[J21 - Zonju - AE] Swoop Bike Hunt

In the mysterious, ancient wastes of Zonju V...

"The swoop bikes these pirates use are damned fast..." Nira Scorn thought as she slowly eased off the throttle, bringing her own speeder bike to a stop at the scene of the crash. She'd almost lost her prey in these winding mountains and passes, but a well-placed shot had led to an unmistakable explosion as the pirate screamed out of sight.

She sat for a moment at the controls before removing her helmet, tasting the burning fuel and dry dust in the air.

As she approached the wreckage on foot, she produced a scanner, checking the area for any signs of movement. These pirates were notorious for springing traps on Ashlon forces, using the byzantine network of caves and rock formations to hide until they could strike. Her droid companion, X-3, whirred behind her, checking the crash.

"Hrnng"

The sound came from the flaming husk of the swoop bike.

"It looks like we have a survivor, Sergeant," the droid clipped, its robotic voice bouncing off the rocky mountainsides around them. "These pirates are nothing if not resilient."

Nira detected a hint of respect in the automated voice, quickly shrugging off the notion. She didn't like to think of droids possessing agency.

The pirate slowly clawed his way out from under the charred bike, the sounds he was making indicating it was a herculean task.

"Damned... hck... Imps..."

Nira came to a stop, watching with mild curiosity as the pirate brought himself up onto one knee.

"You've brought this entire mess on yourselves. If you hadn't ruined Zonju, we would have had no reason to come in and fix things here," she explained, knowing her rationalization would fall on deaf ears.

The pirate let out what could only have been a laugh, choked through a spit of blood onto the ground. "The Wreckjaw Syndicate was here long before your Empire replaced the last one, and we'll be here long after you're gone."

Nira aimed her pistol, and with a sharp crack, the pirate slumped to the ground.

"You need to check your sensors, X-3. I don't see any life here."

The droid stared blankly at the scene, its sensors whirring frantically.

As she turned to take another look around, Nira felt something odd. Her scanner still showed no movement, but she could swear she heard - or maybe just felt it? - a mild buzzing that continued to build in her mind.

Was it coming from that crumbling pillar?

The sooner she got out of here, the better.

"Do a final sweep of the area, X-3. Log anything interesting, and then let's get back to base," she barked, marching back to her speeder bike.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something alive in this ancient, dead, buried planet...

---

As any good second in command should, I followed the leader 🙂 Sentinel_Brix had an awesome representation of scout troopers and 74-Z speeder bikes, and I wanted to build on that a bit more to show said troopers running down a swoop bike pirate (also very much inspired by the Jedi Academy level!)

I also wanted to work in a bit of the mystical dark force energy/ruins in the background. This was a fun build to get back into things as I'm in the midst of a big move, and I'd love to hear your feedback!