Ask Acoventure: Electric Boogaloo!

[The Storyteller]

Were they...?

They were.

It was worse than the old woodsman had even dared to fear - these creatures, with their red lightsabers and clear anger management issues? They were far worse than college students. With arithmancy homework? They were clearly occult highschool students.

Damn Wartyhogs, ruining the youth...

Still, the woodsman was glad to hear that the other two weren't dead - and that they were willing to go out of their way to cut down the vines that tried to strike them when they were down. The robbing? Eh, he was a survivalist, seemed fairly typical to him but best to give some home-spun wisdom anyway.

"Bettuurr ta have ayy dog with naw teeth, than naw dog."

His wisdom imparted, the woodsman would turn around and begin to walk away, speaking to them as he did so to answer their concerns.

"Ay ken get ya preytty close ta the area. But when you there, be done warned; the purple plant in these woods produces ayy chemical that there gives y'all ayy a-feelin' ov payn unlike anything y'all've evuurr felt befawe. Purely in y'all's mind! So y'all don't even have thay ...err opshun av a-dyin' frawum ayy heart attak ta put ayy stop ta it."

Pushing through the undergrowth, the woodsman would reveal his own method of transport; an idly speeder with a giant fan attached to the back, a fan-boat-speeder, the best way to get moving over the jungle and the swampy waters of the planet! Climbing aboard, the charhounds would happily jump on after him before he patted the speeder, indicating that there was enough space for all of the highschool magic-wavers.

Dark shapes swam through what appeared to be shallow puddles - the size of the shapes seemingly entirely at odds with how small the puddles appeared to be. Checking the engine, the woodsman patted the fan fondly.

"This here vehicle has done treated me whel. but ay'd be ayy poaw host if ay didn't offuurr faw one ov ya ta try y'all's hand at a-flyin' it. What about y'all, skinny?"

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus @Rom

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

Vossari came to on the shoulders of the barabel, groaning and grabbing his hand. It was as if the wound had become more painful, like someone was purposely shoving something into the gash. "GAHHHHHHH FUCK!" Vossari was going to repeat that combination of words many times throughout this adventure it seemed. He awoke with a start, and began to slam his good hand on the Barabel's back as he demanded to be released. His pockets felt lighter. Now wasn't the time to worry himself with such concerns like missing credits, so he didn't even notice they were gone.

He did notice his finger remained missing. He had specifically commanded that pureblood to magic him up another thumb. Yet, his thumb remained a gaping wound. Perhaps such feats weren't possible? Or, merely, the acolyte they were with was completely unable to do them? Whatever it was, he was fucked. "Code Red missions. Fuck this..."

He grabbed his left wrist, squeezing as tight as he could to cut off pressure. "Any of you have a med kit?" No? Holy shit this group was unprepared. Maybe their new 'friend,' the local swamp creep, could help. "You got any herbs or remedies that could close this wound?"

One of the char hound puppies took an instant liking to Vossari, who returned the favor. The firedog's lapping tongue dropped beads of molten hot drool as he pet him. Vossari sat crosslegged in the hull of the fanboat, petting the dog with his good hand, as he waited for the rest of the crew. He listened to the boatman's story about unending psychic torture caused by these herbs. Maybe the herb was affecting him right now - maybe this whole excursion was a terrible nightmare, and he would wake up soon in a warm bed on a resort with a handsome man he cared deeply about.

Vossari closed his eyes to make this wish come true. He opened them, and remained thumbless on a boat in the middle of nowhere. "Great. Let's just add the horrible psychic trauma to the day's horrible physical traumas." He hadn't been conscious enough to see any of the vines, or the aftermath of the beatdown to the Barabel, but the mission had barely started and they were already haggard. How would they survive this?

 

[Nash]

At Arak’s question, Nash forcefully shoved him so he would drop to sit down in a pile of mud, “Shut up with your logic,” She snapped at him before reaching down to grab the front of his clothing to hoist him up to stand again after she was done making her point. Nash listened to swamp creep ramble about some shit and checked her chrono for the time.

She pondered his explanation about lethal chemicals, looked around and realized Vossari was the only one with a helmet. Her gaze flicked down to his thumb, wondering if he could pass out again and perhaps she could simply use his helmet to keep the chemicals out.

