#battleforbatuu1

[enkisstories]

The combatents remain locked for painfully long seconds. Eventually Gavin manages to disengage and the duel is on again.

But Hank still has years of experience over Gavin and on top of that is a native force user, not a cheater with a helmet full of gadgets.

Suddenly Gavin de-ignites his weapon.

Momentarily startled, Hank remains in a defensive position. He doesn't follow suit in powering down his lightsaber, but neither does he advance.

Hank: "Grrrrr!"

Gavin: "I knew you couldn't do it. Strike a defenseless foe down."

Hank: "Looks like it. What made you so certain to bet your life on it?"

Gavin: "I'd love to say that the Force whispered it to me, but it was plain logic. You could have claimed the aspirant's red kyber crystal, but you just pocketed it and continued to use the blue one. You access the Force via the dark side, but your heart isn't in it."

Hank: "Fair enough. So what now?"

Gavin: "Back to Plan A? Rescue the prisoner and ride into the sunset... sunrise together? You said it yourself, that there's a lot wrong with our rule. The resistance could use an accomplished leader like General Sonderan."

Hank: "I can't commit to a heel face turn, even if I wanted. Connor needs help. His force powers have become unstable."

Gavin: "All the more reason to come with me. There are all kinds of experts in the resistance, one of them is bound to have an idea!”

Hank: "Listen... I don't ask where the resistance hideout is, and you in turn delay their operations. Give me a month to make a change, then maybe there is no more need to rebel."

What happened in the game: The sims had a "heated duel", that should have ended with a clear winner. About three quarters through, the interaction suddenly got crossed out and first Gavin, then Hank stopped fighting. Seeing Greylock approaches in these screenshots, I can only guess that he forced an interaction on Gavin, that disruped the fight?

[enkisstories]

Hank: "Your lightsaber, Gavin. Get it out!"

Gavin: ...

Hank: "Don't make such a face! You are not the victim here! You betrayed the Sonderan household, not the other way around."

Gavin: *slowly reaches for his lightsaber*

Hank: "Selling our security codes to the rebels... What the hell were you thinking?"

Gavin: "I only wanted aerial surveillance down, so that a small ship could slip through. Never planned to go fulltime resistance. It just kinda snowballed from there."

Hank: "A small ship? Why not hire a scoundrel? Black Spire is full of smugglers and daring pilots."

Gavin: "None of those lowlifes would have had the guts to take a certain baby to safety. Only the rebels were willing to do that."

Hank: "A baby - Jin? You idiot! If Jin went missing, the Supreme Leader would take that out on our whole family!"

Hank: "Why didn't you say a word? We could have figured something out without inviting an insurrection into our front yard! I had plans for this planet... There's so much wrong with our way of ruling... So much to put right..."

Gavin: "Talk, Hank? Yeah, it's all just that: Talk. What reason have you given me to trust you?"

Hank: "I..." *frantically parries* "Ouch! My wrist! How did you do that? I thought you cannot feel the blade in the force?"

Gavin: "I can hear it when it moves. So I had Savi the tinkerer install a sensor into my helmet, and an amplifier."

Hank: "Your helmet? So you're telling me your head is my best choice of a target?"

Gavin: "Uh... Me and my quick mouth..."

[enkisstories]

Another evening, another poolside duel.

Not just anger, fear, too, is a path to the dark side. Hank is afraid to lose his son in that one's stubborn quest to advance in the Knights of Ren, so he makes sure Connor gets the best training sessions there can be.

Fear and love produce a potent cocktail, one that is said to have led to Anakin Skywalker's fall and subsequently the downfall of the Old Republic.

Hank: "That was too easy - You were distracted by something.

Your bad form tonight wouldn't be in any way, shape or form be connected to the young woman we glimpsed in your chambers?"

Hank: "In this case I'd feel bad for dunking you into cold water now."

*SPLASH*

Hank: "And? Was I correct?"

Connor: "Yeah. This is about the woman. She's not that young anymore, though. Married, too, with three children."

Hank: "Oh, Connor... At least you feel conflicted about it. Tell me the whole story?"

Connor: "Yes, I'd love to, if it's not too much of a bother."

A random townie wandered in and everything went off the rails. You'll see in the next post.

[enkisstories]

Susan: "Look, I'm not even here..."

Chris: "Don't be ridiculous, Tina! Jin needs these early childhood experiences. He absolutely must be allowed to interact with other babies! And also exchange germs with them, for a healthy immune system!"

Tina: "We don't need any of that, right, Jinny?"

Jin: *looks at the other babies with longing and a wide, open smile*

Oh, my bad! Looks like Jin really doesn't want to socialize now. Genius that he is, he wants to read instead.

And he levitates the pages around himself with the Force!

Arun: "No way! Did Jin just read up on social etiquette before he felt comfortable interacting with us?"

Chris: "No, but it will make for a neat story later!"

Susan: "And he will read at the age of like two, that much isn't a secret. At six he'll become a courtier and will be able to competently fill that role. But those force powers of his came as a surprise!"

Chris: "It's so sad that Gavin cannot be here to see all of this..."

