Ask What goes Bump..[Umbara]

[Leon Terrick]

Leon sat at the bar in some out of the way Cantina on the planet Umbara. He was there investigating local disappearances, a request the Cantina owner himself called in after local authorities just brushed it off. It all began a couple weeks ago after they saw something crash a couple miles away. It began with pets but quickly escalated to the local townsfolk. The owner had told Leon all he knew and had begun waiting on actual customers leaving the Ranger to his own devices.


So he sat there, his hat on the bar, a small self rolled cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth and a shot glass of Corellian whiskey in front of him, going over a local map the Cantina owner had lent him. Voxx, his seeker droid hovered near his shoulder looking at the map as well. He had come well prepared as he was forced to leave his ship and travel here by speeder so his blaster rifle leaned against the bar next to his leg and a small pack full of supplies.


"What are you thinking Voxx? Slavers? Doesn't sound like this could be the work of any of the local wildlife. Has to be someone out there taking these people."


"I don't know Sir. Umbarans aren't normally targeted by slavers."


"You'd be surprised what a desperate slaver would do Voxx." Leon falls silent, slowly rotating the halo map, looking for any good places a slaver might set up camp. Pausing a moment, he takes the cigar from his lips and tosses back the shot, tapping the glass twice on the bar before going back to his map. He overheard a few of the locals talk about monsters. But even on the 'Shadow World', such things just didn't exist. There was a logical explanation, Leon just had to find out what it was.

@Die Shize @Taz @Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Finding himself sitting by the bar with a cup of tea in a somewhat remote cantina, Armand looked forward to what seemed to become a rather calm evening. Rowdy nights did have their charm, but personally, the scoundrel was quite happy that this one would allow for some relaxation. While it was always a good idea to remain armed when working for the Hutts, this night, Crossac had stowed away both his blaster pistol and rifle in his backpack, only carrying the stun baton by his waist.

A surprised eyebrow shot up as the guy who talked about slavers next to him was referred to as 'Sir'. Reminding himself to be more attentive in the future, Crossac's mind started running - it wasn't his people doing something in the area, right? No, surely he would know of it. Deciding that he had nothing to worry about, the scoundrel took another sip from his tea.

With curiosity finally gaining the upper hand, Crossac glanced over at the officer next to him. Rarely being part of the planning stages of an operation himself, the young scoundrel had little understanding for what his neighbour was doing "Are you trying to find slavers by looking at a map?" he asked with a voice characterised by curiosity and a hint of skepticism. Letting his eyes wander back to the map, Crossac raised an enthusiastic finger and pointed towards a hilltop "I heard that there's a nice view over the valley from there. I had planned on going there today, but things got in the way" he said, apparently showing more interest in the touristy side of things than dealing with the slavers.

@Die Shize @Taz @Grifter

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Music IC

Spoiler

He woke up with a cough that fought against a sneeze, spitting the stick from his mouth and raking fingers across his face. Ash smeared over his fingertips, and probably his cheeks, but at least it wasn’t up his nose. Blinking once and twice and ten times more, the ceiling above his prone body looked cold and grey, and for a moment he thought that he saw his face reflected back at him. The man sighed groggily and slowly sat up from the booth, turning to face his table but not daring to let his gaze venture any farther than its surface. An ashtray was before him, a few cigarette butts within it, and another beside it, having earlier missed the goal as it came flying from his lips. How long was I asleep? He must have drifted off as soon as he lit the cigarette so that it might burn down to the butt and flake its cooled ash across his face. About five or ten minutes then.

His eyes went to an open bottle of whiskey and a whiskey glass with a few drops left. He remedied that oversight by pouring himself a fresh round and downing the nectar with an ahh. Better. Finally, the man’s eyes lifted from the tabletop to wander over his surroundings. They weren’t many, at least as far as living beings went. A handful of Umbarans scattered about with outsiders like himself, among them two men at a bar, one with a cool hat before him and the other with hair that looked like it belonged on a beach. Then there was the bartender, a fellow as burly as he was beer-bellied, with a mean face that betrayed a friendly demeanor. Or is it the other way around? The two had talked just long enough for one of them to walk away with a bottle of whiskey about an hour ago.

