Pre TL: On The Hunt

[Sreeya]

Marek had arrived on Gamorr a few days ago, having set up camp about four clicks north of where the target was located. He was in the middle of the thick, dense forest, and there was no clear path forward. This meant that even if he were a specific distance away, it didn’t mean he could calculate how long it would take him to arrive at the destination. On top of that, the planet was notorious for its swamps and vats of mud and muck to slow down progress.

The Mandalorian was perched up on a tree, peering through his macrobinoculars. He spotted movement ahead, tracking the same four humanoid figures that came out the same time of day to work on cutting down trees or gathering supplies. He had a feeling that the target was hiding out in a nearby village, which meant that lighting up the place would be difficult. He would have to make this a discreet operation and swiftly kill the target.

He lowered the binocs, checking all his weapons on him before he dropped down to the ground. He quickly gathered up his camp, ensuring that there was no trace of him left behind. Checking his chrono told him it was roughly 0900 hours, and this meant he had the rest of today to truly scope out the surrounding area and come upon the site. He would have a lot of added complications if his hunch about this being a village turned out to be right.

Marek had a beskad with him to slash branches or forestry out of the way as he cut a path forward. He tried to make as little sound as he could, moving only when he didn’t pick up any humanoid heat signatures in his HUD.

@Orbit

 

[Orbit]

Ender was in a tough spot, not having much of anything except the clothes on his back and his weapons. He needed the money and the fastest way to do that, at least for his skill set, was bounty hunting. He tracked the target all the way to Gamorr, reports of a man and his crew taking shelter in a farming village to pass the heat on them. Apparently he had turned on a client for a higher reward and that made the bounty guild very invested in the death or capture of Ender's target.

Ender was perched on top of the branch in one of the trees, his datapad out as he studied the map to figure out where he was trying to go. The forest was infested with mud patches, swamps and everything else that could slow down his progress. He glanced around from his positioning as he attempted to get his bearings to at least head the right way. When that didn't work, Ender put the datapad away and tried something else. He didn't really know what to call it, maybe his sixth sense as that was the best way to describe it because there was no other way too. Ender got comfortable before he reached out with his mind, almost in a way connecting with everything around him by some invisible strands that only he would be able to see.

At first, it was too much. The whole forest reacted back to him as he could hear the chirping of insects and animals, the loud rush of flowing water and all the other lifeforms that called the forest their home. But after a few seconds, Ender trained his thoughts and focused on what he was trying to find. When he opened his eyes once more, he turned his head toward the north, a presence urging him to head that direction to retrieve what he was searching for. Jumping down from the tree, he landed with a soft thud in the grass before he straightened himself out and began walking.

Ender kept his weapon sheathed, instead of using his hands to push shrubbery silently out of the way as he continued forward. Before the Mandalorian could get too far ahead after the four, he would see a new heat signature light up across his HUD. It was clearly a male and he walked exactly where the previous four men were and crouched down, clearly examining signs of where they were headed or any other information.

Ender ran his fingers through the mud, his gaze slowly raising afterward as he could see a clear and direct footpath through some bushes and most likely farther to the village that was supposed to be out here.

 

[Sreeya]

Marek stopped as the new figure registered on his HUD. The muscles on his face twitched from him gritting his teeth in mild annoyance. Anyone that was milling about this area would be a threat to his operation, and he couldn’t allow that. His fingers flirted with the blaster holster on his hip as he observed the figure - it would be all too easy to pull the trigger and bury the man somewhere nearby.

Observing the man crouch down and analyze the footprints and begin to follow piqued Marek’s curiosity. Marek decided to quietly follow the man, keeping a respectable distance as he allowed the man to lead the way towards the village. His suspicions became clear as the man began to walk towards where Marek had mapped out. He silently wondered if the man knew about the swamp puddles coming up along his path, but time would tell.

Up ahead of him, Ender would begin to spot a slanted incline. If he didn’t take care with his footing, he would slip and roll right into the swamp that was not exactly visible right away. The swamp was the only thing between him and an overlook that gazed out over the valley below. It was in that valley that a small village was nestled.

Marek kept following the man, an amused grin forming to see if the fool knew what he was doing. He was certainly taking his time inspecting and analyzing, but did he have a lot of outdoor common sense? Marek pulled away from his weapons for now, deciding to entertain himself instead.

 

[Orbit]

Ender followed the clear path left by whoever made the footsteps from before. Eventually, they led to an incline that he couldn't see that much farther from. The tracks stopped there and it made him glance around, wondering where they could have possibly gone. He wasn't really much of an outdoor person after all and with his sixth sense, he could tell whatever was past the incline was teeming with life. Ender's plan wasn't really to get tangled with animals, he was only here for the target and the credits that came with it.

