Star Wars: The Old Republic: Taris Resettlement Initiative

by Barrobroadcaster

Chapter 2: Search Party

Chapter 2: Search Party

The path out of the base led up a series of ramps- for vehicles, AJ guessed. They passed by a few buildings that resembled the ones she'd seen in the base, except that they looked abandoned. A couple were even on fire, small fires, at least and there were large vehicles parked next to them along with the beginnings of what looked like vegetable garden plots. Whoever had been here had left in a hurry.

"These were some of the earlier settlements," Vars commented. "Mostly just to test the viability of-"

"I didn't ask," AJ responded, nearly cutting him off. The Jedi looked surprised at her, making her realize a bit what she'd done. Rarity gave her a sterner look and Applejack said, "I'm sorry, there. Please, go on."

"Ah... well, I was just saying that these were among the first settlements the Republic made when we came here," Vars said, looking at them as they passed. "It's not easy to start a new colony, much less in such a devastated place like this. These earlier houses were just for people starting out, almost like an experiment to test the viability of Taris itself."

"I see," Applejack said. "And they're like this because...?"

"They must've been damaged when the perimeter was breached," Rarity said. "We mostly use the buildings for light storage, now. The settlers all relocated to the larger outposts last week."

"Hmph," his friend scoffed. "You'd think we'd have better defenses this close to the base."

Applejack looked back over her shoulder at him and asked, "You think things could've been done better?"

The mustached Jedi chuckled, not breaking a stride. "That's one way of putting it. But, we're not really in a good position to criticize. Jedi are supposed to steer clear of politics, aren't we?"

His friend shrugged. "Hasn't stopped us before."

Applejack could 'sense' the conversation was getting offtrack. "So, where was Twi last time y'all saw her?"

"Her last transmission came from somewhere north of Gendar Station. There was a search party forming there before I left," Rarity explained.

"Well hey, that's a start!" AJ said, breaking into a gallop. "Let's head there and maybe we can join 'em! Come on, now! While we still got daylight!"

"But, it's still a ways away! We should take a speeder or-" but it was too late. Rarity was forced to stop mid-protest and run after her friend and escorts.

With Applejack leading and Rarity doing her best to guide, they trekked north from the Olaris Resettlement Zone into the overgrown ruins. Taris' buildings and skyscrapers that once dominated its Upper City had been positioned atop large, round platforms standing on the surface. Many of these platforms suffered only light or superficial damage, despite the fact they only held up rubble and ruin now. But, they provided an ample amount of shade for the group as they continued through the ruins. More than once, Vars or Sev used their lightsabers to cut a low-hanging vine that was in their way. Rarity appreciated this action while Applejack thought they could've just as easily gone around them.

The paths that took them through the destroyed and fallen buildings were mostly grass and dirt. Reconstruction had only occurred in certain resettlement zones like Olaris. Outposts and watch stations had been established at points in-between the settlement areas so that civilization was never more than a few miles away, at least near the settlements. Still, it was a bit of a hike through the narrow passages between broken structures and around more solid, crumbling obstacles. They didn't run into any more rakghouls, something they were all thankful for and eventually they reached the outpost.

"So, you, uh... said there was a search party formin'?" AJ asked, looking over the outpost. "I really don't hope it was like this when you left."

"What's happened here?" Rarity asked. "Everything's been... destroyed." Gendar Station was, or at least had been, one of the Republic's patrol outposts situated under one of the more-intact platforms north-west of Olaris. But the outpost in front of them had been apparently ransacked in the time since Rarity departed. The fence surrounding the outpost had been torn apart, the main prefab structure's windows and doors had been broken and a large tent had collapsed over a cluster of tables. The only thing that looked relatively intact was a tent with some computer terminals in it.

"This looks like it happened recently," Sev said. He and Vars both ignited their lightsabers, eyes already scanning the area. "Meaning whoever or whatever's responsible could still be around."

"Anybody got any idea'a what caused it?" AJ asked. "More varmints?"

"Perhaps," Rarity said, unsure. "There doesn't appear to be anyone left." The ponies and Jedi walked cautiously into the outpost to investigate.

Vars knelt in front of some dark marks on the pavement. "There's some carbon scoring here."

"Heh, not really much to go on. You could say that about the whole planet," Sev remarked.

Vars touched the marks with two fingers, a small amount of the soot rubbing off. "Still fresh. Looks like there was a firefight."

"Oh dear," Rarity said. "I... it's almost too hard to believe."

"Which could also be said about the whole planet," the mustached Jedi reiterated. He disengaged his lightsaber and walked into the main prefab building, a small two-story shack made from mostly plasteel. The ponies followed him; Vars took up the rear as a precaution. The inside of the building looked about the same as the outside: chairs were overturned, glass lay shattered at the base of a shelf and the walls had more dark streaks in some places, evidence of blaster fire.

