Myrkr

[Cyrus Knight]

The Redawn, the personal ship of Cyrus Knight, arrived from hyperspace over the heavily forested planet of Myrkr, where few breaks from the trees existed and among the trees almost nothing was safe. There was a very interesting ecosystem on Myrkr, one where the primary predators hunted with the Force and the primary prey generated bubbles in the Force that disallowed the vornskrs to use that sense to locate them.

 

It was almost curious that the vornskrs had not lost touch with the Force as a species, for it was barely useful to them in most parts of the jungle, for the ysalamiri had a curious exponential effect on the bubbles of others, effectively able to engulf the planet as a whole if they gathered in a single location. But they didn't, and that was what kept the ecosystem alive.

 

Knight was still uncertain as to why the Link needed ysalamiri--their common use was to aid in defeating Jedi Knights or Sith Lords. Knight himself preferred to fight Jedi or Sith at their full potential and ability, but he could understand why most operatives wouldn't feel the same. Still...why would the Link need to fight Jedi or Sith to begin with?

 

The warrior attempted to locate Durose and Brina through the tracker that he had been handed, but shook his head at the stupidity of whoever had the idea of using a tracker. The trees of Myrkr contained a surprising amount of metal that easily threw off such a signal and disallowed any effective use of scanners. He really didn't have any way to find the pair except through visual sighting.

 

Knight simply headed straight in and followed the most direct course to the planet, hoping Durose had done the same thing.

 

Sure enough, Knight found the Crazy Mynock after only a few minutes and landed beside it. He exited his ship and send a comm to Durose, not having any other way of locating him. "This is Cyrus Knight," he said through the commlink. "The trees of Myrkr have proven somewhat of an obstacle in any attempt to locate you. I managed to find your ship. If you wish me to join you, a certain amount of instruction would be helpful."

[Brina Thalin]

As they walked back to the Mynock, Brina looked at Durose, surprise written on her features. "Well, what is it about me that you want to know? I grew up on Talus, in the Corellian system. I had a sister, Christya, but she died a few years ago. I also have one--I mean, two," she corrected herself, "brothers."

 

They reached the top of a crest of dirt and continued. "I used to work at a restaurant on Coruscant, but then I joined up with the Link as a pilot. Eventually, I rose in rank, and recently, I was made a partner in the company."

 

She shrugged. "I guess I've found my place, finally."

 

Just then, Durose's comlink crackled, and a very proper, accented voice came over it. She smiled at his prim choice of words. She could tell already that he was going to be an interesting employee. No response was necessary, however, as a few seconds later, the two entered the clearing where they had landed the ship. "No instruction is necessary," Brina called out to him. "We're here. You must be Cyrus Knight. I'm Brina Thalin," she greeted him. "Pleased to meet you."

[Cyrus Knight]

A little annoyance was Knight's prime internal emotion for a second before he cut it off. He had managed to track them down and proceed with due haste to this forsaken, tree-covered rock only for them to be prepared to leave just as he found them. Still, there was nothing that could be done about it, and he had been as prompt as possible. He was here.

 

More important things took the annoyance's place and Knight inclined his head briefly in a slight bow before he shook Brina's hand. "Greetings. I am who you suspect," he said. "How may I be of service?"

[Brina Thalin]

She laughed. "Well, first of all, you don't need to be so formal. I may be your superior officer, but I'm human too. Besides, the formality will only get in the way."

 

As he asked what he could do, she nodded towards the ship. "Well, we're just getting camp set up. If you could help us move the stuff we'll need from the Mynock, it'll make the job go much faster."

 

Taking the lead, she went onboard and grabbed a crate of rations and medical supplies, then headed back towards the valley where they had decided to set up camp.

[Durose Roshan]

Durose was somewhat disappointed at Cyrus's arrival, only because he was just starting to get to know a little bit more about Brina. It was just as well, though, because he figured they could use the extra hand.

 

Grabbing all he could carry reasonably over a distance of a kilometer, Durose started to head out.

 

"I think we'll take two trips. We should take everything to the peak of the valley first and then once everything is there we can slowly move things down the trail to our camp below. Any questions?"

 

Ears open to any opinions, questions, or suggestions to be voiced, Durose began to marching.

 

 

***---***

 

Only a few minutes after the group left, a passager shuttle landed nearby. As the ramp came down, Victoria accompanied Proc to the surface. Trying the comm she received a lot of static, but it did sound like the comm went through. A few seconds later Durose returned her question.

 

"Jusss....ay...p..oo... comi...ak..." the comm crackled.

 

Victoria strugged, "I think he said to stay put. So how are you feeling today?"

[Cyrus Knight]

Knight raised a concealed eyebrow. He didn't know how comfortable he could get with these people just yet, them being his employers and nothing more, so breaking formality wasn't his favorite order at the moment. In his opinion, when employees got too comfortable with employers, bad things started to happen regarding respect and loyalty. The most effective way to keep a mercenary happy (not that Knight was, per se, a mercenary) was to maintain clear rules of authority and simply give orders that were able to be followed.

 

There wasn't any problem with carrying things from the Mynock, of course, and Knight immediately grabbed a load and began to hike as instructed. Carrying equipment easily beat out doing absolutely nothing or something as pointless as standing guard to a trash compactor. Even those things, Knight had taught himself, could be usefull in self-discipline, but it was not the sort of thing one signed up for.

