Ask [Dxun] Demon Days

[Hauron Solus]

Spoiler: Music

Song

Hauron was outfitted for the dangerous wilderness of Dxun. He carried his mandalorian blaster carbine in his hands in a relaxed posture but his senses were alert. An underslung launcher increased the size of the weapon but was armed with stun gas grenades instead of lethal ones. The Solus carried spare non-lethal grenades for the launcher just in the event he came across a rancor worthy foe.

The Solus could shoulder the weapon at a moment's notice if needed but for now the jungles of Dxun were devoid of obvious immediate threats. Two similar Westar-55 blaster pistols sat on either hip of the Rally master in secure holsters. A thermic blade was one of the badger's newest additions though it looked similar to an ordinary beskad and vibrobalde when inert and sheathed.

Zakkegs were notorious beasts even among the accomplished hunters in the mandalorian community. The mikkian normally was comfortable hunting alone but Dxun was an exceptionally dangerous moon. The planetoid was credited with killing its fair share of his people according to history and the bodies Rath and Hauron had found. Hauron was not surprised he had not found a Covert on the Demon Moon, yet.

Heavily armed and dangerous, Hauron felt he stood a chance of surviving on Dxun. But still he had sent a message to @Miri Kryze after their brief encounter on Mandalore with the intent of having her join him. She seemed honorable as far as hunters went and particularly good at what she did if rumors were to be believed. But time would give him a better measure of her character. For now he waited patiently in the shadow of the jungle's canopy, listening to the sounds of the jungle and keeping an eye out for his hunting partner. Maybe she's trying to sneak up on me? Slowly his stoic T visor panned around the area and saw a few large lizards peak out from some ferns. They then scurry away after realizing they had drawn his attention.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

“It wouldn’t be very hard,” Miri said, stepping out of the shadows of a thicket of brush and trees. Her dark armor, coated in scatterweave, practically appearing as if it were a shadow itself. Her E-11D blaster rifle was cradled in his right arm, her left hand over her right wrist in a stance of leisure and calm. A westar-35 blaster pistol was holstered on her right hip, and a vibro-blade was sheathed on her left. It was her standard loadout, because it was perfect for hunting. This would be her first hunt on Dxun, though.

Her red chiss eyes lowered to his rifle, and though her black visor hid everything, the corner of her lips curled upwards into a smirk. “Nice rifle,” she said. Miri sauntered up next to Hauron, her visor scanning the surroundings. “What are we hunting?” Not that it mattered to Miri. A hunt was a hunt was a hunt, and most of the time they could end fruitfully. Her last hunt landing her into the arms of Apex, being a prime example.

Part of her wondered if Hauron had told Jace about the hunt. This sort of thing wasn’t Jace’s forte, but it had been a hot minute since she’d last seen either of her siblings. She missed them, though she’d never reveal it. At least this time there wasn’t five-hundred other Mandalorians to impress or intimidate. Her smirk broadened into a smile at the thought of tossing his own bounty puck to him as a memento. “Do you still have that puck I gave you?”

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron had been silent, thinking only to himself through internal monologue, or so he thought. The words that were verabilised from the shadows of the jungle would have made the rally master jump if he was not expecting Miri's arrival. Still, what she said gave the man pause after turning to face her. Is she a mind reader? Oh wait that means she would hear this. Uh, if you can read my mind please don't. He thought to himself quickly in case she was "listening". But if she was not telepathic then there would just be relative silence of the jungle moon.

"What would be easy?" He finally answered her with his actual mouth. Maybe she had just implied that he had let his guard down. Hauron had earned a sizeable bounty on his head at one point in time but that was a thing of the past. His body language would remain relaxed after the Kryze lowered her weapon.

"Thanks. " Hauron admired Miri's kit, noting her scatterweave coated armor and her impressive weapons. The two of them would be a match for most creatures in the galaxy. But today they would have their skills tested and the limits of their capabilities pushed. If he wanted to hunt something easy he would have gone to Naboo. "I like the scatterweave." Once upon a time he had used the stealthy substance and could appreciate its effectiveness. No wonder the Kryze had snuck up on him. Even with vision modes it would be difficult to detect her. If they got separated he would need to keep in contact with her. "Let's sync our helmet comms in case we get separated."> He suggested and tapped the controls on his wrist to do so.