"Terminals here are still working," Sev announced as he activated one of the computers. "The surveillance system may have picked up what happened."

"What's that smell?" Applejack asked. "Smells like... I dunno, something weird."

"Hydrazine," Vars said after sniffing the air. "It's an industrial chemical they use to ignite tools for welding like plasma torches and fusion cutters."

"And flamethrowers," Sev said, a slight smirk crossing his expression.

"I, uh, I don't think we have any flamethrowers here at the outpost," Rarity remarked nervously.

Vars gave a slight scoff at the notion. "I think he's implying whoever attacked the base might've brought one with them."

"Who, exactly, would want to attack this place?" Applejack asked, making note of the base's condition.

The holoprojector on the room's back wall suddenly sprang to life. "A good question. One to ask when we find them." The blue light coalesced into figures on the table, an image of the outpost and the surrounding area.

"Is that the security camera feed from outside?"

Vars nodded. "We seem to have found it."

The holographic image displayed Gendar Station and some of the surrounding area. Republic troopers and scouts, some of them ponies, fired shots from behind the outpost's walls. The soldiers used cover as they fired on some sort of unseen assailant outside of the camera's range. Suddenly, explosions ripped into the sides of the walls, blasting the armored troopers from their positions. A pair of bulky bipedal figures wearing heavier armor than the troopers walked into view and approached the front gates. They raised their arms at the gate and jets of flames shot fourth from their gauntlets, quickly melting the gate.

"I'm guessin' those guys ain't just the neighbors dropping by for a visit," Applejack surmised. They watched as the two figures stepped into Gendar Station, over the writhing and incapacitated troopers and began trashing it. They tossed around the equipment, as if looking for something or someone, and then began picking up the soldiers. Some resisted and were bashed for it. In the end, they were all restrained in some way or another and then placed on a hoversled that was already parked at the outpost and then carted away.

Vars stared at the image intensely. "Bounty hunters."

"Bounty hunters?" Rarity and AJ both asked.

"Mercenary scum hired to do pretty much anything, usually criminal work," Vars said, a searing heat in his voice. Both the ponies noticed him gripping the table tighter than before.

"And many are regular schmucks trying to make their way in the galaxy," Cham added.

"By breaking the law," Vars said back. "With flamethrowers and other weapons that cause only violence and suffering."

Sev continued to smirk at his friend. "You'll have to forgive Master Algwinn; he's had some bad experience with bounty hunters." He patted his friend on the shoulder. He began muttering, "There is no emotion, there is peace, there is no emotion, there is peace," quietly to himself.

While the other Jedi continued reciting the code, Sev began digging through a container near the door. "The one good thing about those flamethrowers is that we can track them." He pulled out a tool that looked like a remote control with two stubby antenna sticking out of the front. "This is a portable scanner. Not as heavy duty as a ship or base-mounted one but it gets the job done. It can analyze just about anything you point it at and even administer first aid. This will help us find the bounty hunters." He said, tossing it to Applejack.

"What're you giving this to me for?"

"And... why exactly would we want to find those... bounty hunters?" Rarity asked nervously.

Vars pushed off the table as both Jedi prepared to head out. "You'll have to forgive Master Ell; he's had some... unique experience with bounty hunters," the two exchanged glances. "He seems to believe that if we find them, we'll find your friends, too."

Applejack adjusted her hat, immediately following him. "That's all I needed to here. We've got our lead."

"But, this... well, it sounds like more of a hunch," Rarity protested.

"It's still all we got, Rarity," AJ patted her on the back. "Even if it's not, we might find her while we're out there looking for them."

"I guess that's true..." the white mare admitted.

"Besides, I have a feeling whoever did this didn't do so for no reason," she said, determined.

Rarity nodded, still nervous. "I think we can all agree on that."

They left the outpost behind and set out into the wilderness once again. Applejack had trouble getting used to her scanner but Rarity and the Jedi didn't. They quickly found the trail of hydrazine residue just outside Gendar Station and followed it further through the jungle ruins. The path became narrow as they ventured further north; the Republic had only cleared certain paths into the ruined landscape. As they continued on, Vars took it upon himself to explain what he and Sev had been doing on Taris.

"-which all happened even before the planet was destroyed and we don't have very many records of it. But, the ruins of the Jedi Tower seem mostly intact so it's possible we might be able to find more information about what happened here three centuries ago."

"Was Twilight interested in all of this?" AJ asked, hoping to get back to the matter at present.

"Oh, yes," Rarity answered. "She and Spike spent most of their time helping with the excavation of the old Upper City. They were very excited to find out more about the civilization because they suspected ponies might have-"

"Hey, we got something here," Chan announced. "The trail's stopped."

