Troglodytes

[Sumas Solus]

Unknown planet​

Unknown time​

"Okay, maybe I should have paid attention when I signed on for this job." Sumas admitted as he disembarked the Meteor on this strange, depressing planet. As far as he could see, there were mountains and caverns and open ground of...well he wouldn't call it a desert but it was pretty much a desert. Though one aspect that caught his eye was the glistening in the rocks as the light caught it. Maybe the Mining Guild was onto something.

He pulled his helmet over his face and slung his MSBR over his chest with his left hand resting on the buttstock. Just in case his partner or the local fauna got any ideas. "Alright, you know why we're here!" he said to his companion next to him. "We need to explore these caves and see what goodies they have for the Guild. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" he proclaimed. He pulled an Oxidizer out and handed it to him. "Put that on. You never know where the air's been these days..." he said with a tone that was somewhere between dead serious and a joke. He himself swapped out his rebreather for a filter system to help him survive.

"Well, let's move." he said and started walking forward. His eyes scanned the area and looked for anything out of place.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

The whole planet seemed ominous and uninviting and it definitely seemed like it called for an Oxidiser as the air appeared thick with a smog of sorts in some places. There had been rumours of a minor humanitarian issue in some of the caves on this planet where toxic gas leaks posed a threat to those who resided there and was making some locals ill and since Reuben was on a nearby planet, he was sent to investigate the issue before others would be sent, he feared prolonged exposure to the gas could cause irreversible effects or death.

There was a voice in the distance, clearly not a local based on the accent and use of Galactic Basic Standard. Reuben walked out of a cave and stayed behind a large rock while he listened to try and discern a motive for them being here, it wasn't exactly a popular tourist destination. There was talk of exploring the caves and Reuben knew immediately what they were here to do, though he was unsure what Guild was being referred to.

As the pair began to make a move, Reuben moved out from behind the rock and walked towards them. "Who are you? What are you doing?" He asked. If they were to disturb the locals in any way or injure themselves then he would have to intervene and it seemed like they were about to do just that.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas came to a halt as something felt off. Sure enough he heard a blaster being drawn and did the same, staring down his partner with his Strill while he aimed right back with a DH-7. "I don't think so." the man said coldly. "Okay, no need to be an idiot. You're not getting more money out of this if you kill me." he tried to reason with the man, but he didn't budge. "Oh yeah? I'll take my chances." he growled as he got ready to fire.

The sudden arrival caught both of them by surprise. Staring wide-eyed at the stranger Sumas smiled widely behind his T-visor. "OH HI!"

PZHEW

The traitor slumped to the ground with a smoking hole through his forehead. Sumas angled the gun up and rested the barrel against his shoulder. "Sorry about that! Guy thought he'd get more money out of this job if I was killed off." he casually explained to the stranger as he twirled his pistol and holstered it. "Can I help with something?" he asked as his hands rested on his pistols, just in case this stranger also got any ideas.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben was immediately on edge after watching one of the men shoot the other so nonchalantly, his hand went to his hip where his lightsaber was but he didn't remove it, not yet, it was just a precaution. He approached the other man cautiously and kept an eye on where his hands where in case he were to try anything. From his attire, Reuben could tell the other man was a Mandalorian and although he hadn't met a Mandalorian before he had read about them in history books and heard stories about them, he knew the Jedi had a somewhat complex history with them but he didn't have a personal problem with them.

"You shouldn't be here." He replied sternly as he came closer to the man and stopped. "The people here have enough troubles of their own without you meddling here." He said before offering a warning. "It could be dangerous here too, there have been gas leaks in some of the caves and there could be structural damage." He wondered what the purpose of him being here was, what could this planet have to offer that would be worth the journey here, let alone be valuable.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

The first thing Sumas picked up was the lightsaber on the man's hip. But this guy wasn't Sith. Not by a long shot. No, this guy was a Jedi. What a Jedi was doing out here in the middle of nowhere was beyond him.

He approached Sumas, clearly very nervous. Sumas didn't blame him. After all, he did just blow a guy's brains out, so being on edge was understandable. He raised an eyebrow at the man's words, but he let him continue first before interrupting. "Listen, man. I'm not here to meddle or to hurt people or stuff like that, I got better stuff to do in my free time. I'm here on a contract." he explained casually, shifting his hands from his pistols to his belt buckle. The man continued by offering a warning, to which Sumas simply shrugged. "All in the contract, don't worry!" he reassured the man, then simply turned and walked back to the corpse behind him. He pulled the Oxidiser off and handed it to the man. "Seeing as you're so afraid of gas and stuff." he explained with a chuckle and walked into a direction before stopping and turning to face the man again.

"You look like you know the layout of the place. Wanna show me around? There's money in it for you. Mining Guild money. Easiest way to get a paycheque in your life." he offered. After all, the dead guy won't be needing that cut. "Besides, I need someone to show me the cave systems." he continued, looking around a bit.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben similarly moved his hand away from his lightsaber hilt at his hip when the man moved his hands away from his pistols, if he recognised him as a Jedi then he should know that he would only act out in self-defence or in the defence of others, he would not be the one to make the first move but thankfully that seemed off the cards, although Reuben was still weary of the stranger.

