"At least my daughter! Pl-Please! I don't know why these monsters let you in their camp unchained. But at least take my daughter away!"
Rumor stared at the pair of mother and child. They weren't human, he realized. It was hard to see under all the dirt and grime, but their skin was grey-ish like Rin Kalak's. They didn't have the strap of cloth covering their eyes that the thug and every other alien of the species he had seen had.
[ Shala ]
[ Species: Miraluka ]
[ Strengh: 5 ]
[ Dexterity: 4 ]
[ Vitality: 3 ]
[ Temperance: 8 ]
[ Spirit: 4 ]
[ Appeal: 4 ]
[ Skills: None ]
[ Special skills: None ]
[ Description: A slave of the Abe'Arem Tribe. ]
...
[ Alena ]
[ Species: Miraluka ]
[ Strengh: 2 ]
[ Dexterity: 4 ]
[ Vitality: 3 ]
[ Temperance: 12 ]
[ Spirit: 9 ]
[ Appeal: 7 ]
[ Skills: None ]
[ Special skills: Unbroken Spirit ]
[ Description: A slave of the Abe'Arem Tribe. ]
The mother, Shala, wasn't anything special apart from her temperance stat, likely from having endured so long as a slave.
But the little girl, Alena? Her temperance, spirit, and appeal were more than all of his attributes combined. And she was still a child!
This was talent, Rumor realized. The girl had likely been a slave since she was born. To maintain such high temperance and spirit, it couldn't be explained in any other way then being born with it.
Plus, she had a special skill. Very few people Rumor had come across had that.
[ Unbroken Spirit: Despite the attempts of others, you have remained steadfast in your belief. An unknown potential dwells within you. ]
Unknown potential. Rumor could only think of one thing in the Star Wars universe that might warrant such words.
This child had the talent to wield the Force. In other words, this little slave girl in the middle of nowhere could become a Jedi.
At that thought, Rumor's resolve, which had already been leaning towards helping them simply because he abhorred slavery, was made. He would help them escape.
Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure there weren't any Tusken Raiders nearby, Rumor knelt in front of Shala.
The older woman flinched when he came this close, but Alena stared at him with unblinking red eyes. Rumor tried for a smile.
"Okay. I'll help you. But it can't be right now. Go back to the hut and act normal. Wait until they are all asleep. I'll come get you then."
Shala stared at him with wide eyes. Rumor could see the hesitant hope in them.
"Really?"
"Why did you ask if you didn't think I would help? Now, go. If they see us talking we are all dead."
Shala shook her whole body, as if to wake up, and nodded gratefully to him before grabbing Alena and going back into their master's hut.
Rumor stared after them for a while. This was an unnecessary risk. He had a good relationship with the Abe'Arem Tribe, his reputation was steadily raising to complete the milestone of the achievement, and he had good food and a place to sleep for a few days.
And now he was going to throw it all away for two slaves with whom he had exchanged less than ten sentences.
In his head, he tries to justify it as betting on the future of the child, Alena. If she became a Jedi and remembered him as her savior, he would have a ready-made path to the core of the plot in future incursions to this universe.
But deep down, he knew it hadn't been future or immediate gains which motivated him. Rumor chuckled darkly to himself.
'Seems like I'm still too weak. Can I really survive The Mind if I'm worrying about anyone other than myself?'
He didn't know. But he supposed he would find out.
...
Rumor didn't see Shala or Alena for the next 10 or so hours. He ate with the Tuskens, slept in one of their huts, and even used the Massiff summoning contract just to see what it was like.
All in all, what he did was rest and recover from his ordeal, in preparation for the new one he was going to embark in tonight.
Tusken Raiders took full advantage of Tatooine's extended daylight period. Groups of them left the tribe to hunt, and the ones who stayed were occupied with a number of things.
But when the moons replaced the suns in the sky, the hunting groups came back, and they all prepared to sleep. Rumor himself went to the tent he had been gifted, although he had already rested during the day.
Even after night fell, he waited for 2 more hours to make sure any stragglers had gone to bed. Now, Rumor only had to worry about two things: the guard dogs (Massiffs) and the sentries.
