Ask [Felucia] A Few too Many Acklay

[Kanan Marek]

The events that aroused Kanan from his sleep were fantastic enough to almost convince him that he was still sleep. Everything transpired in a matter of seconds, a blur of commotion with only the light from blaster fire and the crackling flames to illuminate the darkness surrounding them.

Dead only a few feet from their campsite, the first ripper had been dealt with before Kanan had a chance to take any action of his own. More handiwork of the efficient Mandalorian he found himself traveling with.

Out of the darkness, a second Felucian Ripper appeared, its talons spread wide as it descended with one single goal in mind: to carry off the Mandalorian warrior that had just killed its fellow ripper.

River, still without his blaster, was taken by surprise. His feet, only moments before planted firmly on the ground of the jungle, now dangled above the clearing. The feat of lifting the Mandalorian, armor and all, was a testament to the creature’s strength.

Kanan did not hesitate to aim his blaster at the ripper. His aim would have to be steady and precise, otherwise he risked hitting River. The risk was necessary, however. The further the Mandalorian was carried into the jungle and the darkness, the smaller the chance of survival.

Taking careful aim for the head of the creature, as far from River as he could get, Kanan fired three consecutive shots. Two of the shots clipped the creature, but down below was where the real damage was dealt.
With a swipe of his blade, River sliced through the legs of the creature, inflicting enough pain to spur the creature to release its hold.

With River now a safe distance from the ripper and plummeting toward the ground, Kanan took aim again. This time around he did not aim for any specific part of the body. He simply aimed. Three blaster bolts later, the creature let out a final shriek and descended into the jungle, disappearing in the darkness. Two down.

Concerned that the Mandalorian may have been hurt during the fall, Kanan turned toward River. To no real surprise, River was fine. He had broken his fall.

Extending a hand to help the Mandalorian to his feet, Kanan replied, “When do we not?” Blaster ready and waiting, the ranger stared up into the night sky as the rippers circled overhead.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

“You’re right,” said Song, with a wide grin. “We’re quite popular here, no?”

Truly, the Mandalorian had never visited a planet this desperate to kill her. Not the criminal-riddled streets of Nar Shaddaa, nor the toxic atmosphere of Reuss. Felucia was something else entirely, with every planet and creature out to either swallow her whole or pluck her apart. Naturally, as a bounty hunter, she hated it. As a Mandalorian, however, she was starting to find it rather enjoyable.

Like a dozen hunts rolled into one.

At the moment, she and Kanan had four to deal with. Although only three circled the sky, their outspread wings like twisted shadows in the moonlight, Song caught the fourth speeding towards them from the side, low to the ground. Her senses fully engaged, she stood in front of the Ranger as he stared into the night. She let the beast come.

The Felucian ripper screeched it came closer, realizing its prey had noticed, and the other high-flying birds descended at its call. Every one of them. Song didn’t give it a chance to call anymore into the fray, however. As it darted towards her with its beak pointed to her chest, Song leapt to the side and, with a raised twirl of her blade, brought it down hard to its neck. She carved through thick flesh, blood and bone.

Its shrieking silenced, the ripper’s head dropped. The rest of its body crashed into the campfire. The light faded, and Song turned to the Ranger to see how he fared, ready to dive in to help if he’d need it.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

“If this is what popularity feels like, I think I’ll pass, ” Kanan responded, subtle amusement shown on his face.

Two down, four to go, he thought to himself. Three circled above them, biding their time and awaiting an opening, an opportunity to strike. But where was the fourth?

The answer was much closer than the ranger thought. Racing toward them, the fourth ripper was closer to the ground than its three comrades. It was a nearly successful attempt to sneak up on them, but to its disappointment the Mandalorian had already spotted the creature and had his blade at the ready.

It wasn’t going to give up easily, however. Before it reached River and its impending death, the Felucian Ripper called for its comrades to join in on the assault. The perfect opening had now presented itself, and the three rippers that circled above did not fail to seize it.