Overall, the cantina looked as tired as he felt while submitting to his seat and pouring himself another drink. It might have been day, might have been night; time was difficult to gauge at a glance on a planet that was perpetually dark. They didn’t call it the “Shadow World” for nothing. This establishment, though, was lit well enough both on the inside and the outside, lighting the way for travelers and passers-by in what was otherwise a remote location. “Pitch Black”, the man recalled with some amusement; a fitting name for a bar slapped down in the middle of a dark nowhere. I guess that’s what awaits us all on the other side, between and beyond this frozen hell of a galaxy.

With a leisurely sip this time around, the man licked his lips and lit up another cigarette before retrieving an ID card from the tabletop. A circled star was on one side, gazing back at him without so much as a twinkle. Flipping the card over, he looked upon a familiar face: a bearded, worn countenance that showed some signs of age, with unsmiling lips and black eyes that might have been black holes from outer space. Beside the portrait was the same star symbol, the words “Sector Ranger” and the name “Zad Ruzed”. Taking in a long drag from his cigarette, Zad sighed out a cloud of smoke and watched it disappear against the card and the face staring back at his own.



@Grifter @Taz @Pyrenees

 

[Sin Windrider]

A pale skinned stranger walked out of the shadows at the edge of town. Or rather the few huts that surrounded a cantina that might be considered a tow. His blue grey eyes looked out from the hood of his utility gear. The Echani preferred to wear the simple gear when he had to sit around common people. Umbara had nothing of note to offer, to the galaxy or to the shadow. So the Knight would not reveal himself to it.

Still, he could feel "the shadow" working it's nature here. He could feel it. The ebb and flow of the ripples, like a rising tide. It drew him here. To investigate the, Sin looked at the sign above the door. "Pitch Black?", he grumbled aloud. The Echani looked to his black BG droid and smiled.

Stepping inside, he kept his hood on for the moment. Sin looked around. Taking note of the patrons. The place appeared to be as sparse inside as out. But he did note the two law men. The aura of grey and light came off of them like stink off a Bantha, as did their self righteousness. "Frak", he grumbled again. Only loud enough for his little robot companion to hear.

Sin took the hood off and walked up to the bar, not giving another look to the rest of the place. But allowing his connection to the shadows to flow freely. Extending his sense. While the Echani bellied up to the bar. Greeted by a gruff looking Herglic who looked big enough to swallow Sin whole.

"What'll it be" the giant spat in basic. "What ever passes for ale here," Sin replied. The fish man then scoffed, pulling a bottle from the under the bar that seemed to be hiding a chiller, and handed it to the cultist.

 

[Leon Terrick]

Tapping the end of his cigar in a small ashtray, he places it back into his mouth and takes a small puff. The bartender had refilled his shot glass but it sat there ignored. He was mid turn on another rotation of the halo map when a voice spoke up next to him. He glances over to see a younger male human, likely just a few years younger than he was. He was asking if Leon was looking for slavers on the holomap and then points out a hilltop that had a nice view of the valley.

"Not particularly looking for the actual slavers, no. Rather im looking for geographical areas that such a place to be both hidden and defended that is close enough to this place that it would make sense for people to be taken from here. Plus I've never been on Umbara before so getting the lay of the land is always a good idea." He puffs on his cigar again just as the autodoors open and a younger female Umbaran comes running inside. Screams and random blaster fire could be heard from outside as the autodoors closed. Leon quickly rises to his feet and moves toward the girl.

Something had her absolutely terrified her as she collapses onto the floor. He kneels next to the girl and puts his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to console her. "Easy there. What happened? What's going on out there?" Leon asks her.

