Planet of the Furs
The large, modified Forest-crawler was inching its way over the lush green environment of endor. The Jawa's inside looking for the scrap from the imperial war here about ten years ago. "here it is, Stop Jawie" A small brown cloaked jawa that was wearing a scrapped and busty looking helmet had ordered the Forest-crawler to stop at this particular spot. "let the scavenger teams out, i want every piece of rusting scrap in this green hell on-board the ship, understand me?" The driver turned around, his large yellow eyes glowing from under his hood. "yes, sir" the driver got on an intercom machine and pressed a red button on its side. "all scavenger teams and shooter squads move out, destination has been reached" and with this the driver had turned it off and sat back to relax whil the scavenger teams went to work.
"i'm glad we were assigned to this place, and not hoth, y'know?" a small jawa had inquired to what his superior had thought "i share your thought exactly, hoth is nothing but a horrid and frozen wasteland" he pauses "we might even lose some of our people on there" he sighed softly and put a hand on the small jawa's shoulder "keep up the good work, M'tuske, and you will excel at this business" the squad leader gave an unseen smile from under his hood. "now pick up your ion rifle and get ready to move out" He slapped the little one on the back and made him stumble, the little one looking up to him like he was meeting his hero "Yes, Sir, Squad leader, Sir!" and with that M'tuske gave a stout salute and went to fetch his weapon from the weapon rack.
It had taken M'tuske a couple of months to make his ion rifle, it was a ceremonial tradition that a young warrior make his own weapon, and judging by the time that went into it, and its probable worth, the jawa will pass into an apprentice warrior. and if it wasn't good, he had to wait another year fo his next chance. this particular rifle was modified by M'tuske frequently, whenever there was spare scrap, he would use it to modify his rifle, which was potent enough to actually kill a humanoid being. his rifle in particular was of Tusken raider origin. which gave him the edge in any battle due to its long range capabilities. he had also fixed a small vibro-blade onto it for exclusive use as a bayonet. it was a good weapon, and very trusty. it was like a brother to him, and usually had top priorities over all other chores.
M'tuske went and grabbed his rifle, the large thin rifle almost weightless as he scampered around with it. in mid-stride, he looked down to something that had caught his eye, it was an old helmet theat was fashioned out of a crude form of steel that was painted over green. he tried it on and it fit surprisingly well. "hey.. this is pretty nice" he then ran back to the squad and showed off his find "hey, look you guys, i found a helmet!" the other jawas looked and laughed at him "you look foolish in that, it looks like a bowl!" the squad burst out laughing but then stopped as a voice buzzed out over the com-link "Be alert, were lowering you into the danger zone now" the voice cut off and a small jet of cold air shot out at our faces as the large door opened and lowered us to the leafy green jungle outside.
"okay, i want you to fan out and protect the salvagers, okay?" the squad leader said, holding his imperial blaster so it would rest on his shoulder as he walked up to the front of the sand-crawler. "and don't screw anything up, or there will be consequences to pay" and with that said, he simply sat at his post and watched the jungle for any sign of movement.
And little did he know that something was actually watching him from under the brush, something furry.
M'tuske had just went to his post when there were cries shouted out all over the camp, he rushed over and jumped up and down and shouted as well when he saw what had been uncovered- It was an imperial At-St, infully working order! "we did it, we've hit the big one!" everyone was happy and shouting, it even had some power left in it. Some engineers hopped into it and actually maneuvered it into the Forest-Crawler. and every jawa in there was hopping up and down also, screaming and shouting praises as he set up a camp outside and called it a day. "this has to have been the best day of my stay here, we found a fully operational At unit! we will be rich as soon as a private colletctor or a militia see this baby!" the squad leader laughed and put a small squirrel-like animal, that was freshly skinned over the fire, and rolling him around over a warm spit. "this will be good" said one of the jawas, a fat one that was apparently a technician, judging from the grease over his cloak. "i can't wait to get something to eat! how about any of you? i'm starv-..." then he stopped and stood deathly still, something wrong with him as he grasped his neck and started to gag and choke, and under closer inspection... we found a long needle that come from the back of his neck, and poked an eight of a centimeter out of his throat.
