Zia's Return: Just Like Old Times

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Tatooine
@The Captain @One_For_Sorrow @Darasuum

The ramp opened, into the small hangar made of hardened adobe. The damn heat hit her like a Sarlacc with an empty stomach. And the dry kriffing air. She remembered exactly how terribly unwelcoming this place is. Especially since this was what you could say her home town was, her true place of origin. The stink of exotic meat rotting in the heat came on a waft of air. That much was the same, too. Fair enough. Anyways, back to business. Bad memories here, no sense dwelling on them. After all, the captain's log had led her, oddly enough, home. She knew she needed help, and there were several people that were perfect for this long job.

Daesha, the Twi'lek mechanical whiz that Herrith had worked with on multiple occasions, was here. As was a man by the name of Zoonn, a Nautolan to be exact. He also knew Daesha, which would be a plus. And then there was the odd one out. Chiffon, like she had called herself. A curious pick, considering her ties to the Cartel, but that was part of the reason the Zeltron had chosen her. Just in case her mystery pilot was wanted by the Hutts. More credits to go around that way. Payment had also been organized. Bloody terrible mission, scraping up all her credits, but she needed this. It was important.

As she walked through the spaceport, a familiar cantina came into view. The Shanty Shack. Funny name, probably had a terrible story behind it, but it was the only one in these parts where there wasn't someone looking for trouble. And that, is exactly where she had arranged to meet. Hopefully everyone showed up. Being down a person in the badlands was never good. She clicked on her blaster just to be safe. Old friends and enemies were everywhere. Welcome home was the only thing she could think of as she entered the cantina and took a seat at a booth. Waiting game now.

 

[Daesha Keever]

So, why the kriff did Herrith have to choose Tatoo-farking-ine for their mission, again? Daesha knew that Herrith was trying to get her ship, the Zia, up and flying again in all of its glory, and if the schematics she had seen were anything to go by it would truly be glorious. But, at the same time, she had picked one of the least comfortable planets to have this meeting on, not just physically, but mentally as well. Herrith had mentioned that she was enslaved on Tatooine for a time, and if their conversation in her ship had been any indication those wounds were still fresh and open. Daesha decided to keep and eye on the Zeltron, beyond her interest in credits and getting one of her future employees up and running at full capacity, just to make sure she didn't do anything particularly reckless. Of course, as smugglers, there was an aspect of recklessness in everything they did, but there was a difference between running customs blockades and throwing yourself headlong into a kark-storm. So when Daesha touched down at the local hangar, leaving Bucket, as ever, in charge of the ship, her mind was on more than just her credits or that sweltering Tatooine heat.

Daesha had changed since her last encounter with the pink-skinned pilot, she had grown stronger, faster, more perceptive than before. She had been training to improve her combat skills, both in and out of her freighter, and had grown quite a bit as a markswoman and quick-draw artist. She was quick enough now to out-draw any piss-pot, quarter-wit criminal that tried to pull a gun on her, and her precision had expanded exponentially, now being able to hit multiple targets at once. Not to mention she'd picked out a cute, subtle little armored number to wear under her jacket, making sure no one knew she was armed, armored, and functionally deadly at all times. Oh, the miracles of modern personal defense, a girl could protect herself without walking around in a cast-iron suit.

The Shanty Shack wasn't hard to find, some ramshackle stone hut that reeked of booze and vomit, no different than any other swill-bin on any other shadow-port. She pushed her way through the door, stepped over a pair of passed-out drunkards, and moved into the main bar room. Herrith wasn't hard to spot, she was a pink-skinned woman in clean clothing, none of which was common on this planet.

"So, we're finally getting the Zia off the ground, eh Herrith?" Daesha chimed in, making her way up to the table and raising a hand to the Zeltron.

 

[Zoonn Kaban]

"No no no no no n-." The yells were cut short by the sound of a head being slammed into a wall. Moments after Zoonn walked into the Shanty Shack, his favourite bar on the dustball world of Tatooine. As he scanned the room he tucked his credit pouch back into his coat. "Dumb kriffin' pickpocket. Tryna steal from a pirate. Hot himself a nice headache fer his troubles too." he muttered to himself.

