Log:Kilian Blitz: Roadblocks

The Tantive IV passengers and crew explore their surroundings

OOC Date: November 30, 2021
Location: Kilian IV System
Participants: Ban Iskender, Tess Vikander, Chani Tahn, Erinn Laski, Hadrix Kora, Aryn Cortess

Safe on the ground, since the meeting with the reptilian aliens, the attempt to flee interdiction fields and then the mad rush to get out of sight and out of weapons range. The Tantive IV rests cradled among tall grasses, ferns and between the thick trunks of tall trees.

Scouting had been a success at least, if not a few reports of having to lay low due to suspicion of being tracked.

<"Initial scouting of the shallow basin we've landed in is proving we're hidden from sensors. Too much interference from the canopy and the ground immediately around it, magnetic elements in the stone. So we just need to keep from providing a backtrail."> Information provided by Hadrix during the initial hours after landfall.

The man rescued, claiming to be a prince of a local kingdom insisted on being allowed to go, even offering to bring rescuers with,

"King and Queen Liuhm, my parents; they'll want to meet you." the so called Prince Vah offered, entreated even and with little choice than to wait or be pro-active the escort party for Vah was traveling through green choked undergrowth, along a path set between the trees. Provisioned, armed, and with their best eyes moving between points to cover as much as they could see, in as little that could be seen.

Prince Vah Liuhm's recovery was an assured result of Dr. Vikander and Aryn's intervention. He had been kept within the bosom of the Tantive IV, nursed back to strength through rations and other scavenged means, and released to return to his people. Yet, he insisted that they travel with him and learn more of the alien world which they now shared with the natives.

Aryn had learned a great deal about the Kilian people in her time speaking with the errant Prince; now, she was eager to see the truth of his words, provided they could find their way back to his family's lands, and where ever it was they were hiding.

Aryn was wearing a scout's armor, its exterior transformed to match the terrain in as much as it could. The armor plating was covered in blotches of earthly toned colors, the most dominant being green. Her cape served more as a cloak, wrapped around her neck with the option of a hood available, and its tattered length stretched down to the backs of her legs. Aryn saw no point in concealing her weapons, thus they were all on display. She carried two blasters, though vastly different in design. One was the custom wooden design of the Theed-Arms S5 service pistol complete with an ascension line which rested snug in a holster against her lower back; the other was far more elegant and minimalistic in design, retaining a silvery shine and seated in a holster that was strapped to her thigh; it was the Westar-34. Higher up on her belt and upon the same side as the Westar-34 was Aryn's lightsaber, a tool which Vah was most fascinated and bewitched by. Aryn had lost count the number of times he had asked to see it activated and listen to its calm humming.

"How are we to find them in all this wilderness? Do you know where you are leading us?" Aryn found it difficult to believe anyone would know their lands so well, but maybe this one was different? She stepped with ease, avoiding obstacles that might trip her up or make a lot of noise. Often times, her gaze lifted to their surroundings where she took in a deep breath of air, amazed by its quality and lack of pollution. It reminded her of home.

Tess has preserved what she can from her medical kit; a great deal of it going into Vah to stablize him and get him moving again. Gathering what she could to restock, now she follows the others. Making their way through the underbrush of an unknown planet, Tess is feeling a bit more than a fish out of water. Just the clothes on her back and the satchel over her shoulder; her bag of wonders feeling a little less wonderous. "I got a holomail from someone claiming to be a prince once," she says off-handedly as she ducks under a low-hanging branch. "They needed help with tranferring their vast riches and only needed my banking information." Needlesstosay, she's not sold on the story yet.

Ban Iskender has tread along with the other escorts, much of his attention occupied with the canopy overhead. In part, it is attention spent on caution a d wariness of being watched or waylaid, but in the truth the majority of his focus and s spent for wonder at the size of the trees and canopy overhead. A small shake of his head, before more group see matters a d words draw his green regard.

