrating to try and help someone craft something when the only descriptive term was I dunno, a lightsaber.

But this? This was useful. "Multi-phasic..." the cat mewed aloud, purring softly as he mulled over a few different configurations that would work for that. The emitter circuits were going to be a Bith stuffed up a Hutt's rear end to avoid creating all kinds of feedback loops with the different phase adjustments. But doable. Definitely doable.

He looked up when Naami approved of the idea of including an Ossus style focusing lens, smiling in spite of himself.

Then he had the pads pushed back into his arms, as the Iridonian seemed to be ushering him back into the cat carrier. "Uh, sure, Naami," the boy remarked. Installing a dragite lens was a simple enough task. If the lightsaber worked without exploding, then Naami had already figured out the hard part of getting the emitter matrix right.

Back in the speeder, the cat settled back into his holo-journal, taking his earlier design sketch and adding the new bits of information Naami had described. An Ossus dueling lens... multi-phase... he'd need to increase the number of circuits to create more loops...

It wasn't long before the cat was completely lost in his work.

Naamino Zuukamano​

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

​

Luckily Naami had left the speeder on and therefor the music was uninterrupted. He gave a jubilant, breathless laugh at the wraid in their rear-view and sped happily on to their destination. He continued to bop along to whatever came on, more quietly singing a few of the lyrics he recognized but otherwise was perfectly content to let Micah tol Powl work. In all truth, he rather appreciated the way he could share space with the boy- feeling accompanied but able to just do his own thing. In that vein, he took more than a few unnecessary sand berms and a couple sharp turns that were strictly for the sake of having fun. Eventually though, as the cold old Horuset was sinking low on the horizon, an old stone spire came into view.

The zabrak teen skirted around the temple spire, remembering that he ought to keep his distance since it might shift in the sand. He took the speeder just a bit away from their destination proper before parking sidelong by a hefty looking dune, relying on the assumption that they'd be here for a few days tops and the weather reports seemed clear enough for the time being. Naami checked the dash and HUD readings then killed the engines. He reached over to gently ruffle Micah's hair, much more gently than he ever had since he didn't want to startle the kit and he wasn't all fired up with too much adrenaline.

"Hey, grab your stuff ok? I'll get her all covered up before we head out."

The "her' in question was the Speeder With No Name of course, because the ridiculous superstition military folk had of naming everything carried over to gendering it too. Naami grabbed his pack from the back and slid out, closing up the drivers side smoothly before pulling a big lightweight, desert colored camouflage tarp out from his backpack. He slung the thing over the cat carrier and diligently secured it after Micah had exited the vehicle. It took him a bit, just because he seemed to be a perfectionist about anything related to a "job well done" or anything else that vaguely resembled a mission. But when he stood from his kneeling crouch while dusting his hands off, after double checking the tarp in one more place it was anchored, he turned to his companion.

"Alright, lets go."

 

[Micah tol Powl]

They'd arrived!

Hopping out of the car, the cat grabbed his toolkit. And the bag with his books. And then the books that wouldn't fit in the bag. The design schematics, sketches, and random bits of scrap paper that held a notation, calculation, figure, or some other detail he'd meant to remind himself of later -- and which he didn't recall now. Except with all that in his arms, then he didn't have a hand free for the porg jerky that was absolutely critical to the creative process. So he just held one corner of the bag with his teeth as he gathered everything up, and turned around to...

Stare up at the side of a giant, enigmatic building.

Had they found the door before?

Did they know where the door was?

"Mmph, Nmphi?" the cat murmured. At least, as well as he could, given the situation.

He'd been so focused on the reason for their being here that he'd neglected a key first step to the process: That being... how the Hutt did they get inside?

Naamino Zuukamano​

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

​

"Ah yes, well said," Naami teased in an overly sage voice, shaking his head at the silly display by his companion.

With the the space he'd newly freed up in his backpack, he walked over to gently tug the books out of his arms that didn't fit into Micah's bag to stack them into his own instead. It took him a minute, setting the pack down as he crouched over it - taking care to organize everything and distribute the weight properly. He then looked up to hold out a hand so he could accept whatever else Micah tol Powl was content to have him carry. He wouldn't dare presume to get between the kit and his jerky after all. While doing so, he explained.

"Sands have shifted a lot, but I think that's the east tower," he hooked his thumb over his shoulder, "I looked this place up after we got back from our pilgrimage. Well- what little I could find on it. Anyway yeah its like the desert out here has tides, like the place ebbs and flows."

He made to stand, job of packing items and properly distributing the weight done, and slung the newly laden pack over shoulders that seemed broader by the day. Naami adjusted a few straps and shrugged into the carry weight a bit, preparing as he did for any march whether it was a kilometer or forty.

"You uh- I dunno, you're probably talented enough to climb this thing with your bare claws huh? I'll be using the belt so you're welcome to go up with me if you want. Think it can handle the weight of both of us."