"Monsters! There's monsters everywhere!" The girl says in between sobs. Leon motions for a waitress to come take the girl and then moves to a window near the door. He glances outside, his hand resting on his blaster pistol. This damn world was too dark for him to make out anything of real use. He cracks open the window.

"Voxx, get out there and check it out. See what we're up against." The droid twills and then zooms out of the window. Leon walks back over and retrieves his pack and rifle. He was fully expecting to fight a bunch of slavers, but something just didn't make sense. Why the all out attack? After taking people quietly what changed and caused a full scale attack? Regardless the awnser, he was ready for a fight.

@Die Shize @Taz @Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Way too preoccupied with his tea and the Ranger's map, Crossac had paid little attention to any new arrivals, and had only noticed the white haired man peripherally as he ordered something to drink. The one who was sleeping by the table at the side had been spotted quite some time ago, but at this point, the scoundrel barely knew that he was awake. Hearing the explanation for what the officer was looking for, Armand nodded and squinted his eyes to see if he could find a suitable location for slavers to camp out at. He had only gotten so far as to notice that he didn't seem to be very gifted in looking for slaver's camps on a halomap before the doors swooshed open. Normally, it wasn't something which the young man would think too much of, but this time, there was blaster fire which could be heard in the background.

Electing not to head towards the danger, he lingered by the bar and took another sip of tea whilst his former neighbour walked over to the distraught Umbaran. A sense of uneasy anxiousness spread across the cantina as more and more of the patrons turned their attention to what was happening by the entrance. Monsters certainly sounded rather unpleasant, definitely something which the scoundrel would like to safeguard himself from. With that, he reached for his bag which laid on the floor by his stool. Digging around in it for a couple of seconds, he finally found his blaster pistol which was promptly holstered by his belt. Leaving the rifle in there, Crossac then threw the bag over his shoulder.

Not quite as interested to see what was going on outside himself, the young scoundrel was quite content in letting the officer and his droid do it. Finding his current position at the bar uncomfortably near the entrance, he started making his way around it to the side of it, effectively putting a large portion of the bar between himself and the autodoors. With his left hand holding the backpack strap, the right one hovered near his blaster - if anything were to happen, he would be ready. But for now, remaining in the safety of the cantina and waiting to see if anyone hostile would enter was enough.

@Die Shize @Taz @Grifter

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Music IC [Recurring]

Spoiler

​

As the doors opened, Zad heard them but kept his eyes on the card in front of him. It was only when gunfire and screams erupted that his head jerked toward the entrance, spotting the woman dash forward and fall to her knees. Just as quickly, a man rushed to her aid, the doors closed, and the woman spouted something about monsters. Several seconds too late, Zad realized his hesitation, and only then did he act. His cigarette was dropped in the ashtray, his ID card tucked away, and his rifle retrieved from his seat as he rose and walked.

The terrified woman was being taken care of by a server, well and good, which left Zad and anyone else to assess the situation. This other guy from the bar had the response time of a concerned galactic citizen, which pit him in really just about any role. But his movements. His droid. My droid. Technically, Zad’s droid wasn’t in the building, but it sure was the same model, and though anybody had any droid, the pieces on this board were quickly coming together. “Hey, you a Ranger?” He called out to the man after he retrieved his pack and rifle. Hoping to get his attention, Zad pulled back one side of his duster, revealing a badge and the symbol of a Sector Ranger.

“Name’s Zad.” He hoped to get a proper exchange. Whatever situation the lot of them had just been plugged into, knowing one another’s name would lead to the kind of communication that might travel as fast as bolts and preserve life. “Hope your droid doesn’t get shot down out there. Those gunshots came toward the ‘monsters’ or from them.”

He let that conversation be as he looked around the cantina, counting heads, doors and windows. Several patrons had taken cover almost immediately, while others were out in the open and perhaps too afraid to do anything but stand. One other was camped beside the bar; he looked able and capable. We’ll need that. The bartender, meanwhile, was standing stoic with a scatterblaster in his hands. We’ll need that too. “Hey,” Zad called to the Herglic. “Mind turning the radio off?”

