These Shattered Stars -- Logs

The new day dawns in Sedrak's sky. The three awaken in the comfortable Satau home to the smells of a rather nice breakfast already awaiting them; apparently Akikou and Wulong have still not shucked off the habit of waking with the dawn.

Freyja remembers last night playing tag in the paddies, and grins to herself as she sits up and stretches with languorous pleasure. Yay! No servants, no schedules, no dress code -- just fun finding out things that'll help people be happy! She can live with that, quite certainly. She sniffs happily, tossing on clothes, and patters out to see if she can help with breakfast or anything.

Zero sits up to stare out the window at the sun beginning to break over the edges of the hills. He runs a hand through his hair and yawns. Still keeping watch, huh, Dad? He stands and stretches, wincing at the various bony crepitus noises that seem to plague his sleep lately. "Ngh. Gods above, I think I'm getting old..." He begins pulling on his clothes.

Freyja happily pats the dakang, leaning to ruffle his ears. Interesting comment Zero made last night... the things that are hers are those things she makes hers... maybe she should try being more of the things she admires in others, or wants to be. She peeks into the main room, not sure where folks cook or eat yet. Jiaohua meefs! in greeting to Freyja from his most un-canid perch on the banister, and with surprising, almost primate-like agility, leaps onto Freyja's shoulder. Like a lap-frehkee, though, he pants cheerfully as he sits there.

Freyja blinks a little startledly at the small creature riding on her shoulder -- part of her has mentally categorized him as a frehkee, and she'd fall over flat if one of her family's pets tried leaping up onto her shoulder! -- then just giggles and heads on down the stairs. She finds Wulong Satau in the living room, already happily putting the finishing touches on a simple but robust breakfast cooked over the fire, perfectly suited to a lifestyle of reasonably hard (if droid-assisted) agro work. He turns as Freyja enters, and smiles widely. "Ah, good morning, Freyja! Come, sit, sit, eat, it's best if warm!" He blinks at Jiaohua's position, then laughs heartily. "He's definitely grown attached to you!"

Freyja grins shyly at Zero's father as she comes in and settles, murmuring, "Good morning, hono- er, Wulong... hai, he's quite cute!" Jiaohua seems to be quite comfortable where he is, sniffing in an interested and very frehkee-like fashion as Freyja approaches where the smells of food are coming from. Wulong chuckles and ladles out a generous bowl of... something Freyja can't recognize. It appears to be a cross between some kind of grain meal, tubers, and little bits of some kind of savory protein, either agri-soy or meat.

Freyja studies the bowl's contents curiously, then starts eating hungrily. No chopsticks this morning -- this time it's a small, ladle-like spoon with a wide brim. She's almost disappointed... she'd been surprised last night at how much fun it was learning new things, like how to use the strange (to her) eating utensils, and had been looking forward to trying them again, to improve her skill.

"Jiaohua's just a little one," Wulong says. "The runt of the litter. Some dakangs get to be, oh, fifty or sixty kilos. They're the really big ones, though, and you don't find them except in the oldest forests that have trees which can support their weight."

Freyja grins at Wulong, holding up a small piece of something she can't identify between her fingertips for Jiaohua to nibble, as she says, "Interesting... so they're mostly arboreal? Are they pack hunters, or what?" She does some mental math, then realizes a really big dakang is about the weight of a common frehkee. She nods slowly, "That heavy... that would indeed take a large and sturdy old-growth forest!"

Zero comes down the stairs shortly thereafter, wearing his close-fitting white shirt and loose black pants, and a pair of curious white cloth slipper-socks with rubber soles on his feet. He stretches widely, rolling his shoulders, as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. "Mm, morning..." He smiles a little, "Still getting up early, Dad? I thought you'd be taking it easy these days." He can't suppress a grin that shows he doesn't believe that for a moment.

Jiaohua sniffsniffsniffs at the morsel delicately for a moment, gives a sort of tiny sneeze, then reaches out with one of his forepaws to delicately take the food from Freyja's fingers with remarkable dexterity for a paw with no thumbs. Freyja blinks curiously -- she's still not used to the thought of pets with hands! -- then glances over the chewing dakang's head to grin at Zero, "Morning! Is Vakkal up?"

Wulong grins, and nods. "Oh, ai. They keep to the trees a lot, but you'll only find the really large ones in the oldest forests with the biggest trees. Feral dakang are shy, though, and they stay away even from the nomads. But they hunt in packs, ai, and can bring down predators much larger than them." Then he grins widely to Zero. "What can I say, son? Old habits die hard! Besides, your mother had to run some errands in Qigong Palace this morning, so I saw her off with some breakfast before she left."

Freyja looks up and nods in interest at the information Wulong shares, then grins. This is a fun and fascinating new place, to her. Zero says, "He's getting there. I think he's getting dressed."

Freyja nods and goes back to eating. A moment later, still chewing, she looks back at Zero, "So... the Jedi at Shenlong today?"

Zero nods, seating himself on one of the low cushions. "Yeah... shows some guts, staying on the planet like that. We'll need to hook up with them if we're going to fix this thing... the more Jedi the better on this problem." He grins to his father, "Can't say I'm surprised. Just as well; I'm sure the Knights up in Shenlong are up about now as well."

Wulong nods. "You've more than enough time to make the bus. Akikou hitched a ride with someone who makes regular runs to Shenlong."

Zero nods, "That's good." He takes a deep breath, "I wish I had a better idea of just what was happening down here. I've got some suspicions, but... they're just that, and nothing more."

Freyja grins, wondering how Vakkal and Zero would react to trying to get to the bus on one of the young nomadic riding beasts... then giggles softly to herself and decides that's not the wisest decision she's ever considered! Instead she finishes breakfast, sets the bowl aside, tapping it lightly and clicking her tongue gently to encourage Jiaohua to help himself, and says to Zero, "Let's call and set up an appointment, then, and head on out once we're finished cleaning up here, hai?"

Zero leans back on his palms. "The possible implications aren't very nice." He nods and stands slowly, "We'll call from here."

Jiaohua makes a very interested sound, and scrambles down Freyja's arm right to the bowl. He wraps his tail around her arm as if it were a branch as he sniffs at the bowl, much to Wulong's increased amusement. He nods. "Well, then, the Jedi are probably the people to ask, Zero. They're the ones who've been given the job of dealing with the beasts. They've started trying to get in touch with the nomads, too, but haven't had much luck."

Freyja looks up interestedly at Zero's father, "How would you contact the nomads, if you had to?"

Wulong grins to Zero, "Sure, use the home-link. The video's out, though, I'm afraid." He looks to Freyja, his expression becoming a little more serious. "Well, normally we wouldn't. It just seemed to be better that way, after all that happened. But if we had to, really had to, we'd go through the small community over on the other side of the ridge. But they've been even more insular than ever, and there's been fewer and fewer people there."

Freyja nods thoughtfully, "All right. Thank you... it's a place to start, if Zero and Vakkal and I get involved in that aspect of the situation." She grins at the little dakang, lightly stroking her fingertips over the tail carefully curled around her arm, then looks at Zero, "You want to call the Jedi?" For his part, Jiaohua slips off of Freyja's arm as she stands, though does not turn his attention away from the bowl, instead lightly holding the edge of the bowl with both forepaws.

The call to the Jedi in Shenlong is made, and an arrangement is made -- it's somewhat informal, really; the Jedi Company is expecting them, and they are told they can come in when they can, someone will be there to meet them. The person they talk to, Jedi Diath Halcyon of Corellia, notes that some of the company are away from Shenlong and trying to contact the nomads, but are returning empty-handed.

Freyja rides the bus into Shenlong with Vakkal and Zero, enjoying the ride far more than she expected to. Something about being out in the fresh, clean morning air, perhaps, and with no one pointing or being obsequious to her... she's feeling positively light-hearted as they walk into the building the Jedi are staying in, in Shenlong.

The building is an old, unused, two-story office building, otherwise featureless except for the long, tan banner hanging from a second-floor window, with a simple, dark brown Bendu wheel emblazoned on it. Inside it has been stripped of just about everything except for a small foyer in front, and a number of terminals beyond a glass wall; stairs in that section lead upwards. This was apparently a news-fax office of some sort at one time, judging by the particular style of desks in the 'bullpen.'

At the entrance of the three, the lone, dark-skinned Human in the bullpen looks up from his terminal, then moves quickly to greet them. He smiles comfortably, "The Force be with you, Jedi. Unless I'm mistaken. Jedi Diath Halcyon, at your service."

Zero says, "And with you, Jedi Halcyon. Have you been here long? Looks like your base of operations has seen better days."

Freyja smiles from within her hood, "Hai... Padawans Freyja and Zero, of Master Roakkana, and huskarl Vakkal. The Force be with you also." She looks around, then says curiously, "How can we help?"

Diath folds his arms in a slightly un-Jedi-like manner -- or at least, a manner counter to Jedi stereotypes. He grins to Zero. "Yeah, well, it's the best that the city could grant to us, but we're grateful. It's a place to work and sleep when we're in Shenlong. As for what you can do to help... I'm not sure, Padawan Freyja. I can tell you what we know so far -- we'd never turn down any additional help -- but it's not much."

Zero says, "It's more than we've got to go on now..." Freyja nods interestedly, then looks around and finds a place to sit.

Diath nods and gestures to some comfortable (if second-hand) seats in the waiting area. "Well," he says, "-the beasts, as you know, track the Force-sensitive. That seems to be their primary function, though they also go after very high-energy sources -- like, well, hypernodes. They have blight about them, like most Darksider creatures we've seen, and they use it to burrow through the ground at a high speed. The blight they leave behind fades after a week or two. Nobody's gotten a good look at them, except for the militia captain, and he said it looked... odd to him. His report said that the skin of the beast seemed to fluctuate between smooth and scaled patterning."

Zero says, "Like... a snake?"

Freyja's eyes widen, "The blight... fades?! Isn't that a first?!" She considers for a moment, then adds with less excitement, "Wait... of course it does. I've just only seen or heard about huge messy sites. So... this must be a very small amount of it." She considers again, then adds thoughtfully, "Although... that's interesting data too..."

Diath nods to Zero. "Sometimes like a snake or something larger. Other times as smooth as silk. The few seconds he saw it, it seemed to be shifting along its length from scales to smoothness." He looks to Freyja. "You're right, it's a very small amount of blight. Which means what the creature is doing to allow it to burrow is very subtle. We've theorized that the creature's ability to burrow comes from changes to the surrounding media on molecular levels, combined with some kind of natural slipperiness. It might have something to do with the change in the patterning it was going through."

Freyja gives Vakkal a sideways glance to see if there's any recognition on his face at the descriptions. Vakkal listens quietly and attentively, but nothing seems to be making him belie any emotions yet. Freyja frowns thoughtfully, "Well... could it be like... like bands around the body? I know some snakes move by sort of digging their scales in to move, and others sort of fling their bodies from side to side -- kind of sway forwards, like a boat tacking into the wind. So... what if it's a kind of combination of that? The scaled bands pull the beast forward, and the smooth parts are the connecting tissue, so the scaled bands have more sway in them?" She adds thoughtfully, "Were the striations along the length of the body, or around it?"