He snuck out of the tent, grateful that the Tuskens were so careless about their guests, seemingly considering Rumor part of the tribe already.
With a wave of his hand, he used the [ 1-Star Summoning Contract (Massiff) ], causing his pet beast to appear. The reptilian dog growled lowly, and Rumor ran his fingers along the ruffled fur in its spine.
"Stay alert. Warm me if someone gets close."
Despite the lower intelligence of 1-star summons, simple commands like that were still understood. The Massiff slunk through the huts to go follow it.
As for Rumor, he made his way back to the hut where he had seen the pair of mother and child go in. Avoiding the sentries, who were just sitting around the fires mumbling to each other, was child's play.
Pushing open the curtain that acted like a door to the hut, Rumor saw Shala and Alena curled together on the ground, the leashes around their necks tied to a support pole of the structure.
Both were wide awake, and their expressions showed a mix of relied and tension when they saw him appear.
He put a finger in front of his lips to shush them, but it was unnecessary. Neither made a sound.
In the middle of the hut was a carpet, covered in furry blankets of what Rumor guessed were Banta pelts. The two Tusken Raiders who owned the hut, a couple, slept soundly in their warm covers while Shala and Alena nearly froze to death every night.
Careful not to make a sound, Rumor tip-toed his away around the interior of the hut, until he was right above the sleeping couple. He glanced at the slave pair once, receiving a firm nod from Shala, before drawing his knife.
Blood gushed out from two slit throats, pooling in the carpet, but neither slave so much as flinched. Rumor guessed they had already seen for worse during their stay here.
"Quiet now. We'll go to the south side of the camp. It's where the tribe left my hovercraft."
Making his way to the women, Rumor quickly cut their bindings. Shala rubbed her neck, free from the leather collar for the first time in years, and hugged Alena.
"What about the guards?"
"Leave that to me. All you have to do is not make a sound. Got it?"
"Hm."
Shala nodded, while Alena simply stared at Rumor. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard her speak yet.
Not important right now. Beckoning them to follow his, he pushed his head out of the hut and looked around.
No one. Good.
Sneaking through the Abe'Arem camp was nerve-wracking. At any moment, someone could wake up to go take a piss or something inane like that and see them. Or the Massiffs might smell the blood from his victims.
If that happened, the whole tribe would be on top of them in a matter of moments. Rumor didn't want to think of what their fate would be if that happened.
"Grr..."
A deep growl came from the darkness to their left, and Shala tensed, her grip on her daughter's hand becoming so tight Alena squirmed.
"It's okay. He's mine."
Rumor waved to the Massiff, who rubbed against his leg for a second before turning to the path in front of them and snorting. Rumor nodded.
"There's someone ahead. Wait here. You, protect them."
Before Shala could protest being left alone with the massive beast, Rumor had already vanished.
Not far away, two Tusken Raiders were sitting around a fire, passing a flask between them. Luckily they had their backs to him. Unfortunately, they had a Massiff laying on the ground between them.
Rumor turned around and made his way back to his charges.
"We are taking another path."
He didn't explain more, nor did he need to. Both the slaves understood stealth was the name of the game here.
It went like that for a while. They would choose a path between the huts, amd Rumor's Massiff would warn them if they were about to run into an obstacle. When that happened, they would change directions, slowly but surely making their way to the south end of the encampment.
Only once did they not have this option. It was a lone Tusken Raider coming back from the latrines. Rumor covered his mouth and stabbed him in the back, holding the woman until she stopped struggling.
That was the most stressful moment of their journey. Even with Rumor covering her mouth, the Tusken Raider still made noise by kicking her feet and groaning. Luckily no one was nearby or awake enough to hear her.
The tester let out a sigh of relief when they arrived at the edges of the camp and he saw his hovercraft parked a couple dozen meters away from the sleeping Bantas. Maybe because it was new, no one had thought to post a guard around it, unlike with the carrier animals.
There were 3 Tusken Raiders looking over the Bantas. Either so they didn't wandered off during the night, or so another tribe didn't steal them.
