SithLore

The sleek black Lambda-shuttle with distinctive red markings slid through space. Assigned to Task Force Inferno the shuttle was only marginally modified with heavier armor and more powerful engines. Which were unfortunately doing little to help it.

“Watch it!” Rhoden yelled yanking Captain Doren Vassyl back as a console exploded outwards, Rhoden threw the shuttle into as complex a maneuver as he could manage in such a ship and gave the ship as much speed as he could manage. They were on the edge of the Outer Rim following up a lead on Markus Bareil--Rhoden had personal matters to settle with the man, and the Grand Admiral had profesional matters to settle--but unfortunately Bareil or someone else had sent a few Headhunters to deal with them. Rhoden glanced quickly at the navicomputer, and paused. There was one planet--one far too familiar planet--that wouldn’t require too complex a calculation to reach.

Rhoden keyed the calculation with only slightly shaking hands, waited while the computer beeped, and pulled back a lever. The shuttle leapt to hyperspace with a terrible thumping sound. Rhoden stared ahead with apprehension filling him, their communications were down, and this was the only hyperdrive jump they were likely to get. Which meant they might have to make a landing on the planet, he shuddered at the thought.

“We’re probably going to have to go planetside.” Rhoden said to the Captain, “You need to go get our weapons in order, we’ll need the--” he dropped the ship out of hyperspace and broke off his sentence as they shook violently. Two headhunters roared past, “They’ve followed us! Prepare for emergency landing!” Rhoden said as the shuttle continued to fly forward full bore. The headhunters came around again, Rhoden rolled but a blast caught them and their engines were knocked out. “Going to be a rough landing.” he said to himself, rapidly pressing buttons and yanking on the control stick. He rerouted all nonessential power to shields and expanded their range. “Brace.” he said tightly.

They hit the atmosphere like a rock wall, Rhoden watched the shields strain, saw the headhunters enter the atmosphere in a more controlled descent. There was another thump somewhere in the shuttle and the lights inside the cabin went out. “Damnit.” Rhoden said, steering the shuttle as much as he could. He looked out and saw the northern mountain ranges, he pulled the nose up as much as could be managed--aiming directly for the mountains. Doren had noticed the mountains too, because Rhoden heard him yell something about giant cliffs over the increasing roar of the shuttle. “I’m trying to hit the mountains!” Rhoden bellowed. They burst through the bottom layer of clouds and Rhoden saw, just for a moment, a small communications tower and bunker on one of the peaks, his stomach fell as he set his jaw. He gave a three count, then turned sharply.

The shuttle jerked violently and the most horrible of grinding noises sounded, Rhoden looked over at Doren and saw his restraining strap snap. “No!” he yelled, throwing his arm out and pushing the man back into his seat even as something hit him hard. The shuttle ground to a stop and Rhoden panted, leaning forward to look out the cracked viewscreen. The headhunters roared over and began heading back towards space, apparently content with the crash. There was a blur of motion and the first headhunter jerked wildly, and was thrown into the second, they exploded in a fireball and fell to the ground even as hull plates fell in scatterings Rhoden saw a large avian fly back down into the massive jungle below.

He looked over at Doren and jumped out of his seat, undoing his restraint he pulled the Captain out of his chair and laid him on the ground, checking his unconscious form over and cursing under his breath. Rhoden stood and left him lying there, running back through the shuttle and gathering supplies. He put on his armor and shoved Doren into a pair as well, dragging him onto a large metal sheet that had fallen from somewhere. He began piling supplies onto another sheet of metal. Rations, water, two full medical kits, a variety of blasters and blades. Rhoden carefully examined and took a small stock of grenades and two flamethrowers he sincerely hoped would prove unnecessary. Two full survival kits also graced the metal sheet and many other objects--but not a single long-range communicator.

The Captain remained unconscious and Rhoden bit his lower lip in worry, he’d get a chance to look him over more when they found somewhere less exposed. He drug the two metal sheets down the shuttle’s boarding ramp and up a slope. Rhoden looked around, taking in the scent and view of the poisonous green planet from his current position. Even now he could see a menacing storm brewing in the distance. He looked up and saw a cave slightly further up the slope and headed towards it carefully. His grip tightened on his blaster as he walked inside and looked around. The cave stopped a ways in, but nothing was waiting inside to slaughter him and so he was as happy as could be expected given the situation. He ran back and drug first the supplies inside the cave, and then Doren. “What the hell have you been eating?” he huffed as he set Doren down against a ledge.

He returned once more to the entrance of the cave and drug in some dead wood laying around. He had a fire started quickly. He stood up and looked around, nodding to himself, it could have been worse after all.