All three creatures swooped down toward the Mandalorian and Sector Ranger, claws extended, their mouth and razor sharp teeth open wide. It was time to litter the creatures with blaster fire, and that’s exactly what Kanan did. Their bodies were wide and would ordinarily serve as easy targets, but these were not ordinary circumstances. There were three of them, all moving in rapid succession and descending upon the same targets.

Cries of pain and anger echoed through the jungle as blaster bolts made contact with their bodies, tearing through flesh. More determined than ever, a ripper swooped toward Kanan, clawing at the ranger’s head with a fury. Ducking at the last second, he narrowly avoided the strike but was not prepared for the second set of claws that immediately followed.


The second ripper had been clever, silent in its descent, and it nicked Kanan’s left ear. The ranger’s hand instinctively shot to the point of pain, growling angrily when he felt blood. With the other hand, he aimed his blaster toward the retreating ripper responsible. One shot, clean through the head. The ripper fell to the dirt beneath it, dead. Who said getting angry never solved anything?

Another death was no setback for these creatures, however, and they weren’t going to give up so easily. It was darker now, a result of the ripper that had fallen into the fire, but the ranger managed to spot one of the creatures swooping toward him from his left.

Kanan snatched a charred log from the diminishing fire. Firmly in his hand, he waited until the last possible second before lifting the flame above his head and towards the claws and legs of the ripper. The heat of the flame served as a hot deterrent to the ripper, and it retreated higher into the night sky. But not for long.

Kanan tossed the charred log back to the ground and turned toward River. “You make impressive work of that blade,” he commended the Mandalorian, rolling his shoulder. “You’ll have to teach me a thing or two some time when we’re not so popular.”

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

“Maybe I will,” said Song as she flourished the blade, the head of the last ripper lying at her feet. “If you think you can keep up.”

She grinned. Her skill with a blade required years of experience, sharpened under the tutelage of her family. Her father taught her the basics, back when he cared. When he stopped to focus only on her brother, River had been kind enough to show her what their father didn’t, and sparred frequently with her. However, it was her mother too who trained her. Though an outsider to Clan Wren, her mother had been a warrior too. As what, Song didn’t know, but she learned.

The Mandalorian missed them. Her mother, her brother, home. Someday, she’d see them again. All of them.

Song slammed back into the moment. Two of the rippers remained, each one rising up in tandem to the twin moons in the sky. They moved together, like two sides of the same coin, before parting into two different ways mid-air. Song caught on pretty quick, realizing the pair were splitting up. One for the Mando, the other for the Ranger. A two-pronged attack, but one she was eager to see. Let them come.

“Get ready,” she said to Kanan, then raised her vibrosword, the engravings in the blade glowing red with energy.

While Kanan dealt with the second ripper, she moved against the first. While it flew low to the ground towards her, she charged at it head-on, expecting another easy slash and dash. She couldn’t have been further from the truth.

The winged creature, having learned from experience, took a sharp turn left. Rather than face her directly, it twisted and slammed its wing the Mandalorian’s side. Song was sent skidding away, chewing into the dirt like a fallen meteor. She stopped short of a tree, and felt an sensation of deja vu. Of course, this was no different than when the Sarlacc had struck her.

She struggled to rise again. Her brother’s sword was gone, left in the grass, and all she was left with was the small dagger her mother had given her. Before she left Krownest. She raised it to the coming ripper.

Song knew what to do next.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Kanan smiled, directing his attention once again to the matter at hand.

As a Mandalorian, Kanan was sure that River had trained extensively, for his entire lifetime, with a blade. His prowess with the blade was testament enough to that fact. The ranger was sure that he could not keep up with the Mandalorian, as it was clearly his field of expertise. But that was all the more reason to learn, was it not?