"How are we supposed to not provide a... oop," Erinn Laski says, trailing off as she skirts around a branch that she hadn't seen previously. Instead of snapping it off, she's able to simply brush on by it without disturbing its shape, bend, or foliage. "A backtrail? Like footsteps?," she says, and looks down to her feet as she trudges through the terrain with heavy steps. There's a little frown on her face, but she turns her eyes up and quickens her pace to join the rest of the team. Towards the rear, she's got a view of Aryn, Ban, and Prince Vah. The latter of the three gets the most of her attention and scrutiny, but that quizzical expression is fleeting.

"Smells like mud out here," she murmurs to herself. Clearly, someone is not a fan of mud.

It's a planet she's never seen before. Dense foliage, new fauna, and an unfamiliar landscape. Chani wishes she had more time to appreciate it. There's no time to stop and smell the flowers, however. They're on the latter half of a rescue mission, not a sightseeing expedition. They shouldn't even really be here. Chani watches her steps as much as she watches the terrain ahead, picking out the best place to set down her booted foot. The rich brown robe flowing around her legs catches against bush branches reached out around the trees they weave through, snagging and forcing off leaves and snapping or bending ends. Chani's making it easy to track them, but someone would have to know where to look first, and no craft at all had come to answer the Tantive IV's presence.

More than anything, she's looking forward to some answers. Two weeks of hiding out on this planet and Chani doesn't feel like they're any closer to the ones they went looking for on the cruiser that had tried to kidnap them. Dark hair bound back, Chani nonetheless lifts a hand to brush it across her forehead, moving sweat-clung tresses away from her forehead and relegating them to the edge with the rest of them. She lurks near the back of the group, occasionally casting a glance over her shoulder and back through the myriad trees to see if anything is following them. Her arm rejoins its twin at her side, swaying to match her steady, balanced gait as they continue their journey.

<<"Walk light, step rhythmless, Ensign.">> the Mandalorian's rumble over comms.

"We travel when we can, from the deep places we keep our holds. Food, materials, anything we can savage. I know this area you've come down to in your Sky Palace." the last two words issued with something like awe bred with deep reverence. Maybe even salted with fear. Head turning this way and that while he steps. "I've roamed these woods since I was old enough. Led parties to forage and scavenge... led my team too far afield, trying to lay eye on the old cities, to see if we could get a real find." the results of that foray clear in his fatless form, all sinew and bone, even with several days of decent food.

The path continues, if one can call it that. More like game trails being stepped along, shifting to places where tree roots keep grass from growing and animal traffic has pounded the soil flat. Moving along a trajectory given by Vah.

<<"Clear ahead, marking path for HUDs">> For a man as big as the man scouting ahead he doesn't make a sound, doesn't seem to leave a trail, but is clearly versed in woodscraft. In truth the Al'Verde Kora was brachiating, keeping close to the trunks to minimize branch shake.

"The beasts come in ambush, to claim us. Take us away and then... dispose of what's left." Expression drawn, Vah keeps near the front, a blade from the security teams in his fist. "Since they forced us to hiding in this last year, maybe two... it's growing hard to tell. We once dwelled in towers that threatened the clouds, masoned in stone that shown and glittered beneath the sun..."

Birdsong and insect chitter reign for much of the walk, between the occasional snap of a step breaking a twig or rustle of greens being brushed against. The air sawing through branches of the canopy forcing stops to wait and listen before progressing, with the Prince offering his insights on what is and isn't edible or landmarks for travel. The forest line beginning to thin ahead and movements growing more cautious.

<<"Contacts.">>

Blaster fire can be heard, shouting, and Vah looks immediately anxious to charge ahead where some distance, maybe thirty meters, from the treeline more of the red skinned reptillian brutes advancing slowly on a line of humans, firing blasters while ducking away from quarrels and arrows fired by simple bows and crossbows, ducking behind shields that carbon score, but successfully block the plasma fire.

Hadrix moving ahead to scout and map out their path was an added layer of security that made Aryn feel safe, despite the dangers they were trying to evade. She figured, if any were accustomed to hunting, or being hunted, it'd be the Mandalorian who knew what to search for and respond. Prince Vah's explanation seems truthful enough for Aryn, but she would not employ measures through the Force to tell for sure, she wanted to believe him. After all, the evils the man had lived through earned some measure of consideration.