As though in response to his calming thoughts there was a scurrying and a giant centipede scampered out from between a crack in the rocks and ran towards him. Giving an utterly disgraceful shriek Rhoden fired at the hostile bug. The first two shots had no effect but the third finally broke through its disgusting exoskeleton and exploded the head. Rhoden collapsed against the stone wall beside Doren, he looked over and saw the other stirring as he woke up. “Well, we’re alive for now I suppose.” Rhoden muttered, taking his helmet off and opening a ration pack.

When the Commander asked Doren to indulge "a favor", he expected to take the heft of some additional paperwork, to put a word in with the Admiralty, or maybe compare wine brands. What he had not expected was to be whisked aboard a shuttle on some damnable crusade against one of the most tenacious and slippery pirates in the contemporary galactic history. Similarly, he had not anticipated the destruction of their shuttle, nor appreciated his fading consciousness in the aftermath of the crash. When the Captain finally regained his composure, he was overcome with soreness, and quite bewildered at his sudden change of dress. Slowly and carefully, Vassyl sat up just in time to hear the Commander mutter something about their present state of existence. Blinking from mired delirium, Doren glanced over at the sizzling corpse of what appeared to be a rather large insect. Wherever they were, it seemed the Commander had found a world befitting of his usual candor.

Standing up with a groan, Doren dusted himself of any remaining shrapnel or dirt, and addressed his companion, "I don't suppose you're familiar with this system Commander?". Vassyl, for his part, hadn't the slightest idea where they'd landed- if you could call it a landing anyways. What he did know, is that the pair had abandoned the shuttle, and seemed to be taking temporary residence in a cave of some form or rather. Patting himself over, the Captain was relieved to find most of his weapons had been brought along during his comatose episode. Moreover, a few stacks of rations gleamed in the reflected surface of a ruined metal pane. Despite the present lack of civilization, Vassyl was gladdened by the few creature comforts the Commander had scraped together. Not wanting to be caught unawares, Doren began to screw together the barrel of his DH-17, and added, "Furthermore, have we encountered any other fauna of interest?".

Rhoden simply continued to sit, his blaster pointed in the direction of the crack the centipede had scurried out of, until the Captain asked if they'd encountered any other interesting creatures. Rhoden chuckled, tilted back his head and began laughing madly, "Yes, I know the system, mostly the planet. We're on Morikin, edge of the Unknown Regions, edge of the galaxy for that matter." he said, "And you can be sure we'll encounter some more beasts on this rock. I'll tell you now, if it's not armored it's got a damn thick hide. You'll need to blow it up, take out the eyes and hope for the best, incinerate it, or find some other way to dispose of it." Rhoden said, "There'd giant bugs, there's even bigger reptiles, and there's birds that eat starfighters for lunch--you can thank them for taking out the headhunters by the way."

Rhoden smiled bitterly, "And I'd hope those rations hold, the water's filled with stuff that wants to eat you as bad as you want a drink, and edible plants are rare--hell, some of the plants'll try to eat us too." Rhoden looked the Captain in his eyes, "This is where Carbine Shadowguard come to complete their training. Deployed in squads of ten, squads of ten because one man less and you'll be lucky to get out alive, no squad is expected to come out of it with everyone still alive." he looked down at the fire, "But they have to go through the jungle itself. There's a small bunker and communications tower on the top of the highest peak in this mountain range, close enough for us to make it on foot. It was supposed to be a new extraction point for teams, the route was too dangerous, we only used it once." Rhoden said, distant memories flashing through his mind.

Rhoden stood, "This'll be, at the very least, a two week stay. You're in no shape to travel now, I'm going to go out and take a better look at our surroundings--don't leave the cave. And find something with a bit more kick to it." Rhoden said, gesturing to the DH-17 in the Captain's hands and heading towards the mouth of the cave.

Rhoden spent ten minutes surveying the surrounding area, the mountain itself was barren, Rhoden caught the occasional glimpse of titanic predators in the jungles below, but he saw a safe enough ridge. Upon closer inspection he noted that it was, in fact, a far too familiar ridge, it appeared he would be retracing his steps. Rhoden licked his lips nervously, his grip tightening on his blaster, he turned and began heading back to the cave.

Rhoden was almost back at the entrance when he sat it: a giant mud colored feline, claws of great length and sharpness, a pelt thick enough to stop blaster bolts, and large lightly poisoned spikes on the underside of its front legs. The tail was long, slender, and lightly bristled with a hallucinogenic compound which would eventually paralyze victims. Rhoden felt extremely relieved he was downwind until the beast skulked into the cave. Rhoden let out a dismayed gurgle and charged forward. He fired at the hind of the cat, which had begun a strange clacking growl, some of the shots he sent into the roof of the cave.

