Palawa: Sins of the Jedi

Rive Caedo · Palawa: Sins of the Jedi

Note: This roleplay is not strictly canonical, but if any interesting ideas come out of it, they might be integrated into the Without Sin storyline.

This roleplay takes place 24,500 years before Star Wars Episode IV.

The sun arose on Palawa. A bright, cleansing light washed over the eastern hemisphere of the world and sparkled its oceans, awoke its wildlife, and called the Paladins to action.

Late in the night, they had received word from the Jedi of the Republic that the Legions of Lettow were suspected to have arrived at Palawa. How the Jedi knew this, they did not say.

What the Jedi did say was that they were on their way to Palawa to "solve" the problem.

The Paladins did not like the sound of that. They and the Jedi were very similar religious orders... but Palawa was the Paladins' home. Not the Jedi!

They would "solve" this problem on their own - well before the Jedi would arrive.

Shadra was one such Paladin. She strapped the bulky power pack for her lightblade to her back - buckling the support straps together below her breasts. She checked the cable leading from the pack to the hilt for gnaw marks. It had been several weeks since she had wielded the blade and it was possible rodents had gotten at it.

Satisfied with its safety, she ignited the humming orange blade.
*Snap-hiss*
She smiled. It was not entirely practical, but it was one object that set the Paladins apart from the Jedi.

Darth Acheron

((Rive said breasts!!))

Arrandus Moyan, Paladin of Palawa, glanced up into the dusky sunset over his home town. They had just received word that the Legions of Lettow were coming here. He needed to defend his home, but it would be quite a struggle to defeat these legions of the Dark.

maven

Standing next to Shadra strapped down Maven glanced at Shadra and her saber that she activated. Still looking Maven said, "Shadra why are we here. What is our mission here. Like what have we come here to do." An eager Maven waited for his reply.

Rive Caedo

"The Jedi of the Republic believe that the Legions of Lettow arrived on Palawa sometime last night."

Shadra paused as she deactivated the lightblade and looped the end of its cable around a mounting point on her belt - allowing the hilt to hang freely.

"The Legions are a group of rebel Jedi. They left to create a group not bound to the rules of their former Order. The Jedi have... taken exception... to this." She shifted her weight uneasily, "There's rumor that the Republic fleet destroyed a starcruiser departing Corulag because the Jedi thought a member of the Legions was aboard."

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "I honestly don't know if it's true or not. But if it is - you can bet we're better off convincing the Jedi that all the members of the Legions on Palawa are already dead before they get here to deal with it themselves.

((Note: I'm using the term lightblade in order to separate out these Paladin weapons from the Jedi version that will be developed thousands of years later. Feel free to just use "lightsaber" yourself though, if you feel more comfortable with that))

Sirak Sazen

The shine of the morning sun forced Aeron Blackfall to squint as he emerged from his tiny hut on the beach. "Well, we're not dead yet," he grumbled to himself and crawled back in. The rich sunlight seeped in through the windows and illuminated the cramped hut. Aeron made his way over to a wooden table and poured himself some caf from an old pot. The hot beverage burnt his throat and shook the tiredness from him. He tossed the cup aside and went to the back of the hut where a machine rested. Aeron took a wire protruding from the machine, attached it to a cap-like needle, and plunged the needle into his chest. The readings in the machine would tell him if his cybernetic heart was working correctly - which on this day, it was.

After bathing in the lake and making a quick change of clothes, his pried open the trapdoor in the middle of the hut leading into a small, secretive storage space. From within, Aeron grabbed his lightblade and the powerpack the went along with it, along with an old blaster pistol that fit nicely into the hilt on his belt. A quick test showed the lightblade was working well. It's light cast a dark blue glow on the walls of his hut. Satisfied and prepared for battle, Aeron left his hut, marched off the beach, and climbed the hills up to the plains where the others were waiting.

He wasn't surprised to see Shadra already prepared and scouting the area. He was surprised to see a young trainee at her side. "Who's the green?" he asked. Aeron scratched his face and realized he hadn't shaved lately. The black whiskers covered his human face. It was irrelevant, he deduced. Nobody cared if you were clean-shaven when you're dead.

tapi

The practice dummy was hanging loosely in his chains as Edorae walked to his backpack.

with his custom made lightblade-fistweapons still around his fingers he awnsered his comlink. these fistweapons made him reach a whole new level of Teräs Käsi. yet it took him three years to fully master this new form, as it was not very common to use fistweapons in this form of hand to hand combat.

the message on his comlink shone brightly in the half dark chamber he trained in. "report to the command room for immidiate briefing."

