freedomliveson

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

The breaks were a welcome break, seeing as Justin's legs were fatiguing at a much quicker rate than normal. He wasn't going to tell Cam that, of course...like she needed to worry about anything else. His silence, then, was more of a way for him to focus on his movements, ensuring that every step he took was purposeful and directed. He found that he needed the focus even more with the constant threat of being in unknown and hostile territory, a combination that he wasn't thrilled about taking on his weakened state. Justin didn't ACTUALLY know if the symbols painted on the tanker truck were indeed warning signs, but the faint coppery smell that wafted through his nostrils when they got closer was a good enough warning for him. He struggled with interpreting the jagged lines and circles with squares in them, but again, the smell of blood was a deterrent.

It took them a bit get past the trailer itself, seeing as the freeway led up to a bridge suspended by half rotten cables that swayed violently by the gentlest of breezes. Dodging under the bridge, they trudged through some ankle deep water before resurfacing on the other side and back into the forested area just off the freeway. He had mixed feelings about taking the paths off the main road, but it was either take a large risk by exposing themselves on the road or take cover in the jungle and pray vehemently that no one would hear them. Justin liked the odds of the latter.

Justin had pulled out the map and was examining it to ensure that they were on the right path when Cam asked him about his parents. He looked back at her with a chuckle, telling her:
"My parents? No, no. They were...wanderers. Nomads, in a sense. When I was kid, we rambled along the roads picking up whatever scrap we could sell to other settlements for food and supplies. They DID settle in Omega when I was about eight, so I suppose you could say that they were technically 'from' there, but they didn't start off there. Glad they settled in that area though...without Omega, I would've just been a vagabond without a cause." Another laugh as he consulted the map, looking to the road and noting the curve before motioning for Cam to follow him.
"Just need to get up this embankment and we'll be right outside Hartford...I hope." As they found their way back to the road, Justin asked:
"You ever feel like going to find your parents? Could always give it a chance. Never know what you'll find out here...besides, you're the exploratory type, aren't you?" He gave her a playful nudge as they emerged onto the road, the normal sight of rusted husks greeting them in greater numbers than normal.

Rescue for the ages(Seravee/Freedomliveson)

No problem at all!

Also, in regard to your message, no worries on continuity. I have no problems with creating an alternative timeline or making changes

Pyramid scheme(KrystalKleo/Freedomliveson)

(Gah! so sorry about the slow response time, but this house search is breaking my back!)

"Right, right!" He nodded vehemently, pointing in the direction he came from, then quickly realized that he had no idea how he got into the neighborhood in the first place, so the avenue he used to get to this residential part of the city might not have been the proper way to get back to where he needed to go.
"Not market." He shook his head, then added:
"American building." He attempted to simulate the waving of a flag by placing his arms together and wriggling them, then laughed at the stupidity that he was exuding.
"I hope I'm not being condescending..." Kyle mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking into the woman's kind gaze a moment later. She was gorgeous to be sure, one of those women that one saw on the covers of magazines that claimed that they were the only authority on the "finer things in life". She didn't seem pretentious, although the manor behind her would indicate that her family could have been a part of the snobbish wealthy in town. Curiosity got the better of him and he asked in broken Arabic:
"You live there? Big house? Looks nice." He said with a smile, hoping to at least pay her a compliment for dealing with this strange American that could barely speak her language.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

The bleak, sandy deserts of Korriban were a fantastic match to clientele of the planet. The terrain was mountainous and difficult to navigate, there were blood sucking creatures everywhere one looked and terrible secrets were buried within ancient tombs that only a few insane men and women were able to crack. It was as if the Sith created the entire planet as a crucible for those who wanted to turn to the dark side, to "prove their worth". That was a phrase he had heard uttered by Sith so many times in the context of battle, claiming that they would be able to validate their entire existence to the galaxy through murder or some other heinous act. It was despicable.

Yet he was on his way to their home planet. The Masters of the Council would all have simultaneous cerebral hemorrhaging if they had found out that a Knight was on purposefully on their way to Korriban, let alone one of the up and coming Knights of the order(according to them, not him). With the treaty of Coruscant officially broken by the Empire's siege on Corellia and the subsequent pushback from the Republic, the galaxy was quickly becoming a battlefield that no one could hide on. The Republic seemed to be taking control of the core worlds and there were whispers of some Jedi being shipped off with special Republic commandos to Imperial controlled worlds in attempts to push the Empire further back into their corner of space. Ships were getting pulled out of hyperspace and inspected by both sides, checkpoints at docking areas on almost all worlds were beefed up and military law was essentially in effect, although Supreme Chancellor Saresh had never ACTUALLY declared it.