"Stopped?" They gathered around the torgruta.

"Stopped. The source of the hydrazine seems to have disappeared," Sev said, narrowing his eyes at his scanner's readings. "The trail just seems to end here... right at this spot. Rather abruptly."

"What does that mean?" AJ asked.

Sev pocketed his scanner. "Well, it means we've either reached the end of the trail... or..."

"Or what?" Rarity asked.

*Snap!* "Waaah!"

"AAAH!!" Without warning, a net concealed on the ground beneath them closed around them. It bunched them together and hoisted them all into the air as a group.

"It's a trap! It's a trap and we walked right into it!" Rarity exclaimed, struggling.

"Stop mo-ow! Stop moving!" Vars yelled.

"Oh, you can move alright," a voice on the ground said to them.

"Yeah. Always more fun to hit a moving target," another voice said.

The group looked down to see the two bounty hunters they'd been following. Their weapons were raised right at them as they hung helplessly, including the flamethrower they'd been tracking.

"You like this? Been followin' us, looking for it?" the hunter with the flamethrower said. He brandished it at them and aimed the silvery gauntlet in their direction. "Try anything funny and we'll show you how it works."

They all stopped moving. None of them needed an explanation of what would happen if the bounty hunters decided to use their weapons while they all dangled like a worm on a hook.

"What do you want from us?" Vars asked.

The two hunters chuckled. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, most wise masta Jedi."

"I know these circumstances must seem quite peculiar, forgive us for not explaining things for you," the second said. He removed his helmet, revealing that he was a red-skinned, horned alien. "I'm Sorno."

"And I'm Jarg," the other said, still keeping the flamethrower trained on him. "And what we'd like is for you all to be very comfortable."

"Most comfortable, indeed."

"While we hand you over to the Imps and collect your bounties."

"Imps?!" the captives all asked in unison.

"What are you talking about? The Imps would never post a bounty on Jedi with the Treaty of Coruscant still in place!" Vars declared.

"Heheheh."

"Hahahah."

Applejack, the side of her face stuck to the togruta's, was not able to see the bounty hunters. But she could still hear them both chuckling at what Vars had said. "Did anyone hear a joke in there?"

"What's so funny?" Vars asked.

The bony-faced one looked at the horned hunter. "Would you like to tell them, Sorno?"

"Only if you think it's a good idea," his accomplice said.

"I would never, ever think of doing something without your approval."

"Nor I yours, Jarg."

"I believe it was my turn when I set the traps," Jarg said, smiling.

"Which means it's my turn," Sorno said, grinning at the captives. He chuckled. "What's funny is, we weren't talking about you, masta Jedi," Sorno said.

"Heheh, yeah, ain't no Imperial bounties for Jedi... yet. But I'm sure the Hutts would shell out a few credits for a couple nice decorations. Maybe Karagga or Nemro, but surely one of 'em," Jarg added. "Maybe Needles'd like to experiment with a couple Jedi."

"Heck, we could just toss up a couple carbonite Jedi on the Galactic Trade Network and we'd probably get a few buyers. Point is, you're not who we're after. It's THEM we're after," Sorno said, pointing his weapon at Rarity and Applejack. "The bounty for Equestrians is through the roof right now, enough to put the Black List to shame."

"We're here for the ponies."

"Oh dear..." Rarity nervously said. "Are you sure there isn't... something else we could do to compensate you?"

"The Republic will-ow," Sev shuffled his position, pinched between Vars and AJ. "The Republic can pay you. If you let us go, leave the planet right now, I can assure you that-"

"Heh, no dice, Jedi." Jarg shot down the idea and swatted at them with the flamethrower. "Not that we don't trust you."

"We do, believe us."

"We would never want to be deceptive."

"We're honest criminals."

"It's just that we have a contract with Darth Vylios," Jarg said, chuckling. "And we'd hate for the Empire to get a bad impression of us."

Sev calmed his breathing. He focused on both of them, concentrating on their eyes, their faces and their minds. The intent was written in their expressions, he could feel it in the Force. "You don't want to turn us into the Sith." Both hunters looked up at him in bewilderment. He continued, "You want to leave this planet and never return."

"A mindtrick? Seriously?" Vars asked. "Like that will actually work."

Jarg's flamethrower began to lower. The hunter suddenly looked down, as if contemplating a sudden realization. "I... I don't want to turn you into the Sith."

"I want to leave this planet and never return," Sorno repeated. Both of them holstered their weapons, turned around and departed.

"What in the hay did you just do to those guys?" Applejack asked. "You guys psychic, or something?"

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded," Sev said.

"Weak-minded is right," Vars said.

"What are you complaining about?"

He shifted again. "Well, for one, why didn't you make them get us DOWN first?!"

"Oh..."