#sims4journeytobatuu

[enkisstories]

Drinking with scoundrels... nothing overly suspicious here. Stranger friendships have formed in the heat of battle.

But delivering stolen goods to the man who is known as the gatekeeper to the local underworld boss?

Rose: "Why are you doing all this? Finn...?"

Finn: "It all started during the occupation. Oga Garra's gang occasionally aided the Resistance, and continued to do so well into the liberation war. Now she wants us to pay her back or she will backstab us. Plus, she is annoyed by Agnon's blockade, that hinders her smuggling activities. Somehow getting attacked by the First Order is our fault, too, in her eyes."

Armitage: "Oh, the poor gangster... Annoyed!"

Finn: "Long story short, Poe, BB-8 and me were put to that duty by Commander Viera. When Oga Garra says "frog", we jump. But we aren't supposed to tell anybody else in the Resistance what we are doing or why."

Armitage: “And it’s not as if you had allys who could deal with the criminal scum? We’re not talking Black Sun or Crimson Dawn here, but a local mafia. I’ll have that filth out of town in a week at most!”

[minervasims4edits]

Batuu-Crew🖤

Dinée, Bailey, Sephora and Ryker 🖤

@belaloallure3 , @remussirion , @gorillax3-cc , @asansan3 , @plumbobsnfries , @natalia-auditorets4 , @pyxiidis

🖤Thanks to all CC Creator🖤

[enkisstories]

And with that, it was time to leave Black Spire.

Given their travel companions on this mission, Rey’s friends wondered if maybe they should have opted for a Star Destroyer instead of the good old Millenium Falcon, to have enough space to avoid each other.

Surprisingly it were the two who had taken great pains to avoid each other during their first mission together, who were now lagging behind, walking side by side and being more comfortable to chat than ever before.

Armitage: "How did you spend the truce?"

Rose: "I volunteered at a pet shelter. I had almost made up my mind about adopting a little furball, when the Moonwood incident occured. You?"

Armitage: "I learned calligraphy. BB-8?"

BB-8: [Tried to learn to swim. Didn’t end well.]

Rose: “You should try floating on a tire next time you’re at a beach!"

Armitage: "Or on one of those inflatable lantern birds!"

Rose: "No, they wouldn’t be able to sustain his w... Wait, you have inflatable lantern birds in the First Order, too?"

Armitage: “Yes, we do. You see, at one point Snoke gave up on stomping out decadence and instead slapped a heavy tax on most luxury items.”

Armitage: “Some things, of course, are priceless.”

Rose: “Yes!”

Armitage: “With the planet destroyed, I’ll never again get another taxidermied Eptesicus ilumni.”

Rose: “Not quite what I meant, but close enough, I guess.”

---

This very-nearly-holding hands glitch is more adorable than most of the game’s actual romance interactions.

[enkisstories]

I finished shooting their prologue, now it’s time to play them!

(Still ~130 posts to go until they’ll pop up on this blog, though.)

[enkisstories]

At the end of their adventure, Rey speaks out loud what they all know. It helps the group get grounded in reality again after the surrealistic experience that was Exegol.

Rey: "Done. Ben Solo is no longer an unsurmountable super-human, but a regular force user. He'll also have to deal with a lot of emotional shit.”

Armitage: “But he still rules the First Order and we still have to defeat him.”

Rey: “We defeated Kylo Ren and at the same time put Ben Solo into a position to help us destroy the First Order. Let’s give him and us some time to reflect and then make contact.”

Rose: "I'm sorry, Hux. I wanted to free you, too, but we had only this one wish from Exegol."

Armitage: "Your wish was to bring back to life all victims of..."

Rose: "Yes, I know, but I've thought about that some more, and came to the conclusion that Finn's wish was more sensible. We've had time to mourn, to move on, whereas every single stormtrooper is a future death waiting to happen.

If we'd freed them from their conditioning with a second wish, we'd have prevented those deaths and deprieved the First Order of their army at the same time. And you being a victim of that brainwashing, too, it might just have cleared your mind. We could have been friends.”

Rey: “We already are!”

Armitage: "Hardly! I don’t befriend people who want to steal my army!”

Rose: “You don’t need that army anymore. Working together, and with Ben Solo, the First Order will soon be history!”

Armitage: “Yeah, dream on! As if that ever had been my intention! Let’s get a drop on Ren while he’s dazed, and afterwards I’ll find you all a nice place to retire to, before I will do away with the Resistance. 

Except... After everything we’ve been through together... If you wanted to join me, that wouldn’t be unwelcome.” (pause) “No, let’s say it as it is: I’d be happy to have you guys.”

Rose: “For the First Order High Command?”

Armitage: *nods* “We’d be unstoppable.”

Rose: “Okay, then. I was afraid I’d have to do this...” (cues the handbuzzer) "You're arrested in the name of the New Republic, Armitage Hux!"

Poe: "Wait, she's sorry for having lost a mind game against an eldritch horror, but not for electroshocking people?"

Finn: "Never."