“Where did those other idiots go?” Nash asked, suddenly remembering the other group that antagonized them before the koala attack, “We should take their helmets.”

She glared when the Wrean complained again, reaching into her attire to pull out a packet of spice. She rolled up a joint and handed it to him, “Smoke this and use the Professor’s dress to apply pressure to the bleeding, Braidz,” Nash said with a sagely nod before popping a cigarra between the corner of her lips.

They all climbed into the water speeder and Nash was thankful for space instead of having to sit on any laps. However, her ass hurt like hell so she simply sat in an awkward crouch, gripping the side of the boat. Nash scoffed when the creepo suggested that the professor drive. Now this she needed to see.

@Javier esschoolbus @Nefieslab @Fine Dining Set @Rom

 

[Arak Ragnos]

Arak thought he offered a sound suggestion. He quickly realized that not just saying yes was a mistake. He was dropped and covered in mud again. He glared up at Buns before she pulled him back to standing. Why did he have to sign up for this mission? He loudly sighed after they began walking.

Arak released the force he had coiled around Bubble suits hand. He watched as they had a fit just to get off the back of the lizard. He quickly began talking about a med kit whatever that was. Causing him to simply shrug to show his lack of understanding and of said item. He turned his head to look at Buns as she mentioned he give up his, wait dress?

He just strolled casually behind the group as they made their way to the speeder boat. He was blissfully unaware of the potential of chemicals. All he understood was skinny and the man motioning to the wheel. Lucky for Arak he had discovered a book called Driving for Dummies. He cracked his fingers as he sat down behind the wheel. He started it up and looked over to their guide. “Direction?” Whatever way the funny man with the dogs pointed he would drive it that way like if they were late for the first class.

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Rom @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

With the speeder boat ready to depart with all now aboard, the woodsman leaned back against the safety wiring around the cage and watched how they interacted with one another. He was glad that he hadn't assumed that they were friends with each other - that would have been an embarassingly terrible judge of character by his reckoning. They were the schoolkids with anger issues and weapons but, worst of all, they were in the most terribly situation that said schoolchildren could ever imagine; they were in a forced group project where they couldn't choose to work with their friends.

Gods above and below help him.

"Y'all know, ay've done heard that there the piss ov ayy charhound is great ta kill ov infections ayn' that there dog has taken ayy a-likin' ta y'all. Maybe y'all could get him ta help y'all out?"

The charhound in question seemed to enjoy Vossari's company but it's ears flattened to the side of its head and it lowered itself to the floor of the speeder and let out a low growl, looking behind the speeder as he did so. Despite the warning from the dog, none of the people on the speeder would notice anything when they checked around.

"Ay believe that there they would have gone on ahead in the same derecshun we're a-goin' - aftuurr all, they're aftuurr the plant as whel. Maybe y'all'll meet up with them?"

Rather than telling Arak what direction to go, the man turned the navigation on and a core-world accented female voice rang out.

"Make a U-turn and then turn right; your destination will be on the right."

The woodsman quickly turned the navigation off, looking embaressed for a moment before pointing dead ahead with his finger. Arak would see that several of the "puddles" appeared to be close together up ahead, with very little patches of greenary in between them. As he started in that direction, piloting the speeder smoothly from parked, he would begin to notice how the "puddles" rippled and the green between them moved as well - revealing that almost the entire jungle floor had, in fact, not been a floor at all but instead plantlife living atop a great and deep waterway.

With insistent pointing, the woodsman would push Arak to bring the speeder up to a good clip, guiding him out of the green waters and onto a wider surface of water. As they came to the greater lake area, Arak and Nash would be able to see a familiar speeder up ahead, skimming dangerously low over the water but doing so at high enough speeds to be avoiding sinking. Immediately they were spotted and two of the passengers flipped the acolytes the bird.

"Friends ov yours ay rekon?"

At the same time, both Vossari and the still slightly dazed Veltharion would finally begin to notice what the charhound had been warning them about before - as a great, green, scaly head rose from the water behind them. Despite the head alone being the same size as the speeder, it was attempting to be stealthy, being almost silent as the great serpent rose from the depths to glare down at the speeder boat that had awoken it.

