The Hutt Empire | Double Edged Redemption

[SWSF Eidolon]

  Roughly twenty years before the Battle of Yavin, during the Clone Wars, a battle raged in orbit over Honoghr between a fleet of Separatist and Republic warships.  During the conflict, a large Separatist cruiser crashed to the surface, carrying with it a massive quantity of a lethal biologically engineered toxin, Trihexapholine1138, intended for weaponized use in the War.  

  The contaminate spread rapidly, ravaging the planet wide flora and killing off entire jungles and grasslands in a matter of years, forcing it's iron-age sentient inhabitants, the Noghri, to trek across the landscape in an unending search for sustainable land.  While the Republic was heavily involved in efforts to restore the ecosystem, the usual problems of bureaucracy and logistics prevented any meaningful progress being made.  The world and it's inhabitants continued to be slowly choked to death until the arrival of Lord Vader on behalf of the Empire.  Masked with good will, the machinations and resources of the Galactic Empire were put to work to help restore the Noghri homeworld to it's natural state, the purpose and process however was something much darker.  Honoghr was wiped from official Galactic Charts, and over the years faded in to the realm of the forgotten as it became another one of the Empire's closely guarded secrets.

  The Noghri were a bluish, greenish or grey skinned reptilian resembling species, squat in stature but tone and muscular by nature and bred for stealth and the martial arts. They culturally came to value discipline and honor above all else, in many cases where an individual is considered to have lost his honor, committing ritual suicide to regain it.  When Lord Vader first arrived on planet, he found the entire Imperial Garrison there massacred, at the hands of a mere band of Noghri equipped with nothing other than wooden handled and steel bladed weapons.  It was this innate utilitarian warrior gene that prevented their annihilation from orbital bombardment as punishment, and assured their secure existence- albeit in service of the Empire.

  While small swaths of land were indeed purified, the majority of the planet was part of a charade.  Much of the Empire's work across Honoghr was actually to prevent the world from ever recovering, thereby forcing the Noghri in to a perpetual commitment to the Empire.  After several years of Imperial Science intervention, most of the planet had been restored- with a new incessant hybrid grass that provided no more useful ecological contribution than the ravaged waste it replaced.

  Honoghr and the Noghri continued on for nearly three decades under the guise of a feigned recovery effort that actually served to further their oppression. . .

Double Edged Redemption (Pt I)

   

  The Clean Lands.  Outpost Kilo, the Old Imperial Garrison Base just outside the medieval style settlement of Nystao, the capitol of Honoghr and Noghri culture.  Just a little over a year ago, the base and it's personnel were loyal to the Outer Rim Imperial Warlord Admiral Ishfan Szymon.  Having departed for a clandestine operation on Roon and never returned however, his forces and holdings simply gradually disintegrated.  Some attempting to hold their positions, others simply abandoning their posts and either melting in to the galaxy or joining other Imperialist entities elsewhere.  The Hutts wasted little time in reclaiming their age old prize of Xo's Eye- Kessel.  They were sure to soon turn their focus on the very nearby vulnerable world Honoghr.  

 

  The base's commander had departed months ago with most of the combat personnel and equipment.  Since then groups of staff disappeared every few weeks or so it seemed with little or no forewarning.  The few mechanized war machines too large to transport on smaller ships remained along with most of the short range star fighters, collecting dust in their hangar bay berths and upon their racks respectively.  The ranking officer was now one Colonel Sacarra Loristas.  A late twenty or early thirty-something female native of the privileged levels of Coruscant, she looked the part of an upper class socialite from the nuances of her prim presentation to her confident demeanor and hard to overlook was her blatantly appealing appearance.  From a military family, expectation loomed over her.  She excelled in her academics but with a second nature adoration of all things organic, she devoted her time and intelligence to science.  Naive and blinded by the splendor and glory, she served in the Imperial Science Division, specializing in biological recovery and through a string of successes early in her career was eventually deployed to the stricken world of Honoghr.  Originally a leading officer in the base's Science department and in charge of the cleansing efforts in and around the Clean Lands, she soon uncovered secrets about was going on across the rest of the world, her attempt to take the information outside her own chain of command nearly resulting in her targeted assassination, stopped only by a native Noghri samaritan who had sprung from the shadows.

   A few hundred of the one time bustling military base's thousands of constituents had remained.  Some of them did as they pleased, a handful followed a chain of command and continued on their evolved mission and agendas.  There were more TIEs than qualified pilots for.  Occasionally a heavy Walker strolled out of the towering main gate and made a brief round of patrols before returning to it's nest.  But most of the personnel left had little interest in fighting any battles or projecting any might.  Those who stuck behind under Colonel Loristas generally sought more altruistic endeavors.  Much of the barracks area had been torn out to expand the Laboratories.  A several thousand square foot interior green house occupied a good portion of space while the rest was filled with more traditional work areas from microscopy and chemical analyses to churning, bubbling and vapor filled networks of glass work and everything in between.  Sacarra stood on the safe side of a heavy plexiglass wall, her outdated Imperial darks officer's attire covered by a long white lab coat while observing an experiment conducted in the room within.  A large couple square meter tray of the hyrbid purple grass that had come to consume most of the world sat inside while a bulky tread driven droid situated itself so that a boom arm with a nozzle end protruding from it's body was perfectly centered over the test sample tray.

  She depressed a small button on a control panel planted on the wall, activating a speaker transmitter, "ZeeZee, Initiate Application," her commanding yet distinctly feminine voice called out.