Diath nods thoughtfully. "That's possible. Oh... I'm sorry, I misspoke. There weren't any striations of the smooth and hard-scaled surface. It was actually shifting from one to the other."

Freyja looks a little startled, "Uh... the actual skin surface was changing?! Like the same spot was first one, then the other kind?"

Diath nods. "It's pretty remarkable. There are a handful of creatures in the galaxy that can do something similar, but they're rare, very small, and it's not quite so dramatic -- usually they can just extrude spiky surfaces for protection and become smooth again to better move through water or other liquid to escape. Nothing like this."

Freyja goes silent in startled fascination to consider this peculiar development, "Huh!"

Diath grins. "That's the reaction the Academy had when we told them about it."

Freyja thinks for a longish while... then realizes that ultimately she just doesn't have enough information. Instead she sits up and addresses the Jedi again, "So... is there a plan, Jedi Diath? For example, are we conducting experiments on how to return power to the people?" She thinks a bit, then adds, "Like... can we beam it down from the battleship, or shuttle solar batteries up to the high-side station for more efficient recharging, or have one of those sea-space ships float over the ocean and start up their internal fusion reactors, to see if the monsters ignore them, or swim to them, or just drown?"

Freyja adds pragmatically, "I'd think getting the peoples' lives back to normal would be a first priority, after all... with dealing with the beasts a close second? And we could learn a lot more about the beasts if we had more data on them from luring them cautiously to us."

Diath leans back and nods. "We're working on a bunch of ideas. Unfortunately we have to be careful not to break the treaty, as well as not making a mistake that'll call another of the beasts. We don't know if power beamed down to a planetside relay will attract the creatures. As for recharging power cells in orbit, there just aren't enough shuttles to devote to that yet. We're already worried that too many shuttles will attract the creatures; we're hoping the elevated landing platforms at Qigong Palace are enough protection for typical transit."

Diath says, "As for luring them... we're considering that. None of the mayors want one of the creatures coming up in their county, of course, but we're securing permission to set up a small fusion generator in a backwoods area. We hope that if we can get one in a known place we can see what can be done to capture it or kill it or something. We'd really rather capture it, though, which is what is taking the most time in planning. How do you capture one of these things?"

Freyja shakes her head, fascinated, "I... don't know... but more data would probably help us figure out how, hai? So... you're working on that. Hm... I don't think we'd be that much help there, but... umm... I take it no one's contacted the natives yet, then?"

Diath nods, "You're in luck, then! We're tentatively setting up the generator this afternoon. Knight-Captain Mada Baas should be coming back soon." He grimaces a little. "We've tried. But we can't go to them by airspeeder or landspeeder, and the only other way is to ride out to them, to an uncertain reception. Our alternatives are to contact them through the outlying nomad communities near the Human ones and they've not been very forthcoming. I don't think they're in full contact with the regular nomads any more, either."

Freyja adds, after a few seconds' consideration, "So... why not just beam down power to the ground in an abandoned area, and have watchers observing, and see if the worms arrive or no? If not then it should be safe for the cities, and if so... well, there's more data, hai?"

Diath shakes his head. "We proposed it. The equipment to do that is expensive and takes a long time to set up. Plus a portion of the power grid needs to be run out there. I heard that a Siooskan company's donating some of the equipment to receive beamed power from orbit, but it's still in transit."

Freyja says, "Um, I don't mean run the experiment that way, Jedi Diath. Just waste a bit of power, for the experiment! The Bloodeagle has plenty, after all... and we could learn an awful lot from it. And... why not just ride out? I mean, hai, the reception's uncertain... but aren't we supposed to at least try, for the sake of the people? Or has this been tried already?"

"The problem isn't beaming it. The problem is receiving it. If we just have Bloodeagle pour power down from orbit, without reception equipment, it won't be accumulated in any form. Though maybe the beasts will be attracted to that, so it'll be worth trying anyway. We don't know what the minimum threshold the beasts are attracted to, but... who knows. I'll tell Knight-Captain Baas about it." He lets out a breath and folds his arms. "Yes. Three knights went out two weeks ago. We haven't heard from them since a week ago. There's no answer on their comlinks."

Freyja says, "Oh." She sighs softly, then nods, looking at the Jedi, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound flippant." She considers a bit, then says slowly, "Vakkal, Zero... would you like to try going out there with me? You don't have to -- I know neither of you are that fond of riding... but if you wanted to, I'd welcome your company?"

Zero says, "I can't let you go alone."

Vakkal nods quietly, "Where you go, I follow, milady."

Diath nods a little to Freyja. "We're still trying to secure permission to send airspeeders out of the reservation. Orbital recon hasn't shown any sign of them, either. Paladin Dakkan says that he believes they're alive still, but... he cannot say what sort of state they are in." He blinks. "You're... wanting to go riding out there." He makes a quiet sound. "Well. I'll let Knight-Captain Baas known. She's been reluctant to let anyone else ride out there until we find out what happened to the three already sent."

Freyja smiles, leaning to hug Zero, then Vakkal, gently, "Thank you. I'm glad you're both willing to come along." She looks back at the Jedi and adds, "I've had some experience with animal handling and riding... and worst comes to worst, I can speak with the riding beasts through the Force. We'd like to go try find the missing knights, and the natives... can you help us do so with information or any available spare resources?"

Diath looks somewhat impressed. "Huh. That's pretty rare, even among masters. We can do that, sure."

A Krevaaki Jedi (the same species as the late Master Hul-Shan) enters then, with a member of an unknown species following, both wearing the tan robes of the Order. "We've gotten the city's permission, Diath," she says in heavily accented and tonally flat Aurabesh. "It was a struggle, but they finally understood." The creature's black eyes turn to the three. "Oh. The Force be with you, Jedi."

Zero says, "And you, Jedi. Please, don't let us interrupt."

Freyja nods politely from within the hood, "And with you also." She looks curious, "The generator experiment?"

The Krevaaki looks curiously at the three, before looking to Diath, who has stood. "These are Padawans Freyja and Zero, to Master Roakkana, and huskarl Vakkal. They're the ones Paladin Dakkan told us to expect. Padawans, Jedi Mada Baas, knight-captain of the Thornstar Company."

Freyja holds up both empty hands, palms out, and nods politely, "Knight-Captain Baas." She stands to do so, emulating Knight Diath. Zero bows politely as he is introduced, and otherwise remains quiet to stay out of the Master's way.

Baas inclines her head. "Ah, yes. Paladin Dakkan did indeed. Yes, the generator experiment. We know the output of the one which inadvertently called the creature a few days ago, so we are bringing several smaller ones, to try and test their threshold of detection at the same time."

Freyja looks interested, "May we watch?"

"Of course. It may take some time, though; the last generator wasn't attacked until about two hours after it was turned on. We'll be leaving each on for four hours before turning another one on, to increase the collective output. We'll be departing shortly." Freyja nods at the Knight-Captain's words, then glances inquiringly at Zero and Vakkal to see if they'd like to come along? Vakkal nods to Freyja, as does Zero.

A few hours later the group has flown by airspeeder to a distant corner of the Shenlong prefecture. There's literally nobody around for miles and miles. It is one of the areas that hasn't yet been developed -- which is fortunate because of the nature of the experiment.

Diath explains the experiment briefly and in more detail. The first generator is a pipsqueak, the kind found on larger industrial land speeders, none of which have operated since it was determined that the beasts attack major power sources. If after four hours it fails to attract a beast -- and it's not likely that it will -- they will turn it off and turn on another slightly larger one. There are three generators, total, and it will take an estimated twelve hours to complete the experiment.

The generator runs for the full four hours, and for all that time there is no reaction. A few full-size dakangs, the companions of some of the militia personnel, lounge around with their tongues lolling out of their mouths. They really are much larger than Jiaohua, easily coming up to the thighs of most Humans, and in a startling variety of fur shades and lengths, and body shapes.

After four hours, the first generator is turned off, and technicians hurriedly install and prepare the second one. Diath Halcyon takes the opportunity to re-calibrate the seismic sensors, which so far have remained quiet, twitching only a little from readings far in the distance.

Freyja has been sitting and quietly meditating... well, thinking, really. What do they do if a worm turns up? Obviously the worms can burrow through dirt, rock, 'crete, and metal, or they wouldn't have been able to eat the various energy plants quite so easily. So... attempting physical restraint seems a bit... pointless, really. Therefore if physical restraint is useless, and they want to capture rather than simply kill... it would seem to her necessary to either stun it with weaponry... or somehow mentally incapacitate it, so it cannot leave.

Zero has been pacing around and quietly fretting about the apparent lack of firepower here. Restraining the beast doesn't seem like it's an option at all, unless the "legendary" Halcyons have a plan that Zero isn't privy to -- and there doesn't seem like enough firepower here to take down something that ate an entire municipal power plant. He finds himself planning for contingencies... and bracing for the worst.

Freyja looks up at Halcyon once he's done, from where she's sitting on the edge of the observation stand, absently petting one of the more opportunistic dakangs. "Jedi Diath? Are we trying to capture the worm, or what, please? What should we be doing, should one turn up?"

Diath nods, "We're going to try a variety of methods, based off of techniques some 'big-game' hunters use. Obviously nets and physical restraints are going to be useless, so we've managed to find or fabricate high-power stun charges. They're mines, command-detonated and buried or placed around the reactors. That's why we've been setting up the generator in the same place. Sorry, I should've more fully briefed you. If the mines fail to do anything, we have a backup where we can kick in the other generators and cast a charged net, though that's not a likely effective thing. It is, though, our second choice. Failing that, if it's still around, there's a crew here with a concussion rocket launcher. They may get a chance to see how tough these things are if we fail to capture it. They're about half a mile away, though; a fairly safe distance and watching through optics."

Freyja nods thoughtfully, then smiles, "Thank you. So... best thing we can do here is stay quietly out of the way then, hai?" She wishes internally there were more they could do. Still... these are the folks on the scene, with the most information. It only makes sense to follow along with their plan. She wonders a little uneasily, though, if a worm will be able to talk to her... and if it does, what does a perfectly huge worm in pain sound like?

"Well, that's the best thing for all of us to do, actually, at least for the time being."

It is less than an hour after the second generator is turned on. This one is a little larger than the ones found in prime movers; probably akin to one which could run a medium-sized industrial shop. The sensors on Diath's board start chirping. He looks them over, and nods. "Looks like we have one incoming...

Zero sits up and squints out into the distance. "Okay. Let's have a look at these things..." Freyja continues quietly scritching the dakang, swinging her legs occasionally where she sits and watches. All of the dakangs -- including little Jiaohua -- start to whine a little, and begin to fidget nervously. The seismic sensors chirp a little louder... then everything happens at once.

There is hardly even a serious tremor felt, when the ground around the generator half a mile away seems to explode upward and outward. Through the dust can be made out briefly a black, rippling cylinder of alternately smooth and scaly flesh. There is a flash, then a crack of thunder felt as the stun charges go off. When the dust clears a little more, the long cylindrical body of the worm can be see lying on the ground, twitching. It is easily twenty meters long, and seems to be the same thickness throughout, with no tapering tail. The body ripples erratically -- the segmentation does seem to go from smooth, to hard and scaly, fairly quickly.

Zero says, "It worked? It worked!" Freyja pats Jiaohua reassuringly, watching silently.

