Saga Saga - PT Saga - ST Location, Location, Location - Kessel Run Challenge 2025, explorer OCs

Title: Location, Location, Location
Author: Thumper09
Characters: Probably mostly OCs
Timeframe: Maybe some Before, maybe some PT, maybe some OT, maybe some ST, who knows
Summary: Let's go exploring.
Notes: This is my thread for the 12-week Kessel Run Challenge for 2025.

As with all Kessel Runs, I'm not entirely sure where this thread will go, much like the characters aren't sure where they're going either. I'm hoping to follow some of my OCs like the Antarian Ranger from my recent drabble or the Resistance scout from my short story "Detours" to explore some unusual planets and different environments in the GFFA. There won't be a cohesive narrative across the entries. If I can stick with the general theme for most of it, I'll consider it a win.

Constructive criticism is welcome. Star Wars is owned by Disney, etc. etc.

---------------------

Index:
Week 1 Entry
Week 2 Entry
Week 3 Entry

--------------------

 

Prompt #1: Write a story between 100 and 1,000 words that ends with this sentence: “For the first time in her life, she felt powerful.”
Word limit = 100-1,000 words
Word count: 963

---------

The alpine tundra was vast and open, making Rithikarr feel exposed and vulnerable.

She was used to the towering forests on Kashyyyk, where there was always foliage nearby to duck into at the first sign of a threat, or trees to climb for a better vantage point or to slip past predators. Here, amid the gentle sloping of land and the small scrub brush dotting the ground in the scraggly soil, she could see clear across to the bordering mountains kilometers away. She could see everything, which meant that everything could see her.

The young Wookiee growled deep in her throat. When she’d impetuously asked Thyrrekka for a “challenge” in her survival training, being left alone with howling gale-force winds and cold air at high elevation with no shelter and no... anything was not what she’d had in mind. If it wasn’t so overcast, it would be warmer, but at the same time the sun would be too intense without any trees to block it. Rithikarr wasn’t sure which would be worse.

The uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach told her she might have bitten off more than she could chew. This place was so alien to anything she’d ever experienced or was comfortable with. Everything she instinctively knew about how to survive in the forest-- knowledge she’d been very proud of-- suddenly seemed worthless with no trees in sight.

It felt like the whole galaxy could see her standing there and was judging her ineptitude on this flat, open terrain.

How could something so featureless pose such a challenge? And how could she feel so small when she was the tallest thing for kilometers in any direction?

Rithikarr’s eyes were watering from the cold wind gusts. She couldn’t just keep standing there. She had to move.

But where?

She didn’t know, and she felt completely lost.

After another minute of the wind whipping through her shaggy chestnut hair, Rithikarr growled again, but at herself this time. She had to pull herself together. Her mentor wouldn’t have dropped her here if he’d thought she couldn’t handle it, right? Her parents would never have allowed it either. And she was going to have to learn how to deal with this type of environment and terrain sooner or later if she ever wanted to be an Antarian Ranger.

Rangers didn’t give up at the first little difficulty they encountered. Neither would she.

Rithikarr spotted an area on a gentle downslope where the vegetation was slightly more dense. If it was anything like the forest back home, that meant the conditions might be marginally better there. It was as good a place to start as any.

When she reached it and crouched down, she was gratified to discover that the wind was slightly lessened there. A few boulders jutting out of the ground provided even more shelter. With even that partial relief from the relentless wind, Rithikarr could think a bit more clearly. She looked around.

The plants were low and dense, like bushy clumps of moss, and they grew on the ground and in the crevices of the boulders. She experimentally gathered some and discovered that they also helped block more of the wind when compressed together. Rithikarr set about gathering more of the plants.

Before long she had a little nook cleared out between two boulders where she could nestle in tightly, and she’d made a partial blanket out of the plants to help block the wind on the open side. Soon she would have to figure out where to find food and water, but in the meantime...

Would these plants burn?

Rithikarr carefully sheltered a small clump of plants she’d collected and tried to light a fire the way Thyrrekka had taught her. It didn’t work quite as well as it did in the forest, but soon she smiled when a spark caught a few skinny leaves and generated a thin trail of smoke. With those rising wisps, her confidence began to grow.

She was doing it. She was figuring out how to survive in this abysmal place. She didn’t have to rely on someone holding her hand and walking her through every little thing she had to do. Even in a location as alien as this, she could count on herself to make it through, at least long enough to find more knowledgeable help. And if she could do it here, in this barren, harsh land, she could do it anywhere in the entire galaxy.

