World Tree MUSH

    It's not often that Nomads call out for help. They are a people who by and large like to do things their own way and lead a free life. But sometimes, things get desperate. A small family of Bakkers nomads have made it known that they've been having... Issues with the Raffen Shivs, another group of nomads comprised of murderers, thugs, killers, scavengers and cyberpsychos. Specifically they've been having issues with the Wraiths- the worst of the worst of the Raffen Shivs.
    Somehow a fixer heard of their problem and spread the word about it to locals and offworlders alike and that's why Becca is here.
    "Aw man it's so fuckin' dusty." She complains as she loads a myriad of guns that she stuffs into a duffel bag at her side while talking with a few of the Bakkers and waiting for others to show up.
    Falco is here too, leaned up against his custom car, the Edgerunner. Likely how Becca got here in the first place.

    The high pitched whine of a CHOOH2 engine echos across the dusty desert, a motorcycle kicks up a roostertail of dust in its wake as it speeds toward the meeting place. The local vehicle comes to a rolling stop, the engine cutting out just before it begins slowing down. The rider kicks out the stand, and dismounts in one motion.

    They remove their helmet, revealing the white-haired Zalak's dour scowl.

    This scowl softens a little bit when she sees Becca. "Heard you needed some gonkbrains flatlined." she states flatly, looking around before pulling a ration bar from one of her pouches.

    Claire's on horseback, and not immediately recognizable. She's wearing black robe that covers her body and wears a skeletal face mask. A gold scythe rests on her back, though her distinctive sword does peek out from the side of the robe. "I heard some people needed a reaping?" She asks as she approaches Becca, casually tossing and catching a bomb with her free hand, the other holding the reigns of her steed. Notably to any who know their horses, that's clearly a workhorse, not a warhorse.

    A nearby boulder moves. Or rather, what appeared to be just a boulder, turns out to be a little more than that. As part of it shifts and moves, it becomes clear that there was someone seated up against the side of the boulder, wrapped in a brown cloak that very nearly matches the color of the large stone. As the figure extends to their full height, tall staff in hand, the billowing flutter of the cloak makes it easy to see that there's a woman under all that fabric, a woman with black hair.

    "It looks as if I've picked the right place to nap," she declares, drawing her hood back. The violet eyes of Lian Kamoya sweep around, catching sight of first Falco, then Becca - at whom her eyes widen a little. "My, hello there. I remember you from Balmorra." And then Scavenger and Claire as well, and the elder jedi's expression warms. "Hmm! I'm definitely in the right place, it would seem. Might I ask what I've stumbled in on?"

    Oh look at that, people are arriving. Rebecca is just about done loading ALL Of HER GUNS when Scavenger is first to show.
    "Yo~. Figured I'd see you tonight. Wanna grab some grub after this job, I know a slick little noodle stand back in the city." Pause. "But yeah, got a bunch of Wraiths that need zero'd."
    Then comes... Claire. On a horse. If there was any possible way to draw undue attention this is it; the work beast gets plenty of stares not just from the nomads, but Becca is balking too.
    "G-geeze, you know that thing'll get you more funny looks around here than farm fresh apricots, right?"
    Then Lian arrives.
    "Oh! Hey! Balmorra... That planet with the droids and where I went fuckin' nuts with a laser turret- yeah I remember that! It was pretty nova." Pause. "Wait were you just chilling on that bigass rock this whole time?" She does have to ask. As for what she stumbled in on, Becca motions at the nomad clan. "Buncha their people got kidnapped by Wraiths. We're gonna kill them all. The Wraiths I mean. Totally gonna save the nomad peeps. That's the plan.
    Once people are geared up, ready, and good to go, it's a bit of a drive and or horse ride to the Wraith encampment.
    It's more of a small fortress than a camp; built into the ruins of several buildings making up a larger facility. It's walled on all sides, but there's a huge chunk of wall missing that the Wraiths can't patrol all the time.
    "Okay. Here's the plan. I'm gonna walk in the front and start killing guys. And I mean I'm gonna kill a LOT of guys, here. You all take the hole in the wall, sneak around, find the hostages, and get them out safe and sound. This plan cool with everyone?"

    "Bessy is not a thing. She is smarter than most of the gonks in your city." Claire objects, lowering the hood now that she's gotten her gag done with. "And if she is that big of a deal, you must simply come visit the Getaway Farm." There's a slight moment of pause, "Though do you have mods to help with a heart attack or should I make sure Harvey is ready?" She reaches into her saddlebags to take out two large jugs of milk. "Something to drink for the poor fellows once we've rescued them." She mentions. "Oh hello miss Kamoya." She smiles, "How are you doing?"

    One travel montage later.