Its slitted eyes narrowed as it darted forward, sleuthing through the water to keep pace with the speeder from behind, only the eyes and other ridges in the scales above water as it followed them.

@Sreeya @Rom @Javier esschoolbus @Fine Dining Set

 

[Nash]

To say that Nash was shocked by the professor’s boat driving skills was an understatement. She barely held on as he zoomed through the swamp like he did this for a profession. The guy may have been a goober, but he scored a few points with that. Nash was going to remark on it when she spotted the other asshats and their speeder. She saw two of them flip them the bird and sprang up at once.

“AW HELL NAH FUCKERS I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!” Nash screamed at the top of her lungs, seeing red from the great insult. She squared up and brought her fists up, bouncing on her feet on the boat, “Let me at ‘em LET ME AT ‘EM!” She shouted as their boat slowly inched closer towards the speeder. Nash contemplated just leaping across to close the distance but it was still a ways away.

Since there was distance, Nash decided to badmouth until they arrived, "Y'ALL SO UGLY YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE IS AN APOLOGY LETTER FROM THE CONDOM FACTORY!" She screamed, "THE ONLY WAY YOU FUCKERS GET LAID IS IF YOU CRAWL UP A PORG'S ASS AND WAIT!"

She could hear them start to shout some nonsense back and Nash doubled up the efforts.

"ME AND MY CREW WILL FUCK YOU UP! WE GOT MY BOY SCALES WITH A TAIL BLADE THAT'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH! WE GOT BRAIDZ MASTER OF THE SEAS AND WE IN A SWAMP BABY, WE GOT THE PROFESSOR HERE WHO'S A CERTIFIED SITH LORD THAT'S ABOUT TO NUKE YOUR ASSES AND I'LL BRING DOWN THE HAMMER!"

It was a lot of bluffing, but her heart was very into it. She believed in their shitty, worthless group even if for that moment.

“Come on PROFESSOR GUN IT! I WANNA GIVE ‘EM THE OLD NASH SMASH!” She shouted like a possessed maniac, entirely too excited at the prospect of stomping some fools, "We can TAKE THEM, boys, you hear?!"

Of course, this meant she was entirely oblivious to the creature that was casually creeping towards them.

@Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus @Nefieslab @Rom

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

Oh, how the mighty fall. Vossari looked forlornly at the char hound as he stretched out his hand. The dog obliged, pissing a liquid hot stream onto Vossari wound. It took a while. The dog was obviously well hydrated. Each trickle hissed as it burned his skin. He pulled off the cloak from his environment suit, wrapped some of it around his hand, and cut it with his vibroblade. Hopefully this makeshift gauze would hold. Good thinking, Nash.

If Voss was another type of person, they might have spotted the creature, that’s true. He might have sensed that something was wrong. But Nash’s tirade was so inspiring, he put all his energy towards that instead. He would channel the pain from his thumb into his words, complementing the roasting they Nash had begun. Had those cretins flipped them off? Well, fuck them! That took priority over everything else.

“Yeah, you fucking pussies! You feel big and strong all the way over there? I’ll fucking show you. I’m the goddamn KING of the Ocean!” Voss hopped to his feet and charged to the front of the boat, placing a boot on Arak’s chair to get a better angle. “Fuck these sons of bitches!” Vossari said, trying to stabilize their skiff. Between him and Nash storming about the shop, the rickety craft began to rock back and forth.

It didn't help that he began to push and pull the waves beneath them, gathering the swamp water into a giant ball to smack the far-off stoners with. Trying to concentrate enough to do this, while continuing his profanity-laden tirade, while the boat was rocking proved to be too much. The water ball of swampy stink formed above their craft, but Voss broke concentration as the char hound playfully nibbled at a toe. It popped like a balloon, covering the craft in smelly, green water.

He managed to smack the giant, angry snake in the face with a giant glob of water, though. That would surely work out swimmingly.

Vossari's eyes widened as he realized that the massive thing he looked at was a predator. Vossari's voice raised to a shrill, deafeningly high pitch. "SNAAAAAAAAAAAKKEEEEEE!" He shook Arak. "DRIVEDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEDRIVE!"