"Yes, we saw the gruesome detail of what may have been your-- erhm, well, we saw those who experienced an awful fate. One which you have detailed. I am sorry for your loss." The loss of men in combat must have been a terrible weight to feel. Aryn knew it was from her own personal experiences on New Alderaan, then those which still haunted her from the Resistance.

Signs of conflict present themselves in the way of blaster sounds, and Aryn moves closer to the Prince, briefly at Kora's report that contacts were ahead. Aryn had spent enough time with the military to understand that contacts were bad; well, maybe not inherently bad, but it usually meant bad things.

She unclips her lightsaber from her side upon seeing the red scaled Ssi-Ruuk ahead locked in combat with a mysterious foe using antiquated means of combat. "What do we do?" Aryn asks, clearly undecided if they should be involved again, but maybe NOW wasn't the time for indecision despite the hesitation written on her face. She holds the unclipped lightsaber in her gloved grasp and turns back to look at the party.

Ban Iskender's natural stern composure creases with a deeper frown at the sound of blaster fire. Gauntleted sword hand drawing the elaborate swept hilt get m its sheath at his side, bit at least briefly leaving the lightsaber unlit. As the overmatched nature of the skirmish ahead is revealed, the gentleman draws a slow breath through flared nostrils, and voices, "We defend the innocent. Who shall take charge of our guest?" with a glance aside to his fellow Jedi, before starting toward the red scaled aggressors at a determined walk, green sword ignited with a sharp keening thrum as it is raised in a salute to the Ssi-Ruuk party.

Erinn blinks as she hears the Mandalorian's voice through the comms. Her nose wrinkles for a moment in a similar manner in which it wrinkles when she eats something she doesn't particularly care for. "Lieutenant," she says as she (stealthily and arythmically) trudges through the unfamiliar terrain. "Jay Gee," she appends, but deliberately a bit quieter and off to the side. She tightens one of the bracers on the armor that Aryn had given her and Ban had helped fit. She plays with the tension, loosening and tightening it. Loosening and tightening. She's trying to get it to seat just right on her forearm.

She's got an ear on the Prince as he explains the situation and a grim enough expression to show she's understanding its magnitude. That bracer tightened, she reaches down to idly thumb the blaster tucked into the holster at her thigh. She doesn't draw it, though. Not just yet.

She's concentrating quite hard on her steps, now. Stealthy and arhythmic. The sound of blaster fire and lightsabers being drawn draws her attention away from them and towards the approaching Red Ssi-Ruuk. Now she draws her blaster. She keeps it at her side as she treks over towards Prince Vah and the Jedi towards the front of the party.

"I got him. Come with me, Your Highness," she says, blaster drawn but safety on and muzzle pointed towards the ground. She escorts him away from the front as well as from the advancing Ssi-Ruuk.

Erinn blinks as she hears the Mandalorian's voice through the comms. Her nose wrinkles for a moment in a similar manner in which it wrinkles when she eats something she doesn't particularly care for. "Lieutenant," she says as she (stealthily and arythmically) trudges through the unfamiliar terrain. "Jay Gee," she appends, but deliberately a bit quieter and off to the side. She tightens one of the bracers on the armor that Aryn had given her and Ban had helped fit. She plays with the tension, loosening and tightening it. Loosening and tightening. She's trying to get it to seat just right on her forearm.

She's got an ear on the Prince as he explains the situation and a grim enough expression to show she's understanding its magnitude. That bracer tightened, she reaches down to idly thumb the blaster tucked into the holster at her thigh. She doesn't draw it, though. Not just yet.

She's concentrating quite hard on her steps, now. Stealthy and arhythmic. The sound of blaster fire and lightsabers being drawn draws her attention away from them and towards the approaching Red Ssi-Ruuk. Now she draws her blaster. She keeps it at her side as she treks over towards Prince Vah and the Jedi towards the front of the party.