(End of Round 5)

[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]

Soon the tea was ready. Rose Chapman had used the time to prepare sandwiches and the guests had bonded with their host over the fact that she was sharing a first name with a friend of theirs, Rose Tico.

Rey: “Mhm, cucumber! I like stuff that is water and food in one.”

*proceeds to suck a slice dry*

Armitage: "For crying out loud, Rey, work on those table manners! You're the Supreme Leader of the First Order and heir to the Palpatine bloodline!"

Rey: "My heritage...” *slurp* “...doesn't define me."

Rose: "That exchange was way too natural to be the result of intoxication. You are not drunk. And neither were you joking. You are really... Rey Palpatine, General Hux and Ben Solo."

Ben: "'fraid so."

Rose: "The whole galaxy believed you'd gotten killed by Kylo Ren, when he destroyed the Jedi temple. But in truth you survived and did Jedi stuff behind the scenes? That must be quite the burden."

Armitage: "Oh, yes, he is. But we're managing."

Look at that smiling bastard! I seated Rey as a buffer between Ben and Armitage, but Ben decided he'd rather sit opposite of his rival. No matter how fervently he rejects the Dark Side now, trolling Hux will never get old for Ben.

(Ben’s fruit jam sandwich is bit of an inside joke. He doesn’t even like fruit jam that much, but he knows that Hux (in this AU) has a sweet tooth, and also that the other wouldn’t want to get caught dead eating sweets in public. So naturally Ben has the fruity treat in full view of Armitage and that’s probably the reason for the seat-change.)

[enkisstories]

Poe: "Last Chance to kiss that stubble... It needs to be gone after the tournament."

Finn: "Just grow it out!"

Poe: "But the bet was about the loser of the match having to shave."

Finn: "The spirit of your bet with Dree was that you wouldn't look exactly the same anymore. Growing a full beard would fulfill that condition. And you'd be rebel as heck for doing that!"

Poe: "Ah, haha! Dree will never see that coming!"

Finn: "My sweet rebel scum!"

[enkisstories]

Rose: "Hello, little guy! Do you have a name?”

Armitage: “I considered RA3, but then again, an R-name for a BB-droid is silly.”

Rose: “RA3... That stands for Rae. After Rae Sloane, the First Order’s founder?"

Armitage: "She was my mentor, back when we started rebuilding the empire. Said this time we'd do it right. I'm pretty sure Snoke had her killed, yet I had nothing better in mind than to follow his banner...

When Ben killed Snoke, and I proclaimed myself the new Supreme Leader, I thought things had come full circle. Well, I was wrong about that. But I like to imagine that Rae would approve of what I’m doing here and how I’m doing it."

It had been, how long exactly? Three seasons? Since Rose had heard Armitage claim that people and equipment were interchangeable to him. Resources either way.

An odd side effect of this conviction had been him accepting BB-8 as an equal teammember pretty quickly (as early as their trip to Komorebi, actually).

Rose: “Droids are still seen as something closer to pets than to people. If you wish to pass your mentor’s name down, and do it in earnest, you should consider saving it for a baby.”

Armitage: “A ba... by.”

Yeah, right. He should have known that five minutes without complications were a glitch in the fabric of the universe. A baby! Not that Armitage was averse to the idea of becoming a father, to the contrary, he had a long list of improved parenting techniques (the majority of which consisted of doing the direct opposite of what Brendol would have done) that he was ready to test in practise. 

But having a child meant trying for one first. Repeatedly, probably.

Back on Ryloth, when he had been part of that unlikely threemating with Finn and Poe, Finn had been Poe’s main course, and Armitage the desert or the seasoning. It had been pleasant.

To the contrary in a committed couple the husband was expected to be the main course all the time. The idea of such frequent intercourse was not just not appealing, it actively scared the husband-to-be, and this particular fear wasn’t one of the kind one could train onesself out of. It was part of Armitage’s nature that he could change as little as his eye color.

His low sex drive had always been one of the many factors that had contributed to Armitage feeling superior over his agemates. He wasn’t just more calculated, determined and patient than the other officer cadets, he had literally been BORN better! But now all of a sudden this trait had become a liability.

Rose: “You do want children, right? I always figured you’d want. I just never brought it up, because I was uncertain myself. But then Lt. Dree’s little Jin toddled our way and I knew, yes, being a parent would be nice.”

Armitage: “Uh-huh... Nothing to be anxious about.”

Rose: “But don’t get ideas! Even if there wasn’t a war ongoing, it’s not that I’d want to start immediately!”

Armitage: “Heh, good. Although the mental image of us chasing criminals with baby carriers on our backs sure is something...”

Rose: “On our backs? You’ll want the rugrat front-carried to maximize the spit-range, haha! - Now back to work with you! I’ll babysit B3-RY.”

Armitage: I have to bring this up rather sooner than later...  But I’d rather surrender to the Resistance for real, because once I tell Rose, it’ll be over.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the best day for the organized crime.

[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]

Rose: "There they come. To the right my namesake, to the left my... son in law and in the middle... Is this really happening?"

Rose: "What am I to say?!"

Rey: "Don't worry about it. The Force will come to your aid and guide your tongue."

