The journey was anything but short, and most days were spent crossing the endless hot, red sand and rocks. They stuck mainly to the road, if such it could be called, and the Sith were glad of it as the terrain all began to look much the same from one day to the next. It was a wonder to them that anyone had ever been able to navigate it to begin with.
According to Gavrik, they had to take a very specific path because their watersockets would only hold freshwater for 14 hours before it went sour. Thus, the days were punctuated by cool nights spent at various watering holes. Large oasis' where villages and settlements had sprung to life and with little wonder. All around the small lakes were lush, tropical vegetation which grew thick as if no one had bothered to tell the plants that this was a barren planet.
The days were a bit longer than the Galactic Standard of twenty-four hours. Trychon marked it at around twenty-five and a quarter, and the gravity felt slightly heavier, which made the days especially tiring, even riding on the back of their bipedal mounts. They reminded the brothers of a scaly, hornless version of the tauntauns back on Hoth.
In most of the villages they came to, the natives treated Raezyr and Trychon with a mixture of awe and reverence, and fear and hostility. They wanted to see the off-worlders who did the bidding of Vathka Rados, but at the same time the ancient stories only told of those who came to steal their treasures. In the beginning, the brothers wanted to speak with the natives, hoping to find out more about the legends surrounding the Meisos Crystals, but Gavrik strictly forbade it. He claimed that it would be a huge breach of their caste protocols.
The one exception to the villages was one that seemed to be more matriarchal in nature. The male Meisosians seemed to be almost non-existent there, and not only did the females not seem to be afraid of the new-comers, they went out of their way to offer their hospitality and services, including some of a more amorous nature. Trychon had wanted to spend some extra time there, seemingly fascinated by female of the species, and had Raezyr not been in a hurry to reach their destination, he probably could have been persuaded to stay a bit longer himself.
"This is no time to get side-tracked, brother," Raezyr admonished.
"You should loosen up a bit, Raez," the elder brother countered, looking around to make sure Gavrik didn't over hear. "We just made a deal that lets us ride this whole on Easy Street. We take a sight seeing tour of this dust ball planet, rattle our sabers a bit, then head back and get our crystals.
"And then we don't even have to do much work convincing Rados to tell us where he keeps his stash. He's going to show us. After that it's just a matter of persuading him that living without his crystal is better than dying with it... and then being buried without it anyway," Trychon explained, grinning. "So, relax."
"I know it's supposed to work like that," Raezyr explained, "but I feel like I'm waiting for the other grav-boot to drop. It just can't be this simple."
"Even if it isn't, we don't have much of a choice. What were we going to do?" Trychon asked. "Pillage Meisos with an army of four and force them to give up their crystals? No, let's just play along. Best case scenario: Things work out as planned. Worst case: Rados decides to renege and Rae-rae has to twist an old man's arm. One thing is for sure, despite being a Force user, he's no match for us, or we would have sensed it."
"Or maybe that's what he wants us to think," Raezyr said warily.
"Have it your way, Darth Dreary."
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