Saga - OT I've Got a Bad Feeling About This... (round robin, jump in!)

All right, to lift spirits after the events of recent weeks, I'm starting a fun & fluffy round robin. It is set 3 months after the Battle of Yavin, I envision mostly OC's, but canon characters are okay too. Planning is supposed to happen in PMs, although I've got nothing special in mind, so...

Anyone who wants to jump in, PM me and I will put you in a rotation slot. Ewok Poet called first dibs, so is up next.



UPDATED 12/24: THE CURRENT ROSTER

Mistress_Renata
Ewok Poet
whiskers
Raissa Baiard [retired, but gave us the immortal phrase: "The Crunchy Ones"]
brodiew
Anedon
RX_SITH (welcome to the team!)

----

I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

Episode I

Three months after the Rebel victory over the Emperor's battle station, THE DEATH STAR, the Alliance is forced to abandon their base on the moon of Yavin and scatter across the galaxy, seeking allies and, above all, a new location for a base.

On a small planet in the Mopusa system, too small to have a name, being referred to just as Mopusa 8, a small group of Imperial Stormtroopers is gathered around an extremely large slug...

---

"Are we sure it's dead, Sergeant?" The lieutenant tried not to wrinkle his nose at the stink rising up from the carcass of the extremely large slug, which was on the ground outside a large cave, at the center of the ring of Stormtroopers.

“Yes, sir. Confirmed kill.”

Lieutenant Hiretsuna looked at it doubtfully. “And Lieutenant Aldozat is…inside?”

“Uh, yes, sir.”

“Do we think there’s any chance he’s still alive?” The Stormtroopers exchanged glances. The Corporal cleared his throat.

“Uh, no sir, we believe it is unlikely.”

Hiretsuna made a face. More wretched paperwork, and he hated having to check off “ingested” as cause of death. For “ingested” he’d have to attach Form RD-MOD-I-07734, which required specimens. He hated specimens. Specimens were sticky.

“And the Rebel base?”

“No sign of any Rebels, sir. We did a full spectrum scan, and JK-9968 reports that a full sweep shows nothing.”

“Well, that’s something, I suppose.” Hiretsuna straightened up. “Right, then! Set out the probe beacons, in case the Rebels show up; six should be sufficient, I think, and uh…retrieve Lieutenant Aldozat. And get specimens.”

“Specimens, sir?”

“Yes.”

“What type of specimens, sir?” Hiretsuna frowned. The attachment forms were never exactly specific on that.

“Specimens, Sergeant! Come on, now!” He put his hands behind his back (Officer Posture pose #4), and strode authoritatively back to the Lamda class shuttle sitting nearby. There was a bottle of Corellian brandy stashed in his quarters, and he was going to need most of it to finish the paperwork on this particular debacle.

High up on a ledge, two still, silent figures watched the activity. They watched the retrieval of the hapless Lieutenant Aldozat, managing to retain their lunches, unlike two of the Stormtroopers. They watched the discussion over the retrieval of ‘specimens,’ whatever that meant. They watched the actual retrieval of ‘specimens,’ which included several other Stormtroopers losing their lunches. And they watched as the Stormtroopers set out several tall, silver beacons, which would detect motion or energy fields in their vicinity and bounce them off an orbiting probe off into space to be intercepted by the nearest Imperial ship.

As the Imperial shuttle disappeared into the atmosphere, one figure turned to the other. “Well, that’s just great! They found our new base before we did. NOW what?”

 

Double post? How did I manage that?

 

I apologise for having missed the deadline by one day. This has been one of those weeks where I was inspired for pretty much...everything other than work and this story. I hate the way my brain works sometimes.


And I hereby hand the command to the next in line - whiskers!

---

"Now what? Look WHO is asking!" The other being, a Kiffar female with long hotpink braided hair, was looking off the edge of the improvised stronghold. "They have found us. And they have found your pets. Didn't I tell you that these things could swallow you in your sleep?"

"I have the special touch, Faala. I have always been good with animals. It's them who upset it!" The one who spoke first, a Theelin male, crossed his arms. His female companion was always nagging way too much, or so he thought. Perhaps she was jealous at his ability to tame about every single unknown creature? "Why is it always me who's the problem?"

There he was, praising himself again, she said to herself.

"Well, kriff you in particular, then, Rayk. Our supplies are on the other side of the field and they have set up all these...things."