It was in this fracas that Yerbol Massani had received a message.

It was brief, but conveyed much more than the sender let on. She had looked exhausted, but giddy at the discovery of something "terribly wonderful" and that Yerbol had to meet her on Korriban at specific coordinates.
"I know I'm asking a lot, little brother, but if we can get this off world, we could change everything..." There was, of course, no mention of how she had disappeared for almost two years from Tython nor did she try to dispel rumors that she had fallen to the dark side and become a disciple of a Lord Bracknell on Dromund Kaas. While she stayed in the shadows, Yerbol fought for his sister's reputation, claiming that the Lysa he knew would never allow herself to be tempted to leave the path of Light, all the while flailing to come up with excuses as to why she had gone. It wasn't as if he could contact their parents; young Jedi were separated from them at an early age and comforted by the notion that the sacrifice their parents made would serve the rest of the galaxy.

His reverie was interrupted when his portable nav unit began to chirp, Yerbol's hazel eyes scanning the worn tomb entrance in front of him. There was no one visible in the mouth of the opening, prompting a hard swallow. He had to descend into the tomb. There was no choice in the matter. He had smuggled himself onto a ship headed to Korriban via Nar Shadda and knew that the Sith Masters would feel his presence here soon. Breathing out a sigh, he walked into the darkness, a chill snaking down his spine as his hand gripped his lightsaber hilt, withdrawing it from the clip on his belt before removing his hood, his jet black hair ruffling in a gentle breeze that floated from the entrance.

"Here we go."

Into the nothing.

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Ok, so I'm not nuts xD

We don't have a disease, per se, but that's what I imagine the setting to look like in our thread

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Hey, so for some reason, our thread is slowly starting to remind me of a game called "The Last of Us". Feel free to google it and look up some of the details to see if you agree XD

Rescue for the ages(Seravee/Freedomliveson)

Yay for starting!

Rescue for the ages(Seravee/Freedomliveson)

"Focus, Yerbol. Focus."

Yerbol shifted uneasily in his chair, staring at the stone wall in front of him with growing impatience. A young Jedi Knight was supposed to conform to his Master's teachings, to cling to their every word so that wisdom can seep into their very being. Not that it was a dictatorial relationship, but a Padawan knew little to nothing about their expansive potential and a Master needed to ensure that the potential each Padawan carried with them. Of course, Yerbol wasn't a Padawan any longer; he had been made an official Jedi Knight by Grand Master Skywalker and the Council a couple of years ago at the raw age of twenty two. Now at twenty four, Yerbol had seen a few things in the galaxy that would allow him to not be classified as a novice any longer, but he knew he still had much to learn, which was exactly why he had consulted his old Master, an older Twi'lek by the name of Mansuto, on the issue of impulsiveness. Yerbol had always struggled with his ability to temper his feelings and thought he had been getting better, but a few weeks ago he had been sent to Tattoine to neutralize a squadron of raiders that was mercilessly torturing the moisture farmers in the area. When he had seen the vile corruption the raider scum had been enacting, the slavery, the brutality...well, instead of capturing them like the Council had instructed, he had slaughtered every last one of them. He pleaded that he had done this only to defend the farmers, but he knew that deep down there was something lurking inside of him, something dark and hulking, ominous, seeking to devour him when it had the chance. Now, he sat in a chair, staring at a wall. Mansuto told him that he was to meditate, to seek peace within himself and purge the darkness within. Yerbol had gone through these long periods of meditation for two days now, but to little effect.
"I can still feel it, Master. Seething. Burning."
"Good. Keep it isolated. Now search your inner feelings, analyze them."
"I...I'm still not..." He gritted his teeth, flashes of the innocent being impaled on vibroswords bolting through his mind, the Jedi Order collapsing because of inaction, the...

That might have been it.
Inaction.

