SithLore

Tatooine
Outer Rim Territories
Grid Coordinates: R-16
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***Speeding through the sandy dunes toward Mos Espa***

Disrupted sand consistently smacked against his protective eyewear, his breathing labored through the cloth that covered his nose and mouth. Raphael gasped for air in this hot arid environment as he soared over the dunes aboard his swoop. Taking a moment to glance back, noticing the other two maintaining a tight distance on him, Raphael pushed the swoop to its limits. He could feel the engine overheating as he struggled to stay ahead of the party behind him.

Only a few miles left, he had mentally calculated the distance to the city. Three or four to go; it wouldn’t be long.

Another glance back, still on him; these guys wouldn’t give up it seemed. They had kept up this chase for quite some time now. The young man had a feeling he was being followed as he neared the outer rim planets. He was always suspicious, but as he noticed these two seemingly following him on Ryloth. His business had been quick there and there was no way he had picked up any enemies between then. A quick decision needed to be made; he needed to make a quick escape to the criminal planet of Tatooine. Sending a distress signal for the aid of a new friend, as he had none on this side of the Perlemian Trade Route.

The young man had hoped his friend was near when he last sent a distress signal hours ago. In that time, he had exited Mos Espa on his swoop, leading these tyrants on a wild goose chase. Now losing hope that his new friend would come, Raphael would have to try and lose them within the city.

One more glance back. Who were they? Surely the devil Blood’s reach was not this far yet. Would his followers really venture this far just to bring his head back to the demon? Raphael planned to not stick around a find out. He would have to ambush them both within the city if he stood a chance; he just hoped to avoid any cartels that might control Mos Espa at the moment.

Two or three more miles to go… Almost there.

Buggie knelt and caught his breath, his mind replaying the last few hours since Raphael had contacted him. Twin suns beat down upon his carahide skin, as he slung the long case from his back and quickly went to work...

The message had come across with some interference, but fortunately Buggie had Twitter along for the ride to tune his Helix-class light interceptor's communications array, otherwise he may have missed the urgency of the message. The silver-eyed Raphael Xandir, son of the Dark Lord of the Sith, appeared to be in some danger. He had detected enemies in his presence and had fled to Tatooine, which was a blessing, since the Blue Star Pirates had a presence on the planet through a series of front companies. While one wouldn't see sentients of all sorts dressed in blue jumpsuits walking the sandy paths between adobe buildings, if one was adequately initiated, they could find any manner of allies or equipment to protect themselves on the otherwise treacherous world.

Click.

The Helix had burst from hyperspace outside the orbit of Tatooine within two hours of receiving the message. When Buggie received the transmission he had been along the dangerous Triellus Trade Route. If he had been nearly anywhere else in the galaxy, the plea for assistance would have been far out of reach, but since Buggie had picked up on a number of tricks of the pirating trade, he not only avoided the slavers and other raiders that plagued the Triellus, he managed to shave a few minutes off of his trip. The Helix screamed like a torpedo down through the atmosphere of Tatooine until it made its landing in Mos Espa, the last known location of Raphael.

Skrrt, skrrt, skrrt.

Buggie had run from his ship to the nearest friendly outpost and had anyone with eyes on Mos Espa tell him what they knew about Raphael, eager to know that the young hybrid sentient had survived this long. Reports had it that he had sped out of Mos Espa on a swoop bike some time ago, and that several pursuers had been hot in pursuit. Not long after learning that, a report followed of a cloud of dust approaching Mos Espa from the edge of the Dune Sea; it was no sandstorm, but a group of repulsor-based vehicles speeding toward the city. Buggie asked for a rifle and made for the highest rooftop at the edge of Mos Espa.

Clack, clack.

Buggie removed his own eye protection and settled in behind the scope of the rifle, fully deployed at the edge of the rooftop. It was no Jedi weapon, but in this situation, it would make do. The sights honed in on the lead swoop, and though Buggie could not discern at this distance whether or not it was Raphael, the nearest pursuer drawing his blaster and taking careful aim at the lead swoop rider's back told him all he needed to know.