 

More than anything else, Knight desired battle, for only through it could he grow stronger.

 

The experienced combatant made the hike with his eyes scanning the trees around him, searching for ysalamiri or some hint to the presence of a dangerous predator. Vornskrs were pitch black in coloration and hunted at night (which was not long off), making them difficult to spot. They were intelligent and cunning, formidable foes. His last hostile encounter with them had left him with a deep scratch in the armor he had been wearing at the time, but he had slain many of them with prowess.

 

He knew that he would not leave Myrkr without combating at least one. In truth, he looked forward to it.

[Menthu]

Procs had been feeling funny ever since he had come to this planet. so it wasn't odd that he was a little snappy.

 

"You want to know how I feel.. I feel sick. Must be something to do with the air here."

 

He grimenced. At least they had armed him some what. He still didn't have a blaster. Just a few different kinds of melee weapons and things of that nature.

 

"So we stay put eh. Whatever works."

[Mr. Mortati]

Mr. Mortati watched over the camp as everything was set in place. It was something of a make shift fort with barely any electronics. He had guards with high powered, slug throwers with scopes at each corner watching for anything that could be considered a threat. Teams of twenty men were dispatched for two hours at a time to gather what they came for and there was a rotation of four different teams.

 

Personal time was allowed, four hours a day for it. The rest of the day was spent performing guard duty, sleeping, or out in the wild looking for the little creature they sought. Much of their work was done during the day though, due to the electronic interference it would have been far to hard to try and work through the night.

[Brina Thalin]

As they transferred the materials they'd need, Brina was determined to get to know her co-workers better.

 

"Alright, Durose, I've told you about myself, now I want to hear about you," she said. "And you too, Cyrus. Tell us about yourself."

 

Part of the reason she included Cyrus in the questioning was because she hadn't gotten the chance to interview him, but part of it also was to make him feel welcome and get him to relax. Brina was Talusian, and growing up so near to Corellia had had an effect on her. She hated protocol, although she had become more and more familiar with it as time went on. If she was in charge here, or at least, in co-charge with Durose, she wanted the others to be at ease.

[Cyrus Knight]

Knight kept himself from sighing. Every time someone asked him about his past, he had to be extremely careful in what he said. He would not lie to her, nor would he lie to anyone else, even for the sake of keeping his true past a secret. Forging an identification and writing a past had been as close as he would get, and he only did those things because they were absolutely necessary. Since then, the science of what words he chose to use had been his safety.

 

The warrior wondered passively what the response would be if he actually revealed his true past and former identity. He did not, of course, consider granting them such a revelation, but the thought was curious. "My past, Miss Thalin, is largely unimportant to my current affiliation with the Link," he decided to say. "My records hold a telling of my past, but I'm sure you've read those. All that you need to know of me is that I value morality, honesty, loyalty and honor, despising their opposites--baseness, deceit, betrayal and cowardice.

 

"My loyalty extends first to my code of honor, if you will. This is as much a warning to you as anything--there are certain things I will not take part in, and I have killed my code's violators simply because they exist," Knight finished. It seemed like just the right amount of information to give out--only what was truly relevant and nothing beyond that. Once again, his final statement was to show that, although he was loyal to the Link, he was not to be taken as a thug or mercenary. He was a powerful individual, and that was that.

[Durose Roshan]

Durose allowed Cyrus to speak first. Listening to his comments, Durose was once again dissatified.

 

After he finished Durose spoke, "Those with dishonorable pasts usually have something to hide. Deceit, betrayal and cowardice wear the cloak of mystery and deception. In your word play you attempt to cloak feelings in riddles. However, Battle speaks and it's feeling is true. I do not trust your words or the lack of them. And that's why I had you two battle. It was the only way to see your turn intentions. The methods you use to meet your opponents speak truer than any words can express. Stance, form, and discipline are a means of expression and communication. They speak of one's heart and one's devotion to their cause. And it is said that the more one knows of combat, the more they can express themselves. For an Echani warrior, battle provides us the ability to read feelings and emotion through combat. To an Echani, a combat between two people says more than hours of talking."

 

Durose smiled deviously, "I learned much of your heart in that battle, Cyrus. Much of it we will not discuss currently. Just know that I trust you for now. However, if you break your code to betray me, I will kill you. This is an extremely delicate and dangerous operation and I need to know that everyone is working together, not divided."

 

They had already dropped off the first load and were on their way back to the ship.

 

Adding a little further about himself, Durose mentioned, "As for me, you already know most of it, Brina. I was born on Cathar. My parents moved the family to Talus to escape unrest on the homeworld when I was a baby. We moved a few times ending up on Corellia and then Coronet and finally returning to Cathar when I was 16. I wanted to know more about my history and heritage and so I joined our tribe. When I turned about 24, 25 I decided to become a bigtime bounty hunter. I've pretty much been doing that ever since. It must have been almost 10 years ago that I first came to Myrkr. I was chasing a bounty and he thought he could throw me off his trail if he hid here. It almost worked, too. At first I was completely unready for all the planet effected. However, I adapted and did manage to capture him and escape alive."