The bartender obliged, the overhead speakers falling silent, and in place of music came the sounds of bloodthirsty shrieks and bloodcurdling screams. I got a baad feeling about this...

 

[Leon Terrick]

Taking a quick survey of the Cantina, Leon sighs softly. Lots of unarmed civilians in here, too many to protect them all. One of the other patrons calls out to him, asking if he was a Ranger, before flashing his own badge. Leon responds with a nod, using the butt of his rifle to push aside his long coat to show his badge.

"Leon." He says half distracted. His mind was working on a plan that would at least limit civilian casualties inside the cantina. He turns to the bartender. "You have an office or back room in here? Somewhere you and these people can go to get away from the windows out here?"

"Yeah, theres a store room back here. Only one door, no windows." The Herglic responds.

"Alright people! Unless you want to stay out here and get a good look at whatever is out there either shooting or getting shot at, go with the barkeeper to the back." After a few quiet murmurs the majority of the people inside agree to go with the Herglic, who after retrieving an E-11 blaster from under the bar leads them into the back. Leon looks at the kid that had asked about the map who he saw grab a pistol from his bag and tuck it into his belt. "Hey kid, see if you can either disable the back door or block it off for me, will ya?"

Turning back toward the door, Leon nods to himself. Most of the civilians were at least out of harm's way for now. Anything that wanted them had to get through two Rangers first.

"Sir! I am incoming to your location with two civilians following." Voxx rings out over the comlink in droidspeak and Leon steps forward, opening the Autodoor. He swings his rifle around and shoulders the weapon, guarding the entrance. Though it was dark out, the streets had some minor illumination to them and Leon could see his droid coming up followed by two roughly humanoid figures. About twenty yards or so away from the door, the shadows shifted and the two figures that were following just seem to disappear into them. Not knowing exactly what it was he just saw, Leon tilts his head slightly.

He could barely make it out, but he was sure he could hear some kind of claws scraping along the roof across the street. As soon as Voxx was inside Leon stepped back and closed the autodoor, which as soon as he does something thuds against it from the outside as if it had tried getting in at the last moment.

"Alright Voxx, show us what's out there." He still thought it was slavers or something of that nature. He was not ready for the hologram that the droid broadcast into the middle of the room. A fairly large quadruped creature, with sharp teeth, with a long tail hovered in a dim blue glow of the holoprojector.

Spoiler

"What in the kriff is that?" Leon says quietly, looking at the projection.

@Die Shize @Pyrenees

 

[Armand T Crossac]

"Rangers Zad and Leon" he thought, surprised at the relatively high amount of rangers who were in a out of the way Cantina. The nervousness and tension among the other patrons seemed to be rising at a steady rate and the talk of the fiends outside being armed didn't seem to help much. Still, it was a reasonable thing to mention and Crossac made sure to mentally prepare himself to meet either armed thugs or 'monsters,' whatever they were.

Unsurprisingly, the rangers took better care of civilians than the Syndicates did. It was something which the young scoundrel was very fond of in regards to them. He wasn't too sure of what to do once the option to hide in the back with the rest presented itself. Was it safer to stay with the soft core and allow himself to be protected by Ranger Zad and Leon and whoever else felt like guarding the entrance or was it safer to stay where he was together with the group of armed fighters? Crossac never reached a conclusion as his attention was soon torn away by the request from Ranger Leon. With two raised eyebrows, he looked up at the man. After a few shorts moments, he nodded "Sure" he said, keeping a light tone as he turned to move towards the back.

Having some experience getting in through auto-doors which were supposed to be sealed, the scoundrel was confident that he would be able to disable one too. Arriving at the back he looked at it for a bit, analysing the door and its mechanisms. Walking up to one of the panels at the side, he opened it and used a steak knife to cut a few wires. Once satisfied, he waved his arm around in front of the motion sensor, satisfied to see that the doors didn't open. He then tried manually pressing the button next to it and once again, it remained still. It seemed like his job was done, the back entrance was disabled. It wouldn't be hard to push a nearby couch to block the door for good measure - but Ranger Leon did say that he should do either one of the two options, not both. With that, he returned to the front.

