Artifacts in the Caves

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian sat on the back of his Ranger and looked at the cave system in the valley below. It had been just hours since he had set down on Dathomir and he already was not a fan of the planet. Everything was wet and seemed to want to eat him for its lunch. Not to mention the whole witch angle which just gave him the heebie jeebies. As he looked through the binoculars at the caves, he noticed which ones appeared to be the busiest with foot traffic and which were generally unused. He had identified several potential entry points for he and Cory.

Cory was another matter entirely. He knew the Mandalorian warrior would be able to handle her end of things. He just got nervous when the bolts started flying as he did not want to be the one to deliver the news to her husband Malagith if she went down. Diocletian had been in battle with her before and was confident in her abilities to keep up to the Clan Solus pace, to spite her being an Eldar. Well we can’t all be Solus.

Diocletian had his usual armor configuration and weapon layout, to include his grenades and bowcaster. Preferably he would like to stay away from the explosives route, but he would definitely use them if he had to. The second half of their mission included causing as much damage as they could to the caves system after they searched it for any artifacts. Dio was not entirely sure he would know a witch artifact from a hole in the ground, but he would keep his eyes open and if he saw anything interesting, in the bag it went.

As he sat watching the action at the caves, he heard movement from behind him through the jungle. Years of time spent in the forests and outdoors, had made him very aware in outdoor situations. He smiled as he recognized the sounds of Cory sliding up behind him on the bluff. As he continued to surveil through his binos, he simply raised a hand in greeting to her as she arrived.

DICE​

Witch Counter : 14​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

"Hey...what do we got?"

The girl crouched down by the partner she'd worked with several times in the last month or so, and even more over the past 2 years. She'd met him around the same time as she met her would-be husband. They were both of the Eldar clan, and since they were the only two Eldars in their group they got along rather well. It wasn't long at all for them that they agreed to take their marriage vows and form a union between the two. It was quite common for Mandalorians to marry often and early on. Not that they divorced or took many partners...but that usually one of the parties died. Which is why raising children (or adopting them of course) was such a respected thing in their culture. It meant bringing up the future generations and keep Mandalore strong.

As always, -and like any other proud Mando- Corrine was dressed in her armored Beskar'gam. Given to her after her father's passing, she colored the iron skin red in honor of her family. It hadn't come close to fitting her at the time, and she had to modify it heavily to fit her frame. But now it was just as much a part of her as her own skin. Making sure to stay safe herself, on either hip she wore "Strill" blaster pistols and on her back a Westar-C1 Blaster Rifle. Her newest addition she was most proud of now included a very illegal wrist-mounted flamethrower attached to her gauntlet. Just in case....

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian continued to look at the cave network exterior through his binoculars as he spoke to Cory. He was not concerned with her hearing him, they were far enough away from the objective to allow for him to speak loudly. There was no need for noise discipline at this range. “It appears we have multiple witches, I would estimate in excess of ten, in this branch of the cave system. I have not seen any sign of artifacts but that makes sense, I doubt they would keep such items out in the open.”

Scanning the openings, he started formulating a plan in his head. One of the side caves appeared to have less traffic but he had seen movement go into and out of it. Tracking those figures, they had appeared from other caves as well. It was all one cave system and that cave entrance appeared to be their best bet for an entry. There were two sentries near that cave that would have to be dealt with before they could gain entrance, however.

Dio lowered the binoculars and looked over at Cory. “I think the cave entrance to the south on the end is our best bet for an entry. It is the only one guarded on that end but appeared to be have the least amount of traffic in and out. If we can take the sentries by stealth, I think we will have a better chance of success in that direction.”

Quickly raising the binoculars to his eyes once more, he looked and confirmed before continuing. “We should be able to skirt this ridge and come upon the two sentries from behind. I will take the shorter one on the east side of the cave. You take the other.”

He quickly turned and while listening to Cory make suggestions or adjustments to the plan, he stowed away his binoculars on his Ranger and started camouflaging it. He did not want the bike to go missing while they were in the caves. He knew they might need a quick exit and the Ranger would certainly provide that. After a few moments he was ready and turned to regard Cory, his helmeted face impassive.

