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[Varyn Atrix]

Per my new OP template, thread is death enabled​

After the brief scout undertaken with Aadya, the time to strike had come. Although Aadya was otherwise preoccupied with another operation, one of the new Imperial Knights was coming along with him.

The truth was that as the ship set down in the jungle and the humid air once again clung to his armor, he wasn't feeling much more confident than before, but that didn't matter. They would succeed because they had to, even if it meant they were outnumbered.

He glanced back at the other man and fidgeted with his own saber hilts hanging from his belt before pulling one free and holding it in his hand.

They've been on high alert, that's why we couldn't hit them last time we were here. I don't expect them to be much better now, but a recent Imperial patrol forced them to move deeper into the jungle. More unfamiliar terrain should give them less of an advantage, he said.

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

Aeron exited the ship after the Knight Captain, the humidity slamming into him and then swallowing him. It was a weight he had to acclimate to as his time recently had mostly been spent in urban environments. His helmet at least prevented the clammy air to stick to his face, allowing him to inhale the fresh hair before turning his attention to Varyn as he spoke. In truth, it was unfamiliar to the Knight as well but they were prepared with scans of the local terrain to compensate.

After a moment of thinking to himself, he revealed his thought process, "Let's go to the last point of contact then. Track and calculate where they can be holed up." The Imperials most likely committed little harm to the Sith but they at least made the warriors put on the move and unsettled. Aeron would check the holo-map, the location of the ambush by the Imperials highlighted on the map for them to inspect. "Sun is will fall in a few hours," he commented, his way of saying that they should get moving.

Aeron would take the rear of the group to allow Varyn to lead the way. This was the first time he had worked with the Knight Captain and the first time he had ever seen him. He knew Varyn had a partner before and that he was a replacement for whoever that was. While he had no difficulty working with another because of his training, his last few months had left him comfortable with working by himself more.

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn nodded at Aeron's assessment. Sounds good, no argument here, he said. While they should be outnumbered again, the numbers were reportedly smaller than they had been. Only a handful of fresh Champions.

If we can pick them off one at a time, we can probably whittle them down before forcing a final confrontation, he said, glancing back to see what the other man thought.

We're not too far from their position already. They don't have long range scanners out here, so they shouldn't have detected our landing, he said, making his way forward. Particularly, they had landed near the old camp, and true to their scans, it was cleared out.

Even so, there was a variety of equipment left behind.

They left in a hurry, he said, seeing some datacards, books, and other electronics on the ground, but Varyn couldn't help but notice no weapons remained. They had seen fit to take anything that could kill... lovely.

Watch for booby traps, he said. He'd heard more than one story about soldiers leaving behind traps in abandoned camps.

@Orbit

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

Aeron agreed with the Captain's plan of attack to pick them off one at a time. Both of them were trained, but that didn't mean they needed to test themselves to the limit by blindly taking on a handful of champions. No resistance was voiced by him as he fell in behind the fellow Knight, letting him take point and lead.

They arrived at the battle-site and found a scene of quiet chaos. Electronics and other equipment were strewn about, offering a hint as to how hectic it was when the combat began. "Blaster bolts whizzing by are proper motivation," he replied to Varyn's comment about them leaving in a hurry. Aeron also noticed that any and all weapons were already taken, but he wasn't surprised by that fact.

Walking around the edge of the camp, Aeron would come to a stop when he spotted plants that were uniquely cut. Turning his head slightly, he let out a sharp whistle to catch Varyn's attention before nodding to the north. When they regrouped, the Knight would point out the bushes and other foliage that had a clean cut through to create a path; each one was lined black from being charred by extreme heat.

Aeron would direct his gaze upward, noting the rolling hills that eventually transformed into mountains. The Knight let out a soft but annoyed grunt before saying, "They most likely scurried to the caves. Make it impossible to pick them up on scanners too. We'll need to keep an eye out for lookouts." The elevation had them at a disadvantage, but given the recent fight, the Sith most likely have not had the opportunity to properly hide or fortify.

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn heard the whistle and turned to his companion, making his way over to the area that Aeron indicated. Varyn... wasn't really a tracker at the best of times, but even he could tell that someone had come clomping and hacking through this area.

On the one hand, it means all close quarters fighting. On the other, yeah, it means we don't have a lot of support and they have a lot of places to run, he said. And traps. These were Sith, after all. It wasn't like they weren't also skilled in close-quarters fighting.

Varyn "hmphed" to himself, but ultimately they didn't have a lot of choices. Push on was the only viable one, so that was what Varyn did.

The further they went, the thicker the jungle became, and Varyn couldn't help but wonder... why? Why had the Sith come out here? Weren't there better places in the galaxy than this? There was nothing of value out here. Was it just for spite? Although on the surface these were probably irrelevant questions, they had far more purpose than the surface betrayed. To understand an enemy's tactics, it helped to understand the enemy.

Seems weird that they stayed out here, he finally said after some more walking. He was beginning to feel like he was in a walking simulator or just out for a hike except that it was a profoundly unpleasant place to hike.

Varyn could sense something ahead and stopped. He didn't know what it was, but something felt... off. That tickle on the back of his neck that he couldn't quite shake and that he couldn't quite define. That was when he saw it: smoke rising in the distance just at the base of the mountains, and he frowned. Making his way toward it, he could see the mangled bodies of several of the local populace burned, mounted on pikes, and all manner of other cruel machinations. He felt almost sick to his stomach as the scent of burned flesh filled his nostrils. The fires were still going, which meant the killings were still fresh.

@Orbit