It seemed like his timing could use some improving as a droid quickly swooshed into the building. Without any context, Crossac almost drew his blaster to shoot it. Fortunately, the calmness of the rangers convinced him that it was friendly before he managed to do anything too dramatic. "What are you looking at?" he asked, nodding towards Ranger Leon who was peeking out the door with a rifle drawn. Not long after his question was posed did the door close followed by a powerful thud-sound of something smashing against it. It certainly put a bit of fright into the scoundrel who took off his backpack to hold it with his left hand. This way, his E-11 rifle would be close at hand if he needed to use it - it was a great way of making himself feel much safer.

Ranger Leon soon asked his droid the to show them what it had seen. It looked like a nightmarish creature, nothing which Crossac recognised. He took a few steps closer to the holoprojection, trying to get a better look at the creature, making it obvious that he had no idea of what it was. "No idea" he mumbled, barely audible enough for the others to hear. Looking to the others he patted his holstered blaster and nervously asked "Nothing which can't be killed by a blaster, right?"

Soon, a few scraping sounds could be heard from behind the front door. They were longer and more careful than the scoundrel had expected from a wild beast. "Blast it" he said, very much disliking what was happening outside. Looking to the bartender he spoke "I hope you don't mind" with a slight shiver in his voice. After that, he brought out his rifle and took on the backpack again. Normally, bartenders weren't too fond of having more heavily armed customers, but at this time, Crossac didn't think he'd mind, and if he did mind, the Scoundrel really didn't care.

Next poster
Previous poster

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Music OOC

Spoiler

​

As the other Ranger, Leon, directed the cantina’s less combat-ready patrons to the storeroom, Zad called to the bartender. “One door and no windows is still a door. Bar it with everything you’ve got.” The Herglic nodded, passed the E-11 blaster to a man who looked a little more confident than the others, and marched them back while carrying his own scatterblaster. With the noncombatants out of the way, that would be one less problem to worry about. Though, if the going gets tough, we just may need every body that can still move. Zad watched the storeroom’s entrance close, but the bartender was on the wrong side of the door when he turned, scatterblaster in his grip.

“This is my cantina,” he declared. “I’m not letting anyone take it from me.”

“What’s your name?” Zad smiled.

“Kos.”

“Good to have you with us, Kos.”

Zad followed Leon’s line of sight toward the door, catching the movements of two more patrons who remained in the cantina proper with their own weapons. They were moving toward the window, curious to get a look. “Hey, you two! Might wanna stay away from that glass…” They agreed and stepped back, and just then Leon’s droid came over the com with two civilians in tow. Leon moved and Zad moved with him, both men positioned at the entrance with rifles at the ready. Zad saw the shapes and beckoned them forth with his thoughts, not daring to call out and risk the noise. Dark out. No surprise, but quiet too. Too quiet.

“The heck?” Zad spoke low beside Leon as the shadows all but engulfed the two refugees. They were gone without a scream, except for what had sounded like a distant, muffled cry that slithered its way into his ears moments before the droid zoomed into the cantina and the door closed. When something closed into it from the other side, Zad stepped back out of reflex, muzzle on his side of the door, and then there was quiet again. The heck?

He turned attention to Voxx and the holoprogram that everyone was waiting to watch, and what he saw didn’t exactly settle his nerves. The creature looked mean from head to toe, almost feline, with ears like a bat’s, glowing eyes and claws that could carve and kill. When Blondie strolled up to state his analysis of the creature, Zad could only agree.

“Never seen it till now. Don’t plan on meeting it in person, either, so let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Zad turned to the handful of patrons who had decided to stand with them, each armed with at least a pistol. “All right, folks, let’s get these windows sealed up!" No one was in any mood or position to disagree as Zad led the troops quickly but carefully, each person finding a window and dropping a shutter. Zad claimed one, making sure that the metal frame closed all the way before moving onto the next. He hesitated as scraping and shuffling were heard outside.

