The calming storm

[Marlith Laurien]

A lone A wing sat in the dessert of Tatooine,a pilot sat inside whistling a soft tune and looking at the dessert. The pilot herself had fury red hair as a slim figure. She often came her to clear her head. Memories of her self playing with the other kids on the planet. She listened as a wind storm picked up outside it lued her to sleep those nights she couldn’t sleep as a kid. She closed her eyes and leaned back a bit letting out a loud sigh as she got comfortable in her seat. She opened her eyes and looked at a drawing of two people. The smaller figure was her and the older taller one was the old smuggler who took her in. Everything she knew about smuggling came from him so did her reckless personality.
“Hope your proud of me old man”
She smiled at the drawing .She looked out the window and at the dessert lit by the setting suns.

[Adar Bolner]

Tatooine, the dessert planet that birthed 2 legends.

Adar was flying his Delta 7 Interceptor over the desserts of this planet all day. It was nice flying in a risk free environment, well, as risk free as a dessert planet with sand dunes, mountains, and canyons could be. The twin suns were making him sweat a lot. He wondered how anyone could live in such a place. Homes mostly underneath the surface, and water needing to be collected from the atmosphere. Perhaps it was the quiet, he thought, or an opportunity for profit, legal or not. Being in the outer rim, Tatooine was often a prime hub for smugglers of all kinds. Whatever the case, you were certain to find all kinds of people here.

As the two suns begun setting, Adar was heading back towards civilization, in order to rest. His flying was alright, though he certaintly needed more practice. Nearly crashed into a mountain. Twice. He had thought that being a Jedi, and thus a Force User, would have made piloting easier. In reality it was a bit harder, as his reliance on and connection with the Force made it harder for him to be aware of his surroundings. He could however "see" things that others could not. His ship sensors had picked up an incoming wind storm. At the same time, he sensed someone through the Force landed down there, just as it was starting to pick up. He had figured he would make it back at the place he was staying before it hit hard and made flying impossible. But if a person was stranded down there, they might be hurt or need assistance. He begun descending, hoping to land close but not close enough to scare the pilot.

As he made contact with the sandy ground, he noticed the ship was an A-wing interceptor. A Galactic Alliance ship? That made him relieved. A GA pilot was the best he could hope for, with criminals being the second, and usually far more likely option.

He approached the ship, waved, and spoke to the pilot.
"Hello, didn't expect to see another Alliance member out here! Is everything alright? A big storm's about to hit, you should take off and get home already."

[Marlith Laurien]

She jumped up a bit.
“You suprised be there”
She. Chucked a bit. Her smile was warm and inviting.
“Came out here to clear my head and lost track of time”
She stretched popping her back neck and fingers. She sat upright as she started up the A wing, the engine sputters before starting a smooth purr.
“There you go old girl”
She muttered to the ship in a loving tone. She fixed her gaze to the other pilot.
“So what brings you all the way out here?”

[Adar Bolner]

For a moment, he felt bad for scaring the red haired woman. Though her smile made it clear that he was welcomed. He saw her get up from her slumped over position, and start up her flying craft. She seemed to have a stronger connection with her ship than he did with his. Was that because he had acquired his only a few months prior? Perhaps, though Adar was never good with star ships, whether they are small fighters like her A-Wing or bigger civilian transports.

When asked what he was doing here, he answered honestly, with a warm smile.
"Well, I am here to practice my flying a bit. Despite getting out of the academy a few months back, I still don't feel confident in my skills."

He paused. He contemplated telling her that he was a Jedi, but the Counsil advised to keep a low profile. No need to attract attention when alone on a planet, whether that is for a mission or not. Though it was not hard to take a guess at his affiliation. There aren't many that would wear a black and brown cloak in the desert.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Adar Bolner. I assume you are with a squad here on Tattoine?"

[Marlith Laurien]

“It takes time, sweet and blood. This old girl taught me that. Ships have there own personality you have to know them and there limits. I’ve had this girl for 7 years now. Found her in a scrap yard and bought her took a whole year to get her to even start.”
The A wing was rough around the edges some of the parts were older than others. The dash was painted a eye catching blue and inside the cockpit there were charms and a few rocks she thought were cool. She was emotionally attached to her ship it had been there during her lowest moments. Offering high speed rides through desserts and towns.
“Let’s head in before that storm comes. Not fun to drive in those”
She drove to the nearby town at a moderate pace in was still fast. She hoped out her eyes glanced at a woman doing spice she walked to her small home
“I’m Marlith Laurien”
She walked into her house.