"I got him. Come with me, Your Highness," she says, blaster drawn but safety on and muzzle pointed towards the ground. She escorts him away from the front as well as from the advancing Ssi-Ruuk.

Chani has no heads up display. She has no communications aside from the comlink on her belt. Whatever the Mandalorian warrior ahead is marking or not broadcasting over the external speaker of his helmet is lost to Chani. The sounds of distant blaster fire are not. A natural tension makes her lower her stance a little into a better center of gravity. Her hand doesn't immediately go to the lightsaber on her belt because in the short window of hearing the blaster fire, none of it has been close enough to disturb the air or any of the forest around her. Chani glances between the Prince and Erinn and at that moment pulls the metal hilt from its fastened place on her belt. While the engineer guides the Prince into cover, Chani steps ahead of them.

"I'll watch them." Her eyes go to the forest, searching the immediate vicinity around them while stretching out the bubble of her perception in the hopes that the Force will warn her of any threats coming their way. If there are forces in a fight up ahead, there's no telling if others are coming to join them and which way they might be coming from. Chani calms her breathing, and her thumb rests over the activation stud for her lightsaber. She listens, she looks, and she keeps herself open to the Force in hopes to mitigate any danger they may face.

The Ssi-Ruuk advance continues towards the shield line, a pair of the reptilians downed by anachronized weapons, leaving nine still marching towards a dozen humans with maybe half that number dead between where they form their wall and the red scaled creatures have their battle line.

"Help them! Yes! Please, help them!" voice a controlled hiss despite the stress, sword arm shaking with nerves. Exasperated looking when Erinn leads him off, offering a meagre contest against her movement him; but he is still recovering from his ordeals. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weary while putting forth a brave face.

<<"I'm above, your two o'clock, Princess.">> Hadrix's rumble continues, <<"Chani, Ensign - be ready.">> looming somewhere up in the greenery, the big man observes, cheek guard of his helm near the stock of the rifle in hands, though his gaze is for the readouts being fed to his HUD for targeting.">>

Prince Vah looks anguished, thumping his fist against a tree and looking back to Erinn and Chani, "I should be out there."

A call goes out, the shield wall breaks, then shrinks to close again as half of the humans move forward, shields locked, blades drawn, one falls when a Sii-Ruuk blaster bolt bounces off of stone and catches them in the leg. They hunker, kneeling and calling out in pain as the remaining 5 lift and charge in the wake of another volley of arrows passing overhead, charging with blades ready to swing.

When Ban puts voice to defending the innocent, Aryn turns back to see Chani and Lt Laski step forward to protect the Prince. She gives both a nod just before stepping behind Ban to follow, her own lightsaber blade activating a second later.

Hadrix's transmission earns him a glance toward the direction he indicates before she's stepping into a run. Aryn channels her influence of the Force as a means to fuel her motion, recalling the words of Master Yoda when he recited that a Jedi's strength flows with the Force. Aryn embodies it, adopting a speed that allows her to not only close the distance, but also attack from an exposed flank. The blur of her sapphire blade appears to encase the blonde as she steps into a flurry of slashes, dropping two of the great seven foot tall soldiers, and pursuing a third. Aryn stays close to Lord Ban, ensuring they have a means to cover for each other should the need arise. For now, she is wordless, focused on the task at hand.

Ban Iskender nods once to Chani's declaration before starting forward. "Very well, Mistress Tahn." He is unsure whether the Reptilian species has the knowledge or technology to comprehend Galactic Basic, but as the heavily armored Jedi stalks toward them, he voices, "Depart this world in peace now and never return, or you shall fall here." Alongside the princess with her blue blade, Ban assails the invaders with a thrust, a deep side step into a leaning high cut and a other deft lunge that leave three Ssi-Ruuk felled in as many instants.

"Come on, Highness," Erinn says as she helps to guide the Prince towards the rear of the advancing party. The pair of them step behind Chani as the young jedi steps in front. Safely behind her, Erinn releases the Prince and uses the hand that had been guiding him to flip the safety off of her blaster. It comes alive with a little shudder in her hand and a soft, noisy whine. Her eyes turn to Chani and she lightly tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth. Another click of her finger sees the blaster switched from kill to stun.