 

Durose grinned, "In fact, realizing the strategic value of the planet, I returned and make it my home/base of operations. So yes, I do know quite a few things about this planet..."

 

Durose could see Proc and Victoria in the distance now. They waved to him. Durose started to wave back but cut it short.

 

"...Like that we are about to be attack by a pack of Vornskyrs! Everybody run back to the ships! NOW!"

 

Durose grabbed Brina by the hand, pulling her along as they made a mad dash for the camp. They were close, he could smell them. Durose knew the group stood a much better chance if they fought the best together. The vornskyrs knew that, too, though.

 

Leaping out in front of them, Durose came to a dead halt. The three vornskyrs growled at the group as they hunched their backs and paced. Durose eyes were wide. They were still a good 15 meters from the other group.

 

He turned to Cyrus, "Do you have night vision on that helmet? I didn't expect them to try to attack us at dusk, but I'm sure by the time we finish them off it will be dark. See that formation. And the numbers. They only do that when they have a large amount of support. We need to get out of this tall grass and over to where Proc and Victoria are. Otherwise, we are sitting ducks for an ambush. You ready to do this?"

 

***---***

 

Victoria giggled, "It's the ysalamiri, silly. They create a force bubble like 15 km past the atmosphere. I guess Durose was right. He told me he thought you were a force users. But don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get used to it."

 

Motioning for the guards to bring down some crates, the men grabbed them and carried them to her feet. Openning the boxes, Victoria pulled out a slugthrower and handed one to Proc.

 

"It's backup, just in case we run into anything. I think we're going to keep them. I don't feel like risking blaster malfunctions."

 

Now with everybody armed with a slugthrower, Victoria looked around for any sign of the other party. She had brought slugthrowers for them as well and was hoping to give them some once they arrived.

 

Maybe a minute passed before Victoria spotted the group and waved. However, when the group started darting towards them out of nowhere, Victoria got worried. Looking around nerviously, Victoria now had the feeling she was been watched. She huddled close to Proc, feeling a little scared as to what was going on.

 

Then she saw them. Coming out of the tall grass only 10 meters in front of them, the vornskyrs snarled and snapped at the group. There were at least seven of them that had shown themselves so far. Victoria's hands were shaking as she had never seen a vornskyr before. Victoria also knew that even if they did shoot down 3 or 4 of the beast, the rest would probably reach them before they could gun them down.

 

There was fear in her eyes as she shot Proc a glance, "I don't know if we can take this many. What do we do?"

[Menthu]

Procs had jamed the slugh thrower into his belt after checking it over. After all only an idiot wouldn't check his weapon. Leaning against a tree he listened to the woman prattle on a bit about how it wa sthat he was feeling sick. It was valuable information yet at the same time slightly distracting. Closing his eyes for a bit he snapped them open turning to look at his employer he was about to wave when his employer cut his wave short.

 

That's funny maybe something spooked him.

 

He knew next to nothing about this planet. He hadn't even known it had exisited until he stepped out onto this rather big floating rock. glancing out into the jungle he though he saw a large shape move a bit of the ways from where he was. Chalking it up to his vision swarming due to the new planet's air he paid it no attention.

 

As the woman moved closer to him he thought about shaking it off but stopped himself as he could have swore he saw movement that was getting closer.

 

Then ten meters from him he saw what had been bugging him. He deemed it to be some sort of pack animal since seven of them had emerged. For some reason four of them were arrowed in one way or another toward himself. Then the last three did so as well.

 

"We will either die or feel pain. It is the way of life. No matter what you will either die or feel pain. In this situation we are leaning closer to the pain. After all there is no way I am going to gettakne out by a pack of snarling beasts. No my detah shall be far more glorious then such a pitful one as that."

 

Removing his slug thrower he instinctvly pushed the lady behind him and pointed at at the lead one.

 

She knows more about them than I do perhaps she could enligten me.

 

"So what are these creatures and just how do the operate? Is it smell? sound? What is it that lets them hunt?"

 

He would give the creatures to be in jumping distance as he asked this question. So figuring he could frighten them he shot twice at the ground of the lead one. It merely paused for a moment before continuing it's advance. If anything he had simply gotten it's attention evenbetter than he had, had it before.

 

Aw guess we have a fight on our hands then.

 

 

Tracking the leader he puleed the trigger as soon as he centered his sight on the creature's head.

[Durose Roshan]

((just for visual purposes until I have something better... ))

 

"The vornskyrs. Their tails are the real danger. They are long, fast, and effective whips... and the tips are poisonous. They can cause paralysis. And they hunt using the force."

 

As Proc fired another vornskyr leaped in front of the bullet, taking it in the shoulder. Unfazed, it continued its hop, bouncing sparatically, up to the group and latching its teeth onto the side of Proc's barrel.

 

Meanwhile, everyone else openned fire as the animals charged the group. Only holding their ground so long, two of the four mercenaries began to make a run for it while yet another ran back up to ran leading to the inside of the ship. With only three completely gunned down and dead vornskyrs and two minorly injured beasts, they group was face with a very dangerous dilema.

 

Allowing Proc to "protect" her, Victoria peeked out the side and joined the others in shooting at the creatures. As the first beast took the bullet but still managed to latch on to Proc's gun, Victoria realized its intention.