A small shower of rocks rained down on the feline and, to Rhoden's most extreme relief, the tail fell writhing to the floor. The beast turned and roared at Rhoden. He raised his blaster again, his hand steady. "It's vulnerable in its rear end, the eyes, and the nose. If he hits you with those spikes you're dead." Rhoden said to Doren, hoping sincerely that the Captain had picked up a better weapon. And, for that matter, that he wasn't planning on using a detonator in the cave.

Rhoden's vivid description of the local lifeforms did not inspire confidence in the weary Vassyl. In fact, given the broad category of creatures fixing to make a meal of the Captain and his cohort, a figurative hell seemed almost kinder than their plane of reality. That said, despairing over their present predicament would accomplish little, and Doren began to contemplate the equipment he'd brought with him. Apart from a few hand-blasters and his trusted vibroblade, Vassyl had felt the subconscious tug to bring along his force pike. The polearm, though unranged, had a reliable spectrum that spanned from lethal power to swift stun capabilities. Initially intending it for apprehending in, or even interrogating pirates, it appeared that the slender lance would now be made to defend the Imperials' meager holdings. Though it lacked the molten intensity of a blaster, the kinetic brunt of the weapon would make short work of whatever it encountered: thick hide or not.

Taking up the pike with both hands, Doren was feeling rather content with his decision. His cheery demeanor was soon dashed as the clopping of alien claws came echoing into the cave structure. Slowly turning about, the Captain's grip tightened from anguish as the frame of a mammalian hunter came traipsing toward him. In the dim lighting, he could only see so much: what he did see did not inspire confidence. It was larger than Vassyl, and the shifting outline of muscles suggested it was faster, if not stronger than the young officer. At that moment, Rhoden's heated commentary pierced Doren's ears. Not wasting any time to acknowledge his counterpart, the Captain brought the tip of his pike to bear against where he thought the beast's head was located, and brought the weapon to full power. Were the Captain to lunge forth, the creature's superior reflexes would render any direct attack moot, and Doren completely open to an attack. No, if he was to stand any chance, the abomination needed to move first, such that Vassyl could react. If he could react anyways.

The beast turned fully around and Rhoden leapt backwards as it took a swift but short strike at him--a test, or an attempt to run away a potential competitor. The beast took two small steps in Rhoden's direction. Rhoden shifted his blaster and fired into its nose. It let out a terrible roar of pain and hunched down as though ready to leap.

Rhoden heard a swoosh, surmised that the Captain had begun his own attack, and fired again into the beast's nose, firing at it's eyes--the shots missed by inches and had no effect--and it dropped. Rhoden looked past the hulk of the beast to the Captain to see the Force Pike half hidden inside the beast. "Well. You're not too injured to help me roll this thing off a cliff, come on. And be careful." Rhoden said.

With a mix of relief and anguish, Doren exhaled sharply as the Commander's ambush drew the beast's attention from the young Line Captain. In that moment Vassyl struck true with his polearm, and buried it into the creature's rear as much as was physically possible. A few moments later, the abomination had been rendered inert, and the Captain was summarily tasked with cleanup duty. With a sigh, a winded Doren returned his force pike to its shoulder strap, and carefully gripped the beast's carcass, taking strides to avoid its ever-venomous tail. With a groan, the spindly officer began to push with all his might, hell-bent on making some headway toward the cliff face. Struggling to assert one foot in front of the other, the Captain delineated into his best attempts at small talk, calling out to his counterpart, "Are you certain we shouldn't harvest this thing for food? It would be far easier to roll it down into the cave". Pausing for a moment to breath and collect his thoughts, Doren summarily added, "At the very least, the tail and its natural toxins may yet be of some use to us".

"If we're here longer than the rations hold out it'll be because we're rotting." Rhoden said, heaving the beast up the last bit and yanked out his vibroblade. He hacked off one of the front legs and kicked it down the ledge. Angling the blade he chopped into the leg where the spikes started and started knocking them off, behind them was a bulbous green chunk.

"We can coat fragmentation grenades with it, we've got a few. I think we've got a few vials we can keep some in to coat our blades with." he said. Rhoden went back and checked the pile, found a few vials and threw them to Doren. He knelt and gently poked the green sac which began oozing a thick black liquid. "Have fun." he said, walking back into the cave and shooting another centipede as it scurried out to avenge the prior visitor.