"You're right where you should be," she says to the prince, and gestures over her shoulder to the jedi guarding them and then again to those rushing into the fray. "We'd just get in their way," she says.

Hadrix's voice over comms gets another groan from Laski and she makes a point to pull her comlink a little closer to chin and lips.

"LIEUTENANT," she says, before she leans out to the side to fire off a stun-blep that stun-bleps harmlessly into a tree overhead. She looks down at her blaster and growls, as if it were the blaster's fault.

"It's best if you remain here. You're still recovering." Chani doesn't look to the Prince when she speaks, nor does she hear the Mandalorian telling her to be ready given the distance between them in verticality. Chani is ready nonetheless, and needs no telling. Her lightsaber remains deactivated for the moment. Their goal is to not draw unwanted attention to themselves in that moment, and the cyan blade of her lightsaber would do just that in a field of browns and greens and other varying natural shades. The lightsaber itself remains almost cloaked by the wide sleeve covering her arm and some of her hand. The sunlight's reflection can't touch it and glint and potentially give away their position in the process. "Princess Cortess and Lord Iskender will make sure your friends are safe."

<<"Lieutenant.">> An erratically fluctuating plasma bolt sings from the trees above and into the side of one of the heavy, broad shouldered brutes and setting their clothes on fire with the unstable tibanna charge. Hadrix continues to sight, hunkered in his tree, watching and waiting to see what happens next.

Stunned, those humans who had been charging stop dead with jawa dropping open at the blaze of lightsabers and weaponsfire from the treeline following. Backpedaling steps are taken and they kneel in a new shield wall before their down ally while the original line starts to move in from behind them. Awe sets in. Bordering on panic.

"Recovering or -not- it is my duty to be there and support them! I should be out there to rally them." Vah turns and reaches to ball up a fist in her robes if he can, a feeble shadow of what the gesture might have been in full health - eyes wide, pleading, furious and ashamed. "I should not be on the guard line!"

Ssi-Ruuk turning on the visage of their compatriots falling as they do bring screeching hisses and a guttural barking honk before they too start to back pedal, firing at the two jedi and snarling in their own language while they do so, the one enflamed apparently too blood drunk to recall the need to put themselves out.

In the heat of battle, Aryn's body has learned to respond to the warnings of the Force; she reacts pre-emptive, like she knew before they even performed their attack. Slightly ducking beneath a shot intended for her head, the ground pocks up from the missed shot and Aryn drives her weapon's length up, impaling their body from its midsection for a near instant kill. She side steps, withdrawing her weapon and deactivating it in a single swing to face her final opponent, who fires and misses because of her movement.

They look up in time to see her jut her off-hand toward them, gloved fingers splayed to show off her palm, followed by a soundless kinetic reaction that plucked the massive being from its place in front of her and sent it flying backward to collide with a tree, perishing from the trauma. Aryn turns back casually, sweeping her cape back to observe Ban's situation a moment before looking to their allies with a curious expression on her young face. Suddenly a little bashful, she intones, "I sure hope they think us not enemies.."

Ban Iskender sways his torso to one side in anticipation of a blaster bolt which flies past him harmlessly, thwarting a second shot with a smooth parry that is redirected into a slash that cuts through blaster a d warrior alike, before returning to the original foe with a decisive thrust. He turns to ascertain Aryn's safety at the same moment she looks to him, and the nobleman notes the aftermath of her impressive telekinesis. One black brow climbs. A short nod to her hope, a d he deactivates the green blade, returning it to its scabbard with an audible click, adjusting the lie of his half cape to face the shield was of natives.

Erinn is fussing with her blaster while the sound of lightsaber swings, blaster fire, and screams of pain ebb out and into the quiet of the forest once again. She lifts her gaze to Prince Vah as he speaks. With each word, she can sense his growing anxiety and frustration. Her lips purse and she turns down to look at his hands, balled up in fists. She turns her gaze away and towards where Aryn and Ban are dispatching the last remaining Ssi-Ruuk.

