Ask Exploring the Unexplored

[Renfry]

She looked down at the being below, hearing Emryc's voice echo in her mind. He and his armor collections never ceased to amaze her, but she expected nothing less of him at this point.

The blackness swallowed them up a moment later and she felt him grab ahold of her hand, placing it around his wrist. Although she didn't say a word, she clutched on tightly, betraying her fear and discomfort in a way that she never would have done verbally or intentionally. She wasn't without any ability to use the Force to guide her movements, but she was nowhere near as adept as he was, and in such a hostile environment, she couldn't say that she was even remotely comfortable.

Likewise, he would be able to sense that she was very close to him. Far closer than she would normally stand as they made their way down the path. It wasn't just because she wanted to smell his cologne either.

She moved gingerly and tensely down the path before he felt her move up against a wall. For the first time in a very, very long time she felt... small. It was a sensation she didn't enjoy but one she found she could tolerate when she was in his presence. Something about having him near protecting her felt... oh, she was being silly. This was silly. Just a silly line of thought.

She heard a sniffing sound as one of them drew very close, and it clicked in her mind what was happening. They couldn't see, but they could hear. And if they could hear like that they could probably smell as well.

She thought quickly, doing the first thing that came to mind and reaching out to the Force. She waved a hand silently through the air, no sparks of Dathomir conjured this time as she tugged a stone ever so slightly along the floor of the tunnel on the far side down the path from them.

As the sound rang out on the far side, there was a sudden red glow to two eyes that seemed to snap open and glow, darting down the passage toward the sound where they had just come from. The armored being passed by so close that the cape dragged across both of them as it launched itself onward and the suddenly clattering sound of a blade ringing against stone could be heard. It attacked viciously and without warning and she was suddenly quite glad that they weren't on the receiving end.

Quickly before it comes back, she said, nudging him along and pressing herself up against him to urge him onward. She could hear the sounds of more armor creaking ahead, and yet from her very limited "view" of the area in the Force, she didn't think that most of them were moving. As if they were simply on standby and waiting to be awoken.

If they continued onward, they would a large archway-type door that led into an open room. Runes they couldn't see read over the door "The only way out is through blood. Those who watch the Abyss will ever be corrupted by it."

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc was thankful for Renfry’s quick thinking as his ideas would have gotten them both killed. He wasn’t good at discreet, and his instinct was to start blasting with the Force. He stood like a wall as Renfry shoved against him before he finally began to move. The half Sephi was still processing the details he made out. He knew Renfry wasn’t as adept with Force Sight, but he had made out quite a few clues.

“They used to be humans or near humans,” The half Sephi explained quickly as they arrived at the archway. He could identify more of the guardians patrolling the chambers within. Emryc grimaced as he looked towards Renfry, only seeing her figure, “Renfry, I think we were sent here to be slaughtered. Think about it. That lady sent us here to retrieve the Light of Ssala. What do you think something like that will do? Shine a bright beacon and draw the fury of every monster here.”

He watched the way the walkers moved, grimacing, “Even if the prophecy is correct, think about it. She loses her foothold if we help her people to surface. She has kept the prophecy a secret from her people on purpose. When we showed up, she sent us alone to get killed and cover everything up. And I'm betting she had the other outsider guy killed too.”

Before he could speculate further, one of the walkers began to walk back towards them as part of his patrol. Emryc quickly shuffled inside the chamber beneath the archway. The main chamber was wide open, but it connected to a long tunnel that led deeper in. The tunnel began to slant and descend deeper underground. The air was thin and it was slightly difficult to breathe. Emryc had to rely on the Force to create a pocket of air and he extended it to Renfry as well.

“We’re surrounded,” He observed.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry followed him along and tried not to step on his feet more than once as they walked onward, heading deeper into this abyss-mal place. Get it? She didn't like it down here and suddenly had a profound urge to return back to the surface. These ruins and ancient civilizations could just rot down here. Or they could come back with a literal army at their backs. Clear it out with flamethrowers, Sith, and blaster-wielding troopers.

Were it not such a life-threatening situation she might have fantasized about that more, but their situation was far too dire.

