Astralis was nervous, but he quickly suppressed that. He was not the best at standing in front of crowds. He could lead men - and had - but this was not the same. No blood-lust, no adrenaline - just a gut-wrenching twisting as he thought about what he was about to do. The rear curtain, which he was behind, slid open a bit as the emcee finished his introduction, beckoning Astralis to the stage. He walked through the split in the rear curtain, only hanging up in it slightly. He stumbled as he extricated himself and his massive body rode its inertia all the way to the floor. The wooden stage with air underneath might as well have been a drum - it absolutely THUNDERED when Astralis fell in his face. The crown erupted in laughter. The laughter didn’t die down much as the giant in black got to his feet trying to muster some small amount of dignity. “Well at least I started off my set with a laugh!” Astralis yelled - few heard him over the laughter. Astralis spread his arms wide and walked to the mic. “Thank you! I’ll be here all week! Try the veal!” Low comedy and pratfalls was not what he had planned for, but one of the few things he knew was to give the crowd what it wanted. “ relieve it or not, that’s was truly an accident” Astralis explained to the laughing and cheering crowd. “Really!” he plead but they only laughed a little louder. “Okay then, perhaps now you’re ready for a joke?” Astralis probed the crowd - they were quieting down so he took a deep breath and was about to start his set - when he remembered what had just come through his mind moments before - give the crowd what it wants. He thought as quickly as he could, then decided that a bit of a bloody nose might just be worth the laughs. He decided to “accidentally” trip up the mic stand and hit himself with it. He reached for the microphone stand but reached a little too hard, and pushed the mic stand awkwardly forward, seemingly accidentally. As the stand fell towards the audience Astralis stepped on the weighted disc-shaped base, jerking the thin metal rod back up - and right into his nuts. He doubled over and let out a truly painful sounding “OOOF”. The laughing got louder, along with several groans at the direction Astralis was going. Red-faced and trying to catch his breath from the nut-shot Astralis blew air through his mouth, cheeks bellowed out - he held one hand up for quiet. “What short fucker was out here before me? That was supposed to hit me in the face!” He said into the mic. The crowd renewed the almost dead roaring of laughter. “Okay, that’s all I’ve got! Hope your ready for the incomparable Krima!” Astralis spread his arms wide, took a bow, and walked gingerly off stage, careful not to let his aching testicles touch the sides of his legs. His exit was slow, a bit bow-legged, and comic as he tiptoed. Applause and laughter followed him, so despite not doing a single word of his planned set, this turned out to be the most successful show he’d ever done.

Written by myself. Hope you enjoy!

(Alisa, Northeast outskits)

Kalen Joss, being such a novice at... almost everything in this galaxy, was quite suprised at the recent turn of events. He had made some direct contacts with leadership of House Ventress, a sub-unit of Clan Plagueis that controlled this system and the area around it, he had found out. Furious had even pointed out a great tailor/seamstress that he could use to pick up some clothes to 'look' the part for his meeting with the 'Colonel' the next day.

After buying a few new outfits with the profits from the bounty, he found himself chatting with the seamstress who was finishing taking his measurements. She was being quite handsy as she did so aswell. To be honest Kalen was looking for some company, and didnt mind in the slightest. He had basically been on his own now for 4 months. The humanoid need for bonding kicked in.

'Uh, hey, would you want to maybe get together sometime.' He said to the homely looking but kind brunette who the tailor had introduced as 'his daughter'. She appeared to be in her early 30s, not far off of his own age. And she had made some small talk, and again, the handsyness tipped off Kalen that may be interested.

She rolled up her tape and stood up behind him and whispered. 'I'll meet you at the intersection at the end of the block to the north in 30 minutes.' She heard her father returning from the back room.

'And thats your measurements all done Mr. Kalen. We’ll have that all ready for you tomorrow afternoon' the daughter said sweatly as she handed him a receipt chit.

Kalen took the hint and thanked her and the tailor and exited. It had been a long time since he had been on a 'date'. About 15 years as he recalled. His last romance had been during his early 20s, and he had been courting the engineers redheaded daughter. After that brief fling romance had ceased for him. Through attrition and merit he was required to take on more and more roles. Within the small isolated community of survivors, Kalen had been a 'glue guy' so often he hadn't had time to worry about romance. This was much to the chagrin of his now dead parents. They had thought that he would carry on their 'Adept mating traditions' while in their exile.