4/20 (teehee) to hit the other teens with the water bomb

@y'all

 

[Veltharion]

Vel wasn't paying too much attention to the strange dialect of the swamp human, his focus instead on the water rippling out from beneath the boat with an almost child-like fascination, reaching down to dip his claws into the water and catch bits of leafy vegetation on the tips. Coming from the irradiated mass of rocks and broken canyons that was the surface of Barab 1 his only exposure to bodies of water had been small underground lakes and springs; certainly nothing requiring a water craft like this. The rocking of the ship and sudden shouting by the twilek with the impressive not-tail snapped the scaled acolyte out of his trance, sanguine eyes shooting up and narrowing at the sight of the other speeder and its rude occupants. They lifted their hands in a gesture involving a single finger, something Vel believed to be rude based on the hall ohs he'd seen and Nash's mounting fury and Veltharion blinked as he leaned close to Arak, a Sith like Azar that Vel believed to be knowledgeable, and asked, "This one iz Scalez, correct? This one can assure you that this one iz a male, did Nash think this one waz female? And why iz she under the impression she ownz this one? What iz a fish?"

His questions would ultimately go unanswered as Naah beckoned for them all to join in her pre-battle dancing and chants, something the Barabel could fully get behind; finally something made sense! Stamping his feet and wiggling his bladed tail high above him in a threat display near the front of the boat Veltharion lifted the finger next to his thumb and yelled toward the distant group on the speeder, "This one haz heard that your motherz mate with domesticated beastz of burden!!" before turning back to Nash and Voss with a thumbs up and a wide grin on his face as if to ask, 'Like that?'

When he turned around however the grin fell away from his face as he caught sight of the giant face of the water serpent looming above them before Braids' water globule burst and rained down above them. "HUNGRY ONE'S FLAMING BALLSACK!!" he yelled and immediately reached out with the Force to try and drive the beast away only to wince as the pain from his probably mild traumatic nash injury flared, preventing him from finding the focus necessary. Grabbing the back of his chair to keep from slipping in the water now filling the bottom of their boat the Barabel looked at Arak at the controls and simply said, "This one thinkz we are going to need a bigger boat."

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus

 

[Arak Ragnos]

Arak had the speeder boat zipping along the water. He spotted the rival group of plant hunters and was not going to have gotten all muddy and bloody for nothing. He sped the speeder up to its recommended limit while angling to mess with the water near there’s to cause the waves to mess with it.

He was suddenly availed by something soft on his neck as he heard BB yell out something about smashing. “Can’t. Driving.” It seemed she was an exhibitionist first in the woods now here. Boy was she going to be a handful, in more ways than one, for whoever got her as a partner.

Her speech was rousing even if it seemed it was all lies, except him being a Sith Lord that was the truth. Although he had no idea what a nuke is or how to do it. “What is this Nuke?” He called back to her wanting to know so he could do it.

He heard Voss yell out to go faster and turned around to see why. He suddenly saw some big ass thing he didn’t want to meet today and turned around. He looked up at the encroaching rival speeder and back down at the throttle that he could still use more of. They needed a sacrifice and the local college provided them for free. He turned the throttle wide open and would veer around the other speeder to put it between them and the serpent.

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Rom @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

The spray of water and the sound of the giant serpent rushing after their speeder were the only sounds in the wake of the first barrage of the Great Flame War of New Cov. A moment where the air was silent but charged with the fighting words of the Sith Acolytes who stood valiantly in opposition to that most dreaded of enemies - college students on a joy ride.

Of course the moment of shock wore off and their foes fired back with a volley of their own. Perhaps surprisingly enough it was the girlfriend of the jock who threw back the first barb, standing up so she could turn and shout back - specifically shouting back at Nash.

"Certificate's a big word for someone with their brains in pigtails ain't it?! Why don't you fuck off and gyrate on a Hutt's tail, you skank?! Come on babe, get in on this!"

The jock, who was driving, made a quiet comment, unheard by the acolytes, that he was disappointed in his girlfriend for taking the trash talking to race so quickly. While she pouted, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at the acolytes before spotting the giant snake behind them and getting a gleam in his eye.