"Zakkegs, or a zakkeg at least." He shrugged honestly. "I'm not sure how many there are. It could be one, maybe two by the looks of it. I'll show you." He gave a wave of his gloved hand for her to follow and began walking. Only a dozen meters away but easily missed for anyone at eye level was the remains of an animal carcass. Aside from the bugs and carrion birds already feasting on the decaying there were clear signs of paw prints and claw marks.

"I've only read and heard about zakkegs but I'd have to say they remind me of a beskar clad dire badger." Miri probably knew more about the animals than he did. There were hundreds if not thousands of beasts worth researching but for now their game was the demon badger. "The trail leads that way and goes for quite awhile. I don't think following this thing is going to be the hard part." The tracks were still fresh and the weather was even nice as far as Dxun days went.

The whole day was ahead of them and there was no telling what they would find aside from their prey. Hauron was in no rush to set off on the trail. In fact, even though the two did not know eachother well Hauron wanted to catch up with Miri. The last time they had crossed paths their first meeting and had been a tense situation on Mandalore. A lot of things had happened since then.

The Solus fished the "removed" bounty puck out of a belt pouch and keyed its hologram to activate. His own visage appeared with the words "bounty removed" in aurebesh scrolling across it. "Of course. It's what reminded me to call." He would have still reached out eventually but the reminder helped. As far as records were concerned Miri may have been the closest to claiming his bounty. He wondered if she knew that. "Did you want it back?" Part of him hoped she would say no.

@TheDudeMike

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled for Zakkeg trail quality
85/100 rousing success

 

[Miri Kryze]

“To hunt you,” she said, turning her black visor toward him. Maybe it would be hard to kill him, but he made it easy to hunt. Her visor turned back to the environment, slowly scanning. She flipped through the vision modes of her helmet, hoping to get a glimpse of something, but there were only the birds and small prey of the jungle. Certainly not a zakkeg, whatever the hell that was. She keyed her own wrist control to key herself into the linked communications between their helmets.

Miri followed Hauron, flipping her visor back to regular sight as they came up on the carcass. It wasn’t the devastation of the corpse Miri was interested in, it was the tracks beside it. “An armored badger hunting an even more armored badger… interesting,” she quipped in her low, but amused tone. She stood up as Hauron pointed the way the trail led. The tracks were indeed fresh, which meant the creature or creatures weren’t too far off.

Her visor turned to the puck when he pulled it out, staring at the visage and the words underneath it. Miri shook her head slowly, turning back toward the direction the tracks led. “No, it’s yours now. Fashion it to the top of your life-day tree.”

She started following the tracks, slow and methodically despite her casual demeanor. Her chiss eyes were darting from the tracks, to the path ahead, to every shadow between here and there. The tracks were no more than a day old, but that gave the two plenty of time to talk. “So what has the Rally Master been up to?”

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Yup, just as I thought. Well at least she's not a telepath...I think. He was ninety nine percent sure she could not read his mind. But it was not something he could prove nor had the time or energy to verify. It was just one of those things he had to trust or just deal with regardless of his feelings.

He nodded and gave a breathy chuckle at Miri's joke. He was not sure which one he was, the armored or more armored one. The Zakkeg could make a meal out of either of them if they were not careful. It was just as likely they hunted the beast as it hunted them. As far as armor went Hauron only had his helmet, chest plate and vambraces making him lightly protected compared to some mandalorians.

The bounty puck would return to a secure pouch as a souvenir of their first "face to face" meeting on Mandalore. He was glad she did not want to reclaim it. Her answer brought an image to his mind and smile to his face. "I think I'll do that." The Solus replied as a matter of fact. He imagined a Lifeday tree with the puck and other rediculious ornaments on various branches. Rancor Squadron was there, the wookiees of Kashyyyk, his father, Jace and the rest of clan Kryze too. It was a dream but one he believed could be achieved, someday even as silly as it was.