"What you need to do is stay calm and not get yourself killed," she says, though her tone of voice and delivery are likely far from convincing. When the last swing drops the remaining Ssi-Ruuk, Erinn straightens her legs and turns her shoulders towards where the humans they'd rescued are staring ahead in fear. She tucks her blaster back into its holster.

"Let's go. Your people need you," she says. Her eyes turn to Chani.

"Lead the way?" she asks.

"You shouldn't fire your blaster. It can reveal where we are." Chani's voice is quiet. Far more quiet than the discharge of crackling ion that Erinn's blaster is responsible for, harmless as it is and finding no target in the process. "We don't want them to swarm us." Chani isn't sure how many are left or how many there were to begin with. Being removed so far back from the battle unfolding is as much a game of patience as it is a study in the unknown. Only when the Prince grabs at her robe does Chani turn her gaze away from looking out on the perimeter to fix her eyes on his. "Please let go of me. I'm not your enemy and you're being inappropriate." She doesn't move, but her gaze is unwavering and intense. She clearly does not like the situation unfolding.

"I'll follow at the back just in case anyone lurking tries to come up behind us."

"The Jeh-Odari..." one of the shield bearing human says. His attire homespun, quilted tabard over leather jerkin and thin gambeson. Heavy boots and gauntlets with rings woven into the forearm and thickened pads over the knuckles. In truth it is the same for all of their attire, a rough dyed blue and dusky pink pattern of checks on their tabards and one wearing a simple skull-cap helm with leather shrouds over ears and neck.

Vah scowls and shakes the bit of cloth in his fist loose before he steps back. Pained, embarrassed, the prince sighs and squares his shoulders before shooting a look to Laski and Chani before he moves to follow behind Erinn, willing to trust Chani at the rearguard, though he flinches when the darkly armored form of Hadrix drops from a tree, hitting the ground with a heavy thud and a flex of his knees to absorb the shock before he's walking abreast, slinging his rifle.

The Ssi-ruuk are still and one smoldering, in the wake of the sudden violence, but no more seems to be oncoming yet.

"Jeh-Odari... come from the sky..." one of the soldiers says, awed and another points to the approaching trio, raising her voice just enough, "They bring the prince! Prince Vah has been rescued from the sky and is connected to the ground again! They bring him and one of the Fighting Machines with them!" awe and terror dawning while the helmeted one approaches.

"Our prayers answered, our offerings accepted, Oh Jeh-Odari? Does the displeasure of the Distant Gods finally lift and they bring you to remove the demons?" The others all turn attention to Ban and Aryn and the Prince's mouth drops wordlessly, clearly unsure of how to explain.

"Are they Jeh-Odari as well?" fingers pointing to Erinn and Chani.

Aryn is quiet, listening to the comments of the men only to confirm the identity of Prince Vah. She glances back as the rest of the group moves up, then shares a glance with Ban before addressing the crowd of warriors. "Your Prince returns from the stars, and those with him now," Aryn gestures to herself and the others, "...have come as friends." Aryn back steps a bit to make way for their royalty, judging the man at least healthy enough to address his subjects and not set loose all manner of myth or legend. Aryn shares a sheepish look with the others though, in another moment of hesitation she, thankfully, keeps from the view of their audience.

Ban Iskender places himself to Aryn's side, subtly behind her to give the natives a visual cue that the Princess is the more exalted of the two. The look is shared with Aryn. Hoo boy. Once she has spoken, he adds only, "Three of us here are Jedi. All of us have come as friends." A short bow of the head and shoulders adds a formal touch to the few words.

Erinn Laski approaches the group of frightened-looking humans with a good deal of trepidation. The gasps, murmurs of 'jeh-odari', and talk of prayers being answered cause her to blink with visual discomfort. Talk of the Prince makes her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulders away from the man behind her to let him pass in front. Her hand drops idly to her blaster, not quite grasping the grip but stroking a couple fingertips over it again. It's a strange thing to feel in her hand, and it doesn't remain there for long.