  The droid obliged, it's boom arm spray nozzle depositing a large steady umbrella stream of a dark blue herbicide over the tray of the thick purple grassy brush.  At first, the detrimental flora wilted and appeared sunken.  Sacarra reserved her hopes, most of the latest samples had performed the same at first, then shrugged it off and resumed their uninhibited thriving.  Several minutes had passed as she waited patiently, her hands clasped behind her back besides occasionally glancing at her ancient wrist watch.  A number of fellow lab workers conducted similar or related business in the back ground as she observed her specific task.  Shortly after the ten minute mark, the Purple Grass was already exhibiting renewal.

  Loristas glanced at her watch again, then made a note in her collar mounted recorder,

  "Specimen Six-Four-Six, Nov'ral Gulch Strain.  Defoilant type K dash seven one, initial success.  Regenerative characteristics apparent at.. eleven minutes and twenty six seconds,"

  she said before deactivating the recorder with a slight collar tap and addressing the assisting droid, "ZeeZee, destroy specimen and dispose.  Please return with sample Six-Four-Seven,"

  "*Beep-Boop!*" the worker droid happily called out, eager to perform it's duties.  A separate lower based arm swung in, its arm kinked with a hose coiled along before entering the arm as it ended in a baffled barrel covering.  A large burst of flame erupted, mangling and burning down the nuisance shrub to chars.  It let out an almost squeeling sound as its thick skinned porous blades melted away in fire and emitted an incredibly noxious pungent odor- thankfully contained.

  Sacarra took a few moments to stroll away from her observation station to check in with a few of the other lab workers.  The results were discouraging, as always, but she did her best to keep the spirits up.  As she tended to her fellow professional and novice scientists, a rugged middle aged man of chiseled feature, grey eyes and dusty grey hair clad in an Imperial Army officers battle attire approached her, Urgy Vekkuli

  "Captain?" the Colonel inquired to the man, who seldom ever engaged her and she'd honestly been surprised he even still remained.

  "Colonel," he addressed her with a stoic stanced salute, "Ma'am.  I felt it pertinent to inform you that the last hyperdrive equipped shuttle was missing this morning.  Roll call accounted for twelve absentees.  Mostly guardsmen and a platoon CO and mechanic," he informed her while standing tall and staring directly ahead, blank faced, at nothing.

  Sacarra let out a sigh as she took a few steps away, leading the much taller Captain along with her with a palm across his back,

  "And you weren't on it?  Why?" she inquired turning to face him a few feet away as they stopped.

  The Captain met her eyes only to respond, "I operate on a different protocol Colonel," before resuming his staunch pose and blank stare.

  "That being?" she probbed now in an aggressive stance with an outward foot pivoted towards him, her weight on her back leg and her arms crossed.

  "The mission remains," he stated plainly.

  She looked around the expansive laboratory, "No offense Captain, but you don't have a lot of skills to contribute to the mission here anymore.." she retorted.

  He interrupted her, "The personnel of Outpost Kilo still require protection Ma'am.  Myself and.. what's left of my men remain to carry out that mission," he replied.

  She offered a curious perk of her brow and a kinked lip and began to answer, "That's noble of you Captain but.."

  He again interrupted her, "May I continue with my morning briefing Ma'am?  You are the ranking officer on site Colonel,"

  She rolled her eyes, "Since when do you bother reporting to me, you decided to start today?"  she inquired intently, gaining no reply.

  She cut through the self-inflicted silence, "What else?" she asked with a bit of a groan, as though now being officially stranded weren't enough.

  "We have received dignitaries," he stated.

  Her brow line now peeked, "Ambassadors?? From who?" she surprisingly inquired.

  Again he met her stare, "The Hutts.."


  She stepped in to the Garrison Command Quarters, having discarded the body length lab coat for the more official and intimidating look of her Imperial Officer's attire and surprised to see their guests had already arrived.  She played it off,

  "Allow me to welcome you.. Ambassadors," she opened, hesitating for an assessment of the dignitaries appearance.  The wide eyed Neimoidian of bluish green blotchy skin clad in a ceremonial seeming kind of bronze looking armor and the hooded Nikto of menacing expression donned in his traditional tribal colors, medals adorned across his chest.  

   They stood staring out the panoramic viewport overlooking Nystao, located at the highest point of the entire base structure, the Command Quarters offered the best view of the surrounding landscape.  Diminutive bustling creatures hurriedly carried on and about through their day in the life of a medieval refugee city-state dweller.  They came in and out of structures of varying stature, design, utility and importance.  Open markets ran amok with activity, the meat dealers always the most swamped and flocked to.  A dozen or more tall cylindrical structures stood out above all other buildings, centers of practice and skill and perfection of that which it means to be a Noghri, silence, the way of stealth and blood, the way of death.  Sacrifice and Honor.  Ritual and Instinct.  Killing. And Shadows.  It's the only reason anyone ever came to Honoghr.  And it was the Noghri gift and curse.

  Colonel Loristas continued her way confidently to her inherited oversized black marble-like desk with a single equally large and luxurious chair on one end and a few slightly less adorned rests on the other.  She took her seat as a pair of Imperial Army personnel apparently loyal to Captain Vekkuli entered and attemped to see the emissaries to theirs.    The Neimoidian happily obliged while the Nikto simply gave the soldier who'd attempted to lead him a cold empty stare, prompting the guard to hold back as the alien saw himself to a towering standing stance near the chair intended for him.  Captain Vekkuli strode in as well, his blast armor absent though a side arm at his hip, taking up a tight and tall stance slightly behind and off to the side of the seated Colonel.

  "It appears as though you know your way well around an Imperial Garrison Base, Ambassadorrrr?.." Sacarra continued,

  The Neimoidian spoke up, taking keen interest in conversation as the Nikto appeared averse to it, wearing a permanent scowl and occasionally flicking his left clawed hand in a kind of twitch,

  "Ahoo-ho-ho-ho, boot ob course Corlonel Loreestoos. Noot mooch time to wust een bulding Eempers.  You see vee hab akwerd moony ob sooch strukchurs in veecent years," the alien began merrily, helping himself to a jar full of candies on Sacarra's desk that she'd usually reserved for Noghri younglings visiting the base's infirmary.