The march through the jungle eventually brought Hauron's head back on track, literally. The the foot prints of their quarry were easy to follow but he needed to keep aware of their surroundings in case one of the many other predators attacked. He looked towards Miri after hearing her ask the question but kept scaning their surroundings cautiously. "Oh you know...found some ancient secrets..." His tone was casual but it was big news. He continued all the same. "...collected some bounties. I met one of your kin, Jace on G'wenee." He did not know if Jace had told her about him or what had been said. "Um...let's see, attacked Thule, shot that Cremek guy down over Thule...what else..." He trailed off and shrugged, nothing further to add. A lot had happened and a bunch was probably boring to Miri. She was not a member of Rancor Squadron either, and he did not want to unwittingly leak anything that could endanger the troops under his command. "What about you? What have you been doing, Tracker?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

"I'm assuming you met Jace on good terms then, since you're still alive," she said through their internal communications link. She wasn't about to give away their position with audible talking. Her relaxed cradling of her blaster rifle turned to a firm grip on the pistol grip, the stock under her arm as she aimed from the hip. They had a lot of firepower between the two of them, and Miri was confident even the toughest of beasts wouldn't stand up to them, but they were still in its territory now; not being able to fire immediately was a detriment.

"And what exactly did you find on Thule? Cremek's people?" Miri asked. As far as she knew, Thule wasn't one of the Sith-tried-to-go-Mando's pit stops in his navigation data. It was just some super militarized planet near Imperial space. Either way, Hauron was here and not buried in mud and dirt so clearly the attack was either successful or he survived a defeat. Either way, survival was survival, and Miri wasn't about to judge.

"I hunted, like I always do. Got recruited into Apex," she said. "Don't worry, I won't charge you for this hunt." She stopped just a moment to turn her black visor toward him. He wouldn't see the smirk on her lips, but the tone of her voice reflected the playful attitude. Miri turned back to the trail, continuing at a stalking pace. Every step brought them closer to their prey, which meant closer to peril.

"You know we still have the Cremek guy's nav-data," she said. "I've been looking for time to sell it, or scout it."

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron thought back to his first encounter with the half-twi'lek, Jace. A smile creased his lips as he remembered what happened afterwards. "I think so." The badger followed it with a shrug of his armored shoulders.

Occasionally as they trekked onwards, Hauron would look at his partner. She was well equipped and and moved with the care of an expert hunter. But he did not know much about her yet on an personal level. She was a Kryze and a reliable one at that.

"Mmm, most likely." A second shrug followed the comment. It was pretty clear that the planet had ties to Sith but their military could not be ignored. Hauron had his reasons for turning the turrets of the Threebooters on the Varsuuth. The badger's hatred for sith, their sympathizers and any tyrants should be well known enough by now. "Sith or their sympathizers, the galaxy is better off without them." If they were in a cantina Hauron would have raise a cup to toast at the sentiment.

They continued on and Hauron smiled at the light hearted nature of Miri's words. "Thanks...." A breathy chuckle escpaed his nostriles before he continued. "Congrats by the way. I'll buy you an ale after this." Finding good work was worth celebrating and he was happy for the Kryze if she was content.

"Oh?" A hint of surprise was indicated by the otherwise stoic Rally Master. He would have expected her to already sold it by now. "Find any buyers so far?" Just because she was willing to sell it did not mean she had not already sold it. "I'll admit I want to take a peek." He expected her to make him an offer if it was her attempt to sell him on the information.


@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

"Agreed," Miri said to his statement about Sith. She ignored his offer of ale, as if he wasn't going to buy her an ale after this anyway? Take a girl for a hunt and then you think she is going to pay for the ale? Granted, she did have an income source now; they'd see when they got there. Survive the hunt first, worry about who pays for drinks later. The real conversation was about the navigation data. "We survive this hunt, Rally Master, and I'll not only show you, but make you a copy. Just keep it between us so I can get a good price on it when I actually sell it."

The trail wound up a jungle ridden hill. Miri fell silent as she trudged up the slope, careful that her footsteps didn't create any more noise than the natural jungle made itself. Carnivores used hills all the time to scout prey, there was a good chance the two Mandalorians' prey would on a hill just like this those.

As she reached the top of the hill, it was clear that would not be the case for this particular hill. There were many tracks, thankfully none that looked like or intermixed with the tracks the two were stalking. "Hm. Looks like it didn't stop on the hill. Means this either isn't it's natural grounds or there's something worse than our prey that does live here," she said as a matter of fact. Either way, there was no point in staying to find out what did live there. Not yet, anyway.

Entering the coordinates into her wrist band for a future hunt, Miri started down the other side of the hill, making sure to keep the Zakkeg tracks visible at all times.