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

Multiple witches. Ten at best. That was doable. With the element of surprise they could both take two or three just on their own. Adding explosives to the mix would double that. Yes this was very doable. Once the targets were eliminated then they could worry about the artifacts. Though...Dio wanted to do things stealthily. Probably a better idea.

Corrine then motioned for Dio to share the binoculars and nudged him with her boot several times before he finally got the picture she wanted to see too. Looking up at what he was talking about she nodded and handed them back. She would repeat to him, "You go East, I'll get the West one. Can do."

Patting him on his shoulder she'd stand and clip her helmet over her head to her iron skin. With a hiss it locked into place and the HUD came online. Behind her, Dio started to cover up their escape route. She on the other hand would do a quick visual check of her weapons and then confirm the mikes were working. "Let's do this, brother. For the glory of Mandalore!"

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Dio nodded and replied in a grim voice, already in battle mode, “May it shine upon us.” He then melded into the forest and rocky terrain, almost becoming a ghost it seemed. He moved with the practiced ease of someone trained to do so for years. His route took him around the ridge and to the edge of the cave complex. He was able to move to a position just above the Witch where she stood on guard. They had chosen their time to strike well as the witch appeared almost asleep on her feet.

Dio smiled under his helmet, fortune favored the bold and he saw fortune smiling on them thus far. As he crouched behind the sleepy sentry, he slowly bent down and slid his vibroknife from its sheath behind his greave. Moving like a panther dropping on its prey, Dio dropped from the ridge to land behind the sentry, he placed one hand over her mouth and then slid the blade of the vibroknife across her windpipe. The arterial blood spray was staunched by the blade as the violently awakened witch fell back into the deep sleep of death.

Dio held the woman against him until she stopped twitching and then pulled her back into the shadows beside the cave. There were some crates stacked there and she was deposited neatly behind them so as to not attract as much suspicion should anyone fly past or drive past on a speeder. Looking up from his position, Dio looked to where the other sentry stood and watched to see if he would need to assist Cory in her task. He had no doubt she could handle it but as they say, things happen.

Witch Counter: 13 of 14​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

The forest was her friend. Corrine vanished into the red bark of the trunks around her, ever thankful for the paint she colored her Beskar'gam. Using all of her training and experience in the field she came upon the witch overlooking the West side of the cave entrance. Unlike Dio, she did not come with a vibrosword. It was never something she needed prior to this mission. She'd always been on the far end of the battle, sniping her enemies from afar. But that didn't mean she didn't have the hand to hand skills necessary to get her job done. Coming up from behind the woman, Corrine eased her way up as close as she could get. The woman didn't even see her coming. Exactly as planned she ran up and dropped the woman with three quick moves. The first she grabbed her head from the side like she was covering her mouth. Second, she kicked the back of the woman's leg and pushed all of her weight downward. Then she used the same weight against it and snapped the woman's neck. The rest of her body gently fell to the floor.

Corrine waited a moment to make sure no one had heard her. She noticed Dio on the other side of the cave entrance who'd taken his witch out as well. Only, his left a bloody mess. Her way at least she didn't leave a trail. Once they discarded the bodies no one would be the wiser. Corrine waved Dio forward and she would draw her two pistols before entering into the cave. It was dark in the caves but subtle lights from burning sconces would light the way. What the light didn't cover their visors would. As luck would have it they came upon their first group of witches. Six of them were in this chamber, but luck was still on their side. The pathway winded down with small openings like windows in the wall that overlooked the descending-cylinder cavern. Two witches would be just up ahead of them and walking the same way they were. In other words...their backs were to the Mandalorians.