It was too dark to see anything, and Zad saw why that this was less than usual; a few streetlights were blinking and buzzing, and other lampposts were not even on. Oh, druk. They’re actually taking out the lights. He swept his gaze around the darkness, spotting a few barrels with red lights upon them. It’s what they were illuminating that froze Zad in place. Three, five, and more pairs of yellow eyes glowing back at him, cold and cruel.

Spoiler

“Hurry up, people!” He sealed his window, turned toward the next, spotted a patron move further down, and watched him fall backward with shattered glass falling with him. Crashing through the window from out of nowhere was one of the monsters. It had lunged and landed on the man, and in that instant Zad had seen blood fly from his chest as claws buried into it. Before the two hit the floor, the creature’s teeth snapped around the head of its prey, and tore it from the shoulders in one movement. The body hit the floor and, with everything happening in bare seconds, the creature raised its gaze toward Zad the same moment that he raised his rifle toward it, and squeezed the trigger.

 

[Leon Terrick]

The bartender had opted to stay in the fight, as well as a few other patrons that were armed in various degrees. The kid he had asked to block off the back door had come back, his mission successful and he had now armed himself with an E-11 rifle. At least there were more fighters in here than he thought. They would need them. Whatever these creatures were, he had no real want to see them any closer than that hologram. Zad had got the others to begin sealing the windows and Leon stood near the center of the cantina with good view of all the windows, his rifle at the ready just in case any of them things tried to get in while the windows were being closed.


”Voxx, how many were out there?” He asked his droid who was hovering near.


"Dozens, sir. From the ones I picked up on my sensors at least. There are more out there though." The droid responds in its normal droidspeak. Leon sighs and shakes his head. Glass shatters and Leon snaps to attention. The creature was fast and the poor soul it attacked was dead before they crashed into the ground and immediately after that the beast was dead. Multiple shots from a few of the different patrons, including himself and Zad tore through it. It slumped to the ground on top of the patron it had just decapitated.


"Voxx! Give me some light!" The droids spotlight flares to life and it moves toward the broken window as Leon himself slowly walks forward. "Someone get a table and block off this window! I'll cover you!" He shouts as he readies himself. The spotlight from his droid bled into the street and he saw one of them dart by through the light and took a shot but it was too fast and the shot impacted the ground harmlessly. Two of the patron's nervously grabbed a table in a quick move turned it and pressed it against the broken window while two others grabbed some chairs and other things to wedge it in place. "Well, i don't know what in the kriff those are but we are in deep druk if they get in here.."


@Die Shize @Pyrenees ju

 

[Armand T Crossac]

Right - Ranger Zad spoke up, telling them to get the windows sealed up. Crossac didn't think too much about it before he started executing the order - or suggestion. It seemed like a rather sensible next step, all things considered. Merely dropping the shutters did feel rather inadequate when unknown beasts were looking to get in, but it was the quickest way to create some form of protection which would both reinforce the windows and prevent things on the outside from seeing in. Shutter after shutter was lowered until he finally heard the window a bit away break. Cold air flooded the establishment and it was hard not to notice that the outside was more poorly lit than before. By the time he turned to look, one of the unknown beasts had already jumped on a man. Standing in a position where he wouldn't be able to shoot the monster without also shooting its victim, Crossac refrained from firing - it seemed like most of the other patrons had a better position to kill it than he did anyways.

"Blasters did work" he mumbled as he lowered the shutter he had already begun working on before the window broke. It really did seem like a rather poor prioritisation when the monsters had broken in, but the young scoundrel really didn't know what to do, and now, the entire side that he and on other had been working on was 'safe'. Soon, Ranger Leon instructed people to put a table to block the window, it was a good idea. He started making his way over to their side when he heard something walking on the roof, causing him to stop and look up. Whilst the creatures might be up there, it wouldn't be something which they'd have to worry about. Right?

