Arcona Citadel
The young Journeyman’s stride had some extra pep in it as he hurried down the empty hallway.
My first assignment, he thought to himself, and it’s a recon mission, it’ll be just like my days with GAASF.
The young human could hardly keep the grin off of his face as he made his way towards the shuttles. He finally got his first chance to prove himself outside of the Shadow Academy. Although he had gotten a good amount of praise for his academic efforts, he knew books could only take him so far, he needed to prove that he was an asset outside of the classroom as well.
Somewhere under the Selen Ocean
Rod shifted uneasily in the uncomfortable seat as the shuttle descended deeper under the water’s surface. He didn’t like riding passenger in any vehicle, let alone a run-down shuttle that was on its way to
the bottom of the ocean. On top of his building fear of impending doom, the pressure at this low altitude was making his foot hurt worse than normal.
Who the hell puts a city underwater, the Journeyman thought to himself, cultural capital, pff, this place is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
City of Celeste, Selen
Rod’s ears popped loudly as the shuttle entered the pressurized bubble. The shuttle made its way to a nearby landing pad and lightly touched down. The doors slid open with a hiss as Rod made his way to the front of the compartment.
A young girl ran up to the bottom of the ramp directly into her mother’s arms as she exited the dingy ship. Rod stared at the pair as he pulled his hood over his head, he wondered for a second where his mother was right now, but he quickly put the thought aside, he had a job to do.
The datapad that Rod had received from the Rollmaster said that the Seltri Street Gang had set up on the north side of the city. According to the intelligence, there were roughly 13 members, all of whom wore green armbands on their left arms. He also had strict orders not to engage them, just find out why they moved to Celeste and report back.
Rod made his way to the northern side of Celeste relatively quickly. He felt out of place among the obviously wealthy citizens that lined the streets. The city itself was very elaborate, every building looked like a mansion to the young Journeyman. As the Protector was looking up admiring a particularly intricately decorated theatre, he collided with a rather porky man in an expensive looking set of robes.
“Watch where you’re going you little street urchin!” The man said as he got up and continued along his way.
Rich snob, Rod though,* if only he knew what I could do…*
Rod continued walking through the city until he spotted a human who clearly didn’t belong. He was young, between 18 and 20, definitely not a day older then Rod. He was wearing beat up clothes, had a blue Mohawk, and was smoking a cigarette. On his left arm he wore a green piece of cloth, tied in a knot around the top of his bicep.
Well that was hard, the Protector though,* I don’t think he quite stands out enough*.
The Human fell into step behind the young thug as he strolled along the street. He kept his distance, never getting closer than two blocks. He watched in amusement as the more affluent citizens stared at the young man in disgust as he walked along with his cigarette. Finally, the thug stopped and turned into what looked like an abandoned shack. Rod stopped a few blocks away and pretended to read the list of names for the building he was in front of. He noticed a few more gang members come outside to smoke, two of them had drinks in their hands, and as the door opened he heard loud music coming out of the room.
It’s a clubhouse, he thought, I guess I better just wait.
Luckily for Rod, there was a park about a block away from the run-down clubhouse. He made his way into the park and sat himself down on a bench where he still had a relatively clear view of the entrance.
He sat there for about an hour, watching the gang members go in and out for their cigarette breaks.
This isn’t going anywhere, he thought, maybe I should pop in for a drink.
The Protector paused for a second, remembering the bold text on the datapad that said “DO NOT ENGAGE”.
Heh, it’s not like I’m going in there to pick a fight, I’m not gonna get any intel sitting out here with the flowers.
With his mind made up the young Journeyman removed his saber from his belt, wrapped it up in his cloak, and hid it inside a rather large bush in a corner of the park.
Just another guy looking for a drink, he thought as he made his way towards the corner the clubhouse was on.
Rod confidently pushed open the door of the clubhouse and immediately regretted his decision. He found himself staring into a small room, full of thugs of various body compositions, a few females who he was certain were prostitutes, a small Pazaak table, and a small bar with a droid behind the counter.
At this point he had already committed, it would be suspicious if he turned and walked right out. So the Human made his way across the room towards the bar as quickly as he could. The hairs on the back of his neck were stiff as he could feel a dozen pairs of eyes drilling into the back of his head.
