There's a Snake in my Boot!

[Tyrn Rau]

Kashyyyk Jungle, LIfe Day​

The Jungle rose around the Mandalorians as they moved silently through its depths, darkness surounding them. Tyrn had come to Kashyyyk to join in their Life Day celebration. While he personally did not celebrate the tradition, he held a deep respect for the warriors of Kashyyyk, both for their strength and their honor. He had spent many an evening bartering with the spaceport merchants and even considered some of the Wookiee's celebrating here as friends. It was evening, the Life Day celebration well underway when news came, a family snatched from the walkways as they were heading to the celebration. Trandoshan slavers spotted in the Jungle.

Tyrn Rau had cursed the hut'uun who would take advantage of the honorable Wookiee's sacred day to enslave them. Many of his fellow Mandalorians who had come to Kashyyyk for the same reason as Tyrn were equally outraged. Seeing a Wookiee hunting party gathering to venture into the Jungle after the slavers, Tyrn and a few of his fellow warriors had stopped them. Telling the Wookiee hunters to go home to their families, Tyrn and his compatriots had sworn to bring their people back, along with a sack of Trandoshan heads, by the time of the evening celebrations.

Once in the darkness of the Jungle, the Mandalorian hunting party had split into groups of three, each group boasting as to how they would be the ones to bring back the most heads before splitting up in the jungle darkness. Tyrn moved through the jungle cautiously, blaster rifle at the ready, eyes peeled as the three armored Mandalorians searched for signs of the Trandoshans. "Hu'tuun." He whispered under his breath, the comlink in his helmet picking up the sound and transmitting it to his fellow warriors, a Solus and a man who identified as a member of the centuries extinct Clan Varek. @Malon @Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

____________

Theme​

There were members of the mandalorian community assisting with hunting or pest control. Some were even have skirmishes with the other players in the galaxy. But Koil was here to hunt something else, trandoshans. It was open season on the reptilian people that wanted to enslave the Wookiee natives which was as good an excuse for Koil to let loose and do what he did best.

The dark black armor of the Al'Verde was nigh indistinguishable from the similar surrounding. At this time of the night his dark red accents and crimson sigils were only visible for those with acute eyesight and close proximity. Other warriors had bright colors to represent their clan or their state of mind. While Koil certainly held in high regard justice and honoring his forefathers it was more of a pragmatic color scheme than anything else. Armed with his usual weaponry he would be

There were plenty of trespassers to deal with on this night. He had already slain a score of them and wondered if he should start counting them or taking trophies. No, they were not worthy of being trophies and remembered. They were faceless teeth and claws bringing only bondage and cruelty to the forested planet. Koil was set on visiting violent horrors upon them.

Accompanying other mandalorians outside of his own clan for once he moved as smoothly and quietly as he could. His shriek hawk blaster rifle held in both hands at an alert status. He knew of the clans his comrades hailed from but not the warriors themselves. Other members of Clan Solus held intense judgement of things like non-humans and other clans of the mandalorians. But as an Echani he was already a black sheep among his people. Most people assumed him to be human since he never really took of his armor. Day in and day out Koil certainly brought the name 'beskar'gam' to a whole new level. Only when he bathed did he really take it off. He was glad to hear the same fiery resolve in one of the two party member's voice. While Koil remained silent as usual he shared the feeling.

@Arclight @Malon ​

 

[Ryell Varek]

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Ryell had thought long-and-hard about making the journey from Atlas to Kashyyyk. The journey was a long one and pay wasn't guaranteed; but, when he heard that other Mandalorians were making the journey, he realized he could not just sit back and not join in on all of the fun. He had not been around mainstream Mandalorians since he was just a boy and he was itching to see if his people were truly like the refugees at the Mandalorian enclave on Atlas.

He succeeded in locating the Kashyyyk Mandalorians. Two of them in fact: one from Clan Rau and another from Clan Solus, whose name was beginning to reach even as far out into the Outer Rim as Atlas. Part of the reason Ryell had agreed to come this far into the galaxy was to see if these Solus Mandalorians were really all the stories made them out to be. Were they formidable? Or were they just spacers tales? Spacers did like to over-exaggerate Mandalorian exploits, so he wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Either way, he was about to find out. The three Mandalorian men were hot on the trail of some Trandoshans. Ryell was knelt down next to what he could only assume were fresh lizard tracks. No doubt, the Trandoshans were lurking nearby, hoping to prey on the Wookiee hunting parties combing the woods for slavers.