He saw Daesha sitting at a table with a Zeltron he assumed was Herrith. He knew he had been called here to help with getting his coworkers ship in the air but wasn't sure what his role would be in the endeavor...well... That wasn't ENTIRELY true. Daesha had recruited him to be the muscle of her little group, so he imagined that there would be some heads to bash.

He grabbed a bottle of rum at the bar -using his usual mind trick in place of payment method of course- and wandered over to plunk himself down with his compatriots. "Nice ta see ye again Daesh'afenn," he said to the Twi'lek before turning to her Zeltron companion, "You must be Herrith. Zoonn Kaban at yer service." he said with a grin as he popped the bottle open before taking a deep swig of the stuff.

 

[Chiffon]

__________

THEME​

The Echani species had adapted to the coldness of the galaxy. Their planet is in constant winter and they have become accustomed to its state. However the near-human body of Habibah Grata has grown used to warmer climates. Planetoids like Coruscant, Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa were far warmed than her home planet. The bounty huntress had not been home for years and had no real intention of returning. All it had were mediocre blurred memories and struggle that was no different from millions of others in the galaxy.

Now she walked through equally harsh conditions on the other end of the climate spectrum. Tatooine, she would have called a backwater if it actually had water. It seemed like the planet itself was slowly dying of thirst. Just thinking about itt made her lick her lips. It was a good thing she was meeting her asociates in a cantina. She had never been to Tatooine before but now she knew not to come again without good reason. It was simply an unpleasant place and she had far more fun locales to enjoy.

Her booted feet made small marks in the sand streets of the town. It could hardly be called a city. If this was not such a necessary stopping point for outer rim travelers it would have probably been scarcly settled in the first place. In turn towns like this would have been swallowed up by the dunes long ago. Now Chiffon was one among many in the dry location. Her Clovoc armor stuck out among the brown, beige, weight and black in its bright pink and other neon markings. She had her CBC-1 Satyr blaster carbine slung across her mild bosom. A Thunderslug pulse wave blaster pistol on her hip would draw no more attention than the next gunslinger in this town. This was the outer rim, law and order were as alien as the next face that passed through town. She had a collapsible vibro sword as well as her usual kit. She had no need to dress as scantly as other times.

But this was because she had been given little information on the job ahead. If this required a more subtle touch it would only work for a limited time and she could always go back to her ship and change into something equally outstanding but in a far more different way. Raina, her zabrak friend, associate and fellow Harlequin was elsewhere. She had not been to Tatooine either and would probably find some cantina to get free drinks from, end up in a bar fight and maybe even get bored and go back to their ship. Either way Chiffon was meeting these new contacts alone.

Seeing the location she was supposed to meet the others she entered. It was in the space port, another sorry excuse for the type of image one brings up when hearing the term. Her own ship was parked in a hanger of its own not too far from here but the way the town was set up including the structures within it gave her the impression city planning was non-existant. She spotted her contacts off to one side but did not go to them directly. The cantina was better than she expected but she kept her mask on until she reached the bar. She spoke in Huttese initially, she could always fall back on basic if need be. <"isothan...please."> She added on the pleasantry knowing that the beverage had ice in it. She would consider the cantina a bad establishment if it did not have ice, even if it was on a desert planet. The bar tender promptly began making the libation. What kind of name is Shanty Shack. It is like naming something mansion manor or bar pub. she thought to herself as she waited for her drink. Once it was done she made her way over to the table where the others seemed to have already become acquainted.

Chiffon used the hand that was not carrying her drink to remove the mask of her clovoc armor. This way they could all see her face and hopfully recognize her. All the same she would introduce herself though she continued in Huttese. <"Yo, please tell me I'm not going to regret coming all the way out to this sun baked turd of a planet."> She looked around at those present. She noticed the Nautolan, He's going to need to stay hydrated she thought with some amusement which was quickly followed by some judgement. She did not want to be slowed down if he got winded for being in such an arid enviroment. The Echani already knew who Herrith was but the blue twi'lek caught her eye. She liked that they were mostly females here. With that in mind she took a drink from her beverage so to quench her thirst, a third of it disappearing in the process.

