The sun filtered through the forest branches, bathing the abandoned village in rays of light. While no wildlife seemed too keen on landing on the old platforms, Yeet couldn’t help but clench their jaw at all the incessant noise.
Birds are first against the wall when wesa ascend, the Gungan thought.
Many resources had been expended to get the Sith here, research and researchers alike used up to track down the Adept’s quarry. There was an ancient Sith holocron on this forsaken, life infested ball of dirt and wood, Yeet simply had to find it. Their scouring of old texts, scrolls, and databases had lead to this deserted township in the heights of the forest, and the Gungan had an inkling of what they were looking for. An ancient machine, with the holocron integrated into it. Old mysteries and powers would be Yolo’s, the Gungan’s palms seemed to itch under the heavy gauntlets they wore as they thought on it.
Freylia Sanfe whistled as she worked, having finally gotten the panel off the front of the rusted, corroded console. Finding it had been a trick in itself, her little ID-3 buddy having tracked down a standby power signal while searching for other salvage. The massive wroshyr tree almost seemed to have grown around the black and gray machine, unlike anything she’d seen before. It gave off an unsettling feeling, but that didn’t bother the scavenger that much. With the sun at her back she squinted into the machine, eyes tracing wires and circuit boards.
”The red wire is connected....to the capacitor! The blue wire is connected to the...power supply! The green wire is connected...to...the...ground!” she sing-songed as she pulled bits apart, having to tug on the ground wire harder to get it loose. ”The black wire is connected to the….to the…”
Her tattooed face scrunched up, purple eyes squinting at what the black wire was running to. It was a pyramid-shaped object, a frame of blackened metal holding in what looked like panes of crimson glass.
“Shiny,” she whispered, eyes glittering. This is gonna be worth a friggen mint!
Her droid chittered in alarm, and she glanced over at it.
“What?” she managed before she heard a humming sound. “Oh kark, did I turn something on?” she muttered, before yelping, finding herself pulled from where she knelt half inside the machine and into the air.
Freylia flailed as she was turned in midair, and found herself floating towards a tall figure adorned in a set of red armor, built like overlaying plates. Mental calculations about how much that might be worth gave her a quirk to the lips, even as she noted the source of the humming she’d heard. A blackened saber hilt with a crimson blade was in the figure’s right hand, while its left was seemingly drawing her nearer. She came to a stop about a foot in front of them, well within the range of the lightsaber, and felt a tightness around her throat that wasn’t her own fear.
“Oh, come on, can’t a girl find one good haul without frakking Sith showing up?” she gasped, kicking as she floated six inches off the platform.
“Oyl, moole, moole, yousa bombad unlucky, girlie,” came a rasping voice from inside the helmet. “Mesa hopes yousa not break that machineeks, or wesa have to hurts you.”
The Sith clenched his outstretched hand slightly, causing Freylia to cough, her airway slowly cutting off.
“Hey...hey!” she managed, one hand coming up placatingly, the other dropping towards her waist. “Its not...that broke. I just found it!”
“Yousa gonna give up the holocron, or daree gonna be moi moi hurts.”
Wait, that thing is a holocron? Those are worth a fortune! thought the scavenger, darkness pushing in around her vision. “Yeah! Sure! I’ll get it out, just stop!” she cried.
Yeet stared at the girl, debating simply crushing her windpipe, but relented. It was important to let others do menial work for you if you were going to someday rule the galaxy. Minions were important. The girl had found the machine before Yeet had, after all, perhaps she was useful. With a sigh of disgust for themselves showing such mercy, Yolo released her, dropped her to the platform. Even with having the life nearly choked out of her, she landed lightly in a crouch, violet eyes flashing as she looked up at the Sith.
“Move.”
“Yeah, yeah, gimme a second,” she grumbled, moving back to the machine and dropping to her knees. “Just gotta take the mounting off,” she called over her shoulder, reaching for an object on her belt and throwing a Look at her droid.
ID-3 braced and leaped into the air, tiny repulsor unit sputtering to fling the droid at the armored figure, shock prods sparking and pincers snapping.
Freylia almost thought she heard a sigh of annoyance from the armored Sith, before its offhand rose and a blast of lightning turned the droid into a charred hunk of metal on the ground, slightly smoking. Her own hand threw what she’d pulled from her belt, while her other hand closed around the grip of her micro-grenade launcher.
The C-10 grenade arced towards the target, before stopping a few feet out in mid-air, the Sith’s fingers twitching. It began to travel back towards the Miralian, for just a moment, before exploding and drawing curses from both of them. If it had been any nearer either of them it probably would have ended things right there. She fired blindly, the launcher made a ‘fwoomp’ sound as it sent another grenade in the general direction of the Sith. A shout of pain was heard, which she took as a good sign as she placed her freehand on the trunk of the tree and used it to guide her away, hoping to at least put an obstacle between her and the frakker she’d just blasted.
Yeet hissed in pain, parts of their armor were shredded by the nearly direct hit. The girl was a lucky shot. The Gungan could feel blood seeping from multiple wounds, soaking the comfort glove of their armor. With a hiss the Adept moved forward, looking at the machine.
Mesa be back for you, the Sith thought to themselves, before slapping a hand on the wroshyr tree’s trunk. The bark around the hand darkened, looking sickly as Yeet grit their teeth, the wounds across their side closing up as it used the ancient tree to fuel their healing. First, the girlie is gonna get deaded.