Spoiler: OOC

Rolled 20/100 for if there was anything at the top of the hill.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

How Miri answered made Hauron hope she would be around to capture future Sith. But he did not know much about Apex Contractors or what they allowed. If they were anything like the Bounty Hunter's Guild then they could work together without issue. However there were Apex contractors over Thule from what intelligence had gathered so he still felt the need to keep her at arms reach.

"Deal." Hauron answered her proposal for Cremek's navigation data. The Solus would not share the information with others but he would still put it to use for Rancor Squadron. Even with his personal feelings aside, the squadron needed to make money and there was still a decent bounty out on Sith Champions even if it posted by the Empire.

The two returned to silence and followed the trail. The badger' visor looked up and around for signs of danger but only found nonhostile birds and bugs. The loud chirps and croaks of numerous animals and thick trees helped to mask sounds made by either of the two Mandalorians.

Ascending a hill, he looked at the tracks and tilted his head as he pieced things together. "Maybe. Could be a Drexl." He did not like suggesting it and looked towards the sky to douse any concerns. There were no signs of such a monster overhead. "I don't see any tracks that look like they would be a predator bigger than a Zakkeg...although..." His attention turned back towards the tracks. "Hmm." He put a gloved hand over the mouth section of his helmet as if to cup his lower jaw while thinking.

"I think we're tracking two Zakkegs now." Hauron looked towards Miri as if to see an expression of some kind but just tried to read her body language. If she was confused he would explain. "Here, fresh tracks from our main quarry. See how how deep they are. Then over here, much deeper depressions and slightly bigger paw prints. It's a different Zakkeg...I think. That would also explain why both sets of tracks are going in the same direction." Their hunt just doubled in danger. The two mandalorians were safe, for now. But that could change depending on how they wanted to proceed.




@TheDudeMike

Spoiler: Dice

Animals around the hill
84/100 rousing success

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri kept studying the tracks and evidence left by their prey while Hauron worked out whether they were tracking a drexl or a zakkeg. The type of beast didn't matter to Miri. She would hunt it either way. If at first she wasn't successful, she would try again another day, and another day after that, until finally the prey fell to her hand. That was the way of Mandalorians. Any apex predators on a planet came in second when Mandalorian boots hit the dirt.

She turned her black visor toward Hauron at the mention of two zakkegs. Her body gave away nothing as she slowly erected from her crouch. Two zakkeg was double the danger, but also double the prize. Just like a herd of reek; one was a great kill. Getting multiple in a herd was a great hunt. Her heart beat a little faster, sending tingles throughout her limbs, yet she kept her movements calm and collected.

"Hm." Miri hummed, turning her visor away from the Rally Master and toward the direction the tracks led. She turned back to the environment around them. "Seems our zakkeg couple pass through here regularly. We could set up an ambush." Miri jerked her chin, and thus her helmet, toward a cluster of boulders they could use to hide. There were many ways to hunt, and while stalking was more fun, it would be a shame to give up such favorable ground.

@Darasuum

Spoiler: Dice

67/100 on if the zakkeg couple pass through the mountain area regularly

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron followed Miri, careful to avoid leaving traces of his own passing after listening to what she said. His emotionless helmet nodded both at the Kryze's suggestion and as ideas began to form in the Solus' mind. "Judging by how much it recently ate we probably have a few hours at least before they come back through here, maybe longer. Plenty of time to lay a trap, set and ambush and hide our presence."

With that in mind the Rally Master stood fully erect and looked around. He shared his plans with Miri on what traps he was going to set. First, would be a simple trip wire with a glop grenade. If triggered, it would disperse its contents and root at least one of the zakkegs in place. Secondly a stun gas grenade was hidden underneath a three foot deep pitfall that would trigger once one of the zakkeg's placed their weight on it. Lastly a load of logs served as a deadfall that could be triggered by one of the zakkegs. With five times the expected weight needed to take down the fierce beasts Hauron was going to work up a sweat. At least they had plenty of time to prepare.

After the traps were set he made sure to cover their own tracks. He smeared mud and dirt on his armor as he went about his work. He added some florra to his armor webbing to better disguise himself amongst the underbrush. The canopy was a little thin compared to the lower lands and allowed light to peak through onto the jungle floor below. He moved into position and was ready to wait.

