The Iron Dawn Pt. 2: The Scrap Tower

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Editor’s Note: Once again, Kate brings us the further adventures of the Crew of the Iron Dawn. It should be noted that all of the writing is a collaboration between all of the players in the game. Pt. 1 can be seen here.

Kami’atra continued to focus upon the whirlwind he’d created to surround the bounty hunter.  Scrap metal concentrically beat upon the hunter as the winds swirled and thrust the space about him.

“You’ll not escape this encounter with your life, hunter . . . today is not a good day for you to die.  I am no Jedi, but I promise you that my companions will destroy you if you make the choice not to surrender,” Kami’atra recited to the crew’s attacker. Earth and metal persisted in tormenting the assailant to the point where what little of the nearest star could be seen through the dust and dim atmosphere of Raxus Prime all but vanished to the eyes of their aggressor.

“Although it may seem fruitless, I will offer you the choice to yield this unwarranted attack or I’ll allow you to succumb to and be condemned by this silent darkness that you are now experiencing.”

The only sound heard was the whipping of the wind and metal on metal. Then, through the noise, a voice gasped, “Please! Just make it stop!” In the moments of clarity through the whirlwind, he could be seen on his knees, an arm outstretched.

Seeing the figure on the ground, Irulan suddenly felt her heart wrench within her. “Kami’atra – stop it. Please. He’s surrendering to us. Couldn’t we stun him, or at least take him prisoner?”

There was pity and compassion found upon Kami’atra’s countenance; however, he knew that the whirlwind was not meant to destroy their attacker and had not delivered terribly much damage to the hunter…

With a voice of suspicion ringing in his tone and continued winds scraping shards against the assailant, Kami’atra spoke to him through the bellowing tempest, “Discard your weapons over to us, hunter – all of them – that we may hear your plea in greater faith.”

Kami’atra looked toward each of his companions individually to observe their perceptions of this potential turn of events.  Regardless, as he was well aware of the treachery that individuals such as their current attacker were stereotypically capable of, Kami’atra returned his focus to the kneeling, submissive figure within the winds.

“Anything!” the bounty hunter shouted through the gale. He threw his lightsaber through the whirlwind. It skittered to a halt a few feet away. The blaster followed. The wind began to die down.

“Lay down with your face to the earth, hunter, and your hands behind your head.  You will be treated well for having surrendered so freely.”  Cautiously, Kami’atra began to step toward him, waiting for Tel to either submit to the request, or, as Kami’atra assumed, he might attempt subterfuge and escape.  As he approached, Kami’atra perceived and unwound a length of syntherope from around a fallen 8D smelter droid; he tested its tensile strength in both hands before preparing it as a restraint.  “If you should resist, my companions have their implements well trained upon you and this will all be over before you know it.”

While he awaited the hunter’s reaction to these conditions, Kami’atra looked to his companions for their thoughts and responses to this course of action he seemed to have implemented.  As he looked to his companions then back to the rope in his hands and the bounty hunter standing meters away across this partially self-destructed planet, Kami’atra began to wonder to himself regarding how far he had fallen from his life of medicine and religious outreach.  Then he smiled as he returned to look upon the dear friends that surrounded him; all of them from myriad walks of life yet drawn together for this purpose by some unknown design.

His smile resigned as he swiftly returned his thoughts and focus toward the task at hand.  Countenance solemn, he fixed his thoughts upon the hunter before him, and all too patiently awaited the actions of all around him.

Irulan nodded at Kami’atra, stepping forward with lightsaber extended, as he prepared to bind their prisoner.

“What do we do now? If we take him back to the ship, we may lose precious time . . . but if we take him with us, he may prove more a hindrance than a help. Should just I take him back, while you three continue on? And then I can try to catch up with you?”

Kami’atra looked to his satchel and remembered that which he had brought with him; he deftly considered formulae for producing a sedative/anesthetic from the medpacks within his bag.  As he ran through this mental exercise, Kami’atra took a look around for alternatives, such as a place to hang or bind the bounty hunter from or to until they returned from their task.

Irulan watched with growing impatience as Kami’atra spent what seemed to her an eternity deliberating on how best to quiet their opponent. Finally, she walked around behind the bounty hunter, paused briefly to consider, then brought down the hilt of her lightsaber hard against the back of his skull. He fell forward to the ground, unconscious.

“There. Now you can tie him up,” she smiled very sweetly at Kami’atra.

Kibur surveyed the scene, looking down at the Bounty Hunter. “Well, that certainly sped up the process.” He turned to Irulan. “Nice job, jedi. I think I’m rubbing off on you.” He pulled his datapad from its holster and began punching in more information. “The droid is thataway,” he said, pointing towards a strange, large metal tower.