Buggie was no sharpshooter, that much was certain, but he could discourage the pursuit from killing Raphael until he reached the limits of Mos Espa. Taking careful aim, Buggie felt the moment, reaching out in the Force to guide his uncertain hands and still his body, whose pulse still beat from rushing to the rooftop in such oppressive temperatures. Time seemed to slow as Buggie's focus was honed in that moment. The sights settled upon the nearest pursuer and his finger tightened on the trigger.

A burst of green energy lanced out from the rifle, traveling the distance and connecting with the front of the pursuer's swoop, sending it nosediving into the sand, pinwheeling it, and launching the rider like a catapult. Though it wasn't exactly where Buggie was aiming, and while the rider may have otherwise been able to stabilize the swoop had he not been more focused on shooting down Raphael, the end result was as good as Buggie could have wished for. Emboldened, Buggie swept the incoming swoops with his scope, looking for another target.

The paired group of assassins rushed through the sands of the planet on Sith Speeders they had prepared for a chase they had planned to come. Full of fuel and well armed, the duo were right behind their target, one a higher up lord spoke to them to put an end to. Knowing the only way to claw up their ranks and achieve anything noticeable in the Sith was to follow these directives, the Kahleesh and his partner Tzura, a Kamarian. Radioing in to each other, the Kahleesh hissed a savage "Tzura, swivel that bowl of your's - watch our backs! We've got compa-"
Tzura whizzed back through her translator, "zzzZip it, Corm, I know! I feel them, too, okay? Focus on the target!"

Too focused on the race to the rabbit, Corm upped his speed, igniting his saberstaff, and illuminating the dark interior of the crescent shaped speeder with a dangerous bright red hue, sitting the weapon precariously high atop the handlebar's grip. But before Tzura could warn him of the danger of making himself a target, a bright green and thick blast of blaster energy snatched the front of Corms speeder away. A tumble ensued, along with the swirl of sand and debris. A sickening slash and a snap came from the crash, and the Kamarian felt a severed link in the Force...The smell of seared flesh and burned blood hit her as she flew past the crash site, and it confirmed it. Corm was killed.

"Damn it!", she swore, deactivating her translator. Bulbous eyes behind her own visor, she watched as their target soared nearer the city. She herself had slowed down...
There was no way to win a suicide mission. Even she knew that. She figured if she stopped pursuing, he would be spared.

With an irritated buzz, the insectoid woman directed her speeder away from the chase, and zoomed herself away. Someone else could get Corm's corpse.

Woosh.

A flashing green light zoomed over his head with only a split second to react. Although it might have missed him completely, Raphael found it necessary to make his body as small as possible as soon as that shot rang across the dunes. Turning back, revealed one of the individuals in pursuit being thrown from the speeder. A tumbling pile of flames ensued as the other Sith sped off in the other direction, no doubt deterred by the feeling of death within the force. But who was firing upon them from Mos Espa? Raphael had no intent on sitting in the middle of the desert to find out if they were friendly or not.

Entering the city, Raphael parked his swoop; turning back one more time to make sure no one was following him. He was surprised the Sith had given up so easily, surely they craved to move up the ranks more than that. Sure enough, Raphael would soon have enough to worry about. He paid the foreign attendant to transport his swoop back to his ship, he felt unease from the workers around him. They knew who he was; of course this crime-ridden world had an idea of who he might be after the commotion he had caused. He had just hoped that the devil Blood wasn’t desperate enough to place a bounty on his head.

A stiff drink was needed after such a long day. Raphael exited the building and wandered down the alleyways of Mos Espa, careful not to be noticeable.

Not careful enough.

