New Assignment

I awoke to find Highway gone. I lay in the warmth of the wooly hides we had shared previously, his scent still lingering upon the them. I rolled over burying my face in the hide breathed in deeply, bringing back to my mind the incredibly sensuous moment we had shared. Beside the made up bed of wool, lay a note and some Talus wild flowers.

I picked up the note and read: “My dearest Ebe, I hope you have slept well into the morning, and the sun is shining warmly and bright upon you, as you have shown on me. I wish I could have been there when you first opened your eyes from your slumber to look into your green eyes and incredible smile. I wanted terribly to wake you and shower you with warm kisses, but I could not. I am not that selfish of a man. I am content to remember you beauty as you sleep, and your fire, like last night when you are not”.

“I’ve been recalled to the Kessel system to once more fight for the Empire. I really hate to go this time, but I cant very well tell my Commander to shove it, and my commander told me not to waste anytime getting to my ship. I sat for a long moment before heading out to just look at you once more. Ebe, you are the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. I will fight hard to come back to you so that we may spend more time together. Maybe some time that doesn’t involve so much skinning and gutting, before the fun really starts *wink*. With all my love Highway”.

Smiling, I folded the letter, and with a light kiss upon it placed it in my pack. I rolled out from under the blanket, and stretched. I ached a bit, pretty sure it was from the hunting, and not something else, though the exercise after the hunt was very energetic. *Smile*.

Busying myself with camp duties, stowing the tent, packing up the chairs, and bedding, I finally sat down to re-hydrate an army issue food pack and have some breakfast, when my comm. went off. Checking the comm., I saw that it was a text message from Captain Doyle, a weasel of a man, whom I’ve had to deal with before. I read that I was to report to a Lieutenant Vash, on Tatooine in Bastine. There was nothing in the message detailing anything pertaining to the mission just the standard gobbly gook used for routing the message to me. I sent a reply stating I would get there as soon as I could, and finished my breakfast. “Girl” I thought to myself, “I guess your back in the army now”.

Hunting Done!, A New chapter begins (Present)

Finally done!. With the help of my guild mate Caitryn, and another Master Ranger named Highway *smile*, I was able to meet the requirements of the contract. 100,000 units of Talus herbivore meat!. Yahoo!!. I was going to make a lot of Credits from this hunt.

Caitryn had to leave after a couple of hours, she is young and I think the continuous hunting just wore her out. We said our good byes, and with a hug she hopped on her speeder, heading in the direction of Dearic. This left Highway and I to finish hunting up the last 20,000 units. With two masters on the hunt, the last 20K of the herb meat went fast. Highway and I finished up well into the early morning on Talus. I looked over at him and I could tell he was tired, but he was wearing the crooked smile of his, so I knew he wasn’t exhausted. Prior to joining me on the hunt he had been up in space, on assignment to the Kessel system, routing pirates and Rebels, that use that part of the system to make covert runs. I was tired too, but I was to excited from having finally finished and still pumped up on adrenalin from hunting.

Highway set up a small camp and we both sat near the fire close together. We chatted about the hunt, about the war, about life. I was lost in thought, staring up in the starry sky, enjoying the cool crisp night air, when Highway took my hand in his. “Such strong hands he has”, I thought, not wishy washy hands that you get from some of the higher ranking officers, or the pencil pushers you have to deal with in the army. My hand in his, I felt I could really see into his heart Maybe I am a tad clairvoyant, or maybe I am sensitive to this thing they call the force as I’ve heard some of the Rebels, and the Jedi are supposed to be. I don’t really know, except when he touches me I feel a closeness, a warmth that I don’t normally get from another person. I feel I can trust him will all my heart. I feel safe around him.

I moved to sit in front of Highway and he placed his arms around my waist. I hadn’t felt this comfortable in another mans arms since before Max and I parted ways. I liked what I was feeling. I snuggled back closer to him and he held me tighter, my head resting back on his shoulder, his face close to my ear. I was content listening to his slow rhythmic breathing. “How can you be so calm? After all we have done tonight? I asked him quietly. He nuzzled closer to my ear and whispered, “Its because I am with the one person that that makes me calm. I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel him smile. “Ebe, its you that keeps me from giving up, when things seem to be getting out of hand up there. I knew he was talking about the Kessel system. “ I knew you were the one for me the day we first met on Tatooine, I know now that its you that gives me purpose, to fight the Rebellion, to want to live another day. I know now that I love you and want you to be with me always”.