Edorae grabbed his backpack and left the trainingroom.
"great, properly, another stupid mission to kill some pest"

Rive Caedo

Shadra responded dismissively to Blackfall's question, "Some kid from the western monastery, I think. We could use all the help we can get."

She retrieved a large map that was sticking out of her back pocket and unrolled it. The wind was picking up so she had to hold down the corners with small rocks when she lay it flat on the grass.

Looking up at the other Paladin's from her kneeling position, Shadra said in an official tone, "I've been in contact with the local towns and monasteries this morning and received reports of four possible ship landings last night." She indicated the locations by circling them with a thin brush.

Dakoth

Stretching his neck, Varok Sten lifted himself slowly from the flat granite slab he had been resting on. His heavy fiberweave armor let out a series of barely audible clicks as it's ivory snapped back into combat lockdown, bearing down on his chest. He had found the compressing sensation to be uncomfortable at first, but the years had accustomed him to the feeling, he always felt safer knowing his body had become a fortress. Turning his gaze upon the the the inside of his wrist, he checked the readouts of the bulky power pack integrated into his armor. Slight vibrations coursed down his spine as the unweildy batteries grinded to life.

Finding everything to be satisfactory, Varok reached back to produce the device's power cable, passing it through a series of locks running down his forearm, fastening it tightly as to make sure it couldn't be haphazardly snagged or cut loose, as the free hanging models were so prone to. Turning away from the location that promised to have been his last respite for the day, Varok set off to rejoin the other Paladins, who were no doubt growing eager for the coming bloodshed.

Rive Caedo

After waiting for a noticeably long time to see if anyone had any input, Shadra continued:

"The first location is from an old farmstead about 3 klicks north of us. Farmer reported a meteor strike hitting the ground nearby. At least, he thought it was a meteor strike. Maybe not."

She marked the location of their current camp with a dot and then recircled the location north of them.

"The second is the plains to the west of us. Weather satellites reported a strange heat signature. Could have just been nomads setting a large bonfire... or it could have been a ship setting down. Hard to say."

She recircled that location on the map. It was about 5 kliks away.

"Beyond that, one of our brethren in Hynth says the city guard was especially protective of the spaceport last night. He didn't think much of it at the time, but based on what we told him... he thinks they could have been protecting the Legion's landing."

10 kliks past the previous circle, Shadra recircled Hynth's location.

"Lastly, there's the ionic caves to the south. No reports of odd activity, but we've seen smugglers use the electrical disturbances there to make undetected landings before - it's possible the Legion knew the same trick."

Recircling the final target, 7 kliks south of them, Shadra glanced up at the other Paladins, "So, where do we go?"

tapi

After getting a short briefing at the monastery, Edorae set out to the stage area.......

Eager to finaly test his skills in real combat he joined the other paladins around the map. "Finaly some real action" he said with a grin on his face.

"the protection of the spaceport might just because of some smuggling activity, I rather check out the strange heat signature on the plains to the west first"

Sirak Sazen

Aeron was never much of a talker, but it was almost embarrassing to him that one of the younger Paladins was being more helpful. Had it been one of the more veteran members, he wouldn't have minded. Blackfall just had too much pride for his own good. The Paladin elders had tried to beat it out of him before - with good reason. It had been the cause for his metallic heart and the loss of....

He shook his head, hoping to dislodge the memories as if they were dust. "Maybe not," he said, arms crossed at his chest and never breaking eyesight with the ground. "The farmstead is closest. If any Lettow landed there, they'll be the closest threat right now." He finally looked up at the staring faces around him. They quickly looked away as he made eye contact. All except Shadra. They seemed to have a silent conversation with each other, trying to decide what the next move should be.

Dakoth

"Blackfall is correct." Varok stated in a manner that really didn't leave much room for debate. "We can go trapsing around the world looking for smugglers and caves after we make sure there isn't a Legion at conveniently at our flank."

While it was the only logical choice to a soldier, Sten had to admit it was the one he preferred. He really wasn't one for frivolous adventuring and the farmstead being the closest and most suspicious gave him the best chance for some tangible action.