  The Neimoidian continued, greatly pleased with the sensation of the sweet delectable sugary treat dissolving in his mouth.  He sucked on it with loud slurps as he spoke,

  *SSSSTHHRRRRRRPPPPPP!!*  *CHTHMP!* *CHTHMP* "I um Bundo Echess,"  *SSSTHHRRRPP!* *CHTHMP! CHTMP!*  "umbassadur ob de Granee Cownsil unt Granee Kajidic," *SSSSTTHHRRRRPP!!* he paused to finish the first candy and help himself to another, this time grabbing two and reclining to enjoy his snack and unfold his purpose, though at first interrupted by the inquisitive Colonel,

   "And your friend?" she inquired motioning with an upward palm toward the standing Nikto, as she sat back and attempting to get comfortable herself crossed her legs.

  *SSSSTTHHRRRRP!!!* *CHTMP!* *CHTHMP!* "Ahoo-ho-hoo!, he? he dos nut spek.  Only whoot I say impoortunt, if you not listen dun he coom bak! ho-hoo!" *SSSSTHHHRRRRP!"  *CHTMP!* *CHTMP!*

  Sacarra uncrossed her leg and leaned forward, pulling her chair in to her desk as she reached for the jar of candies and pulled it off the desk, depositing in to a drawer on her side then displaying only a smirk and helping the quickly growing obnoxious orator get to his point,

  "What is it you have to say then?" she plainly asked.

  The Nikto seemed to momentarily almost crack a quarter of a smile.  The Neimoidian was blank faced and wide mouthed for a moment, blinking a few times before taking offense, "I see!  No voonda da Hoots nut coom demselves for deese!  You know not how to treat gusts!"

  He reached in to a pocket beneath his frontal armor plate and procured a small holo disk that he placed upon the front of the desk and activated.  It beemed a massive starship, what looked to be a gargantuan Providence Battlecruiser, shown to be orbitting what looked like Honoghr itself..  Sacarra took it in and briefly glanced to the Captain who bent slightly near and spoke quietly to her,

  "Separatist Dreadnought.  Twice the size the one's you're thinking of," he summarized before returning to his upright stance.

  The alien ambassador continued, "Vee hab no intrust ob making deese dibbicilt.  Zeemoon es goon.  Now, we coom.  Hanaga unt Hoot Spasse. Dee Naatoovs. Noogree.  My Moosters hab mooch intrust in deem.."

  Sacarra again interrupted the alien, "Mine and the only interest of anybody at this facility is the recovery of the ecosystem and the people of this planet.. beyond that, you're talking to the wrong person Ambassador Echess."

  The alien countered, "Ah-ha, boot voo see dat ess part to!  Boonds ob Nogree cownker wurlds.  Armees ob Nogree, Galoxeeeeesssseeee!" he said, going in to a momentary seeming kind of trance for effect as he animated with his hands and proceeded to detail the specific requisites

  The meeting went on as expected between the emissaries of the burgeoning Hutt Empire and the remnants of Outpost Kilo as the expectations of their new proclaimed Hutt landlords were laid out.  For a brief fleeting moment in time they were left free to pursue their selfless goals, but as always in the absence of power, some form of power returns. . .

  (TBC..)

[SWSF Eidolon]

Double Edged Redemption (Pt II)

 

   Honoghr, The Clean Lands.  Outpost Kilo, Mostly Abandoned Imperial Garrison Base, just outside Nystao, capitol settlement of the indigenous Noghri. . .

   Sacarra had spent the better part of the last two weeks since the Hutt Emissaries left in the expansive partially improvised laboratory, ignoring the impending obligation and buried in her research.  The compounding frustration of failure becoming a cumbersome burden on her spirit.  The parasitic purple vegetation that consumed Ninety-Nine percent of the planet was beginning to slowly encroach on the frontiers of the Clean Lands.  As far as good news went, no one of the Garrison Staff had departed since the Hutt's visitation.  Whether that was due to a remaining commitment or simply the lack of anymore hyperdrive capable vessels, Sacarra kidded herself about.  Captain Urgy Vekkuli and a handful of his men had remained.  They still conducted themselves with Imperial military structure, minus the essential imbued propaganda, and went about their duties across the nearly abandoned Garrison base as if the situation was normal.  But it was far from that.

   A dozen or so other personnel buzzed about the Lab engaged in their own activities.  Tending to the microscopy studies of a series of serialed tiny glass plates of plant tissue samples, Sacarra sat upon a metal hi-top stool with one leg pulled up, positioning a booted foot on one of it's middle support rungs, the tasteful length heel of which hooked it, and orienting her slender thigh a flat surface upon which her personal data pad rested motionless and steady thanks to her graceful nerves, absorbed from toddler or maybe even infancy in the household of upper class Coruscanti.  Her other leg hung loose draped over, missing the floor by several inches at least.  Her auburn brown hair was pulled back in to a short tight pony tail as usual, a few small bunches poking or hanging out along her lower neck, brow and ear line.  Her bleach white lab coat hung down the sides of the stool slightly less than half way.  Beneath she wore her own Imperial Dark Greys, not incredibly tight nor loose it gave ample justice to her natural thin curvy form but left no room for objectification.  She had several custom fit sets as did most any Imperial Officer and there wasn't much else to find around an empty base or an undeveloped ecologically decimated world in the farthest reaches of Hutt Space for that matter.  Not inclined to think of herself as a servant of the Empire or any of it's lackeys anymore, she wore no rank insignias, aside from a pair of codex cylinders stowed in her upper lapel and slightly poking out, essentially the keys to the entire facility.

