The twin suns rose over Stone Ridge, casting long shadows across the newly reinforced walls. James stood at the edge of the irrigation trenches, now brimming with water from the northern aquifer. The gardens flourished—thick vines of desert squash and hardy grain stalks swaying in the breeze. Yet the air buzzed with unease.
The system flickered:
[Tribal Leadership (Lv. 2 – 65%)]
[Force Disturbance Detected: Galactic Attention – 7%]
Mira approached, her lekku twitching. "The refugees are restless. Some say the Skarn will return for vengeance. Others whisper of… sky demons."
James frowned. "Sky demons?"
"Strange lights in the north. A ship, maybe."
He tensed. Jedi.
------------
That night, James ventured into the dunes alone. The Force hummed in his veins, guiding him to a half-buried wreck—a Republic-era cargo shuttle, its hull scorched by ion cannons. Inside, he found corroded blasters, durasteel plating, and a cracked navicomputer.
[Salvage Operation: 22% Success]
[Basic Engineering: 12% → 15%]
As he pried a power cell from the console, a voice cut through the dark:
"You're smarter than most scavengers."
Padawan Zarr leaned against the shuttle's doorway, her Togruta montrals glinting in the moonlight. "But not subtle. The Force screams around you, Flame Survivor."
James' hand drifted to his vibroblade. "What do you want?"
"Answers. Why does a backwater warlord radiate the Force like a beacon?"
[Force Cloak (Lv. 1) Activated – Galactic Attention: 7% → 5%]
The energy around James dimmed, his presence muffled. Zarr's eyes narrowed. "Clever. But you can't hide forever."
------------
At dawn, Tharak stormed into James' hut. "The western hunters refuse to share their kill. They say the refugees 'don't earn their keep.'"
James rubbed his temples. The system flashed:
[Crisis Management (Lv. 1) – Options:]
1. Confiscate the hunt (-20 morale, +30% food).
2. Negotiate a ration split (-10 morale, +15% food).
3. Lead a new hunt personally (-5 morale, risk of sand wyrm attack).
He chose Option 3.
The Iron Sands lived up to their name. Rust-colored dunes stretched endlessly, their surfaces glittering with flecks of oxidized metal from ancient asteroid impacts. The air tasted like burnt copper, and the heat warped the horizon into a shimmering mirage. James led the hunting party—Tharak, Rulan, and six seasoned warriors—deeper into the wastes. The refugees' survival depended on this kill.
Tharak marched beside James, his scarred face grim. "The wyrm's been stalking these dunes for weeks. It took two of ours last month. Stalked them like prey."
James adjusted the bone spear strapped to his back, its tip reforged with salvaged durasteel. "Then we return the favor."
Rulan, now a wiry teen with a sling perpetually at his hip, scanned the sands. "It's watching us already. I can feel it."
[Force Sensory Awareness: 12% → 15% – Faint vibrations beneath the sand detected.]
James knelt, pressing his palm to the ground. The Force whispered through the grains—a slow, predatory pulse. Due west.
"There," he said, pointing to a depression in the dunes where the sand rippled unnaturally. "It's nesting."
-----------
They circled the wyrm's lair, a crater-like pit lined with bleached bones and the mangled remains of Skarn armor. James motioned for the hunters to fan out, their boots crunching softly on brittle shale.
"Tharak, take Rulan and flank left. The rest—dig here." James marked a spot with his spear. "We'll collapse the tunnel entrance."
The warriors obeyed, driving shovels into the sand. Minutes later, the ground trembled.
A deafening roar split the air as the sand wyrm erupted—a colossal, segmented beast with a maw lined with diamond-hard teeth. Its armored hide, the color of dried blood, glistened under the sun.
[Sand Wyrm Alpha – Threat Level: Extreme]
[HP: 300 | Weak Points: Jaw Hinge, Underbelly]
"Now!" James yelled.
Tharak hurled a smoke grenade—a Skarn relic filled with blinding ash—into the wyrm's face. The creature recoiled, thrashing.
James leapt onto a boulder, channeling the Force.
[Force Telekinesis (Lv. 10) – Launching Debris Barrage…]
Rocks and bone shards shot upward, pelting the wyrm's eyes. It screamed, its tail whipping sideways and catching a hunter in the chest. The man flew ten meters, armor crumpled.
[Casualty: Hunter Kora – Injured (Broken Ribs)]
"Rulan—distract it!" James barked.
The teen nodded, slinging a stone imbued with volatile desert algae. It struck the wyrm's snout and exploded in a burst of acrid green smoke.
[Improvised Alchemy: 8% Success – Wyrm Disoriented (60 seconds)]
-----------
James seized the opening. He sprinted up the wyrm's thrashing tail, boots slipping on its armored plates, and drove his spear into the soft tissue beneath its jaw.
The beast reared, nearly throwing him. Blood—thick and black—gushed from the wound.
[Critical Hit: Wyrm HP – 300 → 150]
"Aim for the underbelly!" James shouted, clinging to the spear as the wyrm bucked.
Tharak and the hunters obeyed, hacking at the creature's exposed underside with axes and vibroshivs. The wyrm collapsed, its death throes shaking the dunes.
James yanked his spear free and leapt clear as the beast shuddered and stilled.