Giving her brethren Mando a gesture of what was ahead she counted down the seconds then charged when she got down to 'one'. Corrine rushed forward, surprised at herself for being slightly faster than Dio. Like before she aimed to bring the woman down by snapping her neck. Only this time, the woman didn't fall quite the same way and it caused a slight alarm from her. It only lasted a second, and it was muffled from Corrine's gloved hand over her face, but it was very possible that the other four witches below might have heard that.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Diocletian watched as Cory took out her sentry from cover near where he had killed the one, he targeted. He had known she was good, but he had never seen her in hand to hand before. His dispatching of the sentry had been quick and efficient as his had been. She had been able to do so without leaving any trace, but Dio still preferred his vibroknife. There was something satisfying about killing with the knife that Dio had enjoyed since he had been taught the way of the blade by Sulla so many years before.

As Cory made her way to the cave entrance, Dio rose and met her at the opening. He knew she would move faster, her medium armor being easier to maneuver in than his heavy armor. But together they entered the cave system. They made their way in complete silence, the caves illumination from sconces, lit their way deeper into the complex. Dio watched as Cory outpaced him easily and marveled at the competitive spirit of the woman. Always wanting to prove herself and outpace even her peers. There was something to be said for a woman like that, reminded him of his wife in many aspects.

Suddenly they heard hushed voices. Dio saw two sets of witches. One set of two was walking away from them on the same path and another four were nearby. Dio caught up to one of witches on the path and tried to imitate the move he had seen earlier from Cory. He placed his hand over the witch’s mouth and then stomped down hard on the leg of the woman to bring her weight down. There was a concerted crack that resounded as both her knee and neck broke at once, echoing in the chamber. He had used way too much force and there was no doubt that the woman was dead the same as there was little doubt that the other witches nearby had heard her death.

Continuing to hold the witch as a human shield, Dio turned towards the group of four witches as they rose and came to engage the two Mandalorians. Gripping his Shriek-Hawk by its pistol grip, he turned to get ready to fire from the hip as the witches started to charge.

Witch Count: 10 of 14 remain​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

Dio at no surprise to Corrine managed to bring his witch down just the same as he did outside. But her small blunder gave away their position and the four witches came to avenge their fallen sisters. They used strange and primitive bows that surged with a purple energy. Corrine didn't have time to measure the danger to them. Both Dio and she drew their weapons and would begin firing. Dio had grabbed his rifle, where she her two pistols. Corrine began firing at the four women as they too began to engage. Corrine took a bolt right in the shoulder that caused her to fall to one knee. Not a good start.

Keeping her guns raised she kept firing. Two of the witches ducked behind cover as blaster fire rained towards them. The other two weren't so lucky. The two in the back of the ground hadn't had time to dodge as their sisters moved to evade and Corrine scorched each of them with a decent body shot to make the kill count. There was nothing fantastic about her kill, but two more were downed. Corrine would then duck back and crouch behind the wall of the cave they'd come from. From here, the witches wouldn't be able to shoot her unless they to came out of their hiding place. She assumed with high hopes that they wouldn't risk trying to out-gun Dio just to get to her.

Biting her lip she would holster her two guns and rub her shoulder where the burn was. Yeah...that was going to leave a mark. It had gone clean through her armor. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. Pain was temporary. She'd get over it soon enough. Corrine was a proud Mandalorian daughter. She wouldn't give in to a mere flesh wound. Drawing her Westar rifle she'd move in next to Dio and see how he'd fared against the remaining two.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Dioceltian watched as Cory flushed a group of four witches from hiding near their current position. Cory dispatched with the two witches in quick and efficient order which left Dio to square off with the other two. Dio waded into the combat, being too close to really bring his gun into play. Both of the witches had blades and they waved them menacingly at Dio as they closed with him. There was one thing that Dio knew about knife fights, someone always got cut.

Evading the swipe from the first witch, Dio leaned back and slid around to her side. This placed her between he and the other witch. With a quick push, Dio threw her off balance and into her fellow witch. The two of them went down in a heap on the ground a gaggle of arms and legs as they fell. Both of them retained their hold on their knives and started to scramble to their feet. Dio was already reacting, the fall had placed both witches on the ground and prone at his feet.