He sighed, which made his voice come through his helmet somewhat mechanically. "Looks like we're dealing with about four of these big lizards." He used the scout HUD built into his helmet to tell him the rest. "Heading north from the looks of it. Probably trying to get ahead of the Wookiee hunting parties—get the jump on them where the jungles thicken." @Arclight @Darasuum

OOC - sorry I'm late, fellas. Here's the dice thread.

.

​

 

[Tyrn Rau]

Tyrn examined the tracks. They seemed relatively fresh, but something seemed off about Ryell's read on the scene that lay before them. In particular however he noticed a certain characteristic to the tracks. One of the Trandoshans was heavy. His footprints pressed deep into the ground, claws scoring the earth and tearing at the vegetation as he had stumbled through the jungle. "Thats one ast'ehut' lizard. Tyrn commented as his zeal broke for a moment, a smirk forming beneath his helmet as he pictured an obese Trandoshan crashing through the Jungle. Bet it's one disgusting be'arasuum." That or the Trandoshan was a bodybuilder of some sort, an honorless coward that created fake strength with steroids and growth stimulants.

The humor passed however and cold resolve returned, glancing about to follow the tracks with his eyes, Tyrn shook his head when the Varek clansmen declared the raiding group had travelled north. "If you see there, they begin to veer off towards the northeast." A falsehood, Tyrn's tracking skills failing him as he mistook a game trail for Trandoshan tracks. "I think we're gaining on the hu'tuun, shall we draw lots for the honor of a'yaodbarnir?" Picking up three sticks from the ground, Cad broke them unevenly and hid their lengths in his hand. Whoever drew the longest stick would have the honor of walking at the fore of their little group, the first to have an opportunity to contact the enemy. @Malon @Darasuum

 

[Ryell Varek]

As Ryell rose from his crouched posture to claim a stick from the other Mandalorian, he failed to notice a low-hanging branch, which collided with his helmet and jolted him forward slightly. The clang of wroshyr wood and beskar was loud enough to ring out into the woods around him, which was more cause to curse than the actual (mild) discomfort caused by hitting his admittedly armored head. He was the young and unexperienced Mandalorian on this hunt and, embarrassingly, it was already beginning to show.

Grumbling angrily to himself, Ryell stepped out of the way of the branch to prevent repeat incidents and snatched a twig from Tyrn's hand. He hoped the length of the stick he drew would get him a spot towards the front, thus giving him a chance to redeem himself. But, he sourly thought, his clumsiness had probably just set the tone for his luck on the rest of the hunt.

"Best hurry," he said bitterly to the other member of their party. "The damn lizards definitely heard that one." @Arclight @Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

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Koil looked over Tyrn's shoulder at what he found before turning his slit visor back up and look around. His golden eyes under his helmet stared into the dark surroundings trying to see if there were any threats present as his comrades examined the trails. His head wipped around at the sound of a thwack of a branch with his body slightly tensed. Koil's eyes darted away from the clumsy mistake and back to his surroundings. His jaw clenched slightly waiting for any other sign of possible enemy movement. If he were out in those trees looking at an enemy he certainly would have sprung it.

As far as Koil considered the trandoshans they were either moving forward onto the wookiee party like Tyrn had said. An alternative was that they had stopped moving and were setting a trap. That could mean the trio were about to spring that trap or they would find the trandoshans and counter the trap with an ambush of their own. But if latter option was the case then that meant they would have to be far more stealthy than they had been so far.

In response to the regretful tone of Ryell, Koil only sighed and gestured with his blaster for Ryell to take the middle position between him and Tyrn. The Echani mandalorian would take up rearguard and see to it that he had their backs. The three moons provided ample light but the mandalorian would have preferred some night vision for this operation. Then again, the bodies of the Trandoshan's would have been at an advantage given their cold blooded biology. He let there be a solid three meters between him and Tyrn at all times. While his eyes swept left and right he always kept his squad mates in his peripheral vision. It was up to Tyrn to lead them and follow a trail to not lead them into a trap.

@Arclight @Malon lot roll​

 

[Tyrn Rau]

Grinning under his helmet as the long stick was revealed to be his, Tyrn relished the much sought after position of vanguard in this trek, luck granting him the privilege of being first into the fight. Turning to lead the way, not realizing that he would have led them off track, Tyrn was denied his position by the servants of Hod Ha'ran as an angry red blaster bolt screeched out of the jungle to impact the edge of his pauldron in a grazing blow. The bolt still exploded violently against his red and white pauldron, vaporizing duraplast and searing the flesh beneath. Grunting in pain as he dropped to the ground, seeking cover in the underbrush, the clearing was filled with blaster bolts that seemed to come from every direction as the Trandoshans sprung their trap.