[Adar Bolner]

The young man watched as the woman talked about ships. Her passion was self evident, even if Adar had a hard time understanding it. He had thought of his ship as nothing more than a vehicle for transportation and combat. But, to each their own. He listened to her with interest nonetheless. And something he said peaked his curiosity. "I’ve had this girl for 7 years now. Found her in a scrap yard...". Why would a GA pilot need to find their ship in a scrap yard? Something wasn't right, but he did not sense any ill intent on her part.

She motioned for them to move before the storm hit hard. On that he had to agree.
"Right, lead the way and I'll follow ya. I'll make sure you make it home safe before I go."

They flew for a while, eventually reaching civilization. Adar landed next to the female pilot, and watched her walk home. Well, time to get home as well, he thought, but his mind changed upon looking at the sky. The storm was about 5 minutes away. No way he could make it back in time. There was no place to rent here, and he did not want to spend potentially days in his Delta 7. He grabbed his bag, and headed after Marlith. Adar found her as she walked into her house. "Excuse me miss Marlith, but could I stay here until the storm blows off?" he asked, and prepared for her answer.

[Marlith Laurien]

“Not at all.”
She held the door open
“It’s not the biggest but it works.”
There were more random rocks on her kitchen counter. Each one labeled a different planet. Along with the rocks was a letter tucked away with some junk.
“I have some food and extra blankets around here somewhere”
She stood on her tip toes outstanding here arms for a box. With a loud thud it fell the blanks falling down. Mixed in was a blaster broken past beyond repair and and a holo disc. The blaster was modified a good bit and painted with streaks of dark green. Her eyes stopped at the blaster as her hand hovered over it. She quickly put the disc and blaster in the box and put it back up.
“I found some blankets for you”
She pulled out some blue milk and dried meat.

[Adar Bolner]

Adar was greatfull. He entered the humble home of Marlith. He didn't care for luxury. Living in the Jedi temple removed any aspirations of a wealthy or luxurious living space. Not to say the temple was in a poor condition, on the contrary. He just saw value to both a rich and a poor man's home.

As he looked around the house, he noticed some... rocks on the kitchen counter. It seemed like such an oddity to Adar, but he was not going to judge her. He knew that he had some weird hobbies as well. What picked his curiosity was a letter amidst some junk, as well as a blaster and hologram disc that fell out of a box when the woman tried to get the blankets out. Some curiosity run through the Jedi padawan, but he kept quiet for now. He first let her finish with what she was doing, and when she returned, he thanked her for her hospitality and asked her a couple of things.

"So, how come you are here alone? Didn't even know the Alliance allowed pilots to get back home. Not to mention that the Sith are quite aggressive this period, and the Empire... well it is always a threat."

He begun to wonder if miss Marlith was even an Alliance pilot to begin with. The old A-wing, the broken blaster... they seemed more like relics of the past, rather than something an acting Alliance pilot would have. He decided to question her about that.

"That old blaster, the holo disc, your old A-wing. What is up with all that? Do they have a story?"

[Marlith Laurien]

“I lived close to here as a kid. My father was never in the picture and my other was a spice adict. I was so desperate to leave. A group of smugglers picked me up in the dessert, I was a small kid so I was able to get into small places. The leader of the group man named Kalmore treated me like his own child.”

She was holding back tears. She looked guilty. The guilt was mixed with sarrow and regret.

“We were on a mission we were told it was a simple trade. It was a set up. I was to slow, I got caught and he came back for me. He said that he’d give them the goods if they let me go. After he gave him the goods they let me go and shot him in the back.”

She tearing up about to cry. She felt like his death was her fault if only she had been faster.

[Adar Bolner]

Hearing her story and seeing her tear up, Adar felt Marlith's raging emotions. Guilt, sadness, sorrow, pain. Her emotions echoed in the Force, and thus the Jedi padawan could feel them even more so than a regular human. He went to comfort her, as she continued telling her story.

"Hey, no need to feel guilty about what happened. That man cared for you so much that he was willing to risk his life to get you to safety. This loss must have been tough, but you have to move forward. That is why he saved you. To get out there and do incredible things. And I am sure that those who set you up will be brought to justice."

He hoped that his words would cheer her up, but it wasn't that easy with things like that. Wounds such as these required a lot of time and care to heal up. But that didn't stop Adar from trying. He decided to move the conversation forward.

"So, after that happened, you have been living here, on Tatooine?"

Outside, the storm was now in full force, and howling winds banged against the windows of every house. All the inhabitants of this little town had gone indoors, to protect themselves from the wind and the sand. But little did anyone know, that Tuscan raiders were preparing to raid the town's as soon as the storm ended. They had in fact used the storm to move closer to the village without getting spotted. Now, they patiently awaited for the sandstorm to pass, so that they could locate what they were after, that being the town's water supply.