"I'm athletic! And today, more than ever, the trauma that used to be the gymnastics classes at the Lyceum back home will..prove to finally be useful."

Before Faala could even stop him, Rayk jumped off the improvised wall and ended in the violet-blue fern below. He climbed a tree, jumped over one branch to another and avoided the nearest beacon's sensor. It looked as if his claim was true...at least until one particularly dry branch cracked below him and he fell down. Seconds later, a ray from the tallest of the beacons stunned him.

Faala's intuition was right, once again. They were in trouble, for the second time in the last couple of days, once again, because of Rayk, not her. "Oh, great..."

She shook her head. She had to think fast. Should she attempt to drag Rayk back to safety and risk being stunned herself? If she leaves him and goes to the other side of the stronghold, was he in danger of being eaten by one of his slimey, slug-like "pets"? The names of the greatest of the greatest among the Rebels were popping up in her head, like the ionotropic fungi back home on Kiffu after an electrical storm.

What would Mon Mothma do?

What would Jan Dodonna do?

WHAT WOULD LUKE SKYWALKER DO?

 

Oh, good one, Ewok Poet! I would never have thought of those creatures as pets! Well done!

 

Excellent start, both of you! In part one, I enjoyed Hiretsuna's annoyance as well as the 'specimens'. In part two, the pets and Falaa's incredulity. Can't wait to see whst whiskers will do.

 

Though I'm nowhere near spontaneous enough to write in this, I am so glad that somebody is doing so! It looks really fun.

 

@Raissa Baird, you're up!

***

Panic subsided in a near instant as Faala watched her comrade lay in his paralyzed state. Mon Mothma would delegate the task to an expendable subordinate, General Dodonna would think of some cunning plan, and Luke Skywalker would simply lift Rayk up from his position with his mind. She didn't have any subordinates, nor any great cunning, and there was no way in all of the Corellian hells that she could lift things with her thoughts like Skywalker could. All she had was herself and her years of training as a Kiffu Guardian, so that would have to do.

She studied the area around her, the verdant jungle that seemed to hum all around her. The trees were weak, she noted, judging by the jagged edge of the branch that had caused this whole situation to begin with. Under the canopy of trees, the tall grass swayed in the light breeze, nearly obscuring Rayk's fallen form. A smile spread upon her face as the plan slowly pieced itself together.

Under the tall grass was a mass of dirt, decaying leaves, and the half-rotten remnants of fallen trees. Faala crawled through this mass on her belly, each push of her legs and pull of her arms slow and deliberate. The Imperial sensors searched for movement, she had seen, but it seemed to quickly distinguish between plant and animal. On the back of her Alliance field jacket, secured with double-sided tape from her pouches, was the pickings of several grasses and leaves in an improvised ghillie suit.

Her ungloved hands trembled with each movement as they dug into the dark humus, her breaths ragged as she neared the range of the first sensor. Please work, please work, please kriffing WORK! her brain screamed. The metal pole rose two meters above her, wires running down past the cross-shaped base and to a portable power generator near the carcass of one of Rayk's "pets."

The thing chirped and she froze, daring to not even breathe as she could practically feel its sensors sweep over her. Faala braced herself for the impact of the stun bolt that never came, clenching her teeth and scrunching her eyelids. Minutes passed before she moved again; the simple motion of snaking her left arm forward as arduous as running through the deep sands of Yohog XII. She pushed herself forward again another minute later, followed by moving another millimeter and then another.

It seemed like hours had passed by the time she reached the power generator, a thick rectangle roughly the size of a storage cube. Red and green lights blinked on the machine as the power meter stayed firmly at the top. Faala took a deep breath. Turning the machine off or even moving to disconnect the power cables would expose herself to the sensors and their powerful stun blasts. She turned her head over to Rayk's unconscious form and back to the generator. "Well, I've gotten this far..." she whispered.

"Three..."

A breeze wafted its way through the area, the dark green leaves whispering their words.

"Two..."

The mechanical and incessant whirring of the sensors overwhelmed her senses.

"ONE!"

She sprang into action, lifting a hand and slapping the power button on the generator. The whirrs intensified and then died, emitting a mournful howling as the last of their energy failed them.

A laugh escaped Faala's throat, followed by a joyful sob. She'd done it! She jumped up from her prone position and raced over to Rayk. The Imperials would notice the lack of signal soon and she'd better have dragged her fallen comrade as far as she could before their troop transport had arrived.