The dakang whimpers a little, but holds on to Freyja tightly. Diath lets out a breath. "Damn... All those stun charges should have dropped a whole herd of bantha, but that thing's still twitching. The scientists are getting some information though, at least."

Zero makes a face. "Sah... gods below, it looks like a taozin built from spare parts. Yeech."

Freyja watches the worm quietly, still slowly stroking smooth little Jiaohua's ruffled fur. Without looking up at the Jedi, she murmurs, "So... what happens when it recovers from the stunning?"

As it becomes clearer to see, they can tell the creature does have the multiple legs of a taozin. They seem to be held close to the body though, except when it twitches spasmodically. The membranes which cover the blue-black eyes flick as they nictate randomly, adding to the disturbing countenance of the creature.

Diath grimaces. "That... was a controversial choice. The city council wants us to destroy it before then. The scientists want to keep it stunned for as long as possible, but they haven't been able to explain how to keep such a thing captive. The city council insisted; they want the worm -- uh... creature, to be destroyed when it looks like it's coming to..."

Freyja pulls her hood up and nods silently. Zero hrms. "Hope you get it right the first time... injuring and enraging it could be bad for us all." Freyja goes back to quietly stroking Jiaohua and watching the worm. She wishes there were something she could do... she hates watching it lie there and twitch, knowing full well it's going to be killed as soon as it starts recovering.

For another few minutes the creature lies there... then every Force-sensitive there can feel something -- a buildup, a surge of some kind. The Darkside -- or more specifically, blight. The grass the creature lies upon starts to turn brown. Zero stands up. "Uh oh." He glances back over his shoulder, "Freyja?"

Freyja says, from where she sits, "What." She sounds a little dispirited.

Zero says, "Can't you feel that?"

Freyja says, "Hai. Poor thing." She continues watching the worm from within her hood.

Zero says, "I think it may be gearing up to do something, Freyja. We may want to be ready to move."

Freyja murmurs unhappily, "To die, perhaps..." but obediently gets to her feet.

Diath blinks. "That shouldn't be-" Then the surge peaks. Those with eyes awakened to the Force can see it -- a sphere that expands quickly outward from the Darkside worm much as an explosion would, although this is oily, dark, and somehow slimy -- not at all unlike the final moments of Qatto Verg, but much, much less intense.

Freyja watches the worm with growing pity. Horrible enough that the Darksider scientists played with its genetics to make it such a tool... but to cause it to apparently kill itself so as well? Poor worm. Zero takes a step back and exhales deeply, to roll with the flow of blight. Just like water, he reminds himself, Be like water. No getting sick this time...

Freyja's eyes widen at the unpleasant realization that the dark, oily sphere is actually going to impact them -- and worse, possibly hurt many non-Force-aware people and animals around her. She straightens a bit, not consciously sure what to do but knowing she can't let it just happen, and throws her hands up and out in refusal, shouting, "Neh!"

The strictly-held mental discipline Paladin Dakkan taught Freyja seems to crumble... and a similar wave -- or pillar or column of light, visible only with eyes awakened to the Force -- leaps out from her, surrounding her, Vakkal, Zero, Diath, and all the dakangs near her. The blight wave crashes against the Light, breaking upon it -- and the Light prevents it approaching any closer.

Diath looks about ready to shout something as the wave comes up on them -- when the column of light surrounds the group. He can only stare in surprise for a few moments. "Merciful Ashla...!" he murmurs, then shakes his head and blinks. "It's... it's not dead -- Zero, right by you, there's a crate, rifle with com-tag load -- hit it before it leaves!"

Indeed, the Darkside creature is most assuredly not stunned, and in the chaos left by the blight wave appears to have roused itself. It lets out a piercing, insectile shriek that makes Vakkal and all the dakangs whine, howl, or cover their ears -- then it starts to straighten, stretching out its nigh-vestigial feet as it attempts to right itself. Zero is caught blinking in the sudden light, shaking his head as he clears the mental flash-dazzle. "Ai-yah... uh- right!" He kicks the rifle upright and tries to draw a bead on the creature. "What about the rocket fire?"

Freyja steps forward, her hands still aiming out towards the worm. She's not entirely sure what happened -- but logic says the worm will be heading this way next -- she must be lit up like a fire to its senses right now. Maybe she can hit it with the Light once it's closer. The calm, analytical part of Freyja's mind notes quietly that a) she should tell everyone to get away from her fast, b) it's a good bet Vakkal and Zero will both ignore that, and Diath might also, and c) interesting that Diath knows Ashla...?

Diath says, "They should have fired by now. They're not Force-sensitive; that blight wave might have caught them unawares..."

Freyja murmurs quietly, "You all should get away from me while my Force Suppression is down," and considers trying to speak with the worm. Maybe when it's a bit closer? The rifle bucks in Zero's hands; the low-velocity projectile leaps out and lands solidly in the creature's armored hide. Zero's marksmanship is exceptional, and the com-tracker is made very fast to the rippling hide. It's not coming off anytime soon.

Diath relaxes. "Good shot!" he exclaims. The creature squeals again, then starts to regain its senses, moving with startling quickness for the hole it burst through. Diath takes in a breath. "Come on! We've got to get to the airspeeder -- you're like a Polestar of Light, Padawan Freyja!"

Freyja murmurs, "Sorry? Do you want me not to come along?" even as she's heading swiftly towards the speeder.

Zero lowers the rifle a bit. "Shooting from the walls," he muses. "Old habits die hard." He vaults the railing of the observation platform and heads for the speeder.

Freyja grins ruefully at Zero over her shoulder, even as she vaults into the speeder. "Guess we'll get to find out if there's more than one worm, eh?"

Diath looks to Freyja almost in horror as he runs with the others to the airspeeder. "Luminous Force, why in the world would I want to leave you at the mercies of that thing!" He jumps into the airspeeder, the engines whining as Vakkal also clambers in -- along with two of the excited, full-size dakangs. They think this is all very suddenly exciting... then a moment later they're whining a little, and Freyja feels Jioahua's tail tighten around her arm.

Zero says, "Don't even joke about that."

Freyja looks a bit sheepish, "Sor- er, it's coming, guys -- here, if the dakangs are right!" She looks worriedly at the ground, adding tightly, "Drive!" The airspeeder pops into the air -- just as the ground collapses from beneath it, and Freyja is presented with a front-seat view of... a very great many small, blunt, multitudinous teeth. Freyja shoots, instinctively -- she just pours Light at it!

Perhaps it is too soon after she somehow manifested the Light of the Force; but the energy that flows from her into the worm does not have quite the same effect. The worm, however, yowls in an eerie, insectile manner. It clips the wing of airspeeder as Diath tries to send it forward. The blow keeps the airspeeder from immediately leaping away as the Jedi scrambles for the controls. "Blast...!" he shouts.

Zero reaches instinctively, maybe a bit too instinctively, for his lightsaber; then catches himself, What the hell do I think I'll do with this? He snarls a bit and shouts to Diath, "Get us unstuck and leave the stick to me!"

Freyja swears quietly as she realizes she's been caught flat-footed and under-prepared, and the Light isn't doing what she wants. She closes her eyes, taking a centering breath. If at first you don't succeed... try something else. She opens her eyes to shout at the worm, through the Force, in its language, "STOP!"

The worm seems poised to strike again -- but then stops, holding almost perfectly still for a few moments, its mandibles moving a little. It then starts to draw itself back downward, through the hole in the ground it just made. Diath maintains admirable control over his emotions, managing to get hold of the controls finally and lifting the airspeeder higher up into the air.

Freyja takes a slow breath, then says quietly, "Wait. How many of you are there? Why do you attack us?" She blinks as the airspeeder jerks up, and leans over the edge (holding tightly to it, of course), and shouts the questions again to the worm.

Vakkal all but leaps across the seat to grab hold of Freyja's waist as she leans over -- just in case. The creature seems to pause; Freyja senses thoughts which seem unusually ordered, but entirely too simple. Throughout each moment it seems to be checking its environment, wondering if it should do a particular thing, and if not then what it should do next... a pause to remember to look around with its senses... then the cycle repeats...

After a moment, Freyja realizes with a start that the creature's thinking -- and its speech, such as it is -- is marred by an undercurrent of what seems to be something like a computer program, as if the creature has no natural instincts and is instead constantly, consciously considering what to do -- every moment of every second. As if it were hard-wired to think and react that way... the creature says in its unusual voice-speech-thoughts, Sithhhhh? as if an interrogative.

Freyja says firmly, "Tell me how many worms there are." She turns to murmur quietly over her shoulder to the others in the speeder, "It thinks like it's a computer program with a limited menu of choices! Does anyone know how to stop something like that?"

The creature lets out a howl of some kind, as if answering a question is alien to it. Few, enough. Who are?

Zero says, "I know how to-" He pauses at the shriek, "Aiyah, what'd you say to it?!"

Freyja turns back to snap at the worm, "Enough yelling -- behave! Answer me!" then murmurs quietly to Zero, "It wants to know if I'm Sith or not, and doesn't want to answer how many worms there are. Not sure I want to answer." She sighs, then adds, "I don't know if Sith are kind to their creations or not." Her gaze just sort of happens to be on Vakkal when she says that.

Zero says, "Just tell it your name. Maybe it'll think it's a title and get confused enough to slip." Freyja grins at Zero's suggestion -- that's a good one! She pauses long enough for Vakkal and the worm both to respond before trying it, though.

The creature actually falls silent. One by one its eyes blink at Freyja, the nictating membranes closing, then opening, with a liquid click-click-click-click sound. This is one of five. Five who came here. One of us died on arrival. Four. This is one of four.

Zero says, "Shoddily coded computer systems spin out if you don't give them exactly the input they expect." Vakkal catches Freyja's glance and gives a shake of his head, a slight lift to his shoulders -- he doesn't know.

Freyja raises an interested eyebrow at Zero's comment, murmuring thoughtfully, "Really now." She nods once at Vakkal's subtle movements as she leans to watch the worm, then calls to it, "Good. You have done rightly. I am Freyja. Now, tell me who and why you attack." She crosses her fingers that something besides energy will be truly edible to the worms... that's her next question. She also whispers quiet updates on the conversation to her friends in between her questions, so nothing is accidentally lost.

The well-oiled mind of the creature stumbles a bit, and its eyes do that vaguely horrifying click-click-click-click thing again. Freyja's praise seems to lend a little grease onto the clockwork of the thing's mind.... Burn. (Force)-burn. Light-fire-energy-power. After that, what we need when hungry.

Freyja repeats that to her friends, adding a little puzzledly, "I... guess that's the answer to who and why...?"

Zero murmurs, "Gods below, they bred a taozin to be so sensitive it burns them? Bastards."

The creature "says," Is what we were told to take.

Freyja ohs quietly, suddenly understanding from Zero's commentary. To the worm she says, "The Light burns, hai? It is only you four here now, and no one else, hai?" She adds quietly to the others, "I wonder if we can just tell them to avoid the burning, and go eat where it's quiet and doesn't hurt them?" Thoughtfully she muses, "Got to find out exactly what they eat, too..." then clarifies to the worm, "You four... and I."