Kami’atra’s countenance changed to profess his displeasure in Irulan’s hasty actions toward a surrendering foe; her efforts on behalf of the crew did take care of the immediate circumstance; however, it undermined his statement of the hunter being “treated well” for his surrender – at least as far as Kami’atra was concerned.  Although he had been trained to resist holding grudges, he did consider it immaturity on the part of this young jedi he’d joined ranks with.

He imperceptibly shook his head in response to Kibur’s remark; he thought it best if certain of his qualities were kept to himself.  Kami’atra sheathed his blade and began to bind the hunter with his arms behind his back: securing the syntherope to the hunter’s left wrist, around his right arm above the elbow, upward from beneath this loop to form a circuit around his neck, down to encircle his left arm above the elbow, downward from above this loop to secure the hunter’s right wrist, lashing both hands together at the wrists.

Irulan grinned at Kibur as she clipped her lightsaber into her belt. Turning, her smile immediately vanished as she looked into Kami’atra’s stern, disapproving face. She bit her lip and turned back around. Kneeling by their unconscious enemy, Irulan closed her eyes. She slowly moved her right hand across his temple, left to right. Breathing in, she stood up and turned back to Kami’atra. “There. He won’t have a headache when he wakes up. Is that better?” She shouldered her satchel and started following Kibur in the direction he had pointed.

With a heart of empathetic sympathy for those who had lost their way by ill-tempered fortune, Kami’atra reminded himself that people were all found without a teacher at some point in their lives. He prayed that although Irulan had become a Jedi Knight, she might one day find another mentor of her force-path who would help her hone her abilities and attitude toward honor.

In one motion, Kami’atra lifted the bounty hunter to a kneeling position and tied the loose end of the syntherope between his feet, encircling both feet to complete the circuit of restraint. Gently, Kami’atra leaned their prisoner’s head back against the remnant hull of some Ubrikkian skiff that protruded from a nearby mountain of rubble, hoping that the bounty hunter would not hold this against them and harm himself with this restraint when awakened.

He momentarily turned his attention toward Irulan, “You needn’t seek my approval, Irulan, I am not your master but a simple companion; do as you’ve been instructed in training and search yourself for what is right and wrong, regardless of the response presented by those around you – even myself.

“Wake in peace, brother, we will return for you when this is over,” Kami’atra whispered to the hunter before standing.  Brushing the dust from his hands and knees and looking toward the sky, he prayed that the crew would be able to return before the bounty hunter was allowed to perform much harm to himself or was taken in by exposure.

Seeing his companions departing afoot, Kami’atra joined them as they marched toward the beacon of which they sought.  He continued the pattern he had begun when they left their vessel – climbing up and across the high mounds of waste to oversee the land that lay ahead of them.  He allowed himself to scan the near horizon for others that might hinder their progress in this desolate place.

As she reached the top of a hill of scrap metal, Irulan turned to look piercingly at Kami’atra, climbing behind her. “Of course I know you’re not my master. And it’s thanks to scum like that bounty hunter that I’ll never hear his voice again. The only right I know is to make sure his death wasn’t meaningless. Perhaps Kibur’s right about me; we can’t all be like you after all.”

Irulan stopped short. Then, after a moment, she looked up pleadingly at her friend. “Oh, please don’t be angry with me; I simply can’t bear that reproving look of yours. Please, let’s be at peace.”

Nodding to Irulan in acknowledgment of her feeling of loss, Kami’atra passed her atop the hill and began to descend toward another.  Memories began filling the tranquil void of his central mind; fond memories of an older generation telling long forgotten tales depicting the heroic, honorable, compassionate, and self-sacrificing Jedi of another era.  To him, Irulan was not far from this idyllic icon; it was a terrible shame that she lost he master – he too knew this feeling of loss and betrayal.

“I am not angry with you, Irulan, nor have you ever given me reason to be.  We four are a crew of a very patchwork design, led together by Providence, and currently entangled in this particular task.  We will find this droid together and from there follow in The Way toward the next step.”

“Peace is all anyone can offer to each other amidst these turbulent days.  With that said, I offer you an apology for having upset you for a time.  We have no room on this mission for disputes amongst ourselves,” he said, then pointed back toward the bound bounty hunter behind them. “We are offered plenty of quarrel from without to be caught up in all of that.”

As he continued on, Kami’atra glanced over to Kibur and Bax who seemed to be leading the way, “Shall we press on then?  The droid cannot be far now.”

The journey was arduous as they climbed over mountains of rubble, the oily air clinging to them. In the distance, fires were burning, pouring black smoke into the atmosphere. The metal tower came closer into view. It was made of the scraps of a thousand ships, speeders, buildings and droids, merged into a monstrosity of a creation.