"I'd say your momma should have swallowed you goofy looking fucks... but looks like her fat ass is coming up behind you fast to fix that mistake!"

In the back, clinging on for dear life, the stereotypical nerd scoffed and shook her head, clearly believing that she was so far beyond this level of petty banter. The stoner friend, meanwhile, just giggled a little bit along with all of the insults, those aimed at him and those not.

Back on the acolyte speeder, Arak was beginning to catch up, having not engaged in trash talk himself he was far more focused and, actually, surprisingly adept at driving the unfamiliar craft. However, the splash of foul-smelling water right to the face enraged the serpent, keeping its attention firmly on them despite the good driving, and it fell behind slightly... as it reared up and spat a mouthful of green spit at the speeder, which hit the fan of the speeder and splashed towards the passengers.

The woodsman, having been stood right by the fan, got a large splattering, which immediately ignited on contact with his back, leaving him to roll around on the deck.

"Oh my god ay'm on fere! ay'm on fere! Ah mercy!"

@Sreeya @Javier esschoolbus @Fine Dining Set @Rom

 

[Arak Ragnos]

Arak was staying relatively calm as he rode up beside them. He then heard the woman on board scream out a lot of words he didn’t understand until he heard you skank. The only person that could’ve been directed towards was BB although in his mind the target was irrelevant she was talking shit about the squad. It was also the audacity to call someone else a skank while she was being one just earlier when they first sped past them.

He didn’t even hear the jocks smack talk. He didn’t notice the pothead laughing or the nerd just ignoring it all. All he saw was a group of people he didn’t want to see anymore. He looked down at the speeders wheel and a devious smirk formed.

He yelled out to the squad, “HOLD ON!” He veered the boat wide then pulled back towards the enemies to make sure he hit them as hard as he could. He kept the speeder close to the other one in case his allies wanted to board their vessel.

If any stayed on board he would turn to them, “Scare snake, save man!” Last thing he wanted was to be floating down a snakes gullet when they finally were getting somewhere. Was the snake following them because Beskar had buns hun? He wondered but was more worried about having the snake gone. He kept driving for now not sure if he wanted to risk the others doing so considering the last driving attempt.

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Rom @Nefieslab

 

[Nash]

Nash momentarily paused as the insult flew back. That one hit home. She thought back to the life her mother lived, all those times she told Nash to become something different. Something better. To get out of that life of being nothing but a pair of tits and ass. She didn’t have a moment to process her thoughts which were beginning to spiral down into something sad. Arak did a hard shift and Nash almost fell over, grabbing onto the side of the boat as it crashed into the other vessel.

She briefly glanced over at the professor’s sudden shift from being the quiet loser in the background, giving him a nod of approval before she looked ahead. Now that the other fuckers were within reach, it was Nash Smash time.

Theme​

Without hesitation, Nash leapt over into the other boat. She whirled in with a fist to clock the nerdy girl right in the face. Her Zabrak boyfriend jumped up and Nash ducked under his swing, abruptly jerking up with a solid uppercut right below his chin. While he started to fall back, Nash grabbed the nerdy bitch by the hair and smashed her face down into the edge of the boat.

“TALK SOME MORE SHIT, BITCH,” Nash snapped as she yanked the girl’s head up and slammed it back down again, knocking her teeth out from the smash. The boyfriend came at her again, swinging in with a punch. Nash, who still had his girlfriend by the hair, yanked the girl up to meet that punch so it landed on her face and broke her nose. The girl was out cold and dropped in a heap.

Nash wasn’t done yet, jumping into a fistfight with him as the boat began to rock. She was entirely oblivious to the snake situation or the stoner twi’lek still screeching in the background.

@Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus @Nefieslab @Rom

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

Goddamn, Nash was brutal. Those beatdowns she unleashed would teach these losers an important lesson. Talk shit, get hit. The fact that Arak enabled this beatdown, that the group was here in the first place led Vossari to one conclusion: These bitches were fucking crazy. That was perfect, though, because the Sith needed some crazy bitches. Voss couldn't be alone in that, anymore! "Yo, Smash, watch out!" Her laser focus on the group of losers on the speeder had distracted her from the giant fucking snake that was about to eat them all. But, you had to admire the precision of someone who had that level of drive. "Prof, don't let her crash."