"Master, I think...I think might be onto something."
"Good. You have taxed yourself enough for one day. Take your ruminations, place them in the recesses of your mind and carry on with the rest of your day. Do meet me in the council chambers at six this evening. I and another council member wish to discuss your progress."
"Of course." Yerbol turned to say goodbye, but Mansuto had disappeared.
"Boy he's good at that." He mumbled, rising from his chair and stretched upwards as he approached the doorway leading to the quiet Temple hallway. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant was rather silent today, but most were employed on other worlds attempting to stem the tide of increasing crime on multiple core worlds. Most of the Knights felt something was in the works, something drastic, but they were stonewalled by anyone who could have given them a straight answer.

His ears picked up on footsteps coming down the hall...

Promises left on the sand(megatrash/freedom)

Justin had sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes with his hands before swinging his feet down onto the ground, shoulders slumped forward. His eyes closed again, allowing the exhaust to swallow him once more before he heard Cam tell him she was ready.

"Of course you are." He mumbled, eyes slowly opening, rising to his feet with a groan.
"I think..." He yawned widely before continuing:
"I think the past couple of days are just now getting to me. Sorry if I won't be much of a conversation partner today. I'm just...wiped. So. Wiped." He rubbed his eyes again, much harder. Another groan as he shuffled to the doorway, looking down to find two duffel bags. He knelt down, laughing to himself as he pulled out a fresh change of clothes.
"Bless their hearts..." He mumbled, slipping on a dark red t-shirt and loose fitting cargo pants with enough pockets to store half of the United States in. Other than a couple of outfits packed, there was dried food, a water filter, a canteen of water filled and two boxes of pistol ammunition each. Two modified pistols, one per bag, were also included.
"Like what they packed you?" Jes stood across the hallway, her impressive physique looming in the doorway opposite.
"Yeah...yeah, this'll do."
"It was just a few of them, the ones that lost family out there. They really appreciated what we did and wanted to send you both off the right way." Jes walked to within about a foot of Justin as he stood up, the squad commander eyeing him with an emotion that Justin couldn't necessarily identify.
"We don't have many of us left. Come back in one piece."
"No promises." Jes shook her head.
"You WILL come back in one piece. That's an order." She leaned forward slightly, looming for a moment before turning around, walking back into her room, a sigh echoing across the hall.

_________________________________________

It wasn't hard to trace their steps back up through the territory they had traversed earlier, making it back to the spot on the freeway where they had diverged into the clearing a few days ago. The body that had once been fresh had decomposed, sending out the stench of death from almost a quarter of a mile away. Once they cleared the body, Justin consulted the map they had originally used to reach this spot, grimacing a bit.
"We're going to have to go through Hartford. That was a major population center before this happened...I haven't had very positive experiences with places like that, but it's either that or go through savage territory again." He stepped forward a couple of paces and stopped, looking down the remnants of the freeway and blowing out a sigh.
"Take a look at this." There were rusting hunks of metal that served as obstacles on the road, but what Justin was more concerned about was the overturned tanker trailer a few hundred yards off.
"Those things are normally used to mark boundary lines. See the markings on the outside?" There were symbols barely visible painted in dark and crimson shades of red.
"Anything that large and immovable gets used as a marker by raiders or groups that don't want others crossing into their territory." He looked to Cam.
"Get your gun ready. I've got a feeling savages won't be the only group we'll be worrying about today."

Pyramid scheme(KrystalKleo/Freedomliveson)

A question uttered in broken English startled Kyle due to the quiet that had surrounded him, the assistant looking over to find a tanned woman with dark eyes watering the stumpy trees that were trying so desperately to stay alive in the searing heat. He wiped some of the sweat forming on his brow as he approached the barrier between the two and offered her an apologetic smile. She was trying to help, even with her fragmented linguistic ability. He could appreciate her earnestness, especially seeing as Americans weren't exactly welcome in Egypt. Paul had made it VERY clear that they were in hostile territory with "ungrateful zealots" and that Kyle was to avoid interacting with anyone that sniffed of insanity. This young lady, with her soft, delicate eyes and flowing dark hair, didn't pose a threat. In fact, she was rather attractive, making her instantly safe in Kyle's mind.

He cleared his throat, then proceeded to speak in Egyptian Arabic, speaking being a very generous way of describing what came out:
"I go to home...home is left...left..." He shook his head, then chuckled.
"Let's try this again." He muttered in English before jumping back into the Arabic he had crammed into his mind last week:
"Home...Cairo...go back..." And that was the best he could do without sounding like a guttural fish. He then tried English:
"I'm trying to get back to Cairo...can you help point the way?"