 

"Proc, the tail," she screamed as she moved in front of the tail's path and blocked it with her cybernetic arm. Slapping it down, she unloaded on the barrel hanging nuisance. With four now dead and just three left, it would be close combat that would decide this one. Victoria drew her sword.

[Cyrus Knight]

Knight shook his head when Durose spoke to him. He claims to know my heart, but fears that I will betray him. He is no better than the rest, nothing more than a mercenary with the Link for money and what he would consider glory. But Knight's bodings were turned to bemusement when Durose threatened to kill him if he decided to betray them. Did the other man really think he could kill Knight?

 

Regardless, as Durose rattled on about his own past on Cathar, Knight began getting a few scrambled sensor readings that seemed to indicate that there were several living creatures approaching them. It wasn't a clear read, but Knight drew his blaster carbine just before Durose indicated that he, too, was under the impression that attack was iminent. The Link officer suggested retreat, and while Knight was opposed to the idea, he found little reason in refuting Durose simply for the sake of doing so.

 

"I do indeed have access to a suitable viewplate for darkness, though it removes a certain amount of the challenge this fight presents," Knight said in response to the Echani combatant's inquiry, making his way over to the inferior warrior Mr. Proc and the others. Proc was saying something about his misinformed view of life and death and pain, but he ceased that and asked a question about the vornskrs, apparently to no one in particular. "They hunt through the Force," the warrior answered, "and thus tend to target those with a Force sensitivity. They are also extremely adept at using scent to locate their victims, so don't consider ruling that out."

 

Three vornskrs was hardly a challenge at the moment, as it was not even yet dark (darkness helped the black-furred predators keep hidden), but Knight took the initiative to make sure that no one got too seriously hurt. He was loyal to the Link and therefore took responsibility for the health of its members--his ego or cynical outlook on the views of the other members would not affect that. Directing his blaster carbine with practiced aim and efficiency, he fired once and put a blaster bolt in a vornskyr skull, right between the eyes. They were tough, but not tough enough to survive without a functioning brain.

[Durose Roshan]

((FYI for everyone... one... I suggested to group with the others... which wouldn't be retreat as we would be headed towards the vornskyrs. Second, the three that blocked our way to Proc and Victoria are not the same three they now face. As I mentioned we are still in the taller grass (not extremely tall, but tall enough for the vornskyrs to hide if they crouched on an approach) about 15 meters from them. In otherwords:

 

(them) . . (three vs) 10 meters away tall grass starts, five more meters away (three vs). .(us) ))

 

As the first fell, the other two leaped at Durose and Knight. Using his sword's blade, Durose chopped his attackers tail with a clean swipe. The creature yelped in pain as it collided with him and fell to the ground.

 

Turning to Cyrus to see if he had been able to handle his attacker, Durose noted, "We need to get over to Proc and Victoria. As long as we are in this grass these things have the element of surprise on their side."

[Menthu]

Procs wasn't so much as grateful as he was accepting. he had been open to attack and she had blocked for him. He did however mutter a thanks out as he checked his weapon. It was undamaged enough to be functional. To prove it he put not one but three slugs into one of the creatures. One in each eye and one between them.

 

They track through the force? Wait then I am like a becon to them.

 

Then he caught it... Formost in the galaxy they did not know that blood had an odor. Yes death had an odor a very strong odor once it got going but blood itself had its own unique odor.

 

He smiled as one of the creatures advanced toward him. He had no sword he had been given a few melee weapons however. One of those being a dagger. The other one being and axe and the last a stun baton.

 

Removing the dagger from his hip he crouched next to one of the bodies. two of them advanced forward toward him.

 

He still had control of rational thought. the bloodlust he felt so deeply in such primal combat was still contained. However his desire for hand to hand was almost overhwleming. Sometimes it was far better to give into desires then to let them go unabated. Suddenly one of them lunged clearly going for the throat. He sidestepped the creature as it lunged past and delivered a snap kick to it's side to send it sprawling away from him. Before it could fully recover he leapt and stomped on it's tail sending it slash claws out at him. He deliver a very quick very powerful kick to the creatures jaw before catching out the coner of his eye the other one poised for attacked. With a simply fling he embeeded his dagger into the side of the creature he had been attacking before he threw himself to the side. However he wasn't fast enough with a sharp sting he felt the creatures claws bit into his hand tearing jagged strips of his flesh and trapping them on the creatures claws.

 

Lifting his hand to his lips he licked his own blood as it began to run down the sides of his hand. Dropping it to his side he watched the wounded one as wella s the one who had wounded him get ready to spring again.

[Cyrus Knight]

Knight grunted as the pair of vornskrs leapt at him and Durose. He pulled the trigger of his carbine again, holding the weapon solely in his right hand as his left grabbed a flatish cylinder from his belt. The energy bolt lanced out and struck the vornskr indirectly in the shoulder. It appeared to be largely unfazed, but the bolt put if off-balance and altered its trajectory slightly to aim more towards Knight's right shoulder.