Horror set in on her more as she listened to Emryc. She thought perhaps he was right. She didn't want to believe it at first and then she found herself angry that she hadn't thought of it herself. How could she be so foolish? She was the Empress of one of the most powerful governments in the galaxy, and she still managed to make idiotic mistakes. It was infuriating and absolutely enraging, almost enough for her to start ripping into some of the nearby walkers if it weren't for the fact that she didn't want to die.

I'm going to throttle her, she replied, fist clenching at her side.

They continued deeper, finding it more and more difficult to breathe. She took a deep breath from his pocket of air and then steadied herself, drawing on the Shadow to slow her body and decrease the demands of her metabolism.

She was about to suggest they had back when she heard that same dread "crunch" sound of the walker's steps as their armor ground against itself. He pointed out they were surrounded and she nodded, though it was too dark to easily see.

As they headed deeper they finally reached a singular room. There was nothing further down and an ever-so-faint light seemed to appear in a small bowel at the far side of the room. The room itself was eerily silent and there were no signs of any of the beings patrolling down here. She wished she could just grab it and teleport them both out of here, but she had to be able to envision where she was teleporting to and down here... it was nothing to see but black.

As they stepped into the room, a mist-like door appeared behind them. Despite attempts, they would not be able to pass through it again. The light in the bowel ignited and with it, the entire room became bright. After having been in such darkness, it was painful for even her to look at and must have been far worse for whatever lived down here.

Bones littered the floor, but that wasn't the concerning part. No, the concerning part was that those bones began to pull together, forming several skeleton creatures, held together by some dark ritual that she could sense but not identify. It was clear that these things were the final layer of protection around the Light of Ssala.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc looked behind him as the path back was sealed. He scowled as he looked back at Renfry.

“I’m never going along with one of these plans of yours again,” He stated practically through gritted teeth. His eyes almost watered from the sudden brightness, and he was almost tempted to close them and switch to Force Sight again. However, he allowed his vision to quickly adjust, next spotting the skeletons come together.

Before the creature could even form together entirely, Emryc unleashed a powerful blast with the Force. The attack was strong enough to shatter the skeleton all over again, forcing it to drop its weapon. The half Sephi clearly was not in the mood for an extended battle, and he was significantly more powerful than he had been in the past when he went on these adventures.

Emryc used the Force to draw the fallen weapon to his hand, snatching it out of the air. A few more skeletons materialized before them, and he engaged them with the blade, the ancient weapon working like a charm. He unleashed a wave against one of the skeletons, the effort causing the guard to slam against the pillar upon which the bowl was balanced.

The half sephi’s eyes widened as he saw the bowl wobble and prepare to tumble, “Catch it!” He shouted at Renfry as he whirled around to engage another skeleton.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry, too, was struggling with the light that now burned her eyes, but she could still see the horrifying skeletons and she was wishing she couldn't.

Emryc immediately began to attack, showing his power was far greater than that of the skeletons. They were blasted back, bones coming undone and spewing all over the far wall. And then the bones began to pull together again. Renfry almost recognized the spell and took a moment's pause to sense the Force. She could feel the tendrils of someone else nearby as if coming from one of the ledges above them. Someone was manipulating these undead monsters.

One of the impacts struck the bowl's pillar, and Renfry darted forward, narrowly ducking under an axe blow aiming to take her head off, and caught the bowl just in time. Of course now she was on the nasty side of the skeletons, separated from Emryc, but she wasn't exactly the helpless type.

Clutching the massive bowl against her body with one arm, the other arm raised and wisps of green formed over her hands before shooting outwards. Small balls of green no more than an inch or two in diameter sprayed out from her hand in an arc, tearing into the bones and practically exploding on impact. She was sure not to let the arc of fire catch Emryc within as she held back the reforming undead.

Get the necromancer! she said, jerking her head up toward the upper ledge where she was fairly sure he was hiding. The source of all their woes.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc was about to help Renfry when he heard her command.

“Necro-what?” He hissed in rage before he remembered reading about them in her tome. He followed where she was pointing, silver gaze flicking up at the ledge above them. This was right as a skeleton came at him from the side. It was clear the half Sephi was simply in no mood for this nonsense. Without warning, he whirled in with a vicious left hook. It connected hard enough to shatter the skeleton’s face and send the head flying clean off.