He took the oxidiser from the stranger but looked uncomfortable about it before hesitantly putting it on. "I'm not afraid, it's common sense, it could be dangerous." He replied, wondering what contract the man could be talking about and who it was with but he imagined that information would come out in time and if not then he would ask later when he established just what was going on.

"I vaguely know it, I only came here for the first time today, I had no idea this place existed." And by the looks of it, not many people did. Reuben thought for a moment when money was offered, though he had no need for money himself with his needs catered for by the Jedi, money could allow him to pay for transport to Corellia to see his family or simply to give the money to his family who needed it more than he did. The Mandalorian didn't seem to have an interest in disturbing the locals and it was probably better if Reuben went with him because at least that way he could supervise the man and make sure he stuck to what he said. "Yeah... Ok." He replied hesitantly, catching up to the man to walk beside him.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas gave a laugh at the man's answer. "Sounds like you're afraid!" he teased the man jokingly. "Don't worry, Jedi! It's totally safe for you! You're the one with the laser sword here!" he continued, reassuring the man. He would be lying if he said he didn't want to get his hands on that lightsaber...

The Jedi continued, explaining how he only vaguely knew the place. "Yeah well apparently the Mining Guild knew about it and all their surveyors have disappeared once they landed here. So apparently they need people above the average surveyor...and yes I was quite flattered that they thought so highly of me." he explained to the Jedi. The man then finally agreed to tag along, albeit hesitantly. "Splendid!" Sumas proclaimed and marched off to one of the caves as he pulled out a Personav. "You can use your space magic to open areas and stop rockfalls and stuff while I survey the area for good stuff." he instructed as he walked into the cave.

It didn't take long before the light was too dim and Sumas needed some light. "Hey, Jedi! Why don't you spark up that lightsaber of yours? Some light will be amazing right about now." he asked him over his shoulder. Suddenly there was a rumble in the cave and a few rocks fell from the ceiling. That wasn't so strange. What was strange...was that the rumble sounded like an animal. A very nearby animal...

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

"I wonder why that is..." Reuben thought aloud. He hadn't come across anyone or anything hostile so far, though the locals weren't the most welcoming, he hadn't once felt threatened here. He trailed slightly behind his companion. "Are you looking for anything specific?" It was common for people to seek out materials on planets, especially lesser known or less populated ones and Reuben would not- could not stop people from doing so. There wasn't anything ethically wrong in that itself, he thought, so long as it didn't cause a great disturbance to the locals or negatively impact them in any way. The locals here didn't seem to have much use for valuables, their society seemed quite primitive in comparison to most of the galaxy.

Reuben ignited his lightsaber to provide them with what little light he could, the pale blue light reflected off the walls of the cave around them but didn't provide the most substantial light source. As they walked further into the cave, Reuben could feel the presence of another life but couldn't quite point out what it was other than it was a sentient being, nothing that was worrying in itself until there was a very animal-like rumble which reverberated around them.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

"Not specifically specific." he explained, though whether that legally counted as an answer he couldn't say. "Just anything worth mining on this rock...whatever 'this rock' is." he continued, looking around.

When the Jedi ignited the weapon, crystalline structures lit up in the cave. They glittered all along the walls and ground. It was beautiful.

But it didn't last even a second as the strange presence was lit up. Staring at them was one Angry beast. Sumas stared back at it with hide eyes. "...And that's a Gundark." he said nervously. All hell broke loose as the Gundark swung at him and he retaliated by launching into the air with his jetpack and fired at it with both pistols. "Kriff! Kriff! Kriff! Kriff!" he shouted as the beast roared and tried to swing at him. It quickly turned its attention on the Jedi who had a very nice blue beacon to highlight him.

"Aren't these things only on Vanqor?!" he shouted as he hung in the air, switching to his rifle after holstering his pistols.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

"Right." He replied, finally understanding the situation, though he wasn't sure who this Mining Guild were or what kind of credibility they had, the rest seemed pretty self-explanatory and from the looks of it, there was definitely something in these caves worth mining, the walls glittered in a way that he had never seen before and he was in awe of it for a moment before they were interrupted by the sound of an animal.

Their eyes met with the eyes of a creature ahead which the Mandalorian informed him was a Gundark, so maybe gas leaks were the least of the locals' worries. The creature seemed distracted by the gun wielding Mandalorian before turning back to face Reuben who struck the creature in the face, blinding it in one eye, a sort of warning. "I have no idea!" He shouted back. "Maybe we should leave!" He suggested, after all, the Gundark was here first but then again if they left it maybe it would cause more problems for the locals given how hostile it was...

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Apparently the Jedi wanted to stick around and fight. Against a Gundark. with only a laser sword that will only make it angry. This guy needed to get his head looked at.

Sumas loved the way the man was thinking.