"They're all around us, fantastic!" He commented in sarcastic mando'a as he snapped a shot off into the jungle in the direction that one of the ambusher's shots seemed to be coming from. Or at least he intended to. However as soon as he pulled the trigger of his Shriek-hawk, instead of firing, the gun began to grow hot in his hands. "Yeet!" He exclaimed in alarm as he chucked the blaster away from himself as best he could as the rifle's powerpack suffered a catastrophic meltdown, the gun metal beginning to burn red hot and smoke as it flew through the air to settle, smoldering, in the underbrush. "Hod Ha'ran is among us this night vod." A solemn warning issued over his helmet comlink as he drew his pistol, crawling to cover and away from the position that he had thrown the glowing hot blaster from, no doubt in his mind that the trickster god had cursed their expedition. @Darasuum @Malon

 

[Ryell Varek]

Ryell had a slight advantage. For one, he wasn't up front when the shooting started. Two, his (unfortunate) companion had called out a warning just a second before it was chaos in the jungle. Ryell was young but his reflexes were sharp. He pulled both of his pistols from their holsters in a single fluid motion and popped off two shots at the nearest Trandoshan. His first shot missed, but the second hit home and seared a hole through one of the lizard's shoulders.

Another shot flew out of the woods, but Ryell was on a roll and ducked just in time for the shot to scream over his helmet and hit the tree he had just struck his own head on. And his luck just kept coming. No sooner had he ducked the shot than he spotted a large fallen worshyr trunk to take cover behind.

"Come on!" he shouted to his two companions. "Kriffin' lizards will be toasting us over a campfire tonight if we don't get out of the open!" He didn't wait for permission. He kept his head low and ran for cover, skidding behind the log in time for two more shots to slap it rather than him. "You know," he grunted to himself as he switched his twin pistols for his blaster carbine. "I think I could get used to this kind of action on the daily." @Arclight @Darasuum

 

[Tyrn Rau]

"Come on!"

The words echoed through the woods, bouncing off the trees. It would have been difficult to find him if not for the fact that he kept shouting. The kid was right. Catching site of the lightly armored marauder, Tyrn admired his bravery in the moment, wading through blaster fire practically naked. Hauling himself to his feet and drawing his pistol, he leaned into a sprint, keeping low as he twisted and snapped a shot off at a muzzle flare. The reflex shot struck true, exploding the barrel of the Trandoshan's longblaster that he was firing peeked out from cover. And then he was diving into a combat roll. Coming out of it at a run to jump, twisting sideways as he passed over the tree trunk. Skimming low enough, he roughly grabbed he tree trunk to arrest his momentum, slowing him to land seated behind the tree trunk. "They're down a rifle." Glancing down at the pistol in his hand, he groaned, "So are we." @Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

____________

In a moment it all changed, in a moment it was all chaos. The others were yelling, calling to the gods and trying to get away from the ambushers. Koil was angry. His adrenaline surged into his system even before the first blaster bolt struck his shoulder making him stagger slightly. His dark visor looked up searching for the nearest cover but a line of several shots stretched out before him marking the path off limits with damaging consequences if he chose to ignore it. The Trandoshan targeting him must have known he would have dove for cover. He could have risked it even further but he instead chose to be a di'kutla shabuir and stay out in the open.

Tightening his grip on his shriek hawk blastter he fire. "Fantastic, that means we just have to fire in every direction. TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT BOYS!!!" He yelled through a clenched and smiling mouth while he slowly walked towards the direction of the trandoshan that had hit him in the shoulder. He fired three shots. The first striking the trandoshan in the head, killing him. But Koil did not stopped. He fired another two consequitive shots. Always make sure they stay down. But his shriek hawk blaster tanked a shot from another trandoshan it would seem and did not fire for a third shot. Now that really pissed Koil off.

He drew his blaster pistol and fired in the direction of the shot, not having a clue where it had come from, yet. But hopefully that would give him some cover time to draw a fragmentation grenade, activate it and lob it. He instinctively threw it beyond the tree line hoping that if it did not kill any of the trandoshans that it would at least be enough to give the others a backlight of their silohuettes and positions. But Koil's gamble had been for nought as none were inside the blast radius. But at least one of the trandoshans was illuminated for a single momentary flash by the explosion.

@Arclight @Malon​

 

[Ryell Varek]

Ryell was quick on the draw. The momentary flash that exposed one of the karking lizards was all he needed to train his blaster carbine on the Trandoshan and take the shot. The lizard dropped dead without any protest; but, unfortunately, he wasn't able to spot the remaining two, even if he was able to duck their return fire, which slapped harmlessly against the log he was crouched behind.