[enkisstories]

Back at Batuu Connor tried to meditate. He still had two options to learn more about the Force and himself: the cave complex and the holocron. So he wasn't reliant on cowardly Master Tomax' cooperation.

But it was so unfair! It wasn't Connor's fault that he had gotten "cursed" or that Tomax was such a crybaby! A master should have to be there for a student, not even a question. Like Hank was always there for Connor.

Fairness... justice... duty... The path Connor's thoughts were taking was utterly wrong for a dark side user, and so he abandoned the meditation before it had began in earnest.

Connor: "Maybe father wants to spar? Last I saw him was with a grade school textbook. Something related to the school system overhaul he's cooking up. Ah, I know, I'm going to slice the curtains to get his attention!"

Connor: "Ew! What's this? Purple is Tina's color! Did she prank me?

No, this still feels like my own crystal. It's attuned to me, I'd know it if Tina had swapped it out for hers. But how come it changed color?!"

Connor: "No meditation, no duel, no nothing. Still, I feel as if I had accomplished something today. Probably a coping mechanism.

Oh, well, I should see if I can maybe assist father with his government project."

[enkisstories]

Let's have a look at the challenge result. Connor won two crystals, a purple and a black one.

The black crystal exists in-universe. It is the one Roshell used (black crystals generate red blades) and now belongs to Connor. He now owns a red and a black crystal.

The purple crystal doesn't exist in-universe. It is just an indicator of what Connor's true alignment in this story will be: Apparently grey, same as Tina.

[enkisstories]

Connor: "Close season is over - it's on now!"

Roshell: "Bold words from a spoiled little daddy-brat! Do you think I didn't hear the news, Connor? Your grip on the Force is loosening. You are no match... huh?"

Connor: "The rumours ARE true. And because that is so, because every time I reach into the Force, a side effect occurs, I focused on honing my dueling skills instead - with a common vibro blade."

Roshell: "Not the same!"

Connor: "As my brother wasn't the same as me. But even though he was below me, he was still sufficient. His suggestion to practise with swords was sound."

Connor: "And now I'm going to gut you like the animal you are!"

Hank: "Connor?! You won't really...? Oh, shit, he's out for blood for real... and he meant that literally..."

[enkisstories]

Three weeks passed, weeks in which Hank buried himself more deeply in paperwork than ever before since getting namerd Governor of Batuu, and called more meetings than ever before in his life.

Only one thing the General didn't: hire a replacement for the kidnapped housekeeper. No employee, no slave and not even a droid specializing in kitchen work. As a result breakfast (and pretty much every meal) consisted of cut up bread with cheese and fruit, washed down with cheap soda.

Connor: "This is the last of Gavin's cheese wheels. Inanimate objects aside, this was the last piece of him when he was still alive."

Hank: "He lives, I just now it! The rebels don't wantonly execute or even overly damage their prisoners."

Connor: "I know that! They're as weak as light side adepts come. But just because that is so, someone as clever and resourceful as Gavin would have managed to escape by now and returned to us. Since he hasn't..."

Connor: I want to take a life today. Any life. Cause a loss that hurts for no reason than to make it hurt.

Connor: "...I want to drive to Black Spire today and listen around."

Driving the landspeeder instead of riding good old Bonny, who had gotten abducted together with Gavin, only added to the pain and fueled Connor Ren's desire to kill.

But when all was said and done, the squire chose a target that wasn't a random local, but that's removal would serve a secondary purpose: Putting him one step closer to full knighthood.

"The Aspirant", also known as Roshell Xemro, was the only non-human squire of the Knights of Ren. She was ferocious and had already found a new kyber crystal after Hank had taken hers last month.

Confidently Connor walked up to the aspirant...

[enkisstories]

For the time being Gavin found refuge at Karlie's farm, where the resistance member lived with her husband and three daughters. Their contribution to the resistance consisted mostly of supplying the actual rebel camps with groceries.

Karlie and Lori had in the past assisted in small skirmishes and infiltration missions (like the one at the governor's residence, that had gone wrong), but Jaylen wasn't a fighter at all.

Had the Keye family harbored some residual doubt about the sincerity of a favored servant of the Governor of all people turning traitor, they changed their mind the instant Gavin's new outfit revealed the double triangle tatoo, that was widely understood as the mark of a slave.

Of the two horses Gavin had brought, one was agreed to remain at the farm.

Abbey: "Look, what a majestic horse! So much dung for the fields!"

Lori: "Yeah, totally exciting... Let's call him Sir Crapalot."

Abbey: "It's a lady horse and she already has a name: Bonny."

[enkisstories]

And so it was decided.

Gavin would take Karlie to safety, meanwhile Hank would make everything look as if the prisoner had escaped on her own and taken Gavin as her hostage.

After all, what were a few more knots to the net of deceit and scheming that they were weaving as of late?

[enkisstories]

Mastery of the force is the gate to powers some may consider... unnatural.

After his trip top Black Spire Hank developes a keen interest in his inborn powers. He wants to hone them beyond the iconic force lightening, a desire that provides father and son with another activity to bond over (and that in turn makes Gavin feel even more left out).

Connor: "Why'd you don you armor, father, if the win condition is to toss the opponent into the pond?"