Rithikarr looked up at the overcast sky. Far beyond the clouds were the countless stars. Before, the open tundra had made her feel like all the beings on all those worlds above could see her. Now, she used that same openness to let her mind encompass all those worlds, unblocked, unhampered.

She could do this. All of those worlds could be available to her. She wouldn’t be stuck in one place, limited and useless; instead, every planet would be an option for her, and nothing could stop her from helping wherever the Rangers would need help. Every door would be open due to her own skill, and that could never be taken away from her.

She realized she’d never really experienced this type of confidence before. She’d always thought she was expanding her horizons by learning so much about how to survive in the forest where she’d spent her entire life, but that whole time she’d actually just been lounging in her comfort zone, treading water instead of diving in.

Rithikarr bared her teeth in a grin, ready to challenge the galaxy to keep her from pursuing her dream now that she finally really knew she could.

Like the barren tundra, nothing was in her way.

For the first time in her life, she felt powerful.

*******

 

This is perfect. Rithikarr on a alpine tundra realising that she can survive there and knows that there are more worlds to discover.
Eager to see where this leads

 

I loved this!!!!!! I could really understand how Rithikarr could feel totally out of her depths in a vast 'wasteland' without any trees. Then when she starts solving the immediate problems of finding shelter and warmth, she then can turn her attention to finding food and water. Her perspective on what she can and wants to do expands to other worlds just by taking small steps in proving she can do what seems daunting.

 

“That sounds like a Wookiee name. Is this character a— heck yeah, nailed it!” Very fun seeing Rithikarr overcome one of the challenges of this unforgiving environment. I hope she proves herself and earns the title she’s after. I only vaguely remembered the Antarian Rangers by name, so I looked them up and I have to say, what an exciting vocation! I don’t know exactly when this story is set, but I think Rithikarr will be a great help to the Jedi. There’s no one you want watching your back like a tough unstoppable Wookiee! If she can tackle this, she should be well-prepared for the challenges ahead in her career.

 

Thank you! It was a good boost to her confidence to realize she could learn to survive there when she initially thought she couldn't. I expect that the entries for each week here will be independent one-shots. Thanks for reading and commenting!

Thanks! I imagine Rithikarr seeing firsthand that she was able to problem-solve and figure out what she needed to do went a long way to her realizing that she truly could adapt and venture out of her comfort zone. Especially without any trees around. It was an important step for her to take. Thanks for reading and commenting!

Thanks! I'm glad to hear her name was Wookiee enough to be recognizable as such and that you picked up on it so quickly. The Antarian Rangers always sounded like a fascinating group with lots of story potential. This particular story is set sometime in Before, within several decades leading up to the PT, but I'm not really sure on the exact year.

I know, right?
Rithikarr's got a lot to learn yet, but when the day comes for her to help the Jedi, she's determined to be ready. Thanks for reading and commenting!

-------

Week 2 will be posted shortly.

 

Prompt #2: Write a story between 400 and 800 words using third-person omniscient POV in which a character teaches another character something.
Word limit = 400-800 words
Word count: 796

---------

The small freighter slipped behind the next asteroid in the system’s dense belt, flying under minimal power. Some of its occupants waited to see if the Blackstar Raiders were holing up somewhere nearby per recent reports.

Those particular occupants sat in the freighter’s cockpit. Antarian Ranger Enok Asger carefully guided the ship from the pilot’s seat while Jedi Knight Heritz Kellen lounged in the co-pilot’s seat, staring out at the boring view which hadn’t changed in way too long.

Both of them were trying-- not very hard-- to not eavesdrop on their trainees sitting farther back in the ship.

It was more entertaining than watching rocks float past, anyway.

Kellen’s padawan, Cado Lenk, frowned in concentration while peering at a datapad his companion held. That companion, Rithikarr, pointed yet again to the first sentence written on the datapad’s display in Basic: “Good afternoon.” Then the Wookiee spoke the translation aloud in her native language of Thykarann, enunciating as clearly as she could: <Good afternoon.>

Next, Rithikarr pointed to the second Basic sentence displayed: “How are you today?” Again she deliberately spoke the equivalent phrase in Thykarann.

She cocked her head at the Human, but the pre-teen looked ready to pull his hair out in frustration. Rithikarr hoped he wouldn’t; Humans had little enough as it was.

All of those words just sounded like growls and rumbles to Cado, no matter how hard he tried to discern one sound from another or even one phrase from another. He rubbed his face, sighed miserably, and said, “I can still barely tell those apart. This isn’t going to work. Ask Master Kellen-- I’m horrible with languages and stuff at the Temple. Sorry for wasting so much of your time with this, but I’m just not gonna get it.” He slouched in his chair, defeated.