She turns to look to Aryn and Ban, searching for some guidance and finding, instead, that sheepish look from the Princess. She folds her arms across her chest and follows behind the Prince as he moves to re-join his people. Erinn continues her approach to join Ban and Aryn, though she chooses to stand a little off to the side, with her eyes turned towards the scenery behind the group of frightened humans. Her head then turns, and she scans the scenery behind them that they'd just left behind.

"My name is Erinn Laski," she offers, and then gives an uncertain glance to Aryn, Ban, Hadrix, and Chani respectively.

Chani says nothing to the question asked and the finger pointed. Her lightsaber was returned to her belt in the short trip it took them to arrive with the Prince in tow. What she does is bow, hands against the tops of her thighs and body angling at her waist in respectful greeting. "I am Chani." She rises, arms dropping, posture seemingly relaxed but weight distributed and center of gravity low. She's on guard, even now, knowing that the recent battle could quickly turn to another. Such loud sounds would have chased any natural predators away, but if there were other red-skinned invaders in the area, they would have been drawn by it, and perhaps by any message sent out by those who were felled by the warriors before them and the combined efforts of the nobles.

The word Jedi is met with confusion by the gathered soldiers, but the helmeted one is met by Vah in a hug that leaves the prince a little winded and then supported by the other.

"They speak truth, they come as friends. They claim themselves as Jedi, but they fit the descriptions of the Jeh-Odari." Vah's attention to those assembled, "The young one who guards me, Chani... Be watchful, she stands without a blade drawn and commands respect while the other charge." brow lifting slightly before he continues "They call this one" motioning towards Aryn, "Princess, but I think that one" pointing to Chani with his chin, "May be their Empress or Queen..." the other humans all turn eyes on the young woman. Murmurs of greeting go out to Aryn, Ban and Erinn, curious glances at their weapons and armor.

Reaching hands to try and poke at Erinn's shoulder, curiosity reigning. "The words are true?"

"I don't know." Vah offers, "But they conduct as like those of the myths. Fire from their hands, Jeh-Odari in their midst... even the great fighting automatons." looking to Hadrix who seems fine being thought of as a droid and keeps his peace. "They came from the sky and they must be brought to the king and queen." eyes turn back to the others, grave expressions and then attention back to the prince.

"Let us not wait any longer in the open. We have time, for now, but it grows short. I trust you all know your way home? Bring your Prince back to it, we will accompany you in case more of these.. things ambush us." Aryn shifts slightly, standing a little closer to Ban with a tone unsure of either their surroundings or the reception. "You may call me Aryn; this is Ban." She motions to the taller noble at her side. "The /Mando'ade/," she points to Hadrix, "Is Commander Hadrix." As the others have already introduced themselves, Aryn bows slightly. "We are, all of us, at your service."

As talk has moved from Distant Gods to more immediate a d terrestrial concerns, Ban inclines his head. "I may assist if any of your wounded require aid in moving," the gentleman offers simply, in a bid to get the band moving sooner rather than later. If there is a note of slight amusement in the look aside he gives to Chani when she is named Empress, surely it must be imagination.

Erinn doesn't seem to mind the poking hands or curious eyes. She takes a few steps closer to the frightened and curious humans, allowing a couple more to step up towards her and continue to poke at her. She loosens her body language, holding her hands out from her torso so that those fingertips can more freely poke. When she sees a man's eyes stray to the blaster at her hip, she firms up and gives a shake of her head. "Dangerous," she says, and even tips her hip just a little bit away from them to make that blaster more difficult to reach. "Don't touch," she says. Her words are firm and correcting, but they aren't overly harsh. Her soft features likely soften the edges of them as well.

She gives a little snort when Prince Vah posits that Chani is their empress or Queen, and Erinn's eyes briefly flick in the young woman's direction with an amused expression on her face. That glance is brief, though. Laski's attention returns to the few humans that have stepped towards her.