@Herrith @The Captain @One_For_Sorrow ​

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith cracked up in a short laugh and took a sip of her whiskey before she watched in awe as the pale-skinned Echani, by her guess, downed almost half of her drink. This was going to be a fun, fun, adventure. Her plus the Nautolan would be pretty interesting to deal with once the water got low. She motioned for the lady to sit, sliding over to make room and pulling out a datapad, sliding it on the table. The screen had a stretch of quotation from a captain's log she had fetched from her ship. The approximate location of where they were going was shown on a planetary map and then from a detailed photo. The mystery pilot had put up a decent riddle, anyone who didn't know Tatooine would have been lost. Lucky her. She spoke her first sentence in Huttese to Chiffon before returning to Basic.

"Pass that around, if you will. That's the eastern pass, few kilometers north of here. Links right into a canyon system, dried up of course. It's pretty deep in the badlands, so we're gonna want to pack water. I take it you're all decently prepared to fight some small and, though with luck hopefully not, large creatures. I've rented an airspeeder to get us there. Sorry for the dirt poor pay, but I can guarantee there's going to be something there worth your time."

Herrith ran a fingernail along her bottle of whiskey, waiting for the definite questions that were coming. Once those were complete and any further concerns were expressed, she made a quip to lighten the mood, speaking in Huttese once more for her first joke.

"Once our Echani friend applies some heavy sunscreen..."

And continued once more in Basic.

"And our Nautolan refills his water container, we'll be ready. I gotta warn you though: this is going to be as bad as rotten Bantha meat."

TAG: @Daesh'afenn

 

[Daesha Keever]

So Zoonn was here too, eh? That was certainly an interesting addition, as the for-hire-pirate was already operating, in standby, on her own lack of payroll as a privateer. His presence here indicated that Herrith expected either a lot of heavy lifting, or that some people were going to get shot, probably in massive amounts. Not exactly confidence inspiring, but Daesha believed in Herrith enough to accept that whoever the Zeltron called in would be enough for this gig. Her belief was deeply shaken, however, when an Echani woman dressed in a glaring neon set of Clovoc armor stumbled through the door like a drunkard, meandering her way over to the table and plopping down in a seat. Neither her Basic nor her Huttese were on point, being slurred with her own drunkenness, a fact that dragged the rug right out from under Daesha's confidence in this mission. Herrith tried to lighten the mood, but Daesha kept her laughter in for now. She never used to be this high maintenance about her associates, perhaps her guild activities had made her picky?

"Well, this is your show Herrith, I'll follow your lead on this one."

 

[Zoonn Kaban]

Zoonn actually had to squint for a moment when the Echani walked in. The bright colors of her clovoc armor were ALMOST offensive even to his own loose piratical sensibilities. She spoke mostly Hutese, a language Zoonn found as disgusting as the Karktel slugs themselves.

They were right about the water. He had a couple canteens stashed in his many pockets. Reaching into one of these he pulled out a pack of cigaras, he took one and lit it before tossing the pack down beside his bottle of rum. "So what rxactly issit that we're goin' after?" he said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

 

[Chiffon]

__________

Taking the offered seat and the following data pad the Echani cracked her neck before looking at what the details were on the screen. It was a habit she did not seem to be able to shake and one which some people felt uncomfortable witnessing. To the right it gave an audible pop while to the left seemed slightly less loud. Taking out a data-vault she connected the device so that she would have a copy of the quotations. It took only a moment and then she did as the pink skinned woman requested and passed it clockwise to the green skinned.

The woman reached for her glass once the device moved on and she connected the data-vault to her own data-pad. She deffinitly did not know the surface of the planet very well. In hindsight she wish she had done more research on the planet but she knew how to work in an arid environement from working with her mentor. However that had been over a year ago now and she still did not know the flora and fauna of the Tatooine other than banthas and sarlaccs. She figured it would probably be best to stick close to Herrith so that she did not end up walking into some carnivorous bird nest or in the middle of a pod-racing track.

Chiffon gave a single closed mouth laugh in response to the jest made by Herrith. She had not applied any but her armor was covering her skin and would protect against the dangerous rays. Still she would need to stay hydrated and sweating in her armor would be a fact. The bounty hunter did not want the chemicals of the sun-screen running into her eyes and blinding her with the promise of the heat ahead and likely conflict.