This time, their luck had given out. He had seen the direction their shots had come from. And, even though he had not seen the lizards that made the shots, he could at the very least give his fellow Mandalorians their general positions.

"They're shooting from the trees slightly to the northwest of our position," he relayed using the scout HUD on his helmet to give him a definite direction. "Should only be two more of them left!" He cocked his blaster carbine. "Come on, boys! Let's bring us some lizard home for dinner!"

All-in-all, this was a good night, Ryell thought as blaster fire sang through the woods. He might be the youngest member of the hunting party, but he was proving quite useful and earning his keep. Yes, indeed. It was a good night to be a karking Mandalorian. @Arclight @Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

____________

Koil was close to the treeline where the Trandoshan he had killed lain. He had his own pistol drawn and an empty hand after throwing the explosive item. The Al'Verde was away from his two cohorts who had managed to take cover. The two trandoshans that were firing on Tryn and Ryell were still aware of Koil's presence and and not ignoring him but seemed to be continuing to prioritize the other two mandalorians.

Koil entered the treeline where the nearest dead trandoshan was. He did this as he heard Ryell call out their positions. He picked up the weapon the the trandoshan had been using to fire on him with his right hand. He balanced the foreward grip on his forearm without holsering his pistol and began moving counter clockwise on the north west position of the remaining reptilian's positon. The slit visor of his helmet aimed down the simple sights of the Vorantikus blaster rifle. It was not as good as the shriek hawk or westar design but it was still deadly. When on the battle field you used whatever was available to get the job done.

Koil fired on the points of eminating blaster fire. The first two hit no damage but at least would give his comrades some respite from the blaster fire. The third however would strike one of the trandoshans. It would not kill the beast out right but he hollered in pain from the strike and a follow up shot to the chest if one of the other mandalorians could manage would put him down. The fact that he had cried out from the hit also would likely give one of the two younger mandalorians some advantage. Koil stopped behind a tree waiting for the inevitable redirection of blaster fire to focus on him.

@Arclight @Malon​

 

[Tyrn Rau]

"Yiak! Lets bring home some lizard!" Tyrn shouted as blasterfire peppered the log they had taken cover behind. "But lets make sure to get one alive. They have captives that need bringing back, and i don't see any Wookiee's here." Peeking over the log, Tyrn identified the location of one of the Trandoshan's by it's muzzle blast as a shot smacked into the log next to Tyrn's head. "I'll nab the one on the left." He informed his comrades as he slithered out from behind the log to get a flank on the lizard.

Once he was close enough, Tyrn rushed forwards, activating his jump boots to pounce the Trandoshan while his attention was focused elsewhere. The boots flared, propelling Tyrn through the air at the slaver. Unfortunately the jungle was thick, and Tyrn failed to see a branch sticking out in the dark. Whoomf. Slamming into the branch, Tyrn flipped onto his back as he hit the ground, gasping as the wind was forced from his lungs by the impact.

Dazed, Tyrn scanned the jungle from his prone position on the jungle floor. He wondered briefly if Kad Ha'rangir had forsaken him, abandoned him to the ill intentions of Hod Ha'ran. He was however torn from his thoughts as a shifting lizard foot caught his eye ahead of him. His jump may have put him flat on his back, but it also put him within range and sight of his target. Lifting his arms, Tyrn aimed from his position on his back and fired the bola from its launcher on his wrist. The weighted wire spun through the air, whipping around the slavers foot and the tree that he had taken cover behind.

Stuck and unsure of where the bola had come from, the Trandoshan paused, eyes scanning the jungle for Tyrn. Holding his breath, the Rau warrior wondered if this would be how it ended, flat on his back in a jungle, killed by a dishonorable ambush, forsaken by Kad Ha'rangir, let to his death by Hod Ha'ran. And then the Trandoshan's eyes passed over Tyrn and continued their scan. Tyrn breathed a sigh of relief and readied his blaster.

The Trandoshan returned his attention to the firefight at hand and in that brief moment Tyrn made his move. Twisting to his feet, Tyrn charged the distance. "Oya!" The battlecry roared from his lips. The Trandoshan turned in surprise, a red and white clad Mandalorian appearing from seemingly nowhere. The lizard's longblaster turned to point at Tyrn. But Tyrn was already upon him. Catching the longblaster's muzzle in his hand, the warrior pushed the business end of the blaster away from himself as it went off, ruby bolt flying into the woods harmlessly. His other hand slammed into the Trandoshan's shoulder as he attempted to tackle him to the ground. However the Trandoshan was strong, catching Tyrn's charge and meeting it, strength for strength as the two warriors found themselves in a stalemate. @Malon @Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