"Yes, at your service. Are there any more of your people nearby? Your home?" she asks, and gives a glance towards one of the bodies of the red lizardmen slowly stiffening at their feet.

"Somewhere safe?" she asks.

Ill-prepared for the misinterpretation of the situation that saw Chani guarding the Prince rather than advancing forward with the nobles, she casts swift glances between the Princess and Lord Iskender in silent pleading for help before settling her gaze on those who look towards her in concert. Her lips part, though no words come. She is not trained in the ways of diplomacy and knows in circumstances such as these that words can mean everything. To claim the Prince is wrong might undermine or insult him, and to merely suggest she is a commoner might also cause anger if they were to somehow believe that allowing someone like her to guard someone so important as the Prince showed a lack of respect on their part. She says nothing, then, and hopes for it to be resolved by someone skilled with words. So far, she only receives amused glances from Lord Iskender and Erinn. An inaudible sigh passes through the part in her lips.

Assumptions uncontested, a quartet of the soldiers move to box both the prince who is helped back to her side, despite his protests, and Chani in a proper guarded escort. Defeated, after a fashion, the prince looks to Aryn and pauses briefly at the sight of Hadrix casually stripping Ssi-Ruk corpses of their weapons, before he continues.

"We can take you where its guarded, show you to where the great House of Liuhm has been made to den in these dark days." others are policing the bodies of their fallen, setting them on litters of dry grass to pull them behind - a task that the Mandalorian sets himself to aid with, sharing the load.

"It's a half day march, if that, while we attend our fallen for as long as they are not a risk to us in death." Vah's head bowing to Ban next, "Faster with your 'Mando'ade Machine' and Ban aiding with the wounded and fallen." all of the locals eyes turn skyward, fearfully and then towards the east. "We had best move quick... and thank you for saving my people."

The last a shared notion by the rest before they set to march.

Aryn recognizes the look from Chani, but she isn't in a position where she can correct the current course. It does prove advantageous when Chani is kept beside the Prince, though, because he is well defended now with a Jedi at his side. Aryn nods to the Prince, then quietly hooks the lightsaber back to her belt and joins Lord Ban in aiding their wounded move, applying first aid knowledge and treatments from her satchel. As they set out to march, Aryn pulls her hood up hiding the bright blonde hair from view at the recommendation of their resident Mandalorian. Aryn didn't aspire to be sniper bait, whatever that meant.

Ban Iskender assures Chani quietly, "All shall be set aright, Mistress Tahn," before occupying himself with assusting the movement of the native wounded.

Erinn's eyes are on those in her immediate vicinity. Those curious eyes and unsure glances. She's doing her best to seem... friendly and approachable. Most of the hands have retreated from her armor, content having touched the cool surface of its durasteel. A few more seem a bit more curious. Pressing, checking for sturdiness. Eventually, those more curious touches retreat and Erinn is left to drop her hands back down to her hips.

She follows their eyes up towards the sky. Her own big brown eyes narrow a touch as she listens to Prince Vah speak. She pulls a breath in through her nose and exhales through her lips. She seems content to converse casually with those in her immediate vicinity as the group sets out.

"Lessshki," one attempts.

"No, Laski," Erinn corrects.

"Lahski," he attempts again.

"Yeah, you've got it," she says, "Now tell me about the... Jeh-Odari?" Her attention flicks from Aryn to Ban, and then there's a blance over her shoulder to Emperess Chani AT the rear.

"Thank you for your hospitality." If she can offer nothing else in this situation, she can at least provide gratitude. The growing misunderstanding will be corrected once they can speak with the Prince alone, Chani prays. Ban's words give her hope for that. In the meantime, even Chani realizes that she's put in close proximity to the Prince, allowing her to defend him should the need arise during their journey. A long journey, at that, given that half a day at this point will take them towards nigth and Chani assumes they will likely need to stop lest they intend to travel through the night. Resigning herself to her mistaken identity for the moment, Chani starts forward with the rest of the group in once-again uncomfortable silence. There could have been worse confusions.