Hank: "Cuzz I don't intend to lose, kiddo!"

Connor: "And yet you will... argh..."

Connor: "And down again."

Hank: "Points for effort, but you still lose."

Connor: "Ey?"

Hank: "That wasn't the pond."

Connor: "Nobody could have done that. You're heavy, goddammit!"

[enkisstories]

Meanwhile Shawn PC-200 has gotten relieved of his duty of following Hank by the twins. He stops by a vendor stall to grab a snack. However, the curtains drop right in front of the First Order corporal's nose.

Shawn: Why are the locals so mean? Why don't they LIKE us after all the good we did for them?

Shawn: "Vendor license! Presto!"

Shawn: "Hm... seems to be in order. What else should I have expected in our own district."

Governor Sonderan's honor guard differs from regular stormtroopers in various ways. They are better equipped and trained, on par with the elite troopers of the 709th legion. But they are also a fair bit better socialized, having knowledge of popular culture that they might come into contact with in their line of duty.

And so Shawn's reaction is not the expected one...

Shawn: "So I can't arrest you, but you know what? Enjoy my scathing review of your shack in tomorrow's newsfeed!"

[enkisstories]

Connor: "Closing your eyes, Gav?"

Gavin: "Why not? I can't feel this stupid blade, so seeing it wouldn't do me any good anyway."

Connor: "That's some impeccable logic..."

Gavin: "Take this!"

Connor sees the green blade close in on his hand, or the hilt of his his lightsaber. He lowers both and thus blocks the disarm attempt at the very last moment.

Connor: No, that's impossible! How can he direct an attack with his eyes closed and the sensory experience of wielding a flashlight? The only way to pull that off would be by sensing me in the force. But Gavin isn't force sensitive! It was just a lucky strike... just... luck... And the force messing with me, testing my resolve.

[enkisstories]

Oh, Daniel...

So far Connor and Gavin had taken naps, drank coffee and helped themselves to leftovers in the Spilph residence. But I knew they'd get hit with the "you mustn't do that here, yadda, yadda" sooner or later. It happened when Connor was about to take a shower.

Daniel closed in, yelled "We don't tolerate that here, Sir!" and dragged the naked (and probably covered in soap) Connor out of the shower stall. That was basically an invitation to get force-lightning'ed... only in his smelly state Connor's spell fizzled.

John: "What's going on here?"

Daniel: "You tell me! This knight here generated black smoke with his hands and when he was done smoking, he electrocuted himself. I don't get it, but who are we to question a Knight of Ren?"

John: "So he had a smoke without a smokestick... How fancy! Did anything happen that made this man nervous to the point of needing to calm himself down?"

Daniel: "No, nothing I can think of. Maybe something happened before I tossed him out of the bathroom?"

John: "You did WHAT?!"

At this point Connor had the opportunity to "Thank host for hospitality". What hospitality, game? We just got grounded from your bathroom, what's next? Sleeping on the floor?

Connor: "You! VERMIN! Who are you?"

John: "That's my household slave, Sire. His name is Dan..."

Connor: "I'm not interested in his name. He's coming outside with me now. I need some elbow room for his punishment."

John: "Lord Connor, please, I beg of you! Don't kill Dan... this man!"

Daniel: “Yes, please! Please don’t do anything that would make John and Caroline sad!”

[enkisstories]

Thinking about how he wanted to spend the fifty leftover credits from the droid order, Daniel decided to multiply the money. John would have done the same, right? Lacking John's business sense, Daniel resorted to Sabbac and much confidence.

Hondo: "Haven't seen you around for some time, O'Malley. And with money in your pockets? Did you kill your master and are on the run now?"

Daniel: "I just bet fifty credits, Mr. Ohnaka. Care to tell me where Ortiz would have gotten even five credits from?"

Hondo: "You may have sold his belongings."

Daniel: "Yeah, no, I'd face a lawsuit for littering if I removed the stuff from Ortiz' hut. I was the most valuable thing he owned and he had to part with it."

Daniel: "And also, what do you mean by that, "killed your master"?"

Hondo: "Interesting in what order you took offense to my quibs. Aaaaaanyway, I win."

Daniel: "Not fair! You distracted me!"

Hondo: "Yeah. Don't kill me. Haha!"

Daniel lost everything and had to count himself lucky that he still had enough fuel for the trip back home.

When he told his story there, John put 136 credits into Daniel's bank account - almost triple the sum he had gambled away!

This really happened. John gave Daniel money to cheer him up. My John! John Phillips! (The banking mod always gets confused when sims are not on the homelot. It booked John's daily income into Daniel's account.)

[enkisstories]

Daniel passes the yard that connects his apartment with the house of his new owners - his new family. He walks past the swimming pool...

...the amphib tank...

...and enters the live-in kitchen, where the rest of the family has already gathered. Their living conditions are not what the Spilph family is used to; they had to downsize after losing half of their business partners due to those being non-humans and as such on the First Order’s list of undesireables.

At the stove the lady of the house, Caroline Spilph, is making breakfast in Daniel's stead.

Daniel smiles. Breakfast made by Caroline is the only nightmare in his life now.