The Felucian Rippers had gotten wise to the tactics of the Mandalorian and Sector Ranger. Their tactic was solid, separate the Mandalorian and ranger, preventing them from working together and making short work of the remaining rippers. These creatures were not stupid.

Splitting up, each ripper descended toward the duo. “Get ready,” he heard River warn, a red glow emanating from the Mandalorian’s engraved blade.

Kanan lost sight of the second ripper and the Mandalorian, but he could hear the fight that broke out between the two of them. There was no way not to. It was all the ranger could do, however, to handle his own Felucian Ripper.

The blaster in his hands was hot to the touch, a result of its continuous barrage of blaster fire only moments before. He was forced to lower his blaster and make a run for it, but not before he got off two more shots. Wether or not the shots hit their target, he did not know. His only focus at the moment was getting away from the creature.

Tearing through the jungle, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, the ripper in hot pursuit of its retreating prey. Kanan could almost feel its talons on the back of his neck. At the exact moment the ripper reached for him, he dove to the ground. The ranger rolled to a stop in front of a stream and watched as the ripper, unable to pull out of its dive at the last moment, crashed into the stream and disappeared from view.

Slowly, Kanan rose to his feet. Felucian Rippers were able to hide in even the shallowest of water. Blaster in hand, Kanan carefully peered into the stream. It was impossible to see anything, even with the moonlight reflected on the waters.

Suddenly, the ripper leaped out, snatched the ranger, and pulled him into the waist deep water. A location where it decidedly had the advantage.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

The Felucian ripper saw the Mandalorian knelt to the ground. Bruised and injured, exhausted and beaten. What it saw was no longer a rival predator, but vulnerable prey, and the winged creature descended onto her with its claws bared and wings unfurled. Song could see into its open mouth, the knifelike teeth jutting inside, and hear the nightmarish scream coming deep out of its throat.

She thought back to her mother, who confronted Song before she left Krownest, dressed in her brother’s armor and with the security codes to her father’s ship. Song thought her mother might stop her, or get in her way, but she only handed her a single knife. A dagger not of Mandalorian origin. It was a parting gift, because she understood what Song meant to do. She knew she couldn’t stop her daughter. So, she let her go. A bird out of its cage.

If only Song’s mother could see how she now soared. Literally, as much as figuratively.

The Mandalorian had activated her jump boots with the butt of her heel. With her other foot pressed in front of her, she launched forward. Steam hissed from her boots and suddenly, Song was in the air. Four meters, eight meters and climbing before she had vaulted over the ripper’s talons and towards its unguarded throat.

She plunged the knife into the skin, and like butter, it tore through. Blood spattered out over her visor and then was she plummeting with the winged beast to the ground. They crashed together, but Song continued to drive her knife in and out of the bird. Back and forth, with both the ferocity of an animal, and the coldness of a warrior. A Mandalorian.

When she was finished, the creature well past dead, Song stood up and looked around for the Sector Ranger. He wasn’t by the fire, or anywhere in the clearing.

“Kanan?” she called, and waited for an answer in the dark.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Only moments earlier, looking at it from the comfort of solid ground, the stream had been beautiful. With the moonlight reflecting on its surface, and its water gently rippling downstream undisturbed, Kanan could picture himself sitting by its side for hours. Content and listening. Now it was the last place he wanted to be on this jungle planet. Well, perhaps second to last. That Sarlacc pit was what nightmares were made of.

The water was only waist deep, but the Felucian Ripper was determined to hold the Sector Ranger beneath the water. Each time he would struggle to bob his head above water and catch a breath, the creature would pull him back down.

It was dark beneath the surface of the water, and Kanan could barely see a thing. The ripper, on the other hand, could see just fine. It was a frenzy of clawing and splashing and kicking and hitting. It was all Kanan could do to keep the creature from biting his head off.

His blaster had been lost the moment he’d hit the water. Dark red began to rise to the surface of the stream. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he reached one hand for the vibroknife in his pocket. The other hand pressed against the head of the ripper, a final attempt to keep its razor sharp teeth from making a meal out of his head.