@TheDudeMike

Spoiler: Dice

Prep time for ambush and traps
97/100 rousing success

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri nodded, following what the Rally Master was suggesting. An ambush complete with traps and good fields of fire would give them the best chance. If they managed to incapacitate or immobilize one, the other would be much easier to take down. She gave one last, slow, panning look out into the jungle. Set ambushes weren't normally her way of hunting. She preferred to stalk the creature beginning to end. This was also a much more dangerous creature than she was normally hunting for fun or to put food on the table.

While Hauron got to work on the traps, Miri moved over to the cluster of boulders that would be their home for the next few hours. She moved around the boulders, checking between and under them for the best sight lines and fields of fire. With her scatterweave, she would do best in a place drenched in shadow. Miri managed to find just a place in a small nook between two boulders with a tree for canopy cover. Settling in to the nook, she looked like just another shadow among the boulders. Good.

The huntress got to her feet, marking the spot by making a divet in the jungle floor with her boot. She continued her search among the boulders for a good spot for Hauron. Some brush lined one of the boulders about ten meters away from where Miri planned to be positioned. It had cover in the form of smaller boulders forming a sort of rock wall in front, with the brush layering the jungle floor behind it and beyond. A good position to go prone, or with enough vegetation in ones webbing stay crouched. Miri didn't know much about zekkegs, but she guessed they weren't going to be returning fire, so cover wasn't a priority as much as concealment was. Miri marked the position with her boot like he own.

She made her way back to her position, crawling into the shadows to become one with them. Silence fell over the hill top. Only the sounds of nature filled the audio receptors of Miri's helmet. Despite her helmet blocking any sounds she made from permeating beyond it, Miri still spoke in a low voice, her tone and pace revealing a state of stillness that she had settled into with her E-11D blaster rifle aimed and ready in front of her.

"So, Rally Master, what's the contingency plan for if the traps fail?" Miri asked. Despite it sounding like a dig, it wasn't. Having contingency plans were what made hunts successful most of the time. "Should I wait for your mark?"

Spoiler: OOC Roll

Heads for waiting 1 post until the zekkeg couple come back, tails for 2 posts. Result was tails.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron took the advised position from Miri. He noted the strategic characteristics and the the skill with which the Kryze acted. He was reminded once again that value of scatterweave as she became one with the shadows. All he had to tell she was nearby was the sound of her voice in his helmet's internal communications.

"Improvise." He whispered back non-chalant. The Solus usually had a plan which either worked well or was thrown out the window soon after making contact with the enemy or in this case, prey.

"Give them a chance to spring the trap. If they don't go for it, take your best shot. Just leave at least one of them for me." Even if one or both of the Zakkegs were hindered by his traps he wanted Miri to still pounce on at least one of them. All the same he would inevitably make a move and if she waited for him then that was her choice. Likewise he would do the same.

@TheDudeMike

Spoiler: Dice

Trap effectiveness (will come into play next round but I rolled early, sorry)
44/100 barely a success

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri smirked at Hauron's response. Improvise, he said. Improvise was definitely something Miri could do. That was the Mandalorian way; improvise, adapt, overcome. They'd been doing it since the dawn of time. Even when at peace, the Mandalorians couldn't escape conflict and war. It was their lives, their purpose. It was the way.

"Hopefully your trigger finger is as fast as your wit, then," she quipped. Her own trigger finger stretched, coming back to just barely touch the trigger of her E-11D and then extend out straight again. Her red chiss eyes scanning the hill for any signs of movement. The stillness of the air settled upon her, and she became one with it. She kept herself silent. There was no need for small talk, or talk at all. The hunt was on, and all that mattered was the hunt until it was done.

They wouldn't have to wait long. Snapping twigs broke the silence. With her rifle aimed at the traps, Miri watched, barely breathing as to not make a sound. It didn't take more than a few more seconds for the zakkeg heads to appear over the crest of the hill. It was the moment of truth. Miri's trigger finger rested on the trigger, pulling it back to the wall. Even so much as a flinch would set the blaster rifle off, but Miri was disciplined and held it at the wall.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron silently agreed with Miri. His mind was certainly as disciplined as his body. To his counterpart's credit she swiftly disappeared. If the mikkian could still tell where she was then so could the zakkeg's when they eventually came. But the Kryze was an expert when it came to stealth which the Solus hoped to match and at the very least, not hold back.