 

Just before the predator would have connected with Knight, the warrior jammed one end of the cylinder in his left hand into the side of its neck, then quickly thumbed a lever. A pair of blades spit out from either end of the cylinder, one of them plunging through the vornskr's neck. The suddenly lax weight of the beast caused Knight to exert a little force to remove his blade from it as its corpse narrowly missed still connecting with his shoulder.

 

I still require something more, he thought. I've been triple-teamed by these things before and barely came out uninjured. Perhaps if the same situation presents itself to me again, I will come out a more clear victor.

 

Still, he wasn't foolish enough to run out into the main pack and seek glory against numerous odds, even though he didn't doubt he could rise to the challenge just as he had risen to countless others--Jedi and Sith Masters, warriors with similar training to his own (if not quite the same), and even a former mentor who had brought Knight a long way.

 

He accompanied Durose back out of the tall grass as was suggested.

[Durose Roshan]

"I hate this things! They are like being attacked by Scorpion dogs!"

 

Victoria watched at Proc handled the two beasts. Taking advantage of the situation, Victoria swiftly killed the last beast. They were now safe... for the moment.

 

***---***

 

Cyrus, Durose, and Brina quickly made their way back to join the rest of their group. Durose was carrying his vornskyr by the throat.

 

"Victoria, do we got any empty cages or crates? I need you to throw this in there."

 

"No way. I'm not touching that."

 

Durose sighed, "It's not dangerous. I removed the tail. I need to replenish my pet supply anyways. Ok. Merc. Can you take care of it?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Thank you. Ok. Well, people, welcome to Myrkr. Be careful of the vornskyrs. This group was a little out of sorts, but they often attack with their tails before attacking with their claws or teeth. Their tails are so long, powerful, and have such a wide range of movement that they can easy nail their prey if you aren't careful. Basically, when vornskyrs hunt they know they may not be able to take their prey head on. However, if they had nail you with their tail, they know they will paralyze you which will make you completely defenseless and easy to devour."

 

Durose chuckled a little, "And contrary to popular belief, these dogs aren't dumb. I've seen them perform some very organized attacks in my time and even seen them anticipate weapons fire to avoid my attacks. That's why I choose melee anymore now. Let's hurry up and grab the last of the stuff we need and hightail it back to the peak. We need to get to that valley as soon as possible."

 

Grabbing a few things, Durose thought to add, "One other thing. Few people know things, but I've found that you can tame a vornskyr. If you get the chance, detail the beasts. It is a very effective way of taming. After the initial pain and rage, a calm comes over the creature. We're going to take a few of these back with us, hopefully. We could use a few guard dogs."

 

Durose sniffed the air as he ears twitched in a catlike manner, "I think we are about to have more company. Proc, Victoria, and Brina. You three carry the rest of the supplies to the peak. Already starting to get dark. We can't waste any more time. Cyrus, you're with me."

 

Going into a hold, Durose came back with several cages, "Cyrus, if you can, grab three or four. If you hold them right, you should be able to do two a hand or stack them. I'll take my four. If any vornskyrs attack, drop the cages and engage. The true test of battle is how much force to bring against opponents. If you wish to kill them you will not hold back. But if you wish to stun them, incapacitate them then you must choose your attacks carefully, using just the right amount of force, just the right weapon to stop them, weakening but not killing them. That will be our goal. Anything over your four is open game. I have a feeling with how you handled yourself earlier that we are the only two with experience in fighting vornskyrs against the odds. I trust in your skills. Don't prove me wrong. You take the left and back and I'll take the right and the front. Anything that tries to attack our party on the way to the peak must be engaged."

 

Taking his four cages, Durose began to head out with the group.

 

Glancing over at the rest of the party, Durose commented, "Proc, Victoria, Brina. If we engage I want you three to get as fast as possible to the peak. I'm confident in the ability of you three to handle yourselves. If all else fails, get down to that valley. The vornskyrs won't follow you there."

 

Then Durose paused. He turn to see the merc standing there, "Merc, grab one other man. Then tell the rest of the men to stay with the ships. You come with us. Accompany Brina's party. Everyone ready? We need to get moving."

[Cyrus Knight]

OOC: Who is 'the merc'? And is he accompanying us or Brina's party?

 

IC:

Knight nodded in response to Durose's orders. So it was to be basically a solo mission, working with Durose but not close enough to him to cover his back. Knight didn't like the idea of giving up the guard of the others, but going solo against numerous vornskrs in an attempt to stun and not kill was just the sort of test of skill that he was looking for at the moment.

 

The experienced combatant grabbed ahold of four of the cages, finding holding them to be rather difficult. They were very heavy, made of a material dense and strong enough to hold a vornskr inside the cage. The grip was also difficult. At least he wouldn't have to try to fight without tossing them aside first.

 

He then began trudging along side the others to accompany them to the peak, apprehension not among the infintessimal number of emotions he was feeling. He was, in fact, perfectly passive, exactly what he wanted to feel during combat. It was what he was used to feeling.

[Brina Thalin]

OOC: Yeah, my question exactly...

 

IC:

 

Brina had participated in the battle...unfortunately, she only got one shot off before the planet played a nasty trick on her blaster. After that, she had stuck close to the others, as she knew how horrible she was with a blade.