What did you get yourself into this time kid, he thought as he got to the bar.
“Give me a Juma Juice.” The young Protector said to the droid, who immediately began pouring.
“You look a little young to be drinking kid.” A rather large Human who happened to be standing next to the bar said.
“Trust me, I’m old enough.” The smaller Human replied.
“What are you doing here anyway, this isn’t a bar, it’s a private club.”
“I’m new in town, I was just looking for a place to get a decent drink, and those fancy schmancy joints are out of my price range.”
“You hear that boys? The kids new in town. Well what do you know? How about we give him a nice welcoming party.”
Sithspawn, Rod thought, this worked out incredibly well, good job soldier.
Rod turned around to see that he was now completely surrounded. His path to the exit was blocked by two Rodians and a burly Twi’lek.
“Well then, I guess that’s my queue to leave.” The young human said as he made his way to the door.
“Not so fast kid.” The big man said as he grabbed the young Dark Jedi by the shoulder.
Rod’s right hand instinctively went down to his right hip, preparing to grasp his saber, but instead finding only his belt.
Schutta, Rod thought, this is going to hurt.
City of Celeste, Selen (About 3 minutes later)
The door of the clubhouse crashed open as the large Human and burly Twi’lek hurled the Journeyman head first into the street.
“Next time pick a softer party to crash punk.” The Human yelled as he slammed the door.
Rod laid on the cobblestone street for a few minutes, the cold stone felt good against his already sore face. After a minute or so he picked himself up and began to hobble towards the park.
Rod retrieved his lightsaber and cloak from the bush where he had stashed them and then collapsed with his back against a tree. He tried his best to calm his mind as he began to focus on healing his more serious wounds. He wasn’t very adept at healing through the force, however he could do enough to at least slightly alleviate his pain.
Rod stayed sitting on the tree for almost a whole hour before he heard the door to the clubhouse crash open again. He slowly stood up, expecting to see the entire gang making their way to the park to finish the job. Instead, they were heading towards the theatre district in full force.
Rod lifted his cloak over his head and slowly started his pursuit of the gang. Keeping his distance was no longer a concern, as he could barely keep up in his beaten state. Finally the group stopped, and they spread out along one of the more dimly lit blocks.
Rod was confused as he slid into an alley off of the main sidewalk, but a few minutes later he realized what was going on.
The rather porky rude man that he had bumped into earlier was now making his way back from wherever he had been rushing to. As he made his way onto the dimly lit block, two of the Seltri members fell into step behind him, then two beside, and finally two stepped out in front of him.
The man immediately knew what was going to happen.
“Please, don’t hurt me, here, take all of the credits I have, just please don’t hurt me.” He begged.
The muscular Twi’lek took the money from his hand, and after giving the man a good look up and down, proceeded to shove him to the ground. The rest of the gang took turns getting a few good kicks and stomps in on the poor porker before they got tired and began to make their way back towards the clubhouse.
Sithspawn, Rod thought as he realized they were coming right towards him, he was dreading the
thought of another beating.
Just before the group reached his alleyway, the Human stepped back, gathered what energy he could, and then vanished into the shadows.
“You were right Ceth, these Celestians have way more credits than those schutta in the capital, and there’s not a guard for days around here.” The Twi’lek said to the big Human as they passed the alley where the Journeyman hid.
Rod let out a large exhale as the last gang member passed the alleyway. He knew he couldn’t hold the cloak much longer. He waited until the gang had gotten a few blocks away and then began his slow hobble to the shuttles.
ACB Office
Arcona Citadel
Selen
“What happened to you?” The Rollmaster said with a surprised look on his face as Rod tried to drop his report on the desk and quickly leave.
“Things got a little…complicated.” The Journeyman said, avoiding eye contact.
“I thought the datapad clearly stated you were NOT to engage the gang.” Celevon chimed in.
“Technically, they engaged me, I just wanted a drink.” Rod said, still looking down.
The Rollmaster gave him an angry stare, then cracked a slight grin.
“It looks like you learned your lesson either way. Now leave.”
With that Rod found himself being pushed backwards out of the office door again.