Dio’s face became still and his lips a thin line as he raised one hand towards the two witches on the ground. He closed his fist and his other hand came up and activated the wrist flamer on his wrist. The screams of the two witches echoed through the cavern complex. They thrashed as they died and then came together, their bodies burned as they almost seemed to embrace as they died. The smell of burned flesh filled the cave and a light pall of smoke rose to lurk at the top of the cave.

Dio removed his hand from the activation toggle on his vambrace and turned from the impromptu cremation. He didn’t look back as he started deeper into the caverns, only pausing to say “Lets move.” to Cory. The hand flamer was a horrible weapon, but it got the job done. It took a toll on its user as well as its victims. It was not a weapon that one used lightly, not that any weapon truly was. But there was definitely a small detachment from a blaster or rifle that was not as deeply personal as burning someone alive.

Rounding a corner, Dio could hear footsteps coming along the path from the direction of the main cave opening. Raising a fist, he stopped their progress and then pointed to a small outcropping of rocks to the side of the cavern. Moving there quickly he set Cory up in a firing position and then moved back into the tunnel. Either of them was able to provide an ambush for the other should they be the first one seen. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, they were looking at another group of four most likely.

Witch Count : 6 of 14 remaining​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

"D, watch out!" Corrine would shout as the witches came in close with their knives.

He'd somehow came in without his guns drawn. Not good! She had his rifle ready and aimed, he'd just gotten in the way again. Move you idiot! She was just itching to fire her trigger and give a little payback for the hole in her shoulder. Thankfully Dio was a trained fighter, just as she was. Not that she doubted him....but it was still dangerous to get in that close when it wasn't necessary. Humorously, he used their footing against them and forced them to crash into one another.

What he did next made the Mandalorian daughter ever so jealous. Apparently Dio wasn't the only one who had upgraded recently. But to not even tell her he'd also gotten his hands on a wrist-mounted flamethrower? Well that was just rude. Even still, Corrine's eyes lit up under her visor as the brilliant light of the flames danced in her vision. Wow. So pretty.

The witches would squirm and scream and all the things that would give away their position to any other witches that happened to be in the area. Oh well. It was still a sight to see and Corrine was ever so glad she was there to witness it. One would think she should feel bad for ending their lives in such a cruel and torturous way. But they were enemies right? And this was war. Maybe something was missing in that pretty little head of hers....

Behind her, Dio would call for Corrine to get a move on. She took one final look at the burning bodies and would turn to follow her brother. Punching him in the arm like she always loved to do she'd say her peace on the matter.

"Why didn't you tell me you bought a flamethrower? That's so uncool! We could have shopped together!"

The two would turn a corner heading further into the cavern. He quickly felt something was wrong and shot his hand up to give her the signal that they needed to stop. She closed her lips together and began to breathe out of her nose. No talking. Talking could wait. There were still enemies about. He pointed to a small pile of boulders just ahead of them. As silent as they could be in those armored suits -which was surprising to say the least at how effective they were at it- the two moved behind the rocks and then Dio would return to their previous position. She rubbed her shoulder for a moment which was starting to get stiff. No time to waste. He needed her to be vigilant.

Corrine would calm her breathing which she'd done several times over. Her fingers began to tap gently against the side of her rifle, a tick she did when she was getting itchy; it kept her from accidentally squeezing her trigger and shooting herself or her teammates. She would soon see the four witches that Dio had expected. Time for an ambush...

Doing what Corrine did best she raised her rifle and brought her finger to the trigger. She opened fire on the poor unsuspecting women and her rifle bolts tore through them. Dio had indeed picked a perfect place to strike. The witches would turn and try to both evade and also fire back but against Corrine Eldar, they were pretty outmatched. Corrine wasn't sure whether Dio was firing too because she got caught up in the blasts. Point-click-shoot-repeat. It was a mantra to herself she often repeated in her head. And she'd gotten really good at learning the rhythm of the gun to which she could fire shots repeatedly without losing time in the recoil.

Point.
Click.
Shoot.
Repeat.

All four witches soon dropped and Corrine finally stopped firing. She stayed as still as stone. Just in case one of them moved. Finally she let out a calming exhale like she'd been holding in her breath. She lowered her gun and would stand up. Wow! That was way too easy. Everything happened better than she had expected it to. Well, she couldn't argue with Fate. She was Corrine Eldar after all.