By mission's end she could predict there would be an hours worth of shower time. Maybe get one of these gals to join me...maybe both. she thought to herself as she looked up from her data-pad at both of the other females present. On the other hand she had never done it with a nautolen. If he did not run out of fluids by the end of the missions she might give him a shot, then again she did not much care for pirates in general.
​

@Herrith @The Captain @One_For_Sorrow​

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith nodded to Daesha as she made her comment. Normally the Twi'lek would have been running things, and the Zeltron respected the fact she was letting a fairly naive leader run the show. But it made sense, she did most of the organization after all. Then the Nautolan pirate asked what exacty they were going after, which Herrith replied to as she stood up.

"My ship turns out to be a bit of a legend. Hired you lot to help me find out its past and indirectly help me restore it. Also needed extra hands. The places this guy mentions are really dangerous. You get any loot inside, credits or anything, as long as you play nice and share like good schoolchildren. I know how pirates and bounty hunters tend to be, so at least try to behave."

She winked to the Echani and then finished her drink.
"If we're all ready, may as well get moving before the suns go down."

***
​

Once they had set off in a four-person rented speeder, the town was left behind rather quickly. Bad memories there, no point stalling and running into old enemies or 'friends' in need of 'service'. She'd done some morally questionable things to survive, and wasn't keen on stooping so low any time soon. As they set out on the Dune Sea, Herrith spoke over the whine of the turbines.

"I'll give you a crash course on the badlands. Nothing too big wandering about this time of the year, Raiders can be a problem if you don't keep 'em away with some blasters, and Sandcrawlers can piss off some local wildlife and send them out of their hiding places. Be on your toes and stay away from disturbed sand, Sarlacc pits are no fun. They won't be nice to you. We're headed to a cave system about a kilo north, so some scary crawlies might be lurking. Hence why I hired you. I'll give free reign on loot, I just need leads for the next journey."

 

[Zoonn Kaban]

Zoonn chuckled at Herrith's dig about pirates' behaviour, she wasn't wrong really. Most pirates were selfish greedy kark heads. Zoonn on the other hand was a selfish greedy kark head with a code.

He listened to the Zeltron as she gave them the rundown in the speeder. For a rental on Tatooine it was a pretty nice rig, Herrith must have spent quite a bit to hire it.

The job itself sounded easy enough. Kill some critters and -fortune willing- some raiders, a bit of a challenge would be nice even if any real fight would likely be short. The Echani woman had quite the loadout with her, and between Zoonn's sword and pistols he was pretty well set. He imagined Daesha and Herrith were similarly prepared. He took a drink out of one of his canteens, the cold water combatting the dry sandy air he was breathing in. Tattooine was not his favourite planet.

Zoonn started humming an old space shanty to himself as they rode, sure that he seemed at least mildly insane to his companions -a thought that brought him great amusement.- though going by the neon mess beside him he was pretty sure he wasn't the only unhinged one in the speeder.

 

[Daesha Keever]

Daesha considered her presence here to be a stabilizing influence on the trio of spice-hounds, scum, and spastics. Herrith was an utter livewire, about as predictable as a wild cat on spice. Zoonn was a pirate, granted one with something resembling honor and decency, but everything told Daesha that there was more to the man than met her eye. And the Echani? She looked like she either actively high or actively concussed, given the blank expression on her face and her odd, swaying and swaggering movements. Daesha was totally willing to let Herrith take the lead on this one, but if the kark was going to hit the turbine she wouldn't hesitate to step up and try to guide the mission back on track. When Herrith was done, the crew packed into her rented speeder and broke off for the dunes in the distance.

--------------------

Herrith continued her little briefing on the ride over to the badlands, explaining the various monsters and raiders that roamed in the wasteland. Daesha wasn't particularly worried, as there was little chance of them running into some massive predator or raider clan all the way out here. The real dangers would be closer to larger settlements or water sources. Some random cave in the middle of beautiful, scenic nowhere was probably going to be massive critter free, hopefully. Zoonn was busying himself with some strange and ludicrous space-shanty all while trying to wet his whistle. Daesha was barely even thinking about the Echani, focusing more on a simple but profound question: Does it still count as a clown car if you have one sane person inside?