Vossari was brought back to the giant, wriggling threat behind them when their guide caught on fire. Vossari pulled himself and his new puppy out of the way of the flammable Thinking quickly, Vossari grabbed him by the collar and hurled him overboard. Hopefully a splash in the water would put out his flames, or at least shut him up. "Scales, let's deal with the snake."

Vossari didn't exactly have a plan, though. Did he ever? All he could do was make a quick judgement. If the snake's liquid acid breath reacted by setting things on fire, it was highly flammable, right? Maybe explosive? "Got an idea. Get it to open its mouth again."

Vossari grabbed his new char-hound pal into his hands, pointing its mouth towards the fan. He crouched into the hull, taking cover until the moment to strike as he coaxes his puppy into action. "You ready, buddy?" The charhound wiggled its tail affirmatively. Once Veltharion baited the snack into opening its mouth, Vossari would spring up, char-hound in hand, and have it bark a torrent of flame into the giant snake's mouth. His aim was to ignite the snake's acid within its own maw, setting the beast ablaze from the inside.

@Sreeya @Rom @Nefieslab @Javier esschoolbus

 

[Veltharion]

Veltharion hissed at the snake as it spat at the boat, twisting under the globs and watching as they sizzled against the metal and ignited the clothing on their guide's back. Trying and failing to hold back his sissing laughter - despite the pain in his jaw - the Barabel acolyte reached to turn the guide over so his back would be extinguished by the water floating in the bottom of the boat when he was suddenly hurled overboard by Braidz.

Turning to give the Acolyte a flat look he was treated to the sight of Nash once again beating the ever living shit out of someone, only this time it wasn't himself. 'This one almost feels sorry for them...' he mused to himself before giving a cheer as Nash lifted the female she was beating up into the path of her mates fist, breaking her nose in spectacular fashion. 'Almost.' A hiss from behind reminded him of his own more pressing concerns and the Barabel acolyte focused on Braidz as he mentioned having a plan.

Drawing his lightsaber, Veltharion extended it into the pike configuration and slashed out at the scaled body of the Swamp Snake as it coiled and swam behind them, trying to bait it into striking down at him with more spit or its fangs.

"Come and get this one, you sorry excuse for a lizard!"

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus

 

[The Storyteller]

Sith culture, both the pureblood race known as Sith and the order by the same name, is a complex maze of backstabbing, alliances of convenience and using past trauma as both an excuse and power source to take it out on others.

But even amongst the Sith, squad is life.

Arak's piloting of the speeder was at such a level that when he rammed the two together it was at such an angle and such a speed that he maintain complete control, while the jock seemed surprised by the sheer audacity - and the wheel jerked in his hands. This allowed Nash to sail on over and begin to lay down the smackdown for those who talked smack without the ability to throw down worth a damn. Taking down untrained teens was no sport but sport was likely the last thing on Nash's mind and so they threw themselves at her in an uncoordinated mass, one of them already down for the count.

While the water didn't remove the acid from the guide's back entirely, it was enough to put the flames out and he crawled back aboard, hacking up water.

"Ay feel like ayy cat that there go drowned hafway! But thank y'all faw y'all's assistance - it were right kaand."

As Veltharion started waving his lightsaber around and talking shit to a less evolved reptile, Vossari grabbed up his new Best Friend Forever. The charhound in question, who's collar read "Blitzen", turned his head and gave Vossari's cheek a very wet lick with his tongue, barking his approval of the plan before turning front to face enemy.

On cue, just as the pursuing snake opened it's mouth wide, Blitzen let out his spiciest bark - a jet of red-hot fire rocketing forward across the distance. The amount of acid wasn't enough to kill the snake when it exploded but a good chunk of it's lower jaw was blasted away, catching it entirely by surprise and leaving it to rear back before swimming away, deciding it was better to recover far away from that particular speeder boat.

As this was going on, the guide managed to stumble to his feet and made his way up to where Arak was piloting. Pointing to a patch of greenery up ahead, the guide spoke without the need for a translation for once.