Faala grasped him under the arms and dragged him away from the small clearing. "Damn it, Rayk," she cursed at him. "Didn't Page tell you to lay off the damn sweets? Now I've gotta drag your fat butt all the way to..." He wasn't that overweight, she knew, but at the moment he was certainly feeling it.


Her complaints were drowned out by a loud crashing through the woods, and Faala looked up to see the Y-wing sized slimy form of the planet's native slugs. "Oh, shavit..." she cursed.

 

Though I'm not sure if right after A New Hope knowledge of Luke doing these things was common, perhaps Faala is very intuitive.

Loved the idea of an overweight male Theelin - precisely what we don't know the species for. Dead fun and contributes to the overall comedy of Faala getting Rayk out of there. XD

And wow...those slugs! EEEK.

 

Faala stood over her unconscious friend and raised her blaster with trembling hands as the giant slug galumphed ever closer. When it was a bare two meters away, it reared up, towering over the pink-dreadlocked Kiffar, and opened its mouth. The rows of pointy teeth, each as long as her hand, were terrifying, but worse was the thick, slobbery pink tongue covered with thousands of wriggling cilia that it extended towards her.

Faala aimed into the creature's gaping maw and fired.

It flailed and made a peculiar coughing roar.

*Ouch! That wasn't nice; we only came to help the Beast Warden!*

The voice echoed through Faala's head like the sounding of a giant gong. She stared at the slug, who seemed to be staring down at her reproachfully, though it lacked eyes. "Did you just...?"

*Of course, we did. Do you see anyone else here?* It flolloped forward and nudged Rayk's foot with its snout. *Our name is Wyrm. We came to help the Beast Warden. He was kind to us, and we would repay his kindness.*

"Beast Warden?" Faala wondered if the planetoid's vegetation created hallucinogenic chemicals. Or perhaps she was asleep and having a really vivid dream. That happened sometimes when she ate too many tomo-spiced ribenes.

*Your friend here; he has the Touch.*

"But...but..you ate that stormtrooper!"

Wyrm blew out a gusty sigh like a hurricane *We do not usually eat carbon based life forms; our brother, Wyrm, ingested the Crunchy One to protect the Beast Warden and paid the ultimate price. You must hurry, the rest of the Crunchy Ones approach.*. The slug worked his snout underneath Rayk's limp form and bumped the Theelin up on top of his head. He bent his flexible body into a U-shape and began to schlurp off the way he came.

"Wait!" Faala called. "Where are you taking him?"

*To our tunnels, of course.* Wyrm's immense voice sounded a bit exasperated.*Please try to keep up.*

---------------
Your turn brodiew

 

DON'T GO IN THERE, FAALA. WTK are you doing, gal? Beast Warden could have been eaten by these himself and MAYBE HE WAS CRUNCHY, TOO. Unless...Rayk is the Beast Warden and is unaware of his abilities?

Creepy fun! And these things speak in some pretty odd manner. The fact that Faala can understand them is...hmmm.

 

Anedon, keep this ball rolling...

Meanwhile aboard the Imperial Shuttle Minerva...

The reason Imperial Lieutenant Hiretsuna hated specimens so much was because specimens needed analyzing. It was mindless babysitting of the computer while it did all the work. It was the kind of job he should have been able to delegate Sergeant Capryl. But, alas, Imperial protocol dictated the ranking officer be the first, if only person, privy to what the analysis would yield. Hiretsuna drummed his fingers on his forehead hoping for something, anything, to break the monotony.

"Lieutenant!" called Capryl from his security post.

Hiretsuna started at the sound of the sergeant's voice and nearly planted his face into the instrument panel in front of him. "What is it, Sergeant?" he droned.

"Yes, Sir," Capryl replied, smartly. "It appears one of our surface beacons has been triggered! Perhaps, there are Rebels in the Mopusa System after all."

"Don't get too excited, Sergeant," Hiretsuna demurred. "It could be that the beacon was triggered by a gust of wind. If I could transport myself to the surface instantly, I might want to take a look. But we have to go the shuttle deck, gear up, get on the shuttle, and fly to the surface. So much work! For all we know, a giant snail sneezed at the pylon. I'm already processing the specimen analysis."

