Private A Bloodthirsty Swarm

[Kole Silco]

The green jungle brush was a blur and the sounds of wild life began in one place and died in another as Korra galloped across the jungle floor with Kole sat atop her back. "Easy girl. Rough terrain ahead and we wouldn't want you getting hurt. Isn't that right?" Kole advised the mature Guarlara as he shifted his grip on the more stabilizing parts of her saddle and then patted her muscular neck. The juvenile Lurca Hound bounding next to them barked in agreement. "See. Even Zisu thinks you should slow down."

Kole laughed as Korra did the Guarlara equivalent of blowing raspberries. Zisu barked again. This time it was a question. "I suppose we're at the mercy of the lady, Zisu." Kole answered. "Just do your best to keep up. Giddyup!" The man shouted as he choked up on the reins and the trio continued through the jungle at the stubborn Korra's desired speed. The hunt for a communications relay was afoot.

The swift and powerful sound of Korra's hooves thumping on the ground startled smaller wildlife. It sent them running in fear and the sound of animals leaping hurriedly through brush confirmed it. Then most sound was gone as they reached one of the empty temples most recently used by the Jedi of yesteryear. Kole remembered from his youth how quiet all the temples were, but in this case it wasn't just the quiet that made the temple seem abandoned. Kole also observed that a lot of tech had been left behind. He had reason to believe it was done in a hurry, but he couldn't be sure. Yet either way he knew he'd be able to find a spare communications relay on or within the temple grounds so he directed Korra to the temple's entrance.

The ornery Guarlara came down to a trot and then a full stop as Kole dismounted at the temple's messy entryway. "This is as far you go, girl." Kole said to the guarlara. "Zisu, with me." He ordered as Korra nodded and Zisu gave a bark of confirmation.

Kole and the Lurca Hound entered the temple. Heading straight to the communications center. Kole by sense and Zisu by smell.

"Kriff." Kole whispered as he looked in an empty comms array cabinet. The machine had been stripped of its insides. Salvaged and cannibalized for other tech, just as Kole was planning on doing. Someone else just got to it first. He looked through another mechanical cabinet and then another with no success. No relays left. "Kriff!" He muttered again more emphatically as he stared at another gap where a relay was meant to be. "Scavengers have picked this place clean. What are we gonna' do, Zisu? Maybe another temple?"

However, Kole's question fell on deaf ears. Zisu stood on alert at the threshold of the room. The Lurca Hounds gaze did not leave the length of the hall. "What is it, Zisu?" Kole asked but then felt it himself. Sudden Danger. While there was no sound, he knew a wave of primal and bloodthirsty claws and maws was upon him. Zisu growled as he saw the swarm of feral Whisper Birds invading the hall, and readied himself for their arrival.

Kole grabbed the lightsaber on his hip and ignited it. He knew the pair could not outrun the silent avian hunters of Yavin IV, so he decided he'd cut down as many as he could for a better chance of survival.

It wasn't long before the birds overtook the room. Zisu leapt into the air, clawing and biting as many birds as he could fit into his mighty paws and jaws. Kole's lightsaber ignited and filled his corner of the room with yellow light. One, two, three, four… Seventeen dead is where the birds began to overwhelm him. By Twenty-five they bit into the meatier parts of his flesh and slashed surface wounds on his skin. Enough of them slammed into him and each other to push him off balance. He slammed into the machine, his lightsaber fell while his hand accidentally slammed into the emergency call alarm. No relay, just the local network. Maybe somebody else would hear it, but could Kole last until then?

As another bird bit at his shoulder, he instinctually and desperately pushed them all away in a shockwave of the force. Then consciously used the gestalt energy field, calling upon it to act as a barrier between him and Zisu, and the feral birds. Zisu was covered in as many bite and claw marks as Kole, if not more. Still the hardy beast grabbed its fallen friend by the collar of his brown flight jacket and pulled him as far as he could, as the fifty odd birds slammed into the waning barrier. "Zisu, I'm not sure we make it out of this one, buddy." Kole tried to stand but fell as he realized a muscle in his leg had been severed by the swarm's savage attack. Zisu, knowing this would be the final stand, slammed into the barrier as well. He wanted to rip the feral birds apart not just for himself but for Kole. Zisu growled at the birds, and Kole was so focused on maintaining the barrier that they did not notice the arrival of another. Not an attacker, but hopefully a savior.

Tags: Lorn Reingard
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[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Kole Silco​

Lorn had learned the quiet rhythms of abandoned temples. Which corridors breathed. Which shadows meant nesting, not emptiness. This one had been his shelter for weeks, a half-buried ruin with intact supports and clean water nearby. At night he slept lightly. During the day he studied what the Jedi and different groups had left behind. Carvings. Meditation alcoves.

The jungle pulled him today. Another temple, deeper in the canopy, one he had avoided for a reason. Whisper Birds. He had tracked their movements for days, listened to the way their calls overlapped, how silence followed them like a held breath. Too dangerous to rush. So he prepared.

The emitter sat heavy in his pack. A crude thing, cobbled together from scavenged parts and careful math. It would scream at a pitch the birds could not tolerate. Scatter them long enough for him to reach the inner chambers. At least that was the hope.