   Leaning over slightly she gazed in to the twin separate eye pieces of a high powered digital microscope.  Her dark curly lashes flickered in magnified context in front of her within the lenses for a moment before she pulled back adjusted the eye port distancing with a small dial and pushed a wayward clump of bang behind her ear, returning to observe.  Gently sliding dials and regularly changing filters she assessed each glass slide at first with care and concern, depositing them carefully in to the disposal receptacle clenched by the pincher hand of a tall generic armored looking medical assistant droid standing over her.  Occasionally she broke process to note her observations in her data-pad.  She was looking specifically for signs of unrepaired tissue break down in the root structure of the Terror Grass, as it had come to be called in the local Noghri language.  The usual herbicides and defoilants that the Empire had always used to beat back the Terror Grass, when they choose to, gradually became less effective.  Over the years the grass evolved immunities and while with the help and resource of the whole of Imperial Science, the chemicals could have been tweaked and the process could have easily been reversed, Imperial Science didn't exist anymore and this was never the intention to begin with.  Complete recovery of Honoghr was an empty dream used to keep the Noghri in service to Lord Vader.  The Imperial Warlord Szymon, whom Sacarra herself had met only twice and found rather indigestable, had held sway over but exercised little concern of and committed little resource towards the planet in his stewardship.  Now with him long disappeared, alone and isolated, the couple hundred personnel remaining weren't much of a Garrison Force.  They operated more like a kind of commune of free spirited eco-biologists and stranded outcasts, most of whom saw Loristas as a figure of authority or kind of matriarch , a sentiment the Noghri themselves embraced given her position over the base and it's occupants seeming enduring effort to help their planet recover.

   Her thoughts drifted while hours passed as she manually proceeded through the mundane process.  Hundreds of pre-prepped glass slides later with the same results she was drained, empty of enthusiasm and secretly relieved when a scruffy disheveled old white haired man in a Utility Officers outfit came striding along, bow legged and slightly squat.  He almost leaned back a bit as he walked in his filthy, what used to be cream colored work overalls, from the main lab entrance directly up to her.

   *Hhhuu-uhummmm* he cleared his throat slightly before speaking, though she cut in before he had the chance to start.

   "Paal Turgen, the bar's still serving up the last of the booze I think, but it's in Section G," she said in jest though dryly without much acknowledgement of the joking intent from her facial expression, partially straddling the line of appropriate personal conversation between the two.

   The low level mechanic officer let out a coughed chuckle and answered from behind his severe facial hair over growth, "That's where I'm headed.  Just stopped by to give you this," he said pulling some thick wire filled couple inch wide and several inch long pipe like device from his front bib pocket and gently slapping it in to her palm as her reflex caused her to throw her hand out to catch it.

   It was greasy and heavy, forcing her to commit her other hand to cradling it in attempt to prevent the thick oily black grease from getting all over her attire, to no avail as it had already some how been smeared in several places across her Officer's Greys and white lab coat.  The scruffy wide stance squat man had already resumed his slow stride in the direction of her suggestion when she called out to him,

   "What is it!?" she yelled down the lab to him inquisitively.

   "Don't know!  The guy who told me that's been gone for months!  But the power cells for the secondary generator can't replenish without it, so I need another if you want the lights and your little gadgets to stay on," he called back in return as he exited the lab area, large white metal doors sliding closed behind him.  By secondary, he had meant primary, as the main generator buried in the ground deep beneath the complex itself had been broken down for some time.

   She grimaced and handed the greasy slathered part to her droid assistant who dropped the metallic container of microscopy refuse and looked down at the foreign piece and back to Sacarra rather confused,

   "Hold that, I'll be right back!" she instructed him as she peeled off her soiled coat and wiped her hands as best she could on it while crumpling it up in a ball and dropping on the floor near her work station, then chasing after the old Utility man to get the full scoop on the specifics of her latest headache.

   Sacarra and Paal were speaking, the old man giving her what more detailed information on their looming energy difficulties he could as Captain Vekkuli approached, in full battle armor save his helmet as usual,
  
   "Colonel.. a Hutt transport has arrived," he informed her while standing tall and stoic.

   She could do nothing but roll her eyes beneath their lids as she squinted from the stress of the compounding problems and pinched the bridge of her nose, scoffing she exclaimed,

   "Already?! Now what!?," she asked storming off towards the hangar bay area full of aggravation as the Captain followed.



   The hangar bay was flooded with the peak hours of natural sunlight radiating down and in through the three large hooded gaping entrances, rendering what synthetic light wasn't illuminating otherwise shadowed areas obsolete.  The Hutt shuttle was similar to but noticeably larger in scale than an Imperial Lambda. It's wings folded for landing in the same manner , though it had no dorsal mounted fin and the existing pair more near resembled the forks of a TIE Interceptor.  Neither of the two that Sacarra had been well familiar with were present at Outpost Kilo anymore, but now another Hutt ship rested on their hangar deck.  A ship with hyperdrive and a way off planet, but who knew what possibly lurked in far outer orbit in support of this most recent expedition.  Last time they'd arrived in a veritable super starship.

   When she and the Captain arrived, several of Vekkuli's men were positioned across the high overhead cat walks, their weapons shouldered but their attention apparent and focused on their guests.   The newly arrived shuttle's occupants had already disembarked and were off-loading large cubed containers from a rear situated wide lowered cargo ramp.  An assortment of a dozen or so of the usual Hutt underling species maneuvered hover carts and stacked containers, several beings to manually handle one at a time.  A pair of armed Nikto stood on either side of the large loading ramp as the others hustled about.  A handful of the normally present hangar personnel stuck to the perimeters near berths or repair bays, pretending to be going about their business as they wearily observed the guests.