It was a short wait until the expected pair of zakkegs arrived. Hauron waited for the first trap to trigger. But the glop grenade did not go off right away. The quadrupedal predators had maybe detected it, or just been that lucky. It was not until the lead zakkeg tripped into the second trap that things kicked off.

The zakkeg in front disappeared from sight as it fell into the shallow pit and a moment later a burst of clear mist erupted up and around the area. The second zakkeg reacted immediately, trilling a reptilian warning that turned into a growl as it about-faced and began to flee back to the tree line. As the second zakkeg tried to run it activated the glop grenade trap. The sticky substance barely caught the two rear hind legs of the zakkeg, temporarily rooting it in place. Hauron fired his carbine's underbarrel grenade at the feet of the animal. The stun gas grenade exploded on impact and would take effect in the subsequent moments.

Returning to the front zakkeg, it tried to scramble out of the pit and in doing so breathed in plenty of stun gas from the trap. Hauron had fired his launcher and knew his position would be revealed in a matter of moments. The projectile did not create light like a blaster bolt did but the sound and smell among other things would betray his location. Plus, he needed to pounce on his prey when he had the chance.

Hauron ran towards the last boobytrap, yet to be sprung. The path would quickly take him into view of the first zakkeg as it clawed its way lethargically out of the pit. The air of the jungle was relatively stagnant, keeping the stun grenade's effects in a transparent cloud for the time being so he loaded in a concussion grenade instead. He wanted to lure the leading zakkeg under the front trap and use that to take it out. Hopefully it would be the best way to preserve the hide of the animal.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri waited as the zakkegs tripped the traps. The lead one fell into the pit, leaving the rear zakkeg for Miri, all stunned and waiting. She lined her sights up with creature, putting the front sight post on the creature's eye. Three squeezes, and three bolts screamed from her point in concealment, and slammed into the creature's eye socket. It was armored, but eyes never were.

Her concealment ruined, Miri got to her feet, rifle aimed forward as she switfly moved to the rear zakkeg. Hauron had moved over toward the pit and the forward zakkeg. Miri was going to secure one of the zakkeg. Better to have one kill than two wounds. As she neared it was clear one of the three bolts she'd fired had hit it's mark, the eye of the zakkeg was no longer there, replaced by a scorched, blackened area. Miri aimed at the blacked area, pulling the trigger five more times at near point blanket. The zakkeg roared and whined as best it could while the stun grenade took effect.

Continuing to fire into the zakkeg's eye socket, she side stepped slowly around the goo and gas, though her armor could most certainly handle keeping her safe from the gas. The bolts slammed into the creature's face in a line from eye socket to eye socket, destroying the remaining eye. Now the creature was blind and useless in the wild, it might as well have been dead already.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Blaster bolts echoed through the jungle canopies. Settled birds were startled by the loud disturbance and small wildlife began moving away from the clearing. Both the Zakkegs and the mandalorians were predators that earned a wide berth. The sound of the blaster fire told Hauron of Miri's position and continued as she maneuvered closer. But he had his own prey to contend with.

The lead zakkeg crawled out of the pit. Hauron made sure to be roughly ten meters away which was closer than Miri. His relative distance and the fact he was directly in front of the animal would keep its attention. The Solus Rally Master wanted to keep in mind that the beasts could work together as pack animals if they chose to but rather than give the zakkegs that option he enticed them with his own armored body as bait.

As the snarling armored animal drew closer the mandalorian's eyes flicked to the trap. He stepped backwards, one steady foot after the other to not accidentally trip. The zakkeg's lethargy and perhaps its wits were enough to keep it from pouncing right away. There was no mistake that it was pissed off. Once it crawled fully out of the pit and into the path of the log trap Hauron shot a pair of blaster bolts at the trap which enticed the zakkeg to rush towards him.

The logpile would break free of its secure state as the heavy bolts slammed home causing them to roll down towards the zakkeg and the mandalorian. Tumbling timber that weighed hundreds of pounds brought crashing down was more enough to injure the zakkeg if not kill it outright. Hauron had made sure to use enough weight to make it effective. It was definitely enough to kill a mandalorian but Hauron activated his jetpack just in time. The claws of the zakkeg lunged to swipe at the armored mikkian but narrowly missed the tip of his boots before being clobbered by no less than half a dozen logs, one after the other which in turn partially buried the zakkeg.