Gradually its teeth advanced toward the ranger’s head, his strength failing him as the creature persevered. It was now or never. Plunging the vibroknife into what he hoped in the darkness was the creature’s heart, they froze.

The head pushing so earnestly against his arm only seconds before now dropped from the ranger’s grasp, lifeless. Green blood began to fill the water, mixing with his own.

Standing up, Kanan crawled out of the stream and back onto dry ground. Sweet, sold dry ground. He sat down by the stream’s edge, out of breath and drained of strength. He knew he needed to look for his blaster, but he couldn’t bring himself to move quite yet.

@Feng Mian

​

 

[Song Wren]

No answer.

She jogged over to the center of the clearing, where they had camped. What was left of the fire was ashes and embers. There was no sign of the Ranger, but there was a trail of footsteps leading into the jungle which weren’t her own. Quickly, as a hunter would, she followed the beaten path and cut into the foliage. She trampled over thorny bushes and cellophane flowers on her way to find him.

If he needed her help, she’d have to reach him soon.

Song heard the stream running downhill, the faint splashing of water, and sudden gasps for air. She pushed harder until she was at the riverbank, shallow but too dark for her to see into, except for the traces of red and green blood on the surface. Her heart sank, but suddenly, Kanan thrashed out of the water.

The body of the last ripper he left behind floated aimlessly downstream, dead and gone.

When he crawled his way to the shore, heaving for air and exhausted to the point of death, the Mandalorian knelt to his side and unrolled the medpack on her waist. Blood oozed from his upper leg, where the ripper’s teeth had dug into flesh. Without hesitation, she took a bit of bacta and sprayed it over the wound, then pressed a wad of gauze over it. The pain would be excruciating, but it’d stop the bleeding.

“You idiot,” she said, smiling through wet eyes, even if the Ranger couldn’t see either. “Shouldn’t have run out like that.”

She bandaged his leg, among other wounds, and looked over to him. He was paler than usual, but alive, his hair matted to his face and eyes sharp and piercing. Her own softened. The Mandalorian couldn’t believe she was starting to care about the Ranger. It wasn’t normal, and yet, it felt like it was.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

It was all Kanan could do to remain upright. He was surprised he could even manage that. Still out of it, the ranger was only vaguely aware of the Mandalorian nearby tending to his wounds.

That is, until a sharp pain shot through his upper leg. The pain was more than enough to make him aware of the Mandalorian. “Ouch,” he gasped, instinctively reaching for his leg but stopping mid-reach as he saw the Mandalorian’s diligent hands at work, bandaging. It was a pain all too familiar to him: bacta. Painful, annoying, but it certainly got the job done.

His hand fell limply back to his side. Even if he had wanted to the ranger did not have enough strength to pull the Mandalorian’s hands anywhere they did not want to go.

“What else was I supposed to do?” Kanan smiled lazily in response to River’s chastisement. “Just stand there and let it snap my head off?”

While River bandaged his wounds, Kanan watched him silently, fully aware of how much he owed this man. For this. For the Sarlacc pit. For... so much more. When River was finished and had looked over at the ranger, Kanan wiped a spattering of green blood from the Mandalorian’s visor. The gesture was small, even insignificant compared to what River had just done for him, but it was all Kanan could manage at that moment, and he hoped it would express his appreciation.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, his eyes then traveling River’s armor for any signs of damage. “Are you alright?”

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

“No,” said Song. “You could’ve stood there and let me snap its head off for you.”

Naturally, she was joking, just glad that Kanan was alive. She had a soft spot for the Sector Ranger. He was the silver lining in the patched mess of Felucia, and the bright side to all the grief and misery she had been dealt with since her brother’s passing. She hated to be overprotective, but a part of her almost wanted to pack Kanan onto one of the tee-muss’ and send him back to the village for recovery.