It became clear that Naami intended to use the grappling spike to ascend that way. He looked sidelong at his friend, pausing before opening his arm in an invitation to cling close if he chose to go up with him. Then the zabrak aimed true at the top of the tower where they'd enter so they could make their descent into the bowels of the currently subterranean temple.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Naamino Zuukamano

[ post theme ]​

Naami came over and helped the boy to adjust the weight distribution.

He let the other boy take the porg jerky, while he tried to better organize the loose papers now that his arms were free of books. "You'd think that places of power would be more... I don't know... noticeable?"

Seriously, with how large the Academy was, if every student made their lightsaber here, you'd think the place would be way more accessible. Not to mention traveled. During the pilgrimage, it had felt like they were the only ones out here. And now that they were back, it was like no one had been here in more than a thousand years.

Mysticism was nice for stories and all but he'd settle for a nice entrance with convenient parking nearby, thanks.

Instead, it seemed like they were about to have to go spelunking their way to find the entry. Naami was already measuring out cable and commenting on the cat's ability to scale down the walls.

...and what part of the Academy's conveniently on campus, well equipped, air conditioned, and sand-free laboratories were not up to the task of just plugging a kyber crystal into a power source and then shoving it all into a metal tube?

Seriously, Sith. Asking for a friend here.

"Are you sur..." the boy began.

"I'll be using the belt so you're welcome to go up with me if you want. Think it can handle the weight of both of us."

The cat just blinked.

Was Naami offering him a piggy back ride?

Before the Iridonian likely knew what happened, the cat had pounced upon the other boy's back. "Onward!" he cried triumphantly.

Getting carried by Naami was the best mode of transport.

He still had questions about the efficiency of what they were doing, or how they were going about it, but definitely more motivated for it now more than ever.

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

Micah's enthusiasm fed his own and the thrill of adventure ran strong in his veins, so the pair made excellent time both up the tower and into their descent. Naami made sure to fasten the line at the top exceptionally well just in case this truly was the only way in or out, and when they reached the bottom he made sure to tie the line to some sturdy piece of architecture to guard against someone pulling it from the talk. Call him paranoid but such is the way of the Sith.

The zabrak seemed to have a destination in mind and guided them onward enthusiastically. Once he even pulled up what appeared to be a compiled holomap, something he'd taken pains to piece together while researching, and referenced it as he went. These ruins, this temple, it had all seen better days but the place also felt timeless in a way. It was somewhat familiar to them since they'd trekked some of these halls before, but it was alien too like cognitive dissonance given shape and form.

"Here!"

Naami exclaimed with excitement, throwing his shoulder at a huge stone door they came to at the end of a hallway. The damned thing was a bit more than what he might ordinarily have been able to handle alone but his enthusiasm was practically seeping out of his pores and he tapped into that to feed his strength. The muscles of his neck and back strained as he threw himself at the door once more, causing dust to rain down around them as the huge slab of rock slid open by a few feet. Micah surely could have figured out the mechanism if given a moment to do so but the zabrak charged forward eagerly.

They stepped into a large pitch black chamber. Naami reached into a pocket and pulled out a few lumen-sticks, cracking the bundle with one swift movement then crouching to efficiently roll a few of them out each in a different direction to light the place up a bit. Then he handed one of the sticks to Micah tol Powl so he could look around.

"Found this place when I was looking this place up more, thought you'd think it was cool! Could be our workshop too I guess."

The teen was smiling, proud of himself for finding it and eager to see how his friend reacted. The chamber was a huge planetary calendar, long out of service and with no currently viable energy source to power it. Naami started to unbuckle his pack, eager to get the weight off his back and stretch even though it hadn't been that strenuous of a journey.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

An old planetary calendar.

The cat was idly wondering if he could get it working again. It probably wouldn't respond to traditional sources of power, being Sith in nature and construction. Maybe kyberite?

Setting the light rods down to give him an area of lighting, the boy started to unpack his tools. "Pass me your lightsaber and I'll attach the dragite lens," he offered. It seemed a good starting point.

"While I do that, you can decide where you want to start. I brought lots of books and guides with me," the cat mentioned.

Because of course he did.

 

[Naamino Zuukamano]

​

Setting the pack down where Micah tol Powl seemed to be setting up shop, Naami then unhooked his first saber from his belt. It wasn't quite so familiar to him that he was likely to notice a change to its heft after the addition of dragite. But he still paused to consider the weapon for a moment before handing it off. He'd called it Woe, in part because of the grueling journey it had required but also because he envisioned it being half of a pair.

So they got to work. Well, in reality it was Micah doing most of the "heavy lifting" but he might be surprised to find the zabrak was keeping up with the basics of how it all worked. The boys referenced Micah's many helpful texts on the matter, Naami handed his friend any tools or snacks he needed while his focus was so dominated by the work at hand, and when an extra set of hands would be counterproductive, Naami paced the chamber a bit to sightsee and stretch.

At some point he determined it might be wise to set up camp in a sense, given the hour and how much they'd already accomplished. Naami waited for a break in the cat's work before asking.

"Wanna stay the night? We have enough supplies to make it comfortable and that way we won't be traveling while tired."