____________

The skuffle continued as Tyrn and Ryell were closest to the two remaining mandalorians. They needed one alive for interrogating and the Rau clan member was taking care of that. They only needed one of the scaly ambushers alive. He activated his jump boots to close the distance. He fired his blaster as he moved but in the dark and the change in movement caused him to miss. The injured trandoshan certainly noticed him now but it was Koil's turn to get into the melee. The Trandoshan threw a punch at Koil due to his close proximity. But then Al'verde raised his blaster rifle to block it. The sound of the soft tissue hitting harden metal was not pleasant. The Echani proceeded to use that vary blaster rifle as a club and beat the trandoshan in the head. It was a sharp sound on the first strike. Then as the trandoshan fell back he hit him again, an audible gasp and a raising of the three digit clawed hands to fend of the blows. If the trandoshan had been holding a weapon he was no longer. Another hit caused the slaver to fall to the ground. It was a good thing it was dark and Koil's armor was already red. He hit him again, and again until the sharp sounds of the improvised melee weapon turned to softer, squishier ones.

Standing up, panting a little bit from the heat of the melee he looked down at the weapon he had used to bludgeon the trandoshan to death. It probably had internal damage despite its rugged appearance. If not, it was too slick anyways. Dropping the weapon to the ground he reached down and picked up the dry rifle the now dead trandoshan had been using. At least his hands would not slide around on this one.

Koil walked over to the trandoshan that Tyrn was dealing with and leveled the weapon. "Calm down" But the trandoshan did not abide by the dark armored mandalorian's words. He kept trying to grapple with Tyrn. Koil could shoot him but they needed him alive. He also did not want to accidentally shoot Tyrn either.

@Arclight @Malon​

 

[Ryell Varek]

Ryell was the last to join the grapple. The Trandoshan grappling with Tyrn froze when a second blaster joined Koil's against his temple. "It would be very unwise for you to continue to resist. We want you alive, but there are many places I could shoot you that won't kill you." The threat worked and the Trandoshan dropped his weapon, which Ryell proceeded to kick out of the range of his reach. "Good, now you're going to get on your comm and command that your friends release the captives you took."

The Trandoshan hissed in protest and began to stand, but Ryell tensed and pressed the barrel of his blaster carbine harder into the lizard's skull. His finger slipped down to the trigger. The sight of that was enough to get the big lizard to surrender and relent once again. "That's what I thought," Ryell said. "Another move like that and I'll boil your brains and then the brains of your friends. Now, get on your comm and do as I said."

The plan went as envisioned. The Trandoshan was so utterly humiliated, claiming that the Scorekeeper would surely claim all of his points, that he offered no further resistance. Within fifteen minutes, the Wookiees were free and on their way back to their village. When it was done, Ryell removed the blaster carbine from the Trandoshan's temple. He then looked to his companions.

"Leave him," he suggested. "He'll live a more tormented existence if he's alive—the Scorekeeper has forsaken him. Killing him would only be a kindness. A kindness I don't intend to bequeath."

All seemed to be good. Their mission was just about over. @Arclight @Darassum

 

[Koil Solus]

____________

As Ryell convinced the reptilian attacker to cease his resistance Koil kept his weapon firmly pressed against his temple. He watched and waited to see how he would proceed with the rest of the directions the mandalorian gave him. All the while the Echani kept the procured blaster rifle ready to end the Trandoshan. But no such issue arose. When they were done the Solus clan member would let Ryell have the kill if he wanted it. But instead he seemed to want to spare the trandoshan. Koil debated shooting him anyways but kept himself from doing so. Looking over the bodies he made sure that no weapons were nearby for the trandoshan to scramble for as they departed. He would be stuck in a foreign forest alone. Koil even took his communicator once he was done so he couldn't call for help. With all that done he would leave and head back to get a good rest.

//exit thread

@Arclight @Malon​

 

[Tyrn Rau]

Even the honor of capturing the Trandoshan was deprived of Tyrn as his fellows came to assist. While Kad Ha'rangir had shone his favor upon his fellow warriors, Tyrn felt as if a shadow had been cast over him. He could claim no kill on this hunt, even as the young Ryell let the captured Trandoshan live.

Tyrn would have killed the slaver, but Ryell had secured the capture, granting him dominion over the reptile's life. That did not mean Tyrn couldn't exact some measure of satisfaction.

Crack. The loud blow echoed through the forest as Tyrn gave the Trandoshan a powerful Keldabe kiss, his buyce slamming into the slavers forehead, knocking him out cold.

Grabbing the Trandoshan's discarded rifle, Tyrn turned to follow his fellows out of the jungle, leaving his burnt out shriek-hawk to be claimed by the jungle.

//exit thread.