She didn’t want to risk losing him out here.

Of course, she knew what his answer would be, and even if he was momentarily drained of his strength, he’d probably fight with her tooth and nail to make sure he stayed by her side. The very thought, imagined fantasy or not, made her smile. She never had someone who cared so much about her. Nobody except River and her mother, both unreachable, either dead or systems and lightyears away.

All she had right now was him, Kanan, the Ranger.

As he wiped away her visor, she laughed and looked down to her armor. “Better than you are, but I’m good. Thanks.”

There was a painful ache in her side, a deep bruise she’d likely wake to the next day, and her head was throbbing. She could still move and function fine with both, but she was exhausted. Song doubted she’d be able to fight another wild creature alone. Not when they were already so close to the Acklay nest in the mountain, which loomed ahead even in the hollow night.

Tired, she decided to lay next to him, her body flat against the riverbank. The star-studded sky stared back at her, and in the silence, she could only hear the trill of insects and the sound of running water. That was, until her low voice cut through it all as she asked Kanan, “Do you ever miss it?”

“Home?”

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

“And let you have all the fun?”

Something told Kanan that River was in more pain than he was letting on. Here he was, caring and tending to Kanan’s wounds when he had wounds of his own hidden beneath that armor. He was... selfless. To Kanan, he was the best of men, and the best of the Mandalorians. River continued to amaze him. In all the best ways possible.

Seeing River lie back on the river bank was a relief. The ranger was exhausted himself, and it was taking every bit of strength he had to remain sitting upright. Lying back, he laid down beside River and joined him in staring up at the sky. A quiet sigh escaped his lips. He could lie there for hours.

Aa Kanan stared at the sky, he contemplated his luck in having met River. A chance meeting, unexpected and annoying in the beginning. Much had changed since then. Kanan was lucky to have River in his life, to have River as a friend. Someone who had thus far proved to always have his back. River was certainly one of a kind. He was sure that parting ways with him was going to prove more and more difficult each time, and he was already dreading it.

As River’s voice broke the silence, Kanan contemplated his question before he quietly answered, “Yeah, I do. Sometimes.” His father had passed several years ago, but his thoughts often drifted to his family, particularly his mother. He rarely found the time to travel home and see them. It often nagged at his conscience.

Kanan turned his head to face the Mandalorian. “What about you? Do you ever miss home?” It was a loaded question, considering River’s tumultuous relationship with his father and the passing of his brother, but Kanan was curious.

@Feng Mian

​

 

[Song Wren]

Song gave his question a long thought, eyes still pointed to the night sky, then finally answered, “Well…”

She pictured her father, the rod he used whenever she fumbled or tripped up as a child in training. The look he gave her, not one of pride or honor, when she first bested her older brother in a sparring match. His face, red hot with anger, during one of their many arguments. His eyes, pink and edged with tears, when they brought River’s almost unrecognizable body through the Clan stronghold.

She remembered how deathly cold it was during the nights on Krownest. How deep the snow went, how harsh the wind was. The several mountain climbs she was forced to take for her endurance training. The winter beasts she had to fight in the snow-capped forests. It was a terrible, frigid world.

Then she remembered the good about it. Her mother, Yang-Mi. The stews she cooked, the furs skinned and weaved together, or the times when she’d curl up beside her after another cruel day of training. Song thought about how many stars, much more than what she now saw on Felucia, speckled the sky. Or the sheer size and beauty of the mountains. The smaller hunts she took on as a kid. Playing in the snow with her brother.

Quietly, she whispered, ”Yes, I do. Krownest was a cold wasteland, but it was mine. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I was there. With the rest of Clan Wren. But I know someday, when I find River justice, and prove my father wrong, I’ll return, and I’ll return welcomed.”

She considered that fantasy, wild as it was, and smiled. “I think…” Her words drifted, her mind following after. She felt terribly exhausted. “Give me a second. I need to rest. Just a little.”