 

[Chiffon]

__________

A legend she says. How come I've never heard of it. She thought to herself with a blank expression as she looked at the ripples in her glass she made by moving it around. The plan seemed pretty loose but not too vague. As far as she could tell Herrith understood they were all freelancers, more or less. Restrict a soldier of fortune's freedom and there would be more to pay than just credits. There was a certain amount of autonomy that came with this line of work that Chiffon liked. The clients that were too specific were just as bad as the ones that did not have any real semblance of a plan.

Downing the last of her drink she enjoyed the coolness pass over her lips and down her throat. Next she inhaled deeply. The air outside would be of the hard baked sands that pervaded the planet in chronic monotony. The echani hopped she would get to smash somebody's face in eventually or get to shoot her blaster. Thankfully this seemed just risky enough that it was guaranteed. Now that she realized her blood lust was increased by the dry planet's environment she wondered if her younger self would recognize her as she was now. Probably, and she would have just smiled and ran down that path through life even faster.

◭ ◮◭ ◮◭ ◮◭ ◮​

This speeder, it was uncomfortable. It was not the proximity with the others. That was fine. She just did not like being in a ground vehicle that was not souped up or heavily armored with three people on the interior she barely knew. Keeping her eyes facing outward towards her closest side of the speeder she scanned the horizon. She was glad it moved fast, even behind the mediocre skills of the lady at the controls. Then again she had never really appreciated anyone else's driving regardless of skill. Chiffon was more of a hands on gal and preferred to keep her foot to the floor and meter red lining. But in this situation it was best to let the other ones lead.

Shifting her position she got satyr blaster in a more comfortable position. Tusken raiders, those were the types of people that were resourceful and wild enough to live far enough away from any sort of civilized settlement. Chiffon had heard them referred to as sand people but she was not sure if that was technically appropriate. However she doubted they would correct her politely with with either for of addressing if she came mask to mask with them out her. The besadi doubted there would be any talking at all if that occurred. They used solid projectile weapons. Maybe she would get to snag one. That would be an interesting trinket. The woman had seen one above the bar, a prize won, or taken from opportunity. It had been made of wood. Where on this planet was there any plant large enough to fashion into such a long weapon, she wondered.

The space shanty did not bother her but she would have prefered something else. After Herrith was done explaining she would interrupt the lone man among the trio of females. "Oy! Herrith, this speeder have speakers?" She did not even wait to hear a response. She began running her hand across the dash trying to see which worn symbol would show the indicator for music. She had her own playlist in mind. Blasting music in enemy territory was nothing new to her. Hell, it was what psyked her up and had made her foes think twice. Plus if it was going to be a long ride she wanted something else to listen to other than the green skinned male's choices.

@Herrith @The Captain @One_For_Sorrow​

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

The speeder wailed across the plains. Herrith kept an eye out on the dunes, looking for the glint of a goggle or a targeting scope. This particular part of the sea was where a lot of the attacks happened, at least from when she was last, well, home. The shanty the Nautolan sang was one of many she heard in cantinas across the Outer Rim, it seemed slightly familiar but was nothing too eye opening. She glanced to the rear facing mirror, essentially a shard of reflective material, and saw Chiffon was stirring. Sure enough, she asked a question: did the speeder have speakers?

Luckily, yes it did. She'd rented from the old man that owned a speeder shack down on the south side of the spaceport, and he kept them well oiled and good running, despite maybe not looking the part. As far as she had asked, everything was working just fine. Herrith spoke with a witty smile.
"Yeah, there's speakers. I'd better not bloody hear any demon-speak comin' out of them, though, or I'll shut ya down, love."

She returned her eyes to the horizon after flicking on the control panel, then flinched as something pinged off the starboard hull, creating a spark. The boom of a slugthrower came not too soon after. Kriff, the raiders were still here. Time to kick it into high gear. In case nobody noticed the slug that just ricocheted off the nose, Herrith said nothing so as not to draw attention. The speeder accelerated and a mountain chain appeared in the distance, noticeably larger than before. "One kilometer!"