    "I'll go in with you. Two loud distractions are better than one, and there's less chance you'll get jumped if you have someone watching your back." she says in response to the Solo, as she unslings her cleaver blade. "Besides, I don't want you getting all the fun for yourself." she adds with the tiniest of smirks.

    "I was," Lian confirms with a nod to Rebecca, smiling lightly. "I was a bit tired, and it felt like the right spot for a nap." She then gives the nomads a more serious look, and offers them a slight bow. "You've my word as an adventurer, I'll see them back safely." Then comes Claire's greeting; she turns to give the farmer a cheery smile as well, nodding her head in reply. "Quite well-rested. And happy to see you well."

    It's as they move to board Falco's vehicle, the Jedi casually lowers her staff and gives away one of her secrets; she holds her right palm up, and there's a soft 'fnnt' sound, a plug of wood sliding out of the top of the staff - and coming with it is a lightsaber, identical to the one at her left hip. She grabs this one, and clips it to her belt on the right, then returns the plug to the top of the staff. "Might I leave this with you when we get there?" she asks Falco.

    As they arrive, the older woman listens to Rebecca with a soft frown. "I can't say I'm terribly fond of that much killing, but if you think that plan best..." They are the sort of scum to engage in kidnapping, after all. These sorts are often not open to rethinking their life. She gives both Scavenger and Rebecca a nod, and then... well, she's off.

    Lian is more than welcome to leave her staff, sans second lightsaber, with Falco. And the plan is set.
    "Okay chooms, let's do this... Leeeeroy Jeeeeeenkiiiinnnns!" Rebecca says as she starts heading RIGHT for the front gate, with Scavenger in tow.
    It is right about now that she plugs a pair of earbuds into her ears.
    This leaves the hole in the wall for Claire and Lian to start heading towards.
    It's not as heavily guarded as the front gate. There's a guy watching the section of missing wall.
    'Watching' in the sense that he's napping propped against the nearby squat building inside, paying NO attention to the unlocked door.
    This is when Rebecca marches up to the front.
    "Who the fuck is this little shit?" one Wraith asks incredulous.
    "Fuck if I know, but she's..."

    o/' ~ "One, two~...
    It's so hard to say it, but darling let's face it~.
    These feelings, revealing, cannot be ignored~." ~ o/`

    Oh no... Oh no, Becca got her hands on more music from the World Tree.

    o/` ~ "If you're scared that you'll say something you'll regret...
    Well, love is something that's best when quiet--" ~o/`

    KA-BLAM. She just blew a guard's head off completely with her shotgun.

    This starts calling guys out as she casually opens fire while jamming.

    o/` ~ "Avoid a fight, and be polite-
    Just shut up! --Wait a second that ain't right..." ~ o/`

    Scavenger looms behind the small Solo. She's put her buster back on her back, and drawn Scalpel from its sheath. As Rebecca starts blasting, Scavenger bellows. "SEND OUT YOUR BEST WARRIOR! COME AND FIGHT ME!" challenging anyone who feels brave or cocky enough to a duel, during a shootout.

    This isn't a good plan, but it's sure to get a lot of attention and that's the point of this.

    Should someone take her up on the challenge, she sheathes her blade again and hovers her hand over the grip as she waits for them to make the first move.

    Once they commit to an attack, she swipes out the blade across their mid-section, steps further and takes a second down, then bounced along to a third before she brings the sword up and holds it pointing skywards and to the right of her head in a very oriental-style stance.

    "I've been more invested in this world lately." Claire admits to Lian on the way to the camp, "Joja Corporation seems intent to make their mark here, and while I'm not really afraid they'll make things worse here. I am afraid that if they find success here, they'll bring the corporate methods of this world back home."
        With Becca drawing the spotlight and initiating hostilities, Claire loads up her slingshot and aims past her and towards wraiths attracted by the more local frontwoman. The bullet is, of course, an explosive set to trigger upon impacting the ground.

    The fireworks are starting, and it looks like everyone else is going out front. So Lian is going to go right in the hole in the wall. She moves with a smooth, graceful swiftness, fully happy to take advantage of the distraction being provided, and her first stop is right beside the napping guard. Without skipping a beat, she leans in close enough to murmur, "You're tired enough to sleep through a hurricane." Her hand waves gently, and there's a little push of the Force; and then she's stepping right past him to continue her search for the hostages.

    Rebecca and Scavenger storm the front. In an instant it's chaos as bullets fly everywhere; and explosion from Claire's slingshot sends a small cluster of Waiths flying while a squad rush the pair wit cutters, knives, and hand-held chainsaws.
    It does not end well for them thanks to Scavenger.
    But there are still plenty of guys-
    And Becca is still cheerily singing to herself as she unloads an assault rifle completely to keep a few guys pinned down.
    "My oh my oh me~ my oh me oh my~."
    This leaves it on Claire and Lian to sneak inside the facility and...
    "ZZZzzz..."
    Yeah that napping guard isn't going to wake up any time soon thanks to Lian.
    Inside the door beyond him are a set of stairs leading down into the building basement, and at the bottom is a medium sized storage room. There are a few guards here who are AWAKE, manning the door to the next room looking pretty bored.