I moved away a bit, turned my head to look into his eyes, and whispered “I love you too”. I kissed him gently on his cheek, and retuned to my sitting position up against him, staring at the soft glow of the fire light. I thought to myself, “Can I really be in love with this man? I know how he makes me feel, I don’t want to lose these feelings. Am I just being selfish? I do feel that I love him, my heart tells me so, but I’ve been fooled by my heart before, I don’t know if I could endure giving my heart and soul to this man, only to lose him in this blasted conflict. Can I involve him in my struggles?, will he accept Avios, my son as his own?, what of Max? will this end our friendship, our tentative bond?”. All of these thoughts and more were running through my mind, when Highway moved and stood up. He reached with his hand, offering it to me. I took it and he helped me to my feet. We stood facing each other in the fire light, and I knew right then that I would give all my heart to him, and not question what may happen in the future. I was content and very happy right then and there. Highway led me to the tent, and held the flap open for me. I looked into his eyes once more and we both smiled. We both knew the night wasn’t over just yet

Still Hunting

Talus: Still hunting these blasted Huf Duns. I feel like I've been out here in the wild forever. I've had very little contact with other people, sense I started the contract. Aleris joined me for awhile, she is my guild sister, but for the most part I've done this alone.

Dr. Tashmire, contacts my on my comm constantly! "how ya doin hun" he says, "how much ya got so far hun?". Arrrrggghhh, I want to put my rifle to someones head!! *laugh* I really dont mind his comm's, if it wasnt for that I would truely be alone out here. Tashmire is a wonderful Doctor, and a very good friend. I'll fill this order for him, get payeed, then think about shooting him.

*Spots a herd of Huf Duns on the horizon* OK off to take on another bunch, only 60K to go!!

Hunting Again! (present)

Yay!! I’m finally out where I belong! Being in the wilderness is where is this girl needs to be *smile*. Doctor Tashmire contacted me, and asked if I felt up to helping him get the special resources he needed to make the much sought after buff packs. ( buff packs help the body defend its self better by adding strength and duration to the physical body). Though I rarely use them personally, many folk that fight need them. I like to use stealth and tactics to accomplish the same goal.

I jumped at the chance to go out and do some real hunting! Then he told me what he needed and how much. Ugh!. I think I should have asked first before just readily accepting the job. What he wants is 100K of Talusian Herbivore meat. Ok 100K is quite a lot, but I think I can handle that, its where I have to go to get it that stinks. Plenty of critters yield the meat, just none of them yield much. I mean, even as big as a Hur Dun is, I only get maybe 80 units worth per beast, and Tash wants 100,000 units, Dang!!.

I’m on Talus, and though slow I’ve made progress. I had managed to harvest 10K huntin Hur Dun’s, Kima’s, Paralope’s, and Vynocks, when I my comm. buzzed. My guild mate and best friend Aleris wanted to get together. I told her where I was, and what I was doing, and she thought it would be fun, and asked to join me. I told her “sure come on out, but Its tedious, boring work”. She said she didn’t care, that she wanted to practice her shooting skills and could keep me company.

I met her in Dearic, and we both went back out to the wild together. Wow, what a difference she made. In no time I was up to 16K of the stuff. Highway Sat-linked my comm., and we had a nice conversation. I miss him, he’s been out flying a lot of missions lately, and we haven’t had much time to spend together. He wasn’t sure when his current assignment would be over, but he felt that it should soon. I wished him luck and let him know I love and miss him, and got back to work. Aleris and I hunted long and hard, well into the night. Finally we both just had to rest. I pitched a camp, and we sat for awhile just chit chatting. My last thought was “only 84,000 more to go *grin* and we both fell asleep next to the fire.

Deomo Found (Present)

( I want to apologize for this one being so long, but I had fun writing it =) Enjoy)

I made it to the village late that afternoon. Lots of Ewok’s were about, and finding an elder of the village was fairly easy. Yes they had a Zebrak male in their camp, yes they had found him unconscious in the woods. They had brought him here for he was injured, they thought that he may have been attacked by an arachnid or a boar wolf, but after getting him to their camp, and when he was semi-conscious, his behavior was frightening to them. They had him placed in one of their Tee-pee style structures well away from the main group, so as to protect their loved ones.

I was directed to a tee-pee at the far end of the camp. “oh boy, here we go” I thought. The thought again came to me, of the last time I had direct contact with Deomo. It was on Lok, I had the silly idea, that I could be a bounty hunter, and was directed to track and kill Deomo. What a mistake I made!! I did indeed track Deomo to a secluded location on Lok, and we did fight each other, but in the end I couldn’t fulfill my contract, I didn’t have the mettle that it takes to do that kind of work. I am a Master Ranger, my primary responsibilities lie in hunting creature resources for the Empire, occasionally assisting in routing rebels, pirates, and other riff raff, and tracking, like I am now.