***​

Here they were. The first clue of the datapad. The mountain had some slot canyons and caves carved into it, all natural. Nothing seemed manmade, at least, not yet. As the speeder powered down, the Zeltron stepped out of it, landing on the soft sand with a small crunch. a quick shift of her boot revealed a white femur bone beneath. She inhaled before scanning the horizon. Maybe it was an anooba, or an urusai. Both nasty. The latter was a scavenger, but it could get pretty pissed off if you provoked it.

"Alright, keep your eyes out, and definitely have your blasters set to kill. Kriffing things out here aren't too weak. This cave system is part of a much larger branch, so that's likely where we're going to find our lead. Be patient, though, this'll probably take a while. Good, considering the animals leave their caves at night. Meaning we might be alone in a few hours. Just don't shoot unless they start attacking. Never know if there'll be a pack of kriffin' anoobas just waiting to come out. And those aren't fun."

She powered on her blaster, kicking the femur aside and walking towards the cave, popping on a glowstick and pulling out the datapad she had scavenged from her ship. The riddle from the Captain hadn't seemed overly specific, but it did mention this exact ridgeline, calling it a few interesting names. Cheeky bastard.

@Daesh'afenn

 

[Daesha Keever]

Oh joy, they were giving the neon-clad Echani control of the speakers. If she put on anything too obnoxious Daesha might just put a bolt in the control console, or simply throw the woman off the side of the speeder. Daesha was already sweltering under this heat, so if her ears also came under assault she wouldn't hesitate to remedy the problem. Thankfully for Chiffon, the speeder itself soon came under assault, a slug ricocheting off the side of the vehicle as it sped along and getting the full attention of Daesha, who ducked down further into her seat for protection as her eyes scanned the horizon. The dull and distant ring of a slugthrower in the distance told her that the Tuskens were up and ornery today. Herrith seemed to be in high spirts about the concept, and since no one else seemed perturbed Daesha had to ask her mental question yet again, was this technically still a clown car if she was the only non-clown?

--------------------

The quartet soon reached the edge of the caves, shockingly without being accosted further by Sand People, although that was slightly disconcerting for Daesha. If even the Tuskens wouldn't follow them into the mountain range, what did that say about the range itself? Tusken Raiders might have been farked in the head on a collective level, but you didn't survive out in the desert for millennia by being stupid and reckless. There was a reason they hadn't followed the group deeper into the range, although what that was remained to be seen. As Daesha disembarked, Herrith gave her run down of the present situation.

"Alright then, ladies first." An intentionally joking statement considering they had three women here and not one lady between them.

 

[Chiffon]

__________

She barely heard Herrith confirm her question. Reaching up she began playing the music she had in mind. It fit for the current environment and also the female dominated presence at the moment. It just so happened that it also had a decent beat for the following incursion of enemy fire. Great, the moment I take my eyes off the environment we start getting shot at. Figures. To bad I'm now pumped She thought to herself as she brought her blaster carbine to bear. She slouched in her seat to make as small of a target as possible. The only thing visible was the wide top of her clovoc armor.

The driver seemed to have picked up on the incoming fire an potential continuation of the danger by gunning the engine. That pleased Chiffon in more ways than one. Being a moving target made it harder for enemies to hit them as well as the thrill of just driving fast. Plus if the Echani ended up shooting someone while moving at such a high speed it would add another story to her many epic tales for the cantina. However there was one and only one shot so she could not get a fix on the sniper's location and return fire.

◭ ◮◭ ◮◭ ◮◭ ◮​

The speeder eventually came to stop a kilometer away from where they had recieved fire. For the Echani this was still in the danger zone of the weapon fire. She knew there were long guns on the market and sharp shooters capable of reaching such extreme ranges. For this reason Chiffon continued to scan the surroundings. She wanted to move into cover as fast as possible and took the lead regardless of what the twi'lek said. Getting shot through the temple was not on her to do list and neither was getting nawed on by an a-newb-uh or whatever it was called, she did not even know what they looked like. Guess she would shoot at anything on four legs then.