...Neh. See the burn, attack the burn. "Burn," in this case, may simply be how the beacon of light that the Force-aware appear to awakened eyes is described. See Light-fire-energy-power, attack same. Were five. Were six. Then were five, with the Master. Then four.

Freyja hms after translating that, then calls to the worm, "Where is the Master?" She adds, while she waits for the worm to reply, "I think it's saying the 'Master' is still around...? We'll find out soon, hopefully." She looks at Diath, "What now? I can try asking it to bring the others here so they can be killed..." she does not sound like she particularly cares for that option, "-or I can try giving them new orders. What does the Knight-Captain wish?"

Diath shakes his head, looking a little startled. "I'm not sure, Padawan Freyja, I-" His comlink chirps; it is the voice of the Knight-Captain. "Diath, the seismic sensors are screaming. It looks like we have another worm coming in, possibly two. This confirms that the worms are attracted to Force sensitives." This last is spoken with a wry note of humor.

Freyja grins, then leans to call to the worm, "You will tell the others that come they may not attack. They will wait until I am finished talking with you." She looks a bit wistfully down at the worm. She wishes she were on the ground next to it, although she makes no attempt to slip free of Vakkal's bracing arm. She feels sorry for the poor, mutated things. They certainly never asked for this sort of treatment. The odd thought drifts through her mind... do worms have a place they like having rubbed, like most mammals enjoy having their ears rubbed?

Cannot. Only Master may give orders. Are you our Master?

Freyja translates that, considers for a moment, then looks at Diath and says grimly, "Get a decision from the Knight-Captain, please." She sighs, resting her chin on her crossed arms, which are resting on the edge of the speeder, and watches the worm as she waits. Definitely best not to go down there just now, if more worms are incoming.

Diath talks quietly for a moment, then says, "Padawan Freyja, the Knight-Captain does not have first-hand knowledge of what the worms are saying. She defers to your judgment in this case." He adds wryly, "For starters, the missile team is hurling their guts up and couldn't target a battleship if it landed next to them."

Zero mutters. "That's reassuring. Find out who their Master was? Is?"

Freyja blinks, looking startledly over her shoulder at the Jedi, "They're... oh, they got hit by the sphere? Oh, dear." She looks over at the worm again... then up at Zero and Vakkal, "Well. Killing them would be the easy way out, hai?" She takes a deep breath, then nods firmly to Zero, "Hai. I'll do my best." She turns to the worm again, and calls, "I will be your Master for now, worm One. Be calm, and tell me who your former Master was, and where is the Master now?"

Freyja glances at the ground around the worm, wondering how long it'll take the other one or two to arrive... and hoping against hope that she's smart enough to reassure the poor things, and convince them to just go live quietly out of the way where they don't bother any people... Human or Sedraki native.

The creature seems to take this with confusion... then immediately seems to spit back a seemingly "pre-programmed" challenge: If our master you are to be, what is the key to the tenth gate?

Freyja looks over her shoulder at the others and says grimly, "Great. Oather creations. Anyone know what the key to the tenth gate is?" She blinks -- then scrabbles hastily for her data pad, "Wait, didn't Veng say that to Jiosch or something...?!"

Zero coughs, "Hell! That's no good..."

The beast lets out a hiss, its myriad legs twitching. If our master you are to be, what is the key to the tenth gate? it asks again, more insistently.

Freyja mutters under her breath, reading what she'd recorded half from memory after the battle, "...and fires of darkness shall cleanse the stars... wolf-feathers, that's not enough." She thinks a second... then grins ruefully. Computer-like thinking... maybe she can confuse the issue? She turns and calls down to the worm, "You must first prove yourself to me. You will give the beginning of the answer, and I will end it. Then I will know you are worm One." She crosses her fingers, then in her most commanding voice, barks out, "What is the key to the tenth gate? Begin." She leans on the edge of the speeder, her eyes dancing, after she's translated for her friends. This may not work... but it sure is interesting!

The beast seems unutterably confused; this is obviously beyond its simple mind. The eyes go click-click-click-click, but it doesn't issue the challenge again. Zero says, "I can't think of anything else. Fires of darkness; that's all I remember."

At that moment, a second worm breaches the surface, yowling an insectile roar, its jawless mouth snapping at the airspeeder... just a little shy of it. It is at least ten meters longer than the other one. Freyja jerks slightly back in automatic reaction, then grins -- well, life certainly isn't dull! She shouts at the second worm, "Stop! Be quiet, and wait." She adds quietly over her shoulder to Zero, "Hai, me either. Jedi Diath, can you find out if any more are coming? I'll try giving them a new command, but I'd rather try it just once when we've got all the ones we're likely to get."

The second worm is actually quicker to calm. Its eyes do the same quadruple-click that the other one did. Freyja whews quietly, then glances at Diath inquiringly. Diath checks his panel. "None in range that our sensors can tell. But I'd be wary, Padawan Freyja; we don't know how far they can see the Force."

Freyja nods, "All right. I'll try with just these two then." She takes a breath, collecting herself -- she's going to have to sound very convincing. After a moment she turns and calls to the two worms, clearly and intensely, "You will not attack the Burn any more. You will stay well away. Now... go." She crosses her fingers, watching intently, and thinking, Go, go -- accept the new command and go, please, so you don't get shot!

In unison the worms answer, Are you our Master? The second worm amends immediately, Are you our new Master?

Freyja sighs, her shoulders slumping at the response. "Well, sheisse. I tried." She frowns, resting her chin in her hands, "So... how to convince them?"

Zero says, "Tell them about the cleansing fire?" He shrugs. "Got me, Freyja. I don't think in Worm."

Freyja straightens suddenly, "Oh! Maybe that will work?" She leans to call just as forcefully to the worms, "You will stop questioning me and go do as I have commanded you to -- or I will punish you with the fire of darkness that shall cleanse the stars!" She grins ruefully over her shoulder at Zero, "Me either, really... although I think it's as much Oather as worm?"

Zero says, "There's hardly much of a difference."

The worms remain quiet for a few moments. Even their eyes stop blinking. Freyja watches intently, fascinated... and a bit hopeful. The worms remain silent. They begin to draw back into the ground, watching Freyja unblinkingly. Freyja continues to stare down at them, unmoving, thinking to herself, Go, go, go! Go be good worms someplace else where no one will be bothered!

The worms draw back into the holes... and a moment later clouds of dirt and dust erupt from the holes as the tunnels collapse. Zero says, "Well. What do you know?"

Freyja whoops delightedly, giving Vakkal a gleeful hug, and then Zero as well, "It worked! It actually might have worked!"

Diath is checking his console already. "We're getting a steady signal from the com-tag. Yeah... they're heading out of the reservation, about twenty kilometers per hour... fifty, now. They're going at a good pace, but the signal's still strong. The tag would've ripped out by now if you hadn't gotten such a good shot in, Padawan Zero." He looks up to Freyja, frowning. "What were you saying to them? What... what is an 'Oather' beast?"

Zero grins a little. "Not the first time I've fired a rifle."

Freyja giggles, even giving the two big dakangs, and little Jiaohua as well, hugs -- she's very pleased they didn't have to kill the worms! Diath remains very patient, awaiting Freyja's answer. She adds cheerfully to Diath, "I did what Zero suggested -- I told them to stop attacking the Burn, to stay well away from it, and to stop questioning me or I'd punish them with the cleansing fire of darkness! Hopefully it will stick." She sighs happily, "That'd be nice... two down, and two to go!"

Diath frowns, as he brings the airspeeder about for the city. "Where'd you get that phrase from? And what is an 'Oather beast'?"

Freyja considers, then wonders aloud, "I wonder what happened to their previous Master?" To Diath she replies, "It was overheard on Marnaas, Jedi Diath. I apologize, but we've been told not to talk about what happened there." She adds cheerfully, "If that's ever rescinded, though, I'd be happy to tell you!"

Zero says, "Just the rambling of madmen, Diath. It's probably nothing." He smiles wanly. "Just something that's supposed to sound important."

Freyja grins at Zero, still happily rubbing Jiaohua's ears. She settles down on one of the seats, beaming, and leans against Vakkal to murmur quietly to him, "Thanks for making sure I didn't fall."

Diath blinks. "Marnaas?" he asks, turning to flying. "That's where the Master was killed by the Sith, wasn't it? Hell... oh, yes. The knight-captain will like to talk with you about what went on. And, uh, no offence, Padawan Freyja, but could you, uh, resume the Force suppression technique? I know you said the beasts might not attack Force users anymore, but, just in case..."

Zero says, "You only spoke to two of them. We'll see whether or not they pass the word along."

Freyja says, "Oh, right! Sorry, sorry..." She pulls herself together, hastily resuming the Suppression. A moment later she opens her eyes, "There... better? I'm sorry, I, uh... kinda forgot." She nods to Zero, "True. Worm One did say only masters can give commands." She adds in quiet, if tired, happiness, "Goddess... I think I learned something new, too -- I'll have to tell Master Roakkana about that pillar of Light thingie!"

The debriefing with the knight-captain goes quickly, and seeing the late hour they order in supper from one of the small vendors across the street. Zero is asked for help -- frequently -- with the ordering. The unnamed company has been together for some time, and the camaraderie is palatable -- they also welcome Freyja, Zero, and Vakkal without reservation.

"Captain," Diath asks, after swallowing one of the small scallion dumplings, "Is there any word as to what happened to Jedi Diana?"

Freyja grins happily, enjoying her personal struggle with dumplings, soup, and chopsticks, even as she listens. Zero is munching contentedly on a dumpling of some kind, a steamed bun stuffed with some kind of dark meat, listening to the conversation. He's also taken to eating some kind of toxically hot herb on his food; it's given more than one newcomer a rude introduction but Zero seems nearly impervious to it, and frequently suggests it to the Jedi sitting nearest him.

Freyja asks (a little muffledly -- her mouth is full), "Iv vat one of ve 'edi vat went out 'oo 'alk 'oo ve natiff?" She blinks -- then hastily chews and swallows, trying again, "Er, I meant to say, is that one of the Jedi who went out to talk to the Sedraki natives?"

The Krevaaki pauses in the middle of very deftly using a pair of chopsticks (despite her tentacles) in delivering an autumn roll to her hidden mouth. "No, nothing, I'm afraid, Diath," Baas says. "The Temple's said nothing about her after she became a paladin."

Meanwhile the Nautolan sitting beside Zero is turning a remarkable shade of jade green after following Zero's suggestion, but is not complaining at all, instead eating quite a bit of the warm-baked bread and noticeably copious amounts of water. "Sharp taste!" Takk Dasin manages to rasp.

Freyja huhs silently to herself at the Knight-captain's reply... guess not. She gives the poor Nautolan a sympathetic glance, murmuring, "I've been told water just spreads it around -- try more bread and rice?"

Zero says, "Takes a little getting used to. Here, have another meat bun, it'll take some of the oil off." He hehs, "Sorry about that; I forgot your sense of smell's sharper than mine." He does look honestly sheepish about it; he usually makes it a point not to blind potential allies.

Baas blinks her black eyes to Freyja. "Oh! No, she wasn't. Jedi Diana -- well, previously, Knight-Captain Diana, and now, we hope, Paladin Diana, used to be captain of this company. A few months ago she apologized, turned command over to me, and notified the Council she had chosen to become a Paladin instead of pursuing ascension to the rank of master."