Deomo, what a mess. Bruised, bloodied, semi-conscious. He lay upon the floor of the shelter, moaning, curled up in a fetal position. Looking around the shelter I found his pike against the far wall. “Good” Deomo wouldn’t be able to get to it before I had a chance to defend myself if this turned ugly. “Deomo?, Its Ebe” I said quietly as I approached him. All I got from him was a painful groan, so I moved closer. “Deomo? Can you hear me? Its Ebe Lightcloud, I am here to help you, get you home safe” “Eb…? Wha…?” He tried to roll into a sitting position, but I had knelt down beside him and wouldn’t let him move, not until I could see how badly he was hurt. “Don’t move, hun, you have been hurt”. His head was covered in blood, but after swabbing at it with a damp cloth I had pulled from my pack, I didn’t see any serious wounds, mostly cuts and deep scratches. I carefully examined the rest of him, and though thoroughly bruised and battered he had no broken bones. As I continued to clean the blood off of him I kept talking. “Deomo, I was sent to find you, bring you home. Scarlet asked me if I would, and here I am” *smile*. “She told me to tell you Meela and her are safe, that you need not worry”.

“Moan”, I looked down at him and I could see the glaze in his eyes had faded, “Meela?…Meela!!, Ebe?, where…where did you come from?, where am I?” he asked. “Yes its me, Ebe, your on Endor hun”, I told him “I came here to get you home”. “uuhh” was all I got. “How do you feel? I’ve managed to clean you up a little, and I gave you a stim to help with the fog. I need to move you from here and set up a camp outside of the village to get you ready to travel”, I explained. “Travel?” (wince) as he again moved to sit up. I asked, “can you stand?” “yes I think so” he said. I helped him get to his feet, working to keep him steady, and slowly lead him to the edge of the village.

I set up a camp as soon as we were out of site of the village and had Deomo sit and try to relax while I applied bactapaks to his wounds. I guess I tend to hum while I work, Deomo asked me what that was I was humming. “huh?, what?” I replied. “that song, what is it?” he asked again. “oh!, I guess its one my mother sang to me when I was little” I said, “its called Far Away”. He nodded his head and then stared off into the distance. “Funny Zebrak” was my only thought.

Finally done with all I could do for Deomo in the field, I asked if he felt he could travel. He said he could, so I helped him once more to his feet and outlined my plan to get us back to the research outpost. That I would go slow, but if at anytime he needed to rest to tell me. I told him I would do what I could to circumvent any wild creatures and people, but that we had a long ways to go, and the possibility of an encounter was high. Once to the Reseach outpost we would catch a ride to the science outpost where my ship was parked, then fly it to Naboo, to get him proper medical attention.

Travel was slow, but steady, I felt we were making good time. Deomo was keeping up. He seemed to be getting stronger as we worked our way towards the outpost. We were almost to the outpost when I looked back to check on Deomo, but he wasn’t there. “Damn” I must have got ahead of him while traversing that last hill. I back tracked, and found him leaning up against a tree. Deomo had a pained expression on his face, and his body language, suggested he was struggling for control. “Deomo? what’s wrong? Are you OK?” His face contorted, his eyes took on a wild look, and his body convulsed. “No!, Not Now!!” he gasped. I watched, fascinated, and a bit scared by what was happening. I wonder if this is what Scarlet had told me about, that the pendant Deomo was wearing was in fact somehow able to possess this mans being.

“Deomo! Talk to me!” I demanded. He was definitely struggling for control, and I feared that he might run off and really get himself in trouble, maybe killed. “uhhgghh”, “I…must…fight!…for…con…No!…I…wont…” and at that moment his voice changed, something sinister, very threatening. “Muuhahahaha, We are in control now! Deomo is lost!”. “Deomo!” I screamed. “Come Back!”. He just stood there, the wild look still in his eyes. I backed away, keeping all my attention focused on him, frightened but not afraid.

“Deomo is with us!, we are one!” he said. “who is us?” I asked. His eyes focused on me, as if seeing me for the first time. He growled “We are the spirit ancestors, it was us that killed his father, and it is we who are forever in control of his son!”. I truly didn’t know if I could stand up to this evil spirit, and I knew I didn’t have time for this. I had to find a way if possible to get Deomo back into himself, and to a proper medical facility to tread his wounds, but how?.

The Spirit growled out, “We have much to do”, and turned to leave, when Deomo’s body again convulsed. “Aarrggghhh!!…Not this time!!, We wont….You are… ”, the spirit voice faded, and was replaced by a much quieter voice, one struggling to surface, “I will fight you every step of the way!!”, Deomo!! it was his voice!, he was fighting to regain control. “Deomo!” I shouted, “You have to fight them!! You have to come back!!”. I thought “hurry girl think” what can I do to help?. I hit me! I didn’t know if it would help, but it was all I could think of. “Deomo! Fight for what you love!! Fight for Meela, for Scarlet” I yelled. I could actually see a physical change come over him as he fought the spirit. “Meela!!, Scarlet !! he bellowed!. “Yes!, Deomo, fight damn it!! Come back to them!!”, I urged. With an anguished groan, it was over, Deomo’s body collapsed to the ground, spent. “Deomo?” I ventured quietly.”Yes, Ebe, it is I” he said. I was filled with relief, he had won, and sent the spirit back to where it had come. I sat next to Deomo and tried to comfort him, he was exhausted. He looked over towards me and said, ”give me a minute to get my strength back, and we can go”. I told him to take as much time as he needed, and gave him a reassuring smile.