The trees were too high for the man to climb and that left him to just go down the slant. Stepping forward carefully, Ender managed to get about halfway with small steps before a mud patch took his left foot and made him slide forward. Instead of resisting it and tumbling all the way to the bottom, Ender bent his knees and adjusted his weight so that he would slide on his feet to the bottom. He used one of his hands to drag it along the ground as he slid, making it his counterbalance until he reached the bottom. When he reached the very end of the incline, that's when the swamp came into view, muddy water that bubbled from who knew what inside it. Before he had the chance to fall in, Ender shot out his other hand to grab onto a tree and twisted his feet to act as a break.

With the support of the tree, it immediately stopped Ender in his place as mud shot off his boots and into the water with his toes nearly touching the swamp water themselves. "Close." He murmured to himself softly, letting go of the tree as he found his footing. But disturbing the water did something as Ender was able to hear a sort of whir and it made him instinctively crouch behind a rotten log. That whir revealed itself to be a probe droid, it's red eye rotating around its cylindrical body to examine the area. It was covered in moss and clearly disguised so it wouldn't be spotted. After a few seconds, the droid let out a robotic beep before it floated over to a tree and retracted it's legs so it could lay against the bark of another tree like a small beetle.

Ender peered over the log, realizing that the droid was triggered by motion and he slowly slid out his vibro-sword. He found a nearby rock and tossed it into the water to serve as a distraction. The droid responded and pushed off the tree but Ender didn't let it get far. He stepped onto the log he hid behind and jumped into the air, bringing his sword down in a slashing motion as it cut the droid clean in half. Ender grabbed onto a branch so he didn't land in the water before he pushing off the trunk once more to land on solid land. There were little land bridges that connected the island of trees and the man carefully navigated along those bridges to reach the other side.

 

[Sreeya]

Unfortunately, the man didn’t completely eat it. Marek sighed in dismay beneath his helmet, continuing to follow. He came to a stop when the man stumbled upon a probe droid, curiously observing to see what he’d do. After a moment, he used a distraction before lunging at the droid to take it out. He certainly moved with efficiency, and that made Marek grit his teeth.

This kriffer was a bounty hunter just like him.

Not wanting to take any chances, Marek came out further into the open and drew his blaster. He continued to follow the man, keeping his footsteps quiet and navigating carefully around the area. He leveled the gun and aimed, intending to shoot the man in the back. Marek didn’t want any competition on this job, and this was no ordinary passerby.

Right as he pulled the trigger, the man dropped down to a lower level. Marek cursed under his breath, having given away his position. He quickly, jumped behind a nearby tree, concealing his location as best as he could. Marek’s cover was blown and the man was alert, and now he would have to see how this played out.

 

[Orbit]

Right as Ender stepped down, he could hear the whizz of a blaster bolt going right above his head. A few inches it more and it would have burned right through his skull and ended him right there. It was a quick reminder that anybody could go out in the span of the second and he would need to be more careful from now on about how he took on contracts. With the trees having their islands of land connected to them, Ender simply slid off one of them and into the swampy water. It rose all the way to his chest but the bank covered his shoulders and up. Was this his bounty? Was it a scout who noticed that one of his droids stopped responding?

Ender turned his head slightly to peek from his hiding spot, finding that the fog that rolled through the swamp and the density of foliage was making it extremely hard to locate whoever had shot at him. Whoever it was, they knew where Ender was and he had no clue where they were. He had to think as he looked around, realizing that he was ill-equipped for this situation with his only weaponry being a vibro-sword and a blaster. Instead of taking whoever was attacking him head-on, he would have to do the next best thing. With a quick glance at his surroundings to memorize where things were, Ender eventually closed his mouth before submerging himself into the water. The only evidence left behind was some bubbles but those would disappear shortly.

Ender submerged himself completely, his hands outstretched as he pulled on roots sprouting from the dirt to drag his body through the muddy water. He couldn't see even with his eyes opened so instead he would just wait until he collided with something before adjusting. When his shoulder ran into another bank, Ender thought he had put enough distance between the tree he was last at and this new one. As Ender spoke out loud, Marek would find his voice coming from a different direction than where he had taken his shot at, "Are you my bounty? It's much nicer you came to me if you are."

Ender peeked from behind the tree from where he was at, a sliver of his head showing so he could at least try and find a rustle of movement. What both of them didn't know was that the droid that he destroyed wasn't the only one. There was another spider-like droid resting in the trees, the moss covering it enough so that it couldn't be spotted haphazardly by anyone and would need an actual trained eye to find it. It's one telescopic eye rotated and zoomed, watching the two bounty hunters clash as it reported it's information.