   A slim uncharacteristically athletic seeming Toydarian clad in a regal kind of frumpy outfit primarily of a royal purple cloth hovered amidst the assembly snarling orders in Huttese to them and directing the formation of a few different neatly arranged piles, stacked no more than two high or deep.  A short narrow sheathed scimitar hung at his side.  His wings rapidly fluttered and Sacarra felt the strange breeze of them upon her face as he turned to face she and Captain Vekkuli as they'd approached.

   "Ahhhh, Governor Loristas!,"

   he proclaimed, allowing his wings to rest as he dropped intentionally to ground level, plopping gently to the dusty steel floor on his blue webbed feet.  He offered a very slight bow, more so a lean of the shoulder and nod of the head before continuing in a friendly raspy tone,
 
   "We won't take up too much of your time, you have much to do here," he said motioning her to walk along with him as he waddled his way slowly towards the congregating rows of large two meter cubed crates, one hand gesturing and the other at his sword-side hip.  She followed in a confident posture with hands folded behind her back but slightly bent down closer to the shorter Toydarian with the Captain a few steps behind,

   "I, am Repeeshi.  I come on behalf of Lord Pazda Desilijic, your direct sponsor," he began to elaborate.

   She interjected, "What is all this?" she asked motioning to the cargo containers.

   "Batteries.  Chemicals.  Mechanicals.  Equipment.  Food.  Many materials.  All you stated you needed to Granee Kajidic Emissaries.  Part of our commitment to you.  You will find Pazda a generous master.  This is beginning of his commitment to you, your people, and your mission," he spoke in blunt short or quick syllables.

   Seemingly done with the enclosed containers, the hustling off-loading aliens began bringing out over-sized potted small trees.  Their foilage looked tropical and their branchwork had a gnarled or knotted appearance.  Sacarra's brow peaked as she stopped her stroll,

   "Interesting Specimens, can't say I'm familiar with them.  But what exactly are these for?" she inquired quite interested.

   "Varlok Trees from Nal Hutta.  Not many trees on Honoghr.  You are smart lady, figure it out," he said with a sly smile from behind his droopy snout, a shrug and a wink.

   His inference was obvious and her gut clenched up at the possibility.  The first of the Hutt Ambassadors had told her of their expectations and desire to see Honoghr flourish and that they may be able to offer some assistance in making that happen, but she hardly took the offer  seriously.  Well versed in the galaxy, she knew the Hutts to be many things, but philanthropists and horticulturalists wasn't one of them.   She wondered to herself what these trees could possibly do or the Hutts could know,

   "Yes, well you're aware of the situation here on Honoghr, not much grows outside of the Grass. ." she answered back.

   "Varlok trees resilient.  You may find use for your purpose in them.. This not all come free though,"     the Toydarian retorted now squinting in preparation to deliver his purpose.  He then crouched slightly and lept up, sending his wings back in to a rapid flutter as he hovered a meter or so above eye level of the Colonel and Captain and made his demand, the draft from his organic propulsion sending his distinct musty and strong body scent now blowing down on them,

   "We come for a taste..  Ten subjects.  You deliver and we depart, in a month we return with more, for more," he plainly said, finishing with a bit of a huff and crossing of his arms across his chest, still hovering slightly over the two humans.

   Sacarra glanced to the Captain.  He kept a blank stare as he met her gaze, to her insinuating the obvious.  It was their purpose here for the Empire.  They knew the Hutts would return soon after their first visit for the same thing.  Why make a fuss now?   More importantly, what choice did they have?

   She clenched her jaw and swallowed some anger before responding,  "Very well.  Ten?  I must go to the city to select your warriors.  I'll be back before dusk," she answered him now turning to Captain Vekkuli,

   "Prepare the Chariot," she instructed him while beginning to walk off.

   "Yes Ma'am, shall I come with you or send some of my men for protection?" he confirmed and inquired while following.

   She looked to him with an expression of perplexed contortion as she hastily paced away,  "Protection amidst a thousand Noghri?  Do yourselves the favor and hang back bud," she responded  accompanied by a halting hand gesture a very light hearted address and rather unusual snicker. . . .(TBC cuz character limit

[SWSF Eidolon]

Double Edge Redemption (Pt II cont'd)

   The Chariot was a standard Imperial command speeder, it hugged the ground low though was capable of short elevated stints.  Heavily shielded though lightly armed with a single concussive grenade launcher and a turret mounted light laser canon.   It was fast and agile.  She sped along the choppy ground following a dirt trail and covering the short distance between the front gates of the Base and the Noghri city Nystao in a matter of minutes.

   Sacarra had visited and dealt with the Noghri more directly than any Imperial Officer during regular Imperial Occupation and in the time since then through the course of her research and implementation.   She spent the last five years on their world and was recognized as an individual directly responsible for and having a hand in any form of progress made in restoring their Homeworld.  She was always generally highly respected by most of the Noghri clans, and now as the acting Base Commander, the inherent benefactor of their honor bound service to their perceived savior, Lord Vader.

   Consumed with the general exodus at Outpost Kilo and diverting her own attention by submersion in study however, it'd been over two months since she visited their stones throw neighbor Nystao, the Noghri Capitol and largest settlement in the Clean Lands.  She had personal relationships with a number of Noghri individuals, including the Great Mother, a Noghri female revered for giving birth to six of the current ten most notable warriors amongst their species.  She had conversed with them frequently before the exodus of personnel and collapse of general operations began.  They'd no doubt noticed a change in the activity of their guests as well as her absence.  She considered how she would be received and what she would say to her alien 'friends'.  How would she herself ask them to commit more of their own.  They'd blindly accept she knew of course, eager to enact what they believed a noble and just devotion to a false savior.  The total weight of this new inherited responsibility began to sink in as she approached the main gate of the city.
 