"Ha ha!" she exclaimed. "Did you see that? Pew pew pew poodoo-heads. Now you're dead!""

Giving Dio a thumb-up gesture she proudly smiled under her visor. He couldn't see it, but he probably knew she was smiling like a total dork.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

Diocletian crouched in opposite side of the tunnel from Cory, waiting for the witches to make their appearance. He had his own Shriek-Hawk rifle shoved into his shoulder and was waiting to fire. When the first witch appeared, Cory beat him to the punch and shot the witch in the chest. As the next witch appeared, new story, same as the first. Dio lowered his rifle and watched the display. Four separate witches ran into the kill zone and Cory obliged all of them. She was mechanical in her movements, each shot was aimed and fired by the numbers.

After the last witch fell, Dio couldn’t help but smile under his helmet at her happiness. She had indeed done well, well enough to get a thumbs up from Dio. They were not done with their mission as yet so the simple gesture would have to suffice for now. After a moment, Dio paused to listen and he didn’t hear any immediate threats. That worried him. Dio peered around the corner and into the main cavern. It appeared deserted but there were several huts where dangers could lie. The artifacts they were here for would undoubtedly be in the caves as well.

Dio paused at the corner and scanned the area. He discovered there were two witches in the chamber. One was in the largest of the huts in the back of the room. Dio could hear her chanting and that made his skin crawl. The second appeared to be keeping watch just outside that same large hut. She was trying to remain concealed within a shadow near the door. Luckily for Dio and Cory, the firelight had just caught the edge of her blade for a second. Just long enough for a flash to grab Dio’s attention. Dio turned to Cory and pointed out the position of the witch in ambush. He raised two fingers and then pointed to the witch in the hut as well.

Dio had finished pointing out the two witches so he started forward at a low crouch. He made his way to cover on one side of the chamber. He knew there was no way they could sneak up on the sentry or get into that hut without dealing with that sentry. As Cory had just shown her shooting ability, Dio gestured towards the sentry and then made a finger gun with one hand and dropped the hammer, indicating he wanted Cory to shoot her if she could. He raised a hand with four fingers up, he dropped to three, then two and then one. As his last finger dropped, he stood and started forward, counting on Cory to do her job and cover his movement with her shots.

Witch Count: 2 remaining​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

Seeing him return the thumbs up gesture made her grin with glee. Oh she was loving this. Far too much for someone who did this regularly. Would there ever come a time when it was too far? She hoped not. Taking down targets was the ultimate thrill. Her life on the life. Everything coming down to pure skill for survival. Nothing beat that rush. Though physical intimacy came pretty darn close. Mmmmm. She missed that.

Moving into the rest of the caves she stayed behind Dio. She made sure to reload her weapon so she had a full chamber. Never know when one might run out of shots. That moment it could take to reload -which to be honest was a slim margin given she drilled it into herself to be rather quick at it from constant repetition- could be the difference over life and death. Best not to even go near that predicament. Ahead of them, she saw several huts that must have been where the witches lived and slept. How...primitive. A part of her could relate because it looked like going camping. But the other side of her which enjoyed having a nice quiet home to come home to found the sight depressing.

Carefully they moved towards the huts not sure of what to expect. The whole place could be filled with them. A dozen or more could be lying in wait, or sleeping and unaware of the danger. But the moment they would start firing the danger would present itself. Corrine had to be ready to fight a few...or a horde. Dio would find the first one and signal to Corrine what was ahead. She nodded through her helmet and raised her rifle. As her training came into effect once more she began controlling her breathing to long and calm breathes. Moving at his direction she crouched to the designated sniping spot and took a knee.

Two of them in front of her; one of them in sight. She didn't need his visual confirmation to know it was her task to rid the first one from their thoughts so he could focus on the other. Corrine already saw how everything would go down. She'd snipe the first. The second would then come running only to be ambushed by Dio and his knife. He'd take her out with just as much skill as he had today and every mission before now. That's what Mandalorians did.