Though the Ranger wouldn’t see her close her eyes, he’d probably tell by her slumped head and relaxed shoulders that she had almost immediately fallen asleep, her breaths low and steady. The battle had worn her down, and without a day’s worth of sleep, Song needed to rest. Whether or not the Ranger would keep watch didn’t matter. There was nothing more the jungle could throw at them.

Nothing except the nest which laid ahead.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

It was several moments before River answered his question, but Kanan did not mind waiting. Lying there was peaceful, relaxing. A much needed reprieve from the danger and fighting they had faced that day.

When River did speak, his voice was quiet. Hope was laced in his words as he spoke about his return to Krownest. His reuinion with his family. The welcoming he would receive. The peace of mind of justice for his brother. River was laying bare his dreams and aspirations, and the privilege of being invited to listen to that was not lost on Kanan.

He listened closely, fully invested in River’s words and life. He hoped that River would be welcomed home with open arms, with respect and admiration. He deserved nothing less. He was an honor to his family and clan, wether all of them realized it or not.

Succumbing to the need for sleep, River was unable to continue his line of thought. He had more than earned himself a few hours of rest, and Kanan didn’t dare say a word. Kanan had slept earlier, and now it was River’s turn.

For a time, how long he did not know, Kanan watched the Mandalorian sleep. His slow, steady breaths. The rise and fall of his armor. As much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn’t lie there forever. Grimacing through the pain of movement, he sat up and moved toward the stream to fish his blaster out of the water.

It would be light in a few short hours. The Mandalorian needed to rest, and Kanan needed to make preparations to leave. Due to the pain, his movements were slow and deliberate, worrisome to the ranger considering the nest of quick, agile Acklay they were about to face, but he needed to press on. He couldn’t let the Felucians and River down now. Not when they were so close. River had certainly never let him down.

By daylight, their supplies had been repacked and the tee-musses saddled and loaded. Light was just beginning to appear on the horizon when Kanan led the tee-musses to the stream and to River.

@Feng Mian​

 

[Song Wren]

“Song?”

Her brother River stood a few feet away from her with a dulled blade in his hand. A wide grin was plastered over his youthful face, that of any thirteen year-old, and his cheeks were red from the cold. Snow was falling, and the trees around them let it settle on their pine-covered shoulders. It was like it was yesterday, the two of them sparring again, this time without their father around to watch. Seeing him again made her heart ache.

“What is it?” said a girl, and Song realized it was herself. At least, the younger version, before she donned on the helmet, with her hair pinned up in an elaborate bun.

It was an out of body experience, watching the forgotten memory unfold but from a different perspective. She wanted to reach out to touch them, her brother, but the snow passed through her like she was a ghost. No cold, no warmth. When she tried to speak, nothing left her mouth. All she could do was stare at the two children.

River lifted his sword to his face, but rather than look at the young Song, he looked directly at her, the Mandalorian she was today. Her eyes widened.

“Are you ready, Song?”

She woke up with a start. A hand clawed into the dirt and her fingers came away with torn grass. Song turned around to spot an enemy, squinting in the unexpected daylight, and when she saw nothing, realized that Kanan was no longer at her side. Her heart dropped. Was he eaten? Carried away by the stream? Plucked to the bone by insects or a ripper she failed to kill?

She turned again to hear the huff of a tee-muss, then saw Kanan seated on one, staring down at her. Song scoffed and rose off the bank. “I thought you were dead.”

“But I can't be surprised. Always a gentleman,” she said, almost jokingly, and climbed her way onto the free tee-muss Kanan had roped behind him. When she was settled, checking for the blaster and sword she’d lost earlier but the Ranger had found, Song tilted her head over to him.

Then, without realizing it, she asked, “You ready?”

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Kanan had planned on letting River awake on his own, but the Mandalorian awoke with a start, one hand digging into the ground as his head darted from one direction to another.