   A few small sparse groups of travelers stepped aside as she slowly crept passed towards the entrance.   A half dozen guards on either side held back on lookers and gazers as they made sure the towering double doors were pushed all the way open.  The speeder passed comfortably through as Sacarra now drove it at a slow crawl down the middle of the main road of Nystao.  It was predominantly compacted dirt though paved in some ares with ornate cut stone.  The control section of her vehicle was optionally exposed with the top and side sections around the pilot's station removed as she decided it best for the Noghri to know who was behind the metal war beast.  It kicked up a short rolling wake of light brown dust from beneath it's skirt out in all directions while cautiously drifting along.  The roads were laid out in perfect grids, with most of the intersecting ones much smaller than the main one she traveled down.  Heads turned and crowds parted as she maneuvered carefully through the medieval like town, passing through dense residential districts, packed market places, and bustling cultural centers.  The thousands of various figures looked on in a mix of stares, some leaning in to engage in whispers, others looking only out the corners of their eyes or out from beneath hoods.  Most of the structures were rounded and hut like, built of wood and straws.  Several intermittently placed taller thin buildings of stone rose up from the midst of shorter surrounding ones, the academic centers of Noghri martial practice.

   Sacarra slowed her crawl to a stall and a stop a ways down the main road from a large up lifted circular structure set upon  several raised levels of stone platform with wide curving steps ascending from a number of sides.  It's base stood at least twenty feet off the ground.  The Grand Dukha, the Administrative center of Nystao.   A large number of the cities inhabitants had congregated in front at ground level gazing up intently, as at the top of the platform just outside the large buildings front doors, a public court of sorts unfolded.  She pulled off to the side of the street several dozen yards away at a somewhat empty lot of closed down market stands.  Opening the  door to exit normally, she was still accustomed to restraining initial impulse, like in this instance to hop out over the side in rogue fashion.  Instead she retained composure and decorum, gently swinging the door back closed as she stepped outside on to the cobbled street and walky ways, her boots slightly clicking on the stone as she turned about adjusting herself and then attempting to impossibly blend in.  Surrounding Noghri of course took notice, at first most just looked on but inevitably a crowd began to form around her, many reaching out to simply touch the strange off-worlder, others shouting praise and reverance in their own language or struggling Basic, some curiously feeling her hair.

   A pair of individuals of the city guard made their way over and through the crowd to her, their finely crafted razor sharp steel straight swords hanging loosely in their belts laid over their knee length woven tunics.  They shoed away the revelers in order to prevent distraction from the civil proceedings.  Sacarra apologized to the two guards and thanked them who themselves quietly offered  adorations while slowly leading her around the large crowd to a back entrance of the Grand Dukha.  As they made their way, she took note of the ensuing process.

   One being was strung up by the quarters at his wrists and ankles across a wooden frame beam and posts while a number of aged looking robed beings stood off to the side.   Another being wearing distinctively less ceremonial attire stood alone between them and an individual whose robes were slightly decorated with indecipherable scratchy characters in a green ink.  The more elaborately clad being orated in a native tongue, detailing the entire situation.  Sacarra understood and spoke a bit of Noghrii and was able to make out the jist of his sermon as she deliberately made a slow proceeding with her guides.

   ". .[The accuser, a fruit vendor, who's claim of theivery against the Restrained is found to be true stands before us an honest man.  Let the thief suffer forty lashes,]" he declared out loud to the crowd.

   Wandering over to the row of aged robed beings and briefly conferring, he then resumed judgement,

   ". .[While honest and forth-right the accuser has shown a lack of empathy and mercy toward his brother.  The accuser is to be banished from the Clean Lands, taking with him his brood and belongings.]. ." he finished.

   The Accuser's mouth dropped as he jumped at the judge, a pair of guards springing in from seemingly no  where to restrain him and force him to his knees as he screamed out,

   *RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHH!!!**  ". .[I have done nothing wrong!  What meaning is this!]" he exclaimed.

   The judge approached him and spoke quietly, a conference no one else but those in the immediate presence heard,

   ". .[You've done nothing right.  The man offered to pay you what he had and you refused him, leaving him to starve with no choice but to steal from you.  There is no honor in personal wealth, you placed that above your brother.  Your lack of mercy has banished you from the Clean Lands.  When you die, your children may return if they survive,].  ." he informed the essentially condemned being.

   ". .Ragakagaklala!" the judge proclaimed loudly as he turned back towards the citizen assembly.

   A concert of dense thumping erupted from the throngs of Noghri as they pounded clenched fists upon their chests in approval of the judgement.   The expelled merchant was dragged off to gather his mate and offspring and be taken to the edge of the Clean Lands and cast out.  As he was lugged away in violent physical protest, the convicted thief's lashings were beginning to be dealt out.  A dark robed and hooded individual who bore a long coiled vine whip slowly and methodically delivered the sharp stinging blows with a loud crack and smack to the restrained Noghri's back.  The theif's skin tore and swole up across the line of impact and began to stream with blood.   He yelled out his thanks for compassion with each strike,

   *RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!*   ". .[Thank you for your mercy Great Judge and my Compassionate People!]"

   Sacarra had seen it all many times before.  She spent more time in the midst of the Noghri than any being known.  Their society wasn't unfamiliar in it's warrior like rigidity and honor bound law.  In their ferocious sharp grins and obsidian glass eyes she had learned to see the same feeling and emotion as in any other being.  Ascending a stair way up the stone platforms to a small rear entry of the Grand Dukha, her chapperones remained outside as she entered the sacred site.