“Aaaand Sauvage lands another critical hit with only 20 seconds left on the clock-” Emryc spun on his foot and whirled in with another punch to knock another skeleton head off, “5 point blow on Krayt’s defense right in the face. Oh it’s getting close now, the ball is in sight,” Emryc hopped up on what was probably a sacred altar of some sort before using the Force to propel him up over the ledge above them. He hoisted himself over, landing with a heavy thud on the other side.

“And he comes across Trady,” He said with venom dripping from his tone as he spotted the creepy bastard that was controlling the skeletons. For all his abilities in manipulating the creatures below, he appeared frail and weak up close. The figure abruptly began to shuffle backwards, attempting to use similar magick to raise more creatures directly in front of Emryc.

The half Sephi gave no quarter, pulling from the cool temperature all around them. Without warning, a massive shard of ice hurled directly at the hooded figure. It tore through the figure’s chest, inciting a shrill shriek that made Emryc’s ears completely swivel and flatten.

“Unsurprisingly Trady resorts to cheating tactics,” Emryc’s eyes almost watered from the screech. He rapidly coiled the Force around the necromancer and tossed him over the edge of the balcony. Renfry would hopefully be there to finish him off. He did, after all, have a giant blade of ice pierced through him.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry - with a massive bowl still under her arm - continued to backpedal away from the skeletons when she heard... was Emryc narrating himself? Had he turned this into a game? Well at least he was enjoying himself! She quickly moved to set the bowl down until they were finished with this graveyard smash.

Several more blasts of green light lit the semi-darkness below as she launched away the incoming skeletons, glancing up at the upper ledge and hoping that Emryc would finish off the one in control. The sound that tore through the air even hurt her ears, so she could only imagine what it was doing to the poor Sephi.

Her saber leapt to hand and cleaved cleanly through the sword swung at her and through the bones that wielded it. A moment later she was swallowed in green flame. Emryc would see a poof of green appear several meters away from the necromancer and out of it materialized the angry Empress.

Her saber glowed red and swirled around to take off the head of the necromancer. Already pinned to the wall he had no real chance of avoiding it and it cut the screech short.

One of the skeletons had leapt up behind Emryc and he would immediately be able to see the joints seemed to fail as it returned once more to a simple pile of bones as soon as the man's head came off.

In her morbid curiosity, Renfry moved over to look at the dead man, poking around in his dead pockets for anything of value or interest before plucking free a single medallion, holding it up to the glow of her lightsaber.

Huh, I wonder what this is, she said, as if they hadn't just fought an entire room full of animated skeletons.

She replaced her saber on her belt and then proceeded to drop down next to the bowl and the Light of Ssala. But not as much as I wonder what this is, she said.

She could now see the source of all the light was a small thing that didn't look like it had any right to be producing all the energy that it was.

She reached down and picked it up, looking at it and noting that it no longer seemed quite so bright now that she held it.

What do you think it does? she asked.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc jumped down next to Renfry and stared at the little vial of light she picked up. The half Sephi looked at it curiously before he spoke, “Looks Thustran,” He declared, “That’s Sephi design and this is from their lore. But how did it end up here?” He asked as he rubbed his chin in thought. Emryc looked at Renfry as she asked her question, “Hmm. I wonder,” He said thoughtfully, “I wonder what the Light of Ssala which is literally a light in a bottle could possibly do?” Emryc looked blankly at the Empress, practically slapping her upside the head with just words.

“Come on, let's take that bottle and shove it up that spider bitch’s ass,” He grumbled as he began to walk away. It was clear he was thoroughly unimpressed by being sent down here at all. He had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t be simple getting out of here if the woman from earlier intended to trap them down here.

Sure enough, the pathway back was entirely blocked off. Emryc exhaled, glancing over at Renfry, “Can you teleport us?” It was clear that while he had some skill in magick, he was definitely not proficient enough to do that degree of teleportation in an unknown environment like this.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry continued to look at the vial as he quipped about how it was a glorified flashlight. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. You know, sometimes I wonder about you, she said with a shake of her head. There's no way she just sent us down here for a glorified flashlight. It definitely does something else, she said before flipping her backpack around and shoving the light inside.