He broke through the brush and stopped short. A Guarlara stood at the temple entrance, massive and still, reins slack. Saddled. Lorn felt the shift in the Force immediately. Someone had been here. Recently. He approached slow, hands open, breath even. The Guarlara watched him with dark, intelligent eyes. Alert, but not afraid. Lorn laid a hand against her neck, felt the warmth, the steady pulse beneath thick muscle. Someone's mount, then. Someone who had gone inside.

His comm relay crackled. Then screamed with static and motion alarms. A sound he knew too well followed. Wings. Too many of them. Lorn did not hesitate. He tore the emitter from his pack and ran.

The temple swallowed him in shadow and noise. Whisper Birds poured through the halls. He triggered the emitter mid-stride. The shriek cut through the air, sharp and wrong. Birds scattered in panicked bursts, slamming into stone, retreating toward the exits.

Not all of them.

Lorn pushed deeper, heart pounding, Force flaring outward as he searched. Pain. Fear. Determination. A man, bleeding and grounded. An animal burning bright with loyalty. He found them in the comms chamber. A hound stood over a fallen man, body riddled with cuts, teeth bared at the world. A translucent barrier shimmered weakly around them, pulsing with effort. The man's face was pale with strain, eyes unfocused but fighting.

Lorn slowed instantly. Easy. Too fast and the hound would tear him apart. He shut the emitter down and let the last of the birds flee. Silence rushed in, thick and ringing.

"It's all right," Lorn said softly, keeping his voice low. The hound did not relax. It shifted its weight, placing itself more squarely between Lorn and the man. Good instincts. Lorn respected that. He knelt where he was, hands visible, lightsaber still clipped at his belt. He reached gently through the Force, not to command, but to reassure. Calm. No threat. Help.

"I won't hurt him," Lorn murmured, eyes on the animal. "You did good. You kept him alive."

 

[Kole Silco]

The Lurca Hound softened for only a moment. A look of recognition crossed the beast's face as the force touched him. He knew from that feeling that this man was like Kole, like his friend, so with a glance at Kole and back to the calm stranger, Zisu barked a request to help as he pushed at Kole's weakened body with his nose.

Kole winced at Zisu's touch and kept the barrier up for a moment longer, until he could focus on the figure who sent the birds away in a desperate and terrible frenzy. The man was just a bit younger than Kole, but of a similar size and build. His long brown hair, piercing eyes, and well defined jawline were a welcome sight. He had the kind of rugged good looks that appealed to Kole's own personal sense of vanity, or would if he wasn't already preoccupied.

Finally Kole noticed the lightsaber hanging from the man's belt, and knew he would be safe among his fellow Jedi. So Kole dropped his hand, and so too did the barrier fall. "Thanks for the save." He said with an exasperated breath. "Now, can you help a fellow up?" Kole asked, reaching a hand out to the mysterious man. He'd move carefully and intentionally. He didn't want to come down on the severed tendon again.

Seeing Kole calm and raise himself partially, Zisu left his side to retrieve his friend's lightsaber, only taking a second to fetch it from where it fell and put it in Kole's free hand. "Thank you, Zisu." Kole responded with words as well as the pulling of a med stim from his belt. Zisu looked away as Kole injected the blueish-green formula into the Hound to treat any minor wounds sustained. Kole then promptly injected himself. It wouldn't do much for the severed muscle in his leg but it would help alleviate the minor pains of scratches, bites, and lashes, as well as keep the whole gamut from bacterial infection.

"That's Zisu. I'm Kole. Kole Silco, Jedi Watchman of the Vilaserria System. Formerly of the NJO," Kole adjusted. "And before you say it, I know I'm a long way from Vilaserria. How about you? I know you ain't out here just to save my skin. You are?"

Tags: Lorn Reingard
​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Kole Silco​

Lorn stayed where he was as the hound softened, watching the shift ripple through the room. He felt it too. Recognition. Trust, earned the hard way. The barrier flickered, then fell, and the weight of it vanished from the air.

He took the offered hand without hesitation, bracing the man carefully and guiding his weight so the injured leg stayed light. The pain was obvious in the way his jaw tightened, but he did not complain. That alone told Lorn plenty. Trained. Used to worse. He caught the faint tremor under the man's skin, exhaustion riding just beneath stubborn control.

The hound returned with the fallen lightsaber. Loyal to the end. Lorn made a quiet note of it. Animals like that did not choose lightly.

He watched the stim injections without comment. Efficient. Calm. Jedi habits ran deep, even after blood loss and shock. "Easy," Lorn said as they settled him upright. "You're doing fine."

He listened while the man spoke, name and title offered plainly. No theatrics. No excuses. A Watchman far from home. Formerly NJO. Lorn felt the familiar tug of shared history.

"I'm Lorn Reingard," he said at last. "Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order." The words sat heavier than they used to. He let the silence stretch, then exhaled.

"Though I suppose I'm out here avoiding that very Order," he added quietly. Honest felt better than formal. "Are you doing the same, Kole?"

He shifted his grip and started deeper into the corridor, slow enough that Kole could follow. He did not look back, trusting that the man would. Most did. "Vilaserria," Lorn went on. "I can't say I know it. But I'd imagine they wouldn't want their Watchman wandering this far."

The stone walls closed in as they moved. Lorn ran his fingers along the carved surface, feeling the echo beneath it. The Force hummed here, low and constant.

"I'm studying these temples," he said. "First time on this moon. But the Force is strong here."

He let his hand fall and kept walking.