"Pull er up here! Dock!"

Arak, with his surprisingly good piloting skills, would be able to pull the speeder into an easy speed to stop at the edge of the water - the enemy speeder did not and it accelerated as the teen driver focused more on trying to punch Nash in the tits than driver safety. The tip of the teen's speeder hit the edge of the land and there was a split second to react - which all of the college kids wasted by screaming (or being unconscious). Nash would have enough time to either attempt a jump back to her original boat or otherwise avoid being involved in the ongoing crash.

@Sreeya @Javier esschoolbus @Fine Dining Set @Rom

 

[Arak Ragnos]

Arak had successfully collided with the other speeder and keep control afterwards. He continued following along the other speeder keeping an eye for if Smash needed help. He couldn't help the joy and excitement he got from her wailing on the bastards that were after their plant.

He turned around as he heard an explosion seeing the serpent lose a part of its jaw. He was beaming with joy now, both of their current obstacles were taken care of. "Good job guys!" He shouted back to the others. It seemed that despite the atrocious beginning to this journey as long as they were working together things would go well.

He heeded the guided advice to dock the boat at the waters end. Slowing down and letting it lightly drift to set on the edge of the land. He watched as the other speeder didn't stop, his face growing to show concern. Once Smash jumped off the boat regardless of her intention Arak would use the Force to help her and ensure she at least wasn't too hurt.

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Rom @Nefieslab

 

[Nash]

Nash felt great with each successful punch finding purchase and breaking something. She had her lekku pulled a few times, but she had been in scuffles before and that was the oldest trick in the book. She was pulled out of her tunnel vision when she heard commotion and felt the boat suddenly pick up speed and beeline right for the bank.

Before the boat could crash, Nash leapt clear over the gap between the boat and land, dropping into a crouch. A jolt of pain shot through her ass injury, but she was otherwise harmed. Nash bolted out of the way as the boat crashed spectacularly, a small fire starting. The twi’lek wasted no time, quickly rushing to the speeder to grab three helmets before she rushed back to join her group, leaving the other losers to their fates.

“Fuck, what a rush,” She called out, actually smiling as she looked at the boys, “We rocked their shit,” Nash said before she slung an arm around Arak’s shoulder, “And PROF, you were a fucking beast with that boat. Who woulda thought?!” She chuckled as she shoved a helmet into his chest probably hard enough to knock the wind out of him without realizing.

“All right, gramps, where do we go next?” Nash asked after placing her own helmet on. It was a miracle that there was a twi’lek in the other group or this would have been a struggle.

@Javier esschoolbus @Fine Dining Set @Roman Kallo @Nefieslab

 

[Vossari Khaldun]

Little Blitzen had proven to be a useful ally. Vossari wouldn't forget this - the way the dog happily lapped his helmet filled him with joy. If Vossari wasn't horribly scarred from the last time he tried to play with literal fire, he would let the little doggo see him past the environmental suit. For now, though, Voss would settle on a head pat and a reach into his tiny snack pack for a little treat for Blitzen. He turned to Gramps.

"Name your price for Blitzen. He's coming home with me." He gave Blitzen another small pat on the head while Nash and Arak celebrated victory. He looked down at the bloody scarf still covering his thumbless hand. He had some shitty luck today, but it looked like it would soon be over. He patted Prof and Smash on the back as they hugged, happy that finally a plan of theirs didn't immediately backfire.

"Good shit, everybody." They weren't fast friends, necessarily. It seemed like, until pretty much this moment, they pretty much hated each other for no real reason. Yet, as their journey progressed, Vossari started to feel some genuine feelings of kinship towards them. Is this what having friends felt like?

He wouldn't risk this precarious feeling by saying something stupid. "You've been a huge help today, old guy. Is there anyway we can repay you?" Vossari didn't have any credits, of course - Nash had taken those. But if the swamp dweller accepted kind works and a firm handshake as a good payment, Vossari was more than ready to offer that.