As if his day hadn’t been long enough, it seemed he had picked up a tail or two… or three. A trio of heavily armed Trandoshans somehow found themselves wandering the same alleyways as Raphael did. It was in this moment that he wondered how much his life was worth to his father…. Never mind, this was not the time to be curious.

The drink would have to wait. Another time, another drink, another planet…

Turning the corner quickly, Raphael hid in the shadows of the two suns setting. They rushed past in a haste to catch up to him. In their confusion, Raphael took the opportunity to trip them up; lashing out at their feet within the force. The smoke grasped their ankles and pulled them down as they tripped over one another.

Quickly grasping at one of the blasters the Trandoshans dropped, Raphael soon found the force calling the weapon to his hand. He pointed down the barrel of the weapon towards the bounty hunters.

“How much?” Raphael asked, letting his curiosity take over of how much was put on his head.

The reptiles look confused for a moment as they sat on the ground. But that was only for a moment as one called out a sentence in Dosh. Distant sounds of thumping on rooftops could be heard as a grouping of four or five different reptiles assembled on different rooftops all aiming down their sites at the young man.

Recognizing quickly he was outmatched, Raphael dropped the blaster and threw his hands up. He wouldn’t give up so easily, but the young man wasn’t stupid enough to attempt to run from such firepower.

The trio regained their composure and slapped a pair of cuffs on the man as the others climbed down from the rooftops. Surely the bounty was high, high enough to split between such a large group; Raphael was flattered. They marched him on his way towards the star port, seemingly to transport him back to Sith space. What a waste, he was wanted alive; he would surely escape or die before he willingly went back into that area of the galaxy.

Satisfied to see the other pursuit pulling away, Buggie watched Raphael through his scope until he reached the city, the whine of his vehicle's repulsorlifts reverberating through the avenue he had chosen to enter Mos Espa through. After Buggie had packed up, he fully intended to meet up with the young silver-eyed man and learn just how his pursuers may have caught on to his trail. Hustling back down through the vacant building he had moments ago perched himself upon, Buggie slipped through a back exit and made his way back to the Blue Star safehouse that he had obtained the weapon from. Though there were no authorities to speak of that would have responded to a weapon of this type being shot off in the limits of Mos Espa, there were creatures of opportunity that would be willing to pull a vibroblade on him in order to obtain the military-grade A-295 rifle that he had concealed within a case slung around his shoulder.

Though he passed by many wandering eyes, Buggie returned to the Blue Star Pirates safehouse uneventfully and deposited the rifle. Certain now that Raphael had settled in to safety, Buggie attempted to hail him on his comlink.

"Raphael, this is Buggie. Where are you at?" he asked, waiting a few moments after there was no response, "Raphael?"

The Trandoshan bounty hunting party seemingly wanted to keep a low profile as they escorted the young Zeltronian Hybrid down back alleyways toward the star port. This would play right into Raphael’s hand, as he understood the need to stay away from crowds. But they would eventually have to near a few; the star port was a bustling area in Mos Espa. That would be his chance then, getting lost in a crowd often came easy to him.

Buzz

Pulsating vibrations upon his left wrist gave the young man some hope, maybe his distress transmission was heard, or maybe it was just more spam. Regardless, Raphael needed to find a sly way to check his holo watch without any of the seven noticing. It shouldn’t be that hard; those big snouts of theirs could cause some peripheral vision problems, right?

His feet kept on following the others but his silver eyes wandered to that of his left wrist, turning it ever so slightly to catch the face of the watch. Blasted sand filled planet had caused a heavy amount of dusty sand particles to fall upon it, making it nearly impossible to see with the glare of the twin suns. Attempting to flip his other hand over the cuffs and onto the face of the watch, Raphael began to wipe the dust from it.

Nearing a marketplace the group stopped, as they had to decide how to best move through the crowd without losing young Raphael. Chitter chatter in Dosh between the group allowed Raphael to begin tapping away at the watch even though he had limited visibility due to the glare.