At least they wouldn't be glowing quite so much as they crept through the darkness of the caves. She wondered if she shouldn't leave it out to banish back the creepy undead. Nah, probably not.

They made their way back up the tunnels and routes before coming to an area that was blocked off. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted up in a way that said she was less than enthusiastic about this.

Yeah, come here, she said, waving him over toward her. Please don't throw up on me, she said, remembering the last time they had teleported together all those years ago.

And brace yourself, she said, wrapping her arms around him, once again highlighting the hilarious size difference between them. She closed her eyes and focused on where they had been. She could see the temple in her mind and took a "walk" down the tunnel they had entered until they were just inside rather than teleporting directly back into the temple.

In a flash of green they were gone and in another flash they were back at the tunnel entrance, evading the skillful trap set up by the Queen Priestess.

Are we just killing her and leaving? I've become less inclined toward actually helping this "ancient civilization" at this point, she said, sounding quite unamused by what had happened to them.

You weren't... how are you here? the woman said, seemingly still managing to spot them teleporting in. Her mouth hung slightly agape as she saw them standing there before she immediately dropped to a kneel. You... you truly are the ones of the prophecy, she said, though Renfry was unconvinced that was anything more than a ploy.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc remained silent as she displayed skepticism. While he couldn’t blame her, he understood how a brilliant light could be leveraged as a weapon down here. Likely the spider queen could use it to torment anyone that didn’t follow her commands. He saw exactly how the guards shied away from the light and they were far more prepared for combat and pain than the civilians.

The half Sephi glared as Renfry made the quip about vomiting, “That was one time,” He icily reminded her. Even then, the memory was vivid. He had long hair back then, and they were on a roof when she teleported them the first time. He promptly doubled over and emptied his stomach.

Even then, when they arrived at the tunnel entrance, Renfry would notice that Emryc was particularly silent. His face had a slightly green tinge and he was definitely fighting hard to hold back the contents of his stomach. Emryc closed his eyes and centered himself with the Force.

The half Sephi stared at the knelt woman, glaring from where he stood, “Drop the act,” He said curtly, “Grant us a path out of here.”

“You’ve only just arrived,” The woman said, quietly looking up with a faint smile, “Will you not let us host you as our honorable guests?”

 

[Renfry]

Renfry was glad to be back somewhere that had at least a little bit of light for them to see rather than having to rely entirely on the Force for guidance. Renfry nearly lost all muscle control in her neck for a moment as the woman started bowing and offering to host them.

She'd always been an impulsive woman but it had become much more tempered with time. Today, however, was weighing on her. She wanted to get back to the surface and could barely believe this had all started as a simple camping and hiking trip. She felt like her younger self out here in the wilds and that might not be for the best.

Will. You. Please. she all but growled at the woman, her hand coming up and glowing a faint green as the Force wrapped around the woman's throat and slammed her into the wall, nearly knocking her unconscious.

The grip was tight enough that no wind or scream would make it out of the woman's throat, her spider-y legs thrashing about in a way that would make Emryc profoundly uncomfortable.

Renfry's eyes were filled with malice, glowing golden against the darkness as she throttled the woman, watching the life nearly drain out of her before releasing her.

If I'm not out of here in the next five minutes, there is nowhere and nothing that will hide you from my wrath, she said, her voice sounding far more deadly than it had the entire time they had been here.

The woman clutched at her throat with one hand and pointed with the other. The ledge you camped on... the elevator you came down... there is a mechanism that can be activated with Light of Ssala. It was why we needed it: to exile people to the surface, she said. To die in the sunlight, Renfry could almost hear the thought ringing in the woman's head.

Well, if it was past the ledge they'd come in, they could grab their things before they left! And leave the door open for anyone else interested in escaping the priestesses power. Or more likely not to escape...

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc stood by as Renfry finally lost her cool. He blinked a few times, keeping both his distance and his silence. These days, it wasn’t often that she snapped back into that wild girl he had met years ago. The half Sephi stared in wonder, gazing towards her in ways he hadn’t in a very long time. It was enough to where he hardly noticed the flailing spider legs. The half Sephi quickly shook himself out of his thoughts, looking towards the spider woman.