Freyja blinks interestedly at Knight-Captain Baas, frozen with a dumpling halfway to her mouth, "Really?! Stars... that... that's almost like..." She pauses... then takes a deliberate breath, putting the dumpling in her mouth so she has an excuse to not speak for a moment. She thinks to herself, ...almost like Master Mull... She wonders thoughtfully if Paladin Diana was one of the paladins that supposedly weren't at the Temple gates.

Dasin smiles wryly. "It's fine. That's the sharpest spice I've ever had, though!" His nose and tentacles quiver a little, and it's perhaps fortunate that he's 'blinded' enough to not be able to pick up on Freyja's emotions.

Baas' faceplates rearrange themselves subtly. "Almost like... pardon?"

Freyja blinks at Baas, chewing... then swallows and says politely, "Upon reflection I realized I was wrong, Knight-Captain. I was just thinking of Master Mynaas Mull, but it's not really like that at all, is it?"

Zero grins, keeping up a quiet stream of cheerful conversation so as to keep a few Jedi from zeroing in on Freyja's conversation. "It's kind of an acquired taste... you build up a tolerance for the oil after awhile, then it's just tasty." He grins, "Survival mechanism. Most animals on Sedrak don't ever eat a Fury pod more than once."

Freyja quietly and mentally blesses Zero for his distraction... and also notes where one of those Fury pods are in Zero's bowl. She doesn't really want to try one... but she mentally braces herself to do so, if the Knight-Captain keeps talking about this. She looks down at her bowl, a bit embarrassed at the thought... hopefully Zero won't have any idea what that'd mean on Balmorra either.

Baas blinks a little. "Uhm. I don't think I'm familiar with Master Mynaas Mull. No, we're just worried that Diana might try to get to her home world, behind the Sith front. She's a very good person." She pauses. "She'd have a much better idea of what to do here... which is why she was eligible to be considered a master. There's no helping that now though, I'm afraid."

Dasin almost coughs up his water. "'Fury pods'? Is that what they're called?" he asks with a laugh. "Why aren't I surprised!"

Freyja nods quietly to the Knight-Captain, taking another, non-Fury bite and chewing. She whews mentally at the change of topic... she was not looking forward to practically burning her intestinal lining out, just to prevent embarrassing questions! She grins to herself... then asks curiously, "So... Knight-Captain, can you tell us anything about the Jedi that went out off the reservation?"

Zero adds as an aside to Baas, "We're no replacement for a Master, but we'll help out however we can while we're on Sedrak. If it turns out that the worms have really been dealt with, we'll be able to bring our own Master down to planetside. I'm sure he'd be pleased to meet you." With that, he returns to his conversation, laughing. "Yeah. They're very pretty plants; sharp leaves and really bright flowers, very aggressive looking plants. Since most herbivores on the planet have good eyesight to deal with all the stalking predators, it makes the plant a prime target. So they evolved a seed oil that could take the varnish off an airspeeder."

Freyja brightens at that thought, then nods to the Krevaaki, her tone a little wistful, "We're looking forward to Master Roakkana being able to come planetside. He's a very good person too."

Baas nods in gratitude to Zero. "We'll be pleased to meet him." She seems relatively pleased at the change of subject. "Some, yes. Jedi Tholl of Vulta was in charge. Her family has an equestrian tradition. Jedi Bhassa of Naboo and Jedi Heivrak of Oghan went with her. All three are fairly experienced, having pass their trials at least three years ago, and were taken into the company about a year ago."

Freyja nods thoughtfully, one of her concerns assuaged -- so there was a rider amongst them! -although, in a way that makes it a bit more dangerous for their intended group, she supposes. "Hm. Were there any non-Humans amongst the three of them? Did they attempt to pass as Sedraki natives?" She adds puzzledly, "Where did they get the mounts from?"

Baas answers, "There were not. As you can see, perhaps, Jedi Diath is the only Human amongst us. That is, after Jedi Diana left. And they did not. Jedi Tholl didn't feel, even if they were capable of it, that passing themselves off as Sedraki would be wise -- above and beyond the stipulations of the treaty. As for the mounts, we managed, at great monetary cost, to purchase them from a person in the native community, just outside the reservation."

Freyja frowns puzzledly as she chews, pondering. Finally she swallows and asks the Krevaaki, "So... did they report in frequently, Knight-Captain? Are there any archives or anything of what they reported that we might be able to read?" In explanation she adds, "Zero, Vakkal, and I were considering offering to try talking to the natives... and I thought it'd be nice both to keep an eye out for them, and do our best to learn everything they can teach us."

Dasin laughs, "I can understand that. Police should put this in spray canisters, it'd be better than most takedown sprays. Then again, it might be cruel and unusual to do that!"

Zero grins, "I've heard they do in some prefectures... but I haven't been around too much to check it out. I came straight here from the spaceport. I know the idea's enough to keep me in line."

Dasin nods, still grinning, and studying the remaining Fury pod in his bowl. With a smooth motion he picks it up with his chopsticks and pops it into his mouth, amidst some gasps and groans and comments of, "Takk, you're nuts," even as people are en masse passing pitchers of water around the table to the Nautolan.

Freyja blinks at the Nautolan... then giggles in spite of herself, "You're braver than I, Kuras!" Takk grins and bows to Freyja, even as he's turning that same shade of green again.

Zero grins, "Saaah, there's a man after my own heart!" Freyja giggles at Zero too... then turns to look at the Krevaaki, still grinning. Zero leans back a little, taking a little swig of warm wine, and turns back to Freyja, "Well... no guarantees they'll be willing to talk. But we can certainly ask them. Don't know if they'll want to talk to me, specifically; if they do still remember my mother I might stir up some memories for them."

Baas looks over with an air of what's probably amusement to Dasin. "They did, daily. But a week ago, as Diath told you, they did not report in. Paladin Eeth Dakkan tells us they're still alive, but he cannot say for certain where they are; they seem to be maintaining their Force suppression diligently."

Freyja nods to Zero, adding, "Hai... but they might respect you for it too, Zero. We just don't know." She considers, then says curiously to Baas, "And... nothing to indicate in the reports what might have happened, hai?"

Zero says, "Well, hard to say. I suppose we'll have to find out." Freyja nods to Zero again. She's pleased -- the Knight-Captain's not forbidden them to go.

Baas inclines her head to Freyja again. "If you want to try, you are welcome to, and we'll help you as best as we can. I was undecided as to whether we should risk sending another party after them. And, no, they were fine one day, and the next... nothing." She looks to Zero. "Why-? Oh, yes, of course. You're the son of Akikou Satau."

Zero grins ruefully, "Between the three of us, we've gained a certain amount of infamy, I'm afraid." Freyja giggles at Zero, holding up a small morsel between her fingers for the patiently waiting Jiaohua, curled around her shoulders.

Baas says, "My master, Nouth Kal of Caamas, helped to negotiate the treaty here, actually. Unfortunately, I had just passed the trials and was not with him." Later the impromptu meeting ends and, after being assured that the three have a place to sleep, Baas notes that for the time being all they can do is wait. She will contact them as soon as they hear anything more about the worms or the missing Jedi.

The night air is warm, the sun having set an hour before and the last traces of twilight filling the sky. But that only lends contrast to the light and color which fills Shenlong's streets as the evening crowd fills the streets. Sedraki and a few non-Humans of various races and of all ages walk out and about, enjoying the evening life of the city.

Freyja ambles along peacefully with her friends, humming contentedly to herself... then wonders at a sudden thought that's just occurred to her. If she could track down Fhazil through the Force... could the Sith lord Ghang track her back? She'd bet he'd like to know precisely what she intended with his apprentices... but it could be really disastrous for him to try contacting her while she's trying to hide from worms! She considers for a moment... then smiles quietly to herself. Either he'll do it, or he won't. That he's not done so yet would indicate to her that he's fortunately not that interested. Even if he were... perhaps the Force Suppression would be sufficient to ward her from his curiosity, at least for now.

Zero's eyes widen. He murmurs to Vakkal, "Don't have any brothers, do you?"

Freyja turns to look at Zero, "Twenty siblings all told, I think he said?" then realizes the implications of that statement. Hastily she murmurs, "Want my cloak and hood, Vakkal?"

Vakkal hmms inquiringly to Zero. "Uh... brothers? Well, actually, about a dozen brothers, yes. Why do you ask?" Freyja is already shrugging out of her cloak to flip it over Vakkal's broad shoulders and up over his distinctive head.

Zero nods in the direction of a narrow alleyway. "Great, you can tell me if that's one of them -- come on!" He takes off at a sprint.

Freyja blinks -- that's odd. What's Zero doing? Nevertheless, she follows... he must have a reason for what he's doing. She can't resist looking at the alleyway, though... what's down there? Vakkal blinks a bit as Freyja puts her cloak on him, then gives a start as Zero sprints. "I... what...?!" He follows along quickly behind Freyja and Zero.

The alleyway is typical: a long passage running behind the store-buildings. It is filled with recycling bins, the occasional cleaning droid; fairly well lit, no muss or fuss -- about what one expects from an alleyway in a civilized city. alleyway. Down the alley a ways the three can see a figure turn, blink -- canid ears perk up in a manner not unlike Vakkal's -- then they're gone, and boot steps can be heard pounding the pavement around a corner.

Freyja mutters, "Looks like one..." but saves her breath for running. If it is one of Vakkal's people, she and Zero are never going to catch up with it.

Zero pauses a moment, then regains his pace as he spots the figure, "There he is! Vakkal, see if you can circle around and cut him off!"

Freyja blinks at Zero in surprise. This is... just odd... Vakkal nods once, glancing quickly to Freyja, then bolts up a side-passage that runs between two buildings. A few moments later from up that passageway there is the sound of what seems to be a high-speed collision between a number of people. The sounds of a scuffle follow -- followed quickly by the ping of conc-gun shots.

Zero reaches for his lightsaber as he runs but doesn't yet ignite it, "Oh, damn..." Freyja gets a really annoyed look -- this is the last time she doesn't ask for explanations first! -- but just pelts for the corner, pulling her blaster.

At the end of the passageway, Freyja's Vakkal has pinned the other Vakkal against the wall, one hand grasping the other's wrist, that hand holding a small holdout c-gun. They appear to be locked in a straining match of strength, teeth bared in snarls, and people have generally cleared from the street outside at the first sound of the c-gun shots. Freyja stops at the corner, carefully bracing herself to shoot to stun. She snaps out sharply, "Drop the gun!"

Freyja's Vakkal barely glances over, while the other Vakkal looks over while starting to pant. He blinks, looking between her and Vakkal in some confusion, before dropping the small c-gun. It clatters to the ground. Freyja mutters to Zero, "Make sure he's got no other weapons. I'll cover, hai?" The other member of Vakkal's species stops struggling quite so much, but with a snarl Vakkal doesn't yet release him.

Zero tucks his saber back into his sash, bending to pick up the weapon. "Yeah." He examines it briefly for make and model, then drops it in a pocket. He pats the other canid down quickly. "Ask him why he was watching us. And why he ran."