One tap. Two taps. Three taps. Four… Blasted.

A familiar voice echoed down the alleyway as his holo watch played out the recorded transmission aloud. Raphael looked up only to reveal the Trandoshans turning to meet the source of unfamiliar sounds. A quick smile rolled off of his face as his adrenaline began to pump. The group eyed his watch as the last bit of the message rolled on, revealing someone calling his name.

Taking advantage of the confusion before the hunters could unholster their blasters and rifles, Raphael sprung to life. He leapt forward through the air, only a couple feet over the tall creatures, within the force; landing slightly ahead of them in the marketplace on his knees. Taking a look back, he quickly had to move as they began to aim down their sights.

“Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me!” Raphael called out as he pushed through the rather large crowd in the marketplace. Surely the reptilians wouldn’t fire into a crowd of this size, even if their aim were impeccable.

Still Raphael pushed through, tapping away on his watch to send off another distress signal in reply. He pinged his active coordinates in response to the message and darted out of the marketplace towards the cantina, cuffs still firmly locked. He would just have to blend in till the group finally gave up.

Woosh

Loud cantina band music played in the distance, as Raphael entered the drinking establishment to blend in. Eyes began to wander as most of the drinking patrons noticed the cuffs sat firmly on his wrists. It did not bother him one bit as he approached the bar and slapped the metal cuffs upon the bar demanding a stiff drink. Hesitantly the bartender obliged, pouring out whatever the guy next to him had. He grabbed hold of the cup with both hands and swung it up to take a giant gulp, this day was on another level.

In the distance, Raphael could hear Dosh being spoken at the front. It seemed they had split up and one of the hunters had made their way in here.

Scrambling to pull his hood over his head and tucking his cuffs to his gut, Raphael slouched at the bar, pretending to be inebriated. He would need that distress signal heard soon enough; surely it wouldn’t take long for the hunter to find him.

Buggie skidded to a halt outside the cantina, just far away enough that the Trandoshans milling around outside of the entrance wouldn't take notice. He double checked the coordinates he had received and confirmed that this was the place. Clearly, whoever was searching for Raphael had enlisted a variety of unsavory characters to see to it that he was found. The advantage that Buggie had, as far as he could see, was that no one expected Raphael to have someone helping him.

Buggie adjusted his goggles off of his multifaceted eyes and strode up to the entrance of the cantina. He could feel the orange, slit eyes of the Trandoshan hunters on him as he passed by behind a Quermian, who had to duck to make it through the threshold. Precious seconds lost, Buggie realized.

The cantina was as smoke-filled and noisy as the den on Nar Shaddaa that he had originally met Raphael in. Suppressing a cough, Buggie struggled to find the young silver-eyed man in the haze. Of course, for a species such as the Trandoshan, their powerful eyes could see into the infrared spectrum. If there were more lurking within, they would have a sight advantage over Raphael and Buggie.

"I'm here. Where are you?" Buggie voiced loudly into his comlink, hoping that it wasn't a futile gesture with the interfering noise coming from the patrons and, particularly, the band.

A voice rang out from his wrist yet again. Although muffled and hard to hear with all of this commotion, Raphael managed to make a little sense of what was conveyed. A familiar presence could be felt through the diluted force of this cantina. Maybe the young man still stood a chance in getting out of this mess.

Looking up from the bar, Raphael could notice the Verpine he had only recently just met on Nar Shaddaa. The young man was slightly surprised that he actually came, they hardly knew one another and the Verpine was willing to risk it to aid him. A very unfamiliar situation with being in the Sith his whole life, beings were only out for themselves.

Once he found Buggie growing closer and closer, Raphael signaled him over as the hunters continued to scan the area. He held out his chains, hoping Buggie had some magic way of freeing him. It was rather limiting the simple idea of these chains holding him down from being free.

“We need to get out of here fast,” he said holding up his wrists to the Verpine.