"Not a problem, Sir," Capryl answered, while simultaneously cursing the lieutenant's shortsightedness. "I will lead the surface team to investigate the disturbance in the force...er..force field."

"Very well, Sergeant Capryl," Hiretsuna stated. "Take the men to the surface and...wait a minute! If the snails are working with the rebels, they could be taking out our security perimeter on purpose. If that is the case, then perhaps some big game hunting is order. I would not want to miss that."

Capryl stared at the Lieutenant dumbly, hoping the he would go back to his specimen analysis. "Well, Sir," the sergeant offered. "The longer we wait, the colder the snai-trail will get."

"Specimen analysis can wait. To the surface it is!"

 

Below the planets surface.

Once again Faala asked herself what Luke Skywalker would do. The Kiffar doubted that either Mon Mothma nor General Dodonna would ever enter a small tunnel that was apperantly carved by slugs. But Luke Skywalker? She belived that the hero of the rebellion would do such a thing. It was exactly what he would do.

*Follow us* The slug told her again and Faala shivered, he creature spoke to her mind. Was this even possible? Or was this planet filled with hallucinogenic air? Or did the slugs used a mind trick to get their prey into their underground pantry? He Hand reached to her blaster at her hip. She didn´t pull it it out but, the Kiffar felt safer this way.

She looked at Rayk, he still laid uncosious atop of the giant slugs head. Faala had would have laughed at this usual way of riding but she was to nervous.

*Follow us* Again the creature spoke to her, with exact the same tone as before. Faala looked back over her shoulder for a moment. She still could see the light of the entrance, weak in the distance. If she would turn around now she could still leave the caverns. Maybe she should just turn around an run away, search the other rebels on the planet and inform them of the imperials.

*Follow us* But she couldn´t leave Rayk here, alone with these slugs. *We have a name* The Kiffar froze, had the slug, Wrym just read her thoughts? And who was we? Where there even more of them around. Shivering Faala realized that she was still walking behind the creature and when she threw a look back she couldn´t she the entrace any more. Shinning mushrooms provided a dim light instead.

Then she had a thought and reached for her comlink. But when she activated it she didn´t get a signal in. How deep they had already come below the surface? She had seen various other carved corridors at both sides. The whole regions and maybe even the whole planet must be filled with these tunnels.

*Follow us* Again the same command. Suddenly the corridor ended and the slug entered a great cavern. Faala followed it, trying her best to see more of her surroundings in the weak light. A move to her left caught her attention and she saw two more of these slugs lurking in the shadows. When she looked around she saw even more, at least twenty. And than the Kiffar saw the scariest thing she ever had in her life.
A slug greater than all the others as big as a small crusier. The slug Faala followed, Wrym laid Rayk down directly in front of it.

​

 

Guys - and by guys I mean the two men who posted today on the behalf of this, wow, gender-equal team - you killed it.

I heard you liked...thrill instead? I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED, Master Hiretsuna. Why do you kill all the possibilites for thrill with rationality, then?

Good thinker, that Faala. Almost like I had created her or somethin'.

No, seriously, Luke WOULD do this.

And blasted comms, they don't work underground. One would think that 25K years of the hyperspace era would change that...pfft!

Can't wait to see what Mistress_Renata gives me to work with.

 

I'm wondering that myself! Talk about setting the bar high... And yeah, you guys did kill it, in the best kind of way. Hm...super giant space slugs, idiot Imperial officers, long-suffering Stormtrooper non-coms...lots of good material here.

 

All righty, here we go... for those of you just tuning in, the Rebel agents are looking for a new base and the Empire is looking for the Rebels. We've done one round of this robin, but there is time for anyone to jump in and join. Just send a message or post to say you're interested, and we'll add you to the list. Otherwise, Ewok Poet is up next.

---------

Lieutenant Hiretsuna rubbed his nose again. The standard Imperial officer’s uniform was certainly smart…well tailored, it made even the greatest louts look, well, Imperial. However, there were times when he envied the Stormtrooper personnel. Like right now. The slug had only been dead for a few hours, but it was already beginning to stink. Mightily. The air filtration units in the trooper helmets ensured that the stink couldn’t affect them. He could not boast the same, but it wouldn’t do to let the men know that. It was better to pretend he had a nose itch.

He stood as far to the edge of the clearing as he could, close to the landing ramp of the shuttle, while the troopers carefully went over the ground and checked the beacons. One of them straightened up and waved. “Sir!”