@Herrith @The Captain @One_For_Sorrow​

 

[Zoonn Kaban]

The speeder ride was fun and fast. Chiffon put some garbage music on but that was fine, Zoonn simply tuned it out by humming even louder. The slug bouncing off the speeder didn't even surprise him into silence, he simply pulled out one of his DMT-Foe Remover pistols and fired it in the general direction that the shot was fired from. The loud THOOM of the pulse wave pistol firing somehow timed perfectly with one of the base notes from the Echani's "music". The shot was of course pointless since he couldn't aim it properly but it could conceivably scare off the tuskens. Sand people did frighten easily after all. Though they would likely be back, and in greater numbers. Though they wouldnt be able to find the group again. Maybe.

><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

As the speeder slowed Zoonn jumped out before it stopped completely, both pistols held out sweeping the area for any threats. As everyone disembarked and started following Herrith into the caves he took up the rear walking backwards to make sure he could see any threat that approached, but frequently glancing over his shoulder to make sure he was staying with the group, and to admire the view of course. "I kriffin' hate caves" he muttered more to himself than anyone else. The glow from a freshly lit cigarra throwing an orange light on his green face and reflecting from his eyes, giving the black orbs a firey glow.

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

As they wandered deeper into the cave, the light faded more from the mouth. Only the orange glow of the chemlight kept their surroundings visible, and even then only a few meters around. She hated being blind. The kriffing cave was probably crawling with predators and scavengers. The smell of smoke caused her to stop for a moment, turning her head and approaching the Nautolan after laying the glowstick on the ground where she stood. The Zeltron reached out a hand and took the cigarra from his mouth, crushing it under a boot as she spoke in a low voice.

"Animals tend not to like scents that don't mesh with their adapted environment. A cave like this doesn't normally have fire, so I'd recommend that, if we want to avoid being chew toys, we keep as quiet and as un-prey-able as we can. Eh? Imagine being a rock that can move. Natural. I'd also not recommend flashlights, either, girls. These things don't like bothersome things, like lights where they shouldn't be. Natural ambience is tolerable, but just...get ready to shoot stuff, but only if I say. Pack hunters tend to be more than just ten...or fifteen."

Pulling out the datapad again and returning to the front, she picked up her glowstick, shining the way once more. Eventually, there was a commotion ahead, and she clicked off the glowstick, saying 'Psst' as she ducked to the side, a shadow on shadows and only visible because of that. Pressing against the wall, she sunk down to a kneeling position as a few animals, invisible, began to paw past. Sounded like at least two. Holding her breath, she prayed for the first time in years to a nonexistent deity. Hopefully everyone else was silent and had sense to not be in the middle of the path.

@The Captain, @Darasuum , @One For Sorrow

 

[Daesha Keever]

"Right, don't be stupid, understood." Daesha was now even less sure about this mission than she had been before, as Herrith insisted on not using their lights inside this gigantic, darkened cave, regardless of what was prowling around inside of it. Odds were that just pulling up in the speeder was probably enough to get everything in this cave alert, if not that then the fact that two of them were smoking cigaras gave the group a distinctive scent. Still, this was how Herrith wanted to play this, and Daesha couldn't deny there was a little bit of method to her general madness. But still, just to be safe, Daesha kept her 4-C and her tri-barrel handy just in case something came barreling at them out of the darkness.

 

[Chiffon]

__________

Well the nautolen was an idiot. That much was clear. Not only was he smoking when hunting creatures of nature that relied on smell most likely while smoking the overt scent of burning tabacco but he also had fired his pistols at a distant enemy. Chiffon was not sure whether to judge the man or Herrith for hiring the individual. It seemed the other two females thought the same as they made a comment on it. The echani had a desire to shoot something and she moved past the green skinned man before her trigger finger let her commit friendly fire. Her urges were pretty spontaneous and now was not a time to test her self control.

She would wait until Herrith gave the signal to engage. Chiffon was unfamiliar with the current fauna and did not want to shoot at anything that was not their target if it risked their well being. She looked at the same datapad that the pink skined woman held and stayed silent as the animals past, taking the hint. Her Satyr blaster out and ready.

@Herrith @The Captain @One_For_Sorrow​

 

[Zoonn Kaban]

Zoonn lamented the loss of his cigarra, but it made sense and he really should have thought better than to light one in here.

He ducked into a small alcove in the wall of the tunnel as some sort of animals skittered by and resolved to wait for Herrith's imstructions on his next move.