"Hell no!" he shouted back, opening fire with his MSBR that did a lot more damage than his pistols. The Gundark was angry and now hurt. Not a good combination. It leapt up and slapped Sumas out of the air, sending him flying against a wall. The Zabrak fell to the ground with a grunt, trying to get up on his feet. While that was going on, the Gundark focused its attention once more on the Jedi. With a powerful and very quick movement it launched a small boulder at his head as if it were nothing.

Sumas finally got to his feet, watching the Gundark. He quickly picked up his rifle and continued to fire at the beast, hoping to land a killshot. Though all these shots were certainly stacking against the creature. It was getting weaker. But its aggression was still ever prevalent.

It looked at Sumas again and decided to charge. Sumas kept firing but soon it was empty and he had to draw his pistols. But they wouldn't be enough. If the Jedi didn't intervene, things might be going very south for them...

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben thought about the possibility of using the force to try and calm the creature but he had never tried it before and the stakes were too high to try and attempt it here, though in his mind it would be the ideal solution.

The Mandalorian could likely handle himself, isn't that what they trained their whole lives to do? It was a slightly odd situation to be in given the history between the two groups both of them represented but Reuben wasn't bothered, the man didn't seem too problematic thus far.

When the Gundark sent a boulder his way, Reuben reacted quickly, holding a hand out to slow the rock with the force before it stopped in mid-air just before it reached himself and sent it back the way it came, hitting the gundark on the head and knocking it out. He was unwilling to do more than that now that the creature was unconscious, he wouldn't be the one to kill it unless it woke up and it was a last resort. The Jedi were taught to show compassion to all living beings but it wasn't a lesson he had ever needed to be taught.

"You ok?" He asked the Mandalorian, aware that he had taken a hit from the creature.

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

The stone hit it on the head and it collapsed in front of Sumas. Sumas stared at the beast for a bit then looked up to the Jedi. "Uhhh...yeah. Think so." he commented. He picked up his rifle and quickly reloaded it before placing the barrel against the Gundark's head and pulling the trigger. The creature went limp on the ground as its life faded. "Alright! That's better. Now, on to surveying!" he proclaimed and started walking forward...but he came to a halt. He looked back to the creature again and extended a wrist blade. With a bit of a struggle he cut a hand off the Gundark and hooked it onto his belt. "They make for good trophies." he explained as he walked on.

The deeper he went into the cave the more prominent the gasses became. Thankfully his helmet's filter system held up. After looking and scanning for a bit Sumas turned to Reuben. "Well we certainly hit a jackpot. Bunch of stuff in the ground on this planet. Alright, I think we got what we came for. Let's get out of here." he said and turned to make his way to the exit. As he walked past the Gundark he drew a pistol and lobbed another two bolts into it just for good measure.

Outside Sumas sorted out his items and put the datapad and Personav back into their respective pouches on his belt. He looked back to the Jedi. "You have a ship to get off this rock or do you need a lift?" he asked the man. "Also, I never got your name."

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben watched uncomfortably as the man killed the Gundark with such ease and even more so when the man cut off a hand to keep as a 'trophy'. He understood that sometimes the death of a creature was unavoidable but in this case they were in the Gundark's territory, although why it was there wasn't clear, so killing the Gundark was questionable, at least to Reuben, apparently not to the Mandalorian though. He said nothing though, there was no point getting confrontational and as far as he knew, it wasn't illegal so he had no ground on which to stand.

It was still uncertain what kind of effect the gasses would have on a being's physiology but it was best not to try and find out. At least there wouldn't be any hostiles the further into the cave they went, he hoped at least. The good thing about being with a non-force sensitive was that they wouldn't know how he was feeling apart from the feelings he allowed them to know so the Mandalorian would not have known about his discomfort had it not been for his expression.

There was definitely something in these caves worth mining, it just depended what the money gained from such an expedition would be used for, but he doubted the Mandalorian would know that, Reuben would just have to inform someone higher up in the Order of what was happening and they could decide if further action was required.

Reuben trailed slightly behind the Mandalorian and stepped over the gundark as they passed it on the way out. "I'll take a lift... depending on where you're going." He replied, though most planets would be better than this and anywhere with a port would be helpful. "I'm Reuben, what's your name?"

@KinkyPrawn

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas nodded at the man's condition. "Was planning on heading to Taris. Got to sort stuff out over there. Should be an easy trip back to GA space for you from there." he explained to the man. And given that it was still neutral, there wouldn't be much cause for concern for him.

The man introduced himself and Sumas smile behind his helmet. "Pleasure to meet you, Reuben, I'm Sumas." he introduced himself casually.

He led the way back to his ship where he got behind the controls. After a few minutes of getting everything sorted, they were in the air and blasting off from the world. Sumas had his things sorted and his job done, now all that was left was for him to go get his reward. He just hoped the Guild didn't try to cross him.

And above all else...he hoped Reuben was a good talker. Otherwise this trip will be very long...

/End Thread

@Sunfrog