The other's eyes flick to Zero, but Vakkal's growled question gains his full attention. He does not immediately respond; Vakkal repeats his snarl, at which the other responds in kind. Vakkal narrows his eyes. "In Aurabesh," he snarls. "You can speak it as well as I can, if you've been in the Republic for any length of time."

Freyja listens quietly, still aiming carefully. Zero says, "He may not have. This is definitely one of their weapons. Ugly little thing."

The person glances between Vakkal and the others. "You are... you are not..." His expression grows grim. His voice, while similar to Vakkal's, is of a deeper timbre -- somewhat richer but with an unplace-able accent, which Vakkal has never spoken with. "My master died some time ago. I saw you enter the Jedi building. Should I not be curious as to why one of my brothers was entering-"

With shocking vehemence, Vakkal bites out, "I have no brothers from Khar Velos!" He glances to Freyja and Zero and says quietly, in a slightly calmer tone, "Not... not at least in your meaning of the word."

The other blinks, saying simply, "Oh..."

Freyja has been living next to Vakkal for several months -- almost in each other's pockets. She's familiar with his species' body language by now... she studies the other Sith's behavior, then murmurs, "What do you do here, Lordless one?"

He swallows, looking to Freyja. He seems frankly terrified of the apparently ragingly angry Vakkal. "I... I have no duties here. Not since Lor- my master was killed..."

Freyja paces quietly forward, her gaze intense on the other dog Sith, "What do you do here?!"

Zero gently places a hand on Vakkal's shoulder, murmuring, "Easy now. She's got him covered."

Freyja's words are punctuated by a low, deep, threatening growl from Vakkal, which subsides only a little from his voice as Zero speaks to him. The other Sith fidgets, rasping out, "I... I was servant to my Lord. She... she brought me here, but said only we were to ride herd on beasts the Smiths had provided us!"

Freyja smiles slowly, although it doesn't reach her eyes, icy over the blaster barrel, "Very good. Now you will tell me what the key to the tenth gate is."

If it's possible for one of Vakkal's people to go pale, this one would. He gurgles something in his language, cut off when Vakkal bares his teeth. "I... I don't know that!" he stammers. "I have only passed the third gate!"

Freyja suspects the poor dog Sith really doesn't know -- otherwise he'd probably have used it. She simply nods again, "And now how your lord, and one of the worms, were killed. Tell."

"It was a Togruta. I don't... I don't know her name! She found him one night and just... just killed him!"

Zero says, "What about the worm?"

Freyja murmurs, "Zero, can you call the Knight-Captain, please, to pick this Oather up? I think that would be kinder than... the alternative." She doesn't explain further, just keeps steady aim pointblank at his head. Internally, however, she wishes the Togruta well... she suspects she knows who it was.

Zero nods. "I'll be back in a moment."

The Oather Sith glances to Zero before that one goes off. "I... I don't know. I just know that my Lord was to control them..."

Vakkal bares his teeth. "He's barely an apprentice," he growls. "Barely a few years into his training."

Freyja nods slowly, considering... then says quietly, "Enough." She shoots the terrified Sith carefully, stunning him. Zero gives the canid an odd look, catching his glance over his shoulder as he goes. He's gone before the Sith hits the ground. Freyja sighs, lowering the blaster as the apprentice slumps in Vakkal's hands.

Vakkal winces, almost catching his hands back quickly when Freyja stuns the other Sith, shaking them out quickly. "Please try not to do that while I'm holding someone next time," he says sheepishly. "Sometimes stun blasts can conduct from one body to the next, if one has a tight enough grip."

Freyja nods quietly, her voice low. "I apologize. Are you all right, my friend?" She steps forward, gently stroking a hand down Vakkal's raised hackles. She doesn't say anything more... just stands there quietly and companionably with him.

Vakkal looks down at the Sith, sighing as Freyja pats down his hackles. "I'm... physically fine. He did not study under a Lord of War." He kneels down, nose twitching a little, looking over the fallen Sith's body. "I think... he is of the-" He murmurs an unpronounceable-by-Humans string of syllables in his tongue, "-a few days' journey from my own family's territory."

Freyja smiles a little ruefully, standing there and watching Vakkal kneeling by the body, as she waits for the other Jedi to return. Whatever happened to Vakkal on that planet... must have been fairly terrible, for him to so vehemently deny family and home. She doesn't envy him that.

Vakkal sighs and stands, even as Zero returns with Dasin, the Nautolan Jedi. "Well," Takk says, studying the person. "A Sith, huh? That would explain a lot. Paladin Eeth says that the Sith usually have handlers for their beasts." He kneels down, doing a barely cursory pat-down before binding the Sith's wrists. "We're gonna have to keep him sedated until the Watchers tell us what to do with him. How did you know he was a Sith?"

Freyja says simply, "He ran." She sighs quietly. She can intimidate the worms for a while... but she'd sure like to find out what the key to the tenth gate is, so she can properly command them all to stop attacking the Force-Sensitive.

Zero takes the gun from his pocket, turns it deftly in his fingers and hands it to Takk, grip-first. "No markings, but it's their make, for sure. Not exactly front-line material, though. Probably just someone's peon."

The Nautolan blinks, looking up at Freyja with a frown, and opens his mouth to ask something -- when Zero offers the small c-gun. He accepts it, blinking. "This is a Sith gun? Uhm... I'll take your word for it, I've never seen any close before." He stands, pulling the limp body up easily. "Okay. We'll leave him under guard at the house. Depending on how he behaves, he may actually be allowed to remain awake. You guys've had a busy night! You look like you could use some sleep."

Freyja murmurs to the Nautolan, "May we speak to him when he awakens, please? He might know where his former Lord's lair is."

Takk nods, "Sure. As soon as he's finished with his nap we'll comlink you. Probably tomorrow morning early."

Zero grins a little and sighs. "Never a dull moment. C'mon, Takk, let's drag this guy home. There's a cart around the corner that sells really good kai. I'll buy you a cup for your trouble. You guys want to come too?"

Freyja says, "Thank you." She grins a little tiredly at Zero, "Of course, silly. We don't know what your village's name is."

Zero says, "C'mon then, we'll grab a cup for the road."

Freyja holsters her blaster, then smiles at Vakkal, "Let's go." She also checks to be sure he's calm and feeling better. He is calmer, but sober and quietly discomfited-seeming. The Sith is soon confined to a room in the ersatz Jedi building, Freyja and Takk Dasin are introduced to kai, and the three make their way to the busses that lead between Shenlong and the outlying communities.

Freyja finds herself oddly full of enthusiastic energy at the end of the day, despite the amount of Force work she's done that day. Perhaps it has to do with her oddly newfound feeling of freedom... she doesn't know. What she does know is that after dinner she politely excuses herself and heads out for a quiet exploratory walk around the village. Some fresh air would be lovely, and maybe it'll calm her down a little, so she can sleep later.

Vakkal, taking his role as huskarl seriously, follows along with Freyja. And Jiaohua, with a meef, clambers onto Freyja's shoulders and holds on, his tail lightly curled about her neck as he pants excitedly. Up this close, and having been told of the dakang's much, much larger cousins, Freyja can see that Jiaohua is definitely a young, small member of his species: the paws are very large, as is the dakang's face in proportion to his body, like he has yet to grow into them.

Freyja laughs at Jiaohua's enthusiasm, lightly ruffling his ears, and beams at Vakkal as she paces quietly along, her hood back in the twilight, "Is it just me, Vakkal, or is it really... peaceful and alive and nice out here?"

Vakkal considers for a moment. "Well," he says, "-it's a far cry from Marnaas, Coruscant, and Balmorra. The people seem to be much more at ease with the land, and it hasn't borne them for tens of thousands of years. It's a lot like Khar Velos in that way, I guess. But you're right, it is very peaceful here, all told."

Freyja nods quietly, still smiling, "Zero said something interesting to me the other night... I said the same thing to him, and he said he thought it was because I was finally relaxing, and starting to be me -- not what someone else wanted." She paces silently for several steps, considering, then says slowly, "It was... sort of an odd idea. I mean, I always thought everyone was who they were... but upon reflection, I could see what he meant. So I was wondering... who am I?" She turns her head to look at the big dog Sith, her skin fading warmly into the twilight. Only her pale eyes show much at this hour. Her voice is contemplative, "Have you ever asked yourself that? And... if you have, how do you answer it?"

Vakkal is quiet for several long moments. "I... did ask that question. Once. A very long time ago, before... before I left Khar Valos. And my answer came -- quickly, at least for me -- after I began studying under Lord Ghang. I had to find that answer and hunt it down, though. It is elusive. It is not there for just anyone to take hold of."

Freyja nods thoughtfully, both aware that Vakkal seems a bit uncomfortable with the memory... and glad he at least told her this much. She courteously doesn't press the issue though, murmuring only, "So... it takes a while to figure out who you are, then? It's not something... to discover hastily?"

He shakes his head. "It can't be done hastily. At least as I've seen."

Freyja nods slowly, still walking silently. She considers one important associated question... one she'd like to know the answer to, if only to be able to share in the happiness if the answer is hai -- or to try to help if the answer is neh, "Do you like who you are, Vakkal?"

Vakkal chuckles quietly. "Yes, all in all. I do."

Freyja smiles, her face lightening, and says sincerely, "I'm glad."

Vakkal inclines his head in the darkness. "Do not fret, Freyja. I think Roakkana would say that finding one's self is a journey, not a goal."

Freyja nods and grins, "Indubitably!" She continues walking quietly, considering the question for herself... who is she? She... she's Freyja, Arving Lady of Haus Rigg... Fafnir's betrothed. Her parents' daughter, Syf's sister. Master Roakkana's Padawan learner, Zero's sibling Padawan, Vakka- uhh... hm. Interesting. She's not defining herself... she's defining her relationship to others. So... who is she? Who is she?

A quiet, bleating yowl off to the side of the road catches Freyja's attention. Several of the local riding beasts are grazing there from the long grass. One suddenly moves slowly, tilting its head to the side, looking at something with its side-positioned eyes... then lashes out its head in a peculiar, downward-moving side motion, almost like whip-cracking its neck. Some small vermin is caught in its jaws; a quick motion and the little morsel is swallowed whole. That particular riding beast goes back to grazing.

Freyja looks in sudden interest at the riding beasts, whispering, "Look, Vakkal! I wonder if they're wild, or if I can walk up to them?" She's patting her pockets as she speaks, finding something nice to offer as a nibble... then she gets a mischievous grin and casually starts heading in the general direction of the beasts. If they're anything like slaypneers, walking directly up to them will cause them to move off... but casually sauntering near, then just happening to have a tasty tidbit, will cause them to come closer!

A couple of the creatures take notice of Freyja, and bleat a little... before returning to grazing. Though more and more of the creatures are taking note of Freyja; one at all times is watching her, but shortly another head pops up to peer at Freyja, while the first ducks down to chew on the grass.

Freyja casually strolls, occasionally pausing to peer at the grass... neh, she's not thinking about spooky slaypneers or these riding beasts, not a thought of them in her head at all! ...just strolling, that's her, hai... at a slight angle that brings her more towards the middle of the group. Not directly at any one beast... just sort of random...