Armitage: "For the last time! A function of the universe doesn't have a will! It just happens!"

Rey: "I really wish it was the last time you claimed that, but I know we won't be so fortunate."

Ben: "Do you think... this might work... for my mom and me, too? The Force arbiting, I mean."

[enkisstories]

Rose, Finn, Poe and BB-8 were on their way to the Chapman farm to meet up with the others. It was mild day in early fall, so at some point they had decided to leave Rose' landspeeder behind at a waystation and walk the rest of the way. The weather and the beautiful landscape aside, it somehow felt like the correct thing to do.

All kinds of smells were in the air, and one in particular came from a fruit bearing tree.

Poe: "Snacks, anybody?"

Finn: "Yes, thank you! Seeing that we're almost at The Bridge, we can use any scrap of energy we can get!"

Rose: "What bridge? I had the speeder on auto, didn't study the map."

Finn: "I didn't study the map, either, but I know there'll be a bridge to our left soon. And also..."

Rose: "Yes?"

Finn: "Now it gets strange! The bridge is the barrier between civilisation and the unknown. It's guarded by all kinds of scary creatures, that will attack anybody attempting to cross it. You have to best the guardians to be judged worthy to enter the wilderness, because otherwise what awaits you out there will tear you apart. - Say, what's in those fruit, Poe?"

Poe: "Just vitamins!"

Finn: "Sure."

Poe: "You know, I had such a place, too, when I was a youngling. It was a tree stump, only in my imagination it became a checkpoint. Space ships took off from the cleared space around it, sometimes whole fleets. Uh, the latter happened during bird migration season. I think the geese were the Empire in my head."

Finn: "You're lucky to have that memory, but I don't think there was something like that in baby stormtrooper boot camp. Not sure what's come over me. Let's make get some more distance behind us while the sun it still up!"

[enkisstories]

The annual Black Spire Summer Race was almost decided. After horses and riders had demonstrated their endurance, agility and jumping skills at obstacles along the track, now there was only the stone bridge to cross to reach finishing line.

Two horses were clearly in front, a Batuu-hoof and a Moonwood workhorse. Close behind them, two riders fought viciously over third place.

*clomp, clomp, clomp*

One of the front runners was the cup holder, called Plum, the other a challenger from Moonwood Mill, going by the name of "Ruin". Plum was in second place when they entered the home stretch...

Daniel (panting): "We've... got... this... He won't..." *gasps* "...sacrifice what he'd have... to... keep... this pace..."

Any moment now the front runner would slow down and then all Plum and Daniel would have to do was keep going at the current speed, the fastest they were able to go while still passing the post-race vet check. Daniel actually had to rein Plum in a little, otherwise she'd overdone it.

Alas...

Ruin with his rider entered the bridge, where the winds were blowing hard, in addition to the gust from them going fast already. No hairstyling could withstand this double barrage.

Ruin's rider frowned when his perfecly coifed thatch turned into something like a scarecrow's top, but he pushed through and crossed the finishing line first.

Daniel: "Kudos! I didn't think you'd do that."

Armitage: "If I got ten credits everytime someone said that, I could buy a capital ship.”

Daniel: “Only people usually don’t add “Kudos”, when they say that about you! So... a landspeeder license plate, maybe.”

Rose: "Hello, dashing rebel! Have you seen my fiance? Tall, dark, perfectly styled flaming hair?"

Poe: "Probably fell into the canyon. Hit on this one instead, he's a better catch!"

Rose: “But I actually liked that hairstyle on him!”

Armitage: "There better wasn’t a photo-finish camera in place..."

Armitage scored 10 points, Daniel, Rose, Poe and Don nine points each in the rabbit hole competitions. Then the tiebreaker races gave me Daniel - Rose - Poe - Don as the finishing order. Gavin only got eight points.

[enkisstories]

Next the governor inspected the body armour he had ordered for the new city watch. Finn had picked the best that was available at the market, and drafted Rose and Armitage to give a demonstration of the ease of use even by non-trained wearers.

Markus: "Lt. Chen has already changed into the new suit, I see?"

Rey: "Well, we informed her a week in advance. She in turn rallied everyone loyal to Batuu or the Resistance or even to my person. 

See, I can only speak for the First Order as a whole. If individual members refuse to leave Batuu, some coercion might be required. And who better to do that than Tina's cops?"

Officer Zechs: "All this effort, just to steal one pathetic backwater planet from us... I still say the First Order is stronger than the Republic Remnant!”

Jarik knew that it was pointless to enter a discussion with someone who had chosen their allegiance based on which faction they believed to be the more powerful one. Therefore all he said in reply was: “Go pack your things.”

[enkisstories]

At their fourth vacation day Finn and Poe were able to play on the swings without that conjuring up images of space battles. Poe wasn't fumbling for the controls of his "vehicle" anymore and Finn didn't scan the vicinity for targets.

They were getting better, and they finally had time for themselves, too, but there was still some lingering tenseness, that probably wouldn't go away as long as the First Order existed.

For now there was the ceasefire and the awareness that they could squander the leftover distress signals from the Komorebi mission as fireworks.