@Sreeya @Nefieslab @Javier esschoolbus @Rom

 

[Veltharion]

Veltharion extinguished his lightsaber and twirled the pike as it collapsed before clipping it to his belt, fangs bared in a wide grin as he watched the snake slither away sans it's jaw. Reaching out a hand the Barabel acolyte gave the charhound a pat on the head and said, "There'z a good boy," before offering his hand toward Braidz in what Azar had called a 'fist bump'. Turning to face Nash and the Professor he would offer the other acolytes the same, his tails lashing out behind him while he sissed with laughter as the speeder the rude scaleless ones had been driving caught fire and the pained groaning of those who survived the beating Nash had given out. It was nice working with a team again.

Reaching out a hand for the last helmet, the Barabel turned it over in his hand and then pulled it on over his head. Checking the seals he looked over to Nash and Braidz as they spoke to the old man and joined them, his hands crossed over his chest. Unknown to the Barabel the transparisteel visor was giving his face a strange fishbowled appearance. "Yes, this one wishez to know where we'll find the purple plant... and if there are any other creaturez in this swamp that may try to eat us or light us on fire."

@Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Javier esschoolbus

 

[The Storyteller]

As the college kids were caught completely unawares, they ragdolled as they hit the bank at speed and went flying into the undergrowth. When Nash was grabbing up some helmets, she would be able to tell that they were, somehow, all still alive but in various broken states - limbs pointed the wrong direction, spines twisted at odd angles, the works. With her own innate sense of awareness, Nash was able to spot it well beforehand and land safely back on the friendly speeder, with a little assistance from Arak.

Their guide, the woodsman, sat with his back against the fan cage for a moment, just catching his breath, before he pulled himself to his feet with a groan of effort and pain. As he took a step past, he patted Blitzen on the head.

"Awful old blitzen isn't faw sale - he's nahwt my dog anyway. He's taken ayy a-likin' ta ya so keep him. Just don't evuurr mistreat him aw, ya know, he'll roast y'all's balls." he assured Vossari with a thumbs up, "'Sides, yer saved mah bacon."

He gave a sheepish grin as he stepped to the edge of the speeder. On the bank, mostly hidden in the bushes, a small group of Togruta were beginning to peak through. They were dressed in green robes with spears and brown ink tattoos across their faces.

"Let me just take care ov thay ...err community. Hey! hey boys! tell y'all's mowthuurr ay done said ay'd be round latuurr faw my reward faw a-treatin' ya so whel!"

The Togruta seemed to recognise the woodsman because they came out of the undergrowth and waved dismissively in his direction before grabbing hold of one of the college kids each - and beginning to drag them away into the undergrowth, some of them screaming in fright and pain as they did so. One of the Togruta stopped, a man who looked to be in his early twenties.

He looked embarrassed.

"The Grand Mother wished me to pass along a message... um..." his cheeks flushed, "She says... 'See you soon, sweetcheeks'... um... bye."

As the group disappeared with the screaming college students, the woodman chuckled a little bit to himself before explaining, slightly.

"Cultists - they like dumb teens ayn' ay don't ask questions, except faw what tahm theuurr grand mowthuurr geds off the clok. Anyway leds get off!"

Under the guidance of the woodsman, Arak would be able to safely guide the speeder on through the waterways until they reached a different shoreline. This one was very different indeed - for starters, all of the vegetation seemed to have been drained of colour, leaving grey plants on the jungle floor as far as the eye could see. Hanging above the ground, at roughly knee height, a bright purple mist hang heavy. The trees surrounding the area seemed to be almost dying but retained some stronger, higher, branches.

In the distance, across the mist-covered ground, there was a hillock where the ground was not grey - but instead purple. The entire grassy knoll was covered in small, purple, plants. The petals were purple, the stems were purple and even their seed pods were purple as well. What they could see, however, was that they seemed to be releasing the mist and the hillock was devoid of trees or other vegetation - only the purple plants.

"Here weez - naw payment requered, y'all done helped me scawe awful big with the cult. Done might even get ta put ayy ring on huurr finger! but thay ...err plants. just. do yourselves ayy favour? don't breathe the mist. Or let it touch y'all's bare skin. Or do - ay'm nahwt about ta tell ya what ta do."

@Sreeya @Javier esschoolbus @Fine Dining Set @Rom