 

They met up with the others, and Brina nodded at Durose's request. It irked her that he had assumed full command of the mission, but she forced herself to shrug it off and bite her tongue. He did know more about what they were dealing with than any of them. Except for maybe Cyrus. She got a funny feeling that Cyrus knew more and had more experience than he would let on.

 

Taking the lead, she grabbed the few supplies they had left to take and nodded to Procs and Victoria. "Alright, let's go."

[Durose Roshan]

((

Then Durose paused. He turn to see the merc standing there, "Merc, grab one other man. Then tell the rest of the men to stay with the ships. You come with us. Accompany Brina's party. Everyone ready? We need to get moving."

I was speaking of us collectively, but Brina's party in specifics. The merc is the one of the four mercs that came with Victoria and Procs. The one that didn't retreat. (see the earlier post). Any other questions or did I answer them all for the moment? ))

 

Durose was sure Brina wanted some kind of control over the situation. He didn't want to necessarily lord over her when it came to command, but he had the most experience on this planet. When it came to people's lives, he didn't want to take any chances.

 

However, as a way of recognizing Brina's authority he had essentially given her control of the group. It was almost guaranteed that Cyrus and he would end up breaking off and engaging the beasts. From that point on it would be Brina's duty to direction everyone and get everyone and the supplies to the camp in the valley. The lives of two mercs, Procs, Victoria, and herself would all be in her hands. He hoped for everyone's sake she would get the job done.

 

As for Cyrus, Durose knew that things could get a little dangerous. However, he had a feeling Knight could handle himself. And if he did run into trouble, Durose probably wouldn't be too far away. Definitely not outside of yelling distance and probably not even that far. It was now just a matter of where the vornskyrs were. The tall grass gave them the option of making a slow croutching approach with minimal detection. As Durose saw it, being that he and Cyrus were probably the only two that could see well in the dark, they were the best options to defend the group and distract the vornskrs. He hoped he was right.

 

They only had to go a kilometer. Unfortunately, it sure seemed longer carrying the awkward cages and staying on high alert.

 

.25... .5... .6...

 

Suddenly, Durose's sharp ears heard something to his left. Dropping his cages, Durose drew his blade. Advancing in the direction of the noise, Durose cautiously observed his surroundings. He could feel the creatures beady eyes watching him. He know it was close. He just couldn't figure out where.

 

And then it hit him. Looking up, Durose saw the vornskr flying towards him from the branch above. He barely had enough to time raise his sword as the creature tackled him to the ground. Still, it had been enough for him to angle his sword just right so that the vornskyr impaled itself on his weapon as the two hit the turf.

 

Durose froze for a second as a numb, tingling sensation rippled across his body. The foul beast had still manage to whip him with its tail in all the confusion. In turn, the powerful strike of its tail had managed to puncture Durose's garments and stung his skin. Over the years, of course, Durose's body had managed to build up a natural immunity to the creatures, much like snake handlers can become immune to their venom. Even still, the tails packed some punch.

 

A little dazed, Durose rolled over. Slowly rising to his feet, he extracted his sword from the corpse's chest.

 

"Well, there goes one possible captive," Durose said shaking his head.

 

Durose wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings. At the last minute, Durose spotted another vornskyr leaping at him from out of the corner of his eye. Quickly swung around, Durose manage to raise his right arm while slashing the creatures tail with his left. Latching on to his arm with its teeth, the creature wildly shook its body. As pain seared his arm, Durose whipped the vornskyr across the head with the blunt side of his vibroblade. One down.

 

Quickly snatching up the unconscious monster, Durose jogged it over to an empty cage. Putting it in, he rotated to stop and see what had become of everyone else so far.

[Cyrus Knight]

Knight was alert and aware of the situation and the now continued threat of the vornskrs, but he still carried his blaster carbine in a relaxed position, lowered towards the ground. With the addition of his mask, it was impossible to tell that he was looking around at all, but for the slight alterations in how he angled his shoulders.

 

As he watched Durose, he saw the man receive two injuries from as many vornskrs, including a nasty bite that perhaps should have taken the arm clear off. If that was the extent of his prowess, then perhaps he would require Knight's more direct aid during the upcoming mission to capture vornskrs.

 

He himself was also half-actively tracking another predator that was stalking him, if the static-ridden reading from Knight's scanner was correct. He knew it was taking its time to get in leaping position, as these beasts seemed rather fond of doing. More enhanced than his vision was his hearing through his half-helmet. Oftentimes he could pick up a single footstep, while amplified sounds that would be unsafe in volume were dimmed.

 

Almost, he thought, biding his time. His blaster carbine was set to stun, but stun settings were only effective at extremely short range. He would need to wait until the last possible second to pull the trigger, and he could only affort a single burst. Not yet....

 

He still appeared to be completely unaware of the vornskr when its movement suddenly halted. That was the moment in which Knight spun, dropping the cages. As he did so, he beheld the nightmarish black form, in the air as he suspected, stretched for him with its bright claws extended, cutting through the night as would a Jedi lightsaber. His carbine snapped up in a motion the eye couldn't follow, and a blue wash of light erupted from its barrel, catching the beast full in the chest. Knight dropped into a crouch as the vornskr's limp form finished its arc and hit the ground heavily. You won't be needing that anymore, he thought as he used his warsword to remove the creature's tail, also removing most of its natural aggression.