"oh my god!" M'tuske had never seen the needle till they tried to take his hood off, the back of the needle sticking out of it and catching, pulling it out some. "what in the hell did this?" the bewildered squad looked around and grabbed their weapons, huddling near the fire with their night vision kicking in, but still seeing nothing. but then, there was something that caught the light in M'tuskes eyes, something of a feline shaped shadow as it dissapeared in an instant. he wasn't sure about what it was, but he ran back to the forest crawler along with the others. "w-what the hell was that?" some of the jawas cowered and shook, afraid of the unseen enemy and threat. "i don't know, and i'm not sure, but we need to leave this place immediatly" said the squad leader as he went to the elevator "i have a good man dead, and by god i won't have any others.." and he pressed the button that lead him to the top floor, to the chiefs quarters.
"What can i do for you, Squad leader?" said a large fat jawa, who was smoking a death stick. "i want out of here, i just lost a good man, and i refuse to lose another in this place!" the squad leader looked like he was about to jump over and tackle the chief. but the two blaster toting jawa's had discouraged him as he stood his ground and looked at him with an angry glare. "i'm afraid that we can't leave just yet, not after finding such a valuable piece of machinery, and there are more out there, just like it!, we can't possibly leave now squad leader. you must understand this" the chief stood there and just sat back in a relaxed way, trying to justify the fat technicians death with money and promises of amazing finds. "No! i don't fucking understand! you fat prick, my man died out there, and were leaving, with or without the crawler..." and the chief just shrugged and waved him off "go if you like, you won't last a day out there you dumb shit, now get out of my sight" and the chief left the office and went back down the elevator. the chief looked at him as he left, rage filling him as he stood up, "No one leaves here though, you'll be dead, you hear me!"
M'tuske sat in his quarters, thinking of the dead technician, and how his life had been taken in just a few moments. "why? why did he have to die, why did the thing kill him?" he thought long and hard, coming to no conclusions of why or how.he got up and took off his cloak, revealing his small, thin body. his face had features, just his large glowing yellow eyes and a small slit-like mouth filled with many sharp, small teeth. that were hollow and aided in the way of draining blood to sustain him if he ever need it, like a weasel sucks the blood of other creatures, he did also.he breathed trough some small gills in teh middle of his neck and he had short brisly fur that was almost black, just a hint of grey in it, making it a bit lighter. he sat down on a bunk and layed down, a small blaster underneath his pillow just in case the crawler came under siege and he wasn't able to get to his rifle which he had stored back on the weapons rack.
the door opened and the squad leader stepped inside, his face a mixture of sadness and anger "pack your stuff, were leaving' M'tusked sat there, a bit bewildered as he then shook his head furiously "W-What?" the squad leader turned around and gave him a hard look "you heard me, were leaving, now get dressed and get your things, we'll be taking the Rk the techs have been working on" the squad leader stepped out of the room and the door slid shut. leaving a bewildered M'tuske and a sad air.
The docking bay on the Crawler was full of jawa technicians, making sure that the Rk was operational for the squads leave from the Crawler. M'tuske had packed his bags and had his rifle slung over his shoulder, his small pistol kept in a small pouch on his loin-cloth. the technicians gave the all clear and the crew went on the Rk, which looked like a small box with treads on it. it was very accomodating though, with comfortable seats and a place for a jawa to sit on top to keep guard, with a mounted ion discharger, and plenty of rations. hell it even had an a.c. to keep the users cool. it was like a tank with the commodities of a limo, or a limo with the protection of a tank. "wow... this think is nice, are we taking this one?" said M'tuske, the other jawa's looking at him, and some thinking the same as one turned to him and said bluntly "yes, now shut up" and because he didn't want a fight right now, he did.
Tension was high and he didn't feel like making anyone mad as squad leader came out and told them to board, him taking the drivers seat as the main bridge was lowered and he backed out, turning around and going due west, back to the encampment. leaving behind the life M'tuske had known forever.
M'tuske looked out the cold windows into the dark jungle, the night almost freexing and making the squad leader turn on the heat to prevent him from actually freezing up in the cockpit of the Rk. the treads slowly grinding around the wet jungle and unseen animal eyes watching them as they did so.