A nightmare perhaps? Kanan did not ask. As much as he may have wanted to know, he doubted River wanted to talk about whatever had occupied his thoughts as he’d slept.

“Dead? You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he smiled playfully.

Once the Mandalorian was settled on his mount, Kanan turned his tee-muss toward the trail ahead. “Ready,” he answered.

The path the Mandalorian and Sector Ranger forged through the jungle was not marked, and the farther they traveled the more dense the jungle became. The two of them were, perhaps, the first sentient beings to travel this way in years, decades. Perhaps forever.

The trip was not long nor treacherous as it had been the day before, and within an hour or two they had reached their destination. “The nests shouldn’t be far now,” Kanan said quietly. “We should continue the rest of the way on foot. We’ll draw less attention that way.” He dismounted his tee-muss.

Drawing his blaster, he quietly pushed through the jungle. Emerging on the other side of the foliage, the duo found themselves on a small hill overlooking the Acklay nesting grounds.

@Feng Mian​

 

[Song Wren]

The passage to the mountain thinned as they went on. It was clear the villagers, and whoever came before them, hadn’t ventured this deep into the jungle for a long time. Song thought back to the elder’s mention of the other bounty hunters, and wondered if any of them had even made it that far. Roaming Acklay, the Sarlacc, or the Felucian ripper. Maybe even a rancor, which she and Kanan were lucky to avoid, had eaten them along the way.

Maybe they had made it to the nest unscathed and were torn apart there instead.

The thought made her dread what was to come, but she showed not an ounce of fear or regret. Now that she was refreshed, well-rested despite the two very different nightmares she had experienced last night, she believed she could take on a whole company of pirates if she could. Then again, this was an entire hive of Acklay. Not men, but monsters.

No. As long as the Ranger was by her side, the Mandalorian knew she’d be fine.

At the foot of the mountain, they dismounted from their tee-muss. With a soft thud of her boots, trying her best to stay quiet in their approach, Song said, “Good idea.”

Together, they carved a way into the jungle. A minute of slashing through low-hanging vines and dense bushes later, Song stepped out to a small clearing at the top of a hill. Laying low, she peered down to the nesting grounds. Great pits checkered the flat plain before the mountain, like traps or cages for their prey, and she noticed piles of bones in each one. A shudder climbed her back.

Engraved into the mountain, however, were several winding caverns. There was no telling how many Acklay laid inside, but she knew they were about to find out.

Turning her head over to the Sector Ranger, Song asked, “How do you want to do this? Dive in, shoot to kill, or draw them out? Whatever it is, I’m game.”

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

The Acklay’s nesting grounds were larger than Kanan could have imagined. Worse than he could have imagined. The plain was absolutely littered with pits, and each pit was littered with bones. Apparently the Acklay weren’t picky eaters.

And the caverns. Who knew how deep they went? How many Acklay resided inside? If they traveled inside, the Mandalorian and Ranger would be at a great disadvantage. Truth be told, they were at a disadvantage anywhere, but perhaps they would stand a better chance outside. They would have more room, more places to hide, more places to run even. It would be difficult to dodge attacks in the small confines of the caverns.

“Perhaps drawing them out would be our best option,” Kanan answered thoughtfully, turning from the trial that lay before them to the Mandalorian, relieves to not be in this fight alone. “I am afraid that we would be at a disadvantage inside the caverns.”

The Ranger’s eyes flickered to River’s utility belt. “Do you have any detonators left? I could draw them out of the cave, and you could be waiting to blow them to pieces at the entrance to the caverns. If we’re lucky, it might kill or debilitate the first few.”

@Feng Mian​

 

[Song Wren]

“You’re probably right,” said Song, in quick agreement. Charging head-on into the cave system, with no maps to follow and no body count to work with, would be a dumb move. For all they knew, there could be a hundred Acklay swarming underground, laying in wait for a new, overconfident bounty hunter to stroll right in. For them.