Rive Caedo

Shadra struck an incredulous glance at Sten, "Make sure there isn't a Legion at conveniently at our flank?" She scoffed and spoke mockingly, "Yesss, let's alllll listen to the backwater birthed i---"

She cut herself off as she felt stares toward her. She coughed and resumed a professional tone, "Very well. We can hit the farmstead north of us, then head across the plains marker towards Hynth."

"Anyone that doesn't fit aboard the skipper can hike down south to check out the ionic caves." She said, indicating the oversized Skipper-class hovercraft idling alongside the encampment.

tapi

Edorae jumped in the skipper, not wanting to hike all the way to the cavern.

"lwell let's not wait for the grass to grow!" he said with a grin on his face.

Darth Acheron

Moyan, who had listened to much of the discussion in silence, headed over to the skipper, wanting to stick with Shadra, a woman he had respected for much of his life.

Dakoth

Varok begrudgingly made his way into skipper, his armor scraping against the narrow side doors. Resisting the urge to shove Shadra out of the vehicle, Varok settled for sitting on the opposite end, firing her a quick glare. The last of the occupants quickly filing in, the hovercraft's engines flared propelling the craft off the ground and into the sky.

Sirak Sazen

Blackfall reclined in his small seat in the skipper, preparing himself mentally for whatever challenge lied ahead. His first priority was survival: getting the Lettow off Palawa before the Jedi arrived. He wobbled around slightly in his chair as the skipper randomly dropped and picked up speed. He ran his hands over the shiny lightblade at his side. "Get ready little buddy," he whispered to it so as the others couldn't make out what he was saying. "We'll be getting our revenge soon."

Rive Caedo

The skipper arrived at the farmstead in short order. Like most farms on Palawa it had two sections: a larger field of crops for general consumption (and sometimes shipping to other worlds if their was a rare excess) and a smaller side field set aside for genetic experimentation.

It was smaller than many of the farms on the planet. There were two durasteel buildings set near each other. One was a small home for the farmer and the other was a larger storage shed. Sitting behind them was a somewhat rusted, atmospheric cargo freighter.

The farmer that stepped out of the shed in response to the Paladin's hovercraft's engine whine was slightly younger than Shadra expected - no more than thirty.

"Hey there!" He cried out as he hustled toward their craft, "Yer here about the crash, I suppose?"

Dakoth

"Yes." Varok answered as the group filed out of the hovercraft, the vehicle bobbing up and down as it grew lighter. The farmer eyed the group with interest, his eyes lingering across the strange lightblades.

"I suppose those are lightblades, eh?" He asked, gesturing to the hilt hanging from Varok's wrist.

"Yes." Varok replied.

"And that makes ya'll Paladins." The farmer concluded cheerily.

"Yes."

Rive Caedo

"Well, good." The farmer ran his hands through his hair worriedly, "I don't exactly know how to handle this... situation... myself."

Shadra glanced around the area - specifically checking the roof of the shed and hovel for the possibility they were being watched by Legion members... but found nothing. So she quizzically asked, "What... situation?"

The farmer mumbled a few low and incoherent phrases, stumbling over his words, "Look, I think it'd be easier if you just took a look for yourselves. I took it from the crash site to the shed to make sure no nomads picked it up." He turned and began walking towards the shed as he finished his statement.

Sirak Sazen

The group moved suspiciously to the shed. Blackfall didn't trust this man, but he didn't particularly trust anyone. Shadra, maybe. He didn't like all the secrecy and he almost yelled at the farmer to cut to the point, but decided against it. "It could be an ambush," he told himself. "Knock it off," he replied back. This farmer was harmless, wasn't he? "You're becoming to paranoid. Why don't you shut the hell up?" Aeron slipped his hand over his lightblade as they rounded the corner.

Dakoth

The farmer made no further statement as he stopped outside of his shed, the group overtaking him as he came to a standstill. Whatever was in there, the man was somewhat resistant to get anywhere near it, something that made Varok greatly suspicious. The others in the group had the same reaction, hands discreetly dropping to weapons one at a time. It was clear no one would take the initiative, so Varok stepped forward.