He called upon his own Force reserves, rapidly draining from the woman just enough to make her collapse to the ground and faint. They didn’t need her issuing secret orders to her military forces after they left. Emryc spun on his heel and began to make his way back towards the entrance.

“Haven’t seen you like that in a while,” Emryc remarked quietly, flashing his infamous half grin. He trained his gaze ahead, his eyes once again having to adapt to the low lighting. He began to retrace their steps back, knowing the light would help keep the crazed attackers at bay.

 

[Renfry]

She was glad to see that Emryc had dealt with draining the woman so that she wouldn't call for any reinforcements. The last thing they needed at this point was to have anything else standing in their way. It was quite obvious at this point that she had lost her patience with being in this place pursued and betrayed by the spiderlings.

Yes, well... you know how it is, she said, seeing the way he was grinning at her. She was usually more collected than that these days because she had to be. Here, in the dark and alone with him, not only did she not feel the need to keep up a front or a face, but it also brought that half-buried part of her out once again. She was in the wild and the wild within clawed out.

We have two options. I can turn us both back into spiderlings or I can teleport us back to our gear, she said, stretching out her arms for a "hug" and being pretty confident he would choose not to be turned into a spiderling.

As she wrapped him up - still faintly smelling what was left of the cologne that clung to him - she focused on their overhang, swallowing them in the Force and riding the currents back to appear only moments later on the overhang.

She stopped and looked down at the city once again before stopping. For all the insanity they had just been through, she almost forgot how neat this actually was. It was a whole new civilization that had built themselves up from nothing. In a way it reminded her of her own people. In a lot of ways, actually. A hint of nostalgia trickled through the Force for the faintest moment.

It's probably dark up there now. We could camp up there or camp here for the night, she glanced over toward him and half smiled. I know that despite everything you probably want to still track all their individual nightly habits, she said.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

“No, I’ve seen enough of those legs,” He spat with distaste. Spider legs completely freaked him out for as long as he could recall. Emryc moved towards her as she wrapped her arms around him for the teleport. To her surprise, this time he actually returned the embrace, tugging her close and closing his eyes as the sensation of teleportation filled him. It was something he knew he would never get used to.

Within moments they were back on the ledge and Emryc had that familiar queasy sensation. The half Sephi stepped back from Renfry, gazing over at the civilization. He looked towards Renfry as she remarked about watching them.

“You know it,” He said with a grin as he eagerly began to dig through his bag for his handy dandy datapad for information collection. Emryc walked over to plop down on the edge of the ledge, bringing out a stylus to jot down some quick notes. He had to squint to see, but he fortunately brought his macrobinocs. He looked through them to note down some other facts and data. The half Sephi was completely in his element.

Of course, this meant that Renfry was stuck with setting up the camp by herself because Emryc was being completely useless..

 

[Renfry]

Renfry didn't miss the way his arms were wrapped around her or the way her heart beat just a tad bit faster when they were. A constant wish for what she would never have.

As they reached the ledge and he sat down to start doing his documenting, she moved their gear back further so that it was all away from the ledge's edge and partially shielded by the recess of one of the caves that didn't stretch deep into the mountain.

She started pawing through both of their backpacks - which really mostly meant pawing through his backpack because she'd brought almost nothing - to set the camp up. They couldn't start a fire and she had no idea how to set up a tent so the "camp" ended up being a pair of blankets laid out on the ground in areas that were the flattest and most comfortable slabs of rock.

Then she moved onto the tent, this so called "snugpak"... it was probably close to five minutes of rustling around behind Emryc, the sounds of spikes tinking against the ground and fabric rustling against itself.

Eventually, she moved over to sit next to him, offering him some of her small bag of nuts that she had brought with her. She had failed to pack anything but drinks and snacks as was her wont. He would - as with the fruit snacks - have to get over eating it directly.

When he eventually turned around he would see that saying the tent was "set up" would be true in the absolutely loosest definition. It was indeed upright, but something about it would tell him that a strong wind would likely blow it down. Fortunately, the air in here was deathly still.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc was still scribbling down notes by the time Renfry came to sit next to him. Though he looked largely frosty, Renfry knew him well enough to tell when he was actually quite giddy. The half Sephi alternated a few times between looking through the binocs and scribbling some notes. His handwriting was exceptionally neat and almost looked as if typed instead. Of course, this was a surprise to no one coming from the perfectionist half Sephi.