Either way, those three would be the first to react when Rumor turned on the hovercraft. They had to be taken care of.
"Get inside the hover, and don't come out no matter what. If I get caught..."
He paused. He wasn't that much of a good samaritan that he would sacrifice himself for the mother-daughter pair. But he was also the only one who could fight.
"If I get caught, you go. But not before. If you try to leave me behind, I swear I will hunt you down."
He didn't know how likely it was he would be able to make good on that promise, but Shala seemed sufficiently cowed. Alena just stared at Rumor.
Ignoring the strange girl, Rumor watched both of them climb onto the hovercraft and lay down. Satisfied, he started crawling towards the nearest sentry, using the Bantas as cover.
The guard was momentarily stunned when Rumor suddenly popped up from behind one of the furry creatures, and was half a beat to slow to swing his staff.
[ You have been attacked by a Tusken Raider. Calculating attack value... Deducting your defense... ]
[ Tusken Raider dealt 9 damage to you. ]
Letting the staff smack the hard flesh of his arm with no momentum behind it, Rumor endured the damage and thrust his Ottegan blade into his chest.
The Tusken Raider fell with a gurgling murmur, and Rumor slashed his throat just to be sure.
Holding his breath, he listened carefully. The Bantas were still snoring, and there was no clamoring for his head. He was still undetected.
The second sentry fell even more easily than the first, having his back turned to Rumor.
It was the third one that was the problem. A gigantic Massiff, at least twice the size of Rumor's, laid by his feet. The creature seemed to be sleeping, but the tester wasn't fooled. It could wake up at a moment's notice.
Out of options and unwilling to waste too much time planning, Rumor decided on a risky play.
"Attack."
With a command, he sent forth his own Massiff. It ran out from the middle of the Banta pack, straight for the other one of its kind.
"Grrr! Raarh!"
"Rrraaahh-rrr!"
The larger Massiff woke up and started snarling. Without losing pace, both beasts clashed ferociously in the sand, clash lashing out, fangs bitting and tearing out chunks, and blood flying everywhere.
The Tusken guard watched it with amusement, making no move to interfere. Massiffs fought for dominance all the time. If there were more of his tribesmen nearby, they might even start betting.
Rumor wasn't going to get a better chance. He too rushed out and, in his distraction, the sentry only noticed it when the tester was almost on top of him.
"Hhhaugg!"
The [ Standard Ottegan Army Blade ] carved a bloody gash across the Tusken Raider's chest, and he snarled in pain.
Rumor pressed his advantage. Unwillingly enduring a stab from the sharp tip of the enemy's staff, he plunged his blade into his neck and jerked it around violently.
The Tusken Raider fell, choking on his own blood, and Rumor ripped the staff from where it was stuck on his stomach. That one hit had cost him 22 HP, but it was a worthwhile trade.
"Gwaaarrr!
Meanwhile, his summoned Massiff was still locked in combat with the much larger creature, and losing badly.
"Oh no, I'm not going to lose you so soon."
Grabbing the staff, he raised it above his head and stabbed deep into the flank of the larger Massiff. The beats howled in pain, and Rumor's summoned creature took the chance to use [ Bloody Lunge ], latching onto the other animal's neck and shaking its head.
"Whhooooooo!"
A chunk of flesh was torn out, and Rumor's Massiff howled in victory. A notification appeared on the corner of his eyes.
[ Achievement completed: Desert Predator. ]
Rumor didn't have time to celebrate now. The commotion had awoken the Bantas, who were stirring, and with the noise the large creatures made, it was only a matter of time before someone came to investigate.
Canceling the Massiff summon, Rumor ran towards the hovercraft, where he could see Alena and Shala poking their heads out over the edge.
Jumping into the vehicle, he pushed Shala away from the driver's seat, and turned it on. The engine rumbled, and they raised a few feet from the ground.
Without wasting a second, Rumor turned the nose of the hovercraft away from the Abe'Arem Tribe and pushed the acceleration lever as far as it would go. The hovercraft shot forward like an arrow.
By the time the rest of the tribe realized what happened, Rumor, Shala, and Alena were kilometers away.