The shed had two oversized sheet metal doors, hinges rusted with age. The building itself was spacious, its angular roof reaching over the farmer's modest homestead that neighbored it. Gripping one of the door's oversized handles, the armored paladin gave an inaudible grunt as he began pushing it along its track. As the sunlight slipped into the fast growing entrance, he heard Blackfall speak over the grinding of the door.

"..Well.. Ah.. Well then.."

Rive Caedo

"You're all a might bit twitchy for outnumbering me by..." He began counting people but quickly gave up, "a lot."

He entered the shed and a moment later some weak glowrods inside flickered on.

From outside Shadra could see the edge of... an escape pod?

Dakoth

Varok made no move towards the pod, which rested lopsidedly in the middle of the barn's packed dirt floor. Scorch marks were scarred across all the vital angles of the pod, telltale signs of atmospheric entry. He could discern nothing from the design however, it was rather foriegn in origin to him.

"Well then yes. Definitely an escape pod!" Blackfall finished stumbling in suprise, confirming to the rest of the group what lay within the unassuming farmer's shed.

"Was it occupied?" Varok asked in a straightforward tone.

Sirak Sazen

Aeron creeped into the barn to join the others. He looked around. The barn was devoid of life. Dust-covered blankets covered old machinery and the smell of animal manure was too strong to ignore. Blackfall pressed his sleeve to his nose at the nauseating odor. Spending most of his time down on the beach, he was used to the fresh smell of ocean water. His little grunt garnered some stares from the other Paladins. Any animals must be in the fields, he deduced. What a strange farmer that keeps animals and machinery in the same barn, he thought.

Cranking his head, he could see the second floor made up of wooden platforms running parallel to his sides high above his head, accessible by ladder. Covered machinery, empty pens, a second floor overlooking them, a focal point to draw everyone's attention away - perfect for an ambush. Despite the farmer's claim of innocence, or at least not admitting any guilt, Blackfall wasn't convinced.

Rive Caedo

The farmer glanced at Aeron, "Is this really so suspicious? I assure you there's nothing to fear." He walked toward the ladder and gave it a hard shake. "Not up there, at least."

Shadra dropped to the ground as she heard a quick succession of popping explosives - as did most of the other Paladins.

That was the wrong decision.

The popping noises had been small stun-web markers shooting up from under the thin layer of hay. They were usually used as light deterrent by farmers to keep livestock within their lands --- but used in such close proximity to each other they could work as an effective incapacitation device.

The rapid clashing of blue sparks immediately threw Aeron, Shadra, and Moyan into unconsciousness. Varok, still at the door, was caught up in the furthest reaches field but able to tumble limply away from it as it numbed his nerves.

Edorae had remained the furthest back and was able to react in full. Clasping onto the stun-webs that were crackling with energy and easy to locate with the Force he simply popped them from their power conversion nodes and then let them fall to the floor - lifeless.

The farmer, who had backed up to the edge of the barn wall near the ladder, sighed with resignation as he watched the other four Paladins begin rising up from the ground almost immediately, "I knew this wouldn't go smooth."

Story Prompts:

Spoiler:

Sirak Sazen

The pins and needles in his limbs took a few moments to subside at least enough so Aeron could stand. "I knew it," he growled through his teeth as he was helped up by the other Paladins. "I knew it!" he screamed again and charged the farmer. While nowhere near fully recovered, he still had enough energy to attack the old man. The others tried halfheartedly to grab on to his loose robes as he lunged forward.

Rage was spread out on his face. In his target's, fear - a look that exposed every wrinkle on his leathery face. He fell to the ground with a cry as Aeron pummeled him to the dirt floor, beating on his brittle frame. The farmer wailed and shook to try and escape. Only the power of the other Paladins was enough to restrain him and pull him off the man.

"He's Lettow!" Blackfall yelled as he was ripped away. He shook angrily out of someone's grasp and stalked outside, angry and disappointed in himself. The farmer has sustained some injury. His face was bloody and bruised, nose broken. Aeron remained waiting outside, fuming, while the others went about investigating.

"I'll never hear the end of this," he grumbled.

Dakoth

Varok paid no heed to the farmer after the dazzling stun webs subsided; he was of no threat to a paladin. Ignoring Aeron, who was currently pummling in the hapless fool's face, Sten approached the charred escape pod. Taking his lightblade into his hand. he decided it was best to make an alternate entrance into the pod, lest the main one be rigged with a bomb or some other unpleasantry.