 

Finally, he shoved the heavy form into one of his cages, which was now fully too heavy to carry. Did Durose have a plan for after they caught a vornskr or two? All it would take was a hoversled or something of that manner.

[Brina Thalin]

It didn't take long for the three to get the rest of the supplies to their destination. Brina had kept a steady eye out, but they hadn't been attacked. All the vornskyrs in the area had to be attacking Durose and Cyrus, she thought ironically.

 

She turned to the others. "Let's get a fire going. Hopefully the light will keep away the vornskyrs and other predators."

[Mr. Mortati]

Mr. Mortati stood near the center of the camp, going over the various reports of the evening when a soldier approached him. At first he held up his hand, signaling for the man to hold off on speaking for a few moments. He was adequately pleased with the amount of the animals they were bringing in and profits in the rest of the Galaxy were soaring. He closed the device then faced the soldier and motioned for him to speak.

 

”œSir, one of our scouts has discovered another group top side, harvesting the animals as we are. Should we proceed and eliminate the target?”

[Durose Roshan]

As far as Durose could tell, Brina and the rest of her party were now safe. Durose was unhappy, though. There was something definitely wrong with him. Shouldn't have been so slow, so off. Those kinds of thing had never happened to him before. Even more so, though, it may have been only part of a bigger problem. He had been feeling weird ever since he had returned from Kamino. Maybe there was something in the water. Durose shrugged.

 

Now finding himself surrounded by a group of four vornskrs, Durose centered himself. Carefully, he watched their stances as they growled, lowering their backs, encircling Ro, ready to pounce. Ro backed towards a near-by tree to give him some leverage. This whole scenario felt oddly familiar.

 

His back was now almost completely "against the wall." More attentive than before, he watched their movements very carefully. Slowly he reached into his shoulder pocket and pulled out his blaster and set it to stun. Sizing the vornskrs up, he decide that the one to his middle left would move first and the one on the middle right would be a close second. That would only give him a spilt second to make his move once they attacked. He had to move at just the right time....

 

Move, Durose, Move!

 

The Vornskrs charged at him. Quickly, Durose fired the blaster at the beast in front of him with his left hand, while meeting charge of the creature to his right with the vibroblade. The vornskr's tale lashed at Ro as he narrowly bent, adjusting his waist just in time as he threw a swipe of his own. The vornskr dodged his strike, but couldn't stop its momentum from taking it straight into the tree... "Wam!" The vornskr yelped as this bounced off the side of the tree, tumbling through the grass. With one momentarily stunned and the other out of the field of play for the moment, Durose mainly had two to worry about.

 

Or so he thought. Repositioning himself after dodging his first attacker, Durose found that the vornskr that he had first shot was already almost on top of him. Being forced to dive backwards, he fired rapidly. Keeping his composure and firing very precisely, Ro was able to take down the beast, leaving its flailing body to collide unconcious on top of him.

 

A little frazzled, Ro hastily shoved the creature off and crawled backwards, gun pointing forward, to take scope of what now faced him. To his surprise, the third vornskr wasn't clawing him to death right about now. Instead, he realized it was sprawled out not far from the tree, yelping in pain.

 

Now he actually did only have two to worry about. Hopping to his feet, Durose gave the two remaining Vornskrs enough time to encircle him. The vornskrs, however, were definitely the timid ones of the pack as they hadn't attacked yet. With their leaders taken out, Durose could also see a hint of fear in the movements. Deciding to use that to his advantage, Durose would be the aggressor this time.

 

With his blaster still in his left hand and his blade in he right, Durose's lion-like roar startled the Vornskrs as it echoed across the forest. It had only worked for a split second, but that was all he needed. Firing at the vornskr 1 meter in front of him, Durose's shot rocked it's shoulder. Stunning the animal long enough, Durose was able to charge and powerfully kick it in the forehead, sending it flying. With his back now turned to the last beast behind him, Ro quickly flicked his wrist, flipping the vibroblade around and jabbing it straight up into the rib cage of the vornskr, as it lunged threw the air towards him. Durose had done it. Once again he had narrowly fought off death at the hands of a pack of Vornskrs.

 

Durose didn't have time to celebrate, however. While the final Vornskr was cut into by the cathar's blade and killed almost instantly, it's tail continued it's predesignated trajectory. Skew slightly by the vornskr's impact with the vibroblade, the tail still managed to whip painfully across the back of his leg. Catching himself with his hands as he fell to one knee, Durose winces as he lost sensation in his leg for several seconds. When it returned, the pain of the injury accompanied it.

 

Looking back, Durose saw that the creature had manage to cut into his flesh with that attack, although he was sure of how deep. Slowly getting to his feet. Durose returned his weapons to their places and put on gloves he had brought along. He then collected the two unconscious Vornskrs and dragged them over the the cages. Cutting off their tails before putting them inside, Durose slowly limped back for the third one.

 

Coming upon it, he could now see why it had not continued its attack after its introduction to friendly "Mr. Tree." Laying on its side, Durose could see the pain in the animals eyes as it continued to cry. From the looks of it, the creature had sustain a shoulder injury and had some swelling and bruising in the area. It also might have been possible that it had either dislocated or broken its shoulder, but the animal wouldn't let him close enough to examine the injury. Shrugging to himself, Durose pulled out his blaster and shot the creature several times at the stun setting until it completely lost consciousness.