There's very little reaction from the five or six beasts. Even as Freyja approaches, another one gets that curious tilt to its head, then whip-cracks its head and snatches another rodent from the grass. Freyja lets the carrot-like vegetable she's got in her hand protrude from between her fingers, and turns sideways so it's close to one of the beasts, but she's not directly facing it. She lightly scritches Jiaohua's ears so he stays quiet... and waits patiently. Odds are someone will scent food and come looking.

Jiaohua seems more interested than scared, and he watches with curiosity and twitching nose and ears. It takes a few minutes, but eventually one of the riding beasts saunters over, its nose twitching, and peers at Freyja's hand. It looks for a moment like it is considering if it should go into 'hunting mode,' then bleats and simply leans down to, with somewhat nimble lips, worry the carrot from Freyja's fingertips.

Freyja grins -- success! -- and lets the carrot slowly be worked free from her fingers. She turns slowly, just as casually stroking one hand lightly down the beast's side, scritching gently. The beast seems reasonably calm; Freyja's fingers can sense a pulse that beats fairly rapidly. The animal must have a high metabolism. The beast bleats a little after chewing and swallowing the carrot, and sniffs lightly at Freyja's hand, showing off a very limber neck. Not smelling any more food immediately, it leans down to take another mouthful of grass.

Freyja continues scritching, leaning gently and companionably against the beast as she does so. Every herd or pack animal she knows of likes contact and grooming... as she does so, she wonders a bit bemusedly why Humans don't touch each other very much. Wouldn't it be nicer and more reassuring to be able to touch more? She knows she enjoyed the few times she'd helped Vakkal with his fur... did she enjoy the time with Fhazil in the hot tub? She can't really remember... mostly she was concentrating on being a good healer, that time... she smiles at herself, enjoying the smooth, warm sensation of scales under her hands.

Freyja tilts her head to study the beast's hide as she scritches... any tattooing or markings that she can see? If so, maybe this beast belongs to natives... ooh, there's a thought! If she hopped on, would it run to wherever the main herds were? That'd be a way to find the natives! Er... but would leave Vakkal behind. That would be rude... unless... could he keep up? She doesn't know. She puts a companionable arm lightly across the beast's back, and calls quietly to the big Sith, "Do you think you could keep up with one of these guys, Vakkal?"

The creature makes an altogether different sound, a sort of buzzing growl. But it seems placid and comfortable, even as it continues to chew the grass. One of the others nudges Freyja with a rather large head; it's then that she can see the subtle tattoo on the beast's forehead, a sort of jagged series of almost calligraphic symbols. It's certainly not Aurabesh. It's a mark shared by all the beasts.

Vakkal looks almost ready to jump with tension as he watches Freyja... and watches the beasts watch Freyja. He blinks. "I'm... not sure. I can try, certainly..."

Freyja brightens at the mark, gently rubbing the new beast's forehead. Soothingly she murmurs, "Well, hello there! You want some scritching too? Or... hmm..." She studies the back of the beast she's leaning on... could it carry two, maybe? "Vakkal? Um... do you feel like trying riding, or would you rather try running?" He can practically hear the delighted grin in her voice as the idea comes to her.

The creature's back can most assuredly not handle two, at least barebacked. Vakkal glances around. "If you're planning what I think you're planning... I'll keep up as best as I can, I assure you."

Freyja giggles, glancing over the beast's back at Vakkal, "Wouldn't it be fun? They're all marked too -- see it on their foreheads? So... maybe they'll return to the main herds, and we could meet some of the natives! Want to try?" She adds cheerfully, "If you want a head start, you might want to try circling around this group and out more that way, away from the village? Just be sure to walk quietly and calmly, and I'll wait until you say you're ready!" She continues happily leaning against the one beast, and gently scritching both of them... this is so nice, to be around animals again!

Vakkal nods a little. "I'll try. Hopefully that's the right way to go...." He starts moving, edging out of the way. Several of the beasts look up, bleating waveringly, sensing the predator, but eventually return to chewing comfortably. Shortly, Vakkal is heading away from the village.

Freyja watches Vakkal, waiting until he waves or nods to let her know he's in place. As she waits she carefully shifts the larger of the two beasts she's scritching, under the assumption that a larger one is older, maybe a touch slower (for Vakkal's sake), and will calm down sooner. The shifting is to be sure it's facing out, away from the reservation, so that hopefully when she slides onto it, if it spooks it will go straight out and away from the village -- and past where Vakkal is, heading out to the main herds of the natives. A lot of assumptions, she knows... but her own experience with riding beasts will hopefully apply, at least a bit, here as well.

Freyja grins, amending her thought to herself, assuming as well, of course, that it doesn't just toss me and flee! She grins, unworried... even if that happens, it will have been a fun experiment. The beast resists only a little, as it tries to get one particular bit of grass, then consoles itself with a different sprig of the long-bladed plants.

Freyja grins, her eyes dancing with delight in the twilight where no one can see... then she hoists herself up onto the beast's back, trying to use a smooth, flowing move she's mentally rehearsed since she first saw the fascinating new riding beasts. She intends to end up with her legs firmly wrapped about its barrel, leaning well forward so their centers of gravity are close. The beast makes a curious grunting sound and shuffles around a little, regaining its footing. It glances over its shoulder at Freyja... pauses... then bleats a little, shaking out its head and going back to munching on grass.

Freyja laughs delightedly! -then sits back enough to rest her elbows on the calmly grazing beast's back. What has she got to try modifying for a bridle? Her belt, perhaps? Her tunic? She grins -- she'll quite happily shred her tunic to create a makeshift bridle if necessary... but she'll try the belt first. She's heard of single line bridles... you swirl it about the muzzle, over the ears, and through the loop that creates for a single rein. Why not try?

Freyja idly scritches the beast's shoulders as she considers... then finally nods... she thinks she knows how to do this. She undoes her belt, then loops it loosely through the belt buckle to make a makeshift noose of sorts... then leans forward to try and drop it gently over the beast's head. With a grunt of effort she mumbles, "Wish you guys had a name...!"

The beast only shakes its head once, bemusedly, but holds generally still as Freyja sets the bridle, making soft, grunting bleats. Freyja grins, patting it happily and gently rubbing its ears, "You're a real nice guy, hai, you are! All right... shall we try heading you on home for the night, hmm? You ready to try that?" She leans forward a bit again, in case the beast leaps forward or something, and tries nudging gently with her heels, and clicking her tongue encouragingly, like she would for a slaypneer, "Come on! Time to go home...!"

The beast whuuuffs and shakes its head a little bit, but does not move. Freyja laughs again, oddly enough enjoying this quiet experimentation tremendously. She grins, tugging gently on the one rein to bring its head up so it won't continue grazing, and kicks gently, "Aw, please, hmm? Be a nice beast... don't you want to go home to all your friends, hey?"

It lifts it head up, and gives a bleat slightly muffled by the makeshift bridle, and doesn't quite shake the rein free, though it remains standing in place, at least. Freyja smiles -- progress! -- and nudges more firmly with her heels, "Let's go! C'mon!"

Curiously, the creature still refuses to move. It gives another, somewhat stronger shake of its head, and the bridle comes free from Freyja's hand. It still remains, however, standing calmly in place. Freyja hms thoughtfully. Obviously she's missing something critical here. She rolls the belt back up as she considers, then leans to check... the beast isn't hobbled or anything, is it? What else might keep a supposedly spooky beast from moving?

Way off in the darkness, echoing faintly off the hills, comes what sounds like a really odd bird call -- but it gets the attention of every beast there, lifting up their heads to look in that direction. Freyja looks up herself as well... then grins suddenly. Maybe it just wasn't time to go home yet? She looks around, studying the beasts for their reactions.

A few of them start trotting off in that direction. Freyja's beast hesitates for a moment, then starts, a bit slowly at first but then gaining speed, to stride long-leggedly in that direction. Freyja grins gleefully, her pale eyes shining with excitement -- finally! She tries shifting her weight gently, seeing if she can encourage her beast to fade a bit to the right or left as he runs, by doing so. The beast responds a little bit to the shifting of weight, drifting in that direction but always running in the same direction as the herd.

Suddenly one of the smaller beasts shoots past Freyja at an incredible pace. This makes the other beasts start to run faster and faster as well. Freyja brightens and leans forward to streamline their silhouette, laughing aloud, "Come on, beastie! You going to let that youngster leave you in the dust?"

The beast takes its time ramping up to speed, but go it does. Freyja has enough time to see a very surprised expression on the running Vakkal's face as every last one of the small herd blows past him by a comfortable margin. Freyja is having a wonderful time, her delighted laughter trailing behind her and her galloping mount. Jiaohua is clinging tightly, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, almost as rapturous as Freyja at their speed. She's lying almost horizontal on the bipedal beast's back now, clinging tightly with arms and legs, hair flying back from her face and her cloak billowing dramatically out behind her. If this is what it's like to try being who she wants to be, she's all for it -- life doesn't get much more fun than this!

The slow ramping up to speed gives Freyja time to adjust to the odd back-and-forth of the bipedal gait... she sways easily with it as the beast hits top speed and stays there. It's surprisingly comfortable to ride... she's pleased. She wonders how the natives will feel about her turning up... well, she'll find out soonest. If riding and shooting are important, which the tiny scraps of information she'd been able to glean seemed to suggest, at least she's got one part of it down. She wonders curiously if the natives really are losing their matrons... she hopes not, but if they are, she hopes there's something she can do to help. Well... she hopes that anyway, considering the worms. Ready or not... here she comes! She giggles softly to herself at the thought, absently patting the running beast's outstretched neck, "You're a really good boy, you are."

Vakkal is not quite left out of sight, because the herd rises the next hill and continues charging forward, slowing as it crosses the border of the reservation-

-when, against the sky atop the next hill, Freyja can see the shadowy form of another rider standing there calmly, stocky yet otherwise apparently near-Human. A long object is in one hand, apparently resting upon the rider's leg -- a short pike of some kind, or perhaps more likely, a long rifle.

Freyja sits up a bit, still swaying easily with the running gait, and watches the rider carefully. She hopes she's just being paranoid... but she doesn't want that person shooting at Vakkal. She lays a hand on her blaster, then... grins and waves at the other rider. Why not seem friendly? The other rider does not wave back. In fact it hardly moves.

The herd slows down in the little ravine, grazing a little again. Every so often a few more of the beasts show up from various directions, joining the growing herd. Freyja smiles, not worrying about it, and looks to see if Vakkal's caught up. When he does she waves to him too, calling out quietly, "Hey! How're you doing?"

Vakkal is actually panting as he tops the rise. He manages to nod, "I'm... doing... not bad... all in all...." though he eyes the other rider, who has apparently moved just enough to look at Vakkal.

Freyja grins, "Glad to hear it. Hope you're having fun -- this is really neat!" She looks around happily, enjoying the evening. Things may get better, and they may get worse... but right now she's having a lovely time, on a really sweet-tempered riding beast -- and they've even spotted one native! She pats her beast happily, then considers the rider with interest.

After another herd of five beasts arrive, the rider finally begins to move. Both hands are free; apparently they are controlling the beast by knee pressure, judging by the slight movements of the rider's legs, and the quiet and softly warbled sounds.