    Still wearing her cloak even now, Lian is a swift, graceful figure, moving down the steps with the calm assurance of one who can sense what lies ahead. The instant she steps into the storage room, the Jedi flicks her right hand, throwing her cloak out into a billowing flutter - and allowing the lightsaber at her right hip to leap off of her hip and float in the air. It switches on as if possessing a mind of its own, and whirls about her in a spiral pattern. "Gentlemen, I strongly suggest that you leave this place and don't come back. This is not a fight you win."

    Scavenger stares down the charging Wraiths after she cuts down a trio of them in quick succession. Her yellow eyes narrow as she stands off with the others. She's keeping herself in between the melee fighters and Rebecca, covering the Solo and keeping the ranged fighter from getting overwhelmed. "You just saw me take down three of your allies. Do you really think you can do better?" she asks them, shifting her posture and aiming to parry a wild swing from one of the oncoming fighters in such a way that her return swing slashes down his torso from shoulder to hip in a diagonal line.

    Claire doesn't have fancy Jedi magic, but what she does have is explosives. So she stands right behind Lian with one of her biggest bombs and a short fuse, a lit lighter held precariously close to the fuse in question. Just to help sell the notion that fighting is not a good idea.

    OUTSIDE... There's a slight problem.
    The guys... Aren't hesitating. This is likely because the ones rushing Scavenger are gibbering cyberpsychos, released from their short leashes for the sake of defending the compound, they rush Scavenger without a single care for their self preservation and--

    o/` ~ "Look I know it's a lot and it's unrefined, but-
    I can't seem to get you off of my mind.
    You feel the same? I'll take your name!
    Maybe not. I guess that's okay..." ~ o/`

    Rebecca is still shooting guys and keeping the gun-wielding Wraiths pinned but.

    o/` ~ "Oh can't you see? Love me~.
    We're meant to be! --" BLAM! "ffuughck me!?"

    That is the sound of the solo taking a shotgun blast to the torso and launching backwards to land in a tumble on her ass. It looks like her armored jacket soaked the brunt of it but she is winded for a beat.
    INSIDE...There's a moment- a beat of silence as the Wraiths stare down Lian, a floating menacing lightsaber, and Claire with a bigass bomb.
    "... You know if you light that shit it'll kill the hostages." One Wraith points out.
    Another takes a test shot with his pistol and finds his bullet swatted out of the air by the Jedi's saber.
    "You know. I'm kind of not feeling this." One of the smarter Wraiths says, before he's knocked on the back of the head by his colleague.
    "Dogkiller will *literally* fucking eat us if we let them by." He points out.
    "Okay." The first one says before shooting his buddy dead and then puts a bullet in his own leg with a grunt.
    "We totally put up a fight but you were just to much for us. You even killed Kenny. You bastards."
    Sometimes intimidation works, huh.
    There's a door beside him and it sounds like there are people inside.

    Scavenger hears Rebecca going down, but she can't take her attention off of the cyberpsychos. She dips under a swing, taking out the guys legs, then sweeps up another one, lopping off an arm before sheathing the smaller blade, and whipping the larger one out in a wide arc to clear some space.

    Only once she has some breathing room for herself does she chance a look at the big-armed Solo. "You dead?" she asks bluntly, before turning attention back on the hostiles. She backs up, and plants her blade to act as a shield between her, Rebecca and the incoming bullets. Sprangs shaking the weapons grade metal.

    Just before the Wraith turns and shoots his friend, Lian's eyebrows lift with surprise; by the time he actually does it, she's already frowning faintly. Well, one death is better than two, she supposes. It saves them a fight. She does, at the very least, reach into a hip pouch and pull out a container with a roll of sterile bandage. "Clearly, I dropped this on accident during our scuffle. Terribly clumsy of me." She tosses the roll to the Wraith, then steps past him, her lightsaber now held in her right hand.

    She will, of course, check the door /first/. But if it's locked, then she's just going to cut her way through.

    "He was right about the explosive," she adds over her shoulder to Claire. "A more aggressive sort would probably have just called your bluff. But, that one was smart, so I've no complaints."

    "Now scram, flee for your lives." Once out of earshot, Claire answers Lian, "I've seen enough of this world to know that sometimes, people here are just crazy and do violent stuff that's counterproductive to what they're actually supposed to accomplish." She shrugs a little, "And also they're probably used to stronger explosives than what I've got. These are hand made. Probably wouldn't blow up the hostages." A pause, "Not that was I gonna risk it."

