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Tros slowly walked the bridge of the ship, taking in every part of it. It felt like something he had been on before, yet could not place it as to when or where. For now, he simply just walked as Avao talked over the specifics of the Crusader-class corvette. Most of the features of the corvette had been only slightly updated shielding and weaponry. He didn't care for the output, he already knew it would perform beyond what it was supposed to. As Avao wrapped up, he found himself settling down into the command chair. Almost as soon as he did, something stirred within him. His eyes locked onto something in space that couldn't be seen. "Mand'alor? Where to?" The words came from Kot'dral. Tros didn't even need to turn to acknowledge him. "I have something brewing within my heart. The planet Ziost compels me to it." He now turned, but not to Kot'dral, but instead towards Avao. "Do we have it in our systems?" "We can find it if we don't." He then turned to face the blackness of space that before them. "Then I shall make this official voyage of the Revenant. Crew, we have our heading." Avao smiled at the official name of the ship she delivered to her Mand'alor. Tros felt it appropriate. ANd beside that, he could feel an excitement within his heart building. The Mandalorians of House Solus would soon arrive at Ziost, ready for whatever...

I grinned fiercely and jabbed my spear into the air as I saw the rest of the skiffs peeling away, the heatwave of a nearby explosion warming my face. We'd run them off! Now I just had to clear that kriffing dust off the ship, run a diagnostics, and we should be good to go. If I was going to search for Oka Geb (and hopefully he was still alive), I'd rather do it from the air. Then I noticed that the heat from the explosion hadn't faded. As I turned, banking the speeder, I didn't comprehend what I was looking at. The thing was massive. It was shaped like a rancor, but karking heck it was bigger than any rancor I'd ever seen! I was reminded why I'd avoided this planet. I saw where it was headed. "NO YOU DON'T!!!" I screamed. It was obvious what it was after. It wanted The Crate, my ship, and I'd be torn to bloody pieces before I let that thing have it! Granted I didn't know how to stop it, but I'd think of something. Or I'd die. So that was the start of a plan. I rocketed back towards the ship, the heat growing more intense with every second. Sweat poured down my face, but as I blinked a salty from my eyes, I saw the tusken laying mines down. That wouldn't do anything other than make it... ...Angry. I laughed. A quiet, nervous laugh. Maybe it was the heat baking my brain. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Or maybe the planet itself was just making me crazy. But I had another idea. Another really bad idea. Now I had a plan. I sped along the ground and shouted at the tusken as I did. "Make it mad!!!" I shouted. There wasn't time to elaborate further. I rode my speeder bike so fast into the cargo hold that I almost wrecked, braking just before I hit the opposite wall. I dug through one of the emergency supply stashes I kept under the seats, and pulled out three long, thin cylinders colored bright orange. Signal flares. I ran back outside, twisted the ends of each, and held them up in one hand. Brilliant white light poured from them, enough of a piercing glare to be seen from miles up if needed. And the beast certainly noticed. I lumbered forward faster, and I ducked back inside, step one accomplished. I needed its attention, for it to see me as a living thing and not just some tin can to crack open. Now I just needed it spitting mad. A muffled boom from outside told me that the tusken had started accomplishing part two of the plan, whether he knew it or not. I don't know if he got out of the way, and at the moment I wouldn't be much help to him if he hadn't. A second muffled boom signaled the titanic rancor had stepped on another mine, and a rumbling growl that drown out the echoing explosion was all I needed to hear to know that the creature was pissed. Come on. Come on! Do it you lizard from hell! A third boom, and then a fourth in quick succession was the only warning I had that the thing had picked up speed. It had seen me, and then it had hurt itself, and I suspected it was putting two and two together to blame me for that series of events. I braced myself. If I'd gotten this wrong, I was going to be one very dead arkanian. The Crate shuddered, grinding against the stone as something made it shift. Then, it began to tilt. I was only confused for a moment, as the rancor's face came into view in front of the cockpit. Even though The Crate was as long as this thing was tall, it was still managing to lift the front of the ship up in its massive arms and peer inside. And it saw me. And apparently the tusken had done his job exceptionally. The creature roared, a sound that seemed to shatter the world and left my ears ringing. Then it belched fire. A heatwave passed through the ship as the outside of the cockpit was enveloped in a firestorm. The Crate wasn't some cheap civilian transport, it was a military ship designed to handle reentry without shields in a pinch. But even so, the heat was turning the inside into an oven. Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework I repeated the mantra in my head as I struggled to keep my eyes on the control panel while not looking directly at the conflagration outside. Because I knew something the monster didn't. The dust that disabled my ship was magnetically clinging to the hull. And magnets stopped working when they got hot. With a fitful start, the control panel lit up. Maybe the creature sensed the change, or maybe it was pure coincidence, but it stopped disgorging its inferno at the same time, peering into the ship to see if it had killed the irritant. I stared back at it, grinning like mad. "Hi." I fired the guns.