We made it to the research outpost with no further problems, and were soon aboard my Sorosub heading to Naboo. Deomo was down in the main salon, whil e I busied myself with navigation, and other ship duties. I stepped from the bridge a few times during our passage, to check on him, and to see if he needed anything. He seemed to be in a lot better shape, and was recovering nicely. He even commented on my decorating of the main salon, saying it looked more like a cantina then a star ship. I laughed and he smiled. Definitely getting better I thought.

We landed in Theed, Naboo, and I had him taken to the medical center. After making sure he was in good hands, I left and made my way to the cantina. I ordered a Jawa beer and sat at a table away from the entertainers and musicians, to think.
I was intrigued now by this force that lives in Deomos pendant. During our trip to get of Endor, Deomo had said that he can’t take it off, that it would kill him to do so. I could only think there must be a way to get Deomo away from the cursed pendant, with killing him. He can’t even think of being near his little girl as long as he wears it. With a draw of my beer, I let the thoughts drift thoughts my mind….something will be done…

Finding Deomo

Endor, what a wonderfully wicked planet. Towering trees, lush meadows, and a wide variety of flowers and shrubs. A native sentient species called Ewoks, that for the life of me, look like diminutive teddy bears, but are in fact a very intelligent, crafty species, in tune with their environment. Endor is indeed a beautiful planet, but it holds a dark side that few know about, unless they venture out away from the established outposts.

I have been to Endor many times, and I know what lies out beyond the fences. I have been here hunting both creatures, and elements of the Blacksun organization…both of which can be very dangerous to one’s health. Endor’s critters are not anything like the bunnies and frogs you find around the major cities on planets like Naboo, or Corellia. The creatures here all seem to have very poor dispositions, and will try and eat anything or anyone that ventures to close, and for some reason it seems that every critter, carries the bonus of inflicting a poison of one degree or another. Then there is The Blacksun organization, these pirates are just trouble anytime you run across them, always shooting before asking questions.

I was on Endor for an altogether different reason this time, I was asked by Scarlet to see if I could find Deomo, a high ranking officer in the Imperial army and father to the child Scarlet is carrying. Deomo wears some demon possessed pendant, that at times messes with his mind and sends him off to the far reaches of the galaxy, and wiping his memory at the same time. She had asked that I find him and keep him safe. She had received info that he was seen on Endor, so this is where I figured would be the place to start

I arrived at the Science outpost on Endor. Now Endor is a pretty big place, and if you wanted to get lost, and not be found Endor would be the perfect place, but for one small exception…Ewoks…they seem to know what is going on around them or on the planet at anytime. If Deomo was here, the Ewoks would know. This is where I planned to start. There is a village not far from the outpost, only 1600 meters for where I was.

I had no trouble getting to the tree village of the Ewok’s, nothing that couldn’t be avoided if you keep your senses about you, but what I found when I got there was a surprise. Standing amongst the trees of the village were two super battle droids. These things can be very dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. I made a wide circle of them and entered the village. I sough out one of the tribal leaders to see if they had any knowledge of Deomo.

After what seemed like hours in discussion, I finally found what I was looking for. Yes, a zebrak male, who fit the description I gave, had been seen wandering around Endor. The elder told me that he had been found unconscious, and bloody, like he had been in some great battle. I was told I may find him at the village by the lake. “OK” I thought that narrows things down some. I tried to get him to narrow the field somewhat, as there are hundreds of lakes and Ewok villages near lakes on Endor, and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days checking each and every one of them. What I finally got from the elder was a location south of a human camp that lay many hours from this camp. I could only think of one camp (outpost) that lay in the direction he pointed, that was the research outpost to the south. This was good, for I knew of two Ewok villages near to there that were on lakes. I thanked him and left him some of my provisions.

I returned to the Science outpost and caught a shuttle to the Research outpost. The villages were both south of here, about 3000 meters. As I was approaching the first of the two villages I ran into a small group of nomadic Ewoks. I stopped and asked the leader the same questions I had asked the Elder at the first camp. I was in luck! His group had just been to the furthest of the two lake camps that I knew about, and had seen a male Zebrak there. He warned me that I should use caution though. He told me that this sentient was possessed and had a death blade, but while he was there he had not seen any trouble from him. I thanked him for his assistance, gave his group some of my provisions and headed toward the village.