Almost exactly 30 minutes later, the tailors daughter, who he would later learn was named Cora came walking up to the corner she had specified along with a male and female companion. As she approached she smiled at him and said 'Mr. Kalen, these are my friends Tras and Klina...Have you ever been to a bush party?' She said as she grabbed him by the hand and made to walk off behind her friends. Tras was carrying a mandolin looking instrument, and Klina had a wicker basket with her. Kalen felt a flutter in core, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

((An hour later))

It was getting near dusk and the 4some had made the campfire near the treeline of an otherwise open meadow. They were about to start cooking their dinner. Kalen had been told, was going to be lightly breaded lizard fresh roasted on the fire with sticks and then wrapped with a large flat local leaf, and eaten with a dipping sauce. Kalen had been to campfires a few times before, infact one of his dates with the Engineers daughter had been a romantic campfire he had planned, those many years ago.

Cora said 'So Kalen, what was the major score you made that had big Furious dropping you off at my Dads store?' She said cheekily. Her Dad was not cheap, and usually catered to established members of 'the Brotherhood', being known for excellent alteration work to formal uniforms.

Kalen was sitting on a log around the campfire. It was obvious that her and her group of friends used this site before. Logs had been felled for benches and the firepit was surrounded with small boulders.

'Oh, it was nothing really, just turned in a bounty is all.' Kalen said as he stood, noting a dead tree still standing near the edge of the forest about 30 feet away.

Cora licked her lips 'Oh you're a Bounty Hunter then are you. How exciting' she said, almost sarcastically.

Kalen shrugged 'He was a villianous piece of scum, who had performed countless crimes in the region...and unluckily for him I was running low on credits' he allowed himself a short laugh before continuing 'Hey, you guys want to see a trick?' He walked over to the dead tree as they shouted for him to show them the trick.

Feeling somewhat liberated since his run in with Furious, Tahiri and Ruka the day before. Kalen pulled out his lightsaber, and ignited as he approached the tree, and it a flurry of motion and blade slashes, he cut the 35 foot tall tree down into a random pile of 20-30 inches logs, in 3.5 seconds. He smiled as he heard the 3 local civilian cheering and laughing behind his back. He withdrew his blade and turned back to them with a smile.

'Nice work Master Jedi, now why don't you come eat some dinner' Cora again said it in a sarcastic tone, but this time it was an inviting one.

Regardless of how she said it, being referred to as a Master Jedi windened the grin on his face. He walked back to the campfire while using his telekinesis to float the logs he had just cut into a neat pile next to the fire pit.

'Im excited to try to these 'Chewy Dips' you all keep referring to.

'They're sooo good, come on come on I'll show you see...I always like to let my leaf bake for a while on the fire stones before wrapping my Dip.' Cora gleefully said, to which Klina rolled her eyes, obviously having heard this debate before.

(An hour later)

After eating dinner and responding to all the questions his new local friends had after he told them his 'origin story'(3rd generation survivor of a lost squadron of ships, losing his family while returning to this galaxy, etc etc) Tras and Klina had grabbed a blanket from Klinas basket and had  moved off away from the Kalen, Cora and the fire. Kalen had caught Cora's flirtatious glances and said 'So...?'

That's all it took. She nearly tackled him as she lunged at him and began kissing him passionately.

(7 hours later)

Kalen awoke, in Cora's arms partially clothed, using Kalens poncho and large cloak as a blanket. The fire was still smoldering as he gently exhilarated himself from her embrace go and relief himself. He was smiling from ear to ear, and from that moment on, he would rededicate himself to the principles of love, peace and harmony whenever possible.

After returning to her warm embrace under the cloak and sleeping for another hour or so. The 4 of them eventually all awoke, they smothered what was left of the fire, packed up their belongings and began the 30 minute walk back to 'town'. It was infact a fairly large city, but considering it's origins and with nothing else surrounding it, Alisa City center was often just referred as 'town' by locals. It was so cliche, but even Kalen couldn't help but notice that Cora had held his hand then entire trip home.

((OOG- Fun competition, ive recently returned from a vacation at the lake, and campfires always remind menof summer fling. This gave me an opportunity to channel some more summer vibes, only this time in star warsville. And yes, I name dropped that pop MGK summer song title at the end. Thanks, great event))