[Sand Wyrm Alpha Defeated]
[Pain Resistance: 47% → 50% – "Endured Wyrm's Thrash"]
[Tribal Leadership: Lv. 2 → Lv. 3 – "Unity in Crisis" Bonus Unlocked: +10% Morale]
-----------
The hunters butchered the wyrm in silence, its meat rich and iron-scented. Rulan knelt beside the injured Kora, applying a poultice of desert lichen.
"You fought well," Tharak said to James, wiping gore from his axe. "For a child."
There was no mockery in his tone now.
James nodded. "We'll need to smoke the meat before the hyperstorm hits."
As the party trudged back to Stone Ridge, the wind carrying the first acidic tang of rain, Rulan fell into step beside James.
"You knew it'd be there," he said quietly. "The Force told you?"
James glanced at him. "The desert tells me things. So do you, if you listen."
Rulan's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. The seeds of curiosity—or suspicion—were sown.
-----------
That night, the tribe gathered around the fire pit, feasting on wyrm stew and roasted cactus flesh. The refugees—once sidelined—were welcomed with rough claps on the back. Even the surly western hunters grudgingly acknowledged James' gamble had paid off.
His mother approached, her reptilian eyes reflecting the flames. "You risked much today."
"Risk is the price of trust," James said, watching Rulan demonstrate his sling trick to wide-eyed children.
She placed a scaled hand on his shoulder. "You sound like an elder."
He smiled faintly. "I had good teachers."
[Tribal Cohesion: Fragile → Stable]
-----------
Zarr returned, this time with her master—a Kel Dor Jedi Knight, his breath mask hissing softly.
"You mask your presence well," the Jedi rumbled. "But the Council senses your potential. Come with us. The Order can… guide you."
James crossed his arms. "And abandon my people to the Skarn?"
"The galaxy is larger than your tribe, child."
[Force Persuasion Check: Failed – Jedi resolve too strong.]
"Leave," James said coldly. "Or I'll show you how we handle uninvited guests."
The Jedi hesitated, then bowed. "This isn't over."
[Galactic Attention: 5% → 10%]
-----------
Three days later, the sky turned black.
A hyperstorm—a rare meteorological nightmare—swallowed the horizon. Winds shredded tents, and lightning split the watchtowers.
[Environmental Empathy (Lv. 1) – Warning: Structural Collapse Imminent]
James rallied the tribe into the buried starship hall, its durasteel frame their only shelter. As children huddled under pelts, he channeled the Force into the walls, reinforcing them.
[Force Body (Lv. 3) – Overexertion Penalty: -20% stamina]
"Will it hold?" his mother asked, her scaled face etched with fear.
"It has to," James gasped.
-----------
[STATUS PAGE]
[Age: 12]
[Current Identity: "Victorious Defender of the Tribe"]
[Affiliation: Tribe of Stone Ridge]
[STATS]
[Strength (Physical): 13]
[Agility (Movement & Reaction Speed): 15]
[Force (Midichlorian Count): 8,000]
[Luck: 8]
[SKILLS]
[Staff Combat: 55%] [Advanced] [Foundation skill; opened into subskills like Whirlstrike and Fluid Assault.]
[Combo Chain – Fluid Assault: Lv. 2] [Allows for smoother, uninterrupted chains of attacks during melee.]
[Momentum Skill – Whirlstrike: Lv. 2] [A forceful spinning strike, useful for clearing space or staggering foes.]
[Pain Resistance: 50%] [Allows to keep fighting while injured. Developed from repeated exposure in training and battle.]
[Tactical Insight: Lv. 2] [Grants limited predictive combat intuition; recognizes enemy stance shifts and weaknesses.]
[Force Body: Lv. 3] [Boosts physical resistance and stamina recovery; triggered through willpower during the first trial.]
[Force Sensory Awareness: 12%] [Allows user to detect hidden threats, resources, or presences (e.g., water sources, approaching enemies, or Force-sensitive beings) through the Force.]
[Force Telekinesis: Lv. 10] [Most used Force ability. Can lift, push, and crush enemies mid-combat. Precision is improving. Lift limit is expanded.]
[Force Cloak: Lv. 2] [A rare and advanced Force ability that allows a user to mask their Force signature, making them undetectable to other Force-sensitive beings. It's often associated with Sith stealth tactics (e.g., Darth Sidious hiding his dark side presence) or Jedi Shadows (elite Jedi who hunt dark side artifacts covertly).]
[Force Reinforcement: Lv. 1] [A utilitarian Force skill that strengthens objects, structures, or the user's body. Jedi often use it to reinforce shields or fortify defenses (e.g., Bastila Shan's Battle Meditation indirectly bolstered allies). Sith might enhance weapons or torture tools.]
[Strategic Planning Lv. 1] [New skill unlocked from tribe leadership and defensive planning. Provides insight into long-term survival and defense strategies.]
[Basic Engineering: 12%] [Construction and fortification design.]
[Tribal Leadership: Lv. 3] [Governing, morale management, organization.]
[Environmental Empathy (Passive): Lv. 1] [Grants an instinctive connection to the planet's ecosystems, letting the user "read" environmental patterns (weather shifts, geological stability, resource distribution).]
[Hydraulic Mastery: Lv. 1] [Grants advanced understanding of water systems (+10% irrigation efficiency).]
[Crisis Management Lv. 1] [Enables the user to make rapid, effective decisions during emergencies (raids, natural disasters, resource shortages).]