 

 

Carefully carrying it back to a cage, Durose de-tailed it and placed it inside. Subconsciously reaching down to feel his lead, Durose jumped.

 

Ow. That is a stinger.

 

Figuring that the animal had already ruined his tribal hunting uniform by tearing a hole in his pants, Durose tore the bottom portion the rest of the way off and used it to wrap the wound.

 

Now he was ready to go. Durose looked around to see if he could spot Cyrus in the darkness. If he had done his part, it would be a simple matter of grabbing the hoversled back at the ship and transporting their "cargo" back to the hold. Then, he could go find Brina and the others. He wondered what they were up to and wanted to make sure they were alright.

[Menthu]

Procs simply stared ahead into the jungle as his new boss talked about building a fire. He could care less they either came or they didn't come. He doubted a little fire would be enough to scare them away.

 

"Ok lady whatever you say. How do you want the fire build, primitive style or modren man style?"

 

He fingered his slug thrower. it had too much kick back for the size of the weapon. He missed a good blaster at his side.

 

"Think I could have an Axe or a vibrosword or something that is a melee weapon with a little distance?"

[Durose Roshan]

((FYI: That's the kind of power we are talking about here, folks. Vornskr tails are almost identical in power and mobility of sting ray tails, although they probably have even more mobility. Very fast. Very strong. Easily can puncture things. Are poisonous. Poison stuns.))

 

It had taken them several trips and minutes to move the supplies from the peak to the valley base, but finally that had everything in position. With everything set, Brina now wanted a fire. Victoria agreed as she couldn't see much and she was kind of getting scared, or at least "worried."

 

I hate this planet already.

 

When Procs asked about the style of the fire, Victoria chimed, "I think we'll need to get some logs or sticks or something. I bought night vision glasses for everyone. They aren't the best, but once you get used to seeing green they aren't at all bad. Better than nothing if you asked me."

 

Openning one of her packs, Victoria pulled out a pair of glasses and set the pack next to everyone else in case they wanted some.

 

"How about me and Procs go and get some wood and you and the mercs watch the base. Or you could come with us if you like, Ms. Thalin. The more the merrier. We could leave the mercs to watch the camp while we are gone."

 

Then Victoria tossed Procs her spare vibroblade, "Here. Catch."

[Cyrus Knight]

((Due to the possibility that combat could become uninteresting, the following post will abridge the possibly extensive sections thereof.))

 

Knight continued to walk alongside the group for some time, but halted on his ire and released the cage with the vornskr already inside, holding on to the other three and taking a small side quest off into the thick underbrush on either side of the animal path the group was using. His goal was to capture three more vornskrs before returning again to the path.

 

Sure enough, his instincts had told him right. He released the three cages and pulled out his warsword upon sighting a small pack of four dark beasts. Kepar kidos, he thought as the double blades snapped out with a quiet click accompanied by the sound of metal sliding along metal.

 

-------------------------

 

Seven minutes later, Knight was hauling the last vornskr's stunned but living body into the last of his four cages. He remained unscratched, a testiment to both his skill and his improvement since his last journey here. Blood had marked his warsword before he had cleaned it off, and his carbine had been discharged more than once.

 

More importantly, he had used other resources. Weapons themselves were not the core of combat.

 

Knight, weilding the four cages with the aid of their repulsor systems, rejoined the rest of the group at the campsite and noticed that Roshan had also been able to make his captures, though his injuries were as numerous as his victories. It did not make him any less of a warrior in Knight's sight, however, he was simply learning a lesson that could only be taught through negative experiences.

 

It was slightly ironic that Durose sought still to maintain Knight's loyalty through acts of skill and simple, constant commands. It was a legitimate way of keeping order among the ranks, but Knight was truly, fully, beyond all doubt, loyal only because of his own decisions, and there was nothing that could happen to further ensure or tear apart his loyalties but a decision made only and exclusively by himself.

[Brina Thalin]

"Yeah, you two can go ahead," she replied. "Make sure we have enough wood to last through the night. We can get more in the morning."

 

She felt a pressing need to get started harvesting the large-eyed creatures they had come here for. She got out all of the equipment they needed, and with the help of the mercs, got it all set up. There were several of the creatures near their camp, and the mercs were eager to get started. Brina found no reason to stop them, as long as they stayed close. After all, if ysalamiri were the vornskyrs' favorite food, it would be natural to have some of the predators hunting nearby. Brina allowed them to go, so long as they stopped by the time Cyrus and Durose got back. The mercs assured her they would, and that they'd get some serious removal done by then.

 

Brina smiled at their enthusiasm. Soon, Victoria and Procs had returned with the firewood, and they had a large fire going in no time.

[Alora]

-- An encrypted comm comes in for Mortati --

 

I'd like a specific device made up and thought that you or your boss would be able to have it made up. I have the spec's and will supply them upon our meeting. It is something I would like made urgently, the sooner the better.

 

If you can assist me in the making of this device, return a message to me on this frequency with a meeting place.

 

Alora

 

-- end comm --