Continuing onward, Crossac heard a heavy thud and soon another coming from the table. The only reasonable conclusion was that the monsters were trying to ram it. Upping his speed, he asked "Do we have nails or something?" whilst passing by the Herglic bartender, heading towards the window. Soon, the two patrons holding the table budged, momentarily allowing one of the beasts to slip through. It would be quick to attack one of the men holding the table. Crossac, however, didn't take action against the monster, trusting the others to deal with it. Instead he rushed up to push against the table, hoping to prevent more beasts from getting in.

@Die Shize
@Grifter

 

[Zad Ruzed]

Music OOC

Spoiler

​

When Zad’s finger hit the trigger, he didn’t let go. Semi-automatic fire erupted from the barrel to hail the monster with bolts. It felt them, first turning toward the fire with its big yellow eyes raging in madness, fearless to the storm, so Zad made sure not to let up. Instants later, others joined in the fray, and a moment later the creature was on its side, riddled with the bolts that had ended its life. Or so they all hoped.

As Leon called to quickly block the broken window with furniture, Zad found himself standing and staring at the fallen beast. He paced over to it, muzzle on its motionless form, and peered upon the monster. Its skin was a midnight purple streaked black and speckled white, and its eyes were open, though the life in them had gone. The yellow irises were no longer glowing. Its mouth was locked in a grimace, rows of pointed teeth threatening to bite the hand that dared stick into the maw, and this was one man who certainly had no intention to. Sharp claws were coiled as though they had been ready to tear during the beast’s final moments.

Zad blinked himself out of a trance and recalled the numbers that Leon’s droid had crunched. Dozens. Never an absolute count. Bound to be more. With these creatures prowling the darkness as though they were born for it, there was just no telling how many were out there. We could be surrounded by now. As he heard a noise, the notion wasn’t far off. It came from above. Click-clacks and tip-taps, like a blade poking against metal. They’re on the roof. His eyes locked on the ceiling as though he might see through the duracrete and durasteel. How many? The movements were slow but not alone, coming in different directions as the Ranger turned around.

He heard a thud by the ruined window. Blondie mentioned something about nails and Zad turned toward the Herglic barkeep, Kos. “Maintenance closet,” he nodded and moved to retrieve. Meanwhile, Zad watched Blondie as he approached the window that was being refurbished, a few men wedging an upturned table against the breach along with chairs. Having heard what sounded like something trying to get in, the Ranger trained his muzzle on the window and was all the better for it. As soon as the thing reared its ugly head, Zad took aim and squeezed the trigger once again. Bolts flew toward the creature and it howled in pain, retreating into the darkness and allowing the defenders to continue with the barricade. As they moved, though, it was terribly too clear to Zad the truth of the matter.

“That’s not gonna hold for long…” He licked his lips in thought as Kos hastened over with the tools to bolt the barricade in place. But they needed more than tables and chairs. Just then, a bang! resonated nearby. Zad swung his head toward another window, the shutter firmly shut. Another bang, another shutter. Then another. Then the doors. The pattern repeated, then the banging stopped. I don’t believe it.

“They’re testing the shutters. The doors.” He spoke to no one and everyone. “And us.” That’s what the initial breach had been about. Only one creature had burst through the window when a few more could have followed in tandem. It had taken some moments to put the creature down, and more moments to rush up with furniture. He thought back to similar scenarios, when he had both defended or assaulted a location like this, and the thinking that had to be done. Thinking. They’re thinking. It might have been animalistic programming, but there was intelligence here.

“These kriffers have brains, boys.” Zad kept his focus on the makeshift blockade. Right now, it was the weakest spot. “I can’t be sure, but I get the feeling that they weren’t willing to storm in blindly. They’re getting a feel for their prey. Seeing what kind of enemy they’re up against.” Moments ago, blaster fire had come from multiple angles when the first creature had come through. Objects that went bang and more than one person making the bang. “And now they know.”



@Pyrenees @Grifter