"I don't much appreciate the vote of confidence Commander", Vassyl shot back, kneeling down to inspect their handiwork, "Though I have no counterargument to offer at this time". A sickened look flew over Doren's face as Rhoden punctured the exterior of the venom pouch. Sighing, the Captain caught the vials from his counterpart, and discerned that they were originally meant for catching loose fluids from blaster cleaning. Now, they would serve a far fouler purpose. Crinkling his nose as he bent closer to the discolored organ, Doren carefully took to collecting six large doses of the viscous black substance. Between the overpowering stench and the discoloration of onyx mixture, Vassyl could hardly determine which disgusted him more. Once he had completed his unpleasant task, the Captain securely fastened each sample to the side of his belt, and marched up to cave's edge.

For the first time since regaining consciousness, Vassyl obtained an unrestricted, panoramic view of the murky surface of Morikin. Much of it was enshrouded in mist, and the clouds above obscured what little light broke into view. Indeed, it was as dreary and desolate as the Commander had foretold. From a distance, Doren might have almost admired the role the unforgiving landscape played in the formation of such a talented officer. Now however, the up-close and personal tour had sapped Vassyl of any lingering sentimentalism. They were stranded, without aid, and with very few resources at their disposal. Doren himself was familiar with the basic survival techniques, thanks to the tutelage of his uncle. That said, Morikin was no Jaemus, and the comfort of a cold wood had been transplanted with the jagged wastes of a sinister, foreign world.

Rhoden collapsed and called out to the captain as he returned, with a sickly look that had little--Rhoden suspected--to do with his recent injuries than his being on Morikin. "We'll stay here for two days, unless you're feeling up for travel after one. I'll take first watch. With any luck our feline friend didn't have a family--the females are worse." Rhoden said, only partially joking.

Dark was a few hours away, and Rhoden intended to make the most of it. He began examining the weapons at their disposal, sharpening blades, cleaning blasters, altering explosives. "Hmm." Rhoden murmered, examining a flamethrower "I think there are a few plants that grow up here that can be fairly easily altered into flammable agents." he set the flamethrower aside.

There was an incredibly loud crack followed by a deep rumble. "And that," Rhoden sighed "Would be one of Morikin's incredibly nasty storms. Lovely."

Rain began precipitating in a most violent fashion, with sturdier elements of hail detonating on the cliff face like impact explosives. Were that Doren was unaccustomed to the real McCoy, such noise might have unsettled. However, he'd seen worse in terms of war and weather, and almost appreciated the cacophonous facsimile breaking out in the present moment. Not wanting to dampen his attire, Vassyl retreated further into cave, and nodded in response to Rhoden brief lecture on local flora. Similarly that Captain provided an answer to Carbine's earlier inquiry, "If we're fated to sit on some beast's menu either way, we might as well take the scenic route will we can. I'll be ready to move out by tomorrow". Rummaging back about their supplies, Vassyl announced a brief, "Ah-hah", before retrieving a small portable heater. With the press of a button, Doren released a manual hand-crank, and slowly and methodically began to feed power to the device.

As he indulged the labor of the task at hand, Vassyl let his senses wander back towards the rain. How different it was from the showers back on Jaemus. The weather of Doren's own homeworld seemed to peaceful and orderly, even in the fiercest gale. Here however, much like every other feature of Morikin, even the elements themselves seemed to exude an unnatural malice. A friendly chirp tore the Captain from his meditations, and seeing that he had thus enabled the heating unit, he gingerly activated its main exhaust, and a warm, dry breeze began to fill the rock-ridden cavity that constituted their present shelter. Nonetheless, Doren's sense of accomplishment was ultimately short-lived, as he then considered the possibility for flooding. With a sigh, Vassyl lumbered back towards the piles of various tech, and set about searching for a pair of magseal tents that might house himself and his companion.

Whilst jostling ammo cases and ration kits, Doren resumed his ruminations, and focused his mental attention on the shadowy figure of Morikin itself. The world was decidedly removed from the larger host of Imperial space, and was by no-means well known by geographic standards. Like several other untamed systems, it remained a blemish, or rather an obstacle to colonial ambition, and would no doubt remain as such until terraforming technologies improved. Such being the case, Vassyl was then presented with a different curiosity: the means by which the Carbines adopted the wasteland as their proving grounds. Surely a facility, or a set of simulacrum would have easily produced a tangible survival experience. Nonetheless, the issue grated on the back of the Captain's nerves, and he resolved that he would only be sate by Rhoden's personal testimony. Spinning about, Doren called up to his collaborator and asked, "Of all the worlds your ancestors could have chosen, why this one in particular?".