    OUTSIDE... It takes a second for a stunned Rebecca to sit herself up.
    "Motherfuck, I lost my earbuds." She grouses, jabbing herself in the chest with an air hypo as she hunkers behind Scavenger and her buster blade.
    Well it looks like she won't be singing anymore as she takes a few potshots to put the ranged Wraiths back into cover.
    The nomads are running out of guys though and quite frankly that's fine with her as the last of the cyberpsychos bull-rush her and the zalak.
    INSIDE, the remaining Wraith snatches up the bandages and limps his way out as Lian and Claire open the next room.
    All in all there are about nine or ten kidnapped nomads and they aren't in good condition. Beaten, hungry, thirsty, it's not going to be easy to move them all, but it can be done if Claire brought enough of that milk and tasty food with her to give them a little boost on the way out.

    Scavenger leaves the Buster blade for Rebecca to hunker behind.

    Instead of using the large weapon, she rounds it and draws Scalpel again in an azai slash across one of the remaining psychos, clashing with his weapon with enough power to stagger, if not outright overpower any attempt to block... black electricity crackles along her body and the blade for a few moments.

    She keys in her commlink. "You nearly done, we're losing ground out here." she transmits to Lian, and Claire if she has the ability.

    As they move in to assist the captives, Scavenger's voice comes in over the comm. Lian replies without hesitation, "We've found the hostages. Start your retreat, I can protect them on the way out. If you need backup, I can be there swiftly," the Jedi adds. Assuming nothing else goes painfully awry, she's going to help Claire in tending to the hostages and getting them ready to move out. If she has to carry one, she can certainly do that.

    Claire gets out the jugs of milk and a basket full of sandwiches, and begins handing out cups of milk and sandwiches to the hostages. While also checking to see if any of them are injured in a way that could benefit from some quick tending to, bandages or splints or the like.

    OUTSIDE, Becca hunkers behind the buster, unloading an HMG now into the remaining guys hiding for cover from her angry shouting.
    Something about her earbuds and something 'circulation'. It's mostly foulmouthed cursing as Scavenger takes out the last of the cyberpsychos.
    "Yo, Scav! Get ready to delta." The solo says popping a grenade behind cover, causing guys to scatter screaming.
    INSIDE, In the basement, sandwiches and milk go a long way to revitalizing damaged spirits, and some of the hostages go need first aid considering they were beaten pretty badly but... They all are able to stagger out after Lian and Claire and get to the hole in the wall and climb out where the vehicles are waiting to bring them back to the Bakkers' camp.
    "Aite, I think that's the last of them." Rebecca huffs, lowering her gun as the last of the Wraiths are sent packing.
    She opens her jacket and looks down. "Aw crap, that's at least a few bruised ribs." She complains while shambling out of the fort. "Still. I'll call that a job well done~."

    Scavenger plants a foot on one of the still alive, but downed psychos. She lifts her blade and jabs it down through his back, twists it, then yanks it free again.

    When the grenade goes off, scattering the remaining Wraiths. She walks away without looking at the blast.

    The Zalak picks her blade up on the way past, twirling it around and reattaching it to her back as she follows Rebecca out of the compound. "Sloppy work, shouldn't be listening to music like that in a fight." she admonishes the solo.

    "... you remember where you got it from... and if there's more?"

    True to her word, Lian Kamoya is there every step of the way. She acts as the perfect shield, moving to intercept even the faintest hint of danger to the hostages. Only once everyone is clear and they're loading up to return does she turn to check on Rebecca. "Mm. Would that I had talent as a healer. I can help with first aid, but I imagine you already have that handled fairly well.

    "C'mon Becca, after we'll done I'll take you to visit Harvey." Claire more or less commandeers, "He's patched me up more than a few times after some unfortunate incidents." She puts the bomb in her saddlebags.

    Rebecca sticks her tongue out at Scavenger when she's called sloppy.
    "Got the job done didn't we~?" She points out before rummaging in her pocket to produce a data shard, which she tosses the zalak's way. "I already downloaded everything off that. It's got some preem stuff."
    For the most part, the solo is walking off the whole getting shot ordeal but she won't say no to a visit to Harvey.
    "He like a ripper where you're from or something?" She asks Claire while the party loads the hostages into the vehicles to return them to their clan and family, with Lian watching them like a mother hawk.

    Scavenger catches the shard, looking it over briefly before tucking it into one of the various pouches she has on her rig. "... thanks..." she muses softly before mounting back up on her bike and donning her helmet. "You know where to wire my share." she says before riding off, away from the vehicle convoy.

    "Not a ripper, just a doc." Thus is the Clairification, "He won't get you more chrome, but he'll make sure that you're alright. If your chrome is damaged enough you'll need a ripper, I'm sure he'll be able to tell."