Drawing the Acklay out into the open was their best bet.

At Ranger’s question, she plucked a single thermal detonator out of its pouch. One look between it, then to him, said enough. “First few isn’t saying a lot if there’s going to be at least twenty waiting inside, and that’s the best case scenario. If you go inside there alone, you might get ripped to pieces, Kanan.”

“Which is why I’ll go instead.”

Suddenly, the Mandalorian tossed the grenade into the air and let it fall into the Ranger’s hands, should he catch it, before she took off. Even in her heavyset armor, Kanan didn’t stand a chance to stop or catch up with her. Last thing she wanted him to do was throw his life on the line: without armor, without jump boots, and with very little sleep. Song was fortunate to have all of the above, so it went without saying that she’d be the one to draw out the Acklay.

Song cleared the empty plain with ease. She was careful to avoid the pits and the rotting corpses and skeletons in each, until reaching the mouth of the largest cavern. She turned around to look at the Ranger, still back on the hill, and gave a thumbs up. Then she disappeared. Swallowed by the dark.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Kanan wanted to protest. He even opened his mouth to begin his protest, but it was too late. And no use. River was already beginning to cross the plain. Two steps ahead of him, as usual. Glancing down at the grenade he now held in his hands, Kanan couldn’t help but smile a little at the determination and outright stubbornness of the Mandalorian.

How did it make any more sense that he should chance getting ripped to pieces within the caverns than Kanan? What was done was done, however. All Kanan could do now was carry out his part of the plan. Looking up from the grenade, his gaze followed River across the nesting grounds and to the mouth of the largest cavern.

River turned to give Kanan a thumbs up, and Kanan returned the gesture. “Good luck,” the ranger added, even though he knew River could not hear his words from that distance.

As the Mandalorian disappeared into the cavern, into the darkness, Kanan sighed. He moved from his position on the hill to take up a position closer to the mouth of the cavern. The smell of rotting corpses that originated from the pits was much worse than he had anticipated.

Kanan settled behind a large boulder not far from the entrance to the cave, within throwing distance. Now all he had to do was wait.

​

@Feng Mian

 

[Song Wren]

All her senses fully engaged into the moment, Song wandered the cavern. Her footsteps echoed off the stone and deep into the darkness ahead. She heard running water, and the occasional drip off a ceiling rock and onto the floor, but she didn’t hear any Acklay. Didn’t see any shadows lurking in the dark. The Mandalorian held onto her blaster like it was her life, and in a way it was. Without it, she’d have been long dead.

She only hoped it didn’t fail her now.

It was another minute of walking before she couldn’t hear anything. The cavern floor had gone soft with dirt and mud and straw. No sound of water, no echo, no light. There was a deathly quiet about it. Song moved her other hand slowly to her blaster, unsure if she should but know she had to, and switched on the flashlight.

A massive chamber laid before her. Full with burrows, filled with Acklay.

Fifty sets of six razor sharp legs, fifty pairs of eyes blinking and staring straight at her. All of them bone thin and starving. Song had stumbled right into their real nest, the center of their home, and knew then she was in deep shit. She didn’t even have the time to whisper a curse in Mando’a before she noticed the closest Acklay to her inch forward. Pupils dilated, with a scratched shriek from its throat.

Song turned and ran.

With her comlink, she hailed Kanan and shouted into the mic, “Bringing the party to you!” Although even she failed to see how it was much of a party.

It was a matter of moments, and a lot of heaving, before the Mandalorian finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the Acklay brought a limb down to take her arm off. It struck the stone floor hard. She ran harder. Their cries were like a terrible symphony of broken instruments, and even in her thick helmet, she could hear them like they were inches away.

Once she reached the cave’s mouth, she didn’t hesitate to activate her jump boots, launching ahead a good ten meters to widen the gap between her and the Acklay spilling into the open. Between her and the explosion which, she presumed, would come very soon.

@llamallove