Four.
Three.
Two.
One.

PEW!

Corrine's finger hit the trigger and the witch would fall to the ground, a blaster bolt square between her eyes. Exactly as planned the unsuspecting woman died before she knew what hit her. A merciful death. The body fell and Dio had his opening to run in. Just to be safe...Corrine lowered her gun and would head after him to get a better position. She didn't expect him to fail. But things happened not even they could control.

 

[Diocletian Solus]

DICE​

The shot rang out and Dio was already on the move. He saw the witch in the shadows drop like a marionette with its strings cut. He was moving quickly, knowing that the sound of the sentry witch dying would get the attention of the one inside the hut. As predicted, just as the witch fell, he could hear the running steps of the witch in the hut. Dio dove into a roll and came up in a crouch beside the entrance to the hut. He drew his vibro blade from its sheath behind his greave and waited.

The witch emerged from the hut covered in blood. She had a strange sort of purple light surrounding her as apparently, she was completely engaged in a ritual. Dio did not know if the ritual had completed, what he did know was that her back was to him. He rose from the shadows, a dark angel of death. The vibro blade slid between her third and fourth vertebrae. The blade continued into her lung, causing an involuntary cough from the witch. She had a large sacrificial knife in one hand that fell limply to clang against the rocky floor. The handle of the knife appeared to be made of bone, Dio tried not to think about the origins of that bone.

As the witch died, she tried to turn to face her attacker. She discovered that her spinal cord had been severed and she fell to the ground. The strange purple light continued to glow from her body, almost as if she was filled with some sort of power. Dio stepped gingerly over her body and signaled to Cory. “We need to get some artifacts and get out of here. That bone handled knife looks interesting. Be careful though.”

With that Dio entered the hut and discovered several items of interest. There were a few books in a language he did not recognize, another bone handled dagger and bowl set and then several of the strange bows the witches used. Dio picked all of it up and placed it in a sack he had brought for the task. It only took a few moments, but he was able to clear that hut fairly quickly. Emerging from the hut with the bag over his shoulder, he looked more like Mando Santa than a deadly warrior.

Gesturing to Cory that she should lead as he had the loot, he started to make his way towards the exit to the caverns. He would be happier the further they got from this place. He had been feeling weird ever since he came into the caverns and he hoped that would subside when they emerged back into the light. He now understood why people left these crazy witches alone.

@EmilyHuene

 

[Corrine Solus]

Corrine would move in closer as Dio handled the last witch with expert ease. She wasn't worried at all. She knew he could handle it. She'd then lower her gun and sling it back over her shoulder with the strap. Looking around just to be sure there weren't any more witches, she'd then take a moment to breathe. Dio would then say to her as the coast was clear that the needed to search for whatever artifacts they could and start heading out. She would nod and go to pick up the bone knife when he warned her to be careful.

Looking down at the blade it didn't seem like anything special. It was just a knife after all right? She didn't really believe in magic so she wasn't afraid of any sort of curse or something that might have been placed on the hilt. Still, she hesitated before grabbing it. Then she remembered she was wearing gloves so what harm could it really do? She picked up the knife and stood up. It didn't seem to have any effect on her. But how would she know if it did?

Following then after Dio she watched as he began shuffling everything that was strange and foreign into a sack. She would walk over and gently place her dagger inside of it, careful not to chip the edge of the blade or stab anything inside already either. Once finished the two would leave the hut and take another look around. Dio ushered for her to take the lead. She'd bring her rifle back out and start heading back the way they came. That was the safest path, lest they run into more witches. But they hadn't triggered any sort of alarms so for now they were safe. They still would want to be quiet, and both of them were smart enough to know that the mission was far from over.

They passed the several dead bodies in the caves which hadn't been moved or bothered since. That was a good sign. It meant no one else in the nearby caverns had come their way. Continuing back they would shortly see daylight again and were back outside. She'd give Dio another thumbs up signal and start rushing for the forest where their speeders were. Today had been a good day, a good haul. Mission complete.

~END THREAD~ ​