Rithikarr regarded him. Enok often worked with Jedi Kellen and now his padawan, so as long as Enok was willing to let Rithikarr accompany him on field missions as part of her Ranger training, she would be working with them too. Rithikarr didn’t like the idea of someone on her team being unable to understand her in an emergency, and Enok and Jedi Kellen had both agreed that it would be good for Cado to learn some Thykarann basics. But Rithikarr had never tried teaching her language to a Human before, and she wasn’t sure how else to do it.

She scoured her brain for different approaches. She wouldn’t end this session with Cado thinking he couldn’t learn other languages.

Rithikarr had been hearing Basic since she could remember, so no ideas there. She’d learned some Xaczik from her cousin, though only the words to that horrible song he’d secretly taught her which had taken up permanent residence in her mind--

The idea lodged itself in her head. Before she could talk herself out of it, she held up a finger for Cado to give her a minute, and then she connected the datapad to the ship’s computer and Holonet access and started typing. Cado shrugged and didn’t protest, though he was disappointed she still felt the need to waste her energy on his immutable problem. Surely there was something more worthy of her time.

Finally Rithikarr found what she wanted. This particular Wookiee drinking song wasn’t as foul-mouthed as the others she knew-- or all of them, really-- and some enterprising Wookiee somewhere had recorded it in Thykarann and added a video recording of a group of Wookiees acting out most of the song’s words. Plus it was catchy.

Rithikarr started the video and handed the datapad to Cado. Loud, off-key Wookiee singing suddenly assaulted his ears, but he watched out of curiosity. He soon found his foot tapping along with the beat, then his eyes widened at the Wookiees’ rowdy alcoholic activities. He guiltily glanced up to make sure Master Kellen didn’t know what he was watching.

But from the loud words Kellen himself understood and from the developing bond in the Force with his padawan, Kellen knew exactly what Cado was watching. Kellen raised an eyebrow at Enok, who smirked and shrugged.

When the song ended, Cado stared at Rithikarr with a sort of nervous excitement at having seen something the Masters at the Temple would certainly not approve of. Rithikarr grinned and restarted the video. This time she heartily sang along.

Soon Cado joined in enthusiastically, trying to mimic the Thykarann sounds and inadvertently butchering them, but he began to recognize the subtle differences in the words’ vocalizations as he attempted to reproduce them himself.

Fifteen minutes later, Enok pulled his brown leather jacket over his ears to muffle the constant, raucous singing. Kellen was having trouble finding peace and balance in the Force.

It was going to be a long mission.

********

 

That sure is a way to learn a new language, singing. Great use of the prompt

 

LOL A great way to learn a new language, indeed. Next step karaoke.

 

Oh yay! Your set with Rithikarr and Cado Lenk was possibly the one I found most intriguing in your drabble collection, and I'm so happy to see that they got already two stories in this thread! So, without further ado:

Week 1 – Absolutely fantastic description of the place where Rithikarr was sent for training and of how the way she perceives it influences her sense of self.

I'm picking out this line because it's such a Wookiee question. I just love how you showed that a challenging environment doesn't have to be a "layered deathtrap" like the forests of Kashyyyk; the challenge is instead in being thrown into an environment where all your acquired survival skills are useless. Rithikarr rises up to the challenge magnificiently, and there's such a sense of triumph when she realises that she's beginning to figure it out. As a side note, I understand that Thyrrekka is her master, whom we haven't met yet, and I hope the prompts give you an opportunity to introduce him to us!

Week 2 – And we even get to see them during their first encounter and what an encounter it is! I can just imagine poor Cado Lenk trying to learn Thykarann and failing miserably until Rithikarr thinks of teaching him a drinking song I laughed out loud at the mental image of a padawan listening to a Wookiee drinking song, complete with YouTube video, and hoping that his master won't notice. I guess the only thing Rithikarr could have added to the lesson are a few glugs of cortyg brandy, because that's known to loosen one's tongue On a more serious note, knowing what will eventually happen to them, it's a good thing Rithikarr was so insistent that Cado Lenk should be able to understand her. I'm sure that there are many, many adventures in store for them until then, though, and I'm eager to see them again!

A couple of fanon questions, out of curiosity:

Is Thykarann a dialect of Shyriiwook or a different language altogether? Do you have any fanon about that that you'd be willing to share?

I liked the fact that you introduced the logic of a master/learner pairing among the Antarian Rangers, mirroring the setup of the Jedi. Again, do you have any fanon about the Rangers that you'd be willing to share?