From his increase altitude he checked on his Kryze counterpart. She seemed to be faring well and was close to finishing off her own prey. His attention returned back to the zakkeg below. He wanted to make sure it was dead and not just knocked out. He switched his blaster carbine out for a thermic blade and pistol. A surgical slice would kill the zakkeg quickly and with the least amount of pain to the creature and damage to the hide.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri's red, chiss eyes flicked over to the Rally Master and his bout with the second zakkeg. It looked like he had everything well under control. The zakkeg was practically buried under logs that would kill either of the Mandalorians without issue, and he was flying around on his jetpack. Good, she would focus on finishing off the zakkeg in front of her. She had thought it would put up more of a fight, but well, when it's stunned and your first shots take out the eyes, there isn't much else for a creature to do but die.

Her zakkeg roared, and Miri shot her repulsor out and fired it at the lower jaw. With her proximity, it would hit just the lower the lower jaw, forcing it open more and dislocating it entirely. Unable to close it's mouth, Miri did what any good Mandalorian huntress would do. It was clear this creature was too predator to have good meat, which meant it's hide was the only good thing about it. Oddly, reptiles did not follow the same rule, but these weren't that. Miri aimed her E-11D blaster rifle, letting loose a barrage of blaster bolts straight down the creature's gullet.

Whatever roars and sounds came from Miri's zakkeg would turn into gurgles of carbon scoring and raspy breaths. With its eyes scorched shut and destroyed, and every major organ inside of it glassed by excited plasma, the creature gave a few last attempts to stay alive before succumbing to its wounds. The hide was completely intact except for where the armor was broken around the disloacted jaw and the eyes

The zakkeg slumped over into the goo, and Miri turned, rifle raised to the burried zakkeg. It looked as if the Rally Master had a plan, though.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

As Hauron's jets cooled from the brief flight he carefully picked his way over the logs towards the Zakkeg. The timber was heave and the man did not want to touch any of the wood just in case the reverberations caused the creature to stir. But as far as the mandalorian could tell it was not breathing.

He brandished the blade in his right hand and half expected the zakkeg to move again. His left hand held the blaster aimed at its head as insurance. But no such retaliation occured. The hunter pointed the tip of his blade at the beast's head and then drove it through one of its eyes. The heated weapon would pierce the animals brain. This finished the zakkeg both brutally and quickly.

Pulling the weapon free of the skull, the blade caused any remaining blood to burn off to nothing. The mandalorian deactivated the thermic bes'kad but kept it in his hand so it could fully cool before he sheathed it. His helmet looked towards Miri's direction but the Kryze had taken care of her respective game. "You alright?" He aske to make sure. His own shoulders were rising and falling slightly. The adrenaline and excitement had elevated his heart beat even though he had mentally remained calm and collected. There were certain things his body did regardless of what he thought.

"That could have been worse." He was still amazed at how little damage seemed to have been sustained on the scales of the predators. "Good job." He knew they needed to still field dress their quarry and also bring them back to the ship. But first he would take a breather. How many mandalorians could say they had taken down a zakkeg before. The meat might not be the best for eating but the skull would certainly be a trophy and its scaly hide would be useful. Even the zakkeg's teeth and claws appeared sharp and fearsome looking. Perhaps the armorer would make a few trinkets out of them.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Miri Kryze]

Miri lowered her blaster rifle, seeing the Rally Master scale the timber. As soon as Hauron pulled his blade out and away from the dead creature, Miri moved her rifle into a relaxed cradled position. While the Rally Master had moved a lot to take his prey down, Miri hadn't moved quite as much. Adrenaline of the hunt still coursed through her veins, giving slightly more pronounced rises and falls of her shoulders per breath.

"I am," Miri said, giving the Rally Master a slight nod. She turned her black visor toward her own kill. It wouldn't put food on the table, but the trophy would be honor worthy and the hide useful. She was no armorer, but lucky for her she had just hunted with one. That was a tomorrow her problem to solve, however.

"The traps were a good idea," she said, turning her black visor back to Hauron. "This wouldn't have gone so well without them." Between the zakkegs having teeth, armor and claws, they were also apex predators. Mandalorians liked to imagine they were the top of the jungles, but Miri knew better. They had killed two zakkeg, but there were a lot more creatures in the wild that could make their days much worse while they were dressing thier hunt.

"We should harvest quickly," Miri said, scanning the surroundings.

@Darasuum