   She entered in to a dim lit wide foyer region and walked along the wooden chute planked walls until they arched out on either side in to a wide empty and open central court region.  Numerous small doors lined the walls of the central court to separate rooms, while in the center of it and atop a short pedestal like roost, a small frail looking female Noghri sat upon a plump pillow just large enough to comfortably suit her with her head lowered and eyes closed as her legs were crossed and arms folded.  The entire scene was cast in the orange hued flicker of metal caged torch lanterns that dangled from long ceiling anchored chains in a large ring shape.

   Loristas stopped her slow pace for a moment, prompting the aged Noghri woman to raise her head and open her eyes, revealing blank white slates, indicative of blindness.  She inquired in Basic in a scratchy tone,

   "Why have you stopped child?  I've smelt you a mile away.  Come closer, that I may sense you," the elderly Noghri matriarch implored Sacarra while bearing a curled in lipped smile, absent of teeth.

   The young human woman's tension washed away as she was invited closer.  Walking up to the pedestal, she knelt down on the surrounding thick haired rug, putting her near face to face with the aged reptile like alien woman.

   "Great Mother..  It, it's been some time.  I'm sorry I've not come to see you in so long.." she began.
 
   The elder assuaged her, placing a hand down on her head, "Do not worry Sacarra, World-Healer.  You work endlessly I know.  Happy to see you now I am.  But curious, much have I heard of your Dukha.. Your white warriors.  For some time now they've gone away.  And your flying beasts, we see them little.  Tell me, what brings you here now?" she followed with inquiry. . .(TBC, cuz it's late!)

[SWSF Eidolon]

Double Edged Redemption (Pt II Wrap Up)

   

. . .Sacarra looked to the elder Noghri with despair in her eyes, reflected equally in her sunken expression.  Though the aged woman could no longer see for herself, she could sense the emotion in the human woman's pheromone filling her sensitive nostrils as the young being spoke,

 "Most of our warriors and machines have gone, Great Mother.  Our Star Lord Szymon has disappeared.. much has changed at my Duhka, few of us remain, new masters now come.  Great Mother..   I...I must confide in you.  Those I serve.. No.." she paused for a moment carefully selecting her words,

  "Those I served have not always been true and honest with you.."

  The elder blind Noghri woman stopped her.  Reaching out to grasp her hand with her own frail shriveled shivering claw nailed hand she cautiously stepped down from the short cushoined pedestal upon which she sat and relaxed back down, legs crossed and seated upon the animal hide rug with her visitor,

  "Is any Lord ever fully honest with his servants?" the old Noghri woman asked Sacarra.

   The young woman shook her head in double meaning, "No, no though, it's more than that.  Our work here, it could have gone better.  It SHOULD have gone better.  The Empire.. their Lords.  They are not what they seem.  They are never what they seem.  They profit from your peoples service and seek only to maintain that.."

   The aged Noghri took advantage of the pause again to interject her own perspective and concern, "And we Noghri profit from that service as well.  The Clean Lands did not exist until your kind arrived.  Since then, it has.   We must all play our role to derive our needs from some Lord or another, Sacarra World-Healer.." she countered warmly and content to the other's discouragement. 

  "Yes, Great Mother, but your people..they do not deserve to be.. pawns in the games of corrupt kings.." Sacarra returned.

   The Great Mother smiled widely,  "My people do their service in honor of their home, in honor of your work.  As long as the ends is served, the cost in flesh and blood matters not.  Honoghr MUST recover.  If not, what happens to us is of no consequence.." she replied.

   Sacarra grimaced, "Yes..my work.. Great Mother it grows difficult.  These new Lords, they claim interest in the recovery of Honoghr and they believe they can offer help.. but they come with needs of their own as well.."

    The Great Mother's open toothy grin was covered as she drew her lips closed but kept a smile,  "If you believe they can help your work, it will be a mountainous honor for the chosen.." the elder began, reaching in to her robe pocket and procuring a small wooden box chime-like device.

    Pinched between two fingers, she squeezed it gently causing the  simple internal mechanics to strike, sending a soft high pitched echoing ring throughout the dim lit spacious and open Grand Dhukas inner chamber.  Moments later, a thick and sturdy middle aged adult Noghri Male with tan green skin and piercing glassy crimson black eyes emerged from somewhere in the shadows. 

   His black tunic was an open robe garment that simply folded over itself in front.  It was further secured by a leather like belt slung across his shoulder in sash fashion.  It supported a small formed rigid satchel at his hip.  A few smaller pockets lined the front of it while a short sai like dirk was tucked freely in behind, it's wing tip guards clipped across the front while the longer blade itself slung through the back.  Unseen on his other hip, beneath his garb, an identical blade hugged his dense tone muscular skin.  Where else on his form or what and how he might utilize it and his surroundings for martial execution of his art, death, was endless speculation.

    He dropped to both of his knees carefully just before reaching the rug and slowly leaned forward kissing the wooden floor before it, his nostrils visibly active and sucking up the surrounding plethora of aromatic information as a passive biological habit.    Sacarra stood and straightened herself, helping the elderly Noghri Woman, Great Mother, to her feet as she'd reached for the much taller and younger beings hand.  Her diminutive form was rickety and frail as she groaned from joint pain as she stood.  The aged Great Mother had birthed several of the greatest living Noghri warriors over her years. She summoned the prize of her brood now.  Sniffing the air for her sense of direction, after identifying him she exclaimed,

    "Noghranahk!  My beloved first born.." she called out with great pride and welcoming gesture, her voice crackly in seeming theme with the dancing flame illumination of the chamber.