He moved quickly towards the trooper—officers didn’t run—just as Sergeant Capryl arrived.

“Sir, the main power generator was switched off.”

“Switched off?” Hiretsuna frowned. “Did we remember to switch it on?”

“Yes, sir,” said Capryl. “I saw to that myself.” He was a bit shocked to see his commanding officer picking his nose; surely those habits were drummed out of the candidates at the Imperial Academy.

“Could it have been one of those, er, creatures?”

“Sir, there’s no evidence of a slime trail anywhere near the generator. Someone else must have done this,” said the first trooper.

“This could be evidence of our Rebel friends,” said Hiretsuna. He shouted to the rest of the team. "See if there are any other signs of the Rebels!”

Capryl nodded at the trooper. “Good work, TB-6746. Keep searching.” After about fifteen more minutes, one of the troopers near the mouth of the cave shouted. The others moved quickly to join him. Hiretsuna found himself skidding in the muddy area.

“Disgusting,” he muttered.

“Slime trails, sir,” said the trooper. “The creatures must have a nest in here somewhere, you can see the trails lead inside.”

“But no sign of the Rebels?”

“Sir, yes, sir.” The trooper pointed to the ground a little further into the entrance. “Slugs don’t wear boots, sir.”

Capryl bent to examine the print more closely. “Not one of ours,” he said, “look at the tread marks.” He straightened up and looked at Hiretsuna. “It’s going into the cave with the slug trail,” he said. “Could the creatures be cooperating with the Rebels, sir?”

Hiretsuna sniffed in disgust…and wished he hadn’t. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sergeant,” he said, gagging a little as the potent aroma of dead slug wafted over him. “These things aren’t intelligent in the least. If we’re lucky, they’ll take care of our Rebel problem for us. Still, better to tie up loose ends…we’d better go in to check it out.”

“Yes, sir.” There was a pause. Capryl cleared his throat. “Uh, were you planning to take point on this, sir?”

Hiretsuna hesitated, looking into the black depths. He hefted the blast rifle he’d borrowed. “I don’t think that would be appropriate, do you?” he said. “Better for me to, er, cover the rear, I think.” The troopers exchanged glances.

Capryl nodded. “FK-3716, DT-2016, you two take point. Everyone else, look sharp. RD-2222, you cover the Lieutenant!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Slowly, they advanced into the cave, following the thick trail of slime, hoping to eradicate the Rebel pests once and for all.

 

"Slugs don't wear boots." Faala Dis said, pretty much to herself, thinking of that one time when somebody called her a faerie and asked her if faeries would wear boots like hers.

She was sure that a mystical creature would know what to do in a situation like this. Or maybe not. Such little poodoos tended to be mischievous in most stories that her mother would tell her during the worst of electrical storms back at home, in the lair of the Dis clan, so perhaps, a faerie would have enjoyed an unconscious Rayk and would've been totally up for the slugs eating him.

*They are going to speak to you.* Wrym gestured their antennae to Faala. *Our leaders. the Krag-na.*

"Well, aren't I glad about it?" she thought.

*We see that you have been brought the Master here.*

"So, I did." She put her arms on her hips. "But..."

*Why is the Master not emitting the signals to us and the other Instances, such as Wrym?* Krag-na, the leading sluggish colony - or so she figured out - pointed one antenna to the one that brought her here.

"Are you saying that...once you find a Master, you depend on the Master's signals to...go about your day? Are you saying that Rayk-" she pointed to her friend who was slowly coming round "-is capable of controlling you and that you want to be controlled?"

The answer was a clear *yes*.

Whatever was going to happen next, Faala was sure, was not going to make much sense.

---

Baton over to whiskers!

 

Faala groaned as she looked back to the unconscious Rayk and to the giant slugs that had impressed upon him. "What in the Seven Hells have you done, Rayk?"

Wyrm cocked the side of the his invertebrate head towards her. "He has become our new master," he said.

"I know that," she said. "I just want to know why."

"That is just the way things have gone," Wyrm said.

A group of large slugs slithered their way towards her and stood next to the larger one. They were the size of Hutts and somehow carried themselves in what could only be an attempt at a regal bearing.

"The Krag-na," Wyrm said. "Lower your pseudopods."

"I don't have pseudopods," Faala whispered.