He set the binocs down after a moment, exhaling softly as he gazed out, “Seeing that prophecy painting was something else,” Emryc said quietly, “It even had me with long hair like I used to back then,” He couldn’t help but grin at the memory. Emryc habitually dyed his hair since to stray away from his appearance back in those days. He once had dirty blond, messy long hair.

“I suppose you’ve picked up my habit of wandering into places without permission,” He turned to gaze at her, grinning at the memory of when he had confidently walked right into a Dathomiri temple.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry sat down next to him, watching in silence and smiling slightly as she watched him alternate between watching the people below and scribbling in his notebook. She didn't say anything or interrupt him, simply letting him enjoy what he was doing and enjoying him having a good time.

Too often the two of them were either meeting for business or doing something serious. She missed the days when they had been nobodies. It seemed like ages ago, and even then they had raided Ajan Kloss and disemboweled the Jedi Order.

Seems like so long ago, she said. You know, they say that if you're friends with someone for seven years, you're likely to be friends for life. Guess you're stuck with me, she said, looking over and grinning broadly.

Yes, it seems I have picked up your habits. I think that means we can officially blame you for us being down here, she said.

You know, we should do nice things more often. Not work related or dangerous. Like nice dinner, she said before scrunching her face up slightly. Not like a date, I mean, she said before rolling her eyes at herself and shaking her head. You know what I mean, she said.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc couldn’t help but linger on her remark about how long they had known one another. It was a strange notion to him, one he hadn’t given much thought. Prior to having Renfry, Tiamat and others in his life, he had been largely a loner. As much as he loved spending time to himself, he couldn’t deny that there was something about the comfortable familiarity he felt when he was around the consistent people in his life. It was something beyond the superficial and cool detachment he displayed with most.

The half Sephi remained silent, gazing ahead as she blamed him in a roundabout way for being here. He couldn’t help but grin a bit, privately agreeing with her. While he had developed a lot of respect for other cultures, when she had first met him he was far more brash. He stormed right into wherever he pleased as if he owned the place. Now he saved that demeanor only for the times he strode into the Senate chambers.

Emryc tilted the bag of snacks, letting them fall into his mouth rather than touch them. He was munching on them when Renfry continued speaking, quickly correcting herself. He remained silent for a moment, quietly and happily chewing his snacks. Emryc spoke only when he was done, his face deadpan as always.

“Yeah? And what else would we do on this not date?” He asked simply, tilting his head back and pouring in a bit more of the snacks. For all their times knowing one another, this was the first time she had spoken to him like this.

 

[Renfry]

She squinted and looked at the people far below. She could just barely make out some of what was going on. Whatever procession they had interrupted earlier had finished and was now replaced by a new, different group moving lavishly through the city.

I dunno, she said with a shrug. Go to a huttball game or something, she said, intentionally suggesting something she thought he would enjoy. She'd heard he and that other Sith talk endlessly about stats and win-loss rates. Of course, she had absolutely no idea of anything about huttball, but that was a learning opportunity!

You could teach me all about what's going on, I could have it all go right over my head, and I could eat a ronto roaster. Everyone wins, she said, looking over and smirking.

Or did you have something else in mind? Just seems like maybe we should both take some more time off, she said, though she realized for all she knew he took plenty of time off with other people.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc’s brows rose when she suggested going to a Huttball game. He couldn’t help but grin at that, “Now I know you’re telling me what I want to hear,” He tilted his head slightly, very blatantly calling her out. He looked away briefly to pour a bit more of the snacks into his mouth, very much enjoying the assortment of dried fruits mixed in with the nuts.

The half Sephi gazed out at the city for a while before he finally spoke, “Let’s scrap this mission then,” He said abruptly before tilting his head to look at her again, “Ditch the planet and go somewhere else. We’ll randomly pick some coordinates and fly there,” A grin appeared on his face, wondering if she would be up for something so spontaneous.

Emryc was always meticulous about every step he took, and the idea of putting everything up in the air sounded enticing. This adventure had reassured him that the two of them could survive nearly anything the galaxy threw at them.