   The other Noghri remained supplicated but straightened his back to face his birth giver,

    "[Maitrakh, your summons fills my heart with great honor.  Your near-scent brings sweet remembrance of the Nestling Hunt.  My first and last failure, my first kill.. the blood is cool and dried and the soul free yet my lust for that first taste lingers.. My blade is your breath Great Mother,]" he greeted her in his own quiet lower raspy voice in his natural language, then bowed his neck awaiting instruction.

   The Great Mother approached him slowly as Sacarra helped her along, stooped over slightly while holding her withered hand as she walked gingerly.  They stepped off the animal hide rug and stood beside the kneeling Noghranak as the Great Mother found her footing and stood on her own accord.  Perhaps even surprising herself, she straightened her posture slightly before opening her arms toward her eldest son, beckoning him to a chest to chest wrapped arm embrace.

   The offspring lifted his head and looked up to her in slight confusion, such behavioral displays were not a practice in Noghri culture.  He'd observed younglings engage in the action in the past with the human that now stood with him and his mother in seeming display of jovial leisure or affection, but was unsure as to it's use or purpose himself.  Now his revered mother implored him to the foreign social expression, he left his prejudice aside and jumped to his feet to catch her in the 'hug' as she stumbled in her moment of over confident self-sustained support.

     The Great Mother coughed as she simultaneously seemed to smile wider from the warmth of her sons arms.  Pushing back then with both hands on his shoulders she steadied herself.  Taking a deep inhale of her first borns pheromone, she appraised him stern but lovingly,

    "Your muscles grow tender," she first scolded, smacking his biceps and feeling his forearms.   "I sensed your approach from the North Hall," she paused to cough and clear her throat before continuing, ", if an old woman like me detected you, how do you remain master of your Duhka?" 

     He began to growl back in Noghri, "[Maitrakh, I imagine it seemed..]" before the elder cut him off with a slight genuine hiss, "Show your respect and speak Basic in front of the World-Healer!" she  scolded him while motioning with an outward swoop towards Sacarra.

      The young woman attempted to contain her surprise as Noghranak continued in Basic at his Matriarch's behest,

    "Great Mother, I imagine it seemed as though I can from the North, but you may check with your guard in the West, he will be needing this back if he is to be your protector," the Noghri warrior proudly answered his mother's inaccurate perception while tossing a blade not his own to the floor.

    Sacarra covered her mouth with her hand and softly cleared her throat to conceal a grin.  The Great Mother scoffed, recognizing the sound of the clunk on the floor.  She offered a cranky retort as she took her sons hand, using him as balance to make her way back to her pillow crowned pedestal throne,

    "Huh! This old woman needs no protection.  What enemies have I that could not have acted their will years ago?," she lectured.

    Climbing up to her roost with a few groans and continued as Noghranak knelt down before his mother as Sacarra waited off the rug several meters away,

    "But time it is now for you to find your honor amidst the stars in patronage to Honoghr,"

    Noghranak quickly interrupted her, opposed to leaving his homeworld and Noghri commitment to service of others,

     "But Great Mother!  The others have been absent for many long cycles now and not returned.. how many will we commit to the stars and these foreign Masters' wars?!  Many great warriors are gone.."   he was abruptly cut off as the Maitrakh growled loudly and lashed out at his face with her claws extended.

    *RRRAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!!!!!*    *HISSSSSSS!!*

     Her forward motion pulled her weak form from her perch as she fell to the long haired animal hide rug.  Noghranahk at first recoiled back clenching the scraped side of his face as blood ran through his fingers, then hurriedly tended to his fallen mother as Sacarra rushed over to help.

      Cradling her they lifted her back up and unto the pedestal, Sacarra fluffing the pillow and replacing it beneath the elder.  The Great Mother shued away her sons concern as he inspected to make sure she was not injured.  He'd already quickly wrapped the hand she'd struck him with in a light bandage that became stained in his own blood,

      "Back!  Bah!.." she barked as she dusted off and gathered herself.

      She opened her normally squinted blind eyes widely, the blank whites plainly visible as her face and finger pointed directly at her eldest son as though she could see him clear as day,

       "You will select your finest warriors and go with Maitrakh Sacarra," she broke to cough momentarily again, "..you will serve our new Star Masters and you will bring honor to our land and our people, this is  your duty to your Dukha, to Honoghr, and to your Maitrakh,"

      Noghranahk shrunk in shame for his initial out spoken outburst, dropping back to both knees and bent forward in supplication with face at the ground again he answered,

      "Thank you Great Mother for your reminder!, I've forgotten my place and purpose.. let the blood I spill across the stars for our home soil the seeds of the Clean Lands.  The Great Hunter willing, should I die and my corpse be returned, let the pyre embers mingle in the Eternal Flame!," he begged her for the reserved ritual honor.

     Sacarra now tended to the Great Mother, casting an additional robe over her that was offered forth by an approaching guard, one of a handful drawn by the commotion.  A straggler, looking some what confused, crouched down to retrieve his blade as he'd observed it laying  on the wooden planked floor.

    The Great Mother succumbed to the spoil for but a moment before scorning the attention,

    "[Back to your posts! All of you!]," she screeched out now in her native tongue to the additional attendants, specifically tossing the balled up supplemental covering she flung off at the West Guard who'd had been unknowingly relieved of his arm.

     They scurried off as she continued addressing her knelt and bowed son,

     "My Eldest,  I've seen your instinct and heard your war cry.  When you are returned to Honoghr an exalted bringer of the endless sleep, your ashes will mingle with the legends.. Go now.  Bring honor to us,"

     She finished, bowing her head and closing her eye lids, picking them up and open only slightly as Sacarra bid her thanks and good byes.  As the young woman and Noghri warrior departed, the Great Mother drifted back in to more of a fatigue induced than meditation invoked rest. . .

End Double Edged Redemption - Chapter 1