“It looks like he’s up in there,” Kibur said, looking up toward the building skeptically. “I hope that place holds itself together once we’re inside…”

Irulan paused beside Kibur, surveying the view of this peculiar, unwelcoming edifice. “It looks like something out of a nightmare,” she said softly. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus her concentration and sense any vibrations in the force, friendly or otherwise, coming from inside the building. Then she looked over at Kami’atra, to see if he could sense anything amiss.

Silvery-white tendrils of electrical energy sparked from his gauntlets as Kami’atra held the hilt of his blade away from his center and crouched down with his right palm to the earth-covered metal plates beneath him.  He lifted his head to just above parallel with the ground and began breathing deeply as he focused his current efforts on fore-scouting the tower for lifeforms.  As the ashen air from the nearby pyres filled his nostrils, Kami’atra believed he smelled the faint scent of droids at work within the tower; however, unless the droids were at least partially composed of certain organic compounds, he wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the scents of active or remnant droids among the abounding scrapyard.

Kami’atra stared in wonder at the severe ramshackle construction of this spire that arose before them; he couldn’t help but compare this sight to the elaborate memories he possessed of the priesthood’s compound and tower back home. Structural integrity was of grave contrast here, but still he felt that despite its appearance, this tower was built for a purpose and it would stand the test of their combined weight… at least for a time.

He stood as he completed his scan of the tower and mentally compiled the result of his effort. Kami’atra readied his hand on the hilt in preparation for a quick draw as he took a few steps toward the tower without a word.

Just then, the comlinks flared to life as the sound of blasterfire and static erupted from them. “This is Page!” a voice shouted through the noise. “I could use some help!”

Irulan yanked the comlink out of her belt. “Page – where on earth are you!?”

“Irulan, currently level 3 maintenance wing B, engaged with unknown number of hostiles,” Lt. Page stated quickly and efficiently over the comlink as he took suppressing fire shots at his aggressors and resumed cover behind bulkheads and equipment. ”I can hold these oversized trash compactors down, but get here on the double; they currently have me pinned down. There is one door to this room and they have control of it, but from the looks of their position in the room you should be able to take them out from behind. Or at least distract them long enough for me to take them out. Over.”

Upon hearing Page’s exclamations, Kami’atra ran toward the tower’s main entrance with blade now in hand.  He wondered slightly to himself as to how Lt. Page became so far ahead of the rest of the crew, but then reminded himself of other occurrences of the good lieutenant’s brashness and consoled himself with the fact that they must retrieve him now without fail.

As he reached the entryway, Kami’atra deftly signaled to the others that the entrance was clear before proceeding within and following the sounds of metal footsteps and blaster-fire.  As he entered the deep corridor, he began by searching for any means of ascension to the third floor – uncertain whether an elevator would be such a good idea in this shaky structure… but anything to save a friend.

Furrowing her brow in concern, Irulan ran to catch up with Kami’atra. She shivered as the cold air inside the entrance to the tower engulfed her. “Do you see a way up?” she said quietly to Kami’atra, while looking around.

As he continued down the seemingly endless corridor, Kami’atra searched near and far for some signage to determine the best route to follow in order to come up behind the droid-blockaded doorway in question.  In doing so, he continually listened for the inexorable sound of metallic footsteps on the well-worn plates beneath their feet.

Kami’atra first came to a stairwell across the hall from an elevator shaft. He pondered the diverging paths for a moment and came to the conclusion, based mostly on the flickering chatter of the lights and switches within the elevator compartment (and the relative safety of the steps before him), that the stairs would be the obvious choice. Also, as no one could be certain where either of these choices might open up on the third floor, he thought it best not to be completely surprised if a door opened to the sight of untold numbers of scavenged droids droning toward them, like a race of the living dead seeking their flesh.

He shook his head of the grimacing thought as he motioned and called down to his companions from the base of the stairwell, “I’ve found a path to the third floor, I believe it to be the safest and swiftest route.”

Kami’atra nodded for the attention of Kibur at a distance, “Have you been able to ascertain the location of the droid we’re after in this nightmarish tower?  I’d hate to think that we may have to split up in order to find it and save Page in the process; even he’d hate to leave here empty-handed.”

Kibur plugged his micro holoprojector into the pad. A graphical holoprojected image of the tower sprang from the device. A small red dot blipped near the top of the tower. “The target appears to be at the top of the tower, twelve floors up.” He punched a few more details into the pad. “It looks like our friend is a protocol droid of some type.”  A secondary light appeared on the displayed tower. “Page is getting boxed in here. It’s on our route, and if we clear them up fast enough, we may be able to catch up to them…” He indicated a third dot lighting up the tower halfway up. “That appears to be another group of enterprising folks also interested in our target. Let’s get going.”