The rider brings their mount beside Freyja's. This close, the nomad's skin has a clearly dusky blue tone, and the stockiness of increased muscle mass that Zero told her about. Her clothing is a dark brown, apparently from tanned, supple, scaled leather, possibly from a beast not unlike what Freyja is riding. A short cloak rests upon her shoulders, the collar turned up and almost concealing the rider's face from the nose down, held closed by a worked hematite pin. Bright, crystal-blue eyes matching the hue of the moon peer at Freyja coolly, and the Padawan realizes the other rider is a female.

The object the native carries, resting on her leg, appears to be a rifle -- apparently a well-cared-for slug thrower -- with a wooden stock and shell, and black metal parts, using what seems to be an antiquated dual-action automatic feed. It appears to be only a very little out of place in her hands, perhaps because a matching bayonet is sheathed at her side, tucked in amongst the other gear and bags and pouches a nomad herder would have.

Freyja looks interestedly at the woman, then brings her hands up in the same gesture she's seen the Sedraki Humans make, and nods politely. "Good eve. I'm sorry, I don't speak your language." Fascinating old slug-thrower... she bets Staster would love to examine it. She scritches Jiaohua absently as she watches closely how the mount is controlled, with the careful focus of another rider. That she thinks is the most important thing to learn right now... since there's no way she can learn the language instantly.

The rider studies Freyja coolly, pausing at the greeting. She inclines her head just a little. Slowly, the other rider's beast paces around the one Freyja is on, apparently taking a sort of deliberate tour, or rather close examination of Freyja. Freyja smiles and waits calmly for the other rider to finish her examination... and quietly scritches her mount, even as she keeps observing how the mounts are controlled. Apparently no bridles are used... interesting. Riding must be quite an adventure here! She can't wait! -well, she can, but she's definitely looking forward to doing this a lot more.

As the nomad makes her slow circle of Freyja, she can see that the nomad has a broad woven collar or such around the beast, with leathern loops upon it to hold on to; apparently that's how a rider remains in the saddle, such as it is. Freyja tilts her head thoughtfully, considering how she might try making one. Neh, wait... she'd need a beast to do so, and this one, however sweet-tempered he is, isn't hers. She sighs softly, patting the beast... he really is a nice fellow... then continues observing.

The rider completes her circuit and stops her mount beside Freyja's. She is quiet for a moment. "Is fine," she says, with an accent that could topple trees. "I speak your language." She pauses, perhaps gathering her lexicon and grammar. "Why is Sedraki on nomad-peoples' mount?"

Freyja grins a little apologetically, "I know he's yours... I just hadn't had a chance to ride in a long time, and I really missed it." With enthusiasm she adds, as she pats the beast again, "He's a lovely mount, too! You're very lucky." She pauses, then adds with a rueful smile, "If you want me to get off, please say so, and I'll dismount right away. I don't want to be rude... and I had a very nice ride; thank you."

The nomad's brow furrows a little, as she mentally translates what Freyja is saying. Finally she asks, "You are rider?"

Freyja considers, then says slowly, "I think so. What do you mean when you say rider?"

The nomad points to the beast. "You ride mounts. Other mounts. Skss... alien mounts."

Freyja is nothing loathe to continue the discussion -- it allows her to casually continue making friends with this very nice beastie! She scritchies its shoulders, listening carefully to the native woman, then nods, brightening as she comprehends, "Hai! I understand now. Hai, I'm a rider." A moment later she adds curiously, "What are these mounts called?"

It takes a moment for the rider to translate and parse what Freyja is saying; Aurabesh clearly did not come easily to her, or perhaps it came recently. "They are hakaast," she says simply. Her startlingly pale eyes flicker over to Vakkal. "He not Sedraki?"

Freyja forms the word carefully, "Hakaast..." She looks up, then smiles at the question, "Actually neither of us are. I am..." she pauses, considering how to explain the concept of Jedi, then simply says, "I am one of the servants of the Light, come here to try to figure out why the worms are attacking people, and stop them somehow. My name is Freyja. His name is Vakkal, and he's with me." She adds curiously, "Have you seen the worms?"

The rider's eyes narrow a little. After a while, she asks, "Jed-ai?"

Freyja brightens, "Hai! You've met Jedi, then? I'm just a beginner, myself, and Vakkal's not Jedi... but I'm doing my best, and he's very good at what he does." She grins ruefully, adding, "I'm probably a better rider, right now, than I am Jedi... but I'm trying."

The native woman says simply, "No. Have not met Jed-ai. Matrons speekeh to us of Jed-ai." She glances to Vakkal, then back to Freyja. "Is far to home? Must ride long?"

Freyja tilts her head curiously, "What did the matrons say of them? Do the matrons know about the worms?" She ponders how to answer those last two questions... does the native woman mean her home planet, or the village they're staying in?

"Matrons say... good of Jed-ai. Helped end war with Sedraki. Am not know what say of worms. Been weeks since seen matrons."

Freyja looks a bit surprised, "Oh... I thought every group had a matron." She smiles, "My mistake. Um... by home, do you mean where I was born, or where I'm staying currently?"

The rider is clearly confused; this is levels of the language she's not used to. She shakes her head. "Am Kilinijastilakanista...." She trails off a bit, then says simply, "Am Linijast. Meant home here on Sedraki reservation."

Freyja nods slowly, both listening in fascination to the rather liquid sounding language, and thinking hard for good words to use to be as clear as possible... then says carefully, "All right. The place where I sleep at night is off that way -- the village near the edge of the reservation. You know it?" She points, adding, "I don't know how far it is, I'm sorry... this is the first time I've come this way."

Linijast nods slowly; apparently an affected Human gesture. "Is fine." She turns a little and says something in the very smooth-flowing, quick, sharply enunciated nomad tongue. A shape, apparently another nomad, rises out of the brush. Linijast says something, then throws her rifle to the shape. A masculine voice makes a quiet reply, then the shape settles back down; now that Freyja knows what to look for, she sees the nomad man sitting within a concealing bunch of shrubbery.

Linijast turns to Freyja. "Will ride with you back to your home." Her gaze flicks to Vakkal. "Will... Va... Va-ka-kal also need ride?"

Freyja looks pleased, "Thank you, I appreciate that." She grins, "Neh... Vakkal is not a rider. He prefers his own two feet." She does glance surreptitiously at Vakkal, however, to be sure she's guessed correctly!

Vakkal nods at Freyja's glance; Linijast looks curious, then simply nods. "Ai, then." She lightly touches Freyja's mount's forehead and gives a soft warbling sound. The hakaast chuffs and snorts and shifts its weight a little, then as Linijast starts moving her mount forward with another warbled command, Freyja's mount follows along beside. For the time being, Linijast keeps the hakaast to a relatively slow pace -- which is to say, rather quick.

Freyja watches in fascination... so touching the forehead is important? Maybe that's why this hakaast has been so pleasant -- she rubbed his forehead? She continues to watch the rider with her with intent fascination. She'd try experimenting with the knee commands, but doesn't want to appear rude, especially if the mount is correctly already following Linijast's commands. She will try one of the warbled commands, though -- very, very softly, under her breath, seeing if she can emulate the tones at all.

It's not impossible -- but it does get Linijast's attention. She turns at the soft sound. "Neh, neh... like this..." and she makes the sound she used to have her mount move. Neither her own mount nor Freyja's seem to react at all.

Freyja blinks, then nods interestedly and tries again, attempting to more perfectly match the native woman's sound. "Like that? What does it mean?" She grins as she realizes -- they say neh properly, at least to her!

Linijast nods. "Ai. Is to have mount move."

Freyja nods again, still fascinated, "What are the other commands; can you tell me?"

Linijast gives a quiet chuckle. "Are many others, but is no time. But one to have mount stop is-" and she gives a slightly modulated warble.

Freyja nods again, practicing carefully so she'll remember the two tones. She grins, "That's why this beastie wouldn't move before... I was giving the wrong command." She pats the hakaast, adding happily, "Smart boy."

The nomad chuckles again. "Girl."

Freyja laughs! "Ah, my error!" She grins, scritching the hakaast gently, "Smart girl, then."

Freyja will ride quietly along with Linijast, carefully memorizing the two tones. After a few moments of practice, she says a little wistfully, "May I come see you again sometime? Would it be all right to come riding again with you?"

Linijast does not say anything right away. "Would... not be wise," she says. "Even for Jed-aye. Is many... how say... problems. The worms."

Freyja says quietly, "We'd like to try helping with the problems, Linijast. That's why we're here. The worms are a problem for us too. And maybe... maybe if we work together, we can figure out how to stop them?" Linijast does not answer; it's hard to tell if she's thinking or still translating what Freyja said.

The three arrive, interestingly, at where Freyja first got onto the hakaast. "Are here," Linijast says quietly. "Will ask mother. Am not sole voice of... how say... family. Can promise nothing."

Freyja nods to Linijast, "I understand. But... I would like to return if I may, with my two friends," she gestures, "Vakkal here, and one of the Sedraki, Zero... we're here to try to help. If you want, we'll gladly talk to your mother and tell her that ourselves." She wonders suddenly if the natives know the Sedraki names of the 'Devil' and her family... then smiles. Either way, it doesn't matter -- it'll come out eventually, and as far as she knows Zero's not trying to hide that fact.

Linijast clearly is trying to translate Freyja's words. "Skss. As said, will ask. Can make no promise. Family will not be here long."

Freyja nods, "Thank you." She smiles, giving the Balmorran equestrian salute, "You have been very kind, and I enjoyed the ride tonight." She slides easily off the hakaast, then searches her pockets to offer one last bit of carrot. As the beast munches she rubs its forehead and croons quietly, "And you were just lovely, thank you!" Then she steps back, to smile and wave, "Fair wind in your face and a strong ride before you!"

The nomad raises her hand in a silent wave, then croons a little to the mount, trotting back along the way they came. After a few moments, the two hakaast leap a little and bound into a cantering run... and are soon out of sight.

Freyja beams happily, watching... then grins and flings her arms exuberantly around Vakkal, causing Jiaohua to make a small, startled meef! sound, "Wasn't that fun?! What a lovely night! Did you have a good time too?"

Vakkal lets out a breath. "I admit I was concerned, Freyja. I had not expected nomads to still be this close to the reservation."

Freyja is beaming exuberantly as she turns to walk with Vakkal towards the house again. Curiously she asks, "Why not? They're at peace, after all, hai?"

Vakkal considers. "They are, yes, but I am concerned about what Zero said about the importance of the matrons to the nomads."

Freyja says, "How so? She was a female, after all?" She adds thoughtfully, "I wonder how far away we can 'feel' the worms moving? I know when Jiosch attacked Kuras Taas, it was like... like a gong going off in my head!"

"Not all females are matrons." He thinks. "I could not answer that. This... Force suppression technique which Paladin Dakkan taught us... I do not know what it might block or might not block."

Freyja nods, "Hai, but she seemed calm, not distraught." She pauses, considering, then adds thoughtfully, "Although I don't know, really, what a native would be like if they knew their matron was gone..." She looks curiously at Vakkal, "You mean, like if it might block recognizing Darksider use of the Force? Huh... hadn't thought of that."

The two wanderers return to the house quite late, chatting quietly until they're there. At that point they fall silent, slipping quietly in and to bed so as to disturb no one.

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Last modified: 2002-Jul-16 16:14:54

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