Wyrm's expressionless face would have frowned if it could have. "Then do whatever your species does when meeting royalty."

Faala took a knee and bowed towards the assembled leaders. The largest one gestured towards her and back to Rayk. His voice inside of her head boomed like a concussion grenade. "You are the friend of our master?"

"Um... yes," Faala said.

"He is unmoving and not sending his sacred signals to us," the largest slug said. "Many of the younger ones are worried to illness by his lack of contact."

"He was injured by the Empire, the ones you call 'Crunchy Ones'."

The leader of the large creatures poked his head down towards Faala, the two spongy antennae curling inwards. "This Empire shall pay for this!"

A smaller one of the creatures rushed as fast as his body could crawl over to the group of leaders. "Oh High Krag-na, the Crunchy Ones have arrived!"

 

The showdown is coming! (I hope!) Well done, whiskers! I really liked the "lower your pseudopods" line.

Raissa Baiard, I think you're up next. (this is gonna be goooood...)

 

Methinks they might as well kill each other until the Crunchy Ones come.

 

*We must revive The Master!* shared Krag-na. *Our vengeance for the felled Beast Warden can only be made at his direction!*

Faala gaped in shock. Her momentary confidence, however small, evaporated. "What!? You said they would pay! Make them pay!"

*My heart wants this Empire to be harmed as our new Master has been, but I am helpless to act without his signal," mourned Krag-na.

"So you would prefer to be slaughtered?" Faala argued. She moved toward the prone Rayk. He had been set onto a stone dais and propped up against a stone backdrop. She slapped his face.

Krag-na roared in the Kiffar's head: *STOP THIS! What are you doing?*

"Trying to get a signal!" snapped Faala, both hands now pressed reflexively to her ears.

Krag-na and the Wyrn surrounded the dais and leaned their heads forward. One of the Wyrm nudged her arm. *Let us try.*

Faala lowered her hand and looked at Wyrm Monarch. "If your words in his head have not woken him, what can you do? We have to hurry!"

The clacking of boots and armor could be heard from the tunnel.

Faala drew her blaster and and leaped from the dais to take up a post at the edge of the tunnel entrance. Peering back at the cluster of Wyrm she added: Whatever it is, you better do it now!"

Krag-na leaned in closer toward Rayk and touched his antennae to the man's forehead. The Royal Wyrm began to tremble. Suddenly, pops of static electricity permeated the air above them. The young rebel's eyes shot open and and he blurted: "Crunchy limbs falling from toothy maws!"

 

I was beginning to wonder if anyone would rouse Rayk. Well done, brodiew! I think we're close to a resolution...

 

Wait...did they just...overwrite him with their hive intelligence? Or is he naturally capable of thinking like they do? Wow, either way!

 

I prefer to think that he can naturally understand them. It is why they inexplicably chose him in the first place.

 

Faala started to shiver again. Rayk seemed to be concious again but the words coming out of his mouth weren´t his, they sounded more like something the slugs would say. "We have name." Rayk said. Faala turned around to her friend, what was happening here? Had the creatures taken control of him?

A quick look behind her and the noise of amored boots told the Kiffar that the imperials were coming closer.

"Rayk, what is going on here?" She asked her friend and tried to keep her voice confident. The boots came closer and Faala was forced to decided on which danger she would concentrate.

She took a few steps back from the entrance hoping to find shelter somewere behind the larger slugs, on the other hand, if the creatures were hostile after all...The young rebel didn´t want to think about it.

"You have hit me in the face," Rayk said, in his voice that wasn´t his.

"I tried to wake you up, the imperials are coming." Faala´s voice cracked almost, surrounded by giant slugs and an imperial squad and her only hope was her friend who acted wierder and wierder.

"We call them the Crunchy Ones." We? It seemed the slugs had taken over her friend.

"Again, we have a name." For a second Faala asked herself why she even spoke to them, they seemed to know everything she thought about.

She also realized that none of the creatures had spoken since Rayk had awoken again. Was he controling them?

"I´m a part of them now, you can still call us Rayk if you so choose friend Faala. We all are Rayk now."

Before the young rebel could react to this a blasterbolt entered the chamber and only barely missed her.

Faala threw herself to the ground as an imperial Squardon entered the cave.

 

Slug hive minds for the win! Really liking the progression from relative normalcy to... this. You're all really inventive and it's fun to read. Also, there can never be enough slug telepaths, right?